Posted

Meditation of Life

This morning, I had the best meditation in the shower.  It was strangely sweet and refreshing.

I had just finished my cardio and had cool down with a powerful quote that went something like this: “we may not be able to control the length of our life, but we can control its width and depth.” As the water cascaded onto my sweaty skin, I felt as if these words fell like drops from heaven onto my mind.

It is so easy to base our life, our faith, our outlook on what we see only. But life is so much more than what we see. As surely as the physical world exists, so does the spiritual. Teilard de Chardin, a Jesuit priest said, we are all human beings having a spiritual experience. Caring about others who may not be family and/or friends is adding width to life. Some of the most selfish requests are in the form of prayers. Some prayers are all “me” centered. What about praying for the world? What about when sitting down to eat, we remember those who do not have food to eat and, perhaps, going a step further, to give? There are so many ways we can add depth to our life.  Today, how many ways can we add width and depth to our lives?  Just something to meditate upon.

Posted

Why Don’t Women Get It?

Amazing it is!  I am still amazed! It is amazing how many people, in particular women, cannot grasp the concepts behind weight training. Because women are more prone to carry fat, they will continue to be frustrated over their weight, especially as they age, until they have mentally gotten a hold of what weight training is and is about. Though we are in the information age, weight training is still misunderstood. To the personal trainer who has successfully educated his or her clients in this area, kudos to you.

Why Weight Training Should be a part of Your Life

The body functions on two systems: aerobic and anaerobic. In its simplest terms, the aerobic system works along with the heart; in the presence of oxygen, it uses glucose or fat for energy. The anaerobic system works with the muscles; it uses glucose (stored in the muscles) for energy without the use of oxygen. The two systems must work together, for you are as healthy as your heart, and the frame of your body is as sturdy as you make it.

What Happens As We Age

Why, of course, we lose muscle and most of us begin to gain more weight in the form of fat.  Though some fat is good in protecting our bones in the case of a fall, muscle is better. Weight training keeps the frame of the house erect. I see many individuals as young as in their twenties with rounded shoulders and a hump back. Thanks to the prolong sitting in front of a computer screen, the need to strengthen the back muscles is becoming one of the most important muscles to work  on.  The formation of a hump back is no longer limited to aging. But this weakness does not have to occur if weight training is in place.

In addition to preserving the structure of the body, the care of the bones becomes, especially, critical to women.  Women are also likely to develop osteoporosis past menopause as estrogen levels decrease. Weight training helps to maintain bone density, and thus prevents fractures.

Why Weight Training Controls Weight and Aids in weight Loss

One day, my twenty-eight year old niece said to me that she finally has brought her hips under control by incorporating squats and lunges into her workout, but now she complained that her legs seem to be getting bulky. I asked her have you ever seen a marathon runner with bulky legs. She said no. I, then, told her to increase her cardio which she had only been doing for 20 minutes. You can lose muscle and fat if exercise is done past the fat burning zone.  Though the objective of a cardio program can be to exercise the heart and/or lose fat, muscle loss also can occur. Therefore, with sufficient cardio “bulking up” should not be an issue for women.

In addition, women normally do not have sufficient testosterone to build eye gawking muscles. However, they do have enough to tone arms– to get rid of the “chicken wings,” or to lift the saggy butt and to create at least the illusion of a breast uplift if plastic surgery is not an option.

Most importantly, weight training increases the metabolism so that the body’s engine continues to be revved up.  The aging process slows down the metabolism. Though we may eat less, we can still gain weight because of a a sluggish system.

So the next time you have a pair of weights, or the next time you are in the gym or about to work out, don’t be afraid to lift the weights. More muscles, more fat burning power. More muscles, stronger bones.  More muscles, a better looking body as you age.

Posted

The Deception

In order to have a lean body, one has to eat certain foods–quality foods. Foods high in sugar should be avoided. Though all carbohydrates convert to sugar or glucose, you want to avoid the ones that shoot your insulin through the roof. These are known as noisy foods. They create the big bang, such as cookies, cake, chocolate, sweets of all sorts, caffeine etc. They produce that deceptive feeling that all is well. Then the moment of truth arrives. The blood sugar level drops. The high is gone. Instead all that is left are your emotions on the floor that you must pick up or simply repeat the same cycle again.

Foods can create an illusion for us. Isn’t this idea seen in the Garden of Eden? Satan presented Eve with the fruit, telling her to eat for she would be able to distinguish between good and evil like God. So she ate. Ah, it must have been good, for she offered it to Adam. He ate. Then the moment of truth arrived. What had they done?

How often have we fallen for a similar trick? For example, you think a glass of wine is what you need to relieve you from a stressful situation. Or how about a bag of chips or cookies? Your body has deceived you. Your mind followed. If only you had not listened to your body. That instant pleasure has now turned into an hour of cardio or a year or two years or maybe five years or more to pay for this sin.

Posted

Aging Gracefully: Choose Ye This Day Fat or Muscle...

Wednesday morning around 5:15 a.m. driving down the highway still in between the world of dreams and world of reality, I decided to exit and workout at the gym where I used to personal train. I was happy to see the same guy was still working at the front desk. One of the members recognized me across the gym floor and joined me to do some cardio. He was a man looked to be in his 50’s always bright-eyed and smiling in the morning. I was pleased to see him and commented that he had certainly found the fountain of youth.

He replied, “You know all of this is a waste of time.”

I asked, “what do you mean? You look great.”

He, then, went on to say, “you know when you reach thirty, it’s hard to put on muscle after that.”

I said, “that’s true, but it’s not a waste of time. It depends on how you look at things.” I continued. “Personal development is good, but we are to use our energies to help others.”

When we were done with our cardio, I went to the locker room to shower. I met Christine, who I had not seen for a long time. Christine was a dietitian who looked to be in her late forties. When Christine saw me, I thought something was wrong. I mean something was wrong.

As if I were a priest, Christine just blurted out that she had been bad.

“I’ve been so bad…things got so busy and crazy at work that I stopped coming.”

“Yeah, but you’re okay though?” I asked.

“No, I’ve gained all this weight.”

When I looked more closely at Christine, she had gained some weight. Below. “But you’re back in the gym.”

Christine said she had started weight training, and that it was weight training that helped the fat to stay off.

I jokingly said, “so the books are right?”

“Yes, they are.”

Christine and my bright-eyed friend had discovered one of the neglected areas in training; that is weight training. Some people who do exercise tend to limit themselves to simply cardio, ignoring resistance training as an important component as well. Both cardio and weight training are necessary as inhaling and exhaling is to the body. Weight training helps us to lose weight, and it also helps to prevent the loss of lean body mass through the process of aging. It is said that after the age of 25, we begin to lose 10 percent of our muscles every 10 years. Because muscle is a metabolic tissue, the loss of muscle causes our metabolism to decrease, leading to weight gain in the form of fat. However, with a weight training program in place, the body can maintain a certain degree of muscle. Choose ye this day: fat or muscle? I would choose muscle since for each pound of muscle, the body can burn an additional 50 calories at rest.

Posted

Driven By Our Passions

If we resist our passions, it is more through their weakness than our strength.

This week I found the quote above. It spoke deeply to me, yet I could not fully articulate its meaning. As I did my cardio, I felt I was having one of those “ah” moments. The words made sense. What were our “passions”, I asked myself? In the context of this quote, the word “passions” had negative connotations, perhaps, referring to our temptuous desires. These desires could be anywhere from sexual to excessive ambition. If nurtured, they can enslave us, leading us away from God.

The quote, however, makes a startling revelation, because how often do we think of these passions being weaker? For example, are our sexual urges greater than courage? Is it greater than love? I, particularly, like bodybuilding, because I like the feeling of being strong. When I consider this quote in this mindset, our passions, indeed, are weaker. For this reason, we resist them because they are truly powerless. What we presume as real strength is only an illusion–the weakness of our false self. We choose not to succumb to them because they are sub par to love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance. These virtues co-exist with each other; they cannot co-exist with motives derived from our selfish nature.

Posted

Building Spiritual Muscles

1. Your spirit being needs exercise.

2. The challenges, tests, hard times, adversities whatever you prefer to call them are your weights.

3. Use them to build spiritual muscles.

4. You will not be alone; the Holy Spirit will be your personal trainer.

5. Use the Holy Spirit as your “spotter” when the weights seem too heavy.

6. Listen to the personal trainer ; his instruction will align with the Word of God.

7. The Word of God is your instruction booklet and your policy. Know your rights.

8. Look for the opportunities in every difficulties; not the difficulties in every opportunities.

9. Use weight training to shave off excess, not change your shape. God uniquely wired you. There is no one like you.

10. Flex those muscles in the satan’s face today.

Posted

Health and Wellness is Not Just About Nutrition, D...

“I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. I will not refuse to do the something I can do.” —Helen Keller

What are you doing today to be successful? Health and wellness is not just about nutrition; it’s not about finding the perfect diet; it’s not just about exercising. It’s about living with a conviction to love God with all of your body, mind and soul. It’s a way of life that is both spiritual and physical.

As Helen Keller said she “cannot do everything,” but she can “still do something.” I do not know Helen Keller’s conviction, but I do know as members of Christ’s body, it should be our love to honor God with all our strength, with all our organs, arteries, capillaries, muscles, bones; with all our mind, thoughts, ideas, words; with all our being, essence—soul. Mickey Mantle said “If I knew I was going to live this long, I’d have taken better care of myself.” Be a good Steward of your body.

Follow through with your goals each day. Go beyond talk. Act now!!!

Life is not about perfection; it’s about progress!!

Have a SONSHINE Day!!!