With my words, I hope to throw some oblique light upon your life.
I want to inspire you to see life in a different and/or better way.
*** To read past blog posts, go to >> kitsummers.com/blog/
*** If you are reading this through Facebook, check out my blog on my website.
*** If you are not my Facebook friend, please, befriend me.
*** Thanks, my wife, Beth, for editing and adding to each weekly blog.
*** I was hit by two different trucks, one involving a 37-day coma.
*** The happiness I am experiencing in my life is a marvelous thing!
*** I will have places to show you and tales to tell.
*** Secrets to unfold and good news!
BE TAKEN AWAY WITH ME
ON WONDERFUL ADVENTURES!
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TOPIC FOR THIS WEEK >>
Food and eating
All animals, including humans, have to consume matter to stay alive. We can either enjoy the experience of eating, or we can just chow down and stuff our mouth with food during each meal.
Before my accident and 37-day coma, which occurred in 1982, I ate much. After the accident, I went back to how I ate before, yet I was not as active.
You see, before, I was practicing juggling 6 hours daily, running, biking – very active. Therefore, because I did not have high activity after the accident, I started to gain weight.
Eating and weight gain are a mind thing.
Once you learn to control your mind,
you control your eating.
Here are some of the best reasons for
you to start learning to eat healthy >>
- Maintain a healthy body weight.
- Have better heart health.
- Eating less reduces the risk of cancer.
- Eating less will give you improved mental health.
- Your digestion system will work better.
- You will have an increased life quality.
As I was recovering, I found that I had the same eating habits as before the accident but without the same amount of juggling practice and exercise, so I started to gain weight. After a time, I saw that the way I ate was a matter of discipline and control.
If I could learn to control my mind,
I knew that I could also learn to control my eating habits.
With some research, I learned quite a bit about health and eating habits. In reflecting on the changes I needed to make to keep myself from gaining more weight, I realized that much of what I ate was out of learned habit.
Many of us are habituated to eating a certain number of meals at a certain time of day following a prescribed way of making up our plates with this much carbohydrate and that much meat and the list could go on and on.
The first step I took in breaking the learned habits was to eat only when I was hungry. I also made sure that I stopped eating when I had just enough to get me past that hungry feeling.
I also learned that incompatible food combinations robbed me of energy and added to my weight gain, so I started to make up my meals and my plate in ways that would give me energy and not cause me to gain additional weight.
Control your eating and you control your life.
I later began a form of intermittent fasting and wouldn’t eat anything after nine at night (this later was moved to seven.) There are several reasons to put a buffer of at least three hours between food and sleep.
First, your body does most of its detoxification while you are sleeping, and if it has to digest food instead, you are missing out on crucial detoxification of other gunk and junk floating in your body.
Also, as you sleep, your body has to work extra hard to digest food and that food can transform into excess weight easily.
Many people might look at these habits and think they are difficult to do. Food cravings can be really strong sometimes and when you really want a cookie or some ice cream at eleven thirty at night, it can be hard just to tell yourself no. Stop and think for a second though:
What is a food craving?
First, it might be helpful to know that you don’t get food cravings; you create them in your mind! If you tell yourself you aren’t allowed cookies before bed, then guess what? You will crave cookies before bed.
You see, we create food cravings through our thought patterns toward food. Eventually, many of these thought patterns will become food habits.
Changing my eating habits wasn’t easy, and even now, sometimes, I struggle to maintain them. Especially after my accident, I would crave certain foods depending on how I felt that day, and often I would be extremely fatigued.
At times, sleep was hard to come by and because I couldn’t sleep, I also had trouble concentrating. Often when I felt tired or frustrated, I would crave sugar, an indication that my adrenal glands were fatigued.
Dopamine is a good thing; sugar is not.
When we are tired, our bodies crave sugar to give us energy. I also appreciated the surge of dopamine the sugar would release in my brain almost immediately upon eating something sweet. Dopamine is known as the feel good chemical because we feel good when it is released in our brains.
The well-known issue with sugar, however, is that it will only energize us for short spurts of time, and the dopamine release it provides is also only short-lived. Shortly after eating something sweet, I would be right back where I started – cranky and tired!
Eat right and you will get through changes better.
Besides feeling cranky and tired, I often also felt unproductive. Because I couldn’t concentrate, I also wasn’t able to do many of the things that I knew I needed to do or things I wanted to do.
Then depression started setting in, harming me in various ways.
I wasn’t physically stuck in bed, but I found it difficult to find any desire to get out of bed and get things started or to get things done.
Eventually, I got to a point where I could see time passing by, but I didn’t care. I didn’t even try to keep up with it because I felt so depressed. I would have frequent pity parties for myself and others didn’t seem to want to be around me anymore, given my foul mood.
One of my doctors suggested that I start taking medication to help me deal with low-grade depression and anxiety, but I decided to opt out of that recommendation. Instead, I decided I was going to retrain my mind to think in other and new directions.
Eventually, I found out that the food I was eating had a direct impact on my mood and was contributing to my depression and anxiety. I started implementing some of the changes that I listed earlier and quickly found that my attitude and my mind changed for the better.
What we eat directly affects what we think and how we feel; exercise will help, too.
Another secret I discovered was that exercise works as well as any drug (better than, actually.) Work your body, and your mind will clear up any depression or flawed thinking.
Brain function is dependent upon the body’s ability to metabolize the food you eat properly. Your brain depends on glucose (blood sugar) as a source of energy. To get your brain to use glucose properly it must have a sufficient supply of vitamins and minerals. The proper functioning of the brain is more dependent upon vitamins and minerals than any other organ in your body.
Your brain is the biggest consumer of what you eat, feed it right.
The food and nutrients that you feed your brain are directly responsible for the functions the brain must perform. These can include thinking, controlling your hormones, regulating involuntary functions such as respiration and your heartbeat.
And this can also include controlling motor activity, juggling, and sense perception like smell and taste. If your brain doesn’t have enough energy, you will feel tired and sluggish.
What we eat also directly affects which neurotransmitters are produced and how much of them. Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that ultimately determine our frame of mind In turn, your mood will affect your memory, your actions, your ability to learn and perform, and everything else about you.
We discussed previously that while sugar initiates the formation and release of dopamine for a good feeling in the body, that good feeling is short-lived. There are many other nutrients that we can feed our brains for increased production and prolonged release of dopamine.
Although your brain represents only two percent of total body weight, it accounts for over twenty percent of the total utilization of oxygen and fifteen percent of blood sugar. As you can see, your brain is very hungry and is dependent upon your nutritional intake to function correctly.
Feed your brain right.
A study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry compared a diet of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fish with a diet of highly processed meats, grains, and fast foods. Those who ate the whole foods diet had a one-third lower risk of becoming depressed. Not to mention that eating processed junk foods means you’re more likely to be overweight, often resulting in depression.
So what is driving you to eat?
Is your brain out of energy and looking for a refuel? Or are you running to the vending machine at three in the afternoon simply because that is what you do every day because your job is frustrating and you need that short-lived burst of dopamine?
Before you put your coins in the slot, ask yourself, are you truly hungry? If the honest answer is no, then put your coins back in your pocket. Remember it isn’t your body that craves food, it’s your mind.
Changing your eating habits for the better will literally change your life.
The first step you can take to change your eating habits for better health and mood is to keep a food diary. This is a book in which you record everything you eat or drink, no matter how little or how much of it went into your mouth. Studies have shown over time, people who maintain a food journal are more likely to lose weight.
For at least one week (month?), record everything you eat at meals and snack times, and record the time. Use an online site such as SparkPeople.com to figure out the number of calories you have eaten and other nutritional information like how much fat, carbohydrate, protein and fiber were in your meals.
After a week or so, review your diary and see where you need to make adjustments. Are you eating too many carbohydrates and not getting enough protein? Are you getting at least twenty-five grams of fiber each day?
Also, remember that nutritional guidelines and advice are just that – guidelines and advice.
When you eat, record how you feel afterward. If brown rice gives you gas, it isn’t the healthier food for you, regardless of what the food gurus say. If you start drinking soy milk and your cholesterol skyrockets fifty points, then soy products aren’t for you.
A Paleo diet isn’t for everyone, but neither is vegetarianism. All of our bodies have been through different triumphs and trials and will respond differently to different foods and eating patterns.
Review your diary for other eating habits.
Do you just eat without thinking? Perhaps you eat to feel better mentally. Inspect the causes of pressure in your everyday life, and one by one, take steps to remove each stress factor. Stress management could help you to control emotional eating or binge eating.
Make each bite smaller, but make each bit an experience.
Another thing to try is intentional eating. This is eating at its best. Don’t grab your bagel at ten of eight in the morning and chew it twice, then swallow while you are driving through ridiculous traffic to make it to that eight o’clock appointment that is thirty minutes away.
Instead, plan your meals, and when you get hungry, sit down and enjoy it. Savor each bite of food that goes into your mouth. Relish the smells as you bring the food to your mouth.
Chew your food thoroughly before you swallow, making sure to get all of the juice and flavor out of it before it goes down your throat and into your belly to be dissected into the nutrients that your brain needs to function.
Yes, we can mindlessly stuff food in our mouth, or we can delightfully savor each morsel we consume. If you really take the time to just put your fork down between each bite and taste all of the aspects of your food.
Do this, as well as examine the texture with your tongue, you can have a delightful eating experience, and you can do this each time you eat. Eating should be much more than just sending food down your gullet.
Make this way of eating intentional, and make it a habit.
Taking your time and relishing every aspect of your meal may be a new way of eating for you. This new way of eating might sound like a lot of bells and whistles, but you will quickly find that you will eat less but you will enjoy your food a lot more. If you are eating less food, then it follows that you will lose weight and keeps your mind and body in better shape.
Change your mind and change your taste.
Eating less won’t necessarily take you to your weight loss goal. We also must be careful of what we eat. While the cravings might be intense, remember, you have control!
After I had been released from the hospital, I was drinking a lot of diet soda. I would typically have two or three cans a day. This went on for five years and diet soda had become simply another habit for me.
I happened to eventually read some reports reporting about how bad soda is for people. The chemicals in soda are known to cause bone loss and can also disrupt and inhibit organ function. Not a drop of soda has gone down my throat since then – and that was over twenty years ago.
It helped me to quit my habit by switching to tea instead. At that time, I would liven up the taste of my tea with some cream and non-sugar sweetener. Eventually, I came across some studies that talked about how artificial sweeteners can be highly harmful to the body and brain. That was the end of my romance with non-sugar sweeteners. Now I use honey, honey (yes, you.)
Think before you put stuff down your throat
Of course, the literature is full of contradictory reports of this or that food being good for you or bad for you. The truth is, you have to be the one to figure it out for your body.
Some things are a matter of common sense, like the fact that an apple has more nutritional value than a sponge cake. Other things, like eating vegetarianism and a Paleo diet, as I mentioned before, are really about what your personal and individual body needs.
Remember, your mind and body come first, for every bite you put into your mouth.
Another thing to keep in mind is that there is a difference between appetite and hunger. If you have an appetite, it means you are longing for food. This is the three o’clock trip to the vending machine for chips because you feel a need to eat something crunchy for no reason other than that you want to.
Hunger is the actual physical need for food. You might get lightheaded or your stomach might start talking to you. We seldom have true hunger, but that is when we should eat. You don’t have to eat at eight, noon, and five every day if you don’t feel hungry. Don’t just eat out of desire, habit, boredom, a need for comfort, or because others are munching away.
Take control. Remember, your diet can alter your mood and your focus.
=========================
Another caution is that there are many chemical additives, intentional and unintentional, present in everything we eat and drink. Although research is not conclusive or existent on many of these additives, err on the side of caution and remember that everything you eat affects your body and your mind in one way or another.
Opt for that big salad with one ingredient – vegetables – rather than that bag of chips with an ingredients list longer than this book.
Salad, anyone?
In 1991 I started a habit of eating a salad every afternoon. I make my salad out of a combination of various types of lettuce, broccoli, spinach, carrot, and a few other things. In the summer, I grow much of my salad myself.
I start each week by making a salad big enough to last me for the rest of the week so it is always prepped and ready for easy munching. I hardly ever go a day without my salad and if I am out and about and wind up eating something else, I feel strange.
You, too, can develop better eating habits.
Don’t try to change everything at one time, though. Changing everything all at once will be overwhelming and lead to a quick defeat.
This week or this month, pick one of my tips and give it a try. Next week or next month, pick another one while still maintaining the first. A year from now, you’ll look back and try to figure out why you didn’t make the changes sooner – they were so easy!
Develop a good habit for yourself (and, no, not a chocolate chip cookie habit.)
Along with the salad, I came up with an excellent salad sauce (I like that wording much better than salad dressing.) Many of the salad dressings you will find in the store have a long list of ridiculous additives and preservatives that aren’t necessary and will not benefit your brain or mood.
I developed this healthy salad topping by looking at many salad sauce recipes and taking the best ideas that I had found. It is healthy, cheap, and easy to make. Here is the recipe – give it a try!
Kit’s Oriental Salad Sauce
2 cups olive oil
1 cup soy sauce
2 small onions, chopped fine
2 stocks of celery, chopped fine
1/2 cup lime juice
1/2 cup rice vinegar
4 tbls minced fresh ginger
4 tbls honey
4 tbls tomato paste
4 tbls ketchup
2 tbls teriyaki sauce
2 tbls sesame oil
2 tsp dry mustard
2 tsp pepper
Along with this salad sauce, in the 1990’s I came up with a very tasty fresh salsa. Salsa is quite healthy as it is nothing but vegetables which have many benefits for your brain and your mood.
It is so easy to make and the taste is marvelous. Below is the recipe to make your own salsa. Please let me know how it turns out. These are not exact measurements. Change whatever you want to suit your personal tastes.
Summers’ Salsa
One can of corn
One can of black beans (or a can of mixed beans)
One can of sliced peaches (or three fresh peaches)
One bunch of coriander (also known as cilantro)
A 20-centimeter diameter (8-inch square) of fresh Roma tomatoes
One large red onion
Two lemons
Two limes
Four cloves of garlic, minced
Chili powder—one spoon
Garlic salt—one spoon
Maple syrup—three spoons
Cumin powder—one small spoon
One or more jalapeño peppers (depending on how much heat you like)
Did you see summerssalsa.com?
For the food processor, take everything down into bits to about a centimeter in size. Put the tomatoes, six to ten at a time, and take them down. Peel the onion, cut it into quarters, then put it into the food processor to take it down into small bits. Drain the peaches and add them to the food processor.
Once everything is taken down into bits, add the contents to a mixing bowl. Drain the corn and beans and add them to the mixing bowl. Chop the coriander by hand and add to the mixing bowl. Squeeze the juice of the lemon and the lime into the bowl, and add some pulp if you desire.
Add the garlic, chili powder, garlic salt, and honey. In the food processor, chop one or more Jalapeño peppers, along with three tomatoes, into very tiny bits and then add them to the mixing bowl. Mix everything together well and then enjoy your fresh salsa.
If you desire a spicier salsa with lots of heat, leave the peaches and maple syrup out, add more jalapeno peppers, and also add habanero peppers, along with more cumin, curry powder, and chipotle spice.
Another thing you may want to consider when it comes to food is the idea that you have to eat three square meals a day and snacks in between.
Most of us eat at least three meals daily because we just always have.
I broke this cycle once by doing a four-day fast (and I did it quickly.) I drank water but no food, and I lost fifteen pounds. The strange thing was that I didn’t get hungry at all in those four days. Since I didn’t get hungry, I’ve always been curious to know how long I could push myself to go without eating.
I enjoyed the challenge of the four-day fast. For me, being hungry doesn’t hurt. I’ve been through other things that were much more painful than I think hunger ever could be.
Going through the fast was quite interesting, and when it was over, I found it much easier to make healthier food choices, almost like the fast was a reboot toward eating success.
How quickly can you do your fast?
I’m thinking I might challenge myself some time to see just how long I can go without eating—I’ll let you know how it turns out (or you’ll hear about my death.) Mainly I did the fasting as a challenge to myself.
Barring any health or religious reasons not too fast, I challenge you to try it sometime (safely, of course.) Don’t eat anything for a day or two and see how you feel. You may want to have a friend or doctor oversee you as you go through this.
Remember to drink plenty of liquids.
Reduce your food intake and eat a better combination of the right foods and you will also reduce or eliminate your stress levels, reduce weight, and be happier – to provide a better life. This I guarantee (but, not a money-back guarantee.)
Examine your own life and what you eat, and make changes where necessary. Change your eating habits and change your life.
Remember, don’t eat for your stomach; eat for your brain – feed it right!
What new stories are you ready to write?
********************
WORDS TO INSPIRE YOU! >>
Inspirational quotes and motivational sayings have a unique ability to change the way we feel about life and can change our thinking.
I find them so interesting, challenging, and essential on our path to joy and happiness and finding ways to inspire ourselves and others.
Inspirational quotes and ideas give us a quick and timely burst of wisdom to get our focus back, offering the inspiration needed for the day or occasion.
I hope to inspire you with my words.
Words have power.
Are you accomplishing what you want before your eventual death?
At any age, you can (and should) make changes to make your life better.
How you think and feel about yourself, including your beliefs and expectations about what is possible for you, determines everything that happens in your life. It all derives from your quality of thinking.
WHEN YOU IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF YOUR THINKING,
YOU CHANGE THE QUALITY OF YOUR LIFE—SOMETIMES INSTANTLY!
Just as positive words can make someone smile, and/or a well-timed amusing quote can make someone laugh, your thoughts react to the world in real-time. You have this control!
You have complete control over only one thing in the universe — Your Thinking — and that’s where motivational quotes come in!
To keep your motivation, you have to use each day as an opportunity to improve and get closer to your goals. It might sound like a lot of work—and with your busy schedule—next to impossible. But you can do it!
Self-talk is so essential—THINK RIGHT!
Motivational words, yes, they’re just words.
But they’re positive words; they will keep you on track.
EVEN IF YOU START LATE, ARE UNCERTAIN,
OR ARE DIFFERENT –
YOU CAN STILL FIND SUCCESS!
Don’t forget that you are only as young as the last time you changed your mind!
Keep your thoughts and self-talk fun and productive, and always reach for more advancement.
REMEMBER, VERY LITTLE IS NEEDED TO MAKE A GREAT LIFE.
********************
I HOPE THE FOLLOWING WORDS INSPIRE YOU >>
“While weight loss is important,
What’s more important is the
quality of food you put in your body,
food is information that quickly
changes your metabolism and genes.”
Mark Hyman
“To ensure good health: eat lightly,
breathe deeply, live moderately,
cultivate cheerfulness and maintain
an interest in life.”
William London
“Take care of your body.
It’s the only place you have to live.”
Jim Rohn
“By choosing healthy over skinny,
you are choosing self-love over self-judgment.”
Steve Maraboli
“Eating healthy food fills your body with energy
and nutrients. Imagine your cells smiling back at
you and saying: ‘Thank you!”
Karen Salmansohn
“Your body is not a temple,
it’s an amusement park.
Enjoy the ride.”
Anthony Bourdain
COMPOSE A NOBLE BOOK AND WRITE A BEST-SELLER.
YOU ARE AMAZING—PLAY YOUR PART!
********************
MY DAILY JOTTINGS >>
Each week goes by so quickly, don’t you think?
And time seems to be going faster all the time.
Do you keep track of what you do each day?
Do this for a few weeks, and you will see your time differently.
2/11—When I went to the juggling festival last weekend in Atlanta, I had a mishap while driving. The road I was on was not so good; while driving close to the right side, there was a dip and my front passenger side wheel got damaged.
I was lucky to have made it home. I ventured out today to go to a Tires Plus Store in Augusta to have them take a look. He went out and showed me how the tire was angled and I needed to go to a body shop—uh ow.
Beth contacted an auto place that is local, and they will take a look on Monday. I will let you know.
Our friend Nancy‘s brother Bob visited today. We had a great get-together and talked about many topics; I did magic for him and taught him some juggling tricks, which was quite nice.
2/12—Rain all day today. I am planning on building more gardens to put around the house. As you know, I want to make this the paradise we are living in.
2/13—My van’s wheel looks bent currently, as I wrote previously. The van is alright to drive but needs it fixed. Today I went to Jiminy Fixit https://jiminy-fixit.com/ I believe Jimmy will find out what is wrong with my van and get it going right.
Jimmy saw what was wrong and said it just needed an alignment. So, back to Tires Plus for me. A few years ago, I paid for lifetime alignment, so there is no charge whenever I need one at Tires Plus.
2/14—Happy Valentine’s Day! Beth and I celebrated by going out to dinner with our friend Nancy. We dined at a local eatery called Michelle’s Pizza. Beth says we need to cut back on what we eat, but not today. When you
can, go to Michelle’s, it’s a great place >>
https://www.facebook.com/michellesgrill/
My Valentine’s card from Beth
2/15—Gathering straw and rabbit poop for the compost from the rabbitry, I hit the top of my head on a metal roof area and, with heavy bleeding, ran into the house to scare Beth. As you know, head wounds bleed a great deal. Beth wasn’t alarmed this time. She says she is used to me bleeding all over the place.
Good news, I received an e-mail from Chris Jacobs, who wrote >>
======================
Hello Kit,
Hope this email finds you well.
My production company, “5 More Minutes Production”, is interested in your published work. After a thorough review, my Film and Production crew highly regard your published story for a possible film / TV/movie series adaptation.
I would like to take this opportunity in working together to create a film or TV/movie series project next year (2024) based on your published material. I can see how this can inspire and influence millions of viewers and readers out there. This impressive and admirable creation deserves a spot on the big screen.
If you have the chance, you may reply to this email and let me know what day and time is convenient for a quick call.
Sincerely,
Chris Jacobs
====================
I hope this story does fly and encourages multitudes of people.
2/16—I drove my van back to Tires Plus in Evans, GA, to have them look again at my alignment and fix what needed to be fixed. Unfortunately, they drove the front of my van off the ramp and now it has to stay there to be fixed. Once again, we have become a one-vehicle family. I treated Beth to dinner at Zaxby’s.
2/17—We woke up to 5 baby “kits”. No, not what you might be thinking; baby rabbits are named “kits”. Our Holland Lop, Priscilla, had five kits. They will be old enough to be adopted by Easter. Would you like to purchase a kit (not me, but you know)?
Is it time to “make” things happen and live a fuller life?
“Make” a great week for yourself.
******************
YOUR CHALLENGE FOR THE WEEK > >
This week, write down EVERYTHING you eat.
You might be surprised at what you consume.
After, make adjustments to nourish yourself more healthily.
Do something new, daily, then keep doing it for the rest of your life.
*******************
NEXT BLOG
I’ll have my van back next week.
I’ll let you know.
*******************
THIS WEEK,
MAKE YOUR LIFE
SOMETHING
THAT YOU CAN
WRITE ABOUT!
