In Part 1, I talked about using a mantra (I am relaxed) to reinforce a positive mindset and state of relaxation. Repeating this positive message to myself over and over throughout the day has helped me see beyond my injured state, and focus on something more productive.
This mantra has been effective, but is admittedly abstract and intermittent. Continue reading
Protein. Carbohydrates. Fat. Calories. That’s how we’ve been taught to think about what we eat. If we can only find the magical mix of macronutrient percentages, we’re told, we can achieve the health and aesthetic goals we’re after. Provided, of course, we stay within the upper bounds of our caloric intake limits.
There are many problems with this thinking, and I won’t address them all in this post. What I want to point out is how thinking about the individual nutrient components of our food (Nutritionism, as Michael Pollan likes to call it), removes eating from its context. Continue reading
The feeling starts inside my chest. It grows slowly, molding itself into a tightly wound knot the size of a tennis ball. Its redness burns, inflaming the chest cavity. The tightness consumes my upper body, making it hard to breathe. Continue reading
I could feel the stress in my chest. A knot the size of a tennis ball would build up at the top of my ribcage, and just kind of fester. My breathing was shallow, my thoughts were tense. All I could do was think about my knee, the stress, Continue reading
After 18 months of trial and error, I’ve settled on a daily set of rituals that are helping me heal. Even typing those words is a revelation, since for the longest time I was pessimistic there was anything I could do on my own that would help. Continue reading
Times couldn’t be more confusing for someone trying to eat for better health.
Marketing messages from Big Food companies, health and fitness practitioners, and supplement peddlers crowd the marketplace. The government and food industry lobbyists pass guidelines serving their political and donor interests (that is, the bottom line rather than your waist line), Continue reading