Fall Fitness Challenge

How bad do you want it?  Good health, great skin, a more toned physique?  How much work are you willing to put in to get it?  The things we ingest speak volume in regard to how we view, love, and care for ourselves.  Some have very little regard for this area of their lives and I too once participated in that same level of ignorance.  Since childhood, most of us have been introduced to the likes of fast food, dairy products and in some cases junk food by the truckloads.  Retraining my mind over the past two-years to eliminate my cravings for these particular foods and to embrace a vegetarian lifestyle has been difficult.  My eagerness to learn about my new diet of plant-based, well-harvested and organically grown products has helped me tremendously with this transition.  Staying out of my former hot spots like McDonald’s, Applebees, TGIF’s and Chili’s has also proven to be quite beneficial.  Once I began eating differently, I realized that most of my favorite restaurants served up food that was loaded with sodium, cheese, and pork.  These were some of the things that were bloating me, causing acne breakouts on my skin and assisting my body to store unneeded fat in places that I definitely didn’t want it. A few of these restaurants also serve alcohol for an additional amount of added calories. My vegetarian lifestyle has now begun to manifest itself in my newfound muscle tone and body structure which continues to surprise me.  Thank God for wisdom and discernment; this former glutton has been set free.  I love the saying, “When you know better, you do better”, and the reflection in my mirror is a much healthier woman.  I have to consciously make decisions throughout my day which constitute what will and will not go into my mouth. From alcohol to cigarettes what we allow into our system will ultimately determine what is going on inside of our bodies.  How we feel, how our spirit feels and how we view life can all be transformed by the things that we eat and in some cases drink.  Greasy foods that are loaded with fat and sodium weigh us down and can play a tremendous role in daily fatigue. The more fatigue we feel, the less capable we are of any type of exercise.  Alcohol can lead to depression and addiction, cigarette smoke and drug use can lead to the malfunction of precious life organs, suffocating them of oxygen and resulting in death or life-threatening diseases.

 

Fruits, vegetables and organic teas can make us feel light and airy throughout the course of our day which can increase our desire for increased mobility. During the summer months I find that more of us are prone to opt for refreshing salads, healthy fruit smoothies and water but what happens as fall rapidly approaches and the weather changes?  How many of us, still opt for the crispy garden salad versus a fast burger and fries in a to-go bag?  A colder season can force us to lean on hotter food choices and can also encourage our desire to stay indoors. In some instances, the sadness of seeing the summer go can cause a natural reaction of introversion.   About a week ago, it dawned on me that many of us will stop whatever exercise and outdoor activities we had in place during the summer months.  Many of us will get back to the television remotes or our favorite indoor activity and we’ll begin layering the clothes.  What if, you had a spectacular vacation planned in the Bahamas set for December 1^st?  Could your body really afford to wait until New Year’s Eve to get back into your rusty gym membership resolution?  This is the mentality I’d like to see you adapt for fall.  Brooklyn has a ton of outdoor landscapes that are beautiful to speed walk or even jog along side of like the, Brooklyn Bridge Park where I took these photos and the Belt Parkway are two of my favorites.  Be childlike, and pretend that the vacation of your life is right around the next corner even if you don’t realistically have the funds to plan one! Most importantly, let’s not give up on moving our bodies!  Don’t let garden salads flail in the wind just because there isn’t warm summer sun to enjoy them with.  Challenge yourself!  Challenge your body to come along for the ride. Don’t pack your bikinis away with the intention of not seeing them until next June.  What if, you just ate salads, fresh fruits, raw vegetables and you sipped on organic teas that felt more comforting to your soul than a warm chocolate cookie?  What would your New Year’s resolution be this year if that’s how you spent the fall?   You would crave more healthy, more exercise and more nutrition.  It would all make sense!  It might even spill into other areas of your life you’re your personal relationships. One positive action attracts another. That is the beauty of God’s wisdom; when you can separate yourself from conditions that have become habitually negative for your life.  You can free yourself from all the chains that are weighing you down and start fresh; knowing that it’s never too late.  It might sound trivial to compare what’s going into your mouth with what’s going on with your soul but I’m sure that you’ll be able to see the correlation.  In order to win and to truly have the victory you need to be good to your body. Be careful what you eat, who and what you let enter your temple, and what stress you do and don't take on.  All of these things will be contributing factors to your levels of peace or misery.  When you set your standards higher than you can actually reach, you'll always win and you'll more than likely exceed any expectations that you've placed on yourself.

 



Finally, as I say goodbye to my favorite time of year I want to encourage you to come up with the sun every morning.  Breathe, and go out into the crispy air before it gets too cold to be out there.  Connect with your workout.  Connect with the location of your workout.  Brooklyn has great beaches and when I head over to a local favorite of mine actually called, “Manhattan Beach”, I love to just run on the sand.  Running on the sand feels similar to wearing ankle weights and offers a fair amount of resistance for muscle toning.  I fully take my surroundings in and I use this time to pray as well.  In Psalms 23:2, there’s a passage that says, “He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams”.  Exercise is the perfect time to connect and really talk with God.  The Bible says that Jesus used to go out into the wilderness to pray.  The wind, the sun, the water, the sand, the trees, the birds, the sky, will all help you to connect with your own inner peace. I never feel closer to God more than I do when I’m outside and fully submerged in nature.  Gratitude engulfs me when I’m outside; the full realization of a new day, a new opportunity and another 24-hour chance at life; all because my Heavenly Father keeps choosing me.  So with an incorporation of mind, body and soul connectivity you too can implement a system that works to improve your overall quality of life. From workout clothing that makes you feel empowered to supplements and ideas that will help you to get rid of stubborn fat that seems to never go away.  I’ll be sharing my thoughts and my insight throughout this fall season that will enlighten you and have you proudly jamming at your next New Year’s Eve celebration!  No more sulking and hiding in another resolution of guilt and shame resulting from overeating, bad food choices, and lack of mobility and prayer.  Let’s move!  Let’s Breathe! Let’s Exercise!  Let’s Connect!  Let’s Live! And most importantly.. Let’s Talk About It…

 

Much Luv,