Bob Harper Needs a Cupcake! (What Happens When Competition and No Mind Merge)

Black Fire workout with Bob Harper, http://www.DailyBurn.com

I’m dying. Not like “buried in the ground” dying, but definitely at the end of my rope. I am exhausted. My heart rate is just barely faster than a bunny rabbit’s, and I’m in the cool down. I can’t hold my leg up for a quad stretch because my arms are too weak. Everything feels heavy, and I am covered in so much sweat that I am my very own swimming pool. My friend, Heather Santo, shared Bob Harper’s new Daily Burn workout site on her Facebook page, and I thought to myself, If Heather thinks it’s great, it’s gotta be a ton of fun, right?

I should have known better. Did you see the picture on top of this blog? Does he look like he’s having a “ton of fun” to you? Yeah, he kicked my A$$.

I unceremoniously collapse to the floor, and as I stretch my back a little and close my eyes, I think, Bob Harper needs a cupcake. He’d be nicer if he had some sort of sugar fix.

 If you don’t know who Bob Harper is, I won’t judge you (non-judgement site here): he was one of the most popular trainers in the NBC show The Biggest Loser, and he has four books that deal with developing good eating and workout habits.

If you do know Bob Harper, you know that not only would he be shocked and appalled at my very thought; he would probably order me to do ten more push ups, diamond-style for added effect. Cupcakes are to him what turnip greens are to me; repugnant. However, the fact that Bob is nowhere near me makes me very brave.

Plus, at this moment, I am simply too tired to care.

And I love it.

Sure, I just burned a serious amount of calories, and I will absolutely sleep like a dog later tonight. But I love this fatigue because right now, at this very moment, I am so tired that my brain is free. It is in its own zone, and thoughts simply do not matter at this moment. There is no to-do list nor a time limit. There are no problems that need solving, no agendas that need finishing, or emotions that need attention. My brain is simply releasing endorphins and other “feel good” chemicals into my body and emits a pleasant electrical pulse throughout my body as my breathing slows. It is here that I can reach my personal version of “no mind.”

For those of you who have no idea what I mean, the best movie scene I can think of is from The Last Samurai, with Tom Cruise. Tom Cruise’s character, Algren, is captured by the Samurai and stays as their guest/prisoner for two seasons. He learns their language and their style of fighting. However, the Sword Master Uijo detests him, and beats Algren every time Algren tries to train. At one point, all the other warriors are watching, and Algren’s host Nobutada comes up to him and tells Algren he has “too many mind.” He points out that Algren’s mind is thinking about the sword he is using, fighting his enemy/trainer,  his gambling “audience” watching the fight, and even his own pride. Nobutada tells Algren that for Algren to win, he must have “no mind”: quit thinking so much about so many things. Find the one thing, the part inside that is true peace, and move from there. When Algren finally achieves this, he wins (OK, it’s technically a draw, but that’s beside the point).

banpenfugyo tumblr http://bit.ly/1dcBaY9

This scene illustrates two things: 1) we constantly have multiple thoughts fighting for attention and demanding action in our minds, and 2) one must make a conscious decision to find her own “no mind,” which takes effort.

In the mornings, I find it easy to meditate (or pray) and find my state of “no mind,” but it is difficult for me to hold it all day; to be honest, I do not have the discipline. I tend to lose my quiet and peaceful mind as I go about my day and solve troublesome problems, make difficult decisions, interact with others who are not self-aware, and deal with stressful obligations such as deadlines. I get edgy and short-tempered when I have “too many minds” going on for too long. When my stress builds up, my body lets me know in multiple ways. I am tired, but I cannot sleep well. I have headaches. I cannot focus on one thing, because I feel restless or my mind reminds me of other, “more important” issues. All my ideas sound great until I put them on paper, then they fall apart. And the feeling that I am “failing” my task just amplifies all these sensations, which heightens my stress levels, and so the cycle repeats itself. Sometimes, when I try to meditate or slow my brain waves down, I am so hyper that my breathing technique does not help. Sometimes even listening to the original Silva Life System mp3  or one of the quick meditation tracks by Amish Shah and Dr. Puja Shah do not work, because I waited too late to “calm” my brain down.

At these times, workouts are my salvation. I am not talking about a gentle walk with my husband through our neighborhood or around the mall, or lifting a few pounds for five reps and taking a two-minute rest. I’m talking about all-out, gut-wrenching, want-to-scream or cry but too freaking tired to do either. Some of the Beachbody workouts do this, but I like to change things up (or, as in the case of Shaun T’s Insanity: the Asylum, I said “to heck with this” and quit after injuring my wrist halfway through the plan—don’t judge). I know. You think I’m crazy. I’m OK with that. Remember, I’m just giving you ideas on things you can try when other things do not “work” for you. That’s how much I love you, Cupcake.

If you’ll remember, a few weeks ago I blogged about my weight (http://bit.ly/1I2QajH). When Heather shared Bob Harper’s site, and it offered a 30-day free trial, I jumped. I needed something to get me going. The first day, we started out with squats where you touched the ground with your fingers and reached up high, lunges, and toy soldiers. That was the warm up. I wanted to quit. I told myself to go for ten minutes, then I could stop.

The first five minutes, I listened to every voice that came at me.

You shouldn’t have gained so much weight. Your body wouldn’t be so hard to move.

            You shouldn’t have stopped working out. You wouldn’t be breathing like a hippo in labor.

            You’re really too tired to do this. How about choosing another workout or do this later?

            You can’t keep up with those fitness models.

            A relative saying that “Liz talks a big game, but—well, you know” when discussing my workouts with another relative in front of me.

            Freaking Bob Harper yelling, “It doesn’t count if you don’t come all the way up. Make it to your lowest score. Come on, three seconds left!”

            Are you kidding me? What the hell did Heather Santo get me into?

             The worst part is not the physical weight I feel on my shoulders with each negative thought; the worst part is that when I try to banish the negativity, I become even more fatigued, because now I am paying attention to three things at once: negative thoughts, arguing with those negative thoughts, and moving my body. Take my word for it, it sucks. It’s like carrying a twenty-pound backpack around all the time, and I am not a Marine.

 I was a successful athlete a million years ago. In high school, I was in the sports section of the local newspapers every week. In college, I ran the 100m in 11.85 seconds (back then, you had to run an 11.6 to qualify for Nationals). When I had back surgery several years ago, my main focus was to return to the tennis courts and compete. Less than a year after my surgery, I was almost undefeated in women’s singles (I lost one match–my team’s final match in our Regional tournament), and I was ranked third in the state (first in the Dallas-Fort Worth area). I know what it takes to succeed, and I know how to put in the work. The one thing I learned to find and practice during my high school days that moved to college and beyond? No Mind.

“No mind” happens when I get just a little past tired, and it usually takes about 12-15 minutes of hard work for me. Let me power through something, be it sprints or plyometrics or moving brand new heavy furniture into my study, and I can feel “no mind” start. My brain gets to the point where it doesn’t have the energy to focus on “too many mind,” because it now needs to concentrate on my body’s actions so I do not injure myself nor end up in the hospital. I focus inward, and this is how simple it becomes: breathe, do, breathe, do, breathe, do, STOP. Breathe.

In high school and college, it usually came during sprint workouts or repeated drills with very little rest. This may be what some people call “runner’s high,” but I can’t be sure because I never felt it when I went jogging. Some may think this is a “second wind.” I will not argue. Exercise stimulates the brain’s release of endorphins (natural pain killers), serotonin (which fights depression), and Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF, which also fights depression as well as helps with memory and brain health).

For me, all of this happens, but there is a stillness deep inside, a quiet yet powerful force, a calm radiant energy the glows while the chemical reactions eradicate any negativity from each cell in my body.

During the first Black Fire workout, I felt the miracle start to happen. I was breathing so loud and fast that I could barely hear Bob on the TV. My head was pounding so hard with all the blood flow that all I wanted to do was FINISH. My brain pattern switched as I decided I wasn’t going through a measly ten minutes of this workout to feel like I did at the beginning and have to fight more negative jibes later. I was going all the way to the end of the video.

The only sounds I hear are Bob’s “Go,” my rhythmic heavy breathing as I jump on a box or push myself completely off the floor, and Bob’s “Rest.”  I do not care about phone calls, emails, or the fitness models behind Bob. My brain waves have changed. Instead of just one or two blocking the others, they are now all working together to help me finish in one piece. All I care about are the numbers in my head that I must obtain. “You are competing against yourself. Don’t drop below your lowest number.” I am going to keep the same number the whole time.

The first time I did this workout, I was just over ½ of what the twenty-something models did. Today was my fourth time to do this particular workout in two weeks. I managed to improve on everything except the damned burpees, which come at the end; but, as tired as I was, I did not go down in my original number of that hated exercise. I can be proud that I am only a few reps behind the little blonde in the back. I can claim that I actually tied G.I. Jane for 7 hand-release push ups the entire 8 rounds (yeah, baby, that’s 56 push ups done on my toes, all the way to the floor—boo-yah!). While I am intensely competitive, the irony here is that I did not realize I tied her until that round of exercise was finished and Bob was asking everyone for numbers.

“No mind” also means “more production.” If you look at the picture above, you will see two brains. The brain on the left is the brain of someone who sat “quietly” for twenty minutes. On the right is a student who went for a walk for twenty minutes. See how the right brain is all lit up like a Christmas tree? That’s a sign the chemicals I talked about earlier have been released. Can you guess which brain is more active with less effort? Here’s a hint: it is the one with more color.  According to Forbes, a person in a positive brain state is 31% more productive, 40% more likely to get a promotion, and almost 10 times “more engaged at work, live longer, get better grades, and show less acute symptoms.” And look, just walking for twenty minutes changed the brain. You do not have to be intense or insane, or insanely intense. You just have to move in a way that makes you breathe harder than normal.

So, Cupcake, get outside! Go for a walk! Hate the outside? Use a treadmill, a stationary bike, an elliptical! Get your oxygen pumping and get those brain chemicals flowing freely. Think about how much better you will feel, and think, and live life. Your brain will thank you.

My brain is now “empty” of stress and negative ideas. As the released chemicals flow through my exhausted body, creative ideas caress my head and easily glide into my consciousness. I am once again grounded and happy, so I can go on with my day. So, I freely admit that my friend Heather did me a favor when she posted Bob’s picture on my Facebook page. Maybe she deserves a cupcake more than Bob needs one. And just so you know, I went to the Daily Burn Facebook page, and found this for Mr. Bob Harper! Maybe he wouldn’t make me do the extra push ups, after all.

So, my darling Cupcake, what do you do to stay grounded or change your negative frame of mind? What do you like to do to alleviate your stress? What activities do you enjoy that gets your oxygen and mind flowing freely? Remember to share if you can. You may be helping another reader, and that will be a karmic boomerang for you. Have a great day, and stay frosted!

Hey, What Kind of Cupcake Are You, Anyway? (Practicing Our Mental Awareness)

Between advertisements and teachers of the Law of Attraction, people are telling us that we are, in one way or another, unhappy. Are we? With all the clutter and noise in our heads, what do we believe? The bigger question is this: how mentally aware are you, Cupcake?  Do you constantly cruise around in your head and monitor your thoughts, or do you let your thoughts monitor you?

Before I continue, let me be clear. I love the principles of the Law of Attraction. There is a certain logic to the fact that we create our own worlds. Think about it. Do you ever have a day that starts out badly, and just gets worse as your mind set turns into, “Why does this always happen to me?” Do you have a day where you wake up on the “right side of the bed,” and the day is all butterflies and cupcakes? Ever wonder why? Do you drift from day to day in an emotional waterslide, turning, falling, and eventually reaching the same destination as everyone else? If this is you, know three things.

1. You are not acting as a mentally aware person.

2. You are not applying certain rules of the Law of Attraction.

3. This is not your fault.

In today’s world, we are bombarded with useless information, inundated with advertisements on how to be better people.  According to Jay Walker-Smith, we are blasted with anywhere from 3,000 to 5,000 advertisements a day. All of them tell us in some way that our lives are not complete; we are secretly woeful about something. How do we choose which advice to follow? How do we choose what to buy? How do we choose who we want to be, and then choose the company or person who is going to help us become our new version the quickest and easiest way?  It all depends on if we are mentally aware. We should be paying attention to our own thoughts and feelings as these advertisements entice us to spend money. The more mentally aware we are, the more we can defend ourselves against some of the unimportant junk we seem to invite into our lives.

The advertisements all have one theme in common: they give the message that you are not enough, and what you have is not enough. One commercial says if you drink a specific beverage, you will have more friends (you don’t have enough friends; you are lonely). Another claims that if you buy this shoe, you will be a better athlete (you are not talented enough to go far on your own). My favorite ads are the car commercials, promising excitement and wonderful travel excursions and sexy lovers, but only if you buy the right vehicle (you can’t make the right decision on your own, you boring dummy). Can you see a pattern here? Perfume, kitchen gadgets, name it: your life is just not good enough as it is. As Jacob Soki says about his own confusion, “Do I have everything—or nothing at all?”

                Now, add to this the fanfare over the Law of Attraction. The Secret created a big stir and a ton of interest in people (over 19 million copies sold in 46 languages, according to Wikipedia). Everyone was excited, but as people started to attempt to manifest improved lives, something strange happened to some of them. Some people had what Joshua Bloom called a “whiplash effect”: a few people had adverse reactions to their affirmations or mental visualizations, while other people had physical reactions such as headaches. If you read or listen to the more prominent people shown in The Secret, they will tell you that “there’s a little more to the Law of Attraction” than just thinking about what you want. Sorry to tell you, Cupcake, but you can’t just wish upon a star.

                So, what happened to cause this whiplash effect? According to Bloom and Andy Shaw (creator of A Bug Free Mind), the problem was easy to see, not easy to solve. If you experienced this effect, you did believe what you were thinking/wishing/wanting to manifest. At some deep level, you did not trust you were worthy of that which you desired. You did not truly believe that God, or the universe, or Source loved you infinitely and would manifest your new reality. As Dr. Wayne W. Dyer says, “As you think, so shall it be.” You may have said one thing, but your subconscious was thinking another.

And this is easy enough to see. In my case, I first “tried” to manifest a client increase of 20%. Within ten days, I had lost 20% of my clients. I was in shock.  What the ^&#*?! I emailed an expert, and I was told that I was blocking my own manifestation, and the universe was trying to tell me what I needed to fix before I could have what I wanted. And the kicker? They couldn’t help me solve my problem. I had to figure that out on my own.

To say it took “a while” would be an understatement. There was a definite learning curve, small successes and horrible black eyes of failures (I call them rehearsals) while I found my own mental awareness and learned how to find peace in my thoughts. If you look at some of the master teachers in this field–Lisa Nichols, Brendon Burchard, and Bob Proctor—they share similar stories. They had a low moment in life, they decided to do something about it, and they worked their tails off until they figured their own personal paths to manifestation. Nobody did it overnight.

We are all different, and all the same. We have been conditioned to feel unfulfilled or unhappy in life since we were young. Need more convincing? Check out my blog on shame, and see if some of the words I wrote resonate with you.  Each of us experience life, but we experience our lives in relation to our individual pasts, and our individual senses pick up different sensations. For this reason, nobody can tell you how to easily get rid of your mental junk and become a lean, clean, mentally aware cupcake. You have to do this part on your own. Think of it this way: the butterfly has to physically fight its way out of its cocoon. If you help it escape, it will die because its wings will be too weak to fly.

Maybe you’re a butterfly fighting your way out of your own cocoon.

                And this is why I am here. If you are a master of manifestation, I congratulate you and send extra sprinkles for frosting your way. You probably do not need this site. However, if you are someone who has tried the manifesting realm and you have not had the success that you deserved, I might be able to help. I can give you methods to change your brain patterns in small ways, and help you see where your inner thinking might be delaying your brain’s transformation to a more positive and productive manifesting person. It all starts with your mental awareness, and that is where I encourage you to start today.

Starting right now, monitor your thoughts. Pay attention without judgement. You do not need to do anything else. Usually the first several minutes that people practice mental awareness, they get a little fatigued. They also tend to judge themselves, so I encourage you to simply listen to your thoughts, and take note of them. If you can observe them without judgement, extra cupcake for you.

What did you notice about your thoughts? Did you feel anything when you were in a state of mental awareness? How long could you sustain your focus? I’d love for you to share in the comments below, and let me know how things are going. Your comments may help someone else with an “aha” moment, and that’s a karma boomerang in the making!

As always, have a great day, and stay frosted.