Category Archives: vegan weight loss

My Change For A Ten

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Good Monday Morning, 

After being Mia for quite some time, I decided to return back to this blog, and the theme behind it. I’ve been running in circles for a few years, but I’ve finally caught up with myself and I’m making changes. In my weight loss journey I have over forty pounds to lose. I’ve decided to go back to what made this blog and my motivation work, sponsoring a charity with each ten pounds I lose. I’m still running my group Letters From Uncle Louie, and it’s such a blessing. Every time I lose a pound I’m going to put ten dollars in a jar. Each ten pounds will equal one hundred dollars. I’m going to donate one hundred dollars to a charity I choose. That’s how I’m going forward with sponsoring a charity, along with possible volunteer work. The idea is I lose and I give so someone gains as I get healthy. Just like I did when I began.

I will also be sharing my program, my routines, my vegan fitness and nutrition and everything I’m doing to be healthier and happier in mind and body. That includes tackling the health anxiety I’ve had since the pandemic began. I no longer wish to live in fear, but I choose to live in joy and abundance.

I hope you join me on this new endeavor, as I get back to this blog and to fitness and wellness. It’s been way too long. I missed you.

Love and light to all and Namaste’

Rose 

 

What happened week one vegan no oil

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Happy Tuesday. I’m a little late updating my weight loss so I decided to combine my week one weigh in and what’s happened after nine days eating vegan whole plant foods no oil, with little salt and just a dash of sugar in my coffee.
1. I lost six pounds week one.
2. my joints feel so much better, any aches and pains I had are now almost gone.
3. This is a little TMI but I normally have a lot of gas issues and daily diarrhea. It’s probably why my potassium was so low. I assumed it was all the fiber. Now I think it was the processed foods and oil. I now feel normal in that department.
4. When I usually sit for a while and stand up it takes me a minute or two to walk off the stiffness. It’s all gone. No more stiffness.
5. Got swollen eyes? No salt and no oil means less swelling under your eyes, in your feet etc. My shoes are not as tight. This is all only after nine days. I plan to eat like this for ten weeks, journaling every bite and sticking to Dr Greger’s Daily Dozen. After ten weeks I will start the next ten weeks of food journaling. I feel amazing so far. It keeps my motivation going feeling this good. I am trying no oil recipes so I will be posting those soon.
Have a wonderful day.
love and light,

Rose

 

MY CHANGE FOR A TEN

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Happy Tuesday. This is the second week of my second half of my wellness journey ( as a vegan) and I’m starting off strong with a positive mindset. I began this blog in 2013 and I helped a new charity with each ten pounds. I lost a significant amount of weight and helped several charities.  I was in the best shape I’ve been in since my twenties, and I regained my sense of purpose in the process. I had a lot of help from others in fitness and philanthropy. It was a team effort from friends who got involved.

When I decided to go all in on this blog again  ( for real this time) I didn’t think I could take on a charity with each ten pounds. I am still doing charity projects separately, but I wasn’t sure one charity with each ten pounds could be managed, until I came up with a fresh idea to accomplish my original mission with a new twist. My new my change for a ten plan is to donate something every ten pounds, with the number ten. For example, ten cans of food to Food bank or homeless shelter. Ten pounds of cat or dog food to a animal rescue. You get the idea. I would also like to start a movement to get others to do the same. Challenge yourself to do something for others using the number ten. Send ten cards to family members, ten blankets to a homeless shelter. You can do what I did originally and motivate yourself to lose weight by helping others. It worked for me then and I believe it will work for me now. I weighed in yesterday and my current weight is 169 lbs. When I get into the 150’s I will be doing a giving back to an organization I am passionate about. I’m yet to decide my first ten pounds donation, so stay tuned.

I’m also running the Facebook group I founded called Letters From Uncle Louie, we send cards and letters to seniors in homes to let them know they are not alone. I feel like teaming charities with weight loss really helped me be successful the first time around, and keeping it up is very motivating to me now. I would love to inspire others to do the same. We get healthy and it helps us be happier, and helping others is so rewarding; it’s a real win win.

Have a wonderful day.

With Gratitude, Rose

 

 

BENDERFITNESS COLLABORATION

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http://www.benderfitness.

Happy Sunday to all. I have exciting news. I’m collaborating with Melissa Bender Fitness. I will be contributing one vegan recipe each week to be shared on her website. I love this because I admire all that she does. Her fitness website and YouTube channel are game changers. She’s completely authentic, real, and professional. Not only is she a fitness trainer, she’s a certified yoga teacher, a running coach and an Occupational Therapist. Her website has a wealth of knowledge and videos for any type of workout you are looking for. She’s my go to for yoga, workout videos, and professional advice and recipes for wellness. She has guided my journey and is one of my inspirations in life.  Benderfitness is the complete package and it’s all free. No fees needed. I suggest you check it out.

Happy Sunday. I look forward to sharing my vegan recipes. Some will be healthy and some will be vegan comfort food because I’m a firm believer that living a life of balance creates joy. We all need more joy going forward.
Namaste, Manga, and Happy Cooking.
With Gratitude,

Rose

 

 

WEIGHT WATCHERS VEGAN

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Happy Wednesday to all. I restarted my wellness journey after a long hiatus, and a lot of attempts to begin again. In that time period I did lose some weight, but I was not consistent and my fitness journey became non existent during the pandemic. That, coupled with a few minor health snags messed with my positive mindset. Now I’m back in a new frame of mindset, in a new apartment ready to make a fresh start here in Texas. I am a vegan and I’ve written for VegWorld Magazine. I’m proud of my vegan lifestyle.

I’ve decided to use the WW ( Weight Watchers) app to keep accountable. It really helps when you are trying to lose weight. My starting weight a week ago was 174 lbs, and I currently weigh 170 lbs. My short term goal is to be in the 150’s, and my long term goal is to be around 135-140 lbs. I have wellness goals and fitness goals that I will get into at a later date. I’m chasing the whole package ( happiness and health) not just the shiny ribbon. It’s great to look better but so wonderful to feel better.

If you are wondering how WW online works I will share my plan. I signed up for online only, which is $19.99 a month. With that I downloaded the free app and there I count my daily points and journal my food. The app tells me how many points my food costs, and the search engine has most foods listed so it’s a seamless way to stay accountable. My budget is 30 points because I chose the green plan with the most points but less free point foods. Fruits and veggies excluding corn and avocado are all free. Once a week ( Monday’s) I weigh in and record my weight.

There’s two other plans too, Blue and Purple. Purple has the most free foods. A lot of vegans choose that plan but Green works for me best. I don’t need brown rice to be free.

That’s how I’m beginning my blog this time around. If you followed me before I sponsored charities with each ten pounds I lost. Now I’m working on my weight loss, wellness, and overall happiness and doing charities but not at every ten pounds. Is National Love People Day so it’s the perfect moment to share. I founded a Facebook group called Letters From Uncle Louie and we send letters to Seniors in homes. It’s really growing and I could be prouder of what we are accomplishing. If you would like to write to a senior twice a month come over and join our page, and message me and we can pair you with a senior. Giving back is part of my happiness journey, to be of service to others, so it’s completely relevant to this blog. I’m working on my outer and inner health. Let me know if you are beginning a wellness journey despite the crazy year we are having. It’s made me realize the time is now. Happy Wednesday to all and love and light.
With Gratitude,

Rose

 

THIRTY DAY CHALLENGE

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Let Food Be Thy Medicine and Medicine Be Thy Food.
Hippocrates

Monday, I’m here for you. I’m starting brand new on Monday. I need a health reset, a 30 day challenge. Something to motivate me going forward. Since my Candida I’ve expressed I do not feel my best. I’m having gastrointestinal issues. My fun vegan foods do not make me feel any better, they need to be once in a while occasional treats. It’s time to get back to nature and food in it’s most pure form. So for thirty days I’m going to get back to whole foods plant based meals with no oil and very low on salt and no sugar. I can do this. Monday it begins along with my restart of my fitness journey, and better time management of all my goals. I’m working on my life as a whole and tackling each area individually, beginning with wellness and health. I’ve broken it all into categories that I will share later this week. The first category is the most important, wellness and health. This weekend I’m doing a few healthy grocery store hauls. I plan to eat clean whole plant foods and move a lot more. Hello Monday!! Hello blog, I’ve missed you and treated you like a fair weathered friend, but that’s about to change starting  8/10/2020.  I challenge you to try this with me, just for one month. Happy Monday to all and Happy Health. 

love and light, Rose 

 

 

QUARANTINE WEIGHT LOSS

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Happy Thursday to all. My quarantine started rocky in mid March when my allergies sent my health anxiety to new levels, coupled with a world pandemic. I had goals for the sequestered time, but all I did was worry and fear, and complain about my symptoms while watching Netflix with my hubby James. Ozark is really great btw, a world more messed up than the one we are living  through.

I decided this week as I am starting to feel better to get off my but and start blogging about my new quarantine weight loss journey. As many of you know I had weight loss and fitness success, and a few years later gained half after some personal losses. I’ve tried time and time again to start over and I dropped the ball. That’s the beauty with dropping the ball, you can pick it up again and try harder. That’s where I am now.

in the last month I ate more pasta than usual, and I didn’t even attempt to count my points. Today is weigh in and I currently weigh 175 lbs. Today is day one, I’m up 3 lbs. I’m hoping my allergies have cleared up so I can focus on all my goals, fitness, weight loss, wellness and creative goals. I plan to start fresh with the WW app (Weight Watchers) because I plan to incorporate the 80/20 rule. It’s always worked for me in the past. 80% of the time I will be eating clean vegan with low salt, sugars, and oils and 20% or less of the time I will count in occasional small splurges like vegan cream cheese on my toast. The idea is to eat highly nutritious vegan food but also enjoy in life’s little indulgences, counting them in as part of my daily points. I believe Friday we are grocery shopping to stock up for the week. I’m cooking a lot more these days. 

Tonight I’m making Split Pea Soup for dinner. I’m going to bake some vegan treats to enjoy with coffee or tea. I will be posting more about what I eat in a day, my grocery haul and my quarantine fitness routine. All things I’m doing to try to find wellness, joy and fulfillment during these unprecedented times. I’m making a commitment to myself and accountability to anyone who is reading my words. I’ve fallen before but I keep getting back up, bruised backside and all. There is no failure, only the fear to begin again, so just pick up where you left off. With love and light Rose Bruno Bailey

I will leave you with a few quotes about failure and starting over fresh by some very important historical figures.

 

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
― Thomas A. Edison


“It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.”
― Theodore Roosevelt

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
― Winston S. Churchill

“Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.” 

― J.K. Rowling

“It’s not how far you fall, but how high you bounce that counts.” 
― Zig Ziglar

 

 

Injury and Weigh in Update

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It’s been a minute and a day since I’ve posted. I’m in the process of healing from an injury to my knee that’s taking much longer to heal than I expected. It’s a bit easier to walk on but it’s still pretty swollen. Today is the first day I’m going to try to do some cardio and see how I feel.

My weight has been fluctuating, I’m now 176. I was 174 a few weeks ago but I also stopped taking a diuretic I was on for years, so I’m not upset over a 2 lb gain. It’s incredibly humbling to backtrack from fitness and weight loss, but even more humbling to get hurt and have to stop all together. I never had an mri, just an ultrasound and an X-ray, so I really don’t know exactly what I did to my leg. I’m listening to my body and I’m going to go slow with cardio and see how I feel. My mind tells me if I can walk all night at work I can try to start getting fit again.

My vegan lifestyle is a lifestyle and not a diet, so that will never change. I’m eating mostly whole foods and plant based with low salt, sugar and oils. I do have an occasional boca burger without a bun on days I’m in a rush. I’m balancing my food, meal prepping and having a kale/ fruit smoothie every day; with chia, flax seeds and coconut water. Eating healthy is easy, the weight stalling has everything to do with the fact I haven’t worked out since I injured myself last November. Even though my knee is swollen I’m ready to begin again starting today. I was featured in two issues of VegWorld magazine and I’m really chasing all of my goals. I haven’t given up even when challenged. My sweet husband James said I’m beautiful but I’m stronger then people expect. He said I’m tough as nails. I don’t know about that but I try to never ever give up.

I admit the injury left me depressed, but I’m coming out of it with a positive mindset, and meditation. Controlling negative thoughts is key as is living for the present. I’m just going to get out there and move my body. I’m not going to begin with running or try to move too fast while walking. My goal is to move a little more each day, try the rower, and stretch my body. My first goal is to move to heal and get better, each day getting stronger and stronger. I have a long term goal to get in the best shape of my life, but for now I’m taking baby steps. Day one is today and my goal is to just move. I would like to try for 30/45 minutes but I’m going to listen to my body and let pain be my guide. Update tomorrow!!

Love and light and healing to all who need it.
With Gratitude,

Rose 

 

 

How to eat vegan on a budget

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Happy Monday to all. Let’s crush some goals so we worry less and spread joy more. We are happiness gurus today, not tomorrow or next week. For me it begins with two of my categories I need to work on, bills and my healthy vegan food budget. I’m getting healthy now, and my husband James is on board. To eat clean vegan doesn’t take a lot of cash. This week I’m doing it for $80.00.

These are two categories that are important in my life to be happy, getting on top of bills and debt and health. Beginning on Mondays I set the foundation for my week. I set my intentions for my day, and I honor those intentions. Here’s my food haul from last night. One more haul tonight and I’m done and then I decide which bills to tackle first, this plan is a proactive plan. To be happy you need to stop procrastinating, and find money somewhere to take care of issues. No more vegan junk means money to pay off things. I will reserve vegan junk for occasional splurges. Don’t get me wrong, I love vegan junk, only once in a while and definitely not daily. Eating clean vegan will help me on my path to weight loss/and vegan wellness.

If you want to eat clean on a budget I suggest you stick to fruits, vegetables frozen and fresh. I look around for deals first, and then I make my choices. I do the same with veggies and greens, and I buy a lot because this is the bulk of our meals. I look for seeds that may be on sale, I found chia seeds for $5.99. I buy only one bread, Ezekiel. One loaf should last a week. I have whole grain rice and a big container of oats at home, including oat flour, dark vegan chocolate chips for occasional homemade treats. At home I also have spices, nutritional yeast, and apple sauce. I have coconut oil and olive oil but we will rarely use oil. Applesauce is great for baking. We have nut butters, all natural with no salt or oil. Canned beans no salt, dry legumes like split peas and lentils. I do buy some condiments to help my hubby transition to clean vegan. Vegan mayo, vegan butter, and vegan sour cream. I will use sparingly.

Tonight at Trader Joe’s I’m finishing my haul. I will post in another blog what we are eating with this $80.00 vegan food budget. Oh, and there’s always coffee. I think it’s going to be easy to stick to this plan. After the holidays and all the salt I know eating this way will help me in three ways, losing weight, get rid of water retention from all the sodium, and save money to pay bills. It’s a win-win. Now doesn’t beginning your week this way make you happy?

One more thing, we are making a donation for Australia. I can take a little extra cash to show my support. It’s heartbreaking for all the people and animals. I can’t even look at the images, I just cry. If you can, donate a dollar or two. If we all did that imagine how much relief they can get. Part of being a happiness guru is being kind and giving. Love and light to all and prayers for our neighbors down under. Rose

2020 Clarity

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January 2, 2020

Happy New Year to all. I’m finding clarity with the new year. I decided to continue with this blog, rather than begin a new one. I’m still going to be focusing on my vegan wellness journey/ fitness/ weight loss and philanthropy. I’m also going to be my own self development and happiness guru, sharing what I’m learning on this journey of mine. It all began in 2019 when I was having a moment of feeling stagnate. I heard a quote from one of my inspirations. Tao Porchyn Lynch is is over 100, a yoga instructor and the oldest ballroom dancer in the Guiness Book of  world records. She once said she wakes up every day and tells herself today is going to be the best day ever. I started thinking  how can that be when I’m working long hours and money is tight. So many things I want to do cost money. My first reaction Was sorrow. It was Christmas and I felt like 2019 was not what I expected it to be, but then I decided I would make 2020 be everything I dream of and more. How am I going to do this? Stay tuned. I’m going to take each day by setting intentions, and as my husband James said I’m getting out of the loop. The loop is where you keep repeating the same actions and expecting different outcomes.

So here I am, changing  my approach. My fitness journey may be slower since I’m dealing with a knee injury but I’m going to work around it. I made ten categories I wish to work on, the areas of life I’m passionate about and things I feel are necessary for my happiness. Some are simple and some are grand. I’m chasing happiness and seeking joy. I’m going after my goals and dreaming big. Beginning with today’s intention to do very that. My first accomplishment of 2020 is my article about vegan beauty on a budget was featured in VegWorld Magazine.

I’m very proud to begin 2020 with this accomplishment. I’m my own happiness guru, and I’m sharing joy with all those around me. Let’s be happiness gurus together. Together we make a difference. When you are out there in the world making a name for yourself remember to make time for others. We are all connected. 

Love and light,

Rose