Blended salad anyone?
Posted on 17 August 2011 | No responses
I’ve recently stumbled upon Megan Elizabeth who is a raw vegan and have learned there is a whole world of raw foodies amongst us. She has some great recipes on her blog and YouTube channel. And through her I have stumbled upon Arnold’s Way who is a quirky gentleman on the east coast who has his own healthy food store and often makes videos in the store. I love soaking in new information and hearing peoples testimonials of how the simple change of diet (something we all control ourselves) changes your life, literally. You can relieve/overcome many ailments, disease, lose weight, obtain beautiful skin….the list goes on of the benefits of keeping a raw vegan lifestyle. In fact, you may have heard of Kriss Carr who had stage 4 Cancer and is still alive due to her lifestyle change…Talk about amazing. One thing Arnold said regarding the transition to a raw lifestyle was something to the effect of it’s not about removing things from your diet, it’s what you add in. When you add in all the nutrient rich raw foods, you want cooked food less and less. I think that is such a great perspective. Really this could apply to anything really, right? It’s seeing the glass as half full. Another thing that got my attention was the fact that the smoothie is easily digestible since the ingredients are already broken down making it easier on your digestive system.
I watched one of Arnold’s videos on ‘green‘ smoothies and was intrigued. There are different ways you can make them but they contain green leafy veggies and fruit. I have been experimenting with different variations and consistencies and they are surprisingly good. Of course I have had a few that tasted like fresh cut lawn on a spring afternoon too. I’ve been taking pictures of my green drinks and posting some on Facebook and Twitter and one of my friends thought it would be helpful if I posted the benefits of these little delights. I’ve been using a handful of spinach and kale or mixed greens (collard, mustard & turnip) with different fruit mixes (small amounts) bananas, apples, pineapple & blueberries and a little H20 to liquify.
Pictures are worth a 1000 words
Posted on 24 June 2011 | 1 response
Tonight I spent a chunk of time going through our photo library to find a good ‘fat’ picture. We are redesigning our flyer for our weight loss challenge to include my before and now photos. Our summer session kicks off July 11 so we are coming down the line to get this finished. I went as far back as 2005 and only one word can describe how I felt. M O R T I F I E D. Holy hay bails. Who’s that girl? Well that was enlightening. I cannot believe how I packed the pounds onto my 5′3″ frame. Shameful. Talk about puttin a girl in check. I am glad I went through our photos because it just reinforced my dedication and commitment to my health. It reminded me to keep going, even when the sun still sleeps. I wanted to show you a before and now photo..
Here’s me as the winner of the first challenge in our complex. Now I co-lead the group..woot woot.
Some awesome tips I wrote myself 
I’ve got some great videos coming soon too. I’m really excited to share my favorite food finds!!!
Oakley Perform Beautifully contest
Posted on 17 May 2011 | No responses
Working out and living a healthier life has many rewards. One being the confidence to enter contests of sorts. If you know me then you know I watch all of Tone It Up’s videos and do their workouts and follow their diet plan to a degree. In addition to workout videos they often do cooking videos, snack ideas, and lots of recipes with protein powder. When they make a protein shake they do a dance in the kitchen while their shake is well…shaking errr blending! So, of course they had a contest for the ’shake dance’. I’m never one to say ‘no’ to winning or being silly so of course I was in. The contest was to submit a video response of your own shake dance. If you missed my silliness, you can still get a glimpse here (you can laugh – but not at me ). Long story short, Katrina & Karena are also Oakley ambassador’s. Oakley Women was launching a contest to become an ambassador for a year, win a trip to Napa and all sorts of cool stuff. Being that I have a ton of extra confidence due to my new slimness, I decided what the heck. Why not right? I’ve got nothing to lose! It also just so happens that my amazing husband is a very skilled sports photog when he’s not ‘in the lab with a pen & a pad.’ So we decided to once again break out the Canon 7D and put it to work. We headed to my favorite hiking spot in Hollywood and let the fun begin. Over 1100 photos later, I had my submission (8 photos) and an essay. Results are in at the end of the month. I had so much fun doing this and want to give you a glimpse into some of my fun.
Make a decision, add in a strong dose of commitment, and you are left with success
Posted on 6 May 2011 | No responses
If you follow me on Twitter then you heard me talking about waking up the other morning at 4:30am to workout. I have been trying to do this for about a year now ever since following Katrina & Karena of Tone it Up . They are my virtual trainers! They believe that you should wake up and do a 30 minute cardio workout right out of bed before eating or getting the day started. They say it will rev up your metabolism and give you energy for the day. Now, the key is that this does not count as your daily workout!!! If I can melt away the pounds faster and look fitter than I am all over it. I get up at 5:00am daily to get ready for work. The thought of getting up any earlier is daunting. It just seems ‘wrong’ to be up at 4:30am to workout. But, I finally did it. I listened to my trainers and when they sent out their booty call email (to remind their team to set their alarms for an extra 1/2 hour earlier) I thought oh why not.
I have to say, that I wish I would have listened sooner. I am naturally a morning person and once my feet hit the floor I’m up. I chose to do a 30 minute Yoga Sculpt DVD that morning. I was buZZing with energy ALL day!! It was unreal. I felt light, clean and excited for the day. Knowing that I still would do my normal workout I came to work prepared with my workout clothes.
I left work and went to my favorite hiking spot in the 80 degrees weather and did 2 FULL laps non stop. I jogged up and I jogged down. I was really into pushing it that day. I was hiking up and down 815 feet for an hour and treked 3.8 miles. You think that would tire a girl out right? Not me. That just gave me more juice for the evening. See, exercise is like a natural crack high for me. When I am done I have a ton of energy and excitement.
The point of my story is that when you really make a decision from your heart and commit to seeing it through you simply cannot fail.
Welcome 2011!
Posted on 2 January 2011 | No responses
I am very excited for a New Year. How can it possibly be better than 2010? Not sure since 2010 was so great, but I will know I will work harder to accomplish more to ensure it happens!!! That my friends is an intention! I wasn’t planning on making a resolution because I didn’t feel I needed to but I have changed my mind. I will call it my 2011 goals…if I document it then I won’t forget what my ‘resolution’ was come June!!!! Have you ever forgotten your resolution? Ya, I think we all have.
My 2011 goals are:
Lose 20 more pounds; blog daily about my process; buy this pair of Louboutin’s; work with 5 new clients and lastly exude love & kindness all the time.
Five goals seems doable. Now I have to get to the planning part. Have you made resolutions? The most important part is making A PLAN to ensure that you accomplish your resolution.
When goal planning set SMART GOALS – this is a specific process that helps you assess your goals and set a realistic, measurable plan that allows you to accomplish your goals within a time frame you desire based upon your schedule and lifestyle.
AIM SMART is an acronym for:
A - Acceptable – what is the ‘minimally acceptable?”
I - Ideal – what is ideal?
M – Middle – what is the middle; a realistic stretch?
After you have the goal to AIM, follow the SMART Process:
S – Specific: What exactly is the very first step of action/learning for the goal identified?
M – Measurable – for what you’ve listed in Specific make sure you have you have qualified or quantified the measure of success.
A – Achievable: Is the initial step possible to achieve
R - Reasonable: How reasonable is it that what you’re saying you’re going to do can be done at this time?
T – Time Oriented: By when exactly will you complete this first step of the goal? (not the entire goal).
Want support setting up your plan and getting it kicked off? Email me at Stephanie @ inquisitivecoach dot com for my New Year New You coaching offer!!!
Amazing make up brushes!!!
