Category Archives: feeding the homeless

VIBE OFF POSITIVE ENERGY

unnamedThe other day two young guys gave me a random compliment, they saw how spirited I was and they told me they were “vibe-ing off my energy.” It is a new word and I like it. Think about it, we are all energy based. Positive not only attracts positive but it also negates negative energy and can turn it around. A bad day can become worse with negative thoughts, it spirals out of control the minute you decide today is a bad day. So if you tell yourself today is a good day it will be. It may seem simple and cliché’, but it is also absolute truth and the law of the universe. If you see someone loving life, make sure to “vibe” off their energy. Their positive energy does not mean their life is perfect, it just means they find the beauty of living despite the obstacles life throws at us all. After all you are alive, so how about acting fully alive.

My blog became challenging two years ago when I found out were relocating to San Francisco. I knew I would no longer have a personal trainer at my convenience and I was afraid I would undo all of my hard work. On top of that I loved LA, I did all my charities in LA and I didn’t think the bay area was a fit for me. I did make it work while I was there for what I call my year and a half sabbatical, and my blog continued in the time I was living there. I even made some life long friends and mentors, hit some fitness milestones and volunteered and helped raise food for the hungry at The Second Harvest Food Bank. I survived a personal crisis and a spontaneous move back to LA recently.

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charity

Through it all I woke up each and every day not only with a smile for myself, but for everyone I encountered along my travels. It helps you cope when you just slow down and remember to first be kind first. Sometimes it takes effort when all you wish to do is hide under the covers, but keeping a positive attitude even on the hardest days has helped me survive. In hindsight if I would have kept to myself and sulked, I never would have met the many wonderful bay area souls that have inspired me and touched my life.

It has been six months since we arrived back in LA, and three months since I began my countdown until my 50th Birthday. In this six months leading to The Winter Solstice I am eating completely clean and not cheating or having a cheat meal. It is a huge undertaking, considering we tend to want to splurge when life throws us disappointments. Yesterday was such a day, I am hoping to have my book signing here in LA at an esteemed book store but I let some time lapse from the first moment I corresponded with the book store due to my move back and all of the commotion of getting a new job and settling in. I am not going to jump to conclusions, but I may need a back up plan if this particular book store turns me down. Again I have to reach into my little bag of positive tricks and truck on forward.

This leads me to how often we reach for food to dull the ache in the pit of our stomach when things do not exactly go our way. It is not hunger we feel, but that need for comfort and soothing that we get when we treat ourselves. My husband James said “let’s get cake, no one will know.”  I regress, I will know. Back to the four agreements, “always be impeccable with your word.”

So no cheat day for me. This is teaching me to face my feelings and deal with them in a non food manner. I work in a world famous deli with the most amazing food and homemade bakery so this is extra difficult for me but I am standing by my commitment. I am a work in progress, moving forward despite everything that comes my way. I am leaning on my energy and attitude to keep me going. That and morning coffee.

They say life does not have a dress rehearsal, and this is it. So I continue to vow to be grateful and joyful an to not let obstacles chase off my dreams, and I vow to keep going.

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I am vibe-ing off the energy of the beauty of being alive. 

Namaste’

Rose

 

CHASING GOALS

Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.

Tony Robbins

Hello to all and a very Happy Wednesday. I have been thinking a lot about this blog, my goals, and what I wish to accomplish as I move forward. This summer is my three year Anniversary, I have lost a lot of weight and kept every pound off. I have helped numerous charities, and started a fitness journey that has taken me beyond anything that I could have expected. My book was published, I was in a Richard Simmons video, and my story made it into a few websites. In the process I met lifelong friends and have been inspired by all the stories of people crushing their personal goals. I have done all this through a move to San Francisco, and back to Los Angeles and kept my optimism through a tough personal crisis. I could never have done any of this alone, and a huge shout out to all of my mentors, friends, and family.

Here begins the new chapter. I am all in my 6 month clean eating challenge with no cheat days until my 50th Birthday which falls on December 21. Summer solstice to the winter solstice. I admit there have been a few days when all I wanted to do was drown my sorrows in a tub of cake batter, but I have resisted. I have broken my plateau and my weight is now 166. 

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I have really exciting news to announce, but I am trying to wait until it happens before I say what it is, but I will say it is a milestone in my life. A personal goal was accomplished, and I am giddy as a school girl. 

I have a giving friend who has been down lately, and I hate to see her sad. I suggested we meet once a week to have coffee, write down our goals for the upcoming week and discuss how we feel. We have been doing this for three weeks now and I can honestly say it has worked just as much for me as it has for her. She has started a new opportunity and she has also returned to playing a sport she is passionate about and has missed dearly. For me it has helped me set new goals as I move forward. I am still in a personal crisis, but it is much better now that we are back in Los Angeles. I am crushing my weekly goals and I feel extra motivated and inspired.

Two months in my clean eating challenge and here is the workouts I will be doing for the next six weeks. Thanks Melissa Bender Fitness for always pushing and inspiring me and the masses. Today is day 3 for me. Melissa is a new Mom to baby Maverick and I could not be happier for her.   http://www.benderfitness.com/2016/08/postpartum-beyond-6-week-workout-challenge-week-1-day-3-cardio-day.html

I also am knee deep in planning my next Charity. I will explain all in a future post but here is who I am helping next. I am planning an exciting event. https://www.facebook.com/TheMidnightMission/?fref=ts

http://www.midnightmission.org/

It makes sense since this charity is very similar to my first charity back in October, 2013 with The Monday Mission. I went to skid row with My trainer Mike, his girlfriend Maria, and my friend Courtney and her boyfriend to feed the homeless.  We donated food courtesy of Chef Jessica of Seasons 52. This photo was before I lost my weight, and the beginning of my journey. You can read about that experience here. http://mychangeforaten.com/middle-of-the-night-monday-night-mission-musings/

The-Monday-Night-Mission

So that somewhat catches me up to today, almost the end of the summer 2016. One of my goals is to get back to posting daily here. You can also find me on Instagram and Facebook. Have a wonderful day, Namaste’ and keep crushing those goals.

https://www.facebook.com/MyChangeForATen/

https://www.instagram.com/mychangeforaten/?hl=en

 

 

Countdown to 50

Keep swimming to the surface, that is where the sun is.

Rose Bruno Bailey

Today I quoted myself, because I believe no matter how difficult things may appear, if you keep swimming to the surface the water clears and that is where you will see the sun again. I am doing this now. I believe we are always reinventing ourselves, and finding new ways to journey in the direction of our goals and dreams. 

I am going to reinvent my blog for the next ten months. I am counting down until my 50th Birthday in ten months on December 21st.  Ten, I am working on my change for a ten. I focus on weight loss, fitness and philanthropy and that has not changed. What has changed is instead of doing a charity for each ten pounds lost I am focusing on the ten months until my 50th Birthday. Ten months, ten charities, no cheat days, and going after my fitness goals with the motivation of being the best 50 year old I can be, inside and out.  I will start chronicling this new journey Monday and I will keep going and working harder even through my life struggles, changes, and tribulations. I am truly excited for this new chapter of my blog and I welcome you to join me as I embark on my challenge of my half century mark. 

Much love and light to all and remember you are not a number. You can own your age but do not think you cannot do what you dream of doing because of what time, or the scale tells you. You can do anything as long as you awaken and have the ability to dream. Dream big angels, dream big massive dreams.

Namaste’rosemeeee

Rose

EVERY LITTLE BIT COUNTS


I am so late with this post, I had a busy Sunday. Tomorrow I am joining the Monday Night Mission to feed the homeless residents at skid row. I bought bags of oranges and I am bagging up chocolate cookies for at least 100 people. We are picking up food at Seasons 52, and I will do a post all about Seasons 52 and their role in helping me help the cause. I am blessed to work at an establishment that is so supportive of my endeavors. I look forward to joining The Monday Night Mission.

I was coming back from the grocery store and I was stopped by volunteers of The Los Angeles Aids walk. We got to talking, and I donated some cash to their cause. They invited me to come walk next Sunday, and I just may do that. My husband and I are meeting friends that afternoon but I may be able to squeeze it in. Today I walked everywhere I went, so I did get some exercise in the midst of my chaotic day.

On my way back from shopping for the cause and picking up food for my husband I saw this homeless lady I always see, she is in a wheel chair and she always looks so sad. I stopped in Kitchen 24, bought a sandwich and french friends for her, and asked the manager to give it to her with a glass of water. I figured charity begins at home, and she is always in my neighborhood and I have bought her food before. It really breaks my heart that in today’s world people are all alone and homeless. I can hardly wrap my brain around it, and it makes me feel guilty for what I have. I want to do more.

I am off for now, I am doing laundry and turning in for the night. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. Love and light. Namaste’
Rose

TUESDAY WEIGHT UPDATE 10-1-2013


Good morning to all on this first day of October. I woke up and got on the scale first thing, and I am happy to say I now weight 182 lbs. I have lost another 2.5 and I am so excited. That brings my total weight loss to 15 lbs since I started this project. In actuality I weigh 25 pounds less than I did last January, but for the sake of My Change For A Ten I am down 15 lbs since mid July.

I am thrilled, and I will definitely keep going. I have decided to make Project Cuddle my thirty pound goal, because having a virtual baby shower is going to take a little more time than I have anticipated, and I want to do it right. I am probably going to do it outdoors at a park so I can invite more people than my apartment can hold. So Project Cuddle is my thirty pound goal, and now I am on the lookout for a charity for the twenty pound mark. I need to brainstorm.

My ten pound goal charity is next Monday, I am assisting The Monday Night Mission in their efforts to feed the homeless and hungry residents of skid row. I know I am five pounds past my ten pound goal, but this one took planning as well, plus I wanted to get well past the ten pound mark to make sure it is official, as a woman I was worried I would announce my ten pound loss, and then gain water weight the next week. I have now cinched it since I am at fifteen pounds. I am going to write two complete posts, all about the Monday Night Mission, and another about Seasons 52 and their role in my efforts to help feed the homeless. 

Today I am working, and after I am working out with my friend and trainer Mike. I am so appreciative of him, his friendship, and his expertise and time. I was so sore last week after our workout, and I know tonight will be much of the same but I can take it. A few weeks ago he suggested a do something called a Mud Run, and I kind of smirked at the idea. Yesterday I was talking to my two managers at Seasons 52, Chef Jessica who has ordered the food for The Monday Night Mission, and my manager Laura. They did a Mud Run once and loved it, and they have offered to do it with me if I decide to do one. They said it was a riot so I am contemplating looking into this new challenge, albeit a dirty one. 

I am off for now, coffee and I must get moving. My two Siamese cats are so cute now, they make me want to stay home with them and just be lazy. One is burrowed under the blankets, and the other loves to sleep in his cat bed. Wishing you a beautiful first day of October. Love and light to all.
Namaste’
Rose


THURSDAY UPDATE 9-12-2013



Good Morning and Happy Thursday to all. I cannot wait for the weekend, we are planning a day trip and picnic at one of the beaches in Ventura.  I am going to work out in the sand, burpees and all and walk on the beach. I may jog too. For now a bit of coffee will get me going this morning,  I swear it is like the elixir of the gods, I love coffee.

Yesterday I worked out with Mike my trainer and friend. We did a lot of upper body work because my ankle has been tender. I am purchasing an ankle brace, but I think it will be OK. We boxed, and I swear it must be a very funny sight to see me pack a punch.  He really is getting a great reputation at work, so I can see him building a very successful personal training business/boot camp classes in the future. He wants to up my intensity and I agree it is time, so I need to start working harder with my running and cardio. Yesterday I had my back turned to one of my friends at work and she came up to me and said she hardly recognized me, and how much smaller I look. Those compliments keep me going because sometimes I do not see it myself. I am very thankful for all of his help and expertise as I progress on this path of fitness. 

Yoga tonight at Yogaworks. I am taking one of two classes. I think I am taking the Iyengar class. (Named after and developed by B. K. S. Iyengar, is a form of Hatha Yoga that has an emphasis on detail, precision and alignment in the performance of posture (asana) and breath control (pranayama). The development of strength, mobility and stability is gained through the asanas)
I really want to expand and grow in my practice so my plan is to go to yoga three to five days a week. I will eventually add the ballet classes, and I am so close to doing so. I am going to set a weekly schedule and post it in the future. 

I hit my first ten pound mark, so I am setting the date this week to join the Monday Night Mission to help feed the hungry at skid row. I will know that date in a few days. I am really looking forward to giving back, and I just want to do more and more. Mike is also joining me, and I will see if anyone from work or my friends wishes to help out as well. It is very rewarding to volunteer, and it puts everything in life in perspective. I call it stepping outside of yourself and your own world. 

I wish everyone a beautiful Thursday
Love and Light
Namaste’
Rose

BRIE BEACH SANDWICH

When we are born our first bout with individuality is when our parents bestow upon us the gift of a name. What is in a name? Does a name define who we are or how we are perceived by others?  What about those souls who are lost to their families, perhaps they ended up homeless and one day when their time was up they couldn’t be identified? They are just as much a human as anyone else but because their “name” was not known they were coldly stamped John or Jane Doe. 

This is a subject that is near and dear to my heart and one of the reasons I have chosen to assist The Monday Night Mission on my My Change For A Ten project when I lose my first ten pounds. I am so close, at nine pounds at the moment. I am hoping to make the ten pound loss Tuesday and then I will set the date when I will visit and assist The Monday Night Mission.

WALK IN EMPATHY
Step into my worn shoes,
How would you feel?
When People walk by,
Forgetting you are real.
Beyond your reach,
The hopes of a warm meal;
Or a place to lay your head,
To let your weary body heal.
Your spirit is broken,
Yet 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,
But no one cares.
Who will miss you
When it’s your time to go?
Will anyone remember,
Your name is not John Doe.
© Rose Bruno Bailey

The name Rose has caused many a remark from people when they first meet me. Usually it is the standard ” that is my great great grandmother’s name;” thanks a lot pal, for making me feel ancient. Or sometimes it is the cheesy “oh Rose, the name of beauty, the flower, by some guy dripping in too many chains and men’s cologne.” When the movie Titanic premiered I got lots of “never let go Rose.”  When I first met my husband he actually believed I gave him a fake name.


My husband and I bought a cooler, beach chairs and other things because we want to start having picnics at the beach. I know it is late in the season, but this is Southern California and we can picnic at the beach pretty much any time of the year. I was trying to figure out healthy sandwiches for me to take, that are not full of all the sodium that comes with cold cuts from a deli. This is what I thought would be the perfect beach sandwich for me and my healthy lifestyle.

That brings me to the origin of the Sandwich. It was named after John Montague, 4th Earl of Sandwich, he was  an 18th-century English aristocrat. Apparently he requested his valet bring him his meat inside two slices of bread. He was playing cards and wished not to get his hands greasy. Soon others followed suit requesting to have what Sandwich had.
Many sandwiches over the years have gained individual names of their own. The BLT, The French Dip, The Dagwood, The Club Sandwich to name a few.

This inspired me to make my favorite sandwich to take on my autumn picnics for my outings to the shore. Malibu breeze and a delicious light sandwich to feed my senses. I first had this unusual yet simple sandwich at my friend Marguerite’s house back in Cleveland, Ohio. Marguerite was French,world traveled, sophisticated, and whimsical. She sliced a french baguette, and spread some Dijon mustard on both sides. Then she topped it off with thinly sliced green apples and sharp cheddar cheese. My version is a bit more gourmet, but in honour of my long lost friend.  I have decided to name it THE MARGUERITE. A whimsical, sophisticated sandwich with a french origin just like it’s name sake.



You will need for one MARGUERITE

A  good french baguette or whole grain baguette

Extra virgin olive oil.

One green apple, sliced thin.

Brie cheese, enough to spread on both sides of the baguette. I use a small portion for mine.

Arugula, a generous handful

Toasted pecans( lightly spray cooking spray on a cookie sheet. Place pecans on sheet,and toast for five minutes in an oven set at 350 degrees for about five minutes). Just a few on mine, I have to watch portions.

Drizzle of balsamic vinegar, and extra virgin olive oil, and a teaspoon of a good Dijon mustard.

Drizzle olive oil on baguette and place on a cookie sheet in a pre-heated oven set at 400 degrees.Bake baguette for about ten minutes til crusty.

Spread Dijon on both sides of the baguette.

Spread a generous amount of brie on each side of the baguette.

Top brie with a handful of the toasted pecans, spread them in the brie so they are firm in the sandwich.

Place thin slices of apple on one side of the baguette in a uniform line.

Top it off with a generous handful of fresh arugula.

Drizzle balsamic vinegar on the arugula,and a bit of sea salt and ground pepper.You may wish to use a bit more olive oil, the choice is up to you. I think the olive oil on the baguette suffices but again individuality comes first. It is your Marguerite Sandwich.

Close tightly, slice in half, and enjoy this distinctive yet delish sandwich which is reminiscent of  walking barefoot in a field in Paris during springtime in a Monet painting.
Oh la la c’est marveilleux