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.