Take the time to say thanks!

When you have a mentor and a good friend or family member that is truly a 'ride or die', you gotta thank them from time to time. You really can't be great in this world without some loyal people behind you. So I'll go first… Shout out to my mentor who showed me that I could level up whenever I was ready. She never made me feel alone even when she reminded me that this is mine to build whenever I was ready. When I was ready to test the boundaries of what I was capable of, she’d be right there to support me. Since I began this journey, she has given me resources, got on calls, when I was confused she gave me clarity and most of all she was just THERE❣️ She never let me feel alone. 🤗 She always plugged me into the community of other women trying to do the same thing that I’m doing. I am now on pace to achieve my goals this year to help as many people as possible GET THEIR LIFE and prosper while doing it. So thankful to God 🙏🏽that he placed you in my path when I was looking for more. I’m so glad I said yes. 🙋🏽‍♀️ Are you a diamond in the rough? We should chat!

Oven Baked Salmon

Remember the benefits of omega 3s to brain health I talked about last week?  Here's a delicious way to get those nutrients in your diet in less than 30 minutes. I'm excited to try this for dinner this week.

How we eat can help us heal

One thing that I do when I’m having a bad day of muscle spasms or excessive fatigue or just having a day where I’m just not feeling well at all, I try to clean up my nutrition. So I have a super food smoothie, some fruit and really focus on trying to have food that is high in potassium, vitamin C and omega 3s. These are really good nutrients that my body is starved for. So let me tell you a little bit about my ‘go to’ plate on the first slide (fish, broccoli and sweet potato that I had most recently on a bad day.

According to medicalnewstoday.com, Broccoli is a great source of vitamin C, vitamin K and potassium. As you may know, vitamin C is a great way to boost your immune system. Potassium is a great way to increase the functionality of your muscles and reduce muscle spasms. Vitamin K is a great nutrient to help the blood clot. If you are taking blood thinning medication, it is advised that you should limit your intake of vitamin K which is found in broccoli and another cruciferous vegetables. Switch the broccoli out for spinach, which is, in my humble opinion, the ultimate superfood.

According to healthline.com, The sweet potato is a fantabulous source of potassium (and it’s delicious too😋 ). It’s also great source of vitamins A and C and is full of antioxidants which prevents free radicals from taking over your body which is known to increase inflammation. So I try to eat sweet potatoes as much as possible. Granted, I treat myself to a little bit of butter, a pinch of salt and as much cinnamon as I can stand! Since cinnamon has little to no calories but a whole lot of flavor, I enjoy it with my sweet potato whenever I eat them with dinner. I have found that sweet potatoes are a great way to replace rice and macaroni and cheese (some of my favorites) on your plate especially in terms of nutritional value. So when choosing a carb, I like to choose sweet potato for that carb portion of my plate.

Finally, the fish. According to the Washington state department of health, Fish is known to be an incredible source of omega-3‘s fatty acids and high quality protein. Omega-3s protect the heart and the brain by helping to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke. As we age, a good diet of omega-3s will help us reduce our risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s as well. It is recommended that we have fish at least twice a week as part of a healthy diet.

Whenever I’m feeling a little sluggish, I check in with myself and my nutrition. A plate like this gives me energy and helps me rest better at night. All of this helps me feel stronger, better faster!

We all struggle with something

For many of us, gaining back full range of motion and strength after a health scare (stroke, multiple sclerosis or other illness that compromises mobility) is a goal that requires daily movement and practice. You can’t give in to despair. You can’t give up on yourself. You have to give yourself some grace when you have a bad day. You must remain relentless in your quest to be whole.

I do this through functional movement and retraining my brain to move in the way that most people take for granted. Like walking, talking, running, getting down to the floor from a standing position and getting up from the floor.

A huge part of my training is flexibility training. A muscle that is flexible has more capacity to become stronger and move as it was designed to move. I have found a program that I have done before and will be starting again and I am excited to see how far I’ve come since doing my first round.

I’m getting stronger every day so I know I will do well this time around🤩

Recovery comes in many forms. We all struggle with something. The goal should always be to give your best every day you are blessed to wake up❣️ Through prayer and supplication I found the courage to embark on this journey. May whatever you struggle with today not overwhelm you. Make it your runway for you to take off towards your new beginning🤗

Would you like to get started on a new program to strengthen not just your body but also your mind too? Check out some options here.

🤗 The Accountability Mirror🤗

I remember reading this for the first time and being like “Dang David! You didn’t have to come at me like dat!”

Buuuut...

He is 1000% right!

If you tryna do something big, i. e. accomplish great things and/or create an impact, and you’re not getting results or making the milestones toward your goal, then it’s time to take a looooooong look in the mirror and deal with some stuff. 

Connect with some people that will hold you accountable and give you courage to do big things. 

Simply put…

Clear the cobwebs out yo mind and spirit that keeping you from gettin the bag 💰 

If you're really trying to reach some crazy, scary, I can't believe I'm even thinking about this, kinda goals, I encourage you to get Can't Hurt Me by David Goggins.

🥺Push. Past. Pain.🥺

 It really is all in your head. 

One thing I’m know I’m really good at is suffering😂but any success I’ve had in life has been because I pushed past pain (try saying that 5x fast😆) and I was relentless in achieving my desired outcome.  

After all, I raised a whole human for God’s sake! I don’t mind telling you that she is an amazing and fantastic human with the biggest heart I’ve ever known. I can’t take all the credit tho… I had a little help from the Almighty🙏🏽

It takes courage to put your trust in God! For me, that’s the pushing past the 40% that David is talking about in his book, Can’t Hurt Me. Anyone can push up until it hurts. But it takes a whisper in your soul to make you take action and push past pain to get to where you wanna go. It’s the mind, soul and spirit vs. the brain for me. 

Your brain is there to protect you. But your mind, soul and spirit will take you where you want to go❣️🧠🧐🙏🏽🤗

🎶if at first you don’t succeed…🎶

Shout out to Aaliyah when she told us to dust ourselves off and try again❣️ RIP 

You know I’ve been having a lot of conversations about health and wellness and taking care of your mind, body and soul. Some of us seem to think that it’s got to be all or nothing. 

NEWSFLASH 📰 

‘ALL IN’ doesn’t mean all or nothing. 

It means betting on you for positive change! 

All or nothing is the biggest misconception about the journey to getting healthier that I have ever heard. Like anything in life that you’re learning for the first time, there’s a process involved. 

Maybe you have to write it down several times so you remember new information. 

Maybe you have to hear it multiple times for you to understand the value of it. 

Nevertheless, it is a process that is meant to be embraced, a process for good change to happen in any area of your life. Whether it’s a new job, new motherhood, a new relationship…whatever it is…you have to learn it and practice it to be good at it. 

Would you throw your kid away the first time you made a mistake? 

Would you quit your job after the first day because you didn’t learn everything in one day? 

Would you stop seeing someone after the first date because they ate their salad with the wrong fork? 

No you wouldn’t! 

So why would you give up on YOU because the first day, the first week or the first month of learning what it is to take care of yourself for the first time doesn’t go as planned? 

It’s a process. 

Embrace it! 

Give yourself some time. 

Give yourself some grace! 

You won’t learn everything in one day just like you won’t lose 100 pounds in one day… it’s a process… one day at a time, one lesson at a time, one pound at a time, one meal at a time. 

REAL TALK 

Whenever you’re trying to do something good, the enemy will rear its ugly head and try to throw a monkey wrench in your plans. 

If you know what I’m talking about, holla at ya girl! 

You gotta be better than the enemy and stronger than the enemy and have a little bit more faith in your Creator to get up when you’re knocked down and try again. 

This week is an opportunity to try again. Since the Lord blessed you to wake up this morning, what are you going to do with the new opportunities to TRY AGAIN this week?

Feeling under represented in the wellness space? Here's how to overcome it!

This delightful young lady wrote in an article in Cosmopolitan magazine about not being represented in the “wellness” niche. I know how she feels on so many fronts and I am sure I am not alone. Nevertheless, she, like me, was not afraid to try new things (many new things) to discover what works for her and what makes her feel good in pursuit of her own wellness goals. She discovered that listening to her body was the most effective way to achieve her weight loss and wellness goals. At the end of the day, that's what being healthy is all about, isn't it?

Here is what she had to say about her discoveries along her journey into her new wellness lifestyle:

“After a week of experimenting with surprisingly attainable recipes, the superfood-phobe in me realised it is possible to give your body and mind proper attention without necessarily resorting to fancy foods I can’t pronounce. It might sound obvious, but actual[ly] living, [it] has done confidence-boosting wonders for someone who felt a little excluded from the wellness zeitgeist”.

I agree that some of the wellness or “fitness” images that we see on our timeline has been, in the best of terms, somewhat deceiving. I believe it's because a lot of so-called diets and workouts are designed to be a “one-size-fits-all” type of solution to achieving wellness. However, we know that’s not true.

I’ve always believed that you should run experiments on yourself (be your own guinea pig) in your quest to achieve wellness. Try different things and give them time to work (30 days is a good benchmark) to see if the system you've chosen is sustainable to your lifestyle. That means listening to your own body and truly studying what works for you. This is the secret sauce to wellness, fitness and weight loss.

Source:‘How I reworked #WhatIEatInADay to improve my wellbeing’

3 things folks often overlook during their weight loss journey

What you eat

Hey let’s face it what you eat matters. If you’re not getting enough protein, fiber and carbs (yes, I said it, carbs) you are going to experience plateaus and weight gain. 

Examples of the types of protein you should consider are:

Lean beef such as flank steak, sirloin 90% lean ground beef

Fresh tuna, albacore or chunk light tuna fish in the can ( in water)

Chicken thighs (trimmed) chicken breast

Salmon

Cod

If you can get you chicken and beef organic or grass fed and your fish wild caught, all the better. 

Examples of the types of fiber you should consider are:

Green leafy greens like spinach, kale, spring greens (for salads)

broccoli, bell peppers, zucchini

Examples of the types of carbs you should consider are:

Sweet potatoes, brown rice, whole grain pasta, green beans, green peas, carrots, turnips

Although some of these are typically in the veggie category, they are also a great source of carbohydrates that don’t do a ton of damage to the waistline. 

When you eat

I can’t stress this enough.  When you eat is just as important as what you eat in my humble opinion.  Frankly, practicing intermittent fasting is a very effective way to manage your weight. Intermittent fasting is when you choose an eating window in your day.  For example, my eating window is typically 12p - 8p eating the largest meal of the day first. Throughout the eating window, I decrease the portions proportionately at each meal.  The last meal of the day is the lightest, usually a protein shake which I have found boosts my metabolism and makes for a more restful night’s sleep.

A good night’s sleep

Speaking of sleep, it should never be underestimated how much a good night’s sleep contributes to weight management. The more sound sleep you get, the deeper the rejuvenation of your bodily functions and the healthier your metabolism will be.  We all know that your metabolism contributes significantly to achieving a healthy weight. A good night’s sleep will almost guarantee your weight loss goals once you make how much you sleep and your quality of sleep a priority.

Bonus Tip!

Movement

How much you move is definitely related to healthy weight management.  While diet and sleep account for about 90% of your weight loss goals, movement and exercise give you an edge.  Even walking can get the heart rate up, help you break a sweat and get the blood flowing.  All of that contribute to the commonly accepted and basic concept of calories in calories out that is essential to effective weight loss. Thirty minutes a day is all you need.  So take that walk at lunch time. Taking a walk does wonders for your digestion and it’ll do you good to enjoy the sunshine (on a nice day) and get some vitamin D as well as clear your mind from the stresses of the day.

So there you have it. My tips for healthy weight loss. If you want to begin your weight loss journey but don’t know where start, start here. 

When you have checked all the boxes...

You got good grades in school. You were a good girl and didn’t make any trouble.You did your best to be the perfect girlfriend. You had a moment of rebellion just to try to fit in. You met the man of your dreams and vowed to be everything he ever needed. You became a mother and swore to be the best mother God gave you the strength and power to be. You went college and earned an advanced degree. You went out to work in a world that demanded more than your best time and time again and you always and consistently delivered. You didn’t need anybody’s help. You got this!

For all your hard work 😓 you:

Still got rejected by your parents.

Still wasn’t what he wanted.

Still was the last to be invited to the party.

Still got bamboozled by the husband.

Still fell short as a parent.

Still got taken advantage of in exchange for your good will at work.

Still wasn’t smart enough.

Still wasn’t good enough.

For all your effort, you realize you ain’t got this!

Don’t you deserve better? 

Don’t you deserve to live a life full of wellbeing and purpose?

Don’t you deserve to know love and peace in a way that surpasses all understanding?

Don’t you deserve to have more, do more, be more?

Don’t you deserve to enjoy good health, be financially fit and renew your mind to the highest esteem?

You can! Starting today! In order to have more you have to be more so you can do more. You have that power. It all starts with a desire and a decision to create change that creates focus and determination to go where you want to go and be who you want to be.

I know it’s a big decision. Bigger than the decision to get married, have kids, go back to school or even accept an offer for a job. Keep in mind, all those decisions were made in fear.  Fear of your biological clock. Fear of being rejected. Fear of failure. Fear he wouldn’t love me. Fear she wouldn’t respect me. Fear of being alone. Fear of (fill in the blank) How about we change the narrative? How about we start stepping out on FAITH!?!

Why not change the thoughts in our mind to know and accept that anything is possible with God?  How about we write some crazy, awesome dreams down on paper and take them to God in prayer? How about having some hope for something more than just checking the boxes of what the world expects of you?

What if you did that and changed your life in such an amazing way that you won’t even recognize the life you left behind? If fear was no object and faith took its place, what could your life look like in 5 years?

SOUL CRY

 Have you ever needed to have a gut wrenching, crying out to God SOB? 

Today was one of those days for me.  I had just fallen AGAIN and I got up quick enough to get the rest of the groceries back in the house and then....I let it all hang out. I didn’t even know I needed to get that soul breaking cry out but before I knew it, it was happening! It was one of those cries where you cant even make the sounds you just...your soul is crying out to your Creator. Crying out for your body to function like it should.  Crying out so you can do and execute like you know you should but you cant make your mind and skill work for you.  You’re stuck! Crying out for the faith to overcome the fear that builds inside you daily and rears its ugly head when your heart wants to execute like your life depends on it. Crying, sobbing, begging for God to take over because YOU CAN’T anymore...not without HIM.

 

Sometimes in our lives the shift that you desperately want to happen doesn’t because your pride or toxic positivity (yeah, I said that!) doesn’t allow you the cleansing cry you need to achieve clarity. Be real when you get on your knees. He knows your heart anyway. That will make bawl, for real!

Let’s be very clear. Your pride will have thinking that crying is punking out and a distraction from what you need to be doing. But if you’re stuck and not making any progress toward your goals, it is likely that your fear is taking over and you don’t truly believe that what you have to offer the world really makes a difference. Toxic positivity is telling you that the little you are doing is baby steps in the right direction and you might be listening to other people telling you the same thing.  But you and I both know its not nearly enough to make significant progress on your goals. When this happens, you might need a cleansing cry...one that I like to call a soul cry.

My soul cry today gave me clarity and frankly, the willingness to surrender my goals and dreams to God. I know He is going to let me know exactly where I am coming up short and where I need to lean in.  I know that I have to choose faith, put my trust in Him and trust the process.  

I have a renewed passion now. I know that I have to do the work to do the work. What does that mean? I have to create a plan and reverse engineer how to get there. This is something that needs to be done everyday. With the help of my Creator, I know that I have the strength, courage and discipline to get the job done.

What area of your life do you need to have a soul cry about?