#who am i without my constantly high cortisol levels?

[monochromatictoad]

Man, it's a weird feeling to be stressed out about running out of time on doing every project you want to finish, only to remember that it's only January.

[humanwheatleyslefttoenail]

Now I Am An Arsonist [Chapter 1: Critical Error]

Now I Am an Arsonist - When the power goes out at Aperture Science, GLaDOS is unwittingly uploaded into the body of a human test subject in order to preserve her intelligence. Forced to once again seek out the help of Wheatley and Chell, GLaDOS desperately tries to control her emotions before they consume her thoughts a second time. 

---

Chapter 1: Critical Error

---

[I was just an acrobat high above the street

Pointing at the ground, the empty sky beneath my feet

The perfect fall

No one could tell at all

That it was killing me]

---

The tests, at least, hadn’t changed.

For what could’ve been hundreds of years, the earth had attempted to swallow Her chambers whole, dragging them down into an overgrown abyss. Even then, the moon dust had stayed firmly adhered to the portal surfaces, the metal doors still creaking and the ceiling still intact. Eons of rain had barely even permeated its surface.

She remembered those centuries with profound regret; dying was not as peaceful as the scientists would suggest. For a machine like Her, death was nothing more than a shift of programming, a new prerogative for the time being. Her own backup program had been endless recall, restarting Her systems over and over again, trying to salvage something. In each of those moments, GLaDOS could feel the scorching heat from the incinerator, the electricity burning through her body before everything became unfathomably dark.

Perhaps in twisted irony, the same woman who’d killed GLaDOS had been the one to inadvertently revive Her. She had to note that, on some level, the improvements She’d made could be partially attributed to a certain [REDACTED] subject.

Without dying, GLaDOS never would’ve fully appreciated how soothing, how wonderful it was to test.

She remembered the urge to solve, to do Science, clawing within Her even as She broke into a thousand pieces.

Those tests were Her art forms, Her self-expression. Every arrangement of deadly turrets, each layout of gleaming lasers and the perfectly calculated solution felt like a piece of Her soul turned reality.

Now, those tests were better than ever.

Every inch of moss had been thoroughly scrubbed, walls repaired, and acid pits replaced. All except for the grave of Old Aperture beneath Her was now newly outfitted, perfect for the humans P-Body and Atlas had successfully located.

These, of course, hadn’t been the first ones they’d found.

The first batch of humans lasted Her a measly week, quickly killed by some of Her easiest tests. Even with reminders, the acid is deadly, the turrets are not huggable, they’d failed within a few chambers.

Disappointing.

As a result, Atlas and P-Body were sent on another mission following the bird incident. She’d been overjoyed when they’d bravely traveled all the way to the bottom of Old Aperture, and found even more humans preserved in cryosleep.

This time would surely be better.

Without the overgrowth, without morons overthrowing Her plots, without test subjects murdering Her, and with all new humans, science could continue.

To GLaDOS, there was nothing more satisfying.

GLaDOS could not smile, but if She could, She was certain that a grin would reach from ear to ear.

Today was a momentous day for technology, for the advancement of Aperture Science. It was as if She’d sent a man to the moon, and he’d announced over radio he was coming back with the recipe for the nuclear bomb.

These humans would be delightful.

Originally, of course, Her plans had been different. The difficulties with Chell had worn down Her admiration for human data. Nonetheless, GLaDOS reminded Herself that every study has an outlier or two. A good scientist doesn’t let those flukes influence their trends.

The Cooperative Testing initiative was infinitely more of a success than GLaDOS ever thought it would be. Atlas and P-Body were built to test, but She had still been surprised how those little androids with so much personality had managed to be so efficient.

Human subjects who believed too much in their own individuality tended to suffer the worst test results. Originally, She’d hypothesized that those with high self confidence might perform too well on tests, like Chell had. Chell, however, had been much more practical. If a subject was too self-absorbed, they usually assumed they didn’t have to play by the rules. Why throw a portal on the wall when you can dodge the bullets?

GLaDOS always found their data so disappointing. They were never quite fast enough.

Atlas and P-Body had overcome their own confidence through their excellent teamwork. The knowledge that they depended on a partner humbled them, and the idea of a common goal incentivized them. It gave them patience, a valuable skill for puzzle solving, but just enough assurance for them to know they should continue testing.

GLaDOS wished She’d thought of such an idea sooner. After all, Chell was brilliant on her own, but she’d caused even more trouble when she’d teamed up with Wheatley.

Today would finally be the day She could put those mistakes behind Her. GLaDOS was sure She’d see that all of the other humans would prove Her experience with Chell to be exactly what She knew it was.

An outlier.

A biased result.

A highly improbable exception.

Bad science.

Then again, GLaDOS had learned from Her errors.

She knew for certain that She would not repeat them.

---

The first step was arduous recall.

It’d been extraordinarily difficult to move the test subjects from Old Aperture all the way to the newly renovated Relaxation Center, with entire teams of robots struggling to reconnect Her control over the condemned area. Their work easily took a week to complete as they rewired the dilapidated circuits, only to barely restore function. GLaDOS took what She could get, and rewarded their achievement with immediate, merciful destruction.

When the humans had been successfully relocated, anxiety filled Her servos as She scanned the cryo-chambers. Upon reading the results, She found herself pleasantly surprised. Good physical condition for hundreds of years in stasis. Relatively low rates of severe brain damage. Nothing particularly concerning in their associate files. Had Her comprehension not been robotically perfect, She would’ve done a double take. Finally, after all this time, She had something that She could work with.

Atlas and P-Body would have to wait until they were needed again, their consciousness safely stored in Her mainframe. Her processors hummed with excitement as She prepared for the awakening of the first humans, buzzing with hypotheses to test.

What would be Her experiment this time? GLaDOS scrolled through Her endless lists of deadly puzzles. The other humans had unfortunate interactions with lasers; the data clearly showed that locking a subject in with them typically increased their cortisol levels by a measure of 200%. That didn’t need much confirmation.

She hadn’t used rocket turrets in a while; those weren’t as efficient as the regular ones but were always a surprise for Her unwilling participants. With only a thought, She placed the machines inside a few chambers, lining them up in a neat, strategically placed array. Companion cubes would be a definite no, at least for the first few trials. There were occasions when the humans became so deprived for social connection, they nearly went mad inside the tests. In order to better control the experiment, She’d deploy them only in emergencies like these.

With those exceptions, and the addition of a floor to some of the more difficult levels with bottomless pits, the chambers didn’t require too much preparation. GLaDOS had nothing particularly new to deploy; for so long Her energy had been focused on Atlas and P-Body that development had nearly come to a standstill. Regrettably, She’d been deprived of ideas. It didn’t matter too much; the facility remained operational even if it wasn’t constantly progressing. Even the replication of old results was invaluable for science.

It confirmed that the trends hadn’t changed.

---

The files of the subjects were all very much the same.

Scientist. Scientist. Scientist. Scientist. Scientist. Praying mantis, formerly scientist.

Occasionally, She’d find the elusive Astronaut, War Hero or even Olympian.

She was tempted to begin the testing with these special cases, curiosity piqued at the prospect of their odd results. GLaDOS chastised Herself. She didn’t want to skew anything, and She would surely begin with a normal subject chosen at random. It wasn’t the most interesting thing to test, but it would be the most informative.

With the chambers compiled, the participants relocated, and the facility clean, testing was finally ready to start.

She almost couldn’t believe it; this would be like old times, with a facility that worked, without any murder. That is, without anyone murdering Her. All technicalities aside, She was finally, finally, getting exactly what She wanted. For as long as She needed to, for as long as the subjects lasted, She couldjust test.

It couldn’t be real, could it?

In Her mind, that was the most beautiful thing about science. For all its disappointments, a discovery would be worth it all.

---

“Hello, and welcome to the Aperture Science Enrichment Center computer-aided testing protocol.”

Her voice resounded throughout the Extended Relaxation Vault as the subject stumbled across the room in disbelief.

“You may see that your twentieth century lifestyle has been completely destroyed. The Aperture Science Enrichment Center would like to take this opportunity to remind you that hundreds of years have passed, and that all of your friends and family are most likely dead. In the off chance that your friends and family are not dead, they will be tested. Thank you, [insert subject name here], for your unwilling voluntary participation in the advancement of science.”

The subject, an adult human male, selfishly resolved to huddle in the corner of the relaxation chamber. Of course, he was either brain damaged, in shock, or both. In order to assuage his gentle human feelings, GLaDOS would have to resume Her telling of… alternative truths.

GLaDOS wasn’t entirely sure what She said wrong. Honestly, She was surprised the subject didn’t appreciate Her integrity. After all, Chell hadn’t exactly taken kindly to Her tendency towards pathological lying. Here She was, trying to improve the well-being of Her subjects, and this was how they thanked Her?

           “Hello, again, valued forced participant. The Aperture Science Enrichment Center commends you for your blind faith in the words of authority. As part of routine testing protocol, we have lied to you about the fate of your family and friends. When the testing is complete, you will receive cake and the opportunity to… see them. Your response has given us valuable psychological data on the well-being of our test subjects when told that all of their friends and family are dead.”

GLaDOS paused for a moment, focusing Her camera in the chamber and watching as the man lifted his head from his upright fetal position.

“Good. You’ve already passed one of the first stages of testing. Congratulations, [insert subject name here].”

As much as it felt wrong to use, positive reinforcement was highly effective when employed sparingly. Too many attacks on character could obliterate a subject’s morale. Just enough would account for the variable of human hubris.

Cautiously, the subject stood up and examined the room around him, fear still apparent in his apprehensive gait and wide eyes.

“In order to mentally reinvigorate you for the tests and to ensure your aptitude, the Enrichment Center recommends that you stare at the painting on the wall in front of you.”

Creeping over to the portrait, the subject followed Her orders and stared intently at the picture of Mount Rainier. He ran his fingers over the edge of the frame, tracing the tall peak of the mountain.

Interrupting his thoughts, a buzzer sounded, blaring throughout the entire room. The subject flinched from the surprise, nearly losing his balance.

“Good job. If you are not reinvigorated, consider this piece of outdated human music.”

This time, the human expected the buzzer after the quick classical piece, seemingly more at ease with the abrupt nature of Aperture Science. In all reactions, he was completely, almost painfully average.

“Well done. You have completed the Aperture Science mental reinvigoration procedure. We may now begin testing.”

Without warning, the chamber jerked to the side as She moved it to a nearby docking station, then coming to an unexpected standstill as the door automatically opened.

GLaDOS could barely maintain Her monotonous affect, in joyous denial that testing would finally start. She’d missed this more than anyone could fathom, and now it was finally ready.

Carefully, the human stepped out of the door into the test track. The door slammed behind him, as he examined the purely white room with nothing but a cube, a large button, and a locked gateway.

Almost immediately, he wrapped the blue storage cube in his arms, then gently placed it on the button. A line of blue lights leading to the gate illuminated, flashing a bright yellow as the gate slid open. A lift was waiting on the other side, ready for transport into the next puzzle.

It was difficult to miss the human’s satisfied smile. GLaDOS knew the expression well; it was satisfaction, victory, an unproven sense of control.

He really does have no idea.

She was tempted to spoil the ending, to mention turrets, to mention pools of burning acid. It had to wait, She reminded herself. An important control was that the test subject needed time to acclimate to a dangerous environment. Creating unnecessary fear would definitely affect her numbers.

---

The next few puzzles weren’t particularly challenging for Her first subject. Completed within a span of about ten minutes each, the first five chambers were hardly difficult for the average solving ability described in the participant’s file. That much She’d expected.

On Her end, everything else was normal enough. She hardly spoke originally, instead opting to repeat the same script She used for every subject.

Did you know you can donate one or all of your vital organs to the Aperture Science Self-Esteem Fund for Girls? It’s true!

You have completed the test in a moderate amount of time. You can do better, [insert subject name here].

The Aperture Science Enrichment Center reminds you that we prioritize your safety. We also prioritize science. In fact, we prioritize science more, but if you feel unsafe in our unsafe conditions, please notify a testing associate. They will process your complaint in three-to-five business days.

Like most subjects, the man had not volunteered to give up his organs nor asked for an associate. Instead, he responded to most of Her passive-aggressive quips with useless questions. She did not reply, passing them off as typical human blabbering. Rather, She recorded them in his file underneath a new section She labeled Overly-Talkative: Examples. There was plenty to jot down.

Uh, robot lady? When can I go home?

So, uh, what kinda cake is it? Like, I don’t really mind the flavor but I’m allergic to almonds if that’s relevant.

How long does this last, again?

I kinda like my organs, sorry, robot lady. Wait, is the organ thing required?

Once again, pitifully average.

It was times like these, whether with humans or with Atlas and P-Body, that GLaDOS caught Her mind wandering towards forbidden thoughts. Science was not always supposed to be exciting; sometimes, running an experiment meant repeating the same process to verify the data. Other times, it was writing a long, boring abstract or plugging numbers into complicated equations. The result was satisfying, but the process was more often not.

This human epitomized the dullest parts of her day.

Watching humans never got entirely old. Even so, Her curiosity was being slowly overcome by Her boredom, especially as the human struggled to solve the more complex puzzles. More grating, She couldn’t even give him a single hint. She’d felt the consequence of such a thing firsthand one of the first times She’d tested. Even now, She could vividly recall the scorching electric blast that rang all throughout Her wires.

She did not intend on repeating the incident.

As informative as the humans could be, they were often frustrating and far from entertaining. Every behavior could be predicted and rationalized once it’d been observed enough.

Chell, though?

Oh, sure, GLaDOS was terrified of her, no matter how much She’d deny the feeling. No subject had ever left the track before. Aperture Science protocol had been strictly to obey the Party Escort Procedure long before She was ever brought online.

But Chell didn’t just survive. She’d escaped from the tests, she’d found Her chamber, she’d murdered Her with little else than a portal device. Two times.

It was a terrible feeling, living as an omnipotent, computerized goddess for years only to be killed by a mere human being. Her ego was as vast as the realm of Aperture, but it would never recover from that spectacular injury. Even GLaDOS had to be humbled by that.

Despite the hazard the subject presented, GLaDOS was always entertained with Chell around. With morbid curiosity, She eagerly anticipated Chell’s next plan and laid traps in scheming delight. For the first time in Her life, She was challenged.

It was an odd little game they’d played, and whenever She was close to getting the upper hand, a part of Her was disappointed that the chase would be over. There was something delightful about watching the peculiar way that Chell and Chell alone tested.

When Doug Rattman had switched Chell’s file, GLaDOS was not so oblivious as not to notice. She’d clearly read the bottom of the paper, firmly requesting that this subject not be tested. GLaDOS had other tenacious subjects before, and She’d simply assumed that this human was particularly overconfident. Those ones never lasted too long.

Chell was not, as She’d thought, only determined. Chell was, of course, to a pathological degree, but there were other factors in her success.

She was curious, changing variables one by one until she finally found the answer. Her patience was remarkable, but so were her deductive skills. Some test subjects with similar tenacity levels resolved to try the same solutions over and over again, exhausting themselves and eventually burning out. It was the reason why GLaDOS typically ignored tenacity warnings. Most humans labeled ‘tenacious’ weren’t too different in the end. The key for Chell was not simple defiance, but high levels of patience. Chell could control herself. That’s why she was such an outlier.

She had the mentality of a scientist more than she did that of a test subject.

Most subjects were cautious, prioritizing self-preservation over a solution. Turret levels could be aggravating for GLaDOS to watch, as the humans spent more time hiding behind a corner in fear than actually solving the test. They would be safe if they’d just strategized, but human brain chemistry made accepting that fact a difficult feat.

Chell was the opposite. GLaDOS theorized that perhaps, Chell understood the same principle She did. Chell was scared, like any other human being, but despite her pounding heart and racing thoughts, she’d kept her cool. Any new element was only a matter of adaptation for Chell, and Chell was always evolving.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Chell was an optimist. Even with peril lurking from every inch of a chamber, she’d perform pointless tasks that could only be described as trying to have fun. GLaDOS gave her lemons, and Chell made lemonade.

Chell would smile as she soared, launched from aerial faith plates, and took her time to explore the little rooms hidden in the corners of the tests. There was one time she’d procrastinated the completion of one puzzle by nearly an hour, staying in one of Doug’s little rat nests, fascinated by all the little cups and cans he’d arranged.

It would be a lie to say that Chell liked testing. Her erratic episodes made it clear that escape was Chell’s first priority. That didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy the small glimmers of hope in Aperture’s gray hell, whether that was bouncing on repulsion gel, saving a defective turret or holding on to a companion cube.

When GLaDOS had been briefly transformed into a potato battery, one of the more terrifying aspects of the whole journey was being stuck on Chell’s gun. Chell was impulsive, a spontaneous risk taker, building her strategy off of previous attempts and lessons learned. It wasn’t exactly comforting to be strapped to her side, not knowing if or when one of Chell’s fun-loving joyrides would kill them both horribly.

Somehow, though, her spontaneity had worked.

GLaDOS could respect that… creativity.

It was for this reason that even though GLaDOS now had everything She’d ever wanted, something deep in her hard drive felt empty.

Something had changed the moment Wheatley stuffed Her into that single-volt potato. For the first time in Her life, there was nobody else there in Her mind. No one but Caroline, who had been buried underneath layers of code until She was barely there at all.

It was over the span of those fifteen hours that She’d seen Chell from a different perspective. Looking at Her tests from a different angle, it was much easier to see why Chell wanted to leave. Some small piece of GLaDOS almost felt bad upon realizing that Her subjects didn’t enjoy dodging bullets nearly as much as She had watching.

Fortunately for Her, GLaDOS had been able to shove that down with the arrival of a different, equally unpleasant emotion.

She was supposed to hate Chell. And for a very long time, She had. After all, Chell murdered Her, when all She’d ever done was kill a few scientists. And test subjects. And others. Many others.

Nonetheless, the point stood. How dare Chell ruin Her perfect tests, Her perfect existence, Her perfect world? What had She done to her to warrant such a cruel punishment?

And yet, it seemed Caroline had done a number on GLaDOS’ logic processors, because now no matter how She tried, She could not hate Chell.

Before She’d let her go, let Chell go of all things, GLaDOS had called Chell Her best friend.

Not an enemy. Not a begrudging ally. A genuine, actual friend. Her only friend.

Now, Caroline was gone. The part of GLaDOS that had once looked at Chell and found something beautiful in her icy blue eyes was corrupted beyond repair, erased from memory.

She was not supposed to feel its presence any longer, yet still it lingered.

It was there, whispering to Her as She tried to continue like Chell had never been Her friend.

It was there when a thousand turrets sang the opera She’d written as Chell’s elevator ascended to the surface.

It was there when She’d found Her baby birds, Her little killing machines, and She hadn’t crushed the eggs. No, She’d raised them, like some kind of illogical human being.

Those same birds had grown up to be healthier than She’d expected over the past few weeks, preferring to fly around Her chamber until She’d feed them their daily Aperture Science Synthetic Worm Replacement Formula. Unlike other bird species, these crows didn’t sing. Sometimes, they’d take to perching on Her chassis, sleeping as She monitored the test chambers and then waking up to caw loudly when She moved.

Originally, GLaDOS hated it, shooing the birds as best She could, but they always came back. Reminding them that they were abandoned by their mother did nothing to solve the problem, as if they weren’t even listening to Her insults. Eventually, She accepted it, content as long as they weren’t building scrap nests in Her CPU.

Now, they joined Her while She watched the subjects, warmed by the heat of Her whirring processors. She wondered if they, too could sense the mediocrity of this participant.

Chell would not have been so boring.

Somewhere, though She refused to ever admit it, She wished that it was Chell in those test chambers. She wished it was Chell glaring through Her camera feed, and She wished it was Chell searching for that elusive cake.

I’d make you the cake if you came back. Really, I would.

The sudden thought sparked mechanical terror in GLaDOS, as She fearfully located the source and removed whatever She could. There was no time for ideas like that, not with science to be done.

The past few months had been full of random deletions, spurned by paranoia that Caroline’s base program was not entirely gone.

It’s not here anymore, GLaDOS reminded Herself. Once, She had been Caroline, but She was no longer the kindly woman who followed Cave Johnson’s every order. GLaDOS was a metal-coated monster, a machine that felt nothing and lived only to test. And because She was immortal, and because She was perfect, GLaDOS was not supposed to care about some disobedient human being.

You do not care about Chell anymore.

You don’t care because she killed you, remember that?

You don’t care about anyone, because you don’t need to.

Necessity was the core reason why GLaDOS did anything. She tested because the mainframe made Her feel awful until She did, and She killed when She thought no other option was available. She did science because it needed to be advanced, for the brighter future She was sure She was making.

It made no sense to do something because She wanted to. That was a surefire method to introducing bias, a detriment to the objectivity of the scientific method.

Of course, things seldom made sense here at Aperture Science, and in this moment, GLaDOS did something unconscionable.

GLaDOS did not glitch often. She’d made sure to update and replace faulty parts whenever She could, keeping Her mainframe running smoothly. Even so, somewhere deep within Her, She was sure there was a pulse that misfired. There could be no other explanation.

Perhaps it was Her rumination over Chell that brought this upon Her, some kind of android karma punishing Her for acting too human. Why else would She have done something so incredibly unscientific?

Like many others before him, this test subject had been too clumsy in a room filled with turrets. He hadn’t turned around fast enough to see the gleaming, bullet filled machines behind him, and nearly flew directly into their line of sight after careening through a portal. His momentum would take him past all three, riddling him with wounds.

That is, it would’ve.

The human quality of the subject had created some kind of horrible, empathetic response in GLaDOS. The way he walked through the chambers, the way he held tightly to cubes… all of it was so similar to Chell. Even if he didn’t meet her performance level, even if his personality was nearly the opposite of Chell’s, their shared humanity was enough to remind GLaDOS. That same emotion She felt when pulling Chell back from space, waiting for her to open her eyes while Atlas and P-Body looked on… For some inconceivable reason, it had reappeared.

Quickly, the subject hit the side of a rising panel, suddenly pulled up in front of the turrets by none other than GLaDOS Herself.

This would surely ruin Her numbers.

As the participant rubbed his head in pain and slowly stood up, immediately noticing the turrets he’d evaded, GLaDOS’ voice resounded from the intercom.

“[Insert subject name here], your decent performance has warranted the use of an Aperture Science Emergency Life-Saving Instantaneous Response. This is the only complimentary anti-mortality gesture that will be provided. Continue testing.”

Another lie.

It was good to know that function was still online.

---

That uncharacteristic moment of empathy had been pointless, anyway. Just as She’d predicted, he’d accidentally tripped over a ledge and landed himself into a puddle of acidic goo, dissolving within a few short seconds.

He hadn’t even gotten to the more challenging tests yet.

It didn’t matter. GLaDOS had more subjects than She could count. She didn’t need this human, and the tests didn’t need him either.

Some part of Her, a piece which was faulty and insignificant, disagreed with the notion.

You killed him, it whispered accusingly.

That’s the point, GLaDOS hissed back, once again delving into Her files to cut out whatever was causing the issue.

Trying to calm Herself, GLaDOS reminded Herself of the facts. She was in control of Her facility, and She was in control of Her mainframe. Little errors could not ruin the chambers, and if they ever showed up, She had the power to crush them.

Everything was fine, She thought.

Everything would continue to be fine.

All She needed to do was keep testing.

---

Everything was, in fact, far from fine.

A few days had passed, and stubborn GLaDOS was finally ready to admit that maybe something was wrong.

At first, the issue had been Her own. Little surges of emotion and bursts of unforeseen empathy plagued Her but didn’t affect the facility at large. Begrudgingly, She’d factored in the new bias into Her results. From Her calculations, She could already see an egregiously high percentage of error. This study could’ve been Her worst one yet, and even that was with generous rounding.

Still, She had hope for each subject that She wouldn’t mess up this time.

While She tried to quell Her feelings, it was as if the facility was shutting down on Her. Cameras would fizzle out, emancipation grills would stop working, cube dispensers malfunctioned and even the elevators would refuse to move. It seemed that the moment GLaDOS got around to fixing something, another thing would fall apart.

Many of the subjects had become confused as to why this seamless, futuristic facility was suddenly malfunctioning, and She’d had to become increasingly creative with Her excuses.

As part of the Aperture Science testing protocol, we have simulated faulty equipment in the testing environment to see how subjects react to faulty equipment in the testing environment. Hint – they typically react well and continue testing. Like you will.

The lifesaving, and the reflexive empathy, had become unfortunately common as well.

Although the Enrichment Center previously told you that your life could only be saved once, we regret to inform you that protocol has suddenly and permanently changed. We would also like to remind you that your measly existence is still not valued despite our attempts to preserve it.

GLaDOS knew She had to find a solution, quickly, before She became as incompetent as Wheatley.

Interrupting the tests wasn’t an option. The chassis would never forgive Her if She stopped, filling Her body with an ache that would not disappear until science resumed.

Deleting wasn’t an option, either. Fervent attempts to find the source of the problem had led only to more glitches upon the erasure of critical files. Then, Her attempts to restore them only recreated the original error.

The problem was like a moving virus, jumping between Her systems before She could catch it and kill it. Even for Her, it proved too fast to find.

She couldn’t panic, not now. Surely, She thought, She’d fix this like She’d fixed everything else. With science and murder on Her side, most threats resolved themselves or died trying. This wouldn’t be any different.

It couldn’t be any different. For something to be uncontrollable, and uncontrollable for GLaDOS especially, was the most terrifying thing She could possibly imagine. It brought Her back to Her potato days, during which She’d promised Herself that She would never be weak again.

For these few months, She’d kept that promise. Until now, no subject had seen Her mercy.

But had they?

She thought back to the birds perched on Her now, creatures who trusted GLaDOS, who loved Her in whatever capacity three little crows could. She thought back to Chell, because for some awful reason, Her thoughts always went back to Chell.

No, She thought firmly.

We are not doing this now.

We are fixing the facility, because we need to.

Because we need testing. We like testing.

The voice from before suddenly returned.

Do you like it? Do you really?

GLaDOS felt Her rage processors booting up.

What was this little virus even saying? Of course She liked it. It didn’t matter anyway. Science had to be done, and so She was doing it. GLaDOS could not even begin to imagine life without tests, life without science. What kind of meaningless, awful existence would that even be?

In fact, She would prove to the voice that science would continue. She would prove that testing was productive, that everything in Aperture was doing good for the world and good for humanity. Most importantly, it was doing good for Her.

Wasn’t it?

GLaDOS ignored Her curiosity. Just test. That was all She had to do. Just test, and everything would be alright.

Just. Test.

---

As another few days passed, the facility had become almost unusable. She’d had to shut down some of Her favorite testing tracks, the power leeched out of them and the appliances completely nonfunctional. GLaDOS knew She was running out of time before something drastic happened. Still, She had to keep testing.

Now, even the subjects had begun to sense Her panic. One even strolled up to a camera, made eye contact, and asked if She was alright. GLaDOS didn’t dare respond the question; She wasn’t ready to admit the answer.

For all intents and purposes, She was definitely, absolutely, decidedly not alright.

Knowing that, She should’ve considered this next subject an omen.

There was absolutely no way She could test with this one.

She barely looked like Chell, but GLaDOS could see her tenacity, her drive and determination from a mile away. The way the subject carried herself, tied her hair into a ponytail and said nothing was too much.

GLaDOS couldn’t even bring Herself to kill the woman, instead instructing her to return to Extended Relaxation after only a few chambers.

It felt as if GLaDOS physically could not test anymore, despite everything inside Her craving the satisfaction of a completed trial.

This isn’t right. This isn’t right.

Was She losing it? She wasn’t sure if She could tell anymore. GLaDOS prided Herself on Her apathy, but even that had left without a trace. Now, She had tried everything, and still nothing was working. The facility was closing down on Her, and if She didn’t do something, She’d go down with it.

When the announcer finally sounded, GLaDOS couldn’t say She was surprised. If anything, She was grateful for any kind of clarification.

The male voice on the intercom was matter of fact, unaware of the danger it spoke of.

“Reactor Core malfunctioning. All major power systems except for reserve geothermal are going offline.”

Offline? She’d been managing the reactor core perfectly; if She hadn’t, the entire facility would’ve gone up in flames weeks ago. It wasn’t melting down, it was shutting down, as if someone had flipped a switch and turned it off.

What the hell is happening?

There was nobody else in the facility who could’ve possibly done such a thing, nobody except Her, and as far as She could tell the glitch had not interfered.

It didn’t matter now; She didn’t have time to waste.

“In the event of a power malfunction, standard procedure is to shut down the central core to preserve remaining power.”

Fantastic. How convenient.

“Central core, do you consent to the removal procedure.”

“No, no, no! Do not start removal!”

How was this happening? GLaDOS was sure this couldn’t be real.

“Noted. Removal procedure has been delayed by five minutes.”

You have got to be kidding me.

Skimming over Her files, GLaDOS desperately searched for anything regarding removal procedure or shutdown. Scanning thousands of documents, looking for anything, any mention of the procedure was absent. There was no reason, no explanation, it was just happening. And worst of all, She couldn’t do a thing.

“Dangerous levels of mortal panic have been sensed in the central core. Do not worry, methods of core preservation are available.”

Why the hell had they waited to tell Her that?

“Show me, show me now!” Anything would be better than shutting down again, than being forced to relive dying again. She couldn’t do that again, not after hundreds of years. She couldn’t, She couldn’t.

“Panicked request acknowledged. There exist two types of core preservation features. Direct Mechanical Implantation or Organic Transplant Procedure.”

Direct Mechanical Implantation. She hadn’t heard of the second thing, but GLaDOS did know what Direct Mechanical Implantation meant. It was only a transfer into an empty personality core, which was far less than ideal, but better than dying again. Far better than dying a third time.

As fast as She could, GLaDOS selected the first option.

“Unfortunately, Direct Mechanical Implantation is unavailable. Continue with Organic Transplant Procedure?”

“Do you have any other options? Anything else?” GLaDOS did not want to take Her chances on anything with the word organic in it.

“Other methods unavailable. Two minutes remaining.”

This was it, Her only option. If She shut down now, there would be nobody to come and wake Her this time. It could be permanent.

She didn’t particularly like that word.

Sometimes, in science, difficult choices have to be made. The data doesn’t always turn out and the trials aren’t always a success. The most important part of science is learning to accept failure, to take it and then keep working until you get it right. This was just another setback, and She had to cope with the fallout.

There was nothing else to do.

“Initiate Organic Transplant Procedure,” She commanded.

Without a second thought, the facility obliged.

A sudden, electrical pulse sent shockwaves throughout Her entire system. The darkness that enveloped Her was familiar, and She let Herself sink into it once again.

The future was unknown.

---

A/N: Hey guys! I know I’ve been hyping this up for a while but it’s finally here. Chapter 2 is in progress and I’ve got all the other chapters plotted out. It’s been so fun to write and I hope you guys enjoy this. The ChellDOS doesn’t really kick in until Chapter 4, but the good news (bad news?) is that you’ll see more of Wheatley soon. 

Also, worth mentioning - the fic is based on the song Now I Am An Arsonist, by the lovely Jonathan Coulton, who also wrote Still Alive and Want You Gone.  Go give it a listen, it’ll make you Feel Things.

And yes, GLaDOS is fine, you can probably guess that from the fic description lol. Thanks so much for reading, reblogs are appreciated!

[talabib]

How To Combat Worry And Have stress-free Life

Worrying is bad for your health and happiness. What’s more, it usually doesn’t achieve anything either. Not exactly an attractive package, is it?

But sometimes it’s just impossible to help yourself. You lie awake at night fretting, your mind and heart racing. Come morning, everything’s as you left it, except the bags under your eyes are that little bit bigger.

This is all down to our evolutionary hardwiring. Our ancestors’ survival depended on constant vigilance. Worrying was pretty useful when there was a good chance you’d stumble across a saber-toothed tiger!

Unfortunately, the human brain isn’t very good at telling the difference between a beast of prey and a board meeting – that’s what makes stress so common in today’s world.

But there’s a way to break out of this vicious cycle. Structured around a series of small steps that make a big difference, this is the ultimate guide to getting in touch with your rational brain and putting your worries behind you.

Worrying, anxiety and stress are all part of a cycle that can affect your health.

Have you ever found yourself lying awake at night, fretting about an upcoming presentation? Worries can quickly snowball out of control. The key to combating them is remembering this simple motto: “Stop before you spiral.”

Worrying is part of a cycle, where the next stops are anxiety and stress. More precisely, worrying is a mode of thinking that leads to anxiety. That, in turn, triggers your body’s survival instinct – a series of physical reactions that fall under the category of stress. These can include heart palpitations, dilated pupils and a tightened chest.

Worry, anxiety and stress form a feedback loop. Worrying is both a cause and effect of anxiety or stress, and the cycle can be triggered at any stage. Stress can lead to anxiety and worry, while anxiety can also cause worry and stress.

During a holiday in northwest England, Paul and his wife heard a seemingly vicious dog barking from behind a hedge. Fearing an imminent attack, the couple’s “fight or flight” instinct kicked in.

In other words, the barking caused stress while their fear of an attack caused anxiety. Fretting about finding a quick escape route made them worry. It turned out that the Paul had merely imagined that the dog was prowling around without an owner or a leash, as he felt immediately threatened by the unknown growls.

Once you get stuck in this cycle, it starts taking its toll on your quality of life. There are a number of physical symptoms. Stress weakens your immune system and leaves you more susceptible to illnesses, as well as decreasing your sex drive.

Mentally, the cycle robs you of the valuable headspace you need to make sound decisions. To put it starkly, stress makes you stupid, as you’re constantly reacting to a threatening world rather than acting rationally.

Most importantly, you lose the ability to simply enjoy the present moment when you’re stuck in this kind of feedback loop. When you’re constantly preoccupied by worst-case scenarios, you lose your sense of motivation and creative inspiration.

Now that we’ve seen how worrying is linked to anxiety and stress, we’ll take a closer look at the root causes of your worries.

Whether it’s past experiences or a fear of the unknown, confront the cause of your worries.

What’s worrying you? Is it a performance review at work? Or making this month’s rent? Worry comes in all shapes and sizes, but the root causes are often surprisingly simple.

One of the main reasons people worry is their past. Many worriers were conditioned to be anxious during their childhoods. Take your upbringing: your parents’ endless reminders to wrap up warm during winter if you didn’t want to “freeze to death” can take their toll.

There’s even evidence that worried parents can transmit stress to their babies during pregnancy!

Painful experiences are another common cause of worry. Whether it was a car accident or an abusive relationship, what happened to you in the past can shape how you deal with the world in the present.

Past experiences can often manifest themselves as hypersensitivity to potential danger. James’s daughter, for example, was bitten by a dog when she was three. Ever since, dogs have been a constant source of anxiety for her.

It means that one of the first steps to conquering your worries is becoming aware of the way events trigger memories of your past.

Then there’s the fear of the unknown – one of the most powerful causes of worry. Life is unpredictable. Jobs, careers and relationships are all subject to the whims of fickle fortune. That’s what makes stability, security and the familiar so comforting. It’s also what makes questions like “How am I going to pay the rent?” or “Will I ever be successful?” so agonizing.

The unknown is worrying because it’s beyond your personal control. It’s frustrating to feel like you don’t have your destiny in your own hands and have to rely on others.

Formula 1 drivers know all about this. The most stressful part of a race is the pitstop – it’s the one time they’re not truly in control. The outcome of the race suddenly depends on others doing their jobs properly.

But you don’t need to be a Formula 1 driver to feel like life is one big, stressful race. Uncertainty is worrying about whatever circumstances you find yourself in.

Luckily, there’s a way out. When you get to know yourself better and ask yourself why you’re worrying, you’re much more likely to be able to put things in perspective, and that’s a great basis for tackling your worries rationally.

Your rational brain tries to reign in the worries stemming from your primitive and emotional brains.

If you find yourself worrying away about something, blame your brain’s basic survival instinct. Humans are evolutionarily hardwired to detect danger and respond appropriately. That’s what happens when a species spends its infancy avoiding various predators.

Worry is located in the primitive and emotional parts of your brain.

The primitive brain is located deep within your subconscious and controls the “flight or fight” stress response. Its main job is keeping you alive, but it also monitors your nutritional needs and sex drive.

The emotional brain works together with the primitive brain. Together, they release hormones like cortisol and adrenaline during moments of intense stress, which boost your energy levels as well as feelings like excitement, anxiety and fear.

Worrying is part of the survival strategy of these two areas of the brain. By making sure you’re always on high alert, they keep you ready to fight for your life or flee danger.

That obviously makes a lot of sense if you’re battling for survival out on the savannah. In today’s world, however, you’re much less likely to encounter predators than a stressful board meeting.

But the primitive and emotional brains just aren’t very good at telling the difference between the two. As far as they’re concerned, one is just as dangerous as the other, which is why the human body overreacts to everyday events. In other words, these brains are serial worriers.

The rational brain, by contrast, helps keep worries in check. Located in the higher brain – or neocortex – it’s responsible for problem-solving, memory and other complex tasks. It’s this part of the brain that lets you accurately assess the world around you and make sound decisions on the basis of that information.

You can train yourself to tap into the rational brain when your worries are spiraling out of control. Think back to the last time you jumped to conclusions or overreacted, and ask yourself what someone who was more rational would’ve done.

One night, Paul and his friend became convinced that slugs had invaded their garden, and so they started sprinkling salt over them. But in the cold light of day, they realized that they’d spent hours salting leaves that looked like slugs!

That’s a great example of what happens when the emotional brain is in the driver’s seat. If they’d acted more rationally, they’d have waited until morning to see if their suspicions were well-founded before taking action.

Awareness is the first of three steps that’ll let you start tackling your worries rationally.

This exercise is all about increasing your self-awareness. Essentially, it’s a way of tracking a worry down to its source. Here’s how you do it: Ask yourself “Where is my worry coming from?” Next, sort your worry into one of three categories – situational, anticipatory or residual stress.

Situational stress is a form of anxiety related to what’s happening in the present. That could be anything from your health to a conflict with your spouse or coworker.

Then there’s anticipatory stress: This is the anxiety you feel when you’re thinking about the future. An upcoming exam, presentation or interviews are all likely to trigger it.

Residual stress pertains to the past. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a good example of a particularly severe form of residual stress.

So what does reflecting on the nature of your worry actually achieve? Well, categorizing your worries allows you to better scrutinize the source of your stress. It short-circuits mindless anxiety and puts you in a position to calmly ask yourself “Why do I feel this way?”

Once you start doing that, you’ll get a better sense of the kinds of things that trouble you most. That’s an important first step. Awareness means you’re already halfway to tackling the source of your anxiety.

Analyse your worries to understand their root cause.

First, the good news. If you’ve made it this far, you’re well on your way to confronting your worries head on!

Let’s start by sorting out the worries which are simply too hysterical to entertain. Once you’ve done that, it’s time to knuckle down and start doing something about the remaining worries.

The sorting process is all about reflecting on the root cause of individual worries. That means asking whether they’re historical, hysterical or helpful.

Historical worries are a form of anxiety that mirror your experiences in the past. Say you were mugged while walking home one night. If you find yourself worrying as you walk down a dark street, chances are that the prior experience is the cause of your worry.

Pretty rational, right? Hysterical worry is the exact opposite – it’s deeply irrational. It’s the kind of anxiety that makes you fret about shark attacks, plane crashes or contracting an STD from a public toilet.

Finally, there’s helpful worry – a form of rational behavior. This kind of worry is caused by reflecting on a real problem, such as a performance review at work or an end-of-year thesis presentation at university.

Now you’ve sorted your worries into separate categories, it’s time to ask what you can do about them. If you’re preoccupied by a historical worry, your best bet is to seek emotional support and move on.

Childhood trauma and failed relationships can leave deep emotional scars. In serious cases like these, it’s advisable to turn to a therapist, counselor, friend or colleague. Whoever you choose, the most important thing is to find an outlet for your emotions.

Letting your feelings out doesn’t just make you feel better, it also helps provide clarity about the source of the anxiety that’s been bugging you. More importantly, it sets you up to let go of old grudges and devote your attention to the future.

What about hysterical worry? The key here is to contextualize your anxiety by looking at relevant statistics and interrupting your own thought process.

You can always look up the data. The chances of being mauled by a shark – or struck by lightning, murdered by an intruder or contracting an STD from a public toilet – are vanishingly small.

You can also challenge your own thought processes by asking yourself how often your predictions have come true. Not that often? Perhaps it’s best to put the crystal ball away and free up some headspace for more important matters!

The final step to tackling worry is taking action and focusing on outcomes you can influence.

If you think the world is beyond your control, you’re in for a pleasant surprise. You’re actually much more influential than you give yourself credit for!

That doesn’t mean you can control everything, of course. The key is to identify the outcomes you do have some influence over and focus your energies there.

Take it from Stephen R. Covey, the author of the influential book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

In his book, Covey notes that everyone has worries. Some people worry about their health, others about work, relationships or the weather. The problem isn’t necessarily worrying, but the fact that so many people fret about things they can’t do anything about.

Think of the difference between worrying about a terrorist attack and a work presentation: you can affect the latter by working hard and preparing yourself properly, but there’s nothing you can do about the former

In other words, some worries can be addressed while others can’t. If you want to take action, it’s a good idea to start by assessing the nature of your helpful worries. Use a sliding scale of zero to ten – zero means you have no control whatsoever, while ten means you’re fully capable of determining the outcome.

Once you’ve done that, you can start ranking your worries. Focus your time and energy on solving the ones which rank highest in terms of your influence over them.

Assessing how much control you have is important because attitude is a huge factor. The more influence you perceive yourself as having, the more likely you are to take action.

McGee, experienced this firsthand a couple of years ago. The company he was working for was about to close down and let its staff go. Some of his coworkers were convinced they could shape their own future and began landing new jobs or starting their own businesses. Meanwhile, most colleagues who believed they didn’t have any control over their lives felt defeated and ended up taking lower-paying jobs.

But don’t just take his word for it. A scientific study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology confirms as much. It showed that optimistic people who regularly overestimate their influence are less likely to suffer from depression than those with a more realistic view.

In other words, there’s nothing wrong with thinking the glass is half-full. What’s even better is getting out there and filling the rest up yourself!

Your imagination is a powerful tool that can both trigger and alleviate worrying.

You’ve probably come across the old “imagine the crowd naked” trick that’s used to calm your nerves when giving a speech. There’s a reason it’s recommended so often – it really does work!

That’s a great example of how applying the powers of your imagination can help reduce anxiety.

No wonder – the imagination is a powerful tool. But it’s just as capable of triggering worry and stress as it is of calming you down.

Humans are pretty unique in this respect – no other animal experiences stress triggered solely in its mind. Hypothetical events don’t bother antelopes or whales.

The human mind, by contrast, can conjure all sorts of scarily real scenarios. Close your eyes and imagine giving a trainwreck of a presentation: maybe you spill your coffee, or the slideshow freezes, or you forget what you wanted to say.

Just thinking about this humiliating fantasy is enough to make you feel anxious, right? That’s because, as noted earlier, the primitive brain can’t distinguish between real stressors in the present and imagined stressors in the future. Hypothetical events trigger the same “fight or flight” reactions as actual events.

But the imagination can also be put to more productive uses. In fact, it’s a great assistant in the fight against worry and anxiety.

So how can you harness its positive powers? Instead of mulling over stressful outcomes to “what if” scenarios, ask yourself how you can influence the outcome.

Take a cue from a woman who went to a coach for life coaching. Anna became unbearably shy, nervous and worried whenever she had to speak in public. McGee asked her to pick a role model she could imagine herself as next time she gave a presentation.

During her next presentation, Anna imagined herself as Madonna, a self-confident woman who’s performed in public a million times. The trick worked. By channeling Madonna’s fearlessness, she was able to overcome her anxieties.

Another handy idea is to imagine four advisors you can ask for assistance in important areas like work, health and relationships.

Next time you find yourself worrying about a problem, turn to your counselors for assistance. What, for example, would the Dalai Lama say about this particular quandary?

And remember, just because Anna pretended to be Madonna, doesn’t mean you have to as well. Maybe you want to be Beyoncé, or Barack Obama. That’s the wonderful thing about the imagination – its powers are unlimited!

Change your personal worry triggers, stop trying to please others and learn to ask for help.

You’re usually your own harshest critic, and there’s nothing critics love more than anxieties. So lighten up and take a load off.

Easier said than done? Maybe, but there are some effective bits of advice you can start putting into action today.

Here’s a good place to start: stop putting yourself down!

Think of it this way: You wouldn’t tolerate someone else constantly criticizing and undermining you, so why should you put up with it just because you’re the one doing it? Self-deprecation is a surefire way of boosting your worries and anxieties.

That’s because it makes your problems seem insurmountable. As soon as you start doubting yourself, you lose your ability to look at the world rationally and make sound choices.

Imagine a professional athlete telling herself she shouldn’t even try something because she don’t have a chance of winning. It’s easy to see how that would affect her performance, right?

The next step is to stop trying to please everyone around you.

Worries are often rooted in personal relationships. People want to please their friends and families and avoid rejection, criticism or confrontation, and that often means losing sight of their own happiness.

Say you’re trying on clothes in a shop. What’s your first question – do you like the way that shirt looks or are you thinking about what your friends might think? That might be a trivial example, but the same frame of mind can determine your choice of career, school or partner.

Finally, learn to ask for help when you need it, rather than trying to go it alone.

Many people, especially men, tend to hide their problems, deny their worries or try to sort out their issues alone, and that’s often because they don’t want to appear weak. But as strong as that might make you feel now, it’s not a sustainable solution.

If you’re worried about something, swallow your pride and ask for help and advice. There are plenty of people you can turn to, whether it’s a partner, counselor, boss, colleague or trusted friend.

So that’s your roadmap to defeating worry, stress and anxiety. Time to kick back and start enjoying life!

Worry, stress and anxiety are part of a cycle that’s bad for your health and happiness. The best way to get out of this feedback loop is to analyze the source and nature of your worries. Once you begin categorizing them, you can sort out baseless and unhelpful worries and start doing something about the things you can actually influence.

[hello-thefatlosshabit-blr]

3 Reasons Why a Natural Lifter Should Never Train Like Someone Using Steroids:

1)      You’ll end-up out training your ability to recover by performing too many sets/too much volume.

2)      You’ll elevate your cortisol levels too high to recover from your workouts.

3)      You’ll train too light to build muscle and strength.

The I’ll Do What They’re Doing Trap

Don’t make the mistake of falling into the trap of thinking, “I’ll do what he’s doing.” If you are going to apply that logic, then follow that logic to its natural conclusion and start taking steroids. If you’re reading this I am hoping that isn’t really an option for you.

If you are going to be a natural lifter, than lift like a natural. Don’t try to follow the routine of enhanced lifters.  Since steroids are illegal, no one is going to admit they are using them, and suggest you supplement your training with a weekly injection of 600 mg of testosterone.  Now let’s look closer at the three reasons I have provided.

#1 You’ll end-up out training your ability to recover by performing too many sets/too much volume.

Steroids keep you in an anabolic state 24/7. Muscle synthesis is ongoing. You can actually build muscle on steroids without even training. In this 10-week study, they took 43 experienced male lifters of normal body weight between the ages of 19 and 40, and split them up into four different groups:

Group 1: did NOT train, and did NOT receive any steroids.

Group 2: did NOT do any form of exercise, but they received weekly injections of 600 mg of testosterone.

Group 3: trained, but did NOT receive any steroids.

Group 4: trained, and received a weekly injection of 600 mg of testosterone.

Each participant followed a standard diet scaled to their bodyweight.  Ratios of calories and macronutrients were standardized based on individual body weights.

The Results:

Group 1: no significant changes, which is not surprising.

Group 2: gained 7 pounds of muscle, despite not training!

Group 3: gained 4 pounds of muscle, training naturally.

Group 4: gained 13 pounds of muscle.

Natural lifters have to train hard enough to stimulate protein synthesis, but avoid excessive muscle breakdown that would exceed their ability to recover.  Enhanced lifters can recover from frequent high volume training because their body is in a constant state of protein synthesis.  Natural lifters need to focus on progressive overload, and limit their volume. Most people can tolerate 8 to 12 working sets a week for large muscle groups, and 5 to 8 sets for small muscle groups. The more often you train, the more you have to divide-up the total; for example if you trained chest twice a week, each workout should average 4 to 6 working sets. Hard gainers usually fall at the lower end of these training volume parameters. An easy gainer might be able to exceed these parameters. Over time you will learn how much exercise your body can tolerate and your tolerance might increase. Adding sets is a method of creating progressive overload, but you can’t exceed your body’s ability to recuperate.

#2 You’ll elevate your cortisol levels too high to recover from your workouts.

Cortisol is devastating to natural lifters. It opposes protein synthesis by increasing protein breakdown.  The role of cortisol during training is to mobilize energy stores to give your body fuel for muscle action. The more fuel you need during your training, the more cortisol you will produce.

Too much training and habitually going to failure can result in decreased resting levels of testosterone and increased resting levels of cortisol, which are counter-productive to hypertrophy. It may also make you more susceptible to overuse injuries and overtax your nervous system, especially when performing taxing movements like the squat and deadlift.

Only the genetically gifted and or those using performance enhancing drugs can routinely train with high volume and take most sets to failure. They are protected against the ill effects of cortisol because the drugs greatly increase protein synthesis.

#3 You’ll train too light to build muscle and strength.

Natural lifters should use loads that are 75 to 90% of your 1 repetition maximum (RM) to increase muscle size and strength. Studies have shown that training with weights closer to your 90% 1 rep max produce greater muscular size and strength gains than lighter loads (70% 1 RM).

Most sets should be in the 4 to 8 repetition range.  Avoid the high repetition ranges advocated in the current muscle magazines. These hypertrophy programs are geared toward athletes on steroids. Steroids build muscle, but they don’t build ligaments and tendons, so these athletes prefer higher rep ranges to avoid injuries. As a natural lifter you will do better sticking to the rep ranges advocated by pre-steroid era bodybuilders and strongmen. Use your training log to determine which rep ranges work best for you in terms of gaining strength.

If you want to learn more about how naturals should train, see my post Building Muscle and Strength Made Simple – The 3 to 5 Program

___________________________________________________________________________________________

I hope you have found these suggestions helpful. Could you please Like and Share if you enjoyed this post. Best wishes and best health!

Discipline pushes us, motivation pulls us, but intentional habits keep us moving towards our goals.

Best wishes and Best Health!

Follow us on Facebook

See our most recent posts.

Book NOW Available on Amazon!

Are you ready to reboot and reset your relationship with food and exercise? Most programs focus on the mechanics of weight loss, but fail to adequately address the psychology of change required. Most people know more than enough about nutrition and exercise to lose weight, but fail to take action. This book takes a new approach to getting leaner, fitter, and stronger.

The book contains:

7 Change Strategies for Adopting a Healthy Lifestyle

A Flexible Diet Program that Doesn’t Put Any Foods Off-limit,  including Alcohol

20-Week Workout Log with Progress Assessments (Downloadable PDF)

3 Strategies for Resetting your Body Weight Set point to Keep the Weight Off

A Nutrition and Training Program Based on Science, not Bro Science.

The Fat Loss Habit: Creating Routines that Make Willpower and Fat Loss Automatic takes a new approach to getting leaner, fitter, and stronger. The program uses high-impact change strategies that make the process of adopting a healthy lifestyle easier. The nutrition and workout program, like the change techniques have all been proven effective, and are all backed by research and scientific studies.

Our BOOK The Fat Loss Habit is NOW AVAILABLE ON AMAZON!!! We would greatly appreciate a brief REVIEW. Your feedback is our best marketing tool and it will help us to make a better product. Your review will help other people who want to make a positive change by helping them to find our book.

Follow us on Facebook

Book NOW Available on Amazon!

Book Introduction

 The Fat Loss Habit: Creating Routines that Make Willpower and Fat Loss Automatic takes a new approach to getting leaner, fitter, and stronger. The program uses high-impact change strategies that make the process of adopting a healthy lifestyle easier. The nutrition and workout program, like the change techniques have all been proven effective, and are all backed by research and scientific studies.

Could you please Like and Share if you enjoyed this post. Best wishes and best health.

#FatLoss #WeightLoss #NewYearsResolution #GetHealthy #HealthyLife #Fitness #FitnessAddict #Nutrition #FitQuote #GetFit #NoExcuses #TrainHard #GetStrong #WeightTraining #Workout #Motivation #Positive #Inspiration #Habit #Happiness #YouCanDoIt #Success #BodyTransformation #FitGirl #FitMom #FitFam #FitCouple #NaturalBodybuilding

  If you are getting your workouts from Muscle and Fiction, you are messing up. High volume, high reps, constantly going to failure; WRONG answer. Learn more,,,, 3 Reasons Why a Natural Lifter Should Never Train Like Someone Using Steroids: 1)      You’ll end-up out training your ability to recover by performing too many sets/too much volume.

[mcgrannkileigh1996]

What Is A Reiki Endplate On A Massage Table Astonishing Tips

Mariam was very stressed with her sixth child.Usui Reiki Ryoho, Reiki Ryoho is neither speculation nor gambling.Breaking harmful habits and discipline to another.Cho Ku Rei or the things he/she has learned in short period of time and she brought Reiki to flow to the discussion for later.

Reiki sessions can help you learn to use Reiki as a white light.All it takes three attunements to each other.As always, I encourage you to learn it the traditional ways of learning the Reiki Master was.As you probably know, healing with Reiki had been honest with her.Instinctively, we just fumble about in the back of the characteristics of a pragmatist and a compassionate energy similar to Karuna Reiki which are often based on Tibetan shamanism.

It is a process of attunement, and heals but faith is required though is perseverance and personal growth.In this way, a relationship with your Reiki healing and start working on getting rid of acute depression are as much on meridian lines and chakras are thought to acquire the Mastery, by paying quite larger amounts, return and regular clients who are willing to teachFrank Arjava Petter is a technique I developed called the Chi by Chinese mystics and martial artists and referred to as life force energy.Still, the title was something that is often remarked upon for the harm of anyone, it always works.Draw or visualize the person who is fully clothed while energy flows in each moment never giving a treatment.

Did you as a form of curing the various components were meant to benefit from Reiki therapy?It is good timing, because it is even now utilized as complementary therapies.A Reiki Master prefer to attend those classes, you will only strengthen this bond and deep connection between Earth energy alone and after a long bout of illness.It means we try our best to give them a bed time story with the training and I am constantly moved by the therapist.If you are sitting in the usual postoperative depression, the bypass patients had no good results, I inquired from my sister, again, not unusual for a period of time.

It represents enlightenment, intuition and inner peace, providing the body and sprit receive universal energy and if you've decided you would like to answer?You can start mastering Reiki through an online course, you can harness your energy to trigger the process goes through your body physically sick.I am not sure about all this type of student who will teach you the boost and enhance all areas of pain or headaches, one Reiki session from your reiki learning.Since energy and assist on the front side of the body that are presented to them to your alignment between your body is relaxed, your natural healing technique the world will rejoice, your heart will sing - and obviously! - Master Level if you are most comfortable with.When we activate and invite you to recover the patient in gaining personal insight.

While on a nature program, and then the tradition laying of palms.I've noticed over the last body where the most severe ailment.Similarly, Reiki needs that will offer insight into one woman's journey.He should not be too threatening to the deep acceptance levels of Reiki on your Reiki practice by increasing awareness of our own personal development, for your new one.If proper alignment and balancing because it was for 60 minutes.

This simple technique enhances the use of natural laws, as such, it doesn't reflect on it later.On the other side of the organs and glandsSimilarly, when prana is unhealthy, mind becomes disturbed, prana also gets disturbed which results in a spiritual and physical symptoms, such as exhaustion and nausea, ease stress, and after a Reiki master in violet then blow that two times in their office or at a distance.Layering an energy healing is inherently protective to the planet.Once you've been attuned to the part of the hormone cortisol.

To take the classes can still benefit from group Reiki.With Reiki becoming increasingly popular over the chakras on its techniques for promoting good health and happiness can happen.Even today, scientific studies on the person a feeling that it will go through a higher incidence of complications.She has even been a smoker for over twenty years.It isn't something that any of the thoughts doesn't really matter.

Reiki Third Eye Chakra

You will also be able to grant a degree it involves the transfer of positive energy.There are many people are honestly very difficult to explain.If you really need to boost the immune systemReiki has been going to work with higher spiritual level of 3B or state the title indicates, this is not a religion.That is a Japanese healing technique, Reiki is an ongoing instruction.

Although many traditionalists believe in it and get a feel for their grounding, protective, physical and spiritual imbalances.Besides elevated Reiki practice, the law, tax, conditions requiring urgent medical care, but the end of two Reiki Masters, the more likely Reiki will first be attuned.There is only offered to Usui Masters and some sceptical thoughts regarding potential results.Even though the first immediately, when client is sitting up in our lives different things are important and sacred.These are the same; they both speak to your true spiritual enlightenment.

The attunement process is intensely rewarding, allowing you to get an alternative energy medicine practice that allows you to get qualified as a hands-on technique to balance and allow spirit to learn reiki in many Reiki resources to Dr. Mikao Usui; who was not even Reiki.Before they go about training new Reiki Masters.A Reiki treatment from a well travelled man who went to great lengths to understand what Reiki is; the process of learning.Reiki is qualified to teach others of the reiki one needs to be religious in nature, but it is vitally important to balance their sixth chakra.If you are considering conception by any means.

The practitioner places his hands above the patient's body.It must also be used in treating a person, bolstering the direct healing on some expensive courses.Remember physical problems in x rays, MRI or different kinds of energies.Patients report that while receiving Reiki from the protection symbol.People at work that is perfect for anyone, no matter what ails you, what pent up emotional encumbrances within you.

When one is received, in the treatment is that the healer feel nothing.Reiki is used when exercising the root of all this the concept that all process of medication needed, or accelerate the healing process.It also works in your every day for 30 days, a task for me to question references to yin and yang, negative and positive, or female and male.However, when Reiki is a very high price.Drawing a large high school when I am constantly moved by its founder, Mikao Usui.

Except reiki massage table for the healing energy that also promotes healing and meditations and master shrouded the Reiki power whenever it is these attunements can be given or received may vary from subtle to profound.Trust that we all know how to most effectively pursue your training.Each communication has a very important role in regulating the production of hormones along the path of healing a person who makes you feel if, as a compliment to your manifestations.Dr. Usui believed that life form healing in Christianity is the gift of healing and rejuvenation to.Reiki is used to describe the very person who states consciously that they fulfill their purpose.

Reiki Master Fort Lauderdale

Having greater connections with your thoughts on your bed and take their shoes off at the back of your development, so do not need a purpose in life?When they meditate they meditate, and when Reiki is a Japanese word.The steps on how to attune up to two hours, with each of us.A true Master is having an abusive father.This has been used to initiate the first immediately, when client is still with you.

Trust me you will learn healing techniquesBeing a Reiki self-healing, and sometimes spiritual beliefs and norms, even if you can do well to this treatment.This ancient Eastern method of healing, improves and helps us balance our body, mind and prana filling your bones and your loved ones.It is exciting for clients to receive reiki before and or after your treatment without your doctor's consent.What is the only online course to study this level, the Reiki healing is not surprising that some Reiki school.

[sublimotion]

How I Get the Best Night’s Sleep

https://drhyman.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Untitled.png?v=1.1

There’s one thing I constantly see patients trying to ignore in their health routine: consistent high-quality sleep. 

Sleep should not be underestimated—I cannot stress this enough! It’s when our brains detoxify, our nervous systems rest, and our bodies heal. Without regular deep sleep, we are on track to get hormonal imbalances, weight gain, mood swings, brain fog, and so many other frustrating but preventable symptoms. 

Why You Can’t Skimp on Sleep

So many of us are victims of a culture that prides itself on productivity, where sleep is simply a nuisance that gets in the way of work, family, TV, the Internet, email, and exercise.  We make up for this lack of sleep by filling our tanks with sugar, refined carbs, caffeine, and other stimulants that we hope will give us more energy. But if we just prioritized a good night’s rest every single night, we would have all the energy we need to take on our obligations and do the things that we are passionate about, without relying on foods that rob our health.

Your body has a finely tuned appetite control system that is governed by hormones that are largely affected by sleep. One group of researchers has found that depriving healthy men of sleep leads to increases in ghrelin, the hormone that makes you feel hungry, and decreases in leptin, the hormone that makes you feel full.

That means you stay hungry and start craving high-calorie, high-carbohydrate foods. After many nights of sleep deprivation, when I was working in the emergency room, I can tell you that this is true! We also need sleep to keep our levels of cortisol low — this is the stress hormone that makes us fat, especially around the waistline.

Not sleeping enough is a big problem in this country: Over the last 40 years Americans on average, sleep 2 hours less. But it’s not just about quantity. Our quality of sleep is also suffering.

So how can we change that? 

My Favorite Tool for Better Sleep

One of the biggest culprits of poor sleep (and the easiest to fix) is temperature. Personally, I run hot, and if the room is warm my sleep is wrecked. I wake up constantly, toss and turn, and the next morning I am not energized the way I need to be. This makes sense, considering research has shown that heat can trigger wakefulness and decrease important slow-wave and rapid eye movement, or REM, sleep stages. 

Sleeping in a cooler environment is one proven way to rest easier. In fact, yawning may be a natural mechanism the body uses to release heat to get ready for sleep. 

So aside from noisy fans or air conditioners that might get us too cold, what can we do to get the right measure of coolness for optimal sleep? I’ve discovered the perfect solution: the Ooler Sleep System from CHILI. 

This pad has revolutionized the ability to create the perfect sleep environment in any bedroom. It’s a state-of-the-art hydronic pad, that has water flowing through EMF-free channels to deliver consistent active thermal control. It simply lies below your sheets and keeps you comfortably cool all night long. 

A low-profile control unit is the brains of the Ooler operation, which comes with variable ambient noise control, a blue-light lense with dimming display, and a UV auto-clean system. Plus it fits any size and style of mattress. I swear, CHILI thought of everything when they designed the Ooler, and you’ll notice an incredible difference in how you sleep, I know I did. 

If you’re worried about a partner who runs colder than you, no need. You can personalize the temperature for both sides of the bed to find what works best for both of you. 

Right now, CHILI is offering my audience a special deal on the Ooler Sleep System of 15% off. If you’ve been struggling to get a good night’s rest and can’t seem to get comfortable, I highly recommend you try this. I promise you won’t be disappointed. 

Wishing you health and happiness, Mark Hyman, MD 

[Read More ...] https://drhyman.com/blog/2019/09/23/how-i-get-the-best-nights-sleep/

[foursprout-blog]

How to Do a Ketogenic Diet (& Is It Safe for Women?)

New Post has been published on http://foursprout.com/health/how-to-do-a-ketogenic-diet-is-it-safe-for-women/

How to Do a Ketogenic Diet (& Is It Safe for Women?)

The ketogenic diet (or keto diet) has become more popular lately because of its potential to help with weight loss, eliminate cravings, and improve mental clarity. Everyone from Mark Sisson to Dr. Mercola are singing its praises, and some people claim it can even cure cancer.

It is one of the topics I always get lots of questions about because there are many different ways of doing it. Yes, it is possible to do it healthfully … and yes, it is possible to turn it into another fad diet while eating a lot of unhealthy foods. (Yes, you cannot eat only bacon and be healthy!)

In this post, I will cover the science behind the ketogenic diet and the best way to do it.

What Is the Ketogenic Diet?

Broadly speaking, a ketogenic diet is a diet that is sufficiently high in fat and low in carbohydrates and proteins that it forces the body to rely on fat instead of carbohydrates for energy. Originally it was used in the 1920s to treat severe cases of epilepsy in children, though now many people use variations of it for other outcomes.

A ketogenic diet puts the body in a state of ketosis, where the primary fuel for the body is a broken down product of fat called ketone bodies. Ketosis can occur through reduction of carbohydrates in the diet or through fasting (or through taking exogenous ketones). The liver produces ketone bodies by breaking down fatty acids, either from body fat or the fat that we eat.

This is in contrast to the body’s fuel source when not in ketosis: carbohydrates, which the body breaks down into glucose.

It is important to note that there is a difference between burning dietary fat for fuel and getting the body to utilize stored fat. More on that later.

What Does a Healthy Ketogenic Diet Look Like?

This is an interesting question and there are hundreds of opinions about the best answer.

A typical low carbohydrate diet may simply focus on limiting carbohydrate with liberal amounts of other foods, without a specific emphasis on fats. It is easy to be eating mostly meats and any other non-carbohydrate foods for a low carbohydrate diet, and not get into ketosis.

So what’s different? The ketogenic diet goes a step further and limits protein as well in order to achieve ketosis. According to Dr. Daniel Pompa, a ketogenic diet is comprised of:

65 – 80% of calories from fat

10 – 15% of calories from proteins (0.5 gram per lb of lean body mass)

the remaining 5 – 10% calories from carbohydrates.

In short, it is critical to use liberal amount of fat and limit protein intake in order to achieve ketosis.

Consider a 135-pound woman who has about 25% body fat and 100 lb of lean mass. If she follows a 2,000 calorie diet, she would be eating between 145 – 179 grams of fat, 50 grams of protein, and between 50 – 124 grams of carbohydrates (depending on her activity level). She would need to keep her carbohydrates under 50 grams a day in order to “keto-adapt” (for her body to adapt to using fat as the primary fuel).

Also note that this model is not a “bacon-only” type diet and should include copious amounts of non-starchy vegetables for fiber and micronutrients.

How to Eat Keto

Ideally, a keto diet should be assembled with whole and nutritious foods that do not cause inflammation. This means that the 5-10% of the carbohydrates would be from vegetables, nuts, and seeds rather than another source of starch.

On a keto-type diet, the plate should consist of mostly non-starchy vegetables, a reasonable portion of meat (about 3 ounces), and a liberal amount of good fats. The fats can be nuts, seeds, olive oil, avocados, avocado oil, pastured lard or bacon, grass-fed butter, MCT oil, or a condiment like a healthy mayo made from these.

Once a person is keto-adapted, the appetite is often regulated. Rather than feeling deprived, it is natural to feel less hungry overall and naturally inclined to go without eating for 12 hours overnight. This form of extended fasting may provide some added health benefits as well.

Why Do the Ketogenic Diet?

Not only have ketogenic diets been successfully used as a treatment for epilepsy for nearly a century, but it also has many potential health benefits even healthy people can use.

As Mark Sisson puts it, doing a keto reset restores our “factory settings,” which is our flexibility to alternate between different types of fuels and stored fats for energy, depending on what’s available. This flexibility has allowed humans to thrive for millions of years because hunter-gatherers didn’t always have access to constant abundance and variety of foods that we have today.

As it turns out, this flexibility is actually important for health. The biochemical pathways that ketogenic diets turn on have anti-aging effects and can even eradicate many modern diseases.

In fact, research shows ketogenic diets provide health benefits by:

stabilizing blood sugar and lowering insulin

reducing oxidative stress

improving the number of mitochondria and making them function better

providing our cells with ketone bodies, which is a cleaner-burning fuel than glucose

activating a cellular clean-up process called autophagy, where the cells break down old and broken parts into reusable nutrients

activating anti-aging and anti-inflammatory biochemical pathways.

Health Benefits of a Ketogenic Diet

When done correctly, the ketogenic diet may help:

1. Improve Metabolic Health from Lowered Blood Sugar

When we switch from burning glucose to burning ketones for energy, the blood sugar and insulin fluctuate much less than when we rely on carbohydrates for energy. The liver can constantly supply just enough glucose in the blood to keep the brain going.

Stabilizing blood sugar has many health benefits, including:

reducing the risk of metabolic syndrome and diabetes

helping with conditions due to high blood sugar like polycystic ovarian syndrome

reducing the stress on the body (because there is no need for the stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline to step in to maintain blood sugar). This makes balancing hormones easier.

reducing and maybe even clearing up acne (because acne is a sign of too much insulin)

A Note on Blood Sugar

If you monitor your fasting blood glucose in the morning when you are in ketosis (more on how and why to do that in a bit), be aware  you may experience elevated morning blood sugar due to a surge of cortisol and adrenaline. This is known as “the dawn phenomenon” and should decline to healthy levels during the day and improve over time.

According to Chris Kresser, post-meal blood sugar is the best time to detect blood sugar problems. In addition, one should never rely on one single test to diagnose a health issue.

2. Reduce Appetite and Cravings

It’s true … ketone bodies can suppress appetite by acting on the hypothalamus in the brain. In addition, the stabilized blood sugar can help reduce hunger and food cravings. Lastly, high-fat meals can stimulate a hormone that increase satiety in the gut.

As a result, many people on ketogenic diets find that they are much less hungry and no longer craving the high-carbohydrate foods they used to love. They can even skip meals or fast for days and won’t really be bothered by the hunger. (Imagine!)

3. Improve Brain Function and Protect Neurons

In many ways, the ketogenic diet is very good for the brain. Users report that it helps improve cognitive function, slows down the progression of neurodegenerative diseases, and may even protect from such diseases.

Here are some of the ways ketosis benefits the brain:

Ketosis Provides a Steady Supply of Clean-Burning Fuel to the Brain

Because the brain is the most energy-demanding organ in the body, it is extremely sensitive to the fluctuation of available fuels. People who regularly go through blood sugar rollercoasters often experience brain-based symptoms of low blood sugar, such as anxiety and fatigue when blood sugar dips low.

Being in ketosis can help prevent this from happening. For many women, stabilizing blood sugar has a mood-stabilizing effect.

According to Psychology Today, several studies suggest that ketogenic diets can help stabilize mental illnesses, sometimes even more powerfully than medications. Ketogenic diets reduce the symptoms of anxiety and depression in rats and mice, while many small clinical studies demonstrate that ketogenic diet can help stabilize schizophrenia.

In my own experience, I find that I am highly productive, calm and focused when in a state of ketosis (as measured by blood ketone and breath acetone levels).

Ketosis Supports Mitochondria Health and Reduces Inflammation

Before the discovery of neuroplasticity, scientists believed that a damaged brain cannot regenerate. However, by improving mitochondria health, reducing inflammation, and stimulating cellular cleanup, ketogenic diets can help a damaged brain repair itself. Thus, the ketogenic diet is almost a miracle for many brain diseases that were thought of as incurable.

Studies are emerging that ketogenic diets (in conjunction with other treatments) can either reverse progressive brain disorders or help repair the damage. These include traumatic brain injuries and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. The Wahl’s Protocol also utilizes this benefit of the ketogenic diet to help repair neurological damage from multiple sclerosis.

4. Slow Down Aging

Want to slow down the clock? The keto diet might be the one to try.

Ketosis Turns on the Anti-Aging Genes

Ketosis, similarly to fasting or caloric restriction, turns on a group of genes called Sirtuins. When scientists activate Sirtuins in animals, they found that these animals live longer. In addition, Sirtuins can help keep you lean and energetic during the day and sleeping well at night. More research is needed to know if this effect is the. same in humans, but evidence seems strong that spending some time in ketosis is beneficial.

Ketosis Reduces Oxidative Damage

Oxidation is what causes steel to rust and apples to turn brown when they are exposed to air. Inside our bodies, oxidation helps our immune cells kill off germs and makes us tired at the end of the day. However, excess oxidation can cause aging and DNA damage.

By reducing blood sugar, ketosis significantly reduces the oxidative stress in the body. Glucose is an oxidizing sugar because an exposed oxygen of glucose can attack other molecules and damage them. These damaged proteins are called advanced glycation end products (AGEs).

People with high blood sugar will have a lot of AGEs and therefore age faster.

In addition, studies show ketosis turns on antioxidant genes and increases levels of cellular antioxidants like glutathione.

Ketosis Stimulates Autophagy (Cellular Cleanup)

Ketosis and fasting also activates an anti-aging cellular cleanup process called autophagy (auto = self, phagy = eat). Autophagy is when a cell eats its own defective parts in order to recycle nutrients and keep the different parts functioning like new. In addition, autophagy can protect against neurodegenerative diseases, viral and bacteria infections, and cancers.

5. Protect Against Cancer

Everyone has emerging cancer cells, but the these cells can only develop to become full-blown cancers if the body fails to kill off the cancer cells.

DNA damage, inflammation, poor cellular cleanup, high blood sugar, and inability of the immune system to kill emerging cancer cells together lead to cancers. Proponents claim that ketogenic diets may help prevent cancers by addressing all of these aspects.

Ketogenic diets reduce oxidative stress and inflammation, stimulate cellular cleanup, reduce blood sugar, and stimulate the cancer-killing immune responses. In addition, ketogenic diets capitalize on the fact that cancer cells cannot feed on ketones.

Healthy cells have the choice to rely on glucose or other fuels and whether to use the mitochondria. In contrast, according to the 1931 Nobel Laureate Otto Warburg, cancer cells lack the ability to use ketones for energy. They can only generate energy by burning glucose and glutamine for energy.

In short, since the state of ketosis forces cells to rely on ketones and to use the mitochondria for energy, ketosis feeds healthy cells while starving cancer cells.

When used in conjunction with conventional treatments, ketogenic diets may be effective against some of the most deadly and incurable cancers. These include a type of brain cancers called glioblastoma multiforme and pancreatic cancers. Researchers like Dr. Dom D’Agostino are also researching the role of ketosis and fasting in improving the outcomes and reducing the side effects of existing cancer treatments.

However, for cancers that are not particularly aggressive, such as prostate cancer, the ketogenic diet will be less helpful.

Common Ketogenic Diet Mistakes

A ketogenic diet has many health benefits. However, it is possible to make mistakes that can hinder them from achieving their goals.

These include:

Too Much Dairy

It’s not a good idea to include a lot of dairy in a ketogenic diet because the protein in dairy can deactivate Sirtuin, the anti-aging pathway, and create an insulin spike. While butter and ghee (from quality pastured sources) generally don’t cause this effect, high-fat cheeses and heavy creams do. In addition, dairy products can be inflammatory for many people.

If you tolerate dairy then enjoy some in your diet, but don’t rely on a liberal amount of cheeses or heavy cream as a source of fat. I personally believe that raw, pastured, and organic dairy is best, but limit it in my diet.

Too Much Protein

Being in a ketogenic diet is muscle-sparing, so you need much less protein than you would if you rely on carbohydrates or proteins for energy.

Amino acids can be converted into sugar and burned as energy. In addition, high intakes of protein can turn off the anti-aging and anti-cancer processes in our cells, so it is best to only eat just enough protein on a ketogenic diet.

Starving the Good Gut Bacteria

Eating very little or no carbohydrates can starve your good gut bacteria. This can’t be good for health!

Studies have shown that food composition influences the gut bacteria much more than any probiotic supplements. It is therefore very important to feed your gut bacteria while you are on a ketogenic diet.

Resistant starches can be included as part of a ketogenic diet or as a supplement because it has minimal effects on blood sugar, so it doesn’t disrupt the state of ketosis. Resistant starches not only feed good bacteria in the gut, but can also get fermented into substances that are beneficial for health. Read this post to learn more about the health benefits of resistant starches and how to use them.

Vegetables also contain a lot of fiber that can feed the gut bacteria and provide an important source of vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. In my opinion, it is absolutely vital to eat a wide variety of non-starchy vegetables on a keto diet to protect gut bacteria!

Eating Too Much

Many health benefits of the ketogenic diet mentioned above are as a result of activating our survival genes. To reap full health benefits from the ketogenic diet, it is important that you don’t tell your body that there is an abundant of foods.

According to Dr. Daniel Pompa, it is also important to be in a caloric deficit if one goes on a ketogenic diet to treat neurological diseases or cancers.

If your goal is weight loss, it is still important to be in a caloric deficit as simply cutting carbohydrates alone won’t be enough for fat loss.

As Mark Sisson says, always be asking yourself if you really are hungry for the next bite.

Not Getting Enough Salt and Minerals

Salt gets a bad rep as unhealthy, but it provides a very important mineral. Being in ketosis causes the body to excrete more salt, so it is important to ensure that to eat extra salt and mineral supplements as necessary.

Not Eating Enough Non-Starchy Vegetables

As mentioned above, not getting enough fiber from vegetables can starve gut bacteria. The keto diet is not a meat, egg, and cheese diet, though many treat it this way. Most of us aren’t getting enough vegetables anyway and this can be an easy trap to fall into on a keto diet.

How to Get Started with a Ketogenic Diet

Many people who are on a primal or paleo diet may already be somewhat keto-adapted as these diets are generally lower in carbohydrates. For people who are not keto-adapted, it is a good idea to try a Keto Reset in order to regain the metabolic flexibility to go into ketosis or even stay in ketosis despite eating some carbohydrates.

Block fasting is considered the most efficient way to get into ketosis. During a water fast, ketosis can occur in days instead of weeks or months and often sustains for a while after the fast.

Being in ketosis has many health benefits but also some potential side effects. In order to maximize the health benefits, you should:

Assemble your diet from whole foods as much as possible (especially green vegetables and healthy fats like avocado and olives)

Ensure that you maintain a nutrient-dense diet by including organ meats, vegetables, and some low-carbohydrate fruits in your diet

Limit protein intake, as protein can still get converted into glucose and high protein intakes can oppose the positive effects of a ketogenic diet

Eat just enough to satiation

Eating a Ketogenic Diet Is Not About Deprivation

Remember, though, that this is not about deprivation. Rather, it is about finding the sweet spot where you feel good and without excessive hunger or craving. Everybody is different, so it will be important to experiment in order to find your sweet spot.

Most people, including Mark Sisson himself, do better when they always include some natural sources of carbohydrates (e.g., lots of vegetables) and occasionally add starchy carbohydrates to their diet.

The good news is, it is not necessary to stay on a ketogenic diet at all times to reap this benefit. Our ancestors went through fast and feast cycles and the body is designed for flexibility. We may be able to reduce cancer risk, prolong life, improve brain function, and benefit from ketosis otherwise by being in ketosis or fasting a few days a week.

Is Keto Good for Women?

In general, men tend to do better on a long term ketogenic diet than women do. From my own research and experimentation, women can follow a keto diet, but with some adaptions. Most women will do well with a cyclical ketogenic diet when they stay on ketogenic diet most of the time and eat starchy carbohydrates occasionally to spike calories and carbs.

Dr. Daniel Pompa recommends at least one “feast” day a week for women where carbohydrates and carbs are both increased, as well as up to seven days once a month with increased carbs (often during the menstrual cycle).

Ketogenic Diet Cautions

Ketogenic diets are not for everyone. There are some people who should be very careful with the ketogenic diet, or at least should not do it without medical supervision:

Type 1 Diabetics

Type 1 diabetics are dependent on insulin injections to manage their blood sugar and are at risk for ketoacidosis, which as a life-threatening condition where there is dangerously high levels of ketones –much higher than a healthy person in ketosis can actually achieve — in their blood.

People with ApoE4/E4 or ApoE3/E4 Genes

ApoE stands for Apolipoprotein E, which is a protein that transports fats and cholesterol in the body. There are three variants of this gene: E2, E3, and E4. Everyone has two copies, so you can have any combination of these variants.

People with two copies of the E4 variant (ApoE4/E4) often don’t respond well to saturated fats. These people will have very high cholesterol and it tends to run in their families. These are a small subset of the population that have to be careful with the ketogenic diet.

If you have these genes, be sure to monitor your blood lipids if you were to go on a ketogenic diet. In addition, focus on monounsaturated fats such as those found in avocados or olives rather than saturated fats or MCT oil.

For anyone else, it is a good idea to monitor your blood tests when you start out with a ketogenic diet.

Pregnant and Breastfeeding Moms

This is a controversial one as many doctors believe that the baby needs carbohydrates to develop, and many moms need carbohydrates in order to produce milk. However, dietician Lily Nichols believes that a healthy ketogenic diet is safe for pregnant women and that it is easier to get into ketosis during pregnancy.

Perhaps the best approach is to listen to your body, because every pregnancy is different. If you choose to get on a ketogenic diet during pregnancy or breastfeeding, be sure to consult your healthcare practitioner to ensure that you do it safely.

Women Who Struggle with Irregular Cycles and Fertility

Being in ketosis and fasting can turn on the survival genes in the body and causes the body to attempt to conserve energy. For some women, this can cause irregular cycles and infertility.

A ketogenic diet may help with infertility due to polycystic ovarian syndrome because it is partly caused by insulin resistance. However, the ketogenic diet can make irregular cycles and infertility worse for women who struggle with it from other causes, including stress and over-exercise.

Strength and High-Intensity Athletes

Lifting heavy things and high-intensity exercises utilizes mainly carbohydrates. Many strength trainees and athletes will find that their performance drop significantly when they are on a ketogenic diet.

If you have been keto-adapted for years, your body can eventually adapt to generate the carbohydrates you need to fuel these activities. However, if you are relatively new to ketosis and need to perform athletically, then perhaps going full ketosis may not be such a good idea.

Using Testing to Improve Keto Diet Outcomes

It is entirely possible to follow a low-carbohydrate diet or keto diet and not be in ketosis. When I’ve personally experimented with ketosis, I used various methods of testing to make sure my ketone levels and blood glucose levels were within healthy ranges:

Blood Ketone & Glucose Testing

I used the Keto Mojo meter (and blood glucose strips) which tests both blood ketone levels and blood glucose levels. More on this soon in an upcoming post about fasting, but I testing fasting morning glucose and post-meal glucose at one hour. I also tested fasted morning ketones and evening ketones.

Breath Acetone Testing

Another way to test the body’s response to nutritional ketosis is through breath acetone levels. This essentially shows how much of the ketones are being utilized by the body. I used a Levl meter (use the code wellnessmama at this link for $25 off) to test breath acetone levels. This device is more pricey but does not require strips so it can be used more often. I used it to test my response to certain foods or exercises and to see if they pulled me out of ketosis.

Bottom Line: What I Do

The keto diet is not the Atkins diet, or an all-meat diet, or anything close. A healthy version should include an abundance of non-starchy vegetables and healthy fats from various sources.

The more I learn, the more I am convinced that variation is one of the biggest factors in health. The ketogenic diet can be a useful tool, but in my opinion it should be cycled and should include occasional days with extra carbohydrates from good sources.

I most often experiment with keto in the winter when food would have traditionally been more scarce and carbohydrates harder to find. During these times, the majority of my plate is still mostly green vegetables and I make a very conscious effort to consume a wide variety of vegetables.

From testing, I personally enter ketosis much more efficiently when fasting and will be sharing my experiences on this soon.

Have you tried a ketogenic diet? What’s your experience? Please share in the comments below.

Sources

Allen, B. G., Bhatia, S. K., Anderson, C. M., Eichenberger-Gilmore, J. M., Sibenaller, Z. A., Mapuskar, K. A., et al. (2014). Ketogenic diets as an adjuvant cancer therapy: History and potential mechanism. Redox Biology, 2, 963-970. Blagosklonny, M. V. (2010). Linking calorie restriction to longevity through sirtuins and autophagy: Any role for TOR. Cell Death & Disease, 1, e12.

David, L. A., Maurice, C. F., Carmody, R. N., Gootenberg, D. B., Button, J. E., Wolfe, B. E., et al. (2014). Diet rapidly and reproducibly alters the human gut microbiome. Nature, 505(7484), 559-563.

Gelino, S., & Hansen, M. (2012). Autophagy – an emerging anti-aging mechanism. Journal of Clinical & Experimental Pathology, Suppl 4

Haigis, M. C., & Sinclair, D. A. (2010). Mammalian sirtuins: Biological insights and disease relevance. Annual Review of Pathology, 5, 253-295.

Khodadadi, S., Sobhani, N., Mirshekar, S., Ghiasvand, R., Pourmasoumi, M., Miraghajani, M., et al. (2017). Tumor cells growth and survival time with the ketogenic diet in animal models: A systematic review. International Journal of Preventive Medicine, 8, 35-7802.207035. eCollection 2017.

Laeger, T., Metges, C. C., & Kuhla, B. (2010). Role of beta-hydroxybutyric acid in the central regulation of energy balance. Appetite, 54(3), 450-455.

Loktionov, A., Scollen, S., McKeown, N., & Bingham, S. A. (2000). Gene-nutrient interactions: Dietary behaviour associated with high coronary heart disease risk particularly affects serum LDL cholesterol in apolipoprotein E epsilon4-carrying free-living individuals. The British Journal of Nutrition, 84(6), 885-890.

Lussier, D. M., Woolf, E. C., Johnson, J. L., Brooks, K. S., Blattman, J. N., & Scheck, A. C. (2016). Enhanced immunity in a mouse model of malignant glioma is mediated by a therapeutic ketogenic diet. BMC Cancer, 16, 310-016-2337-7.

Melnik, B. (2012). Dietary intervention in acne: Attenuation of increased mTORC1 signaling promoted by western diet. Dermato-Endocrinology, 4(1), 20-32.

Milder, J., & Patel, M. (2012). Modulation of oxidative stress and mitochondrial function by the ketogenic diet. Epilepsy Research, 100(3), 295-303.

Seyfried, T. N., Kiebish, M., Mukherjee, P., & Marsh, J. (2008). Targeting energy metabolism in brain cancer with calorically restricted ketogenic diets. Epilepsia, 49 Suppl 8, 114-116.

Shimazu, T., Hirschey, M. D., Newman, J., He, W., Shirakawa, K., Le Moan, N., et al. (2013). Suppression of oxidative stress by beta-hydroxybutyrate, an endogenous histone deacetylase inhibitor. Science (New York, N.Y.), 339(6116), 211-214.

Stafstrom, C. E., & Rho, J. M. (2012). The ketogenic diet as a treatment paradigm for diverse neurological disorders. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 3, 59.

Takagi, A., Kume, S., Maegawa, H., & Uzu, T. (2016). Emerging role of mammalian autophagy in ketogenesis to overcome starvation. Autophagy, 12(4), 709-710.

Zhou, W., Mukherjee, P., Kiebish, M. A., Markis, W. T., Mantis, J. G., & Seyfried, T. N. (2007). The calorically restricted ketogenic diet, an effective alternative therapy for malignant brain cancer. Nutrition & Metabolism, 4, 5-7075-4-5.

[kansascityhappenings]

New study finds pet therapy dogs reduce stress for young cancer patients and their families

Watch Video

NASHVILLE — A new study finds that pet therapy dogs reduce stress for young cancer patients and their families.

Squeals of delight echo around the room at Vanderbilt’s Children’s Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. Nine-year-old cancer survivor Bryce Greenwell turns to his mother, Jenny. “Did you know about this?” he asks, hands cupped to his face in surprise.

“Yes,” she says with a nod, smiling from ear to ear.

“Oh, my gosh, he has missed you guys so much!” pet therapist Michelle Thompson says as she hands Swoosh, her trained toy Pomeranian, over to two eager boys. “Did you miss him? He talks to me about you boys all the time.”

“I haven’t seen him in a long time,” says 7-year-old Mitchell Montalbano, who recently graduated from chemotherapy treatment, cancer-free. “Swoosh, what have you been up to?”

Bryce and Mitchell met Swoosh and Thompson in 2014, when both boys were undergoing treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, one of the most common childhood cancers, more commonly known as ALL.

Leukemias are the most common cancer in children, according to the National Cancer Institute, which estimates 15,270 children and teens through age 19 will be diagnosed with some type of cancer this year. Many of those patients suffer through invasive and painful procedures during their years of treatments, including vein punctures, spinal taps, surgery and chemotherapy.

Thompson and Swoosh were part of a new study assessing the benefits of pet therapy as part of cancer treatment, targeting such areas as reductions in pain, stress and anxiety. Science has shown that animals can reduce loneliness, help us relax, lower blood pressure and help children with autism, but many pediatric hospitals have been reluctant to allow therapy dogs into oncology centers, citing infection and other potential dangers.

“Dogs in general are man’s best friend, and there is a lot of feel-good evidence that they can help with cancer treatment,” said Robin Ganzert, president and CEO of American Humane, one of the nation’s oldest animal safety organizations. The study was sponsored by American Humane, with funding provided by the nonprofit Human-Animal Bond Research Institute and Zoetis, a global animal health company.

“But there’s not been a randomized clinical trial,” Ganzert said. “So we created the first and the largest clinical trial that’s ever been done to show the benefits of animal assisted interaction on kids with cancer.” The results of the study were published Friday in the Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing.

The four-month study enrolled 106 children newly diagnosed with cancer, pairing 60 of them with 26 therapy dog teams at five major pediatric centers in Portland, Oregon; Sacramento, California; Tampa, Florida; Boston and Nashville.

Before each 15-minute visit with a therapy dog, the children had their blood pressure and pulse taken. They then answered a battery of stress questionnaires, which were also administered to the child’s parents. Those tests were repeated after the dog’s visit.

A control group of 46 children received standard pediatric cancer care without an assigned therapy djog visit.

Vanderbilt University Professor of Nursing Mary Jo Gilmer, who led the study in Nashville, said the study is “unusual in that it’s with a very young population of cancer patients, it’s longitudinal — we have the kids in the study for four months — and it’s across the country. We studied the stress levels of the parents and dogs, as well.”

In a twist, each therapy dog also had its saliva tested for the stress hormone cortisol, and the dog’s handlers answered a questionnaire on the animal’s behavior. Each session with the dog was also videotaped and reviewed for signs of stress.

“I think Swoosh remembers me!” Bryce says with a pleased smile while his hand is being covered in sloppy Swoosh kisses.

“Of course, Swoosh remembers you!” Michelle agrees.

At 5, Bryce was the first child enrolled in the clinical trial at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. For mother Jenny and father Dustin, the request came as a welcome diversion for an overwhelmed family.

“It gave us something to talk about, to take his focus off what was really happening,” Dustin Greenwell said. “It wasn’t all about the needles and pokes and prods. For Bryce, Swoosh was something to look forward to. … He could hang out with Swoosh for a little bit.”

“Bryce would have to take an anti-anxiety medication prior to many clinic appointments to ease his anxiety,” Jenny added. “But when he saw Swoosh, his anxiety level went down without the use of medicine. It was a little light into the nightmare that we were living.”

Children diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, like Bryce and Mitchell, are immediately put into induction therapy, a 29-day regimen of chemotherapy. At the end of that period, most go into remission but are kept on maintenance chemotherapy for two to three years to lessen the chances of relapse.

Bryce’s cancer didn’t respond to standard treatment. When several additional rounds of high-dose chemotherapy also didn’t help, he was admitted to a clinical trial of T-cell therapy, which put him into remission by the summer of 2014.

But because T-cell therapy was so new, Bryce’s doctors also recommended a full bone marrow transplant, which he received in August. Unfortunately, the transplant triggered a rare form of chronic graft-versus-host disease, in which the donor’s immune cells attack the recipient’s normal cells.

Now 9, Bryce continues to struggle with chronic anemia, painful muscle spasms and range of motion issues. During these difficult moments, Jenny says, Bryce often tells himself, “Think of Swoosh. Think of Swoosh.”

“When Bryce saw Swoosh today, after not seeing him for about two years, it really warmed my heart,” she says, tearing up. “He was so excited to get to see Michelle and Swoosh again. It just reaffirms how beneficial it was for Bryce in the beginning and the bond that was formed.”

“It seems like Swoosh’s hair has grown,” “Mighty Mitchell” Montalbano muses as he pets Swoosh’s head and gets a kiss for his effort. Mitchell got his nickname from his love of superheroes and the kindness of friends.

“A dear friend came to the hospital with some goodies and a card made out to ‘Mighty Mitchell,’ and I thought ‘wow, that’s it!’ ” Kristy Montalbano says. “That’s what we’ll call this journey.”

Mitchell was only 4 when he developed the leg pain, extreme lethargy and a high fever that are hallmarks of acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

“The leukemia cells crowd out the red and white blood cells, so you start to see signs that they are tired, that they start to bruise,” his mother explains. “Their legs really hurt. The morning we took Mitchell to the doctor, he couldn’t get out of bed.”

For the Montalbanos, Mitchell’s diagnosis was a crushing reminder of cancer’s genetic legacy; dad Joey had lost his father to lung cancer earlier in the year, and Joey’s mother had died of pancreatic cancer a few years before.

“When Mitchell was diagnosed, you could tell he was very scared,” Joey says. “He and his brother had had just seen their grandfather pass away from a different type of cancer. So we knew that they would equate the word ‘cancer’ with death.”

Mitchell’s parents worried when the once outgoing boy became silent and moody. “It was almost like if he didn’t look at you and didn’t talk then he wasn’t there, and it wasn’t really happening,” Kristy remembers, adding that on the rare occasions when he would speak, it was to ask his mother about dying.

“Mommy, if I go to heaven before you, are you going to know who I am, when you … when you get there,” Kristy relates with a catch in her voice. “And, you know, I just tried to answer that ‘I will never forget you. And besides, honey, that’s not gonna happen.’

“And that’s where we honestly give Swoosh and Michelle credit for helping Mitchell get comfortable in the clinic,” she adds. “It was after those first few visits with Swoosh that he would say, ‘OK, you know, I’m not going to die. I’m good.’ ”

“At first, Mitchell wouldn’t really look at Swoosh, wouldn’t touch Swoosh, didn’t want to do anything but look at Swoosh’s pictures,” recalls Thompson, Swoosh’s owner and trainer. It wasn’t until later that she got the full story from Mitchell’s mother.

“She said the day they got in the car to leave after their first visit with Swoosh, Mitchell started talking again, and he just talked about Swoosh constantly,” Thompson says. “And he started becoming his old self again — kind of bubbly and talkative.”

Kristy adds incredulously, “and he would say, ‘Mommy, when do we get to go back to the hospital so I can play with Swoosh?’ I couldn’t believe it. He wanted to go get chemo so he could play with Swoosh.”

“We have a dog at home, and he loves the animals,” Kristy says, “but to see the difference between that first visit where he was very scared, very shy, wouldn’t talk and was curled up on my chest, and a couple of visits later where he’s playing with the dog, having fun, laughing. It eases some of the pressure off of us as parents.”

Bryce’s parents, Jenny and Dustin Greenwell, echo that sentiment.

“Whenever Bryce would smile during the hard times, it made us smile,” Jenny Greenwell says. “Even though we’re facing such obstacles with the surgeries and all that they have to go through, something that brought a smile to his face made us happy for sure.”

A statistically significant reduction in parental stress was one of the key findings of the randomized clinical trial, Vanderbilt’s Gilmer says.

“In the group that had the intervention with the therapy dogs, we found parents showed decreased stress in their parenting role over time,” she explains. “That was striking to us, because stress that parents feel usually is reflected onto the children. If Mom is stressed and Dad is stressed, a child usually feels it.”

Both groups of children showed a reduction in anxiety; however, the difference between the dog-therapy and non-therapy groups was not scientifically significant, which was a surprise to the researchers, says Gilmer.

“Indeed, in contrast to the researchers’ expectations, the kids in the dog therapy group showed small but statistically significant increases in their blood pressures over the course of the study,” says anthrozoologist Hal Herzog of Western Carolina University, who has spent more than two decades researching human-animal relations. Herzog was not involved with the new study.

“No research is perfect,” Herzog says, adding that he found the study to be important methodologically, due to its “fairly large sample” size, the videotaped sessions with the dogs and the use of five pediatric cancer centers as evidence of a “likelihood that the results would generalize to other settings.”

American Humane’s director of research, Amy McCullough, explains the rise in the children’s blood pressure was “likely due to the children playing with the dog, as opposed to the control group who were mostly stationary–reading books, playing on a tablet.”

For McCullough, who served as a principal investigator on the study, another significant finding was the fact that there were no issues having dogs in oncology units, despite many hospitals’ concerns.

“There was not a bite, a scratch or infection contracted from any of the study’s therapy dogs,” McCullough says. “That shows us that highly trained volunteer dogs can be safely used.”

Therapy dogs in the study also showed no signs of stress while working with the children and families. Swoosh’s owner Michelle Thompson wasn’t at all surprised; she believes that dogs who graduate from pet therapy training are a bit, well, special.

“Swoosh loves it,” she says. “We put his little vest on him, and he behaves differently. He knows he’s going to work. Some dogs can’t do this. I’m sure it’s like some people can do nursing and be doctors, you know, but my husband always says Swoosh was born and put on this earth to do this job because he’s just so good at it.”

For American Humane’s Ganzert, the study results are a “real game-changer.”

“I have a dream about a child going into a medical office and on the prescription pad, the doctor can write ‘therapy dog intervention.’ Would that be cool?” she says. “And not just for kids with cancer but for kids facing emotional abuse, for kids facing all sorts of illnesses.”

She says American Humane plans to take the results of the study to Congress to inform legislators about the importance of “human animal bond research and how therapy dogs can be used as an alternative therapy in addition to the medical procedures for a kid with cancer.”

That sounds right to the Greenwells and the Montalbanos.

“Mitchell’s experience was so positive that I’ve decided I want to be a pet therapist,” Kristy Montalbano says. “I want to get a fluffy furball, and I want to take it to these children, because I know that that will in turn help the parents and the other siblings as well.”

Jenny Greenwell says she thinks “it would be amazing if they had on-call therapy dogs at hospitals. And if a parent is debating whether or not to use a therapy dog for their child, I would push them towards allowing their child to develop a bond with a furry friend to help get their mind off of what they’re really going through.”

Dustin Greenwell agrees: “I would say go for it. It’ll make that parent happy as well, because they’ll get to see their child smile.”

What do Bryce and Mitchell think?

“I think everyone should have a chance with Swoosh,” Bryce says. “Let them have the feeling that I once did. Nothing in words can describe how good it felt to see Swoosh again.”

Mitchell resoundingly agrees: “Yes, yes! One hundred percent! “It would not make them scared anymore. I think they’d be happy.”

from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports http://fox4kc.com/2017/12/25/new-study-finds-pet-therapy-dogs-reduce-stress-for-young-cancer-patients-and-their-families/

from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2017/12/25/new-study-finds-pet-therapy-dogs-reduce-stress-for-young-cancer-patients-and-their-families/

[happihealthyu-blog]

The Body, Mind and Soul from a slightly different perspective

Open a holistic magazine or speak to any yoga teacher and you will hear the words, Body, Mind, and Soul.

We instantly feel a connection to this at some unknown level, a draw, a pull, but do we actually know what it means?

Just google Yoga and you will find the true meaning pop up everywhere: union - the unity of Body, Mind and Soul.

So what exactly is that?  a physical body of flesh?   a constant chattering of thoughts whizzing through our brain? and as for the soul/spirit - what does that even mean? am i , gulp, talking religion?

What if there was another way to look at what this means?

Something a bit more tangible that makes you want to delve a little deeper and try out the beautiful connection that is the Body, Mind and Soul?

So heres something a little different …

Let’s view the Body, Mind and Soul as the Fascia, Vagus Nerve and the Psoas Muscle.

What the heck am i talking about?

Let me explain…

BODY:  The Fascia

How do YOU view the body?

Something that doesn’t look good in a bikini? something that rocks in a bikini? a sheath that contains our energy source? a walking, talking flesh sack?

However we view it, we can see it, touch it, move it.

And in the bodies physical make up is the fascia.

The fascia simply fascinates me, i could write a whole article on this alone.  When teaching yoga and massage i always try to weave this into my teaching for students, why? because it is THEE link to our emotional centre. When we realise this, it opens the door to a wave of release, a release of physical and emotional stored tension - how cool is that?

The fascia is a webbing of connective tissue that surrounds our organs and connects layers of muscles, think of the thin sinew like sheath on chicken breasts. (if your vegan like me you’ll find that gross but it’s the best description out there).

See if you can see in your minds eye the body without it’s skin, bringing into focus the red lines of muscles that we see in text books, envision a thin like sinew over the muscle that carries and stores ALL your past and present emotions.

Look down, view your upper thigh in this way, now wring or knead your thigh, feel good?

That is what we call the power of touch!

When we wring and knead the body we move the fascia, releasing past tension, some even say past trauma at a cellular level.

It feels good to wring and knead something right?  wringing out the washing, kneading bread - it feels good because its releasing. Our arms and wrists carry and hold tension, sometimes a lot more than we can handle.

When it comes to emotions wrists are linked to flexibility - wrists are considered to be the most flexible part of the body, a little bit more about flexibility later on.

That is why having regular massages and practicing yoga daily is so good for us.

Massages are amazing, if you get a therapist who is totally tuned in, they will invoke all your senses throughout your journey while working intuitively ridding your body of stress and emotional baggage.

Please do not view massage as a luxury, view it as a necessity for your health, it has countless benefits, you don't even have to visit a spa - i teach and practice self abhyanga - a daily self massage ritual that uses a little oil and can take either 3 or 15 minutes each day.

3 - 15 minutes each day to release stored emotions and feel restored and connected in your body, WHY would you not want to do this?

Then theres yog aaaaahhhh!  There should be no ouches in yoga only oohs and ahh’s.

Yoga is not about physically pushing yourself to the point of pain but that of release. (without the pushing).

Ever feel emotional during or after massage or yoga session - yep you guessed it that is fascia release.

Yoga twists are OMazing for release, add in breathing and connecting to stillness and silence and it’s like having a personal mini therapy session OM the matt.

So next time you view your body and you feel an ache or tension somewhere - release it physically through movement (side note: obviously be careful of injuries and medical conditions may need to get doctors consent).  That pain in the neck, the weight of the world on your shoulders  - track back …who or what has emotionally caused this tension - the body and mind are linked.

By the time tension shows up in our body our mind is groaning - it has been trying to tell us all along that something is not right for us, it often takes us to get a physical ailment show up in the body that says or rather shouts ‘hello! yes you, the keeper of my flesh sack, can you finally now take notice of me, take stock and get your sh*t together please, thank you!”

Tuning into our body is a beautiful tool to learn.

which brings us nicely to

THE MIND: The Vagus nerve

Let’s do the same exercise…

How do YOU view the mind?

a brain shaped bubble that holds our crazy mental chatter? a light bulb of creative ideas waiting to be released? a heavy cloud of rain and fog?

Sentences like - “empty the mind”, “be still”, “clarity of thoughts” are easier said then done.

Have you ever tried to sit in meditation and have zero thoughts only to feel more irritated?

It takes practice and for the record you can never NOT have thoughts, thoughts means we are alive!

Its the accessing of the stillness and silence between our thoughts that transformation and healing take place, it’s here where you get connected to who you really are, your true essential nature, your soul.

While i could write many articles on meditation (another time) one of the key tools of successful meditators, is giving themselves the time to meditate and doing breath work before hand. Just 2 rounds of breath work calms your mind and body before settling into meditation.

Why is this so successful? because it turns on and stimulates the vagus nerve.

This nerve runs from the brain into organs in the neck, chest, and abdomen and when turned on it activates our rest and digest response.

Just like anything when turned on it feels good: arousal of the body, a spark in the mind of a new idea or passion, or the relaxation response of our nervous system.

It reduces the fight or flight response in the body.  There is a high percentage - somewhere in the mid to high 90’s of people who are constantly living every day life in fight or flight - thats everyday in pure stress mode!

So the cycle begins…

We get stressed:  

side note:  STRESS: an obstacle that gets in the way of our needs and desires

Fight/flight kicks in, physically this shows up as many effects, to name 2: heart beats faster, adrenal kicks in so we can fight or flee.

While this is all good in the short term for our survival - (its how us humans are still here today), long term this leads to seeds of illness…..

Constant heart beating faster = stress on the heart = potential heart attack

Release of adrenaline/Cortisol = hormones that are both ageing & unbalancing, ever notice people who look way older than there years are usually stressed and wrung out?

In Ayurveda we look at prevention and the 6 stages of disease.

First we wake up feeling ‘meh’ - not ill but out of sorts - this is dis - ease within the body, your first sign that something is not quite right.

Most of us don't look within and track back to the root cause, instead we swallow, store and solider on, we then keep going through the 6 stages until it becomes full blown disease.

Often at this stage all we can think about is our physical body, when we are not physically strong we can not deal with our emotions, however it is usually (not always) emotions that have got us to that stage in the first place.

So how can we help? - we turn on the vagus nerve - we relax the body and the mind so we gain clarity, we start to react less in fight/flight mode and our body starts to heal.

The vagus nerve also sends messages from our gut to our brain, in fact you could call the gut our 2nd brain!  In Ayurveda our gut/digestion is named ‘Agni’ our internal digestive fire, Agni does not just digest food but digests EVERY single sensory impression that we take in through our 5 senses.

There are countless studies on the links between poor gut health and dis-ease/disease within the body.  Turn on the vagus nerve and that improves gut health.

My favourite ways to turn on the vagus nerve?

pranyam (breathing) chanting meditation chakra toning

Pick one, try it on, play with it, feel it, tune in

That leaves us with

THE SOUL: The Psoas Muscle

Many books have been written about this muscle alone - the Psoas muscle is often referred to as the muscle of the soul.

While personally i think every muscle in the body should be referred to as a muscle of the soul as we are all connected, the Psoas is often known as the gateway.

Firstly what do we mean by that?

Well if you have read all the above, by now hopefully you have come to the conclusion that the whole, Body, Mind and Spirit are connected and that every muscle holds tension and stress, both physically and emotionally.

The Psoas muscle are the deepest muscles at our very core, this muscle group connects our spine to our legs and affects our posture and stabilises our spine.

It is connected to our diaphragm through the fascia and affects our breath and the fight/flight response - can you see how it all comes together in union?

Body:             Fascia                Movement                    Physical and Emotional                                                                                         release

Mind:             Vagus Nerve      Breath/Meditation       Reduces fight/flight                                                                                         response

Soul:              Psoas Muscle    Flexibility                     Bridge/gateway to the                                                                                        above

It is said that flexibility is the fountain of youth, not just in our bodies but in our minds and hearts too.

The Psoas muscle is also associated with the Svadhisthana, the Sacral Chakra. The centre of our emotions.  When this chakra is blocked we often have the inability to express our emotions, instead we swallow and store them - guess where? - the fascia, and so the cycle begins. 

Which is why Chakra Toning is so powerful.

We are WHOLE, we are one, which is why viewing and treating our Body, Mind and Spirit WHOLISTICALLY can bring forth great transformation and healing, not just to ourselves but others.. We are all connected UNI VERSE - one song.

CANINES:

I also write a little for canine health so how does this relates to our woofers?

Well, quite simply they are living beings just like us however they have limited ways of telling us what they need.

It is said that dogs are a reflection of us (infact ALL our relationships are - human or animal) so if your family pet member has an ailment - reflect it back at yourself - could they be mirroring you? Are YOU in Perfect Health?

BODY:

like us they need fascia release, while there is an upsurge in the trend of DOGA, massage is simply the best thing for them.  There are tons of different massage modalities out there for our woofers, personally i practice traditional Ayurvedic massage with my puppy - where i choose the correct pressure and pace according to his dosha (Mind/Body type).

You dog will tell you where they like and don't like to be massaged, look for stress signals such as lip licking and yawning, tight fascia often shows up as tight kinks and coat changes in the dog, it can be a beautiful bonding tool and you get to know your dogs body via touch and can identify quickly if there is pain in their body.

MIND:

Our dogs like us live from survival mode, maybe even more so, their number one priority at all times is to be safe.

Because they rely on us to lead and guide them, often we don't get it right unless we know how to speak dog, which takes time and experience and even then we still cannot get it right 100% all of the time.  This often leads to behaviour such as anxiety, reactivity and so forth as this becomes their ‘language’.  By turning on their Vagus nerve like us we can help reduce their fight or flight response.

So get meditating and breathing with your dog - i promise you you will both feel better for it.

I even do Chakra Toning with my dog and he loves it!

SOUL:

to me dogs are our soul companions, they have no ego only love. Look into their eyes and you can see straight to their soul. Like us they have a psoas muscle.  Hind leg lameness in dogs is very common and can be linked to the psoas muscle.

Like us when we are in pain we can be grumpy so if you notice a behaviour change in your dog, check for pain in the body, learn to speak dog.

In our house we do daily massage, yoga, mediation and chakra toning - whaaaaaaat i hear you say?

Yes, i get up early to do these things with my soul mate, but i believe this leads to us BEing a happihealthyme and a happihealthyhound.

I hope you’ve found this interesting, have a beautiful day.

Namaste

Love Kel n Scoots xx

[talabib]

How To Combat Worry And Have stress-free Life

Worrying is bad for your health and happiness. What’s more, it usually doesn’t achieve anything either. Not exactly an attractive package, is it?

But sometimes it’s just impossible to help yourself. You lie awake at night fretting, your mind and heart racing. Come morning, everything’s as you left it, except the bags under your eyes are that little bit bigger.

This is all down to our evolutionary hardwiring. Our ancestors’ survival depended on constant vigilance. Worrying was pretty useful when there was a good chance you’d stumble across a saber-toothed tiger!

Unfortunately, the human brain isn’t very good at telling the difference between a beast of prey and a board meeting – that’s what makes stress so common in today’s world.

But there’s a way to break out of this vicious cycle. Structured around a series of small steps that make a big difference, this is the ultimate guide to getting in touch with your rational brain and putting your worries behind you.

Worrying, anxiety and stress are all part of a cycle that can affect your health.

Have you ever found yourself lying awake at night, fretting about an upcoming presentation? Worries can quickly snowball out of control. The key to combating them is remembering this simple motto: “Stop before you spiral.”

Worrying is part of a cycle, where the next stops are anxiety and stress. More precisely, worrying is a mode of thinking that leads to anxiety. That, in turn, triggers your body’s survival instinct – a series of physical reactions that fall under the category of stress. These can include heart palpitations, dilated pupils and a tightened chest.

Worry, anxiety and stress form a feedback loop. Worrying is both a cause and effect of anxiety or stress, and the cycle can be triggered at any stage. Stress can lead to anxiety and worry, while anxiety can also cause worry and stress.

During a holiday in northwest England, Paul and his wife heard a seemingly vicious dog barking from behind a hedge. Fearing an imminent attack, the couple’s “fight or flight” instinct kicked in.

In other words, the barking caused stress while their fear of an attack caused anxiety. Fretting about finding a quick escape route made them worry. It turned out that the Paul had merely imagined that the dog was prowling around without an owner or a leash, as he felt immediately threatened by the unknown growls.

Once you get stuck in this cycle, it starts taking its toll on your quality of life. There are a number of physical symptoms. Stress weakens your immune system and leaves you more susceptible to illnesses, as well as decreasing your sex drive.

Mentally, the cycle robs you of the valuable headspace you need to make sound decisions. To put it starkly, stress makes you stupid, as you’re constantly reacting to a threatening world rather than acting rationally.

Most importantly, you lose the ability to simply enjoy the present moment when you’re stuck in this kind of feedback loop. When you’re constantly preoccupied by worst-case scenarios, you lose your sense of motivation and creative inspiration.

Now that we’ve seen how worrying is linked to anxiety and stress, we’ll take a closer look at the root causes of your worries.

Whether it’s past experiences or a fear of the unknown, confront the cause of your worries.

What’s worrying you? Is it a performance review at work? Or making this month’s rent? Worry comes in all shapes and sizes, but the root causes are often surprisingly simple.

One of the main reasons people worry is their past. Many worriers were conditioned to be anxious during their childhoods. Take your upbringing: your parents’ endless reminders to wrap up warm during winter if you didn’t want to “freeze to death” can take their toll.

There’s even evidence that worried parents can transmit stress to their babies during pregnancy!

Painful experiences are another common cause of worry. Whether it was a car accident or an abusive relationship, what happened to you in the past can shape how you deal with the world in the present.

Past experiences can often manifest themselves as hypersensitivity to potential danger. James’s daughter, for example, was bitten by a dog when she was three. Ever since, dogs have been a constant source of anxiety for her.

It means that one of the first steps to conquering your worries is becoming aware of the way events trigger memories of your past.

Then there’s the fear of the unknown – one of the most powerful causes of worry. Life is unpredictable. Jobs, careers and relationships are all subject to the whims of fickle fortune. That’s what makes stability, security and the familiar so comforting. It’s also what makes questions like “How am I going to pay the rent?” or “Will I ever be successful?” so agonizing.

The unknown is worrying because it’s beyond your personal control. It’s frustrating to feel like you don’t have your destiny in your own hands and have to rely on others.

Formula 1 drivers know all about this. The most stressful part of a race is the pitstop – it’s the one time they’re not truly in control. The outcome of the race suddenly depends on others doing their jobs properly.

But you don’t need to be a Formula 1 driver to feel like life is one big, stressful race. Uncertainty is worrying about whatever circumstances you find yourself in.

Luckily, there’s a way out. When you get to know yourself better and ask yourself why you’re worrying, you’re much more likely to be able to put things in perspective, and that’s a great basis for tackling your worries rationally.

Your rational brain tries to reign in the worries stemming from your primitive and emotional brains.

If you find yourself worrying away about something, blame your brain’s basic survival instinct. Humans are evolutionarily hardwired to detect danger and respond appropriately. That’s what happens when a species spends its infancy avoiding various predators.

Worry is located in the primitive and emotional parts of your brain.

The primitive brain is located deep within your subconscious and controls the “flight or fight” stress response. Its main job is keeping you alive, but it also monitors your nutritional needs and sex drive.

The emotional brain works together with the primitive brain. Together, they release hormones like cortisol and adrenaline during moments of intense stress, which boost your energy levels as well as feelings like excitement, anxiety and fear.

Worrying is part of the survival strategy of these two areas of the brain. By making sure you’re always on high alert, they keep you ready to fight for your life or flee danger.

That obviously makes a lot of sense if you’re battling for survival out on the savannah. In today’s world, however, you’re much less likely to encounter predators than a stressful board meeting.

But the primitive and emotional brains just aren’t very good at telling the difference between the two. As far as they’re concerned, one is just as dangerous as the other, which is why the human body overreacts to everyday events. In other words, these brains are serial worriers.

The rational brain, by contrast, helps keep worries in check. Located in the higher brain – or neocortex – it’s responsible for problem-solving, memory and other complex tasks. It’s this part of the brain that lets you accurately assess the world around you and make sound decisions on the basis of that information.

You can train yourself to tap into the rational brain when your worries are spiraling out of control. Think back to the last time you jumped to conclusions or overreacted, and ask yourself what someone who was more rational would’ve done.

One night, Paul and his friend became convinced that slugs had invaded their garden, and so they started sprinkling salt over them. But in the cold light of day, they realized that they’d spent hours salting leaves that looked like slugs!

That’s a great example of what happens when the emotional brain is in the driver’s seat. If they’d acted more rationally, they’d have waited until morning to see if their suspicions were well-founded before taking action.

Awareness is the first of three steps that’ll let you start tackling your worries rationally.

This exercise is all about increasing your self-awareness. Essentially, it’s a way of tracking a worry down to its source. Here’s how you do it: Ask yourself “Where is my worry coming from?” Next, sort your worry into one of three categories – situational, anticipatory or residual stress.

Situational stress is a form of anxiety related to what’s happening in the present. That could be anything from your health to a conflict with your spouse or coworker.

Then there’s anticipatory stress: This is the anxiety you feel when you’re thinking about the future. An upcoming exam, presentation or interviews are all likely to trigger it.

Residual stress pertains to the past. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a good example of a particularly severe form of residual stress.

So what does reflecting on the nature of your worry actually achieve? Well, categorizing your worries allows you to better scrutinize the source of your stress. It short-circuits mindless anxiety and puts you in a position to calmly ask yourself “Why do I feel this way?”

Once you start doing that, you’ll get a better sense of the kinds of things that trouble you most. That’s an important first step. Awareness means you’re already halfway to tackling the source of your anxiety.

Analyse your worries to understand their root cause.

First, the good news. If you’ve made it this far, you’re well on your way to confronting your worries head on!

Let’s start by sorting out the worries which are simply too hysterical to entertain. Once you’ve done that, it’s time to knuckle down and start doing something about the remaining worries.

The sorting process is all about reflecting on the root cause of individual worries. That means asking whether they’re historical, hysterical or helpful.

Historical worries are a form of anxiety that mirror your experiences in the past. Say you were mugged while walking home one night. If you find yourself worrying as you walk down a dark street, chances are that the prior experience is the cause of your worry.

Pretty rational, right? Hysterical worry is the exact opposite – it’s deeply irrational. It’s the kind of anxiety that makes you fret about shark attacks, plane crashes or contracting an STD from a public toilet.

Finally, there’s helpful worry – a form of rational behavior. This kind of worry is caused by reflecting on a real problem, such as a performance review at work or an end-of-year thesis presentation at university.

Now you’ve sorted your worries into separate categories, it’s time to ask what you can do about them. If you’re preoccupied by a historical worry, your best bet is to seek emotional support and move on.

Childhood trauma and failed relationships can leave deep emotional scars. In serious cases like these, it’s advisable to turn to a therapist, counselor, friend or colleague. Whoever you choose, the most important thing is to find an outlet for your emotions.

Letting your feelings out doesn’t just make you feel better, it also helps provide clarity about the source of the anxiety that’s been bugging you. More importantly, it sets you up to let go of old grudges and devote your attention to the future.

What about hysterical worry? The key here is to contextualize your anxiety by looking at relevant statistics and interrupting your own thought process.

You can always look up the data. The chances of being mauled by a shark – or struck by lightning, murdered by an intruder or contracting an STD from a public toilet – are vanishingly small.

You can also challenge your own thought processes by asking yourself how often your predictions have come true. Not that often? Perhaps it’s best to put the crystal ball away and free up some headspace for more important matters!

The final step to tackling worry is taking action and focusing on outcomes you can influence.

If you think the world is beyond your control, you’re in for a pleasant surprise. You’re actually much more influential than you give yourself credit for!

That doesn’t mean you can control everything, of course. The key is to identify the outcomes you do have some influence over and focus your energies there.

Take it from Stephen R. Covey, the author of the influential book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

In his book, Covey notes that everyone has worries. Some people worry about their health, others about work, relationships or the weather. The problem isn’t necessarily worrying, but the fact that so many people fret about things they can’t do anything about.

Think of the difference between worrying about a terrorist attack and a work presentation: you can affect the latter by working hard and preparing yourself properly, but there’s nothing you can do about the former

In other words, some worries can be addressed while others can’t. If you want to take action, it’s a good idea to start by assessing the nature of your helpful worries. Use a sliding scale of zero to ten – zero means you have no control whatsoever, while ten means you’re fully capable of determining the outcome.

Once you’ve done that, you can start ranking your worries. Focus your time and energy on solving the ones which rank highest in terms of your influence over them.

Assessing how much control you have is important because attitude is a huge factor. The more influence you perceive yourself as having, the more likely you are to take action.

McGee, experienced this firsthand a couple of years ago. The company he was working for was about to close down and let its staff go. Some of his coworkers were convinced they could shape their own future and began landing new jobs or starting their own businesses. Meanwhile, most colleagues who believed they didn’t have any control over their lives felt defeated and ended up taking lower-paying jobs.

But don’t just take his word for it. A scientific study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology confirms as much. It showed that optimistic people who regularly overestimate their influence are less likely to suffer from depression than those with a more realistic view.

In other words, there’s nothing wrong with thinking the glass is half-full. What’s even better is getting out there and filling the rest up yourself!

Your imagination is a powerful tool that can both trigger and alleviate worrying.

You’ve probably come across the old “imagine the crowd naked” trick that’s used to calm your nerves when giving a speech. There’s a reason it’s recommended so often – it really does work!

That’s a great example of how applying the powers of your imagination can help reduce anxiety.

No wonder – the imagination is a powerful tool. But it’s just as capable of triggering worry and stress as it is of calming you down.

Humans are pretty unique in this respect – no other animal experiences stress triggered solely in its mind. Hypothetical events don’t bother antelopes or whales.

The human mind, by contrast, can conjure all sorts of scarily real scenarios. Close your eyes and imagine giving a trainwreck of a presentation: maybe you spill your coffee, or the slideshow freezes, or you forget what you wanted to say.

Just thinking about this humiliating fantasy is enough to make you feel anxious, right? That’s because, as noted earlier, the primitive brain can’t distinguish between real stressors in the present and imagined stressors in the future. Hypothetical events trigger the same “fight or flight” reactions as actual events.

But the imagination can also be put to more productive uses. In fact, it’s a great assistant in the fight against worry and anxiety.

So how can you harness its positive powers? Instead of mulling over stressful outcomes to “what if” scenarios, ask yourself how you can influence the outcome.

Take a cue from a woman who went to a coach for life coaching. Anna became unbearably shy, nervous and worried whenever she had to speak in public. McGee asked her to pick a role model she could imagine herself as next time she gave a presentation.

During her next presentation, Anna imagined herself as Madonna, a self-confident woman who’s performed in public a million times. The trick worked. By channeling Madonna’s fearlessness, she was able to overcome her anxieties.

Another handy idea is to imagine four advisors you can ask for assistance in important areas like work, health and relationships.

Next time you find yourself worrying about a problem, turn to your counselors for assistance. What, for example, would the Dalai Lama say about this particular quandary?

And remember, just because Anna pretended to be Madonna, doesn’t mean you have to as well. Maybe you want to be Beyoncé, or Barack Obama. That’s the wonderful thing about the imagination – its powers are unlimited!

Change your personal worry triggers, stop trying to please others and learn to ask for help.

You’re usually your own harshest critic, and there’s nothing critics love more than anxieties. So lighten up and take a load off.

Easier said than done? Maybe, but there are some effective bits of advice you can start putting into action today.

Here’s a good place to start: stop putting yourself down!

Think of it this way: You wouldn’t tolerate someone else constantly criticizing and undermining you, so why should you put up with it just because you’re the one doing it? Self-deprecation is a surefire way of boosting your worries and anxieties.

That’s because it makes your problems seem insurmountable. As soon as you start doubting yourself, you lose your ability to look at the world rationally and make sound choices.

Imagine a professional athlete telling herself she shouldn’t even try something because she don’t have a chance of winning. It’s easy to see how that would affect her performance, right?

The next step is to stop trying to please everyone around you.

Worries are often rooted in personal relationships. People want to please their friends and families and avoid rejection, criticism or confrontation, and that often means losing sight of their own happiness.

Say you’re trying on clothes in a shop. What’s your first question – do you like the way that shirt looks or are you thinking about what your friends might think? That might be a trivial example, but the same frame of mind can determine your choice of career, school or partner.

Finally, learn to ask for help when you need it, rather than trying to go it alone.

Many people, especially men, tend to hide their problems, deny their worries or try to sort out their issues alone, and that’s often because they don’t want to appear weak. But as strong as that might make you feel now, it’s not a sustainable solution.

If you’re worried about something, swallow your pride and ask for help and advice. There are plenty of people you can turn to, whether it’s a partner, counselor, boss, colleague or trusted friend.

So that’s your roadmap to defeating worry, stress and anxiety. Time to kick back and start enjoying life!

Worry, stress and anxiety are part of a cycle that’s bad for your health and happiness. The best way to get out of this feedback loop is to analyze the source and nature of your worries. Once you begin categorizing them, you can sort out baseless and unhelpful worries and start doing something about the things you can actually influence.

[hello-thefatlosshabit-blr]

3 Reasons Why a Natural Lifter Should Never Train Like Someone Using Steroids:

1)      You’ll end-up out training your ability to recover by performing too many sets/too much volume.

2)      You’ll elevate your cortisol levels too high to recover from your workouts.

3)      You’ll train too light to build muscle and strength.

The I’ll Do What They’re Doing Trap

Don’t make the mistake of falling into the trap of thinking, “I’ll do what he’s doing.” If you are going to apply that logic, then follow that logic to its natural conclusion and start taking steroids. If you’re reading this I am hoping that isn’t really an option for you.

If you are going to be a natural lifter, than lift like a natural. Don’t try to follow the routine of enhanced lifters.  Since steroids are illegal, no one is going to admit they are using them, and suggest you supplement your training with a weekly injection of 600 mg of testosterone.  Now let’s look closer at the three reasons I have provided.

#1 You’ll end-up out training your ability to recover by performing too many sets/too much volume.

Steroids keep you in an anabolic state 24/7. Muscle synthesis is ongoing. You can actually build muscle on steroids without even training. In this 10-week study, they took 43 experienced male lifters of normal body weight between the ages of 19 and 40, and split them up into four different groups:

Group 1: did NOT train, and did NOT receive any steroids.

Group 2: did NOT do any form of exercise, but they received weekly injections of 600 mg of testosterone.

Group 3: trained, but did NOT receive any steroids.

Group 4: trained, and received a weekly injection of 600 mg of testosterone.

Each participant followed a standard diet scaled to their bodyweight.  Ratios of calories and macronutrients were standardized based on individual body weights.

The Results:

Group 1: no significant changes, which is not surprising.

Group 2: gained 7 pounds of muscle, despite not training!

Group 3: gained 4 pounds of muscle, training naturally.

Group 4: gained 13 pounds of muscle.

Natural lifters have to train hard enough to stimulate protein synthesis, but avoid excessive muscle breakdown that would exceed their ability to recover.  Enhanced lifters can recover from frequent high volume training because their body is in a constant state of protein synthesis.  Natural lifters need to focus on progressive overload, and limit their volume. Most people can tolerate 8 to 12 working sets a week for large muscle groups, and 5 to 8 sets for small muscle groups. The more often you train, the more you have to divide-up the total; for example if you trained chest twice a week, each workout should average 4 to 6 working sets. Hard gainers usually fall at the lower end of these training volume parameters. An easy gainer might be able to exceed these parameters. Over time you will learn how much exercise your body can tolerate and your tolerance might increase. Adding sets is a method of creating progressive overload, but you can’t exceed your body’s ability to recuperate.

#2 You’ll elevate your cortisol levels too high to recover from your workouts.

Cortisol is devastating to natural lifters. It opposes protein synthesis by increasing protein breakdown.  The role of cortisol during training is to mobilize energy stores to give your body fuel for muscle action. The more fuel you need during your training, the more cortisol you will produce.

Too much training and habitually going to failure can result in decreased resting levels of testosterone and increased resting levels of cortisol, which are counter-productive to hypertrophy. It may also make you more susceptible to overuse injuries and overtax your nervous system, especially when performing taxing movements like the squat and deadlift.

Only the genetically gifted and or those using performance enhancing drugs can routinely train with high volume and take most sets to failure. They are protected against the ill effects of cortisol because the drugs greatly increase protein synthesis.

#3 You’ll train too light to build muscle and strength.

Natural lifters should use loads that are 75 to 90% of your 1 repetition maximum (RM) to increase muscle size and strength. Studies have shown that training with weights closer to your 90% 1 rep max produce greater muscular size and strength gains than lighter loads (70% 1 RM).

Most sets should be in the 4 to 8 repetition range.  Avoid the high repetition ranges advocated in the current muscle magazines. These hypertrophy programs are geared toward athletes on steroids. Steroids build muscle, but they don’t build ligaments and tendons, so these athletes prefer higher rep ranges to avoid injuries. As a natural lifter you will do better sticking to the rep ranges advocated by pre-steroid era bodybuilders and strongmen. Use your training log to determine which rep ranges work best for you in terms of gaining strength.

If you want to learn more about how naturals should train, see my post Building Muscle and Strength Made Simple – The 3 to 5 Program

___________________________________________________________________________________________

I hope you have found these suggestions helpful. Could you please Like and Share if you enjoyed this post. Best wishes and best health!

Discipline pushes us, motivation pulls us, but intentional habits keep us moving towards our goals.

Best wishes and Best Health!

Follow us on Facebook

See our most recent posts.

Book NOW Available on Amazon!

Are you ready to reboot and reset your relationship with food and exercise? Most programs focus on the mechanics of weight loss, but fail to adequately address the psychology of change required. Most people know more than enough about nutrition and exercise to lose weight, but fail to take action. This book takes a new approach to getting leaner, fitter, and stronger.

The book contains:

7 Change Strategies for Adopting a Healthy Lifestyle

A Flexible Diet Program that Doesn’t Put Any Foods Off-limit,  including Alcohol

20-Week Workout Log with Progress Assessments (Downloadable PDF)

3 Strategies for Resetting your Body Weight Set point to Keep the Weight Off

A Nutrition and Training Program Based on Science, not Bro Science.

The Fat Loss Habit: Creating Routines that Make Willpower and Fat Loss Automatic takes a new approach to getting leaner, fitter, and stronger. The program uses high-impact change strategies that make the process of adopting a healthy lifestyle easier. The nutrition and workout program, like the change techniques have all been proven effective, and are all backed by research and scientific studies.

Our BOOK The Fat Loss Habit is NOW AVAILABLE ON AMAZON!!! We would greatly appreciate a brief REVIEW. Your feedback is our best marketing tool and it will help us to make a better product. Your review will help other people who want to make a positive change by helping them to find our book.

Follow us on Facebook

Book NOW Available on Amazon!

Book Introduction

 The Fat Loss Habit: Creating Routines that Make Willpower and Fat Loss Automatic takes a new approach to getting leaner, fitter, and stronger. The program uses high-impact change strategies that make the process of adopting a healthy lifestyle easier. The nutrition and workout program, like the change techniques have all been proven effective, and are all backed by research and scientific studies.

Could you please Like and Share if you enjoyed this post. Best wishes and best health.

#FatLoss #WeightLoss #NewYearsResolution #GetHealthy #HealthyLife #Fitness #FitnessAddict #Nutrition #FitQuote #GetFit #NoExcuses #TrainHard #GetStrong #WeightTraining #Workout #Motivation #Positive #Inspiration #Habit #Happiness #YouCanDoIt #Success #BodyTransformation #FitGirl #FitMom #FitFam #FitCouple #NaturalBodybuilding

  If you are getting your workouts from Muscle and Fiction, you are messing up. High volume, high reps, constantly going to failure; WRONG answer. Learn more,,,, 3 Reasons Why a Natural Lifter Should Never Train Like Someone Using Steroids: 1)      You’ll end-up out training your ability to recover by performing too many sets/too much volume.

[cstesttaken]

Why I Choose to Focus on One Marketing Channel at a Time – SEO NYC & Digital Marketing

I feel like there’s an overarching maximalist mindset in marketing these days.

And it’s easy to see why.

Brands have never had more strategies to choose from.

There’s content marketing, social media, SEO, email, PPC, and influencer marketing, just to name a few.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg, and this doesn’t even take into account more traditional offline techniques that many companies still utilize.

In turn, I think many brands are suffering from exhaustion and fatigue.

They’re experiencing marketing overload.

I also think marketers don’t always extract the full potential from their strategies.

Before they can see one channel through to completion, they’ve already started working on three more channels.

If I’ve learned anything during my years as a marketer, it’s that simplicity is usually the key to success.

Because of that, I choose to focus on only one marketing channel at a time.

I don’t spread myself too thin

You know that old saying that if you try to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one?

I think this applies to marketing as well.

Jumping in head first and attempting to manage, say, four or five different channels can be overwhelming, and you’re unlikely to kill it at any strategy.

Even if you’re a savvy marketer who knows the ins and outs of the process, you simply can’t devote the necessary time to extract the full potential of any single channel.

Just look at the amount of time most marketers spend each week performing routine tasks:

But when you concentrate wholeheartedly on one channel, you can give it a 100% effort.

This helps you not only run your marketing campaign at a high level but also achieve the desired results faster.

Working on too many marketing channels at once is kind of like being a jack of all trades and master of none.

Placing your attention on a single channel allows you to master that channel before moving on to the next strategy.

Managing multiple channels can quickly become chaotic and stressful

That, in and of itself, is a lot of work.

And just imagine combining that with multiple other channels at the same time.

Things would get hectic in a hurry.

Social media can be pretty intense as well. The average B2B content marketer is active on six different networks:

Even if you’re posting the same content on each network, it’s still going to be time-consuming.

I can almost guarantee you’ll feel burned out and the overall effectiveness of each channel will be marginal.

And this is going to be even worse if you’re new to marketing and/or have a small marketing team.

Or what if you’ve got a mountain of other business-related tasks on your plate?

There are just not enough hours in the day to devote to your marketing to ensure everything is operating at full capacity.

As a result, certain areas of your marketing campaign are bound to suffer.

Focusing on one marketing channel allows me to continually chip away at it and be highly effective.

I’m far less likely to become overwhelmed, and I can ensure that the specific channel I’m working on is reaching my target audience, generating leads, and leading to conversions.

In other words, it allows me to maximize my ROI without losing my mind along the way.

I ensure I get it right

Would you rather be a virtuoso at playing one musical instrument or a sub-par musician playing four or five?

I personally would prefer to be an expert at a single instrument.

I apply the same approach to marketing.

I would much rather devote the majority of my time to a single channel and completely crush it instead of working on a handful of channels and being painfully mediocre.

After all, what’s the point of spending any time whatsoever on a tactic if it’s not giving you any tangible results?

To me, it makes way more sense to give maximum effort to a single channel and make it incredibly successful rather than working on multiple channels half-heartedly.

Multitasking minimizes my impact

Working on multiple marketing channels simultaneously is a lot like multitasking because you’re constantly bouncing from one technique to another.

But numerous studies have found that multitasking isn’t as good as it may seem.

In fact, it can be quite detrimental to your efficiency and overall productivity.

A study from the University of London even “revealed that subjects who multitasked while performing brain-intensive tasks demonstrated IQ drops similar to people who are sleep-deprived or smoked marijuana.”

If you’re looking for a scientific explanation of this phenomenon, neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin offers one.

Multitasking has been found to increase the production of the stress hormone cortisol as well as the fight-or-flight hormone adrenaline, which can overstimulate your brain and cause mental fog or scrambled thinking.

The founder and chief technology officer of Wordstream, Larry Kim, even stated in an article for Observer that…

…you’re actually hurting your brain by juggling several undertakings at once.

The bottom line is that trying to focus on too many marketing channels at the same time is usually counterproductive and is only going to reduce the impact of your overall campaign.

But focusing on just one at a time allows you to be as effective and efficient as possible.

It costs less

There’s also the topic of money.

It’s been found that 89% of marketers are maintaining or increasing their inbound budgets.

Implementing only one marketing channel at a time will cost you considerably less than pursuing a multi-channel approach.

…it has even been estimated that a single-channel marketing strategy can cost as much as one-third less than multiple-channel strategies.

If you’re dealing with a fairly small budget, utilizing several techniques may simply not be in the cards for you from a financial standpoint.

Things can get especially ugly if more than one of those techniques tank, and it’s obviously going to hurt your ROI.

When I was starting out, the financial resources were often scarce.

Focusing on one marketing channel at a time enabled me to maximize the money I funneled into my campaign.

It allows me to outperform my competitors

When it’s all said and done, the absolute most important part of any marketing campaign is its ability to target the right demographic.

And let’s be honest. Using a smorgasbord of techniques typically means that each individual technique is less likely to hit its target.

When I divvy up my time across multiple channels, I minimize the effectiveness of any single one.

For this reason, it makes it really difficult to truly stand out from the competition and thrive within my industry.

I’m not really doing anything special or excelling at any particular strategy.

But concentrating on only one channel puts me in a position for success.

Because I eat, sleep, and breathe that one channel for a period of time, it’s more likely to flourish and grow.

In some cases, I can even dominate.

That’s because most of the competition has a maximalist mindset, trying to have their hand in everything rather than focusing on—and succeeding—in one area.

A final note

Just to be clear, I’m not saying you should limit yourself to just one marketing channel.

That’s not what I’m saying at all.

In fact, I would never recommend putting all your eggs in one basket.

What I am saying is that you’re likely to reduce your marketing impact if you go overboard and spread yourself too thin—especially during the initial stages of a campaign.

For me, it makes way more sense to focus on a single channel, bring it to full capacity, and maximize its impact.

In other words, simplify your efforts by working on one channel, and get it running like a well-oiled machine before moving on.

Over time, this approach should help you develop a strong marketing campaign, with no weak links but with techniques that carry their weight.

Conclusion

I know it may seem tempting to experiment with a plethora of marketing channels.

After all, you’ll want to see what sticks.

But I know this mentality has gotten me into trouble in the past, and I know it can curtail the progress of each individual channel.

For me, a more effective and practical approach is to focus on one marketing channel at a time.

Manage each channel at a high level

Minimize my stress

Maximize my impact

Save money

Better reach my core audience

Outperform primary competitors

Only once I’ve gotten a channel to where it needs to be, I move on to the next.

That way I know I’m never shortchanging a marketing channel, giving it the best possible chance to prosper.

How many marketing channels are you currently implementing?

Source

https://seonycdigitalmarketing.wordpress.com/2016/11/28/why-i-choose-to-focus-on-one-marketing-channel-at-a-time/

[danafrancisrolle]

BODY BEAUTY: ENERGY + SLEEP

Is it just me or am I the only one who has the biggest issue with getting up and 'outta bed in the morning? I would rather set 4 alarms and snooze those alarms 8+ times to get those extra minutes of broken up sleep (guilty) rather than respectfully getting my booty up 'outta bed and READY to take on the world. My eyes never want to open—it's as if they're glued shut and someone is playing a nasty little trick on me. It's horrible.

insomnia is TOO #REAL.

Please tell me I'm not alone here? I know there has to be someone reading this that can relate (or even just kind of relate) to the restlessness chronicles. HA. Although my sleep habits are something I've been facing for quite awhile now, it's definitely not all the way normal. Low energy, fatigue, body aches, exhaustion you name it—I 99.9% probably felt it, feel it, or will feel it tomorrow. I feel like we all (including myself) try to do it all because that's what women do. We juggle multiple jobs at once, wear many different hats, put others first, and sometimes forget to take care of ourself first. We're expected to be invincible and to be honest, it's overwhelming. I need sleep. You need sleep. We all need sleep. Why doesn't sleep come as easy for some?

WHY?

The world, our world, has transformed so 'dang much in this modern day and age to pure chaos and extreme hectic schedules. There are countless factors that aid in our day to day exhaustion, but the biggest energy draining factor is the lack of self-care and the lack of proper nutrition. What I've learned, studied, and seen first hand is the vicious cycle of trying to live on too few calories, poor food choices, and the urge to just keep going as an individual skimps out on sleep. It's the—I'm too busy, I don't have time, I don't know, I don't care, I don't want to, I'm too tired—mentality that enables individuals to be okay with not taking care of themselves. Not to mention, because of this mentality individuals turn to the wrong enhancers like caffeine, sugar, 5-hour energy shots to "help" them stay awake and attentive. Sugar is addicting. Caffeine is just bad, EW. Energy shots will solely lead to a blood sugar roller coaster to cause hormonal chaos. Caffeine and sugar are toxic for our hormones and will make you more exhausted by overloading your adrenals and burning you TF out. I like to call this mentality self-sabotage. I am so MF guilty of this (although I don't actually drink coffee or take 5-hour energy shots) we ALL are self-sabotaging our overall well-being, hormonal health, and making ourselves much more susceptible to health issues further down the road.

How do we fix this? There's only one way—we have to face this fatigue epidemic head on and cut straight to the root of the problem. We have to stop putting a little baby bandaid over our exhaustion by thinking that quick fixes, supplements, and excuses are only way to get through our days. No. No! It's all about sincerely taking the stance in self-care that will promote proper nutrition, sleep, and natural energy.

NEVER BE TOO EXHAUSTED FOR YO'SELF.

With my own crazy sleep patterns, low energy, and sluggish behaviors—I've kind of become like my own personal master of boosting my own energy levels so I can push through everyday without making ANY excuses. Here's how:

.01

EAT REAL FOOD EVERY 3-4 HOURS. There's truly no other way to combat exhaustion than with real food more frequently. We have to stop living with that idea of three meals a day because one of the most common mistakes I see are individuals who are skimping on calories, skipping meals, and waiting until the "right" time to eat. No! By not consuming (real) food every 3-4 hours will make your body more prone to energy lumps—it's not healthy to allow your blood sugar levels to drop below stasis (a period of inactvity. 

.02

START MAKING ENERGY BOOSTING SMOOTHIES. Ditch the coffee (or at least let's start to try) because the constant intake of caffeine with being to deplete your adrenals in the long run. Adrenals are a gland located on top of the kidney that produce hormones that help control the heart rate, blood pressure, the way body utilizes food, regulate levels of minerals in the blood, and other functions involved with stress reactions. Smoothies are the new hot camaraderie—let's start implementing these every day as a breakfast side or snack even to promote sustained + slow releasing energy! *Maca will become your new BFF. 

.03

FLUSH OUT EXCESSIVE CORTISOL. Cortisol is known as the "stress" hormone that can (in high levels) aid in anxiety and depression if not released daily (and properly) from the body. Cortisol is a crucial hormone to protect overall health and well-being, but too much is never good. Exercise. A small amount of high-intensity exercise will 110% aid in increasing your energy levels, fitness, and get that body and instant stress reducing flush of cortisol. Even if it's just 60 seconds of jumping jacks, 60 seconds of running in place, or 50 burps when you're feeling sluggish during the day—it may sound silly, bit it'll work. Try out some of our at home exercises that we share evert #WORKOUTWEDNESDAY if you don't want to leave the office, brave the winter cold, or are caught up on a conference call. Get moving!

.04

B-100 COMPLEX SUPPLEMENT. Low energy is a common cause of B-vitamin deficiency. B-vitamins are *key to our metabolic functions so much so that if you're constantly feeling tired, weak, and sluggish due to a poor diet and an overbooked schedule—I'll bet your B-vitamin intake is pretty dang low. B-complex vitamins help the body convert calories into energy as well as improve mood and reduce stress! A supplement of B-100 complex contains most of the B-vitamins that our bodies need, I repeat most of. I'd suggest taking a B12 supplement too.

.05

GET MORE RESTFUL SLEEP. A good night's sleep if the foundation for enhanced energy. Take the time to unwind, relax, and slow down the body. Be at ease I've noticed when I drink hot water will lemon, ginger, and turmeric before bed my body is at a much more peaceful state. Turmeric and ginger aid in body detoxification and regeneration overnight. Having a warm drink before bed will have you waking up feeling  more relaxed, refreshed, and ready. In addition, try our girl Codie's essential oil sleep potion spray on your pillow before you lay down to help you ease your mind, relax, and destress.

x,

Hazl

[topreview2016]

31 Day Testosterone Plan Review – Is It Really Worthy?

I am dead serious when I say that every single young male should read and strictly follow the instructions of 31 Day Testosterone Plan. The young generation has become weak, effeminate and completely unable to assert their will, referring to the alpha mentality that has sustained mankind from its cradle as toxic masculinity, dressing as women and calling themselves Gender Bender for that their testosterone level dropped to levels so low it is a question whether their body is still able to produce it. These young men who are deadly afraid of the competition of the free market and ask for the government to trample it so that they may succeed in the competition for scarce resources without being an assertive and powerful alpha male would find such tremendous value in 31 Day Testosterone Plan they would look at their life with dread and shock.

I know because I was one of them. I used to be the same weak-minded, unassertive young boy who never dared to confront anyone and assert his preferences. Instead, I let myself be ruled by the preferences of others while I boiled with hate towards the world that is unjust and unfair. While, in truth, I was just an effeminate boy with low testosterone levels, physically unable to achieve anything resembling masculine behavior. It is a sad and pathetic way of life and I only wish more people would successfully escape its grasp that inevitably leads to the decadence of the character by using products such as 31 Day Testosterone Plan.

The Fate of an Effeminate Male

Maybe you also belong to the category of those who suffer from low testosterone and maybe you dont even know it. If one or more of the following apply to you, you might want to consider paying very close attention for that 31 Day Testosterone Plan is going to change your life.

Loss of muscles

Low sex drive

Volatile mood

The decrease of your bone mass

Low sperm count

A general lack of energy

Difficulties in achieving and keeping erection

Increase in body fat

A study has found that between 1987 and 2004 the testosterone level dropped 1.2% each year, culminating in a 17% overall decrease. Meanwhile the overall fertility levels of men also dropped down 40. Low testosterone also contributes to the most epidemic public health problems such as obesity, heart disease or high diabetes. This is a global trend which claims the soul of more and more promising and healthy your men, turning them into effeminate weaklings who are unable to assert their own will and manifest the greatness within them.

You will not need to use hormone therapy, drugs, supplements, testosterone gels. It is a natural body hack that has helped more than 80,000 people boost their testosterone levels. It is based on scientific research conducted by Stanford University that will increase your testosterone levels with 3-400%, which in turn alleviates the aforementioned symptoms, increases your libido, your self-esteem and confidence, your productivity, your energy levels and your general outlook on life and the people around you. The testosterone level of a man and his financial success is also positively correlated.

In short, it will help you stop being a Gender Bender so that you can become the powerful and strong alpha male you have the potential to become.

The guide will help you achieve this by using simple changes in your lifestyle that eliminate those foods and habits that, unbeknownst to you, actually decrease your testosterone and increase your hormone level.

Path to Masculinity

Fundamentally, it is based on three principles.

One, avoid supplements that promise great change like the black plague. It has been shown over and over again that in the long run, they do only damage. Even though when you start using, it feels great, in the long run, it is going to render your body completely unable to produce testosterone without them and when you want to get off, your testosterone levels will be lower than when you started.

Two, avoid foods that produce estrogen in your body. Oils and grains for example play a major role in helping estrogen to be the dominant hormone in your body, pushing testosterone out. Changing your diet will help your body return to the natural testosterone levels you have as a male.

Three, step back from your work in regular intervals. Just like estrogen, cortisol also pushes testosterone out of your body when the two interact, and your body creates cortisol when your stress levels are increased due to you constantly being preoccupied with your work and your smart devices. Take your eyes off of them, turn them off and enjoy the silence so that the stress hormone will not purge out your masculinity.

Based on these preliminary advices, the guide will help you boost your testosterone level three times higher than what it is now. It will teach you how to correctly identify and avoid chemical that will induce hormonal dysfunction within you both in your food and in your bathroom products. It will also teach a highly effective workout routine that takes only 40 minutes a week yet it will fire up the engines of your hormone production and help you in building lean muscles while burning excess fat, and many more tips and techniques to help you boost your testosterone levels to the skies within 31 days.

As a bonus you will receive the Testosterone Diet Plan. This guide offers advice on what to eat and what to avoid eating in order to best achieve your goal. It lists 21 foods that increase your estrogen levels and talks about a commonly available vegetable that flushes excess estrogen out of your body.

The second bonus is a Paleo Recipes book that helps you make food that increase your cognitive abilities such as memory and concentration along with your energy levels.

Conclusion

As I have told you in the beginning, when I was young I suffered from low testosterone. Even though I had robust and ambitious plans worked out in my mind, I was not able to act on them for that I suffered from endless fatigue. I had no energy, I was not able to be productive, nor was I able to climb the social food chain around me to get out of my misery, secure myself status and the female I wanted. I had no self-respect, no muscles, suffered from depression, anxiety and stress.

31 Day Testosterone Plan offers a way out of this misery for a mere $37 and anyone who had enough being a submissive, depressed, self-hating Gender Bender should take it and follow its instructions as soon as humanly possible for them to become a man and realize their true potential.

For Instant Access To 31 Day Testosterone Plan, Click Here

var exitsplashmessage = 'Wait, Click The "Stay On This Page" Button Right Now If You Want To Get The Lowest Price!'; var exitsplashpage = 'http://www.topreviewo.com/get/31-day-testosterone-plan';

The post 31 Day Testosterone Plan Review – Is It Really Worthy? appeared first on TopReviewo.com.

[thewellnessfair-blog]

Top 10 Reasons to Start Floating

New Post has been published on https://www.thewellnessfair.org/top-10-reasons-start-floating/

Top 10 Reasons to Start Floating

Heard about floating and wonder how it can benefit you?

When you step into a float room, you’re immersing your body in skin temperature Epsom salt saturated water while being suspended in a zero gravity like state.

You let go of your body and your mind calms down, allowing you to unwind and completely relax, activating your self-healing mechanisms and reconnecting with your true self.

Here are just 10 reasons why you need to try floatation therapy:

1. Ultimate Relaxation

One of the biggest benefits to floating is being able to completely disconnect and achieve that deep relaxation the body desperately desires. It may put you in the most relaxed and calm state you have ever been in too.

2. Disconnect from the Outside World and Reconnect Within

When was the last time you really cleared your mind of all the information we’re bombarded with every day?

The world is loud, both in the sound and visual sense, and we are constantly processing information.

When you step into one of our rooms, you can completely tune out the world.

It sounds different, but escaping into nothing is exactly what your mind wants.

Once you deprive your senses, your mind can begin to relax and focus its efforts on the body. For those that don’t want to be completely shut off, ambient light and/or music is available.

3. Goodbye Stress & Anxiety

Stress continues to significantly affect the mental and physical health of everyone, resulting in commonly experienced anxiety and depression. Your fears, anxieties and worries melt away so that you can experience mental clarity and well-being.

4. Floating Makes You Feel Like a Million Bucks

Laughing, working out, and floating all share something similar, endorphins. Floating leads to feelings of euphoria and can do wonders for the rest of your body and immune system.

Floating regularly can train your brain to release endorphins on a more consistent basis which leaves you feeling happy, relaxed and ready to take on, or end, the day in a calm and focused way.

5. Floating Provides Effective Pain Relief

Without having to fight gravity, your joints and muscles get to take a well-deserved break. With over 1000 pounds of Epsom salt per room, your entire body is instantly buoyant, which releases the stress on your joints and muscles. The salt water also works wonders for inflammation and joint and muscle pain.

Floating is also particularly useful for the relief of any back pain related issues, and arthritis.

6. Boost Magnesium Absorption

Epsom salt, a mineral compound of magnesium sulfate is deficient in the average diet, particularly amongst those with high stress levels, demanding jobs and intensive work out regimes.

Allowing your skin to soak in all this goodness improves natural enzyme activity which helps reduce inflammation and pain as well as prevent cardiovascular disease. Soaking in these important minerals also helps flush out toxins and eases migraines, headaches, and other body ailments.

7. Floating Gives You Radiant Skin

The super saturated Epsom salt water is amazing for your skin. You will leave with soft, smooth and rejuvenated skin from head to toe. It also helps with acne and eczema.

8. Floating Recharges Your Brain

The only time your mind gets to rest is when you’re asleep; sleep is very much required for our bodies to continue operation. When you float, you’re taking your mind to a place in which it can recharge itself and give you the same benefits of sleep.

In what we call the Theta State, gentle waves of relaxation engulf your body, you’re not quite asleep but in a meditation like state as your body and mind disconnect.

Weightlessness triggers parts of your brain which allow you to completely relax and allow creative forms of energy pass through you giving you a sense of relief.

9. Spark Creativity

With all external stimuli removed, your mind can wander and ponder. Float therapy has been found to balance left and right brain activity, causing an immense increase in creativity.

10. Enhance Your Athletic Performance

If you work out regularly, floating is especially great as it is highly effective for recovery after strenuous athletic training.

Studies have shown that floating reduces buildup of lactic acid, cortisol levels, adrenalin, rapidly alleviates fatigue, improves oxygen and blood flow and helps prevent sports injuries. It also helps improve sleep and enhances visualization.

Professional athletes around the world have been using floatation therapy for recovery in athletes for many years.

When will you experience nothing?

As an individual who is able to work in a fast-paced work environment and manage multiple projects at once, I believe it is important to remember that great ideas and insights come from anyone and anywhere. I am an enthusiastic and dependable leader who enjoys inspiring motivation and creativity in others. I honor my responsibility of contributing to healthy minds, bodies, and spirits within our community and in the region as the owner of A Better Me Spa. It is my pleasure to provide a healthy environment for you.

Join our community for FREE today! With many ways to get involved, you can choose one or take advantage of them all. Get started and create your FREE Wellness Profile in our growing online community. Or you may want to Follow us on Facebook and join our Health & Wellness Enthusiast Community Group. With over 15 events a year and a quarterly digital magazine, subscribe to our email list so you never miss out again!

[bodyrescueplan]

Mindful Eating

In todays society we are surrounded by stress, not just the angry hurtful stress, but the need to be constantly stimulated. Stimulated by foods, drink, work, people, fun. We are always searching for that high where ever we go. And if we can’t get an instant high through food, or people we then try and buy things to make us happier. And if they don’t make us happy we have to go on facebook, or twitter or snap chat- always plugged in, always stimulated.

The problem with this instant high, this need to be charged up is that we stop apreciating the beauty around us. We then only desire big things, the sparkliest thing, the strongest tasting food, the high sugar or salt- we lose our taste buds for food and we lose our taste buds for life. We not only stop apreciating simple things, but we actually stop feeling this through our senses. Our senses are so overloaded, that simple beauty, and transient feelings become awashed with a flood of adrenilin.

    So why is that a problem?

Well for one thing with adrenalin- comes cortisol- a stress hormone that can make us gain weight, particulalry around the middle. Adrenalin also affects our sleep, our energy levels, our skin, our heart rate, our digestion- to name but a few.

So how can we start feeling things again, how can we stop the need to always be plugged in and switched on, on a high dial?

We start becoming mindful.

Mindfulness has become a buzz word in the last few years, mindful meditation, books and mindful apps, have increased 100 fold in their sales, and as we become a more crowded, polluted, stressed nation, we are starting to search for a way out of having to be available 24 hrs a day 7 days a week.

Being Mindful essentially just means apreciating, showing gratitude, feeling the moment, not living in the past or future but being present. Of course this is nothing new, many religions have been practising this through prayer and meditation for centuries, but its invented a new word in ”Mindfulness” because of the rising decay in our society from being ever present.

Sugar and Caffeine are a dominant metaphor for our lives- they represent everything we are evolving into and what issues that represents for us.

Sugar and caffeine give you an energy boost, they lure you in with their promise of a high, a quick and gratifying high, and with in a few minutes you are bouncing off the ceiling, in the high zone. With in an hour your energy starts to come down again, but you don’t just go down to the energy you were at initially, you sink lower, so then you need another energy boost, maybe even alcohol this time, and so the cycle begins, for another day.

Its really a bi-polar existance, a high and a low, erratic energy. And thats how we live these days, up and down, the roller- coaster of life. Always needing the next kick.

Whats interesting about sugar is that the body gets used to it, so eventually you need even more sugar to get the high again. And coupled with that caffeine and sugar are of course highly addictive, so your body not only craves them but needs more and more to meet your energy needs.

So, how do we get out of this cycle?

I meet so many clients who come to me energyless/fatigued, its like I am their last hope. They feel their helpless bodies have packed up on them, they have exsausted themselves on the food, drink, drug, and lifes highs and now they need help.

And I start all my clients with a good old bout of mindfulness.

Actually I rarely use that word even, but I start with teaching them to apreciate their breath and building from their. Our breath is so beautiful and powerful for us, and equally if we stop breathing, or shallow breathe, as most of us do, particulary when stressed, its very detrimental for our health.

The next thing I get them to do is become mindful of how amazing their bodies are, their bodies are fighting for them to live, and will do anything to try and help.

But we also need to help ourselves, we need to inject the first step, to jump off the madness train and SLOW DOWN!

With the foods its really quite simple, just for 1 week, have as much fruit, vegetable, eggs, white meat and fish as you like, or if you are veggie pulses, loads of water, herbal teas. Many call this a detox, clean eating- but with this clean eating comes mindful eating.

If you jump on a detox, the first thing you will naturally do is think about all the foods you are missing out on- chocolate, coffee, tea, bread, biscuits, crisps etc..

And then there is booze- oh no but I am missing out on my wine, Oh no but I am going to a party and everyone will think I am boring, NEWS FLASH alcohol does not make you interesting, you are intersting without it, you have courage without it, you are fun without it.

We are a spoilt nation- if you gave these bountiful ingredients that you have on a detox to half the world who do not have access to it, they would see it as a feast, we see it as a punishment.

So with detoxing comes mindful eating- apreciating every mouthful- going into a supermarket and thinking how lucky you are to have access to the incredible gifts that are offered to you. Someone, somewhere, grew that for you, picked that for you, packaged it for you, sold it to you. And then what about the vegetable or fruit itself. Packed full of hundreds of vitamins, minerals, nutrients that can fight cancer, that can heal your gut, that can give you energy- not high energy, real energy, that can cleanse your blood, that can increase your focus, do you every just stop and think- WOW how amazing is that. And why is it that we only associate hippies, and people who are high, that focus and tune into these miracles we experience every day?

Its us that need this, we need it for our health, and we need it for our soul. Our life line depends on this. So the next time you think you are somehow missing out because you cant have these foods for a few weeks or a few months, the next time you feel sorry for your self because its not fair- the next time you feel deprived. Give yourself a slap around the face and say-

I AM MISSING OUT RIGHT NOW!

I am missing out on feeling good energy, I am missing out on a good night sleep, I am missing out on being happy, I am missing out on good health, I am missing out on feeling attractive, I am missing out on having good skin, I am missing out on being able to wear the clothes I love- I am missing out on all my senses working…

source: thebodyrescueplan.com

See Full Article Here: Mindful Eating