Day Two- I remembered my food!!

Well I can safely say that all those years of being in the body building industry have paid off in one way or another!! This time in food preparation...NEVER LEAVE HOME WITHOUT IT!!

Yesterday being day two I had yet another challenging day ahead of me. Mom and I left home very early- her to head to the doctor's to have her eye's checked for extreme dryness and for testing to find the cause of her anemia and me to spend the day with Gramma and take her in for her rapidly depleting eye sight.

I spent a good hour and a half preparing our food for the day as I am still getting used to the vegan regimen as well as to mom's tiny kitchen. Oh how I miss my big kitchen...but I digress. This summer I am committed to be here for mom and then move to the beach so it's only temporary :)

I packed our bags with fresh juice, as usual, containing everything from beets to grapefruit to collard greens, the lentil-brown rice mix from the day before packed in lettuce and kale cups for easy eating on the go, salad with many colors, banana slices with almond butter, grapes, almond-walnut-date mix, and sweet potato pudding.

Spending time with Gramma before leaving for the doctor I was thankful to have brought my food along! The home that she chose to move into does not feed her much in the way of produce so we have a fruit of the month sent to her year-round and bring food with us on each visit. I was happy she ate grapes, dates and banana with me.

As we sat in the waiting room I felt a bit hungry, not unusual as I feel like I can't stop eating now that I am vegan, so I drank some juice. Of course it got a bit of attention and an older gentleman came over to ask if I had brought lunch for the group? I told him I'd be happy to share my vegan treats but he seemed more inclined to speak to my gramma about why she was there and to ask her age...she said 39, he said 40. Eventually she confessed her real age of 94 and he responded with "pushing 80" and had she noticed, she may have had a date!

What I truly love about my gramma is that she is never afraid to be herself. She kept her composure when I told her about his attempts and said "honey, what in the world would I do with him anyway!?!" We had a good laugh.

Our day was filled with smiles as I spent time talking about her life, appreciating the adventures she has had and observing the world together. I am so grateful for her coming into my life when she did...we adopted her in 1984; the year my parents divorced and the same year she lost one of her last living relatives.

We compared our hands and I was taken back by the beauty in her fingers! With such slender, straight fingers and soft skin it's hard to believe those hands belong to a 94 year-young woman. It's no wonder the man came over to inquire about her!!

Now, it's been quite some time since I've stepped foot into an actual doctor's office. Looking around reminded me of how the concept of specializing in one thing has a tendency to overlook the big picture. I can say that I was pleased to hear her doctor recommend her continue on her eye vitamins and to increase her amounts of green leafy vegetables.

After the appointment we sat down for lunch at the cafe as we would not be back in time for dinner at the home; their term for lunch. She enjoyed her ham and cheese sandwich with side salad as I took out my vegan treats. Her eyes showed such joy as she watched me eat and kept saying "Honey, you're so healthy! I am so glad to have you on board now. Tell your mom I'm having a wonderful day."

I can't help but wonder just how many aging ailments and diseases are caused by poor diet. While I never would have thought after 8 years that I would return to a vegan diet but after only a couple of days, I can feel this time is life-changing.

By the end of the day I was exhausted! Every ounce of energy was spent in play with Gramma but we laughed and had such joy that I would not have traded it for the world. I ate all my food and then some...after mom and I took our daily walk, this time at 7pm, we sat down to a Rainbow Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing. 

Day two was a great success in the vegan journey. While I have maintained my weight despite the high amount of carbs and nut fats I am consuming, my waistline has trimmed down quite rapidly. A big surprise to me having spent years in the low-carb, high protein mindset!!

Operation GO VEGAN- Day One

So I know this is technically day two but I wrote the post last night while I was away from the internet to stay accountable...here goes!

Nothing like a good challenge!

Day One…eh not so bad! We began our day with fresh juice and sweet potato pudding before our daily 45 minute walk and snacked on lentil and brown rice sauté in lettuce cups when we returned. I made smoothies with homemade nut milk to drink while we got ready knowing that we needed to get as much nutrition in as possible before we left the house.

My efforts last night to create tasty vegan masterpieces came with great appreciation from my mom as she returned home to find a kitchen full of treats. I spent a great deal of time researching the transition process and how to make vegan foods taste incredible.

While my mom and I had to attend a memorial service for my godfather’s wife today I spent a good hour preparing our food for the day to avoid the hunger pangs of searching for acceptable foods on the first day of a new eating style. You know what they say “proper planning prevents piss-poor performance!”

Unfortunately, this morning in our hustle to leave the house to be on time for the service, the bag was left packed with food and ice packs in the kitchen!! Needless to say, day one became a bit of an adventure. 

Thank goodness I made sure we consumed plenty of food before we left…

So what would become of us on day one being away from home and all the vegan foods I had prepared? 

HA!! We survived with flying colors!!!

The reception was at a fish restaurant on a wharf that is famous for their fish and my mom says “well, we could always start again tomorrow…” “NOPE…we committed,” I said.

We arrived early on a hunt for food as by then we were very hungry. They say the first week as a vegan is the hardest, and while I don’t feel it to be hard, the journey is definitely one requiring detailed research, planning, patience and acceptance.

Walking the pier we found a “grill” that served burgers, fried fish, chicken salads and such. My mom has always been one for a big salad so she was all for it but I couldn’t bring myself to consume a cheaply made iceberg mess so we kept walking. We stumbled upon a large fish market and walked in to find rows of fish, shell fish, places to order fried fish etc. but settled on one particular place that offered a side of veggies and corn tortillas.

For $5.75 we agreed that this side order would be a good pre-meal snack to avoid having to go hungry and make a bad choice at the reception. Boy, were we pleasantly surprised! When our buzzer went off, I went to the counter to collect our supposed side dish. I was greeted with a large blue plastic tray, the ones you usually use to carry your plates at a buffet, that was FULL of sautéed veggies in a killer achiote sauce! We were in heaven!

Attending the reception we found salad drenched in mustard dressing, steamed veggies tossed in butter, rice cooked in chicken stock, chicken and beef with cheesecake for dessert. You can imagine how glad we were to have taken that preventative measure and eaten first!?

Given the events of the day I would say that it was quite a success. You can check out my food blog to find the nut milk recipe I adapted from a few that I found online as well as the recipe for sesame kale that I made last night. (while I made it for today, mom loved it so much that she ate it all last night LOL)

A New Chapter...

Starting over? Nah. Not really. It's more like weeding out the gunk of the last decade and doing a spiritual spring cleaning to live more efficiently and effectively!

In the last few weeks I have become one with my journey. Cliche...maybe. The truth is, until we are able to surrender to the path, we are not capable of seeing our true potential.

When I wrote my first book last month I conquered a challenge that had plagued me for over 8 years. Knowing full well that I was the only one standing in my way, I somehow took pride in the reality that I was simply "too busy" to sit down and complete it. I had started and stopped many times over but after three weeks of bombarding myself with webinars and teleseminars about how easy it really is I stopped making excuses and devoted four straight days to writing my book from start to finish.

Now, the crazy part of this story was when I trashed it. Literally. A rad business mentor of mine always said to me "write your first book for the trash" and so...I did. About a week later I sat down for two days straight and rewrote it! Amazing how things just flow when the mental gook is out of the way!!

The book writing and editing process was an excellent reminder of just how easy things can be when I set my mind to making them happen. Allowing the book to flow through me brought me back to the mindset of joy in taking giant leaps of faith. When I live my life by the seat of my pants, I always happily land on my feet.

This is why, in less than 24 hours, I was able to make a quick decision to move back to the LA area.

So now, after three weeks of crazy packing and driving back and forth between the desert and LA, I have settled for the summer in my old home town to take care of my family and build my business here.

Listening to the universal messages about my need to be here were a struggle for me as I kept trying to put it off until later this year. While I knew I wanted to be back near the ocean, I had no idea my my family would need me this much!!!

My life's journey has been filled with adventure, intrigue and a whole lot of love thus far. This new chapter in my life provides me with a renewed sense of my place in the family, my role as a daughter and best friend to my mom as well as a loving support system to my aging adopted-grandmother, who celebrated her 94th birthday last week. An overall experience that will afford me great opportunities for growth and spiritual expansion. 

Surrendering to this journey has brought me to a very big decision- carnivore or vegan? The reason: my mom's cholesterol, having always been high, was just measured at 398!! As she has always been one for the natural remedy I have committed to be her personal nutrition coach and trainer. Knowing that there are other factors at play here the only solution is to go 100% Vegan in her diet.

Since I haven't done the vegan thing in over 8 years I'm not sure how my body will respond and have no clue how my training will be affected BUT because of her health I am committed to this journey with her for a minimum of three months until she returns to the doctor for her next test. We are doing NO soy and gluten-free as well so I will be challenged to create new works of art in the kitchen :) If all goes well, I will look at continuing this way of life for the rest of my life!

Let's watch what happens!!! Starting tomorrow, I'll be posting my food experiments on my food blog at Body Everlasting Goes Vegan and will keep this blog here to share stories of my new journey and training as a Vegan.

Namaste.

What Will I See When I Die?

I can imagine how jolting this subject line is to many of you. Seriously though, have you ever thought about what you will see in your life when you look back on it? Will you wish that you took better care of your health, spent more time with your loved ones or just honored your spirit more?

We can find many ways to make excuses on a daily basis to not get things done, to not be adventurous and to not be living the life we came here to live. Whatever your excuse, it is just a self-placed barrier to help us live small. Don't you wish you could be living BIG?

So what will it take?
-a shocking diagnosis from a doctor
-an intervention
-a child graduating high school
-a job loss
-a "come to Jesus" talk

In any case, you must find the life inside of you that is ready to be lived! Embrace it and know that you will not stand another day without playing this life with joy and abundance. Be present in the knowing that you are a being who has needs and wants and desires and that you can have the life that you crave if you would only set out to live it with intention and passion!

Get started today by taking one small step in the right direction. Plug into your heart for that one thing that can bring you closer to having a life that you can be proud of. Just one step can lead to a wide open space of the greatest adventure of your life, so why not start today?!

If this struggle is yours, then my new book is right up your alley- It's being released this week and you can pre-order your copy of this step by step Life Capturing book!  Pre-order your copy of my ebook to receive an additional FREE report "5 Simple Strategies to Banish Cellulite for Life" 
 I'M IN! SEND ME MY FREE REPORT AND PRE-ORDER LIFE CAPTURING

A New Challenge is in Order!

So as many of you know, I have competed in dance and figure competitions. I thoroughly enjoy the thrill of the preparation! In Figure we spend about a full year before the show with off and on season training to build our weak spots, doing loads of cardio while dieting to burn body fat and have a mind set that won't quit. In essence, we are warriors...that ship for me has sailed.

Though I truly miss the challenge of that journey I will not miss walking on stage in plastic high heels and tanning beds for weeks leading to the show. With my pasty skin, no amount of Pro-Tan could give me the same color as I needed to step on stage without many trips to the beds! Despite these minor details I do miss the art of competition and the thrill of knowing that I am unstoppable. I mean, being able to wake up daily to know exactly what the focus is and to not lose sight, having full knowledge of each meal prepared for the day without skipping a beat, workouts scheduled first before anything else and the amazing inspiration my journey is to others is an incredible blessing! I have learned a great deal from that and my dancing days, though the spark of competition lies deep in the depths of my soul...

In class last weekend I made a promise to myself to get back into competition but didn't feel that body building was in alignment with my holistic lifestyle anymore so I decided on a new, athletic and performance based challenge: Tough Mudder. As my body is conditioned for body building and not this type of arena I have chosen a Mudder next year in June. This will give me plenty of time to prepare and condition.

In my excitement to find my next challenge, of course, I started prepping immediately!! I searched the website for information on what would be needed to complete the course and what exercises they recommend. Thankfully many of them are ones that I do already on my own or in P90X2 :) Whew! That was a relief. The biggest challenge I face in this process is.......................CARDIO. For those of you who know me or have worked with me in the past, you know I do not do cardio nor do I condone it. My experience with weight loss is that cardio can work against many people and I can get someone to lose weight easily without the standard "hour on the treadmill" so why waste the time? But this course will require me to run through mud and muddy water, climb ropes and over walls, crawl under barbed wire and in tunnels and God knows what else so cardio must become an integral part of my training. Time to suck it up!!

Today was day two of my training regime, I am doing 30 minutes of light cardio five times a week to build up. I know, many of you can probably do an hour and a half without batting and eye, and yes, so can I. The issue here is not about what I can do, it's about working smarter, not harder. If I go balls to the wall now then I run the risk of losing strength, over training and even worse...losing muscle! EEK!! I refuse to let that happen! In working smarter I am doing my usual four days of strength training using dumbbells, resistance bands, P90X2, stability and medicine balls while adding in an extra day or two of a short core workout with TRX and the Bosu Ball. One step at a time.

My mindset has totally gone into warrior mode again and it feels incredible...

If you would like to join me on this journey and be a part of my team in Tough Mudder San Diego June 2013 email me at contact@bodyeverlasting.com

Ever Wish For Thinner Thighs?

I can speak from years of experience with larger than average thighs that pants don't fit right, shorts...forget it and well, clothes shopping just doesn't go the way we want it to.

For many years I danced. Tap, jazz, ballet and lyrical though for all of those years I was obese. It was a sad existence to feel hopeless in having to buy clothes that fit because as my upper body would shrink during the weight loss my thighs never seemed to go down. I've been known as "the white girl with a bootie" for as far back as I can remember.

It's not a bad thing though. I mean think of it this way, I could have been plagued with no hips or bootie at all! Some of you may be suffering from a sunken, flat or saggy butt. The fact is, people are now getting butt implants to give shape to the very thing that others of us have been trying to get rid of for what seems like forever.

Now, did you know that you have the power to change this? The tools to trim and sculpt the legs you really want are not so far from your grasp! Really. Here are a couple of tips to ease your stress and lighten the load on those delicate areas you so lovingly call Thunder Thighs. This is how I did it and it works wonders!

1- DO NOT use any more resistance on the bikes or elliptical machines more than 1. I find so many women struggling to push harder and harder on the cardio with extra resistance in hopes of trimming down their thighs. Keep in mind, you must burn the fat first. With all that resistance you are only building more muscle under the fat. *This applies to the inner/outer thigh machines as well!!!!

2- EAT CLEAN foods while losing weight. When you workout your body takes in the food you eat and shuttles it right to the muscle that you just finished working with. That means, all the chips, cookies and soda will go right into your muscle creating a bulkier effect! EEK!!!

3- SQUATS and LUNGES only work if they are done right and with light weight. Trainers even make the mistake of not paying attention to their clients form while performing these exercises which is very sad. They key to properly balanced formation of leg and glute muscles is to keep your weight in the heels NOT the toes. This way you will not build up ginormous thigh muscles with no bootie.

4- DON'T FORGET TO STRETCH before and after your cardio sessions. When your muscles are stiff and you do cardio form and technique may be affected by the areas that are constricted causing an imbalance in how you use your legs. Your walk, stance, sitting position and even sleep can be affected by this poor conditioning. Stay limber for proper balance and stability.

If you are in need of some serious guidance on a workout that targets the hips, bootie and thighs check out  Brazil Butt Lift in the SHOP section of my site. You will love this intense, sculpting, high energy workout program!!!

Consistency Is KING!

In the war against body fat many rules apply but only one thing rules over all else: consistency! If you are struggling with losing weigh or getting in shape, ask yourself "Am I being consistent in my workouts and my clean eating habits?" then you will know what's holding you back.

At the start of this new year, many folks have committed to workout, lose weight, save money etc. but how many will actually follow through with these resolutions? If you are one of these people then let's look at some things you might need to know in order to achieve success. Starting new habits with ease and enjoyment will start the year off right. Plus staying consistent will bring you continued, measurable results and keep you motivated to keep "Bringing It"!

First, start taking time each day to remind yourself of your WHY. Why are you taking this plan of action? Why are you committed? What is this driving force and how passionate about it are you?

Second, schedule out your week or month in advance. If you make sure that your workouts are in your time schedule then you don't have to stress at the end of the day because you didn't have time to squeeze in a session. It's okay to schedule only 30 minutes a day if that's all you have. Even 10 minutes works...check out 10-Min Trainer with Tony Horton! Anything is possible if you are ready to achieve it.

Third, be patient. Self-compassion is the hardest thing for most human beings because we live in a quick-fix society. Keep in mind, quick results are all great until the real results of our journey show up three months later with an additional 10 pounds attached! This is a journey, not a destination.

Fourth, go over a list of small, reasonable goals for yourself that feel comfortable to you. Setting small, measurable goals will help you consistently achieve results. Seeing results keeps you motivated and so your journey becomes more pleasurable!

Fifth, find an accountability partner or group. Fitness is always more fun in numbers, especially when you are starting a new adventure. Having someone to answer to will keep you committed to your workouts as well as have someone to share and discuss your experiences with.

Sixth, get help! I used to hate seeing women year after year start the new year off by getting a membership only to show up to their orientation with no experience and say "oh, I'm just going to do my own thing..." or "my boyfriend said he's going to train me". Two months later they see no results and POOF, they disappear as fast as they came in. Their excuse for canceling the membership "I tried working out but it didn't work for me" or "I gained weight working out" and with that lack of knowledge they will forever feel negative about taking their health and fitness into their own hands. It's very important that you find a program, trainer or coach that can help you get started. Having the right information from the beginning will help you succeed in the long run!! Check the ego at the door and honor your body for a change.

Be one with your body and honor yourself with the gift of good health :)
*If you need a place to start, check out the programs here: Beachbody
  These are programs you can do at home and include everything from Brazilian Butt Lift to P90X2. No need
  for a gym membership. You can even workout in your pj's!!
  Sign up for a free membership to log your workouts and sign into the message boards for more information!
  Sign up for a paid membership and you will have access to a fully customize-able menu plan complete with
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