Yearly Archives: 2015

Rose Bruno Bailey Fitness Ambassador for Melissa Bender Fitness

What it means to me to be a fitness ambassador for Melissa Bender Fitness

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I began my project to sponsor a charity with each ten pounds back in 2013, and I am proud to say I have lost 50 pounds. I had the help of an amazing trainer in LA named Mike, and he gave me the keys to fitness and opened so many doors for me. At present, I am far from done — yet I still consider myself to be a success, or, well, a success in progress. Not quite an after, but so much better than before.

“I can’t go back to yesterday because I was a different person then.” — Lewis Carroll

Rose Bruno Bailey Weight Loss

Now I find myself navigating a new city, and making my goals happen here in the San Francisco area. Melissa Bender Fitness asked me to be her first fitness ambassador and of course I said yes. She is such an inspiration and has guided so many people with her amazing workouts online. She has shown it can be done at home and has been very successful helping others reach their goals. She is a nurturing human being, and to me that is a prerequisite to helping people learn fitness; and she is a perfect fit for me as I continue to blog about the weight loss/fitness/philanthropic journey I am on.

Here is what it means to me to be a fitness ambassador for Melissa Bender Fitness.

1. It means I am dedicated, but I am not perfect. I have come a long way already when Melissa asked me to represent her as her fitness ambassador. I have lost 50 lbs and did it while helping charities with each ten pound weight loss. I now do her workouts daily, and I have recently begun AM workouts. I run/walk and I do yoga. I am a former dancer and I have always been in tune with my body; I was just on a little hiatus. If I stumble I catch myself before I fall. It does not mean I have a perfect body, but I am striving to be in the best shape for me. I still have a ways to go and my goal is to lose 35 more pounds. Melissa Bender Fitness home workouts are a lifeline for me and my new schedule in my new city.

2. It does not mean I have the best workout clothes and shoes. To be honest I own one pair of running shoes, but those shoes lace up and get me to where I need to go. One is enough for me for now.  As long as I have my music, my computer, and my sunny outlook I am raring to go. I have never even tried on a pair of Lululemon. I am sure they are amazing, but I am yet to find out. One day maybe.

3. It means even though I have injuries, I keep moving forward. Maybe this is not the right way, and maybe my progress has been slowed a little with my injured toe, but I have never stopped nor will I ever give up.

4. It means I practice what I preach. I really eat clean and I drink a lot of water, and strive to treat my body as my temple. Melissa Bender Fitness reminds me to eat more, in that regard I struggle. When I eat out I make healthy choices that do not derail my lifestyle. That is the key, this is my lifestyle and not a fad diet.  I believe fitness includes achieving a mind and body connection. I call outdoor exercise mobile meditation. Helping others through my charities gives me so much more back then I give. I blog about the ways I believe one can find calm within the chaos. I am all about the mind/body/spirit connection.

5. I do not play the comparison game. I am in competition with the me from yesterday and that is it. My weight loss may be slow because I am not as young as I once was, so I have learned to practice the two Ps, namely Perseverance and Patience. Time passes anyway, and I soon will get to where I am heading. I am in no rush nor will I succumb to the pressure of a time limit. This is for life.

6. I try to silence my inner dialogue of body bashing. I also have decided not to be a slave to the scale, and not obsess as much as I used to. This is probably the hardest accomplishment and I still struggle with self-shaming. We can be our biggest fans or our worse enemies. I strive to be my biggest fan but I am human.

7. I  try new things and I live ageless, fearless, and full of enthusiasm for fitness and living a healthy lifestyle. I shared Melissa Bender Fitness workouts before and I do now, because I believe everyone can benefit from her help. I am sincere and I am one of her biggest fans.

8. I have a fitness bucket list I am working on, and it may take time but I will make my dreams a reality. As long as I am breathing I have the opportunity to begin anew.

9. I do the exercises and modify those I cannot do due to injuries. For example, I have an injured toe so plank jumps are difficult so I just do a normal plank. I have a very strong core and I once planked in LA for over five minutes, and I beat my trainer Mike once. I know my weaknesses and I work on them. I may not be able to master every exercise, but I always try my best.

In essence I am the best me possible, and even though I may trip from time to time, I stand up and dust of the dirt and keep moving in the direction of my destination and I enjoy the ride.

A body in motion stays in motion, and a body at rest stays at rest. That is Newton’s Law. Keep it moving.

Love and Light
Namaste’

For me, being ageless means being in love with life

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Doing what you love is the cornerstone of having abundance in your life. — Wayne Dyer

I had a discussion at with a bartender I work with. I asked him this: at what point does one become old? Do you wake up one morning and all of a sudden like clockwork everything shifts? His answer was brilliant.

“When you think you are.”

That statement goes back to the law of attraction for me. You are your thoughts. I try to practice this but I am human and sometimes my thoughts stray. At the end of the day I catch them, reign them back in and try to stay on the course of positive thinking.

Anti-aging means you are in love with life. To me aging is just as much about your inner beauty as your physical shell. If you cultivate an open mind, and connect with others of all ages and walks in life you will find that you are young at heart. I have seem some very old twenty-somethings and some eternally youthful woman in their 70s.

A 96 year-old yoga teacher I admire,Tao Porchon-Lynch, said these two things:

I do not believe in age.

Tomorrow never comes. Don’t procrastinate.

To be ageless is to be in love with life,  fearless and relentless. Do what you love, and surround your self with people who light your fire. Live with passion for life and love and do not be stingy with your gifts. The universe will put you in a direct collision with those people you need to continue on your quest for illumination and greatness. Ever notice when you are with someone who gets you, well it feels like the sky opens up and the sun came down for a big passionate kiss? I live for those moments and encounters. It is a lot like being in love and I sometimes feel like I fall in love with everyone that touches my world. I am in love with life.

Dr. Wayne Dyer once said — and I am paraphrasing — if you take care of who you are inside, your shell will follow. You will find yourself eating well and exercising because you want to be healthy. That is where the mind body connection comes in for me. You must nurture both your mind and body as they are one.

We are all one, my weight loss success is not only a result of my hard work and perseverance but of the support I got from so many. I continue on now and I still evolving. It can be done, as long as you believe you can.

Much love and light to all, and remember when the sun comes down for a visit to give it a big passionate kiss.

Namaste’
Rose
My Change For A Ten Charities

Added the charities I’ve helped to my site

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If you read about why I launched this site (look at this post), one of the reasons was to tie my own weight-loss efforts to charities in the communities I live in. I decided to make that more clear to new readers by adding a sidebar of charities I’ve worked with on the right side of my page; you can see the charities there, with links to their homepages. I’ll be adding a new charity soon, as well.

Overall, things are good. It was a hectic weekend and I’m still struggling to get my schedule completely in line with what I want. I feel better about the direction that’s headed in, though. My husband has been stressed at work but that is also getting better. And, as always, I’m staying true to my Melissa Bender Fitness workouts. That first trapeze class experience is only a few months away.

I’ll be back with more later this week. I hope everything is doing great.

Love and light.

Namaste’

Be Happy Rose Bailey

Simple but profound advice: Be happy

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(Sorry I haven’t blogged in a little while. We’re still adjusting to northern California and I’ve been busy with work, some new poetry projects, and of course, the fabulous Melissa Bender workouts. Later this weekend I plan to add a list of charities that I’ve helped through this My Change For A Ten project, and I’ll be back to blogging more next week. Thank you, as always, for reading.)

The Dalai Lama says, quite simply, that the purpose of life is to be happy.

To be happy. What a wonderful concept. We are all chasing down happiness. Is there happiness in material gains? Happiness in what we achieve and how we go about doing it? Sometimes if we spend a life chasing happiness down the wrong ally we end up smack face in a dead end with nowhere to go. My friend Ted wrote about this a few times on his blog, including the idea of “being content” and the idea that happiness is actually a U-Curve.I believe happiness is love, and loving others and all creatures of the universe. Happiness can be found in nature and not a mall. Happiness is giving to others and spending out days creating rather than spending. (That’s basically why I started this blog!) Yes, the whole discussion of money and happiness is an old one. Money does offer freedom and with that freedom there are less stresses about security for the future and more time to do the endeavors you are passionate about. I get the importance of financial freedom. When that green piece of paper becomes the only thing you strive for then it becomes more of an empty goal even if your bank account is full. Balance is one of the keys to happiness. Dive into crystal clear waters, climb a tree.  Worry less, smile more.

Sometimes it takes a mere reminder to let you know how lucky you really are to be alive.I was sitting at the train station, listening to my music when my vision caught a sight from across the tracks. It was a woman in a wheel chair who obviously had no movement in any of her limbs, her companion and their adoring dog. As I sat and watched this family interact with one another, I was reminded what unconditional love is all about. I watched the lady smile from ear to ear as the man gave her a sip of something cool to drink, and the dog vying for both of their attention. The epitome’ of love and family. I was not the only one that was watching, it was apparent that this moment did not go unnoticed by the commuters surrounding me. A beautiful and poignant lesson to remind me and others of the power of life and love.
Moments like this make me realize why I love to help others, and that giving back is so rewarding. Everyone deserves to be loved and appreciated, and we are all the same connected to the core that is our humanity. I admit the last weeks have been difficult, and I have challenges I am trying to overcome. But such a moment makes me realize my challenges are just minor glitches in an otherwise life full of much abundance. My challenges can be overcome, and I am here to make a difference and help others with their larger and more monumental challenges in life.
This reminds me why I chose to combine my weight loss endeavors with giving back to society. I already enjoyed helping others, but I needed to help myself become healthy again and I feel it was the perfect marriage of giving to myself and giving back. In the process I have met myself.
I am working on my latest charity and I will announce when I am on my way to deliver what I have collected. I am keeping quiet until I am on my way, since I want to make sure everything goes as planned.
Glitches in life are just that, tests to see how we will react. It is how we overcome such snafus in life that show our true character. Today I am happy. I am breathing, I have a roof over my head and a warm cup of coffee to sooth my soul. I am happy I have a cold and not anything more detrimental. I am happy my challenges can be overcome, and I am healthy enough to give back to others who need it most. I will just be.
Be Happy.
Namaste’
Rose Bruno Bailey Poem

How do you make a bad mood good again?

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Before my move to San Francisco, I had a lot of alone time — since my husband James moved a month before me. I did a lot of reading (which I always love to do). I read the book The Happiness Project by Gretchin Rubin. She took a year and found personal ways to make her life happier, and she blogged about her journey and wrote a book. Her journey was not unlike what I do about my fitness/weight loss/charity journey. I loved the book and learned a lot about the search for happiness.

It never escapes me that many people are out in the world dealing with sadness and depression. Some of us are just dealing with what I like to call situational sadness: the blues that comes on briefly (or sometimes not so briefly) related to a life issue that is not too severe but still wrecks havoc on your daily mood. For some it may be work, or the struggles of the mundane realities of life and living; stress.  I am not speaking of the bigger issues of life, but the small but seemingly monumental moments that take us to a place we may not wish to go.

I have five things I do to chase the blues away and get back to being me, in love with life and living.

1. Take care of your temple, your soul vessel, your body. Get some sleep, and get some exercise and eat right. These things combined will do so much for your mood. Sleep is a no brainer, when I am well rested everything else just comes so easy. Endorphins? It is a fact that exercise raises your happy hormones and ups the ante on your mood. Eat right, and lose weight if need be, I have noticed such a change in myself, my mood, and my self esteem since I have lost over 45 lbs. If you are trying to lose weight, my advice to you is to enjoy the journey and not worry about the destination.
2.  Listen to Happy Music. Ok I have so many genres of happy music that I could write all day about them. Big Band from the 1940’s is happy music for me. I play it while I am cooking or doing a little light writing. It puts me in place long gone by, Hollywood movies of yesteryear and war time optimism of the 1940s. It was a difficult time in our history but you would never know this by listening to swing music. I love to swing dance, and it makes me want to find a partner and lindy hop forever. I have music for running, music for dancing, music for writing. Everything I do is motivated by music. The right beat has can literally turn my cloudy skies to blue.
3. Get out into nature: I loved working out in LA outside, using the tree to do TRX. I called it mobile meditation and I still do my cardio outdoors. Running in the great outdoors, hiking up a cliff with the gift of a magestic view when you arrive at the top, walking on the beach and breathing in the sea air and listening to the waves crash against the shore. If you are in a winter climate bundle up and go sledding, just get outside daily and get some sunlight.
4. Do something for someone else: Get out of your own head and into someone else’s problems. Chances are you will really make a difference in someone’s life and in your own the realization that your issues were not so big after all.
5.Muse off how you are feeling: I write poetry and essays and now I also love to snap photographs of nature. I draw and I dance. I used to perform in Musical Theater. I love to be creative and I am always looking for an outlet to muse off of. Whatever works for you. Are you a crafter? Do you love to cook or bake? Just get up, get inspired and be creative.You are never too old, and it is never too late. As long as you wake up breathing you have a chance to be whatever you dream to be. Just be your authentic creative self.
Be fearless,  be ageless, and if need be make the changes to be happy. You can choose to be happy or choose to be miserable. You can write your own script and paint your own portrait. It is your choice to make so do not be hesitant. You have control over your life. Life is not prison, we are free to go and do as you please. Climb that mountain and move cross country.Own your own freedom and beautiful gift of life.
Happy Friday to all and Namaste’

Have fun at work (with oatmeal chocolate chip cookies)

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If you are like most people you woke up Monday morning a little less cheerful than you were when you awakened the Friday morning before. Monday’s the most undesirable day of the week and Friday’s the most revered.  There are so many cliches about the monotony of the work week and the freedom and fun that comes once that 5:00 bell tolls on Friday. Everyone is working for the weekend, work hard play harder, Thank god it’s Friday. There have even been cheesy yet catchy songs written about Friday that took the nation by storm. It suggests that the work week is void of fun and enjoyment and once the weekend arrives the party is on.

Here’s a quote I like:

A weekend wasted isn’t a wasted weekend.A witty saying proves nothing. — Voltaire
Let’s go back to this main idea. It’s a novel concept to have fun while working. It does spark thoughts that maybe work could be more enjoyable and less of a mundane chore. I think the work day can be fun if you change your attitude and engage more with the people you work with.
Today I did my part to make fun a reality where I work. What better way to spark happiness in your co-workers than to share delicious decadent treats.  I baked homemade healthy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and shared them with my co-workers. At first I got some skeptical glances and utter terror when I explained they were sugar free and flour free, but every last one of my cookies were devoured so they must have been pretty delicious. Nothing brings on a fun-like atmosphere like chocolate. I love sharing treats that are as good for the body as they are for the soul.
It’s such a simple recipe.
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
You will need only seven ingredients
3 bananas, mashed with a fork
1/4 cup applesauce
2 cups oats
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
half cup almond milk, soy milk, or low fat milk
Combine mashed banana, oats, applesauce and mix well. Add almond milk, vanilla, and dark chocolate chips and mix again. Bake for 20 minutes on a greased cookie sheet at 350 degree oven or in mini muffin tins like I did.
Let cool. enjoy and be sure to share and make someone smile.
Everyday should be National Have Fun At Work Day.With healthy treats like these you could have this much fun every single day. Tons of fun without any of the guilt.
Manga’
Rose Bruno Bailey Mantra Fitness

Weight loss can be slow; don’t worry if it is. The process is a journey.

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January is almost over — the Super Bowl is this Sunday, which is February 1st, and I’m already thinking about how to cook healthy for that — and as you get to the end of January, a lot of people have already given up their New Year’s Resolutions — concepts they set only about four weeks ago.

You see this a lot in the fitness and dieting space. Fitness and dieting-related Resolutions are alwayssome of the most popular, and always some of the quickest to fall away due to laziness, lack of knowledge, a focus on the other things in your busy life, or whatever the reason is.

There are entire sections of bookstores about fad diets, and I briefly considered some of those when I started my own fitness journey. I say “briefly” because it was really almost no time at all; I knew I wanted to try and lose weight in a healthy, productive manner — and, at the same time, challenge myself by making sure I was tied to a bigger cause. In my case? That was contributing money to charities for every 10 pounds I lost; you can read a little bit about this here.

That all said — and this is important for anyone to remember — it’s been a slow process. It took me 1 year to lose my first 45 pounds. I thought it would be much quicker, and that year required a lot of discipline, working out, healthy cooking and eating, etc. Over time, I came to look at fitness and weight loss as akin to a journey or a road trip — which my husband James and I love to do — which means it can take a while, but along the way there are beautiful things to see, even if you’re not yet at the final destination.

I recently bought a scale, but that was mostly for tracking. I don’t want to be a slave to the scale. I’m around 165 pounds, with a goal weight in the 130s — but my next step is in the middle 150s; when I lose the next 10, I’ll be donating to a charity. Right now I’m thinking about working with a local non-profit on a raffle, but I need to do a little more research. We’ve only lived in the Bay Area for a few months — moved here from Los Angeles in the fall — and I’m still getting my footing. It’s week three of my ambassador work with Melissa Bender Fitness, though, and that’s been a strong guiding force.

Sometimes it’s all about doing the micro things, too. For example, yesterday I took a different train home from work; that allowed me an extra long walk back to our actual house. It’s a small thing, but it helps.

I am a free spirit and I do not believe much in rules, but I read about a rule of fitness in a magazine.
“Never go more than two days without working out.”
This is now my own personal mantra. I will never give up.
Love and Light to all
Italian Style Chicken Strips

Healthy weeknight dinner: Italian-style baked chicken strips

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Growing up, my mom made the best Sunday night dinners. I know this can be a cliche for a lot of neighborhoods, but these were truly the kind of meals that brought the neighbors over. As I got older and started dancing, I would go off in my room and eat a yogurt to avoid the deliciousness coming from the kitchen; back then dieting meant food avoidance and lots of Diet Coke.

As you get older, things obviously change; the concept of starving and living on Diet Coke is no longer in vogue. For me, after losing my first 45 pounds, I can say I have learned what works for my body: healthy eating and nothing too extreme. I ear carbohydrates, I just do not eat them at every meal and the majority of my meals are completely clean and healthy. I am learning moderation and self-control.

Sunday I decided to experiment in the kitchen. I cooked what I had on hand, and I came up with what my husband James called a home run. I made chicken with tomatoes, onions and garlic in the oven and served it with my take on healthy mashed potatoes and vegetables.

For dessert I made clean eating oatmeal banana chocolate cookies with no sugar.

Here’s a picture of the main dish:

Rose Bruno Bailey Italian Style Chicken Strips

Here’s how you do it.

Italian Style Baked Chicken Strips
One bag all white meat chicken strips (pre-cooked); I bought mine from Costco
2 cans of diced tomatoes in garlic
1 can tomato paste
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion diced
7 cloves of garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon dried basil
Place the chicken in a large baking pan, and mix in the diced onions and garlic. Add two cans of canned tomatoes and two tablespoons olive oil. Mix all ingredients and season with salt, pepper, basil and parsley and mix once again. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes.
For the mashed potatoes all I did was boil 10 red potatoes until they were soft, and after the chicken was cooked I drained some of the tomato juice into the potatoes and added 1 tablespoon of light butter and one tablespoon of Greek yogurt and mashed them manually. Salt and Pepper and garlic salt. End result tomato flavored mashed potatoes — so healthy and super simple.
This meal reminded me of meatloaf and mashed potatoes, but without the guilt and high caloric count that comes with the comfort food I grew up with.
I hope you have a wonderful day and realize that the process of cooking and eating healthy is simpler than we all realize — sometimes it can be just what we have on hand.
Love and light to all.
Rose Bruno Bailey Cowboy Hat

Some of my early Northern California exploring

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Explorer: a person who investigates unknown regions.

If you’ve read this blog or know a little about my backstory, you probably know that I recently (within about six months) moved to the Bay Area in northern California; my husband James got a job offer in this region. Previous to this move, we had lived in Los Angeles for about four years, and prior to that, we had lived in New York City and Connecticut.

As a result, we’ve done a lot of exploring over the past few years as we discover new places.

One of my favorite things to do is to get of the rectangular box and spend time exploring where I live. I like to think I am a modern day explorer, finding new remote nooks on my journeys. Living all over the country has made my life an adventure.
Friday I did some exploring in my own neighborhood. I figured I would get a long walk in and see where my feet could take me. I ended up at the library and received my library card so I can read til my hearts content, then I walked miles and discovered a thrift store and a vintage store. My heart paused for a mili second. Treasures on this expedition? Yes, please.
Here’s the beginning of the walk:
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My healthy lifestyle requires me to be diligent about my diet and workouts, and I do not stray. That does not mean I never have a little of something decadent. I follow what is called the 80/20 rule. I eat clean, no processed food 80% of the time and  I allocate the other 20% for small indulgences. The treasures I discovered in the thrift store had my name written all over it. Mini cup cake pans for 99 cents. I bought three and I plan on making mini muffins and mini black bean brownie bites Sunday afternoon when I play domestic. This girl likes a little sweet with her coffee once in a while.
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I found a cowboy hat at the vintage store, and of course I bought it. Everyone needs at least one white cowboy hat in their closet. Who knows where I will rock the hat — perhaps country line dancing? Combining a fun night out, fashion, and cardio. That is how I roll.
You can see the picture of me in the hat at the top of this post.
This weekend we are exploring Santa Cruz CA, and I will have plenty of photos of the magnificent Pacific Coastline to share. Another chance to get in extra cardio, a brisk speed walk oceanside. I will get my Melissa Bender Fitness workout in today either before or after, but of course I do not skip.
I read somewhere never go two days without working out, and that is one of the rules I like to follow. Everyone’s body is different, I think to think after my first 45 lb weight loss I am getting to know my own body. For the first time in a long time we are now on a first name basis.
 
Life is such a joyride if you ask me, crank up the road trip music get out there and explore beyond your own backyard.
Love and Light to all