Changes

Well I am not sure exactly how it happened but I have begun to treat my body a lot better. It has only been about a week but here is what I am doing:

- FlowFit 3x weekly; -- 14 minutes of the 2nd flow
- IntuFlow (Intermediate) 3x weekly; alternating days with FlowFit -- Sundays are off days
- on FlowFit days I also do the Ryabko Systema physical/breath work. Doing this then 14 minutes of FlowFit really pushes me to the my threshold of discomfort, particularly in my legs it also gets my breathing going quite nicely
- I have also changed my diet and am following a simple version of the Zone diet.

The simplified Zone diet worked great for me a few years ago and I stuck with it for months. Unfortunately I started having an adverse broccoli reaction that was so bad that the only way I could get rid of it was to return to my old, abysmal, eating habits. I like the modified Zone diet because I am a pretty simple guy and you can make a quick meal of raw vegetables and a decent protein without having to be too picky. The Zone also stresses the timing of the meals so you have to plan ahead a little bit, but not much. In one of his books the creator of the Zone diet says that food should be treated like medicine and taken in appropriate doses on a regular schedule. I say Amen. I love this diet and have been trying to get back to it for awhile but my old habits got in the way. I am not sure what tipped the scale this time but I know that I was not happy with the way I was feeling, or looking. One of the great things about this diet is that your energy level will go up almost immediately. It may not be all that noticeable if you are already eating healthy but if you ate like I did you will quickly notice the difference.

Another good thing about this diet is that it is pretty much in line with the dietary recommendations of Edgar Cayce regarding food combining. The important thing for me is not to get too caught up in the details, and thus the "modified" version that I mentioned. Basically, if I don't have low fat protein available I will substitute whatever protein I can get. With carbohydrates I still prefer raw vegetables but can substitute smaller portions of grains etc. I would rather substitute for the protein because the fruits and vegetables tend to be more filling than other types of carbohydrates.

The Zone diet also recommends a small amount of monounsaturated (or is it poly?) with each meal. This is stuff like olive oil etc. I have found a novel solution to this by taking fish oil capsules with my meals. Almonds, avocadoes etc also qualify.

In short I am going in a positive direction in regards to my physical body. My goals are to:

- feel better (this is already happening but I have to keep reminding myself that what I want is long term feel good, not the short term high that I get from my high sugar/high fat/high caffeine diet)
- look better - I'll know I am succeeding here if I can get some of my old pants to fit a bit better
- be more healthy - normal range for cholesterol and blood pressure. This is for me and my family