dave
Junior Member
Posts: 79
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Post by dave on Jul 22, 2011 9:42:38 GMT -5
Dear ZD, Enigma, et al...
I have been reading about this 'enlightenment' thing for a long time now and it sounds like just the thing for me.
However, I have some concerns - primarily regarding my weight.
See, since joining the group, I have 'graduated' to an office job and have spent most of the last year and a half sitting behind a desk. The bad part has been the gaining of about 20 pounds. The good part is I have had plenty of time to read all your posts and feel I am now on the verge of a major breakthrough (i.e. 'enlightenment').
My only concern would be my PEP (Post-Enlightenment Physique). Now, I know that may sound like vanity, but really it is not. I want to present the best possible package to a world hungry for answers and I don't think I could recruit many people sporting a 'spare tire'.
Anyway, my question to you guys is this: After getting enlightened, will the weight take care of itself or will I just not care about it anymore?
(Again, this is not for me, but for the possible benefit of the entire world. Plus also my wife has mentioned that I used to be a little 'easier on the eyes'.)
Thanks in advance for your considered and 'enlightened' responses.
- Dave
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Post by karen on Jul 22, 2011 10:22:52 GMT -5
Sounds like a lot of responsibility is ahead on your roster. Big plans ahead? Have you considered that it might be best to not pay so much attention to thoughts about saving the world?
But beyond that, I don't know about post enlightenment, but as of following my path earnestly so far I've lost 40lbs from my average weight before with seemingly no effort. It just happened. Not that the weight just melted away. But the intelligent measures needed to lose and maintain weight arose and became the natural and easy next step.
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Post by enigma on Jul 22, 2011 13:57:53 GMT -5
Heheeee. First lets divorce the issue of weight loss from enlightenment completely, sign the papers and get on with our separate lives.
On the subject of weight loss, I have a story similar to Karen's. A couple of years ago, i lost 50 pounds in a 3 month period, and have not gained any of it back. It was virtually effortless and mostly unintentional. (I thought I was maybe 20 pounds over-weight and didn't really care) I was actually doing some research for a cleansing/detox business I have, which is often used by folks to promote weight loss. I was looking into the physical and emotional aspects of cravings, and addressing them with natural supplements. Addressing the cravings means no struggle, no rebound, and no self sabotaging.
However, the real 'secret' is in placing attention on those cravings and identifying them for what they are, which really means responding to what is actually happening rather than what is driving us unconsciously. Basically, this is what I found:
*The actual physical need for nourishment is a very small part of our hunger drive. *Almost everybody has some degree of blood sugar imbalance, leading to drops in blood sugar and subsequent periods of craving, like late night snacks or hitting the vending machines at the office at 3pm. *Eating always feels good, and so we eat when we feel bad instead of addressing the actual bad feelings, which are still there when we're done eating. *The body does not go into starvation mode unless it has exhausted it's supply of fat. It does not rob energy from muscle tissue before it converts body fat. It does not store food as body fat when body fat reserves are already plentiful. It's mind that instructs the body to respond this way as a means of sabotaging a diet that nobody wants to struggle with.
The 'solution' is the same as it is in spiritual work: Pay attention and notice what's actually happening. In this noticing, the problem corrects itself.
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dave
Junior Member
Posts: 79
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Post by dave on Jul 22, 2011 15:57:02 GMT -5
"The 'solution' is the same as it is in spiritual work: Pay attention and notice what's actually happening. In this noticing, the problem corrects itself."
I've tried that, but I think I'm doing something wrong.
Like the other day, I was mindlessly gnawing away on a chocolate doughnut, then realized I wasn't 'Attending the Actual'. So, I put my full attention on the process of eating the doughnut, tasting it's creamy, rich chocolaty goodness on my tongue, feeling it's doughy springiness between my teeth as I chewed, seeing the little crumbs fall onto my desktop, reaching down and picking them up so as to make sure I enjoyed every single bit of the doughnut, licking the greasy good residue from my fingertips. God, it was awesome.
So I had another...
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Post by enigma on Jul 22, 2011 16:43:47 GMT -5
"The 'solution' is the same as it is in spiritual work: Pay attention and notice what's actually happening. In this noticing, the problem corrects itself." I've tried that, but I think I'm doing something wrong. Like the other day, I was mindlessly gnawing away on a chocolate doughnut, then realized I wasn't 'Attending the Actual'. So, I put my full attention on the process of eating the doughnut, tasting it's creamy, rich chocolaty goodness on my tongue, feeling it's doughy springiness between my teeth as I chewed, seeing the little crumbs fall onto my desktop, reaching down and picking them up so as to make sure I enjoyed every single bit of the doughnut, licking the greasy good residue from my fingertips. God, it was awesome. So I had another... Hehe. Okay, this isn't about ATA, it's more about mindfullness, or we could say living consciously. If you want to lose weight, why did you buy the doughnut? Why did you feel the need to eat it? Why did you eat another? Do you know? Investigate that craving like a scientist. Get to know that craving intimately, and if you indulge, do it with full consciousness. When you have all the information, then you can consciously decide what you want to do without splitting the mind. It's probly feel good food that makes you happy and then unhappy, but find out. BTW, during that 3 months Marie and I visited Taco Bell and Mcdonalds several times. The root of the approach was NO STRUGGLE. I lost weight anyway, and oddly, it often coincided with my quarter pounder with cheese. The body is not really a machine, it's an extension of consciousness. Mind determines how it functions, which is why struggle must be avoided, because it is self perpetuating.
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Post by karen on Jul 22, 2011 22:28:30 GMT -5
My boyfriend gave me for my birthday a big chocolate bar that was vegan and had mint in it. I ate the whole thing. It seems I compulsively eat when my kryptonite is around, so I don't have it around. I told my boyfriend the next time he does that, I will take off a piece that I would want, and then destroy the rest before I consume my piece.
It's also easier for me to avoid temptations because I keep a vegan diet. So many delicious looking foods are at my fingertips, but once I verify it has animal products, I can easily write it off.
The dieter's fantasy is that one day they will be not only be at their goal weight, but also they will just maintain that weight by automatically eating. But for most people, that will never happen, and they will just yo yo diet. A more realistic goal would be for the dieting regime to seem automatic - which it is for me. But in my experience all the effort eggs should be placed in another basket, and let this matter take care of itself - intelligently on it's own or not. Don't expect results.
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Post by acewall on Jul 22, 2011 23:04:15 GMT -5
My boyfriend gave me for my birthday a big chocolate bar that was vegan and had mint in it. I ate the whole thing. It seems I compulsively eat when my kryptonite is around, so I don't have it around. I told my boyfriend the next time he does that, I will take off a piece that I would want, and then destroy the rest before I consume my piece. It's also easier for me to avoid temptations because I keep a vegan diet. So many delicious looking foods are at my fingertips, but once I verify it has animal products, I can easily write it off. The dieter's fantasy is that one day they will be not only be at their goal weight, but also they will just maintain that weight by automatically eating. But for most people, that will never happen, and they will just yo yo diet. A more realistic goal would be for the dieting regime to seem automatic - which it is for me. But in my experience all the effort eggs should be placed in another basket, and let this matter take care of itself - intelligently on it's own or not. Don't expect results. your boyfriend did the right thing... giving you a chance to again realise the Self which is beyond the minds centre. Its the same with drinking alcohol; one may take the first sip.... but who-then takes to second? Only by creating a strong-awareness do we crack the habits we have 'created earlier in life'. Some folk study the creation of habits to regain the awareness they once had, and the habit they had looses its grip.
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Post by enigma on Jul 22, 2011 23:18:09 GMT -5
Funny thing about habits is that they are actually very weak. Imagining we have to overcome them is part of the excuse for continuing the behavior. The more we can pretend they're happening unconsciously, the less responsibility we have to take. The thing is, the mind will never release control over an activity unless it's deemed completely desirable to do so.
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Post by acewall on Jul 22, 2011 23:38:22 GMT -5
Funny thing about habits is that they are actually very weak. Imagining we have to overcome them is part of the excuse for continuing the behavior. The more we can pretend they're happening unconsciously, the less responsibility we have to take. The thing is, the mind will never release control over an activity unless it's deemed completely desirable to do so. yeups. Although in my own instance, which is comming away at the seams, it seems to be SEE-ing that dissolves 'that which enforces habit' as the UNREAL part of me, which is also habit@work.
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Post by karen on Jul 22, 2011 23:40:35 GMT -5
It seems like the habits are happening unconsciously cuz of the wall of denial we have up.
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Post by acewall on Jul 22, 2011 23:55:32 GMT -5
It seems like the habits are happening unconsciously cuz of the wall of denial we have up. yes, whilst we are formulating a self which is within our mind.... alot of energy is invested in barracading the hatch closed, so that one can attend their imaginary-world and keep our individual creations revolving. It takes heaps of energy to live a lie.
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Post by acewall on Jul 23, 2011 0:01:49 GMT -5
If we(when we) shift attension into Honesty things naturally fall away. Abit like pulling a thread of a knitted garment that Mother knitted; conditioning, although warming, is simply that which causes blindness in the World. ie, pulling the wool over Ones own Eyes.
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Post by acewall on Jul 23, 2011 0:13:34 GMT -5
just remembered Karen, reading your post upstairs.... we had a young woman come stay here, who were radically over-weight... and suffering with it.
She stayed here three-weeks and lost over 24Ks weight, simply by watching what she ate and fitting in with what we could afford to eat, which was fresh-food, hand picked each day and walking to the shops... as we didnt have a Car then.(not at all far)
Wasnt no big deal, I had no idea she was infact loosing weight as she was HUGE!!! but she weighed herself when she got home to melbourne, and wrote to us here.
'This seems an introduction into my new Life,' she said.
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Post by enigma on Jul 23, 2011 0:56:19 GMT -5
It seems like the habits are happening unconsciously cuz of the wall of denial we have up. Zzzzackly.
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Post by acewall on Jul 23, 2011 3:55:56 GMT -5
It seems like the habits are happening unconsciously cuz of the wall of denial we have up. Zzzzackly. ive been smited! lol ;D
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