Days 2 & 3 NOVEMBER!

Well hello! So I have been trying to my blog, but my camera isn’t letting me transfer pictures… I am trying right now though, so hopefully after I write for awhile they will load.

Day 2 & 3 were, well, a change from the past couple of months. (PS! My camera is working.. Yes!)

Let’s start with Day 2!

Monday: Day 2
I woke up early, did Tibetan prostrations and wrote my heart out. Then I made a tasty smoothie of: grapefruit, stevia, water, ice cubes, hemp seed, mixed greens and spirulina (delicious). I had classes all day, a conferences with a prof, a workout and then I went home where  I did a lot of homework!

The difficulties about Day 2: It was hard getting myself to bed at 11 PM. Really difficult! I am used to staying up until 2 or 3 in the morning, but a little David Cross reading is what eventually seduced me. I also had a huge detox headache. I hate that, but I am glad I am detoxing a little bit. The headache did, however make my homework more difficult.

The positives: I had a great workout!! (shoulders) I got a lot of homework done. I am less “addicted” to being online all the time. I got a lot of sleep and… I am on the right track.

 

Day 3: Tuesday:

Day 3 was just amazing. I woke up at 6:30! Can you believe it? I drank water, did Tibetan prostrations and wrote, wrote, wrote. I then had classes and a scholarship luncheon which was great! Actually, it is awkward talking about yourself for 60 minutes, but I know how to do it so it was a good time.

I did some stretching and yoga at home and then had a wonderful afternoon/evening. I won’t write about it here, but it was great. It involved waterfalls, kombucha and poems.

So, I was able to have a great day, eat fairly healthy and get some stuff done. When I came home after being in the wilderness I read Flaubert in bath tub. Fun!!

Day 4: Today!

So I am figuring out how this month is working out for me. I feel like I am transitioning into it. Getting used to not being online all the time. Eating while not doing anything else is tough. Writing in the morning when I know I “have to” is tough. I feel like my writing isn’t as eloquent as it could/should be. I am sometimes not even thinking when I write. Maybe it will get easier as I go along. I have written about 7,100 words already! Gah!

I will say that because of the changes I am making, I feel so much more positive. Yesterday I sent a text to my family telling them to have a good day and my sister Tarah told me that it made her feel a lot better. Which made me feel good for doing something so miniscule and easy. It took me 30 seconds to text her, but it made a huge difference.

I have deleted so many phone numbers from my phone and that makes me feel really good too. Some names carry too much negative charge and I don’t want them even in my phone.

It is still early in the month and I have a lot of work left to do, so I should get off this thing and get to it! Everything is going well in my life. Yesterday was great. My luncheon went really well and the rest of my day followed suit. I have a feeling that today will be great in that it will be productive.

 

Today for breakfast I made the following smoothie:

Fruity Spirulina Smoothie

Blend the following (put in vitamix in order listed):

1 Cup of water

tsp of guar gum

1 tsp coconut oil

1/2 packet of stevia

4 ice cubes

1 banana

5 frozen strawberries (about)

small handful frozen pineapple

2-3 handfuls of mixed greens

While blending, take of the top and put in a couple of tablespoons of spirulina (this way the spirulina won’t get stuck to the sides of the blender- Thanks Anthony!!)

Another successful breakfast! But.. my camera isn’t working. So no wonderful pictures. I am so sorry. Maybe I need to buy a new one??

Oh and by the way you should really check out Anthony’s website. Anthony is really inspiring. His knowledge comes from all different sources and spans many topics including raw food and permaculture. He’s a really genuine, interesting person and he is often sharing wisdom through his blog. So check it out! His blog is truly a great resource for anyone that is interested in raw food, sustainability or just plain old inspiration. I really like what he and Dawn are doing and it’s great to know there are some amazing people in Minnesota.

Enjoy your day! Eat your algae! (My skin is getting clearer and clearer!!)

I survived day ONE of 30

So here I am at the end of my 1st day of November and what a day it twas.’ Shall I tell you all about it??? Ok. I will.

me on Halloween

 

So today started out with much laundry doing. After I did 30 tibetan prostrations of course (just to get my blood flowing). I also drank a lot of water!

grapefruit sludge.

Once I had the laundry well underway and my blood was flowing strong. I finished sweeping my apt. and did some homework. Then my French friend came over to rehearse for my film! It was a successful rehearsal. I will have one more rehearsal with him before we shoot. I have to fake cry for that scene and he was acting so well that I almost did want to cry.

After rehearsal I helped my darling friend with a paper. She is all about Human Rights and wants to go to grad school for it, so I am helping her as best I can. I want her to succeed.

Nutrition

Breakfast was late. I actually was really full from yesterday, so I didn’t eat until about 1:00 in the afternoon. I made a grapefruit smoothie:

Grapefruit Sludge:

Blend: One grapefruit, 1 cup of water, some ice cubs, 3 big pieces of purple kale, 3/4 packet stevia, guar gum and spirulina in your vitamix

Eat it in a bowl with a spoon…. Perfect.

On an exciting note.. I’ve just ordered some chlorella from MountainRoseHerbs!! I also ordered some mesquite, chia seed and kelp noodles online too. I can’t wait to get them in the mail!

Workout

I had a workout plan, but then I skipped out for more adventurous plans. I look forward to my 60 minutes of working out tomorrow (arms!) Tonight I am going to do some yoga before I call it a night (soon).

NaNoWriMo

I have written just over 2000 words. My story is called Lettres de Canada and it is a lot of fun to write. Tomorrow morning I will write 1700 or more words to add to the novel. I am really enjoying NaNoWriMo.

Notes on the Challenge

I have added 2 New Rules!!!!

(1) I may not do anything, but eat when I am eating. UNLESS I am having a conversation with someone. After reading so much about the effect that ANY amount of stress has on the Digestive System I am a little weary about disrupting my natural digestive process by excitement or frustration…. no more facebook during lunch or anatomy during dinner. This is good for me!!

(2) I forgot number two……. Oh well. I will remember later.

I have also taken some before pictures, because I think I will change physically during this month. I won’t post them until the end. This is such an exciting month!!!

I woke up this morning so excited to start my day… even though it was just filled with homework and laundry for the most part. Luckily, I had a great night and I didn’t even mind the 2 hours of sitting in front of my laptop writing a french glossary for my Paris class. I actually enjoyed that. I actually did not crave Cliff Bars and oatmeal. I am so happy about this month. 29 more days to take advantage of!! See you soon.

Gnight, Nicole.

November Nicole: 2nd Annual 30 day Challenge

Yahoo!!!! It is November 1st!! I am so happy. Not only is it one of my best gal pal’s b-days, but I have designated November as my month this year. N for Nicole and November.

 

Remember in May before I left for Paris and I had completed a semester challenge. I literally transformed my body! The results weren’t that drastic, but the 30 day challenge was not my major concern, as I was getting ready to live my dream in France!

This 30 day challenge is a little like the one I did beginning in January (it started out as 30 days and turned into a lifestyle!). However, this challenge is not JUST physical like the last one I did was. This challenge is way more holistic. So what is it? What am I going to do??

Do you remember my last post when I was talking about all of the things that I am going to accomplish in November? Well that sums up most of it, but let’s just recap all of it here, because I also sat down and wrote some rules for it yesterday… October 31st 2009! Oh yeah! I hope you all had a nice Halloween! I will tell you about mine in a little while.

So here are my Goals for November, including the main goal.

November Nicole

-My major goal is to spend 30 days living at my absolute highest potential: Spiritually, Mentally, Physically and Emotionally.-

To do this I will accomplish the following throughout November:

(1) Meet with My new mentors

(2) Write a 50,000 word Novel for NaNoWriMo

(3) Write a 5,000 word short story for class

(4) Finish shooting all of my footage for my film Voyage: Spleen et Idéal

(5) Become a Reiki Healer (November 13th-14th)

(6) Work on a professional photographs for a friend

(7) Attend a scholarship luncheon (I have to give a short speech)

(8) Execute Project #2 for my Anatomy Course

(9) Surround myself with people I want to be surrounded with

Alright so that is a lot of stuff that I want to accomplish. Shooting all of my footage and writing a novel are an insane amount of work in themselves… especially with other domestic things to do like tackle this mountain of laundry at the foot of my bed, buy groceries, make food and clean. So I devised some rules and guidelines for myself to make it through the next month.

Rules & Guidelines for November Nicole

(1) No wasting time on the phone. Only purposeful phonecalls. (Not really an issue, but I wanted to nip this in the bud)

(2) Facebook access ONLY 20 minutes a day. E-mail acces ONLY 20 minutes a day or when necessary.

(3) Bed by 11 PM Mon-Thurs

(4) 60 minute workout 5 times a week

(5) Yoga minimum of 1 x a week

(6) Practice Dry skin brushing

(7) No more sweets! (Gah) That means no more: Cliff Bars, Vegan Cookies, Agave Syrup, Honey.. But YES to dates, fruit, Amazing Grass products, Raw desserts (occassionally) I need all the energy I can get, but eating sugar will NOT help my insulin levels.

(8) Lower the amount of Carbs in diet. For 30 days I am basically going to be a raw foodist that sometimes steams her food, indulges in hummus, eats fish once a week (need those B vitamins so bad!), might have a plain goat’s milk yogurt and sometimes eats beans. If I eat quinoa or oats it will be minimal. Trying to stick to the squash and sweet potatoes and GREENS!! Low sugar, low carb. Again, I need as much energy as I can get.

(9) Yes to superfoods! No to chocolate (on occassion)

(10) I am making myself drink 4 big jars of water a day. I have a problem with drinking enough water, I don’t!

(11) Cut down on the blog reading. Lots. Sorry guys!

(12) Listen to music everyday. (great rule!)

(13) NO negativity. It’s only for 30 days. In December I can be negative if need be.

(14) No eating past 8:00 PM (Great rule! Last time I did this rule I was in shape and I slept great!)

(15) Listen to myself.

(16) Refer to resource list if you want to break one of these rules.

And yes I made a backup plan in case I wanted to breach one of the rules. It’s basically just a list of things I can do if … say I want to sit on facebook or crack open a can of Mountain Dew (yeah right) haha. Speaking of which. I am not going to drink all that much this month either, but I do want to be social a little bit!

Here’s my “resource” list: Draw pictures or paint for 30 minutes, meditate in a closet (fun!), Read a short story (I have so many anthologies right now that I want to dig into), Bread dance party….yahoo!, play guitar for an hour, call someone, Read Charles Baxter, write more of my novel, draw up some shots for story board, listen to music, read Reiki Books, stretch, take a 20 minute walk (fun!), watch a French movie (fun!… more fun! with someone else!! (sometimes)), Write poems or lyrics/songs, ORGANIZE, clean, shower, make a “grateful” list (could help me out in the long run!), do 20-30 ab exercises, do jumping jacks (funny!), try holding a plank for 2 minutes (funny to watch…)

I do realize that this is just me, Nicole telling all of you about the very intimate details of my life, but I am super excited about this, so I don’t mind. It’s not embarassing or anything and I encourage you all to take this November 1st for yourself to start anew. Give yourself 30 days to transform yourselves. Honestly, I do feel that with the writing (mental), reading (mental), creative work (mental/spiritual/emotional), positivity (spiritual/emotional), exercising (physical) and proper nutrition (physical). That after 30 days I am going to feel amazing.

At the end of August I went through some tough times, traveled to the heart of the Canadian woods and was changed forever. I miss those woods. I dream about them I think about them every single day. In the way that I used to be obsessed with Paris, those woods are obsessed with me. 2 months into being back from those woods and I am feeling a disconnect with myself. So now it’s time to reconnect and really clean up the aftermath of this summer.

So, NICOLE what did you do for Halloween!???

2008: french maid!

Not a French maid. In fact, I was  “single and not looking.” It worked! Actually, I almost don’t want to say what I did this Halloween, because I want to pretend like I went to some really cool party and dressed really sexy and got hit on all night, but I guess I will be honest, because I did 100% exzachary what I wanted to do tonight.

I spent all day in bed writing and reading. Basically switching off between writing and reading and eating. I also talked to a good friend who is going through hard times. (Thinking about her = (…) Then I hit up HARD TIMES for my last greasy spoon meal of the month. I also did some writing there. Then I made myself look beautiful really I looked great!! I got in my car and drove to the Ordway where I got a lucky parking spot! I wrote some more in the lobby, hung out with a large group of people that were at LEAST 40 years older than me and watched a wonderful “program.” I came home, ate more junk that I won’t see for 30 days, danced a lot, and then waited for midnight.

Come midnight I jumped for JOY! I jolted to my laptop and wrote Chapter Un of my novel: Lettres de Canada! So happy! So it is day one. My stomach is full of chocolate oatmeal and Kombucha and I am ready for my 30 days of fantastical, frivolous writing and living to my fullest potential…for maybe the first time in my life!

I will update as often as I can. I think my blog will make up for all of the Facebooking I won’t be doing. Sigh.

Goodnight Halloweeners (not me!). See you in Canada in the morning!!!

Does it get any quieter than this?

Squash, Bean goat cheese meal

Hello everyone! How did the day go for you? Mine was busy, as per usual, but it was great! Let’s get into it, shall we?

Food-Eating: Chipotle Craving

Not really a Chipotle craving, but Chipotle is pretty damn tasty when your other options are hamburgers and fries or cheesy noodles at Noodles & co. I met up with my friends today and was happy they agreed with my Chipotle choice for lunch. When I order at Chipotle, I try to get the healthiest meal I can, which is so easy. My usual bowl consists of: romaine lettuce, black beans, fajita veggies, guac, and all of their salsas. I generally double up on the beans and guac and it’s delicious.

I also enjoyed a tasty green smoothie for breakfast, some Apple Cinnamon oats (as pictured) and some un-pictured date and almond butter sandwiches. Yum! (date with a spoonful of ab).

The meal pictured above was from a week or so ago and the dessert pictured below was foodgasmic..

To make this dish I just processed some cashews and uncooked rolled oats with sea salt, agave and buckwheat raw honey in my vitamix. I pressed the crust into my little dish and topped with a blend of banana and canned pumpkin. I also added cinnamon, pumpkin spice and a bit of guar gum. This was so delicious. I am going to buy some more canned pumpkin or steam some squash and make it again!

Fitness Lover: Permaculture and a workout

Today’s workout was fantastic. I was on the elliptical for about 35 minutes and did some hardcore ab action for about 20. It was just what I needed! My little spurt on the elliptical was the best part though, because I got my hands on a free copy of a Canadian magazine. In it there was an entire article about permaculture in Canada. I love Canada and I love permaculture so I read my heart out on that one. It made the workout end way too quickly. One of my goals in life is to own some land in Canada or Northern California and have my own permaculture project so this was truly inspiring. I hope the magazine got into my hands for all of the right reasons…

I also biked a lot today, so I am just exhausted and ready for some sleep.

Emotional Centering:

I have been writing a lot which calms me and allows me to explore myself emotionally and intellectually. Today I have been thinking a lot about how I will really find a place of comfort in myself during NaNoWriMo. I am also realizing that I don’t want to keep hurtful people in my life anymore. It’s hard, but it’s true.

Spiritually Tired:

That’s the truth. I think I have been “trying” too hard to connect with my spiritual side, that I am forgetting how that part of me is already permeating into everything I do. I met with my Spiritual mentor today and just being in her presence is a lift for my soul. I have another meeting with her in about a month, which will give me the perfect amount of time to prepare my intentions for that meeting. I think I need to focus more on adequate sleep and paying attention to the world around me. This will be much more beneficial than trying to reach some crazy, elevated spiritual state.

My Brain is on Fire!

Not literally, but I have been writing and writing and writing and re-writing. My intention was to finish my story board tonight, but I started writing a short story and now I am too tired to do anymore. I like this new solitude though. I am really embracing these next 35 days. It will just be me, this apartment, a new Mac (perhaps?), my radio, my records, my expertly prepared food and a million tasks to accomplish. This is all outside of the time that I am on campus: in classes, working out at the rec, working on anatomy projects, meeting with friends, watching movies for class.

There is a lot to accomplish, but I am really cherishing the fact that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me to live up to my full potential and to work at my full potential. I will do my best to catalogue those things that I accomplish. Stay tuned everyone!!

Goodnight.

Kabocha Squash & Nanowrimo

Yes I tried it… and yes I loved it! I ate the whole thing = )

 

So, I figured I should update this thing, since it has been awhile. I have been busy though. To give you a look at what I have been up to… let me just show you my list of things I will be doing in November:

(1) Meeting up with my new mentors

(2) Writing a novel for National Novel Writing Month (Nanowrimo)

(3) Completing a 5,000 word short story

(4) Making my storyboard for my film (tomorrow and Thursday)

(5) Shooting my film

(6) Doing photographs (portraits) for a friend

(7) Taking a Reiki Healing intensive 2 day, 16 hour course

(8) Attending a Scholarship Event

 

PLUS a whole bunch of other things, so let’s just say I have been studying a lot and trying my hardest to remain balanced. Sometimes I don’t exercise, sometimes I sleep too much. Too little. I over eat… rarely do I undereat, but still there are balance problems.

 

new hairdo

Sorry, no food pictures! They are on my camera and I am already laying in bed… But, I got a new haircut!!

Kabocha

My food intake has been crazy, because my sleep and exercise has been crazy. I have been loving the delicious fall vegetables though. I have been making a ton of roasted brussels sprouts, butter potatoes, onions, mushrooms and carrots. I eat them with just salt, pepper and olive oil. I also have been eating a lot of salads with miso-tahini dressing. Yum! Other than that there have been a lot of pumpkin gluten free oat bowls, raw food dishes/desserts and baked squash! I love KABOCHA. I can understand what all of the madness is about.

Fasting Mode

I’ve noticed that I feel less sad when I am in a “fasting” state. Emotionally I was terribly unbalanced these past few weeks. I feel that now that most of my midterms are out of the way I have sorted that out. I definitely needed to let go of a few relationships, which I did. I feel so much better now.

Marquis

There is a sign that I see everyday biking that says: “Nothing Happens Unless First a Dream.” It inspires me no matter what and the saying often rings in my mind the rest of the day. Today while biking by… my head already filling with those dreamer’s seductive words, I saw a man removing them from their rightful spot! He was putting up new words, but I was I wasn’t going to wait around and see what they were. I biked past the sign later in the day and saw the new sign. It said “Think before you act.” It felt like a slap in the face. First they are telling me to DREAM and now they are telling me to be LOGICAL. I am taking it to heart though. We must all dream and mentally manifest what we want, but obtaining those things is a willful ACTION and any ACTION should be preceded by clear thinking. Clear thinking is only possible when we are HEALTHY and BALANCED.

Famous Local Writer: an invitation to coffee

The mental aspects of my life are overriding so many other things, but at least they are ALL creative… even in Anatomy I am making films = ). I have already mentioned many of the projects I am working on, but I also have another cool story about today.

I went to a reading for hunger event today, where one of my favorite author’s was speaking (he’s local). I decided to talk to him afterwards and after fumbling around and feeling like an idiot finally introduced myself. And guess what?? He invited me to coffee. I had wanted this man as my mentor for a few weeks now and I think it is finally happening. I really want someone to be there for me and lead me into the scary, murky, deep waters of the literature world and no one can do that unless they have some experience and success at it. I hope my mentor-ship works out with him and with my Spiritual teacher.

So, many exciting things underway. I also spent some time with a good friend today and it was great, exactly 100% what I needed. I am telling you… when you listen to yourself and do every single thing you tell yourself to do then the world will pick up the slack, but you have to be willing to commit 100% fully to yourself and no one else. I challenge you.. at least do it for the month of November while I am slaving away at my computer. Please???

Goodnight friends… until next time (hopefully soon). I will make sure to share excerpts from my 50,000 word novel!!

Bye!

Lotus flower filled with Vitamin C and Zinc

photo by Mark Yackley

photo by Mark Yackley

photo by Mark Yackley

Hello Everyone!

Has it been awhile? Kind of. Oh well, I have been sick this week! I caught a chest cold from one of my friends. Needless to say, it really sucks. I missed two days of classes, haven’t gotten much done and sleeping has been a disrupting, sweaty mess.

Health

Well, my health is definitely not the best it has been. Why is this? I think it has to do with last week being incredibly stressful. I had to make a lot of important decisions last week and I allowed myself to get overwhelmed. I was definitely not staying in the present. I also ate terribly last week. Do you remember me writing about the insane amount of Cliff bars I was eating. Yes, I was basically living off of sugar and carbs. I definitely gained a few pounds! Haha.

This week. Or this weekend flowing into next week, I plan on detoxing a little. Tomorrow I think I will hit up Costco and buy myself a TON of organic greens. I will also hit up the local co-ops for organic vegetables and a few different fruits. I want to clean this sickness out of me. I also bought some vitamin C and Zinc which makes me feel automatically better.

So what’s on the menu for next week? Fall themed salads, squash (I’d like to find some Kabocha squash!), apples, apple cider, green smoothies with rhubarb (yum), miso soup, steamed rice, steamed broccoli, baked apples, cinnamon, kale chips (?? it’s been forever), flax crackers (again..it’s been forever!). Basically, I would like to eat much less nuts, sugars and carbs, because they have been weighing me down and I have many midterms and important meetings coming up!

I haven’t exercised much either! Again, last time I exercised I pushed myself and later that night I got sick. I might do a little yoga this morning or go for a walk, but I really think I need to be resting until I feel better. My health is more important than trying to be perfectly in shape.

-Sorry for lack of food pictures, it’s not interesting, trust me!

Emotional/Spiritual

I am lumping these 2 categories together today, since I think that they somtimes go hand in hand. I had the best meditation experience yesterday with an old professor/spiritual teacher of mine named Miriam Cameron. She is the author of a wonderful book called Karma & Happiness, which I had the pleasure of reading during her Tibetan Medicine Course. Last night Miriam was the leader of the UofM Mindfulness Club’s weekly meditation group. I decided to go since I knew that any time spent in Miriam’s presence is healing. It was so great being there. As soon as I walked into the room she recognized me and gave me a hug. I remember getting the same hug from her the first time we met. This woman is truly amazing.

Miriam led us through a circular breathing meditation, making sure we all knew the proper way of sitting and relaxing during meditation. She taught us that meditation is less about emptying the mind than it is about focusing the mind. IT is the focus that we should truly concentrate on. Mim (as she sometimes goes by) also showed us how to do Tibetan Prostrations (think of a very archaic version of yoga’s sun salutation), she talked about Lotus flowers, explained what a Neti pot was, read an excerpt from her book, led us through a healing meditation and guided us through a Tonglen Meditation.

Lotus flowers are flowers that grow from mud. Once they blossom they turn that mud into beautiful gardens. Miriam mentioned that we too should be lotus flowers, taking muddy experiences and turning them into beauty. Lotus flowers can not grow without mud. I love this metaphor! I think Lotus would be a great name for me these days…

Tonglen Meditation is a meditation that is all about compassion. First you think of someone that is neutral to you. You imagine all of the sadness and misunderstanding within them. You breath that negativity into your own heart, picturing it as black smoke. You do this for a few minutes, filling your heart with their sadness and showering them in a cleansing beam of compassion. Next, you think of someone you really love. Still holding the sadness and hurt of the neutral person in your heart, you being breathing in the sadness and hurt of the person you love into your heart, again you picture this as black smoke. You shower this person in compassion as well. After a few minutes of focusing on the person you love you focus on a person that has hurt you. You breathe all of their hurt and sadness into your heart, imagining it as a column of black smoke, still holding onto the hurt of the neutral person and the person you love. You shower this person in compassion as well. Once the meditation is done, these 3 people should be filled with light, love and compassion. Next you breathe all of the black smoke out of you and into the Earth. You will the part of your heart that was holding on to this anger, hurt and sadness with compassion for yourself.

I really loved doing the healing meditation and the Tonglen meditation. I have been holding onto a lot of resentment and sadness lately, obviously I have been through a lot of pain in the last few months, but I am ready for it to be over. I am ready to let go of those feelings. Sometimes the spiritual side or oneself knows best how to manage emotions.

Mental

Well, the mental side of me has not seen too much of a break. Even while sick, I have school obligations, which isn’t a lot of fun. Today I am having a meeting with my cinematographers and my actor who will also be a sort of assistant director throughout the film making process. I also have a lot of studying to do, but I will not get into that here.

I have kept busy with school, photo projects and working on my film. The pictures posted here are from a photo shoot with my friend Mark Yackley. I really liked how those photos turned out!

Well, I am off to studying and preparing my apartment for our meeting. Have a great weekend. I hope I feel better soon!

Ciao.

Studying the Heart

Nicole photo by Mike Minehart

I’ve been studying the heart for a long time. I mean, way too long. Probably, 3 hours of heart studying and eating and talking to people. It’s almost too much and I feel like I haven’t even scratched the surface of what I need to know about the heart before my test tomorrow. Oh well. Hello Blogworld! Let’s get down to business.

Health: Turning the twitch on!

Wow. I always feel like I am training for something. My car died about 4 days ago and it still isn’t fixed. For that reason I have been biking everywhere in 30 degree weather. Luckily I have socks that cover the entire length of my leg (this is no joke) I could wear them with matching underwear and you would think they were pants! AND I have a pair of super amazing neon green gloves from Canada. Needless to say I have been getting some exercise in, plus I go to the gym.

Interesting fact! There are 2 types of muscle fibers that create the muscles we are born with. One of these muscles fibers is fast twitch the other type is slow twitch. You are born with a certain amount of both of these muscles. Weightlifters generally have more fast twitch muscles. These muscles are strong, but exhaust easily. They are also “white” muscles as they carry less blood. Slow twitch muscles are “red” because they are rich in oxygen. They are slow to fatigue and common in long distance runners. You can’t help the amount of slow or fast twitch muscles you were born with, but you can train yourself to turn one type into the dominant type! So don’t get discouraged if you are failing at a certain workout routine, maybe it just isn’t in your genes!

With that in mind I have completed a few great workouts this week. I haven’t been eating the best though! One more Cliff bar and I will gag. I am craving green juice so bad. I can not wait to have a car again. That or the sun needs to come out!

Some notable eats: peppadew goat cheese stuffed peppers and port wine last night, millet bread goat cheese and paulaner, paulaner and almond butter sandwiches on millet bread, trader joe’s raw almond butter.. Fat carbs, fat carbs alcohol. … must shop soon! Haha. No… I’ve been chugging the amazing grass and green smoothies too. Don’t you worry your pretty little heads!

Mental: Reading and Writing

I’ve just been studying a lot lately. I need to read about an hour or two of Balzac tonight and I have been working on ideas for my film everyday. My mental exercising has been hardcore to say the least and I’ve been especially loving studying subjects that I am not very strong at, such as Anatomy. Today I spent two hours editing a short anatomy film for class! Maybe I will post it?

Emotional

I am happy, motivated and looking forward to the future. There is a short story contest I am looking forward to. I can not wait to begin writing my story!!

Spiritual

My sleep has been off so my meditation has not been as great as it used to be. Check back later here. Haha.

So there’s your 4 way look at what’s going on. I hope you can apply some of my fast twitch/slow twitch info to your workout. I think it is best to just train both muscle fibers. Your genes will always rule, but why not try to strike a balance with what you’ve got??

Have a great night! See you soon!

Embracing Sexual Energy: Lori Painter

Have you ever seen my work station? I love it.

Good Bluegrass Saturday Morning! Yes, I said it. It is bluegrass Saturday morning on 88.5 FM here in Minneapolis and I woke up early just in time to catch it! Wahoo!

So, I have a lot to cover today. So, I will break this post up into sections so you can read what you like and skip what you like!

A) Food Time

B) Exercise/Sort of!

C) Handling Stress

D) Falling into Fear

E) Lori Painter is sexy!

So first of all, I am having a wonderful morning! I did some homework last night and slept. Woke up during the wee hours of the morning for more homework and cleaning and am now really enjoying the pale gray light of day with this wonderful banjo inflected music. Ahh, I really, really love Saturdays!

A) Food Time. I am sad to say that I haven’t always been eating exactly what I should be eating. I have eaten a lot of soups lately from Hard Times Cafe. Hard Times is a cash only vegetarian café that has gluten free options for me that I love. They make vegan rancheros and vegan migas which are both mexican style tofu dishes. The Migas is some corn tortillas topped with refried beans, fried tofu, stirfried veggies (lots of peppers and onions) and salsa. It is to die for. I usually top mine with a ton of hot sauce and nutritional yeast! I also eat a lot of steamed rice and veggie dishes there and their soups. I always opt for corn chips in lieu of their really tasty bread. As much as I love wheat, I much prefer being wheat free and making small, tasty sacrifices. Other than going out to eat I have been enjoying plenty of green smoothies, bowls of oats, frozen veg burgers, squash and quiona dishes at home. I also may be consuming a few too many cliff bars… but I love them!! I also should up my water intake.

RECIPE! Fall Drinky Drink

Fall Drinky Drink: (serves 2)

Fresh Apple Cider

2-3 shots High Quality Whiskey

Divide shots of whiskey into a glass with ice cubes. Mix with your fresh apple cider, garnish as desired and enjoy!

*You can mix whiskey with fermented or non-fermented apple cider. Both ways are super-tasty. My favorite ciders are Magners, Crispin and regular non-pasturized, local organic ciders. Apples are in season so drink up!

B) Exercise… sort of.

So stress got the best of me and I got in ONE workout this week. However I have had to bike due to some car battery issues. My plan of action this week is to get back into a regular workout routine, but I am excited to venture more into the realm of long walks, yoga and long music filled bike rides. I think that this will be most beneficial to my bod as I near the end of my final semester EVER of school. Which brings me to….

C) Handling Stress.

Yeah, sometimes I don’t know how to handle stress. Let’s just say that I have taken the whole weekend off to learn how to handle it. I can also say that my new apple cider whiskey obsession might have been thought up due to a high amount of stress. I do know the tastiest ways to self-medicate (totally joking), but really I should have a plan of action set in place BEFORE the stress starts. After having the most stressful week I have had in a long time I can share with you 2 pieces of gold.

1) Follow your intuition. If something is stressful and you can’t explain why. Go with it and get out of there or quit doing it. If things are stressful because you are avoiding them then quit avoiding them. Getting things done always makes you feel better = ).

2) Don’t cut out exercise and try your hardest to keep your diet high in veggies. Even if you only purchase veggies. I am being serious about this one. It is a true life saver! Your workouts should change to accomodate stress though. Try the long walks with friends or go for a swim instead of doing anaerobic sprints on the tread mill. Also, make an excuse to take a steam break = )

D) Falling into Fear.

Gah…. this is a huge one. Let’s just say that if you haven’t talked to me for awhile then you may be surprised at what my life looks like now. In fact I kind of have a new personal philosophy. I will outline it here.

1- I desire to approach everything in my life compassionately, open-heartedly and with 100% commitment and a sense of pride. In the most recent months I have detached myself from people, jobs, and activities that no longer suit me. When my intuition tells me that something is not right I know TRUST it. Even though my decisions may not seem to be the most sane to some people, I know what is right for me. I know what will benefit me the best. I am the only one that has spent over 21 years managing my life and body and really I have had success in my life and I have been responsible for that success. When I don’t feel 100% commited, proud, compassion or open-hearted I tend to actually feel really sick, stressed and tired. No longer will I let weak attachments get in the way of what I am truly meant to do.

2- I desire to meet people that have the same values as me and want the same for others and the planet. I have had so many relationships in the last few years, especially here in Minneapolis, with people that are just not at the same frequency as me. What I want is really simple: sustain life, write, help people and utilize my talents and creativity. When I get caught up with overly sexual (there is such a thing!), weak and materialistic people I often fall into depression. I am excited to be in my life right now because I feel that I am at a place where I can attract really wonderful, intelligent, compassionate people. I look forward to expanding my now small network of really amazing friends and aquantainces. My small group of awesome people is already a dozen times larger than it was a few months ago and I am so grateful! We can do a lot on our own, but collaboration is a beautiful thing.

3- I desire to not let my own inhibitions and limitations get in my way. Yes I have already mentioned letting other People, Situations and Ideas get in my way, but I am mostly responsible for the way I feel. A lot of this has to do with fear. Coming from a place of total dissapointment and destruction I know what fear is all about. Now I view fear as just being another mask. If you fall into that mask you are able to see what is truly behind it. For me what is behind that mask is everything I desire: the people I want to meet, the places I want to go, the opportunities I have been waiting for. If you meditate you may be familiar with a feeling of complete and total bliss. You may also know that the minute you start worrying that this rapture will end that the feeling starts fading… the blissful feeling only continues when you just let yourself be: fearless and worriless. So it is in life. I am so happy I took up meditation again! It has taught me so much.

I also want to reiterate something that Lori Painter said, which is that she would not allow finances to determine what she would and would not achieve. I am going to do the same. I am going to quit worrying about money and constantly follow my intuition.

I truly believe that I am someone who is capable of accomplishing a lot. This is not arrogance, this is the truth I feel. I have an urgency in me that wants to spread a message… no matter how small and affect people whether it be 2 or 2 billion. I also know that I will only be able to do this if I am living completely without ego, attachment, shame, guilt and my constant need to please other people.

Welcome to the next chapter my friends! While you’re at it check out this video by Lori Painter. It totally made me bawl….

E) WATCH ME NOW

Alright I am off to story writing, script writing, yoga and then the Twin Cities book fest where I hope to meet a lot of wonderful souls. Have a great day = )

Writing my Film

photo by Mark Y.

Hello Everyone!

I feel like I haven’t written in a long time! It’s probably not the case, but I have been really busy lately. Today I had to do some serious shopping for things I needed which brought me to the MOA (Mall of America) in the rain. I absolutely detest the Mall of America. The whole thing searching, being around people and spending money took all of my energy. Let’s just say that I laid in bed the rest of the day sleeping and having miserable dreams. Oh well. When I woke up I had an e-mail from an actor that I think would be perfect for my film. So that’s good!

So I have been DOING a lot which means I have also NOT been DOING A LOT. All of my homework-ing and socializing and writing is taking away from my EXERCIS-ING. The good thing is that I think all of that exercising was ready to be discombobulated anyways.

No to hardcore gym time?

Even though I have not scored perfectly on my Anatomy tests and quizzes and I am not a science person, I love my Anatomy class. Learning about the body and the chemistry behind it (Answering all of my Whys??) can be really fascinating. One thing that comes up a lot in the text book and in lecture is this idea of fitness and losing weight or exercising to lose weight. The verdict is always the same. Calories in should be equal to calories out and if you eat a huge meal one day, you have about 2 days to burn the calories from it before it is turned to fat.

Running a whole bunch of sprints will burn your carbs. To burn fat you need moderate, sustained exercise. The best remedy for this is aerobic exercises like swimming, biking, walking, yoga, etc. Doing less strenuous forms of exercise requires that you do them for longer periods of time. So taking a long, moderately strenous workout is the best way to get rid of those lovehandles! I love buidling muscle and breaking a sweat at the gym, but with all of the stress that is trying to consume me, I think I might take a step back from my former mode of thinking about exercise and begin to view it through the lens of my new human anatomy knowledge.

Yes to no pots and pans?

Not really. I haven’t been able to eat any soups or stir-frys and while I want to eat almost 100% raw, I can’t afford it at this time. So now I am just stuck eating fruit, Cliff Bars, Salads, Green Smoothies and frozen vegan veggie burgers. Who wants all this cold and microwaved food in this freezing weather? So yeah, I have been eating at vegan restaurants a lot. Not the ideal, this I know. I have also been eating a lot of carbs, oatmeal anyone?? I’d like to break this cycle soon. Hopefully I will make some money this week so that I can afford a nice big pan that I can make soups AND fry stuff in. Bring on the snow!

Meditating
My meditating isn’t going that well. I think it is because I haven’t gotten enough exercise, sleep or water lately. I am hoping this is temporary. I am letting myself get sucked into things. Has anyone experienced this when they are beginning a meditation practice? I need to organize my time and my life better.

Creative Projects

So all in all I have been busy. I am trying to make my creative work balance exactly with my harder, mental work… like Anatomy and French Papers. This has been really difficult since I prefer my creative stuff a lot more.

Things I am currently working on include: a short French film, 2 short stories in English, a portfolio of my photography and a portfolio of pictures of me.  The picture in this post is from a photo shoot I had a couple of days ago.

FOOD hint for the week…

Add some PUMPKIN SPICE and eat some APPLES!

Have a nice night!

How did I do all that?

raw chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream with fudge sauce... This is what I want now!

I was laying in bed today, trying to type a lab report and I started to go onto my facebook. I recognized this pattern as this is what I did at exactly the same time yesterday evening. So I made myself finish my lab report before I did anything else. For some reason that motivating energy is just as exponential as the negative, lazy energy I often succumb too. I actually ended up doing homework for 5 hours, cleaning my apt, organizing my closet, doing my dishes, washing my bed sheets and rearranging my room. Wow.

So unfortunately I won’t be blogging too much next week. I have to work 4 late night shifts next week and that is probably why I have been so motivated tonight to get things done, that and I want to perform better academically, I want to get my film organized and yaddah yaddah ya. So don’t be too alarmed if I am not writing.

Food

Breakfast: This morning I woke up and made some pumpkin spice oats. Sadly, I forgot to by my favorite canned pumpkin at the co-op, but I managed. I just mixed some amazing grass powder, pinch of sea salt, pumpkin pie spice and almond extract in with my cooked oats and topped them with a banana and PB. MMmm…

Snack: After my kick-ass bluegrass jammin’ core work-out. (60 minutes divided between elliptical cardio and abdominal exercises while listening to Old Crow Medicine Show) I gulped down an Odwalla Superfood Juice. It was the lowest common denominator at the Gopher Express (UMN) store and if I can drink some greens along with my fruit I am a happy camper. *PS when I was there I saw that David Cross is doing a book-signing on Mondayat my campus… Yahoo!

Lunch: When I got home a couple of hours later I made a salad with quinoa, pinto beans, broccoli, yellow bell pepper, siracha hot sauce, braggs and a lot of avocado… mmm. It was really delicious. I heated up the quinoa and pinto beans and it was perfection. I also topped the whole lot of it with Nutritional Yeast!!! Yum.

Snack: Since I was hardcore studying I didn’t really make myself dinner I just had 3 pretty decent snacks. The first one was a fresh date = ), the second snack was a piece of millet gluten-free bread heated up in my oven and topped with goat cheese and Paulaner (reminds me of my Parisian breakfasts!), then I had a sliced honeycrisp and sliced banana. I also drank a lot of water!

Inspiration: The Lapse

Right now I am in this lapse between amazing things. So that means nothing really exciting is happening at this instant and my phone isn’t ringing, but I am ok with that. During this “lapse” period you shouldn’t get frustrated. You should realize that this is when you have to work your hardest. It’s just like during a workout. Right when things get boring you have to work a little harder.

Today I was starting to feel overwhelmed. I have so much stuff to do plus scholarship appointments, friends, work, my film. That overwhelming signal is your body telling you “Get to it” you have stuff to do so “Do it.” You have control. I just wish I could follow my own advice sometimes!

I am going to go read and write some more. I want to be extra-prepared for my busy week next week. I am looking forward to raw cocoa-wheats in the morning (they contain no wheat, don’t worry) I think I will top them with raw banana ice cream! Yay…. = )