Shawn12

Debates from my point of view are useful if you have the right intent in initiating them, not for ego gratification or its own sake. I find debating to be a good way to see counterpoints, points of view, and ideas that I may have not realized. There are a great deal more distractions in life with media and communication technology than ever before, and while any journey of of self reflection upon truth is dependent on one's own initiative, it some times takes inspiration to spark it. With all the noise those that shout loudest are easier to hear. I have a friend who can understand on from a rational point of view that the self and the mind's representation of reality are conceptualized distinctions that it creates separate from the whole, he understands it as a philosophy but will not try to go deeper to experience it because he believes it would take too much effort. For some they never look deeper since they either tell themselves they will fail or they convince themselves its too much work, for others they never had the inspiration to try, and some just turn their frustration upon themselves and the world when they cannot fulfill the ego's desire. What a person can do is try to inspire others but for them take the first steps forward is something only they can do.

@zazed thanks, what you recommend is not too much of a change, just shifting the fat and protein percentages and increasing my calorie intake(I was doing 10 or 15 percent carbs and trying to cut out all fat besides impossible trace amounts, the remaining majority percentage was then taken up protein) . I have been weighing out my food and running the numbers for a while now. I try to find research and studies as well, but found nothing definitive on long term low carbohydrate and fat intake diets, so decided to experiment and try it out. I was unaware of insulin's role in muscle building as I has assumed it and blood sugar spikes were best avoided. Recently I have come across some information and i am contemplating 17 hour periods between meals, and working out before i eat these meals. The reasoning here being the benefits of time restricted fasting. https://translational-medicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12967-016-1044-0 but this is probably topic for another thread.

Thanks for the advice. My goals are primarily muscle gain while maintaining low body fat. It looks like I should increase my calorie intake, would you recommend I do this gradually or all at once? It looks like it be best I adjust the ratios of fats carbs and proteins.

Guess my question is basically if long term ketosis harmful or detrimental when also consuming little to no fat. I get somewhere around 1000 calories a day. My exercise routine is half an hour of weight lifting. I am 140 pounds, Five foot seven inches. you say eating a lot of protein will make it turn to glucose, so high protein would sabotage attempts to get into ketosis? My energy levels are general alright but i don't require much sleep to feel restful, about 4 hours. there are days where i can be in a persistent mental fog though.

I was wondering about a diet i have been on for several years, a low-carb very low-fat high protein diet. Does this contribute any adverse psychological effects? Is it detrimental in the long term? I get most of my calories from protein in fish and a small amount of carbohydrate from flatbread, spinach, and other vegetables . I have an active workout schedule or weight training.

What are some thoughts on this in relation to enlightenment and awareness without conceptualizations and distinctions?

From my personal experience, I have read philosophy and have been interested in existential and phenomenological currents for a good time. However, for all the reading rationalizing and thinking i have never 'felt' (for lack of a better description) any of it's implications through rationalizing, rather built distinctions and layer upon layers of framework obscuring awareness. Philosophy could inspire but just as well dilute and confuse this is true of any ideology. Perhaps then a role for philosophy could be to inspire and generate societal values and norms generative to reflection, curiosity and knowledge while at the same time not becoming embroiled in distraction and conceptualization for its own sake, a delicate balance.

Thanks everyone. I am going to keep up with it and look into other techniques as well

Mindfulness, being aware of of stuff around me and physical sensations. Your right though as soon as i started to think about it i lost it.

Awareness just is, contemplating awareness conceptualizes it, builds a constructed concept over top what has no inherent meaning and weaves this into the rest of conceptualized reality . Time is the present, the future is speculation and the past memory, all are constructs. I would say Infinity is the present awareness without concepts of time so i guess they one in the same

I have been meditating for 30 minutes daily now for a week, inspired by Leo's videos, and have had some interesting experiences. I am not sure of what to make of them, but would like your opinions. I was aware of the feeling of bodily sensations and the sounds around me simultaneously and eventually it was if my sense of space started to shrink and draw in between my eyebrows and behind the eyes then it eventually evaporated, this was strange but not unpleasant.