Another follow up with the Healthy Boomer Six Pack Challenge:

Reminder ==> Being Healthy Is A Lot of Fun

So often – as a culture – we make drudgery out of exercise and working out. My friend Trever McGhee said something in a video today that made a lot of sense.

Trever came up with his new word of the day: “Livit”, a contraction of the two words “Live it”.

He asked the question, “Who ever came up with the word “diet” anyway? Ever time you say the word, your body contracts because the word “die” is in it – so your body thinks it’s going to die and it associates it with the food around die-ting. No wonder the body doesn’t want to loose wait, it’s afraid to release anything or it might die. So instead of talking about a diet, he chooses to focus on a LIVIT.

I like that Trever. Quite brilliant actually.

Back to ‘drudgery’ and a work-out. I’m choosing to use the word play-in.

Various aspects of this:

You may have noticed that the word ends with “in”. I chose this because it implies within us instead outside of us – whereas outside implies separation.

Play-in makes a game or fun out of the experience – one of internal playfulness and joy.  Just say the word “PLAY” to yourself, out loud a few times, and see if your energy doesn’t shift. “The idea of play” makes me feel more relaxed and like I should smile and anticipate having a good time. It makes me think of kids and enjoying myself. I think about laughing and making noise and all the things we used to do when we were kids.

Adults for the most-part are lousy at playing. Life is serious, after all. We must take life seriously or we aren’t being responsible, right?

If we’re having fun, we can’t be taking it seriously.

WHO SAYS SO?

If you’re like me, you agree we can have fun and still take our duties and obligations to heart, responsibly.

Work is not a word that makes people feel all warm and fuzzy (unless of course you’re a Core Health Facilitator or a successful internet marketer – where work is pure pleasure). In general terms when most of us HEAR AND SAY THE WORD: WORK, it makes us feel tired.

And just to prove a point, I had Alexandra energy measure me personally for the word:

I said the word: WORK and it made me go weak.

I said the word: PLAY and I tested strong.

This is interesting and it follows what Dr Ed Carlson teaches us in Core Health about the power of language and choosing words carefully. Thats why, for example, he calls work-shops ==> play-shops. And that’s why Dr. Ed uses the word:

Re~Treat instead of retreat. Think about it for a second: We get to RE -”TREAT” ourselves (we get another treat) or we can retreat (run away)…

Kind of interesting , yes?

Anyway, this is the idea behind looking forward to PLAY-in instead of doing a WORK-out.

Your health and your body are a joy and a miracle. Start digging it and expressing that internal self-love. It’s healthy and thinking it and saying it are good for your health.

Make the Healthy Boomer Six Pack Challenge fun for you. Take a yoga or pilates class, start learning ballroom dancing, ride a bike everyday, take long fast walks, swim or all of the above.  Take up martial arts or qigong. Start having fun and concentrate on doing things you love – that make you feel good.  Become a healthy wealthy boomer too. You have the brains and you have the experience, you’re a Baby Boomer. Go for it.

BTW, anyone can participate, not just baby boomers.

That’s the way to get a six pack.

I AM Michael Barrett. I AM a Healthy Boomer and I AM a Core Health Facilitator.

Day Three of the Healthy Boomer 6 Pack Challenge – what an amazing day at Siesta Key beach.

It’s interesting what happens when we challenge each other in a healthy way – striving for excellence on a collective level. It’s a really positive thing to do on many levels. First and foremost, there is so much negative in the press, over the airwaves and in most conversation that counter balancing that negative with uplifting language, visuals and thoughts is so refreshing and empowering – in-powering actually. That is creating power from the inside out versus getting our power from a source outside ourselves.

By always speaking in language that enhances, we make a healthy contribution to the people and events around us. It costs nothing and it is contagious.

People like to feel good and it stands out clearly against so much negative.

Being a healthy boomer starts with thinking and speaking positively. All that is required is a choice. Making a habit out of it is what takes diligence. This is the fundamental precept in my challenge. Become a healthy baby boomer.

Start Thinking Healthy.

Start Speaking Healthy.

Start Acting Healthy.

Start Being Healthy.

This does not require a PhD in Physical Therapy or that you are working out like a professional athlete. You can start right this minute. Get up and stretch, take a walk, have a glass of water, smile about something, quiet yourself and enjoy the sunrise or go out and look at the moon for a while.

We can do many things to improve our health easily. Diminishing and virtually eliminating stress is a really good place to start. Make a choice to remove anger from your life. Smile and laugh more.

Watch a funny movie and laugh hard – often.

Quit sweating the small stuff.

If nothing else, take up the challenge strictly from the standpoint of making the determination within yourself that in 90 days you will be laughing more. That’s a huge step in the direction of health.

Whatever reason works for you – use it.

Maybe you have high blood pressure and you’re under a lot of stress and you have kids. Think about them being without a dad or a mom five or ten years down the road if you do nothing about your current situation. That’s a good motivator for many.

Think of it this way…

Life can be a lot more fun than it has been. Where do I start having fun?

Ask yourself:

Isn’t life more fun when I feel better physically?

Remember the tireless energy as a kid?

What happened to that?

Focus your attention on that to start with. Simply go into a place when you were small (in your mind and heart) and remember what that feels like. Think about what it used to feel like when you would sleep at night as a child.

How comfortable and safe you felt.

That memory and that knowledge is still locked deep within you – so you already know how to do what I am talking about.

Summon it forth.

Choose to start having fun and get a  new start enjoying your health.

Change what you think about health and take up the Healthy Wealthy Boomer: Healthy Boomer Six Pack Challenge whether you want six pack abs or not.

Choose to be a Healthy Wealthy Boomer and Make the Second Fifty Years Better Than the 1st. There is no asset of greater value than excellent health –  so starting developing that asset again and be a wealthy boomer too.

I AM Michael Barrett, I AM a Healthy Boomer and I AM a Core Health Facilitator

Healthy Wealthy Boomer: June 1 – Healthy Boomer Challenge

The Health Wealthy Boomer definition of health is being healthy mentally, emotionally, Spiritually, energetically, physically and financially. Inherent within this definition is the premise that total health is the single most important component of being a wealthy boomer – our most valuable asset.  Let’s look at this idea and expand it.

First a couple of statistics…

The U.S. Census Bureau says that by 2030, after all baby boomers (born from 1946 to 1964) have turned 65, more than 71 million senior citizens will be living in the USA.

Currently, more Americans than ever are obese: one-third of the adult population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Source: www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-06-05-obesity-age_x.htm

Whatever your personal situation is, far too many Baby Boomers are putting on weight and don’t exercise. Many of us who used to be in the 15% body fat (or lower) category are creeping up to the 25% range. There are much more in-powering choices and life patterns we can make than obesity, particularly as we age.

Many Boomers have decided that it’s  too late to do anything about it and believe they are stuck permanently with sore joints, weak legs and being tired all the time – because that what happens after 50.  Collectively, this is what we have been taught to accept as truth.

I disagree.

If you left a new car out in the elements and never waxed it from day one, eventually the paint would peel off. Who would ever treat a nice car that way – particularly at $25-40K+? You wash it and wax it regularly to protect the paint and to prevent oxidation. You change the oil and get the transmission serviced so it will last as long as possible.

Bodies need love too. If you are not already doing so, start loving your body and yourself. Treat yourself like an honored guest.

If you wait until 2030 to take action, it may be too late. On the positive side, you still have 20 years to become a healthy boomer. A few years ago at a Peak Potentials Train the Trainer 1 Certification intensive, Blair Singer made an interesting point via demonstration that puts 20 years into perspective.

Before I describe what Blair did, let me tell you a little about who Blair Singer is (in case you don’t know). Blair Singer is close friends with Robert Kiyosaki (author of Rich Dad Poor Dad,  a real estate investor and all around entrepreneur). Blair is a Rich Dad Adviser and a highly respected “sales trainer” – the guy companies call in to get results in sales by training their staff. Blair was also a student of Marshall Thurber, a genius in his own right and a protege of Bucky Fuller.

By the way, Blair Singer is a healthy wealthy boomer…

Here is a short video entitled Blair Singer: Secret Formula For Business Success that will give you a sense of how dynamic and talented Blair is and why he is such a successful trainer:

So back to my story…

Blair called volunteers to the front of the room ( we had about 600 attendees of which I was one) and had them line up facing the audience across the entire width of the room – and I would guess it was about 200 feet across. Then he had the volunteers stretch out a single rope all the way across the room each person in line holding the rope and keeping it level. He said that this rope represented a “whole lifetime”.

Next he talked about how a person can learn almost anything they need to in 90 days – with the right instruction, information and diligence.

Then Singer had another volunteer attach a piece of red string 3 feet long to the “life rope” and he asked the group,

“What do you all think that 3 feet of red string represents?”

He got all kinds of answers – and everybody’s attention.

Blair finally said,

“That 3 feet of string represents 90 days of your life. You can learn how to do just about anything in 90 days. And look what a tiny portion of your entire life that time really is. If you think about it, no matter how hard the challenge or how uncomfortable it makes you feel, you can both learn:

• whatever you want to learn, or
• need to learn or
• have to learn

and you can stand whatever it is for 90 days knowing it is such a small percentage of the total. Don’t you agree?”

He got absolute consensus from the group. In the big scheme of things, the time period is truly insignificant relative to your entire life. It really was an effective visual – and we often learn easier visually.

In this case, I certainly did.

Here is my Baby Boomer challenge to you:

Take the next 90 days and do something to improve your health.

Be realistic.

Take a step and start creating new habits.

Here are my basic suggestions:

• Start walking more…  Use the stairs at work, park in the far corner of the parking lot when you shop, walk to the store to get the paper or buy a quart of milk instead of driving 5 blocks. You get the idea. Start taking a walk everyday – intentionally. It relaxes you, it stretches your muscles and it activates your metabolism. Walking for health is something all of us can do.
• Keep a journal of what you do.  Keep tabs on what you are doing everyday so you can look at your progress on your self improvement journey. Not a big deal – maybe: “I walked 15 minutes today.”
• Find out about meditation – take a class or watch You Tube videos, or meet with a friend -  and if you already know about meditation, start doing it again.  Meditation is one of the best things you can do for your health. It improves so many things by default. And if nothing else, just sit quietly on the back porch for ten minutes (no phones, television or noise) and watch the sun come up or enjoy your garden or look at the moon. Getting quiet is a very good thing to do on a regular basis.
• Drink more clean water. Learn how to hydrate your body better.
• Stretch every day.
• Start going to bed earlier.

Do this for 90 days and you will feel significantly better than if you continue to postpone that period of time represented by the 3 feet of red string.

Why wait?

The purpose is to create new habits or re-create them…

If you choose to go further with this, we have created courses  and workshops that really work and help people learn how to walk their talk. Get in touch on our contact page and let’s move forward.

In 20 years, you can actually be healthier than you have been in a long time and you can still become a healthy boomer. Why wait any longer to get started? You can do this incrementally gradually increasing the distance you walk and the intensity with which you exercise. Cut back on fried foods and start eating more Omega 3’s.

Start gradually and work up and in no time at all you’ll look forward to talking a brisk walk and having a tall glass of water. Think how much more energy you will have in 20 years compared to what you will feel like physically if you don’t start now. Many of the effects of aging can actually be reversed, so why wait?

Speaking of Boomer Health: What is your health worth to you?

As far as being healthy goes in 2030:

• what will that health be worth to you then? Or said differently,
• what will it be worth you in 2030 to get your health back?

To my way of thinking, being a healthy boomer is a really good investment in your future – and in your wealth – because the root of real wealth is based in pure health. It is one of those intangibles that you can control in your life. And in time, the results will become tangible – one way or the other.

When you are healthy, you have more creative energy, more energy to work, start new projects and build your wealth along the way. On the other hand, not only is it hard to work and be creative when you feel lousy, it’s no fun. How can you distinguish between wealthy boomer and a healthy one? Do you agree that health an essential component of abundance and wealth?

It’s amazing how many people I have met in the last couple of years – in their mid to late 60’s that wish they had taken better care of their bodies when they were younger. I have also met a number of people who are healthier now – in their 60’s and 70’s than many people I know in their 40’s.

• Will you be getting healthier all the time by the time you are 65?
• And will you be actively building your wealth and living the life you want, or
• Will you be working every day to pay the rent and eat like so many people in their 60’s today?

There’s no time like the present.

In fact there only is the present. The past is history and the future hasn’t come yet.

Wake up, tune it and get with it.  I double dare you…

The choices you make today will determine what you become in 20 years. When the time comes, don’t say “nobody told me”. Are you really too busy to care of your health?

Get started now on the Healthy Boomer Challenge.

I AM Michael Barrett and I AM a Core Health Facilitator and Boomer Health Coach

Update on the Baby Boomer Six Pack Blog…

A few weeks ago, I declared my intention to get into training mode physically and mentally targeting SIX PACK ABS by my birthday.

I hereby announce that I have to postpone this for two months – maybe three.

I am still working on re-establishing my daily routine and implementing the system I created in “Look Better and Feel Better in 60 Days“. However, I will hold off on the intense workout routine until I complete some “corrective training” to re-align and reduce the compensation effect related to the information that follows.

Note the operating word : Postpone – not BAIL…

Here’s why…

When I spoke to my mentor (Dr. Ed Carlson) about it at lunch in Gulfport, Fl the following week, he took a good look at my posture and suggested that before I go into training mode, I should go visit Randy Clark in Clearwater, Fl. Randy is partners with Paul St John (yes THE Paul St John – founder of the Paul St John Method of Neuro-muscular Therapy) at the St John-Clark Pain Treatment Center.

Dr Ed Carlson (my mentor) and Paul St John are old friends and have worked together for many years. A few years ago, Paul St. John and Randy Clark became partners.

Smart People Listen to Good Advice…

I had heard Randy speak at the Core Health Facilitators Update several weeks preceding this conversation and found his work to be fascinating. Over the years – although stubborn and resistant at times – I have learned that smart people listen to good advice. In 11 1/2 months Dr. Ed Carlson has never once given me a bad piece of advice. So I went to meet Randy.

Here is my take on how integrative neurosomatic therapy works…

Basically what these guys do is manipulate the muscles to release contraction. And recently they have learned something new. It is actually easier to get the muscles to relax by massaging and manipulating the “organs” associated with different muscles groups and associated meridians. Apparently this is far more effective than working on the muscles directly and in a very short period of time, by manipulating the organs the muscles relax automatically.

As therapy progresses, and the muscles relax to a normal state, many skeletal alignment issues correct naturally as a function of releasing the tension in the muscles.

While it is far more complex than this, this description is basically the idea. There is a lot that Paul St John and Randy have learned about the relationship between the neural net and muscles – and how they “interact and fire”.

In a nutshell, contracted muscles that stay that way for an extended period of time actually create a “lock” and significant tension in the surrounding muscle groups, associated meridians, organs and connecting tissues. This muscle contraction often creates tilts in the skeletal systems and can create long term complications if not treated.

My Personal Physical Situation Right Now…

In my personal case, Randy Clark showed me that this muscle contraction (and compensation) has created a head tilt to the right as well as a pelvic tilt to the right and several issues related to the neck and shoulder.

Unresolved this could transform – over time – into a permanent physical pattern for me and this is unacceptable.

So…

In addition, my primary front abdominal muscle is “not firing”. Apparently when the surgeon cut through that muscle for a hernia operation in 1977, the neural connection to that muscle shut down. What that means is that when the brain sends the signal to “fire” that muscle, the message never gets there through the neural net. From their clinical experience and observation over a long period of time, this is quite a common problem after surgery – for many types of abdominal surgery for both men and women.

The rub is that most physicians are not aware that this is the case and 9 times out of 10 they recommend physical therapy as the post operative treatment. What this means (if these guys are right and I think they are) is that the recommended post operative therapy (which is exactly what the doctor ordered) is often exactly what is not needed for the client. What they need instead is to relax the muscles, where the physical therapy actually induces muscle contraction.

Anyway back to my situation…

No wonder doing 2500 ab crunches a day (I worked up to that because as my friend Holly says, ” I tend to be an overachiever”) in a workout program several years ago did nothing to help my front abdominal core. The ab muscle itself was not firing. So all the surrounding muscles had to take up the slack and “compensate”. Needless to say this can create numerous issues – like a chain reaction in the body. I have a high pain thresh hold, so over time my body adjusted to the contraction and the compensation and – in time – this became normal.

Dr. Ed Carlson often points out that:

“There is a difference between normal and natural. Natural being the most healthy and normal being what MOST of us do, most of the time.”

My personal challenge to everybody who wants to change their life (and particularly Boomers) from normal to natural:

“I intend to set the bar high as a healthy boomer challenging all Baby Boomers to move from being NORMAL to NATURAL and I invite all of you (whether you are a Boomer or not)” – to participate.”

In 2003, I broke my left wrist in 7 places . In 2005 and 2006 there were additional injuries. The first was when I did a one point landing – full body weight – on the side of my neck and right clavicle. From 2005 until 2010, the clavicle was partially separated the whole time (until an amazing man, Grand Master David Harris reset it). I also sustained a knee injury, landing on a piece of steel full body weight in 2006.

I mention these experiences because they exacerbated the issues that had existed within my body without my knowledge for many years.

So here’s the deal…

When I get:

all the “coiled and contracted” muscles in my body relaxed and normalized and then naturalized

and when we correct the mis-alignments

get the ab firing again and

build muscle in the right places – correctively – to hold everything in alignment, the way it should be

Then I will actively take up the abs challenge again. Maybe the new target will be September instead of July, not sure yet. I am really glad that I found these things out because building significant muscle mass and more tension would have potentially compounded the problems and created serious negative long term side effects.

Thanks Dr. Ed and Randy Clark…

Future Baby Boomer Six Pack Updates

From April 28-May 2, I attended the annual Silent Re~Treat that Dr Ed Carlson has been facilitating for over 25 years. During that 4 1/2 days of Unceasing Meditation, I learned a good deal about what else has been going on in my neck – not just the “what”, also the “why” and what to do about it.

This is part of the solution to my situation and the physical expression of who I AM.

I’ll talk about the emotional and “feelings” aspects of this and how it integrates into my overall personal solution in further Baby Boomer Six Pack Updates…

I AM Michael Barrett, I AM a Healthy Boomer and I AM a Core Health Facilitator.

Baby Boomer Six Pack – All You Can Drink…

Gotcha. I’m talking about six pack abs – not beer. You know the kind of sexy abs that look great at the beach. I’m on a mission and I could use your support. Will you help me?

First A Little Personal History

Back in November 2008, I was talking to my close friend on the phone who said that he and a mutual friend of ours had decided to lose weight together. So on that call, I committed to my friend to join in and get below 200 pounds by my birthday the following July (2009). Along came July and I was under 200 pounds for the first time in a number of years.

This year, I’ve made a different commitment with less time to accomplish it. What’s the commitment?

6 PACK ABS BY MY BIRTHDAY IN JULY.

This is on the radical side – time wise -and a tough target but I’m confident that I can do this. Last time I lost the weight almost exclusively as a result of increased physical activity – initially by walking 5-7 miles a day in the mountains of Pennsylvania and later by adding back in Tibetan Rites, Qigong and reduced food intake to my daily routines.

I’ve tried the six pack abs thing before unsuccessfully. I even blogged about it in 2008: Why Can’t I Get Six Pack Abs?

Why Will I Be Successful This Time?

My plan will succeed because I’m refining my physical routine again plus adding a significant focus on raw foods and being specific about getting enough of the right kind of fat.

This is my physical regimen between now and July:

• Walking 3-5 miles a day aggressively
• Tibetan Rites every day
• Qigong 3-4 times a week
• Free weights: (to build up my upper body to strength level that preceded my broken wrist in 2003) 3- sets of 12, 10, 8, 6 alternating on each arm with starting with 10 pound weights and working my way up to 40 pound weights.
• I will also be using diet suggestions and core exercises recommended in Mike Geary’s incredibly successful e-book: The Truth About Abs.

Note: Personal Recommendation – Over the last couple of years, I’ve been following Mike. I think he is the genuine article and really walks his talk. I always read his newsletter and the more I read it, the more I realize that our health philosophies are really in alignment. Lots of things I have been saying for years keep coming out in his newsletters. Nice to get validation from a certified personal trainer and certified nutrition specialist. I highly recommend Truth About Abs for anybody serious about health and getting in shape – and the bonuses that come with his – e-book are really awesome.

Something else is different too.

Combined with Geary’s core strength recommendations I’m adding another tool: Core Health. Coupled with my physical regimen this creates a Baby Boomer Secret Weapon – and if I am right – the tools for a Baby Boomer Six Pack.

In 2009, I found Core Health. I liked it so much that I moved from Montana to Florida to study it with the founder, Dr. Ed Carlson, and after months of study and multiple joyful, expansive weekend intensives, I received my certification as a Core Health facilitator last December.

While the physical aspects of exercise and diet are very important, there are other things that are just as important and perhaps even more so – attitude and energy. From what I have learned in Core Health during 2009, I am convinced that when I lock in my commitment to succeeding at creating 6 pack abs using the DTQ techniques and making new energy decisions, I will succeed 100%.

The proof is in the pudding. Results are all that matters.

I am going to blog about this process the whole way and post videos and blogs about my routines from now until my birthday. I’m looking for some support. Just an occasional “atta-boy” and blog comments along the way would really help. Are you with me?

Away we go…

Watch as my baby boomer six pack materializes before your eyes between now and July.

I Am Michael Barrett. I Am a Core Health Facilitator and I Am a Healthy Boomer.

Wusthof Chef Knives
Source:wusthof.com

Baby Boomer Men Who Cook Love Sharp Knives

Having sharp knives is a point of contention with me – or perhaps more accurately – dull knives. Many kitchens have knives that ’saw’ through foods rather than dice, slice or chop.

One of my favorite places to spend spare time is in the kitchen because I like to cook and I’m getting better at it. It’s kind of becoming a “sport-hobby” for me – as a genuine wannabe chef. Because, I am a Healthy Boomer and very conscious about the quality of food that I put into my body, the preparation of food is done with great care and conscious attention to detail. Good cooking tools and sharp knives are essential in the kitchen in order to create delightful and healthy meals fast.

Over the years, I have made a sincere effort to learn how to sharpen a knife correctly – with only limited success to my satisfaction. In part, this is because those who tried to show me didn’t know either.

After college, I took several woodworking classes making furniture using traditional woodworking tools. Part of the curriculum was learning how to sharpen hand plane blades and chisels.

Source:japaneseknifesharpening.com

I accomplished some degree of success first using Arkansas oil stones and a lot of elbow grease. Later I learned how to use Japanese water stones to sharpen to these tools to a mirror finish.

Every cutting edge requires a specific bevel angle, or what’s called a primary angle. On steel knives the angle usually varies from 15-25 degrees depending on the style of knife and how it is manufactured.

In order for a the cutting edge to work effectively, there needs to be a relief angle – in addition to the primary bevel. On square edged tools like a chisel, this can be achieved by grinding a second bevel. Another way to create a relief angle is by using a grinding wheel to create a hollow grind. What creates the most effective cutting edge on a chisel is actually a combination of the two: First a hollow grind, then a secondary angle and finally the primary edge

What really makes a cutting edge work efficiently is the second bevel angle. In this context, you end up with 3 bevels on a cutting edge. The primary angle, the second angle and a relief bevel. Here is an excellent description of how to sharpen a knife on Mike Casey’s Knife Sharpening Page.

Scroll down to Figure 5 to see the three bevel angles described above. This visual may help. A triple bevel cutting edge creates a very strong and durable cutting edge with exceptional ‘relief’ to reduce friction and resistance when the cutting edge is in the material you are cutting.

On the Subject of Edges and Honing

Here is a good series of magnifications showing the cutting edge of a knife sharpened using an F. Dick SM 111 sharpening machine.

1. Before 2. After 3. Ground 4. Honed 5. Polished (SM-111 only)
(source:http://users.ameritech.net/knives/dick.htm)

Frederich Dick SM 111 3 Stage Sharpening Machine

Sharpening A Square Edged Tool…

Sharpening a square edged tool is fairly easy because we only have one plane to be concerned with. As long as we keep the cutting edge at a 90 degree to the grinding surface, it’s pretty straight forward.

We need some type of jig or fixture to maintain that relationship so we can create a constant angle across the entire cutting edge.

The SM111 is a great way to grind, remove the burr and hone fairly quickly and consistently. This looks like a good machine that runs about $2600.

A Radiused or Contoured Cutting Edge Is a Different Story.

When we sharpen a contoured edge, maintaining constant bevel edges across the entire cutting edge surface is a different story.

It requires a way to maintain a constant bevel around the contour of the knife. If you use water stones, this requires a great deal of skill and practice although this can be a very effective way to sharpen knives.

Look at these before and after pictures and see Dave Martell can do with waters stones, by hand.

What about a regular guy who isn’t an expert with water stones?

A Chef’s Recommendation…

Edge Pro Knife Sharpener
source:http://www.edgeproinc.com/

With an Apex Knife Sharpener, Putting a 600 Grit Finish on the Cutting Edges of Your Knives Is a Snap…

About a week ago, I was talking to a chef from the Ritz in Sarasota and he told me about the Apex Edge Pro. He bought one himself to keep his $250-300 knives razor sharp. He was actually looking at a new fillet knife when I spoke to him because he needed to fillet a large grouper for a function at the Ritz that night.

Watch this sharpener in action, it’s so easy to use.

When I got home, I took a look at what Chef was talking about. I’m impressed. So much so that I am going to get this system myself. It’s about $575 with attachments and a carrying case.

What qualifies me to talk about sharpening?

I founded and was the managing partner for True Cut Saw and Tool in Hamilton, Montana for six years. We did industrial grinding for the woodworking industry specializing in cemented carbide tooling. Our niche was carbide tipped router bits. We sharpened, manufactured and retipped router bits, shaper cutters and circle saws, maintaining a high level of professional quality.

I was also a foodservice broker in Seattle for 5 years and have interfaced with thousands of chefs. Cutlery has been an interest of mine for many years.

A key to Baby Boomer Health is eating right. Baby Boomer Men who cook love knives. Knives are an integral part of food preparation and eating right.

I AM Michael Barrett and I AM A Healthy Boomer

Baby Boomer balance has everything to do with alignment and walking our talk.

How many times in your life have you verbally committed to doing something and then reneged at some point because something came up – or the memory and focus of the original conversation faded and became a distant glimmer of muffled sound – like a silhouette of a campfire on the beach against a cliff late at night?

Was it your intention not to follow through? Did you actually make the commitment intending not to follow through?

In a peculiar way, this is the truth.

Recently, on a personal level, I have learned about authenticity – living it, speaking it and looking for it. This ties in directly to other aspects of what I am learning that I would like to share with you. See how it sits with you and maybe it will make sense to you the way it is beginning to in my life.

Lately many aspects of emotion are becoming clear in my life.

What emotion is, for example.

As far back as I can remember, emotion has been something usually associated with discomfort – something to “kind of walk around” or to be cautious about not stirring up the mud in the bottom of the pond, so to speak.

Because there was so much turmoil in my household as a boy, it became easier to avoid emotion than deal with it. As a memory, there is a great deal of fighting and negative emotion throughout much of the childhood experience. So looking back at the chain of events in my own experience, I see that inadvertently, as a young man my “internal” system gradually guided me in the direction of avoiding emotion as a survival tool, because many times this was easier than experiencing the emotion that was available there.

It was not a conscious choice, in retrospect.

And looking at that process, it becomes clear to me that a great deal of my subsequent experience around emotion was either directly – or indirectly – linked to the that “unconscious choice” so many years ago.

What is interesting about this scenario is that I have always been a highly sensitive human being with an singular sense of fairness and equity that has always been a major part of my personality. Being a “Cancer” with a heavy emphasis on emotion, this aspect has often been a double edged sword for me.

More often than not, I felt more than the others around me did. Many times it created a situation where I really felt like an outcast – the weirdo, the odd one – that got messages and direction that nobody else seemed to understand – or be aware of. At the age where peer approval was so important to a young man, this was often troubling and confusing. And yet on a certain level, I really didn’t care what they thought either. I rarely listened to what other people had to say.

Talk about confusion…

So here I am as a teenager:

• becoming a master of avoiding emotion while simultaneously
• being highly sensitive to the energy and emotion around me
• angry and aloof – getting tons of “downloads” encrypted in a language that only I seemed to understand

So back to the “truth” of not intending to follow commitments – of having intentions NOT to honor commitments we make – even though we are verbally nodding our heads.

In 2005, at a Peak Potentials Wizard Camp (a 5 day intensive seminar not to far from Whistler, BC) I had an epiphany. I learned first hand what commitment means. This took place in the form of a direct experience – but also, I actually saw commitment with my own eyes. I have written about this experience in depth in my book so I will not reiterate it here.

I really got something in that experience that I have carried forward with me since and have grown to realize that it affects everything we do in life – all the time.

To summarize, this is it:
Commitment does not exist in the cosmos as ‘partial’. It is all or nothing. We are either 100% committed or we are not committed. There is no such thing as “sort of committed”.

This is the crux of the theme of this post: Baby Boomer Balance.

Lately, as a I mentioned earlier, many aspects of “emotion” are becoming clear to me.

1. I have recently heard this: emotions are the way that God speaks to us.
2. Emotions are the internal guide posts that empower us to choose the right decision.
3. Emotions have nothing to do with pain or fear – both of which stem from our reaction to what our emotions are telling us – rather than what is actually being said.
4. Most of us avoid experiencing emotion like the plague because in much of our experience, when we feel emotion, we feel pain – so we associate it with pain.
5. Emotions are tools to guide us in the decision process. That decision process is very simple: Does this choice feel good? Or does this choice not feel good?

When we pull this understanding into our daily life as an operating tool, emotions make it easy to decide what to do. Esther Hicks and Abraham always talk about “going upstream or going downstream”.

I am learning how simple this is – but it took a long time for me to “get it”.

I am learning to use this tool frequently throughout the day. Any time I start to feel agitation about something I am hearing, or about something I am thinking or a choice I am about to make, I ask myself:

Does this feel upstream or downstream? If I get the feeling that the “thing” is upstream ( a choice that will take me into a situation that will mean “fighting my way upstream”), I choose consciously not to do that thing, or say those words or go that direction. No explanation, no argument and no rhetoric.

If this thing makes me feel “downstream” – like flowing with the current and really going with the flow, that is the choice I make. I find that as soon as I identify internally what feels good and what feels downstream, all sense of agitation and discomfort – in the bottom of my stomach immediately fades away and I feel good.

What a cool way to deal with emotion. It now becomes a tool for choosing our path and for making decisions all the time. And it is so simple – as long as we just listen and do not resist or react.

Now more about balance…

I am finding that living our truth is all about balance.

To be authentic we must live our truth. That means we can not go against what we know is right within us. In other words, we must always choose what feels downstream in order to follow “what feels right for us”. Any time we make a choice other than this, it means that we are making a choice out of alignment with who we are.

Maybe this is to please others whom we admire and whose approval we are seeking. Maybe we want a different outcome to be our reality so we think that if we ignore that “feeling” it will come out the way we really want it to happen.

The truth is that we can only make choices in alignment with our “authenticity” if we want to be authentic. Nothing else makes sense. The interesting part is that as soon as we choose this, everybody else around us identifies our authenticity and starts to respect it.

Now how does commitment fit into this picture?

It is very simple yet subtle – much in the same way how easy it is to choose “upstream or downstream”. Yet, perhaps commitment is one of the most misunderstood concepts in modern society at this point. Truly most of us think we are committed when we are not.

Because being committed means that no matter what we will follow through. It means our word is our bond, it is an extension of our truth and it is a big part of being authentic.

How is this so?

If we are truly being authentic, we follow through on our commitments because when we are following our inner truth, we only commit to those things that make us feel “downstream:” We choose what is right for us at all times and we choose to be in the flow.

When we are authentic, we are choosing that which is alignment with our higher self – which also means we are choosing that which is in alignment with the part of us which is Divine.

When we are authentic, we only agree to commit to anything that we choose to be in alignment with. What this means, therefore, is that it is really ok to say NO.

Simply go inside and ask yourself: If I commit to this does it make me feel downstream or upstream? Then base your commitment on that feeling – one way or the other.

If we commit to something and we do not follow through, either we were not being authentic when we entered into the commitment, or we are not being true to ourselves when we do not follow through to that commitment.

We are the leaders for future generations. What happens is our responsibility. How can we lead these kids and guide the flow “downstream” in the bigger picture if we are not committed to our principles, our values and our integrity?

And how can we expect those who are so desperately needing our leadership to believe us and follow our direction if:

• our walk is not in alignment with our talk and
• if we are not being authentic

We cannot expect them to listen because it will not feel “downstream” to them. And they will blow us off.

We have a chance to make a real change as we head into the magnificent transition into the new paradigm that is coming.

Commit to your own alignment and your Baby Boomer Balance.
Being in alignment is a big part of Baby Boomer Balance as well as a major ingredient in Baby Boomer Health. Coming to grips with these issues are not only a component of who were are becoming as leaders, it is also a big part of choosing emotional cleansing and self esteem on a conscious level – instead of an unconscious one.

Are you ready to see it all in a different light and quit fighting the inevitable – upstream?

I am.

Blessings.

Michael Barrett

EFT is a very effective healing practice that was developed by Gary Craig.
You can find out more about it at the Emotional Freedom Technique website.

To quote from the website:
Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) is an emotional, needle free version of acupuncture that is based on new discoveries regarding the connection between your body’s subtle energies, your emotions, and your health. EFT has been reported successful in thousands of cases covering a huge range of emotional, health and performance issues. It often works where nothing else will.

There are three reasons I am blogging about EFT.

1. EFT is something that everyone – and particularly every baby boomer – should know about and learn how to use. It is a simple yet effective system for emotional cleansing. When I find something this good, I want to share it with everybody. The information is free and the techniques are very effective. Just go the website and download the free manual and get started today.
2. I have known about EFT for quite a while and have used it a few times myself with mediocre success on a personal level. But, because so many experts that I respect have said it is very effective, I included in my 60 Days To Look Better and Feel Better (the companion course to my book Healthy Wealthy Boomer) as a daily practice for emotional cleansing and balance.
3. Today, I was given an EFT private healing session. That two hour session has changed me internally, dramatically. I can not impress upon you enough how much of a difference and how much better I feel. In many respects, I believe it was a re-birthing emotionally and spiritually. I feel so blessed and am so grateful, I wanted to make a public declaration and give credit where credit is due.

Whenever I See Excellence and Grace, It Creates A Sense of Awe

It’s always amazing to me when I cross paths with someone who is really good at what they do – particularly when there is genuine humility and no ego involved. I love mastery and goodness. It never fails to restore my faith in humanity and always reminds me how much unconditional love matters – and how rare it is.

Service to others is usually the primary driving force behind authentic people who really care.

Pamela Gregory is one such individual.

She has been an EFT practitioner for 6 years. In my case, she recognized my situation and the depth of what I was going through and she immediately threw me a “lifeline”. She went the extra mile and took the time to fully communicate with me and really listen.

She stepped in, was firm and very loving and she provided me with a great deal of preparatory information and support. Her session was well directed and executed professionally and with sincere kindness. She acted like a catalyst to open me up. This woman is blessed with an ability and works in Divine Love. She was an angel to me. I trust her completely and recommend her wholeheartedly.

If you have any emotional issues that have been hanging on for a long time or emotional pain, get in touch with Pamela. You will not only love her personally, you will love the results.

I mean this sincerely.

Just as a sidebar, I am not affiliated with Pamela or emofree.com and receive no compensation for these endorsements – just the satisfaction of knowing that everybody wins.

There are two videos she recommended I watch prior to the session to get a real sense of the power of EFT. I did and they are powerful – particularly the one showing veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrone being treated with EFT. I have included it here.

Vets Being Treated For PTSS with EFT

She has a Facebook group called: Forgiveness Healing. In fact this is where I found her and became Facebook friends. If you are on Facebook, go here and join this group.

You can get a Pamela Gregory EFT Private Session here.

If nothing else, go to the EFT website and download the free EFT manual.

Wishing you the best.

Michael Barrett

First off, I work at it.

I am a baby boomer. I care about people in my age group who are starting to show the signs of wear and tear and who aren’t doing anything about it. I want to help Boomers change this in a big way and I know how.

If you’re wealthy and sick, are you really wealthy? If you had a terminal disease, what would you pay to get your health back? The fact is that millions of Boomers are headed there right now unless they start doing something about it.

For the greater part of my adult life, I have been very consistent about taking care of myself. I love to feel good and I have lots of energy. Ask people that know me well and they will verify my vast reserves of energy and untiring ability to keep going after most people burn out.

I’m not a superstar, just a guy who has a system that works well for me.

I am not a tri-athlete, a marathon runner or a weight lifter. But I have amazing endurance, useable strength and overall excellent physical tone. I can’t run 26 miles but I bet I could walk 100. I can’t lift 400 pounds, but I have a healthy back and that’s what hydraulics are for – not the human body. I’m almost 56 (and that picture was taken less than two weeks ago), but most people think I’m in my 40’s and that’s not just from the way I look, it’s also how I use my body. It’s physical expression as well as surface appearance.

In my book, Healthy Wealthy Boomer: The Plan to Make the 2nd Fifty Years Better Than the 1st, I go into detail. I also wrote a companion course to implement the plan and get it working in 60 days, called “How To Look Better and Feel Better in 60 days.”

I created checklists and instructions that I keep in a binder and check off the list as I follow the program everyday. I have found this to be effective for me because it creates a visual map of my consistency, diligence and where I need to improve my efforts. At a single glance, on one sheet I can see everything I have done (or not done) for 10 days.

Over the course of the last 35 years, I have read and studied all kind of programs and been a diligent student of natural health and how to create a healthy lifestyle with the objective of a primary goal:
LONGEVITY.

Here ’s a quick summary of what I do all the time.

• I walk.
• I drink lots of water.
• I eat really healthy food and know a lot about what fuel works best for my body.
• I practice qigong regularly.
• I do Tibetan rejuvenation exercises.
• I do a 6-7 minute set on the Total Gym (although right now it is in storage in another state after a recent move and I have not retrieved it yet)
• I stretch.
• I love my body and let him know often how much I appreciate everything he does for me.
• I love myself.
• I focus on positive thoughts and language.
• I think healthy thoughts.
• I work at balancing my emotions and being present.
• I MEDITATE everyday.
• I recognize SOURCE ENERGY as the root of my strength and the source of my health and I express my gratitude every day

I do lots of other things regularly – but not every day. I choose health and always take responsibility for three things:

• What I put in my mouth everyday
• What I think about and the words I use
• How I use my time

I have developed a system that really gets long range results. It is designed to work for anybody – just regular people who want to improve themselves. You simply start wherever you are and get started doing whatever you can handle to begin with. You add more to the regimen as you develop skills, expertise and the ability to handle more.

Nothing extravagant, exotic or difficult to learn.

The key is to get started and keep doing what you can everyday. I can show you how.

I’m no super star professional athlete, just a guy who has figured out how to keep thinking right and really loves to feel good. Most of it is common sense, but it helps to have a coach to bring out the best and learn how to improve – at least until you have the system down yourself.

I’m going to start introducing live workshops, online training and various programs in the near future. I am also now focused on publishing my book with three more coming after that.

For now, if you’re feeling lousy. Do something about it.

• Start walking everyday and increase the distance as your legs get stronger and your breathing improves.
• Drink a gallon of water a day forever. Start with a few glasses of water and work up. I fill a half gallon container up 2 times a day and drink it all day long. You can drink a glass every hour. Whatever works for you. Just do it. Hydration is so important.
• Start eating smaller portions of the food you are eating right now. And eat more frequently. Cut way back on fried foods – period. Eat more raw food and organic is way better.
• Elminate toxic thinking and emotions.

None of that costs anything or is a big transition. Anybody can do what I just wrote.

• Choose to start loving yourself.
• Decide.
• Take responsibility.
• Do it.

You are perfect, whole and complete and you are loved Divinely just the way you are. There is nothing you need to change or be, just to to remember that you are perfect and really believe it.

With some practice on your part, the rest will take care of itself. Before you know it, you’ll be a healthy wealthy boomer too.

I moved this post to:

http://askmichaelbarrett.com/2009/02/14/happy-valentines-day-a-poem-by-michael-barrett/

Happy Valentine’s Day…