Hey everyone, I have recently learned of some new fitness, nutrition, and wellness ideas, and I wanted to share them with you all.
Body Brushing/Coconut Oil Moisturizer:
Body Brushing:
I learned about this last week from my health coach, and have done it everyday since. I love it!
Before getting into the shower, on dry skin, use a body brush (preferrably with a long handle) to exfoliate your skin and increase circulation. It makes your skin feel really soft.
Here is the website that can give you instructions on what to do: http://www.whole-body-detox-diet.com/dry-skin-brushing.html
Coconut Oil:
Before I get in the shower, I place a tub of coconut oil in the sink, and fill the sink with warm water. This will liquify the oil very quickly. By the time I get out of the shower, the oil is ready to be used. I use it instead of body lotion...it has a very light scent and does a fantastic job. The bonus is that it is all natural, so I am not putting chemicals onto my skin. You can find coconut oil and the body brush at most natural food stores, such as Whole Foods. It is located in the beauty section.
Rebounding:
Rebounding has become one of my favorite ways to get my cardio in. It is basically jumping on a mini-trampoline. If you are bored with your cardio program, which I tend to be easily, I recommend investing in a rebounder. They come in a wide range of prices, and can easily be found online.
The great thing about the rebounder is that you don't have to leave your home in order to get your work out in. It is very easy on your joints, and most of all, it is fun. You can crank up your favorite music and jump, or jump while watching your favorite tv show. It doesn't take up a lot of space, and the good ones don't make much noise at all.
If you are already running or spinning, etc...I wouldn't replace this as your only form of cardio, but use it on days when your joints hurt, legs feel heavy, or if you don't have time to get to the gym. It is a great addition to your weekly workout routine.
If you are just starting to workout, and don't currently do much cardio, this would be the perfect thing to get you going, because it is so gentle. In that case, use it as your main form of cardio, with the intention of adding other things in down the road.
The calorie burn for 15 minutes of rebounding is roughly 100 calories, depending on how much you weigh. Double that time, or even go for 45 minutes, and you will get in a pretty decent calorie burn.
Banana/Date Smoothie:
Once again, I have to hand it to my health coach for giving me this idea. If you have sweet tooth, I have learned of a healthy alternative to breaking down and buying icecream, cookies, cake, etc. When your sugar craving hits, trying drinking this smoothie instead. It is all natural, and won't spike your blood sugar to high heavens.
Use one frozen banana (peeled and chopped), one unfrozen banana and 2 dates (which you can find at locations such as Whole Foods. Just make sure if you buy them at a regular grocery store, they are packaged as dates only, not with other ingredients). Put the bananas and dates into a blender with a couple of ice cubes and just a little bit of water. Blend the mixture until it is smooth, and you will have an awesome snack/meal/what-have-you, that is really good for you. You can also freeze the mixture for a couple of hours, after you blend it. Then it basically turns into icecream.
I hope this is helpful...feel free to email me or leave a comment if you have questions!
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Monday, May 21, 2012
You become...
Hey Everyone,
I haven't posted in a while...lots of changes going on, distractions, etc. However, today I was sitting my living room for a few minutes, brainstorming on what information might be helpful to you all. As you know, if you have read my previous posts, I tend to write about whatever is relevant in my life at the moment. If I do it this way, I know it is coming from a place of learning for myself, and then having the opportunity to pass on what I have learned is as real as gets for me.
I didn't know what to pass along this time, and then a quote popped into my head by the great, motivating and inspiring, Wayne Dyer. In his lectures (which I have listened to countless times throughout most of my 20s), he makes the statement that "you become what you think about, whether you want it or not." Well...for most of the time I have been listening to his lectures, I have intellectually understood what he was saying, but have not understood on an emotional/physical/spiritual level...until recently. Within the past month or two, with the guidance of my health coach, as well as writer/motivational speaker/teacher Gabrielle Bernstein, I started putting those words into action. I started to think about what I actually want. It's easy to say, "more money, a better body, a nicer car, etc"....but that is not what they are talking about. They are talking about the "Law of Attraction." When it comes to the "Law of Attraction," as Wayne Dyer says, "it's not about attracting what you WANT, but about attracting what you ARE." You can and will attract into your life, that which is in alignment with your true intentions. Your true nature. Whether you want it or not.
I practiced "The Law of Attraction," a few years ago, but on a superficial level. It was about the car, the body, the money, etc. How I could GET more stuff...better stuff. And I got no where and nothing as a result. So, after a few more years of listening, reading, studying, I have begun to understand what they really mean about this Universal Law. I started to ask myself what I really wanted, and what I really was feeling. The two were not in alignment. I wanted all these great things, but I didn't "assume the feeling" (Wayne Dyer), of what I was wanting for my life, that would actually serve the greater good.
I didn't believe, on a fundamental level, that these things could actually happen for me. So, a couple of months ago, I decided it was time to switch it up, and get serious. Once I put that intention out there, that I wanted to "assume the feeling" of abundance, love, more confidence...things started to happen. (On a side note, in the beginning I didn't even know how to assume the feeling, and really believe it. At first it felt like make-believe, so I asked for help to simply learn how to assume the feeling...you gotta start somewhere.) It's exactly like that phrase "when the student is ready, the teacher appears." That is what happened. In a perfect order of events/circumstances, I was lead to the exact people, books, lectures, etc, to help me to figure out how to do this. How to assume the feeling, and not be so pessimistic that I sabotaged myself. With the final nudge (encouragment) coming from my health coach, I began to simply picture what I wanted for myself, and then assume what THAT picture made me FEEL. Every morning, I wake up, and before I get out of bed, I lay there (for about 10 minutes) until I have created that feeling within myself, that I know is in alignment with what I am wanting for my life. And I have to say, things have changed. FAST. But,they haven't changed at all in the WAY I WANTED THEM TO (which is a big lesson in all of this), but they began to change in a way that has forced me to put those feelings I have been creating within myself to the test. Big time. And what I have noticed throughout these changes, is that I have been able to handle them with a bit more confidence, knowing that I'm being guided in the right direction. So I can just sit back and chill out for once, and watch and see what happens. This is the polar opposite of what I would have done in the past, which is freak out, fight the change, and think that my way is best. I would have fought every step of what has been happening. Resist, resist, resist. But not this time. I don't even know how to explain it, other than while I might be in the midst of chaos, I'm not questioning whether or not it is happening for the best or not. I know I am headed in a direction that I never would have taken, had I not opened up to the possibility that maybe I DON'T know everything (gasp), and I will be guided to events that are WAY BETTER than anything I could have thought of, if I get out of my own way. Simply by doing the work (if you want more suggestions, leave a comment, or email me, and I will pass along more of the tools I have picked up), visualizing and assuming the feeling, and then letting it go and knowing it's being taken care of. One thing that I have learned, is that in order for something great to come in, sometimes certain things have to be re-arranged or removed. That's just the way it goes.
You are probably asking what this has to do with fitness and getting in shape. Well, everything, really. I am suggesting that if you really want to change your body, up your fitness level, or begin to eat healthier, that visualizing and assuming the feeling of those desires will help you reach your goal. I have learned that many of really fantastic atheletes practice visualization before any big event...and it really does work. If you start to live your life as though you already are that person with healthy eating habits, or you already are that person who has an incredibly fit body, you will begin to act on those feelings. You will feel like getting a salad for dinner, instead of ordering pizza. Or you may add an extra 15 minutes to your cardio, or perhaps try a form of fitness that you have never tried before, because it's been intimidating in the past. You will begin to make the choices that it takes to acheive those goals you want for yourself, because you already feel like that person who has acheived them. Make sense? As Gabby Bernstein says "think it, feel it, know it." Do this for anywhere from 5-20 minutes in the morning, and then as much as possible throughout your day, and watch and see what happens. Don't worry about HOW it is going to happen, just keep visualizing and it will be taken care of in it's own way, on it's own time. Keep me posted, I want to hear about it.
Mimi
I haven't posted in a while...lots of changes going on, distractions, etc. However, today I was sitting my living room for a few minutes, brainstorming on what information might be helpful to you all. As you know, if you have read my previous posts, I tend to write about whatever is relevant in my life at the moment. If I do it this way, I know it is coming from a place of learning for myself, and then having the opportunity to pass on what I have learned is as real as gets for me.
I didn't know what to pass along this time, and then a quote popped into my head by the great, motivating and inspiring, Wayne Dyer. In his lectures (which I have listened to countless times throughout most of my 20s), he makes the statement that "you become what you think about, whether you want it or not." Well...for most of the time I have been listening to his lectures, I have intellectually understood what he was saying, but have not understood on an emotional/physical/spiritual level...until recently. Within the past month or two, with the guidance of my health coach, as well as writer/motivational speaker/teacher Gabrielle Bernstein, I started putting those words into action. I started to think about what I actually want. It's easy to say, "more money, a better body, a nicer car, etc"....but that is not what they are talking about. They are talking about the "Law of Attraction." When it comes to the "Law of Attraction," as Wayne Dyer says, "it's not about attracting what you WANT, but about attracting what you ARE." You can and will attract into your life, that which is in alignment with your true intentions. Your true nature. Whether you want it or not.
I practiced "The Law of Attraction," a few years ago, but on a superficial level. It was about the car, the body, the money, etc. How I could GET more stuff...better stuff. And I got no where and nothing as a result. So, after a few more years of listening, reading, studying, I have begun to understand what they really mean about this Universal Law. I started to ask myself what I really wanted, and what I really was feeling. The two were not in alignment. I wanted all these great things, but I didn't "assume the feeling" (Wayne Dyer), of what I was wanting for my life, that would actually serve the greater good.
I didn't believe, on a fundamental level, that these things could actually happen for me. So, a couple of months ago, I decided it was time to switch it up, and get serious. Once I put that intention out there, that I wanted to "assume the feeling" of abundance, love, more confidence...things started to happen. (On a side note, in the beginning I didn't even know how to assume the feeling, and really believe it. At first it felt like make-believe, so I asked for help to simply learn how to assume the feeling...you gotta start somewhere.) It's exactly like that phrase "when the student is ready, the teacher appears." That is what happened. In a perfect order of events/circumstances, I was lead to the exact people, books, lectures, etc, to help me to figure out how to do this. How to assume the feeling, and not be so pessimistic that I sabotaged myself. With the final nudge (encouragment) coming from my health coach, I began to simply picture what I wanted for myself, and then assume what THAT picture made me FEEL. Every morning, I wake up, and before I get out of bed, I lay there (for about 10 minutes) until I have created that feeling within myself, that I know is in alignment with what I am wanting for my life. And I have to say, things have changed. FAST. But,they haven't changed at all in the WAY I WANTED THEM TO (which is a big lesson in all of this), but they began to change in a way that has forced me to put those feelings I have been creating within myself to the test. Big time. And what I have noticed throughout these changes, is that I have been able to handle them with a bit more confidence, knowing that I'm being guided in the right direction. So I can just sit back and chill out for once, and watch and see what happens. This is the polar opposite of what I would have done in the past, which is freak out, fight the change, and think that my way is best. I would have fought every step of what has been happening. Resist, resist, resist. But not this time. I don't even know how to explain it, other than while I might be in the midst of chaos, I'm not questioning whether or not it is happening for the best or not. I know I am headed in a direction that I never would have taken, had I not opened up to the possibility that maybe I DON'T know everything (gasp), and I will be guided to events that are WAY BETTER than anything I could have thought of, if I get out of my own way. Simply by doing the work (if you want more suggestions, leave a comment, or email me, and I will pass along more of the tools I have picked up), visualizing and assuming the feeling, and then letting it go and knowing it's being taken care of. One thing that I have learned, is that in order for something great to come in, sometimes certain things have to be re-arranged or removed. That's just the way it goes.
You are probably asking what this has to do with fitness and getting in shape. Well, everything, really. I am suggesting that if you really want to change your body, up your fitness level, or begin to eat healthier, that visualizing and assuming the feeling of those desires will help you reach your goal. I have learned that many of really fantastic atheletes practice visualization before any big event...and it really does work. If you start to live your life as though you already are that person with healthy eating habits, or you already are that person who has an incredibly fit body, you will begin to act on those feelings. You will feel like getting a salad for dinner, instead of ordering pizza. Or you may add an extra 15 minutes to your cardio, or perhaps try a form of fitness that you have never tried before, because it's been intimidating in the past. You will begin to make the choices that it takes to acheive those goals you want for yourself, because you already feel like that person who has acheived them. Make sense? As Gabby Bernstein says "think it, feel it, know it." Do this for anywhere from 5-20 minutes in the morning, and then as much as possible throughout your day, and watch and see what happens. Don't worry about HOW it is going to happen, just keep visualizing and it will be taken care of in it's own way, on it's own time. Keep me posted, I want to hear about it.
Mimi
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)