my enviable life

I feel guilty about posting this.  I know life is going to throw me a curve ball, as it always does.  I know pain and suffering are inevitable.  But, right now, at this moment, life is really good.   And I have to give credit to the (diet induced?) malaise I suffered the past 3 years.  All those books on positive psychology, meditation, motivation, I even hired a good friend of mine as a career coach--which was awesome by the way--all those things actually paid off.  I think if I wouldn't have developed my malaise, I might not have got unhappy with my job and started trying to figure out a solution.  The solution was simple in the end (but I needed the journey to get there):  going half-time at work, and potatoes.  haha.  Going half-time solved my work and lifestyle issues.  And potatoes solved my malaise.  haha.  Now again, I feel guilty because I know many people would love such a luxury to be able to work half-time.  Sorry about this.  Ironically, this is a benefit of having an insecure job.  I am responsible for funding my salary through federal grants I obtain, and a typical grant has a lifetime of 1-3 years.  My funding horizon was typically that long throughout my career.  As a result, I avoided debts, and I budgeted for a half-time salary.  I always expected to have to go to half-time eventually or change jobs, and it never happened, so I finally got impatient and just did it.  ha.  That was a big step because my career is somewhat demanding and turns people into workaholics whether they want it or not; half-time is not exactly part of the culture.  But I'm old now and I figure i can afford to be eccentric.

So now that I'm half-time, what am I doing?  Well, Wednesday morning is kayaking with Ed:

Today the lily pads were in bloom which I've never seen before:

Friday is "Camrock Friday."  Housemate and I go to Camrock park and first take a walk, and then I take a mountain bike ride. Here I am decked out.  I might look goofy with the elbow and kneepads, but I've broken both a kneecap and an elbow in the last 6 years (not mountain biking), and I never want that to happen again.

Other days include swimming (great training for kayaking), road biking (great training for mountain biking), running, hiking, biking to work (great training for mountain biking), oh, and mountain biking.

Then there is my church.  I'm an active member and I enjoy the community but also the excellent opportunities for community service.

I started playing my flute again.  I'm hoping to read more.  I only started working part-time about a month ago so I'm still learning how to do it.  and I actually work 5 hours a day to make sure I get my 4 in (I'm so dedicated!).  and of course, there is food prep for a healthy diet.  But that is much lower now and will free up more time for living my life.

Inspirations from this week

I managed to find motivation and inspirations from a lot of sources this week:

• I was reminded by Linda Spangle in her books (100 days of weightless, Life is Hard, Food is Easy) that Motivation is a choice.  And that reminded me of something Sarah Taylor said which is, motivation doesn't just come to you, you have to make it happen, every day.   So think "I'm going to do this!"  not, "I'll give it a try."  Of course, whatever it is you are planning, make sure it's realistic:  e.g., I'm going to ride my exercise bike 1 minute per day.  Hey, you gotta start somewhere!   And by the way, I think these Linda Spangler books are great.  I'm going through them with my good friend.  We are really enjoying connecting with each other through this venue.  We started just after Thanksgiving and it really helped me get through the holidays.  Even though I don't have much if any weight to lose, I have some emotional eating issues, for example in how I handle social situations and celebrations.  What I'm realizing is that I really do prefer my own food, so that makes those feelings of deprivation and being different fade away more and more.  This is a very positive development for me.
• In my meditation class, we watched a video by Mingyur Rinpoche, and one of his lines struck me in a lovely way:  "You can be happy anytime, anywhere, no matter what your circumstances."  That just makes me feel good--it's like he's giving me permission I didn't give myself!  And that got me thinking, don't wait until you reach your goals to be happy!   Because if you do, you might now know how to be happy then!   Not only that, if you can be happy now, it might make it easier to reach your goals!   So start learning now how to be happy.  
• From listening to my Buddhism lectures, I learned about the religious beliefs at the time of the Buddha and how reincarnation was not viewed as a good thing like we westerners might view it (regardless of if you believe it or not).   The end of suffering is the end of this cycle.  It gave me just a little more insight into the point of Buddhism and meditation.  I am a total newbie, but I can glimpse how letting go of both your past failures and accomplishments can be freeing.  I have to admit, it gives me stress to attach to either of those too strongly.  I see glimpses of how letting go of "I" could be a good thing.  I only have glimpses here and there but it's enough to keep me wanting to find out more.
• I worked hard this week at my job, one of my goals for this year.  So I'm off to a good start.  I think it's a good idea to have a passion other than your eating/exercise plan, a passion that really engages you.  It could be work or a hobby.  For me, when I first became vegan and nutritarian, that was my passion--there was so much to learn and I was loving all of it.  Now that I have learned it, it's time for me to find another passion.  Food/health/exercise is now a vehicle that allows me to perform my other passions.  Also, if you are wondering how to be happy (previous bullet), having something you really sink your teeth into is a great start.
• I'm listening to Rob Lowe's autobiography on audiobooks.  I listen to audiobooks while preparing food or exercising and saw this was highly rated, and thought it would be fun light listening.  Well, I see why it was highly rated as it is very interesting and entertaining, even while jogging on the treadmill, which is saying a lot (ha).  This week, I was inspired by his approach to his alcohol rehab.  He approached it with the same ambition and competitiveness that he previously approached his acting career, his partying, his friendships and conquests.   That is, he was going to be the best abstainer you've ever seen.  I like his hutzpah.   

What motivated or inspired you this week?   If the answer is not much, well, there's always next week!

While doing food prep...

I spend a lot more time in the kitchen since adopting this healthy eating plan.  To entertain myself I've been enjoying listening to audiobooks.  I've really enjoy this.   More recently I found something else that is fun.  I've been getting these catalogs from this company Great Courses for years (not sure why).  I've never considered buying them because the prices are usually several hundred dollars.  But they are having a 70% off sale right now so I peeked in the catalog to see what's offered.  I ordered three courses:  Buddhism, old testament and new testament.  I've been interested in all three for a while and figured I'd never make the time to read about them so this will be fun to listen to the lectures.  I started the Buddhism course and am enjoying it.

Year-end Reflections

Here are ome things I learned in 2011

1)  I learned a few things about my job.  One is that I can get away with goofing off at work, but I don’t feel good about it when the day is done.  The other is related and has has to do with my attitude towards my low self-esteem.  Sometimes I think I’m not good enough to be pursuing my profession and that I’m no longer relevant and I should free up the space/funding for a younger person (yes, all dumb thoughts but fairly common in my competitive field).  I decided that whatever I think of myself, I should still try to do the best I can, because I feel a lot better about myself after a good day’s work, than after a day of goofing off at work.  So my plan for 2012 is to be the best astronomer I can be.  And if I’m irrelevant after that, then I will happily pursue something else.

2)  I had my own version of a happiness project (the name of a popular book, which I am reading now too).  I read several “positive psychology” and meditation books in the spring and summer.  I’ve posted about some of these here.  The meditation books were by Mingyur Rinpoche.  He is the first meditation author that got through my dense brain in a way I could understand.  I’d previously learned the concept of mindfulness but I didn’t learn to meditate.  Whenever I tried it, I got bored within a minute, and wanted to do something else, and quit.   Two things got me going on finally starting a practice: First, I learned from Mingyur Rinpoche’s books that meditation is simply learning to being aware of your thoughts.  You don’t have to empty your mind or reach nirvana, you just have to watch the thoughts go by, and when you forget and then notice it, you say, oops, and the more you say oops, the more you are aware.  One advantage I noticed about meditation is that you start to see fallacies in your thinking, for example, negative thoughts about yourself.   The second thing that got me going in my practice was that a tergar practice community started up this Fall in my town with meetings once a week right across the street from my office!   This tergar community is based on Mingyur Rinpoche’s teachings, the same guy whose books I had just read!  I think I felt so lucky about this that I jumped in with both feet.  I worked on daily meditation and eventually found I can consistently do a 20 minute practice right after I get up in the morning.  I worked up to that, starting with 2-3 minute practices.   I’m very happy with my adventure into meditation and I plan to continue this in 2012.  Even though I still feel like a novice, I can see that it has helped me a LOT already.  Our next class module is about meditating on loving kindness.  How awesome does that sound?

3)  I had the best holiday season ever.  On the outside, it was no different than any other.   But on the inside I had a completely different attitude than before.  I cherished my time with friends and family.  I adored our tree full of ornaments from friends, family, vacations, full of memories.  I considered our tree a piece of art.  I enjoyed listening to Christmas music.  Contrast that with my cynical attitudes from previous years:  I endured my family time; I viewed the decorating and shopping as dumb chores forced on me by society to boost the economy;  I viewed the whole season as something to get through and then get back to my life.  What a difference an attitude makes!

4)  I learned something about emotional eating.  I learned what we all already know:  I feel worse when I eat the wrong things and overeat for emotional reasons, than when I don’t.  Easy to say, hard to change.  But worth trying because each time you succeed, it gets easier next time.  I also learned that for me, making certain foods forbidden is a bad idea.  Even Dr. Fuhrman says in his books that nothing is forbidden.   I have a goal to go 12 weeks without eating sugar or refined grains because that is the time it typically takes to break a food addiction according to Dr. Fuhrman.  But it’s just a goal.  I told myself I can have an occasional treat, as long as it’s with the Eat to Live parameters, that is, under 5-10% of total calories.  I figure the really unhealthy stuff should be well under 5% of calories.  I’ve been doing this long enough that a once-a-month treat is enough to satisfy me.  The funny thing is, since it’s not forbidden, it loses a lot of its appeal, or maybe the downside becomes more apparent:  e.g., the cookies I usually crave are actually kind of dry and not all that tasty, etc.  I’m about 5 weeks into this 12-week abstinence goal, and don’t have cravings, but even during this time, nothing is forbidden.  If I really want a cookie, I can have one.  This was an important insight for me.  I’m hoping in 2012, that not just my eating, but my behaviors and attitudes toward eating will be measured and healthy.

I hope we all have a happy and healthy 2012! 

Motivation recommendations

I was asked what my latest book recommendations are for motivation and positive psychology/happiness.  I have the books listed in my "Recommended books" section at right.   At the top of the list are the why and how-to books on eating for health, then cookbooks, and at the bottom are motivation/positive pyschology books.  I just updated that list with a new one, Get off Your But, by Sean Stephenson and Anthony Robbins.    So now what do I recommend in what order?

If you don't want to read any and just want a 3-sentence summary it is this (see below for another useful take-home point #4):  1)  There are no excuses.  2) Just do it.  3)  Happiness comes from overcoming challenges, not from pleasure-giving activities (such as watching tv or eating ice cream).   Regarding point #1,  Get off your but has lots of inspirational stories.  Regarding point #2, You can read all the books you want but it finally has to come from you.  Regarding point #3, you will be very happy when you do make the changes.  It is very hard, no doubt about it, but you will overcome and that will bring you GREAT satisfaction and ultimately happiness.

If you want to read just one, I think I recommend Get off Your But.  It is very inspirational and has lots of activities to help you on your journey.

If you want to read more, I have them ordered by how I liked them but it is very personal, so you may not agree with my ordering.  I also would like to point out The Pleasure Trap, which is more science and psychology but it shows why we desire processed foods and why we should avoid them (this is available in both book and DVD).  It helps you understand that this isn't about you being weak and bad, but about the food being bad and dangerous.  Let me emphasize this as take-home point #4)  The food is bad, not you!

If you like to learn and to stay motivated, then I recommend all of these books.  What I do is buy the audio versions and listen to them on my ipod while doing my food prep.  I think this is fun.  And then I save my other enjoyable books for my night-time reading.

Positive Psychology, happiness, and motivation

I've been listening and reading a lot of books on positive psychology this year.  I heard about this fairly new field of psychology back in January and I've just been fascinated ever since.  After so many years of investigating what's wrong with people, psychologists started to ask what are the characteristics of thriving, happy people?  There's a lot to learn from these books. I guess the short answer is that meditation; getting immersed in your work or hobby; having a good relationship with your partner, or family, or friends; and feeling part of something larger (religion or community) are all key ingredients that lead to happiness.  It seems obvious but there are a lot of interesting things in there.  I didn't realize work was so important.  I thought I was mistaken to work so hard all my life but it turns out that was a good thing.  Last year I decided to work less and I was less happy.   I am a really lousy meditator, but I'm thinking I will make time for that and give it a try.  I have a hard time sitting still!

Why am I posting about this here?   Because I think there's a lot in the books that can help a person be motivated to eat healthy.  Dr. Fuhrman teaches us what to do, but it goes so much again the grain of our society, that it ends up being very hard for most people who try this.  I think these books really help.  Instead of feeling different and embarrassed about my food choices in public situations, I'm learning to feel  proud of my choices and accomplishments.  Here's a list of some of the books I've read so far, listed in order of my favorites (but it totally depends on your own geekiness and other personality traits which you would like most, and I like them all):  The Happiness Hypothesis, Flow, Authentic Happiness, The Happiness Advantage, and Positivity.  I'm listening to The Joy of Living right now.

Another book that is more directly related to eating healthy is the Beck Diet Solution.   It uses Cognitive Therapy to make you "think like a thin person".  I translate that to "think like a healthy person."  You learn to change your habits through training and replacing "sabotaging thoughts" with "helpful responses."  An author I recently discovered who I think I like even better is Linda Spangle.  She wrote "100 days of Weight Loss" and "Life is Hard, Food is Easy:  The 5-step plan to overcome emotional eating and lose weight on any diet."   She offers a free 100-day workbook on her website.

Finally, another book directly related to eating healthy is The Pleasure Trap.  This is an excellent book about the physiology and psychology of eating healthy vs unhealthy foods; it discusses the difference between happiness and pleasure.  I've posted about it before here.