BeautyMarked’s BodyBlog

It has been three days since I have seen the inside of the gym. Damn sickness! I am just venting cause I have missed consecutive days at the gym and thus feel like a lazy bum. All I have been doing is laying in bed watching movies and inhaling Vicks. I even missed work yesterday. I don’t like wasting time so staying in bed for hours makes me feel like a bum regardless of the fact that I am sick. Tomorrow is Sunday which is new week, a new week of goals and hopefully a healthy week. I can’t see myself not feel totally better tomorrow. I feel much better today already with the exception of having a bit of a runny nose left and a really sore nose from all the kleenexes. I am going to take some vitamins, drink lots of water and tea and hopefully be back to my normal self tomorrow. As much as I resent the fact that I missed the gym and stayed in bed for the past few days, I don’t want to dwell on that. So I just wanted to write that blog and let all of that go. No more dwelling on being sick!

To tomorrow!

I felt pretty sick yesterday but it mainly consisted of a sore throat. Today I have the works, the stuffed nose and lack of energy. The sore throat has gone away a but I can barely breathe. So I called in sick. I usually hate calling in sick but I have to think of myself and my health first. Working at a fast-paced restaurant that turns into a club for 10 hours (literally!) is probably not the best idea. So I am going to spend the day in bed doing some work for my day job on my laptop. I hate the idea of wasting the day though, I especially hate the idea that I am missing a potential workout! I missed my workout yesterday too I aim for 5 sessions a week but only made it 4 this week thanks to this illness. If I feel better today I might go to the gym for a low intensity cardio work out and/or maybe some strength training but it will all depend on how I feel. I should probably take it easy instead but I always feel guilty when I don’t make it to the gym and don’t know how to make up for it.

I also tend to eat junk when I am sick. I already had too many of those devilishly delicious ferro rocher chocolates!  *sigh* I try to be such a positive and motivated person but I feel like I have no time to be sick. For a person who tries to respect their body, I tend to forget that my body is just asking for a break.
I hate taking pills and med so can anyone recommend anything natural that might make me feel better or help my stuffed nose? I don’t want to waste too much time in bed!

Today I woke up with that awful sore throat feeling. I hate being sick. I don’t care if its an excuse to do nothing and lay in bed, I just hate it.
Every morning I wake up and figure out what I want to get done that day and when I’m going to make it to the gym, not if, but WHEN. But being sick really throws a wrench into the plan of your day. Thursday is the last day of the week until Sunday that I get to go the gym and it would suck if I don’t go today. My goal, like you know, is to make it to the gym 5 days a week. But obviously not if I can’t go. However, sick or no sick, I still feel guilty over not being able to make it. I know they say that if you are sick and its above the neck (such as runny nose and sore throat) you could go to the gym, if it’s anything below the neck like congestion, then its a bad idea to go. But I just feel like such poop! Luckily, I don’t have a runny nose….hopefully I am not speaking too early. Come on body, I’ve been working out. Where’s is that healthy immune system?

I guess sometimes we just need to learn when to stop, slow down, relax and remember that there’s always tomorrow. Maybe that’s why I am sick, to remind me that life isn’t all go, go, go, but sometimes it is about taking time out of life to slow down. Not the best reminder but reminder nonetheless. I should just enjoy my day in bed recovering and giving my body what it needs rather than pushing it.
I’ve already made it to the gym 4 times this week and did upper body twice and lower body twice. I need to learn to listen to my body and right now its telling me to slow down! "You did enough this week!" But we are definitely not a society that listens to our bodies. If we were, then obesity wouldn’t be such an "epidemic".

I might, if I feel better by the evening, go to the gym for a light treadmill walk or something light but definitely not an intense work out that requires heavy breathing. It’s just a sore throat, maybe light activity will make me feel better. Sometimes the most natural thing could be the best remedy. Other than halls, I usually refuse to take any pills or meds to make me feel better. In fact, I hate taking pills. The pharmaceutical industry is HUGE! And afterall, it’s an industry, it’s there to make money. I don’t like the idea that people are profiting from people feeling sick. I know that its about making sick people feel better but our society has become way too dependent on drugs and pills. According to wikipedia, "the pharmaceutical industry is — and has been for years — the most profitable of all businesses in the U.S. In the annual Fortune 500 survey, the pharmaceutical industry topped the list of the most profitable industries, with a return of 17% on revenue." THAT’S NUTS!

For goodness sake, if you have a headache, grab a bottle of water and go for a walk. Get some fresh air and some H20 and maybe a nap. There’s no need for tylenol. It, at least, should be your last resort. But people pop Tylenols like tic tacs! We don’t give our body enough credit. We have an immune system for a reason but most of us don’t even know it with the amount of drugs we take. Give it a chance to work before you pop that pill which only suppresses the pain, it doen’t FIX anything. Pain is there to tell us something, but we don’t look at like that. Instead we spend millions a year to suppress pain and headache after headache. Well I’d rather have faith in my immune system, especially with the common cold. No thanks, I don’t need your DayQuil, I have an immune system. I respect my body and give back to it. I remain physically active and give my body what it needs - and guess what, physical activity boosts the immune system. Imagine that! People who are physically active and eat clean tend to be healthier. HOW BIZARRE! It’s a cycle, your body gives to you, you give back to your body. You ignore your body and feed it junk, you are going to feel like junk and no amount of pill and prescriptions is going to fix you.

So I will stay in bed, get my ZzZzZ, drink loads of water and maybe go for a light walk and as soon as I can, I’ll be working out again. Maybe I’ll take this time to read a book or watch a movie and enjoy myself. It sucks to be sick but obviously my body is telling me something and I’m going to listen. I urge others to do the same, listen to your body, it’s not very hard. In fact, its one of the most natural and simple things we can do.

So this week, my goals were to go to the gym 5 days a week. I started off well going Sunday and yesterday, today however, I missed it. I had such a long day, and I barely spent any time at home. I went to work, went to a work meeting that lasted way longer than I expected, then I had to go see my hair dresser cause I am modeling in her hair show tomorrow and finally we had a planned girls night out at work so I went to that. I tried really hard to squeeze in the gym but couldn’t, everything went way longer than planned. Yesterday I skipped out on some plans with friends just so I could go to the gym so I guess you give a little, you take a little. But the guilt really overtakes me.
I feel like I’m letting myself down and I know I shouldn’t be so hard on myself. What makes it worse is knowing I can’t go tomorrow either, I have to be at this hair salon from 9am till about 9pm! That leaves me NO time for the gym. I would get up early and go but that would mean I’m sacrificing my 7 hours and I don’t know if there’s a point in sacrificing one thing for another. I also can’t go to the gym Fridays and only some Saturdays so I really try to get my 5 workouts in Sunday-Thursday.

I know I shouldn’t be so hard on myself, especially when I skip the gym cause of events I never usually do/attend (such as girls night out at work or be in a hair show), but I can’t help but feel guilty. ‘’
How do you overcome this guilt and remember to take each day step by step?

It seems that a lot of people respond to these blog enteries so I thought I would use it to ask for help.

I want to get some sort of a clean eating guide? I’ve heard things about Tosca Reno, is she any good? Can anyone suggest a good book, possibily with recipes on clean eating?

Also can anyone recommend a book on fitness in general? Is Jillian Michaels stuff any good?

I’ll take any recommendations!

A lot of people see Sunday as the last day of the week, I however, see it as the beginning. It’s always nice to start the week with a day off (Sunday) and end the week with another day off (Saturday). Unfortunately for me, my only day off in my week is Sunday thanks to my two jobs (I’m a cocktail waitress/bartender on Fridays and Saturdays. But anyway, so Sunday is the start of a new week which a new week of endless possibilities and opportunities. Sunday is also that day I like to start fresh, if you will, if I had a less than pleasant week or felt like I didn’t do my best. Sunday is the day I like to update my progress but only do it biweekly. Sometimes I feel like I ruin my progress on Saturdays. For example, yesterday; I worked a 5pm -3am shift and anyone who has worked a restaurant/bar knows how hectic it is and how hard it is to have good consistent meals. Last night was so busy that I didn’t even get a chance to eat the food I ordered for myself, instead me and a friend went to a 24hour restaurant nearby after we closed and I had a cheesy omlette, at 5AM! I won’t beat myself up about it because I don’t do this very often and it was mighty delicious. You make bad decisions when you are starving at 5 am after a 10 hour shift. Oh well. Like I said, today is a new day and this week is a new week.

This past week I was really successful at eliminating pop and juice out of my lifestyle ( I would say diet, but I hate that word, so I say lifestyle). I did at one point have a glass of sprite when I really craved some sugar but that was it. I also still allow myself a glass of orange/apple juice for breakfast but no more sugarly drinks for me. I also managed to get in 5 workouts this week! woohoo!
This week my goals are;

- to make it to the gym 5 times

- go to bed earlier and wake up in decent times on days I work from home

- learn a new healthy recipe and cook a bit more for myself
I just returned from the gym so that’s one workout down. I didn’t have as much time as I would have liked though; I got all my lower body strength training done but only got about 20 mins of cardio. As much as I dislike cardio, I still try to aim for 30-40 mins each workout.  So here’s to another week change, another week to bring my closer to my goal.

I am a huge believer in positive thinking. I have always believed in it, way before "the secret" and all that made-for-profit crap came out. In fact, it does not work that way. Positive thinking and the law of attraction are based on beliefs and knowledge. You really have to believe and trust in these things before you go out and expect to get that Lexus just cause you cut out a picture of it and posted it on your "vision board."

The mind is the strongest tool we have. The physical body has limits, the mind does not. Don’t put physical restrictions on the mind. In order to get something, you first must create the possiblity. You must create the possibility by thinking it. Before you thought it, that idea did not exist. It sounds so complicated but yet it’s so simple. For example, if you have a math exam tomorrow and you sit there and think that you are going to do really bad on it, chances are, you will. You haven’t yet thought that you will do good on it, hence the possibility isn’t there. The idea of positive thinking is to KNOW that you will do good. Not just think it and half-heartedly believed it, but believe it so much that you KNOW it will happen. Once you think this way, your mind and your subconscious will find the way to get that image accomplished.

Use your mind to visualize your future success. Thoughts connect us to the subconscious awareness that surrounds us all and that’s powerful. They come from our souls. Use them to your advantage. Use your mind.
So, the point of this post was to write down all my goals in the present tense. Once I have written and published them, they become reality. I know that thinking this way is going to help me accomplish all that I wish for.

I am strong. I am fit. I am healthy. I am happy with the person I see in the mirror. I feel confident in my skin. I am happy.

I am happy.

Recently I have come to realize that most people do not give the human body the credit it deserves. By most people, I mean, majority of the North American society. At least, from my prospective they don’t. Take a drive down the street and I am sure most of you will see a lot more cars than pedestrians or bikers, gas stations on every corner, fast food joints everywhere each one with a drive-through, MEGA superstores, yada yada yada. All this just so we don’t exert more energy than needed to. We’re not bears! We don’t hibernate! Why do we need to save up all of our energy? So we can go home, sit on the couch and watch reality shows? What is this social obsession with finding the quickest way of doing things with as little power as possible? I just don’t get it. We are born with this amazing tool and majority of us won’t know just how amazing it is until we are diagnosed with who-knows-what, then we will wonder why and how we got to be diagnosed with whatever it is and be bombarded with regrets. Not only are we not USING this amazing body we are given, but we are pumping ourselves full of garbage and junk. Antibiotics, preservatives, chemicals, and toxins. These are all things that can be found in store bought frozen foods, most make up and skin care products and even the air. But no one seems to care? Then we wonder why cancer rates are going up and why people in their 20’s are getting cancer. I’m just astonished with this society and the way we treat ourselves and the way we ALLOW major corporations to treat us.

Wake up people. We have this amazing body that is capable of doing so much. We have amazing minds that allow the impossible to happen. Yet we barely think (for ourselves that is) and we barely move our bodies.

I refuse to be one of those people. I love my body. I don’t currently love the SHAPE it is in but I know that it is capable of transforming because it is capable of anything I set my mind to. If my mind is the state, so will my body. It starts with the mind but reflects in our bodies. I love to work out. I love knowing that I am giving back to this body that gives me so much - I can walk, I can run, I can move my arms, I can dance, these are things we need to be grateful about. These are awesome abilities! It is not until these abilities are gone that we realize how much we valued them. So lets not wait till its gone, respect it now and give it the respect it deserves. USE IT. DANCE. EXERCISE. JUMP.

Eat clean. Eat smart, THINK. Think independently. Read. Educate yourself. Do not take no for an answer. Use YOUR mind. Think positive. Reflect Positivity. Be the change you want to see in this world. No regrets.

I have decided to give up juice. Not all juice, but most juice. I will have one glass of orange juice or apple juice in the morning with my breakfast and that’s it. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always drank a lot of juice. We never really have pop in our house so that’s not an issue but we always have juice, and at least two different types. I don’t like to eat without some sort of beverage so I usually have juice with my meals, and I usually go through at least two glasses of whatever I’m drinking.When I decided that I was tired of my body looking the way it is and decided to change my eating habits, I read the back of the juice box. Holy calories! I hate counting calories but I was drinking 300-500 calories of juice alone with all my meals! Completely empty calories, other than vitamin C (you can get a whole day’s worth in one cup of orange juice), juice is nothing but sugar.
Now I am asking myself why juice has such a healthy reputation - it’s not! Is anyone reading the nutritional content on the backside of the container? It’s packed with sugar and god knows what other preservatives and antibiotics that went into the fruit that the juice is made from. You might as well be drinking pop. I’ve stopped drinking juice a few days ago and so far, total success. Like I said, I still have my OJ in the morning, but only one glass. Otherwise, I’ve been doing great. I don’t even want to say that I am "giving up" juice since that sounds very negative, but I am just making wiser and smarter decisions. Instead I have been drinking lots and lots of water. You can’t go wrong with that. It’s not like smoking. If I ever crave juice, I will drink some but knowing how packed it is with sugar and empty calories, I know that I will be able to limit myself to just a few sips, a glass at most.
The biggest challenge to this will be not drinking juice or pop at work. I work as a cocktail waitress and I work about 10 hour shifts on Friday and Saturday every single weekend. Because the shift is long, I get hungry and when I cannot eat I normally grab a glass of OJ mixed with cranberry to fill me up until I can get food. I will have to start thinking ahead and bring snacks with me. I can totally do this.

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