STARTING OFF THE NEW YEAR RIGHT!
Greetings from Florida. I am chronologically older than most members here and have done this sort of thing alone many times before, but certainly not as part of a group of people from all over the planet! Let's party.
I am here to explore the world of social networking, since I was born more than a half century ago and am inexperienced with this new technology. If I become comfortable communicating here, then this challenge for me will have been a success.
In my ideal world, my face is less wrinkled with age, my body hard as a rock, and my mind glows with wisdom - perpetually happy and content. My goal for this challenge is to detoxify this worn out vehicle and get a fresh start for 2011. Set a pattern for positive willpower that will lead me towards a successful retirement. This can be accomplished by visiting the neighborhood gym early every morning and practicing a varied, intuitive-style, exercise routine for several hours, then begin my daily activities. It is imperative to remain vigilant and not spoil progress with impulsive consumption of high calorie snacks or drinks for the rest of the day and night. Total commitment is the key.
Day 1 - Drink 8 Glasses of Water
I have enlisted a large water container to become my constant companion for awhile. Like a giant baby bottle, I sip exclusively from it whenever thirst demands. As time passes, the fluid's unflavored purity will flush all accumulated chemicals from my system. I will be cleansed.
Day 2 - Create a Calorie List
Food is not a complicated thing. No calculator required. Eat less = lose weight. Eat more = gain weight. I look in the mirror, step on a scale, read every lable, make intelligent choices based on my personal needs. Embrace the hunger, don't fear it. Enjoy it!
Day 3 - Your Ideal Meal Plan
My ideal meal has a variety of colors and textures, tastes good, and fits on one plate. I take my time eating it, and when finished, wash the plate and put it away. No seconds. I store the remainder in the fridge and repeat the ritual each day until its all gone. No waste.
Day 4 - Follow Your Ideal Meal Plan
The plan I am following emphasises what NOT to eat as opposed to vise-versa. Things like restaurant food, processed snacks, TV dinners, soda, etc. I avoid trans fats, chemical preservatives, and addictive sweeteners like the plague! (cancer, diabetes, etc) I accept rare slip-ups if they are unavoidable. It's OK. All part of the plan.
Day 5 - Go Grocery Shopping
I like to buy my fresh produce at farmer's markets and roadside stands. It's usually much cheaper, but even if it wasn't - I still like to give my money to the little guy instead of the super chain stores that try to hog all the wealth, and drive Mom and Pop out of business! In addition, it's better for the environment to eat locally grown stuff whenever possible. Don't you think?
Day 6 - Eat 5 Servings of Fruits/Vegetables
I don't know about you, but I hate rules. The little individual do's and dont's that keep our collective lives neat and orderly. Created by other entities in the name of my own good. Parents, teachers, employers, politicians. As long as I obey, then everything okay. If not, then some sort of punishment is sure to follow. So I will try to eat at least 5 serving per day. As suggested.
Day 7 - Review & Plan for Week 2
Looking back, I learned a couple of things this past week while reading this forum. First, the people here are exceptionally kind and encouraging to one another. Second, I am a very shy person. Looking ahead, I plan to emulate the former, change the latter, and stay on this path towards a healthy future.
Day 8 - Get a Great Workout
Back at the beginning of this year, I initiated a cool new workout routine. Well, that's only half true. My gym happens to have a steam room and a swimming pool so I alternate between them every ten minutes for about two hours. Pores opening and closing. Heartbeat fast and slow. I've been dissolving fat and toxins at the rate of one pound per day. Pretty good, huh?
Day 9 - Understanding Your Trigger Foods
Just about any type of food or drink can be abused. It's my emotional state of mind that usually pulls the binge trigger. I think: Why should I suffer? Don't I deserve as much abundance as everybody else? Maybe more? Moderation is an acquired taste that transcends our basic animal nature. Nobody said it was easy.
Day 10 - Calculate Your Daily Energy Expenditure
Again with the numbers! Feeling the intensity of hunger tells all. The body stops craving when satisfied. Eating beyond that equals fat. Mild hunger signals ongoing weight loss. Consume small portions to quell a knawing stomach without over stuffing it. Try eating foods that don't taste so good. That should ensure success.
Day 11 - Start Your Healthy Living Guidebook
For me, the real challenge is voluntarily turning my will over to the whims of another. I find it extremely difficult/impossible to document my life in this manner. Nobody has ever been able to control my behavior with absolute authority. Experience teaches that optimistic promises rarely materialize. Am I the only one who feels this way?
Day 12 - Explore Your Relationship With Food
A relationship with food is often easier than one with people. It doesn't care what you think. It can't hurt your feelings. It won't prevent you from expressing yourself. Ask any physicist. Positive energy cannot flow without being grounded to the negative. It completes the circuit. Keeps everything real.
Day 13 - Cleanse Your Kitchen
I can't believe I'm actually failing at this challenge. Could anything be simpler? I washed the dishes as directed but my health is declining anyway. Maybe its the raw garlic in all those smoothie salads. I don't want to fall short of yet another goal, but then again who ever does? I may need help reaching the finish line.
Day 14 - Review & Plan for Last Week Ahead
It's been good experience so far overall. Didn't fall off track. Just one little problem. My mental health! I am a psychological slob with an obese brain. Two many flaws to count. Need a calculater to compute the numerous changes that need to be made in my thinking. So that's what I'm going to concentrate on next.
Day 15 - Meditate
God. Please remove pessimism from my brain and replace it with optimism. Please remove sadness from my eyes and replace it with joy. Please remove criticism fom my mouth and replace it with praise. Please remove idelness from my hands and replace it with action. Please remove fear from my feet and replace it with courage. Please remove hate from my heart and replace it with love. Amen.
Day 16 - Breathe
Inhale oxygen. Hold. Exhale carbon dioxide. Visualize the rhythmic exchange of gases. Who pumps the blood into the arteries? It is He! Feel His indwelling presence. Pay your silent homage to Him. Glory, Glory, unto the Lord, the Creator of this wonderful body, in His own image, His own dwelling house, He resides in here with Us.
Day 17 - Floss Your Teeth
Flossing fights plaque buildup between teeth, the source of bad breath, gum disease, and stroke. Regular cleaning reduces the microscopic amounts that collect at the entrances of heart and brain, and slowly harden to clog the passageway. This eventually results in sickness, surgery, and sudden death - the antithesis of the goals we strive for.
Day 18 - Hug Yourself
I do this to the person who strives to improve despite the ways of the world. Develop good manners, extreme politeness, courtesy, etiquette, gentleness, and mildness. Never be rude, harsh, or cruel. Cultivate friendship, compassion, mercy, love, and forgiveness. I'll do this for the one who needs it most. Me.
Day 19: Go Barefoot Walking
People in third world countries are so lucky, they get to run around without shoes all the time! When I do it here I get thrown out of public buildings, step on broken glass, tip toe across burning hot asphalt, leave dirty footprints all over the house. All sarcasm aside, you can't beat jogging totally nude on a deserted stretch of sandy beach on a warm sunny afternoon.
Day 20 - Have a Caffeine-Free Day
Scientific research confirms that caffeine helps stimulate awareness, sharpen mental focus, improve memory, and even delay the onset of Alzheimers. Dispite billions of cups consumed daily for centuries, no illness has ever been attributed to it. But like many other drugs, it can have detrimental effects on the body when abused. Addictive-type personalities should definitely beware.
Final Day - Review & Your Best Health Ahead
At the beginning of this year, I was out of shape, overweight, alcoholic, unemployed, and depressed. 21 days later, I am still that only much less so. That's something to celebrate, be happy about, be proud of. But it's not anywhere near enough of course, nothing ever is! Sometimes I wish I were simply a slave and my master would give me food, shelter, and clothing and keep me busy from dawn to dusk so I could go to bed every night totally exhausted without all the psychological trauma that freedom brings. But that's even more stupid. What was accomplished here?
1) I improved my diet.
2) I started an exercise routine.
3) I strengthened a spiritual connection.
4) I accepted my circumstances.
5) I planned for the future.
These are really good things. Thank you Celes. I like the fact that this challenge is over and its time for real-world application of the principles discussed here. I met my main goal of digitally communicating with other people online and it went well. Thank you Jade. I wish this forum all the success it deserves in the future. Thanks again Celes. You are an angel.
Sincerely,
Antonio A. Capriccio
(This post was last modified: 01-22-2011 08:30 PM by antz.)
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