Willpower: DIRTY BOY!

"Great souls have wills; feeble ones have only wishes." 

- Chinese Proverb

"Onipa'a. Be Steadfast." 

- Hawaiian Proverb

"Just do it." 

- Nike

ALOHA my willful, powerful and beautiful FAMILY, FRIENDS and you who have decided to join in the ramblings of my DIRTY mind.

Today I will speak of the PHYSICAL. I want to talk about your beautiful bodies and all the DIRTY THINGS you do with it. Seriously I want you to GET DIRTY!

But first:

My disclaimer: I am not a doctor. I am not a nurse. I am not a psychologist. I AM NOT A PHYSICAL THERAPIST. I am not licensed to adjust or fix anything that might be wrong with your body. So don't ask me for a massage! I'm not allowed to give you one because I am not a LICENSED MASSAGE THERAPIST either. I am not affiliated with any sort of health industry. You are reading this blog with the full knowledge that Pilialoha K. Nathaniel is not authorized by any school, institution or government to give health and medical advise. If you follow any advise in this blog it is at your own discretion and at your own risk. Okay? Nod if you agree. If you read anything past this paragraph that means you have nodded and you agree.

Now get your mind out of the gutter and into the MUD. Today I will introduce to you another one of my Cousins. This man is truly a HAPPY NATHANIEL. I would like to bring Cousin Kaeo to the stage.

COUSIN PILI (CP): Aloha my Cousin! Thanks for joining me on another episode of COUSIN PILI'S DIRTY THINGS. YOU finally answered my text messages!

COUSIN KAEO (CK): Jastine (my girlfriend) made me.

COUSIN PILI (CP): Jastine's the best!

COUSIN KAEO (CK): What about me?

CP: You're okay.

CK: Bitch.

CP: I love you too cuz! Enough of this shit. Let's get dirty. You, along with Cousin Chelsea, Micah and Jeremy, did the WARRIOR DASH last week. What is THE WARRIOR DASH?

CK: It's AWESOME. It's the worlds largest obstacle race series. The website is http://www.warriordash.com.

CP: Why'd you decided to do this race?

CK: I love the outdoors! I would give up all my electronics and couches in my house and but canoes, surfboards, mountain bikes, rock climbing gear, dive gear... ANYTHING to do with outdoor activities. IF I COULD. Why THE WARRIOR DASH? I like to go on hikes... but usually it's just a leisurely stroll. The WARRIOR DASH is a RACE! I don't know if it was how I was raised or if it's just in my blood but I need to be the best that I can be in EVERYTHING I do. OH... and it was a good family outing with everyone.


CP: WHAT ARE YOU WEARING???

CK: HAWAIIAN!!! This is the type of attire I would wear when I was dancing Hula. The Malo (the sash wrapped around his midsection) is what warriors would wear when going into battle. The Lei (the garland around his neck) and the Kupe'e (the greenery around his wrists and ankles) are adornments I learnt to make in Hula. I am a HAWAIIAN WARRIOR!

CP: OWN IT CUZ! Any costume mishaps?

CK: Yeah. My oloz fell out a few times. And my ass was out for the entire world to see. A stranger even asked to take a picture of it... my ass.

CP: HAHAHAHA!!!

CK: Shuddap.

CP: You mentioned HULA...

CK: I have extensive experience as a hula dancer.... This I would say partially defines me as who I am. It's not just some activity I did after school or on the weekends, it's a part of me. Hula has been a part of our family for generations and I feel privileged to have been able to learn and live through hula. I have met people (a lot of local celebrities), seen things (beaches of Tahiti, fireworks over a lake in Japan), been places (japan, papaete, bora bora, samoa, guam),and done things (multiple ship cruises, international travel), people have only dreamed of. As you can tell by the way I dress for warrior dash, I still think about it and miss it from time to time. And maybe one day I'll go back when I find the right halau.

CP: How are you changing your life to become HAPPIER AND HEALTHIER?

CK: Happier and healthier??? .... I guess i could start by replying to text's and calls... ;)

CP: Love you cuz, but you know that'll never happen.

CK: Healthier - watching what I eat more often. I mean I'll still eat some greasy stuff from time to time, but now days I don't eat till I pass out like I used to. More about portion control. Don't eat white rice to often any more and more fruits and vegetables daily. Lets see... Oh yeah, go gym, no excuses! I'm not one of those guys that go gym to look good and perv out on hot girls... When I go to workout, that's exactly what I do ... WORK.

CP: It's okay, Kaeo. You can admit you're a perv...

CK: Shut up!

CP: *HUGE SMILE*

CK: Some years ago when I first moved to Oahu I really let my health fall apart. At one point I was 5'-7" , 215lbs. Ya short AND fat. The fat didn't really bother me, it's what followed that sucked. My breathing was terrible, I was just lazy as hell, and I kinda had a mild heart attack. (That really sucked). So it wasn't to long after that, I decided that's it. Started running, working out a bit, than maybe a year later a 53 yr. old painter I was working with introduced me to p90x. This dude lifted up his shirt and he was RIPPED! And that's how I went from 5-7" , 215lbs down to "still short" 5'-7" , 153lbs. Of course there was some INSANITY workouts and "gymrat" status but... Yeah.

Happier??? Mmmmm... Not much to say? If anyone really knows me I'm a happy person. Except when I'm in traffic, or its friggin hot, or I'm hungry, or tired.... Or everything at once... THEN STAY THE HELL OUTTA MY WAY!!! So I guess to keep me happy ... drive with the a/c on while I'm eating a burger (in your car) and let me fall asleep. Then the world will be a better place ;-) But yeah seriously, I kinda have this philosophy that if your unhappy with something do something to make your self happy. Don't blame your unhappiness on someone else. MAKE YOURSELF HAPPY. Kinda like if you complain about be bored all the time, you're a boring person. Get up and do something about it.

CP: I agree! MAKE YOURSELF HAPPY!  Happiness is a DECISION! Last question: What are your thoughts on WILLPOWER?

CK: Willpower - having the power to do whatever the hell you want to do at the drop of a dime. Just recently I was walking through the mall with my mom and we saw the volcano vapor cigarette "thing" booth. The line was ridiculously long. I couldn't help but think that all these people that are trying to quit smoking or need their fix while their indoors CAN'T JUST QUIT. It really isn't that hard. As for my own personal willpower... I pretty much do exactly what I want when I want (finances permitting).

CP: You must be rich my Cousin.

CK: RICH WITH HAPPINESS!

For further reading go:

HERE for the link to the American Psychological Association's article on Willpower and http://www.warriordash.com for more information on the WARRIOR DASH!

MUCH MAHALO to Cousin Kaeo for your thoughts. Come back tomorrow!!! I'm going to bring back Cousin Chelsea and a special guest... COUSIN UALANI!

Love and mud,

Cousin Pili

PS... Some final words of wisdom from Cousin Kaeo:

"Few things I live by....
Don't care about what people say about me!
Don't go to the gym for someone else's opinion, do it for myself!
Don't workout to look good, do it cause i don't want to die of something I could have prevented.
Looking good is a side effect, health is the main goal!
Plus it's hard for me to look bad, I'm a NATHANIEL!
If I'm unhappy, it's my own damn fault, and its up to me to fix it!
If I'm bored, that's horse $#!T, I'm don't get bored - I'm not a boring person!
I'm not cocky or a show off, I just accept how friggin badass I am!
ALWAYS strive for better."

Willpower: DON'T EAT THAT COOKIE!

Hello and welcome my FAMILY, FRIENDS and other good people...

WHY COUSIN PILI HAS NO WILLPOWER AND WHY YOU DON'T EITHER.

First my disclaimer: I am not a doctor. I am not a nurse. I am not a psychologist. ALL SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION THAT I AM USING COMES FROM the American Psychological Association's article on Willpower. Click HERE for the article. I will be using it as a reference for the next few blogs.

I am not affiliated with any sort of health industry. You are reading this blog with the full knowledge that Pilialoha K. Nathaniel is not authorized by any school, institution or government to give health and medical advise. If you follow any advise in this blog it is at your own discretion and at your own risk. Okay? Nod if you agree. If you read anything past this paragraph that means you have nodded and you agree.

Did you nod? Great! Read on.

Did you know that will power can actually be drained. Seriously. It's been studied. For example: A scientist puts a plate of fresh baked cookies in front of you (whoever you are) and I (Cousin Pili). He says, "Don't eat the cookies." The scientist leaves. YOU EAT A COOKIE! Damn YOU for eating that cookie! I wanted a cookie but I used my WILLPOWER not to eat one.

The scientist comes back in. I point at you and tell the scientist that YOU ate a cookie. The scientist just smiles and removes the cookies. He comes back with two jump ropes and asks us to jump to a thousand. We both gawk at him but get to it.

Did you know that according to the latest studies on WILLPOWER that YOU, the bad cookie eater, would last longer than me. The act of USING MY WILLPOWER to NOT EAT THE COOKIES drained my willingness to push further.

WILLPOWER is a limited resource. SO DON'T FLIPPING TEST ME!

I am so joking. Kind of.

Did you also know that WILLPOWER can be drained by emotionally stressful situations? It's been tested! Say we're watching an emotional movie and I tell you to suppress all feelings while I get to cry my eyes out and enjoy the film naturally. After the film, we're both given those jump ropes again. This time I would last longer.

WILLPOWER CAN BE DRAINED.

So... lets apply what we have learnt to life's little situations. Lets play THE WILLPOWER GAME.

First a broad stroke: Your girlfriend wants you to do something. You don't want to do it. She argues with you. You feel a little bad but still won't do it. A day passes. You are taking out the trash. Your girlfriend walks out with the bathroom trash and berates you for always forgetting to take out ALL the trash. You apologize. She asks you again to do the something you don't want to do. You say no. She continues to berate you for you forgetfulness. Later that night you are both watching an action flick. She talks throughout the entire movie, picking it apart. She expects you to agree with her and laughs at you when you don't. So you stifle your excitement for the movie and you listen to her banter away. She actually has the nerve to point out after the movie that you seemed angry. Later, you are about to sleep when you find her on the bed looking excitedly at websites about the thing you expressly told her you did not want to do.

But she is so excited. You really don't want to do it but maybe if you do this for her she'll stop making fun of your movies and stop berating you for forgetting things. You felt kind of bad for saying no in the first place... So what do you do?

You say yes.

You just lost the game of WILLPOWER. Some people are very good at this game. Watch out for those people. They are everywhere... hey... YOU might even be draining the one you love right now. The girlfriend I just described seems like a bitch but what if she was someone you truly loved and wanted to please. What would you do?

Here's another one: You are on a diet. You have been exercising regularly and eating well for weeks now. You haven't slipped up at all. UNTIL... You have an amazing day with your family at the beach. You barbecue with your cousins and only eat the chicken and vegetables. You have a long swim in the ocean and enjoy your day. Your family decides to come over to the house for more fun and food. There is fried rice and pizza. YOU KNOW you shouldn't be eating any of that and YOU DON'T. You have a great meal planned for yourself and you have the WILLPOWER to stick with it.

But you're not gonna stick around to watch everyone eat. Screw that. You always have to watch that skinny bitch (you mean that in the best way) of a cousin eat whatever she wants. And what about cousin so and so... he always says that he's going to eat better but he never does. You are so much better than him. YOU HAVE WILLPOWER!!!

Or do you? You just LOST the WILLPOWER GAME. You had the willpower to keep to your diet but not to hang with the rest of your family. Willpower depleted. Again.

Last one for tonight: Your (fill in the blank) is a NEGATIVE PERSON. But you love them. This person is wonderful and has been there for you through everything. But their VOCAL NEGATIVITY blackens everything and brings you down. But you LOVE THEM. They complain about the closest people in their life. They complain about YOU. They complain about the way things are done and not done. But you love them. THEY COMPLAIN AND COMPLAIN AND COMPLAIN.

You smile. You try to commiserate. And finally you leave. You have lost the WILLPOWER game. Or have you won? You lost the patience to put up with the complaints and negativity of a person you loved. SOMETIMES THERE IS ONLY SO MUCH YOU CAN TAKE.

There is a point where you break and you can never go back.

Cousin Pili

PS... This Nathaniel will be a lot happier on her next blog about WILLPOWER and her Cousin Kaeo. Cousin Kaeo always makes me a HappyNathaniel.

Cousin Kaeo at WARRIOR DASH!

Not Happy Nathaniel.

Aloha (cough.) My Family, (Cough.) My Friends, (COUGH.) and those people brave enough to come around.

I have a cold. A cough to be exact. I have just taken a cough suppressant with CODEINE so forgive me if I fall asleep halfway through this post. I WAS going to write about WILLPOWER today and specifically about my lovely cousin Kaeo.  But that's gonna come to you sometime tomorrow. Hopefully I'll be able to fight though the medicated haze to blog-a-di-blog my thoughts and wisdoms on the subject.

As it is I do not have the WILLPOWER to stay awake.

Note: I used to be a stubborn butt-head about medicine and doctors. I thought I could fight everything using Hawaiian Salt, lemon and tea. While I suggest trying home remedies at first... PLEASE after a few days JUST GET SOME COUGH SYRUP. If that doesn't work GO TO THE DOCTOR. This goes for your aches and pains too. Thats what those highly educated white coats are for. To make you get better.

Now I am just writing in bubbles. I'm going to go to sleep. I originally was just going to tell you that I was sick and that I'd be back tomorrow. That's all I was going to type... BUT I am PODAHGEE (like Portuguese but the Hawaiian version) I get straight to the point no matter how long it takes...

Good night, wash your hands and don't get sick,

Cousin Pili

PS... See you tomorrow!

Poop well.

Aloha My Family, My Friends and passing acquaintances,

Welcome to Thursdays edition of "Happy Nathaniel: The Blog" with your host Cousin Pili. I can't decide what to write today. One of "da Aunties" suggested I write about willpower. WOW. That's a little broad. I wanted to do another feature on one of my cousins but "girlfriend" didn't get back to me. (You know who I'm talking about, Kaeo.) I also could do a segment on the "Master Cleanse" and it's pros and cons.

Since my little Cousin Kaeo (text me!) didn't get back to me and the research I've found on WILLPOWER is astonishing and deserves more thought.... I'll talk about CLEANSING.

But first...

I am not a doctor. I am not a nurse. I am not a psychologist. I am not a counselor. I am not affiliated with any sort of health industry. You are reading this blog with the full knowledge that Pilialoha K. Nathaniel is not authorized by any school, institution or government to give health and medical advise. If you follow any advise in this blog it is at your own discretion and at your own risk. Okay? Nod if you agree. If you read anything past this paragraph that means you have nodded and you agree.

Great!

For those of you who know me know that I have done the MASTER CLEANSE every year for many years now. I highly suggest this CLEANSE. Note that I say cleanse and NOT DIET. This cleanse RESETS your body while giving it the very basic essential nutrients to survive. I did not do this to lose weight. I would though lose about TEN POUNDS everytime I would do it. BUT I WOULD GAIN IT BACK! This is because I have healthy eating habits and I didn't need to change them. FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DO NEED TO CHANGE--- CHANGE!!! Once done with any sort of cleanse the body is ripe for CHANGE. If you need to keep the weight down then YOU should take measures to do so. Every time I have done this cleanse I have felt more energized and well... CLEAN!

It takes enormous amounts of willpower to do a cleanse. It takes time and preparation to DO IT RIGHT. Once you are prepared and you START... the HARDEST PART is STICKING WITH IT. Keep a GOAL in mind. Remind yourself why you are doing the cleanse in the first place. 

Do you need to get HEALTHIER?

Do you need to LOSE WEIGHT?

Do you just need CHANGE in your life?

What is your goal? Write it down and post it everywhere.

For more information on THE MASTER CLEANSE and HOW TO START, DO AND FEEL BETTER... go HERE. Please BUY THE BOOK and follow the directions. I will reiterate... FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS!

HERE is wedmd.com's BAD review on the Master Cleanse and reason why you shouldn't do it. LOT'S OF VALID POINTS HERE...

...

Please read the articles above. 

...

Have you read them? Okay. Good. Because I just did too. I DO NOT PROMOTE STARVATION DIETING. Do not starve yourself. It is not healthy. It is not good. Anorexia is a disease. (Go HERE for my views on starving and anorexia) And, now that I have read through webmd.com's take on THE MASTER CLEANSE do I suggest it? SORT OF... I suggest CLEANSING. I still believe that some bodies need a reset. IS THE MASTER CLEANSE THE BEST FOR YOU? I don't know that answer. You have to do what is best for you and your health.

The best suggestion that I have for you is to GO TO YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER and say, "Dr. Sonso, I would like to lose weight. I have heard that cleansing is a good way to start. Can you suggest some healthy ways to do this?" If your insurance covers it... WORK WITH A NUTRITIONIST. 

What's best for me? Truthfully, I won't be doing the Master Cleanse anytime soon. Go HERE for my reasons why. I just wanted to let you know about it. 

All else fails... just drink more water daily. You'll be surprised on how much healthier you'll be if you do just this one thing.

I'll end with this... CLEANSING isn't only about ridding your body of toxins. It's about ridding your MIND and HEART of the toxic gunk that you've swallowed and wallowed in. Take time to LET GO of the NEGATIVE. Negative thoughts, feelings and actions take too much time!

Love and hugs,

Cousin Pili

"For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness." 
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Also... don't forget to POOP WELL at least once a day. 

PS... Come back on Sunday for some WILLPOWER!!!