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So this is the third diet day of eating cleanly on the Harcombe diet and my head has been killing me since yesterday afternoon. My weight this morning was 231.0lbs. Yesterday, I tried cooking brown rice before Tai Chi and it turned out like crap. This morning I tried it again to great success. Now I can have it for lunch – yea. My teeth felt like they were hurting yesterday along with my sinus’s. Almost feels like when I had to wear braces in high school – ugh. I’ve been drinking around 68oz of water per day plus decaf herbal tea. Today I took some Advil. My buddy thinks its sugar or gluten withdrawal. We shall see. I really look forward to breakfast while being on this diet, the rest of the meals just seem to run together – blah.

Tai Chi last night was fun and challenged my limited flexibility. I think I will try doing it every other day.

-Rat

So yesterday, I started the Harcombe diet. I will admit that I have never officially been on a diet. All my life, I have fought to gain weight. Guys at the gym always said “Consider yourself lucky..”. Now since I am around age 57, my weight has been a small ball and chain. My gut has grown the past couple of years. I want to get back in shape. “Back in shape for me” is exceptional shape for my peers. I don’t strive to be pretty good compared to my peers. I want to blow the doors off them. My weight yesterday was 238.0. This diet consists of clean eating – no processed foods, no gluten, no fruit except limes, lemons, and tomatoes, Chicken, pork, game meat, eggs, veggies – no sweet potatoes, no potatoes, limited brown rice only, no white rice, no caffeinated drinks, no sugars and no substitute sugars. Pretty much water only or herbal decaf teas (unsweetened), and black decaf coffee (unsweetened), no milk, no cream. If you want the list – buy the book. Breakfast was: 3 Eggs, 4 bacon, 1tbl butter, water, Lunch: 2 C Spinach/spring mix, 1/2 cup chopped green pepper, 2 small pork chops – grilled, 1/2 lemon, lemon-herb decaf tea, water, Dinner: 2 C Spinach/spring mix, 1/2 cup chopped celery, 1/2 lemon, 2 pieces of boneless/skinless chicken breasts, water. I will admit that you can substitute squeezed lemon juice for vinegar since its omitted. Still need olive oil though for salad. So far a boring diet although its only for 5 days provided I’m not crawling the walls. Yesterday I was fairly full most of the day.

Today – not so much. I’m really hungry and its only 9:20am and I ate breakfast at 7am. 11:30 is a long way off. Some bastard brought donuts to celebrate his birthday. This will be the true test. I love, love, love donuts, and they are 5 steps from by desk. My weight this morning was 234.5lbs so that’s a motivating factor. Same lunch today as planned. BTW, Happy Birthday… bastard. Gotta run.

Oooo, I just thought of something, I have Tai Chi tonight!

-Rat

It’s been an interesting week. I went with my daughter to see Metallica in concert, in Indianapolis – Monday evening. It was great fun. We drove home Tuesday morning. Indy is a cool town. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to make it to “Tiki Bob’s” since they are closed on Mondays. It looked like a fun bar to hit. My Son’s going away party was kind of nice – it was good to hang with everyone in the fam. The house was deep cleaned for the first time since Christmas. Hopefully I can keep it going with my new cordless Dyson Animal vacuum. Also, I have to get the Roomba going – that would also be a big help. With everyone over, I had some folks downstairs for the first time. It was not really cleaned. Tuesday afternoon I started cleaning that. I have about 1/3 of the open basement cleaned. Now, I have to keep up the momentum and clean up the last 2/3rds, and start on the work area, and finish with the closets. There is a lot to do still bit I have to make the effort.

-Rat

The other day, I took a day off from the gym. I’m sitting at home at 6am and I get a call from my Son who is going into the military towards the end of this month. He wrecked his car on either the way to, or home from his second job. Apparently, according to the police it was his fault. He only had a couple of payments left on it. At the same time, he also finds out that his license was cancelled for some reason. Now, 2 years ago this June we moved from a northwestern suburb to a south western suburb of Chicago. He moved in with his mom and stepdad. He should have changed his address – he had 60 days. He didn’t. For whatever reason, he didn’t. The pain that he is now going through could have been avoided. There would have been no worries except for his court date and getting his car to get evaluated. Now his anxiety is compounded, not that he’d admit that its making him anxious.

-Rat

I love physics. I wish I had the power of the web when I was in school. It may have changed the trajectory of my career. Not that I’m unhappy where I am at, but who knows where life takes you?

Tomorrow eve is another class of Tai-Chi. Looking forward to that. It’s weird, I feel like I need to start doing static tai-chi poses for practice (along with some chi-gong warmup). It feels like a totally different type of Tai-Chi. The practice takes a physical toll on me as we go through class. It also seems like chi manifests itself differently in both types – although the exact same father type: Yang style. In the “Yang Temple Style” that I first learned, the energy feels light and energetic. The new chi feels warming and blanketing/sticky. Two very different feelings.

-Rat

So, last night I slept with a CPAP machine. I slept 4 hrs. with it on, then I took it off and slept the balance with it off. I had a crappy nights sleep, or so I thought. My eyes were tired this morning, but I had more energy throughout the day. So, who knows? Had Tai Chi last evening also. The jury is still out on this. I was sore upon leaving but really got hot during class. I don’t know if my chi was flowing or not, but I was certainly warm. Usually, I can feel my chi flow, then again… who knows?

v4
The Dao is empty
but inexhaustible, bottomless,
the ancestor of it all.

Within it, the sharp edges become smooth,
the twisted knots loosen;
the sun us softened by a cloud;
the dust settles into place.

It is hidden but always present.
I know not who gave birth to it.
It seems to be the common ancestor of all,
the father of things.

-Rat

Well, Tai Chi kinda stalled for the time being. Last weeks class was cancelled due to weather and a power outage. So, in the interim I found a book on static Tai Chi positioning. It will be something that I can practice in lieu of moving. Should be interesting. It seems to tie the movement and the practice together by utilizing static positioning. Should be interesting, it kinda dives into the yin-yang theories for explanation. Ill comment on this at some other time after I had a chance to read, digest, and practice. I do know that several of the Chinese grand masters teach this, so I am anxious to put into “action”.

-Rat

So, last night I had my first real Tai chi class in approximately 2 years. I was sore when we were finished (that was probably a good sign). I feel that I only scratched the surface – another good sign. I heard some things in his spiel that raised an eyebrow on the fact vs fiction side. But all in all, it was positive. I didn’t feel like I wasted my time. The style is similar to mine – that is also good (similarities in movement). I think I will practice when I get home later. Chi Gong is involved. It will be interesting to see if he has single sets or not, push hands or not, joint locks or not, darkness or not, wrestling or not, and how or not – the sword is an extension of the body.

-Rat

I start a new Tai Chi class tonight. I hope its more traditional and not some new age, mumbo-jumbo, b.s. (like at the health club). Either Chen or Yang would be good, preferably Yang. Speaking of Yang…

v.3
Putting a value on status
will create contentiousness.
If you overvalue possessions,
people begin to steal.
By not displaying what is desirable,
you will cause people’s hearts
to remain undisturbed.

The sage governs
by emptying minds and hearts,
by weakening ambitions and
strengthening bones.

Practice not doing…
When action is pure and selfless,
everything settles into its own
perfect place.

Ya know, I never thought very much of Doctor Phil on Opra, but I was listening to his podcast and he’s got some dynamite advice in a new series that he is doing called “Living by Design” – part 1. It is via “Phil in the (blanks)” on Apple Podcast. I’ve been in enough therapy to know good advice when I hear it 🙂

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/phil-in-the-blanks/id1446088262?mt=2

-Rat

Coldest day of the year here in the Midwest – minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit at 8:30am with a high temperature of minus 13 today. I guess that to understand cold, you need hot. I am thinking of a hot, sunny summer day, temps above 90. Insects buzzing, sitting out on my concrete patio under a large patio umbrella, enjoying the breeze, the wind chimes, the birds chirping and a cold drink. In my minds eye, I can close my eyes and see the world today in all its splendor. And today, I can easily close my eyes and see that day. That thought can last forever and be revisited. Which day is more enjoyable? They are both enjoyable. The trees, plants, insects, animals don’t have concepts such as beauty or ugliness, splendor or asceticism; they simply are… in harmony of the eternal Dao, devoid of judgement. So the “Dao de Ching” teaches us.

v.2
Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty,
only because there is ugliness.
All can know good as good only be-
cause there is evil.

Being and nonbeing produce each other.
The difficult is born in the easy.
Long is defined by the short, the high by the low.
Before and after go along with each other.

So the sage lives openly with apparent duality
and paradoxical unity.
The sage can act without effort
and teach without words.
Nurturing things without possessing them,
he works, but not for rewards;
he competes, but not for results.

When the work is done, it is forgotten.
That is why it lasts forever.

-Rat