Grocery Haul, and a very bad Siamese cat who assumes it is all for him and jumped on my table when I turned my back.
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| Food for the weekdays. |
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| Mostly meat free |
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| I eat tons of produce. |
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| Just a sampling of what I purchased |
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| Vegan burger with vegetables. Grilled eggplant, tomatoes, onions, kale and oil and vinegar and a bit of feta. |
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| I heart eggplant. |
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| I heart my Siamese Rascal even when he is not where he is allowed, on my table when I look away. |
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| Weekday meals will be a breeze |
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| Spanky and Rascal, this is what I wake up to. Precious kitties are finally sleeping together. |
Good Morning to all, and Happy Tuesday. I am up and raring to go, even though my adorable Siamese kitties hate when we leave. I am so happy to see them sleeping together for the first time since we adopted Spanky last April. This made me so happy, it is the little things. Well, that and morning coffee. On that note I have decided to only have one cup a day, I am watching my caffeine from here on out.
This week I am focusing on my fitness even more, and less on the scale. I am still weighing in every Saturday and I am not doing anything different except not stressing about the scale. I am stepping up all of my workouts, focusing on becoming stronger and improving in my movements, exercises, flexibility and lastly but not least health. I am a Sagitarrius, the centaur and my bow and arrow is focused directly on my prize. What I want, I set my sights to.
I did my cardio exercise yesterday, I walked outside because the Santa Ana Winds created this amazing warm breeze and I had to be a part of it. Nothing like working out with a warm wind wafting through my hair. I believe exercise in the outdoors feeds all of your senses. I love the gym and classes too, but there is a unique feeling you get while exercising outside, an alive feeling as you improve your fitness and practice mobile meditation being one with nature.
I did my 25 burpees. Today is the second day of my 25 burpee a day challenge. It was not an easy feat to do those yesterday, and I admit my form needs work but I am practicing. Everything of value is worth the work. Tonight I am working out with my trainer Mike at the park, and I will do my 25 burpees when I get home after my workouts. I am also focusing on my yoga and flexibility, and getting my quads to open up.
Off for the day, the kitties would like me to play hookie and I wish I could, they are the best distraction. Happy Tuesday and remember to focus and never give up.
Love and Light, Namaste’
Rose
Good Morning and Happy Tuesday to all. I weighed in and I stayed the same. Still at 188 pounds. No worries, I know I have this and next week I will hit my ten pound milestone. Once I do it will be three weeks later when I join the Monday Night Mission to feed the homeless in skid row here in LA. I did everything this week right so I’m not concerned I stayed the same. I look smaller and I only have time to make my goals a reality.
Tonight is my workout with Mike my trainer and friend. Every week it is a little different, he mixes it up and I really get so much from the workouts. I’m very grateful to him for his time and expertise. I think we may be video taping beginning burpees for Melissa Bender Fitness.
This post is short and sweet. The cat chewed the charger to the laptop so I’m forced to post from a Mobile for now. It will be a few days until I’m back online with a computer but I’m making it happen any way I can.
Wishing you a beautiful day.
Namaste’ love and light
Rose
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| Rascal |
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| Spanky |
These innocent little beauties have taken hostage of my nights. Rascal every night around three am wakes me up unplugging the air conditioner and now he has moved on to the alarm clock. Spanky likes to chew on my hair or bite my toes when I am sleeping. A few days of this and I feel so groggy and incoherent, that coffee is not just something I love to drink for the taste but a necessity. My husband is not a morning person, and he wakes up tired always. I on the other hand, If I do not get enough sleep I usually still wake up on the right side of the bed. The fact I am not so cheery this morning means it is finally catching up to me. With all the exercise I have been doing, the cats interrupting my sleep is making me feel completely fatigued. Plus I did not feel well yesterday, and it took all of my energy not to let it show to anyone I interacted with. I hope I was not rude to anyone, I doubt it I am never rude but if I was I apologize. I never get outwardly crabby but I can sometimes get quiet and of course people are usually shocked when that happens. It usually means I do not feel well, or I am in a very reflective mood. I will not elaborate why I did not feel well, but let’s just say I hope I do not gain any weight on Tuesday. 🙂
Of course on days like that, all I want to do is be with my friends and family back east. My wonderful friend Larry was one of those people. I would call and he would be there, we both lived in Astoria and worked in Manhattan. I met him in Pittsburgh in 1999 and he moved to Los Angeles. I moved to Connecticut. He moved to Boston, and then NYC and finally I moved to NYC too. He one of the most fun people I have ever met and he still has a way to make me laugh even across the miles. There are so many people I miss, but I a blessed to have wonderful friends here in California too. If I never would have moved here, I never would have met anyone of them, so I have no regrets and I love Los Angeles as much as NYC just for different reasons.
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| Larry and Rose December 21st 2009 in Manhattan |
I took my rest day Thursday since I was not my usual 100% and since Richard Simmons is traveling and out of town. I am so bummed out about this, I have grown accustomed to his high energy inspiration. It will be a couple weeks before he returns, so that means more treadmill and yoga and maybe a Zumba class to throw in for good measure. I will not slow down at all, one rest day is all I need. Today I am back in full force after work even though I still do not feel completely well. Nothing that time and a little extra weekend sleep cannot cure.
Wishing everyone a big Thank God It Is Friday. Much love and light to all.
Namaste’
Rose
Yoga was fantastic, as is Nicole my teacher. We did a lot of emphasis on hips and quad stretches. We were working on pigeon pose, and she taught us how to take our mat to the wall and do the pose up against the wall. It is a fabulous albeit hard stretch to do, but I can see how this is going to improve pigeon pose and our quad flexibility. I am so happy that my old flexibility is returning. I guess it is true that you have muscle memory. My Change For A Ten is working for me because of all the time I am putting in working out and doing yoga etc. I believe I would not feel this fabulous if I did not work out. It takes the balance of diet and exercise to really see a difference in my body. I am so motivated to go forward and I really am enjoying the process as well as the results.
Richard Simmons will be traveling for the next few weeks so I will miss his high energy inspiration. I can still go to Slimmons for the class, but I think tonight I am going to go to the gym or take a class, or something to do with water. I love being in water, always have. It makes me feel completely alive and serene at the same time. I was a lifeguard in my twenties, I felt compelled to learn how to save a person from drowning.
Here is a poem I wrote years ago about my love of being in the water and swimming, written in 2005. I actually spent the afternoon swimming, then I took a shower and glanced out the window at the pool with the sun shining through the trees and the poem came to me right then and there. I had to have my husband write it down for me since I was in the shower, lol. Sometimes inspiration hits at the least convenient time, but I am always happy when it does.
Wishing you sunshine and serenity.
Namaste’
Rose
For weary eyes; I am taken away.
Today is Monday, and my first weigh in. Monday and weight, two things that are not so popular, but I am totally excited for my first weigh in. Monday, well I am a little sleepy thanks to our two Siamese cats Spanky and Rascal. They think three am is jungle gym time. Let’s just say the little Rascals are not so popular with me this morning as I make my way to begin my day and week. They are our babies but for some reason they only mess with me at night, and not my husband. Coffee is definitely needed today. I feel I had a successful week but I will see what the scale says later after work. Tomorrow is my second workout with Mike, my trainer/friend. This is a commitment but one that makes me happy and totally inspired and motivated. Bring it on, burpees and all.
After my first ten pounds I am volunteering with the Monday Night Mission, and donating food. I wrote a post about all of the wonderful selfless acts they do to keep the people at Skid Row in Los Angeles from being hungry. They are a blessing to the people of Skid Row and I am humbled by all that they do.
Homeless people have always touched my heart, and the fact that it could be anyone. No one on this earth is better than you or me, we are all the same. I was in NYC and I saw an older homeless woman crying on the street, and that night I wrote this poem. I do not rhyme usually but this one came to me in a rhyme. Remember, everyone has a story and everyone is someone important in the scheme of life. We are all one, we are all connected.
Namaste’
Rose
WALK IN EMPATHY
Step into my worn shoes,
How would you feel?
When People walk by,
Forgetting you are real.
Beyond your reach,
Hopes of a warm meal;
Or a place to lay your head,
To let your weary body heal.
Your spirit is broken,
But your head held high;
Only to be ignored,
By oblivious eyes.
A face with no name,
Is what they see;
Unloved, forgotten,
Throughout society.
Such lonely solitude,
Unanswered prayers;
Hopelessness and sorrow,
Does no one care?
Who will miss you
When it’s your time to go?
Will anyone remember,
Your name is not John Doe.
Rose Bruno Bailey