What we think, believe, and feel becomes our reality. We only limit our reality by the belief system we have built, both consciously and subconsciously, from birth until now.
Tag: Health
GQ The Real-Life Diet Of a Pro BMX Rider (Who Survived Cancer Three Times)
Josh Perry has a lot of reasons to not be here. In 2010, shortly after becoming a pro BMX rider, he received the first of his three brain tumor diagnoses. That one was a meningioma, a large mass on his brain that was benign but only removable via open craniotomy. The next one, two years later, called for an evocatively named procedure called gamma knife radiation, which beamed radiation into his brain.
“It sounded pretty scary, just because of the name, but the more I researched it the more comfortable I became,” Perry says today. “It seemed painless, and it was.” He was back on his bike six days later.
Perry, now 27, says it took going through surgery to get him thinking about nutrition. These days, when he’s not riding up to six hours a day, he’s touting a holistic post-cancer lifestyle. That means a diet benefitting both his body and his brain, including these two super-simple, instant-fresh meals—which he can assemble in about 10 minutes.
Mornings
“I never get tired of this: Sautee organic coconut oil, organic butter, minced garlic, onions, purple cabbage, and broccoli. Add pink Himalayan salt, black pepper, turmeric, ginger root and maybe some curry. Sautee until the veggies are soft, and then crack an egg over the top. When that’s about done, add sliced avocado, a little sriracha sauce, and organic olive oil.” While that’s happening, he’ll whip up fresh oats, with chopped apple, cinnamon, and peanut butter.
The secret, he says, is advance prep. Chop veggies in advance (make it a Sunday night project) and store them in glass Tupperware. Buy spices in bulk, and store them in glass jars as well. Then it’s just a matter of grabbing what you need and throwing it in a skillet; it’s a mix of good-quality fats, proteins, and carbs.
Afternoons and Evenings
Perry takes the ready-made approach for lunch and dinner as well: “Sautee spinach or kale, chopped-up chicken, avocado, BBQ sauce, olive oil, pumpkin seeds and chickpeas. I can put that Tupperware and take it to the park or the gym. If I’m late, I’ll whip up a smoothie with banana, peanut butter, avocado, cinnamon, salt, and ice. It’s too easy.”
He’s also big on sweet potatoes, which he toasts in their skins at 400 degrees for an hour. “Take them out, slice them open and they fall right out of the skin,” he says. “And they work for any meal.”
Finally, Perry has joined the growing group of athletes and chefs focusing on GI health. “I never thought I’d eat sauerkraut, but there are so many different variations. I’m into ginger beet sauerkraut, which is great for your gut.” He’s also known to knock back kombucha, which has its own probiotic benefits. “Everything we put in our body goes to our gut, and fermented foods are amazing for that. At the end of the day, everything I do is for my brain—which is for my body.”
-Josh P.
Fear Is Just A Thought
“A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage. Every day sends to their graves insecure men whose timidity prevented them from making a first effort.”
Fear is just a thought. Once we can remove fear from our mind and vocabulary, and live in gratitude, there is no longer such a thing as taking a risk. That risk taking just becomes something we feel deep down that we must do like it’s just a way of life. We create the lives we want, whether or not we are conscious of it. Fear is something I deal with on a daily basis as a BMX athlete but I decide whether or not I give into it.
I’ve had to learn to acknowledge if it’s coming from me, a past experience, an anxious thought, or if it’s coming from another source. Not every day is the same and it’s a constant battle of the mind, but each day gets better and better. I challenge you all to step out of your comfort zone and take a risk, rather, take a step in the direction of your dreams.
Fall In Love With Your Life
I am in love with the life I live, and I work hard for it. More importantly, I believe it’s possible. If you have a dream, get it! Believe in yourself and surround yourself with others that believe in you. Build your tribe of like-minded people and fill it with love, gratitude, and possibilities. Don’t ever listen to anyone that says “no” or “it’s not possible”.
If you don’t have anyone that supports your dreams, you have me. I believe in all of you. I was told “no”, “that’s not possible”, and “you’re not gonna be successful with that choice of a life”. I took that and fueled my fire of determination. Not to necessarily prove them wrong but to prove to myself I can do what I believe.
Our thoughts become our reality, both positive and negative. You can’t just think it for it to come true, though. You gotta take action and do things you’re uncomfortable with.
I’ve been practicing that more and more lately and oh my! The people I’ve attracted to my life, the places I’ve seen, the opportunities that have presented themselves to me, and the experiences I’ve been a part of are truly eye opening to my previous sentence.
Follow your heart, stay humble, share love and gratitude, and don’t ever give up!
Embrace The Journey
“Perhaps the real treasure isn’t waiting for us at the end of the road, but rather, is comprised of the experiences we have as we travel the road itself.”
Life is a journey and full of experiences that teach us things if we let it, and shape our perspectives and personalities. Rather than focus on a “destination” you’re trying to reach, I challenge you to live in gratitude for the life you already have and be grateful for each chapter of your life as it unfolds.
We determine what’s “good” and what’s “bad” as human beings. What if every experience was looked at as good and a learning experience and we shared gratitude for said experience?
We literally choose what we think and life can be a lot brighter if we think positive and live with love & gratitude.
Don’t Regret Where You Started
My past Friday night consisted of me busting my ass at the BMX park. What did yours look like? My past Friday’s used to consist of aimlessly going out drinking with friends with no goal in sight other than to have fun.
That was then and this is now. Now I’m goal orientated, driven, passionate, and persistent towards making my dreams come true. I’m healthier than ever, more fit than ever, more dialed on my bike than ever, and the most confident on and off my bike that I’ve ever been. I contribute part of that to having a goal in mind with the focus to choose things that will supplement my efforts, not take away.
I don’t regret any of the past times and choices I’ve made because it is what led me to where I am now. In the moment, it was fun followed by feeling like absolute shit and pushing myself to ride through it because I was sort of committed to making my dreams come true. Little did I know it would be a life changing experience that reiterates everything I’ve learned about #holistic #health and #nutrition.
One morning riding with Dave Mirra hung over and feeling like I was about to throw up all over the ramps, I fell because I wasn’t 100% focused on what I was doing. Luckily I didn’t get hurt but it didn’t help the pain I was already in.
I’m not saying drinking is bad or that you shouldn’t go out with your friends. I’m simply saying making those choices for me, my goals, and my life was indeed toxic and bad. Alcohol on those levels and frequencies destroys our brain and body. Definitely not what I’m about now. This doesn’t mean I never drink. Although it’s been months since I’ve had a drink, when I do drink I choose to have the best quality drink available to me (usually high-quality wine), consume activated charcoal before and after, as well as get some MCT oil in my system. Some quick Bulletproof Biohacking tips
The point of my sharing this is to point out the growth in which I’ve achieved from past experiences and help inspire you all to assess your choices. The most important change is my perspective on my goals and which lifestyle choices helps or takes away from reaching those goals. 💚✌️
Routines
This is my daily routine/taking the action step towards an idea, goal & dream that I referred to. A cup of coffee with brain fueling healthy fats (Kerrygold grass-fed butter and organic coconut oil) while handling business.
It’s great to have goals and dreams, but an idea stuck in our minds typically doesn’t manifest into much more than a thought. A belief and feeling it’ll work out, followed by action, is required to ensure you manifest your thoughts into reality. It may be a whiteboard (which I’ll be sharing more of that with all of you this year), an email, an outline, a social media post, trying a new trick in the foam pit for the first time, asking out that special person that’s caught your eye, applying to a school of your dreams, approaching an idol of yours to create together (more on this from me soon) going for that promotion, etc. It doesn’t matter, TAKE ACTION!
I’m beyond stoked to share my new website with all of you once we get the final touches updated. It’ll be merging with my blog www.DailyBrainstorms.com as a way to share more of who I am with all of you, on and off the bike.
-Josh P.
Choices
Just got off the phone with Tuft’s Medical Center in Boston, where I had Gamma Knife Radiosurgery treatment in 2012, and this is the new challenge I face…
The 2 newer brain tumors that were treated on the left side of my brain via Gamma Knife Radiosurgery in 2012, near the middle of my brain, was shrinking for 1-2 years and is now stable (good news).
There are now 2 new masses on the right side of my brain the size of peas (from residual cell growth), opposite of where the original surgery in 2010 was performed. My options are to follow it and see if it changes in growth with an MRI no sooner than 6 months, Gamma Knife radiosurgery, or full on open cranial surgery.
It took 7 years for these new growths to accumulate, which would have been dramatically sooner had I not changed my diet and cut out 95% of sugar, alcohol, and other crap food-like products.
It’s times like these that challenge our beliefs and our strength, mentally, the most. It’s also the most important time to practice positive thinking and manifesting the outcome and life we want. It’s easy to do so when times are “good” but it matters most when times are “bad”.
I have practiced a positive mindset and not giving into fear for the last 2 years so much that it shows in my riding now and in my everyday life. This challenge is no different. The way I see it is I can feel sorry for myself and give into fear, or I can stay confident and push forward like I have always done with obstacles in life I have to overcome to get where I want to be.
I believe these obstacles are thrown my way because I do have the strength to deal with and overcome them, and show you all that you can too. We all possess the strength within our minds to do and think whatever we want, and I want to continue to show you all this by living my message to the fullest. If anything, this is just more motivation and fuel for my goals with my BMX career and life in general. 💚✌️
📸 by: @bcookmedia
-Josh P.
Can You Love & Accept Others For Where They Are In Life
Let’s say someone disrespects you, cuts you off, hurts your feelings, calls you a hurtful name, directly does the opposite of what you asked them for, walks into you at the store, etc.
Can you love and accept them for the space and energy they are in within their life, not judge, and not make it about your emotions? Think, “what is their story, what do they have going on in their life, what happened to them that day, etc.?
I myself have learned that when someone is treating me negatively, it is a mirror for either what I need to work on with my personality or it’s a mirror of what I don’t want to be. Always look deeper and see what I can learn from the situation. How I can either improve how I react to those experiences, how I myself can improve those qualities of myself, etc.
I have got better at not making it about me and realizing that is where that person is at in their life and it’s not my place to judge. Now, I don’t need to tolerate or accept it, I can just choose to not jump into the energy and mindset while realizing that is their own shit, not mine.
Example: A woman almost hit me driving after she swerved over to me the other day. Instead of getting angry and saying “wtf, you asshole”, I remember what I have been practicing and then saw her screaming at her kids’ in the back seat. I said to myself, “Ah, there it is. She wasn’t being an asshole, she is probably stressed out with her kids and having a and day. I hope she is safe and finds peace.”
Now, that is a huge step for me and I am proud of how far I have come with my reactions to situations like that. It has been non-stop practice and will continue to be a practice.
What I want to get across is that we quickly jump to our conclusions and make things about us. If we slow down and look at the picture on a larger scale, taking our own emotions out, we can see that other people have their own shit going on and that it isn’t us and we can choose to not let it affect us.
We can accept and love people for where they are in life, the struggles they may be going through, and not making it about us allows us to not jump into that emotion.
I would love all your feedback on my sharing my opinion on this and how you can find ways to practice this more and just love and accept others for where they are in their lives without judgment, fear, or making it about the self.
-Josh P.
Authenticity
Authenticity
au·then·tic: of undisputed origin; genuine.
Along with my journey in life, guys like Dave Mirra and Mike Laird have gone above and beyond to take me under their wing and teach me about BMX and life in general. The most important thing one can do is be authentic. Stand out and be true to yourself, on and off the bike. Anyone that knows me knows that I’m 100% authentic, genuine, and transparent. I don’t have anything to hide and I have embraced who I am and what I have to offer the world.
This tattoo is a tribute to just that in the form of a story. A story that starts with where I come from, meeting my hero that sparked the drive and passion for the life I live now, and all that I’ve overcome along the way. The path to success isn’t as easy as most think. It involves lots of failures, heartaches, pain, sacrifices, and drive to succeed.
Dave showed me what the inner strength to overcome anything life throws at me looks like and I’m forever grateful. Our mindsets our reality and is what allows us to push through when we want to give up. I’ve been in so many situations where I was broken, mentally and physically, and wanted to give up. A part of me wouldn’t let me and that part is in all of us if we want to believe in it.
I have faith in everyone to succeed if they truly want to and my life is just an example of what’s possible. 💚✌️
📸 by: @bcookmedia
-Josh P.