Nixing Leftovers….. Your Body Zen…Discovering the Path to Total Health

Food …Glorious Food

The more of it we consume in our super-sized portions the less we appear to understand its impact on our bodies.

Growing up in a home and a culture where something was cooking all the time …

….Even though we were Working Class …we ate the Cuisine of Kings

Food was the center of everything.. as there was no wine, beer or any alcohol

…in fact, it was never talked about ……as if it never existed.

In reality, Alcohol would never have stood chance…against this Cuisine

Lets take Thanksgiving as an example

Arrive at about Noon.

Several hours of an array of ethnic Hors d’oeuvres

 …each one served with garnishes to make each dish like something from a Sultans Table

….radishes shaped like roses emerging from flowerful parsley blossoms

...the entire experience was a feast for the eyes even more than the palate

Ha Ha...No potato chips, onion dip, cheese and cracker here….this is for lightweights

......Gourmet food that had been prepared for at least a week or more!

Conversation ensued as everyone raved ….

Yes ……about how excellent the food was

Remember …no booze ….Ginger Ale washed it down  

At about 3PM …off to the table …the prayer….

The usual American Thanksgiving Bill of Fare with a few ethnic tweaks

Once that was over

……the men went in the other room to play cards and the women cleaned everything up

……it was a different age….but people were a lot more happy than we are today!

The ladies re-emerged about 5PM from washing everything

…to next change the tablecloth from a White Linen to a colorful embroidered one from the old country with all this calligraphy on it…stunning!!

Tray upon tray of ethnic sweets that took almost a month to bake …with a wide array of Table Talk Pies

Turkish Coffee and the most amazing American Coffee made on the stove with those old school glass percolators…..

These were all very hardworking folks that owned businesses and labored seven days a week ….no time off here

So these brief respites were a celebration of American Abundance …true Thanksgiving

While I love my family all to death…their eating habits were abhorrent …such a excess as it was both a sign of their success and the comfort that all their labor produced

My grandmother would exhort ..seconds, thirds….even fourth

How could you resist…it was just that good

Of course …the usual health impacts came but please remember these are people that worked hard with their bodies every day…..they didn’t need to workout at a gym

Thanksgiving yielded at least a week plus of leftovers.

I grew up that post-Thanksgiving week eating pie for breakfast everyday…..usually several pieces

….. and as the years progressed ….that two week period of time always added at least five or more pounds.

With education and more advanced education I broke from these family traditions and opted for a more “balanced approach”

Yes…I did have a piece of Gluten-Dairy-Egg Free Pecan Pie with my tea this morning but that will be the only leftover to enter this temple.

Retirement has yielded several pleasures.

The best of all is going to the Gym/Pool every morning and never looking at what time it is……  

This has created this sort of Gym Zen in which I can engage interrupted or undisturbed in this interaction with my physical self

My Wellness Mantra is simple when it comes to exercise

Consistency is more important than Intensity ….showing up is everything

I marvel at the various styles of workouts people do at the gym and have come to the conclusion that each person has an Idle Body Type that they desire to achieve.

This takes me back to my doctoral training in clinical supervision with my mentor that worked at Harvard with the father of Constitutional Psychology: William Sheldon

You remember him ….Mesomorph – Ectomorph- Endomorph

I clinically observe each day with my now luxurious one plus hour workout in which Sheldon’s morphic types are rolling the steel right in front of me.

Of course, all the Young Bloods want to be Big and Buff Meso’s which unfortunately nature determines that typology much more than anything we can remaster here.

They don’t ascribe to my Consistency over Intensity Rule as they strain and make all kind of indiscreet primal noises while working out…the futility of it seems so misplaced

…alas they’re young..what do they know?!   

While the big thick Meso’s you would believe are the heavy lifters

No No No….the Ecto’s......

 ..Thin/Trim Somatotypes whether young or old are the strongest specimens

…these are the healthiest individuals in the room

Of course…. we have those brave Endomorphs defying nature and with all of my encouragement looking for self-improvement…..

…God Bless them….they’re showing up

My point here….long before you step foot in the Gym…..

You must have a Body Zen that is more than a workout strategy but something much more comprehensive in what you eat and how you manage stress  

Most importantly understanding the potential and limitations of your Body Type

The sad fact remains that only five percent of that Idle Body Type happens in the gym…..ninety five percent is all outside

Even sadder… the older you get what you eat determines your Wellness Profile.

I marvel at the old guys at the gym that are there every day

….rolling very heavy steel and are so amazingly unhealthy!

One can only imagine the garbage they are eat and just how much of it….three -four thousand calories a day.

Their entire process seems to be so counter intuitive ….yet old habits die hard

It is a great thing to get up today and burn off that extra piece of pie  but even more healthy to not consume a week of that rich food that sets you back on your wellness objectives.

Envisioning your Wellness as Total Health starts with knowing your physical self in all its strengths and weaknesses.

Working within that framework develops a Health Rhythm

This Rhythm becomes the Experiential Sequencing that conditions your biochemistry as it works in concert to achieve Homeostasis.

Going to the Gym for one hour today and then coming home drinking four beers while watching the Football Game and then an enormous leftover meal may work for some people but probably not for most.

So much of what I observe today in our failing culture is an absent of perspective and self-responsible

Everything is a sum total of the factors that you put into it.  

Sorry we do not have a Leadership Class that manifests that practical wisdom

We have progressed very far in our knowledge since the Thanksgivings of my youth.

The Zone where you want to be ….is a space in which you create a plan unique to yourself

….taking a self-inventory that provides an honest appraisal

I am coming to the conclusion that if you desire Optimal Wellness in these times, you must become creative and ignore the dictates of what is Trending on Social Media

Got to find the Exit Ramp…Go Off Road

Once you possess this intrinsic self-knowledge everything will fall into place

Your workouts will be more plentiful, enjoyable and beneficial.

So instead of Leftovers

 ….Have a Zen Moment in which you give even something more sustainable

 …..the Gift of Your Total Health