Category Archives: inspiration

DO WHAT YOU LOVE

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Depression, I think I was depressed for a while. I’m trying to understand the idea of depression. I’m such a happy go lucky person, for me to be depressed is unheard of. The loss of my Mom, leaving my beloved Los Angeles and losing our cat; among other things left me with this void. It’s not something anyone can see, it’s like a numbness. In Los Angeles I was so alive, like life on steroids. Things here in Texas are much slower and with all of what happened I felt my vibration at an all time low. Time to choose to change and raise my vibration.

Recognizing it is the first step. Making goals again and being impeccable with my word is the second step. I am here, posting every single day. My computer crashed, but this time I make no excuses and I make it happen with my phone. I keep a food journal every single day. I can feel already changes in my body. I’m so happy to be back, this is just the beginning. I’m laying the basic groundwork for bigger goals. 

Do what you love, do all things with love. I treat others with love, I should do so with myself. That means never giving up and making the commitment to stick to starting over.

What do I love? I love to write so I keep writing and submitting my work. I want to be a healthy weight loss success story again, and I want to help others. I’m interested in motivational speaking sometime in the future.

After being in the Richard Simmons video and taking his classes, I too want to teach classes. I’m a former dancer and I love dance as much as I love writing. My husband James paid for me to get my American Council of Exercise group exercise certification. With all that has happened I missed my exam, and I was so disappointed in myself. I hit an all time low with that one. 

There’s always light at the end of the tunnel. I was told I still have one year to take my exam. Do what you love. That’s my motivation for me going forward. Round two is underway and going strong. 

It’s time to study. Do all things with love, for yourself and for others. 

So much love and light.

Namaste’

Rose


 

 

WEIGHT LOSS THROUGH STRESS

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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 

 

MINDSET

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Happy Thursday to all. I’m still blogging from my phone. Not having a working computer is not a setback for me. I’m just adjusting to whatever tools I have on hand. I committed to blogging daily again, and I will do so no matter the obstacles. It’s really helping me stay on track with my food. I’m on it, I’m accountable, I’m not perfect, but I’m doing it every single day. It’s not easy to do this on the phone, the keyboard is sensitive so if things look less than stellar my apologies. 

Mindset. Even though I’m really doing great with my food I admit this week my mindset is struggling. So much stress this week since we got back, so much to think about and decisions to be made. I admit I’m completely overwhelmed and had quite a few crying moments this week. I’m trying to pull myself out of this quagmire I’m in. That means exercise and sleep. This week my sleep has been compromised and when you are fatigued you cannot think clearly. 

I had a chat with one of my dear friends. He reminded me how strong I am. He said for me to be able to stay so focused on eating clean is a big accomplishment. I have to admit he’s right. I’m staying the course, I did the standard American diet crime and gained the weight but that’s in the past. I’m getting back to being the person who started this blog; strong yet not perfect, but one who doesn’t give in or give up. 

Day seven since I’m back. Seven days at being accountable to my word. I love the book the four agreements and the quote from the author. I will leave you with this. 

Always be impeccable with your word. 

Don Miguel Ruiz

Love and light

Namaste’

Rose

 

 

 

 

MY DAILIES

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Fall nine times, get up ten.

These are my dailies. I just committed to really try to post daily everything in regards to this brand new journey. I am starting from scratch and my plan is to be a much better version of myself at the time of my winter solstice birthday December 21st. I am not looking behind at past successes and failures, I am now striving to be completely forward thinking. I may start a Youtube channel with one video a week but for now below are my dailies. Of course there will be more but this is the basics that I plan to really stick to. One Hour workout, it may be one hour of cardio and some days my benderfitness workouts combined with TRX, yoga, weights and cardio. No rest days, on rest days I will take a long walk but I need to keep it going or I will quit. I am all or nothing. I also plan to workout on some days around midnight since I work nights.

My food lifestyle is vegetarian but I eat mostly vegan and my days are mostly raw foods. This may sound confusing. I am vegan 95% but if I am out I allow flexibility, In example I am going to a dinner party tomorrow and the host asked how I eat, my husband James responded vegetarian so tomorrow I will do my best to be vegan. On work days I eat mostly raw foods, I am not 100% raw but I am learning so much. I don’t think I can be 100% raw but I like incorporating more fresh and raw living foods into my lifestyle. I will do a post later about which online  raw foods influencer I am following for inspiration. I am also counting my calories on the LoseitApp. I am trying to stay under 1,300 calories daily. The calories help me incorporate foods on occasion without blowing my plan. My online food journal is a must.

The good, the bad, and the ugly. I will post every single day. I need to learn to post from my Iphone. I am not going to get into SEO’s and things I am not familiar with. I have time constraints and my plan is to document this journey and get inspired by those doing the same. To learn from others, experts and people going through similar challenges in life. I will blog and countdown to my winter solstice birthday every single day. I hope to hire someone to help me fix up my page to make it more user-friendly and to learn more about WordPress. In the meantime, I am present and in the moment. Today is day two, and my workout today will be late after work. No excuses. 

My husband James and I are working together to become better versions of ourselves. We are using affirmations and positive self dialogue. No more calling myself fat, or diminishing a complement when someone is kind enough to give one. There is a business center here in our complex and we plan to hold manifestation meetings at least once a week. I also plan to treat myself to swimming and the hot tub, feels so good after working out. Less television time and more doing. 

That is the basic plan. There are a lot of goals I am working on, some financial, personal, creative, and some to do with family and friends. This is the basic weight loss and fitness plan I am doing. Let me know how you get back to working on weight loss and fitness goals after a long hiatus.

It has been way too long, and I am so happy I am back. I promise despite my struggles and the nuances of life I will be accountable here and keep up my dailies. I also want to get back to doing charities so Monday is my day off, I will be making phone calls.

With love and Light

Rose

 

 

WEIGHT LOSS JOURNEY 2.0

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Happy Tuesday to all. Today officially begins the second round of my weight loss journey and this blog. It is a brand new beginning. I am not looking back, I am looking forward. There are a lot of thoughts that occupy my mind but I refuse to let the negative ones take up my precious mental space. One thought that comes to mind is that blogging has changed so much since I began in 2013. Everyone seems to have professional blogs and sometimes I feel like my little weight loss blog doesn’t seem to fit anymore. I do not have professional equipment, heck I need a new computer and a new phone. When I began in 2013 I didn’t even have a cell phone. That didn’t work out for me so I decided to venture into the modern world and I have not looked back. I have noticed a lot of blogs and their Instagram pages seem to also have professional photos. So, what am I to do, wait until I have all of these material items or like my Mom would say, “suck it up kid and just do it.”

No negative thoughts, this is my blog and my journey and I do not like to put things off. Life is too short. So Here I am, day one with a lot of blessings that I have to be able to begin a brand new healthy lifestyle. Instead of looking at the negative reasons I do not fit, I am listing the things I am grateful for. These things help me as I begin my healthy lifestyle again. Weight loss journey 2.0

  1. I learned so much the first time around, my best friend is fitness blogger and I can do her workouts at home anytime. Check her out at www.benderfitness.com
  2. I know my body, and what it needs. I simply stopped doing it, but I know the ins and outs of nutrition and how to live a healthy lifestyle. I live a plant-based lifestyle and I really have learned in the past to treat my body like a temple and not a trash can. I am just relearning my former healthy habits.
  3. I may not have all the fancy equipment, but I do have a phone, a computer; and I live in an apartment community that has a two level gym, a pool and a jacuzzi, a computer room among other amenities. I can utilize these gifts for my blogging experience. I also live in an area that is amazing to run in. The weather is mostly warm and I should have no excuses going forward. Gratitude before grumpy excuses.
  4. Plant based and transitioning to Veganism in Houston sounds crazy, and in a way it is. HEB is the best grocery store with so many healthy options. I cannot say how happily surprised I am with their selection for so many types of healthy lifestyles. Vegan in Texas?  Heck yeah, with the help of HEB. 
  5. My husband James. Having someone on board is huge. He is really into working out and cardio, and is open-minded to transitioning to a plant-based diet. He walks the walk, and we work out together. He even paid for me to get my group exercise instructor Certification with The American Council of Exercise. I passed my CPR and my exam is on August 27th. I am so grateful to be married to my best friend and that we mirror each other’s stride.

So, excuses be damned. I am in it to win it, and my prize is a healthier me. Day one done and done. Here we go!!

Love and Light

NEW BEGINNINGS

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Happy Saturday to all. It took me a while to get here, exactly one year. I have put all the hardships and struggles behind me and I am focusing on the present and future. I was a little less than eager to start blogging again, I needed to find my way back naturally so when I did start blogging everything I shared would be truly authentic. I am at that place now. Here I am on my lovely balcony, listening to the fountain below and ready for new beginnings.

This is my weight loss blog, if you follow me you know I help a charity with each ten pounds. If you follow me on Facebook and Instagram you also know I had success at weight loss, helped several charities and lost sixty pounds. You probably are also aware after moving from Los Angeles to Texas I put on twenty-five pounds. I stopped blogging when the scale stopped moving. I got so frustrated I felt like I had nothing to say. Recently I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism and with that diagnosis came my aha moment. Everything made sense. I worked so hard and the scale didn’t reflect my hard work. Soon I will be starting medication and sharing that aspect of my journey.

This blog going forward is still going to be my weight loss journey, but so much more. I would like to put myself in the wellness/lifestyle blogger category. I plan to continue my weight loss struggle and journey, but also incorporate many subjects that inspire me to live my dream life. Nothing will be off-limits but negativity. I will share my struggles but my voice will be positive and inspirational, as I gain inspiration from my mentors, readers, friends, family and the people I cross paths with. I have often said there is inspiration everywhere and I believe that. I also have plans to update this website to be more user-friendly and start a YouTube channel when I am able to purchase equipment to do so. For now,here I am with no thrills, beginning again. 

Summer has arrived, and I started this blog exactly 5 years ago in July. I cannot think of a better time to reinvent my blog and rekindle my healthy lifestyle and help others along the way.  I’ve missed you.

Love and Light

Rose Bruno Bailey

FAILURE IS NOT MY FINAL DESTINATION

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Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

Winston Churchill

Dreams, we all have them. It’s one of the things that motivates us to move forward in life. Dreaming feels like stepping through muddy moments and coming out refreshed on the other side, where the sun shines in a bright blue sky and rain comes down like a warm release of cleansing water. Dreams, I live for my dreams and passions and I have many dreams.

This blog was one of my dreams. It began with an idea. That’s the thing with dreams, at first they are just ideas. Our imagination concocts these thoughts called ideas, and it is up to us to either ignore them or find ways to turn thoughts into ideas and then into dreams. Sounds magical I know, and it is. I remember when my best friend suggested I write poems. Her suggestion was a thought, her thought became an idea and when she conveyed it to me it became my thoughts and ideas; and finally one of my dreams. I started writing, first with poems and later memoirs and essays. I am far from done and grateful to Melissa for her amazing idea that changed my life and my direction in which I live it.

The idea for this blog became a dream of mine. To lose weight while helping charities. It became one of my passions in my life and took me to places I had no idea I would even think of going. I had success, I lost 60 lbs and helped a lot of charities, and I was introduced to the world of fitness for the first time since my dancing days. This blog sprouted ideas that I continue to work on. I am so proud of the work I do. One of my largest dreams is to one day after I reach my goal to become a motivational speaker, helping others achieve weight loss and confidence, and encouraging them to pay it forward and help others all while achieving their own personal goals.

That same sky that brought the sunshine and the cleansing rain fell right through, more than once. In the same six months I went from achieving my lowest weight on this blog to gaining 30 lbs back six months later. I experienced the loss of my Mom, a move from LA to Houston and the sickness and loss of our beloved Siamese Rascal. I discovered I  sometimes can be an emotional eater. I did all of those things I thought were behind me, I ate unhealthy food and stopped exercising. Stress took over my life, especially during the three months I tried to save Rascal. The overeating, the lack of exercise, the stress and the grief taught me a valuable lesson. We are all human, we will fall from time to time. Our failures and falls do not define us. Our humanity and connection to each other defines us. Love defines us. What I did to try to save Rascal was love.

So back to dreams. How does one dream of doing something when they worked so hard to get to their goals and they failed? How can you continue if you failed? Where do you go from here? How do you start over? Can I ever make that dream of helping others lose weight after I myself had a setback? Am I not worthy? 

The answer is we are not defined by our failures and our setbacks, but how we stand back up; scraped knees, bruised egos and all. Facing our failure but putting it behind us as we admit we need to make a change and move forward. The key to change is facing you fell, forgiving yourself for faltering and admitting it happened. Connecting to others helps in the process, no man is an island. Connecting to other people was a huge part of my beginning of this blog and I will continue to connect and not try to go it alone. We are all connected.

I am back to blogging, back to losing weight ( with more to lose after my 30 lb weight gain), back to helping charities and working on my fitness goals; back after heartbreak and the business of being human. 

I fell hard, but I stand up again. I am alive, the sun rose today and I couldn’t think of a better way of honoring life by taking the universe up of the gift of another chance to dream and to do what I love; turning magical thoughts into inspirational ideas and dream, dream and do.

Nice to see you again,

Namaste’

Rose

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INSPIRATION

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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 OVER

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I Have taken to grinding my teeth, which means I have a lot of stress to deal with.  In the last six months I lost my way on this blog and my weight loss journey; my Mother’s passing, a move away from California and a very sick cat left me with thirty extra pounds. I did the unthinkable, I gained half my weight back. This post is not to complain about the changes and stress that I encountered. This post is me facing my weight gain and getting back to blogging and losing weight. I know what to do, it just took me a while to find my way back to me. Half the battle is facing the music head on, admitting it happened and making the necessary changes to get back on track. My name is Rose and I went from 159 lbs in May of 2017 to 189 lbs as of Today November 29th 2017. For the sake of blogging I am going to say I am 190 it is easier to manage the numbers.

Today is my real day one, I am starting over.  I am going to lose my first ten pounds of the thirty I gained. I am going to do my food drive when I lose the ten pounds. I am back to committing to a charity and committing to myself and my health. I couldn’t be more motivated. It took me six months to get here but here I am, ready to get to work. Each day I workout and eat healthy I will collect a can to be donated when I lose my first ten pounds.

How am I going to do it? How did you do it? These are questions I am often faced, but I am in unfamiliar territory having had the moment when I slipped up and lost my momentum. I spent six months eating foods on a regular basis that normally I would only eat as a treat. I also ate a lot of carbs. I know my body and what diet works best for my body type. This is not my first rodeo. I am doing what I always did successfully but I am doing a do over.

Exercise, I am doing cardio mostly walking nightly on the treadmill after work with my husband James. We call it date night. We are getting healthy together and getting back eating mostly plant-based and lower carbohydrate and some lean protein for me. I am also doing body weight exercise based workouts from Melissa Bender Fitness and in a few weeks when I feel ready I plan to tackle the machines at the gym. I plan to run three times a week and Yoga and stretching to round it out. I am also working a server job again, which helps because it is an active job and I can bring home healthy salads and fish dishes.

Here it goes, I got on the scale, all the Thanksgiving leftovers are gone. I have my challenges but that is life. Dealing with my weight gain head on with diet and working out will only help me with these challenges. I also plan to post more often, and some posts will just be quick updates with no fancy writing. I plan to plan to be here and be accountable. Less photos for now and more of the struggles we all face. I will save my writing for publications and photos for when I start losing again. For now it is all about the hard work. I have a slow computer and my goal is to be here and get it done and get to work on my fitness. There will be time later when I get a faster pc for more photo uploads when I start losing again. No excuses.

There is no shame in admitting you stumbled, there is no shame in admitting you fell on your face. Can you get up? Stand back up? Fall nine, get up ten. I am getting back up, my self esteem is bruised but soon it will heal.

After all, we are all human. I found out how human I really am. I also remembered feeling strong, fit and healthy feels better than eating pie.

Love and Light, 

Namaste’

Rose

 

 

STARTING DAY ONE

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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