Weight loss with bipolar through using the hunger scale

With this scale, you can rate how hungry you are numerically and then eat based on the number. It quantifies your feeling. It changes a subjective, kind of vague account to something real. It also lets you detach from your hunger a little instead of giving in to cravings. I have bipolar, as I've pointed out before. I am often craving food due to my meds. However, the craving never gets beyond a "4". Once it's at a 3 I'll eat. I changed it a little so that "3" = "very hungry, but not famished" and "2" = "very hungry AND famished/feeling weak." In a sense I wait until I'm at a 2 because I often have false hunger cues with my medications. This is helpful though. It makes eating more of a science than a shame-based behavior. So far I've gone from 218 pounds to 211 pounds in about three weeks. I do many other things for diet, but the hunger scale is clearly one of the most effective. I highly recommend it.

Light is the lightest thing of all

Light has no mass. It is extremely light.

Turning Psychomotor Agitation into Productivity (aka Making Pacing Back and Forth more Productive)

People with bipolar who take medications often pace back and forth, tap their feet, or do other repetitive motions. I certainly do. Here are a couple of solutions to turn the psychomotor agitation into productivity.

1. Meditate as you pace

One thing I like to do is to say a mantra while I'm having the psychomotor agitation. That way at least I can be somewhat mindful during this time. Try not to pace erratically but make it a little more organized

2. Go for walks

I love to go for walks, and it's useful to actually go somewhere with your need to pace back and forth. You may find exploring to be quite fun.

3. Try qigong walking

It looks ridiculous but it's quite absurdly entertaining. It may be a little tiring to do a special kind of Tai Chi or qigong walk instead of a regular pacing step, but it can make your pacing more productive.

4. Slow down

This is similar to #1. If you can take a full breath with every step, or recite a full "Om Mani Padme Hum" you can turn pacing and psychomotor agitation into walking meditation. Just for today, walk slowly.

5. Listen to a foreign language YouTube or other instructional audio while pacing

This one is pretty self-explanatory but if you are learning while you pace, you're basically just studying on the move.

6. Read a book while pacing

If you don't get motion sickness, reading and pacing is a good idea. Here is a link that discusses the optimal way to do this:
https://bookriot.com/2017/06/01/dos-and-donts-of-reading-while-walking/
It says for example to only do this in private, and to feel OK doing it. If you pace until you pick up a book, then put it down to pace, you won't read nearly as much. Reading is a good thing.

Those are the six main steps to making your pacing more productive, but another way to decrease the desire to pace and also to be less agitated is to massage your own legs. Just look up a YouTube video or article about self-massage and that may help. Also note that standing is a sign of reverence, so unless you revere the people around you don't hover over them.

Act as if you have energy

"Fake it till you make it" is not one of my favorite expressions. However, there is some merit to thinking, "What what I do if I had a lot of energy?" The focus is on the action. Energy is action. That thought itself can give you energy.

A similar thought I've had is, "What would I say to myself IF I were my best friend?" You don't have to make the leap and say, "I'm my best friend. Now what?" Just say "If I were, I'd do this." The same goes for energy. If you had energy, what projects would you take on?

I would do some art, I would do physical work, I would continue writing, I would teach undauntedly, I would meditate often, I would exercise, I would travel, and many other things. I do some of these things now, but the sky's the limit.

What would you do if you had a lot of energy? 

Try to not try

Try not to try. It takes effort. Most of the time we're trying to be something we're not, but instead we should put in serious effort to not do any work. We should be natural. It actually does take conscious effort because we're not kids anymore. Kids are automatically being themselves until they reach young adolescence, but adults are sometimes themselves sometimes not. Therefore, don't try. However, that's not enough because not trying automatically leads to effort. Therefore, if you're going to put effort into something, make it an effort to not do any effort. Try to not try.

Pope Francis is the New Intergender Wrestling Champion

Pope Francis has taken the title of Intergender Wrestling Champion. A Catholic challenger grabbed his hand, possibly for some kind of piledriver, and Pope Francis slapped her away, thus reclaiming the title from former Intergender Wrestling Champion Jim Acosta.

The first Intergender Wrestling Champion was Andy Kaufman, who held the title until his sudden and mysterious death. Some say he lives on, through Pope Francis. The Papacy Line and the Intergender Wrestling Title have been unified under a single pope. Will future popes also hold the Intergender Wrestling Championship?

 

Pascal's Gamble Reversed

Maybe God prefers you to not believe in God. That could be the case if God is the Great Void or something like that. Therefore, Pascal's Gamble does not hold. It is not necessarily advantageous to believe in God given that God may prefer you to only believe what you can see. If there's not a God, you've believed correctly. If there is a God, he either prefers you to believe in him or not. The Gamble is really a wash.

Feel like an expert in order to read better

I am a professor of psychology. I know some things about the field. At the same time, I don't know that much more than before I was a professor. Something about it though has changed the way I read. Now when I read psychology, I seek to affirm or reject my theories about it, or I seek to confirm or reject other people's ideas about it. I play with ideas in such a way. I recommend this tip to you as well.

Read like you are seeking some kind of validation. I know what you're thinking: Seeking validation is never good. However, self-referential processing improves our  memory greatly. In shifting to this strategy I was able to actually enjoy a very dense work on consciousness that I read previously and did not enjoy (Bernard Baars's Cogntive Theory of Consciousness). Now I read it as a pleasure. I seek to feel good reading. I seek to really know about myself and others. That's as good a goal as any. My old adviser used to say, "research is me-search." So be it.

Zero Spending Month

If you're on a low budget, it makes sense to do a financial diet. If you can spend nothing for an entire day, you feel better. I've done this before with some success. I've had multiple zero-spending days. Now it's time to extend that to a zero-spending month. Why? I'm on a low budget. 

You can feel sort of monkish to spend nothing, and it allows you a lot of free time and ease from worry. If I have nothing to spend on, then I have nothing to worry about. The only limit is that I need to buy food, but definitely not fast food or soda. There are financial websites such as this one: 

https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/finance/budget-worksheet/

They can help you to see where your spending is at. If you don't want for anything, then you will be content. If you can do it for a day, you can do it for a month. Then, you'll have money to spare and can travel, invest, save up, or be more financially independent. All of those things sound good to me. I've done zero-spending days. I'll update you on the zero-spending month. Thanks for reading. 

Knock on Wood koan

A mad Zen student met a Catholic priest for a confession. The madman said, "When I am insane I am willing to knock on wood," then knocked on wood. At the sound of the knocking the madman realized satori. The madman then confessed all of his sins and received absolution.

Togden's Comment

At the moment of knocking on wood
He was both sane and insane
If you grasp this
You are beyond insanity and have awakened to the Way

Togden's Verse

He knocked on wood
Or the wood knocked him
The man was himself
Sane, insane belong to eternity