I receive emails from Brave Girls Club. It's a website created by sisters Melody and Kathy. Their work is dedicated to empowering women to find themselves through journaling, art, and other creative means. I could write all day about the fun, beautiful stuff they're doing but you should check it out for yourself. Visit their website to check out all the amazing stuff they're doing.
I get their daily email called "the daily truth". It's a short paragraph full of love and encouragement, like getting a little note from your best friend and they just make you feel good. Anyway, today's email says:
I believe that everything does happen when it's supposed to. People come in and out of our lives right on time. I think it's safe to say that we all have had experiences in our lives that make us stop and realize that there is a higher power at work. And the best part is that if we are open and trusting and always remember that things will be okay, they will work out for the best, we can feel peace. Just knowing that we are being taken care of ALL the time is a great, incredible, peaceful feeling.
It's easy to remember that when things are going good, when things are going the way we want. But it's especially important to remember that when things are tough, when they aren't going our way. When God closes one door, another is always opened. And it's always better than what we thought or had planned. Even if we can't see it at that moment, we can always look back and see that it was always going to be okay. Everything in life is a lesson. Life is a lesson and people and situations are our teachers. Learn and grow and be thankful.
Life is happening right now. Life can sometimes be full of surprises, good and bad. The best thing about life is that every day we have a choice. My sister had a teacher that would always tell them "make it a great day or not, the choice is yours." And my sister would ALWAYS repeat it. It would drive me crazy! I would get so annoyed at this little girl quoting some whack-job teacher.
It's funny how we have so many experiences that we never even think about until another situation relates to that memory. I've read a lot of books about the power of intention and the power of our thoughts and about affirmations but they never seemed to make sense until now. I'm finally putting the information I filled my brain with a while back to use.
Earlier today I was listening to a podcast about the power of our thoughts and how we are creating the lives we have. The lady I was listening to was talking about the work of Dr. Emoto. He is a Japanese doctor who has been studying the effects of thoughts, music, feelings, etc. and the effects they have on water. Most of us know that our bodies are about 60% water. What Dr. Emoto is doing is showing proof that thoughts can either affect us positively or negatively. Another podcast I've been listening to is Dr. Kimberley Harrell, Be Happy Be healthy. She has these great 15 minute podcast called "manifestation moments". She always starts of by saying "what you think about and what you feel about, you bring about".
Today's topic is going to be about thought. If you've been reading my blog, you know that I'm losing weight with the power of my mind. And finding Dr. Emoto's work today encourages me to stay on this path of new ideas and beliefs.
We all use thoughts and feelings all the time. We respond to them in either a good or bad way. We have the power to change our beliefs and thought patterns and just like anything else, in order to be good at something, we need to practice. We need to practice good thought throughout the day.
We need new beliefs and new ideas about health and success and we need to belief that we have the power to create the lives we want. We need to get our power back.
For example, you have a difficult co-worker. She drives you crazy, she's so negative and just the thought of her coming in to the office makes you sick. You can't change her. You can either get upset every day or you can decided to go to work in a good mood and stay in a good mood. Take responsibility for your feelings. Stop giving your power away.
In massage school, we talked about energy and we were given examples of how energy or the lack of energy can effect our health. Imagine that you have 100 energy dollars. You have to survive on that 100 dollars. You have to pay for your health, your friends, your kids, your job, the neighbors dog.. everything. Let's say you spend 30 energy dollars on that witch co-worker and another 20 on the office gossip and your nagging boss. You now only have 50 energy dollars left. On your way home you get stuck in traffic and someone cuts you off and you spent 20 dollars on the way home. You don't have much energy left and you still have you make dinner and feed the dog and clean the kitchen and spend time with your spouse. And if you have kids, forget it! You're going to be grumpy and tired because you spent your money somewhere else. How are you going to do all that with only 30 energy dollars?
What happens to us when our "money" is spent is that we still have to do those tasks and we need the energy from somewhere. So we get the energy from our health, our spirits. And what happens when we continually don't have enough money is we go broke, bankrupt. Dead. Done.
We are stressed, we our spending all our money, our energy in places that are really a waste. You can't change your co-worker or your boss or your partner. Especially your partner!! Here's a little secret that will save you a lot of time. You can't change someone! If you aren't happy with them or you have problems that you think you can just change in a person, good luck. All you're going to do is waste more money. But you can change you. You are responsible for you.
Put your energy into taking care of yourself. Who else is putting that energy into taking care of you? Stop wasting energy in places that don't matter. Change the energy you're sending. Send love, hope, patience. If you don't believe the power of words and thoughts, check out this video of Dr. Emoto's work.
If your a human, chances are you've been on a diet. If you're a woman, that is a definite yes! And if your reading this, you've probably failed. And if you're skinny, get out of here! Just kidding... You can stay. Let's start off with some sad diet statistics:
- At any given time, nearly 50% of women and 25% of men are on a diet
- Nearly all dieters (95%) regain the weight they lost within 1 to 5 years
-Americans spent 66.4 billion dollars on diets and weight loss products in 2010
Those stats probably won't surprise you. But did you know these?
- 42% of 1st-3rd grade girls want to be thinner
- 81% of 10 year olds (boys and girls) are afraid of being fat
- 46% of 9-11 year olds have tried dieting and 82% of their families are on a diet
-10 million girls and boys are struggle with eating disorders and at least 50,000 will die from their disorder
Are you shocked? We should be but we probably aren't. Weight-loss is probably on the top of the to do list but so many of us are failing. And most of us diet for the wrong reasons. What are your reasons for losing weight? The answer should be for health reasons but for so many, it's for vanity. And that's the problem. We're going through this vicious cycle where we're teaching our kids to fear food. So many of us have unhealthy relationships with food. I could go on and on about the negative impacts on dieting and bad body image but I want to keep this blog positive. And unless you live under a rock, I'm sure you know that diet pills are bad and its completely unrealistic to want to look like a model. (Most fashion models are 98% thinner than the average American woman).
I am in no way an expert on diet or health, I am a struggling vegetarian. And that statement is exactly what I'm trying to change. But it's not going to change unless I change my mind. That is what this experiment is about. I have struggled with my weight for awhile now, and actually that's not even true. I've gained weight but I haven't struggled at all. It was so easy to gain it! And I've been telling myself and convincing myself and re-affirming how hard it is to lose it. But is it really that hard? Have I been increasing my activity? Nope. Have I even tried to lose it? Nope. Not really. And to be honest, it really hasn't bugged me that much. I've gained weight and gotten comfortable but now I'm feeling unhealthy. So I'm going to try something. A diet that I've never tried.
I've been doing a lot of research and read tons of books (more like 6) about the power of our minds and how our beliefs shape our lives. If you believe that Santa is real and that he's gonna bring you tons of presents, he will. Most of us have experienced the Santa phenomenon. Well the past few years Santa hasn't come over and there aren't presents under the tree. And I figured out why. Because I stopped believing in him! Isn't is strange how only little kids get tons of presents and as we get older, the presents stop?
As we get older, we stop using our imaginations. We stop believing in things. We are taught to "grow up". And most of the time that means to stop dreaming and get a job. We're also taught that life is hard and working sucks and bosses are jerks and your husband is going to stop loving you and want a corvette when he's 50 and you're gonna be fat and lonely and that's just the way it is. There are tons of other beliefs like that, they vary from culture to culture. And if you were so lucky to not have been told those lies, that's wonderful. But for the rest of us, those beliefs shape our lives. They're like a blueprint. Houses are built with blueprints. Most things start off with a plan. Life gets so crazy and moves so fast that most of us don't have a plan. That's where things get off track because we just let our minds follow the "blueprints" that have been set up for us.
I think that's what happened to me. Everyone warned me about the freshman 15. I had no clue what that was. I thought it was another stupid math class. So I went from being a normal, healthy 17 year old. ( I thought I was fat then....what an idiot). Anyway, I graduated and then I started college and the freshman 15 found me. Actually it was more like the freshman 26. Yes I know that hormones and metabolism and all that science stuff might be part of it, but I also believe and have seen people overcome disease and health problems with mind power.
There is no secret that eating healthy and exercise equals weight loss but there is a much deeper problem and that is our mind. If you believe that it's hard to lose weight and expensive to cook and takes to much time and blah, blah, blah, then guess what, it will be true. And unless you change your mind about weight loss, your weight wont change.
I'm going to lose weight with my mind. I know that might sound ridiculous and lazy but that's how I'm going to do it. I'm going to rewire my brain. And I'm going to track my progress. Don't worry, I'm not going to post chubby girl bikini pics or anything like that. I'm going to weigh myself today and then again in 6 weeks. Make sure you come back and see how I'm doing!!
About a year ago, my uncle was diagnosed with colon cancer. He only lived 9 months after that. I had never seen anything like it. If you've never seen how fast cancer can destroy, count your blessings. My uncle was battling a vicious monster. His body was dying everyday, despite the chemo and radiation and the 10+ pills he was taking every day. It was like nothing I had ever seen before in my life.
During that time, I stumbled upon a movie called "The Beautiful Truth". It totally goes against everything western medicine says. There are cures for cancer, and that shouldn't be a surprise. But unfortunately that bold statement will upset and confuse a lot of you.
My sister and I were fortunate to be exposed to alternative medicine at an early age. I think I was 8 when I first went to get acupuncture. And we've taken herbs, had moxibustion and magnet therapy before we were in high school. It's no wonder I'm a massage therapist now. I love alternative medicine and stories of healers and witch doctors and prayer healing thousands of people at once. ( I also love ghost hunters).
My doctor had been telling me for years to stop eating red meat and cheese and milk, that it's making me sick and fat. But I didn't believe it until I saw it for myself. My uncle's diet consisted of meat, grease, cheese and milk, and all in that order. Being Hispanic, the choices are limited to greasy or greasier, cheesy or smothered. According to The Beautiful Truth, that's were some cancers come from, our diets.
There is tons of research out there that links food and cancers and disease. The China Study is full of statistics and 30 years of research. So I took all those beliefs and took them as my own. I believe that our diet has a lot to do with disease.And didn't some famous guy say "You are what you eat". So if we eat bad, fake food, are we not bad and fake in the inside? i.e. stints, pacemakers, artificial limbs. But if we eat fresh, clean, natural foods we get strong, fresh, clean on the inside. Coincidence? I'm not good at math but that sure does seem like two and two put together.
So this journey in my life is about eating better. Once I learn this, I'll start another journey. It would also be nice for my next journey would be to win the lottery. ;) I can't even tell you how many times I've gone to acupuncture for weight-loss. And how many times I didn't take my herbs like he said to, or even changed my diet like I said I would. (And I wonder why I'm slowly gaining weight every year.)
Maybe that's my pace. Slow. Maybe the real journey here is patience? Whatever it is, all I know is I'm hungry. And not for tofu or veggies. I've been eating that crap every day since labor day. That's the last holiday we got to spend with my uncle. Now that I think about it, it's so stupid how we humans, (I hear we're the most intelligent creatures?) start new changes. We eat all the bad food we can before we start a diet. We get all wasted and crazy to celebrate never being wasted and crazy again. We smoke a pack of cigarettes before we quit smoking. Now does that make any sense?
I think it's safe to say that we aren't too bright. My boyfriend and I decided we were gonna be smarter than that. So to celebrate the knowledge we gained about diseases, we ate steaks and hot dogs and cheese dip ( my boyfriend didn't because he has thing think I've heard of called will power). I could've sworn I was smarter than everyone. Dangit. So we haven't eaten red meat, cheese, or milk for almost 5 months. My boyfriend is down 30 lbs. I'm up 3.
I think I'm going to blame this one on hormones. It couldn't possibly be because I don't drink water any more or that the most exercise I get is walking to the mail box? Or that I just ate another cake ball, and I ate a piece of pie with ice cream on top about an hour ago? Nope. It's gotta be hormones. I have my period. I'm retaining water. I have a food allergy. The full moon is tomorrow. Yup, that's it. It's not my fault.
Have you ever been asked to sum yourself up in one sentence? I think I read that in a magazine poll somewhere. "Sum yourself up in one sentence", or was it "describe yourself in one word" Whatever... it was somewhere along those lines. Anyway, I think I have an answer. Against the grain. Or maybe its Rebellious. Unconventional. Starchild. Ask me again in 5 years and see what I come up with then. It's probably going to be different (and probably still lame). We all change our minds all the time. We change our hair color, our cities, our friends, our spouses...we're constantly evolving. And that's great. A lot of us are reluctant to change. But we should really go with the flow. Imagine if you never changed your mind?! We'd all look ridiculous with out of date hair styles and that stupid tall kid you had a crush on in seventh grade.
I, for one am thankful my life didn't go "as planned". My freshman year in high school, I thought I wanted to be married by the time I was 30 and retire by 40. Well I'm 26 now, I forget to feed my dog and I can't seem to pay my bills on time. I just recently learned how to cook an egg over easy. But life changes fast. Last year, I got penguin slippers and a bottle of tequila and this year I got a bread box and a spice rack. And I'm loving every minute of it!
I've always wanted to do a million things. I wanted to be an artist, a musician, a back-up dancer, a comedian, a mechanic, florist, an astronaut, archaeologist, ghost hunter, a librarian...you get my point. And those ideas never went away. Growing up I was a softball player, gymnast, cheerleader; in jazz, mariachi, and marching band, teaching children's church, all at the same time. Not much has change in my adult life. I've worked in offices, day cares, telemarketing, a bakery, Gamestop, craft fairs, military bases, and doing massage therapy all at the same time. I don't think it's that I have a short attention span, I'm just interested in a lot of things. I can't even read one book at a time. I'm reading around 4 books right now. And I'm OBSESSED with magazines. Really. Every table in my house has at least one magazine on it.
I'm not an expert in any one area, and the idea of become a "specialist" really bugs me. Same for this blog. People say that you should focus on one thing and become in expert in that field, or that you should specialize on something, that you make more money that way and people will take you more seriously. Well... I don't take anything too seriously (I should probably work on that), i.e. paying bills on time. Oh and ask Martha Stewart, or Oprah Winfrey what they specialize in? THEY DO IT ALL.
I'm passionate. That's what I'm going say about my self. I'm not a specialist, or expert. I have a passion for life and what I love to do is help. Even when you don't ask for it. I hope to encourage you to chase whatever dreams you have for your life. And I hope you join me while I chase mine.
