The Pursuit of Mythical Gains

[The_Myth]

I appreciate the background.

My knowledge of Vipassana is rudimentary at best. It is typically taught in a ten day silent retreat. I have not attended one yet, hope to in the future. I will do my best to explain, at least as I understand it.

It starts with a single point of concentration to quiet the mind, typically the upper lip where you can feel your breath during inhalation and exhalation. It can also be the nostrils or the belly experiencing breathing.

Once the mind has sufficiently quieted, you move onto a body scan, similar to yoga nidra. During the scan you observe sensations, emotions, thoughts, specifically the impermanence of them. Resist acting on them (itches, cramps, following the thoughts).

The mindfulness book recommends identifying the roots of thoughts - worries, ego driven thoughts, etcetera. Recognizing the subconscious becoming conscious helps to avoid reacting to the thoughts - like becomes craving becomes attachment creating suffering. Dislike becomes aversion becomes attachment to avoiding, creating suffering.

The idea is that through conscious practice you can develop a habit that spills over into everyday activities helping to regulate emotions, reduce attachment, reduce suffering.

You probably recognize this ties in with the Four Noble Truths and that following the Eightfold Path will also be helpful.

That is my understanding. I have only just begun implementing this, am not as consistent as I would like to be, still have a great deal of work to do.

[The_Myth]

@RT_Nomad

And then I realized that you and I are the same “generation.” Yet we seemed so very different, so I decided to look into this “generation” stuff. As it would be, I found that there are people who split the Baby Boomers into two “sub-groups”

• Boomers I: Those born 1946-1954
• Boomers II (aka Generation Jones): Those born 1955-1965

Seems they separated the two groups based on the Generation Jones being too young to have been subject to the military draft.

I always felt the Boomer Generation was far too long to have validity, and frequently claim to be a Boomer despite having a decidedly different experience from those born in the late forties and early fifties. I think any generalization of generations is too simple, and yet another way to “other.”

I was born in 1963, don’t consider myself a Boomer, but fit into the category. I wasn’t aware that they split it into two, but just another attempt to label people as different rather than focusing on what we have in common.

[The_Myth]

Not interested in escalating the strife in the other thread, but thought I would share that a member flagged three of my posts in another thread as inappropriate, that they were examined by the mods, and they were restored.

I apologize if anyone found them inappropriate.

[The_Myth]

My daughter is a Junior in college, was on the way to the gym today (love that) when a car hopped the median and hit her - relatively hard - shifted her car out of the turn lane and ripped off her front bumper.

She was dazed, confused, dizzy, and hysterical. She got out of her car which is a natural reaction, not clear with her surroundings, so not a great idea on a busy street.

There was a woman behind her who also got out of her car and told her, “Just come to me honey, you are okay.”

My daughter did as told and walked to her. The woman told her to call her mom and to tell her she was okay.

My wife got the call, my daughter hyperventilating, sirens and fire trucks in the back ground, and heard the woman in the background telling my daughter, “Tell her you are okay honey.”

Restored my faith in humanity. I wish I could hug that woman.

[LoRez]

I’m glad she is ok.

[EmilyQ]

She’s completely fine, I hope?

When I was 16 or 17 a cat came out of nowhere on a country road, and I hit it. I stopped and got out of the car, and began hysterics. The cat was in the road and I couldn’t tell if it was dead or alive and was afraid to go look. A middle-aged man stopped, got out, took a look at the cat, shook his head, and hugged me while I cried in the most completely non-creepy way imaginable. When I calmed down, he made sure I could drive, said he’d take care of the cat, and sent me off.

Someone’s dad. A good one.

[The_Myth]

As my wife told me the story last night, sirens, fire trucks, daughter on the phone, woman in the background, “Tell her you are okay honey,” gotta admit, I teared up.

I had spoken to my daughter after this, still on the accident scene. She was shaken, but pretty solid. Much better than she had been with other minor events in High School.

I am not close to her, her choice. But she calls me when big things happen. She knows I love her.

It blew me away that someone would get out of their car and treat her like family, “Walk to me honey. Call your mom. Tell her you are okay.”

It is mind boggling that someone would treat my kid with such love.

I would absolutely do the same, and have in the past, but this blew me away.

@EmilyQ

A middle-aged man stopped, got out, took a look at the cat, shook his head, and hugged me while I cried in the most completely non-creepy way imaginable

Powerful stuff!

Service to others.

I saw a TikTok today, my only source of research these days. Teacher has all the kids write their names on balloons, throws them in the hall, go find yours.

Half hour goes by, nobody finds their balloon.

Teacher throws them back in the hall and says find a balloon and give it to the owner.

Five minutes later, all of the kids have their own balloon.

Balloons are happiness. Find someone else’s and you will get your own.

Hokey for sure.

[The_Myth]

In Oregon with my Old People, have a vehicle so adapting my schedule. In Santa Cruz I sleep late to avoid the chilly mornings (woodstove is my only heat) but when I am here, I like to hit the gym early and get to an early meeting, so that is what I did today. First time in the gym in a few months. Got to the gym at 4:25, grocery store at 5:15, made the six o’clock meeting. Back to the house and back in bed by 7:30, lol.

Mom made cookies for me yesterday, they stocked up on Klondike bars last week, will hit the bulk dark chocolate peanut clusters when I take my dad grocery shopping, so I expect to be carbed up for the gym.

I canceled my my trip to Europe - my travel partner was getting chippy with me - so am going to extend my stay here. I miss the gym and having a car.

Felt good

[The_Myth]

Fifth day in a row hitting the gym. It’s amazing how quicky hypertrophy returns when lifting and eating. I was lacking definition when I got here, have been chowing down on mom’s cooking, and look leaner than when I arrived - guess it’s that feast/famine thing @T3hPwnisher writes about.

I have extended my stay by two weeks. I have been doing a Push/Pull/Legs split but will switch to 531 after legs tomorrow.

Late

[T3hPwnisher]

Nailed it. Prime the body to grow by starving it first! Haha.

[The_Myth]

Another good day in the gym - doing a modified . I am not bothering to program, just using an anchor lift with accessories 531 style. Today was OHP, did Incline bench, pull downs, tri push downs, curls and abs. Feeling good.

On a more important topic, it appears my son has made a college decision. We have toured several universities and while he was happy with two of them, he wasn’t excited about them. He’s a pretty level kid, thoughtful, was worried about making the wrong decision, worried about finances, etc… I have encouraged him to trust the process, to gather information and to trust that the solution would present itself.

It appears that the solution has presented itself. He is on a tour at UConn and loves it, seems like a great fit.

Yay!

[The_Myth]

Body comp continues to improve - it appears. Will weigh and BF test when I get back to Cali on Tuesday.

Have some good momentum going in the gym and am motivated to keep it up so I will have to finally join a gym in California. Also means more cardio on the bike and will have to get that tuned up.

[The_Myth]

I am planning on going carnivore for a few weeks starting next week. One of my problems is variety. Steaks, ribs, bacon, eggs, maybe some type of pot roast - other than that, I’m at a bit of a loss.

Any ideas?

[LoRez]

Pork chops, pork tenderloin, pulled pork (pork shoulder in the crockpot), chicken thighs, drumsticks, breast.

[The_Myth]

I should have mentioned that I am intending to do bacon, eggs, butter, beef and ice cream - minus the ice cream.

Typically, chicken thighs and pork chops are main sources of protein because I am a cheap skate, lol.

I just joined Costco (warehouse) and am going to bite the bullet and try BEBBI.

[LoRez]

I haven’t bought any but I hear Costco salmon is really good too.

[The_Myth]

In Santa Cruz, prices are ridiculously high at most stores. Costco prices aren’t much better, but the quality is.

I’m feeling like I haven’t thought this through, so I’m going to reassess.

[T3hPwnisher]

@The_Myth

One of my problems is variety.

What’s interesting is, variety is a problem because you’re viewing this from the lens of a non-carnivore. From your literary background, you’ll absolute dig the value of perspective.

When you’ve been eating non-carnivore for so long, variety is definitely a consideration. Along with this psychological imperative to change how we eat, it derives from a biological imperative: we can’t keep eating the same plants over and over again, as the accumulated toxins will eventually become too much. We need to “detox” with variety.

With meat (and eggs, for some), this is a non-issue. And when you spend enough time eating meat, you don’t feel this need for variety. Your body appreciates the food for what it is: nourishment. When you get hungry, you get hungry for food, you don’t run into the whole “I’m not in the mood for X” thing.

It takes a while to get there, but once it’s there, meat just ends up being delicious BECAUSE it’s what you want. No sacrifice, no tricks: we eat meat because we’re hungry, we stop because we’re done.

All of THAT said, there are carnivore cooking channels out there that can make things creative. People will make pizza using costco canned chicken to make a crust, I made “chaffles” today out of eggs and cheese, folks will make bread: if you really WANT variety and creativity, it’s there.

BUT, if you want “food freedom”, where you no longer have to think about your next meal, and can just eat when hungry and stop when you’re done, that’s out there too.

But yes: don’t forget eggs.

…and lamb.

[The_Myth]

Yeah, this is why I decided to reassess and not rush into a poorly thought out plan. For some reason, I was planning beef, bacon, eggs and butter but I don’t think that’s feasible.

My diet is typically high protein. I live on chicken thighs, eggs, and protein shakes. But, I have a healthy sweet tooth as well. I mix in cheap frozen pizzas because I’m lazy.

I’m also planning on sticking to the gym and trying to add some muscle for summer, so I am not sure going carnivore will mesh with that in the short term.

As usual, my thinking is muddled.

[T3hPwnisher]

@The_Myth

I was planning beef, bacon, eggs and butter but I don’t think that’s feasible.

This is actually the VERY prescription that Dr. Ken Berry provides. Whole lotta folks manage that.

I think carnivore and adding muscle can go quite well together, but it does take getting through the initial healing phase for that. I dropped 35lbs at first, but put on 18 after that. And it’s been quality.

If you commit to this route, I’d love to be there for you.