Hasta La Gadget!

By John Fawkes. Originally published in my private mailing list.

If you’re like most modern professionals, your typical morning consists being jarred awake by a blaring alarm, taking a quick shower, wolfing down some eggs and toast, and a mad dash out the door to get to work on time — and that’s if you even have time to eat breakfast.

My days used to begin the exact same way. Now, I start my day by being gently woken up up a soft blue light. Then, I drink salt water and butter before heading outside and relaxing. Only after all that do I sit down at my computer.

The results of this new morning routine have been nothing short of astounding — I wake up most mornings bursting with energy — which I then used to write fitness articles peppered with Game of Thrones references. I sleep better at night. I’ve lost an inch off my waist. My libido is higher. I’m happier, healthier, and more productive than I used to be.

But you probably don’t care about me, so here’s what’s important — thousands of other people have adopted the same routine and gotten the same results, and you can too. Here’s exactly what to do do, in the exact order I recommend:

1. Use a smart alarm clock, or none at all

Most mornings, I don’t use an alarm clock app at all. Instead, I just let my brain wake up on it’s own time — as soon as it finishes dreaming about getting a back massage from Eva Longoria while playing a guitar with my telekinetic powers. Why don’t I just massage my own back if I have telekinesis? I don’t know; stop questioning my dream logic.

But when I want to wake up early — or just make sure I don’t stay in bed for an hour after waking up — I don’t use a traditional alarm clock. Instead I’ll use one of the following:

The Sleep Cycle alarm clock app. I use this when traveling.

A Phillips light-based alarm clock like the one in this article. I use this at home, and find it more reliable than the app. It’s small enough to travel with, though I usually opt not to.

Here’s why they work: you sleep in 90-minute cycles. You’ll feel more alert and refreshed if you wake up from the lightest phase of sleep. Your brain does this for you if you wake up on your own, but with regular alarm clocks it’s a game of chance — and being woken up directly from deep sleep can ruin your morning.

Both options wake you up at the optimal time, via different means — SleepCycle uses your phone’s accelerometer to sense what phase of sleep you’re at. The Phillips alarm clock emits a light that gradually brightens over a half hour, nudging you into light sleep before using a gradually loudening sound to gently wake you up. Either way, the result is the same: you feel more rested on the same amount of sleep, and it’s easier to get out of bed.

2. Take vitamin D

Our bodies produce vitamin D in response to sunlight. Unfortunately, since we started wearing clothes and working indoors, most of us are deficient in vitamin D, plus we have some gnarly tan lines.

The first thing I do upon waking up is take 5000 i.u of vitamin D, which helps with my vitamin D deficiency, but not the tan lines. Here’s what this does:

Burns fat.
Improves heart health, lowers triglycerides and reduces blood pressure.
Reduces risk of cancer, asthma, stroke, diabetes, and death in general.
Improves mood and energy and fights depression.
Sets your biological clock- most people do better taking it in the morning.

To quote Examine.com: “If there’s only one supplement you’re taking for your health and your diet is decent, it should probably be Vitamin D.” I’ve seen people get the best results from 2000-5000 i.u. per day, taken first thing in the morning. Since vitamin D is fat-soluble, it needs to be taken with fat; I take it with fish oil, but you could also take it with your morning butter tea (we’ll get to that in a bit).

3. Drink ice water

After I’ve taken my vitamin D and gotten out of bed, the next thing I do is head down to the kitchen and drink two glasses of ice water. I first learned about this trick from The Four-Hour Body by Tim Ferriss. There are two things going on here.

First off, you’re dehydrated when you wake up in the mornings. Dehydration causes fatigue, bad moods, and lack of focus. And, you know, death. One or two glasses of water in the morning will stop this from happening.

Second, by exposing yourself to cold temperatures, you burn fat by stimulating your body to produce more brown adipose tissue- fatty tissue that burns off energy as heat to keep you warm. And you can this simply by drinking ice water on an empty stomach.

4. Drink lime juice and salt water

Immediately after drinking my ice water, I move on to the weirdest part of my morning routine- drinking a cocktail of warm water, salt, and lime juice. I learned about this from Charles Poliquin and John Romaniello, and it tastes surprisingly good- sort of like a margarita, without the sugar, tequila, or drunken college girls to do a body shot off of. Here’s the recipe:

4-8 oz warm water
1 oz lime juice- as fresh as possible
1/4 tsp colored (i.e. not white) salt. I use pink Himalayan salt.

The salt improves digestion and optimizes cortisol levels throughout the day- giving you higher energy in the morning, steadier energy throughout the day, and lower energy right as you’re getting ready to sleep at night. The lime juice, according to Poliquin, has an alkalyzing effect that improves energy metabolism. I’m skeptical of that part, but lime juice does have other benefits- plus, would you rather drink salt water, or a margarita?

5. Drink coffee or tea- with fat

The next step in my morning routine is to drink a cup of tea- mixed with butter and coconut oil. Here’s the recipe:

1 or more cups of caffeinated coffee or tea
2-3 tbsp of unsalted, grass-fed butter. I usually use Kerrygold Irish Butter.
2-3 tbsp of organic coconut oil
Optional flavorings- cinnamon, vanilla extract, unsweetened cocoa powder, stevia, xylitol. Nothing with calories and no artificial sweeteners.

Note that the total amount of butter and coconut oil is 2-3 tbsp each, regardless of how many cups you split that into. This cocktail really puts your brain into overdrive and makes it easy to get a lot of work done in the mornings. The saturated fat also fuels testosterone production, while the combination of fat and caffeine has a pronounced appetite-suppressant effect.

I’ll typically have one cup at this point in the morning, and another an hour later while I’m working. More recently I’ve started mixing two types of loose-leaf tea in order to produce steadier energy levels, as in Tim Ferriss’s recipe.

6. Take a walk

After downing a cup of tea, I head outside and take a walk through a nearby park- always for at least 20 minutes, and sometimes for as long as an hour. This is the single best way to clear your head before starting the day’s work- and the combination of sunlight and being on your feet will set your biorhythm for the day so that you sleep better that night.

This can be hard to do if you’re impatient to get to work, but the focus it gives you makes your entire day happier and more productive. If you’re pressed for time, you can limit your morning walk to fifteen minutes- but don’t skip it altogether.

7. Start working on a pre-loaded, high-value task

After getting home from my walk, I sit down at my computer and immediately start working on my most important task for the day, before anything else can distract me. I start with my highest-value task because this is the point during the day when my energy, motivation and focus are highest.

It’s critical to start working the moment you get on your computer, which can make the difference between getting more work done in an hour than most people do in a day, and spending your first two hours browsing Facebook and reddit. An article by self-improvement blogger Tynan taught me a very counterintuitive tactic that allows me to get a running start on my work every morning- every day, I start on my main task for the next day, then leave it partially completed.

For instance, if I’m writing a blog article, I’ll write the outline the day before. I might even start writing the article, only to stop mid-sentence. That night, I’ll open up that window before closing my laptop for the night. When I open my laptop the next morning to that partially-written article, it’s easy to jump right in and pick up where I left off- so I don’t waste a half hour or more procrastinating on getting started.

8. Don’t eat breakfast

You’ll notice that nowhere in this routine do you see me eating. That’s intentional. On most days, I limit my eating to an eight-hour window. Typically, that means I’ll have my first meal between one and three, and my last meal around nine or ten. This is called intermittent fasting, and it has a lot of well-documented benefits- such as fat loss, improved mental function, and lower risks of chronic illness.

You’ll probably be surprised to find that you’re much more alert and active during the fasted state. That’s because eating puts the body into rest and digest mode- aka food coma. To take full advantage of this, you should work on your most important and challenging tasks in the morning, and easier tasks after you’ve broken your fast.

Here’s what to do to get the full health and productivity benefits of daily fasting:
If you’re a man, limit your eating to an eight-hour window each day, fasting for 16 hours at a stretch. Break your fast sometime between noon and three.

Women often need longer eating windows- anywhere from eight to twelve hours. Find the shortest eating window that still makes you feel good. Break your fast as late in the day as possible so you can still take advantage of fasted productivity in the mornings.

If you want to minimize the dip in mental alertness that comes from breaking your fast, you can have a protein bar for your first meal of the day- then eat a real meal 2-3 hours later.

You can eat fat during your fasting period. As Mark Sisson explains, this doesn’t break your fast in any hormonal sense- but remember that it still adds to your daily calorie total.

I’m not sure if I can skip breakfast- will this work for me?

It only takes two to three days to get used to skipping breakfast- especially since the tea curbs your appetite. You’ll probably notice an obvious increase in energy, focus and productivity within two days. Longer-term, most people experience better sleep, fat loss, better moods, even more energy, and higher libido.

Try it for one week, and pay close attention to your energy levels. This has worked for thousands of others, male and female, young and old, and will almost certainly work for you if you stick to it. Optimizing your morning routine is one of the best things you can do for your health, productivity, and overall quality of life- and you can do it this week, and reap the benefits for the rest of your life.

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During the summer months, families of all types will find themselves trying to fill their days with plenty of activities that keep the warm months even more fun. If you are planning activities with an individual who also has Alzheimer’s disease, it can sometimes be rather challenging. It is important that Alzheimer’s patients are getting the sensory experiences they need while still having plenty of social interactions. While it can be challenging with their disease, it is imperative that they have plenty of activities to do, as it can help rapidly slow down the progression of their condition.

When planning activities for or with a person with Alzheimer’s, the first and most important thing to remember is that you need to do things they will actually enjoy. It may seem obvious, but it is something that is often overlooked when it comes to Alzheimer’s activities. If the individual isn’t really engaged and doesn’t feel as though this activity has to do with their interests they can get overwhelmed, sad, angry, anxious or annoyed very easily, even if this isn’t a normal personality trait.

It is also important to remember that many individuals with Alzheimer’s disease do not have as long of an attention span as they once did. You need to have a variety of activities planned and need to be able to jump from activity to activity if they get bored or overwhelmed. These activities need to engage different parts of your love one’s senses and different parts of their interest, meaning they should captivate their sense of sight, smell, touch and hearing and be both mentally and physically stimulating.

In the summer you will of course also want to plan plenty of outdoor activities. This can be very engaging and therapeutic for an individual with Alzheimer’s disease, even if your activity is simply sitting outside. Being outside is relaxing and engaging for the mind and it can be good for you physically as well. Sitting in the sun is a great way to get vitamin D and some much-needed fresh air. However, whether you are sitting, walking or exercising outside it is important to help any individual with Alzheimer’s disease stay safe in the warmer weather conditions.

Older adults, especially those with Alzheimer’s disease, should dress in cool and comfortable layers that they can take off and put back on as needed. Individuals with Alzheimer’s should also be drinking at least 10 glasses of water per day, especially if they are going to be in the heat and they should wear plenty of sunscreen. This is because the sun can actually impact the skin of older adults more severely than it can impact the skin of younger adults.

If you keep these tips in mind, you may find that you are setting yourself up for success this summer as you plan activities for yourself, your friends, your family members and any loved one that may have Alzheimer’s disease.

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Christo’s latest piece, called “The Floating Piers,” invites visitors to walk on water — or at least on 200,000 polyethylene cubes covered in 100,000 square meters of shimmering, saffron-colored fabric floating on said water.

At no cost, the public can traverse Italy’s Lake Iseo on foot via a glimmering, golden quilt, walking between the Italian mainland to two small islands, Monte Isola and San Paolo. The work, 40 years in the making, is a triumph of the creative imagination, offering viewers an admittedly useless but utterly enchanting aesthetic experience for free. 

Some, however, are wondering just how much a magical experience is worth these days. According to Art Daily, Italian consumer group Codacons announced it would file a complaint today with the Lombardy region’s spending watchdog to investigate the cost of the installation.

Part of Christo’s mission as an artist is to make all of his large-scale installation work free and accessible to all, with “The Floating Piers” open at no cost, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Codacons takes issue less with the $16.8 million budget of the work itself, which Christo funded through selling his own original works, but the more unexpected costs resulting from the piece’s wild popularity. 

Last week, for example, over 3,000 people were left stranded at a train station in the nearby Italian city of Brescia while attempting to visit the massively overcrowded piece. Codacons claims the costs resulting from evacuating the tourists, cleaning up after the visitors and ensuring the safety of everyone involved are unsustainable. The group questions, furthermore, how such a project was greenlighted in the first place. 

“We want to know how much taxpayers’ money has been spent on a project which, until now, seems to have generated enormous publicity for the artist without bringing direct benefits to local entities and citizens,” Codacons said in a statement.

Of course, this complaint is only heightening the already overwhelming attention “The Floating Piers” will receive, as thousands continue to flock to the destination that promises to let you experience magic for a single day. You may also experience extreme overcrowding, long lines, pushing, frustration, and potential abandonment at your local train station, but that’s the price you pay when the actual price is free.

The piece opened to the public on Saturday, June 18, and will exist until July 3, 2016.

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Are you afraid to open to learning with your inner child for fear that you will discover that you have to change your whole life? Learn why this is a false belief!

Greg was having a problem connecting with his inner child – his feeling self. My experience is that when someone is having a problem connecting with the feelings and desires of their inner child, it is because they have fears of what they will learn if they are open to their feelings. In a phone session, Greg and I explored this.

“Greg, there must be a good reason that you don’t really want to know what your inner child is feeling and wanting. Is there something you are afraid of?”

“Yes,” he replied. I’m afraid that he is going to want me to do things that I don’t want to do. I’m afraid he is going to be demanding of me.”

“So you believe that your inner child, which is your feeling self, wants to have control over you?”

“Yes, I’m sure he wants control over me. And you know that I hate to be controlled.”

“So when your son was born and cried to be fed or changed or held, did you experience that as his wanting control over you?”

“Oh no, not at all. He was just letting me know what he needed.”

“So what is the difference between your son and your inner child?”

“I think that my inner child is more like my son is now. Now at 10 he is often very demanding and I sometimes end up feeling controlled by him.”

“Okay, so let’s take the analogy of your son and bring it inside. When your son was a baby, he was just being his natural self and expressing his real needs. Now at times he is being his ego wounded self and making demands on you. Inside, you also have your core self and your ego wounded self. But because you are afraid of being demanded of by your wounded self, you are not tuning into your core self, and are therefore ignoring your very real needs. Just as you need to set limits with your son when he being a brat, so you need to set limits with your own wounded self when he is being a brat. But this does not mean that you ignore your son’s real needs for caring, attention, compassion, acceptance and understanding. And it doesn’t mean that you ignore his needs for help in various areas, or ignore his needs for good food and so on. Yet you continue to ignore your own real core self needs for nurturing, acceptance, compassion, caring, as well as for good food and exercise and rest and playtime. You work him to exhaustion and then wonder why you end up feeling alone and empty.”

“So you are saying that while my wounded inner child may be demanding, my core self is not. And I don’t need to be controlled by the demands of my wounded self. But what if my core self wants me to just quit my job and go play? Then what?”

“Greg, you are confusing your wounded self with your core self. Your core self would never demand that you become irresponsible to yourself and your family. Your core self just wants an opportunity to express himself, but not at the cost of becoming irresponsible.”

“But what if my core self doesn’t want to be married and work? What if I really want to just travel around and not be tied down?”

“Your core self is not a part of you that would ever demand that you act in a way that is not in your highest good, a way that is not in alignment with your soul. You would never feel good abandoning your family to just go play, so your core self would never demand this. But you are not going to know this just by my saying it to you. Would you be willing to really open to learning about your feelings and needs and see what happens?”

Greg was willing, and soon discovered that his fears of being controlled by his inner child were totally unfounded. Instead, he was able to start taking loving action in his own behalf and bring much more joy into his life.

Start learning to love yourself with our free Inner Bonding eCourse at http://www.innerbonding.com/welcome.

Join Dr. Margaret Paul for her 30-Day at-home Course: “Love Yourself: An Inner Bonding Experience to Heal Anxiety, Depression, Shame, Addictions and Relationships.”

Join Dr. Margaret Paul for her 30-Day At-home experience, Passionate Purpose, Vibrant Health! Discover your passionate purpose, enhance creativity and create a joyful, vibrantly healthy life!

Connect with Dr. Margaret on Facebook: Inner Bonding, and Facebook: SelfQuest.

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Today in Christopher Park in New York City we celebrated the designation of the Stonewall National Monument, the first national monument that honors the history of LGBT community in the United States. These were my remarks.

Thank you, Tommy, for such a gracious introduction. It’s an incredible privilege to share this historic day with an iconic trailblazer in the fight for LGBT equality, who played such a central role that fateful early morning on June 28, 1969.

About four years ago, a young woman on my team had the chance to brief President Obama on an event that was about to begin. After the briefing, they chatted briefly about their upcoming birthday plans that were a day a part. When the President asked Monique what she intended to do to celebrate her birthday, she said her partner was planning a dinner with friends. Without a moment’s hesitation, the President said, “What does she do for a living?” Monique often reflects back on that casual, seemingly ordinary conversation as a profoundly meaningful affirmation of her life by the President of the United States.

To me, it symbolizes the remarkable progress we have made on the path to this day.

Secretary Sally Jewell, thank you for your leadership and the important role you’ve played in making the Stonewall National Monument a reality, and in helping to ensure all of our national parks tell the full, inclusive, story of our Nation’s history. And thanks to all those in the Obama Administration who worked hard to make this day happen.

Thanks also to Senator Gillibrand and all of our members of Congress who are here with us; as well as to Mayor DeBlasio and leaders from New York City. And to Governor Cuomo and the elected officials in the State of New York who all contributed to make today possible.

And of course, thank you to the advocates, activists, and LGBT Americans young and old, who, working over decades, bent that long arc of the moral universe toward justice.

I am sure President Obama envisioned this day during his second inaugural address when he said, “We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths — that all of us are created equal — is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall.” And so today, on behalf of President Obama, I proudly announce his designation of the Stonewall National Monument.

As I reflect back over just the last seven and a half years since President Obama took office, our progress toward that goal of equality has been tremendous.

When the President was sworn in, marriage equality was the law in just two states. And now it is the law of the land nationwide, because the Supreme Court validated what we have known all along. Love is love.

Our President signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
He signed the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

He lifted the 22-year HIV/AIDS travel ban and hosted the first International AIDS Conference in over a generation.

The President extended hospital visitation rights for LGBT Americans.

And the Supreme Court upheld the Department of Justice’s position that a central provision in the Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional.

The President also prohibited discrimination against LGBT employees by Federal contractors and subcontractors.

Right now, his Attorney General is fighting in North Carolina for Transgender rights, and his Department of Education is helping schools across our country protect the rights of transgender students.

Of course, while the progress we’ve made during the Obama Administration seems swift, it stands squarely on the shoulders of decades of work. Of steps forward and back. Of ordinary people who refused to sit down, and who demanded to be heard. Over and over and over again.

This moment is a long time in the making. From the early years of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon of the Daughters of Bilitis, to Audre Lord, all who dared to tell their stories as lesbian Americans. To the days of Harry Hay and Frank Kameny of the Mattachine Society who defended their rights as gay men to be served a drink, and Frank’s work with Barbara Gittings on the protest every Fourth of July in Philadelphia at Independence Hall. To the student activism of Stephen Donaldson, a bisexual man, who founded the first LGBT collegiate organization at Columbia right here in New York. To Compton’s Cafeteria, where Felicia Elizondo linked arms with her transgender sisters to fight back against discrimination.

And of course, to the event we are here to commemorate today. When, in the early morning hours of June 28th, 1969, a group of LGBT Americans at one of the city’s most popular LGBT bars — the Stonewall Inn — rose up against a police raid that threatened their sanctuary and equal rights. When Martha Shelley, Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt, Marsha P. Johnson, and many others, refused to back down, and fought for the dignity and equality they knew they deserved. And if not for the courage of those brave Americans, including those who are here with us today, and the many we lost to AIDS, Christopher Park may never have become nationally recognized hallowed ground in the struggle for LGBT rights.

The Stonewall Uprising awakened our national consciousness to the humanity of LGBT equality, just as previous civil rights battlegrounds had done for the nation, from Seneca Falls to Selma. Stonewall became a profound inflection point in our Nation’s history.

That’s why President Obama designated this special place as the Stonewall National Monument. He believes our National Parks should represent the inclusive mosaic of America’s story. And it reflects our continuing work to perfect our union.

Two weeks ago, LGBT Americans and many allies congregated in Christopher Park as they have before, to mourn, heal, and stand in unity following the tragic murder of 49 people in the Pulse nightclub in Orlando.

That night served as an excruciating reminder that though we have made immense progress — of which we should all be proud — our work remains to make the United States a more tolerant, safe, and just country for all Americans.

Today is a symbol of the strength, determination, and resilience of our character, and the true goodness of our struggle.

Thank you all for you commitment to help perfect our country that we love.

Now, it’s my pleasure to introduce a visionary leader and someone I proudly call my friend, Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell.

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