The Story About Your Stuff

It's been so long since I have posted anything. The summer is upon us and I have been so busy doing anything I can to keep busy lol! One thing I've been doing is going for 4 mile walks sister-in-law and I and our children (they get to ride bikes) on our local walk way/bike path/green way. That's been a lot of fun. The best part is that the very first time we went, I lost 4 lbs! That was 1 lb per mile. Of course, I haven't been able to get those results every time, but it is definitely a great motivator.

My mother sent me a link to a wonderful video and website titled "The Story of Stuff". It's a 20 minute video that talks about the route that our "stuff" travels, from extraction to disposal, and everything in between. What's fascinating is how this cycle ever got started. In the video the writer, Annie Leonard, explains that the entire idea of consumerism was created on purpose, and why it was created at all. After WWII the government was trying to figure out how to boost the economy when a retail analyst came up with the idea of using consumerism. According to the video, she stated, "Our enormously productive economy...demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals. That we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction in consumption...We need things consumed, burned up, replaced and discarded at an ever-accelerating rate." So that's where this all got started.

It's a wonderful video to watch and share with your friends and family. An interesting part in the video is when Annie Leonard displays how our pillows are doused in neuro toxins such as Brominated Flame Retardants (B.F.R.s) to prevent them from catching on fire, and then we use them to cushion our heads all night long! That's a scary thought!

In the end she discusses how we can change this route and create a new one. She also mentions how people are already in the process of making change. You know, I'd love to tell you more about it, but I really think you should watch it for yourself.

I posted the video from YouTube here, but the website has much better quality and more information for you to check out.


www.storyofstuff.com

Over the flu, and trying out Rebirthing-Breathwork

Well, I've been away for a few days because I had the flu. I don't get sick very often, and it doesn't usually hit me very hard, but this time I could barely get out of bed. I wonder if maybe I was detoxing a bit while I was sick? Or maybe it just happened to be a really mean bug. I'm better now and moving on from all that. I managed to stay 100% raw the entire time I was ill! Woohoo! Actually, being 100% is still very easy for me and I am so happy that I found a way that works for me. I know that when I tried to follow someone elses plan, it never worked. I really think everyone has different dietary needs and the best way to get raw to work, is to find out what works best for you.

So in my last post I said that my friend invited Rory and I to a little dinner party with a special guest. We had a blast, the food was great and the conversation was phenomenal! The special guest was Chris Carlton, who runs the website Purely Raw. Chris is an amazing person who went from 363 pounds on the SAD diet and switched to 100% raw and now looks fantastic at 196 pounds! His story was very inspiring to me. In fact, he shared with me some of the things that he learned along the way that helped him, and now I feel like I'm not alone and I can definitely do this. I've met, in person, someone else that has done it.


One of the very important things he told me was to only weigh myself once a month. He said that if I do it more than that, I will notice my plateaus and become discouraged. This is exactly what happened to me sometime in November. I was weighing myself every day and constantly losing weight. Then, all the sudden I wasn't losing anything and I pretty much gave up. Well, I don't know if I can go a whole month, but I will at least wait every 2 weeks. The last time I weighed myself it said 255 (Yay! that's - 51 lbs) so I won't weigh myself again until the 28th (I hope).

Another thing that Chris taught me about myself is that I have trained myself to breath poorly. For example, being over weight but a lover of the outdoors and hiking, I have often found myself in situations where I am out of breath while others are not. So what do I do? I try breathing differently to hide my wheezing. I have therefore trained myself to breath poorly when I exercise or do extraneous activities. Chris taught me a 20 connected breaths (check out this video for info) routine that I absolutely love and possibly later in the week he will do some Rebirthing-Breathwork with me. I am very excited, and if it happens I am sure to blog about it. In the meantime, I will definitely be more conscious of my breathing when I exercise.

Some other cool stuff happened last weekend before I got sick, but I don't want to cram it all in one blog. I hope no one else is feeling ill out there! I don't take medicines, so what helps me most are steamy showers, garlic, green smoothies, water, and ginger shots. Also, I noticed that if I am able to sleep with my face facing downward, then it doesn't turn into chest congestion. It's not comfortable, but much better than day after day of chest congestion. I would love to sleep on a massage table with a hole for my face!

Exercise challenge going great!

My 30 day exercise challenge that I have embarked on is going really well. I found inspiration from another woman from Raw Fu who said she made a chain link, and each day she ate raw she added to the link. I decided to take her idea, and incorporate it into my exercise challenge. Each day that I exercise, I add a link to my chain. I decided to make min holiday colors, since it is nearly that time of year. I am also doing it with my daughter, so she has her own chain, and when we are done, we have holiday decorations! She is super excited.
I weighed in today, and it said 270.0, so it is moving, though not as fast as I hoped. I think I will start to add juices to my menu, and see how that works out.

30 day exercise challenge

Hi! It's a great day! Except for the fact that I have no heat in my house and I GAINED weight! That's right, gained weight. I now weigh 270. I can't believe it, I've been so diligent. But, I am not going to let it get me down, instead I am going to start a new challenge for myself. I realize it will be difficult to work on two challenges at once, but I think I can do it. With the support of my family and friends, and everyone online, I know it will work.

My new challenge is to work out 30 minutes a day for 30 days. I want to see if this will speed up my weight loss (I don't doubt it). It's getting pretty cold out, and I can't handle cold weather, so I will have to do all of my work outs indoors. I am not exactly sure what I am going to do, but I plan to do some yoga, aerobics, and strength training. Not much strength training, but just enough to firm myself a bit each day. My husband has been wanting to do more strength training, so maybe I can convince him to join me on this challenge. Maybe Rawdawg Rory can do a 30 day strength training challenge! I dare him! (I know he will be reading this). SO I will keep you posted on how I do this challenge. Maybe if I am feeling outrageous, I will post pics!

Today I day 1 of the 30 days. I plan to start with some stretches, yoga, and then some aerobics. Hopefully by the time I am done, I will enjoy exercising, but I can't promise anything.