What do you do with 18-20 Hours of Free Time?

18-20 Hours of Free Time each day...what do you do?


The above dish? I call it the Fig-Sunflower medley. In the middle is a puree of fresh figs, then surrounding that is a pate of dried figs, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, brazil nuts, and dates. This is all sitting on a bed of shredded golden beets. Beautiful, right?

My goal in life for the past 5 years was to reach semi-retirement by the age of 35. By semi-retirement, I mean that I am still active, but I am doing something that I love and making enough money to get by. Plus I would have enough savings to live off of interest and investments. I wanted to achieve this so I could devote my free time to things that I love. Things that I choose to do, and not that I have to do.

However, for most of my life right now, this has become the case, and I didnt even realize it until recently.

I have the daily schedule of a retired person. Well...I probably do a TON more than they do, but overall, its pretty similar. I wake up, go to the gym, ride bike, read, watch movies, stretch, and listen to audio books as much as possible. Whenever I am walking or in the subway or even in the kitchen, I have an audio-book playing on my ipod. It has made my life 100 times richer. I do have castings, but again, Im listening to audio-books as I go there and wait in line. Always adding to the knowledge...

With this free-time I was forced to ask the question: "What can I do to make the most out of this excess time and enjoy it as well?" We have to ask ourselves questions so we can come up with the best answers. Most people just go along with the flow and dont ask questions that can lead to answers that open up whole new areas of life and possibility.

My whole thing is about self-improvement. Mentally, physically, and spiritually. I want to learn and study as much as I desire. I want my body to be in supreme physical condition, and I want to be connected with the life-force of the universe. This might sound really cheesy, but I have to admit that these areas are what I focus on.

I cant recommend enough getting an ipod. Just get the ipod nano...they really are such a good investment and give back so so so much to the user. Not even that expensive when you compare it to going out to eat a few times. And you can enjoy it for years, not just for an hour like a meal. I get audio books from the library or from friends (or download them), and this way no matter what I am doing during the day, I can be implanting knowledge into my mind. The great thinkers of the world have discovered so much, and have left so much of that knowledge available to everyone...its a complete tragedy that we choose not to take any advantage of this. We could make life so much easier for ourselves by learning from them, and then expanding on their knowledge and pushing the evolution of ideas so much further.

The physical part...just being active and making it as fun as possible. And effective as possible. Going to the gym before breakfast for one hour is like going to the gym for two hours after breakfast. The results will really be doubled if you go there on an empty stomach. Its amazing. And I watch TV while Im on the treadmill, and listen to good music that is motivating. I ride my bike almost everywhere now, so my heart is always beating fast. And plus...I live in NY so Im walking wherever I have to go. When I got back to Minnesota and Im using the car alot, it amazes me how little movement I get during the day. And this is how 99% of the population lives in this country. Its no wonder that most of their bodies are in horrible condition.

Flexibility is big for me now, so Im always trying to stretch. Whenever I have a free minute I stretch anything - my neck, my shoulders, my calves, whatever is convenient. And its all about CONSISTENCY. Every day! Just a little bit every day makes the difference. Continuous and never-ending improvement!

Michael Jordan was not born with god-given talents...he practiced every day of the year while other kids were sitting inside watching cartoons. If their is anything god-given about it, it was his discipline and passion for improving. You must realize this...its all about continuous improvement through training. Bruce Lee became the best in the world because he practiced for HOURS AND HOURS each day. You reap what you sow. To say that God gave them this gift is an excuse for not reaching great heights yourself. People say this for anything...music, art, athleticism...all of the masters in these areas have devoted their lives to improving themselves with their craft...while most people were going to work and watching TV at night. THINK ABOUT IT.


Spiritually...I lay in bed every night and let feelings of gratitude flow out of my heart. I am so thankful for the people in my life, and for the opportunities I have. I think by being thankful more flows towards you. Reading and audio-books helps so much in this aspect too...learning about mystics and quantum physics and religions of the worlds, the ones that are liberating as well as the ones that are enslaving to the mind. We have to learn where we have been so we can take the next step in our evolution. I listen to the free podcast of "Speaking of Faith" from NPR every week and that has added so much to my understanding of religion and spirituality. And its free!! We dont have to hire professors or even buy books to learn...there is so much free knowledge available to us in this society that we have no excuse now for not being super-human.

I do realize though that we aren't all blessed with free time like me. My diet is so clean and light that my body is no longer stressed with digestion so I wake up after four hours of sleep totally refreshed. When I would go back to cooked food, I would wake up after 6 hours, maybe even 8. And it would take about 1-2 weeks to get back to 4 hours. This gives allot more time to be creative.

Plus, I DONT HAVE TO COOK MY FOOD. And I dont have to scrub pots and pans. I eat fresh fruit, whip up a salad or a smoothie, and GET ON WITH LIFE. I love making creations in the kitchen, but that is more of an artistic outlet for me than a daily way of living. No scubbing or dishwashing...and there is no meat or nasty bacteria near my food so all I have to do is rinse of my plate with a little dish soap and thats it. Think of the energy savings...

So multi-task and get those audio-books into your life. Do exercises in front of the TV before you leave for work or before bed. Do boxing moves, or ab-crunches, or shoulder raises...you will feel it. Your heart will beat, and after one month you will see a difference. Consistency is the key though. You can do this...look at my examples...sure I have a ton of free time, but think about all the free time you would have if your diet was more simple, or if you just did two things at once? Those TV-exercise routines can totally transform your body after a while, and it will be alot more painless and easy than getting all your stuff and heading out to the gym. Just do it at home! Even spend $30 and get some 5lb and 10lb weights...there are no excuses anymore. Love yourself and make the right choice to evolve and become all that you are capable of becoming. You are more than what you are.


I spend too much time in the kitchen, but I listen to audio-books the whole time, and I love creating new dishes with my imagination. I just heard about people waiting for up to a day in line for the new iphone....I hope they brought an (audio) book with them.

To Say the Very Least

Picture = 1000 Words...

Please remember now...I consume NO animal products. NONE. Do you think I am getting enough protein? For anyone out there reading this, the next time someone tells you that they are vegetarians (hopefully they are vegans because milk is REALLY inappropriate for optimal human health)...you will not have to ask them if they are getting enough protein. However, I do have my sources.

They are as follows -

Hemp Seed. Probably my number one source. It contains EDESTIN, which is most likely the most absorbable form of protein. It also contains large quantities of sulfur, the element used for constructing healthy skin, hair, and nails. Hemp seed tastes amazing and adds so much to my salads and smoothies.

Green Superfoods like Spirulina, Blue-Green Algae, and Chlorella. I buy these products usually in one pound bags which last me months and months, so the price is usually about 25 Cents a serving. These algaes have the highest concentration of protein (usually around 60% of total weight) on the entire planet.

Nuts and Seeds. The quintessential source of protein in the standard non-animal diet. Too much of these though and they tend to slow me down. I try to keep it to half a cup each day. The seeds I focus on are again, #1 - Hempseed, #2 - Pumpkin Seed, #3 - Sunflower Seed, and #4 - Flaxseed. My favorite nuts tend to be more fat-dominant instead of protein dominant. A fat dominant nut could be a macadamia, cashew, brazil nut, walnut, or the pine nut. Since I spend $10 a pound on hempseeds, I keep my prices lower by using mostly brazil nuts and walnuts, which are about half the price of macadamias or pine nuts. Cashews are also fairly inexpenive, but the standard raw cashew in the health food store is steam blasted out of the shell, and most have had the life-force taken out of them by this process. Really Raw Cashews are about $13 a pound, Macadamias are about $14 a pound. Once in a while I will buy a half-pound to make some great nut milks or some special occasion, but I focus more on the hempseeds anyways.

Bee Pollen. A complex source of Amino Acids, which are proteins. This is the pollen collected by bees, but does not contain any parts of the animal. The kind I use supports ethical treatment of their bees and harvests a small percentage of the overall hive collection.

And most important...GREEN LEAFY VEGETABLES. Spinach, Kale, Dandelion, Wild Greens, Parsley, Cilantro, Swiss Chard, and Collards. I would have to say that an semi-frequent meat and junk food eater that consumes large quantities of leafy greens is MUCH better off than a vegan that focuses on rice and grains and root vegetables and fruits. MUCH better. Ive even done raw veganism with very little greens, focusing more on fruit and nuts, and I had a very low experience compared to when I added in greens I can't stress this enough. If you can consume 2 bunches each day ( I would recommend one green smoothie with fruit and one large salad...if you cannot juice the greens instead) you will notice SERIOUS results in a week or so. Now that Ive been back on heavy greens since returning from Minnesota and have been drinking lots of water and eating early in the evening, Ive finally returned back to sleeping only 4 hours a night. I stay up till 4am and wake up at 8am, completely refreshed. No naps even.

And remember, I start my day off with an hour on the treadmill, then I ride bike at least one hour around the city every day, I lift weights for an hour, and Im walking around doing castings at least 3 hours a day. This is serious physical activity, all on four hours of sleep and no animal meat or dairy.

AM I SELLING YOU SOMETHING HERE???? JUST IDEAS! IM NOT LOOKING TO LATCH ONTO YOUR WALLET...SO WHY AM I TELLING YOU THIS?

Because it is what I've experienced, and it has helped me evolve and every single level of my life.

Mentally - I am clear headed and quick...my outlook is much more positive. I just feel really good overall, like the universe is looking out for me. I'm constantly listening to success tapes and reading books. Self-study has become a major activity in my life.

Physically - Both strength-wise and with flexibility. My body is JUICY. My muscles are defined, but not knotted up. I am quick and lean. Not some bulky-fool chugging on muscle-milk or protein powders. Seriously...which body type would you rather have??? Where is the definition in the bodies of many of these weight-lifters? They are big and bulky...which means sluggish. However, I don't want to say more negative things, because some of those people are crazy and unevolved enough to want to do serious physical harm to anyone attacking their egos.

Spiritually - I feel connected to the force of the universe like never before. True, Ive been reading more and searching more than ever, but this has coincided with my diet change. Did one cause the other? No matter...now that my mind and body are clear of waste and toxins, the energy of the universe flows through my veins. I realize that I am one with the all, and every single life form on this planet is connected to me, and any harm that I do to it, I do to myself. Anger and violence are so far from my experience now, and it shames me that it is still so prevalent in our society. I think the physiological reason is that toxins and heavy metals are cleared from the brain, and the blood has become alkaline from green leaves and clean water. This has led to moments of pure bliss. Moments where I will just sit and smile because I feel nothing but love and gratitude for where I am and everything occurring in my life. Ive learned to to trust to process, and realize that everything is in fact, perfect. I have even had tears of joy at random moments when this occurs, and that would have been completely...COMPLETELY impossible 2 years ago.

I believe that we need more "Type A's" in this world, and this is the diet to construct that type of person. Focused, healthy, confident, and elated with life. Why live any other way? I see all these sickly people walking around and instead of feeling disgust or contempt (what used to be felt) I now feel a sadness that they are missing out on so much untapped potential and joy. Its so apparent now, and everything I have experienced with this lifestyle has without a doubt proven it for me. We are what we eat, and if you stop eating the poison, your life WILL become better. It may take time, but stop maiming yourself 3+ times a day and things will begin to change.

Remember...Lots of fresh fruit for breakfast, or a nice green smoothie.

For lunch I like the superfood smoothies (water, dates, nuts, hempseeds, coconut oil, berries, green superfoods, bee pollen...etc.) This is my main source of fat and protein for the day.

For Dinner, go with a major gourmet salad. Make it awesome so you love every bite. Add in avocados and sundried tomatoes and olives and hempseeds....all bursting with flavor. Compare that to a piece of flesh and a potato sitting on a plate and there soon becomes no comparison. Its laughable. Or if you are still feeling sweet...go with apples and cranberries and walnuts and shredded beets...add that all in with tons of greens and cucumbers and you will love it. It will take you a half hour to eat, so you can sit down with it and enjoy every bite.

I snack, but its usually something like apples or grapefruits or a superfood fudge that Ive made. (Basically the superfood smoothie without the water...)

This is easy, and you can do it and enjoy it. USE ME for inspiration. Please. Thats what I am doing this for. USE ME! This is what friends are for. My body and life are the products of this diet. Make every bite and every action in your life a moment of positive growth and conscious love. Do it for yourself and for reaching your true potential.

more to come...

Anthony

Yoga and the DIY Ethic

Yoga, and the DIY Ethic...

I've been occupied with alot lately. For not having a real job, I seem to keep myself wonderfully busy. Whether its picking berries in Central Park, working out at the gym, riding my bicycle through one of the best cities in the world, and lately even learning yoga...there is always something Im up to. And lets not mention tinkering around with food.

Ive been in overdrive making living food snack bars lately. Cacao Mint, Spicy Mango, Banana Bread, and Apple Pie are some of my latest creations. Ive been making samples for friends and the feedback is great.

The Yoga Ive been doing is at the Laughing Lotus Yoga Center on 21st St and 6th Ave. Such a lovely atmosphere and the teachers are really nice. Its much more spiritual than a regular gym yoga class, and I enjoy that aspect as well. I have to admit though, my body was soooo sore after two sessions. I was wrecked. Plus I was riding bike all the time and still going to the gym 3 hours a day, but still....that yoga worked parts of my body that hadn't been used in a long time. My legs especially, very sore.

I have a one week pass there, and to do an unlimited month there its $148. Since my do-it-yourself ethic is very strong, I think I'm going to learn the positions some more, and do alot of it at home. I purchased the Raw Yoga video from David Wolfe's online store, and I think that will get me through the day. $148? I could get a full month at Equinox Gym (the best in NYC probably) for that, and that would include pool and sauna. I'm making money, but I'm no fool. And I dont need the classes to keep up with it like alot of people.

Thats the funny thing about personal trainers. How people believe that they need them to stay motivated. That they need someone looking over their shoulder in order to stay productive. Sad and pathetic. These are the people that have to have a job or otherwise they would just sit on the couch all day. To be active without someone cracking the whip is a foreign concept to them. Be your own coach. Buy a book, learn it yourself, and do it yourself. Stop wasting money because you don't have the discipline to take care of yourself.

Just go to the gym on a regular basis and DO IT. By DO IT, I mean don't just sit around, actually work out. You will learn as you go. And if you get on the treadmill everyday, and start eating consciously, there is no way you won't be looking great in less than a month. To pay a trainer (who probably isn't even in great shape anyways) is a joke and an insult to your intelligence. You have a workout question? Ask someone in shape, or contact me. Take your money and buy some organic food or a success audio cd instead.

The Yoga is amazing though, and I would HIGHLY recommend adding into the daily routine of anyone. I would do yoga in the morning (if you don't lift weights) and then do an hour of treadmill after dinner. Or an hour of running in place or air-boxing in front of the TV if the gym is out of reach that late at night. If you lift weights, I would do the yoga either right before in the morning, or try to fit it in during the evening if you can. Or ROTATE....YES! Day 1,3,5, and 7 do Yoga, and 2,4,6 do Weights. That would be great. If you have the time do yoga everyday though.

Ok....long post. Get those greens in and just be active. Use the stairs, park a bit away from the supermarket and get that extra walk in...and always get that activity in after dinner. Air-boxing is your best bet, along with the standing stomach twists. Do these for 2 min and I guarantee you will feel your heart beating faster.

And just watch a movie while doing it, so you associate pleasure with working out, instead of pain. THIS IS KEY. This is the major reason for change. Connect feelings of pleasure to working out, any way you can. Either by listening to great music or audiobooks, or watching programs or movies you like. This will help so much.

Lots of support for all of you...

Anthony

Our Bodies are the Temples for Our Souls

Our Bodies are the Temples of Our Soul

Souls are tricky business. Are they real? Are we merely our brain and body? Or is our identity something more...something deeper and older than that?

I used to be a materialist, and by that I don't mean that I liked to go shopping all the time. I mean that I used to believe that all that there was, was physical...material. Nothing deeper. What we see is what we get. The idea that our minds hold our sense of self, and our bodies are the vehicles we use to live and reproduce.

But after studying more about quantum physics and energy, and experiencing very deep feelings of wonder and emotion while I was in nature or doing something I loved, I came to believe that who I am is timeless. That who I really am, and who we really are, is something unrestricted by time and space. I now believe that we choose a temporary vessel to experience physical life and to define who we really are, and that we can keep doing this as many times as we desire. We can choose to be a part of "The One" on the metaphysical plane, or we can have another go at it and return to the physical level to play the game yet again.

To get to the point, this lead to the conclusion that our bodies house our spiritual essence. They are temporary carbon units that we choose to inhabit in order to experience existence here in the physical world. The body is the temple that houses you and me. While we are here, we are limited in many ways by what this "body suit" can do for us. So by our actions, we must do whatever we can to open up all chances for reaching optimum potential. For the time, we are Triune beings....Mind-Body-Soul. So why would we treat any part of us with less care than a new automobile?

Would you throw trash into a temple? Would you knowingly do this? I had the excuse of ignorance up until a few years ago, but now that I know, I can't consciously harm myself anymore. Now to me, damaging myself on the inside is equal to purposely damaging myself on the outside - Completely out of the Question.

The healthier the body is, the freer you are to live and create and to define yourself. Every bite you take is a definition of how you feel about yourself and who you really are. And to say that you can't have a fun time without eating bad food is laughable. If we lived in a society where we all ate juicy tropical fruits and defined it as "fun" that would be the definition we would still carry with us to this day. Our idea of "fun foods" in this society is processed candy, cakes, bread, hot dogs, and soda. So we go through life, trying to be healthy but keep getting pulled back into bad eating habits because we "WANT TO LIVE A LITTLE". Ironic, right?

But the question is, now that we are more mature and can think beyond what we were taught as children, will we still associate those fun and loving feelings with those foods? Or can we finally break free and make new definitions? Will reaching peak potential with our bodies and mind become the #1 priority? And know this without a doubt..the mind is controlled by the food as much as the body. I feel tired and mentally fuzzy when I went back to bad foods after being on a diet of living plant foods. I could really tell. I would walk down the street and feel like styrofoam was lining the inside of my skull. Memory, mental stamina, and learning have all been directly connected to diet.

Despite all the digressions in this post, the main point is that we must love every part of ourself and rise above the conditioning we have been subjected to by the junk food industries all of our lives. Realizing that our bodies are the temple of God (or the life-force, or whatever you wish to call it) leads to feelings of gratefulness and love, and we realize that we must cherish our gift and use it wisely...otherwise we (our souls) will depart much sooner and look for something better to do, because with a tired and sick body, there really isn't much time for creating and LIVING.

And tell me that eating the Chocolate Mint Pudding pictured above (which is, by the way, Raw...Vegan...and Organic) wouldn't be fun. Its time to truly love ourselves on a deeper level. Every second we define who we are. Every waking moment each morning is a chance for re-definition and re-creation. You can be and do what you did yesterday, or if you choose (and it is YOUR choice) to be something new. Something more advanced. Something further evolved. Its time to take the next step and make that choice, and diet is a major part of it, because we are what we eat. Eat foods that are free of poison and factory residues...free of greed and murder. Eat foods that vibrate on a higher frequency and soon you will be vibrating on a higher frequency.

"For of the fruits of the trees and the seeds of the earth alone do I partake, and these are changed by the Spirit into my flesh and my blood. Of these alone and their like shall ye eat who believe in me, and are my disciples, for of these, in the Spirit, come life and health and healing unto man." - Jesus of Nazareth as quoted from the Essene Gospel of Peace

I am Here, I am Now.

I am Here...I am Now.

Lately my thoughts have been getting the best of my attention. Normally I would say this is great, but it has kept me from fully being in the present. My mind is always off somewhere contemplating my latest interest. Instead, I should be fully involved in whatever I'm participating in at the current moment. We have to be here in the now, because the past and the future are merely constructions of our minds. All we have, and all we will ever have, is the present moment. So why not be fully involved in it?

Im wondering how I will tie this into ideas about diet. Maybe it will drift that way, perhaps it wont. I feel like writing about focus. Being fully conscious and aware...compared to being off in la-la land while life is passing before our eyes.

I was listening to my French audio lessons last night on the way back from Miami, and my thoughts kept drifting off to this new business that I would like to create soon. I was completely missing the French lesson. Then it occurred to me: I said, "While I'm listening to French, I will focus on nothing but French. Otherwise I shouldn't be wasting my time." It would simply be better to turn off the iPod and give my mind the focus that it desires. Otherwise I should make the choice to save these thoughts for when I'm laying in bed or walking around, or sitting at my desk with a pen in hand. THEN I will focus on the business ideas. Another example - While I'm reading, I shouldn't be thinking about what kind of smoothie I'm going to make for lunch....contemplating whether to use mango or peaches...what is that?

FOCUS. We have to be loyal to what we decide to participate in, and by doing so we reap so much more from our efforts. If something is worth doing, or reading, or paying attention to, its worth doing it right.

A big problem of the modern age that I've noticed is multi-tasking. In small efficient doses this is great. But when we juggle all these different tasks, we tend to do them all with mediocrity instead of doing a few select things, and pursuing them with excellence.

"Do Few Things, But Do Them Well" - St. Francis of Assisi

We just end up distracting ourselves while we are trying to do all these things at once. Spreading ourselves way too thin. The people we admire most usually are good at a select few things. Of course its good to be well rounded, but thats no excuse not to be exceptional in a few areas. And anyone that has a passion for learning and is in good physical shape can obviously be well-rounded.

Focus, Concentrate. Don't water yourself down, or clog your mind with mindless chatter. Take control of your thoughts, and observe them from a different viewpoint. Notice them entering your mind, like clouds floating over the horizon. Then choose to entertain those thoughts, or select to move on to something else. Something more positive and worthwhile. Your mind is a garden to cultivate. Pull out the weeds of distraction and negativity.

Another thought - french fries and soda might be vegan foods, but that doesn't mean they are healthy. Just because something is lacking animal products doesn't mean that they are all right. I would stay away from cooked oils and cooked starches (fried potatoes) and the toxic cocktail of soda much more than I would stay away from a piece of fish. The former foods are pure man-made nastiness. I think eating flesh supports cruelty, and fish do have a great deal of stored toxins in their bodies now, but at least its more natural than drinking carbonic acid and corn syrup.

The lovely dish pictured above is a hemp-coconut-cacao soup decorated with bee pollen. Here's how you make it.

1 Thai coconut, purchased from health food stores or preferably an asian market. (support the smaller vendors) Use the water and the white "meat" inside.

1 tbsp of Agave Nectar, or Raw Honey, or Preferably Yacon Root Syrup.

1/4 cup of Hempseed

1/4 cup of cacao nibs

Blend blend blend....easy easy easy.

Throw a healthy pinch of bee pollen and some whole cacao beans on top for extra flare and a rich blend of amino acids. The taste of the pollen goes quite well with the cacao.

More to come...I'll talk about food more next time, and some exercise tips...I promise!