Had a BIG
bad food day yesterday… burgers, fries, chicken wings, you name it! Time to
clean it up today! Having one of my extremely nutritious, delicious and
cleansing drinks made with only some of the world's healthiest ingredients.
A handful of
spinach, half a red bell pepper, one glass of water (250 mL or 8 oz), a
nickel-sized chunk of ginger, and mint leaves. There's so much goodness in this
glass of juice!..
…just to
name a few: there's a ton of natural vitamins and minerals; not to mention the
high vitamin C in the peppers helps the body absorb the (non heme) iron in the
spinach. The peppers also add natural sweetness, so put more if you like.
Ginger and
mint are cleansing, and also provide antioxidants among many other benefits. :)
Drink 2-3
glasses throughout the day adding to it 1-2 "clean" well-balanced
meals. Here are some ideas on clean, lean and delicious meal combos. Click here for: 3 meals that change the way you look and feel.
In any
relationship, mistakes are inevitable; lessons are necessary; and
forgiveness... well, it's mandatory—if you want to heal with peace in your
heart. If you truly want to celebrate Valentine's day, celebrate it by being
more understanding of the one you claim to love. If you truly want fulfillment
with others, then learn to be patient and guide them in their evolution. Yes, I said
GUIDE, not force.
There is a huge difference.
The way to
offer true love
to another is to display or suggest
healthier options in a loving way, while also detaching from the outcome—in
other words, don't be so rigid with expectations.
So how do
you detach from the outcome? You must learn to be open and trust the process. Allow
others to choose their lessons. Don't be so quick to judge their choices. In
life, we get what we put into it. So if you want the best, put in your
best—offer true love... offer compassion.
Trust that
as long as you're conducting authentically from a place of love, you
cannot—in one form or another—receive the opposite; this means what is not
of true love in nature will eventually find a way to leave your life.
You see,
true love can only attract more truths—true friendships, true connections, true
fulfillment. This kind of force is part of the Universal Law—the same Law that
governs the existence of gravity. You can't deny the way gravity works anymore
than you can deny the way true love works. These powerful Laws of Nature are
constant and undeniable.
Other than
going for dinner or exchanging gifts, why not create something that celebrates love throughout the year? This is something you can do with your partner, your
best friend, or even your kids; start a "happy-love box"!
Basically,
each of you get to write down on little pieces of paper all the things you
would like to experience or do together—something you both can enjoy. It could
be picnic in a tree house, dining at a cool restaurant, taking a small trip
together, having your friends over for wine and poker. And if you're
lovers, well...ahem, you can suggest x-rated stuff. :) It could be
anything. Get creative. Just keep it light-hearted and fun.
Then, put
all these little pieces of paper in that special happy-love box. You can keep
adding to this box anytime as often as you like, never letting it go empty. At
least once a week, shake the box and randomly pull out a piece of paper, and
together, do whatever is suggested on that piece of paper. Okay? :)
"How
can you stay in shape with only three 30-minute workouts per week?" I
get asked that quite a bit.I
believe it's not what you do, it's how you do it.
I change
up my workouts often; one time strength training or bootcamp stuff, next time
plyometrics, other time martial arts and so on — I like to keep my body
guessing and moving in many directions. This way, it is always challenged. When
it's challenged, it won't get lazy, it responds with results. So to answer the
question simply, let's refer to my cardio interval and strength training
days...
I keep it
short, move fast, breathe hard, lift heavy and take very little breaks — all
the while maintaining good form. If the weights start to feel too heavy to
bear, but I want to keep moving, I switch weights as I go. If I'm out of
breath, I slow down — sometimes, way down... but I try not to stop, I keep
moving.
If I need
a break, I keep them short (10-15 seconds at a time), catch my breath and
continue. I don't beat myself up if I need to take many rounds of short breaks
in order to continue.
Taking
short breaks gives your body a chance to catch up so you can continue to
perform well and prevent injuries. So take the breaks, and soon you'll find
yourself taking less and less breaks as your body becomes more and more
conditioned and empowered!
Here's a
quick glimpse of my workout at the gym today. Feel free to try it if you're a
regular gym-goer. If this is new to you, don't worry, you can modify the
moves. Details below.
Remember,
always spend 5-10 minutes warming up and mimicking the moves before you even
think about executing the actual workout. After the workout, always stretch.
Your body can only perform at its best given the proper warm up and stretches.
Please
modify the moves to suit your fitness level (as per below: Quick tips for
beginners). Here are the details on this workout:
- 30-40
box jump into squat
- 12-15
dive under push up
- 12-15
(each arm) one-arm row in a lunge
- 12-15
narrow squat with lateral raise
- 15-20
tricep dips
(Repeat
the entire set of exercises for a total of 3 rounds.)
Then,
immediately go straight into core exercises:
- 10-12
v-sit up with weights (or no weights)
- 20 torso
twist with weights (or no weights)
(Repeat
this core sequence of exercises for a total of 2-3 rounds.)
Quick
tips for beginners:
- For the
box jumps, keep your box or steps much lower so you don’t have to jump so high.
You can slowly advance in time. Remember to perform a squat when you're on the step.
- Or
instead of jumping, just step up onto the stepper the same way you would walk
up the stairs.
- Use less
weights and move slowly, you can always build up from there.
- Go for
the lower number of reps based on the range that I’ve suggested, or find a rep
range most comfortable for you to start with.
- For the
push-up, just perform regular push-ups on your knees (but be sure to have
something soft for your knees to rest on).
- For the
narrow squat with lateral raise, just perform a half squat. That means your
knees do not have to be at a 90-degree bend like mine. Just come down to a
45-degree knee-bend for now.
- For the
tricep dips, to make it easier, bend your knees more by bringing your feet
closer to your body. You can then use your legs to assist you in pushing your
body up.
- For the
v-sit up, don’t use weights. Bend your knees to make it easier. Still
difficult? Just do regular crunches and reverse crunches for now.
- For the
torso twist, don’t use weights, just clasp your hands together. Also, instead
of leaning your body back to a 45-degree angle during the twist, just sit up a
little straighter and keep both feet on the ground.