Rami's Blog

Like the Yin-Yang, Eastern Martial Arts and Western medicine are two halves of a whole. My mission is to preserve the ancient mind-body tools and pass them on to you.

 

Mind-over-Matter: How Mindfulness and Calories Interact

When you are hungry, and you see a cheeseburger, what goes through you mind?

"Yum." "I can't wait to eat." "I'm starving!"

But do you ever think about how many grams of carbs and fat, or how many calories, are in that burger? Do you ever slow down and consider what would be best for your health in that moment, or are you stuck on autopilot?

For most Americans, in fact for most people all over the world, eating is not an exercise in mindfulness, it is a habit. We practically do it unconsciously. In the same way that many people have to deal with anxious thoughts, or depressed feelings, even though they don't try to bring them up, we are also in danger of putting food into our body that isn't good for us, even though, deep down, we know better.

But in order to bring that better half of us to the surface when we are tempted by the likes of a burger, we have to practice being mindful by meditating. If you can sit down for a few minutes and practice letting go of those negative and automatic thoughts, you will see a difference in how you handle situations like food. There will be a little space that opens up, and in that space you'll have the chance to ask yourself, "Should I really be eating this?"

From that moment, you have the chance to change your mind. And when you begin changing your mind, you have the chance to change your body as well.

But to make sure you know whether the answer is "yes" or "no" when you are faced with a food choice, you need to do a little research. Use some online food calorie calculators and references so that you can tell whether a food or meal is within your calorie, fat, and carb limits for the day. You'd be surprised what "healthy" choices aren't all that healthy.

Choosing the caesar salad might sound like a healthy choice, and compared to a cheeseburger, it probably is. But with a few searches and calculations, we find that your standard caesar salad has about 160 calories and 10 grams of fat. Not too bad, but stop and think. Could we do better?

How about an Israeli salad (one of my personal favorites). Finely chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, bell peppers, and garlic. Add some mint and olive oil, and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. That comes to roughly 138 calories, and 4 grams of fat. When you consider all the vitamins and antioxidants you're getting as well, it's pretty clear which one is the healthier choice. Personally, I think it tastes better too!

A little knowledge of what you eat goes a long way. Be mindful!

Speaking of food. If you haven't already, please check out the new website that Jeff Sirlin and I have launched called Cancer Wellness TV (www.cwellness.com). It has tons of free, research-driven information about nutrition, recipes, cancer-fighting foods, as well as mind-body and support therapies for fighting cancer and living after cancer. It's all free, and we want as many people as possible to be involved. Tell everyone you know, and Happy Stretching!

Meditation as a Weight Loss Strategy

You may be wondering how exactly this Yin half of my weight loss system is really going to help you achieve your weight goals. Sure, the Yang half, with its push-ups and sit-ups and such, makes sense, but if all you do is sit and move gently for the Yin half, how will that help you reach a healthy weight?

The answer is this: meditation is brain exercise. Many aspects of your mind, such as self-control and healthy thought patterns, become stronger the more you practice them. They are just like muscles, and if you don't give them a workout often, they may fail you when you really need them.

When there is junk food around the house, not having the self control to stop snacking makes your weight problem worse. When you are at a party with lots of treats and desserts, and you keep going back to the food area for "one more cookie," that's your mindfulness muscle already failing you. Those moments matter when it comes to our weight and our health.

A meditation routine can be a huge help when you are faced with moments like that. Meditation is often VERY difficult for people at first. It isn't painful, or dangerous. It's just frustrating. Sitting in place for five minutes without making a sound is an exercise is discipline. Your mind constantly bombards you with thoughts of everything and anything, and meditation's goal is to help you quiet that crazy "monkey mind," as it's called in Eastern philosophies, so that you can feel more emotionally balanced and in control.

When you can sit down quietly for five minutes without needing to check your phone, you'll find that you can also say "no thank you," the next time that dessert tray comes around. It's all willpower and self-control. 

Remember: discipline is a practice, not a place. This isn't foolproof. Everyone has moments of weakness (especially when those moments involve chocolate). But this Yin routine is meant to put you on a path toward more healthy eating, and less unhealthy eating.

Good luck!

Mind-over-Matter Weight Loss: Candle Meditation

Welcome back everyone! Today, we begin the second portion of my Mind-over-Matter weight loss routine, which is the Yin half. This part of my weight loss system focuses on meditation. I firmly believe that clearing the mind and increasing willpower is half of the battle when trying to lose weight. So today, we begin with a meditation that has three parts to help you stay focused.

First: Set up a candle, or a digital candle, to watch while you meditate:

Then, incorporate Fire Breath, and my Tip-of-the-Tongue tip, to help you focus even further:

Fire Breath

Tip of the Tongue

Good luck with this first exercise in the Yin half of my Mind-over-Matter Weight Loss System!

Mind-over-Matter Weight Loss - Yang Routine

We've made it through the first half of my Mind-over-Matter weight loss series! To help everyone organize the exercises and how they should be done, I have put together this post which collects all of the Yang routine into one place, with some added comments for each exercise.

Happy Stretching!

Mind-over-Matter Weight Loss - Yang Routine

Walk like a Warrior: Warm up with this exercise. It integrates body, mind, and spirit. Even better, you can walk like a warrior anywhere: in your house, outside, in place facing the window, around a lake, etc. You can do it year-round. This video demonstrates the exercise at home, in place, near a window. When walking, keep the toes facing forward, and roll from the heal to the ball of the foot. 

Getting oxygen into the bloodstream is only one goal of this exercise. The second goal is to invoke the warrior spirit. A group of women in Dedham, age 75+, that I taught this exercise to, would use the 23rd Psalm as their mantra to invoke the warrior spirit.

Start with 1-3 minutes. Over time, increase the time you walk until you can do it four times a week for 20-40 minutes each. Beginners and limited individuals should walk slow and utilize their arms to coordinate with the leg movements. For more advanced individuals, or people who want a challenge, raise the knees higher, swing the arms harder, and go faster.

Up and Down: I go into great detail in this video about the many ways to do this exercise to get your heart pumping, build muscle, and burn fat. Be sure to start at the level that is appropriate for your ability, and work your way up.

Push-ups: Begin with 5-15 of each type (elbows-in and elbows-out), and work your way up to 30-50 of each, 3-5 times a week. Make sure you integrate deep breathing, emptying the mind, and evoking the spirit by putting the mind in the three forces: human, heaven, and earth.

Sit-ups: For people who are restricted and cannot do sit-ups from the floor, start from the chair. Slide to the edge of the chair with your butt, straighten your trunk, and hold it straight like a plank throughout the exercise. In the video, we show the three arm positions, as well as the three levels of difficulty on the floor. Again, choose what is challenging, but not painful for you, and work your way through each stage.

Counting Breath Cool Down: Finally, we cool down from all of the cardio and strength training with a simple method for slowing the breath and the mind. This facilitates relaxation and healing by bringing oxygen into the tired muscles and rebuilding them, regulating hormone production, and reducing stress.

On Tuesday, we will begin the Yin portion of the Mind-over-Matter Weight Loss system. I'm excited to show everyone what comes next!

Counting Breath Cool Down

As the final part of our Yang-side Weight Loss workout, we do a counting breath cool down meditation. This is a great way to transition into the Mind half of the Mind-Body routine.

The reason we end this half of the series with Counting Breath is because the previous exercises (push-ups, sit-ups, etc.) were designed to get your heart rate up, and make you breath faster. Now, you can pay attention and count as your breath slows and your body relaxes. Make sure to breath in through your nose as much as possible. Good luck!

How to: Counting Breath Meditation

Practice: Counting Breath Meditation