sorry...but, the girl has been busy

I know it's been over a month to my one year anniversary, commencing my return to fitness.  I'm not where I need to be, but I'd say I'm where I should be linearly.  Actually, I think I may be ahead of the game since I've become a vegetarian/pescatarian.  Remember before:

Yeah.  I was so swollen I intentionally cut off some of the arm.  Look at my forearms and hand.  Puffy?  Who is that woman.  Cute dress.  So here I am some time into the program:

Ok, something was happening.  Change was definitely taking place.  Still a little puffy around the edges.  Work in progress, right?  Now I wouldn't call this next shot a score...but after a year, yes a whole year, I actually feel like I've accomplished the half way mark at least.  A couple of months ago, I still felt out of control.  But now, I'm getting to a place where I can actually see it, love it, all day!  

Yes, the boobies are still large, by comparison.  I hope you see at least what I see.  This wasn't intentionally cut off.  I was actually grasping the camera with the right hand and trying to snap.  It took a year and I need another year to actually feel as if I've lost what I've put on in 2 years.  

juicing, no drugs~

So I've been thinking about it for months now to go vegetarian, for a month maybe and see how I like it.  I'm aware that it's very expensive.  But I'm going to do my home work.  I don't want to get tired of eating beans.  I have a thing for bacon.  And every once and in awhile I want a greasy cheeseburger.  So to think of this in the long term...not likely.  But hey, I thought I'd give it a try to see what the benefits are and test my wills.

I began on June 29 in the evening with my last 'junk' processed food item.  It was some caramel brittle from Mackinac Island.  Buttery goodness!  On the morning of June 30, it was officially kick started with a laxative herbal tea.  I just was too sleepy to lax out the night before.  LOL.  Too relaxed to lax?  LMAO.  I'm commencing the ease in method for the Master Cleanse.  But I just may stay on the shake, juice, lemonade for the duration of the 30.  This is a trial.  One week at a time.  I intend to journal because the last time I did this it was well before Blogging was invented.

Here we go:


6/30  Day 1 Raw/Smoothie Cleanse


Well, it's been over 3 years since I've done a juice fast. I admit, I was a little apprehensive about it. But I bought the essentials to get me started and brought my juicer along on my 4 day stay with Mom.

I should have taken the herbal dieters tea on the eve, but I didn't so...it doesn't matter to me, but I'm aware that this is going to delay my elimination for another day.

I experienced some rumblings, but no headaches. I'm remaining hopeful. I haven't used the salt water bath yet, but I'm intending on doing it once I'm fully engaging in the Master Cleanse.  If that happens. LOL.

I've been drinking a lot of water, which isn't unusual.  I've been drinking every two hours a 'meal' of either lemonade tea with herbal lax., fruit and yogurt protein smoothie with just 1/2 powder to rec. dose, with yogurt, or a fresh juice.

I didn't get the urge to chew, and nothing really fancies me. I definitely believe that it was the right choice to go Raw now.  I can't say that this is the way of life, but I'm definitely enjoying it for now.  I will always make sure that the last drink is the lemonade~

The devil was busy of course. I was asleep and didn't have to have the 12 midnight portion, and I was certain that being awakened at 12:30 to prepare a snack for Mom would throw me off balance. It didn't. I was fast asleep!


So far I've come up with a tentative nutrition schedule of three lemonades, three shakes, and three fresh juices, overlapping.  I hope to conclude with lemonade or do some shifting around that it happens that way.  I like the hot lemonade in the morning so that is almost non-negotiable for flexibility.  


So far so good.  


7/1  Day 2 Raw/Smoothie Cleanse


Up at 5:40, lemonade tea to start 6. Interesting elimination. I felt like golf balls were trying to come out. This must be the seedy plaque, I forgot about that. I can only imagine the elimination when I do 100 % M.C.

One day at a time. But I'm aiming for 15 days with the last three as an ease out.

Conclusion. Superb. The is the best ease in ever!


7/2  Day 3 Raw/Smoothie Cleanse


So it's day three. I can't say there has been anything eventful. I nap out boredom. LOL.  I'm getting plenty of sleep.

Today I workout at Bally's which is the start of my workout schedule.  I'm going to play it by ear. I'm aiming for an hour, but we'll see how it goes.

I busted my Mom's blender, which was old. I'm sure this is the most work it has ever endured in the years it's been shelved.  I substituted with her mini chopper. It worked like a charm. And I didn't have to break my schedule.
Increase water today. I think I fell off because I ran low on bottles and tried to stretch it.  Yes it's time to really take the next step.


So the workout fell short.  And that's no surprise.  My body is using up it's energy to cleanse me.  It wasn't bad, but I could tell the gas was in short supply.  My heart rate was likely through the roof and it didn't help that Bally's Fairlane doesn't understand the concept of CA in the cardio section.  I'm sure it's because the ladies up front are freezing.  The studio was like a freezer.  OOPS!  


I decided to ease in whole vegetables and perhaps it will be a salad.  I'll play it by ear.  My goal is not to lose muscle mass.  So I have to consume more proteins in the form of shake/smoothies, sunflower seeds, etc. 


7/3  Day 4 Raw/Smoothie Cleanse


Rolled over at 6:44 a.m. and drank water before concluding my lemonade/dieters tea.  I didn't have the urge to go despite it.  But I plan to take two tea bags in tea tonight.  We'll see.  


Workout was fabulous.  Planet Fitness likes air!  Yay!  It was an upper body day.  I have to admit that I have an adrenaline rush that fades.  So I'm finding that HIIT is working it's magic.  I did have an epiphany regarding my protein consumption and decided to eat a few nuts following workout.  My body is craving protein.  So I have to give it what it needs.  


I had a half grilled corn on the cob.  Yummy.  The juices were fabu, especially the spinach/pineapple/orange.  I had two smoothies, subbing one for the corn on the cob and nuts today.  I had three drinks of the MC lemonade: breakfast, workout, and in the evening.  


Vegetarian/Vegan is in the works.  I think I'm ready to make the movement.  Tomorrow I'm picking up some Almond Milk from the market and use that to make my potato soup, add to smoothies etc.  I'm just not going to do dairy from the animals anymore.  I guess Soy could work too.  I only had one juice.  It's getting tough to get the same number of drinks in on workout days.  I had homemade raspberry tea (iced) at the park with my corn.  So yes, it's time for vegan.  I need to poop naturally.  I'm not feeling laxatives.  Although I personally suggest them during cleansing, I don't suggest you become dependent on them.  And right now, I have no desire to do Sea Salt.  I will use it for cooking.  LOL.


Tomorrow is the 4th of July.  My plate will have: greens, baked beans, corn, salad.  About two tablespoons of each.  No meat.  I haven't forgot it's veggie for the month.  I can do it.  Liquid alone was a beautiful transition.  Now I can get some bulk to my stools.  Here I go!  Meat smells yummy, but I'm on a mission.  Watch me do it!  


P.S. Sorry for cutting off the journal.  I was supposed to be doing this challenge for 30 days, and revert back to eating meat.  I saw immediate results which were too fabulous to even consider going back to eating meat.  So, it didn't take the 21 days I thought would form the habit.  I'm enjoying being a pescatarian.  


I will share some recipes!  Hope you'll join me!

5k's? no problem...

For the past three weeks guys, I've been running 5K's for my weekly timed/distance run.  Now when I began running the long run it was roughly about 20 minutes since I hadn't really run for a long distance since my 5K back in October '10.  That was followed up with an injury which sidelined me for a few months.  I built my muscles and tendons strength up slowly and got back upon the proverbial horse.  Since I strive to push myself to run a little faster, farther, lift more weight, etc...I would inch this 20 minutes up little by little.  Soon I was running 2 miles in 30.  Well now I'm running 45 minutes - 50 minutes and my 5K best time was 42:32 minutes.  Hows that for starters?

You have to keep in mind that I'm not a runner, at least I wasn't before last year.  I'd jog a few, but never really focused on the mechanics and economics of running.  Now that I have, I'm proud to say that out of my four day a week string for exercising, I can claim three consecutive 45 minute average 5K runs.  YAY!  And of course on the other three days, I usually do speed drills using HIIT speed/recovery.  I've even claimed 6.0 once or twice on the last three weeks worth of training.  YAY!  And last but not least, I can actually run at 5.5 for 5 minutes!  See, that is my biggest accomplishment I think in static speed.  I'm well on the way to running an injury-free 6.0 minute mile.

I'm in no rush, but I definitely want to get there solid by Oct '11 Brooksie Way.

The cardio kicked up a notch has shown to be invaluable.  I still have a long way to go to achieving my goal weight, but I can tell that I'm more confident in wearing garments that fit a little closer to the skin.  I do alternate, because in the gym, there are simply times when I feel more inspired when less of my curves are showing.  The men are definitely noticing.  They stare like for long periods.  I see a few things that strike me as interesting, but I'm an old-fashioned girl who wants to be wowed and courted.

I also wanted to mention that my Bally's Membership is still active.  I was able to get the Customer Service Rep to lower the payment to $14.99, else I'd have to cancel it.  I'm glad to have both Bally's and Planet Fitness because of travel.  If one isn't close, then the other is.  And if ever I'm in the neighborhood of one of the sister facilities, I'm in.  I like to see what the other clubs are doing.  And after touring the online info for Planet Fitness Sites, I'm inspired to walk in.

Because I only work out 4 days a week, I try to kill it in the gym.  My workouts generally go from between 90-180 minutes.  This depends on what day and which theme I'm working on.  Usually my lower body day is the longest because there are more machines and I do 4 sets on each apparatus.  However, now that I'm running for almost an hour, on my LR (long run) day, I have gone from 60 minutes to up two hours.

I'm having a blast, and hopefully inspiring those around me and where I blog.  I know I can be a little 'back seat' and I don't mind.  It's just that I can't stand to watch someone go down a long path that leads them back to start, again and again.  You truly have to do your research when it comes to fitness because there is so much bullshit out there that can break your bank, leave you depressed, undernourished, etc.  So if I can't say anything, I simply try to inspire people who take the time to watch me.

Peace.

get moving: set goal, make it happen

It's here and it's official.  The calendar doesn't say summer yet, but let's get real.  Memorial day made it official.  And like the moon, diets swearing to drop 100 pounds in a week are in full salute.  And people wonder why I don't have patience to train clients anymore.  Everyone wants the magic pill.  People: there isn't one.  Anything you do to take the weight off ceases the moment your body adapts.  And the weight comes back.  I'm just not getting the need to wait until bikini season to get it together in a week.  If you're going to start something, make the commitment to change your life.  Now it'll be a struggle all the way through, with some days worse than others.  But the reality is like committing to go to school, or learning how to drive, or loving someone past their faults...you have to set yourself up to succeed and then get in, buckle up, and set it on cruise.  Yes.  It's hard work. And more times you fall off, the easier it becomes to stay off.  Why am I saying this?

I've battled weight just like everyone else in the diet community.  My victories came from the hard work.  But the biggest sabotages are the people around you.  We all know that.  So find a support group even if it's a diet community on FACEBOOK or YOUTUBE, or go at it alone.  And make it happen.

It's a year now since I've been on the road to recovery.  Food is my comfort.  I love to eat.  But I also love being healthy, feeling my body do amazing things, watching it transform before my eyes, and realizing gravity is  trying to take me down...literally.  Look good feel great, do it for life.

summer holiday eating

Memorial Day is approaching.  Although it's not officially summer as yet, it traditionally is the first picnic barbecue of the 'cuing' season.  And if you want to stay on track, you better be prepared.  You know there is going to be a lot of healthy cooking.  You just can't go wrong with grilled food.  But the sauces, the creams, and the sodas...BEWARE!

They are out there and you know you can't resist them.  So don't punish yourself trying.  Just be smart, remember portions.  Measurement is the key.  If you don't want to whip out your food scale, measuring spoons and cups, or your portion plate, then get to know the visual equivalents that you can compare to your hand.  Ribs will be tricky.  I can't tell you what to eat.  But I will suggest that you spread out the fixings over the course of the day.  If you're allowed to box and bag, then eat from small cocktail plate and take the rest home.  You want to sample the sweets.  Three teaspoons...that's enough.  Same goes for potato salads and slaws.  Macaroni and Cheese is uber-dangerous.  Same thing, 1, 2, 3.  No more.  You don't have to eat until you pass out.  If you're an every three hour eater, and the even will last over 3 hours.  Start with your fruit and veggies, and then make your rounds to the 'meat center' aka beans, franks, ribs, and chicken.

Soda.  Why even bother.  The weather is hot, it only makes you more thirsty.  How about sparkling green tea?  You can make your own if you own one of those fancy-shmancy Soda Streams.  They're expensive.  So just opt for iced green or any one of your favorite teas.  Make it ahead of time, and keep it cool, and be on your way.

Don't forget the hat, the bugs spray, and the sunblock.  But above all, don't forget you have a goal to keep up with. So don't completely shatter your progress by overindulging.  Have a safe...

do black women hate to exercise? or just hate to sweat?

The first time I saw a youtube video featuring this, I was immediately taken aback.  I defended it to no end, because all of the black women I know do some form of exercise and try to make conscious decisions about their eating. The men are in serious trouble, but that's another story.

In the last 10 months since I re committed to exercising with a 40 year old's vengeance, I've noticed that the black population at Planet Fitness is made up primarily of black men, and very few black women.  Shocking!

And what I've found is that black women (some white) are abhorred to sweat. It may be for different reasons.

Black women fear ruining their hair styles.  I know this to be one of the prevailing issues, because it was once an issue for me.  Back when I was on the creamy crack, I'd spend hours doing my hair and I didn't want to sweat it out.  So I'd creatively schedule my hair appointments on the days I didn't exercise.   It was doable to some degree.  But still I had to maintain my hair over the duration of those 'relief' days.

I'm a natural now, so that isn't an issue. I just go!  Now a few years ago in 2008 I was on point physically.  But a series of stressful events (decisions I made that went against God's plan) sent me into a tailspin free fall.  I wound up living in a very stressful situation, financially was taken full advantage of, never knowing if I would be homeless one week to the next.  It was as if the world hated the freedom I had and envied my vitality.  The devil wanted to break me and he put up one hell of a fight.  People in the business of making money often get distracted by their own envy and greed, and forget that the goal is profit.  You have profited nothing if you've gained the world and lost your soul.  In the end, the devil lost.

You'd be surprised how many disciples of the devil seek to destroy strength and positive energy. People simply envy those whose lives they want, never knowing or fully understanding the sacrifice and trials it took to be in that condition.

My life hasn't been perfect, but I have co-authored it. I have never been one to simply let life happen. I want to be in control, on top of things, and behind the wheel, steering my own vessel, God as the co-pilot.

On your victorious way, devil will dispatch his disciples to undertake and overthrow your campaign.  Don't let him! Gird your loins! In the simplest way imaginable, rid yourself of forces, people, or conditions that will destroy you.

I have had so many destructive people come my way.  People will literally curse themselves trying to destroy you and they never realize how they've done it.  But you will find them, recognize them, and employ the words that we are responsible for our own self-destruction. Remember, it's really not them...it's the devil.  He's filthy, and he uses those around you to do his bidding.

People wonder why I live alone.  Why? Keeps the devil out.  Do you know that your greatest source of weakness lays within the people who are closest to you? I mean, I literally had to use the Trojan Horse method to usurp the devils power.  I'm pretty good at it now.  Being alone helps to teach you how to war in the face in the enemy.  You basically have to show him defeat on the surface, so that he backs off and leaves you alone.  See as long as he thinks you're a failure he keeps it moving.  He's too busy working on defeating the overtly strong that he has no time to keep kicking you whom he declares the defeated.

And then just when he thinks you are down, you rebound! You rise like a phoenix, you kiss bullshit goodbye, and you let him know by your rise that he's been snared by his own trap.

Now he won't like your battle maneuver so he'll keep showing up and pretend he's your friend, or even harass you to throw you off your game...don't worry, distance is the greatest navigation tool to victory!  He can't touch you, if he can't reach you!

Often, you will find familiars pouting, blaming you, even trying to be glib about your distance and lack of access to them.  Don't worry, keep it moving.  Sociopaths always blame people who fail to be their victim just as they blame those for who fall for their their schemes.  It's their mantra.

In your effort to be victorious, don't associate with negative people or people who you know are mistreating others and boasting about it.  Hey, you can't change people, but you change who you spend time with.  I'm a Maverick in that regard. I don't need a lot of company to be happy.  I'm good on my own. Some people require the energy of others, but not me.  I have a unique ability to stir up my own energy and motivate myself to do what I need to do.

Self-motivation doesn't require you to send out invites or sell tickets.  Just build it and they will come, or not.  The point is, do it!

Talking is so cheap, and I hear it's a bargain thrift price in some cities.  So don't waste your time telling people what you are going to do, how you are going to do it, and then placing very little to no action behind the words. The more we speak and then follow it up with no action, the less people become motivated to listen or act upon what we say.

Hence, Pavlov and cry wolf theories.

Vision.  Scope out what you want to do, then devise a plan to do. Seek info from those you know can help you. Don't waste time asking someone obese, who smokes, drinks excessively, and doesn't exercise about good health. Who are you kidding? Yourself?

now eat this...diet!

There is nothing more indulgent than having someone else do the heavy lifting when it comes to preparing meals.  I mean, really!  Shopping for food, bringing it home, packaging and storing, then cooking...work?  LOL.  In the effort to trim unnecessary lard from your bodies, you have to start with the meals.  Come on people...abs are formed in the kitchen.  You can work your butt off in the gym, but you'll get no place fast if you don't modify your behavior and relationships with food.

I attribute a great amount of my success to: mental preparedness and self-awareness.  I had to make a decision that it was way past time to get back into the fit club.  I was always an active person and my sedentary retirement lifestyle inflated my body to unforgivable proportions.  I had to design a plan.  Nothing too detailed, but simply 'jump in'.  Setting yourself up for success is part and parcel to how the ends will justify the means.  You have to attack the weight with a sense of discipline, but you have to have realistic goals.  Achievable ones.

Next is the diet.  If the success pie is 5/5, then 4 out of 5 is your diet.  A huge amount of how your body responds to exercise is by it's fuel (food).  Listen to your body.  See, this comes back to mental prep and self-awareness.  Without discipline, you can't listen to your body when your stomach craves bad behavior.  You can eat what you want, but eventually your gym performance will start to shape your mission in the kitchen.  Balance and portion control is the key.  Eat as often as you like, just stick to serving sizes.  If you are eating 3 meals a day your protein ounces should be around 4.  But if you're eating 4-6 meals a day, then you need to break it up and spread it across the meals, say 2-3 ounces.  There will be plenty of opportunities to cheat.  My motto is 'eat often, eat less, eat variety'.  Since I love food, (self-awareness acknowledged) I attack my meal prep to 'taste' as much as I can in order to be satisfied...NOT FULL!  Seasons help to achieve this.  Move beyond traditional salt and pepper.  Experiment with peppers, expound on the leafy herbals like Parsley, Basil, Thyme, and Rosemary.  Food that has a lingering aromatic affect will satisfy you long before you eat it, and in turn you will not require a wheelbarrow and pitch fork to eat.

On the diet side, I have tried some interesting shake-ups when it comes to comfort eating.  Olive Oil is my best buddy, even though coconut oil, and canola I still use on occasion, but in very small amounts.  I even use animal fat that is left over from bacon.  Yes.  I do.  I don't bath my food in fats, but if I want a seasoning that only bacon can bring, I do it.  Rocco Dispirito, with the foreword by Mehmet Oz, has created a new cook book titled, Now Eat This! Diet which shows you how to have your food, prepared in a healthier way.  Actually we could have collaborated on this since this was my mantra from the onset.

I'm not here to give a stump or plug in for Rocco.  I am not getting a single cent for this mention.  But I did it only to show you that it's not impossible to prepare great tasting food for a third of the weight in junk.  You can actually get to eat more food in volume if you just weave in more healthier choices.

If you master the first two edicts, then the final part is going to be a piece of cake!  It's exercise...YAY!  I know you are excited now, so start out slow, but again do it often.  Get your body prepared for the challenge.  It's going to be hard.  But once your body gets in condition to exercise it would widen it's ability to tolerate more intense training.  Schedule, adapt, challenge.  I work out on a schedule, but I'm making constant changes so that my body is always struggling a little to figure out how to get through the battle.  My challenge 3 months in was a 5K finish.  This spring, it's to run faster and finish with a better time.  Since I can't exercise when I want, I do it when I can and I make it intense with the stretch at the end as my reward.  I love stretching!

For restarts or beginners, aim for stress-freeing your joints.  If you injure yourself, you'll be sidelined and you may throw it out altogether.  So, no running yet, not until you drop some poundage first.  Best options: elliptical, bike, arc trainer!  I fell to injury for pushing to fast.  Avoid this by making gradual changes.  I run currently, two days a week with an alternate still on the bike.  My runs aren't the same on both days.  I usually make one of those days a distance run and the other HIIT (high intense interval training).  The purpose here is to strengthen the parts to run without fatiguing.  In other words, work faster and finish strong as the goal.  So the first run essentially is for endurance (long winds) and the second is for stamina (speed).  I have 41 year old joints that were never conditioned for running, so I have built in relief days, where I cross train with a boot camp or cycle.  The cycle day is HIIT as well.  I have the seat and the handles for support so I try to kill it and train my lungs to operate at maximum capacity plus one.  I really push it!

There you have it!  There's a Breast Cancer Walk/Run coming in May in downtown Detroit.  The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Race for the Cure will be on May 21, 2011.   Lace up, and get ready.  I'll meet you there.