#i enjoy eating too many fruits and destroying my body with sugar

[symbieote]

Maybe I've finally made peace with being aro, I didn't even realise it was valentine's day until it was like 11pm and I was frying up some beef mince for nachos lol

[mypoisonedvine]

𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 || helmut zemo, bucky barnes and sam wilson x reader

(this is a sequel to 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭-𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞, I recommend reading that first although it’s not 100% necessary... it would make this make a lot more sense though)

𝐬𝐮��𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 : it was just a matter of time before he upped the ante, all four of you knew that, but taking you all on a vacation specifically for this was a bit over-the-top.

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 : 7.9k (hoo boy)

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 : smut (foursome/group sex + a scene that’s just zemo/reader, cockwarming, d/s dynamics, brief oral f receiving, a touch of dubcon/cnc but it’s very subtle and the reader is 100% consenting), established zemo x reader, sugar daddy relationship, ‘sir’ kink (with zemo), ‘daddy’ kink (with sam), orgasm control/denial, overstimulation, creampie, praise with light degradation, possessiveness (but also sharing, lol), exhibitionism/voyeurism, choking, brief anal mention, once again technically cuckolding but not in the typical sense, slight corruption kink?, too many robes, latin sokovian (or as I like to call it, serbukromanian), also assume that whenever the reader and zemo are alone they are speaking sokovian even though I write the convos in english for the sake of simplicity

thank you for being my beta @nsfwsebbie​ !!

                   When your Baron told you he wanted to take you on a vacation, you immediately assumed it would be to the mountains or some European city full of history and culture.  Instead, you were a bit surprised to hear he was interested in a beach resort, a private villa he had purchased in French Polynesia.

And then you found out he wanted to bring Sam and Bucky along too… and you were simultaneously more and less surprised.  More, because who brings tentative coworkers one barely gets along with on a romantic vacation?  Less, because of course he would do this.  Of course he had plans to dress you up in the tiniest bikinis he could find and show you off to the men who had already become pawns in his perverted game of social chess.

Not that you minded; you were the Queen of the board and it didn’t bother you if it was what the King wanted.

~

You spent the first night in the villa alone with him, which you appreciated.  It had been a while since you two had some real quality time together, and you were craving him more than ever, in every way.

After a beautiful day spent swimming in the crystal blue ocean and enjoying the sights your new temporary home had to offer, you took a shower and tried not to get too excited about how you might be spending the evening with him.  But, of course, you were only a few minutes into washing the saltwater off your body when you began to imagine his tongue on you, god that man could use his tongue to destroy you any way he wanted: with his words, with his kisses, or perhaps best of all with it tasting every inch of your cunt.  It was amazing how he could get on his knees for you and still have all the power.  He liked to make you keep eye contact with him while he did it, make you beg him to let you come, whatever it took to remind you that you were thoroughly and properly owned.

And you loved every second of it, you loved being helpless to him.  He made you feel so safe that being vulnerable with him by now felt like no risk at all.  You could remember early on when your fears and insecurities made you more hesitant to submit to him, and it was only with gentle patience that he coaxed you into it, never pressure or anger.  You weren’t a virgin when you met him but, sometimes it felt like you might as well have been since you were so inexperienced and undersexed then.  In fact, he was the first man, the first person other than yourself to make you come… and he made you come more ways than you had known possible.

Okay, so maybe the plan to not get your hopes up wasn’t going so well… you were already struggling to keep your hands from between your legs. Frankly, you would’ve already done it if you didn’t know that touching yourself was against the rules.

You’d gotten so used to taking care of yourself while he was in prison, at which point he obviously suspended that rule, and it was a hard habit to break at times.

You emerged from the bathroom in the fluffy robe you found on the door, smiling when you saw him lounging on the bed in a matching one, reading Анна Каренина (known by the West as Anna Karenina).  He looked contemplative, as always, and you always thought he looked especially sexy in his reading glasses.  You slipped into the bed beside him, resting your head on his chest as he found a position where he could read comfortably with his arm around your shoulders.

“You must’ve already read that book a thousand times, Helmut,” you sighed.

“And it gets better every time,” he mumbled back, turning the page.

You pouted slightly, nuzzling into his shoulder, and he chuckled.  “Is my little lutka in need of some attention?”

You nodded, and he kissed the top of your head softly.  

“Why don’t you keep me warm while I finish this chapter, hm?” he offered, and you involuntarily clenched your thighs together at his words.  He phrased it like a question, but it felt more like a gentle demand, and you were happy to agree either way.

“Yes, sir,” you hummed as you sat up and straddled his legs, undoing your robe and opening his to wrap your hand around his half-hard cock.

He reached his full potential with only a few slow strokes, and you found yourself absent-mindedly licking your lips as you saw the way your fingers just barely met with your thumb and imagined how your body would be pushed to its limits to take him.  Good thing you were already dripping wet even though you’d just been in the shower.

You indulged in rubbing your pussy over his shaft for a moment, enough to coat him in your wetness, before you lined up his tip to your entrance and sunk down onto him with a sigh, feeling like you could never tire of being stretched open by his thick cock.  

When your hips met his, and the tip of his cock brushed against the deepest parts of you, you had to bite your lip to suppress a whimper.  After so long apart, you were still readjusting to taking him and being on top didn’t make it much easier.

Honestly, you really weren’t trying to move; you just found your hips rocking slightly, seemingly of their own accord.  You moaned under your breath as your clit rubbed against his body, but you were pulled from your trance with a whine as he slapped your thigh.

“No moving, draga, I think I made myself clear,” he reminded you sternly.

“Yes, sir,” you breathed.

You were pretty sure that at some point, you were a patient person. But you couldn’t imagine that now, not when all you could think about was how amazing it would be to just ride him right there, memories running through your mind and making your inner walls ripple unintentionally.  He either couldn’t feel it or didn’t care, stoically continuing to read even as you were struggling to stay still.

Your plan was to be good for a while and then hope that you could convince him later… but you know what they say about best-laid plans, so you ended up cutting straight to the convincing pretty fast.

“Can I move yet, sir?”

“It’s hardly been a minute,” he frowned.

“Please,” you sighed, just barely moving your hips without even meaning to.

“Not yet,” he asserted, sounding a bit annoyed, but you needed this more than anything.

"Please let me move, please; I just wanna ride you so bad,” you begged.

He sighed, clearly irritated, and just when you thought you’d made a grave error, he finally put his book aside and looked up at you with a grin.  "If I had known you would be so whiny, I would have had you keep me warm with your mouth.”

You opened your mouth to respond but let out only whimpery moans when he ran his hands up your body, toying briefly with your nipples before wrapping a hand around your neck and pulling you down into a rough kiss.  Moaning into it, you couldn’t hold back any longer and started to rock your body atop his, savoring that perfect drag of his length along your walls that you’d missed so much.

Before you got a chance to really set your pace, he grabbed you tight and rolled the both of you over, pinning you under his weight as he fucked you in that way that was somehow rough and slow at the same time, moving his kiss to your neck and holding you down by your wrists.

“Fuck, th-thank you, sir,” you sighed, your cheeks warming when he chuckled against your skin.

“You really are too sweet, draga,” he whispered.

Your arms wrapped around his neck while your legs did the same to his hips, keeping him deep inside you while his lips and tongue teased your collarbones, his fingers interlacing with yours.

He spent the entire night somewhere between making love to you and fucking you within an inch of your life, making you come more times than you could count, only taking breaks from fucking you to eat you out like a starving man (and one time for a quick drink sometime around 3 a.m.).  It was no wonder, then, that you passed out just a few moments after he finally came inside you, sleeping soundly in his arms until well into the morning, nearly noon in fact, when the sun was streaming in through the massive window.

After a relaxed breakfast of champagne and fruit (the native pamplemousse was unlike anything you’d ever eaten before), Helmut encouraged you to shower again and meet him at the pool, which was a bit surprising since he normally liked to have you keep his come in you as long as possible.  “Our guests should be here this afternoon,” was his only explanation, and you had a few ideas about what that meant, all of which made your gut sink in an oddly pleasurable way as you were filled with anticipation.

“Wear that bathing suit I bought for you, the new one,” he added finally as he stepped out onto the back patio.

~

It might seem silly to have a pool on a property right by the beach, but on days like today, where the ocean water was just a bit too chilly, you were thankful to have the heated pool to take a dip in.  Honestly, you were a little surprised that Helmut didn’t make you swim in the ocean to see your nipples get hard through the tight black bikini, but then again, they were already getting there just from sharing a pool chair with him.

He was lying against the cushioned chair; your body sat between his spread legs as the back of your head rested on his chest.  And, this is entirely unrelated, but you really liked how he looked in the round sunglasses he had on.

You hummed contentedly as you reached up behind you to touch him, rubbing his shoulders and pecs.  You wiggled a bit, slowly, and imagined how it would feel if he got hard right against the small of your back.

"Mm, what's gotten into you, lutka?" he purred, rubbing your arms.

You rolled your eyes playfully.  "You know the effect you have on me, don't act surprised."

Just before anything exciting could happen, Sam and James entered through the fence, apparently already having changed into their swimsuits; you wished you had thought to wear sunglasses so they couldn’t catch you ogling their muscular bodies, but instead, you just tried to keep your cool as you waved hello.

“Welcome!” Helmut called out, both of you getting up to greet them properly.  “I hope your flight was alright…?”

“Yeah, it was great,” Sam nodded, “thanks.”

“You really own this whole place?” James added, glancing around.

“Yes, would you like to have a swim?  I hear it should be warm enough tomorrow for the ocean, but until then…” Helmut trailed off.

Sam went right ahead, diving in and smiling wide when he popped back up.  That man had such an infectious smile, you thought he should charge people to see it or something because you felt spoiled seeing it for free.

James jumped in behind him but seemed a little surprised when he returned to the surface to see you back in your chair with Helmut.  “Care to join us?” he asked you.

“Um, no, I already swam a bit this morning,” you remembered, suddenly shy, “I think I’ll stay by the pool a while longer.”

“Aw, I was looking forward to getting to know you better,” he pouted, and everyone else raised an eyebrow at that statement.  “Um, verbally, I mean,” he added, cheeks flushing slightly.

“What would you want to know?” you asked, sighing as you relaxed against Helmut’s chest.

“Well, what’s your story?” he shrugged, swimming up the edge of the pool to hang his arms over the edge.

“I… suppose it’s a rather short story,” you realized, “I was born in Sokovia, but my parents were immigrants.  I was a bit of an ugly duckling as a child, I think.”

“You look like quite the swan now,” James winked, and you hoped Helmut wouldn’t notice how much that affected you.  

“Oh, thank you,” you mumbled.

“Which reminds me, that’s a cute bikini you have on,” he complimented.

“Do you like it?” you hummed coyly.  “Helmut picked it out.”

“Why don’t you give them a better look, darling?” Helmut prompted, and Sam swam up to hang over the edge too as you stood up and fought the urge to cover yourself with your arms.  The Baron motioned his finger in a circle, silently instructing you to twirl so they could see the back, and you did though you felt a bit self-conscious about it.  Finally, once you were sure they’d had an eyeful, he let you sit back down in his lap.

“Cute, isn’t it?” he cooed as his fingers travelled slowly up your sides.  “It’s Chanel.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Sam dismissed, unlatching himself from the edge of the pool and falling into a backstroke.  “This is weird.  I just wanna swim.”

“You didn’t think this was seriously a free vacation, no strings attached, did you?” James shot back, getting up out of the pool and shaking some of the water off of himself before sitting down in the chair beside you two and letting his eyes wander over you.  “So, Chanel, huh?” he prompted, and you nodded.

“Helmut says I should only wear the nicest things,” you explained, sitting up slightly.

“Why does it matter?  You’d look beautiful in anything,” James cooed, and you felt a little dirty for how much you liked his attention.  Good thing you liked feeling dirty.

“And a rare wagyu steak would taste just as good served any way, but you wouldn’t put it on a paper plate, now would you?” Helmut countered.  “Well, maybe you would…”

James rolled his eyes but brushed off Helmut’s insult, returning his attention to you.  “I guess I’m just… hungry enough that it doesn’t make much of a difference.”

You reached up to trace your fingertip over the silver chain dangling off of his neck, biting your lip as you hooked your finger around it and pulled him closer.  “Are you hungry enough that you don’t mind that it’s another man’s meal?”

His blue eyes went wide for a moment before glancing down to your lips and back up to your unwavering gaze, your brow raised as if a challenge while his furrowed as if he were considering accepting it.

“If he’s willing to share…” James whispered back.

“Then kiss me,” you requested softly, pulling him closer by his dog tags one more time until your lips met.

The way James kissed you was… difficult to describe.  Gentle, but with this edge of intensity— like he was restraining himself, like there was so much more passion teeming beneath the surface.  You wanted to bring that out if you could; you wanted to see how far you could push him until he lost it.

As James carefully ventured his tongue into your mouth, only to pull back and nip your bottom lip with his teeth, Helmut kissed you too— on the back of your neck, that spot that always made you wet and desperate right away.  You moaned, and you couldn’t be sure exactly who it was for, but James sure decided to respond to it either way, tilting his head more to let his kiss explore you deeper.

Helmut’s teeth dug into your shoulder right as James nipped at your bottom lip like they had somehow explicitly coordinated to make you desperate; your right hand reached up to weave into James’ hair, your left squeezing Helmut’s wrist at your side.

The kiss ended just a moment too soon, and there was a delay before you blinked your eyes open to look back at James, who seemed quite proud of himself.

“Touch me,” you pleaded in a whimper.

“Where?” he asked, somewhat innocently.

“Y-you know where…” you mumbled.  

He grinned wide, all trance of innocence gone.  “I know, but I want you to say it.”

“My cunt,” you whispered, and he snarled just a bit at the word.  “Please?”

“Of course, which one do you want?” James prompted with a grin, showing you his hands as your eyes instantly gravitated to the metal one.

“I think you know which I’m going to choose,” you mumbled shyly, and he smirked as he reached forward with the vibranium arm to brush his fingertips over your stomach, moving down to the top hemline of your bikini bottom.

You just barely gasped when the metal digits swiped over your clit and began to rub gentle circles, almost too slow as if he wanted to tease you… which, of course, he did.

"Do you like the way he touches you, draga?" Helmut whispered.  His voice in your ear was like honey on your tongue, like honey everywhere.

"Yes, sir," you nodded, looking down at James' hand buried into your bikini.

"Hey, tell me you like it, too," James protested, "I'm the one doing it after all."

"I like it, James," you repeated, looking up at him.  "I… don't have a title for you.  Should I call you something when you touch me like this?"

"You can just call me Bucky from now on, okay?  I think we're well past close enough now for that."

"Okay, Bucky," you sighed, watching the way his jaw clenched when you called him by name, "please put your fingers inside me."

"Both?"

"Yes, please," you breathed.

"But my fingers are thick, they're hard metal, and you're so small and delicate…"

"I want them to stretch me out, just please—"

A loud moan of shock jumped out of your mouth when he pushed the fingers in all at once, and though it reawakened some of the soreness from when Helmut had fucked you the night before, it felt wonderful enough to make your back arch up from the strong body behind you, his erection now digging into your hip.

It was certainly loud enough to get Sam's attention, who suddenly appeared beside the chair while he towelled off his chiselled chest.

"Damn, what are y'all doing to her over here?" he wondered aloud as if he were concerned for your health.

"Just playing with Zemo's little doll," Bucky answered.  "She's really fucking tight, can barely fit two fingers."

"Wait, move over, let me see," Sam insisted, making Bucky pull his fingers out and Helmut holding you more firmly as Sam slipped his hand into your bikini as well, poking his fingers at your entrance before pushing them in.

His fingers were even thicker and longer than Bucky's, just by a slight margin yet enough to make you mewl and arch your back as your eyes fluttered shut.

"Fuck, yeah, you were right," Sam breathed, and you felt more hands running over your body but you couldn't even tell anymore whose they were; you knew one that reached to pull up your bikini top and expose your breasts was Helmut's, because only he would be so bold, but the fingers teasing your nipples, the rough palm running up your legs… they could've belonged to anyone, and that realization made your clit throb.

"Okay, okay, that's enough. I was here first," Bucky mumbled as you felt Sam's fingers slip out and the metal ones push back in— not to mention the thumb reaching up to circle your clit slowly.

He wasn't just exploring you this time; you could tell he had a mission.  The way he instantly curled into your spot, the way he moved quickly yet deliberately, all made your thighs begin to quiver.

Helmut kissed your ear, gently tilting your head to access your neck better where he began to suck hard enough to leave a mark, mumbling something in Sokovian about how good you were being for him and his guests.

You loved being good, and the praise made your hips lift a little so you could rock yourself onto Bucky's fingers; the three men chuckled proudly.

"Feels that good?" Bucky pressed, and you nodded quickly.

He fingered you even faster, harder, and you cried out.

"Ohhh fuck, Bucky!" you gasped.  "Bucky, I'm gonna come!"

"Oh no, you're not," Helmut groaned, giving you a quick spank on the inner thigh as you whined and jolted.  "James, take your fingers out."

"Do I have to?"

"You do if you want a chance to fill her with more than just your fingers…"

That worked right away, Bucky pulling back as you pouted at being empty again.

“Let’s take her inside, and we can continue this there,” Helmut suggested, and Bucky lifted you up into his arms as the Baron led the group back to the master suite.

The convenient thing about bathing suits is that it takes so little time to get naked, which is why the second the patio door was shut, Bucky and Sam were stripping as their hard cocks bobbed up against their stomachs.  As if that weren’t overwhelming enough, Helmut stepped away for a moment (which left you feeling more alone than usual) just as the men began to help you strip; Sam untied the back of your bikini while Bucky knelt and pulled down the bottoms, leaving you feeling exposed as you were totally bare before them.  Bucky smiled up at you and kissed along your thighs while Sam grabbed a handful of your ass and growled a bit under his breath.

When you looked over at Helmut, you saw he had actually dressed in his robe rather than stripping, nearly making you whine with disappointment.  But you couldn’t focus on that long as hands moved all over your skin, both of them still just slightly wet from the pool, and you shivered for both of those reasons.

You gasped when Bucky suddenly licked a thick stripe right over your folds, and if it weren’t for Sam’s arms holding you up, you might not have been able to stay standing.

Looking down at where Bucky was devouring you, he looked back up at you with a lot less dominating intensity in his eyes than you were used to seeing.  Not that you minded; after all, no one could do what Helmut did as well as he could, but maybe Bucky could do something different, and it would be just as enjoyable.  His tongue lapping at your clit was certainly wonderful so far.

Sam guided one of your hands back behind you to stroke his cock, your mouth falling slack, which he took advantage of by turning your face and capturing you in an open-mouthed kiss.  You heard your moans stifle against his tongue, felt his cock flex a bit as you smeared the precum you found at his tip.

“I think that’s enough for now,” Helmut interrupted, and everyone turned to look at him.  “Darling, come here,” he instructed with a curled finger that pointed to the bed, “hands and knees.”

You nodded and pushed the other men away, taking your place on the bed and looking up at him as he held your jaw gently.

"How long has it been since you had another man inside you, lutka?" he asked lowly.

"I can't even remember,” you admitted, “it's been so long…"

“Are you willing to try it?” he asked gently, no hint of domination or pressure in his tone, and you found yourself searching his eyes for the right answer.

“What do you want?” you asked him instead of answering.

“Draga, I’m asking what you want,” he reminded you, but you were afraid he would be hurt if you showed interest in the other men.  Sure, previous evidence indicated that wasn’t an issue for him, but your gut instinct was to deny your attraction.  So, you compromised. 

“All I want is you,” you answered first, “but…”

“But?”

“But is it awful if… if I want them to fuck me, too?”

He smiled, kissing your forehead.  “No, I don’t think so.  Only as awful as it is that I want to watch them fuck you.”

You looked up at him and smiled back, brimming with gratitude that he was so gentle with you.  It was fascinating how he wielded complete control over you and yet never used it against you.

“I have one rule, draga,” he added firmly, “you cannot come for them.  You only come for me.  Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And stay on your hands and knees, so I can always get a good look at you, yes?”

“Yes, sir.”

He kissed you one more time before pulling away and sitting back in the chair in the corner with his ankle over his knee, looking at Sam and Bucky expectantly.  Every chair he sat in seemed to look like a throne as soon as he was in it.

“Well, get on with it, then,” he instructed, motioning to you.  The men looked at you and looked at each other before some kind of silent agreement took place and Bucky stepped up first.  Sam sat down to watch you as you felt Bucky stand near the bed behind you, flesh and metal fingers running over your back until you shivered.

Then he pressed his cock against you, coating himself in your wetness, and that made you shiver, too.

You braced yourself as he lined himself up, whimpering slightly as he pushed his cock into you as well as hearing him moan lowly.  The hand at your waist tightened as he hissed in a breath through his teeth.

"Fuck," he breathed, holding you still so he could fill you completely.  “S’tight…” he slurred.

“How does it feel for you?” Helmut asked you, raising an eyebrow as he examined your expression, your mouth fallen slack, yet your brow furrowed.

“It feels… different,” you stammered your answer.  You gasped loudly as Bucky started to move, and yes, this was very different.  His cock was curved differently and though it didn’t exactly reach any new parts of you (you were sure Helmut had already touched every part of you physically accessible), it did stroke them in new ways.  

He gained speed rather quickly, clearly too on edge himself to stay patient, and you didn’t blame him although it sent you moving faster toward the edge than you would’ve liked.  At first you wondered if it would even be a challenge to keep from coming like Helmut had demanded… you chided yourself internally for ever being so hubristic.

His legs pushed yours apart, spreading them wider, and he began to really fuck you in earnest, fast and needy and each slam of his hips against your ass harder than ever.  “O-oh fuck,” you choked, forcing your eyes shut and scrunching up your nose for a second when he slammed the tip of his cock right into the deepest spots inside you.  This position left you with nowhere to go, put your whole body on display for him along with giving you no escape from his onslaught of pleasure.  Worst of all was that you were pretty sure he wasn’t even trying that hard to make you feel good, and yet feeling used like that only turned you on more.

"Bucky, please, slow down," you whimpered.

"Absolutely do not do that," Helmut interjected sternly.  "Don't let her tell you what to do."

And, possibly just to spite you, he actually fucked you faster.  You sobbed and bit down on your lip, fighting everything building up inside you.

“You’d better not come,” Helmut warned through his teeth, “you’d better not fucking come.  You know how bad it would be for you if you came for another man.”

“Y-yes, sir,” you nodded.

But Bucky was slamming right into your spot, and he knew it, too. He knew how desperate you were becoming, and apparently, he didn’t mind at all that you’d be punished for it.  He leaned down to growl against your ear, “I know how close you are.  Don’t you think it’d feel so good to just let go and come on my cock?”

You shook your head, tears streaming down your cheeks as the force it took to hold back your orgasm became painful.  “No, it would only feel good to come for Helmut…”

“C’mon baby, just stop fighting it and come for me,” Bucky taunted, “squeeze me tight with that sweet little pussy; I know you need to so bad.”

He wasn’t wrong, but you blinked with teary eyes up at Helmut and wanted nothing more than to please him and make him proud of you.  “Please, m-make him stop,” you begged, “I won’t be able to hold back anymore…”

“He’s not going to stop until he comes, lutka, and you need to stay strong,” he explained, his voice soothing you slightly.  “You need to be my good girl.  Can you do that?”

“Yes, sir,” you whispered.

Bucky held your hips tight as he pulled your body back onto his cock, and you forced your eyes shut to try to focus on not coming.  No other man had made you come in your life but Helmut, and you had no intentions of breaking that streak.

“Think you can make me come before I make you come?” Bucky challenged.

“I have to,” you answered breathlessly.  “And I want you to come… I wanna make you come so bad, Bucky, please…”

“Mhmm?” he encouraged.

“Please, I want it, please come for me,” you whimpered.

“Fuck, I will,” he promised darkly, fucking you even harder.

Helmut interjected a brief instruction: “Pull out.” 

Bucky nodded a little, breathing heavily as you felt his cock throb slightly, especially at the base where each movement stretched you out even more.  It was so beautifully erotic and you were tensing every muscle inside you to try not to come, which helped speed him up quite a bit since you were gripping him so tight.

“Fuck,” Bucky grunted, “fuck!” 

He pulled out and instantly painted your back with a roar, sliding his cock over your ass as he pumped stream after stream of come onto you.  You sighed happily, satisfied that you had managed to stave off orgasm with perhaps only a few seconds to spare— you’d never been so happy to make someone come before because this time it brought relief that you had done well for your Baron.

Then again, you always felt that way when you made the man himself come, but this was different because you had been moments away from failing him.

Speaking of the Baron, he stared down at you proudly the whole time, kneeling down slightly to swipe his finger through the cooling spend on your back and bring it to your open lips.  “Mm, you really are my perfect little girl,” he mumbled as you sucked his finger diligently.  But he turned his attention away from you to call out across the room, “Sam!  It’s your turn.”

Your eyes went wide.  “W-wait, Helmut, I’ll come!”

“No, you won’t,” he hissed, eyes darkening again, “because I told you not to.”

And Sam was already behind you, taking Bucky’s place who had already cleaned himself up a bit and returned to his seat, letting the Baron pour him a drink which he gulped down in one go.

When Sam pushed into the end of you, your natural instinct was to arch your back up to try to keep him from going too deep, but he growled and pushed your back down again with a strong hand that made you feel so small for a moment.  “No, baby, no running away… you’re gonna take it all.”

“Yes, daddy,” you breathed, yelping a little when he roughly shoved in that last inch.

From then on, he went much harder on you than Bucky had, spanking you and gripping your ass while he fucked you, and the most embarrassing part was how much harder it made it to keep from coming.  It was clear that he realized making you come would give him power over everyone else in the room for different reasons, and he was determined to gain that power.

“Does he fuck you this good, huh?” he groaned.  

“He fucks me better,” you shot back right away, making Helmut chuckle slightly.

“If your plan is to make her switch allegiances, you’ll have to do better than that,” Helmut taunted, and Sam doubled his efforts as one hand pinched your clit and the other groped your breast.  You almost lost it right there but managed to pull yourself together, your whole body shaking with the effort to keep the pleasure at bay.

“Well, if he can fuck you better then why doesn’t he?” Sam continued his leading questions, even though you could barely keep up a conversation at this point.  “Why does he keep pimping you out to us if he’s fucking you right all on his own?”

“Don’t you understand?” you breathed, your head falling down onto the bed as you were almost able to look back enough to see his face.  “This is my punishment.  He knows I don’t want anyone else; that’s why you’re here.”

Sam smiled, perhaps in pity, and yet you honestly had to close your eyes because his smile was so lovely that it could’ve brought an end to your restraint.  “Poor thing, he’s really got you whipped.  I… still can’t believe I’m doing this, but you feel too good to stop now.”

He yanked your head back by your hair for emphasis, making you yelp as he fucked you brutally.  Your toes curled and your fingers dug into the sheets, and you had to close your eyes because the way Helmut was staring at you made this all much too difficult.  Maybe it was just that he didn’t seem jealous at all, or angry; but he didn’t seem like he was getting any excess pleasure out of this, either.  It was… almost neutral, but something burned behind his eyes brighter than maybe you’d ever seen it, his legs crossed and his fingers interlaced as he waited for you to either hold or break.

With the top half of your body fallen limply onto the bed, you reached out above your head and felt Helmut’s hand grab yours, squeezing slightly, and it helped keep you grounded as you held his fingers.

“Oh fuck, ‘m gonna come,” Sam groaned out his warning, “gonna cover this pretty ass in my come, you want that?”

“Yes, please,” you shuddered. 

“Keep begging for it,” he demanded, rushing his words as you felt his cock start to throb against your walls with his impending orgasm.  

“Please come, please come, please come on me, Sam, please,” you chanted, over and over, struggling not to come and hoping that if you could speed him up, then you could make it.

He grunted through his teeth as hot ropes of seed covered your ass; though your body was left wanting, dangling on the edge so close to your release, your mind was satisfied that you had managed to follow your Baron’s rules.

Sam stepped back to admire his work, finding another spare robe to cover himself with as he rejoined the other men across the room.

“Would you like a drink as well?” Helmut offered to Sam, unfortunately letting go of your hand in the process.  Sam was still catching his breath, running his hands over his short hair as if he was processing everything.

“No, but are those cigars up for grabs?” Sam replied, pointing to the ornate box propped open, and Helmut nodded.

“Of course; what’s mine is yours,” he answered, presenting the box and lighter to him.

“Yeah, you can say that again,” Sam added flatly, the three of them all looking at where you were sitting, covered in come and waiting patiently for your next command.

Just as you feared they’d all have their cigars and whiskey and ignore you completely, your Baron knelt down to look at you face-to-face, smiling proudly.

“You did so good for me, darling,” he cooed, and your insides clenched as if you could come just from hearing that.  “You don't think I'm horribly cruel, do you?"

"No, sir," you smiled weakly.

“I’ll be right back,” he promised with a kiss to the tip of your nose as he stepped away to the master bathroom.  

You glanced at the other men— Bucky with his crystal glass of whiskey, Sam puffing at the cigar stoically— and wondered what, if anything, you could possibly say.

“So, how’s your weekend been so far?” Sam asked you plainly, breaking the silence.

“It’s only Friday night,” you realized, sighing as you tried not to imagine how much debauchery the Baron had in store for you.  Right now you were so exhausted that it sounded like too much work; and you were so desperate only for Helmut that the idea of anybody else being involved intimidated you.

Helmut returned quickly with a washcloth, sitting beside you on the bed and placing it gently on your back.

“As pretty as you look covered in come, I’d rather not make too much of a mess,” Helmut explained as he wiped you down with the damp cloth, your skin tingling and your body crying out for more of his touch.

“Will you fuck me, sir?” you mumbled, somewhere between an honest question and a desperate plea.

“Yes, I will,” he answered, making you hum happily, “and I’m finally going to let you come.”

You bit down on your lip, trying not to moan just from hearing that.

“But I’m not going to let you stop.”

The lump in your throat was impossible to swallow, but you tried anyway as he tossed the rag away and circled the bed, standing behind where you were laying limply.  He grabbed you by your ankles and pulled you down to where he needed you, covering your body with his as he kissed the back of your neck slowly.

“I bet you’ll come the moment I’m inside you, draga,” he whispered.  You nodded in agreement, gasping a bit as you felt his cock teasing your swollen, sore pussy.  Just the tip bumping into your clit was enough to make you think you could come right there, you’d been on the edge so long.

But then he pushed into you in one stroke, not rough yet enough to reignite the soreness of being filled by two men already, and your walls started to pulse around him.  A million words swirled in your mind, words about how perfect he felt and how you’d missed him so much and how no one could fuck you like he could, but none of them made it to your mouth where you could only moan loudly.

He wrapped his arms around you, he kissed everywhere he could reach, and waves of pleasure washed over you until tears filled your eyes.  You lost count immediately, coming on his cock over and over as you became a limp, whimpering mess right away.

“You two really did miss out,” Helmut taunted the other men between his own moans, “it feels so fucking amazing to be inside her when she comes.  She gets tighter every time… blyat, so tight I can hardly control myself.”

It was already hot to hear him speak to you like that in these moments, but for him to speak to someone else, to keep you from forgetting that you weren’t alone and that these men had just fucked you and were watching you come right now?  You hadn’t even imagined before what that would be like.

“Please, please, sir, please,” you chanted, your voice breaking until you could barely whisper.

“What is it that you want, lutka?  Do you even know what you’re begging for anymore?”

“I want whatever you want, sir, please,” you cried.  He reached around your body to rub your throbbing clit, and you all but screamed.

“I know you do, beautiful, I know,” he breathed, kissing your back and shoulder tenderly to calm you.  “I love you so much, draga, you know that, don’t you?”

“Yes, I love you too, Helmut,” you whispered, “more than anything.  I love being yours.”

“Aw,” you heard Bucky briefly sigh.

“Dude, shut up,” Sam corrected him harshly.

“It’s sweet!” Bucky defended.

“It’s weird; this is all so weird,” Sam frowned.

“You didn’t seem to mind before…” Bucky trailed off.

Two of Helmut’s fingers swiped over your open lips and you immediately sucked them into your mouth with a satisfied hum, the taste of his skin always comforting you.  When he rolled you onto your side, it was so much easier for him to touch you wherever he wanted and it only did more to keep you overwhelmed with pleasure until you worried you couldn’t take much more.  But you kept sucking his fingers, tears still falling which he occasionally kissed away, until he took his hand away to wrap around your neck instead.  You nodded a little to let him know it was okay to choke you, and your loud moans fell to sudden silence when he tightened his grip.  

It made your eyes roll back, it made your walls flutter and your toes start to go numb, it made you wonder if you were going to pass out whether or not he let you breathe again because your body was already ready to give in.

You sucked in a gasp when he let go, sobbing his name as a particularly deep thrust knocked you right into your peak again.  He kept one hand on your neck as the other reached between your legs to play with your abused pussy as he fucked it harder than ever.

“I can’t come anymore,” you assured, shaking your head and trying to push his hand away from your sore clit.  “I— I can’t…”

“Yes, you can, draga, I know you can. Just relax and let me keep making you feel good,” he instructed, somehow both gentle and demanding all at once.

“I… I can’t…” you breathed, nearly incomprehensible between thick sobs, but you were already coming again in spite of your words, shocks of pleasure electrifying your body from the inside out.  He choked you out into silence again, praising you all the way through it.

“There you go, shh, it’s all right,” he soothed, “you’re so beautiful, darling, so good for me, just keep going…”

You reached back to lace your fingers into his hair and tug, which did nothing to deter him from kissing your neck just beneath where his thumb gripped it, same as your hand wrapped tightly around his wrist didn’t stop him from quickly rubbing your clit.

Breath filled your lungs when he let go, and you were so desperate for relief that you felt like you weren’t even in control of your words anymore.

"Please come inside me," you begged mindlessly, "please, I need you so bad, please…"

“Is that what you need?” he groaned.  “You need to be full of my seed?”

“Yes, please, want it deep in me— fuck, Helmut, please!”

He growled and bit your ear lightly, mumbling his promise to fill you up in Sokovian— sometimes you thought he spoke Sokovian when he was about to come because he was so distracted that he forgot English, but you didn’t think that at the moment because you were currently too cockdrunk to think about anything.

His low moan echoed right through your body as you felt his cock flex and throb with each pump of come, just as deep as you’d wanted, and you sighed happily at the familiar feeling, finally relaxing into the mattress.

But perhaps you relaxed a little too soon because he made you come one more time after he’d filled you, whispering something about he wanted to use your pussy to milk every drop from his cock, but after that finally he pulled out, and you collapsed face-down onto the bed, ready to pass out even though the sun was only just beginning to set and you’d slept until noon earlier.

“Well, I think we sufficiently knocked her out,” Sam chuckled.

“‘We’?” Helmut repeated, sounding a bit offended yet bemused as he redressed.

“Okay fine, you did most of the heavy lifting, but only cause you wouldn’t let her come for us,” Sam relented with a frown.

“I swear, I was this close to getting her to break,” Bucky interjected, sighing before taking another slow sip of his (third) drink.

“Yeah, what would’ve happened if one of us made her come, anyway?” Sam wondered aloud.  “She seemed pretty worried about whatever punishment you had in store for her.”

“Nothing too terrible,” Helmut shrugged, “I just would’ve fucked her in the ass.”

Bucky choked on his whiskey as Sam tried and failed to suppress a smirk.

“She lets you do that?!” Bucky blurted out between fits of coughing.

“She lets me do whatever I want,” Helmut replied, “I’m surprised that hasn’t become abundantly clear to you by now.”

“I guess we’re still adjusting to it, that’s all,” Sam explained.  “I don’t know about you,” he looked at Bucky, “but this is new for me.”

“I was born in 1917; everything is new for me,” Bucky frowned.

“Well, this is new for us too,” Helmut assured, “especially her, she was so inexperienced when she met me…”

He paused for a moment to reminisce before glancing at you lying prone on the bed and looked totally fucked-out.

“But look at her now!” he finished.  “She takes it all in stride.”

“Yeah, she’s a trooper alright,” Sam agreed.  “Be careful with her, Zemo, ‘cause I think if you hurt her too bad, Bucky here is gonna be waiting in the wings to steal her.”

“I— what?!” Bucky snorted defensively.

“Don’t think we can’t see you giving her googly eyes, not that I blame you or anything… getting deepthroated for the first time will definitely make you catch feelings,” Sam smirked before taking a puff of the cigar again.

“It’s not like that, I’m just… listen, I guess I’m just a bit more conventional than you perverts,” he frowned.  “I don’t mean to sound ungrateful or anything, I just can’t imagine having a girl like that all to myself and letting anybody else lay a finger on her.”

“Not everyone is as insecure as you, James,” Helmut shrugged.  “Women can’t be stolen.  They can only go where they want to.  And she wants to be with me.”

He turned back to ask you if you agreed, but you were already fast asleep.  Smiling slightly, he grabbed a blanket from the foot of the bed and unfolded it to drape over you; you instinctively cuddled up under it without waking up, letting out a quiet sigh.

“Goodnight, draga,” he whispered with a kiss to your forehead.  “Rest well, you’ll need it for the morning.”

[plaidbooks]

Autumn Leaves

A/N: Autumn prompts are an excuse for me to write stupidly cute fluff, so that’s what I did. This is a Sonny Carisi x reader fic that covers the Autumn square in @adarafaelbarba​ moodboard bingo!

P.S. second-cousins are children of cousins

Tags: none, just fluff

Words: 1872

Taglist: @witches-unruly-heart​  @beccabarba​  @thatesqcrush​ @itsjustmyfantasyroom​ @permanentlydizzy​ @ben-c-group-therapy​  @infiniteoddball​ @glowingmess​ @whimsicallymad​ @lv7867​ @storiesofsvu​ @cycat4077​ @alwaysachorusgirl​  @glimmerglittergirl​ @joanofarkansass​ @caracalwithchips​ @berniesilvas​​  @reading--mermaid​  @averyhotchner​  @mrsrafaelbarba​ @detective-giggles​ @crowleysqueenofhell​ @dreamlover31​

“My family is insane, especially the kids,” Sonny explained while he drove you to Staten Island. “They don’t know how to sit and eat food without screaming.”

You chuckled, "it's fine, Carisi, I promise; I'm kind of used to this type of stuff already."

“What? You are? You don’t even know what’s awaitin’ ya, yet,” he replied, scoffing.

While in the precinct, you overheard Sonny on the phone with his ma. He seemed upset and perpetually tired when he hung up. When you asked him what was wrong, he told you that his ma was basically guilt-tripping him into visiting on Saturday, to help with the Autumn Feast his family partook in. And when you asked why that was so bad, he complained that no matter what they cooked, the kids of the Carisi Clan would hardly sit still long enough to eat, and would scream and cry if it wasn’t something they wanted.

“It just…it’s a handful…and not my ideal day off, even if I do get to see my family,” Sonny finished

You had nodded in sympathy before offering to go with him; you had a pretty big family with a lot of kids, too. Plus, you could never turn down Sonny’s amazing cooking, and now, you were getting a chance to taste his mom’s.

He had picked you up that morning, and now, you were on your way to Staten Island, Sonny warning you the whole way. You laughed and shrugged it off, but he kept giving you a look like you’ll see what I mean.

 ********************

He pulled up to his childhood home, and your eyes sparkled at the state of the townhouse. Not only was the building itself quaint and adorable, but there were decorations everywhere. And not just Halloween, but general autumn décor, as well. There were wreaths made with leaves of reds and oranges and yellows, there were scarecrows against the walls, there were fake pumpkins on every step leading to the house. And looming over the house from out back were two enormous trees, their branches almost completely bare, the leaves scattered on the roof, the front yard, and the back.

Sonny led you up the stairs to the front door, opening it for you. The first thing to assault your senses was the cacophony of noise. Children screaming in delight as they ran through the house, chatter and laughter from the various rooms as people talked. There was a tv on somewhere, with what sounded like a sports or news reporter blathering on and on.

The second thing you noticed was the wonderful smells. Your mouth was almost instantly watering as you caught the smell of garlic, potatoes, some sort of roast cooking with assorted spices, as well as cinnamon, sugar, and apples. It was so much at once; it was hard to differentiate.

But the third thing you felt was a type of warmth that comes only from a loving home. It bloomed in your chest, and you found yourself smiling as you stepped over the threshold, Sonny following and closing the door. It reminded you of the holidays at your own family’s place, and a calm washed over you.

In all of the chaos, Mama Carisi must’ve heard the door open and close, because she stuck her head out of the kitchen. Once her eyes latched onto Sonny’s, her smile grew to blinding proportions.

“Sonny, my little bambino! Come see your ma,” she cooed, arms open as she came out of the kitchen fully.

Sonny scooted passed you and hurried to his mother, wrapping her in a tight hug and kissing her cheek. You smiled at the reunion, and Mama Carisi opened her eyes to find you.

“And who is this?” she asked, releasing her son and coming over to you.

Sonny followed, looking more relaxed than you had ever seen him; getting a hug from your ma did that to a person. “Ah, this is my partner in the department,” he explained, introducing you.

You went to shake her hand, but Mama Carisi wrapped you up in a huge hug, kissing your cheek and whispering, “it’s nice to meet you. Welcome to my home,” into your ear.

“Thank you for having me,” you replied, easily melting into her embrace—okay, maybe it wasn’t just hugging your own mom that relaxed a person; maybe it was hugging Mama Carisi.

She pulled back to give you a look, a warm smile on her face. “Anyone who’s a friend of Sonny’s is welcome here.”

The next hour was a flurry of meeting family member after family member. Even with your detective skills, you quickly forgot most names, and your cheeks started to hurt from smiling. You and Sonny had started in the kitchen before he shuttled you through the house and out to the backyard.

“And these are all my cousins and second cousins; I’m not gonna bother introducing ya, since they won’t pay attention,” Sonny said, chuckling.

You didn’t blame him; there was a gaggle of children running and playing in the backyard. The oldest looked maybe ten, the youngest around four or five.

“Are these the ones that give you such problems?” you asked as a joke. It’s true that they were loud and crazy—as most kids are.

Sonny smirked, nodding. “Sure are. Watch; I bet ya twenty dollars that at least half of them will complain about dinner.”

“You got yourself a deal,” you replied, shaking his hand. Then, you scanned the expansive backyard. Leaves were covering the ground so completely that you could hardly see the lawn; kids were slipping on them all over the place. In the back, left corner stood an apple tree, bare of fruit—you assumed they’d already been harvested. And opposite the tree sat a little toolshed.

Grinning, you made your way through the throng of people and screaming children until you reached the shed. You opened the door and leaning just inside were two rakes: one huge one, and one medium sized. You grabbed the bigger of the two, then went to a small section of the backyard that somehow had no kids.

You glanced over and saw Sonny giving you a weird look, wondering what you were doing. Then, you started raking the leaves. You didn’t expect to get very far—the first pile rarely did. But there were so many leaves that you quickly had a pile up to your hip. As soon as one kid noticed, though, it was on.

The pile was quickly demolished as child after child flung themselves into it, screaming with laughter. But you had already moved on, starting another pile where they had just vacated. This one got a little bigger than the last, since they were distracted with the first pile. But once it was seen, it, too, became a new playground.

As you started on the third pile, another rake joined you. You glanced over and Sonny was there, smiling wide as he helped you rake. This pile got to be huge before little bodies flung themselves into it.

You quickly lost track of time, had no idea how many piles you had built only to be destroyed. But that was the point of the piles in the first place. Soon enough, the children started to become too tired, their little legs worn out. Your own arms were burning, but it was a good burn, and you continued until the piles started to outnumber the children.

By the time dinner was announced, there was not a single child running and playing anymore. They were scattered along the ground, panting, and smiling at each other with a job well done. Their parents all either ushered them to one of the various tables, or simply handed them a plate. Sonny, as well as the rest of his family, watched in stunned fascination as the children ate, too tired to complain or throw a fit about what they were given.

“How the hell did you do that?” Sonny asked in a hushed voice.

You chuckled. “I told you I had experience with this; you’re not the only one with a big family. And besides, no child has ever turned down the opportunity of crunching leaves.”

He gave you a look full of awe before he broke into a wide grin. Then he reached into his pocket, pulled out his wallet, and grabbed a $20. You huffed out a laugh as he handed it to you, and you tucked it away.

Mama Carisi walked up then, looking at everyone enjoying her hard work in the kitchen. “You’re a miracle worker, dear,” she said to you before looking at Sonny, “please tell me you’re keeping her?”

Sonny’s ears turned a bright pink. “Ma!”

“What? She’s helpful, knows how to play with children, and is a beautiful, young woman—”

“Ma! Stop talking, please!” Sonny whined. You felt a heat in your cheeks as Sonny avoided looking directly at you. It wasn’t like you never thought about dating Sonny; on the contrary, you found him incredibly attractive. But you were partners; there was a line there that you didn’t know if you could cross.

Mama Carisi scoffed before walking off, leaving you and Sonny to stand awkwardly next to each other. He glanced at you out of the corner of his eye before he turned and went into the now mostly empty house. You gave a sweeping look at the party guests before following him in.

You found him standing in his old living room, idly looking at childhood pictures on the wall. You watched him for a moment before you moved closer, within arm’s reach.

“I’m…sorry about ma,” he muttered, eyes still focused on the pictures. “She keeps trying to hook me up with any woman around my age and just…I’m sorry.”

You gave him a soft smile that he didn’t see. “It’s okay, Sonny, really. I don’t think anything less of you or anything. We’re partners, and damn good ones, if I do say so myself.”

“Yeah, but…what if I don’t want to be just partners?” he asked, voice soft.

You froze; what did he say? Sonny slowly turned to look at you, saw the shock on your face. Then he was shaking his head, quickly saying, “look, forget I said anything—”

You cut him off with a gentle kiss, your lips soft against his. He let out a little gasp of surprise before he was kissing you back. One hand came up to your face, cupping your cheek, while the other went to your hip. You slowly wrapped your arms around his waist, pulling him closer to you. You felt that line that defined you as partners only start to fade away as your mouths moved against each other.

Gently, you pulled away from him, just enough to look deeply into those blue eyes you loved so much. “Maybe I don’t want to be just partners, either,” you said softly.

Sonny grinned, his thumb rubbing your cheek tenderly. “Can I take you out to dinner tomorrow, then?”

“Sounds like a date,” you replied, smiling up at him. His grin broadened before he dipped his head, kissing away any fears or doubts you had about this.

[awed-frog]

Read this in an article today and I thought you would appreciate: "An unhealthy diet might make us depressed, and depression, in turn, makes us feel even sicker." (The Atlantic) But it made me question, do people really not understand the link between eating healthy and feeling better? The fresher the food typically the better you feel. I thought that was just common sense...

I don’t think it’s common sense at all, no. I’ve read many testimonies of people who had to change their diets because of health problems, and most of them have a pretty miserable few weeks before starting to enjoy the benefits. The most common problems are the side-effects of giving up sugar and/or caffeine (which include fatigue, irritability and headaches) and digestive issues - a meat-heavy diet pretty much destroys your microbiome, and it can take some time until everything is up and running again. I expect most people’s experience never goes beyond those two or three weeks - you want to get back into your bikini, survive two weeks off unseasoned lettuce and cabbage soup, feel cranky and tired as hell, meals become torture, that first post-diet bite of a sugar-heavy cupcake spikes your happy hormones into overdrive, voilà.  

Plus, many people don’t realize their (mental) health issues are food-related. They think it’s normal to feel like shit after a meal, to be constipated for days, to be moody and tired all the time, to get fatter and fatter as you age. And don’t forget the ‘I’d rather be happy’ fallacy - people assume eating healthily is an unpleasant chore, and underestimate the damages a bad diet can do, which creates the false dichotomy ‘be miserable with your boiled broccoli’ vs ‘enjoy life and die a bit sooner’.  

To be fair, food is honestly such a complicated issue. I don’t think I know anyone who has a normal and healthy relationship with it, but I also don’t know anyone who ever consulted a therapist (that I know of, anyway)? As I said, underestimated issue. But off the top of my head, I can think of:

two anorexic girls who literally almost died

one of them is still having problems in her 40s

(btw if you have anorexia, SEEK HELP RIGHT NOW, it’s the most deadly mental health issue out there)

several people with binge eating disorder, most of them obese, and developing more and more health issues as they age

a guy who used to eat the same meals every day, down to the gram

a guy who empties the sweet cupboards every night (his wife rebuys everything, they never discuss it)

a girl who always packs her lunch and won’t eat anything if she forgets it at home (nothing! not a slice of bread, not a banana...once she almost fainted, and she doesn’t have any allergies btw, it’s just a compulsion)

another girl who has to blend everything she eats

several alcoholics, but that’s another issue

several people who don’t eat any vegetables

one person who doesn’t even eat fruits

one person who lives 100% on chocolate and coke (the drink)

three people who got scurvy

And this just among close friends and family, tbh. Sometimes we discuss food-related stuff, and they all seem to believe their behaviour is perfectly normal. 

I don’t know. The entire way we think about food is completely out of whack, and it’s infuriating but there are too many economic interests to put things right. 

Btw if you’re interested in the links between digestion and mental health, there’s a great book called Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body's Most Underrated Organ, by German gastroenterology student Giulia Enders. It’s both scary af and very entertaining.

[musclebuilding06-blog]

Quick Techniques to Boost Your Immune System Rapidly

Easy methods to strengthen your immune system easily. Whether you think you have a robust or weak immune system the following tips will help you make sure your immune system is usually tough, and ready to ward off just about any potential diseases, cold as well as flu viruses. These tips are really easy to follow, but do require that you just abide by them consistently to present your self an immune system raise. Eat Healthy: If you want to improve immune system and keep it sturdy, it is essential that you eat appropriately and healthy. This means to enjoy regularly, and to eat issues that are nutritious and useful to your health. Eat lots of vegetables and fruits like broccoli, carrots along with grapefruits. Broccoli and green beans are great antioxidants, and grapefruits are jam packed with all-natural vitamin C. It is also of importance to avoid foods with unpleasant sugar such as soft drinks in addition to candy.

Exercise Regularly: One of the best plus easiest ways to boost your defense system is to exercise as often as is possible. Things like jogging, weight lifting, and even active sports are great to complete, especially during the winter as more susceptible to colds and also flu viruses. Keeping your whole body active strengthens your power to fight off disease, and receives your blood flowing, allowing your body to produce natural antiviral properties. Take Immune System Enhancing Supplements: Along with all of these disease fighting capability boosting tips, it is also recommended that you take a diversified range of good quality supplements. I will list among the better ones here that support strengthen your immune system. Usana Ultra Antioxidant Vitamins, Megafood A single Daily Whole Food Nutritional, Douglas Labs Ultra Prophylactic X Vitamin Code Gents Multivitamin Supplement, Every Lady's One Daily Multi.

Continue to be Clean: Staying clean along with washing your hands regularly may well appear clear, but a lot of people do ignore. Don't forget to wash your hands, its easy. It is a fact that the majority of men and women get sick because of being in open public areas, as this makes you at risk of germs. If your going to the gymnasium or doing sports, be sure and take a bath or shower area as soon as possible after, and to clean up your clothes and equipment. Steer clear of Alcohol & Smoking: It is really an extremely important point. No matter how the majority of my tips that you comply with, if you smoke cigarettes or take in too often, you WILL get sick. Using tobacco and drinking alcohol destroys your own personal fragile natural body Boost Your Immune System. Even if you boost up your immunity process over a long period of time, one or two hours drinks or smokes will take it right back down to some sort of weak immune system. Have you ever possessed a few too many drinks and caught a cold or flu virus a few days after? This happens frequently , and is because you have mistreated your body. This might not be quick if your a seasoned smoker or simply drinker, but is a worthy try.

Try to Avoid Stress: Pressure is an immune system killer. May very well not realize it but all of the stressful things that happen within your day can run down your whole body. Try to avoid all those unnecessary demanding moments, and let them rotate off you. This one can be tricky to master but is worth trying. Get Good Sleep and Sleep: To top it off of, after following all my as well as suggestions, you will want to ensure that your acquiring adequate sleep and sleep. If you have a long day and next go to the gym, and continue to be up very late, you will be running down your body. Make sure that your getting good sleep so that your body's recuperated, and your system is enhanced ready to take on the next day. All these 7 Tips Work Speedy - But Also Work as a life-style: Follow these 7 immunity mechanism boosting tips and you will be astonished at how rarely you get sick and tired! These are easy steps to follow, and so they should be implemented into your day by day routine. Not only will you rarely unwell, but you will quickly realize great you feel, and you may notice another boost of energy. These are wonderful ways to see fast final results, but are also good to make certain a long, happy and balanced lifestyle. Share this article using your friends so that they can also supercharge their immune system and guide a healthy lifestyle.

[smoothiediet21]

A Holistic Approach to Nutrition || Health ||Fitness ||Wellness

  Drinking Water... Does It Work ?

Is there a link between drinking water and weight loss? Yes and one that has been scientifically proven. Drinking water with or after food helps to bulk out our food, sending messages to the brain to say that we are full so we will eat less. Water also helps in aiding the absorption of vitamins and minerals in our food. For example, fat needs water in order to be broken down and used by the body. Water also helps to flush out the waste material in our bodies and thus helps keep us in optimum health.

   So how much should you be drinking and when. You should aim to drink at least 2 liters of water a day, more on hot days.  You should spread your consumption throughout the day. There is no need to drink bottled water as in most areas tap water is perfectly safe. If you do prefer the bottled variety, steer clear of the flavored ones. These products contain sweeteners which do not help with weight loss and may be carcinogenic.

 If you do not drink sufficient water, you will feel lethargic, tried and confused. Your body may misinterpret your feelings of thirst as hunger and thus you can over eat. In fact by the time you feel thirsty your body is already starting to dehydrate hence why should drink regularly. You may find that initially you have to go to the bathroom more often but your body will soon adapt to the increased volume.

 Drinking water on its own won’t win your weight loss battle. You need to make changes in other areas as well including your diet and the level of exercise you undertake. You should aim to be doing at least twenty minutes of exercise per day.  Walking 10,000 steps per day is one good way to get those calories shifted.

 Any form of exercise is good for you so try to do something you enjoy. Get a group of friends together to play tennis or golf. Mixing socializing with exercise is a great way to increase your physical activity. Small things like taking the stairs instead of the elevator, standing instead of sitting down and getting off the bus/subway at the stop before yours also helps.

 There is no point in drinking loads of water and taking exercise if you are still eating fast food every day. You need to retrain your palate and make your diet healthier. Do it gradually. Replace your favorite’s bad food with something healthy.  Swap your chicken nuggets for a salad.  Increase your fruit and vegetable consumption while decreasing the amount of cakes, candy and bad fats you eat. Not only will you lose weight but your skin will love you too.

 The link between drinking water and weight loss will also help to give you glowing skin and you will soon become the envy of your friends when you show off your new slimmer figure at the next social occasion.

     Watch Now

🔜- As with so many weight loss plan, as part of a Balanced diet smoothie Diet can help you to lose weight..100% money back guarantee within 60 days if you are not satisfied with result.

  Imagine if you could wake up every morning feeling amazing. Instead of waking up with a headache, or struggling to open your eyes because you’re still so tired; you just leap out of bed full of life and ready to go and take on the day. This energy is then enough to carry you through workouts, through your office job and through the evenings when you still have enough left in the tank to chat to play with your family. You have enough to work on projects, to keep the house clean and tidy and to make the very most of every last hour. And imagine if you had the dream physique you’ve always wanted: flat abs, ripped muscle and skin that looks glowing and healthy. Of course, there’s no quick fix that can make all of this a reality, but it is a very good aim to have. And actually, there are just a few simple things you can do that will immediately take you a lot closer to that reality. One of them is just to start drinking a smoothie every day.  

  Really? A Smoothie? A drink hat can improve your health, your mood, your appearance and your energy levels? Definitely – and much more as well! In this book you’ll learn how smoothies can change your life and you’ll discover easy recipes for smoothies that boost immunity, fight stress, improve athletic performance, build muscle, fight cancer and MUCH more.

 What You Can Expect When You Start Drinking Smoothies ??  

   So what should you expect when you start drinking smoothies regularly?  As I suggested at the start of this chapter, you should   expect to see your energy change in a BIG way. All the most energetic people I know – all the people who are most driven and focused when it comes to working toward goals and getting what they want – are people who have regular smoothies. You can also expect to feel better in a ton of other ways. You’ll find that your skin, hair and nails look better, you’ll find that your eyes are whiter and people will comment that you have a ‘healthy glow’. You’ll feel healthier too. You’ll sleep better, you’ll find you get ill much less often and you’ll find you need to snack less throughout the day.   You’ll lose weight too, thanks partly to the smaller intake of food (a nice side effect of reduced cravings and hunger) and partly to the increased metabolic rate of your body that will help you to burn through fat. 

 Best of all, you’ll be reinforcing your body and improving your long term health so that you are less likely to develop cancer, Alzheimer’s, heart disease or countless other conditions. And this shouldn’t come as a surprise. This is no alien supplement that is supercharging your body. 

 Before We Begin – The Downsides and Dangers of Smoothies Diet 

Before we dive right in though, you need to be aware that there are some downsides and risks involved with smoothies too. Smoothies can do a world of good and throughout the rest of this book you’ll be learning the ingredients, the techniques and tricks to enjoying some seriously healthy and tasty juices. But unfortunately, as with any health trend, there are also those on the web who are pushing false information and generally causing harm to the good name of smoothies! The first thing to be aware of is the idea of ‘juice fasting’. Here, people will use smoothies as meal replacements and will only survive on juice for a period of days or weeks. The claim is that this is a great way to ‘detox’ the body and to remove ‘toxins’ and other things, as well as being a good way to jump start your fat loss. This is not a good idea. As far as detoxing goes, what’s important to keep in mind is that this is another arbitrary term that doesn’t really have any meaning. There is no scientific proof that we need to detox in any way or that we have a ‘build up’ of toxins. The truth is that our body has its own system of detoxification and this works just fine without our help. Your body will have no difficulty in removing toxins over time and they are not likely to build up or increase in number in any way.  In one study, researchers asked the makers of ‘detoxing hair products’ to name some of the toxins that their shampoos and conditions could combat – they found that the manufacturers could give no good explanation. We like the notion of detoxing because it seems to make intuitive sense but the reality is that this is actually just a waste of time. And what you also need to be aware of, is the high sugar content found in smoothies. Now, sugar is not always a bad thing and over the course of this book, you will learn to mitigate the sugar found in your smoothies.

However, when you remove the food from your diet, you remove the buffer to protect you from the sugar and the acidity of your smoothies. This can then result in some serious damage to health and a diet consisting purely of smoothies is likely to damage the stomach lining and more importantly: the teeth. I actually know someone who tried a ‘smoothie fast’ (despite my protestations) and they ended up eroding all of the enamel from their teeth. They had to go to the doctor and lost two teeth after just one week. So think long and hard before you jump on board any juice fasts or other trends. The last thing to think about is whether or not a diet is sustainable. If you are going to ‘kick start’ a diet by using an extreme fast, then you’ll be putting your body through hell only to return to a normal type of eating. That means your weight will simply return to what it was before the fast and you won’t have benefited. Moreover, when you fast for this long, you actually increase your likelihood of storing fat. Numerous processes in the body ensure this but one key example is that your body will produce a lot of cortisol as a response to low blood sugar. This cortisol then encourages iatrogenesis – the creation of new fat stores. Oh and it also destroys muscle (via the release of molestation) which makes you less metabolically active. It depletes testosterone significantly too, which further slows down your metabolism. But you’re getting sugar right? From all that fruit? Yes - but only simple sugar. Fruits absorb very quickly into the blood stream and that means that you’re going to be getting three massive spikes of energy throughout the day and nothing more. This is not good for your insulin sensitivity and it means you are highly likely to store all that sugar as fat. So in short: avoid juice fasts and smoothie ‘cleanses’. Instead, focus on adding smoothies to your diet! 

Learn More..

[coachkaitlin-blog]

Improve Your Health By Making These Simple Changes

We are all a work-in-progress. I have healthy changes that I need to make in my life, and goals that I want to reach. What are your goals? Do you know where to start? In my previous article on how to achieve your New Year’s health and fitness resolutions, I mentioned committing to making one change per month. In this post, I’ll go over the top five healthy lifestyle changes that I suggest to my clients. If you commit to just one of these five changes, you will see positive results in just 30 days or less.

Drink More Water

I could go on for days talking about the benefits of water. By replacing all other fluids you drink with water, you are not only saving calories and cutting out harmful ingredients, but you are also helping to maintain your body’s fluid balance. Your body is composed of about 60% water and your different organ systems need water to function properly. Water is lost daily through urine, stool, sweat, and even breathing, so you need to constantly replenish it.  An outdated rule of thumb was to drink 64 ounces of water per day, but how much you need to drink actually depends on your weight and level of activity. The minimum amount of water we should be drinking daily is half our body weight in ounces. So for example: someone who weighs 150 pounds needs 75 ounces of water per day MINIMUM. If you are exercising (which you should be!), then you need more. It is recommended that you drink 17-20 ounces of water about 2 hours before exercise, 7-10 ounces every 10-20 minutes during exercise, and 16-24 ounces for every pound of bodyweight lost during exercise.

If you are not used to drinking plain water, it can be hard to get used to. I used to HATE it. Room temperature water made me gag, so I had to find a way that I could get it down. I tried many things like flavored water and flavor packets (like Crystal Light) but those have sugar, fake sugar, and other additives in them. Going to restaurants I used to make my own “lemonade�� by squeezing lemon in my water and adding Sweet ‘n Low (YUCK), and then progressed to just adding lemon to my water. When I got used to that, I realized that I could handle plain iced water. Play around and find ways to enjoy drinking water. I listed this as number one for a reason- it’s one of the most important changes you can make for your health!

Walk At Least 30 Minutes Each Day

Walking gets a bad rap. I’ve heard many people put walking down as if it weren’t a good way to exercise. In fact, it’s one of the most beneficial ways to exercise, especially if you are a beginner, dealing with an injury, or are just trying to improve your stamina. For the average person, walking one mile burns approximately 100 calories. However, wearing a fitness tracker or heart rate monitor will determine how many calories you burned more accurately. Some of the top benefits of walking include: improving oxygen flow through your body, improving the strength and functioning of your heart, boosting your energy level,  improving brain function, and (bonus!) it’s also FREE. All you need is a good pair of walking shoes and you’re ready to go.

Start with 30 minute walks and work your way up to an hour. When walking becomes less challenging, you can add walking sprints or jogs to increase heart rate and calorie burning.

Eat More Fruits and Vegetables

Weight loss is 80% nutrition and only 20% exercise. There is a common misconception that if you are exercising then you can eat whatever you want (I just had a client say that to me last week). That is completely false. I will be writing on nutrition in more detail later on, but here’s the skinny. If you are not giving your body proper nutrients, you shouldn’t be exercising at all. Exercise creates free radicals in the body, and fruits and vegetables contain vitamins and minerals that fight and eliminate those free radicals. Free radicals can cause cancer, inflammation, and other physical problems so you want to eliminate them as best you can.

I am not big on having clients count calories. I believe that if you are eating as many whole foods as possible, you will lose weight and give your body good nutrition. You don’t have to be a vegetarian, but eating as many plants as possible will strengthen your immune system, help fight inflammation, and reduce the risk of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and a host of other diseases.

When you sit down for a meal (any meal – not just dinner!), at least half of your plate should be full of fruits or veggies. If you feel like you need a snack throughout the day, reach for an apple, banana, or carrots, instead of going for the chips. Doing this will help you properly fuel your body throughout the day.

Get More Sleep

I’m not sure I know anyone who thinks they get enough sleep. Life always seems to get in the way. Eight hours of sleep turns into five or six and then you need to caffeine up the next morning just to function. The truth is, sleep is just as important for weight loss and good health as clean eating and exercise. Lack of sleep has a negative effect on the hormones that control hunger, which is why you don’t feel full or satisfied when you eat after a sleepless night. Sleep also impacts thinking, so you tend to reach for whatever snacks are available instead of healthy ones.

One of the biggest destroyers of our sleep comes from the things that we are most attached to: our cell phones. Cell phones emit “blue light”, which makes our brains think that it’s actually daytime, causing our bodies to produce less melatonin. This causes our natural sleep cycle to be disrupted, leading to reduced quality and quantity of sleep. To combat this, many phones and tablets have a “night light” function that casts a reddish tint to your screen, eliminating any sleep destroying blue light. Start using this function on your devices several hours before you go to bed. Other ways to help improve your sleep include: cutting out caffeine and alcohol after 5pm, keeping distractions out of the bedroom (including your phone and TV), keeping your room as dark as possible (or using a sleep mask), and considering a nightly bedtime routine so your body can start winding down before you hit the sheets.

Limit Processed Sugar Intake

When I refer to the term “sugar” I mean added sugars, fake sugars, or processed sugars; NOT natural sugars. Natural sugars found in fruits, vegetables, and other whole foods are processed differently in the body than refined sugar. A good rule of thumb for processed sugar intake is to eat no more than 7 grams at a time. Your body can’t process more than 7 grams of processed sugar at once, so the excess gets stored as fat (once again, I’m not referring to natural sugars because a banana has at least 20 grams of sugar). I will be writing a more in-depth article on the effects of sugar on the body, so I won’t go into too much detail now. Just a few negative affects of processed sugar on the body include: impairing memory, causing an increased appetite, increasing joint inflammation, and increasing the risk of disease processes like, diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. Sugar is 8x more addictive than Cocaine and is considered the most accessible “drug” on the market. It is added to almost everything you buy, so do yourself a favor and read labels and pay extra attention to processed sugar content before you purchase anything. To help you spot added sugars, look for words that end in “ose”, like dextrose, maltose, and fructose.

I don’t expect anyone to cut sugar cold turkey. It is extremely hard to do and you are more likely to relapse due to the addiction. However, cutting down sugar intake WILL improve your health and fitness. After week 2, your body will realize that it didn’t need all the sugar you were pumping into it before. You will start craving healthy food and your tastes will change. The number one thing I have heard from people who finish Whole30 (or something like it) is that healthy foods taste sweeter to them after they cut out the processed sugar.

Time To Take Action!

Many of you may think these changes are overly simplistic, and they are! The great thing about working towards a healthy lifestyle is that it doesn’t have to be complicated. I also know that these changes are not always easy to make. Habits are hard to break and stepping out of our comfort zone is tough. I’ve made these changes in my own life (I’m still working on getting more sleep) and I’ve experienced the benefits, which is why I wanted to pass this information on to you. I’m challenging you now to make just ONE of these changes this month and stick with it. If you do, I know you will feel so much better about your health, your fitness, and your body.

Visit my blog for more great articles!

[ambronite]

10 Reasons for Brain Fog: Are High Glycemic Foods Destroying Your Ability to Think?

This blog post is written by Simo Suoheimo, Superhero and cofounder at Ambronite. It’s based on solving some of the common pain points, as reported by our blog readers and newsletter subscribers, in daily focus and brain power with actionable and proven, research based tools and techniques. Do you ever feel "stuck" or "brain fogged", like your brain and thinking is stuck on second gear? Most people do. Often after eating.

And the science of food, and sugar in particular, reveals there's a lot you can do about it.

To solve the root cause and rescue your brain from constant stagnation, it's worth asking yourself:

Are High Glycemic Foods Causing You "Brain Crash" or "Post-Lunch Apathy"?

Now, as the cofounder of Ambronite, it’s no surprise that I’m someone who gets massive kicks from solving problems like this. Remember, I used to struggle with this stuff myself before starting the company with Mikko and Arno in 2013!

Nowadays, our team regularly gets mails and feedback like this from people who have noticed brain fog, found the cause (their food choices), and fixed this part of life for good:

"So, I started tweaking my diet about a year ago. --- After the few changes, the daily anxiety and brain fog are gone.

I used to feel like crap after lunch. Tired, unorganized and even a bit depressed. Often it got so bad I couldn't focus for hours and felt pretty much useless at work and in social situations before early evening.

Now I have energy throughout the day and have almost zero cravings. I noticed I've also lost some weight without dieting or giving anything up."

What have these people changed to make such a drastic improvement in how they feel and think every day?

The common reason they've found (and fixed):

High glycemic foods and unstable blood sugar have serious effects on our brain.

How and why does this happen? I'm excited about learning the causes and mechanisms of how we humans function and what makes us the way we are, so we've covered these topics on our blog.

If you'd like to understand more, check out the overview on how carbs affect our body and mind, based on current research evidence, in the post Science Corner: Overview on Carbs by Medical Doctor, PhD Christian Mueller on our blog. This is a proper in-depth post, complete with 36 references to contemporary scientific research!

For all too many people, certain foods produce fluctuations in our blood sugar and have the power to control our mood and focus. Yikes!

High glycemic foods that shut your brain down

These foods spike blood glucose and can lead to decreased attention, sleepiness, low motivation, mind fog and an afternoon brain crash.

Different foods and sugars have different effects on our minds and bodies. We've written about the effects of different sugars in your foods in the post Getting granular: The science of sugar written by Michael Healy.

Example sources of these productivity killers:

Rice,

potatoes,

wheat,

fruity smoothies and smoothie bowls (!)

bagels and sandwiches

high fructose corn syrup and maltodextrin,

your seasonal special Venti at Starbucks,

most protein bars,

most sports drinks,

cookies,

juices and other sweet drinks

When to enjoy these: research shows that eating these right before or after an exercise when your body is using a lot of energy to fuel movement, minimizes "damage" and the negative effects on your brain power. 

Eating your way to a sharper brain An increasing amount of people are putting how they feel first over the occasional desire for a treat, and opting to avoid these altogether, whenever possible. The choice is yours. 

Luckily, there's heaps of good stuff out there, too: the good guys that keep your brain and body happy and your mind focused, so you'll feel motivated and ready to get stuff done:

Low glycemic, brain boosting foods

...go for these to increase brain power, focus and peace of mind, and to eliminate stress:

oats,

sweet potatoes,

legumes,

lentils,

non-starchy veggies,

carrots,

Ambronite (no surprise here, our team loves brain boosting goodies!)

nuts and seeds,

cashews and almonds,

select fruit such as whole cherries, whole apples and whole peaches

berries like blueberries and sea-buckthorns

TL;DR: Need to be on top of your game in terms of brain power and focus?

Pick the foods that BOOST your brain and AVOID the ones that shut it down. Do you currently experience, or have you experienced brain fog? Have you found clever hacks or rules of thumb to make sure your focus stays sharp, no matter what? I’d love to hear your thoughts and the tips you’ve discovered!  Please leave them in the comments below!

Simo Your personal guinea pig in hacking human focus, health and happiness Cofounder at Ambronite

Another great post:

Superhero Podcast #6: Nootropics, Cognitive Enhancement and Food Biohacks with Ryan Munsey

[cake-resipe]

Basics of Food Management

Food is a fundamental part of our existence. Our life revolves around it from the moment we wake up. Food and feast are focused on celebratory food around the world and even in all cultures. Our ancient Indian scriptures divide food into three categories, such as-

Satvik or Pure Foods: These are foods that heal, relax, juicy, smooth and increase longevity, intelligence and strength and are well digested by our system.

Rajasic or tasteful foods: These are salty, spicy, bitter, salty and can lead to ill health, grief or discomfort.

Tamasic or impure foods: Stale, cold, leftover foods, impure and half-cooked food causes great harm to mind and body.

Food is an aspect of our life that we accept. We focus less on the food we consume. We leave our bodies to deal with constant abuse from our day-to-day lives and lifestyles. We, humans, need to build a health creation system and create a holiness with food, productive exercise, yoga, corrective breathing and meditation, rest and sleep and remain spiritually aware and conscious, without giving up our bodies. These stages translate into improved stamina, strength, tone and energy, with an emphasis on the entire body as one unit, one that pronounces well-being and goodness.

The food we eat lays the foundation for every cell and tissue in our body. The purpose of food is to nourish us, build strength and give us vital energy. Digestive harmony is important to release this vital energy necessary for a healthy life. The science of Ayurveda - the creative and creative life sciences - states that every part of our mind and body is governed by DOSHAS - the bio-energetic forces or elements that sustain life. Refined, processed and preserved foods are completely devoid of this nutrition and vitality. Whole, raw and natural foods, which absorb cosmic energy, and are super charged with super rain and sunshine, should be fully utilized for health and well-being.

The father of medicine, Hippocrates, said "Your food is your medicine. You are what you eat and you become what you eat".

For most of us eating good food is just another task and a trivial thing. How many of us are really wary of the fact that good food works wonders inside our cells and tissues and is responsible for 80 percent of our changes. Food also has a subtle effect on our brain. Food plays an important role in our brain behavior, our mood and thought processes, and in dealing with stress. It is these nutritious, natural foods that liberate health and vigor and protect us from diseases. Studies have shown that the human body has two dietary processes — nutrition and cleanliness — that need to be regulated with good and sensible dietary habits. If neglected, it can lead to the formation of toxins that are the basis of most mental and physical degeneration.

Health is not just a great body or zero-size figure, but incorporates physical fitness, brain science and spiritual development and our efforts should be an integrated approach to well-being. To achieve this, take proper diet that does not destroy our digestive system. Yes, I mean go easy on all those junk foods, soft drinks, stale, cold foods and excessive meat eating and alcohol. Instead, start loving fruits, vegetables, nuts and foods in their natural form. It is important to 'satisfy your hunger and not calm your hunger.' I am urging you to follow it and not call it 'diet'. This alone is not intended for weight loss. On the contrary, it is an important part of a healthy lifestyle.

So let us celebrate good health.

How many times have you come across the words 'healthy' and 'food' in the same sentence, but have chosen to ignore it? Despite being aware of the many benefits of healthy eating, I see so many people around me for their health. Our body is what we make it. So why fill it with unhealthy food and suffer its brunt.

There are innumerable benefits of healthy eating, some of them are:

1. Helps prevent and control health problems like heart diseases, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes.

2. Good nutrition makes your body better equipped to deal with stress.

3. Good food stimulates the body so that more killer cells can be formed to reduce infection thereby boosting immunity.

4. Food provides us with antioxidant fighting disease and can slow down the natural process of aging.

Indian diets are natural and unprocessed, including grains, pulses and pulses, fruits and vegetables, nuts and oilseeds, with mindfulness and planning; All to maintain adequate amounts of health. Diet and nutrition are responsible for 70 to 80% of your total change. Food also affects your thought process, attitude and behavior. There are foods that can make you feel high, there are foods that can make you irritable and temperamental, there are foods that can excite you and there are foods that can relax you.

The Indian diet is preferred by the Indian population based on our culture, climatic conditions, environment, pollution etc. Once it is great to enjoy other dishes, but do you ever want to depend on pasta and burgers only and face the risks associated with consumption. Such unhealthy, non-fibrous foods?

The health risks mentioned above are many! Our diet includes complex carbohydrates from sorghum, millet, ragi, whole wheat etc. as opposed to refined carbohydrates. Our diets are designed to protect our hearts from low levels of oils, fats, sugars. In fact, our diets strike this perfect balance of all food groups, too much and too little. High sugar intake is proportional to diabetes, high fat levels can cause hypercholesterolemia, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, etc.

My golden rules for better health:

Remember, our body is determined to consume what we have been doing since childhood and what our father, fore father has been eating. On a daily basis, the diet of our rotis, pulses / pulses, vegetables, sprouts, salads etc. will ensure complete health as a continuous intake of junk foods / burgers / pizzas / more cheese, cream etc. Relieved. Love, but remember, anything or very little is equally harmful ...

Guidelines for healthy eating and weight management

Follow these golden rules / steps of healthy eating for healthy weight loss and maximizing your health and longevity:

1. Frequent little help of food is recommended. Eat slowly. Frequent eating causes loss of appetite, providing constant energy and maintaining metabolism efficiently.

2. Select foods based on your choice and do not worry about the number of calories you consume but focus on the combination of the right foods and portion sizes. Do not deprive yourself. This makes you more likely to eat the next day.

3. Include different types of foods in your daily diet. Include nutritious foods such as vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, sprouts, and whole grains. These foods provide all the essential nutrients and fiber which are essential for growth, good health and immunity.

4. Drink 8 to 10 glasses of liquids such as water, and herbal tea daily. These drinks are fillers are hungry managers.

5. Include fresh fruits, fresh unheard vegetable juices, vegetables, sprouts, whole grains, nuts and low fat milk / yogurt.

6. Drink a glass of ginger / green tea after a heavy meal. It accelerates digestion and improves metabolism.

7. Eat healthy snacks such as salads, crackers, fruits, unsweetened and low-fat yogurt, whole biscuits and muffins.

8. Read the label thoroughly and choose foods that do not contain chemicals such as preservatives and additives. Systematically grown foods are a healthy option.

9. Avoid bad fats such as butter, cream full-cream milk and rich salad dressings and sauces. Keep in mind that do not eliminate the sources of good fats such as nuts, seeds and olive oils that contain unsaturated fatty acids. Use these foods in moderation.

10. Eliminate white flour products such as bread and biscuits, pasta, white rice, processed foods and sugar-containing breakfast cereals. They lack fiber. They cause our insulin levels to increase for fat storage.

11. Exercise regularly. Stretching, yoga, calisthenics, walking and other mild forms of aerobic activities are recommended. These exercises can be done at home or in the gym with guidance. Stress can be reduced through yoga, meditation, good rest and sound sleep.

12. Avoid soft drinks, and juices. Also avoid sweets, sweets and fried snacks. Instead, eat a variety of nutrient dense foods. Limit consumption of processed foods, fried foods and fast food. If you must have them, remember to do moderation exercises. Moderation is the key to what you eat without feeling deprived.

13. Use cooking methods such as stew, steaming, grilling, and roasting instead of frying.

Good health is the result of conscious commitment that includes many factors such as the food we eat, exercise, mental well-being, rest, and sleep. Consistency is the most important factor when it comes to good nutrition. When you are often on the run, you need a plan that you can easily adopt and that lays the foundation for healthy eating. Eating consistently well-balanced meals is essential for those who want to lose or maintain weight, increase energy and endurance throughout the day, to improve focus and concentration and above all and well their well-being quotient. Micmizing for! 

[crystalnherbwitch]

Fitness Products - Fulfilling Busy Lifestyle's Fitness Needs

What's driving the health and wellness trend? There are several subscribers and motorists of the increased public awareness of health and wellness. The rising number of heart diseases, common occurrence of cancer, record number of people suffering from obesity and several other health difficulties. Additionally, lifestyles have changed tremendously. We're engrossed in our work. It's getting difficult for us to maintain a balance between work and health. We barely find ways to cope up with our health issues. Though health is becoming our priority, we don't practice physical exercise frequently. Because of this, health is being destroyed, and health issues are rising.

What does health and health include? The expression has numerous definitions which range from physical to the spiritual health of mind, body and soul. It involves our conscious effort to stick to a healthy lifestyle. Healthy food consumption is now the most significant driver of our health. The health and wellness trend hinges on the premise that food consumption is directly proportional to our physical health. It is now pivotal to keep consistency in consuming healthy food in our diet. Nevertheless, physical fitness plays an essential role in maintaining ourselves healthier and disease-free.

Physical fitness Fitness doesn't require us to run marathons, visit the gym and exercise other forms of exercise such as swimming. We could be fit with timely and regular consumption of a balanced diet, but some physical exercise is known as part of a healthy lifestyle.

Avoid potentially harmful customs and goods The trick to health and wellness trend is cutting back on things with potential risks of inducing illness. Avoiding things like smoking, wearing sunblock, etc are examples of steps people take to keep a healthy lifestyle.

Fitness products To overcome dangers associated with active and unhealthy lifestyle people have begun using home and health fitness solutions. These products are used to save time, and remove the requirement of excessive physical exercise. They're also handy and easily available. Since the online shopping market has grown and gained trust of customers, people now prefer purchasing wellness products online.

To allow people change for their customs and change focus to a healthier lifestyle, companies have begun providing health products online. Home and health fitness products include fitness center instruments in addition to products based on other medicines.

Benefits of using fitness products The exercise products include the latest technology and are a revolutionary way to remain fit and healthy. Using these products eliminates the danger of becoming injured and provides faster results. They're just developed for using at home. These products will be the outcome of painstaking efforts of skilled health and technical specialists.

They can be found in a wide selection and at reasonable prices. They're an ideal alternative to conventional training devices. They're all that's required to accommodate your requirements of becoming healthy and fit within this fast paced lifestyle.

The Perfect Healthy Lifestyle Diet Plan

The proper healthy lifestyle diet program should make it possible for you to concentrate on your health, while still enjoying foods that aren't just beneficial for you but also taste good! Most individuals don't want to start consuming healthy seeing they don't think healthy foods taste nicely. In actuality, I used to be like that. I like sweets and the notion of eating carrots as a snack instead of having a donut was barbarous. I didn't believe it was possible to correct the way I eat and really wind up enjoying it. But I did!

What exactly happened to help correct my ideas about consuming nutritious? To begin, I had this reason to really want to do it. I had been obese and knew that if I continued the path I was on I'd have a great deal of health issues rather than live the best life I knew was possible. So I started eating nutritious foods and executed a fantastic workout routine. In this process I lost 40 pounds over the course of 6 weeks and I felt excellent! I learned what I need to be eating rather than consuming. I also learned to include the dedication required to stay away from sugary foods and take joy in fruits and vegetables for a snack. All it was, was a change in my mindset and what I wanted to attain.

A healthy lifestyle diet program should consist of consuming a lot of produce although additionally having a good deal of lean protein in your meal plan. When you visit the grocery stick to the perimeter of the shop whilst shopping. As soon as you consider it, the majority of the items which are in the aisles consist of meals in a bag or box which are unhealthy for you. You can discover loads of healthy foods around the perimeter, such as those yummy carrots, lean animal protein, eggs, and low-fat dairy products. This is where you should be focusing plenty of your healthy lifestyle options.

As soon as you start making healthier eating choices, your taste buds will begin to get used to those refreshing foods and you might actually begin enjoying a range of those. When we always consume foods high in salt or sugar, the taste buds become twisted and we don't understand what really is a fantastic tasting food due to the overpowering sensations our tongue is accustomed to. There are lots of fruits that I would not have eaten before and I gave many excuses to not east, but now I enjoy them. I could have a juicy peach and consume it like an apple and I really like it!

You are also going to have to keep consistent with your healthy lifestyle diet program. Saying that you are going to consume healthy today and consequently grabbing a fatty 800 calorie hamburger tomorrow isn't going to work. Now, I do suggest taking one meal per week and using that as a"cheat meal" in which you can eat something which wouldn't have in your healthy meal plan. Just don't take this too much and eat 2,000 calories in that one sitting. A cheat meal is to help keep you sane however also to benefit you for work well done throughout the week and also to give you something to eat which might not be healthy, but you do delight in.

Living this healthy life is greatly critical and there are lots of benefits of a healthy lifestyle. You could delight in living longer with less illness whilst doing things that are favorable to your loved ones and the rest of the world. It's possible to get there with a fantastic healthy lifestyle diet program.

[thisusernameitsalreadytaken]

The Three Pillars of Health - Healthy Body, Healthy Mind, Healthy Actions!

Healthy Body Exercise Moving your body is crucial to balancing out the chatter of your mind. Here are some great forms of exercise: 

1. Yoga - There are many Types: Anusara, Ashtanga, Iyengar, Kripalu, Kriya, Kundalini. Yoga can be aerobic, releasing, meditative, strengthening and energizing - it depends upon the sort of yoga you're practicing. Learn what appeals to your own body. 

2. Walking - Walking is the most elementary form of exercise. It can be done anywhere and can do a lot to calm your mind and balance the left and right hemispheres of your brain. 20-30 minutes daily of the exercise may not look like much, but it can do a lot!. It's a excellent way to actually get your lungs functioning and heart pumping. 

The downsides are that it may be inconvenient in the harsh weather and hard on joints. So purchase a mini-trampoline! They're a fun way to operate set up in the comfort of the inside and a superb alternative to running on land or pavement. Additionally - mini-trampolines fit easily into many offices. 

This is a superb way to have a 10 minute break from work and then return energized and clear-headed. As an alternative, you can join a health club and use some of the terrific equipment that provides balanced and low impact exercise. Talk to a trainer to ascertain the best workout for you. 

3. Swimming - This action is so healing to the lungs and mind. All of the muscles in your body are functioning in exactly the exact same time that the water is soothing them. As soon as you get used to swimming a lot, you'll have more than enough oxygen for almost any other sort of sport. 

This is a superb way to exercise and feel nurtured at precisely the exact same time! 

Diet 1. Food Choice - There's some truth to"you are what you eat". Your body is constantly rebuilding its cells, so you want to replenish it with nourishing foods. Adding fresh fruits and vegetables into your diet is important to your health. Eating a mixture of raw and cooked vegetables keeps you healthy. Studies have shown that eating some kind of nourishment in the daytime elevates your energy dramatically during the day. You can choose nuts (particularly nuts soaked in water for a few hours ahead ) or another kind of protein such as meat or legumes. 

2. Meal Time Choice - Eating several smaller meals throughout the day is easier on your digestive system, so you won't be bogged down by digesting large meals. Try grazing through the day - it can be a fantastic way to drop weight. Keep healthy snacks from the desk. 

A little bit of protein before bed may also slow you down, if your mind is racing. Figure out which works for you. Notice if you've got a propensity to eat when you're stressed out. Meditation and exercise can be a wonderful alternative to deal with stress and let you feel a good deal better in the long term. Healthy Mind A healthy and balanced mind brings health to all facets of your life. Meditation The mind chatter is continuous. 

Meditation is a superb way to keep a balanced mind. Even a very simple meditation of focusing on your breathing for 10-20 minutes in the daytime or evening can add an entirely new outlook on life. If your mind races when you meditate, just enable the ideas to come through and then gently direct your mind to concentrate on your breathing or on a blank screen. Mindfulness This term itself has such a fantastic feel to it! Learn to be current with the world around you and feel the space within and around your body. 

Celebrate the sights and sounds around you, as you are aware of what you're touching. Mantra and Affirmation A mantra is a word or group of words repeated over and over to induce a balanced frame of mind. It can be spoken or sung. Mantras are an essential part of many ancient customs. 

An affirmation is a statement to generate company that something is true. This is a way to change your beliefs and make something to be true that may not yet be shown in the material realm. Both these methods are a excellent way to take charge of keeping a healthy mind. 

Healthy Actions A healthy mind and body create healthy actions automatic. 

1. What you're thinking about impacts your actions. Sometimes only a judgment about something or somebody becomes an action, because it affects the world around you. Try the following for a day. Pick someone whom you're about who actually irritates you or whom you judge. Rather than judging them, just watch them - try being impartial. Notice if your behaviour affects how they behave around you. You might also find a little thing you like about them, like the color of the shirt and just concentrate on that. 

2. Do something kind for someone. Most of us have heard about cover it forward - doing a wonderful deed for another individual when somebody does something nice for you. Pick a individual, organization or just a pet. Doing something nice for no reason provides you a lift. It takes you from your worries and stresses and lightens the load of another. 

3. Take action on a fantasy you might have been putting off. Maybe your dream appears to be too large or overwhelming to handle. Begin with a little step you could take to move towards realizing this dream. Perhaps you like to be on point. An acting course is a fantastic way to take a first step towards this objective.

A Healthy Mouth Needs A Healthy Body

When we consider a healthy lifestyle at the top of most people's list is to get fitter, lose weight, stop smoking and improve their health. For me personally improving your health is more than a set of goals for the year it's a continuing lifestyle change between nutrition, quality sleep, stress reduction, keeping the body active, being more loving of self and others and getting work life balance.

 A healthy body also contains a healthy mouth - both go together. For people who would enjoy better oral health try committing to these simple and practical tips for the best results. 

Brush and floss regularly: The simple combination of brushing twice a day and flossing every day is the basis for keeping healthy teeth and gums. Any food that remains stuck to your teeth feeds a bacterial reaction that creates acid and inflammation which erodes tooth decay and causes gum disease. 

Go to a dentist for routine oral care: Do not delay making an appointment to get a check-up. Dentists do more than just check and clean teeth. They are also able to check for signs of serious oral health problems such as oral cancer and gum disease, answer questions and offer guidance for adults and children and alert patients to indications of possible health conditions. 

Avoid tobacco products: Many of the instances of severe gum disease I see in adults can be attributed to cigarette smoking, the incidence of gum disease is three times greater among smokers than non-smokers. Smoking is arguably among the most damaging oral health habit raising your risk for gum disease, tooth decay, tooth loss and oral cancers. 

Eat sugar :"Moderation in all things" - an expression that's extremely suitable when it comes to sugary foods. Tooth decay occurs when sugar from lollies, biscuits, soft drinks, sweets, or simple carbohydrates such as those in bread, rice, pasta, potatoes and fruit, feeds the bacteria in the sticky plaque that constantly forms on teeth to generate acid. 

The production of acid can destroy tooth decay resulting in dental decay and cavities. Whenever possible, have sweet things at meal times only and brush later if at all possible. Limit sugary snacks, the more times throughout the day your teeth are exposed to sugar, the more times they're attacked by acid. It's the frequency of glucose exposure that greatly increases your susceptibility for tooth decay. 

In my opinion sugar should be avoided as the effect it has on dental and general health is so harmful. Protect your teeth If you play contact sports a mouthguard is crucial to protect your teeth from harm since they absorb the forces which affect the mouth, teeth, chin and face when you take a hit on the face. Wearing a mouthguard can prevent cracked, fractured, displaced or dislodged teeth, fractured or displaced limbs, TMJ injury, and lacerations to the mouth and lips which result in the edges of your teeth.

Simply use your teeth for chewing gum : Avoid using your teeth for anything aside from chewing food. Should you use these to crack nuts, bite your finger nails, remove bottle tops or tear open packing, you risk chipping or perhaps breaking your teeth. Reduce germs : Brush your tongue in addition to your own teeth to help remove mouth-borne bacteria. Use a mouthwash to reduce bacteria and improve oral health. Always opt for an alcohol free mouthwash as people with alcohol can dry out the mouth and are potentially carcinogenic.

[howtoloseweightfastsafely]

The Foolproof Immune-enhancing Plan That Cleanses And Purifies Your Body, While "Patching Up" Holes, Gaps, And Inefficiencies In Your Digestive System (And How To Do It Without Wasting $10+ Per "Meal")

Step 1: Soaking

By soaking grains correctly we can create an environment that starts to counteract anti-nutrients such as lectins and phytic acid.

The four conditions needed for proper soaking are:

1. Water/Moisture

2. A Slightly Acidic Medium

3. Warmth

4. Time

--->> A simple and effective way to this:

1. Pour Rice (or grain of choice) into a glass bowl

2. Cover with warm water (warmer than room temperature - 100 degrees or so is ideal)

3. Add 1 teaspoon of acidic medium, per cup of grains.

a. The acid medium can be either vinegar or lemon juice. Homemade whey can be used too. (I usually just use lemon juice)

4. Store at room temperature or warmer

5. Let it soak overnight (12-24 hours is ideal)

6. When you're ready to cook the grains, just throw out the acidic water, and rinse the grains in fresh water.

7. Drain and cook immediately, or let it sit for 1-3 days for better health benefits.

8. Enjoy your low anti-nutrient meal!

You'll notice I used rice as my example. This is because of all grains, rice is already low in anti-nutrients.

Health Tip: Brown rice is the bigger offender here since it has the whole bran/grain intact, thereby hoarding more anti-nutrients. It's not "bad" for you, but requires a little extra prep time for it to be best absorbed. White rice is surprisingly not so bad since it is simply the rice, stripped of the bran and all the anti-nutrients that come with it (it is the best, and one of the few "good" refined foods out there. Most Asian cultures, known for their longevity, will agree that white rice)

And a quick section on gluten: Many other grains (besides rice, quinoa, buckwheat, and millet) are problematic because of higher lectin/phytic acid content, or even worse, lots of gluten.

I have noticed tons of issues with gluten, especially with digestion/bloating and skin issues, so I eat them VERY rarely. (Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye...three foods I generally avoid like the plague, except for the occasional dark, fermented whole rye bread.)

The problem is well-documented in recent research, with gluten sensitivities causing a host of chronic illnesses, even for people who do not have celiac disease (gluten intolerance).

Gluten is now thought to be a major culprit in:

Weight retention and Fat Gain

Joint pain and Osteoporosis

Depression

Dementia, ADD and other mental function issues

Chronic Fatigue

These conditions are in addition to nausea, constipation, bloating and abdominal pain that is known to be a symptom of gluten sensitivity.

For this reason, I recommend that at a bare minimum you cut out gluten for 30 days.

This is easily achieved during the intro "Insulin Reset" phase I recommend for most overweight/obese types (eating protein, fats, and veggies with low carb intake).

I can just about GUARANTEE you will feel way better on an all-natural, grain-light, gluten-free diet.

And for the times when you choose to eat more grain-based foods in the "Primary Fat Loss" and "Leangevity/Maintenance" phases, just stick to the essentials that have been around for thousands of years.

*Think about it this way.*

Would you choose bread or rice?

Option #1: Whole Wheat Bread (upwards of 20 ingredients; full of sugar, industrialized fats, etc; made in a factory full of chemicals and toxins)

Option #2: Rice (1 ingredient; ZERO chemicals or pesticides when buying imported varieties; made in natural rice paddies)

I'll choose rice any day.

Also, please beware of "healthy foods" such as oats and sprouted breads. Oats are likely to have some gluten in them, and the packaged versions are loaded with sugar.

As for sprouted breads (Ezekiel is a popular brand), they're OK but many still are wheat-based, and gluten-rich. While the sprouting does reduce some anti-nutrients, isn't always enough.

Choose this over regular bread any day, but try to keep intake to a minimum in the grand scheme of things (1-2 slices a day, max. But preferably 1-2 slices or less every 3 days).

Putting breads aside, sprouting is a great option for beans, seeds, and other legumes.

Step 2: Sprouting

The process here can be more time consuming than just soaking, but is incredibly useful for better digestion, increased availability of vitamins and minerals, increased protein content, and decreased carb/starch content.

1. Soak beans overnight in water (about 8-12 hours)

2. Drain beans. Then rinse and drain again (tilt the container upside down so the draining can occur more efficiently)

3. Cover the bowl or container you're using, with a cheesecloth of muslin. Secure this with a rubber band/elastic band.

4. You'll see sprouts appear soon.

5. Continue to rinse and drain the beans twice a day for 3 days or so. (5 days max). You can rinse/drain through the cloth.

6. Once they've fully sprouted (no more than . inch), let them finish draining and store in the fridge or get cooking!

This process works great for beans, nuts, and other seeds (quinoa, amaranth, etc.).

Which brings us to the last similarity among traditional cultures: the consumption of lacto-fermented foods.

This is HUGE.

Step 3: Fermentation

Fermentation of fruits, vegetables, grains, and other foods allowed these cultures to store food for months on end. This was especially useful during cold, hard winters, or other times when important foods would be out of season.

Additionally, the fermentation process helped to remove the vast MAJORITY of anti-nutrients in grains and legumes.

Soaking and sprouting are steps in the right direction, but for *full wellness* benefits, fermentation does the trick.

The process also creates a surrounding atmosphere that is flowing with beneficial bacteria, which is VITAL for our intestinal health.

Once it enters our system, it can help kill off bad, poisonous bacteria, while promoting the growth of more healthy bacteria.

This is in addition to the fact that properly fermented foods can:

Vitamins B, C and K2 are especially enhanced through fermentation

Some well-known fermented foods that we know and love these days have been around for hundreds of thousands of years:

Pickles (fermented cucumbers)

Sauerkraut (fermented cabbage)

Kimchi (fermented, spiced cabbage)

Kefir, Yogurt, and other Cultured Milk Products

Kombucha (tea)

Alcohol (Beer, Wine, Brandy, etc.)

Please practice moderation. No more than 1 drink per day, if you must.

Sourdough Bread

There is one problem to keep in mind, though.

If you buy these foods in their packaged, store-bought versions, you're in for trouble.

The vast majority of fermented foods these days are tainted, due to cheap chemicals used in the fermentation process (especially with sauerkraut, kimchi, and pickled foods).

Additionally, manufacturers are quick to add in sugar or other harmful ingredients to fermented foods like yogurt and sourdough bread.

To make matters worse, most of the fermented foods purchase these days are sold in cans or plastic containers.

It is a BIG mistake to eat these foods, since plastic can leech out into the food. In fermented foods that are stored in cans, up to 90% of the vitamin C content is destroyed. The canning process also damages many heat-sensitive food enzymes.

---> In other words, you want to avoid commercially prepared and/or canned versions of fermented foods, at all costs.

Rather, you can ferment foods yourself! So many possibilities!

The process is actually quite simple (though it takes some practice to get it right, without spoiling the food).

I'll start you off with a simple recipe:

(Note: This recipe is from the outstanding book, Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon)

Pickled Cucumbers

Ingredients:

4-5 pickling cucumbers or 15-20 gherkins

1 tablespoon mustard seeds

2 tablespoons fresh dill, snipped

1 tablespoon sea salt

4 tablespoons homemade whey (if not available, use an additional 1 tablespoon salt)

1 cup filtered water

Steps:

1. Wash cucumbers well and place in a quart-sized wide mouth jar.

2. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over cucumbers, adding more water if necessary to cover the cucumbers. The top of the liquid should be at least 1 inch below the top of the jar.

3. Cover tightly and keep and keep at room temperature for about 3 days before transferring to cold storage.

Lacto-fermentation is an anaerobic process (without oxygen), so make sure the container you use is airtight (quart-sized mason jars are great for this).

If oxygen gets in during the fermentation process, the final product will be ruined.

Cool? Cool.

Quick recap:

Today you've learned 3 of the most important things traditional cultures did to prepare and preserve their foods....soaking, sprouting, and fermenting.

These "smarty-pants" cultures intuitively (or through massive trial/error) knew how to enhance digestibility, remove anti-nutrients, boost the immune system, and improve gut health and inflammation....all with a few simple tweaks to food.

Use these tips in your kitchen today, and you just might be surprised by how great you start feeling!

 Interested in losing weight? Then click below to see the exact steps I took to lose weight and keep it off for good...

Read the previous article about "The Inflammation-Reducing, Immune-Fortifying Secret of All Long-Living Cultures (This 3-Step Process Can Reduce Chronic Pain and Heal Your Gut in Less Than 24 Hours)"

Read the next article about "The Great Soy Myth (and The Truth About Soy in Eastern Asia)"

Moving forward, there are several other articles/topics I'll share so you can lose weight even faster, and feel great doing it.

Below is a list of these topics and you can use this Table of Contents to jump to the part that interests you the most.

Topic 1: How I Lost 30 Pounds In 90 Days - And How You Can Too

Topic 2: How I Lost Weight By Not Following The Mainstream Media And Health Guru's Advice - Why The Health Industry Is Broken And How We Can Fix It

Topic 3: The #1 Ridiculous Diet Myth Pushed By 95% Of Doctors And "experts" That Is Keeping You From The Body Of Your Dreams

Topic 4: The Dangers of Low-Carb and Other "No Calorie Counting" Diets

Topic 5: Why Red Meat May Be Good For You And Eggs Won't Kill You

Topic 6: Two Critical Hormones That Are Quietly Making Americans Sicker and Heavier Than Ever Before

Topic 7: Everything Popular Is Wrong: The Real Key To Long-Term Weight Loss

Topic 8: Why That New Miracle Diet Isn't So Much of a Miracle After All (And Why You're Guaranteed To Hate Yourself On It Sooner or Later)

Topic 9: A Nutrition Crash Course To Build A Healthy Body and Happy Mind

Topic 10: How Much You Really Need To Eat For Steady Fat Loss (The Truth About Calories and Macronutrients)

Topic 11: The Easy Way To Determining Your Calorie Intake

Topic 12: Calculating A Weight Loss Deficit

Topic 13: How To Determine Your Optimal "Macros" (And How The Skinny On The 3-Phase Extreme Fat Loss Formula)

Topic 14: Two Dangerous "Invisible Thorn" Foods Masquerading as "Heart Healthy Super Nutrients"

Topic 15: The Truth About Whole Grains And Beans: What Traditional Cultures Know About These So-called "Healthy Foods" That Most Americans Don't

Topic 16: The Inflammation-Reducing, Immune-Fortifying Secret of All Long-Living Cultures (This 3-Step Process Can Reduce Chronic Pain and Heal Your Gut in Less Than 24 Hours)

Topic 17: The Foolproof Immune-enhancing Plan That Cleanses And Purifies Your Body, While "patching Up" Holes, Gaps, And Inefficiencies In Your Digestive System (And How To Do It Without Wasting $10+ Per "meal" On Ridiculous Juice Cleanses)

Topic 18: The Great Soy Myth (and The Truth About Soy in Eastern Asia)

Topic 19: How Chemicals In Food Make Us Fat (Plus 10 Banned Chemicals Still in the U.S. Food Supply)

Topic 20: 10 Banned Chemicals Still in the U.S. Food Supply

Topic 21: How To Protect Yourself Against Chronic Inflammation (What Time Magazine Calls A "Secret Killer")

Topic 22: The Truth About Buying Organic: Secrets The Health Food Industry Doesn't Want You To Know

Topic 23: Choosing High Quality Foods

Topic 24: A Recipe For Rapid Aging: The "Hidden" Compounds Stealing Your Youth, Minute by Minute

Topic 25: 7 Steps To Reduce AGEs and Slow Aging

Topic 26: The 10-second Trick That Can Slash Your Risk Of Cardiovascular Mortality By 37% (Most Traditional Cultures Have Done This For Centuries, But The Pharmaceutical Industry Would Be Up In Arms If More Modern-day Americans Knew About It)

Topic 27: How To Clean Up Your Liver and Vital Organs

Topic 28: The Simple Detox 'Cheat Sheet': How To Easily and Properly Cleanse, Nourish, and Rid Your Body of Dangerous Toxins (and Build a Lean Well-Oiled "Machine" in the Process)

Topic 29: How To Deal With the "Stress Hormone" Before It Deals With You

Topic 30: 7 Common Sense Ways to Have Uncommon Peace of Mind (or How To Stop Your "Stress Hormone" In Its Tracks)

Topic 31: How To Sleep Like A Baby (And Wake Up Feeling Like A Boss)

Topic 32: The 8-step Formula That Finally "fixes" Years Of Poor Sleep, Including Trouble Falling Asleep, Staying Asleep, And Waking Up Rested (If You Ever Find Yourself Hitting The Snooze Every Morning Or Dozing Off At Work, These Steps Will Change Your Life Forever)

Topic 33: For Even Better Leg Up And/or See Faster Results In Fixing Years Of Poor Sleep, Including Trouble Falling Asleep, Staying Asleep, And Waking Up Rested, Do The Following:

Topic 34: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 35: Part 1 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 36: Part 2 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 37: Part 3 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 38: Part 4 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality

Topic 39: How To Beat Your Mental Roadblocks And Why It Can Be The Difference Between A Happy, Satisfying Life And A Sad, Fearful Existence (These Strategies Will Reduce Stress, Increase Productivity And Show You How To Fulfill All Your Dreams)

Topic 40: Maximum Fat Loss in Minimum Time: The Body Type Solution To Quick, Lasting Results

Topic 41: If You Want Maximum Results In Minimum Time You're Going To Have To Work Out (And Workout Hard, At That)

Topic 42: Food Planning For Maximum Fat Loss In Minimum Time

Topic 43: How To Lose Weight Fast If You're in Chronic Pain

Topic 44: Nutrition Basics for Fast Pain Relief (and Weight Loss)

Topic 45: How To Track Results (And Not Fall Into the Trap That Ruins 95% of Well-Thought Out Diets)

Topic 46: Advanced Fat Loss - Calorie Cycling, Carb Cycling and Intermittent Fasting

Topic 47: Advanced Fat Loss - Part I: Calorie Cycling

Topic 48: Advanced Fat Loss - Part II: Carb Cycling

Topic 49: Advanced Fat Loss - Part III: Intermittent Fasting

Topic 50: Putting It All Together

Learn more by visiting our website here: invigoratenow.com

[nidawia]

Chronically ill.

I'm having a day I can't pretend to be strong. Having a day of breakdown and tears streaming down my face. A day of depression, sadness, anger, self pitying, self hating and exhaustion. Why? Because of my chronic illness. I have IBD. I have ulcerative colitis. I also have a syndrome in which I am more likely to faint, get lightheaded and run out of breath more easily than others due to my blood pressure randomly dropping. Some days I can't even get out of bed due to everything spinning and I'm feeling nauseous. Like, it's REALLY bad. I can't MOVE an inch and I can't have my eyes OPEN if I want to feel somewhat okay. It takes me at least 3-4 hours before I can slightly move around while laying down and have my eyes open. Then my IBD. It's honestly tearing me apart. I don't even know where to begin with this disease. Probably started around 3 years ago. I got diagnosed last year when I was 18 years old. I've been destroyed mentally, physically, socially, emotionally by it. Several times over. Right now I'm refusing to be on any type of hospital medication even if I'm in the middle of having a flare up. Why am I doing that? Because I don't fully believe in the doctors ways anymore. They "treat" your symptoms - more accurately; they hide them. You get addicted to take the medication. They don't try (at least the vast majority of them) to go to the bottom of things what might have CAUSED it. They don't look at the individual. They see the symptoms, they see the medicine for the symptoms and they give it to us. Money, money, money. That's all it's about. I, however, am trying the natural way. I take some "medication" - all natural for us though. Special tea. Vitamins. Liver pills. Etc. and then I'm on an EXTREMELY strict diet. No gluten for a year. No dairy products. No garlic or onions of any kind. No sugar. No citrus fruits or veggies. No soy. The list goes on and on. I have the most boring ass diet. But, two weeks ago I can tell y'all that I haven't felt so normal in over 3 years. No pain, no blood, no gas or weird noises from my bowel, lots of ENERGY, and I was genuinely happy to actually feel normal. I had forgotten what it felt like. Now, though... I'm having a setback. And I need to rant about it. Short backstory though: I should not have either IBD or my syndrome concerning my blood pressure. They've been triggered by a vaccine I got 3-4 years ago. All my problems started after that. They didn't tell us that people that have an asthmatic parent, they're immune system aren't as strong against the side effects of the vaccine. And guess what? My dad is an asthmatic! And what are one of the things I've gotten? An autoimmune disease! Coincidence? I think the hell not. However, somehow, I've been blessed to have a partner that loves me and supports me and wants to be with me for the rest of his life. We met online and we've met and been together in real life as well. We've known each other for like 10 months and he's absolutely amazing and I love him. But I'm so afraid of holding him back in life due to my fucked up condition. I don't want to do that to him. I want him to be happy. But selfishly I also want him all to myself. Moving on, today I've been so sad. And I'm gonna just copy paste a rant I gave a friend of mine: Even if this setback is hella much smaller than what I've suffered from before, it didn't stop me from having a breakdown. Something I actually haven't had for a very long time But I couldn't stop it today. I've lost my energy, I just feel completely drained. I want to sleep, but can't. I wanna do so many things, but I can't. I blame my sickness but then I inevitably, like all other times, blame myself. I really hate this though. Like I've said so many times before. But I can't help but let all negativity slip back into my mind. I hate the fact that I'll never be normal. Ever. Hate that I've become a victim to a CHRONIC illness I shouldn't even have. It's CHRONIC. I'll never ever heal from it. I may think I do, I may work towards it and I may hope to be "the one that got cured from an incurable disease", but it'll never happen. I can never be fully cured. I can never be fully normal ever again. My life is bound and restricted to my illness. I have days, like this one, that I succumb to my dark thoughts. Become depressed, sad, angry, exhausted of the fight and just lay in my bed crying all day. Start hating myself for being weak. For being a crybaby. I'm in a constant battle between "no, I'm not gonna let this stupid shit control my life, I'm gonna live it to the fullest and do whatever I want" and "I just wanna give up the fight. Take all medication from the hospital, destroy my body further. Shut the world out and be done with it." I lose myself. Can't stop the tears from rolling down. I'm living in constant fear and tension. My body can fuck up at any time. It has done that soooo much in the past. Destroyed me inside and out. I hate myself. Being weak. Ugly. Negative. Scared. Not confident. Closed off. Not easy to like or get along with. Not funny. Not smart. Nothing, really. I don't even know what my fiancé sees in me. I've been so scared to get close to anyone, to let anyone in. There's been so many reasons for me to avoid a romantic relationship. Been reasons to keep everyone on a distance. Reasons no one will truly understand if they aren't in the same position as I am. But I love him more than anything and more than I've loved anyone else. We complement and complete each other but I can't help to feel that I should, in fact, push him away... I love him so much and I just want him to be truly happy and live his life to the fullest, exactly the way he wants it with no regrets. I feel like... like I'll only hold him back. I don't want him to have to be tied to me and my never ending problems, the restrictions on my life. I don't want him to miss out on anything... on all the things that someone else could give to him. I don't want him to ever have to regret anything due to me holding him back. He's beyond amazing and supportive of my situation, but I cant help but think about all of this. He's the only one I can see myself loving for the rest of my life,and ofc he loves me too and feels the same in that way cuz otherwise he would've never proposed to me but... if he could be happier with someone else... I don't want him to miss out on it. That's how much I love him. I'd be prepared to let him go, even if my whole body and mind screams the opposite and it'll tear me apart every single day and be worse of a pain than anything else I've ever been through - I'd let him go if it meant for him to be the happiest he could possibly be I can't stop thinking about it. Can't stop thinking that maybe I'm just being selfish... I don't know. I feel like I don't know anything anymore. One wrong step and it all comes back like a slap to the face with a brick. That's what has happened. I've felt great, better than I've felt for over THREE FREAKING YEARS, took one wrong step and now I'm bleeding and in pain again I'm so goddamn sick of this So sick of wanting to actually fight it and live life but as soon as I stand up everything goes black. Or I'm in so much pain I can't even get out of bed. This sucks so much. *** Also, my setback is due to me trying eating chicken again and my body reacting to it. Since I've been stable for almost a month with no bleeding or pain in trying to expand my diet, which didn't work too well this time. My current diet consists of this: Oatmeal with oat milk. Sweet potatoes, normal potatoes (need to be boiled and then used the day after) Mango, bananas, pears, watermelon, blueberries, raspberries, avocado Parsley Salmon, white fish Asparagus, carrots (needs to be cooked so they soften up and are easy for the digestive system) Almond milk Max 3 eggs every other day and they have to be runny Maple syrup, honey "Clean herbs" - I have to season everything myself cuz I need to know EXACTLY what's in my food. Everything needs to be organic and of good quality. The only dairy product I'm allowed to use is real organic butter. Olive oil in only allowed to use cold and drizzle on top of things. So yeah. I get really depressed about the insane restrictions on my food, too. Can never go out and enjoy restaurants and probably never will be able to either... there's so much more I want to say and rant about but this is long enough. If anyone would ever read it all.... thank you for hearing me out.

[fallwritesfiction]

Fandom: RWBY Pairing/Characters: Weiss Schnee/Yang Xiao Long Rating: Mature Prompt: 003. funeral Wordcount: ~2200 Summary: It's the latest funeral in a seemingly-endless stream of them. Their life is dangerous and the next service could be either of theirs, but Weiss won't let more time slip by without trying to make this work with Yang. Notes/Warnings: Off-screen original character death, funeral, hurt/comfort, alternate universe: no attack on Beacon, downer ending, implied major character death

When they're out of sight of the funeral pyre, Weiss molds herself to Yang's side, wrapping her arm around the other woman's waist. Yang throws an arm over her shoulder without breaking stride.

The service hadn't been for anyone they knew personally. Not this time. No, this time it was for one of Taiyang's old classmates. He'd been one of those Hunters who never settled down, the ones who lived or died by the Hunt. Yang would be that way, if not for Weiss, Blake, and Ruby giving her a port in the storm, a reason to come back to civilization and the people in it.

(It's mostly Weiss. Ruby is happy so long as Yang is, Blake is nearly one of those Huntresses herself. Weiss insists on Yang coming out to dinner with her at decent restaurants, on Yang staying with her in Schnee Mansion when she's in Vale, sharing Weiss' hotel room in other places. Yang has never once complained. They don't talk about it, but it's understood: Weiss refuses to lose Yang to the Hunt, and Yang cares for her enough to let herself be kept from it.)

"Too many funerals," Yang says on the walk back to her father's house. She's quiet, as much from exhaustion as emotion. They'd been asleep in a hotel in Vale when Taiyang called, and had come out to Patch immediately. Weiss had gotten just as little sleep as Yang had, but she took better care of herself in general than Yang did.

Weiss doesn't reply out loud. She pushes up the side of Yang's shirt, resting her palm on Yang's bare skin. Yang sighs, a little of the tension leaking out of her. Weiss strokes gentle fingers over Yang's side, and Yang brushes her lips over Weiss' hair.

The door to Taiyang's house creaks open, and they step inside. Yang stops in the living room, with the air of a woman who meant to do something but can't quite remember what it was. Weiss steps in front of her, tilting Yang's chin toward her.

Yang looks terrible. The circles under her eyes shine nearly black, and she keeps stopping herself from swaying due to exhaustion. There's still muscle rippling under her skin, but the curves that used to soften it have nearly disappeared. Weiss wants to steal her away to Vale, force her to rest and eat and take some time to enjoy life. She spends so much time fighting so others can live happy lives, but never wants to stop and take advantage of the fruits of her labor.

"You're going to lie down," Weiss tells her, dropping her hand, "and I am going to make you some food."

A faint smile quirks the corner of Yang's lips. "You, cook?" She doesn't try to argue about lying down, which is good because it wasn't a request. It was an order.

"I am perfectly capable of making a sandwich without burning the kitchen down," Weiss says, raising an eyebrow.

"I'll believe it when I eat it," Yang says. She leans down to brush her lips over Weiss'.

They're rarely affectionate this way, but Weiss thinks Yang would be if Weiss were more welcoming of it. So when Yang moves to straighten up, Weiss curls fingers into the front of her shirt, keeping her in place. Yang makes a soft surprised sound, but doesn't fight Weiss' grip.

Weiss spent the entire service staring at the pyre, remembering how many funerals they've already been to since graduating Beacon. They're barely twenty-three, but between their classmates at Beacon, Ruby's uncanny ability to befriend everyone she meets, and Blake's Menagerie connections, Weiss has lost count of how many times she's seen a body either burned or buried. Or worse, how many times there's been no body to care for. The next time could be Yang. She's played her cards close to the vest for too long already; if she loses Yang without giving her so much as an idea of how much she means to Weiss, it will destroy her.

When they break, Yang's eyes are soft. Weiss can't remember the last time she saw that sort of adoration in Yang. Back at Beacon, probably.

"Go lie down," Weiss says, letting go of Yang's shirt. "I'll bring you a plate."

Despite Yang's playful jibe, it doesn't take Weiss long to put together a simple meal for the two of them. She doesn't know this kitchen well - she's only been here a handful of times, and generally Yang and Taiyang exile everyone else from their space while they cook - but there are only so many places to keep the ingredients for sandwiches, and the milk and potato chips are easy enough to find.

Yang has obediently lain down on her bed, eyes opening when Weiss sits down next to her. She sits up, moving backward to prop herself up against the headboard. Weiss sets the plate bearing their food down on Yang's bedside table, leaning in for another kiss.

The other woman stills against her, and for a moment Weiss thinks she's overdone it. Then Yang's hand comes to rest on the back of her neck, and Weiss relaxes. The touch is hesitant, but the way Yang's mouth opens under hers is more sure.

They kiss, slow and open-mouthed and, yes, a little shy. Weiss isn't used to kissing Yang outside of sex, and even then only rarely, but she doesn't mind this. She enjoys it, if she's being honest with herself.

(And she has to be honest with herself, now. Yang is an amazing fighter, but she's also been adrift since graduation, taking missions wherever she ends up, only keeping in intermittent contact. More often than not she wanders without any backup, and without anyone knowing more than her very general location. All it takes is one Grimm sneaking up on her in the dead of night, and she'll be the next funeral without a body to burn. Weiss doesn't know that Yang will be willing to change her habits, but it's either ask her to try, or let her go. Letting her go has never been an option.)

"You're being really sweet today," Yang whispers, her eyes searching Weiss'. "You know I didn't know that guy, right? He was just one of Dad's old friends."

"I know," Weiss says, reaching for the plate, "now eat."

When they've finished the food, Weiss sets the plate aside and slides into the bed next to Yang. They're both still in their mourning clothes - simple white cloth, the tradition unfamiliar to Weiss but honored out of respect for the deceased - but Weiss lets that go as a problem for the morning. She tugs Yang down to lie on her side facing away from Weiss, and wraps herself around the larger woman as best she can. They don't normally sleep this close, but Weiss wants the reassurance, and Yang doesn't protest.

Weiss falls asleep to the sound of Yang's deep breathing, and dreams of nothing at all.

[*]

The next day finds Weiss up with the dawn. She's not quite rested enough - or perhaps too much so - but her mind is restless, pulling her out of bed and onto the porch. She stares out into the sunrise, thoughts chasing one another with no real resolution in sight.

It isn't long before Yang pads out to sit next to her. She hands Weiss a cup of coffee, and Weiss very nearly skips her prepared speech and asks Yang to marry her right then and there. The coffee is precisely the shade that Weiss would have made for herself, and when she takes a sip, it has sugar exactly the way she likes it. She takes her second sip with a moan of pleasure, and watches Yang blush out of the corner of her eye.

Yang lets her get most of the way through the cup before she shifts closer. Someone else might think nothing of it, but Weiss knows it's an offer. She sets her cup to the side, and draws her legs up to her chest, curling into Yang's shoulder. Yang exhales shakily.

In the end, Weiss' prepared speech fails her anyway. It would help if used on Weiss herself, would illuminate and explain the situation, but Yang is not her. Yang operates on instinct, on snap decisions and intuition. She's honest to a fault, open in ways that make Weiss shy away to think on. If Weiss wants Yang to meet her halfway, there has to be motion on Weiss' end as well.

"I love you," Weiss says simply. "And I want you in my life for the foreseeable future."

Yang jerks. Weiss can feel her body move as her head whips to the side, but she doesn't look up.

"Weiss... are you proposing?" Yang's voice is choked with so many emotions that Weiss doesn't know where to start with untangling them.

Weiss shakes her head. "No. I worry every time we meet that it will be the last time I'll see you. Our life is dangerous, Yang, but it doesn't need to be nearly as much so as you make it." She looks up, steely blue meeting violet. "I won't be a Hunter's wife, always waiting for that letter. I want to.. to formalize what we have, but more than that, I want you to take care with your own life."

"Woah, Weiss," Yang scrubs a hand over her face. "Back up a little. I thought we were just-- I mean we've been... y'know... since Beacon, but I didn't think you..." Yang winces, but finishes, "...cared."

Weiss sits up, spearing Yang with a harsh look. "Yang Xiao Long, I know you don't mean that."

Yang shakes her head. "I know you care, I just didn't know that this... mattered to you." Yang's eyes skitter away from hers. "I mean... this. Us. Whatever we are."

Softening, Weiss gently turns Yang's head so she's meeting Weiss' eyes again. "It does. I apologize for making you think it didn't."

Yang huffs out a laugh. "First you propose, then you apologize? Am I dreaming?"

Weiss searches her eyes for a moment, then leans in. "Does this feel like a dream?"

Their lips meet, and Yang pulls Weiss into her lap. Weiss only meant to kiss her once, chastely, but she finds herself trying to pour her emotions into it, trying to make Yang understand that she values her. That this matters. Yang kisses her back just as intensely, her hands coming up to frame Weiss' face.

"I thought..." Yang's eyes stay closed, and Weiss can see tears shimmering in the corner of them. "I thought I was just gonna be in love with you."

Weiss feels something in her break. "Yang..." She strokes her thumb over Yang's jaw. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I figured you knew." Yang's eyes open, and seeing pain there makes everything a hundred times worse. "I'm not..." She laughs without a hint of humor. "I'm not subtle, Weiss. I've had like a million people ask me if you're good to me."

"And I haven't been," Weiss' heart drops. "I didn't... I didn't know. I promise you, Yang, I didn't know."

Yang nods, slow. "I believe you."

Weiss studies her face, swallowing hard. "I understand if you don't wish to... pursue this with me. Ignorance is no excuse; I should have been better to you."

Yang's hand slides in under her shirt, stroking her skin. She nods, more acknowledgement than agreement. "I... need to think. That okay?"

When Weiss moves to climb off of her, Yang's arms tighten around her. "Can we stay like this for a bit?"

"Of course," Weiss says, settling.

They stay in place until the sky is finished painting reds and golds over the porch, warm on Weiss' back. Yang's scroll blares through the open window, and she kisses Weiss apologetically, going inside to answer it.

It's a callback about a mission Yang had been chasing down, and she leaves that night. Weiss watches her go with fearful eyes.

She never gets her answer.

[rememberingma]

Kundalini awakening, Samādhi, and Para Bhakti

(Above image: A painting of my Thakurji[1].)

This post is a continuation of my previous post.

Thakurji[1] on Samādhi, which is brought about by an awakened Kundalini; as recorded by His disciple, Mahendranath Gupta in the book “Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita”:

"When the Kundalini rises to the Sahasrara[2] and the mind goes into samādhi, man[3] loses all consciousness of the outer world. He can no longer retain his physical body. If milk is poured into his mouth, it runs out again. In that state the life-breath lingers for twenty-one days and then passes out. Entering the 'black waters' of the ocean, the ship never comes back. But the Isvarakotis, such as the Incarnations of God, can come down from this state of samādhi. They can descend from this exalted state because they like to live in the company of devotees, and enjoy the love of God. God retains in them the 'ego of Knowledge'[4a] or the 'ego of Devotion'[4b] so that they may teach men[5]. Their minds move between the sixth and the seventh planes[6]. They run a boat-race back and forth, as it were, between these two planes."  

"After attaining samādhi some souls of their own accord keep the 'ego of Knowledge'. But that ego does not create any attachment. It is like a line drawn on the water."

"Hanuman kept the 'servant ego'[7] after realizing God in both His Personal and His Impersonal aspects. He thought of himself as the servant of God. The great sages, such as Nārada, Sanaka, Sananda, Sanatana, and Sanatkumāra, after attaining the Knowledge of Brahman, kept the 'servant ego' and the 'ego of Devotion'. They are like big steamships, which not only cross the ocean themselves but carry many passengers to the other shore."

"There are two classes of paramahamsas[8], one affirming the God-beyond-form, and the other affirming God-with-Form. Paramahamsas that believe in God-beyond-form, care for their own good alone; they feel satisfied if they themselves attain the goal."

"But those paramahamsas who believe in God-with-Form keep the love of God even after attaining the Knowledge of Brahman[9], so that they may teach spiritual truth to others. They are like a pitcher brimful of water. Part of the water may be poured into another pitcher. These perfected souls describe to others the various spiritual disciplines by which they have realized God. They do this only to teach others, and to help them in spiritual life. With great effort men dig a well for drinking water, using spades and baskets for the purpose. After the digging is over, some throw the spades and other implements into the well, not needing them anymore. But some put them away near the well, so that others may use them."

"Some eat mangoes secretly and remove all trace of them by wiping their mouths with a towel. But some share the fruit with others. There are sages who even after attaining Knowledge[10], work to help others, and enjoy the Bliss of God in the company of devotees - 'I want to eat sugar.  I don't want to be sugar.'[11]."

"The Gopis of Vrindāvan, too, attained the Knowledge of Brahman; but they were not seeking It.  They wanted to enjoy God, looking on themselves as His mother, His friend, His handmaid, or His lover."

Footnotes:

[1] I affectionately refer to Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna as "Thakurji". "Thakur" means "Lord" and "ji" is a suffix that symbolises my love for Him. Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna has a Lordly effect on my life - He protects me, He guides me, He teaches me, He breathes life into me.

This painting was created by Swami Tadatmananda.

Image source: http://www.tadat-art.com/RK.htm

[2] Sahasrara is the seventh chakra (energy centre). For more information, please refer to my previous post.

[3] The word "man" is a figure of speech, and is applicable to all human beings.

[4a] Identity of knowledge

[4b] Identity of devotion

An identity is retained for the benefit of other beings, this is done purely out of compassion for the world and its beings.

[5] Human beings.

[6] The sixth plane (chakra) is Ājnā Chakra. The seventh plane is Sahasrara Chakra.

[7] Identity of servant. Hanuman kept the identity of servant in order to serve Bhagavan Shri Ram (a Manifestation of the Absolute).

[8] A Paramahamsa is a Being who is always united with the Absolute, the Supreme Reality.

[9] The Absolute, the Supreme Reality.

[10] Knowledge of the Absolute.

[11] "I want to eat sugar. I don't want to be sugar.", this is one of my favourite quotes of Thakurji. Of course, everything Thakurji says is beautiful for me, but there are certain things that become my favourites. If one has a mind, one will have a favourite. What is a favourite? That which is consumed by the mind, That which is thoroughly enjoyed by the mind. If the mind becomes the favourite, how will the mind enjoy the favourite! There must be a clear separation between the mind and the favourite, for the enjoyment to happen. Hence separation exists only for pure enjoyment, and nothing else.

Where there is separation, and where there is no enjoyment, it implies that the favourite has not been found.

Permanent enjoyment can only be considered as true enjoyment, everything else is ignorance. True enjoyment cannot be momentary. It is ignorance to seek transient enjoyment. One need to ask questions such as: + How can permanent enjoyment be attained? + What is That which can make one attain permanent enjoyment?

Discover That[9].

Once That[9] is discovered, there will be no bitterness in life. Life will be sweet. Thakurji considers That[9] as the Sugar of life. Having That Sugar[9] will provide permanent enjoyment, permanent sweetness.

"I want to eat Sugar, I don't want to become Sugar. If I become Sugar, how will I ‘enjoy’ Sugar! If I become Sugar, how will I ‘share’ this Sugar with other beings who have not tasted Sugar!", these are His thoughts. How wonderful!

Becoming That Sugar[9] is known as Moksha (liberation) in the Vedas. When a being is fully evolved, it attains Moksha - this is the usual process.

Voluntarily choosing not to become That Sugar[9] despite being fully evolved, and retaining the individuality in some form, for the benefit of others, is the result of Para Bhakti (Pure Love for the Absolute). Just the very thought of Para Bhakti can destroy all ignorance in a moment, it is that powerful.

As per the Vedic calendar, today is Vasant Panchami (also known as Basant Panchami), a day dedicated to the worshiping of the Absolute in the Form of Mother Saraswati. I wish everyone a very Happy Vasant Panchami - may Mother Saraswati who is especially known for generously blessing beings with True Knowledge[10], bless everyone - let there be Peace and Light.

Jai Shri Saraswati Ma.

[areadysteadygo-blog]

HOW DOES A GOOD BREAKFAST LOOK LIKE?

Hi guys!

Here you can see how a good breakfast look like. It is not only for sport people; it is a very popular breakfast in Spain. It provides the perfect combination of nutrients to start the day, which is specially important for runners. Do you want to know how this was made? It is very simple! Ready the steps below:

Ingredients

Bread. You can use the kind of bread that you like, however I would recommend to use brown bread, rye bread or wholemeal as it contains a higher nutritive value. This time I am using brown rolls from Morrisons (4 per £1).

One or two tomatoes (I normally add 2, but I just had one and I forgot to buy before recording :P). Again, it is free choice the kind of tomato. For me the best are vine tomatoes.

One tea spoon of olive oil per bread.

Fruit/Juice. Citrics are better in the morning.

Milk. The best you can use is almond/soy milk, since this kind of milk are completely vegetal, thus, more nutritive. However, I do not like these kind of milk. I have try them all, but I just cannot drink them! In addition, I am both a milk lover and lactose intolerant (quite a dangerous combination right? :D). So my solution is the one you see in the video; lactose free milk. You can add coffee but I would avoid the use of white sugar; better brown or natural sweetener as stevia.

Additional ingredients…. Try it with meat on top, I recommend Spanish jamón or sliced turkey breast!. I eat this when I train in the morning before having breakfast.

Preparation Extreamly simple

Cut the bread. You can leave the inner part of the bread or take it away. Toast it; if you have rolls and cannot use the toaster, use either the owen or a pan. You can also put the breads on top of the toaster to warm them.

Grate the tomatoes into a bol.

Add as much tomatoes as you want

Add one tea spoon per bread and spread it.

Take the fruit/juice, cold or hot milk, and ENJOY YOUR BREAKFAST!

Nutrition… Why eating this?

WHAT DO I MEAN WHEN I SAY THAT SOMETHING IS NUTRITIVE?

In many occasions, we have been told not to eat something because it has too many calories. WRONG! This should not be our focus. It is necessary to learn how to eat. Why? Because if you provide your body with the substances it is asking for (by means of the feeling of hunger) soon, we will notice satified eating less, because of the quality of the food we are giving to it. In this case, the breakfast is a combination of the following.

1. Bread. The nutritional values and the proportion of each component really depends of the kind of bread but some common features can be highlighted. “Clean” carbohydrates, not added sugars.

Minerals. Zinc, Iron and Potasium

Vitamins B2 and B6

Fibre. It will be greated depending as the bread contains more seeds.

2. Tomatoes, also known as “the heart protectors”. It eliminates colesterol and contains many antioxidants, thus it prevents the apparition of disease as cancer.

Vitamines C, A and K. Good for your blood, as it keep up antioxidants levels and facilitates the blood flow.

3. Olive oil. The good fatty one! It provides unsaturated fats, necessary to destroy the bad ones that are often accumulated in the veins. The more virgin it is the better, because that means that is has been less refined (more natural)

4. Mandarines. Yes to vitamin C! The outstanding amount of Vitamin C in the mandarines make them a super food. They posses high antioxidant levels, helping us to purify and clean our blood. You can also see its effects externaly; your skin will be much better if you eat them. I recommend to eat them instead of taking juice, because we can also obtain fibre, component that would be missed in the case of the juice.

5. Milk. The lactose free milk provides a very reduced nutritional value. However it makes me really happy, meaning… I am generating endorfines by drinking it! We should also make sure that we have little pleasures in our diet everyday!

That’s all that I have for you this week, If you want me to write about a specifit topic/food, email or contact me via social media.

THANK YOU FOR READING