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Step 5 of Fit 2 Love: Thank Your Lucky Stars

Sep 7th, 2011 by JJ

**This is an excerp from my book Fit 2 Love: How to Get Physically, Emotionally, and Spiritually Fit to Attract the Love of Your Life.


“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.” Thornton Wilder

Please understand that you are perfect just the way you are right now. The journey you are on is unique and special. There is nothing wrong or broken about you. Your mind and body are working perfectly even when they are doing things you don’t like.

You get constant feedback from your body and emotions about where you are in the moment so you can decide where you want to go next. This is a spiritual journey, as much as a physical and emotional journey, of changing your body and manifesting love from within, as well as from another.

While there are many factors in life that are out of your control, you do have the ability to manage your thoughts and how you react to every situation. How you perceive your experiences will color the kinds of emotions attached to them. Choosing a more positive and hopeful outlook will produce better feelings. There are always two points of view to choose from in every situation: what is working and what is not.

Focus on what is working to practice gratitude every single day. This will not only help you manifest more of what you want, it will also make you happy immediately. When you can control your thoughts and feelings, you influence your happiness. If you find this difficult to do or sustain on your own, talking to someone like a psychologist, counselor, or life coach can help you shift your thoughts and change your feelings. Start by thanking your lucky stars.

What is Gratitude?

Gratitude is appreciation for people, places, and things, as well as,
for ideas, qualities, and feelings
Gratitude is thankfulness, and I use it like a key
a key to inspire strangers, my friends, and me
a key to life that sets me free
a key to heal insult and injury
a key to awareness, when I refuse to dream
a key to finding forgiveness and feeling peace
a key to manifest my desires, what I want, and who I choose to be
a key to light the dark times, when I can’t see
a key to expressing my preferences, what I love, the real me
a key to feeling the present moment, gently
a key to reconnect me to humility
a key to boundless opportunity, when I get caught in my limited certainty
a key to transcendence, imagination, and epiphany
a key to turn the hardest moment into a glorious journey
a key to the only foolproof system of love in the galaxy
a key to access infinite possibilities
and when I share my gratitude, gratitude enriches you and me
Gratitude is actually the doorway, choice is the real key
The best part about gratitude is that gratitude is always… absolutely… free!

“Gratitude is” by Macarena Luz Bianchi

I filmed the video above on a day I wasn’t feeling so good.  It has been a crazy and slightly emotional week and through it all, I can still focus on what is going well in my life and practice what I preach!

I invite you to watch the video and start to implement DAILY practices into your life that focus you on what IS working instead of what is missing or going not the way you want it.

We all have bad days but HOW you deal with it determines how you create your life.


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Posted in Life | 12 Comments »

Creating a Food Love Affair Now

Aug 31st, 2011 by JJ

This is an excerpt from my book, Fit 2 Love: How to Get Physically, Emotionally, and Spiritually Fit to Attract the Love of Your Life.


“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.”                                  Virginia Woolf

We have lost touch with our relationship to food. With at least three opportunities every day to practice receiving the transfer of energy from our meals to our cells, eating has become a source of confusion and conflict, rather than a delightful pleasure. The lack of respect and abuse of food is one of the reasons why our health, as a culture, is rapidly declining. For some of us, the concept of doing anything except ordering in or going out seems like too much work. Our lives are too busy to slow down and prepare a home-cooked meal. Having a food love affair means having a deep, meaningful, respectful, and loving relationship to the food we put in our bodies.

In cultures throughout history, hunting, gathering, raising, and preparing foods was an honored and respected daily ritual. People were in tune with the abundance of each season and the different foods the earth provided throughout the year. Modern living has taken away the need of our attention to this. If you are looking for love, practice these principles with your food first. You have to create a love affair with food to attract the respect of your body and have success with health and weight management. To heal the obsession of dieting and calorie counting, you are going to treat food as your new lover, with whom you see the potential for a committed relationship. Rather than making food the enemy, you want to fall in love with food.

The Courtship

When you meet a man who interests you, the curiosity can be overwhelming. You want to know so many things: Who he is? Where he is from? What does he do for a living? How was he raised? Passion and excitement surround the quest for knowledge about this new person. It is an important step in finding the right partner. I want you to take a similar heightened interest in what you eat. Every day you fill your body with ingredients that make a huge impact on your health, state of mind, emotional well-being, and size of your waist. Take a look inside your refrigerator and kitchen cupboards and ask these questions: How did this get made? How does it affect my body? Where did it come from? Start to be more curious about seeking knowledge of the most vital relationship you already have—your diet. We take for granted what we consume everyday and how it impacts our lives. We are missing the spiritual connection to food.

Imagine you are looking at a red pepper. How does it affect your body? How was it grown? Did the farmers use pesticides on the plants? Was it just picked, or has it been sitting in a grocery store for a few weeks after being shipped from a warehouse? What’s the difference? I chose the red pepper because my husband and I have just started growing our own vegetables, and we have green and red bell peppers. Prior to planting a garden, we were regularly shopping at the local farmer’s market. At the last minute while preparing brunch for guests, I had the direct experience of comparing the shelf life of farm fresh veggies over the grocery store bought version. The store bought celery started to turn brown after two days, while the farmer’s market celery lasted for over two weeks. This confirmed my choice to go directly to the farmers to get my produce as often as possible.

The red bell pepper has many nutrients you want to know about. Studies have shown that red bell peppers have significantly higher levels of nutrients than green. Red bell peppers contain lycopene, which helps to protect against cancer and heart disease. They are a good source of vitamin C, vitamin B6, beta carotene, and folic acid. Peppers contain a large amount of phytochemicals that act as antioxidants to protect against cataracts, blood clot formation, and reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Sounds good, yes? Can you get more excited about eating a red bell pepper and all the wonderful things it can help your body do? If you find yourself more interested in the red pepper, this is good news. You are creating a love affair with food.

In my book, I cover a few more steps and ways in which we engage with food and how it can enhance different parts of our lives as well as our bodies.

I am doing a complimentary class on 3 of these stages at Whole Foods Market Redondo Beach.  Click here to get more info and learn how to register for these classes.

Just like your relationship to a person, food is no different.  Your relationship with food can always be improved and deepened for a more satisfying union!

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Posted in Health, Life, Love | 13 Comments »

A food love affair- complimentary class

Aug 24th, 2011 by JJ

Let me  show you how to Create a Food Love Affair-The allure of Energy and Superfoods in a 3 part series:

#1 – The Courtship

You want to know so many things. What is it?
Where is it grown? When does it grow? How do I prepare it?

Juicing (green apple, lemon, cucumber, spinach, celery)
Unique Seasonal Fruits
Majool Date

Wednesday, September 7th from 6:30-7:30 pm

Space is limited. Please rsvp sprdb.marketing@wholefoods.com to reserve your seat.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

#2 – The Engagement

You’ve decided to commit, you’ve made a decision to engage. Plant a garden, make regular visits to Whole Foods Market, or the local farmer’s market. Give it your energy.

Soup- JJ’s Easy Veggie Soup (onion, garlic, olive oil, water, zucchini, broccoli, parsely, kale, raw cashews, sea salt, pepper)
Berries with Chocolate Dipping Sauce ( raw, unsalted almond butter, chocolate powder, agave, vanilla bean or extract)

Wednesday, September 14th from 6:30-7:30 pm

Space is limited. Please rsvp sprdb.marketing@wholefoods.com to reserve your seat.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

#3 -The Marriage

When you commit yourself, managing your relationship is what
makes the difference between a healthy or an unhealthy union.

Kale Salad
Nut Cream with Berries (raw macademia nuts, medool dates, 2-3 oranges)

Wednesday, September 21th from 6:30-7:30 pm

Space is limited. Please rsvp sprdb.marketing@wholefoods.com to reserve your seat.
OR sign in on facebook clicking HERE

Fit 2 love final for WF RB class

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Posted in Health, Life, Love | 1 Comment »

Making easy, homemade tomato sauce

Aug 12th, 2011 by JJ

This is the best homemade tomato sauce I have made yet! As we at the Flizanes-Albers house prepare for many roma tomatoes to come, I have been gifted beautiful tomatoes from clients of mine a few times.  The first time I made sauce with these local, home grown beauties, I was shocked at the taste.

There are times when I want to be Picasso in the kitchen, so I use many ingredients and enhancements to create a fiesta of flavors in my sauces.  When I was given these tomatoes, I found that I didn’t have  a lot of time so I decided to do this as quickly and simply as possible.  Wow!  I was in shock and amazement at the taste -I had to do it again and again and share the recipe with you.

Start by usinsteps of making tomato sauce 002g a large deep pot (one big enough for the amount of tomatoes you have.  I used a small one the first time and this last batch was bigger)

The tomatoes were from my client’s garden but the onions were from our garden. I turn the heat on low, add some olive oil and lightly saute the onions first

steps of making tomato sauce 003

Wash and cut up tomatoes and put them in the pot- saute in olive oil for less than 2 minutes.

You only saute the onions first to get that caramalized flavor- they will be cooked along side the tomatoes to make them softer.

steps of making tomato sauce 004Do not add anything else- no water or tomato paste necessary!  I used to use a little of both and since eliminating it all together, it makes this sauce so much faster and better!

What you can add is crushed garlic (or regular cloves of garlic), basil, oregano, salt, pepper, and anything else you may want in your tomato sauce.

I used fresh basil from our garden plus one or two frozen basil cubes from Trader Joe’s because I wanted more basil than we had!   I also used 1-2 heaping tablespoons of crushed garlic ( I love garlic) so if you only like it, I’d use less.

steps of making tomato sauce 005

Cook this over low to medium heat for at least 20 minutes.  Because it splatters, I put the lid on.  This will keep the moisture locked in so when you want to thicken it after blending, cook with the top off.

I added pink sea salt and fresh ground pepper before I starting cooking but save the bulk of the salt and pepper for after it’s all blended so I can really only salt to taste.

Years ago,  I would have used a blender because that’s all I had.  Until recently my mother gave me a Cuisinart Smart Stick- I love this thing.  However, I did not like using it with mashed potatoes- it made the texture weird to me. ( prefer a hand mixer for mashed potatoes)

steps of making tomato sauce 008 After the tomatoes cook, I turned the heat off.  This little gadget can be put right in the bowl or pot that you are using to make less mess and easier cooking- love it!

After blending it, I took the stick out and tasted it to see if I needed more salt and pepper. Once spiced the way I like, I turned the heat back on low, put the lid on half way, leaving it open to allow the moisture to evaporate, and cooked it for another 20 minutes or so until it was a little thicker.

steps of making tomato sauce 011 Here is my finished product.  I LOVE homemade sauce.  It’s extremely easy and inexpensive.  Plus it’s healthier and more vibrant because we use organic gardening and this produce came right off the tree and from the ground and into my kitchen.

I will be bummed when tomato season ends here.  I do put the sauce in jars but I have not yet taken on “canning” yet so this sauce does have a shelf life in the refrigerator.

food 2011 009 So start to finish, it take less than 1 hour but you can put a timer on for the 40 minutes it cooks (before and after blending) and do other things.  Just make sure to put on a timer that has a beeper so when you walk away, it WILL remind you with sound.

And I wouldn’t recommend you go too far…wouldn’t want you to burn the house down because I told you to multi-task!

Happy sauce making!

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Quick Tip #1 from Absolute Ab Book

Aug 11th, 2011 by JJ

I have been invited to start a series of weekly video blogs and tips-which is great since I always want to do video for you but find myself making excuses these days why it can wait……

I have a feeling some of you can relate that to your diet and exercise program maybe??

Well none the less, I am now involved in a group where I am held accountable for posting new videos every week.   Today’s video is short since it was not really planned in my schedule but my deadline was quickly approaching.

Feel free to post questions or topics you’d like to see more information about. I plan to go through both of my books and pick out some of the information I give there in video form.

If you need some accountability on getting in quality exercise, attention to your daily diet, or how to shift your mindset so making healthy choices is EASY…. get in touch with me.   800 571 5722/  invisiblefitness.com

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Posted in Fitness, Life | 10 Comments »

Benefits and Dangers of a Raw Food Diet

Aug 4th, 2011 by JJ

As I prepared 2 weeks ago for my raw food experiment this past week, I wanted to share the reasons why I am doing this now and the reasons why I have not done it in the past.

Benefits:

  • Getting more fruits and veggies into the diet
  • Eating more vibrationally alive foods
  • Getting more enzymes
  • Increasing fiber
  • Increasing antioxidants
  • Changing your relationship with food and self care
  • Detoxifying

Dangers:

  • Lack of protein
  • The “culture”  will talk more about that later
  • Harder for the body to break down if you lack the enzymes or have problems with digestion
  • Can be time consuming for pre planning and preparation (but not always)
  • Lack of organically grown produce based on climate – increase of pesticides
  • Lack of sufficient B vitamins like B12 which is needed to convert carbohydrates into glucose in the body, thus leading to energy production and a decrease in fatigue and lethargy in the body. It also helps in healthy regulation of the nervous system, reducing depression, stress, and brain shrinkage. B12 helps maintain a healthy digestive system and protects against heart disease by curbing and improving unhealthy cholesterol levels, protecting against stroke, and high blood pressure. It is essential for healthy skin, hair, and nails. It helps in cell reproduction and constant renewal of the skin. Vitamin B 12 also helps protect against cancers including breast, colon, lung, and prostate cancer.
  • Chinese medicine does not support raw food when you are trying to get pregnant or deal with issues of low or stagnate “qi” (energy) in the lower region of the core. Raw food is harder for the body to break down and can take energy away from healing or conceiving.

In preparation for my week of raw food, I wanted to explore and share all the emotions and thoughts about a raw food diet.

First off, I will tell you that I have eaten many raw meals before, had countless vegetarian and vegan meals and even exclusively ate this way for short periods of time in my life for various reasons.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, where I was raised, Lent was a time where we did not eat meat at all for 40 or 50 days (the 2 prep weeks before Lent).  During college, I would challenge myself to “give up” more each year because I was successful in my practice the year before.

After college, I even got so disciplined that I gave up all meat and fish (as well as sugar and dairy) and ate mostly a vegan diet for 50 days- I got creative and it taught me a lot about my relationship with food.  It was a good way to practice detaching from any emotional triggers with food.  I am thankful that this was the religion I was born into because the practices taught me a lot growing up. Doing any kind of food experiment is easy for me because I have practiced it all my life.

How this experiment got started:

My friend and webmaster complained recently of some digestive issues and I suggested he “go raw” for a week and that I would be happy to do it with him.  Since I am in a raw movie that comes out very soon, I thought I should live the lifestyle fully so I could talk about my experience.

To get me started, I ordered Karen Knowler’s Raw Food Made Simple book which came with a guide to “go raw” for a day and included a few easy recipes.

Karen has a simple, easy going approach to raw food that I appreciate.  She acknowledges that it can turn people off so she takes the stance for people to just try it and to do it as much as you are comfortable with- thanks Karen.  I got very excited about the recipes that Karen shares.

Before her book arrived, I was gifted a different book (one that I will not publically bash) but let’s just say the person who wrote it is an extremist.  His approach, while seemingly easy going by his writing, has condescending undertones the entire way through.  The statements made basically read “if you are not eating raw, you are an idiot.”

As you can imagine this PISSED ME OFF.  I got very discouraged before starting this experiment because it’s people like this that I, and a lot of “meat eaters”, reject for their extreme approach. Trying to calm my emotions, I thought of some of the most respected PhD’s and RD’s that I know like Jeanne Peters RD and Dr. Jonny Bowden- neither of them are raw and both eat meat.

In fact, Dr Jonny did a blog post last year about why he would never become a vegetarian. http://jonnybowdenblog.com/why-i-am-not-a-vegetarian/

I even called Jeanne Peters after getting emotionally triggered by this “book that will remain nameless” to ask her about the benefits and dangers of going raw.  I don’t think I know anyone, I mean ANYONE, more connected to the earth, the soil, food, sun, spirit and science like Jeanne is.  I trust that if this sacred earth mama is not a raw food-ist, then there is surely a scientific AND spiritual reason for it.

Within 48 hours and a few phone calls, I recovered from my slap in the face that “we who cook our food are stupid comments” and began to plan the menu and grocery list.  Going raw for a week is definitely something that requires some time and preparation to get started.

When I was checking out at Trader Joe’s, the guy helping me said “that is the healthiest cart I have seen!”

Here is what I left with!

food pics 010

And this is what I prepped before my “students” arrived to prepare ourselves for a week of raw food.  I decided the day before to sprout some beans to have on hand to make dips and hummus.

food pics 009

Stay tuned for the report!

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Posted in Health, Life | 9 Comments »

Fit 2 Love Audre Entry 16: Rough patch with JJ

Jul 27th, 2011 by Fit 2 Love Aud

Hi everyone!

This week has had many great breakthroughs for me . I want to share this one with you in the format that it actually occurred because I don’t think I could have said it better re-writing it in the blog so I just gave you the whole interaction between JJ and I, with her permission of course.

To give you a quick background…I created a Facebook status update about the content of a guy’s profile I was paired with where his only profile content was that he liked sex and Harry Potter. JJ had a reaction to it. And I had a reaction to JJ’s reaction and so, rather than do my old stuff of binging and withholding, I communicated. It was hard especially because JJ is my coach and someone whom I respect immensely.  Funny thing is, she was coaching me when she probably wasn’t even aware that SHE WAS COACHING ME BIG TIME!

A dear friend brought to my attention last night that even if this lesson is the only thing that I get out of attempting to date, well, that’s pretty damn great! Through this process I have learned that there is nothing wrong with me. I can have an opinion. I can express my opinion and I can stay with myself in the face of disagreement with another. Here is the communication between JJ and myself. I’m proud of both of us.

(me to JJ)

hi JJ,

I need to communicate my feelings about the response to my FB post about sex and harry potter.  First of all on eharmony when you are “paired” with someone it doesn’t mean that he contacted  me or expressed interest in me (he did NOT) it just means that eharmony has paired us based on our profiles that we created for whatever reason so it’s not like these guys are contacting me and i’m declining the invitation. This is not the case, in fact, quite the contrary. I became very angry reading the first two sentences of your response b/c I felt that it indicated that I was getting a lot of interest and i was not giving these men a chance. the opposite is true. I have reached out (made the first move) to about 150 men with two responses. I’m doing my best to stay positive and hold it together and not allow this experience to validate old thought patterns about it being better to be single, etc. so far, my dating experience does validate all of my negative thinking about it and i try everyday to not give up and not give into those negative thoughts so then to read that I need to give THEM a chance was maddening! I’m trying to date but no one is interested thus far!  I would be happy to give them a chance but there’s been no opportunity to do so! I want to go on dates, many dates, to practice. and I’m contacting most people i’m paired up with but I’m getting no response. I will not give up but I think I need more positive comments from you on my dating posts, or no comments, whichever you prefer. but I am trying, I am contacting men and I am reaching out.  That’s the other frustrating thing is that I AM open, I have made my list for my ultimate guy, I had a 2-hour energy clearing on sat. to remove any obstacles from keeping my heart open and to attracting someone. I’m working it as best I know how. One of the cool things that came up for me around my reaction to your post is a stepping into knowing how worthy I am. I took a lot of time and energy to create my eharmony page. Even if mr. harry potter contacted me, i wouldn’t go out w/ him b/c that’s ALL he wrote on his dating page. I wasn’t interested in his profile so I’m not responding and I don’t have to respond just because he likes me (if he DID reach out to me). And what I learned in this thought pattern is that in the past I gave myself to people who liked me even if I didn’t like them. I was attracted to the attention. What I realized today is that I don’t need to do that anymore. I’m worthy of more than that. I’m worthy of dating someone that I AM interested. that was pretty cool to step into today. thank you for affording me that opportunity.
A.

(JJ to me)

Hey Audre
thanks for letting me know.  The way you posted it sounded really judgmental towards this guy and it seemed like contradictory energy to what you said you wanted.(acceptance from others)  It came off very much like you thought he was scum and I didn ‘t think that sounded productive or fair.

It’s a great thing to recognize your self worth, and I can understand what you are feeling. These are challenging times to break patterns and dig deep.  Learning our lessons in life is NOT easy and NOT pretty.

They are EARTH SHATTERING sometimes.  You have a lot of triggers and “old stuff”- most of us do.  That’s why I sent you the info on EMDR.

Didn’t mean to offend you, only here to help and be the mirror.  You were kinda mean about this guy.  You could have just said ” he is not for me” without making fun of him.

I hope you can understand how I am seeing it too.

Sorry to offend.

(me to JJ)

Hi JJ,

Seems like this small interaction is affording us big lessons! good! My two sentences affected you deeply and yours affected me deeply. Light to both of us!

I re-read my post and my experience is very different from yours. I don’t know him so I don’t think he’s scum. I have no judgments about him-I don’t even know him but I DO know that I wouldn’t respond to a guy who only put harry potter and sex as the ONLY content in his profile and no picture or name. I’m talkin’ nothing about what he wants in a relationship, nothing about him, what he does for a living…NADA. Therefore, I think the profile was a joke anyway.  And, I will continue to do posts like this. To me it’s funny and it’s about me coping through this using humor. It’s not about the other person. It’s not personal to these men. Like I said, I don’t know him/them. If this profile was completely filled out and this was a guy seriously looking for a relationship then, you’re right, that would be mean but this wasn’t the case.

I don’t feel I was mean and I didn’t feel like I was making fun of him. Interesting the different filters we have! That’s what makes us all individuals.  Hope we both get great learning out of our deep reactions.

Thanks for your apology but I would like to THANK YOU FOR OFFENDING (which you didn’t offend, you just said what you said and I had a reaction–that’s MY responsibility–and your intentions were loving and supportive which I TOTALLY GET) because it stirred A LOT w/in me and it’s actually having me step stronger into myself more than ever and providing me with great clarity. My biggest issue is being mis-understood. I hate when my intentions are good and they are experienced by others as hurtful. It leaves me feeling sad, angry, frustrated, agitated, and more…and the great thing is that I cannot do anything to fix it or change it for the other person. All I can do is stay steadfast in who I am and stay strong in knowing what my intentions are and, especially now, DO NOT EAT ON TOP OF THOSE FEELINGS! So, all of the above got triggered by your feedback and I have NOT over-eaten. So, again, I thank you. I need this. I need to have differences w/ people and learn to stay in my body and not abandon myself. When I used to have differences w/ people I would make it seem like I’m agreeable to all so everyone will like me—and THEN EAT ON TOP OF THAT SELF-ABANDONMENT. I’m not going to do that anymore. When I have differences, I will hear them, double check w/in myself and either apologize, admit I’m wrong or I will say ok, you have your thought and I have mine but I’m not going to abandon myself to make you (not YOU but anyone) feel better.  Ok, now I’m crying!!! See, your input was a gift!!! thank you again.

I will blog about some of this.  I think this self-abandonment stuff is good for all to hear, especially women.
xo,
A.

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Fit 2 Love Aud Entry 15: Wendy’s-GROSS!

Jul 20th, 2011 by Fit 2 Love Aud

What a difference no Gluten makes!

For whatever reason last night was a tough night. I was feeling lonely, sad and very very tired. I worked a 13 hour day and stopped at Wendy’s on the way home. I was starving and exhausted which did NOT help in my judgment of food choice.  I will say that there was one good thing which was I ordered a Jr. sized meal and a small rather than the Super Sized adult meal plus the chicken nuggets and the apple pie…ok PIES….as I did in the past.  I felt satisfied after eating it and slept like a rock.

And then…

I could hardly wake up this morning.  It literally took me about 5 minutes just to get my eyes open. My face and eyes were swollen and my body felt like it had a MAC TRUCK sitting on it. I felt heavy, puffy, tired and did I mention HEAVY? It was different than feeling FAT it was a heaviness that made each movement a challenge for me.

YUCK! I LEARNED MY LESSON!

So, this morning the protein bars and apples made it into my purse and will live there indefinitely so that I do not find myself without food easily accessible when I’m tired and exhausted because I know that I will be in that position again. It’s unavoidable with my current lifestyle. So, I need to plan and make changes accordingly.

Feeling very lonely lately and feeling as if my life is passing me by. Sometimes when I let my thoughts get the best of me I start to think that 39 is really old and I wonder if I’ve missed out on a lot of things by letting my weight and my dependence on food stop me from really living how I want to live. Would I have the man and family by now? Would I be in a different job or NO job and be working for myself as I have always dreamed? Would I be more successful on all levels? Would I own a home by now? Would I be more naturally active by now?  Would I be out of debt by now? Would I have written that book I’ve always wanted to write by now? Would I be on my way to being the skinny white Oprah by now?  OY! OY! OY!

Then, I have a choice. I can go deeper down that path and get depressed and go visit Wendy again and again and again or I can choose a new thought and look forward rather than backward.

It’s much easier to choose the more positive thought without a Jr. Double cheeseburger in my belly.

Lesson learned.

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Fit 2 Love Aud Entry 14: Deserving

Jul 17th, 2011 by Fit 2 Love Aud

Sorry I haven’t written in SO long!

Lately I’ve been feeling pretty even keel, even flat and dare I say boring!  I haven’t been having my emotional highs and lows to which I attribute a major reduction in the amount of sugar that I used to eat.  I am also not over eating and not emotionally eating as much as I used to. I’ve been taking much better care of myself in all areas. I’m making sure that I get daily exercise outside and am enjoying this new way of life.  So, since I’ve been feeling boring or settled I’ve been feeling that I don’t have much to say or write.  I’ve been more quiet within myself and been enjoying just “being.” Are you up on your “woo-woo” insurance cause you may need to be for this post! Oy!

I’ve almost come into a place of calm or peace with myself and trusting that everything is going to be ok and that everything that I am going through is for my highest good, learning and upliftment.  There is a peace that wasn’t present before.

Don’t get me wrong! I’ve had my moments!  I’ve had a couple of times when I have eaten because I was anxious, nervous or felt out of control but I have quickly bounced back into my healthy eating which is a huge change from going on a 2-week binge and falling back into, “My diet starts Monday” way of thinking.

Thank goodness for JJ’s support.  Being accountable to her and to myself has been a great help for me.  Consistency has also been the key. Remembering that, yes, I may have lapsed into “bad” eating but I think about how far I’ve come since the beginning of this journey and it gets me back on track.

Something has clicked for me. I don’t want to go back to the old way of eating in the past. I want to be healthy. I want to take care of myself. I want to make myself my #1 priority and I want to treat myself with love and respect and I want to have confidence in how I feel and how I look.

So, I continue with one day, one meal, and one challenge at a time.

Last night was the first night in a long time that I was out with friends and I felt beautiful.  Rather than sitting there and comparing myself to others all night and wishing that I was skinnier or more____ or less______, (fill in the blank…I could think of upteen things!) I was just happy to be exactly who I am and proud of the path that I’m on.  Dare I say, I was comfortable in my own skin (tears).

As for dating, over a week went by and I realized that I had not even checked my online account. I’ve been focusing on me and that has felt so good lately that it’s taken up most of my time and attention.

And I deserve every second of it.

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Going RAW

Jul 15th, 2011 by JJ

What started out as an experiment 3 years ago has turned into the preferred way of life.  One month before my wedding, I decided to eat gluten free to see what effect it had on my body.  In 10 days, I was down 4 pounds.  Knowing this was water weight only, I was intrigued by the thought that my body was holding onto extra water because of gluten.  I pretty much decided on the spot that I didn’t need gluten and I could live without it just fine!

Over the next year and a half, I proclaimed that I was NEVER (ha ha) giving up dairy because I loved my cheese and I was already gluten free.  That was in 2009.  In February of 2010, I decided I could give up dairy for 4 months to clean out my system and strengthen my digestive system.

Did you know that about 80% of your immunity comes from your digestive system?

Several nights a week I would experience congestion before bed so I knew it was something I was eating or drinking that was causing a problem.  After getting the results back of my Alcat test, I made a video to share all the products I picked up in order to substitute my favorite foods as an easy transition into a new diet.

After completing a few months of dairy free living, I added it back in.  It was no shock to have the congestion come back and I realized that maybe I need to remove it from my diet period.  When it comes to gluten, I rarely have it.  Maybe once every 6 weeks-but I plan for it.  I take some enzymes and usually have it while I am on my menstrual cycle because there are days I am more bloated anyway.

I still consume some dairy but I have cut down dramatically. Cheese was a part of my daily diet and would appear in often 2 meals a day.  Nowadays, I probably have cheese once a week.  The substitutions I made when I eliminated it for 4 months have stuck.  I use mostly coconut creamers, almond and coconut milk and buy hemp or coconut ice cream if I want some dairy-like dessert.   The products I have been using have become my favorite products and I honestly don’t miss the cheese.

My friends, before the wedding, would tell you that I was a cheese-a-holic.  And I clearly was not ready in 2009 to even consider it.  But as time went on, I realized that it is ONLY food and at the end of the day, my health and body are important to me.  I found some suitable substitutes and my palate has changed.  Thank god.

Growing a garden has been the best way to enter into a healthy marriage with my food- this reference is from the food chapter of Fit 2 Love: How to Get Physically, Emotionally, and Spiritually Fit to Attract the Love of Your Life.

Our garden is small and we don’t currently have enough planted to produce vegetables for lunch and dinner every day.  When we do, I get very excited about finding new ways to prepare what we are harvesting.  But right now we are in mid-season.  The eggplant is growing, the tomatoes are in process and the zucchini is starting to take off but none are ready to eat.

A few months ago, I was interviewed on film for a documentary about Raw Food.  The chapter in Fit 2 Love was a missing piece in the film about our relationship to what we consume and how to nurture a healthier relationship with food.

I consume raw products but I have always thought it was too hard and unrealistic to eat Raw 100% of the time.  But I have hit a point in my life where I love focusing on my food and I need a new goal!  Going raw for a week or two seems like the next step for me.

Here is the trailer for the movie, I am in frame 3:26. The Raw Natural Movie that is due out this summer!

http://www.therawnatural.com/

I have one or two people who are going to be doing this experiment with me.  If you’d like to join me, we start on Saturday July 30th!

Mark your calendars because I will also be doing a 3 part class at the Whole Foods Redondo Beach in September to transform your relationship with food! Based on the Fit 2 Love principles, get your copy today and look for the emails about registering. The class is limited and it is FREE!

WFM_RDBlogo

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