Month: July 2019

My Top Three Body Weight Movements

When it comes to losing weight and getting stronger, I often here this one reply:

I don’t have time to go to the gym!

To be honest, when I hear this, I often try to stay understanding and compassionate. Most times though it leaves me holding my head in my hands in an act of frustration. Because everyone body can make time, and no, you don’t have to go to a gym!

And with these three movements, which I do almost everyday! You truly can lose weight and tone up the body!

Movement one: The burpee, I know that most people loath them, but I love them. The burpee is a total body movement. You can tone the body and burn fat. And if all you have is a few minutes, do burpees for a few minutes of burpees.

 

Movement two: Air Squat, this is a wonderful workout   for the lower body and a functional movement for everyday life. I suggest starting with five sets of fifteen reps everyday.

Movement three: The push up, this movement also comes from the burpee, but the push up is amazing and targeting the entire body in one movement. If you want to throw in a plank, you can do that too!

My point is though, is that these three movements give you the best bang for your buck. Even if it’s a little bit of time. The point is, is that you are doing something! Of course you can add in others, but these are my top three, that you can do everyday and make more challenging.

PS, also add in adequate nutrition, much less sugar and you’re headed in a wonderful direction!

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Why I love CBD: A Few Reasons

I have wanted to write this entry for quite some time now,  my reason for not doing so stemmed from the fact that I am a Christian. My faith is utterly important to me and comes before everything else in my life. That being said, I feared the backlash that a post like this might cause, but I’ve come to a point where I don’t care if fellow believers roll their eyes at me or question the validity of my faith.

I also want to clearly state, that this is not a scientific exploration of what CBD is, there is much more notable places to look than something like this. This will much rather be a few reasons as to why I use it, and why I believe others should use it too!

Reason one: As someone with cerebral palsy, I have tried nearly every muscle relaxer under the sun. In the name of coping with the pain that follows spasticity. Muscle relaxers often make me feel tired and zombie like for a few days at least. With CBD, my muscles are able to relax more naturally and doesn’t leave me feeling like an unproductive zombie.

Reason two: Much less joint pain and inflammation. Once again, as someone with CP, I am more often than not, in a fair amount of pain and stiffness. So much so that it becomes very difficult to walk with my crutches. Having used CBD for over a year now, I have noticed that the inflammation has gone down dramatically. And it’s much easier to move. Are there days where pain is still present? Yes, but it is much much less and bearable, without having to put so many pills in my mouth, that how much more side-effects.

Reason three: Anxiety and Depression, yes CBD has helped me in these areas as well, I don’t have many panic attacks anymore, and the depressive episodes are not as present. Yes, they still happen, but using CBD I find helps relieve the symptoms that are associated with anxiety and depression.

Much more, using CBD is wonderful after my workouts, and it leaves me much less sore and allows to recover faster. I’ll end with this though, I don’t think that CBD is cure all, in terms of our over all health, its also a good thing to learn coping skills, listening to our bodies, getting more sleep etc.

Yet there are more, even greater benefits to using  CBD than the ones I’ve listed above.

Here is what I use: https://johnnyapple.com/cartridges/

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From Pro Body Builder- To Body Lover (My Thoughts)

So,

Theres been this pictures floating around on social media, of once pro body builder, Jolene Jones. Who once went from have zero body fat, weighing chicken, drinking protein shakes. To leaving the body building scene and letting herself indulge and enjoy life a lot more. See Below Picture:

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Now, let me come right out and say, that as a certified fitness and nutrition coach. I actually applaud her for this. With a few side notes of my own.

For one, I applaud her journey in body building, that takes a lot of time, effort and discipline. And to be able to bring your body to that level is nothing short of amazing. I will also submit that women as seen in picture A, are beautiful and that there is nothing wrong with wanting to live that life style.

However, its not maintainable for most people. And as in her case, it didn’t lead to her over all happiness. A lot times, people who are un to serious calorie restricted diets aren’t really happy, that feel unsatisfied because they are more than likely not getting the right amount of calories and fats.

Having almost zero body fat on you in is very deadly in the first play.   I that many of us need to be honest, about the reality that some of us, may never have the physical appearance of a body builder.

I’m going to say flat out, that I think its ok not to have 1 percent body fat. Its okay not to have six packs abs. On the flip side though, I don’t think that this should be an excuse to not be healthy or disciplined.

I don’t even believe that Jolene herself, is openly saying that either. I think its okay to indulge with pizza and beer sometimes. But we still should be disciplined and love ourselves enough to take care of ourselves. Feed our bodies with healthy foods and water most of the week or month. And maybe once a week, or a few times a month, have a cheat meal or two.

But then get back on the path, our lives are too much of a blessing and gift, not to have the the balanced approach of nutrition and fitness, while still indulging from time to time.   There’s no better time to start making yourself stronger and healthier inside and out.

And on the other end of the spectrum, maybe its okay to breath a bit and enjoy, but use wisdom and self control. In the process.

Your Comfort is Killing You

If you value your own personal comfort, over your personal health and growth. You have a very big problem on your hands. I know that in our society, we truly value are comfort, but it might just be the one thing that is holding us back from living as our best self.

Comfort, I have found, stems from two factors:

Fear, fear is a biggie, that is hidden in comfort. For example, we fear going to the gym because we don’t like our own bodies and we fear what others might think of us. So we don’t go to the gym, we don’t break a sweat and most of us just end up back on the couch.

Which then leads into the second factor: Laziness, we all struggle with this. It’s easier to stay  in bed longer, it’s easy not to choose the right foods, its easier to skip the workout and its easier to do the things we know we should do.

What does that result in?

It results in us not growing, getting out of our comfort zones or learning anything about ourselves. The negative sides of our comfort far out weight the positive. This is exactly why we never see results in our over all health and personal goals, because we never step out onto the water so to speak.

So how to we break out of the comfort? How do we began to ditch the fear and laziness?

In the simplest terms, you and I have to do things you don’t want to do every single day. Do the pushups you don’t want to do, go for that run, apply for that job, go after that dream you have always wanted to go after. Talk to that person you have always wanted to talk to.

When we do that, we grow and are much more satisfied with the direction of our lives. I encourage everyone who reads this, to write down a list of goals that you want to accomplish.

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Movement As Blessing

 

I’ve always had the conviction that being able to move your body everyday, is a huge blessing. That conviction has only grown, upon getting my certifications in fitness  and nutrition. I want to ignite the fire and passion for people to love and honor their bodies inside and out.

Exercise can be a huge part in this, but more so, I am speaking toward the reality, that getting to move your body, everyday in small ways is a blessing. Even as I move my fingers to type this blog.

I long to see people with special needs, have a deep zeal everyday, to get themselves out of bed and do what they can to be healthier, happier and stronger. I know everyone has different ranges of ability, energy and so on.

The one objection that stem from this: Well, thats easy for you to say, you don’t.. (fill in the blank).

Actually, along with having CP, I am always in some sort of pain, I’m always tired, a lot of days I have to fight to even get out of bed. And yes, there’re a lot of days where my own struggle with depression beats me down. So I do understand very well.

But here is the deal, life is too much of a blessing to let any of that stuff have victory over me. Even on the days when I don’t want to get out of bed, you know what? I get out of bed. Regardless of the war that may be going on inside me on a giving day, I try and make someones life better.

Jocko Willink talks a lot about going through the motions, going to the gym when you don’t want to. Doing the things you would rather not do, because in doing so you’re better because of it. The moment my eyes open in the morning, I hear Jocko’s voice saying:

GET. OUT. OF BED. NOW!

Do the work you have to do.

Wash the dishes

Wash the clothes

Do the everyday and mundane things you’d rather not do. why!? Because your moving, your using the body that God gave you. Much better, you are forsaking the laziness in your mind, that says “oh no, you don’t have to anything today!”

Now, I’m not implying you can’t rest. What I am saying is that you can rest, after you have gotten everything on your to-do list done. Workout included! There’s something so beautiful about going to bed tired, knowing that you poured yourself out and crushed the day. That’s a wonderful way to live lives!

Then, you can rest and rest deeply.

So wake up everyday, rip the the covers from your body and get moving. Workout, do the mundane tasks (and even your prospective on them will change), better yourself in every way you can, help others and then you can rest deeply. Do what you can everyday, so no to the lazy voice in your head, so that when you rest, you will rest fulfilled.

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Discipline and The New You!

I was talking with a client this more, and something that I said to them really struck me. It was the idea of dialing in your discipline. Meaning that one:

Discipline begins again every single day, what this really comes down to, is knowing why we are being disciplined for in the first place. Makes sense? And so for my client, they have this vision of themselves of who they want to be.

And they want to reach that goal, that space and time in their lives. For themselves, not because they want to be like anyone else. But because they want to be happy, healthy, whole and complete for no one else but them.

I can’t begin to tell you how revolutionary this, because then they can reach a place where they stop comparing themselves to others. Stop looking and obsessing over the numbers on the scale, because they aren’t defined by that anyone or anything else.

But again, this takes discipline, the discipline to not spend so much time scrolling through social media. Choosing to be discipled in waking up early, appreciating the gift of a new day.

The discipline of choosing the right foods, drinking enough water. The disciple to say no to food and other things in life that will only hinder you. This all starts with a choice that isn’t merely cognitive, but it is a choice that has to resonate within our full nature. It has to change ever part of you.

This can true for you as well, you just have to decide in the here and now.

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