Foodiot

I was a former “Foodiot” — an idiot when it came to food. I remember back then how daunting it all seemed to try and get started eating more healthily. At least for an overthinker like me. This post will be a primer of sorts on how to get started eating in a more healthy manner. I’ll discuss how to shop for vegetables, how to store them, and what to look out for.

Psychological Stone Soup: A Recipe for Self-Development

When I get someone’s ear long enough to get up on a small soapbox and suggest an entry to the path of self-development, I always point to making the bed and washing the dishes. These habits are all about starting small. So small, if fact, that they might barely even be considered self-development. Let me explain why I think both are key habits to establish.

Perfectionism, Procrastination, the Fixed vs. Growth Mindset & Mastery

Regular readers know that I am am a huge fan of Stephen Pressfield’s ‘artist user manual’ book “The War of Art”. A central focus of the book is the concept that Pressfield names “Resistance”, and it symbolizes all of that psychological stuff that keeps us from creating our work.

Resistance = Perfectionism?

I’ve come to believe that what Pressfield calls Resistance is another name for Perfectionism — at least for me. Perfectionism is a tricky term, because most people (as I once did) think they already know what that word means, and that it doesn’t apply to them. I suggest that anyone who can commiserate with the lack of motivation to start or maintain progress in their chosen creative outlet look into perfectionism a bit deeper.

My research and reading led me to a quite succinct and insightful book that really opened up perfectionism in an easy to understand manner, and offered specific solutions to get past it — yes, it thankfully can be unlearned, and I discuss below some of the excellent tools I’ve discovered to do so.

Orange Safety Glasses: Insomnia Cure?

I was as skeptical as you are right now when I first read the claims that wearing orange safety glasses at night might help my insomnia. To my surprise, I’ve found them to be quite effective.

The basic idea is this: you get tired when your body (the pineal gland, specifically) releases melatonin into your bloodstream. This is inhibited as long as the eyes keep sending the signal that there is blue light reaching the retina. Why blue light? It’s the color of the sky, during the day. Turns out candle light and firelight contain very little in the way of light in the blue range of the spectrum. Seems we’ve evolved to adjust for this longstanding pattern of human cycles.

Grow Box

So I decided to grow my own vegetables this year, and ordered some of these Grow Box planters so I am ready to go when the weather finally breaks.

The reviews of these things seem to be mostly positive. I’ve no green thumb here, so I need all the help I can get. I’m curious about the process in general, and like to learn by experience.

I’m also curious how the process will affect my daily life. I’ve found a new rhythm to my schedule since eating a whole foods nutrition plan with lots of fresh vegetables included. The shopping and prep time has changed things up for me. I’ve come to really enjoy the extra work involved. I like being a part of the food process. Growing the garden will take me a bit deeper into that experience.

Shampoo Sham?

Supposedly the hair on your head does not require shampoo to stay clean and healthy. I decided to find out for myself. 

Meditation with Advanced Yoga Practices Techniques: The First 30 Days

I started meditating about a year ago. I was pretty consistent for about 4-5 months and then kind of lost the momentum. I picked it back up in December and have been doing it pretty much daily since then.

Discussions with a like-minded friend led to some deeper research on the topic. This led me to the website, techniques and writing of Yogani on AYPsite.org (Advanced Yoga Practices) and I really liked what I found there. I decided to give the techniques offered there a try, and this is my 30 day recap on my experience so far.

Moves: Stylish Pedometer App

Moves is a clever and stylish pedometer app that I’m really enjoying lately.

Cron-O-Meter: Comprehensive Nutrition Tracking

CRON-O-Meter is the nutrition software/website I’ve been searching for. If you want to track calories, there are a gazillion options out there. But I wanted to track the nutrients in my food — vitamins and minerals. I’m fortunate to not really have to worry too much about my weight, but the nutrients are something I wanted to track. Cron-o-meter isn’t the best-looking, but it does just what I wanted.

Mindfulness In Plain English: Meditation Manual

I’ve recently started meditating, and came across this excellent introduction and manual to meditation, Mindfulness in Plain English which I discovered via Reddit. It is a superb introduction to meditation, and even better, the website offers up the text in web, PDF and ePub (iBooks) formats. For free!