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Hello.
I have a real problem with food and fat. Actually I exercise about 4 times a week, but I also eat cake every day and I am about 70kg should be 58kg. I am 43.I just don’t know what to do. I tried eating more fruit, but I just have such a bad relationship with everything, food, my body, my hunger.
Sometimes I just hate it all. I hate my mouth. I don’t know what to eat.
Seems once I open my mouth it just eats everything. Normally I don’t even eat breakfast, so that I keep my mouth shut until lunch time.
I have man breasts and probably fat on my organs.
It’s not good.
I really don’t know what to do. It’s not an isolated problem, perhaps I don’t feel loved.
I don’t know. Maybe it’s a chemical addiction.
I have a good exercise routine, mon-fri I do 2 hours of chi kung and 45mins of cardio, but I am still fat.
I even considered raspberry ketones, some new pills that drop some weight. But I know that’s not really my problem.
Perhaps I should just throw all my food away and just buy oranges, just start with the basics.
I don’t know what I am doing with food. I probably have no idea what it means to be hungry, I just eat in a routine. Don’t feel it.
I don’t eat junk food or soda.
Help !
If I were to answer the question the way you’d like, I’d probably say things like “stay away from and cut out all simple sugar from your diet”.
By the way, eating more fruit is not the solution. Fruit has a lot of fruit sugar in it and is only one step away from “candy with vitamins and fiber”. Fruit should be more like a spice in a daily diet than a main dish. Instead, I’d recommend more lean meats like turkey and chicken and non-sugary fiber sources (veggies, nuts, flax, etc.), things that don’t make your blood sugar travel on a roller coaster . . .
However, that’s not really the problem as I see it from your post.
So let me give you a more useful answer, even if it is not really what you want to hear:
You mentioned you are man of 43. I don’t know any men of 43 that weigh 128 lbs (58 kgs). Unless you are an extremely short person, that sounds way way too low. For reference, I am a short person of 5’7”, which in metric is 170cm, and for my height and frame, 154 lbs (i.e. 70kg) is about ideal weight.
In any case, let’s say you are short and your weight amounts that you gave are correct:
Then, 70kg – 58kg = 12 kg. This is about 26 lbs overweight.In the US, I’d say most of the population, probably 90%, is more overweight than that even. So, even if your numbers are correct for you, I’ll still say your weight is pretty reasonable.
Not saying it wouldn’t hurt to lose some weight, but let me get the point, the real answer to your post that I’ve been sliding toward:
Your comments seem a little too obsessive to me. Comments like “you hate your mouth” and “probably fat on your organs” is a little bit of fanatical thinking . . . a lot of worry/anxiety tied in with negative storylines that you are spinning in your head.
If all this sounds like a spleen/earth imbalance, it is because it is one.
Disorders around eating have to do with this imbalance. It is basically a hyper-active earth element (symptoms of obsessing, anxiety, and caught in negative mental storylines) that is not allowing its qi to flow in the creation cycle to the metal element . . . thus the metal element is consequently starved as a result. This translates too much metal rigidity (fixing the storylines) and lack of metal qi. The lack of metal qi is often why folks with these kind of issues usually have some underlying depression tied into it. Basically, it is a break in the creation cycle at the earth->metal connection, with the hyperactive earth not passing its energy to the starved metal.
So here’s the real recommendation, and it is not dietary:
I recommend doing a lot of grounding practices, such as Iron Shirt 1, to help you get out of your head. This will help you calm down the hyperactive earth. It will also secondarily help you to not have an unhealthy anxious cycle with food (as food=stomach & spleen = earth). The unhealthy anxious food cycle is an unconscious attempt to silence the hyperactive earth. Secondarily, Tao Yin would also be supportive as that will help break up the metal rigidity that is a side-effect of the earth imbalance.
In truth, these recommendations will do far more for you in terms of increasing your wellness than any dietary change you might make.
Qi,
StevenThanks Steven !
I will follow your advice, this is what I am looking for as I realise something is happening inside that is not to do with food.
I have not head of “Tao Yin” … please let me know what you are referring to ?
Tao Yin is a collection of floor-based exercises.
Imagine yoga, but more flowing and like qigong.Best beginning resource is Karin Sörvik’s Tao Yin DVD, found here:
Tao Yin DVDIt is a cheap, yet excellent, product.
As you are presumably outside the US (judging by your comments in metric), shipping may be different and you might need to contact her directly to make it happen. She lives in Argentina and US in alternation, so is used to international issues and would find a way to get you the DVD. I believe it is region-free. So just contact her (contact info on website) and mention to her I recommended you get her DVD and where you live. 😉
Even most importantly though is the rooted standing meditation, ala Iron Shirt 1. Getting the energy out of your head and stopping the hyperactive thinking/storylines is the most important of the two recommendations. If you did only one, do this. If you can do both that and Tao Yin, even better.
Qi,
StevenHi again Steve
I received QF 3/4 last week, so following your recommendation I have been doing some grounding (Zhan Zhuang) and extra spleen duty, it seems good.
I wanted to ask you something else. Part of my mon-fri routine is to insert 45 mins of yangi/western exercise before lunch, been doing Taebo and Ministry of sound dance workouts and sometimes circuits!!
But it is also true that it is quite disturbing to add in this kind of exercise and puts me in a very different mindset, and I would prefer something that meshes with Healing Tao, but also relates to my needs in this direction.
I wonder if you could suggest something ?
I do feel like if I don’t do something exertive, then I become introverted and disconnected from life … and I don’t really honour my body’s needs, it’s not as if I am working in the fields !! So I feel there is a need to do something. My body becomes less strong and able without muscle and thing like abs / squats and jumping that encourage the body to stay nimble.
Any suggestions would be warmly received.
Hi rideforever,
I agree with you that certain cardiovascular and strengthening components are needed. Many overlook this aspect . . .
If you enjoy the Taebo/Dance workouts/circuit training, I see no reason why you can’t continue doing that. Do what you enjoy. Unless you are only doing those things because you don’t know what else to do, and you’d prefer something else. In that case, I’d suggest the following . . .
FOR CARDIOVASCULAR:
I recommend “Tai Chi 2”.
Tai Chi 2 is a Healing Tao Tai Chi fast form.
Note: While Tai Chi is typically always thought of as being slow-moving and meditative (which is true for 90% of Tai Chi, such as Tai Chi 1), Tai Chi 2 is not. Tai Chi 2 is a little-known FAST version of Tai Chi. It a 3-minute form that is done quickly and activates the cardiovascular system. You do the form 3x, and in 10 minutes you get in a good short workout, without overworking the system. I do this form most days of the week myself, and it’s a favorite of mine.If you haven’t learned this yet, (or even if you have) another thing that fits in with Healing Tao (and is part of Taoist tradition) is Brisk Walking. Do 30 mins of Brisk Walking every day. Obviously a treadmill works, but better is to do actual walking outside where you can take in the elements of nature.
There is also another fast form I do daily, but I hesitate to recommend it, because you’d have to learn it directly from me. So excepting that, I’d say in short:
Tai Chi 2 and Brisk WalkingFOR STRENGTHENING:
I’d encourage beginning the training in the formal Iron Shirt 1 course. QF4 “standing in stillness” postures are OK, but they are kinda wimpy. They are good exercises for the bone breathing aspects that Michael is teaching, but for seriously getting grounded and strengthening your fascia in your chest, Iron Shirt 1 material is far better. Believe me, even though you are just standing still, you’ll feel like you got a workout in. Ask RichieRich who also posts here . . . he has taken my IS1 course. If you do some serious IS1 training, you’ll feel like you’ve gotten a body workout in, and you may not feel like you need to do other things additionally. The obvious physical benefit of the formal IS1 is the fascia strengthening in your chest, but the rooted aspect of the postures creates a much better grounding effect than the QF4 “standing in stillness” postures by far. QF4 “standing in stillness” postures are better than nothing, but if you can learn IS1, it would be better.Also, by the way, your core will be strengthened by the Tao Yin that I recommended. It works a lot with the psoas muscle in the lower back and with the spine.
Considering the time limitations that everyone has–in any given day–that’s actually more than enough.
Qi,
StevenThanks, I suppose you have done a lot of Mantak Chia study.
Today I tried some old Wu Shu forms I know and I think I might use them as you use tai chi 2.
I am not sure if there is any connection between Wu Shu (I used to study at Wu Shu Kwan in UK) and Qigong, but it works for me.
I think I will leave Tao Yin for the moment doesn’t look right for me.
I am actually quite interested in doing a lot of Zhan Shuang, I have a book by Mark Cohen about it. I suppose Iron Shirt and QF4 are sort of versions of it. Cohen says that 40mins a day for health is what is recommended.Yeah, I’ve had a lot of training in the Healing Tao, some 1209 hours LIVE so far. See my training resume: Training Resume
HT is a fairly comprehensive system, so when you learn a lot of it, you can get most anything you want within the system.
Any of the Chinese martial arts are a good complement to HT material. So if you like your Wu Shu forms, it sounds like a good thing you could do.
I wouldn’t be so close-minded to the Tao Yin, even if you don’t choose to get going with it now. Most people have a weak psoas muscle in the lower back, and actually this can be very limiting in a person’s progress in doing standing meditation, esp. IS1. I myself reached a plateau in my IS1 skill level until I spent a couple of years with the Tao Yin. Tight psoas pulls on everything, and creates pain in the middle of the back and pain in the knees for folks doing IS1 postures. This pain and discomfort becomes a limiting factor in how long you can stay in a posture and how well you can do the posture. Plus, too much IS1 can create rigidity in the body.
I personally consider Tao Yin to be an essential supplement to IS1 practice.
In my experience, I’ve noticed that men tend to gravitate more toward IS1 and avoid the Tao Yin, while women seem to do the opposite. But, the irony is, is that in truth they are yin-yang pairs, and a person really needs to do both, even if they want to focus on one more than the other.
My two cents . . .
StevenI just can’t do Mantak Chia. I don’t understand what he is saying, nor his structure … I watch and nothing happens. I saw him lying on his back in pink pyjamas … well maybe I would try it if he could just give me the bottom line without the waffle.
Actually been finding that occasinally even with Michael’s DVDs especially towards the end. Just give me the bottom line without waffle !!
I did see a nice flowing video called “Tao Yin” (could mean anything !!!) which is more interesting for me :
… which reminds me that I saw a lady doing BKF’s Dragon Tiger form … and I thought it was totally amazing, really flowing like a dance … also cool music :
… well I like what I like !
That’s why I recommended the Karin Sörvik DVD.
It’s the HT Tao Yin, but taught by her.
It’s very straightforward and easy-to-follow.
SNot sure if your post refers to dietary fat, if so I wanted to mention that for a long time conventional views on nutrition emphasized the evils of fat, and a lot of people formed a general impression that they should just avoid fats. Recent research is now repudiating that view, but the old information is still everywhere. It turns out, fats (with the exception of trans fats) can be healthy: eggs, nuts, avocadoes, yogurt, butter – enjoy!
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