Another weight setpoint? Maybe, but I’m not too worried. My sugar and alcohol dependence are easing. I still have eight weeks left to reach my goal of 190 pounds. In order to do that, I’ll need to lose just shy of 3 lbs/week. This may be aggressive given that healthy weight loss, according to the National Institute of Health, is 1-2 lbs/week over the course of six months.
If I fall closer to what NIH recommends, I might not hit my goal until after Christmas. If that’s the case, so be it.
Zero+; Nickel ; M: 106 ; C: 69 ; P/U: 50 ; W : 4 mi
Health R.O.S.
- Weight: 211.6
- BMI: 28.6
- Fat %: 21.9
Being in the Now
I had a thought this morning concerning knowledge and it was this:
- We have to be in the Now to be in the Know
or more succinctly: - To be in the Know, be in the Now
So much opens up to you once you consciously decide to be present. The fog of your mind begins to dissipate. The world begins to appear as it is. You become free of expectation and the shackles of your past. I’m not suggesting that making this mental pivot is easy. It’s not. We have a certain dependence on looking ahead at what’s to come and a certain addiction to the past. It’s hard to truly be present.
As I rewire my brain away from alcohol dependence and marijuana addiction, there is an emerging richness of experience. Needs, wants, and obsessions continue to melt away. What is manifesting is a profound sense of freedom.
The best way to take care of the future is to take care of the present moment.
– Thich Nhat Hanh
I’m finding that as you let go, you unlock a new power of perspective. Let’s take the concept of Impermanence. You can see Impermanence as your enemy or as your ally. The Impermanence of your body, habits (like addiction and dependence), routines, possessions, relationships, and even your own mortal life can be perceived either way.
If you are able to flip Impermanence on it’s head and make an ally of it, the passage of time takes on a new aspect. Instead of being dragged kicking and screaming into inevitable decay, you are being pulled forward into a bright and luminous future. A future of possibility where impermanence itself becomes the toolbox you use to build your new life into whatever you wish.
Dependence Anchors You
Dependence and addiction are anchors. They numb us to possibility. And they cause us to fear impermanence and to seek escape from it. Alcohol and drug dependence are the realms of regret, loss, and decay. The world closes in around you and suffocates all it envelops. The more this happens, the more you seek to escape.
In addiction, your life is one of obstacles growing ever more insurmountable. Eventually, these obstacles block your way forward and mire you in the past. As the thick fog of substance abuse overtakes your mind, your view is obscured. Soon you are blind to the fact the you are hemmed in and walking in circles.
You are numb to whether or not it matters. Once this happens, you are transformed into a slave, a slave to dependence, a servant of addiction, a prisoner of what might have been. When you reach this point, mustering the will to fight can appear to be out of reach. But I assure you, it is not.
And while we are in the midst of our pain and suffering, all our energy is focused on getting away from it. During periods of acute crisis and tragedy it seems impossible to reflect on any possible meaning behind our suffering. At those times, there is often little we can do but to endure.
Howard C. Cutler, M.D. – The Art of Happiness, A Handbook for Living
