I had a dream last night. I was on a plane waiting to take off. We were hours late and everyone was getting restless. Finally, one of the flight attendants confessed that the other flight attendant wasn’t going to make it, so they were canceling the flight. Everyone was mad – and mad especially at the guy who didn’t show up for work. I said, “People just don’t think about how they affect other people.” At that moment, I saw where the missing flight attendant was. He had been in a car accident – killed by a drunk driver…and I realized how interconnected we all really are. The flight attendant ruined vacation for a plane full of people, but the drunk driver took the life of the flight attendant, and who knows what situation caused the drunk driver to drink.
Today’s Lesson: We are all interconnected. Notice the effect people have on you and the effect you have on people – and understand that you can’t see the full effects of your actions. You do affect other people in everything you do. So why not choose to spread positivity to others? In essence…pay it forward…the effects are never-ending.
Other tidbits of knowledge for today…I think I’ve mentioned before that I’m studying to receive my Personal Trainer Certification. Last night I was reading about RER (Respiratory Exchange Rate) – basically the flow of O2 into CO2 an H2O. That ratio determines what your body burns – fat or glucose (carbs). Of course we all want to burn fat! BUT, the lowest RER possible is 71. At 71, we are burning 100% fat. Here’s the lesson with this one: The only way to get to 71 RER is to be completely at rest. Sleep. That’s why they say you need sleep just as much as you need exercise when you’re trying to lose weight! Of course, the time spent burning calories as fat while sleeping is not as efficient as exercising to burn calories, so you should still exercise to burn more calories overall. But, rest is important too! Good news!! I love my bed!!
Another tidbit – with my recent diagnosis of hypothyroidism, I’ve been exploring other things I can do to increase the effectiveness of my thyroid. Now, keep in mind that I also showed abnormal kidney function on my test results (also present on my test results from a few months ago.) Symptoms of potassium deficiency include underactive thyroid and abnormal kidney function. Interestingly enough, I stopped eating bananas 6 – 9 months ago…right about the same time I started gaining weight!
Potassium counteracts sodium and without enough potassium, cells tend to accumulate water, resulting in cellular and bodily edema…essentially weight gain. Well, duh!! So I bought some bananas last night and I intend on eating 2 per day to see if that makes a difference. Don’t get me wrong, there is potassium in other fruits and vegetables, seeds, nuts, etc. BUT, because my weight gain seems to coincide with the absence of bananas, I’m trusting in power of the banana!
