Tag Archives: fitness

SUMMER SOLSTICE NEW BEGINNING

June 21st 2021

Monday.

Good Morning to all. Happy New Beginnings. It’s the week of the Summer Solstice, and to me it’s the perfect time to start over. Yes, I have been starting over for four years now, usually with zero success. I’ve been a literal yo yo, up and down, lose ten gain five. After the pandemic and a lot of soul searching and feeling like €&@%, I decided to have another go at it.

I have a lot of plans and goals, but I’m starting with the basics first, fitness, fun, and food. I now have a personal trainer I’m working with named Kristi, Tuesday’s post will be all about her. I’m also looking to my bestie and fitness expert Melissa Bender Fitness. I’m using the lose it app and cleaning up my act. I’m plan to work on new routines, planning and living life to the fullest. I want to love the skin I’m in again. It all begins with a commitment to health. My plans will include ballroom dancing, yoga and meditation.

This post today is a short one, just to announce I’m back, and I’m counting down from the summer solstice to my winter solstice Birthday. I love time challenges, they really motivate me.

My starting weight is 186 lbs. I plan to take a fat measurement test and do measurements. To mark my starting point.

This time I will get it right. My favorite quote as if late is actually from my husband James, “Don’t think, just do.”

Happy Happy New Beginnings.

Love and Light,
Rose

 

 

 

 

Starting over Fitness after injury

Happy Wednesday to all. Yesterday I got moving for the first time since my injury, and even though I don’t know the extent of the damage, I’ve continued to go to work on it. I had an X-ray ( no breaks or fractures) and an ultrasound. I did not have an mri and I may need one at some point. My knee is still swollen but I’m starting to be more mobile. So I decided to begin cardio again.

Yesterday I was able to walk 1.5 miles. I wanted to start slowly. Today I plan on doing the same and listening to my body, letting pain be my guide. My gait feels a little heavy but I’m out there moving my body, and that’s what matters. Baby steps and healing thoughts. I’m manifesting fitness, health and healing. Today I plan on matching my 1.5 miles, plus starting to stretch again.

It’s incredibly humbling to get hurt and not be in the same fitness league you once were, than you remember that you are able to walk. Everyone has their own journey and their own timetable. Don’t ever compare your journey to someone else. We can cheer on as we chase after our dreams. I know I’m cheering all of you on. Nothing but love and light.
With Gratitude,

Rose

 

WEDNESDAY WISDOM

Happy Wednesday to all. I am here to say I have not missed a workout since I started brand new last week, and my food is on point. Last night my hubby James and I went to a movie and when we got home he decided he was taking a rest day. It was tempting to blow off one workout, but I declined and followed through with my commitment. That’s the theme of this new journey, following through with commitments.

I took before photos last week and I’m thinking about when I should take my next round of photos to chart progress. I’m thinking three months. That would be the end of January. What do you think? Do you feel three months can show progress?

Tomorrow is Halloween and I’m having a vegan cheat meal, a Tofurky sub and some potato chips. It’s my first cheat meal in two weeks, but I’m not going to call it a cheat meal any longer; it’s a splurge. I’m using my extra WW points so I’m not going off track, it’s just not completely clean vegan and that’s ok with me. I’m going to enjoy my vegan sub and chips, and have a little dark chocolate too.

I’m living life happy as I lose weight and get fit. It’s all about achieving a healthy mind, body and spirit. To get that you need balance. I will post a photo of my sub on Halloween. I’m eating fun foods and spending the day with my hubby, but I’m not skipping my Thursday workout. Back to the importance of commitments and building a solid routine, keeping that momentum going strong.

Do you love Halloween? We love the time between September and January, it really is festive. We hung orange lights and everything at home is illuminated. Yesterday our building had trick or treaters, it was so cute to leave out candy and see the smiles on the kiddies faces!!  No matter what you are going through, making others smile is definitely healing.

Off to work for the day, my food is packed for tonight I’m doing my Wednesday #benderfitness workout after I get home. No more excuses. Please give me your thoughts about the next time I should take full body photos to chart my progress. Have a wonderful Halloween Eve.
With Gratitude, Rose

44 Day Challenge

Did you know it’s 44 days until Halloween arrives? This really begins the Autumn/Holiday season for many. My hubby James and I always have our little tradition. We eat burgers ( now vegan)  and carve pumpkins and drink cider, all watching scary movies. It’s a tradition we honored since our Pittsburgh days. This year we will not let that tradition slide by.

Today I’m starting a 44 day challenge. I’m going to try to show up here daily and share what I’m doing. I’m going to take it Day by day because I may change things up, but my plan is to focus on nutrition, fitness and goals. To show up daily despite my work schedule. I’ve lost 23 lbs but in my opinion I’ve been not working as hard as I can. I watched a video with Tao-Porchon Lynch and she really inspired me. So today begins my challenge. It’s 44 days until Halloween. Let’s do this!! 

No cheat days until Halloween. No pasta. Only whole grain foods in moderation. A little dark chocolate is ok. I’m really going to try to not eat my goodies at our bake sale, just the vegan healthy cookies but in moderation. No refined junk of any kind. I’m going to eat clean vegan. 

Daily Yoga Sun Salutations, and some other workouts. I’m using Melissa Bender Fitness, and my cardio will be walking, running etc. I plan to move 60 minutes a day plus ten sun salutations daily. Legs up a wall before bed. I don’t care if my workout before or after work, if I have time to sit and watch tv I have time to without. 1 hour plus ten sun salutations. Like that Pizza Guy on YouTube says, that’s the rules. Everybody knows the rules, everybody being me. 

The other things I will be adding will be addressed in future posts. What I’m reading, writing, who I’m watching for inspiration. Fun classes I may take, plus tools for self development. Products I use to help me heal and make me feel well again. I’m not sick but my body can be my temple again. Lots of personal goals I’m going to tackle. No procrastination. Today is the day. As I type this we found out an old friend in Pittsburgh PA lost his battle with Lung Cancer. He was only 38. Life is short. Do what you dream of doing today. RIP Chris Pierce. Thank you for your kindness.

RIP Chris

 

WEIGHT LOSS THROUGH STRESS

Happy Friday to all. I’m doing a lot of soul searching and thinking this week. If you know me, I’m a firm believer of the law of attraction. This week seemed to spiral in the negative direction. Once we started to focus on something that happened early in the week everything just seemed to go downward. It’s like they say, if you wake up and stub your toe and believe it will be a bad day it will. You are what you believe. I’m trying to change that. Fall nine times, get up ten. 

Time to make like a GPS and yell recalculating as loud as I can. One thing that has been positive is I’ve stayed true to my word to blog and to stick to my weight loss and health regimen. I lost 5 lbs my first week and I’m very dedicated. I’m working out again. I’m taking my frustrations out on the treadmill.No matter what happens I’m not giving up. Goal or bust. 

We can’t change the outcome of certain circumstances but we can change our thought process. We even may find some clarity to take necessary risks with our future. Sometimes you have to just jump and see where you land.

Breathe in, breathe out 

love and light

Namaste’

Rose 

 

WEIGH IN AND WILLPOWER

“Take a lesson from the trees, watch the way they bend with each breeze, little victories.”

— Bob Seger

Good Afternoon.That quote totally resonates with me.  I lost 2 lbs, today I weighed in at 188 lbs, There has been much frustration on my end, struggling with my willpower that seems to wane in the evenings. I am almost there, but I need to tweak some issues with willpower. I am happy about the loss but I have to correct my inconsistencies. I started over weighing in a week ago at 190 lbs. I just need to work harder, period.

I am eating a plant-based diet and trying to have mostly raw foods when possible. There are moments when my husband James asks me to make him vegan comfort foods, and it can be hard to resist vegan Bolognese and vegan tacos when I am trying to eat as clean as possible. Those foods aren’t terrible, and they are definitely better than the meat alternatives; but for someone like me who is really having a hard time losing weight they are too high in starchy carbs and sodium. They are also the kind of foods we all tend to overeat.

I have been charting my calories on the LoseItapp and even with these little vegan cheats my calories never go over 1,600. I try to stay under 1,300. I don’t believe in full on cheat days, but working some foods into your calories without overeating. I can still do better and I will.

Today is a new day and a new week, I need to practice more mindful eating.  I am tweaking some things to see what works. When I started this blog 5 years ago I was not living a plant-based lifestyle, and I ate low carb and high protein. So this is trial in error for me. I am learning what works for my body, and doing tons of research. I will start posting what I am eating when I get on a roll and find out exactly what is working for me. This really is a brand new journey in more ways than one. Celebrate small victories and work a little harder each and every day.

Love and Light

Rose

HOUSTON FOOD BANK DRIVE

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” 

— Mahatma Gandhi

Happy Saturday. I love that quote. I am finding myself again, getting fit and losing weight as I give back to those who need it. I am collecting cans for the Houston Food Bank as my next ten pound charity. I will be volunteering and delivering the cans on September 15th 2018. I already have over a box of can goods. 

Losing weight is not super easy for me, and I found out I have hypothyroidism. That is the reason I chose September as my volunteer date. I am travelling and I need some time to collect as many cans while I am home and time to actually get the weight off. I will post later what I am doing to lose weight and get fit. This is not my first rodeo so I got this. The only difference this time is I live a plant-based lifestyle, and I am mostly vegan. I say mostly vegan because it is a learning process for me. 

My birthday is in less than six months, and I plan to be the person I wish to be on that date. Healthier, fitter, happier, and using my time to help those who need it most. I am not doing this for appearance sake. It is so easy to get wrapped up in images in today’s world. Images we see of others and images of ourselves. I am a mere soul inhabiting a body which is my shell. I will treat my shell as a temple and not trash it, but I understand the image my shell portrays to the world is not the essence of me. I understand I must take care of my body to be able to express my love and giving to others. My essence is my soul but I cannot share that if I live in a body which is unhealthy and unfit. 

People have suggested I start a Youtube Channel to document my journey. I am marinating on that idea and looking into ways to do it until I would be able to get proper equipment. I am open to suggestions.

Happy Saturday

Rose

 

Happy Saturday to all. 

 

INSPIRATION

Starting over is never easy, especially after you lost most of your weight and you believed weight gain could not happen to you. 

Gaining weight, it did happen to me. I lost 60 and kept it off until June and in six months I have gained 30 back. The hardest part is admitting it. Now that I have faced it I’m ready to work hard again.

How am I going to do it the second time around? The first thing I did was contact a local food bank. When I commit to doing good for someone who needs it everything falls into perspective for me. Collecting food for the food bank is my first ten pound charity.

Do I still have problems and challenges? Of course, my cat Rascal is still sick and we are doing everything we can to heal him. It’s a lot of work but that’s what you do when you love. Does this mean I can neglect my health? Not any longer, no more excuses.

I did some grocery shopping so I can be ready to face my diet days. My friend Bill gave me his recipe for a post workout protein shake. It’s coconut water, a dab of chocolate syrup for flavor and powdered pea protein from Trader Joe’s. I’m going to add banana and spinach to my daily smoothies. Besides my running, workout schedule, writing I also plan to read some inspirational literature. I have owned The Alchemist for some time but I have never read it, so it’s my first book to read for week one.

Posting from my phone is new territory for me, but I believe it will help me stay accountable. Today is day two and even though we are in the midst of the Holidays I believe I got this even if it’s my second time around. Willpower don’t fail me now.

Have you lost a lot of weight and gained some or all of it back? Was it due to a life crisis? I would love to hear from you and hear your story. 

In times of change and transition I take solace in the fact that weight gain is only permanent if I believe it is permanent. It is up to me.

Love and Light

Let’s Do This 

Namaste’ 

Rose

 

 

 

 

 

 

STARTING DAY ONE

 

Starting over feels impossible, but it is just as easy as it ever was. It is all in the mindset.

Hello to all. I have not blogged in what seems like forever. I call it my hiatus. It took me some time to get back here. I am a little humbled after taking the whole summer to just rest and write but now it is time to get back to my weight loss and fitness goals. I am starting day one today. I have been busy with my writing goals and a little healing.

Below is a link to my essay series I wrote for WEHOville.com and an essay about my early days in Pittsburgh PA for Mt Lebanon Magazine.  I am also in Cleveland Magazines November issue, and I was published in Asana Journal yoga magazine. I now plan to juggle my writing goals with this blog and make it to my goal weight by the summer solstice in 2018.

https://lebomag.com/ladies-who-lunch/

http://www.wehoville.com/author/rbrunobailey/

I have gained a few pounds, but I am putting that behind me as I jump back into my weight loss program. I know what to do and now it is time to do what I do best. My health and well-being depends on it. You can choose to be happy and healthy with proper nutrition and exercise.

How am I starting over? I am starting a new beginning, and I will talk about my diet and fitness in future posts. I am starting over with a new charity. As you know I had weight loss and fitness success helping a charity with each ten pounds, and I helped numerous charities and lost 60 lbs. Well after my Mom’s passing and my move to Houston I fell of the wagon, got a little bruised and now I am jumping back on. I may be a little more clumsy in my jump than I was a few months ago, but that is ok. I will get there again.

I am starting with clean eating and exercise. Each day, beginning today I get through my day with the proper diet and water, and an hour exercise I will go to the store and buy two canned goods to be put aside. Each day I will do this, and by the end of each week I will have collected 14 cans to be donated when I lose my first ten pounds since stepping away from my weight loss blog. I plan to volunteer and deliver them to a local food bank, and my husband James is planning on joining me. I already have my cans for today, my new day one. I am getting back to basics.

It is a win win. I commit to getting healthy and working on my health, fitness and weight loss goals and I help a local food bank with my own personal food drive. I have said this before, and now I understand exactly what I meant. Feeling good and feeling healthy is far better than cheat days and splurges. I had one too many splurges this summer and I have not felt well. Health and well-being are more important to me than comfort food.

I am keeping day one short and sweet. I have some shopping to do and cardio and day one workout. I also am contacting food banks and I will announce where I am volunteering for my first ten pound weight loss in a future post.

OG original weight 220

WLW weight loss weight 159

CW current weight 179 (after my 20 lb weight gain) 

GW goal weight 135

Let’s do this, fall nine times and get up ten.

Time to get back to the grind.

Namaste’

Rose

 

 

GONE VEGAN

 

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”


Hippocretes 

It is funny how the life journey goes, you go along with your life and all of a sudden you evolve and become your authentic self. This blog, weight loss and helping charities has helped me along my journey but something was missing for the whole time. I knew what it was, but I did not have the strength to make the change even though I knew what was in my heart and soul.

My husband and I watched a few documentaries this week. We watched the What the Health film, Forks over Knives and Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.  We both looked at each other and said that’s it, let’s make the change today. So here I am, it has been four days and I am all in and totally inspired. There are a few things I would like to share as I go forward with my new journey.

Making such a change sometimes means losing what you grew up on. My Mother passed away recently and a few of my recipes on this blog are her meat based meals. The last post was her Chicken Vesuvio, so in some ways I am losing her again. I am letting go of the traditions I grew up with in exchange for my own personal convictions. I plan to deal with this by  veganizing her recipes, I will reinvent her dishes like I am reinventing myself. She is always with me, and her traditions were based on sharing love with all who walked into her life. I will share that mission.

I am living this lifestyle, so the recipes and food I share will be that of my new way of living. With that said, I do not wish to be preachy and pushy. If you get inspiration from me that is wonderful but always first be your true authentic self. You do you, I will do me and together we are connected.

I plan to eat mostly pure whole foods, healthy out of these food groups; Vegetables, Fruits, Nuts, Grains, seeds and legumes, with little healthy oils. Every now and then I may have an occasional vegan cheat day with processed vegan food. Did you know Oreos are vegan? Even the healthiest of the healthy humans enjoys a little moderation now and then. 

Weight loss is still a huge part of my journey as I am still 30 lbs from goal. I plan to step up my charity game and focus more on my health and fitness than my appearance. I believe eating a lot of fruits and vegetables are healing from the inside out. I plan to share all of the new recipes I am coming up with, and I realized I love plant based cooking, you can really be creative and play with recipes.

am going to start a fitness challenge soon, more to come on that. 

I am a work in progress, my whole world has been turned upside down and right side over but I am figuring it all out here in my new home in Houston.

Much love and Light,

Rose