Random Thoughts

Since this is my blog and I can decorate it just as easily as I can tear down the walls, and can change the rules as I please, I am going to use these next few minutes to write what comes into my head without editing.

Starving really means to perish or to die from lack of food. Why do we use the term so loosely? We aren’t exactly dying from hunger, but we have been dying since we were born. We get older all the time. There is no fixing that. There is no cork to stop the overflow of the aging process, and there is not a thing we can do about reaching death’s door at some point in our lives. Starving. Obviously we are using the word as a metaphor. Are we dying to stop dying or are we perishing because we have trouble sitting uncomfortably with simple hunger pangs for a few moments? There are people out there who are literally dying from lack of food, but I wonder if they ever complain about being starving the way we do? We are so lost in translation that we can’t even recognize the importance and the true power of words. We toss them aside and kick them out of the way as if they were dirty underwear, but shouldn’t we take a few moments and think about why we use the words that we use? Are we that cretinous and misinformed? Do people read books anymore? If so, I want to know what books. I want a list. Am I mad about people using the word “starving”? No. I use it constantly, and I despise that. I am not starving–or at least not in the Middle English way.

starve

Origin:
before 1000; Middle English sterven, Old English steorfan  to die; cognate with German sterben

[stahrv] Show IPA verb, starved, starv·ing.

verb (used without object)

1.

to die or perish from lack of food or nourishment.

I am not “sterven”. If we were that “sterven”, we would not be able to express it in the ostentatious manner that we do: ” Dude, I’m so starving right now I could eat a horse…” If we were truly “steofan” I assure you, we would not have the energy to relay that message.

Mel’s Rockin’ Guac Recipe (facial mask included–don’t throw out those scraps…)

Mel’s Rockin Guac!

2 Avocadoes

1/4 red onion

1/4 container of grape tomatoes

1/2 lemon

1/2 lime

2 TBS green onion

1.) cut grape tomatoes in 4ths

2.) squeeze 1/2 lemon and 1/2 lime over the top of the tomatoes and let them soak in the juice.

3.) add 1/4 finely chopped red onion and stir in with tomatoes

4.) add 2 avocados and mash with a fork until it’s soft. Stir so that all ingredients blend together.

5.) sprinkle chopped green onion on top and add a dash of sea salt, cracked pepper and crushed red pepper to taste.

ROCKIN!!!!!

WAIT!!!! Don’t throw out those scraps!!! Treat your skin to an avocado, lemon, lime and raw honey face mask–your skin will thank you!

Ingredients:

**The remnants of your avocado that is still sticking around after scooping it into the guac bowl

**the tiny bit of lemon and lime juice that remain from the guac recipe

**1/2 tsp of raw honey.

Directions:

Blend in a little dish and apply evenly on dry clean skin. Let sit for 10 minutes until dry and then rinse off with water and towel dry: BEAUTIFUL!

http://www.naturalnews.com/027509_avocado_skin_health.html

No cysts? No way! Could it be the greens?

If you don’t like reading about feminine issues you may want to avert your eyes–however this could be the post that could change mind and more importantly your life. I made the trek into a green juice and vegan raw food diet. WHY oh WHY, would I do that you ask? Well, I will have you know I happened to only eat my steak moo-ing in the middle and preferred to eat that lb of bacon with pride, and God forbid those vegan assholes come after me with their “you shouldn’t eat anything with a mother and a face!” bullshit (excuse my swearing rant. This is really what goes on in my head…).  Here’s the deal, ladies and germs: I was getting sick. My entire life I have battled horrible menstrual cramps and irregular periods. Last year my ovaries took a turn for the worse and began producing ovarian cysts that would rupture and cause debilitating pain, abnormal bleeding, nausea, headaches, fatigue, etc…http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovarian_cyst Every month I would suffer wondering, when the hell is this going to stop. After internal ultrasounds and gynecological exams, I was left with the same options: birth control or if it doesn’t get better–surgery. “Le Sigh…” Now before I continue, please keep in mind that this could all be some crazy ass coincidence, and I am always trying to debunk the latest diet fads and crazes so please keep the: “you shouldn’t jump ahead of yourself” comments to a minimum. 

My previous diet consisted of pretty much this: Coffee–and when I say coffee I mean it. 8 cups a day on average. Holy jitters and energy crashes, Batman! Animal Protein. Lots of it. Hey, I wanted to gain lean muscle. I stopped eating bread and rice and pasta and started eating more meat. Dairy. Who cut the cheese? I DID. Cheese has no carbs…good right? Hmmm.. very few vegetables and synthetic protein shakes with Whey, but loaded with other stuff I could not pronounce. Not good. You can probably guess that my PH levels were definitely not in the alkaline range. Welcome to “Acid- City”, population, me.

So where’s my point? Well, it’s more like a rounded tip right now waiting to gain all it’s sharpness, but here’s the freaking scoop: this month, after a year of suffering, I have yet to see abnormal bleeding. No cramping. No headaches. No bloating. No dizziness. No Quasimodo like hunched over pain. Did I mention NO abnormal bleeding? Am I crazy, or is this green and raw lifestyle saving my life? I’m starting to think I’m not crazy. I am also starting to think those vegan assholes are right. In the meantime, stay tuned. If this is only the beginning, I wonder what lies ahead? 

Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable.

I have been cleansing my body by drinking green juices for the past 7 days while incorporating  raw alkaline foods such as avocados, spinach, sprouts, berries, etc…with the allowance of raw nuts (cashews, walnuts, almonds) and almond butter. No grains. No dairy. Did I lose weight? Yes and no. Yes meaning, I lost 2 lbs of body fat and some inches. No meaning my weight has stayed the same, but I can safely say it’s lean muscle that has remained. For all of you out there getting frustrated with the scale and who rely on the numbers for encouragement–forget that. I lost body fat and inches. My skin is glowing. I have massive energy for my heavy lifts. I’m sleeping soundly. My bowels are moving like a well oiled machine. I feel light on my feet and wicked smahhhhhhhht in the brain. This cleansing has opened my eyes to many things, but one particular thing stands out for me the most, and that’s the habit of eating. I recognize now that eating had taken over my day. The comfort and habit of picking up food and putting it in my mouth, chewing, and then swallowing–mindless chewing and swallowing. I would eat while reading, writing, sitting at the computer, watching TV…but I never paid attention to my body. Was it full? Who cares, right? I worked out enough today to deserve to eat mindlessly; not to mention I wasn’t eating fast food or cookies or cake or anything really BAD for me…I would have a handful of peanuts here, a few rice cakes there, some hummus and crackers, a handful of raisins, a few squares of dark chocolate for snacks, but I had no idea I was taking in so much when it all added up. Eating raw and drinking juice has brought to my attention this: Its not about what makes us comfortable in order to be healthy. Life will not just hand us a victory. Sometimes it’s about not being able to have what you want. We are such an instant gratification culture. We want to be soothed and cajoled and we want it NOW. Beautiful things are never easy. Our bodies do not need to be soothed with snacks. Eat well Drink well. Know what you are putting in your body and know what those nutrietns and minerals do for you. Read a book instead of snacking for a change. Write a poem. Go for a walk. Clear your mind. Pay a debt. Call a friend. Play some music. HECK–write a song. Learn to play guitar (I can help you). It’s not always about doing what makes us feel satisfied at the moment. Do yourself a favor and try being uncomfortable for a bit. Watch and learn what comfort that will bring. 

 

Until next time…Rock on folks!

Here’s to the Journey of Love.

“Melanie, I was watching my son’s baseball practice and I have noticed he’s getting so much better–especially with one of the balancing drills. You can really tell that he is improving and he stands out from most of the other kids. Thank you.” How is it that a simple statement such as this can make such a tremendous impact on my heart? If my heart were a paycheck at that moment, it would be worth more than a million bucks. Let’s just say I didn’t walk back through the door of the gym with my head down; I’m most certain that I grew a few inches taller with pride–but let’s not mistake this pride for hubris. This is the pride that keeps on giving because it  feeds off the love of others and leaves the ego at the door. Love? Most people don’t think love when they see the title: strength coach. I’m here to tell you this is exactly what the job is about. I’m here to blog about the top reason why I think being a strength coach is about love. The aforementioned scenario happened most recently, and is just a tiny piece of the proud-moment-pie. I’m sure I will blog about many of those at some point in time

#1-  The LOVE of the journey: The journey does not begin gracefully–in fact it’s pretty much a massive conglomeration of pre-teen angst, crazy hormones and nervous bodies who either aren’t sure whether they can measure up to their friends or are too sure that they can measure up to anyone, so you might as well pass them the coaching torch because, well…they know all, don’t you know? But this is part of the journey. Getting to know your group. Getting to know their names, what sports they play, what they do for fun, what makes them laugh, what makes them tick, what makes them want to work harder– or if they don’t want to work harder how can you change their minds? The journey of love is about seeing the kid who walked in the door with his back hunched and his head down with eyes glued to the floor, incapable of looking you in the eye when you talk to them. It’s about the same kid who in week one, could not get his shoulders back and his chest up tall, or get his foot close to the outside of his hand during spiderman streches, or even pick up the bar with a flat back off the Olympic platform, who can now in week #4, walk in with his head up high, stand up tall with his shoulders back and can look you in the eye and say “hey” and smile; he can get his foot almost to the outside of his hand during spideman stretches and can now pick up the bar with a flat back and can do a set of cleans that makes you stop and go: wait…is this the same kid? Yes. This is what it’s all about. Trial and error plays a big part here, and a lot of that part is error. What a beautiful thing. We learn from our mistakes. Is it working? No? Try something else. Is that working? No. Try again. Finally something clicks.  It is not easy. For those who write about coaching and don’t coach, try it and then tell me the journey doesn’t start with you going something like this: dear God, how am I going to make this work? If you don’t at least feel a tiny bit overwhelmed–you have never really coached before. It is a journey. It is never certain. You can’t just write about it and say: “this is how it will go and this is how it will end.” No way. If that’s the way it really works then where’s the love in that? Forget certainty–

I’ll take the journey any day!Song of the day  Pink: TRY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdHCec23BKE

Green means GO!

A few years ago a friend of mine told me she was doing a juice cleanse. I immediately scoffed at the idea, so sure that she was disillusioned and I was oh-so-omniscient. “You are just going to gain all the weight back so what’s the point?” I said, “Why bother? Just eat food and exercise and don’t eat junk. Live your life”. I look back at this moment and I can’t help but admit to myself I was being ignorant and most of all  jealous of the fact that she wanted to take on a challenge to lead her on a road to better health. Wasn’t I supposed to be the great big motivator/support system and not a heedless son-of-a-bitch? Here I stand 3 years later, the proud owner of a juicer, and a newly wild advocate of green juice and the insane benefits and medicinal properties it contains–feeling incredibly apologetic to my friend for overlooking what could possibly be the best alteration in my everyday diet. Sorry. Really, I am. 

So why should you believe me? What makes green juice so effective and what can you expect when you start imbibing this most omnipotent concoction? Here are a few things I noticed when I started:

* I felt instantly healthier, as if I were transforming into a  beautiful flower. I could already feel myself growing on greener pastures. Weird? Of course…that’s just me..but I bet you at least feel a tiny bit smarter and better about starting your day when you take a sip….

*My skin started to look clearer and a bit more radiant after only a few days. I did not have any skin problems prior to this, but I did notice a slight transition in appearance.

*I could think more clearly. Maybe it’s the chlorophyll? Don’t listen to Billy Madison–it isn’t more like “bore-o-phyll”. It’s pretty exciting and makes your brain go from miniscule to prodigious…or at least you will think so. Just go with it.

*Let’s just say it extricated the cluttered mess that lay dormant against my insides…or, I pooped more. A lot more. DUDE…how many toxins can one’s body hold? Holy crap-a-moly, Batman! This is good. Go with it. Literally.

*I had more energy. I hit my PR’s in the gym and I felt I could do more after that. I did not have to juice a steak in with the kale, nor did I add any caffeine to the mix. The plants are strong and wise. They bring forth goodness and vitality. I was shocked. How interesting and cool! 

*Most notably, I was able to focus my attention on something other than food. Yes, we all have to think of food at some point, but I spent less time obsessing over food. I felt satiated and full as if my body were to say: “Melanie, you have been given what you need. It’s about what you need and not so much about what you want.” Wow. 

It’s easier being green than you think. I did some research on the benefits of drinking green juice. here is the link to an article I found helpful.

Also, here is my own green juice recipe for your healthy drinking pleasure:

Mel’s mixed up healthy rock and roll green juice:

2 handfuls of kale

2 handfuls of spinach

1 handful of cilantro

3 stalks of celery

1 cucumber

1/2 a lemon

1/2 grapefruit

1 green apple

1 square of fresh ginger

Music pick of the day: Crystalline Green by Goldfrapp http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JKCKde80D0

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-02-15/diet/31200484_1_fruit-juice-calcium-absorption-chlorophyll-molecule

 

GO GREEN!

But I’m a musician…

…so I fell hard–into the lap of strength and conditioning and now work with the best in the industry. Why? Because I went for it with my eyes closed and fingers crossed and JUMPED. I have no idea what I’m doing here, but I love it. I have no idea how to even begin, but here it is: my fitness/food/and music blog. Music? Yes. I’m a songwriter as well. My guitar is my husband. I can’t live without music. I eat, sleep and breathe it (I swear I tap my feet to the rhythms of my dreams)I will combine some updates on my recording sessions and live gigs on here as well. A friend of mine told me to start a blog after seeing pictures of food and some fitness goals I had posted on Facebook. I said really? She said: yes. I said: ok. So…my mixed up healthy rock and roll blog starts now. Follow me if you dare.