My Journey Continues.....

Well I’ve managed to get off my fat ass (so to speak) and have started training in Krav Maga. There has to be more. I train twice a week sometimes three and trying to juggle the boys and all their activities and try to spend quality time with my husband, other than giving him the life altering groin kicks and choke holds we learned in class, plan for an amazing vacation and work my 12 hour alternating day/night shifts at work, I’m exhausted. 

I knew when we went on vacation (3 weeks sightseeing and visiting family in Italy) my exercise regime was doomed, and I knew what that meant for me. We would get back home and I wouldn’t feel like going back and resume what my life was like before. Boy was I wrong. I’ll be the first to admit there are nights I have absolutely no desire to go to class, but once there and we get started, by the time we leave I am so glad that I went…it’s like a drug but it’s actually good for you.

Enough about Krav Maga (for now). My journey continues with healthy eating, and “green” smoothies are all the rage…so why not look into this. So back to reading…that’s what got me started on my journey in the first place. When you hear green smoothie it doesn’t sound very appetizing….it is more mind over matter than anything else and the smoothies I make I think taste pretty good, or else I wouldn’t even bother…I’m Italian and the taste of foods means everything to me.

I started with basic ingredients: fruits both frozen and fresh, and experimented with different greens…spinach, kale, dandelion greens. Spinach and kale are 2 of my favorites (don’t knock it until you try it). I now add much more. My almost everyday green smoothie consists of water, 1 banana, ground flax seeds, maca root powder, bee pollen powder, chlorella or spirulina, frozen fruits (strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, mango, melon, just to name a few) and kale or spinach, if I’m out of those I will do without the extra greens. Going back to my earlier blog where I started this journey I am not depriving myself of anything, if I feel like having a bagel or eggs or the leftover pizza from last nights dinner instead of my smoothie, I will. I am not going to stop from living. I’m living my life and incorporating a better lifestyle but I’m not perfect nor do I want to be. I’m sure that some of those ingredients you may never have heard of but I will explain what they are and their benefits, as found on the Internet and I’m no doctor or chemist so I don’t know if it’s true or not……

Some health benefits associated with 

Flax Seeds- may help to protect against prostate, colon, and breast cancer. Lowers cholesterol. Prevents hot flashes (I’m not at that point yet). Improves blood sugar levels. 

Maca Root Powder-it supplies iron and helps restore red blood cells, which aids anemia and cardiovascular disease. Keeps bones and teeth healthy.

Bee Pollen Powder- reduces the presence of histamine, boosts your immune system, aids in digestion.

Spirulina (a form of blue green algae, YES algae) reduces cholesterol, stimulated the immune system, protects from diseases and infections

Chlorella- yes another algae, great way to get your magnesium, stimulates growth of probiotic or friendly bacteria, and lowers blood pressure.

Those are just some of the benefits from all these crazy powders I use. With the bee pollen and maca root I will use them for a couple of days and take a couple off. Brian even likes the bee pollen in his smoothies, I don’t know if it was in our heads or not but neither of us suffered from allergies last year, and we both believe it was because of the bee pollen powder. Even if you are allergic to bees (which both of us are) you can still take the bee pollen.

Smoothies and Krav Maga are just the beginning; I’m feeling great both on the inside and on the outside. I’ve lost almost 25lbs, (I say almost because I’ll be having that fried clam dinner in my near future, so I need the breathing room..lol) 

gained muscle tone, I can do 25 push ups without going into cardiac arrest, and I can say that occasionally enjoy flipping 350lb tires in a parking lot. 

So as my healthy journey continues, there is always more to add to it or take away from it. If you are bored with my story…stop reading here, if you are enjoying it just a little bit I’ll try to be more entertaining and start off with a joke with my next post.

I know this…In My Life your life’s story is not complete until you’ve written the last line.

A Journey I'm willing to take

        

        OK its 2014 and we’ve all been there made resolutions and don’t stick to them. We all want to live a healthy life and make the most of it. I don’t have any resolutions this year; I just want to continue doing what I am doing. I finally think I am on the right track with my health and my lifestyle. Oh I’m not perfect…I want that fried clam dinner from Bob’s in Kittery, and I plan on indulging on a sundae, hopefully from Kimball’s Farm in Westford, and I definitely cant wait for spring when Beezers in Northboro opens back up and I can get a Chicago Dog…..yum! (Probably the only time I enjoy a hot dog), and I won’t say no to a drink or two with friends. 

        It may sound like I don’t care about my health and will eat and drink whatever I want and you are right (Sort of). I do care about my health, but I also care about being satisfied. I have dieted (who hasn’t) and lost weight and put it back on. I deprived myself of things that I enjoyed, and while I looked good on the outside I felt awful on the inside. 

        I started what I guess I will call my journey last year. As I sat my fat ass on the couch in my living room (my ass is really not fat it just sounds good saying it like that) I realized I was missing something. I am not lazy by any means but when I had a day off from working my 12 hour shifts and everything else was done for my family I wanted to sit and do nothing. Sometimes I would read and sometimes I would just veg in front of the TV…after all I deserved it. Well I read about something called Krav Maga and thought it sounded crazy but I was interested…for those of you who know me know I have a crazy side…fear of heights…go parasailing and bungee jumping…dare me to do something and chances are I might try it.

        So after reading about Krav Maga I stumbled upon a Groupon for Krav Maga classes. OK here’s my chance…told my husband I wanted to try it and I think he should try too. Michael had never heard of this and his first reaction was it was some new restaurant? I’m stopping here. If you made it this far through my “journey” I guess I should explain what Krav Maga actually is…and it has nothing to do with food.

        Krav Maga stands for contact combat. It is a self-defense system developed for the military in Israel. It consists of a wide combination of techniques sourced from boxing, Muay Thai, Wing Chun, Judo, Jiu-Jitsu, along with realistic fight training. Krav Maga is known for its focus on real-world situations and efficient counter attacks. 

        OK so now you have a small background on Krav Maga…sounds fun right?!? So I convinced Michael to sign up with me…it was a win win either way, the Groupon saved us some money and if we hated it we wouldn’t feel so bad walking away from it. 

        First class- OMG I thought I was going to die, not only was my heart racing but I felt like I was going to pass out. Come to find out Michael felt the same way. We survived the class and figured we were never going back, especially since the next day neither of us could walk correctly and were sore in muscles we never knew we had. But we decided to give it another try… 

         Seven months later, we have earned our Purple Belts (ranking is white, yellow, orange, purple…) Brian (our oldest) has started taking it with us and has earned his Orange Belt, and all 3 of us love it! We have amazing instructors and the people we train with range in age from 16 on up and we have a great time with them.

        So that’s how I got my fat ass off the couch, but it can’t and doesn’t end there. One of the definitions of journey is…process of development: a gradual passing from one state to another regarded as more advanced, e.g. from innocence to mature awareness. So this was my beginning, there is much more that I have done and not done to take me on this journey of my lifetime and I will share, in the next few days where I have gone.

I know this…In My Life I will laugh and I will cry but I will always love  and love the journey that I am on.