Gluten was never a problem for me when I was on the standard American diet. I could eat food containing wheat, gluten, flour and dairy and not be affected at all. It's been years since I ate anything with gluten in it until yesterday. A friend brought over a loaf of raw rye bread that was absolutley delicious! Two slices and 18 hours later I woke up with stomach pains. I didn't make the connection with the bread until I started feeling nauseous, dizzy and just "out of it". My whole day was spent lying down, in pain and feeling awful.
Gluten is a special type of protein that is commonly found in rye, wheat and barley. Therefore, it is found in most types of cereals and in many types of bread. Not all foods from the grain family, however, contain gluten. Examples of grains that do not have gluten include wild rice, millet, amaranth, quinoa, and teff.
Experiment: The best way to know if an ingredient is making you sick, remove it from your diet for 1 month, then slowly re-introduce it and see how you feel. I did this with cashews, agave and cacao. The results: I experienced funny symptoms like nausea, heart palpitations, lack of sleep and overall discomfort so I stay clear of these ingredients whenever possible. Occasionally I'll have a little cacao, but earlier in the day and only a small piece so I can rest comfortably at night.
I won't be eating any home made raw breads made with grains, that's for sure!
Joel and I trained with the Plyo DVD yesterday. It was his first time following the DVD with me and I was so proud of him for trying it out. It's the toughest workout in the P90X series, not for the faint of heart. Non-stop jumping, lunging and squating make for a dreadful workout for some.
I feel great today, very little soreness at all. My stomach is feeling a little uneasy this morning though.
I find that when I really push hard through workouts my body starts to kick things up and out. This is partially why I am doing this program, to sQuEeZe all the junk out of my muscles so my body can create healthy new cells with the higher nutrition I'm feeding it. I've learned that when my body is detoxing physically, it is also detoxing on an emotional level too. Lets get it all out!
This morning I'm enjoying a hot cup of Calli (mint & regular) mixed in a huge Thermos for Joel and I to share along with 1 Beauty Pearl. Today I train shoulders and arms, one of my favorite series of exercises. Abs are stilll sore from the other day so I may skip out on Ab Ripper X and just stretch them out. Really looking forward to the Recovery phase (week 4).
Health is not merely the absence of illness. True health involves painless sound bodily movements, efficiently working vital organs, and mental faculties operating at full throttle. This is rarely experienced by humans today. The people we meet could be divided into four groups:
*People who are definitely sick.
*People who are almost sick.
*People who think they are healthy.
*People who are experiencing a high level of health.
Most find themselves in one of the first three groups. Rising to the fourth group requires seeking knowledge, personally taking charge of your own health, and making wise choices. Good health cannot be produced by unhealthy living practices. One thing is for sure, we cannot drug ourselves into health. If this were so, we would be a healthy nation by now.
Since starting this P90X program my hunger has definitely increased a bit, which makes perfect sense. The problem is that my food combining hasn't been the best lately. I'm eating my heavier meal midday and lighter meal at the end of the day. I'm ready for a change in my program and will post the changes here. I feel the need for a post-workout smoothie and a light snack afterward too. The changes that are occuring with my physique is amazing so I am even more motivated to continue with these extreme workouts.
This afternoon I have a photo shoot with Worlds of Good Fortune, modeling their beautiful Healing Silk Scarves and another photo shoot with Joel for our website http://www.livefoodenergy.com/ . Right now I'm listening to their debut 2 CD and Gallery book, Worlds of Good Fortune - Unveiling the Gifts. It's a potent synergy of ecstatic art, poetry and music that I love listening to. It's even more powerful using the Gallery book; a living, sensuous language of color and verse, fresh and enlivening to the soul.
Today I harvest some of my sauerkraut I made last week. I'll let the other batch sit for a few days more to get even softer and more sour. The first two batches of kombucha will be harvested in two days and the next batches on April 11th. I'm excited to taste the ones I made with honey.
This morning I'm enjoying some regualr Calli tea and a NuPlus and Quinary before I head to the gym.
30 minutes of cardio was intense and I loved how I felt during it. I could have gone for 45+ minutes but I know better not to do too much.
Our photo shoot got postponed until the weather gets a little warmer. Getting ready to take a hot bath to soak my sore legs.
My meals so far today: Sauerkraut, raw bread, and a little Fiesta Mac a while after I ate the first two things. My stomach is making some funny noises and movements, no pain though.
Early Dinner: Since the weather has been warming up I've been eating my last meal between 5-6pm. I feel my best when I go to sleep on an empty stomach, sleep more soundly and feel more rejuvenated when I wake up.
As we are getting ready for our monthly potluck, the wind is forcefully blowing debris and furniture around the property. I doubt we'll be spending much time out by the creek today.
This morning before the gym I made a Carrot-Cabbage Crunch Salad, 'Stir Fried' mixed veggies for the coconut wrappers, a garden dressing for quinoa and a salad, and my famous Fiesta Mac, a CheeZy noodle dish that just blows everyone away. Trained legs and back today in 1 hour. It feels so good to complete a workout in such a short period of time. I worked my tail off today!
Morning: Date Banana Hemp Smoothie
Afternoon: A sampling of some amazing foods at our potluck. Bok Choy salad, Lettuce wraps, my stir fried veggie wrap and a little Fiesta Mac on the side. This was a taste explosion! Thank you to everyone who contributed such a beautiful dish!
Early Eve: Fiesta Mac with avocados and some Quantum nutritional flakes and some Calli tea
I created a drink for our little after party: fresh almond milk, apricot puree, maca, carob powder, cinnamon, cloves, orange peel, honey, a little sea salt and some regular Calli tea. It was an incredible last minute concoction.
Date-Banana Hemp Smoothie
One of my favorite recipes I created a long time ago when I was first experimenting with after workout shakes and it's so delicious!
1 1/2 cups water
1 large banana
1 scoop regular NuPlus
1 packet Quinary
1/3 cup hemp seeds
3 large medjool dates
4 ice cubes
Blend ingredients until smooth. Pour into large glass and enjoy slowly making sure to chew the contents for maximum assimilation.
What does your body know? Who can doubt what a miracle the human body is! Outward manifestations of healing show us that the body knows precisely how to heal itself.
When you cut your finger, you know that the skin will knit back together perfectly. If you get a splinter in your hand, your immune system will rally it's forces, organize and attack and surround the offender to rid the body of a foreign object. Those are ways the body heals itself you can see! What about those problems deep within the body we can't see? Because you can't see the healing process there, doesn't mean it isn't happening. Your body is constantly - 24 hours a day, striving to achieve order and balance. The body knows what it's doing! It's up to us to support the body in it's quest.
Your body knows what is needs in it's drive toward health and order. It needs you -- the conscious part of you, to learn the things you can do to have a higher level of health. If your conscious drive for wellness was as consistent as your body's innate drive for wellness -- you would probably be in perfect health. What about genetics you say? Genetics are one of the factors in the tapestry of your health. You can't control your genetics but you can control the other factors.
Your body knows - when you get enough quality rest. Your body is renewing and repairing and regenerating while you sleep! Most people don't realize the healing that takes place during sleep.
Your body knows - when you exercise. You can put on those Nike's and do it! Yes, get off of your couch and out of your house! Go for a walk or even power walk! Just about anyone can do that. Did you know each time you exercise that your body is actually creating T-cells (in thousands). So, exercise strengthens the immune system. And, when in the history of this planet have we needed that more. Also, did you know that when you exercise -- your body creates thousands of enzymes so your digestion can work better. That's why I always eat concentrated whole foods before I do any exercise routine. I know that all those components and enzymes are going to help me use energy efficiently.
Your body knows - when you think thoughts focused on hope - and it knows when your thoughts are full of despair.
Your body knows - the difference between dead food and live food! Your body knows the difference between foods that are whole and those that are isolated. Whole foods have synergy - meaning - all the elements interact together in harmony in a way your body understands, accepts and thrives on. Your body knows the difference between foods that have fungicides, herbacides and pesticides sprayed on them, and foods that are grown in a pure, healthful environment. Your body knows the difference in a carrot and fruit loops. Your body will thrive on the carrot and attempt to function in spite of the fruit loops. It's true, you can exist on foods from Taco Bell and Burger King. It's easy to make a meal with Hamburger Helper. But, like me, you want better for yourself. Right?? That leads us into what else your body knows!
Your body knows - accepts and thrives on Whole Foods in conjunction with consistent movement activities (Exercise). When you eat whole foods and exercise on a consistent basis..........your whole body says, thank you!!
Using a Stair-step approach to Healing, we learn to move forward toward the health of our birthright.
1. Fitness is not just a matter of the body figure.
I'm working my way to a healthier me and not just a sexier, physically attractive person that I want to be.
2. I believe in the saying, “You are what you eat.”
I believe that our body shows what kinds of food we eat. Our body will also depict the kind of physical activities that we have in life.
When we start to nourish our body in all ways, we'll find it easier to be fit.
3. I live a healthy lifestyle, consistently!
It's not what I do some of the time, but what I do on a consistent basis that determines the level of health I am in.
Some thoughts: Genes play big roles in a person’s health, but genes certainly do not influence what you will eat at breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and the kind of activities you will engage in. Making time for healthy food preparation every day and daily exercise will bring you to a greater state of health.
4. I have a “positive self image”
I have a positive body image in my life. I love my body in spite of what is happening in the environment or the occurrences in my life, therefore I choose to feed it the most energetic foods available. I love myself exactly the way I am!
Do you wish for a body that you know it is not yours? Do not burden yourself into thinking that life could have been better if you only had thinner thighs or beautiful abs. Through positive self-image, you are able to gain respect for yourself, which in turn generates others to respect you and admire you for who you are.
The key point here is that, being a physically fit person is not all about vanity and physical attributes alone. What matters most is the beauty of being physically fit and healthy that radiates from your body as it exudes the glow of health.
When I woke up this morning and went outside I was witness to a yard full of bees and yellow butterflies feeding from the apricot tree. It was amazing. The sun is setting here on Cathedral Rock and I must say I never get tired of the views. The sounds of the creek remind me that I am always in the flow and magnificent experiences always unfold into my life. As the oak trees grow their little green leaves it invites me to grow a little too. I recognize my body as a magnificent machine, and I am priviliged to live in it!
2 Apple Cinnamon NuPlus, 1 Quinary, 1 Alpha 20C, 1 T chia seeds and 1/2 an apple blended into a smoothie
1 Sunrise and water with Vitafruit during workout
After Plyo today I had a Green Goddess soup with 2 scoops NuPlus, old kale stems, avocados, celery, red bell pepper, mixed lettuce greens, Italian seasonings and sea salt. A nice little easily digestible soup, the perfect post workout meal for me.
Thai coconut soup with 2 scoops NuPlus, fresh coconut meat and spices. I love this soup!
Enjoyed this with quinoa flax crackers
So my time spent in the gym is well worth it. When I used to train I'd spent at least 1 1/2 in the gym working out. So many sets of the same excercises, gabbing with friends and just wasting precious training time, wondering where the results were. I am finding that I'm already getting great results, seeing my strength gains this week so far has proven to me that I am on the right track. It's so empowering to see hard earned results in such a short period of time.
I laugh when I think about how people cheat during their exercise routines. You know what I'm talking about, you've seen it. When you 'throw' the weights around while going through the motions, engaging every muscle you have in your body, watching the veins in your neck ready to explode.
Smoothie: 1/2 apple, a handful of kale (save the stems for soup) 1 T chia seeds, NuPlus, Quinary, water and Sunnydew
Dulse, flax crackers, avocados with sea salt
Kale Crips (CheeZy flavor)
A few fried poppers, so delicious!
Today I spent some time at the Sedona Hilton Spa Resort by the pool soaking up some rays. It's an exciting day for me, Day 1 of Week 2 of P90X. I started off with 20 minutes of cardio on the eliptical machine, then popped the dvd in my little vaio and began the push-ups and pull-ups routine. I didn't need the dvd after the first few exercises so I put it away and just used my worksheets. In about 1 hour I completed my full workout. My strength has improved and I feel so good! These workouts are definitely "hard", certainly not for someone just starting out who doesn't know proper exercise form. Tony Horton doesn't explain how to do the exercises but you can clearly 'see' how it is done.
3 NuPlus and 1 Quinary in a bowl with some Sunectar to taste, I feel I need the extra support this morning. 1 Evergreen and 1 vial Electrosport
Dulse soup with chickpea miso, sea salt, spices, peas, shredded carrots and coconut meat.
Guacamole with seed crackers
What a fun workout! I can see how it takes some time to learn punching techniques. It's easy to just "go through the motions" without putting much effort into it. Punching takes effort and good form without hyperextending the elbows. Joel and I really enjoyed Kenpo and look forward to the next time we practice. I took it easy with kicking my right leg around and managed to get it through the workout without re-injuring it. So far so good with pacing :) I see and feel myself getting stronger and can't wait to start round 2... but first I'm trying my best to complete the first round in these 4 weeks and still be motivated to continue. I love all the workouts so far, even Tony Horton's teaching style. Although, I would love it if he gave us more 'cues' on the set up and how to keep perfect form like, 'keep your pelvis tucked in and back straight' etc, before going into the exercise. Guess I could read the exercises booklet and learn how to do it properly without injuring myself but so far my body is remembering some of the movements from a long time ago.
What I ate today:
Calli tea, mint with sunnydew
1 packet Pina Banana NuPlus, 1 Quinary
Banana leather with cocout cream
1 liter Calli tea with 1 T VitaFruit
Huge Salad mixed greens with orange sesame tahini dressing (made with Udos oil)
1 small avocado
handful raw chips
1 scoop Nuplus, 1 Quinary with a little almond milk and Sunnydew
Shaken in a glass bottle
I trashed my leg from my ankle all the way up to my glute. The pain makes is difficult to walk "normally". My friend Diane did a light lymph rub for 20 minutes and gave it some love and attention. Sunbreeze oil seems to do the trick and gives me major relief. It's taking me over a week to complete a full week of P90X. I have to pace myself and take it easy with the workouts. The spa is a great place to go for a little R&R. A 20-30 minute soak in a hot tub or a spa salt bath, swim in a pool and stretch in the sauna; these are my three favorite ways to relieve sorness...and lots of Sunbreeze oil with a light lymph rub to ease some of the discomfort and improve circulation.
What I ate today:
1 Apple Cinnamon NuPlus, 2 Quinary, 1 Fortune with water and an apple blended
2 beautiful Romaine leaves with a mock tuna spread ~ Made me feel ill. I don't love sunflower seeds with other veggies :(
2 Scoops NuPlus, 1 Alpah 20 C and sunnydew.
Calli Night ~ I'm ready for some healing time tonight.
Two years ago Joel and I hiked up Cathedral Rock for the first time. I was ill prepared and climbed in my Croc sandals all the way up to the saddle, 3/4 the way around Cathedral Rock and down the other side toward Red Rock Crossing, then walked along the creek, hopped in a raft and crossed the creek to our house. A 5 1/2 hour journey in my Crocs resulted in two days of aches and pains. The proper shoes would have made a huge difference in how I felt afterward and not pushing as hard as I did. It felt so good to move and climb around red rocks after living a sedentary lifestyle for some time, unable to get out and play like I was. It was exhilarating!
A year and a half later: Tonight I'm feeling a little like I did the next few days after that hike. I'm sitting here with my feet elevated, ready to take a hot bath with the best bath remedies I know, sipping on some Fortune Delight, wishing I had some more SportCaps in my hand.
Dr. Chen's Message continued:
1. Nourish, balance, and cleanse: We want to nourish and cleanse
the body so it reaches an optimal balance. Yin (nourish) and yang
(cleanse) is how life functions, like breathing in and breathing out.
Consider five horses pulling a cart. The five horses represent the
body’s five major systems; the body is the cart. The cart, or your body,
runs smoothly only when the five horses run in harmony, in balance.
One horse, or system, running too fast or too slow will tip the balance
of the cart. Balance is the guiding principle.
Chinese history is 5,000 years old. We have had many kings, but few lived more than 50 years old despite the base health care and the best doctors. Although the kings' doctors also used herbs, their philosophy was different. The doctors would try to make the king stronger and more energetic by giving them tonics or ginseng. This made one system too strong so the kings' bodies were out of balance, and it killed them.
It's important to have the right combination of variety. The Philosophy of Regeneration TM is the blueprint for our formulas.
Dr. Chen's message continued:
2. Vitamins are not foods. They are chemicals. I've had people tell me to make more vitamins or protein powders because they are big sellers. Vitamins and protein powders are the easiest things to make. I can hire a temp worker off the street who doesn't know anything to mix some powders and corn starch together. The problem is that vitamins and protein powders are not foods. This is one reason I don't make many of these products.
If you give a tiger a protein powder, he would spit it out. A tiger would rather eat a rat than protein powder. An animal is smart enough to know that protein powder is not food. Humans are the only animal that drinks or eats what an advertisement tells them. People lose weight when they eat protein powders because the body can't recognize it as food. You are actually starving your body by eating them. If they were so nutritious, you would gain, not lose, weight.
The difference between foods and chemicals: Our body is designed to recognize foods as nourishment, not chemicals. You can break down a fish into protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, etc. You can then mix the proteins, carbohydrates, and fats back together, but it is no longer food or a fish. It is missing the life structure that your body recognizes. Just eating chemicals such as protein powders and multivitamins will cause your body to become malnourished because it has a difficult
time handling chemicals. Secondly, if you eat too many chemicals, your body will not be balanced.
I don't want to give you too much chemicals or vitamins because I know a little goes a long way. Our Citric CTM tabs contain only 125 mg, not 1,000 mg on purpose. I can easily make a juice. I used to live in Brazil so I'm very familiar with acai berry juice. It's a common juice there like orange juice. (As an aside, Brazil was the place where I discovered stevia for Sunectar.) However, I didn't put out an acai juice because it goes against the variety principle. Also, do you really believe people in Brazil don't get cancer or have other health problems? They drink acai juice all the time.
Dr. Tei Fu Chen's message continued:
3. Nutritional companies and people, in general, like to focus on one ingredient or food because it’s simple. Unfortunately, no ingredient is perfect in foods and cosmetics. Each ingredient has a strong point and weak point. For a long time, many people thought you could eat as many vitamins as you wanted without any
problems. However, now we know that too much vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin E, etc. can cause serious health problems. Vitamins are good and necessary, but again, the body needs a variety of nutrition and a balance of nutrients.
Chen's Message cont:
4. Formulation and concentration: The strong point of one ingredient can cover the weakness of another. If you know how to combine foods, you can formulate them to work together to create a stronger food. This requires expertise, knowledge, and study. Chinese culture has 5,000 years of experimenting and studying plants and herbs in combination. There are thousands and thousands of different kinds of formulas. However, even in Chinese culture, the formulas focusn on curing symptoms and diseases, and often contradict each other. I have carefully studied the formulas that previous generations used, but I have walked away from the philosophy of “curing” to the philosophy of balance—the Philosophy of Regeneration™. With Sunrider® products, I have elevated and transformed the traditional use of plants to optimize health. This independent thinking and creativity is light years ahead of the current “cure” mentality. Sunrider® products not only have unique formulas, but are concentrated for effectiveness. Foods have a lot of fiber, water, and other ingredients that dilute the beneficial effects. For example, recent studies talk about resveratrol, which is found in red wine. You need to drink 1,000 bottles to get the benefits of resveratrol, but you would have more serious
problems to deal with by then! Also, when most people concentrate an ingredient, they end up concentrating the “bad” stuff along with the “good” stuff. This is why Sunrider developed a trade-secret manufacturing process that extracts and concentrates the beneficial nutrients while minimizing the negative ingredients.
Sunrider researches, develops, and manufactures our products ourselves so we can formulate and manufacture products according to the Philosophy of Regeneration™. Our products are the highest quality and cannot be duplicated by anyone else.
A note from Dr. Tei Fu Chen: Sunrider® products are based on the Philosophy of Regeneration™.
This principle makes an incredible difference in our product concept,
function, and quality. For example, a house and a bridge use similar
building materials to make—concrete, steel, wood, and stone—yet,
they are completely different in looks and function. The difference is the
design, the blueprint.
The Philosophy of Regeneration™ is the blueprint for every Sunrider®
product. Since we have a unique blueprint, our formulas are different
from anyone else’s even if they use the same ingredients. The Philosophy
of Regeneration™ consists of four principles:
The Sunrider Value of Self-Manufacturing
In a February 2009 magazine, the Chief Operating Officer of an açai juice binary company stated, “We’ve chosen not to own our manufacturing operations, but we control every step of them[…] Our quality staff and manufacturing partners have very close interaction to ensure that our product is manufactured according to [our company’s] specifications.” This sounds good, but as a manufacturer, I can tell you his remarks are the talk of a company that does not know manufacturing. If you do not manufacture yourself, you don’t know what is really going on and cannot control the quality. For example, a famous toy company recently had huge problems with lead paint on their toys. The toy company had standards, protocols, quality checks, etc. that their third-party manufacturer was supposed to meet. But, unknown to the toy company, the third-party manufacturer decided to use cheaper, lead tainted paint. There have been other manufacturing scandals with plastic in baby formulas and dog food because third-party manufacturers were cutting corners. There will always be tension between the manufacturer and the buyer because each needs to make money. The manufacturer wants to sell high, and the buyer wants to buy cheap. Quality suffers to meet both demands. You also cannot protect your formulas in this situation. Some companies say they do research and development themselves, but then hire someone else to manufacture. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that the manufacturer won’t take your formulations, add a twist, and sell it themselves. You can’t control what is going on in someone else’s kitchen. I believe that companies that are stingy in manufacturing are stingy for their future.
In Sunrider, we control everything from research and development to manufacturing for the security of our business leaders. The way we formulate, extract, and concentrate our products is so unique that other people cannot copy it.
I am officially in pain today from training legs two days ago. My calves are sore but my right calve is especially tender making it difficult to walk properly. I pushed too hard the other day and over-trained my muscles so I've been taking hot baths and lightly rubbing sunbreeze oil on my skin with a soft touch to stimulate the lymph. It's helping to to alleviate some of the soreness without aggravating it more. Being in pain has brought up many emotions for me and makes me appreciate my body even more. I am being very gentle with myself, resting and nurturing as best I can. I am more careful with my intensity as I progress with this program.
I made a commitment to this program to have a life altering experience, to enjoy the journey of physical transformation and share my experiences with you, "good" and "bad". I am physically, mentally and emotionally strong and can succeed at anything I commit to!
What I ate today:
1 Mixed Berry NuPlus, 1 Quinary with water and SunnyDew
Lunch: Raw/Vegan Seafood Delight over Romaine Lettuce
Early Dinner: Buckwheat cereal with Almond Milk, 1 scoop Regular NuPlus, 1 Quinary and a little honey
Peach Fortune Delight and Cinnamon Calli Tea all day long
I woke up this morning at 7:30am with some leg soreness that made it a little uncomfortable to move out of bed. Mostly my hamstrings and glutes are sore which makes it hard to bend forward or down. Hmm... I over did it and have to take extra care of myself today. I wish I had some SportCaps to help nourish my muscles into recovery. I'm taking today off from my program, even though the next workout is all upper body (punching) with some kicking at the end. No kicking for me today.
After playing at Cafe Bliss today I took a bath with Kandesn Spa bath salts, Kalahari Desert salts and 20 used Calli Tea bags held together in a nut milk bag. During and after my bath I could move my legs better, stretch them straight out in front of me and bend forward to stretch my hamstrings out a little. There is nothing better than getting the muscles warm to move lactic acid out. I'm not feeling like eating much at all today.
What I ate today:
Morning: Regular Calli Tea in a Big Mug
2 Mixed Berry NuPlus, 1 Quinary, a little water to make a pudding with SunnyDew to taste
Lunch: Evergreen in 16oz of water with SunnyDew, Regular Calli, 1 Banana
Dinner: Romaine greens, Dill, Parsley with a Blood Orange Sesame Dressing
A few SportCaps from my dear friend Carrie. Luckily she was staying with us and had a few to spare.
1 Apple Cinnamon NuPlus, 1 Quinary, Calli Night
Today I brought my little laptop with me to the gym so I would have access to a pull-up bar and could perform the leg workout with plenty of room to move. Snap Fitness in the Village of Oak Creek is a great place for anyone who is serious about getting into shape. They offer personal training sessions and just added fitness classes to the mix. My leg and back workout was really intense. I'm feeling I could have skipped today and trained tomorrow to let my hamstrings heal a little bit more. I haven't trained this hard in years. My heart was pumping so hard and my legs were "giving out" during a few exercises. I love the combination of legs and back because I get a cardio workout too.
What I ate today:
2 scoops Mixed Berry NuPlus, 1 Quinary, SunnyDew, water
1 Banana , 1 Evergreen
Lunch: Green Smoothie with 1 scoop Regular NuPlus, Alpha 20C, SunnyDew
Dinner: 2 Slices Oooey Gooey Raw Pizza with Red Peppers and a Side Salad
Today's Yoga X class was intense. I practiced with the door open in the room, inviting the sounds of the creek to play with me. The Ashtanga Vinyasa flows sure left my hamstrings burning and my triceps shaking from yesterdays arm workout. One thing I loved about this workout is the amount of time we held each posture. I practice Bikram Yoga and we hold the first set of a posture for 1 minute and the second set for 30 seconds. The P90X program is set up so you are performing each exercise for 30 seconds to 1 minute, and then moving on to another exercise. I have not been bored with any of the workouts and each new exercise challenges me to work harder.
We had lunch at Cafe Bliss with our dear friends Pamela and Jeff today. The Ethiopian cuisine is a wonderful experience; if you are in the Sedona area on Sundays go and check it out. Chef Loweta's Ethiopian fair is simple, delicately spiced and delicious. If you opt for a raw dish that day, get the Timatim Fitfit salad (a mix of fresh greens, diced tomatoes, peppers, onion topped with olive oil, fresh lemon juice and spices). Add some avocado to the mix if you need it.
Morning Smoothie: 1 Apple Cinnamon NuPlus,1 Quinary, 2 T chia seeds, Udos oil, small banana, 1/2 apple and water to blend.
Lunch: Timatim Fitfit salad with avocados, 1 NuPlus, 1 Quinary, 1/3 Sunbar
Afternoon workout: Shoulders & arms, abdominals (The glamour muscles)
I feel so strong in my body after only three workouts so far, its amazing the transformation that is taking place. I can feel every muscle in my body, muscles I haven't used in years. Over 12 years ago I followed a very intense bodybuilding program but didn't have the great eating program I am on now. Before I was depleting my systems just to build muscle, now I'm nourishing on such a deeper level it's even easier to build Lean Muscle Mass. Yeah!
I'm feeling like a hearty dinner tonight like my Fiesta Mac (my raw version of mac & cheese). I love this dish when I'm craving heavier foods. Only 5 ingredients: Mac nuts, lemon, peppers, sea salt and kelp noodles.
Today I engaged in an intense plyometric workout consiting of squats, leaps, jumps and kicks. I love not using any equipment during a workout, just my body weight. It's amazing what the human body can endure in 1 hour.
My morning pre-workout meal: 1 Calli tea bag, steeped for 10 minutes in hot water
1 scoop Regular NuPlus, a few quirts SunnyDew and 1 packet Quinary with enough water to make a cereal. I love this 70/20/10 meal because it fills my belly and provides me with great energy.
Post Workout Shake: 1 Apple Cinnamon NuPlus, handful hemp seeds, 4 dates, 1 banana, 1 T chia seeds and water to blend.
5 Celery stalks to chew after smoothie
6pm snack: 1 cup Bliss Ice Cream...super yummy
9pm NuPlus and Quinary meal with some Fortune Delight
I feel soreness in my lats and chest and feel ready for shoulders and arms tomorrow. I'm so excited about this physical transormation.
Push-ups and pull-ups, the two most dreadful exercises for women, I know. Yes, they are difficult and somewhere I was told how these exercises are for men and if us women perform them we'll become "too bulky". Actually, we won't become bulky at all but rather toned, more defined , and have a stronger feeling of empowerment. Yesterday was my first day "extreme training" performing alternating sets of various forms of pull-ups and push-ups. The workout lasted a total of 1 hr including the warm-up and cool-down portions. I LOVE IT! I perform this workout routine once a week for the next three weeks. I'm looking forward to achieving maximum results with my program and I look forward to sharing it with you. Pictures of day 1 to come.
Hmm... This is a very broad subject that I could sum up in one sentence, then elaborate on a bit.
Like Hippocrates, father of modern medicine once said, "Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food.
Instead of managing the dis-eases that were occurring in my body, I learned how to create health instead. It's really no secret you know. Feed your beautiful body with the highest quality, system specific foods free of heavy metals, pesticides and other undesirables and reap the rewards of a healthy, functioning, balanced body. This is what higher nutrition has done for me.
I went from eating the standard American diet, a healthier version including organic foods to adopting a raw/live food diet and later incorporating highly concentrated whole food herbs that brought me to a whole new level of health.
The past 5 years have been a combination of struggles and realizations. I am blogging this information as a way to keep track of my progress and share the information I have learned along the way, hoping to inspire you to keep on searching for what works for you and asking you to never let anyone tell you that you have to live with the current condition you are in. Making small changes can lead to a series of leaps and bounds in your health if you allow yourself to heal. Healing is a process and can take many years but if you start now you will be on your way to a new body and a new way of living!
To your health,
Chrissy
12 workout routines containing hundreds of unique movements.
A 3-phase nutritional plan. (I'll be modifying this program with vegan raw/live foods and the highest quality herbal concentrated foods on the market today.)
Premier training supplements. (Again, I'll be eating whole food concentrated herbs and system specific formulations, free of heavy metals that support and empower my organ systems to function at optimal levels.)
And Tony Horton. (The personal trainer in the dvds). He's a riot! and reminds me of some people I used to train with "back in the day" in NJ and NY.
This is real training.
If you want to get totally ripped and get in the best shape of your life, develop skills, coordination, and flexibility you never dreamed possible, this is for you!
From intense weight training to extreme yoga, this program allows you to experience a variety of unique challenging moves that will slim, strengthen, tone, firm, and add muscle mass. With P90X you can take your body where you want it to go.
P90X is unlike any other exercise program ever devised. With a total of 12 separate workouts containing hundreds of unique movements, this comprehensive fitness program will vault you to the next level and then some.
How does P90X get you there you ask?
Two words: "Muscle Confusion."
By providing an extensive variety of different moves that take time to master, P90X is continually challenging the body's muscles into new growth. The more you confuse the muscle, the harder your body has to work to keep up; the more variety you put into your workout, the better and faster your results will be. The flaw with many fitness products is that they lead to a "plateau" where the body becomes accustomed to the routines, resulting in diminishing effectiveness. P90X avoids this plateau effect by switching things up to keep the body guessing for the entire 90 days. This means IT NEVER GETS EASY. By breaking old routines and opening new doors, secondary and tertiary muscles are constantly being activated and developed. P90X will continually challenge your body with its Muscle Confusion technique, utilizing what we call training "blocks."
Each training block consists of three weeks of intensity, followed by one week of recovery.
There are three training blocks in the 90 days, each building upon gains made in the previous block. Nothings stays the same for long in this program. Routines are frequently switched, and aching muscles pay the price early on if you push yourself too hard. But for those animals able to both pace their intensity, and hang in there and give it all they've got for 90 days as they get stronger, the payoff will be tremendous.
Within each training block there are also 3 phases: 1) The Adaptive phase, when the body learns how to do the new set of each exercises; followed by 2) The Mastery phase, when the body responds to these exercises and experiences changes; and finally, 3) The Recovery phase, when muscular healing occurs and your body grows strong, ready to be "confused" again.
The Recovery phase is well-designed and is essential to getting the most out of any exercise program. The P90X Recovery program can be challenging but provides a break from heavy resistance training and will allow the microtrauma (small tears in the muscle) accumulated over the prior few weeks to heal so you can push even harder during the next training block.
*This program eventually became extremely difficult for me to continue. I over-trained because my body wasn't quite ready for this type of intensity. Over-training causes frustration and lack of motivation to continue. Due to this and traveling across the states, the 2nd month of the program I quit completely and started using the eliptical machines for cardio and yoga for stretching. The best part of using this program was the motivation I felt to start moving my body more. It lead me to search for another program I would enjoy more that would be sustainable.
Join me on my journey as I guide my miracle body toward Regeneration and Vibrant Health using the Five Element Theory, the Philosophy of Regeneration, Whole Live Foods and my Exercise of choice. For about two years I was nearly bed-ridden, in wonder if I would ever life a "normal" life again, pain-free. My progress has been steady, and I now have the tools I need to move forward knowing where I'm going.