So up front I'm an idiot and know nothing about physics,but this frees me not unlike herr Einstein to have an open mind and question things and think about what if. I love the idea of time travel and would love to visit the past as well as a take peek into the future. I have read that time is not what we accept it to be, such as we measure it by minutes, days years etc. The past,present and future just are, all we can really know is the now.
My little day dreaming focused on how I hear other folks describing time, just a few things we hear in the course of a day:
Time flies when you are having fun .
this day is dragging on.
where did the day go?
People wish it was already 5pm or how can it be 6 am already, we cannot wait until it's Friday only to have the weekend fly by so fast.
I never get bored, I'm so curious all the time my mind is always asking questions and looking around my office, home and city I notice how people who react to time different. We know people who are always late or show up right on time. We point out the early birds because they seem to be on a different schedule... I think they are and this goes for the late people. In any given 24 hours if you speak with different folks you will hear so many versions of all the things they accomplish or how little time they had to do and nothing got done and now they are out of time.
I think of Morley's ghost and the spirits he sent to Scrooge for a bit of time travel and they referred to the people of the past as shadows. I have been to several historical sites and stood where famous people once stood for a battle or a famous landmark. I always think about what shadows or impressions have been left there, or always were there in time. I imagine in my mind that if we had a pair of magic glasses we could see the different stages of our own lives , so we walk past our childhood school and put on the glasses and we see a seven year old version of ourself on a swingset.
Lots of rambling I know , but I woke up this morning and I needed to jot it down, seemed very profound at the moment or maybe I'm just killing time.
So ever since I saw the film "Altered States" with William Hurt I was curious about these deprivation tanks and never thought I would get the chance to experience it. A few years ago I heard they had made their way to St. Louis. The price at this time $67.00 for a 90 minute "float".
The company is called Float STL and has two St. Louis locations and one was just 10 mins from my office. I put it on my bucket list but it was a bit much I felt to spend on myself after just getting a new car. My dilemma was solved when a group of co-workers handed me 90 minute session! I gotta say I was stoked and it was all I thought about for a week until I booked my session. I spent the prior time reading and watching youtube videos about what other folks have experienced.
Some people had visions, other folks solved problems while their body healed in the strange world of floating.
So I was fully prepped with what to expect so I walk into this nice open space room with incense and new age music. I meet Jake who looks like exactly the guy you would want to work at a place like this. Everyone has a whisper sort of gentle speak and warm smiles, as I was asked to remove my shoes and socks and enjoy a cup of herbal tea. I arrived a little early so I sipped on the tea and glanced a note book for guests to record their visits. One struck me was from a man who was over 6'2" and weighed 400lbs and felt he was free from his body for the very first time! Lots of folks saying that could remember old memories and they were crystal clear. I was really getting pumped for my session.
Jake walks me down a quiet dark hall that reminded me of a 19 century whorehouse with lots of closed doors and candle lights. I had a "room" for my visit but he wanted to show me a "Pod" a sorta white bean shaped coffin.
At last I went into my room, a small dark space with a chair against the wall ,a towel and a shower at the other end. I stripped down and had a shower and opened the door to my tank.
It was and all white room with a tub for a floor and was dimly lit by a blue light that made everything look very 2001 a Space Odyssey . I had been instructed to press a button on the wall after I layed down. Soon music filled the room and layed down into salt filled water. I was floating about 3 inches off the bottom and I could stretch out like the Da Vinci's Vitruvian man only shorter and fatter with no hair but naked none the less.
The feeling was so cool and the music along with my heart beating was very cool and I looked about the room knowing very soon it would be complete darkness..very soon...still not dark..what the hell? I started to think something must have gone wrong when I than was aware that the music had stopped. Now I was floating in the blue light and just sort of breathing.. now the first thing to hit me was not knowing how much time has passed. I knew my session would last 90 mins but did it start when I took a shower or when the lights go off? Which by the way the lights were still on and I really started to freak out a bit. So at long last I hit the button on the wall and darkness took over.
My neck hurt a little so I tried to move about and found with my arms over my head I floated better. The water is set at body temperature which I found to be sorta lukewarm. What does your mind do in the dark as it loses the sense of its body??? Well I thought about how I would describe it to you and the closest thing I can come up with is laying on a raft in a pool and not being afraid of someone coming up from behind and knocking you off.
So I drifted and relaxed my breathing and floated...I did manage to lose my sense of was I laying down or standing and that was very cool. The thing I could let go of was time, how much had passed. I never fell a sleep and found hard to hold onto a thought for some reason. Then lots of little ideas popped into my head like everyone has gone home and they forgot about me. How much time has passed?
I decided to sort of swim about and I noticed that some spots of the tank were warmer. Fresh air was fed in somewhere near where your head should be and that always felt great when I passed that. How much longer I started to wonder and now I felt I had laid down enough and felt the need to get up.
The air in the room seemed warm and swamping and suddenly I wanted fresh air. I will say right now there is no way I could handle a "Pod". My thoughts started to turn into a Poe novel and I was trapped in a watery cell in catacombs of a castle. How much time is left?
I don't want to open the door and find out I only had 29 seconds to go..I took a deep breath and relaxed my breathing and floated... The air seemed thicker now, I slowly sat up and rested against the wall and I could the loud sound of water dripping from my hands to the pool.
Just then the blue light turned on along with music and my session was over.
I made my way to the door and the instant cooler air felt so fresh. I showered the salt from my body slipped on clothes walked barefoot over to bench to retrieve my shoes. The room was now filled with other guests waiting to take their first dip in the dark. The man next to me had a suit on and looked out of place except for his barefeet. He was looking at my face to see if I had anything to share and I gave him a smile shook hands with the host and stepped out into the noise and smells air of the world.
So what did I find out, for me I like to move when I want to move. Perhaps the reason I never get bored is I keep looking over the next hill. I would never just sit on the beach all day or spend my day off on the couch. I loved the darkness and the stillness , my issue is the need to move. All in all it was an amazing experience and I learned some more about how my mind works. It is a very personal trip to take and I really want my wife to try. My son asked if I would try it again and I think its to early to say, right now I feel different and out of sorts . My body is rested now my mind just needs to catch up!
Peace and Love
It's July the heat is on and I am feeling awesome..why you ask?? let me tell yah I made a few right moves and the universe opened up a path for me.
1. I returned to Paleo, limited carbs, heavy on good fats and lots of protein and no processed food to the best of my ability.
2. My wife set up some apps on my phone for tracking my work outs along with everything I put in "Ma belly"! I wear a fitbit and insist on hitting at least my 10,000 steps a day (about five miles).
3. I met with Ethan Brandt of https://www.facebook.com/psychostrength/!!
Ethan is trainer and a walking inspiration of positive thinking and smart working out. I told him I'm not a gym guy but went out to meet him and he has a very impressive gym. Still I stuck to my guns and said thanks but not for me, Ethan sends me a note asking what my goals are and a week later sends me a basic start plan to bust some fat and raise my heart rate. This man is killing me, I find myself waking up at 5am to try some of the moves he sent. I feel the pain two days later and feel I should spend my days trying to find a way to hurt him back.. but I also note I'm feeling stronger day by day.
I started this on the last week of June, and something is changing inside of me along with the outside.
I am not competitive !
OK so now I'm a man on the move walking here and there putting a hobbit to shame, when I get invited via Fitbit to compare my "steps" with friends of mine.. What the hell?? Mary F just passed me by, I don't think so. Off I go for another walk!
The universe is not done with me yet..Pokemon on the Go is ..well you can look it up but it is taking over and nerdy folks are dare I say it...WALKING OUTDOORS IN THE FRESH AIR!!!! My kids have never even been in my back yard unless you count a Google Earth fly by. Now they have discovered my beloved walking paths and near by parks. Groups of pale over weight teens have been seen moving about here and there. I saw the wonder in one lads face when it started to rain and he was so confused.
I tell you its wonderful and creepy all at once. Now let step up and show my cards here, I don't play any video games and know next to nothing about these Poky creatures,but I do know people are moving about and that is a good thing!
I an not competitive!
My wife I should point out is deep into the cult of catching these video imps as well and no one was more shocked then me when she said lets walk a little further!!! WOW
On my nerd side I'm looking at the same time as people are chasing little blue and yellow cartoons at the number of steps other Fit bit players are getting. I have different competitions going on and one is can you get in more steps in your work week than the other guy. I think I can, and then my new Fitbit dies and as I decide what to do my numbers stop while I get lapped by Jim C. and Mary F ( I 'm not sure who they are but they are ahead of me) this will not do at all. I am still not competitive.
On Tuesday night I get a new FitBit but I'm way behind...I start waking two miles at my office, and slowly I catch up..Now its Friday the last day and I'm in third place. I have walked 10,000 steps and I'm still in third. I drive home and think not bad considering I was out for a day, I get home its a nice night and I think if I walk to point A and back that is a five mile walk a second 10,000 steps now we all know by now I am not competitive, I walk the extra five miles and BOOM I am in the lead!!!
I sit back watch a movie and enjoy my victory, my film is coming to an end and I am enjoying a glass of wine when my phone alerts me that Mary F. has just passed me by with 17 minutes to go!! Its almost midnight I am a 52 year old man and I look at my wife and sa y "pause the film I need to walk for 17 minutes, you wanna go find some Pokmon?!! Off we go and at Midnight Mary F receives a note saying Mark C (whoever that is she thinks) just slipped past you to victory!
Now I am not competitive, but that is the reason I was walking two blocks from my house at midnight in my Led Zeppelin PJ's . Side note my wife also went up a level.
You may ask yourself what does this have to do with fitness and health, well I'm not sure except my family is moving and laughing and I feel great. There's lots of ways to lose weight and Ethan and kettlebells, walking , eating the right calories are part of my plan and now its looks like I have some company on the trail to health ; a bunch of pale folks sweating away chasing monsters that will help them get stronger. I'm cool with that. Peace and Love
So I have dabbled with a few different styles of eating since I took on my Century (100 miles) bike ride last September and I discovered that I was wrong..imagine that. I kept my weight off for three or more years with little effort and then boom my weight shot back up to nearly 245 lbs over the winter and I have not been able to drop a pound in spite of all of my efforts.
Two days ago I pulled up all of my notes and realized I was fighting a losing battle and I needed to return to my paleo ways and quick!
Now the problem was I chose carbs so I could ride 100 miles , I did pull that off but I also damaged my Achilles tendons and sent my body back into a carb craving machine that was not able to ride. I had committed myself to a fifty mile ride this weekend and I have not had the energy to ride much at all with my extra 20lbs. In short this made for a lackluster ride of 43 miles before my body just gave up and my legs turned into cement.
On the ride I chose to leave music behind and think about what had go wrong in diet. I had made what was easy very complex and it was showing in my health.
Calories in/ out are important and can not be ignored. You can look up some sites on the web and with a little math get a good idea of how many calories your body burns at rest.
Chose an activity you love that burns calories, walking , hiking, and biking and some kettlebell works are my plan for a t least one hour out of my day.
Figure out a goal that you want to reach, a great one if you're over weight is 10% weight loss.
In my case this morning I weighed 236 lbs , that's a pound lighter after my four hour bike ride which gives you and idea that this is a long slow process unless you intend to workout four hours every day.
I want to get below 200lbs this year as my goal, so I have a full seven months to lose the weight, and I expect too see it go some like this. Down 10lbs the first month and then the maybe six pounds over the next two months and then a plateau where my weight loss stalls for several weeks. When your weight has stalled that's the time to recalculate your numbers and start over, because you're eating too much again.
Stick with the basic rules, eat clean and lean, easy on the carbs, move often,play in the sunshine and sleep good at night.
Already this morning a fog is leaving my mind and I feel back on track.
Hey all, This is my fourth year or so of living as clean as I can, I have made a ton of mistakes and learned a lot as well. This is what I'm doing now and what I intend to continue to do until some magic comes my way. I'm keeping track of the amount of calories I eat compared to the amount of calories I burn! Pretty radical thinking I know. You can find all sorts of apps and web site calculators online to help you find your number. My plan was instead of looking to how to lose weight I chose to see what I would have to do to maintain my ideal weight. I went to a site entered my height /sex/age and then chose the weight I want to be at! Now to me this is thinking outside of the box but in a good way. The first few weeks might get tough but already it has made me very aware of the extra calories that sneak in there in the course of my day. If you were to start out at your current weight in time you will have to cut back, I would rather get to where I need to be eating all the time. As for working out, I think that depends on your personal goal. I'm in my early 50's and I want to be fit and pain free to do all the activities I enjoy. My workout is based on short intense focused bursts of power. I use my kettle bell and do 40 swings at least every other day as soon as I get up. I repeat this in the evening as well. I bike a 16 mile course at least twice a week and in between that I have hill days where I bike up a steep hill. So these are simple workouts , brief no gym but they add muscle and tone along with burning a few calories. Now I still try and make the calories I eat as clean and healthy as can be, if I have a night out and go a little over board than I know this will be at best a maintain night and not a weight loss night. Here's to keeping it simple, life can be hard enough. Peace and Love
