We are what we eat; we are what we think.

We Are What We Eat

Over the past ten months I've learned first hand that what I eat determines what my body is made of. All the really unhealthy foods I used to feed my body have been replaced by the healthiest of foods: leafy greens, vegetables, beans, mushrooms, and fruit—lots of fruit.

Last Saturday I attended a library event in my community. Some health personnel from a local hospital were there providing basic health testing. So I sat down to see how I would do. For comparative purposes high blood pressure is defined as 140 / 90 and that's about where my blood pressure used to hover before I  changed what my body is made of. My blood pressure on Saturday was 114 / 76. Total cholesterol should be less than 200 mg/dL, mine used to be three to four times that, Saturday it was 162 mg/dL. Glucose, for a person who has eaten in the last two hours, should be less than 140, for a person fasting at least eight hours it should be less than 126, my glucose level was 97. And, I had eaten a large meal less than an hour before the test. Finally, I have now lost sixty-eight pounds. To say the least, my body has changed.

As good as all these indicators are, I believe they are only that, indicators. What I'm eating is changing the very make up of the cells that are my body. Not only is the body fat mostly gone, but what is left: muscles, bones, blood, brain, and skin are all changing; they are healthier, more resilient. This doesn't happen over night; I believe I will continue to feel the improvements for several years to come. I feel great now. I can hardly wait to see how I feel two years on.

I used to think there's no fighting genetics, if your genetic makeup is inclined toward high blood pressure and high cholesterol then that's your lot in life and you do the best you can with what you have. I still believe we have to do the best we can with what we have, but I've proven we can do a lot more than is realized, even by many within the medical profession. I just read an article by a medical doctor about blood pressure. His introductory remark was that opinions about blood pressure among health officials vary broadly. The medical profession seems mostly preoccupied with treating blood pressure. I believe high blood pressure is just a symptom of the problem. We can treat it with medications or solve the problem by removing the cause. Cutting salt from your diet and eliminating foods that cause accumulation of body fat will in many cases solve the blood pressure problem. And, the best part, after you go through detoxification, the foods you eat taste really good. Unfortunately, many doctors are trained to prescribe medication to address symptoms.

We Are What We Think

I just read the book Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life by Martin E. P. Seligman. As it turns out, how optimistic we are has a major impact on our wellbeing: physical, mental, economic, and yes, spiritual. Optimism determines how likely we are to persist on a difficult course especially when the odds seem stacked against us. But false optimism will not work, and even a genuine optimistic outlook, by itself, does not bring the desired results. Seligman articulates his case for optimism—tempered with a level of pragmatism—very well. Optimistic people tend to see their problems as originating from external sources and being temporary; pessimistic people tend to see their problems as originating from internal sources and being permanent. Pessimists can justifiably change their thinking. All problems are not caused by the pessimist nor are the problems permanent.

Even though he has dedicated his life's work to understanding optimism and depression, he has the wisdom and common sense to realize that what brings meaning to life is a sense of commitment to something greater than ourselves. When we have that, optimism can be the catalyst that keeps us going.

How do YOU learn things?

That may seem a silly question, but I’m not talking about how does one learn something.

I’m talking about what is the best way for YOU to learn something?

Have you ever sat in a classroom bored to tears? Nothing sinking in?

Have you ever tried to read a book--particularly a nonfiction, education-related book--and realized at the end of a page or section you had no idea what you just read?

Of course, how interested you are makes a big difference in how well you learn something, but what if you are interested and want to learn and it still doesn’t come to you?

There are at least three ways to learn things and people tend to be strong in one and not the others:

Visual - seeing things in writing
Auditory - lectures, podcasts, videos (this would seem visual, but it’s just recording an audio presentation)
Kinesthetic - hands on, learning by doing

Unfortunately, schools tend to focus on a very narrow range of methods to impart knowledge to students. Many bright people are left behind because their best way of learning is not allowed in the system. As with most things in life, we are responsible for figuring out what works for us. That is not always easy.

Most of us can learn much more than what we do.

And of course, as Dr. Seuss demonstrated so wonderfully in his children’s books, learning should be fun.

So, what have you learned recently and how did you learn it?

If you are interested here are some resources that describe in greater detail examples of how we learn things.

Ben Carson - The Big Picture
Ken Robinson - The Element
Marc Prensky - Don't Bother Me Mom I'm Learning
David Edery & Ethan Mollick - Changing the Game: How Video Games Are Transforming the Future of Business

You can't change poverty from a think tank in Washington D.C.

Greg Mortenson is large in stature, an imposing figure, but he is more like a teddy bear, a man of peace and hope. He is unassuming and not likely to be viewed as a great leader by the highly educated or the "movers and shakers" in business, academia, or politics. And yet he is a leader. He is the central figure in the book Three Cups of Tea.

His qualifications to be a leader come from being in the trenches and experiencing first hand what makes a difference and then putting those principles into action. His influence is felt most strongly in the least likely of places for an American: Pakistan and Afghanistan. He's not a general in the U.S. military, he doesn't not order people around. In those countries people love him and support him because they know he genuinely cares about them, he wants to do something that will help them, and he lets them help themselves.

He has been building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan since 1993. More accurately he has been helping people in those countries build their own schools. Now, as a result of the success of the book Three Cups of Tea, he is also becoming a leader in the developed world.

Greg Mortenson spoke at Brigham Young University today about his experiences and his goals. I learned from him leadership principles or in some cases had reconfirmed principles that I firmly believe.

• "You can't change poverty from a think tank in Washington D.C."
• To change poverty you have to feel it, see it, touch it, smell it.
• People want to be able to do things for themselves.
• If you educate a boy, you educate a person; if you educate a girl you begin the education of a community.
• People don't have to be highly educated to be able to fill positions in their community and make a difference.
• People and communities are capable of making choices and decisions that will be to their best benefit if they are allowed government to do so.
  
• Communities are better off when young people have more opportunities to interact with the elders in their families and communities.
  

One point that he did not state that I believe goes with these statements: People give up hope when they feel there is no way to change bureaucracy and do things for themselves. This one applies more to developed countries.

Greg is not a great orator. People follow him and help him because he leads from the position of a doer and he leads from his heart.