How I'm losing weight or How you can eat better

Joanne says:
what has made you very happy?
Self says:
it's a long story, but the short version is I'm buddhist
Joanne says:
interesting choice
Joanne says:
so you dont have to give up all your world goods do you?>
Self says:
no, but I am anyway
Self says:
Currently living very nicely without any money
Joanne says:
how can you live very nicely with out money
Joanne says:
cause i need to know something like that
Self says:
You'd be surprised how difficult it is to get rid of every single penny I possessed
Joanne says:
are you still working?
Self says:
Yes, but not in the way you mean
Self says:
I haven't written a line of code in almost 7 months now
Self says:
What I'm doing now doesn't really have a name yet
Self says:
Have you read any of my blogs ?
Self says:
http://inthelifeofwillrawls.blogspot.com
Joanne says:
no im afraid i have not
Self says:
http://thirdsocialnet.blogspot.com
Self says:
http://willrawls.blogspot.com
Self says:
So how have you been ?
Joanne says:
im doing good
Joanne says:
currently looking for work
Self says:
oo, thanks for reminding me. I have to give this guy a call
Self says:
so what's got you not happy ?
Joanne says:
Aaron will be home for good the first week of march
Self says:
It can seem so impossible when someone you love is experiencing such unhappiness themselves
Joanne says:
Hes doing so much better
Self says:
What else ?
Self says:
How bad had he gotten ?
Joanne says:
two years ago he was having sucidal thought
Joanne says:
and trying to act a bit on them
Self says:
Yeah, he told me some about that
Self says:
well... he told me a few weeks ago
Joanne says:
he has been in two group homes getting coundeling .... then getting his meds adjusted now hes feeling better about himself and life
Self says:
hm... how many medications ?
Joanne says:
i beleive 3
Self says:
eventually he won't need those anymore
Joanne says:
im hoping
Self says:
through my darkest moments
Joanne says:
but like me mine may be for the rest of my live
Self says:
even after I had lost hope
Self says:
and forgot what the meaning of the word meant
Self says:
the little voice said, "Hope Exists"
Self says:

Self says:
I put that in my cell phone. Each time I had to make a phone call I had to read those two words.
Self says:
Now, I don't need the cell phone anymore
Joanne says:
i see on your talking with your friend and posting your words you are up alot in the middle of the morning
Joanne says:
so question do you sleep?
Self says:
A couple of years ago I found out I had a sleeping disorder
Joanne says:
sleep apnea?
Self says:
Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome
Self says:
short answer is "I'm a night person"
Joanne says:
explain that please
Joanne says:
omg
Joanne says:
so many have that prob
Self says:
long answer is my body releases melatonin completely out of sync with the day / night cycles
Self says:
well... not really
Self says:
you see many night people can choose to become day people.
Self says:
I can't
Joanne says:
no i hear that
Self says:
I'm pretty much at the mercy of my body
Self says:

Joanne says:
i have to be sleeping between mid and 6 am
Self says:
Here, let me find you a good web page about it.
Joanne says:
did i tell you that in june i was diagnosed with diabetes 2?
Self says:
http://www.sleepdisorderchannel.net/dsps/
Self says:
hehehe... No Joanne, we have almost not spoken in several years
Self says:
so you gained a lot of weight ?
Self says:
My doctor diagnosed me with "Metabolic Syndrome" almost a year ago. That's a pre diabetic condition. I've been losing weight ever since
Joanne says:
i weighd the same since having kat
Joanne says:
over 200
Joanne says:
never could loose it
Joanne says:
with a change of diet, no sugar, no pasta, no rice
Joanne says:
i have lost over 20 lbs
Self says:

Self says:
well, you can have rice, it just has to be brown rice
Joanne says:
and if i can find some really good shoes ill be walking
Joanne says:
i have heel spurs on both feet
Self says:
you can have pasta it just has to be made from multiple grains, spinich, and tomatos
Joanne says:
i have been looking for those
Joanne says:
i think john and I need to go to some natrual stores
Joanne says:
we use to eat that pasta when were first together
Self says:
I can give you everything you need. I lost 80 pounds by educating myself on how to eat.
Joanne says:
thats awsome William
Self says:
well, I still have 80 pounds to go.
Self says:
there's a picture of me in that first blog "In the life of William Rawls"
Self says:
It was taken a few weeks ago
Self says:
since going buddhist I've become near vegan though, so I've had to completely rethink my selections of foods again
Self says:
it's kinda fun though.
Self says:
still loosing weight, too
Joanne says:
my mother in law is a near vegan and she is tooooo skinny
Self says:
hehehe... Well, I have a loooong way to go before I get too skinny
Self says:
however, it is a problem I would happily deal with
Joanne says:
shes weight probablly less then a small young teen
Self says:
see, even vegans don't know how to eat properly.
Self says:
so you want some quick pointers that took me forever to learn ?
Joanne says:
she slow added some fish and chicken to her diet
Joanne says:
shes been a vegan since she was like 30
Self says:
see, she didn't pay attention. she could have just included soy proteins
Self says:
non-GMO soy that is
Joanne says:
dont know what non gmo is
Self says:
GMO mean Genertically Modified.
Joanne says:
and id love any pointers you have
Self says:
It's where they put animal genes into plants to make the grow better.
Self says:
since buddhists don't eat animals
Self says:
nor take anything from them (milk, honey, eggs)
Self says:
taking a gene would be just as wrong
Self says:
however, vegans take the concept too far
Self says:
for instance. I can drink milk as long as it came from a happy cow
Self says:
eat honey if it came from happy bees
Joanne says:
ok but how do you know if a happy cow or not?
Self says:
even have eggs if the chickens are happy
Self says:
well, you look at the cow's lifestyle
Self says:
was the cow mistreated ?
Self says:
was it fed from non-GMO products ?
Self says:
did it get to pretty much do what it wanted or was it forced to produce milk ?
Self says:
happy cows ? happy milk !
Self says:
happy buddhist
Joanne says:
have you seen the adds for calif milk?
Self says:
naw, I don't watch much TV these days and pretty much anything from California isn't exactly welcomed in Texas (except mushrooms and raisins for some reason )
Self says:
however, those aren't the pointers I meant to tell you about.
Joanne says:
i was kidding sorry
Self says:
what are you sorry about ? I'm happy
Self says:
I've been giving serious thought to actually coming back to california.
Joanne says:
well we would love to see you
Self says:
However, I'm currently searching for the right buddhist school to go to.
Joanne says:
they have buddhist school here?
Self says:
probably
Self says:
they seem to be everywhere when you know to look for them.
Self says:
unfortunately they're mostly geared for the western mind.
Self says:
I have both a western and eastern mind.
Self says:
I know I'm interested in a Tibetan Mahayana tradition though, preferablly from a non Ripoche
Self says:
the pointers I thought I'd mention though
Self says:
you still there ?
Joanne says:
yes
Self says:
there are 8 things to realize
Self says:
there are bad fats, good fats, very good fats, bad carbohydrates, good carbohydrates, bad proteins, and good proteins
Self says:
I learned to choose my foods that contained all the good and very good while limiting my bads as much as possible.
Joanne says:
thats 7
Self says:
hehehe... actually it's 8
Self says:
the "I learned..." is the 8th
Joanne says:
oh ok
Joanne says:

Self says:
you see, knowing is only half the battle.
Self says:
without actually choosing it would have done me no good
Self says:
so what's a bad fat ?
Self says:
a bad fat is saturated
Self says:
a bad fat is also trans
Joanne says:
fry food from a fast food joint
Self says:
nope
Joanne says:
hehe
Self says:
that isn't necessary correct.
Self says:
I thought so too, and you are correct, mostly.
Self says:
but the key is to realize that, just as with everything else in life, there are no absolute rules for fast food anymore.
Self says:
fast food is actually creating some very healthy foods
Self says:
let's continue on the 8 things though
Self says:
so bad fats include saturated and trans fats
Self says:
the good fat is poly
Self says:
the VERY good fat is mono
Self says:
(i might have those reversed)
Self says:
the very good fat helps you lose weight
Self says:
the good fat helps your body function
Self says:
the bad fat does lots of really nasty things to the body, especially over time.
Self says:
bad carbohydrates are simple carbohydrates.
Self says:
good carbohydrates are complex carbohydrates.
Self says:
bad carbs are bad because your body is a carb burning machine.
Self says:
except when it has too many carbs that is.
Self says:
then your body does something interesting with bad carbs...
Self says:
bad carbs (and pretty much just bad carbs) get converted directly into body fat.
Self says:
I found, before I became educated on all this, that like 80 percent of my entire food selections were made up of bad carbs.
Self says:
bad proteins are non-lean
Self says:
good proteins are lean
Self says:
you with me ?
Joanne says:
yes
Self says:
a lean protein include soy (very good protein for women as it increases estrogen levels), fish, chicken (no skin), turkey, and the very expensive selections of beef
Self says:
non-lean proteins include any protein that contain a high percentage of any kind of fat.
Self says:
for instance, ground beef isn't lean
Self says:
filet mingon is lean (but too expensive to be included in food selections either of us can afford )
Self says:
that list of lean proteins is pretty much the order you'd want to include them in your diet.
Joanne says:
right
Joanne says:
i eat pork chops, chicken breast and black angus steak burgers
Joanne says:
among other things
Self says:
I REALLY didn't like to eat fish, but found that once I got over my "I don't want to eat fish" thing I was surprised at how many fish I had not tried that tasted GREAT. I also found that I loved sushi and sashimi.
Self says:
pork is tricky
Self says:
it can be lean
Self says:
but it can also be non-lean.
Joanne says:
never had sushi
Joanne says:
dont know what sashimi is
Self says:
sushi is the roll.
Self says:
california roll is the most common.
Self says:
sashimi is when you just have the fish
Self says:
there is cooked and uncooked sushi
Self says:
there is only uncooked sashimi
Self says:
a pork loin is lean
Self says:
however, it pretty much comes down to reading the label on every thing you buy.
Joanne says:
i get alot of my food from the schwann guy
Joanne says:
and its a Boneless Pork Loin Chops
Self says:
if it doesn't list trans fat, look through the ingrediants for the word "hydrolized". Hydrolized is generally very bad because it changes a normaly good fat into a bad fat.
Self says:
remember #8
Self says:
choice
Self says:
food selections
Self says:
notice I did not say "diet" at any time
Joanne says:
yes i know
Joanne says:
ppl kept on telling me on the atkins diet
Joanne says:
i said no
Joanne says:
its what I have to eat
Self says:
A small handful of mixed nuts each day is a good thing.
Self says:
I'm not atkins
Self says:

Self says:
I simply went and educated myself
Joanne says:
i wasnt saying that
Self says:
I decided not to look at it as a diet, but as a way of life, the way I would eat for the rest of my life.
Joanne says:
yes correct
Self says:
Sorry, I guess I have a thing with Atkins... I can't count the number of times people say
Self says:
"Oh so your on Atkins" or "your on south beach"
Self says:
then I ask them what a good carb is and they look at me blankly
Joanne says:
hehe
Joanne says:
i was talking to a lady i worked with recently
Joanne says:
she has had diabetes for years
Joanne says:
she says she doenst even know how to count carbs
Joanne says:
i think she just doesnt want to deal with it
Self says:
that's why #8 is the 8th realization.
Self says:
without it, I would not have been able to lose 80 pounds nor would I be able to be buddhist and not gain weight again
Self says:
it's simply a matter of reading each label and seeing the number of carbs to the number of proteins and fats.
Self says:
if it has a lot of fat, that's not a bad thing since your body doesn't store fat as fat.
Self says:
however, if it has a lot of saturated fats and pretty much any amount of trans fat, it isn't good for the body to have a lot of those floating around in the bloodstream.
Self says:
so look for food that contain poly and mono fats.
Self says:
if it doesn't list them, then just subtract the saturated and trans from the total.
Self says:
mixed nuts are a great example.
Self says:
loaded in fat.
Self says:
however, almost no saturated and zero trans.
Self says:
so it's all good or very good fat
Self says:
which your body uses to increase the metabolism and to heal the body
Self says:
mixed nuts (not honey glazed) are very low in carbs and what carbs they do have are almost always fiber
Self says:
fiber is like free calories.
Self says:
sugar alcohols are very good because while they aren't complex, they aren't simple either.
Self says:
the reason a simple carb is "bad" is this.
Self says:
a complex carb's molocule is literally thousands of times more complex than a simple carb.
Self says:
so in the time it takes your body to burn 1 gram of a complex carb, it could have burned thousands of grams of simple carbs.
Self says:
the cost of your body breaking down a complex carb can even cost more than it gains.
Self says:
and the whole lean non lean protein thing is a matter of health.
Self says:
however, by realizing your body needs your mind to make the right choices of foods, you and your body become more in harmony.
Self says:
your body becomes healthier, operates MUCH closer to what it really needs instead of what it (and the mind) really want to eat.
Self says:
Over time the food selections increase, the choices become wiser, and before you know it.
Self says:
I'm eating better, feeling better, MUCH healthier, smiling, and with more energy than ever before
Self says:
you with me ?
Joanne says:
yes
Self says:
you should have a few questions at this point
Joanne says:
well
Joanne says:
i know some of this
Joanne says:
ill say this much you have more information then my doc ever gave me
Self says:
took about a year
Self says:
but the key really is reading the labels and understanding what you're reading.
Self says:
for me there was also the necessity to understand the difference between bad and good cholestoral
Self says:
Do you mind if I post this conversation ?
Joanne says:
am i gonna be friend?
Self says:
This is about as clear as I've been able to get
Self says:
unless you want to be Joanne
Joanne says:
i dont mind
Self says:
thanks.
Self says:
You see I've had this discussion with so many people over the last year and I promised myself I'd write it all into a blog.
Self says:
I just did