Morning Energy

Hello World!

It's been a while since I've communicated with you. The Earth has kept on moving, we've been breathing, and I've been living. As I strive daily to balance my health, this time around my purpose for good health is clearer than it's been in a while. I can give a heavy nod to a certain sneaker company for keeping their motto in my mind the past few months. "Just Do It" is a gem. It is a reminder, a motivator, and very straight to the point.

Part of my daily motivation has been 1) my "Morning Ritual" and 2) the Bedstuy YMCA.

1) Morning Ritual 

At one point in the last several months I attempted to juice around 3 times per week. Due to the mediocre quality juicer I have, it took way too long to obtain an adequate amount of juice from the fruits and vegetables. Juicing is great for overall nourishment as well as cleansing and fat loss (and yes ladies cellulite!) Some of the ingredients for the juice above are:

Morning Juice

Orange juice (fresh squeezed or store bought)

Apple Cider Vinegar

Carrots (4-5 stalks)

Apples (2)

Grapefruit

Kale

Spinach

Blueberries

Cod Liver Oil

*occasionally beets (small, peeled, and slightly sweet can be found at Trader Joes)*

Lately I have switched the regime up a little bit with the following:

• Plain oatmeal (with flaxseed, folate, and other fantastic vitamins and minerals) or cranberry oatmeal (both from Trader Joe's) which I mix with Total EHA oil (includes all the omega oils, primose, and other necessary oils the body needs.)
• Plain soyprobiotic yogurt with added frozen blueberries and ground flaxseed.
• Simply Nutritious Mega antioxidant drink mixed with spirulina.
• Calcium/ Magnesium capsules for added nutrition.

2) Bedstuy YMCA
Here's why I like this gym:

- It's inexpensive
- Is community-based and family           friendly
- Has a pool, track, weight rooms and   aerobic room
- Has a plethora of classes to take       that are included in the membership

The Boot Camp class that I have taken for the past two years is a such great motivation because of the intensity of the activities and the group setting. There's a wide range of ages that attend the class and the gym itself and everyone who comes, comes to work! You can't get around it, because the instructor Gary makes sure that you do what you came to the gym to do. 

My dilemma and that of so many of us with busy lives has is scheduling conflicts. I will go to class or gym consistently for weeks or months at a time, then when my schedule has to change due to work or other priorities, the gym takes a back burner. The fact is that exercising at  the gym or any form of physical activity should be a priority, because without it we cannot live a great quality of life. With being content and finding happiness, our bodies and minds should be physically strong to deal with what life brings our way. My biggest motivations are to just breathe, physically play, defend myself if I ever have to and get my body ready as much as I can for motherhood - the birth and everything that happens after it! 

Now that my work schedule has changed again and I have transitioned to going into work earlier, I can no longer attend boot camp in the morning as I would usually. For the five consecutive weeks I had been going, I saw and felt such great results. As my metabolism started to increase so did my food intake, but alas, as the food intake has stayed along with my schedule has changed, my exercise regime didn't. I didn't watch what I ate for two weeks. It didn't completely reverse what I had done to get into good shape, but I degraded it a little. This brings to light the source of our motivations to nourish ourselves. What you put into it can stay with you if you don't help it to move out whether by our pores or elsewhere. This also brings to light the motivation to move. Not exercise, lose weight, or even cleanse, but to MOVE. When I think of movement and playing I think Capoeira the Afro-Brazilian art form. I think children and their pure sense of discover and happiness. I think of those who are missing one, two, three, or all of their limbs or have them severely injured. Find your purpose for being healthy. Be thankful for your body and celebrate it, and move it just because you can and because it was made to!

InJoy,
Nicole