Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tinybuddha/~3/91jt5G7B2jk/

“You can’t win enough. You can’t have enough money. You can’t succeed enough. The only thing that can satiate that existential thirst is love. I just remember that day I made that shift from wanting to be a winner to wanting to have the most powerful, deep, and beautiful relationships I could possibly have.” ~Will Smith

About a year ago, I made the decision to start seriously working out with weights for the first time in my life. I’ve always been an athlete and in decent shape, but I wanted to test my body and see how much of its physical potential I could realize.

Besides, I was approaching thirty and wasn’t exactly looking like the same pillar of youth I used to look like.

Well, needless to say, it worked. Within six months, I got into the best shape of my life I had ever been in. I went from a very unhealthy 170 pounds down to a very healthy, lean, and toned 160 pounds. I felt so incredible, both physically and mentally.

But then something strange happened.

I started to slack off, until eventually, I just up and stopped. I lost the desire and motivation to keep going and keep exercising. As a consequence, within a few months, I fell back into the same shape I was in before I started.

I got exactly what I wanted. I s…

Source: http://www.sonima.com/meditation/meditation-positions/

As a meditation newbie, I crave the clear, focused mind that sitting still can bring to one’s life. My head is all in, but my body isn’t. Sitting cross-legged, let alone in half-lotus is excruciating. (The thought of full lotus makes my hips, knees and back scream.) While I realize part of the practice is to simply notice a sensation—for instance, my knees feel so achy—then let it go, the physical pain in traditional meditation postures dominated my thoughts so intensely that I felt I was missing the point and getting no mental benefits. Post-meditation, all I could think about was how much relief my knees felt, so that’s something.

“Meditation is the process of being relaxed and aware at the time,” says Ventkat Srinivasan, Ph.D., the facility manager and teacher at the Art of Living Retreat Center in Boone, North Carolina. “In order to facilitate that state you have to be relatively comfortable.”

Related: Don’t Think Meditation Works? Keep Meditating

Eventually, I found my comfort lying on a large foam roller. The roller supports the length of my spine and head, and is tippy enough that dozing off isn’t an option. There are myriad other alternative meditation positions, like these five options recommended by experts. Test drive them all and see which one works best for you.

1. Chair Sitting

“A chair is an easy alternative to sitting on the floor,” says Srinivasan.

…

Source: http://www.bornfitness.com/belly-fat/

Editor’s note: This article is about drawing the line in the search for honest reporting on weight gain, fat loss, and the growing concern about “belly fat.” It was originally scheduled to be published on a mainstream media site. But one editorial request for clarity turned into another for additional research, turned into a game with one agenda: no desire to post an article that clearly opposes a vested interest in a popular book.

At Born Fitness, we have one agenda: look at information objectively, translate information, and help you figure out how to apply it to your life. This post is an honest, balanced review on popular diet methods, or as most people think of it: how to lose belly fat. That’s why we worked with Dr. Mike Israetel, a professor of exercise science at Temple University, to review what science really reveals about weight loss, and challenges a popular opinion on weight gain. Whether you agree or disagree with the ideas and research shared, it’s important that open discussion is not censored. -AB

Most studies simply do not demonstrate a detectable effect of the glycemic index on weight gain or loss.

Thinking Clearly About Obesity, Belly Fat, and Weight Loss
By Dr. Mike Israetel, Professor of Exercise Science at Temple University

In a recent interview with the New York Times, Harvard nutrition professor Dr. David Ludwig previewed some of the basics of his new book, Always Hungry, which proposes a solut…

Source: http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/03/10/469972237/this-plastic-eating-bacterium-might-help-deal-with-waste-one-day?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=thesalt

Pedro Armestre/AFP/Getty Images

Plastic makes great food packaging. It’s waterproof and flexible. And best of all, it’s impervious to all known bacteria — until now. Researchers have found a bacterium in the debris fields around a recycling plant in Japan that can feed off a common type of plastic used in clothing, plastic bottles and food packaging.

The bacterium is a new species called Ideonella sakaiensis, named for the Japanese city Sakai where it was found growing on plastic debris made from a type of plastic called PET or polyethylene terephthalate. “It’s the most unique thing. This bacterium can degrade PET and then make their body from PET,” says Shosuke Yoshida, a microbiologist at Kyoto University and lead author on the study published in Science on Thursday.

Most plastics are insurmountable obstacles for microbes because plastics are large chains of repeating molecules called polymers. The entire chain is far larger than the individual microbe. “So the organism can’t take it inside the cell to metabolize it,” says John Coates, a microbiologist at the University of California, Berkeley who was not involved with the work. Imagine a baby trying to eat an enormous pizza from the middle. It can’t do it. The pie is too big.

But Ideon…

Source: http://www.foodpolitics.com/2016/03/should-the-east-river-pepsi-cola-sign-be-landmarked/

An editor at the New York Times invited me to write an op-ed on the proposed landmarking of the East River Pepsi-Cola sign, but then said:

We’re not going to use this. People really love that Pepsi sign so much that they don’t want to hear arguments against it.

So I offered it to the Daily News.  I’ve written for it before.  Its editors are highly professional and a pleasure to work with.  And it goes to an audience to which I do not usually have access.   See what you think.

The Long Island City Pepsi-Cola sign: Hazard, not landmark
BY MARION NESTLE
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Thursday, March 10, 2016, 5:00 AM

Looks pretty. Tastes sweet. Has ugly side effects.

I did not know whether to laugh or cry when I read that the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission had deemed the Pepsi-Cola sign in Long Island City, Queens, so worthy of permanent preservation that it was considering it for landmark status.

Granted, the neon monument has been part of the East River landscape for the past 80 years. And yes, there is precedent for landmarking a sign rather than a building. Pine Bluff, Ark., chose to landmark a McDonald’s sign, and Cambridge, Mass., preserved a Shell Oil sign.

But the fact is that the Pepsi-Cola sig…

Source: http://www.sonima.com/meditation/meditation-positions/

As a meditation newbie, I crave the clear, focused mind that sitting still can bring to one’s life. My head is all in, but my body isn’t. Sitting cross-legged, let alone in half-lotus is excruciating. (The thought of full lotus makes my hips, knees and back scream.) While I realize part of the practice is to simply notice a sensation—for instance, my knees feel so achy—then let it go, the physical pain in traditional meditation postures dominated my thoughts so intensely that I felt I was missing the point and getting no mental benefits. Post-meditation, all I could think about was how much relief my knees felt, so that’s something.

“Meditation is the process of being relaxed and aware at the time,” says Ventkat Srinivasan, Ph.D., the facility manager and teacher at the Art of Living Retreat Center in Boone, North Carolina. “In order to facilitate that state you have to be relatively comfortable.”

Related: Don’t Think Meditation Works? Keep Meditating

Eventually, I found my comfort lying on a large foam roller. The roller supports the length of my spine and head, and is tippy enough that dozing off isn’t an option. There are myriad other alternative meditation positions, like these five options recommended by experts. Test drive them all and see which one works best for you.

1. Chair Sitting

“A chair is an easy alternative to sitting on the floor,” says Srinivasan.

…

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tinybuddha/~3/NzmQqgZrCZ8/

“It is never to late to have a happy childhood.” ~Tom Robbins

A few days ago, when my older brother and I were sorting through old family photos, we found a picture of us from when we were about five and six years old. We were smiling. Just two kids full of life with no idea of what was to come.

This was before the start of all the rage—before all the pain and an unfortunate series of events.

My childhood was rough. I know some people may wish to return to those young innocent years of playing outside and going about our way without a worry in the world. However, if I had a choice to return to my childhood, I would hesitate at the gate.

At the tender age of eleven, I was snatched from my home. I didn’t know why, all I knew was that my mother had done something bad and that my siblings and I had to be removed for our safety.

When I was old enough to understand what had happened, I learned that my mother had gone to a mental institution to receive help and counseling for her anger.

I used to think, “Well, everyone gets angry,” but this was different.

Her words were a bit too harsh, her actions a bit too unpredictable, her impact a bit too negative. I remember sitting in the bathroom crying and wondering why I just couldn’t live …

Source: http://www.fannetasticfood.com/2016/03/10/blue-apron-giveaway-coupon-code/

Thank you to Blue Apron for sponsoring this post! The first 50 readers to sign up for Blue Apron using this link will get two free meals on their first order.

Hey friends! I have an awesome giveaway for you today – a free week of Blue Apron meals! As you guys know, Matt and I are huge Blue Apron fans – I’ve been partnering with them every few months to do reviews on an ongoing basis but Matt and I pay for their meals weekly outside of these reviews, too – it’s the best.

Recipe: Alsatian-Spiced Chicken with Smashed Potatoes and Glazed Red Cabbage

Blue Apron is a great way to create delicious, chef-designed recipes at home without having to deal with meal planning and grocery shopping – they deliver all the ingredients in the portions necessary right to your door! All you have to do is follow the instructions.

<img title="blue apron review" style="border-left-width: 0px;border-right-width: 0px;border-…

Source: http://greatist.com/live/why-feeling-awe-is-important-for-our-mental-health?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_http–greatistcom-

Ever have one of those moments where you look up at the stars and feel overwhelmed by how cool the world is? This in-depth piece from Psychology Today explains that awestruck moments like that are not only awesome, they’re also really important for our mental health. Micho Taku, Ph.D., a theoretical physicist, likens awe to zooming a camera lens way out, making our lives and worries seem pretty tiny.

This wow feeling also makes us feel less rushed, less selfish, and calmer overall, which can be especially helpful for people who experience anxiety or depression. A moment of awe can pause the stream of negative or worrisome thoughts.

And we don’t have to wait for these moments to come along; we can seek them out. Daniel Smith, author of Monkey Mind: A Memoir of Anxiety, compares “chasing awe” to psychotherapy, which is all about building new habits and perspectives.

Going out into nature is the most obvious awe-inducing activity, but city dwellers can also visit a local park, watch Planet Earth, or read an article about the great outdoors. Even something not related to nature (consciously slowing down for a few minutes, reading a good book, or taking a stimulating class) can help you say “wow” a little more often.

Read the Full Story

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Source: http://www.sonima.com/food/spicy-asian-chicken-salad/

Every week our friends at Further Food develop healthy recipes exclusively for our readers. This spicy Asian chicken salad was created for Sylvia M. She’s avoiding processed foods and gluten, and would like to lose weight around her midsection. They designed this light, protein-rich meal to help her feel satisfied and avoid binge eating.

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This recipe is an easy weekday staple. It is high in protein, low in carbohydrates, and bursting with flavor from the tender chicken and zesty dressing. The lime juice and sauces bring out the natural sweetness of the veggies and help conquer sweet cravings. The best part? It only takes 20 minutes to whip together.

Photos by Grace Stufkosky

The post A Light and Bright Spicy Asian Chicken Salad appeared first on Sonima.

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