20181213 NO SAVERS TODAY

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29181212 SAVERS for WEDNESDAY

SILENCE

Was silent for 60 seconds

AFFIRMATIONS

1. I,Ken Taylor, am a loving human being.
2. I, Ken Taylor, am a loving human being.
3. I, Ken Taylor, am a loving human being.
4. I, Ken Taylor, am a loving human being.

VISUALIZATION

THUMB UP!

EXERCISE

Did full 30 day routine:

1. ankle/wrist circles 60
2. toe/finger stretches 60 + 10
3. bicycle crunches 60
4. shoulder rolls 60
5. inversion table 3 1-min sets
6. push-ups 60

READING, WRITING

Will do more tomorrow.

20181211 SAVERS for TUESDAY, 1st DAY OF NEW VISUALIZATION & GOAL

SILENCE

Tried to silence brain for 60 seconds.  Not easily done.

AFFIRMATIONS

Today I begin a new (for now) affirmation.

1. I, Ken Taylor, am a loving human being.
2. I, Ken Taylor, am a loving human being.
3. I, Ken Taylor, am a loving human being.
4. I, Ken Taylor, am a loving human being.
5. I, Ken Taylor, am a loving human being.
6. I, Ken Taylor, am a loving human being.
7. I, Ken Taylor, am a loving human being.
8. I, Ken Taylor, am a loving human being.
9. I, Ken Taylor, am a loving human being.

Also, said aloud for 60 seconds.

VISUALIZATION

I am concerned about possibly becoming a crotchety old man.  To avoid that, I now visualize the following while driving in traffic, and while communicating with others:

If I am tempted to flip some driver off, I will change the signal to a THUMB UP, no matter what the reason is.

So my visualization is:

THUMB UP!

Visualized THUMB UP for 60 seconds.

EXERCISE

Did my full 30 day routine for Tuesday:

1. ankle/wrist circles 60
2. toe/finger stretches 60 + 10
3. bicycle crunches 60
4. shoulder rolls 60
5. inversion table 3 1-min sets
6. squats 60

READING, WRITING

Read 60 seconds in SAPIENS by Yuval Noah Harari.  He says that history scholars once believed that agriculture sprang up in one part of the world and spread throughout.  But no.... evidence shows that agriculture developed independently in each major area and spread locally.  The actual crops grown and animals domesticated were different in each area.  People grew tired of randomly finding good things to eat, so they began cultivating crops (e.g., earlier, they found gourds under the brush; later, they began planting pumpkins)

By 999 AD, the whole planet was agricultural.

All of the above seems quite reasonable to me.

Since the "Agricultural Revolution" took place independently but relatively simultaneously, it makes me wonder if there wasn't an overall evolutionary path that Earth beings were following during the transition from "hunter/gatherers" to "agriculturalists."

The Levant:  Geographic and cultural region consisting of eathern Mediterranean between Anatolia and Egypt.  The historical region of Syria.  The definitions I read do not mention Cyprus, but they do include parts of Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Egypt.

20181210 SAVERS for MONDAY LAST DAY OF WT LOSS GOAL PERIOD 175

SAVERS

SILENCE

Tried to silence my brain for 60 seconds.

AFFIRMATIONS

1. I, Ken Taylor, continue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.
2. I, Ken Taylor, continue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.
3. I, Ken Taylor, continue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.
4. I, Ken Taylor, cotninue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.

Also said aloud 60 seconds.

VISUALIZATION

175 by 12/10

Well, I didn’t make it.  I’m at 180.6 this morning.

My new visualization for the next 7 days is:

175 by 12/17

EXERCISE

Did my full, quick 30 day routine:

1. ankle/wrist circles 60
2. toe/finger stretches 60 + 10
3. bicycle crunches 60
4. shoulder rolls 60
5. Inversion table 3 1-min sets
6. push-ups 60

READING, WRITING

I’m waiting for the Chinese Consulate (Los Angeles) to open, and I forgot to bring a book.

So I’ll read CNN’s 5 things for today. 60 seconds

20181209 SAVERS for SUNDAY in SAN CLEMENTE

SILENCE

Did it for 60 seconds.  TRIED it.  Again.

AFFIRMATIONS

1. I, Ken Taylor, continue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.
2. I, Ken Taylor, continue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.
3. I, Ken Taylor, continue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.
4. I, Ken Taylor, continue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.

Also said aloud for 60 seconds.

VISUALIZATION

175 by 12/10

I have misgivings about my weight loss.  But I'm here in San Clemente with Lisa, et al, and I have to modify my routine.  I don't HAVE to.  But I do.  It's family, it's Sunday, and the phrase that bounces around in my brain is:  "I am not called upon to adhere so exactly and precisely to my routine that I can't enjoy myself by eating other foods while I'm here wiih my family."

I am the one who calls.  Today, I have a different message for myself, slightly altered from the normal routine I've been following. 

There are plenty of reasons to be upset, or negative.

But I need to focus on the reasons to be happy, and positive, at least to the point of balancing them all.

EXERCISE

Did my full 30 day routine for a Sunday, except for the inversion table stretches.

1. ankle/wrist circles 60
2. toe/finger stretches 60 + 10
3. bicycle crunches 60
4. shoulder rolls 60
5. back stretch over the edge of the bed
6. squats 30
7. push-ups 30

YAY!

READING, WRITING

Read for 60 seconds + in the ENSIGN magazine, randomly selected from L & R's coffee table.

I randomly opened the magazine to an article, written by a man living in Idaho.  He described how it was growing up.  He somehow developed some strange habits, which doctors later diagnosed as 

1.  obsessive/compulsive disorder

and

2.  Tourette's syndrome

His descriptions of how he and his family became aware of these childhood quirks (?) were eerily similar to what I experienced.  Of course, it was not exactly the same.

In Vienna, we had a huge villa to live in, and there were stairs everywhere, it seemed.  My bedroom was situated such that the best stairway to go down to breakfast on schoolday mornings was the back stairway, used for the "help."  Barbara, our maid, used this stairway too.

I recall going down the stairs, and ending the descent on my right food, but wanting to give "equal time" to my left foot.  So I'd back up a few steps, and switch so that the last step would be my left foot.

I did not go all the way back up the stairway & give it a "full" equal time ..... only the last few steps.

I'm guessing that the incident with the ornamental brass ball which I took out and put back several times, was an indication of this same syndrome I experienced.

When I was faced with removing it, and planning to put it back when I returned, but FORGETTING to put it back on my way back up the stairs, and with my father finding it, and asking me in a scolding voice, "Did you remove the brass ball?" (I denied having done it, but he replied "Sure you did,"  and he was more interested in what I had planned to do with it, to which I had no reply.),

........, when all that was "done," I look back and wonder....... was that obsessive/compulsive behavior?

I don't think I ever had Tourette's Syndrome.  I didn't make strange noises.  I was keenly aware of the derision I received from my siblings and some friends at school.  I was in control enough to not cause myself any undue problems.

But what a mess I was!

20181208 SAVERS for SQUAT SATURDAY

I woke a bit later, and decided to put another loaf of bread into the bread maker.  And now I'm back in my room doing my routine.

SILENCE

I was able to set alarm for 1 min 10 sec, and I covered my ears with my pillows, and tried to silence my brain.  I imagined a washing machine agitator whirling around and around inside my skull, pushing out all thoughts.  It didn't work 100%, but it was good.

AFFIRMATIONS

1. I, Ken Taylor, continue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.
2. I, Ken Taylor, continue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.
3. I, Ken Taylor, continue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.
4. I, Ken Taylor, continue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.

Also, said aloud 60 seconds.

VISUALIZATION

175 by 12/10

EXERCISE

Did my full 30 day routine:

1. ankle/wrist circles 60
2. toe/finger stretches 60 + 10
3. bicycle crunches 60
4. shoulder rolls 60
5. inversion table 3 1-min sets
6. squats 60

READING, WRITING

Read 60 seconds in SAPIENS by Yuval Noah Harari.  He says the people of earth transitioned

FROM:  hunter/gatherer modes of survival

TO:  agriculture/domistication modes of survival

This means that by 10K BC, we began the transition to how we survive today:

WHEN                            WHERE                                       WHAT

*  Began 9.5 - 8.5 BC      in Turkey, Iran, the Levant

* 9K BC                                                                                wheat, goats

* 8K BC                                                                                peas, lentils

* 5K BC                                                                                olive trees

* 4K BC                                                                                horses

"later"                                                                                     camels, cashew nuts

* By 3.5K BC                "main wave of domestication was over"

* Today, 90% of the calories we consume come from a handful of plants that were domesticated

between 10K BC and 3.5K BC:                                            wheat, rice, corn potatoes, millet, barley

I'll likely not remember the above, but it's interesting to think about how our caloric intake has evolved.

Again, the author makes hay with calling it "the biggest fraud" that has occurred, etc.

Writing:  Human condition - self-discipline

As I lay in bed this morning, I thought about my routine, and how I am a slave to it, in a way.  I spoke to CG about it, and said how perplexing it is to be a human and to continuously vascillate between a) being a free & natural man, and b) being a disciplined and goal-oriented man.

I don't have an answer, unless it is that I am continuing to do a measure of BOTH approaches:

a)  I will continue to do my routine first thing every morning

and

b)  I will let the rest of the day flow by naturally (for the most part)

I make plans, but I'm ready in case I decide to change them.  My routine does not change.

And now, I'll research how to soak one toe.

20181207 SKIPPED SAVERS TODAY

I felt almost no motivation to do my routine and/or SAVERS today.

So I didn't.

Later, in conversation with GM, I mentioned taking a "day off."  He replied with the stats of a study he read earlier today (imagine that!) that said:

a.  If you have a habitual routine, and you miss 1 day doing it, you're only 5% likely to not continue doing it the next day.

b.  If you have a habitual routine, and you miss 2 days doing it, you're 45% likely to not continue doing it the 3rd day.

c.  It quickly reaches 95% likely to not continue the routine.

I wonder what the reverse stats would be:  if you do a routine 1 day, how likely is it you'll do it the next?  and if you do it 2 days, how likely is it you'll do it the 3rd?  etc.

Qui sait?

20181206 SAVERS for THURSDAY

SILENCE

Did it, or TRIED to do it, for 60 seconds.

AFFIRMATIONS

1. I, Ken Taylor, continue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.
2. I, Ken Taylor, continue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.
3. I, Ken Taylor, continue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.
4. I, Ken Taylor, continue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.

Also, said aloud 60 seconds.

VISUALIZATION

175 by 12/10

EXERCISE

Did my full 30 day routine:

1. ankles/wrists circles 60
2. toe/finger stretches 60 + 10
3. bicycle crunches 60
4. shoulder rolls 60
5. inversion table 3 1-min sets
6. squats 60

READING, WRITING

Read 60 seconds in SAPIENS by Yuval Noah Harari.  Today, began PART TWO:  THE AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION.

He says that approx. 10K years ago (i.e., 8K BC), Sapiens had populated ALL the planet's continents, and survived by hunting & gathering.

But then for some reason, about 10K years ago, Sapiens began focusing on just a few plants and animals, and cultivating their growth and productivity.  (E.g., certain animals such as sheep, and certain plants such as fruits & grains,)

This was the beginning of the Agricultural Revolution.

I'm wondering if this began simultaneously on all the continents, or if Sapiens developed the techniques, and then taught it to fellow Sapiens.

Hopefully Harari will answer this question.

20181205 SAVERS for WEDNESDAY HUMP DAY

SILENCE

Tried & tried to silence my brain for 60 seconds.  It's not easy.

AFFIRMATIONS

1. I, Ken Taylor, continue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.
2. I, Ken Taylor, continue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.
3. I, Ken Taylor, continue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.
4. I, Ken Taylor, continue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.
5. I, Ken Taylor, continue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.

Also, said aloud for 60 seconds.

VISUALIZATION

175 by 12/10

Although I am still visualizing my weight to be 175 by 12/10, I only have 5 more days until 12/10, and since I weigh approx. 181, that's 6 pounds in 5 days.  That's probably not doable, and probably not healthy.

So, my goal is to get as close to 175 as I can by 12/10.

as close to 175 as possible by 12/10

EXERCISE

Did my full 30 day routine.  Thinking about adding 5x2 reps to it all, beginning next year.

1. ankle/wrist circles 60
2. toe/finger stretches 60 + 10
3. bicycle crunches 60
4. shoulder rolls 60
5. inversion table 3 1-min sets
6. push-ups 60

So the new reps would read 70, except for the inversion table.  I'd increase minutes to 2-min sets, and do 3 sets for a month, so see how it goes.  Eventually, I'd increase it to 5 2-min sets.  Or maybe 3 3-min sets.

READING, WRITING

Read 60 seconds in SAPIENS by Yuval Noah Harari.  The author says that humans are largely responsible for 3 Waves of Extinction, and all 3 coincide with the arrival and/or the technological advances of humans.

He sobs that people today are largely unaware of their role in the 3rd Wave of Extinction (now on-going), but if they were, they might take more and greater steps to stop it.

I STILL question the validity of his position that it's tragic.  Yes, species have died out.  And yes, just because they've died out for so long does not mean that it's okay.  I get that.

But how am I to live a happy life today, knowing that my fellow humans have participated/are participating in such extinctive processes?  I must find a way.

And I sure do wish we could focus on THAT, and get rid of the buffoon in the White House, who is currently impeding our consciousness raising.  His is SO BAD for the planet.

GET RID OF HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

20181204 SAVERS for TUESDAY

SILENCE

Tried to do it for 60 seconds.

AFFIRMATIONS

1. I, Ken Taylor, continue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.
2. I, Ken Taylor, continue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.
3. I, Ken Taylor, continue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.
4. I, Ken Taylor, continue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.
5. I, Ken Taylor, continue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.

Also, said aloud for 60 seconds.

VISUALIZATION

175 by 12/10

EXERCISE

Did my 30 day routine, cut back on rest periods

1. ankle/wrist circles 60
2. toe/finger stretches 60 + 10
3. bicycle crunches 60
4. shoulder rolls 60
5. inversion table 3 1-min sets
6. squats 60

READING, WRITING

Read 60 seconds in SAPIENS by Yuval Noah Harari.  He says that the mass extinctions caused by the arrival and occupation of Sapiens in islands of all of the Pacific, Indian, Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, along with the Mediterranean Sea, began in about 1500 BC.  

A noted & famous (Darwin) exception are the Galapagos Islands, which remained untouched until the 19th Century, and which are home to giant tortoises, which showed no fear of humans.

Well, there you have it.  We humans are culpable of the extinction of massive amounts of species, of all sizes, over the last 50K years.  And I'm guessing that Harari will add toward the end of his book, that we're still at it, and that something should be done to stop & maybe reverse this tragic sequence of events.

I'm not so sure.  Stay tuned, KO.  (KO = Ken's Opinion)

20181203 SAVERS for MONDAY

SILENCE

Quiet brain for 60 seconds

AFFIRMATIONS

1. I, Ken Taylor, continue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.
2. I, Ken Taylor, continue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.
3. I, Ken Taylor, continue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.
4. I, Ken Taylor, continue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.

Also, said aloud 60 seconds.

VISUALIZATION

175 by 12/10

Today's weight:  180.6

EXERCISE

Did my full 30 day routine:

1. ankle/wrist circles 60
2. finger/toe stretches 60 + 10
3. bicycle crunches 60
4. shoulder rolls 60
5. inversion table 3 1-min sets
6. push-ups 60

READING, WRITING

Read 60 seconds in SAPIENS by Yuval Noah Harari.  He says that history shows that almost immediately after humans set foot on/in a new island/territory/continent, the large (and some small) animals vanished.  His examples include Madagascar and other similar places that, prior to the arrival of humans, were home to giant sloths, armadillos and lemurs.

He calls it sad and tragic.  I don't know if he's right to say that.  He's the expert.  He says that extinction of species is man's fault, and he's likely right.  But then I ask, "what's the purpose of man?"

I'm guessing Harari would say that if it's either or (re. extinction), the large beasts were here first, and so better man become extinct.  Or he might say that man should have stayed put in Africa where he'd have done far less damage to the planet.  Or he might say that somehow the large beasts should have won the battle of extinction.

Why didn't those beasts evolve into a self-preserving, or even superior species?  With an evolved, developed brain, they'd have easily defeated puny humans.

But our planet and its residents evolved the way we did.  And so I see no reason to heap upon me the pseudo-guilt that Harari seeks to place on my shoulders.

Or does he?  Read on.

20181202 SAVERS for SUNDAY

SILENCE

Tried to silence my brain for 60 seconds.  It's not easy to do.

AFFIRMATIONS

1. I, Ken Taylor, continue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.
2. I, Ken Taylor, continue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.
3. I, Ken Taylor, continue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.
4. I, Ken Taylor, continue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.

Also said aloud for 60 seconds.

VISUALIZATION

175 by 12/10

EXERCISE

Did my SUNDAY full 30 day routine:

1. ankle/wrist circles 60
2. toe/finger stretches 60 + 10
3. bicycle crunches 60
4. shoulder rolls 60
5. inversion table 3 1-min sets
6. squats 30
7. push-ups 30

Easily done.... maybe I should consider moving up to 35/70 soon.

so it would be

1. ankle/wrist circles 35 each way,   70
2. toe/finger stretches 70
3. bicycle crunches 2 sets of 35,  70
4. shoulder rolls 35 each way,  70
5. inversion table 2 2-min sets
6. squats 35
7. push-ups 35

And on non-Sunday days, M, W, F:  pushups  2 sets of 35, and T, T, S:  squats 2 sets of 35

READING, WRITING

Read 60 seconds in SAPIENS, by Yuval Noah Harari.  He hammers home the culpability of Sapiens involving the mass extinctions of MANY species, mostly the large furry mammals over the time span between the Cognitive Revolution (70K years ago) and the Agricultural Revolution (12K years ago).

During the intervening 58K years, the planet went from 200 species of mammals over 50 kg, to 100.  Homo Sapiens are also responsible for the extinction of other human species (Neanderthals, etc.)

As much as Harari seems to "like" painting Sapiens as "bad boys" of the planet, I do not think that this was necessarily a bad evolutionary path for us to take.  The main reason, as I see it right now, is that the "cognitive revolution" does not necessarily include an awareness of the "big picture" of the evolutionary path we were on.

I can't imagine a hunter or a band saying, "we will wipe out the XXXXX."  I can't accept that they were THAT evil, or THAT aware.

I suppose this should be concerning to me, since it IS what happened, and it necessarily affects things as they now stand (or don't) on the planet.

I sure do hope that soaking my left big toe in a solution of 1/2 applie cider vinegar and 1/2 hydrogen peroxide is having the long term effect of killing the fungus in my toenail.

But viewed another way..... the soaking of the toe ritual is a large part of the motivation I need to begin & continue my daily routine (SAVERS).  So even if it doesn't work on the fungus, I am better off for at least trying to make it work.

Life is f*****, but it's also gratifying in some ways.

20181201 SAVERS for SATURDAY

SILENCE

I quieted my mind for 60 seconds.

AFFIRMATIONS

1. I, Ken Taylor, continue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.
2. I, Ken Taylor, continue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.
3. I, Ken Taylor, continue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.
4. I, Ken Taylor, continue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.
5. I, Ken Taylor, continue losing weight through daily exercise and eating healthy food.

Also, said aloud 60 seconds.

VISUALIZATION

175 by 12/10

180.2.  DAMN!

EXERCISE

Did my full 30 day exercises

1. ankle/wrist circles 60
2. toe/finger stretches 60 + 10
3. bicycle crunches 60
4. shoulder rolls 60
5. inversion table 3 1-min sets
6. squats 60

READING, WRITING

Read 60 seconds in SAPIENS by Yuval Noah Harari.  The author says that the huge mammals (and their accompanying ticks, etc.) of the Americas vanished between 9K and 12K BC.  The evidence is in the fossilized bones and fecal matter they've found.

The author has several names for the digestive residue:  scat, dung balls, faeces, coprolite, fossilized turds.  Apparently the most telling evidence are the bones and shit (a term he does NOT use) left behind by earlier continental camels, along with the sloths of Cuba and Hispanola.

He has a way with words, this Yuval!