Wholistic Fitness

Namaste Noble Warriors!

“Wholeness is peace.”

– WF Teacher Sugiyukako (Quentin Vaughan)

every once in a while

a GREAT while

more like it…

comes a certain student

with a certain Light

carrying a certain energy

carved from negativities and/or habits overcome

to Rise Above.

let me preface what i am about to write to you,

DL readers:

i am not an easy person to get along with

just ask my wife

i’m a retired World Class athlete

but still focused

and determined

to reach the podium in whatever i do

including life and death

i want Enlightenment

in THIS precious lifetime

for there is

no guarantee of another

and so,

my filter is thin

who i let in

to ride bikes with me

regularly

to workout with me

regularly

to breathe and discuss the Dharma with me

regularly

my first Teacher was a wolf named Apache

he was as black as pitch

and as light as the sky

i learned most of me through him

so people and particularly my students

have a very High standard to attain

– black wolves that move like unthought thoughts

or pine trees glimmering with early morning snow –

before they capture my deeper attention…

not because i am some great TEACHER

but because i am a feeble one

unable to keep pace with the Seekers

who wish to Find through my humble

but powerful

Way.

Wayne Williams is one of those special students…

here is his own WF experience

in his own words

i dedicate my friendship with Wayne

to all beings

for the benefit of our merit gained

through our Daily Practice…

Wayne (WW)…

i bow to you

my Tribal Brother…

let’s ride!

love,

coach ilg

�

My name is Wayne Williams and I�m a professional photographer born and

raised in Los Angeles, CA. I had the good fortune to be introduced to

Steve Ilg back in March of this year by Hyperion Books of New York. My

client at Hyperion, Phil Rose, called me and asked me to shoot the

cover photography for Steve�s newest book �Total Body Transformation,�

due out early next year.

To make a long and interesting story short, I�ll just let you know that

I was very impressed with Steve during the shoot and his attitude and

awareness, willingness to work with me and Phil, and produce the images

that are now the cover of the book. But that�s not why I�m writing

now, you see, I�ve found a good friend and alive spirit in Steve and

his practice of Wholistic Fitness. I�ve been fortunate to have spent

more time with Steve since the initial cover shoot. While doing more

images for the book I�ve learned a good deal about not only his

strength training and high performance yoga programs, but have had the

pleasure of riding (as best I can) on mountain and road bikes with

Steve as we discuss health, fitness, as well as plans and goals for

taking Wholistic Fitness to as many people who are interested and are

willing to seek it out for themselves.

While I�m pushing 50 years young (my grandmother is 103 and my parents

are in their early 80�s) I�ve been aware of a sense that my mortality,

levels of fitness and nutrition, involvement in my own health were

fairly good, That considered, I�d been feeling I was missing something.

I wanted to find a way to up the awareness and focus in a more

disciplined direction for not only myself but for my wife and family as

well… if they are interested.

So this mountain yogi shows up in my life and a path and direction

starts to unfold, funny huh?

You see, it�s been a little over 4 months now, and life is very

different indeed.

The time I spend meditating, the time I spend riding Andrew, Steve�s

championship road bike he gave me for working hard with him on over

200+ inside shots for the book (I was well over paid indeed) and the

lessons I�ve learned doing a feeble form of HP Yoga and strength

training have given me great satisfaction. Please understand that for

me, prior to April of this year, a bike ride was maybe 7-12 miles

around a park or up in the hills 2-3 times a week, a 20 minute weight

lifting session maybe 2 times a week, and no yoga or meditation to

speak of.

I�ve always been a conscious being, awake and thoughtful, kind and open

minded, hard working and a light hearted student of eastern thought and

awareness, heck my life as a photographer puts me in touch with many

different people and places, so I�ve always wanted to be aware and

knowledgeable. But nowhere had I found a complete package that worked

for the whole body and mind. Well… now one journey is over and

another has begun.

Higher awareness of ones life seems to require many things, patience,

being awake and aware, and the discipline and follow through that comes

with everything you do. These have become more clear to me than ever

before when I started doing Sunrider herbs as a part of my nutrition.

While on a short 1/2 day ski trip this spring in our local mountains,

cruising up a chair lift for our 7 or 8th run on a stunningly beautiful

day, I asked Steve how he eats to stay in such good shape. After a

long pause he said quietly that he eats herbs. Whaaa? HERBS? Humm,

well, I want to know more about this.

And so it began… first with the explanation of Dr. Chen�s philosophy

of nutrition and cleansing which combines ancient chinese herbal lore

with high quality modern western technology. Hey, sounds like me, an

photographer using the most advance photographic and computer systems

to create my art. Then the start of the practice… with Fortune

Delight and Calli teas for almost 2 months, cleansing my system and

weaning myself off much of the red meat foods I usually would consume a

few days a week. Nothing serious, but the problem was, my wife Marsha

you see is a good cook, who loves to prepare good healthy food, and I

love to eat it and often would do what was necessary to clean my plate

and sometimes go back for seconds.

Well, if I�m really going to do change my life for better health, I

felt I would need to move slowly and bring Marsha along with me. So we

agreed to give it a try. Taste for her was important, and the first

hurdle was Fortune Delight… that was easy… so now the fruit juices

in the fridge are gone. The Calli tea�s were no problem as we�re big

green tea consumers anyway… first phase accomplished. Now what?

What about these Ilg Supreme�s… Action Caps, when do we head down

that road? Ah, Steve kept the reigns on lightly to make sure the

cleansing process was well underway, and besides, I�m now riding Andrew

some 30 + miles every other day, even climbing hills 3-4 times a

week… Green light time.

We�re now doing at least one if not two Ilg Supreme drinks a day, and

I�ve dropped over 10 hard to lose pounds and built up muscle in the

process. I�m excited about getting on my bike, doing yoga, strength

training and meditating when I wake up every morning but most

importantly, I�m looking at food in a completely different way.

You see, food is necessary to consume just enough to give you the

energy to do the things you need to do, and herbs are the most pure

form of what the body needs. You find this out when you look at that

piece of pizza or hamburger after doing Sunrider herbs each day and you

listen to your body and it says… well, do you really need that? BUT

I LIKE EATING IT… so you have some, maybe even eat like you did

before, and you sit there and say to yourself…. hey, what was that

all about? Was it really that good for me? Did I really like it as

much as I thought I would again? Humm… and the quantities? Over

time, it all starts to go way down.

I have Calli Mint tea with Marsha in the morning, perhaps with a half

bagel or oatmeal in the morning along with 3-4 Action Caps. A Fortune

Delight with a little squirt of Sunny Dew usually in a sports bottle

with some ice, and often when I�m on a ride before my day starts. When

I get hungry, I make up an Ilg Supreme and find myself drinking it over

a 2 or 3 hour period, no chugging here… when the body wants

nutrition, it says drink a bit now, so I do.

It�s all about listening to your body, an awareness you�d expect when

following the wholistic fitness path. There have been times when I

wanted more to eat in the day, and I�ve found something as simple as a

spoonful of peanut butter does the trick… and Calli tea on ice kills

hunger in its tracks as well. On occasion I�ve had a second Ilg

Supreme for my evening meal… but a light salad with salmon or sushi

has been a real joy to savor… something I find myself doing more and

more, really tasting what I�m eating, and eating less as a result.

People who know me are noticing the physical changes as well, my face

is thinner, my stature is taller, and my mind is more focused and

peaceful. Oh, and I�ve had to buy some new clothes as the others are

frankly, just falling off. Which brings me to the discussion of

financial costs to doing Sunrider Herbs.

Aside from the need for a new wardrobe, the initial cost at first is

daunting, your first purchase seems like, WOW, that�s a lot for food

now isn�t it? OK… Lets do some math and see.

Old way of eating? Cheap… McDonnald’s… Burger, Shake, Fries….

$4-$6… fat, clogged arteries. Not wise but cheap right?

Newer Old way? Health food store, upscale restaurant lunch $6-$12

and an old fashioned USDA approved diet of veggies, protein and

starches… Better but is it really?

Oh, and then there is breakfast… cereal with milk or Silk, some

fruit… eggs? bacon? toast or Bagel…, and then you hit Starbucks

and blow a total of $5-10 on all consumed.

Throughout the day you drink water right? Naw, it�s bottled water at

$18 a gallon, or a Coke, Snapple, expensive juice drinks… come on,

we�re talking at least $2-$4 dollars a day between meals, heck I won�t

even count snacks in this.

Then there is dinner… the feast… most expensive meal eating out,

ok, lets hit another fast food place, or have a pizza…. or eat at

home… $6-$10.

OK, I�m going to be conservative here, you are spending about $17.00 a

day on food… likely more like $20-25… but lets compare that to

eating your herbs instead.

A Calli tea can run $.95, Calli Night is $1.25. FD $.80 tops. An Ilg

Supreme? $5.80 including Soy Milk. Action Caps? $1.00 a day, all with

tax and shipping costs included.

SO… I spend how much for Herbs a day? $16.50. That�s right, and if I

make a light healthy dinner at home or eat out, at worse I�m going

maybe $6 to $10.00 over what I spend otherwise for cheap unhealthy

food. And if you live with someone who is on the same path, you share

your Calli and save more. There are so many other benefits that come

as a result that it�s hard to put a price tag on good health. Hey, and

I�m still getting those valuable airline miles on my Master Card too.

I�ve always loved life, you can see it in my photos…

( http://www.WayneWilliamsStudio.com ) and been blessed with all one

would want in material means. Now I have a complete package to bring

it all together… Nutrition, cardio, strength and yogic fitness, and a

sense of completing the circle that is no longer out of reach but a

part of my being.

And so it comes back to awareness, being conscious and having the

discipline to stay on the path all while being willing to be the other

things that make us who we are… spontaneous and alive beings.

That means, when you go out with friends and they want to eat a cow,

you can honestly say to yourself, I�ll have something I want, and not

feel the pressure to consume, because, well, you just don�t need to

anymore. Sure you may still want to give the old way a try… and do

at times, but the experience is different and so are you.

Last summer, one of my clients, an amusement park company, asked me to

shoot at one of their water park facilities in the midwest for their

advertising and promotional brochures. It was a fun shoot, and we had

young healthy models in and under the water… but I can only tell you

that I have never seen so many beached whales of all ages in my life.

Our nation has become so over weight it�s sad. We have stopped having

concerns for our health and become a society of mass consumption.

Quite frankly, it�s sad.

In a world that has long since past it ability to sustain itself with

the quantity of people we have on the planet… eating and consuming as

we do, each one of us has to start doing something. So… think

globally and act locally, start with yourself and know that you are not

alone.

We all can do our part by looking for ways to lessen our impact on the

planet and increase our consciousness and awareness of our place here.

After all, it�s all we�ve got.

Eating herbs is one sure way to be a viable part the process of life.

Stay fit in mind, body and spirit, follow your own path and practice

wholistic fitness… the rest will come.

With love,

Wayne Williams

Author, Photographer, and distributor of

‘America’s Vanishing Landscapes, The Western States’

Wayne Williams Studio

15423 Sutton Street

Sherman Oaks, CA 91403-3809

(818)905-8097

FAX: 995-6888

Email: wwclick@earthlink.net

http://www.WayneWilliamsStudio.com