I was browsing through a magazine tonight and read an article about heart health…But then there was this emotional piece that resonated with me.
“When it comes to food choices, habit is stupendously powerful. Our familiar foods give us comfort, reassurance, and a sense of identity. They are there for us when the world may not be. They can be our best friends, loyal and true. It does not take much effort or creativity to do the same thing over and over again. There is ease and relaxation in doing what we have always done. And if our habits are continually reinforced by the society around us, they can become even more powerful and alluring.
On the other hand, it does take effort to question whether our conventional ways of thinking and acting truly serve us. It takes effort to ask whether our lives are in alignment with the prayers and deeper purposes of our hearts, It takes effort to consciously make choices that deviate from the cultural norms, yet bring us closer to our wholeness and true health.”
I have definitely fallen victim to using food as more than fuel. In loneliness, I have turned to food, as if it were a friend! Lost, I have turned to it as if it gives me purpose! Conversely, being mindful and curious lets us recognize that there are deeper issues that we need to confront. What is my heart really saying? What does my soul want? Sometimes, we have to act differently from others to do what we know is right. Several clients have told me about friends who are bad influences, and their friendships take place over myriad alcoholic beverages and fried foods at fast food restaurants. I tell them that they need to be a force of change, or abandon those friends for ones who support a healthy lifestyle. Personally, I thought of my trip to Thailand when I read the second paragraph I quoted above. Not everyone was the most supportive of my trip, and some were even discouraging me from going. But in my heart I knew it was the right thing, even if it was a somewhat “crazy” thing in some people’s eyes to take off for two months. But I knew that I was demonstrating courage by deviating from the conventional paths and do something that I felt would serve me. And this in turn would allow me to better serve others. Anyway, I liked this passage and wanted to share it with you for your own food for thought and for you to reflect on your own nutritional habits that may or may not serve you, and how it is reinforced perhaps by cultural norms. Furthermore, how does this analogy extend into your personal life and do you make choices that may not be in line with standard moires, but that you know are bringing you closer to your purpose and mental & physical health.
This is a guest post from Lisa Shoreland. Lisa is currently a resident blogger at Go College where recently she’s been researching student grants and blogging about student life. In her spare time, she enjoys creative writing and hogging her boyfriend’s PlayStation 3. To keep her sanity she enjoys practicing martial arts and bringing home abandoned animals.
It’s tough enough to find healthy food on the go in the States, but when you’re in a foreign country, finding something that’s good for you at an American fast food restaurant seems like child’s play. Often, you don’t have access to a kitchen when you’re traveling, and that’s one of the few places you can guarantee getting a healthy meal. Making your own food is the best way to know what’s in it, how it’s cooked, and how many calories and nutrients you’re getting out of it. At home, you can do this as often as you like, but in a foreign country, it can be tough to get your hands on a kitchen. You’re not about to change your mind about eating healthy food, so check out these strategies to help you keep your health standards high while eating abroad.
Making Your Own Food
It might seem difficult to get to a kitchen, but there are a few ways to make it happen. If you’re a student, it’s especially easy if you can arrange to stay with a host family. Simply offer to help make dinner, ensuring that your food is healthy in the process. You’ll know what’s going on in the kitchen, and that can help you determine what you should and shouldn’t eat at the dinner table. You can also volunteer to make dinner one or two nights a week, but don’t neglect to include your host mother in your plans. She can probably help you find fresh ingredients and give you pointers when it comes to inventing and cooking meals. Of course, this works best if you speak the dominant language of the country you’re visiting so you can communicate with your host mother and vendors. If not, you can work your way through with a phrase book or bring a friend who’s more fluent and can help you communicate accurately.
Another way to get your hands on a kitchen is to travel strategically so that you always have access to a friend or family member who’s willing to let you play chef. As long as you share what you make, most friends are more than happy to let you use their kitchen. If you’re feeling adventurous, you can even try to set up a deal with a friend of a friend – as long as you have a kitchen at your fingertips, you can take charge of making your own healthy food. Similarly, if you’re going abroad for a significant period of time, you can make friends once you get there and hope for kitchen access. You can lead in by saying you’d like to observe your friend’s traditional cooking techniques, and then you’ve gotten your foot in the door. Once in a kitchen, make yourself useful and make sure you’re invited back.
Restaurant Meals
When you’re ordering food at a restaurant, your first priority should be to know exactly what you’re getting. If you’re not sure what’s in the dish based on what you’re reading from the menu, ask the waiter or the people you’re eating with to help you understand what the ingredients are and how it’s cooked. Don’t be afraid to ask for a modified dish – being in a foreign country shouldn’t stop you from getting a fried item broiled instead.
Another strategy is to order two or three small appetizers if you’d like to enjoy some variety while making sure you get at least one healthy dish. That way, you can try something new without compromising your dedication to healthy eating. You can also arrange to split dishes with a friend who’s willing to enjoy a healthy, low-calorie meal, allowing you to try two different options.
Finally, you can ask the waiter to tell you about the freshest ingredients being used in the kitchen. Request a dish that uses them and isn’t fried, and you’re likely to receive a healthy and delicious meal.
Morning’s resolution for the day: Only positive words come out of my mouth I radiate love and warmth! Focus on being the best me. Let go of the past to open myself up to new opportunities. Greet and embrace the world with an open heart. This is how I approach the world!
I woke up this morning and decided to venture outside of the relatively overpriced, Western food and pick up some cheaper, Thai food from a soup vendor I had found the other day on my “exploratory walk.” I picked up a chicken curry soup, a fish and bamboo soup, and a mushroom soup. All these for the price of one Western meal!
Breakfast: Chicken curry- SPICY!!!!!!!!
9 AM: “MMA” class (JJ). Class today was pretty fun. I had partners with good attitudes, so that makes all the difference. Today we learned
You start in side control, let’s say the person bumps their hip and pulls their forearm under your neck to put pressure on your throat. You put both your hands on their one bicep and push it to the ground and from there go into the the keylock/Americana submission. I think.
You start in, say, side control of their left side, let’s say the person bumps their hip and pulls their forearm under your neck to put pressure on your throat. You work your right arm underneath their forearm, and clasp your own arm, with the left (top) arm pronated, and the right (bottom arm) clasped underneath. Put your right knee on belly, and scissor your forearms to cut off their air. This is called a “baseball” choke because it looks like your are holding a baseball bat. It kind of looks like this:
You start in, say, side control of their left side, let’s say the person bumps their hip and pulls their forearm under your neck to put pressure on your throat. You crawl your right hand forward to get some leverage on their arm (that’s digging into your throat), then you quickly dash your right arm to your left side and put your ear toward their shoulder, all the way on the ground. Put knee on belly, mount, then knee on belly to the other side. Tip toe all the way to the right, and smash your left shoulder toward your wrist, and that should elicit a tap. I’m not sure what this one is called.
When we rolled, I had a good time. In one of the rounds, I caught the guy in arm bar from guard. Ray and some of the others watching heckled him “Dude! She caught you in an arm bar!” He retorted “I let her! I have to be nice to her because she’s a girl!” Oh, is that so? My ass! “No! Don’t be nice to me!” I insisted. So right away he tried to snap me in a guillotine, but I got out of it, and he didn’t tap me, not once. I don’t even recall if ANYONE tapped me. Either I’m good, or they’re bad, or everyone is being way too nice to me : /
Came home, showered, had half a tangerine.
12: private JJ lesson. Learned/reviewed:
From guard:
Arm bar from guard
Kimura from guard
Triangle from guard
Arm Bar to Triangle
Kimura to sweep (planting arm not twisted)
Scissor sweep (holding tricep and back of head)
Scissor sweep to triangle (if they won’t scissor)
Scissor sweep to another sweep (don’t know the name)- if they stay planted, grab your opposite arm to their tricep, other arm around their neck/back, then roll toward the hip farthest from the ground, leading with opening the knee
From side control:
how to get from one side to the other
how to get from side control to the mount
keylock from side control
if they straighten their arm to defend- do an arm bar by hyperextending the elbow from the keylock position
kimura from side control (switch hips, and sit up)
if they defend the kimura by planting their hand, bring the knees around their head, twist their body on the side, and do the kimura from there
if they defend at this point by keeping their hand planted at the waist, turn it into a traditional arm bar
From mount:
keylock from mount (place your two hands on their one forearm, place it on the ground, grapevine your legs, smash your hips, and dig into the keylock
if they un-grapevine your legs, then bring your knee right over their belly and get into side control and do the keylock from side control
Arm bar from mount (one hand on tricep, one hand smashes across the face, foot over, and go for it
There are a few I kind of forget.
Let’s see if I remember any of it in practice.
Came home, showered, ate the fish and bamboo soup + other half of the tangerine
2:30 Private boxing lesson with Chok Ti. Turns out he fought Manny Pacquiao! But with me he used the same combo again and again (left- left right- left right, uppercut, right) so I don’t know if I will do that again. Probably focus on Muay Thai.
Came home, showered, picked up laundry, went back to Tiger to watch the 4 PM Advanced MMA class to see if I could hack it. As far as skills, what I saw of the class today was not too terribly beyond me (faking it to making it, of course), but as far as cardio….I woulddie. They did 5 min rounds upon rounds upon rounds upon rounds upon rounds of Muay Thai pad work, sparring, heavy bag ground and pound, grappling, etc… : O It was impressive. I DO want to take the class…but ummm these guys were AMAZING. I don’t think I’m there yet for this sport.
I had a protein shake with peanut butter (unpictured, from Tiger), met up with Tina, then went to Tony’s for chicken curry (unpictured). FULL!
Here is a lovely picture to leave you with: Here are some of the bruises I currently have:
I know you are very distressed with how WHITE MY LEGS ARE, I’m sorry you had to witness that!
The trip over here was like 30 hours altogether from start to finish but thankfully it went by quickly and smoothly!
I am staying at a place called “Dream Village.” The owner, Tony, is an awesome guy (born and raised in Phuket) who has gone out of his way to help get me settled.
Others, such as The Fight Geek, have recommended I go with him, too, and I can confirm I’m in good hands. This place is less than a 5 min walk from Tiger Muay Thai, where I hope to start training on Monday.
(pic taken when I arrived at like midnight)
For now, I am resting up, hanging out, and exploring the sights. Yesterday I got a Thai massage and exfoliation (er, Thai massage was wicked! Especially my toe- when she massaged my toe, it was excruciating. Hope it’s just scar tissue?), saw some of the city, saw a dog on the lap of a girl riding a motorcycle, tried strange fruit, saw many lizards,
took three showers, and slept a lot ☺
Today, I plan on checking out Wat Chalong, and the Big Buddha- pics and details will be forthcoming.
Here are some of the eats so far including this morning:
3 egg white omelette with spinach and fruit (some unknown). It felt nice and healthy! The unknown fruit was pretty good, and the banana I saved as a snack for later.
Chicken with “kale” (is it really kale?). The greens were really good! The chicken was pretty oily and I tried to pat it down with a napkin, but it was still pretty oily. Not bad though!
Muesli with fruit and yogurt. Not bad! This wouldn’t be my typical breakfast but I have to bend my preferences while abroad
Unpictured: one protein shake with cake batter protein powder (I brought) and one protein shake with Jay Robb pina colata protein powder (I brought)
Random Pic:
They sell gasoline often in bottles by the road! Yummy, soda!
Well, my beauties, where do I start? So much has happened!
I guess I’ll just start by sharing a bit about my trip to the world famous OLYMPIA! I was very excited! I did NOT successfully get to gush effusively to Tanji Johnson (my favorite fitness competitor) but I did see plenty of eye candy (though none that seriously caught my eye, maybe I’m blind), and I was so excited to see all the famous fitness models! My favorite sightings were Jessica Putnam
as well as Aubrie Richeson!!! The funny thing is- she is on my Freestyle Fitness Addiction PAMPHLET!!!!
I TOTALLY wanted to show her the pamphlet, but alas I didn’t have any on me!!! She was sweet as pie. It was also good to see my girl friend Sasha, who is a figure champion and my jiu jitsu partner in crime!
I look like a ghost next to her!
All in all, it was an inspiring trip to see these AMAZING physiques live and in person- and they look just as amazing in person as in the magazines! It was great to see
Okay, moving on. The BIGGEST, most exciting shift has been fight training, which utterly swept me up! Before, I was planning on figure or fitness or both and bodybuilding and strength training, lifting weights, etc etc etc…Now, my dreams are filled with kicking, coordinated reflexes, functional physiques, punches, sweeps, submissions, and quick eyes, predicting and responding to movements that I am totally incapable of seeing or knowing now!!! I am stunned and admiring of the things that experienced fighters can discern which my eyes are too slow and inexperienced to perceive at the moment. I love the development of reflexes and the patterns that fighters know…that is unknown or hieroglyphic to me at best. I love new challenges and somehow I got wrapped up in this one…As an athlete, I love that this focuses on more than the physique and I can let out my feisty nature here. Not that I’m not completely in love with the figure competitor body, but my thoughts and passions have somehow crashed down in the fight gym….
I have started to shift my training style because honestly I was lifting 6 days a week with very little cardio. Upon starting fight training, though, I was super gassed and sick of feeling that way so I decided to decease my strength training workouts and increase my cardio as well as skills/sport-specific training (e.g. take more classes). This is what I want to do…so fun…loving it!…focusing…
And here comes the ZIG ZAG. Thursday I ummm I stubbed my pinkie toe. It didn’t even hurt. But later it started turning purple and started hurting.
(shiny from arnica lotion)
Friday I went to the doctor and she x-rayed it and said it was fractured. Are you serious?! She says it takes 6 weeks for a fracture to heal. Until then, avoid things that will cause displacement or anything to prolong the recovery time e.g. no running, no things on my toes, no kicks, no fun times…
So…the excitement that I was feeling…I am quelching it. The irony is that I CAN lift weights and can’t do cardio at the moment (except the armbike)….so in essence I can revert to the routine I was on a few months ago!! But that’s not what I want!!! LOL. Ah, the universe is interesting, isn’t it? I find solace in a quote I saw on Facebook the other day:
“See each disappointment not as a negative thing, but as a gift from the Uni-verse preventing you from going down the wrong path. We think we know what we want, but very rarely do we actually know what we need.” — Mastin Kipp
So…I guess it wasn’t meant. But I do kind of feel like an excited puppy eager to race and jump, and being yanked back by my leash…Struggling…
"nooo"
"YOINK!!!! oh no ya don't"
uh this was just kinda cute
I want to PLAYYYYY!!!!
um just a weird pic to make you feel uncomfortable okay divert eyes move on
I said I want to PLAYY!!! heeeeee
Stuff is crazy right now with the conflation of education, demands of work (necessary), challenge of undertaking a new physical art form, and now this irritatingly minor yet significant injury…I need love, yo! This girl needs YOU! >>>Have you ever had a fractured toe? How long did it take to heal? Have you done any major training changes lately? Do you practice any type of martial arts? Any new exciting products or recipes?? (I have been totally loving Arctic Zero, that Alyson got me into!) Leave me a comment and/or hit me up at Kristina@FreestyleFitnessAddiction.com. Much <3 ~K
Want to shed weight fast? Here are some tips for accelerated weight loss. This is not necessarily a way to live 24/7, but they can help to get you over a hump if your weight loss is stalled, or if you *cough* come back from an Alaskan cruise and want to counteract the week of sitting on a boat coupled with multiple course meals at every glacier….
Eat 3-5 oz of lean protein per meal.
Increase meal frequency.
Ditch processed foods.
Ditch high carbohydrate foods, including breads, potatoes, and reduce consumption of fruit and nuts. Altering your macro-nutrients to a lower carbohydrate distribution can have a significant impact on your body composition!
Ditch sugar.
Load up on mostly non starchy veggies. My FAVORITE: a salad with spinach, cabbage, celery, arugula, jalapenos, broccoli, cauliflower, hearts of palm, a little artichoke, a little edamame, and some protein like hard-boiled egg whites, chicken, and turkey. With a lil bragg’s amino acid, a lil olive oil, a lil balsamic, and a lil lemon juice. TO DIE FOR.
Eat organic. Don’t poison yourself with pesticides! This hampers your body’s abilities to function optimally- including your metabolism.
Stick to low glycemic LOAD food.
Shoot for a ratio of Omega 6’s to Omega 3’s of 1:1. Most people consume a disproportionately high amount of Omega 6’s to Omega 3’s.
Increase your water intake. Insufficient amounts of water in your body will hinder effective breakdown of fat.
Reduce your sodium consumption.
Exercise 6 days a week- mixing higher and lower intensity cardio with weight training. Especially for folks who don’t do any sort of interval or strength training at all- this can help tremendously! And stretch. You want your muscles at their optimal length!
My client, Brendan, and me
Think positively. Be present. Smile and laugh. Stress increases cortisol, which can lead to increased cravings and/or increased fat storage. You don’t want this!
Keep a food and/or workout and/or emotion log to stay mindful and to discern patterns.
Dinner: Turkey sausage (?) with sautéed chard, tomatoes, peas, and carrots
In addition, throughout the day I ate:
1.5 scoops protein powder, one apple, one nectarine, and salad w/protein and olive oil.
Total estimated macros:
173 g P, 110 g C, 73g F = 1789 cal
I rested yesterday after all the frenetics of Saturday, and I know it did my muscles well to repair!
Today I felt great! I am consistently making strength gains, and I am loving it!
Monday’s My Chef By Request:
Today I ate:
Eggs + some type of sausage + 3 pieces orange
Nuts + "chocolate mousse"???
Salad w/chicken + cucumber + tomato + unknown vegetable??? (those strings of yellow on top)
Some type of sausage + roasted pepper
Shrimp + green beans + squash + tomato w/some type of pesto topping?
Plus some protein pancakes, and casein (unpictured).
Today’s estimated macros: 209 g P, 67g C, 51 g F = 1563 cal.
FYI, I have been feeling really great eating such high protein, and low carb (and the occasional higher carb day, such as yesterday). I don’t recommend it to the average Jane, but if you are into fitness or figure then this is a regular way of life.
Eating out of a cooler with My Chef by Request has been nothing new to me. MCBR has saved me some time by not going grocery shopping as much, cooking as much, cleaning as much…BUT so far I am telling you that I don’t find it a panacea. I still have to consider how I will supplement the food each day and include/cook it, what I feel I will need through the day especially with regard to my workouts and schedule….and still think about the food like uhhh is this food I want to eat? Prefer to eat? Do I WANT to eat this ______ or would I prefer to eat my “own” food?
I think the My Chef By Request would be sooo helpful and ideal for people who are not knowledgeable about what healthy is, or don’t know how to cook healthy or don’t have the time/energy….but, for me, I am not the ideal client since I am so picky and self-reliant.
But I have been enjoying the variety of foods I don’t normally cook for myself, and enjoying not taking a million trips to the grocery store!
First day of My Chef By Request (MCBR). As far as taste, it was very good, everything was very tasty!! My favorite was the sauteed mushrooms for dinner..yumm! As I mentioned yesterday though, I truly don’t think that the food added up to the carbs and calories that they said. I was wondering if I could get through the whole day ONLY eating the MCBR + protein shake and I thought so, but after I took Monkey Conditioning class and I was considering how much food was left…I decided to go to Whole Foods and grab a salad and a zero cal Bragg’s apple cidar vinegar water to supplement my day’s eats.
a pinch of this, a pinch of that!!! -->kale, shrimp, tofu, turkey, chicken, tuna, hard boiled egg, kidney beans, edamame, celery, spinach, broccoli, jalapenos, red cabbage, onion, olive oil and vinegar
Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar "All-Natural Drink" - Ginger Spice Flavor, zero cal...very refreshing...
I feel justified in this act not only because I doubt the verity of MCBR’s total calorie claim (echoed by fellow trainers with sharp eyes for estimating cals/macros), but also because I probably burned over 850 calories today in exercise alone (what I call FUN TIMES [delightedly worked out solo in the morn to my heart's content mixing it up w/ kettlebells, tire flipping and sledgehammer work, and in the afternoon went to Monkey Conditioning class, which today was a mix of bodyweight exercises, gymnastics, parkour, and aerial conditioning]).
Today’s estimated macros:
Protein Shake: 50 g P, 0 g C, 2 g F = 218 cal
MCBR: 90 g P, 70 g C, 32 g F = 928 cal
Whole Foods salad: 25 g P, 11 g C, 15 g F = 279 cal
Total: 165 g P, 81 g C, 49 g F = 1425 cal
Tomorrow we’ll see how it goes! Again, I have received the food for tomorrow and the amount looks quite scant! I will for sure supplement with a protein shake, but besides that we shall see! So the experiment continues…
My Chef By Request is a delivery service that DAILY delivers to your door fresh meals with the macronutrient distribution 40% carbs, 30% protein, and 30% fats. I THOUGHT it was all organic, but I can’t find that on the website right now.
I had found out about them when they left their brochures at the gym I train out of. I paid it no mind until my fellow trainer started to sign up for their services, and I asked him all these questions, and he didn’t know the answers! So I went on to their website and was quite impressed! I loved that they are able to cater to celiacs, diabetics, vegetarians, and those who follow the Paleo Diet!
I love preparing my own foods and having control over my meals. I don’t consider myself willing to eat others’ food also because I prefer to each more protein and less carbs than the standard American diet (sometimes called the “SAD” diet). BUT I was intrigued by the option of relinquishing the responsibility (at least temporarily) of cooking, cleaning, and calculating….Not to mention that I have to try it myself to be able to whole-heartedly endorse the service to my clients. So I decided to give it a shot.I ordered the Paleo option, 3 meals and two snacks, and told them no pork or red meat. I was all set up to receive my food Wednesday night (in a cooler, they leave it at your door) so I precisely ate up all the fresh food by Wednesday night. But alas I was informed that there was a mess up with a new employee and I would not receive my food until Friday night. Darn! So I made an extra trip to the grocery store to get groceries to last me Thursday and Friday. Friday night (an hour ago) I received my food (for tomorrow).
Breakfast: looks like an omlette w/a small peach and 1/2 a chicken sausage? (not listed what type of sausage)
Lunch: Turkey salad with some type of dressing (type of dressing not listed)
Dinner: Chicken w/kale, zuchini, and mushrooms? (not listed)
Snacks: Eggplant and Thyme Dip (with walnuts- not listed)
2 sticks of celery with an unknown dip (again, not listed)
It looks pretty good and healthy. I normally eat a lot of volume but it is not calorically dense so I still end up eating not too many calories, and shoot for 50-100 carbs a day. I was a little concerned by eating a greater number of carbs but uhhh if I were to eyeball the day’s worth of it, I certainly would not have estimated it to contain the number of carbs it says it should! They say I am getting like 120 grams of carbs, but if I didn’t know better I would guess the day’s worth had more like 35 grams!!!! Well, I guess it is a blessing in disguise because I won’t feel worried about excessive carb consumption??? Lol…
I am a little worried of being hungry because I don’t like that feeling! The quantity of food looks pretttty darn small. Like I said, I am used to more volume. I have my tricks (you other figure/fitness/nutrition gals know what I’m saying!) to eat a lot of food but not many calories (e.g. a ton of veggies, mashed cauliflower, spinach, kelp noodles, protein powder, etc are some staples!)
One thing that could have been more professional was the list of what I was given! There was a list printed, but it appears that it was the “regular” menu, and I ordered the Paleo. So the typed list was crossed off, and a few words were scribbled on top, but it was far from comprehensive. E.g. for breakfast it says “omlette” but really it included also a small peach, and some type of sausage (type: unknown). For one snack, it is completely illegible—ummm looks like “chloe” something??? I have no idea. And it is just two celery sticks and some type of sesame something dip. It would be nice to know what I am eating. And for dinner, the typed item is crossed off, but nothing is written as to what I am receiving, although it looks to me like kale, zucchini, mushrooms, and chicken.
SO! I am excited to try this out. Ha. Will keep you posted how it goes tomorrow.
I have been on the go lately, but feeling pretty good. I am still adapting to my new life, and this book I got called My Miracle Manifestation Manual by Jacquelyn Aldana has been helping me!
It guarantees “substantial improvement in your sense of well-being after faithfully doing your 15-Minute Miracle in writing for at least 21 out of 30 days.” Cute, isn’t it? So far, I have diligently filled it out on 7 of the last 8 days- and have already had some positive results It’s a workbook where you fill in the blank, and it actually has 63+ days to fill out, so I’m eager to see where I am after 21, 30, or 60 days…The language is COMPLETELY over the top, but I seriously LOVE it. It is just SO over the top, that it brings a smile to my face. Each day, you fill out: (mind you, I am typing the basics from the printed workbook, so the workbook is a bit more comprehensive, but you get the idea)
Clean your slate: Today, _______, is a clean slate for me to enjoy.
Claim your POWER: As long as I can CHOOSE my thoughts, I can CHOOSE what I attract and create in my life.
Create a clear intention: Starting today, my ongoing intention is to find _______ ways to ____.
1. Appreciate what you already have: As you acknowledge your blessings, Life brings even more for you to appreciate.
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
2. Choose how you love to feel: I love it when I feel __. When I feel this way, _______which makes it easier for me to _________.
3. Play wildly in your imagination and picture yourself living the “Life of Your Dreams” as though it were already so:
______________________________
______________________________
_____________________________
Describe how you fe-e-e-el as you re-read this step. I now feel ______.
4. Hire your Higher Power: I now invite assistance from the Loving Power that dwells within me and All Life Everywhere. Dear ______ and ALL who walk with me in Love and Light, Thank You for Your perfect guidance, unconditional love, and ongoing support. If it is in the highest good for me and All Life Everywhere, please divinely orchestrate the following in just the perfect time. (Please list your requests below)
_______________________
_______________________
________________________
I completely ________ all worries, doubts, and fears to You, ___________. As I trust You to take care of the details, everything naturally falls into place for me with amazing ease.
5. Let go of anything negative: I am now ready to ___________ and let go of _________ plus ALL issues (both known and unknown) that prevent me from living my best life now. This act of releasing enables me to ___________.
6. As your Wonderful Wisdom Within for wise advice: Dear ____, Please make it easier for me to move forward in my life by providing wise advice as I ask the following question:
______________________
Write down the answers you receive here:
_____________________________
_____________________________
___________________________
To greatly increase the benefits of doing this step, write down a tentative date when you plan to take action.
7. Be kind to yourself first: As a special treat today, I give myself permission to ___________.
Then be kind to others: My special way of being kind to someone else today is to _________.
Accept Life’s gifts: With enormous gratitude, I now agree to ____ these and even greater gifts in just the perfect time in delightful ways that bless and benefit All Life Everywhere.
Signed the Magnificent __________ Date _______
Declare with conviction: “I am an ‘Irresistible Magnet for Love, Money, Miracles, and More.’ It’s just the story of my life!”
Listen as Life exclaims: “You’re RIGHT, Magnificent One! Let me show you more evidence of how RIGHT you are!”
Ahhh…so over the top yet totally positive and DELIGHTFUL and AMAZING right?!?! I just love all the enthusiastic language…So that is what I have been working on (almost) daily. Each entry takes me about 30 minutes. They say it can only take 15 minutes, but I think that’s only if you fill out steps 1-3 and sign it (the “bare bones”). I have been filling out ALL the steps and signing…It’s been helpful.
In other news, let’s talk about nutrition on the GO. Because, as I recounted in an earlier post, I have not been spending as much time at home, so it has been a bit more a struggle to eat healthy foods that I would prefer, as sometimes I am not compelled to pack my food for ALL DAY in a cooler, as it seems the freezer pack seems to be melted by afternoon-ish so foods don’t seem so fresh. I just ran out of my Jay Robb protein packets, and now I need to re-up!!! The peeps at Jay Robb were really awesome and sent me a whole package of different protein powders for me to try!!! In fact, they delighted me with a few different protein bars (dangerously delicious, um I may or may not have eaten more than the recommended serving….) and a cool bag that I ROCKED for all of a few days until it broke (sad, but it inspired me to make my OWN bag off of Zazzle, so now I rock my own Freestyle Fitness Addiction bag, woo ha ha), and the protein powders lasted me a WHILE! They sent me an assortment of flavors of brown rice, egg white, and whey protein powders.
I must say that I had never had brown rice protein powders, and they were all pretty grody in terms of taste/texture. Maybe because I am so used to whey, but it just seemed really gritty. The egg white protein powders were very palatable, similar to whey. My favorites, though, were the whey protein powders. All the powders were SO convenient, as I would leave a few packets in my car, and once I was done sweating my ass off in boxing or kickboxing, and my muscles need that fast-acting nourishment, bam, I would pour a packet into my shaker bottle and consume a tasty and healthy protein drink of approximately 24 grams of protein, 1 g carb, and 0 g fat! Nice stats, eh? And they are free of artificial sweeteners, gluten free, and from grass-fed cows- niiiceee! Also, they come in very unique flavors like PINA COLADA! I’m all over that, son. I need to go to the Vitamin Shoppe and buy some more!
I have an exciting nutritional experiment I will embark on in a few days…will keep you posted!
That’s all for now, kiddies.
What do you think of the idea of “My Miracle Manifestation Manual”? What has helped you in transitional periods for you?
Do you like brown rice protein or egg white protein? Jay Robb protein?
I am a certified personal trainer, avid fitness enthusiast, and creator of Freestyle Fitness Addiction. Come visit frequently, as I add articles, video clips, and personal blog posts related to building strength, power, and stability in fun, outside-of-the-box ways; nutrition; inspiration; injury prevention and rehab; figure and fitness; mixed martial arts; random ruminations, and daily personal life. When not driven by my fitness addiction, some of my favorite things include being a badass with my hoodie up, sparkles, and kittens.
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I radiate love and warmth! Focus on being the best me. Let go of the past to open myself up to new opportunities. Greet and embrace the world with an open heart. This is how I approach the world!
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