Fitness | Abundant~Life~Initiative

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles, 2013, from http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

I and many others are embarking on a health and wellbeing journey. It has not been easy, but it has already reaped rewards and it’s because my resolutions are in alignment with my values (finally!).

Weight Management: I am not particularly interested in calorie counting or counting pounds. In fact, I am not going to weigh myself until my biometric screening in June. Counting lost or gained pounds are counterproductive – especially when one is building muscle mass as they work out.

Others find solace in seeing lost pounds, whereas I find solace in feeling great, having tons of energy and sleeping well at night. I want overall wellbeing – few to no colds, a general sense of great health, and a knowing that my body is thriving.

There’s no right or wrong way to look at weight management. What’s most important is whether or not your weight management styles are in alignment with your true values.

Nutritious Diet: I value consuming lots of fruits and vegetables. My mother gifted me a NutriBullet for Christmas and I now I am cultishly juicing/extracting everyday. I’m hooked. Now I crave fruits and vegetables over chips and cookies. Juicing assists with my value of consuming a large amount of fruits, vegetables and nuts. I don’t beat myself up over having a meal at a diner or a dessert. I know I am in the land of the living and sometimes I want to indulge. I make all the conditions in my life to allow me to easily eat or drink when and what I want.

Moderation is key. Because I am on blood thinners, I can only consume a small amount of alcohol, so I save drinking for special occasions. I eat everything in moderation and never feel compelled to finish everything on my plate. I am a lifelong naturally slow eater, which I’m told is a good thing (a pain for my friends and family, but a good digestive/metabolic thing for me).

Exercise: I was the biggest gym rat ten years ago – going five to six times a week. Before that, I would rally up friends to take belly dancing classes with me. I do not have a gym membership presently, but I do have my beloved elliptical machine in my garage, some great 1980s ab workout videos and YouTube exercise How-tos. I also have my sneakers and long, suburban blocks to walk. There are several parks in walking distance that I can jog to. I may get a gym membership, but I have exercise at my fingertips right now, free of charge.

So many of us think we have to go to the gym and that there’s one way to fitness. Fortunately, there are many paths to great physical fitness that can be aligned to our personal values – not just what’s the latest fitness fad or what others are doing to stay fit.

Meditation: My relationship with meditation has strengthened over the last year. I carve out ten to fifteen minutes of my lunch break most work days to meditate. I book an empty conference room, turn down the lights, tune in to my YouTube meditation channels on my cellphone and I meditate. Sometimes, it feels like I’ve left my body, the building, the planet, only to become aware of reentry into my physical being when the music or chants stop. Meditation is what grounds us and at the same time releases us from the clutches of worry, anxiety, and earthly issues. I am most proud of myself for continuing to meditate on a regular basis, even at work.

Singing: I don’t sing for others, I sing for myself. I sing when I’m happy, when I’m sad, when I’m driving, and when I’m feeling silly or serious. Singing is a form of exercise and meditation for me, all mixed into one. After losing my breath during my pulmonary embolism episode, I value feeling good and breathing. I can breathe, damn it!

What makes us beautifully human is our ability to sing, dance and be merry. Love your body, this earthly vessel that carries you. When we forget to love ourselves, our body communicates to us what is needed to get back into alignment. Sometimes that communication is illness, injury, or depression.

When we start to recognize and honor our values, our goals naturally flow and align to and from them, effecting lasting, positive changes in our lives.

~Your Curator of All Things Abundant, Kimberly Jo Cooley

Friday, December 27, 2013 Recommendation(s):

Image courtesy of https://www.freedigitalphotos.net/

A common New Year’s resolution has to do with weight loss and physical health. More gym memberships are purchased (and later neglected) in January than in any other time of the year. How about trying something different this time around?

Weight loss starts and ends with the mind. We can set up the best workout schedule and buy all the best fitness gear (I’m a sucker for fuschia workout clothes), but it will all be for naught if we do not get our mind and spirit wrapped around the new physique we are trying to embody and the improved health we aspire towards. We are destined to hold on to the weight and undesirable health issues until we first address the mind, body and spirit connection to getting into shape. Let 2014 be the year that we all celebrate renewed, healthy bodies that happens to look great too.

This week’s recommendation goes to Flowdreaming.com, for its programs and audio MP3s that help bridge the gap between fitness goals to success, and the mental mumbo jumbo in between. Flowdreaming is a Law of Attraction modality into emotionally daydreaming our way into manifesting the things we want in our lives. The founder of Flowdreaming, Summer McStravick, has several “flowdreams” on her website – 10 to 15 minute deep, emotional visualizations that carry you away for a moment and into the life and body you want. In time, the Universe begins to provide experiences that match that which you are creating when you flowdream. She has amazing flowdreams on the subject of weight loss and improved body image, but also a whole cache of MPs on various life subjects. Here’s a list of some of the flowdreams related to improving the body:

Beautiful as I Am (Total Self-Acceptance)
My Ideal Body
Lose Weight Now Playlist
The Flowdreaming Weight Loss Support System

Do yourself a favor and begin to envision the body you want, so much so that when you look in the mirror, you don’t over analyze where you are physically at in the present moment, because all you can see is the body you’re becoming. There has to be acceptance of where you are physically, a loving appreciation of what works and looks good on and in your body now, visualization on what you wish to see, and then the steps towards getting there will follow – in that order.

12 Weight Loss Resolutions You Shouldn’t Make (wonderfultips.wordpress.com)

Friday, December 27, 2013 Shout Outs:

I’d like to give a special shout out to http://www.yourbeautifullife.org/. I first discovered this website through Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Yourbeautifullife, and the images and messages there were life enriching and inspirational, which led to me creating my own life enrichment blog and website. Here are some of the beautiful posts created on this website: