Category Archives: staying the course motivation

NON SCALE VICTORIES

Happy Friday. I’m celebrating small nsv’s, that means non-scale victories. It’s week three of my #benderfitness workouts and I’m going strong and getting stronger. I’m working out 5-6 days a week, and I can see improvement in my strength. My push ups are a little bit lower, I’m holding my planks a little bit longer. My lunges are not as scary or as difficult. My flexibility is improving and my joints are no longer aching. A body in motion stays in motion, a body at rest stays at rest. Newton’s law. I’m doing these workouts for either six weeks or 12 weeks, and later I will switch it up.

To me this is the beginning of success, the little improvements and the commitment to put in the hard work day after day, despite the struggles and disappointments of life. As humans we tend to only view success in the grand accomplishments. Money, cars, awards, followers; material gains and huge accolades are often looked upon as more important than the non material and smaller wins. We tend to congratulate someone without knowing the background of the blood, sweat and tears that got them there. It takes hard work to accomplish dreams and goals, but that hard work in the beginning should never be looked upon as insignificant. When someone who’s never exercised in their life finally walks a block, that’s success to me. It’s getting the guts to get up and go, to jump hurdles and leap over anything that gets in your way; and a lot of time we are tripping over our own two feet. Our insecurities hold us back, our perception of what others think holds us back. Don’t do that.

My life right now has issues, but I’m not letting that hold me back, and I understand that’s life for all of us. There is fear, uncertainty and some sadness; but through it all I’m a survivor who loves life and is grateful for another day. So each day, no matter what’s going on I will commit to my small daily goals because that’s how I’m getting to where I’m going. Small goals one day will become big accomplishments. No one is clapping when I hold my plank 1 minute at 1 am in the morning, but I’m giving my commitment to making it happen a standing ovation. That’s all the accolades I need, the satisfaction of showing up and getting it done despite what comes my way. In one year I will look back at this moment with immense pride because I refused to give up.

Do you believe in coming back after failure? Do you believe in second and third chances to get something right after falling on your face multiples times? I find it really inspiring when someone makes a come back after failure after failure. After all failure is just a word we created, and we don’t have to let that word define us. Every brand new day is a chance to try again, and get it right. Let’s get it right, let’s work hard and show ourselves we can and will do it. Let’s define and rewrite our definition of success. Most important point to remember is to remember to make time for others when you are out in the world trying to make a name for yourself. No one is an island. Kindness and giving should always be a given in the sequence of chasing success. We all are here for one another. Let’s chase success together and rise each other up. Everyone who tries deserves thunderous applause. Show up and give yourself a standing ovation. 

Love and light,
 Rose 

 

 

 

 

NOVEMBER ALREADY

Happy November, is it really November already? Today is also World Vegan Day. Let me start out this post by saying going vegan is my most proud thing I’ve done, I’m living my most authentic life. Happy World Vegan.

Are you team Thanksgiving or are you the type to fast track to Christmas? I’m a little of both, we love the whole time from October to January, it’s so festive. The weather here is a little cooler which adds to the ambience.

The Holiday season is not the easiest time to make a weight loss journey a success, but I’m going to get through it working out daily and with weight loss. Yesterday was Halloween, so I enjoyed a little treat within reason. Like I mentioned a few weeks ago when I began blogging on the regular again that I would be balanced in my approach. No more craziness and unhealthy ways to lose. That’s disordered eating and not part of my plan.

I began my day with avocado toast, topped with nuts, cherry tomatoes and Siracha sauce. In the past if I knew I was having a vegan splurge I would have skipped all meals, but not anymore. I know how important nutrition is, so no skipping for this gal.

My splurge was a lettuce and tomato sub, topped with Tofurky, vegan provolone and potato chips. I chose to drink sparkling water and I had a bit of dark chocolate. A lot of people would say that’s not a splurge, but for me it is. I’m eating cleaner whole plant based foods with minimum sodium, and the vegan turkey and cheese is high in sodium which makes it a occasional treat for me. We had a great Halloween and I don’t feel like my Journey has been derailed. I’m in this for the long haul.

My next splurge will be Thanksgiving. Tonight I work late and after work I will do my #benderfitness workout. The late night workouts are really working out for my schedule. I didn’t meal plan enough which makes my weekend a challenge but I will get through it. I realized I really love the convenience of vegan protein bars with my coffee. I’m a complete zombie when I awaken. Maybe I should make protein balls to have with my coffee. Well I’m off for the day, coffee is calling and I’m going to have quiet time before work with some kitty cuddles. Perhaps a sneak peak at the Hallmark Channel. 

Happy November, let’s crush some goals during this holiday season, and do it with gratitude.
Love and light, Rose

 

 

 

WEIGH IN WEIGHT GAIN

I was reading Mantra Wellness Magazine, (photo from the pages of the magazine). I opened the magazine and this was the first page. It totally spoke to me. I messed up, again. I gained 3 of the 13 lbs I lost. Here I am, facing the music and starting over.

Weight loss is a series of ups and downs. You begin all gun go until a holiday or other food related event comes along. All of a sudden you stop tracking and you promise yourself just one bad day. Then there’s leftovers, so one cheat day becomes two. Soon you have lost your momentum. I’ve been there when I was successful in my weight loss the first time around, and I’m there now at the beginning of my second weight loss journey. The key is to catch it, to own your slip up and get back on that weight loss wagon. Get on the scale, face it and get moving. I gained three pounds. My weight is currently 174 lbs. I’m still down ten, and I’m catching this now before I gain the whole ten back. I’m making like a GPS,  I’m yelling recalculating. Here’s how I’m going to get back at it and stop the gain cycle and continue on my wellness/weight loss/fitness journey part two.

The first thing is to access the damage, weigh yourself. You need to know where you are.It’s easy to be in denial. Better to cry over a few pounds now. I weighed myself and tracked my weight. 

My next step is to track all my food, and as a ww member I’m going to try to be in blue dots. That means stay within my healthy range of points, period. I noticed my weight went up when I didn’t track.  When I did track I went over my points. My day begins with 24 oz of water with lemon, and a banana and an apple or whatever fruit I have. I let my body digest it before my daily one cup of coffee. Then my breakfast. Lately I’m eating a garden of life plant based protein bar with my coffee. Hey, I’m on the run and it’s only 5 pts. I’m going to make oat and peanut butter protein balls too. If you are vegan I would love to know some fast and healthy breakfasts that are your favorites. 

Being accountable here helps, so I plan to try to blog daily and try to get better sleep. I have two Siamese cats, and the minute our heads touch the pillow they decide it’s time to party. We have to get better sleep, that’s number one. 

Move daily. Non negotiable. That’s my only fitness rule right now. I’ve been spotty with my fitness so I’m making this one goal to start. Move my body vigorously for 45 minutes to 1 hour daily. I will be more specific later, but that’s my rule. It could be running, walking fast, Melissa Bender Fitness workouts etc. I just have to move it for 45 minutes to 1 hour. I started this on Labor Day. Plus I’m going to also add sun salutations, stretching and legs up a wall pose for circulation. 

Eat clean 80/20. The majority of my vegan diet must be Whole Foods plant based with processed vegan food only occasionally. Tracking every bite. I stopped this and I gained three pounds. It’s ok, I’m painfully human. I may try to not eat past 8 pm, but this may be difficult with my work schedule. I’m going to try. Time to revisit vegan meal prepping. 

So this is my restart of my restart. We are still planning to go to Henry’s Home and Horse Sanctuary soon, definitely this month. Ive been asked by my husband James to go when he can go. I do plan to visit and volunteer regularly after our first visit. There’s a lot going on in our life but this is something I can’t wait to do. I’m also helping a friend with a bake sale for her dog that needs surgery. I will post more about that later. I’m baking vegan goodies!! I believe we are here to be of service to others. Sometimes stress gets in the way, I’m working on ways to destress naturally.

I’m off to get my daily exercise in. I want you to know the road to goal does have potholes, and an occasional thunderstorm or two that can throw you off track. The sun will shine again, just begin traveling your path as many times as need be. The destination will always be there. Love and Light. Rose

 

WEIGH IN MONDAY

Happy St Patty’s Day. I hope everyone is having a wonderful Monday. This weekend I splurged a little on a veggie burger, tater tots, and Nada Moo Chocolate Chip Mint. My hubby made me a splurge meal, and the vegan ice cream was my version of a vegan shamrock shake. 

i rarely eat salt, and I try to not eat vegan processed foods on a regular basis. I weighed in this morning up a pound. I understand it’s water weight and I’m ok with it. I don’t plan to eat salty foods on a regular basis. I’m trying to eat mostly Whole Foods, plant based most of my days. I’m also trying to find balance with food. My aim is good nutrition, but I don’t want to become obsessive. I want my focus to be on fitness and health. I also occasionally think it’s ok to live a little. 

This week my plan is to focus on Whole Foods, with just one treat. My treat will be a small pastry or item from a new vegan bakery I’m hoping to try. I will let you know if I do. A vegan bakery and cafe opening up where I live in The Woodlands TX is a rare occurrence. I’m so excited to go there. 

I plan to eat to my standards, my vegan stance is a personal moral decision. There is no cheating, it’s a lifestyle not a diet. My weight loss/health Whole Foods plant based journey is a process, one where I may splurge from time to time. There’s a difference with the two, but I’m trying to balance it all. After all I’m human. 

Weigh in today up 1lb 183

Short term goal is 159 ( my weight before I moved from Los Angeles to Texas in May 2017) 

Next stop beginning my fitness journey all over again. Stay tuned. 

Love and light and Irish Blessings 

Rose 

 

 

 

 

 

MEXICAN LASAGNA

Today was a long day and not my most positive of days. A lot of issues seemed to weigh down on me, more than my weight issues. I refuse to deviate from my goals though, My emotions will no longer be a reason for me to go off my food plan or to have a binge.  I’m trying to keep going, but I definitely was not my jovial self today. I know I won’t always be perfect but I just started and I plan to stay the course. I’m posting from my phone because I’m having computer issues. It’s ok, I got this. Weigh in day is soon approaching.

 

Yesterday I made a fifteen bean soup, it’s Mexican inspired. I decided to make it into a Mexican Bake inspired by a recipe of Mexican Lasagna I found on a YouTube Channel called Jeanne Schumacher -Plant Power. I recently discovered her Channel and I love it.  I used my bean soup in place of the mashed beans and used mild salsa and green salsa. Here’s the link to her recipe on her YouTube Channel. She offers so much practical advice for transitioning to a Whole Foods Plant Based lifestyle. I hope you enjoy. 

 

OVERCOMING CHALLENGES

Happy Sunday to all. Today is day three of my brand new journey, and of course there are challenges coming my way already. My computer is down, so I’m posting from my phone. I also live in Texas, and Texas has bugs, especially in the hot humid summer. If you know me I have a severe bug phobia. They spray regularly here in our apartment but these bugs that they say come from the trees get in. Most die immediately, but for me it gives me such anxiety to awaken to an insect graveyard. I’m trying to overcome my insect anxiety but it’s truly not easy. 

It’s ok, breathe in and breathe out. These are challenges not tragedies. I refuse to get frustrated and give up now or ever. I am all in on this brand new life journeyI will no longer make excuses or begin tomorrow on a better day. Today is the day, the time is now.

Daily challenges in life are like tiny grenades popping up in your path, for me the grenades are in the form of dead bugs. The trick is to jump over them, don’t step on them or look back. Keep going on your journey. You will be happy that you did not give up. Life is a literal obstacle course, keep moving forward. Working through challenges and anxieties is never easy but you will be happier when you don’t let the challenges and anxieties in your life take over. 

My plan for today’s post was to share a lot of the resources I’m using going forward in health and fitness. I will do that in a future post, I can use my Hubby’s computer. In the meantime I’m here and doing my best to navigate posting from my phone. 

As I post on the third day of my brand new journey I hear of another mass shooting in Jacksonville Florida.  News that puts my minuscule challenges and anxieties into perspective. Here I am anxious about stepping over one or two dead insects, at the same moment innocent people are dodging bullets and hiding until it’s safe to come out. Humbling for sure.

So today I send love and light into the world. We collectively are in constant healing mode. As I begin healing my mind/body and soul; my biggest wish is we can all heal together and one day live in harmony, safety and peace.

Love and light, 

Rose Bruno Bailey

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HEALTHY VEGAN

“Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right.” ~Henry Ford

Starting over, how often do we do this again and again? I hit my lowest weight on this blog over a year ago, and then life took over my will power and drive. I have spent the last six months visualizing what I want going forward, but not yet grasping what I did before that gave me weight loss success. In essence I talked about starting over, but I let life still rule my will. Now it’s time I talk the talk again, and walk the walk. It’s never easy, life does keep throwing us curve balls; but it’s time I start playing dodge ball and dodging those damn obstacles to make it happen despite the challenges. Today I weighed in at a whopping 192.8, but I own that because I believe I can achieve my goals the second time around. That quote is my hubby’s favorite, and now mine too. I think I can.

If you follow my blog you know I have chosen a vegan lifestyle, This is for the animals, and the environment. Is it a journey finding how to lose weight again since I gained my weight back? Yes, it’s a brand new journey but I am a work in progress. I am living my most authentic self, staying true to my convictions.

This new journey has a learning curve but I am up for the challenge. In the beginning I ate a lot of vegan convenience foods. I love these alternatives and I will have them occasionally, but going forward I am planning a whole foods and plant based diet. Still vegan for the animals, but cleaner eating for me. It’s a win win. I can have those vegan alternatives occasionally as a treat, but my day to day diet will be clean. I lost all my weight eating clean, but this time I am vegan. I am relearning everything I did the first time around but with a compassionate twist. Today is day one, and I will be sharing everything I learn on this brand new journey. 

So I am back, back to daily blogging, back to being me one day at a time. We just flew in from Delaware and today we are grocery shopping and working out, and spending time with our Siamese cats. Today is a brand new day, and I am grateful to be alive to have the opportunity to start over. There are obstacles and challenges as always, but every time a curve balls comes my way, I will duck and keep going because I think I can. 

Love and light,

Rose

 

WEIGHT LOSS AFTER LOSS

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Losing a loved one knocks you down,and then you get back up and the memories knock you over again. It is a never-ending cycle, this grief stuff. I guess I just need to navigate my way around the emotional grenades and go on, and we must go on. 

Losing weight after losing a loved one, this is what is on my mind at the moment. Nothing knocked me down, nothing until I lost my Mother. I made it to my lowest weight on this journey, 159 lbs and I did it through a move from LA to San Francisco, my husband’s job loss and a move back to LA. I kept going through all of those life changes, and life did not break me and I never gained a pound. I kept losing and I am proud to say I did it, until the last month.

Now life after losing my Mother left me with a few pounds of extra weight. I admit I fell of the wagon. That’s the thing about wagons, they keep going, you just have to catch up and jump back on. I am committing to my healthy lifestyle and workouts and goals, it is not easy now. Our new kitchen is barely set up but I can do this. It starts today, I know how to do this and I know how to get to where I am going. I am back on the wagon and on the road to all of my goals. I will lose the 10 lbs I gained and get to my goals.

I am about to run to the grocery store, my hubby James is working and we need something healthy to eat. I am going to wear my runners belt and run there even with this heat and humidity. I plan on making a schedule soon, and tomorrow I have an interview to work in a local restaurant for some extra cash for my goals and our new life. I will post my workout/running/yoga schedule once I begin my job and new routine. No more slacking off. 

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I would love to know how you kept working towards your goals through a life crisis. What tips do you follow to keep at it? We are all here to inspire each other.

So much love and Light

Rose

WEIGH IN DAY

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Good Morning to all, and what a beautiful Monday it is here in West Hollywood. I am off today and tomorrow, wrapping up my days of cat sitting two beautiful Lilac Siamese. Noodles and Peaches are my other Siamese loves, and my cats have been missing me so it will be time to go home. 

It is weigh in day and I am so happy I stayed the same at 159 lbs, I skipped the last few weeks. My scale broke, and I got frustrated with things. I am still 24 lbs to goal, and with everything going on in my life I admit to having just a few cheat days. Friday night I ate a huge tuna sub from subway, and I definitely felt ill the day after. It made me realize that my eating plan is not just about weight and appearance. It is about how I feel, my health and well-being. I had heartburn for the first time in a very long time, and I didn’t even recognize the symptoms. If you can see from the graph above I have plateaued again since February, but that is ok, No  weight gains is great for me.

I decided on Sunday to get back on track, still counting my points but going back to an anti-inflammation diet and every Monday I can deviate just a little. That way I am eating not to lose weight only, but to continue to feel good and energetic. Mondays will be the only day I consume things like flour. I believe in this type of program but I also know it is good to allow treats and deviations, just not all the time.

Here is a link to a good list of food for this type of eating from Melissa Bender Fitness.  http://www.benderfitness.com/2017/01/anti-inflammatory-diet-grocery-list.html

Today I am reveling in the fact the scale stayed the same. I feel good, and I will not be deviating this day because I am getting back on track. Next Monday will be my semi cheat day. Today it is all non processed foods with lots of produce.

My knee is healing and I feel my shoulder is too, so soon I will hit the pavement running again and start my work out schedule. I decided to rest so I would not be down for the count for longer than need be. I listened to my body even though I wanted to ignore it, and I am feeling so much better now. I have weaned myself off any pain pills for my knee too, I do not need them anymore and they made me feel awful. The last few weeks I have been walking but that is it. It is hard to slow down but I am healing.

That is all for today. I am going to go down to the pool and take a dip, or if it is too cold go in the jacuzzi.  I am celebrating that the scale stayed the same, it will be much easier now to get back on track.

It’s a lifestyle not a diet. Love and Light to all.

Rose

 

WEIGH IN MONDAY

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Happy Monday to all. Today is Weigh in Monday and I decided to skip my weigh in, and weight til next Monday. Notice the spelling of wait? I need to step away from the scale, scale back from the stress of the numbers. I had a really rough week, and there are some extra stresses at the moment in my life, and I am no stranger to chaos, stress and change. How I will handle these changes will be determined in the weeks to come, but today I am breathing and just taking one moment at a time. That is all you can do anyway.

Last week I went to the ER, fell and injured my knee days later, and had a personal crisis put upon my plate. I did not track my food, I really just lost interest in logging, but I caught myself and today I begin anew, and next week I will jump back on the scale with renewed vigor no matter what the outcome is. One of the keys to losing weight is staying consistent even when life throws you lemons. Take those lemons, make lemon bars and share with others. Kindness to others always makes you feel better when you are down.

I also had a lot of positives happen this week too. I got my hair done and I am so happy with it.

My next story I pitched for Mt Lebanon Magazine was accepted. Here is the link to the first essay they published about me and Melissa from Melissa Bender Fitness. (http://lebomag.com/a-newfound-friendship/) I sent off more submissions to other magazines and websites in regards to my writing, my poetry, and my weight loss story. My book Camellia in Snow, here is the link,  (https://www.amazon.com/Camellia-Snow-Rose-Bruno-Bailey/dp/1515347141/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8 )  will be at Books Soup and Vroman’s in May.

Every day is an opportunity for success, even if the success is just a tiny glimpse of success that is to come. Keep dreaming no matter what is going on around you.

Now I wait and look for more places to write for and to submit. If I fall and tumble, I will pick myself off, dust my ego and keep moving forward no matter how slow. When I am down I will write, and when I am up I will run. No matter what life throws at me, I will channel it into something positive. I don’t know where I am going, but I know I am a go getter.

Namaste’ 

Love and Light

Rose