Healthy Weight Sadhana – Day 40 – Lessons, Tools And Traveling On

Congratulations everyone, happy day 40! Well, we have come to the end of another sadhana but does that mean that you can’t carry the lessons you’ve learned, the tools you’ve collected on after today? Yes, you can and yes, you should!

Let’s take a quick review of some of the highlights from this sadhana:

• We learned a great meditation using a mantra that is a catalyst for change, the Meditation To Break Addictions.
• We learned that no matter what your plans in life, keep them realistic and with no pressure perimeters.
• We learned the 10 Steps To Positive Body Image.
• We learned that exercising in a group is great because of the social atmosphere and that it is a really good thing to find someone in the group to look up to, but not compare yourself to, to be lifted by their presence.
• We learned how common household chores like washing the dishes or folding laundry can burn some serious calories!
• We learned that when we keep the Many Worlds Theory in mind, we can help ourselves to make healthier choices and smarter choices in our everyday life.
• We went in-depth learning about meditation and how it is a gift only for you!
• We learned that it is best to make our plates as colorful as possible with fresh fruits, vegetables, legumes and grains.
• We learned about how the 5 Sutras of the Aquarian Age can help us in our everyday life.
• Nicki Sizemore taught us how we could make healthy, nutritious meals from scratch really fast.
• We pondered about areas of our body that might be taboo and learned to love who we are in the now.
• We learned about the power of forgiveness.
• Ellen Forman taught us all about the benefits of juicing and blending.
• We discovered fifteen of the grossest things we are most likely eating.
• We learned about how we can take many of the most beloved comfort foods and turn them into tasty low-calorie dishes.
• We learned all about Sun Salutations.
• We learned all about fasting.
• We learned that by not quitting and letting go of fear we become fearless!
• We learned about using affirmations to set our intention and help us move into a positive place.
• We learned about all the ways that playing outside in the wintertime snow can burn tons of calories.
• Stanzi Allan Pouthier taught us all about healthy snacking.
• We learned how to cook consciously with love.
• We learned how we are beautiful inside and out, how we are flawless, how we shine!
• We learned how we are all connected, even down to the food we eat, that we are never alone.

This morning I weighed in at 134 for a total weight loss of six pounds. During the forty days I saw my weight go down to 130 and bounce around and up and down. Would I have liked to have lost more weight, truthfully yes. But in the words of the Dalai Lama,

“Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.”

I don’t know just yet what my overall healthy weight is set to be when I step back on the scale. I do know some good tools to use from now on to help me continue my journey though, tools that I will strive to use in my everyday life. I hope you will use them as well.

If this sadhana has inspired you please do let me know your thoughts. I humbly ask that you take a moment to send me some feedback and let me know if I can use it as a testimonial on this website. You can fill out the form below with your comments which will be received with openness and love. If you have any suggestions for upcoming sadhanas please let me know!

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Until next time my friends, be kind, be in the now, know your beauty, know that you are part of the universe, and all the best of blessings to you! Sat Nam!

Healthy Weight Sadhana – Day 39 – The Web Of Life

It’s Valentine’s Day, a day where many are happy and many are sad, many are spending time with someone special and many are alone.

I’ve decided after seven long years to finally finish one aspect of my life that I had been putting off for some reason or another for ages; becoming a labor doula. I have two lovely children both born at home. They were awesome births and I had always wanted to have more children, four to be exact. Coming from a small family of two I loved the idea of creating a large family and four has always been my favorite number, but hey, when it came down to thinking about having babies I would have gone past four if I could have. My husband, on the other hand, has three children, now grown, from a previous marriage. When we met he wasn’t even sure if he wanted to have any more children and after a breakup, many hours, days, weeks and months of therapy and talking we decided on two. I won’t lie, I still would love to have more, but my husband is also now a cancer survivor and with his age and his health it has become yet another reason to not go past the two children limit. I had a hard time dealing with it and many more hours and weeks and months of therapy and talking about it helped me to come to terms that I was not going to be having any more babies. It didn’t stop me from crying when we all recently visited my midwife’s office for a well woman visit. I hadn’t been in her office since I was pregnant and being back in that cozy space with such an inspirational woman as my midwife and looking at all the familiar pictures and birthing books people had made…well…I needed a moment, or two, or three….I needed a couple of moments. How could I turn around this passion for pregnancy and babies and make it work so I could deal with the strong feelings of desire to be part of that world again? Through service of course!

Like many things of importance that happen in my life, the universe led me to the answer. I had been enrolled in a labor doula and childbirth education course for seven years and hadn’t done a thing with it. I am admittedly not a good online learner. I need someone to engage me, give me a deadline, tell me it has to get done. With online work and no deadline I allowed other things to get in the way and put off learning. I saw an advertisement for a labor doula training happening right in my own neck of the woods by people I knew who ran a successful doula business. I went to my husband and said, “That’s it, I’m signing up for this course and I am going to get certified once and for all!” He saw that gleam in my eye that showed that there was going to be no room for discussion with the issue. He saw that I needed this, he saw the spark, the reigniting of the flame. So I begin my training later this month and in the meantime am looking for pregnant women to allow me to serve them as a doula in training, since I need three births for certification.

Pregnant anyone? Contact me!

What does this have to do with Valentines Day or a healthy weight sadhana, well, I’m getting to that, just in a long round about way. One of the required books to read for certification is, “Birthing From Within” by Pam England and Rob Horowitz. This book had been sitting on my shelf for years collecting dust. This morning I took it down and began to devour every sentence. While reading I found the inspiration for today’s post.

We are never alone.

I spoke to you about cooking consciously with love the other day, really connecting with your food. Today I am going to go deeper into mindful eating. In the “Birthing From Within” book the authors talk about “Eating The Universe”, the act of breaking down all that is contained in the food you are about to eat. They used milk as an example, I am going to use an apple. If you have an apple around (of course you can do this with any food), go get one and do this exercise:

As you eat your apple come to full awareness that absolutely everything in the universe is contained in that apple .

You will find the clouds that created the rain that helped the seed to sprout out of the soil, the Earth itself. You will find the sunshine that made the sprout grow into a tree and the bees that helped pollinate the tree and the farmer that supported the tree in its growth. You will find all of the farmers workers who assisted that apple to get to your plate, from the pickers, packers, and drivers, to the employees at the store or farmers market that took your apple and placed it out with others to sell. You will find the cashier who rung your sale up.

The universe is in your apple. You are not alone when you eat it. As you eat this apple it will nourish you, become part of you and as you are part of the world it’s link continues on in you.

Practice eating with awareness, being in the present and being mindful. Make eating a meditation realizing that we are all connected, even down to the food we eat.

If you are alone this Valentine’s Day realize that really, we are never alone. Open yourself to the beautiful web of life that we are all part of and do so with love.

Much love from me to all of you!

Healthy Weight Sadahana – Day 38 – I AM I AM

I never know what I am going to write about, even while leading these themed online global sadhanas. I just let the energy of the universe and my guides lead the way. Today I was wondering what I would write about when I was led to this video which I ask you now to please watch before reading further:

And then I found this website, I think I am going to order a sweatshirt to further the message that is so obviously being shouted in my direction. What I am talking about is,

I AM I AM.

I am I am is a mantra used in a powerful meditation called the Meditation Into Being: I Am I Am. I have practiced this meditation many times and taught it many times, it is one of my favorites. When we say “I am” our mind rushes in to fill in the rest of that sentence as if you just asked, “I am what?” with any myriad of roles that can hold a finite identity. When we say, “I am” right after that first, “I am” we change that structure to, “I am what I am.” When you are what you are, when you are who you are, there is truth there, there is reality there.

Want to practice the Meditation Into Being for yourself? Click here and remember to tune in before you practice and end with two long Sat Nam’s to finish.

All this I am I am business made me think about yesterday’s post again. By merging into the truth and reality of I am what I am, I allow myself to be; to be me, to be in this moment, to be completely present, to acknowledge where I am on my journey. Don’t get caught up living the “I am” kind of life where you try to cram yourself into any role that society seems fit to squish you into. Be, “I am I am.”

“I am what I am”

Be you.

Healthy Weight Sadhana – Day 37 – Inside Outside Beauty

My daughter recently turned five years old and during the party a good friend of mine was snapping pictures of all of the festivities. At one point she asked me to kneel next to my child sitting on a chair about to blow out her birthday candles and I admit I hesitated. I thought about how I didn’t look as good as I used to in my youth, how I had more wrinkles on my face and more weight on my body. Then I looked at my daughter sitting there waiting for me, waiting for her mama to proudly sit by her side for a picture on her birthday. I rushed right over and smiled a wide smile waiting for the click of the shutter. Today I made it my cover for my personal Facebook profile page.

We age, every single day we age, every single moment we age. With age comes changes to our body. Would I be gifting my daughter by telling her that mama didn’t want to be in a picture because mama didn’t feel pretty anymore, or wasn’t pretty anymore? My husband thinks I’m pretty, he thinks I’m hot even! He tells me so all the time and I am grateful for that. My daughter tells me that I’m pretty. Why don’t I see that I am pretty myself?

Have you gone through this, judging your temple, your body; looking over all its flaws that you seem to notice and not seeing its beauty and shine?

Here is today’s challenge, take a photograph of yourself and print it out and write the words, “I am beautiful.” on it. Take a good look at that picture and at yourself and on another piece of paper write a list of your assets, your beauty, what makes you shine. If you feel that there is a flaw, examine that. Really break it down to the nitty-gritty and see if it truly is a flaw. I think in the end you will find that you are flawless. Even if you are not at the healthy weight you want to be right now since that is our main focus with this sadhana, it does not mean that you are not beautiful.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, achieving a healthy weight is a process, a journey and journeys take time, one step at a time. Each step that you take remember that you are a beautiful person, inside and out!

Healthy Weight Sadhana – Day 36 – Consciously Cooking With Love

While taking care of business on Facebook (ahem, goofing off a bit) this morning I saw a great photo from The Nutrition Mom which led me to write today’s post:

Creating food with love is another key to achieving a healthy weight. Eating can become a thing that is more unconscious than conscious and when that happens overeating often follows. When we engage in the cooking process with love and allow our hearts, minds and hands to be fully present in the act of creating a meal that will nourish our bodies we are engaging in a conscious act and what often follows is conscious eating and conscious feelings; an awareness of the tastes and aromas of the food and the feelings of fullness and when enough is enough.

Conscious cooking with love doesn’t need to be a long and drawn out affair so don’t put off practicing this if you are in a hurry. All you need is moments to take in the red hue of a sweet pepper, the engaging ruby colored middle of a grapefruit as you cut it, the deep green of kale. All it takes is moments to take a good long sniff of the aroma of garlic and onions and ginger sauteing in a pan, the smell of a baked apple with honey coming out of the oven. All it takes is a moment to savor that first bite of your culinary creation. Of course the longer you can allow these moments to linger the better but don’t put them off altogether if you are in a hurry.

Another form of conscious cooking with love is to chant as you cook. You can use any mantra that works for you or suits you in the present moment. For example you could chant either silently or aloud, “Health and healing in my food.” over and over or, “Love and light with each bite.” or any mantra of your own making. You could also choose an already established mantra like, “Sat Nam.” which means, “Truth is my identity.” and helps you to awaken your soul and discover your destiny. For a listing of mantras and their meaning I highly suggest visiting Spirit Voyage’s Mantrapedia. Find a mantra that speaks to you right now and your current situation and remember that when you listen to a mantra you receive the benefits associated with that mantra, it is when you recite it yourself that the benefits are enhanced. So if you find a mantra that you feel would be too difficult to recite then download or purchase a CD that you can listen to while you consciously cook. One last thing, mantras repeat, so if you don’t get it right at first while listening to it, it will come again so keep trying!

I hope you will use what you have learned today and take your next opportunity to cook consciously with love and eat consciously savoring eat morsel of that mantra infused healthy food you have gifted yourself with.

Healthy Weight Sadhana – Day 35 – Healthy Snacking With Stanzi!

Today my good friend Stanzi of Holimama is here to share with you the joys of snacking! Yes! You can snack and achieve a healthy weight and she is going to show you how! I highly encourage you to visit Stanzi’s website and like her Facebook page and be sure to order some of her incredible super-food chocolates! Yes! You can eat chocolate when it is the kind Stanzi makes!!!! Thanks Stanzi for opening up the world of healthy snacking to all of us working to achieve a healthy weight and for including the recipes for two of my favorite snacks!

A big thank you to my friend Siri Chand for inviting me to be here with you today.  I took prenatal Kundalini Yoga with her through my second pregnancy and I can truly say it made a tremendous difference in my birth and recovery.  Thank you, Siri Chand!  I’m Stanzi (rhymes with Fonzie) and I’m a raw and natural foods chef, holistic and functional nutritionist specializing in detoxification and nutritional healing, and a holistic mother.  I’m also a super-food chocolatier about to launch my chocolates to the masses along with my revamped detoxification and nutritional healing services (www.stanzivitality.com).  I believe that fresh, vibrant food is the catalyst for a fresh and vibrant life.

In this age, we are all busy all the time.  Due to our busy-ness, it is of utmost importance that we take care of our souls’ houses (aka our bodies) as best we can.  While many think that eating healthy on the go is a nearly impossible feat, I’d like to share with you how easy it can actually be.

Keeping regular eating patterns is a necessity with keeping a healthy weight.  Snacks are included in this for most of us.  Like that 3pm urge for something sweet or salty.  Don’t ignore it.  Support it!

But what to eat, you ask?  Here are some tips for healthy snacking that’ll keep your energy up all day, every day.

1.  Eat natural foods from the rainbow.  When I say natural foods, I mean foods that actually come from nature.  Not foods from a bag, box or can.  Fruit is always a popular choice: apples, strawberries, mangos, bananas, kiwi, blueberries.  You can’t get much faster than that!
2. Include a healthy fat.  Eating a fat with your snack will elongate your energy to be utilized more evenly over a longer period of time.  Nuts and seeds make a great choice for on the go snacks.  Just mix some together in a bag with dried fruit of choice, chocolate chips and dried coconut, and you’ve got an instant trail mix!  Extra Tidbit:  When a sweet craving comes on, eat some fat instead.  The sweet craving will greatly diminish if not disappear within minutes.  I’ve been known to chow down on a couple of tablespoons of almond butter at times like this.
3. Drink water.  You hear it all the time because its true!  The more hydrated we are, the less cravings we have.  It’s then much easier to snack only when truly hungry.  Water doesn’t have to be boring!  Liven it up with squirts of citrus, some sliced berries and fresh mint leaves and even sliced cucumber and basil.  Invest in a glass water bottle that travels with you.  My all time favorite is from Life Factory (http://www.lifefactory.com/adults.html).
4.  Eat a large lunch.  You may not think this has anything to do with snacking, but it actually has everything to do with it.  When you eat a large lunch filled with life-supporting foods, you will be more likely to eat a smaller snack and less, if at all at night, which gives your body the opportunity to heal itself during sleep instead of working on digesting foods.  Try it for a week and see how you feel.

In our house, we always have satiating snacks handy all the time.  Be it fruit, veggie sticks with dips, or fun bite-sized snacks.  Here are a couple of my favorites that you can easily make at home with normal kitchen equipment.  Double or triple the batch as you’ll definitely want them every day!

Simple Kale Chips

These kale chips are light and crispy.  Its like the potato chip slogan – you can’t eat just one!

2 bunches Lacinato kale, torn off the stem and into pieces.

2 Tbsp extra virgin, cold pressed olive oil

2 tsp Celtic sea salt

1/2-3/4 cup nutritional yeast

Preheat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.  Wash and dry kale completely, then tear off the stem and into pieces.  Collect into a large bowl.  Pour olive oil, sea salt and nutritional yeast on top of the kale.  Mix and massage completely using your hands until the kale is thoroughly coated.  Spread out onto baking sheets and place on the middle racks in the oven for 20 minutes or until crisp. Store in an airtight container or bag at room temperature.

*If you have a dehydrator or an oven with a dehydrator setting, make these at night before going to bed and dehydrate over night at 115 degrees Fahrenheit.  This leaves more nutrients intact and the taste is truly amazing!

Raw Chocolate Fudge

Super simple, super fast, super-food raw freezer fudge to satiate your cravings!

1 cup soft dates, pitted

1 1/2 cups pure or filtered water

1 1/2 tsp ground vanilla beans or 1 Tbsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups raw nut butter (almond, cashew…)

1 cup raw cacao powder (or cocoa powder)

1/2 cup raw carob powder (or an extra 1/2 cup cacao powder)

Places dates in a bowl, cover with water and soak for about 1 hour or until soft. Drain and reserve the soak water. In a food processor, process the dates and vanilla until smooth. Slowly add just enough soak water as needed to form a creamy consistency. Add the nut butter and process to combine. Gradually add the powders into the date-nut butter mixture. Process well. Pour into a 10×18 brownie pan (preferably glass) and press evenly. If using a metal pan, line with parchment paper.  The mixture should be about 1 inch thick. Freeze until firm for about 3 hours. Cut into 1-inch squares and serve. Store in a sealed container in freezer for up to a month.

Healthy Weight Sadhana – Day 34 – Blending With Ellen!

My good friend Ellen Forman is back again this time to talk to all of you about blending! Take a look and enjoy the recipes she has shared! For more information about Ellen be sure visit her website and Facebook page and try her class at SkyBaby Studio!

Benefits of Blending!

For blending I use a high-powered blender (Vita-Mix) to make fruit and vegetable smoothies and blended soups. A regular blender can do a great job, however the consistency can vary. Smoothies or blended soups and purees contain pulp, which is rich in fiber. Blending is another way to get your essential nutrients in a form that is delicious, fun and also easy to digest.

Similar to juicing, blending is great way to nourish your body with nutrient dense whole foods. Blended food is easier for your body to digest and helps your body to absorb nutrients more efficiently. When we blend foods they are broken down so we can enjoy a large amount of fruits and veggies without hours of chewing. Chewing is an essential part of the digestion process so when we are eating whole foods (unblended) it’s really important that we take the time to chew our food thoroughly and slowly.

Some of the best reasons to BLEND:

•  Nutrients Dense: You can make smoothies and blended soups that are packed full of nutrient dense fruits and veggies.
•  Digestible: It’s much easier for the body to digest blended foods as they are absorbed much more quickly into the body.
•  Hydrating: Like juicing you hydrate your body because fruits and veggies have a high water content and you often add water or nut milk to blend.
•  Time Saving: It’s a great way to make a quick meal! Basically wash your fruits and veggies and blend! Think about it, NO cooking time and Clean UP is quick!
•  Juice Fast Transition: Smoothies and blended soups can stand on their own as a meal any day of the week or they can help transition when going into or coming out of a juice fast. Blending is a great way to prepare for a juice fast as the body becomes more accustomed to feeling less taxed and light.  You will have greater success when you move towards juicing with blending. It’s essential to break a fast with light foods and blending without the use of oils or fats can be a great way to transition back towards whole foods.
•  Cleansing: Blending helps the body cleanse and helps to restore balance and vibrancy! Blending foods does not tax your system but supports digestion because you are not eliminating the fiber. It can also help balance your pH especially if you use plenty of GREENS!
•  Delicious: Smoothies and blended soups are delicious! Kids love them too! You can experiment with all sorts of combinations. If you are new to green smoothies, go easy on the bitter greens at first and let your taste buds adjust. Spinach is one of the mildest. Then you can get more adventurous and go Greener!

 Here are some of my favorite blended recipes, enjoy!!!!

Super Basic Green Smoothie:

 

1-2 bananas, fresh or frozen

 

1 cup of spinach or kale

 

2 cups of almond milk or water

 

From this basic recipe, experiment by adding other ingredients.

Super Hero Smoothie: upgrade your smoothie with some additional fun & nourishment!

1-2 fresh or frozen bananas

fresh or frozen blueberries or strawberries

or any fruits that you enjoy

Leafy greens, romaine, kale, spinach etc.

1-2 cups almond or coconut milk

optional:

1 T almond butter

1 tsp. maca powder

1 tsp. cacao powder or nibs

spirulina

sprouts

help digestion with flax seeds or chia seeds

get spicy with cinnamon, ginger or turmeric

blend well & enjoy!

Pineapple-Cucumber Gazpacho: serves 4-6

4 cups chopped peeled cucumber

4 cups chopped pineapple

1 cup water

1-2 green onion chopped

1 handful cilantro

1 T lime juice

(optional)

dash of sea salt

1 small jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced

green apples

kale

This is especially refreshing in the summer when the sun is high and cucumbers are local.

Notes: Not too HOT not too COLD not too SWEET:

It’s important don’t over blend as you will begin to heat oxidize your foods. It’s also important to avoid drinking cold liquids. If you are using any frozen fruits in your smoothie allow it to sit for a short while so it’s closer to room temperature. Fruits are yummy but very sugary so it’s always good to include greens to balance it out. Avoid adding sugars in any form even honey or agave.

 

 

 

Healthy Weight Sadhana – Day 33 – Let It Snow!

If you live on the East coast then it’s likely you are staring at snow falling right about now and so being that it is winter I wanted to take today’s post and make its focus on outdoor exercises we can do in the snow. No disrespect to any of you living in an area without snow or an area that doesn’t get snow, but if you happen to visit a snow filled land these are tools that you can bring with you that will allow you to have some fun and burn some calories along the way!

Let’s start with what many people have to do before they play in the snow at all, snow shoveling. Many people end up in the hospital every year from snow shoveling due to overworking their muscles, falling, soft tissue or damage to the lower back and in some cases heart issues. At chicagonow.com I found a post by Katalin Rodriguez Ogren showing five exercises which can be done in five minutes that are a must before shoveling snow. Here they are:

1. Begins with basic squats – Place your feet hip width apart, weight in your heels, go only as low as you can without lifting your heels off the ground.  Engage you abs when squatting. Do a set of 15 reps.
2. Arm circles – Imagine you are doing the backstroke and freestyle swim.  Gently move each arm through a circle in both directions for about 10 repetitions.  Do not force the circle, keep it within your range of motion.
3. Neck stretches – Standing or sitting up very straight, place one arm behind your back and gently tilt your ear down towards your shoulder on both sides.  Do it slowly and breath through this movement.  Do this 5 times on each side.
4. Torso rotation –Stand up straight and slightly bend your knees.  Rotate your upper body side to side, as if to look over your shoulder on both the right and left side.  Do not make this ballistic or fast.  Keep it smooth.  Keep the twist comfortable. Do 10 on each side.
5. Hamstring stretch – While holding onto the table, lift your leg and place it on the seat of a chair.  Square your hips and shoulders with your lifted leg and gently reach for your knee, shin or toes.  Do your best to keep both legs straight (without locking your knee).  Hold the stretch for 10 seconds and then switch.  Do this 3 times on each leg.

Of course you want to have checked with your physician to make sure that it is alright for you to safely shovel snow and if it is, after you have done your five-minute warm up exercise set get outside and grab your shovel! If you shovel snow for one hour (making sure you take some breaks) you can burn anywhere from 300-500 calories. If you help out your neighbors and extend your shoveling time you can end up burning 600-1000 calories, just from shoveling snow!

How about playing in the snow to burn some calories?

You could take a walk which is a beautiful thing to do while the snow is gently coming down or after a snowfall and requires more energy than when you walk on a surface without snow. Be sure to stay bundled up in layers and wear boots with good traction and use trekking poles for extra balance. You can snowshoe which provides and intense workout, is lots of fun to do on trails and gives you more access to walk in the woods in areas that are not shoveled.  You could ski or snowboard which is a whole body workout that burns calories since you need to use your arms and legs to turn and your core to keep you from falling over. You could build a snowman or snow-woman or a snow fort. Carrying around all of those blocks and snow balls, especially the big ones you would need to build a snow person is a great strength workout and burns calories as well. Snow ball fights also burn calories and can be a lot of fun as long as everyone stays and plays safe. Cross country skiing is a total body exercise that combines aerobic training and resistance training. Even sleigh riding can be a good workout since after each ride down a hill you would have to walk back up it and if there are children around they will no doubt want to be pulled around in their sled! Just being outside in the cold actually burns calories since your body will be working hard to keep you warm thereby burning calories!

I even found an entire exercise routine online at weightwatchers.com that is done outside in the snow, takes thirty minutes and was developed by Kathy Kaehler. You’ll see it below.

So don’t let the snow keep you from exercising! Get outdoors, get moving, burn some calories and have some fun! Enjoy the snow as another way to assist you in achieving the healthy weight you desire!

The 30-minute Winter Wonderland Workout Developed by Kathy Kaehler for WeightWatchers.com
This 30-minute workout consists of 7 moves, each a 10 minute cycle. Do each cycle three times, with the first as a warm-up at low intensity (you should be easily able to carry on a conversation), the second at moderate intensity (you should be able to carry on a conversation, but feel that you’re working) and the third one at high intensity (pushing yourself as hard as hard as you feel comfortable).
1	Military March Swing your arms and march forward for 10 giant steps. Turn around and march back to your starting spot. Do this (back and forth) at least six times, packing the snow down as you go.Trainer Tip: Focus on swinging your arms and lifting your knees high to maximize lower body toning and calorie burn.
2	Plank Walk This move will use the path you’ve made. Stand tall and bend down at your waist, flexing your hips. Reach your (gloved!) hands to touch the ground and walk them forward until your body is parallel with the ground in a full pushup or “plank” position. Stay there for a beat and then walk back up. Reach your arms high and repeat the sequence five times.Trainer Tip: This is great for chest, shoulder, triceps and core. To make it tougher, gradually increase the amount of time you hold your body in the pushup position.
3	Snow Shuffle Stand on one end of the path sideways. Bend your knees slightly and shuffle side sideways until you reach the other side. Try to make it back and forth four to six times.Trainer Tip: Keep your body low and move quickly to blast calories and tone both the inner and outer thigh.
4	Frozen Lawn Lunges Standing on one end of the lawn (use the path if you want an easier workout, new snow if you need a bigger challenge), alternate walking lunges for 20 steps (count right leg, left leg, 1, right leg, left leg, 2). Turn around and lunge back to your starting spot.Trainer Tip: Keep a tight belly to work your core as well as your lower body.
5	Snow Ball Target Practice Walk to some deep snow and find a target like a tree, wall or fence. Make snowballs by squatting (by bending your knees, not your waist), grabbing snow and packing it. As soon as you make one, throw it as far and hard as you can, aiming for your target. Launch 20 balls.Trainer Tip: This exercise is great for the lower body, butt and legs as well as the chest and shoulders.
6	Feet Drag In shallow snow, sidestep to the left with your left foot, and then slowly drag your right foot across your body in the snow, working the inner thigh. Then reverse the motion, stepping to your right and dragging your left foot. Go across back and forth 4 times.Trainer Tip: Make sure not to cheat by speeding through the drag.
7	Angel Abs Lie down on your back and place your hands behind your head. Bicycle the legs in and out, reaching across with the opposite elbow. Do six repetitions (after you bring both knees in, that is one rep) and then make five snow angels. Repeat this series twice.Trainer Tip: During your snow angels, keep your arms and legs straight and extend them as far as possible to maximize the resistance.
8	Stand up, take a deep breath and begin cycle again.

Healthy Weight Sadhana – Days 31 & 32 – Friend Or Enemy

When was the last time that YOU decided how your day was going to go?

How did you wake up this morning? How did you go to sleep last night? Did you go to sleep thinking negatively? Did you focus on what went wrong that day or did you count your blessings and drift off to sleep thinking about what went right? Did you wake up this morning in a bad mood, worrying about what you might not accomplish, what you didn’t do yesterday or how things didn’t go like you wanted them to yesterday so you’ve already resigned that today isn’t going to be any better?

It is amazing, the power of the mind! Wouldn’t it be better to start off your day with the thought that something wonderful is going to happen? Wouldn’t it be better to end your day thinking about all the good moments of your day and being thankful for them and thinking ahead of how great tomorrow is going to be?

All of this applies to a healthy weight as your mind is as much involved as your body. How you think will affect how you feel and what you do.

Have you ever noticed how you stub your toe and then you get angry and then you transition into a bad mood and maybe knock over your cup of tea on something important and then you lose your car keys which gets you to a meeting late and it all just goes out of control? How did this happen? How did you get there? By not being in better control of your emotions and allowing yourself to slide down that downward spiral.  But there is a way to stop that from happening and it can all begin with how you start and end your day and it’s really simple.

Before you go to bed say aloud or mentally, “Tomorrow is going to be a great day! I will feel healthy, full of energy, and happy!” Now it doesn’t have to be exactly what I wrote, but you get the idea. You are sending out to the universe and setting up how your day will go tomorrow. When you wake up in the morning you can say, “Today is going to be a wonderful day and I allow all happiness and good to be part of my healthy and happy day!” or something along those lines. You went to bed with an intention and by waking up and reaffirming that intention you are reminding the universe what you want for the day and getting the ball rolling energetically.

Now what about that stubbed toe or other hiccup in your plans, what do you do when something happens in the middle of your good day that throws you off? Simple again, take a deep breath, maybe two or three and say that intention again. You are stopping negativity in its tracks from derailing your day and moving back into that happy and healthy direction.

This process of setting your intention is POWERFUL! It is the Law of Attraction in action!

I went to bed many a night feeling horrible from my fibromyalgia and instead of lingering on those thoughts of feeling horrible and energetically strengthening them I would affirm that tomorrow I was going to feel great, healthy, full of energy and happy and more times than not that was the case once I got up and reaffirmed my intention upon arising.

You can use your affirmation and intention anytime you hear that creeping negative voice trying to take you down mentally. When you feel like you just can’t exercise, or meditate or when you feel like you just want to dive into that bag of potato chips you can re-set your intention for one of strength, resilience and fortitude. You can re-set yourself to be positive!

Your mind and how you start and end your day can be either your friend or enemy in achieving a healthy weight. The choice of who will be by your side, is up to you!

Healthy Weight Sadhana – Day 30 – Taking Steps

Ten more days to go and sometimes you wonder, was it worth the thirty you just did, or the ten more to make it to forty? Maybe you slipped up after you came up with your personal plan and indulged, skipped out on meditating, decided not to exercise, went back to your old eating habits, maybe you gained weight or gained back what you lost; you know what my friends, that’s alright! Alright?!

Yes, that’s alright!

You are here, reading this. Deep within, you have a goal for achieving a healthy weight. You have ideas, plans, shopping lists, exercise routines or modalities you’ve thought about trying. The point I’m making here is that you have been engaged in the process by thinking about what you can do to get healthier. You have been engaged in the process by trying. Even making that simple choice to pick an organic apple over a slice of apple pie is a step in the right direction. Choosing to park further away from the store you want to go into and walking to get a little exercise in, is a step in the right direction. Meditating even for sixty seconds instead of not at all, is a step in the right direction.

We truly can have the life we want by making choices in how we want to spend our time here on this beautiful planet. Really, isn’t that what life is all about anyway, choices? Now that doesn’t necessarily mean having to make huge choices everyday, the small ones count too!

Fear can keep up from living the life we want; fear of success, fear of failure. Michael Bernard Beckwith, founder of the Agape International Spiritual Center summed up where I’m going with this really nicely by saying,

“As you become more fearless, fear itself loses its grip on you.”

So are you ready to step out of fear? Are you ready to make your next choice in life, big or small, from a place of fearlessness?

We’ve talked about many ways to achieve a healthy weight during this sadhana but the real key to making that goal a reality is to not give up, to be kind to yourself, to believe in yourself and your worth, and to accept the journey for what it is.

Accepting the journey for what it is means that you realize that every journey begins with that first step and that as the journey continues it involves another step, and another step, and another step and so on. You may be running at some points on the journey, you may be walking on others. It’s not about speeding through, it’s about allowing the flow of the journey to happen and to not give up and abandon the path.

So if you feel like maybe you’ve had a setback, or you’re just having a cruddy day or a stinky moment with the healthy weight stuff, just remember, you haven’t left the path, you are still on the journey. So take a nice deep long breath, count your blessings and take that next step with love.

Brightest of blessings to you all, don’t quit, stay on the journey because you can do it! I believe in you!