Alternative Eating

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

We are what we eat. It's a common phrase we hear when talking about food. And when we really think about the possible consequences of ingesting good verses poor foods, and clearly witness the results in others, we know this statement to be true. But, even with this knowledge, the majority will still make poor choices a lot of the time. Why is that?

We breakdown the foods ingested, to replenish energy stores and repair cells in the body. We make our major meal/food/energy choices about three times a day on average and even more times by those taking smaller meals and regular snacks. Therefore, we have multiple opportunities to make better energy consumption decisions. Still, the majority will repeat the same poor choices, even when presented with healthier alternatives. And even if we're making the right decisions some of the time, it's unlikely we'll be able to keep making better decisions over a sustained length of time. The problem isn't our lack of knowledge. It isn't lack of choice either. Improving self-discipline, will help matters but it's not enough. What's ultimately required, is better self-restraint and education, coupled with a consistent delivery of mindful decision making.

Making poor choices on the short term might not show up immediately in our appearance or our performance, or even have any immediate detrimental effects - but making poor choices over the longer term, most definitely will have implications. Consistently making either the right or wrong choices will determine how well we perform, age and tackle injury or illness. We can clearly witness results in those that train for sports, recovery or weight adjustment. Some people can literally transform themselves into somebody barely recognisable from the puny, weak, sick or overweight person they once were, because they made conscious good choices - instead of bad ones. And the most positive fact: because our cells are constantly regenerating themselves - it's never too late to start making better choices. This is true. If we start making better food choices right now - today, we have the opportunity to improve our health and potentially create even better, future versions of ourselves.

The Essential Truth

It's already been well established, that taking in the best nutrients is key for maintaining optimal health & peak performance levels, but making the right food choices is not only going to reward us with the best energy sources - it's also going to help keep us alive. 

That previous sentence may have seemed pretty obvious, but without certain essential ingredients, we will not survive. Eating/drinking isn't solely about taking on board fuel sources for energy. There are 8 essential amino acids (9 for children) that our body cannot synthesise on it's own. Therefore, these nutrients will have to be obtained from our food sources.

The Eat Well Plate
We're told to eat a healthy balance of starchy carbohydrates, fresh vegetables and protein-rich foods. This is sound advice - but maybe some of the information we've been given, about which food sources are the best for our health, has primed our thinking to support false ideals. 

From Caveman To City Dweller

When the sea levels stabilised at the end of the ice-age, leaving vast expanses of dramatic landscape to emerge as the ice retreated, humans have progressively adapted to a newer way of life. Man's control over fire, had not only helped ward off predators, it also helped us to break down food easier through cooking. Less time used up for chewing and digesting food, allowed us more time to establish non-nomadic ways of living from a period claimed to be somewhere around 10,000 BC, which is when the first signs of agricultural farming were discovered.

After many millennia of evolution from being the cave-dwelling Palaeolithic, hunter-gatherer, our Neolithic ancestors eventually learned how to sustain larger communities through agricultural farming. We grew wheat, barley, spelt and other grains for making bread and porridge-like meals plus we farmed animals like chicken, cattle and other livestock for aiding us with farm work and providing us with food sources. Human beings have become so good in the production of our food from advances in technology and through scientifically enhancing the way we farm, that we now have super robust, genetically modified grains, filling even denser expanses of farmland, and many more farmed livestock animals combined, than there are people currently living on the planet. The irony about this modern-day growth-spurt in agriculture, is that the majority of the grain is grown for feeding the farm animals. This is not turning out to be a very efficient system - it's certainly not looking very sustainable - and on deeper investigation, it's not proving to be the healthiest option for us either. 

An Unsustainable Solution

Livestock production requires a lot of energy. We're running out of space to keep all the farm animals and grow their food. We're over-farming, genetically modifying and potentially creating more intolerances and illness in people and cattle to sustain a growing world population. So what's the solution? Rather than having so much meat or diary, how about switching for vegetarian or vegan alternatives? In fact there are so many healthy alternatives to meat/diary and better alternatives to over-farmed grains like wheat, that more and more people are switching to a more plant-based diet and giving up produce that comes from meat sources altogether.

Apparently, the environmental factors involved by giving up so much agricultural land for the feeding and growing of farm animals/livestock, mean that we are already unable to sustain the current population's appetite for eating meat and diary. Meat and diary have certain nutrients that our bodies need. Important nutrients and vitamins like Calcium, Iron, Vitamin B and proteins can be taken from meat and diary. But according to the following documentary entitled Cowspiracy, we are able to produce far more plant based protein-rich food sources per acre than we currently have allowable for livestock production. Yet still we have so many meat eaters - and so many being told they need protein-rich meat sources to grow muscles.

The Meat v Vegan Myth
We can live without meat and meat products. There's a misconception that only a diet containing meat will provide us with all the essential amino acids required to live. However, we can see from reliable sources that this fact is untrue and 'complete-protein' food sources can be obtained from a purely vegan or plant-based diet. Calcium from dairy can be sufficiently obtained from other plant-based food sources, so we can cut-out diary altogether, potentially giving even greater health benefits. And another common misconception that vegans suffer with iron deficiency because their diets lack nutrients only obtained in sufficient quantities through ingesting meat, can more clearly be attributed to plants with higher levels of phytates. For example, legumes, which can be a staple ingredient in vegan diets are high in phytic acid, which hinders iron absorption - something that can be reduced through cooking and/or soaking plus counteracted by eating more iron-rich vegetables and super-greens like spinach.

Bigger Issues At Heart 
There's much more than just our own selfish health benefits to consider here. By avoiding meat, there'll be important implications on the environment. Lowering the water consumption and reducing land mass for sustaining all this livestock, will immediately have a positive effect in reducing carbon dioxide, plus other greenhouse gasses like methane, being released into the atmosphere. The health of the nation and the planet are hanging in the balance while we continue along a path to ruin. We all need to make a conscious decision to alter this course towards catastrophe - and this outcome could be avoided or at the very least, slowed down, simply by changing our eating habits.

Please note - the link to this video was working -- DiCaprio himself said it would be free to watch. Apparently, this is now not the case. So please click here for alternative option.

Training Machines

THE RIGHT FUEL FOR THE JOB

Diet plays a key role in everything we do. Fact. Put the wrong fuel in our bodies and we hamper our performance. 

Skipping meals or taking in poor nutrition too much of the time, will effect our overall mood and energy levels. Whereas, eating unprocessed food, such as fresh fruit & vegetables, coupled with lean protein-rich nutrients taken from premium sources such as nuts & beans, wild fish, grass-fed beef, other lean organic meats and poultry, we can transform our bodies, heal injuries, improve physical/mental wellbeing - enhancing memory function, mood, sleep quality and generate increased vitality to do all the things we enjoy in life. 

Combine this nutrititious diet with a consistent exercise programme of weights, along with an active 20-30 minutes of running, swimming, cycling or walking - and we have a greater chance of making a ripe old age.

Acting On Knowledge

Jack Lalanne was a man way ahead of his time. He was widely recognised as one of the early pioneers for the fitness industry and a real inspiration for anyone at any age, to transform their lives through diet and exercise.

Jack was a real showman. He acompished some amazing physical feats in his 70 year career and was a major advocate of regular exercise combined with a healthy diet. One without the other was never good enough. His interviews, sharimg knowledge about how to stay fit and healthy, are really easy to follow. It's all pretty simple. Eat fresh, un-processed foods including fruit, veg and fish (he was mostly a vegetarian but ate fish and eggs). Exercise every day with a routine of strength training including 30 minutes of blood pumping activity - either a swim or a walk. And that's it! This life-enhancing advice was being shared through his TV show and with everyone else who would listen from 50-60 years ago. And he was still advocating his advice for a healthier life, by doing his daily routine right up until the day he died at 95 years of age. If someone so obviously clued-up and living proof of the valuable information he shared with us, still couldn't get through to enough of the sick and overweight population, then there must be something wrong?

Unfortunately, there is something fundamentally wrong. We all have the potential. Many already have the knowledge. We know what needs to be done - and yet, many of us don't do it! According to one of my favourite modern day thinkers, Alain de Botton, (in his own words), 'We suffer from what ancient Greek philosophers termed 'akrasia', a perplexing tendency to know what we should do combined with a persistent reluctance actually to do it, whether through weakness of will or absent-mindedness. We all possess wisdom that we lack the strength properly to enact in our lives.'

Turn Up The Volume

Frequency is the key. Consistent, daily exercises - no matter if it's light - is better than no exercise at all. Plan to do something every day. You don't even need to belong to a gym. There's many activities that count as exercise, which can easily be increased in intensity to give a better work out. Some of these include walking, doing housework, travelling to/from work and picking up the groceries. 

Gym's offer more scope for the many types of muscle training - plus it's already a psychological advantage to be in a place already primed for fitness. The hardest thing about the gym though, is stepping foot in one. However, once we are in a training environment, the motivation required to do the work - if it can't come from ourselves - can easily be attained through a group class or via a personal trainer. 

But it's no use hitting the gym hard one day a week/fortnight and breaking yourself or thinking that's going to be enough work. It's far better to do something more manageable every day and better still, carried out first thing in the morning. There's fewer excuses for skipping it. Also, if we've eaten well the night before, the body is already primed to work hard. If there's space, then do a little routine at home or on the way to work. Otherwise, make the gym easy to get to on the way to work/home or choose one close by so you can go in lunchtimes. Once there, don't ever worry about the other people's output - focus on your own training and keep the output as high as possible without breaking yourself. If you can add 1 hour per day in total for moderate exercise (including walking, taking the stairs two at a time instead of lifts/escalators etc.), then potentially, there's an extra 100-200 calories being burned off. 

If we keep the regular daily exercises at a moderate intensity, plus monitor the diet/calorie intake to be the same, it will mean a steady weight loss, improved overall fitness, lower cholesterol, toned muscles, greater energy, better sleep and new lifestyle change that becomes the 'norm' over time. And if we can do this every day for the rest of our lives....the rest of our lives will be potentially a lot longer than they would have been without becoming a training machine. 

Killing Machines

NATURAL BORN KILLERS

Society is made up of a broad mix of people and roughly 1% of the population are said to be psychopathic maniacs. These are people who thrive on violence, that take pleasure in inflicting psychological/physical pain on others, have low fear threshold and lack empathy.

On the other side of the spectrum, we also have people in society who deal with dangerous situations and jobs - the military and others exposed to great risk of injury or death. They display some of the characteristics of a psychopath but they channel their energies into roles the majority would not be equipped to take on. 

There are also a great number of people who thrive on danger, aggression and violence. Boxers, martial artists and other trained fighters, who entertain us with their battles or protect and defend us from danger. These people all have a killer mindset - for that is what motivates them to fight in the first place. However, there are marked differences between ​those with a killer mindset and outright killers. When we compare a fighter, killer and a murderer, ​we can see where the same killer instinct has very different underlying motivations. Because controlled combat for entertainment, has an established set of rules to follow and even fighters in war, trained for the purpose of killing, have a code of rules to abide by, ​whereas a murderer's only rule is possibly not to get caught.

Psychopaths are not the only ones to watch out for. ​No matter how passive we believe we are, or revulsed by violence inflicted on others, we all have this killer lurking somewhere inside us. Because, if provoked, we are all capable of carrying out supremely heinous deeds. But conversely, we are also capable of being courageous heroes too. Sometimes it's just a very fine line that separates the two.

Killer Training

I've been back in the gym regularly over the last few weeks. There's been a weights routine, some stretching and general cardio - but the main focus on Monday-Friday mornings, has been my MMA training. 

Mixed Martial Arts is a style of fighting that encompasses different styles of full-contact, hand-to-hand combat. It's another one of our entertainment outlets for showcasing the modern-day warrior. We watch these highly trained individuals battle it out in wire cages, to witness that base killer instinct at work. The difference between the classic warrior contests of antiquity of course, is that these modern bouts are fought until one person is either knocked unconscious or surrenders to the other opponent. There's also a referee to intervene before anyone gets seriously hurt. This hasn't always been the case, as Roman history will clearly prove and we can see from other competitive forms of human 'rutting', which have gone on since the beginning of time.

We are hard-wired to fight for survival and we are all fascinated by the macabre actions of killers and death. We can't help but to look at the pictures or read the real-life horror stories in the media. It's not just a morbid fascination with the news either - many of the most popular TV series in our homes, like Game of Thrones, Dexter or Hannibal, focus on the worst traits about human nature. We encounter forms of entertainment that's not so far removed from the games of death played out in virtual arenas akin to the real ones our ancestors observed in the Colosseum and other venues for gore & death. Yes, technologically, we've evolved to beam these scenes into our homes, but the truth is, we are no more civilised today than we were 2000+ years ago. 

The Warrior instinct

Fighters inflict pain to wear their opponent down for a victory. Killers also want to win but they will pursue it to survive at any cost, whereas murderers will take another's life without greatly risking their lives in order to fulfil their own desires. There are killers all around us and if the situation ever arises, you are a very capable killing machine two. A lot of people feel uncomfortable, but knowing this fact about ourselves, helps to keep our inner beast in check. Embracing the inner warrior gives us strength and confidence - and instills respect in other men and women.

The Inner Chimp
Negative energy can be easily built up as we become increasingly stressed. Through frustration and emotional turmoil, we begin perceiving others as a threat. Our inner chimp or primitive fight & flight mechanism becomes activated and we tend to act more irrationally towards others. This beast can be difficult to pacify - especially when allowed to react in situations that lead to violence. So, safely releasing this inner beast through an intense fighting training session, can help to expel some of the pent up aggressive energy.

This technique for clearing pent-up frustration and aggression is clearly working for me. I not only feel better physically but also, channelling any negative energy through fighting training, helps create within me, a much more relaxed and happy mindset. Everybody benefits when we are in this state. Calm, collected and modest traits can be observed in other trained fighters too.

Being Prepared
Sure, we don't ever want to be caught out by a cold faced killer, but how will we ever know when we're in the presence of a psychopath anyway? By having a certain demeanour, that says 'don't try anything with me' - a type of fighter awareness and readiness for action that exudes from the battle-trained, physically hardened and mentally toughened individual, we can be sure to give off a warning to those that mean us harm, or intend to take advantage of any perceived weakness - be that in a situation related to personal relationships or business. So adapt and embrace that killer instinct, channel the energy into creating a warrior that is respected, powerful but also humble, modest and quietly confident about tackling any situation that comes our way.

Meat Machines

BIOLOGICAL BELIEF

We are machines. And we are not just biological machines - we are biological machines! This fact is both amazing and unsettling at the same time. Because, if we are nothing but chemicals and neurons, does that mean love is just a reactionary hormone release? Does this also mean we have no free will?

The answer to the above question on free will, may be answered by watching the following very interesting documentary by Bruce Lipton on the subject of Epigenetics. In this video, he discusses the properties of cellular organisms and how they react to external factors without altering the underlying DNA sequence.

In this video, Bruce explains how cells react to signals received from their environment which suggests that cellular activity is influenced through receptors located in the cell itself. By attracting binding proteins, the cell mechanisms are altered. If what Bruce is implying happens to these micro organisms, is also happening within the multi-millions of cells in our bodies, it means we are giving out and picking up signals not only from our subconscious neurological systems but that these cells can be influenced by our thoughts and intentions passed into the environments the cells live in. Changes in the organisms can be passed on through multiple generations without changing the DNA sequences. It transpires that we can influence our cells through positivity. He's written a book on the subject which I'm about to start.

Intent on Attraction
Turning on the body's receptors for attraction can be achieved through visualisation and influenced through our body's chemistry via our own positive thoughts. This means that we do in fact have free will! We have the capacity to change our physiological makeup. It's been shown through studies on recovering cancer patients, that those who remain positive, have a much higher chance of survival. So by focusing on our perception triggering actions on a conscious level, we can not only change the body's physiology, but also improve our body's 'collective' cellular intelligence. Yes, we have the the capacity to heal, but it's also possible that we can improve what we are born with. It's not just down to DNA.

Bruce Lipton suggests that a negative connotation connected with one's gene history - ie. a family history of cancer - can become a self-prophesying conclusion if we merely focus on our genes and DNA. By making consistent positive decisions, putting out into the universe our intentions and by visualising a goal we wish to achieve in life - we can possibly activate the receptors at a microscopic level, that send and receive the right signals for attracting what our thoughts desire.

Perception Prophecy

YOU ARE YOUR UNIVERSE

Everything we see, hear, touch or experience as we journey through life, ultimately makes up our reality.

Our senses feed information into our minds and it's our interpretation of this torrent from the environment about us, that becomes our personal universe. All our connections, including everybody and everything we come into contact with, will be relative to only us in our own unique way. There will be positive, negative and neutral connotations associated with everything, depending on our personal interpretations and therefore it's how we choose to perceive the world around us that determines our path through life. 

The universe has no feelings and does not make order from chaos or draw on emotions - these are human traits. There is no meaning to the universe, just universal natural laws. So without our minds trying to make some sense out of this universal information or awarding it any value, we place no importance on anything - hence we have no attachment either. Practising non-attachment, will help us to avoid creating values where there were none. Without values, there is no importance - situations become insignificant. And without us awarding any significance, there is no meaning. We become closer attuned to the universe as our perception is altered and our universe opens up way beyond the barriers we've placed in the way. 

If we allow it, people, situations and our thoughts become our barriers. We all have the capacity to remove obstacles - real or realised. It's the barriers we create ourselves through our minds, that are both the easiest and the most difficult to remove. It takes a lot of time and applied practice to train the physical body - the same applies to the mind and therefore, it follows, that we can create a liberated mind for perceiving a new and better reality for ourselves. We just need to learn the right methods and apply the knowledge. 

The greatest methods utilised for altering our perception will stem from the hard work consistently delivered through practising yoga, meditation, and visualisation and ultimately projected into reality through regular self-assessment, adjustment & documentation. 

The only reality is the one we ourselves project onto the world. The sooner we face up to the fact, the more time we invest in understanding and identifying where false realities have been created, and the sooner we can alter our perception to create an improved future reality.