Food - Don't over complicate it

OK, so this will be a bit different from my normal bloggin.

Today is about food.  Now I don't normally get into this subject, cause I don't think it is really that complicated.  There are many different schools of thought.  And there are many different "Diets"

Now let me clear something up first... I am not on a "diet", you know one of those calorie restricting things or you only eat one food or those packaged food things.  Sure I have tried those in the past and like most everyone, they do not work.  They are not made for a normal everyday life, you know the long term.  I like to eat and I like good food that tastes good.  It's all about eating and being Healthy.

What I am talking about is a way of life diet, I know what your thinkin... he just said he isn't on a "diet".  Well I'm not... but let's look at what the word originated from...

The word diet comes from Old French diete and Medieval Latin dieta meaning "a daily food allowance". The Latin word diaeta and Greek word diaita mean "a way of life, a regimen".

So now that I have gotten that out of the way let's move on...

So sure I have changed the way I eat and changed some of the things that I eat.  You may have seen me post things about GF & DF and Non-GMO (Gluten Free & Dairy Free (cow dairy), Genetically Modified Organism).  And I am more aware of what I eat, do I slip up on occasion, sure, but I do not beat myself up over it.  The only one that I am hurting is myself, and I deal with it and move on and get back to what I know is right and good for me.

So what do I eat?  And why do I choose to do this?  I'm eating real food.  Basically the stuff on the perimeter of the grocery store, most of the stuff in the middle is all processed and has words on it that most of us have no idea what they are, you know the chemicals.  Another source that I go to on the weekends are the local farmers markets, they are typically your best source for real food.  Once I started to eat clean I started to feel better.  I did start DDPYoga the same time, and it is thanks to DDPYoga that I began to really learn about the food I am eating.  So with those combinations my body started to change, and still is.

Now I am not a label, or in a "category" of eaters, but I have found that my choices have slipped into the "Paleo" world, but not completely.  There are TONS of resources out there for you to educated yourself.  I have and continue to learn more and more about the foods I eat and where they come from and how they are grown.  Some things you would be shocked to find out, as I was.  It is just time to open our eyes up so we know what we are putting into our bodies.  But that is a choice for you to make for yourself.  I have made mine and I feel better than I did before . (I have listed some resources at the end of this for you(for me too).

Now I am not one to write recipes, there are plenty of resources out there for that and plenty of people already publishing and republishing them all the time.  And yes my brother is a Chef.  But I like to experiment and try different things and see what happens.  I think I get that from my Mom.  Growing up she was pretty good at wingin it.  But something else Mom always said growin up is to make sure your plate was colorful, the more colors on your plate the better it is.  Sure I will follow a recipe from time to time.  But there is no need to overcomplicate it... It's just food.  And it is meant to fuel your body, not to be a crutch or a blanket.

So educate yourself and learn what you are putting into your body.  if you put the right things in your body, you may get rid of some of the dangerous things we all have ingested for too many years.  Oh and if the place you're getting your food has a drive thru and the food comes in a bag, you may just want to drive on by.  Believe me, I use to be that guy that ate 1-3 meals a day from those places.  And the majority of that food is not real, and will not fix anything in side of you.  But it will clog something and weigh you down as the scale keeps going up.

Ya I know it is starting to get a bit preachy...so I will wrap this one up.  Just know that the food we eat today is not the same food they ate 30-40 years ago, you know the stuff our grandparents ate.

Know what you are eatin, and if you don't know what it's contents are then you probably don't need to be eatin it.

Below are a few sources I use for recipes. and to help educate myself... But look for yourself, the more you learn the better you will be. 

Have a great day... and you know what to do....

Own YOUR Life

The list of links below are just some of the resources that I learn from.  I am not associated with any of these sites, though some are TEAM DDPYoga members and you will recognize them.  I pull from a bunch of different resources to find what works for me.

http://www.staceymorris.com/resources/

http://www.bodyrebooted.com/gluten-free-goodness/

http://blog.timesunion.com/staceymorris/

http://thepaleodiet.com/paleo-diet-recipes/

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/type/gluten-free/

http://glutenfreegirl.com/recipes/

http://101cookbooks.com/gluten_free_recipes/

http://www.foodnetwork.com/topics/gluten-free-recipes.html

http://www.food.com/recipes/gluten-free

http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20501445,00.html

http://hugsandcookiesxoxo.com/category/gluten-free

http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/tag/juicing

http://fitlife.tv/

http://thebananagirl.com/

This is one of the movies you need to watch! (Food Inc)

http://youtu.be/QqQVll-MP3I

Today

So here we go... Sometimes we spend way too much time looking back at yesterday, and worrying about tomorrow that we miss out on Today.

How we start the day and end each day will lead us to tomorrow, or a new Today.  But what we do during our day is sometimes lost because we are to worried about the past.  Something we all need to really work on is to leave the past where it is.  Sure there are lessons we can learn from the past, but if all we are doing is focusing on the yesterdays we will never see what our Today has to offer. 

AND...

Sure we need to look towards the future but we have to be able to see what is in front of us today.  If we aren't so wrapped up looking at yesterday, we end up looking past what is right in front of us today.  Then all we end up doing is planning for tomorrow (which isn't a bad thing) that we never really appreciate what we have today.  And I'm just as guilty of this.  Making plans and having ideas for the future, but never doing anything today to make those plans happen.  We all have these grand ideas but who really makes them happen.  The ones that do are working towards them every day.  And I am willing to bet that they have been written down and mapped out with a plan to get there.  Something has to be done every day to have progress move forward.

Now how does this all tie into DDPYoga, and life in general.  It's like everything else in life, remember everything is connected.  Sure we have all made mistakes in our past, and like Jake says... "My history is not my destiny".  So no matter what has happened in our past don't let that weigh you down and stop you from moving forward and living TODAY.  I know that I have had to re-teach myself that and sure I have to remind myself on some things from time to time.  Since I started DDPYoga I have been changing my life every day.  and the better I feel the better everything else is around me.  Nothing in life is ever perfect, and sure my DDPYoga is not 100% modification free, but with everyday that I do it, I "Make it my own" and I get better and do less modifications.  We have heard Arthurs' quote... "I may not be able to do it today, but that doesn't mean I won't be able to do it tomorrow".  Well you can apply that to anything in life.  We have all made mistakes in our past.  It doesn't have to define who we are today and what we are working towards for our future. 

We need to look at what we are doing Today so that we can have a better tomorrow.

So... Know where you are Today, remember where you've been, and don't overlook today by looking too far in the future.  You have right now to make a change, what you do TODAY will affect your tomorrow, but will do nothing for your past. 

Remember Live your Life, "One Moment One Day" at a time, be kind to yourself, be kind to the people you come across, and never....NEVER GIVE UP! 

It's YOUR life and you CAN make it what you want it to be.  It's up to you to choose to...

OWN YOUR LIFE

TODAY

What drives YOU

Here we go, the bubbles seemed to be revved up!!  I know that was silly, but oh well.

So that is the question today... What is it that drives you.  Without having something to work towards then what are we doing?  This applies to everything we do in life.  But we need to find our reason.  And sometimes that may seem to be difficult, but that's only because we make it that way.

It doesn't matter what you want out of your life there is something, some reason we do what we do.  There always is.  The trick here is figuring out what our reason is and either give it some gas, or dump it.  Yep there are some things in life that we just need to dump because they are not taking us down the right path.  That is where we need to be able to recognize those that are driving us down the wrong path.  We like to use those reasons to drive us down instead of up.  We all have them and we use them to try and justify why we do some of the things we do.  Now to flip the coin, there are some reasons that we do things that better ourselves.  What I have come to realize is that everything in life will drive us one way or the other.  We sometimes just sit back and go for the ride instead of taking the wheel and choose which way we are going to go.  You know that lil phrase applies here to... "Own Your Life".

It is up to us to figure out what our driving factors are.  We need to take responsibility for where we are and where we have been.  The places that we have been, where they places that we choose to go, or did we just let life happen and let circumstances dictate where we would end up.  And yes I am going to go back around to this one to... "Live Life at 90%"  Life truly is only 10% what happens and the rest is up to us.  How did we React, Adapt, Take Action, and Breathe during those "Life events"?  What was it that got us to those points?  Were we the ones driving down that path or were we sitting back and just going along for the ride?

Me, well I have to admit I have been both the driver and passenger in my life.  Not everything has worked out they way I had thought it would so far.  I can say that I have looked back, and I am the one responsible for where I am at today.  And that's OK, because I know where I am today, and I can see the direction that I am going.  Why, because I have taken the wheel and I am now the one driving.  Now that's not to say I won't slide over and let someone else drive from time to time.  We all need a lil help from time to time.  But when I do slide over it will be a choice.  We cannot do this thing called life alone. 

What are some of my driving forces?  What are your driving forces?  Everyone's will be a lil different, and some will be the same.  We need to choose what drives us in the direction that we want to go.  For me I have multiple things that I am working on, some of my reasons may overlap and some may be different, but they all have one thing in common.  That is me, I know... what are you rambling about now.    For me everything starts and end with me.  I am the one responsible for my life and where it goes.  If I want to healthier, that is up to me and what I do, don't do, and what I choose to fuel my body with.   If I want to be successful in whatever I choose to do, then that depends on me, what I choose to do, don't do and how I position myself in what I am working to succeed at.  And I could go on and on, but you get the point. 

If we look at what we perceive to be a success of others, they all have something that drives them to get to where they are...  Is it impossible for others to achieve what they want to accomplish, NO.  Anything is possible, it all depends on if we are willing to put in the work and take control of our lives and get to where we want to be.  

Sure this has to do with my experiences that I have had along my DDPYoga journey.  But if it wasn't for me stumbling on the Arthur video about 18 months ago when I had had enough, and I had gotten mad at myself and realized I need to make change.  That was the first step.  I took control and I decided it was time for me to start driving my life.  I had sat back and waited for something to change and nothing was changing, well let me take that back, everything was changing, but in the wrong direction.   I was not happy with myself and where I was in my life.  And today life is better, and I see it getting better every day.  So everything is connected in some way and it does all come back to me (you).

Whatever it is you want in life, it is up to you to make it happen.

If I can, then you can too.

Live your life, OWN YOUR LIFE

One Moment, One Day at a time

Challenges

So let's get this one started.  Before I get to deep into this one... I know that have been a bit quiet for about 2 weeks on my blog.  And yes I have stuff to deal with just like everyone else.  And this blog is just a reflection of what is on my mind and motivation to help me push thru, you know reminders.  I express myself better in writing, and I enjoy it.  It's like a release for me.  But on the other side of it, I know that I'm not the only person that is going thru life's challenges.  So if some of this helps you along the way you are welcome to share the bubbles that I come up with if you think it may help .  We are all traveling thru this world together, and we are meant to help each other along the way.

So what have I been doing for the last 2 weeks?  Aside from my daily bubbles that I post on FB, reminders for myself.  I have been on the shelf with my DDPYoga, but I did start back up Wednesday this week.  Why, well I woke up 2 weeks ago and I had severe pain in my shoulders and my neck to the point it hurt to move.  Now I want to assure you I did not injure myself while doing DDPYoga.  I think it was a combination of other stuff I had been doing.  But anyways it has gotten better but I'm taking it slow.  I don't like to post about my aches and pains, because we all have them,  But anyways I will continue to move forward.

Now let's get back on today's subject "Challenges"...

We all have come across life's challenges and we will come across them again, it's just part of it.  But it is what we do with them when we come across them that will either make us better, or we let them take over.  The trick is figuring out how we are going to navigate them.

Sure we have some physical challenges, but if you stop and think about it those can be overcome, it is up to us to put in the work.   Take a look at the many examples of what others have accomplished physically, the only way they were able to do that was they decided that they were not going to be limited.  It was a choice that they made and they did it.  So it is possible, anything is.

I know there are many different challenges, we all face them and some may be similar, and some may be different.  Whether they are mental, emotional, physical, financial, relationships  or whatever other type you can think of .  The bottom line is we can overcome and accomplish anything, but it all begins with us.  If it is assistance we need, it is up to us to reach out and ask for it.  We all need help from time to time.  We like to let a lil thing called pride get in our way.  Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to ask for help.  Believe me I understand that one all too well.  But if that is what it takes to move past a challenge you are facing then again it comes back to you.  Remember there is no shame in asking when you are already trying.

So no matter what the challenge is, no matter what the goal is write it down and figure out how you are going to get there.  I recently looked back at what I like to call "My Master Plan" from 2008.  And I did accomplish the majority of them that I wrote down for that year.  But I have also learned something from that plan.  I accomplished all but the last one on the list.  What did I learn??  Order is important!  And though I may have accomplished 5 out 6 (which is pretty good), I let myself get sidetracked and hung up on other stuff.  And I let other things slip thru the cracks, like my health.  Well now that I have learned and understand another lesson, now I know.  And yep it rolls back to what mine (and some of yours) yogi, sensei, friend, etc (Diamond Dallas Page) has taught us.

S  pecific                 D o it
 M easurable             O wn it
  A chievable goals     W rite it
   C ompatible               N ever Quit
    K eep it Going

It really does apply to everything in life that we are working on. 

And I know I have said it before and there is a good chance I will say it again, more for a reminder for myself, even though I have it written down on my big board in the living room.

So let me wrap up this overflowing batch of bubbles today.  We know we will have challenges, but we also know that they are placed in front of us to make us better.  So either we let them knock us down or we face them head on and accomplish them because we know we CAN.

Remember what the word means, and never limit what you do, because we all can do so much more than we think.

chal·lenge

noun

1.a call or summons to engage in any contest, as of skill, strength, etc.

2.something that by its nature or character serves as a call to battle, contest, special effort, etc.:Space exploration offers a challenge to humankind.

3.a call to fight, as a battle, a duel, etc.

4.a demand to explain, justify, etc.: a challenge to the treasurer to itemize expenditures.

5.difficulty in a job or undertaking that is stimulating to one engaged in it.

verb (used with object), chal·lenged, chal·leng·ing.

11.to summon to a contest of skill, strength, etc.

12.to take exception to; call in question: to challenge the wisdom of a procedure.

13.to demand as something due or rightful.

14.Military . to halt and demand identification or countersign from.

15.Law. to take formal exception to (a juror or jury).

verb (used without object), chal·lenged, chal·leng·ing.

21.to make or issue a challenge.

22.Hunting. (of hounds) to cry or give tongue on picking up the scent.

adjective

23.donated or given by a private, corporate, or government benefactor on condition that the recipientraise an additional specified amount from the public: a challenge grant.

Source Dictionary.com