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Taking a b-rake

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Happy Monday!

Hey folks. So, I have come to another point in my blogging trials that I want to take a break from my weekly updates to a) regain perspective and b) allow more time to pursue myself. I followed a similar path in August of 2012 where I took about a month off from writing, from day-job working, and from my daily routine to do a little soul-searching for some I’m so lost, what should I do now answers. It was a great retreat and really helped put some things into perspective. Actually, it prefaced such a great directional shift in my life and I am so grateful that I gave myself the opportunity to break away from what I knew (uncertainty) so I could have a less involved mindset to figure out what I did not know (how to achieve certainty).

I don’t know when I plan on being back behind these keys to type my perspectives away, but I do know that I want to devote my thought-energy to myself for however long until I am internally inspired to write again.

This website sees anywhere from 50 to 150 visitors on a daily basis from countries all over the world (provided by wordpress’ stat tracker). It’s super humbling to see those numbers and by which route they made it to reading my words. I cannot thank you all enough for taking the time out of your day to read the ever-evolving word vomit that comes from my thoughts. So, in the meantime, I want to know what your thoughts are, what you’d like to hear from me, what you wouldn’t like to hear from me, or why you read this blog. I invite you to write/comment anonymously on this wordpress-based thread, use the ask option on Tumblr, or e-mail me with your perspectives.

Happy trails,

jdperryhealth.com
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jdperryhealth@gmail.com

Set fire to your old self

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Happy Monday!

Your personality is not set in stone. […] You can change what you want about yourself at any time. You see yourself as someone who can’t write or play an instrument, who gives in to temptation or makes bad decisions, but that’s really not you. It’s not ingrained. It’s not your personality. Your personality is something else, something deeper.

If it is useful to do so, you must abandon your identity and start again. Sometimes it’s the only way.

Set fire to your old self. It’s not needed here. It’s too busy shopping, gossiping about others, watching days go by, and asking why you haven’t gotten as far as you’d like. This old self will die and be forgotten by all but family, and replaced by someone who makes a difference.

Your new self is not like that. Your new self is the Great Chicago Fire — overwhelming, overpowering, and destroying everything that isn’t necessary.

Julien Smith, “The Flinch”

I came across this quote the other day on the Tumblr and I am sharing it with all of you today because this is exactamundo what I went through to discover my current renewed self. I mean, I wasn’t too busy shopping or gossiping about others, but I was sure watching the days go by and asking myself why the shit am I not where I want to be and how the heck can I get there? Actually, I had no clue where I wanted to be. I just knew that I wasn’t happy with myself at the time – with where I was or with how I was – and I needed to figure all of that out, so, I started at square one… Why am I me? I questioned abso-tu-ta-lutely everything. I wrote list after list… Why am I not happy? What influences me to be unhappy? What influences me internally to be unhappy? What influences me externally to be unhappy? How did I get here? Why did I get here? What influenced me to get here? What experiences throughout my childhood have molded me, for good or worse, to be who I am? Am I ready to take responsibility for myself? Am I ready to admit all of my faults and claim them as my own? What is the cause to all of my symptoms? How are my symptoms related?

I think what helped the most in my trials was the immense desire of just wanting to be happy, and wanting to be happy more than unhappy (because people can get stuck in negative land and develop a comfort in unhappiness. It’s easier to be unhappy because sometimes happiness requires change and change isn’t always easy, especially when you have to take responsibility for yourself). I vividly recall days that I would just repeat to myself, “I just want to be happy, I just want to be happy, I just fucking want to be happy,” but I didn’t know what made me happy or how that was even possible from where I stood at what seemed to be the bottom rung of a 100-story ladder. What I did know, however, was what made me unhappy and I realized that if I wanted to make any forward progress at all with myself, I needed to address that first and why that reality existed. My unhappiness weighed so much more on me than anything else and so in order to get that weight off my shoulders I had to suck it up, face my fears, face my demons, face my denials, face my conditionings, face my family, face my friends, face my career, face my passions, and face all of my responsibilities to myself, including the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of my life that were completely out of balance. The thing is, I confronted myself with everything first and last. I experience the world before the world experiences me and I had to take responsibility for everything that I was internally and externally. It wasn’t easy. I went through weeks where I felt that every day was one step forward and two steps backwards. But, I kept on trucking because the desire to find my happiness was the greatest realization I have ever come across in my (then) 26 years of life. “Without darkness, one cannot know light” is what I had to experience in order to appreciate a bliss that I have always dreamt of but never could place its reality in my life. I had to lose myself and hit rock freaking bottom before I could place a value on the importance and incredible feeling of finding myself and making my way to the top with all of the responsibility on my back.

Addressing my all-encompassing self was one thing. I had successfully managed to put my entire life to-date into perspective and was able to truly figure out why I am me (of course with plenty-o head room for new discoveries). Then came the biggest step: I had to change into who I wanted to be. I had to experience myself from birth to the present moment, I had to discover and understand that I wouldn’t be able to move on without letting go of who I was at the time, and so I set fire to my old self, leaving my old life in the dust so a new life could rise from the ashes. I forced myself to die. And I always feared death, so that was a huuuuuge thing to put into perspective and overcome for myself. I had to actually face and experience one of my biggest fears in order to move on. I had to die to live. It’s incredible.

If it is useful to do so, you must abandon your identity and start again. Sometimes it’s the only way.

I agree with the above statement in the context of myself and the path I needed to take. Not every needs to embark on such a drastic change, but I believe that it is useful to explore oneself, to explore the why’s and how’s to your current self, and to address any unhappiness that may exist. I support unhappiness because it is often a necessary starting point to bring about a change for the betterment of you.

I’m still me and, in the same breath, I’m not me at all. I am no one and someone at the same time. I am. I am not. I am and I am not. Neither I am nor I am not. It’s a really cool time in my life and I’m so grateful for all of the shit I stuck through to get me to my current self.

If you’re unhappy, don’t stop until you find it. That feeling, better yet the achievement of that feeling – knowing that YOU made this happen because of such a dedication to your happiness – is greater than words could ever speak.

jdperryhealth.com
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jdperryhealth@gmail.com

See what happens when you forget about the world?

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Happy Monday,

The Philadelphia area recently had a two-day span of summer-esque weath-hair. Everyone was freaking out and smiling and outwardly happy for the first time since, I’m guessing, September when we last had similar days of rays. Two days of full-on swamp ass, coming out of no where, followed by an equally-intense-out-of-the-same-vein swampy experience; a thunderstorm. I forgot about summer thunderstorms. I forgot how much I loved them. I forgot how necessary they are not only to my life, but to the life of the Earth. It is nature’s yin and yang in full-effect and I think that’s why I subconsciously gravitate towards [thunderstorms]. I need that balance of give and take, of heat and cool, of push and pull, of intensity and sedation just as much as nature does, and my ability to put that relationship into perspective has been so gratifying/awe-inspiring for me lately. But, despite all of my ‘isms, I still have my 21st-century moments where I lose that one-with-nature perspective and get lost in the constricted world that I choose to be a part of rather than the boundless world that is a part of me; i.e. fabricate technology, fabricated societal pressures, or fabricated internal fears vs. a living nature, the living stars, or the living universe.

Keeping all that in mind, picture an Anytown, USA warehouse with a dock and a tin roof as a prime vantage point for kicking back on some uprooted mini-van captain chairs to watch a thunderstorm roll through the night; vivid lightening strikes streaking through the sky, ginormous rolling thunder clouds, and the melodic sheets of rain pounding against an old tin roof. Sounds good, doesn’t it? It’s the first thunderstorm of the new year and there I am, head buried in my iPhone texting excitedly about the storm, frantically searching for my Camera App so I can then “watch” the storm through a 3-inch screen while recording it so I can send it to a friend some 1000′s of miles away, requiring me to re-bury my head back into a world that is something us humans made up. I was sharing the physical stormy experience with a good friend of mine, only he was actually experiencing it while I was just riding the bench. I missed a few sweet lightening episodes and I made it pretty obvious that I was annoyed with myself for paying more attention to my phone. So, I picked my head up a little more often, but each time I soon dropped my head back into my phone to miss yet another lightening strike, which was followed by more frustration. Hearing my sighs, a little birdie chimed in with, “See what happens when you forget about the world, JD?” Man. Yes! Perfect! I was immediately brought back into perspective, into what matters…. only to realize this would make a great blog post to go into my Notes App and add one more line to my “Blog Ideas” note, and, of course as irony would have it, I missed another great lightening strike. Can win ‘em all, right?

But, what happens when we don’t miss “the small stuff” like jaw-dropping lightening strikes and the beauty of the rain to cool off a humid night, and, instead, we miss a turn on the road… or ample time to study for an important test… or a chance to meet someone that could change your life… or to give someone your undivided attention and eyes in a conversation… or to even have the ability to hold a conversation in person? All because we get caught up in the world that isn’t real and in a world that we’re not biologically designed to be a part of.

See what happens when you forget about the world?

The world doesn’t give a shit about you, but you sure as hell should give a shit about the world. Full-on oblivion and a sack full of self-irresponsibility equate to missing a huge part of what life really is. No, it’s not the concrete and advanced world we have built, rather it is the stripped-down, the-soil-is-the-root-of-all-life world that we were born from. We are children of the Earth and the Earth is a child of the Stars. It’s not the Earth’s responsibility to take care of us, but you can bet your ass that it is our responsibility to take care of ourselves so we can then take care of the Earth. And it’s when we lose sight of that – when we lose sight of what is real, what is important, or what we are all a part of – is when we lose ourselves, when we lose our perspectives, when we lose our true meaningful existence, and the loss of the living, breathing, moving Earth and it’s infinite life forms are not too far behind.

I encourage you all, if you haven’t already, to discover the Earth and our place, our role, our contributions, our give and takes, our reciprocal responsibility atop this floating ball of life that is amongst an endless, living Universe. The world would be the same, if not probably better off, without us. But we would certainly not be the same without the world. Don’t ever forget it.

Thanks for the wake-up call, G.

jdperryhealth.com
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jdperryhealth@gmail.com

Carl Sagan’s The Pale Blue Dot

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Happy Monday, 

From this distant vantage point, the Earth might not seem of any particular interest. But for us, it’s different. Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every “superstar,” every “supreme leader,” every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors, so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand. It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.

300px-PaleBlueDot

Carl Sagan’s “The Pale Blue Dot” – a perspective encouraged by a photo taken from Voyager 1 of the Earth from the distance of Saturn, 3.7 billion miles away.

Now do you see what’s more important?

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jdperryhealth@gmail.com

The sweetness of doing nothing

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Happy Monday!

Il dolce far niente, which, of course, in German means a whale’s – wait… no. That’s not it. Oh, right… it means, the sweetness of doing nothing. Yes, how sweet it is to sit back, relax on the couch, kick up your heels, scroll through the Ryan Gosling tag on Tumblr, creep on people’s Instagram photos, or catch up on The Walking Dead episodes while simultaneously telling yourself not to go on Facebook because there are spoilers everywhere. A friend of mine sent me that phrase (the nothing thingy) in a text earlier this week. We were shooting the shit about weekend plans and I said that my Saturday will consist of absolutely nothing; a full-on “me day” to catch up on all-things JD because I’ve had a hell of a busy month and the next week will be a culmination of a majority of those efforts. I’ve never heard the phrase before and when I read it, it just clicked for me so instantaneously. Say what?… Is that a Italian phrase?… Because if it is that’s awesome! And I’m blogging about it today to go a bit more in-depth about what it means to do nothing and why that is so incredibly beneficial towards the betterment of one self and towards the betterment of the world that we build for ourselves (and how we influence the world around us) with our thoughts.

I have a lot of friends that will joke about doing nothing; basically disclaiming how they aren’t doing a thing because they’re a waste or a bum or lazy or don’t have a direction to their day. I know the jokes are all in good fun, but I like to think that there’s some truth to every joke… or at least a hidden mindset that is being covered up by poking fun at oneself so others cannot do the same. I used to have that mentality; that doing nothing meant I was not accomplishing a single damn thing… until I stumbled upon meditation (I’m not about to launch into a why-you-should-meditate spiel so rest easy). Meditation is centered around nothingness. For me, meditation takes on a monkey-see-monkey-do interpretation because I am able to calm my body and it transposes to my mind. At first my mind freaks the freak out, but, sure enough, my mind settles and I am literally sitting there doing absolutely nothing. It is one of the most enjoyable I have with myself, which is where one of my main points in doing nothing lies… because if you’re not having fun then what’s the point?

Ok. So. I sit by myself with my eyes closed and it is the epitome of doing nothing, but I am accomplishing so much with myself, right? So, why can’t that same mindset be applied to the cliche “lazy” activities like lying in bed all day, browsing the internet for hours on end, playing videos games, watching movies or tv shows, or, if you want to dive into a reality that exists despite its taboo aura, looking at porn? Because, in my optimistic/seeing the big picture opinion, every single one of those nothings equate to a beneficial experience of the self. If an experience allows you to spend quality time with yourself, allows you to get to know yourself better, allows you to have fun experiencing yourself, then what’s wrong with that? You’re not lazy. You’re not a bum. You’re not doing anything wrong. In fact, I think you’re doing everything right.

But what if that’s all I do because I don’t have a direction or I’m not good at anything or I hate my shitty job and my life is going no where?

My answer to those made up questions in my head is this: You’re figuring things out, right? You’re getting yourself from A to B, right? You’re taking each day one at a time, you’re doing the things that make you happy, and you’re paving yourself a path for the future with each present-moment experience, right? So, what the fuck is wrong with doing nothing if you’re actually doing everything that you can to be happy in the present moment, a.k.a. the only one that matters? And being happy in this lifetime, on this green earth, is all that matters, right? 1) Stop comparing yourself to others or to your past, 2) Shift your mindset to positivity because it’ll do wonders, and 3) Fuck societal standards. Fuck status-quo. Fuck anything that anyone tells you that says you should do this or that or you shouldn’t do this or that. Because you are figuring your life out on your own time, at your own pace, and on your own terms. If you want to sit in bed all day to watch movies then fucking do it to your fullest potential and have some fucking fun, man.

I will say that procrastination and a lack of self-responsibility can each play a factor in a form of nothingness. But, that’s a completely different blog because the desire to do nothing is can be a symptom of the aforementioned greater causes. It is important to differentiate amongst the why’s to nothingness.

I like to encourage perspective shifts, and today’s blog is one of those: Treat doing nothing as doing everything. These days nothing comes much easier to me and when I’m able to have a day to indulge, I freaking kill it. I know that it’s so important for me to have those days because at the end of the day I am still working towards my ultimate goals of: Being happy, getting to know myself better, learning about myself, and bettering myself in any way that I can.

I find it interesting when peers tell me that they don’t know what they want to do in their life or they feel like their going no where or are lost because I was at that point not long ago and it was because I had a hard time shifting my perspective for the better. To aid in that, it’s not so much by providing the advice of “figure out what you’re good at,” it’s more so “figure out whatever it is that makes you happy and then figure out a way to have that every day for the rest of your life.” If watching movies all day makes you happy, then build yourself a life that supports that. If playing with your cat for hours on end makes you happy, then build yourself a life that supports that. If playing guitar ’til the sun comes up makes you happy, then build yourself a life that supports that. I have learned first-hand that any shitty experience, any shitty job, and any daily bullshit are all worth it because I am able to put into perspective what makes me happy and the steps I must take to build a life that supports that happiness. Doing nothing is surely one of those steps. And when I am able to do nothing, it is without a doubt beneficial towards the betterment of my self, towards the betterment of the world that I build myself, and towards the betterment of the influence I have upon others.

Fuck yeah, man.

jdperryhealth.com
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jdperryhealth@gmail.com

The positives about being positive

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Happy Monday,

Before I dive into today’s “The positives about being positive” I want to address my recent blogging experience. Two weeks ago I did a pull-it-out-of-my-ass blog post regarding my “Current health advice” and I received my highest daily blog hits in months. Actually, I was this close to not blogging at all and taking another hiatus because I think I’m at another point in my life where I don’t need this blog as much (we’ll see what next week brings). But, something told me to keep going and I decided to just write a simple post which shared some obvious things to me but could be not-so-obvious to newcomers or sporadic readers. The post included a-day-in-the-life perspectives so it wasn’t too much sweat off my back, whereas last week I posted a no-commentary-figure-the-meaning-out-on-your-own interview between interviewer Bill Moyers and the late Joseph Campbell, a world-renowned myth-buster and saw some of my lowest Monday site visits. Honest to gad, I put so much more effort into simply listening to and writing down the words of that interview than writing some of the reoccurring themes of this health blog. Why? Because I got SO much more out of the interview with Joseph Campbell and to me, at this point in my journey, his perspectives had that much more of an impact on me than my olden days of reading health magazines for “fat-busting foods” or “calorie-burning work outs” or “muscle-building meals.” But, I think that’s where most people are at right now with this age of instant gratification. Information is in-demand to be short, concise, to the point, and in 140 characters or less. And so the post that I believe people can actually take a lot more from – i.e. self-awareness, self-discovery – saw the least amount of hits and the post that appealed more was in a bulleted form that a sheep could have provided. Interesting stuff. Onto today…

Two weeks ago I created an experiment that only I was aware of; it was an experiment of how positivity – being outwardly positive – affects a) myself and b) those around me. I didn’t have much faith on my possible mentality-shift with this little scheme but I, at least, wanted to see if I could brighten the day of those with whom I interacted (since I currently work at a hospital and that shit can get depressing). My day job (because my public health musings and my back-to-basics-warehouse-band guitar playing don’t quite pay the bills yet) has me interacting with a varied public on a daily basis. One by one people come and go, and as they come, I am provided an opportunity to greet someone first. “Hey, how are you doing today?” is my go-to greeting. I usually get, “Well, ok I guess” or an “I’m alright.” And when posed with the return question, two weeks ago I decided to respond with “I’m doing great!” This was a great stretch from my previous “Alright” default because I knew I didn’t feel great… I felt alright and the word “Great” better be backed up by a genuine smile and telling poise otherwise I’d be standing there like Chevy Chase in Memoirs of an Invisible Man. But I convinced myself to convince myself and wouldn’t you know it…

A week into this thing I noticed a few changes. I drew more smiles than usual, I created more conversation than normal, and I began to feel better about myself. Yep, and Bingo was his name-o. I literally felt better about myself – in my brains AND in my bodies. Sure, I had confidence my all-smiles greeting would bring some greatness into other’s lives, but I didn’t think it would do the trick for me. Perhaps I’ve been shat on one too many times or that I’m still wading my way through the sh-tuff, but Mr. Guru Perspective Shift Queen of Oneness over here didn’t have the confidence that a simple response of “I’m great!” really would have a profound internal experience and, thus, a perspective-shifting result! I’d be a Monkey’s Uncle if i said it weren’t true. It’s yet ANOTHER beautiful example of how the mind and body can act upon the same level.

In my seconds on this planet I’ve experienced a handful of people who consistently return with their versions of “I’m great!” and I’m sure you have, too. AND I’m sure you can count those posi-peoples on your fingers. I’m not off when I say that most people do not respond with “Great” – at best we provide a half-assed “Good” with a subliminal “I guess” lagging behind. I want to invite you all to do participate. Because we all know the whole P.M.A. talk doesn’t do a damn thing unless you start walking that talk. I’m on week three of the “I’m great challenge” (aka the IGC) and it’s done wonders for the way I hold myself and the way I am able to interact with others. Seriously. When someone asks how you’re doing, say, “I’m great!” and mean it (insert The Starting Line reference).

jdperryhealth.com
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jdperryhealth@gmail.com

Intolerance, understandings, and Princess Diana

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Happy Monday folks,

“The greatest problem in the world today is intolerance. Everyone is so intolerant of each other.”

- Princess Diana

Having said that…

“If each man or woman could understand that every other human life is as full of sorrows, or joys, or base temptations, of heartaches and of remorse as his own… how much kinder, how much gentler he would be.”

- William Allen White

I came across the above quotes earlier this week and sat with them a bit. I sat with them to really take in what they mean to me; my interpretations according to my understandings, which is one of my points today. Quotes mean what I want or need them to mean to justify or expand my reality, respectively. According to my definition, this intolerance that Princess Di speaks of exists because people do not have a reason nor an understanding for tolerance to have a place in their lives. Said people are quaint in their reality of self-righteousness and existence, not co-existing. I suggest that intolerance is not really the issue at play. The language that we use when approaching such universal subjects is what gets lost in the definition shuffle.

Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy the late Princess’ approach to raise an awareness that we are so unaccepting, or perhaps impatient, and it is that which brings suffering to the masses. But, what struck a nerve for me is her use of the words, problem and intolerance. They produce such a negative connotation to such an inspiring perspective. What that quote says to me is that we need to be more tolerant. We need to be more able to put up with people’s shit. No where does it say how to do such a thing. No where does it offer an opposing approach. Not only do I read negativity, but I also read subjectivity because I do not believe that everyone can relate to intolerance. To relate to intolerance we all have to experience intolerance on the same level and I’m not so sure if that fits into everyone’s reality. Ya understand? This brings me to the second quote by Mr. William Allen White. I believe, with the help of White’s words, that the greatest reality (not problem) we face is what we do not understand nor care to understand, and not intolerance. It is from that foundation that breeds tolerance or intolerance. It is from that foundation that we accept or dismiss. It is from that foundation that can lead to joy or suffering for one or many. “How much kinder, how much gentler he would be” if we took the time to understand a reality that was not our own by using such relatable life experiences (sorrow, joy, temptations, remorse) that we all share to give oneself a glimpse into another’s journey. Sure, we don’t all have to live such cliche morbid lives, but the reality is that life can be tough if we don’t make an effort to understand nor give consideration to ourselves and others.

What quotes say is one thing for us to understand. What they don’t say and imply is a-whole-nother ballpark that’s rarely sees the limelight.

“Silence is the language of god, all else is poor translation.”

- Rumi

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Food and nutrition labels

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Happy Monday students,

Four week ago I discussed generic health advice and how it’s a one-size-fits-all health advice crap sandwich. You know, the kind of advice that says we should consume a specific amount of calories each day, that we must weigh a specific amount in relation to our height, that we must drink a specific (copious) amount of water each day, or that we need to avoid or consume specific foods all to be “healthy.” Today’s post stems off of that – off of the blind advice we’re told on a daily basis by health professionals – by highlighting some of the marketing campaigns said professionals swear by. And I cannot help to wonder if they really know what they’re talking about: Have they done their research? Research as in not just Google-ing a few articles that all support the same claim. Research as in understanding the physiology of the body, it’s mechanisms, and how it acts or reacts. Research as in understanding the food, it’s properties, and how it acts or reacts within the body.

  • Improves digestion
  • Boosts metabolism
  • Supports immune system
  • Detoxifies
  • Heart healthy
  • Lowers cholesterol
  • Improved mental clarity
  • Increased sexual stamina

The first marketing campaign that comes to mind is “Cheerio’s can lower cholesterol in two weeks.” Does anyone know what that actually means? Does anyone actually understand the mechanism by which Cheerios – a cereal made out of genetically modified oats and corn, and synthetic vitamins – can lower cholesterol? Do most people understand what cholesterol is and its purpose in the body? Do people most people understand how food affects cholesterol levels? Or are most people on the level that high cholesterol is bad, low cholesterol is good, and to avoid food with cholesterol because too much is bad? Oh, then there’s my favorite campaign, “part of a heart-healthy diet.” What the HELL does heart-healthy mean?! System of systems. One food does not benefit only one part of the body. System. Of. Systems.

I would really like to see the studies that allude to such claims. I would really like to see all of the stipulations that go into a claim, too, because of a little thing called subjectivity: Who was the study done on? Male? Female? Child? Animal? What age? Other current health factors? Exercise program? Genetic factors? General diet? And, probably the biggest factor, who funded the study?

I want to open some perspectives on what we become numb to and sheepishly believe. Before you go reading food labels as scripture and devouring every last morsel to boost, support, lower, or improve something within your physical self, take a moment to gain perspective with your all-encompassing non-physical self as to who is making the decisions here… your better judgement or the company’s fancy label. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve overheard two women of college age in a local coffee shop conversing about beauty products and superfoods, exclaiming how said factors can do wonders for the skin and metabolism and yadda, yadda, yadda. Ok, maybe I’ve heard it only twice BUT THOSE TWO TIMES were significant enough to stick and make me think… I can’t tell if they actually know what they’re talking about or if they’re really good at memorizing labels.

 

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Using exercise like the Hammer of Thor

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Happy Monday… we survived!

Where, oh where did we get the idea that exercise is a form of physical punishment, a real-life mulligan, a good-negating-bad choice, a means to self-worth, self-confidence, and self-love? And if we don’t exercise, do we not punish ourselves mentally with shame or through other physical reasoning such as diet restrictions or binges or vices? I’m certainly generalizing on behalf of a few, but I still think that a few involves… well… many.

Shit, I used to think or feel this way. I know a lot of my health-seeking peers share those thoughts or feelings, too… at least that’s the reality I peering-eye experience on my social networks; i.e. facebook prophecies, instagram progressions, twitter vents, and tumblr no-holds-barred’s. I experience people who hold exercise as the parting of the Red Sea to the healthy promise land. I experience people whom are publicly frustrated with themselves over poor diet choices. I experience people whom are up in a never-ending cycle of searching for themselves with external justification. I experience people whose achievements or success are based solely on hard-work, burning the wick at both ends, and pain.

I am aware that there is an extreme to this; one that is more in-touch with an inner peace as a means to reach outer satiety (as I have so novice-ly discovered along my journey). But not everyone is at that point, and there could be many drifting along in purgatory; searching for a quick-fix way out that could send them further down or a patiently-puzzle-pieced journey that may give rise to one of many epiphanies. I am not one to say who is right or wrong. I am no one to say my way or the highway. My point is to bring this constricted reality to light because it’s been on my subconscious radar for some time; that is, why does it have to be this way?

I do not have a black-and-white answer. What I have are some qualms. As long as work-out dvds exist, as long as diet-fads promoted by wolves looking to profit from sheep, as long as fitness buffs market an external body-image as the end and quick video clips of them exercising as the means, as long as specific advice is given to a world of individuals then this reality will continue to exist. There is, however, a growing awareness that health doesn’t mean pain, agony, stress, turmoil, punishment, or a daily kill-yourself. There is a growing awareness that health comes from within, from an awareness of one’s wants vs. needs, from an awareness that love and understanding precede permanent change (and not the yo-yo we may experience). There is a growing awareness of smarter, not harder to accomplish goals. There is a growing awareness that it’s ok to be less of an image and more of a path.

I am not bashing exercise. I think there is a time, a place, and an individualized need for exercise. I think that exercise has incredible benefits… when it is implemented properly. I think that people have built exercise up to be more of a reaction than action. I think that exercise went from a daily instinct to a daily grind. I think that if someone uses exercise for self-discipline, self-control, or self-confidence, I’d say there’s a lot more going on underneath it all that is in dire need to be addressed and not suppressed.

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One-size-fits-all health advice crap sandwich

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Happy monday cadets,

I am taking a stand against universal health recommendations; specifically, diet recommendations. Because health is subjective. Health is individualized. Health is not a math equation. Health is an internal feeling that projects outwardly, not the other way around. I’m guilty of it, both heeding and suggesting and having my perspectives skewed by all the jargon that’s out there. It’s hard not to when it’s nice to be “right,” to have a positive influence on others, to feel like I have purpose. It’s hard not to with years of ingrained “health facts” that are touted as scripture… yet… they… are… constantly… changing. I wish the solution was easy as encouraging people to not take everything so literally, to try before they buy and formulate an unbiased opinion, but we live in a quick-fix world that focuses on symptoms, of which hold generic numbers and unrealistic deadlines as guidelines or goals. With that approach it just may take a little more time for people to reach their true selves rather than the continuous yo-yo plight for image. And that’s ok. I just don’t agree with it anymore and this blog, in recent weeks, has become more of a figure-out-what-makes-you-happy-and-do-it-regardless-of-what-the-masses-say approach rather than hey-listen-to-me-I-read-some-cool-and-different-shit-that-may-help.

  • No one needs a specific amount of calories; i.e. 2,000 calories
  • No one needs a specific ratio of fat, protein, or carbohydrates at a given meal, as a dietary requirement, or as a daily culmination; i.e. 50-50-50, 10-50-40, 50-30-10, 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight to gain muscle
  • No one needs a specific amount of water; i.e. one gallon/day, 25% upon waking
  • No one needs to eat a specific food to lose weight; i.e. grains, omega -3′s, protein powder, skim milk, health bars, caffeine
  • No one needs to avoid a specific food to lose weight; i.e. saturated fat, sugar, dairy, white flour, salt
  • No one needs to exercise to be healthy
  • No one needs to lose weight to be healthy

You get the jist? I know that actual “healthy” and “unhealthy” foods exist. But, who’s to say what is right or wrong, especially on a universal scale? Most we can agree on: Drink water, eat food, sleep, laugh, be happy. It gets stupid when we place specifics or requirements upon health and happiness: Have sex this many times a week, drink this much wine, if you’re this height then you should be this weight, and yadda… yadda… yadda. We are human and experience a similar physical reality while our mentality, thoughts, and emotions are a) completely subjective and b) have an equal, if not greater, influence on our health as our physical realities do. We hear stories about people smoking daily into their 90′s, eating bacon daily into their 90′s, or drinking alcohol daily into their 90′s. We label them as the exception because how could any of that be healthy? If it makes them truly happy, how could it not be healthy?

 

jdperryhealth.com
jdperryhealth.tumblr.com
jdperryhealth@gmail.com