Caffeine Madness!!!!!!!!!

Namaste BTWGers!

While trolling through the Huffington Post to find the latest on the stimulus package, new Brangelina updates, and life lessons, I saw this:

Hi, my name is Karen and I am a caffeinaholic. I love the stuff: the smell, the taste, the color -- and of course the results.I've credited caffeine for much of my creativity and productivity. I've even often felt caffeine was responsible for 93% of my personality. I worried if I never drank another cup of coffee again, I'd become a shy, humorless wallflower - a shut in. Hence, for years I've rationalized remaining a caffeinaholic ...

Quitting Secrets From A Caffeine Fiend

Wow did that ever speak to me. Of course, I ingest my caffeine through tea, not coffee, which probably makes no never mind ,like arguing which cocaine is more healthful--powder or crack. Karen found a health food restaurant called PUMP which suggests eating certain foods for energy without caffeine.

ENERGY -- WITHOUT THE NEED FOR CAFFEINE:

1. Don't eat foods with butter, cream, mayo -- or any unhealthy fats.

2. Use salt sparingly and only from the sea.

3. There should be no Fryday in your week. Don't eat fried foods.

4. Focus in on supercharged meals - which have some healthful protein (chicken, turkey, beans) some healthful carb (brown rice), and some greens (salad or spinach).

5. Focus on whole, unprocessed, chemical-free ingredients.

6.. Eat wholewheat bread instead of white flour bread.

7. Eat brown rice instead of white rice.

8. Add protein powder to your morning shake to give you extra sustainable energy.

9. Hell, even muffins, pancakes, and desserts can have protein in them! And if you put in that protein, you can be pro-muffin, pro-pancake, pro-dessert.

10. Recognize that not all calories are created equal. And it's not about counting calories - it's about eating foods which count best for nutritional nourishment -- which give you the most bang for your calorie buck.

Most of these suggestions make sense although because everyone is a food critic, just by reading the comments, I see that some people disagree about various things. I am a huge Michael Pollan devotee & he does like butter because it's real and he loves real, but I don't injest near as much butter as I do caffeine. I don't even put it on my bread, wonder, wheat, ezekiel , or otherwise. I doubt he would find fault with anything else except possibly using protein powder when you could eat protein. I will have to make it my mission to see what Michael Pollan and Barbara Kingsolver & Alice Waters say about caffeine. That's be another post.

I suspect that this Karen chick is way more high powered, high pressured and frenetic than me and, yet, she took the cure. Hmmm. The 7% noncaffeinated part of her personality is probably way more productive and creative than mine as well. Hmm. I'll have to read her productivity tips next week.

Fitness Cult Kicks It

It was just another Saturday night at Alison's house. She had her lovely home full of flowers and delicious healthful food and really cool people. There was some crazy rumor about a big bottle of vodka..... Not to worry, what happeness at BTWG, stays at BTWG.

The Dog Ate My Homework (or the Groundhog did)

Happy Groundhog Day BTWGers!

One of my favorite parts of the Project® is blogging. I love reading what everyone is doing or not doing. I love the connectivity & the US Weeklyness of it all. However, my least favorite part is the paperwork. I hate it. Other than writing notes on little scraps of paper,I can't force myself to do it. My Excel is just not very excellent.

This paperwork thing is something I am having issues with in many aspects of my life. I told myself that I couldn't blog until I had all the paperwork done, but then the hours became days, the days became weeks, and then I said WTF. At bible study on Saturday I was so impressed with how diligent every one is. If I didn't know I had a cohort in crime (thanks for having my back) who is just as much of a scrivener slacker as I am, I would have flung myself out the Au Bon Pain window.

Anyway, I am mindful of it and am trying to figure out why I can't force myself to do it. I'm even dreaming about it. I am exercising--jumping rope, walking (not running), toning with weights & bands. I am actually sitting on the mat to mediate. I even scheduled a guest meditator for my office yoga class. I've lost weight. I'm eating better than I have in years, albeit I still eat in restaurants & eat dinner after 7. I'm cooking more than I have in years which was one of my goals for joining the cult.

Although I don't follow all the rules, if I could memorialize what I have done, it wouldn't be bad. Why can't I fill out the reports?

Aha. That is the Groundhogness of it. I keep repeating certain patterns over & over. This Project® has been an eye opener for me in just two weeks to actually notice what I do. As my overarching goal has been some new, healthier habits, I have been doing things with an eye towards sustainability. So, I have developed some habits that I could sustain, I still can't bust loose from others.

If someone put a gun to my head, I could probably eschew restaurants for 12 weeks, but then, I'd put a gun to my head. I'd be a different person. I want to be a different paperwork person, but not necessarily a different socializer. The restaurant scene & the socializing are actually more important than the food (although I am a food snob). It's not that difficult for me to make good food choices and eat appropriate portions, although I can't really know the calorie count. I'm happy about changes I've made with food. Less loan sharkery; more nutrition in the bank.

I'm frustrated that I can't be a better Project® administration. I'm still in Groundhog Day. I'll keep working on it. Maybe by the end of the Project®, I'll wake up one morning and I won't hear "I've Got You Babe" blasting me.












UPDATE

The Groundhog Day Buddhism Sutra:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/perry-garfinkel/the-groundhog-day-buddhis_b_162950.html