LABOR DAY AND LORNA JANE

Happy Labor Day to all. I had to work a few hours today and I slept in too late too be able to post this morning, so this post is a bit late. I am really excited for my weigh in tomorrow, I am really starting to see the results and I know I have this. After work I went over to Lorna Jane, I love their workout clothes. They are just my style and as a reward to myself I am going to buy myself a hot pink workout outfit when I hit around 15 pounds. Their sizes seem to run a little small, and I think I am almost at the point when I can wear their large comfortably. 

Every time I go in Lorna Jane in Century City California Jessie greets me with a sincere smile and she always remembers who I am. She has been following my blog as well. I am a big fan of their colorful workout clothes and they are also reasonably priced, so that is an added bonus. I am drawn to the hot pink, turquoise, and neon orange. You can find them at their Facebook page. If you stop in the Century City CA location be sure to say hi to Jessie, she is truly genuine and will assist you with your needs for working out.  We snapped a few photos today, and next time it will be me in their workout clothes. Inspiration from colorful workout gear and the lovely ladies that work at Lorna Jane. 

Namaste'
Rose
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lorna-Jane-Century-City/322352581201853

With Jessie from Lorna Jane Century City CA

Love their workout clothes and colors

Getting the blue and pink in a few weeks

STAYING STRONG ON HOLIDAY WEEKEND

Happy Sunday to all. It is the Labor Day weekend and I must say this is my first food challenge but I am sticking to plan and staying strong. It is not easy though, everyone is having summer food and treats but I am on a mission and I cannot falter. I am also finding time for my workouts and yoga in between the fun. Today I went to a morning yoga class with Nicole before my husband and I head out on a day trip. Yoga was fantastic and I am so happy I squeezed it in. We  now are going to just hit the road and see where it takes us. I love road trips, the freedom of the open highway and the unknown when you are just spontaneous and drive to wherever the freeway takes you.

Signing off for now. I will stay strong when we stop for a bite to eat. It is not easy but so worth it. I wish everyone a wonderful Sunday and Labor Day Weekend.
Namaste'
Love and light
Rose

HOMAGE TO THE WORKING MAN AND WOMAN

Saturday has arrived, and it is the Labor day weekend. I have the whole weekend off not including Monday to do as I please. I love having weekends off and working the same hours Monday through Friday, it is this routine that makes it possible for me to continue on and be successful in my My Change For A Ten Quest, and I am very grateful for that and to the managers where I work that are kind enough to give me the schedule that works for my new fit lifestyle.

I am taking a rest day so it seems. I decide to take my rest days by judging how my body feels, if I feel like I have pushed it and I am overly tired that is when I take my rest day. Hard work does need a rest, after all it is Labor Day this weekend and since I work Monday I will rest today. I wish everyone a beautiful Labor Day weekend, and I hope you take sometime to relax and revel in the intoxication of  just being alive. 

I wrote this poem a few years ago and I do not remember who or what I was musing off. It is about the working man/woman, an homage so you will to all those who toil to make a better life for themselves and their loved ones, sometimes sacrificing their own freedom. This is a poem I once almost scrapped when I lived in NYC but after my close friend read it and cried because it reminded her of her father I decided to keep it. Happy Labor Day Weekend to all. Get some rest and relaxation and get out there and bask in the sweet summer sun as a reward to all of the hard hours you put in for a better life. Autumn is sneaking up on us, so make these last summer moments count. Love and light to all.
Namaste'
Rose

BREADWINNER

Lament of a man of labor,

Pride in his starched blue collar;

Valor in the stains of sweat,

From toiling in the sweltering heat.

Sacrificing time for his devotion,

To family, keeping poverty at bay;

At the price of exhaustion of self.

Fatigue plagues him day after day,

No escape is in sight, no freedom;

Enslaved, trapped within his quagmire.

Nothing ever changes, even with time,

There is no relief in sight.

It seems he sold his soul,

Owned by a pea colored key.

Still he endeavors on

With his daily drudgery,

Realizing with great esteem;

Truest nobility

To raising a family,

And profound dignity

In any honest occupation.

(c) Rose Bruno Bailey

RUNNING ON TIME TOWARDS MY GOALS

Good morning and Happy Friday to all. Yesterday I was off to go to the DMV and that freed up my day afterwards.  I had time to go to YogaWorks and speak to the management and staff about my yoga needs and which classes are best for me as I begin my experience with YogaWorks. I have unlimited classes, but since I am new there they recommended certain classes for me to begin with, and as I progress with their teaching style I will be able to take more advanced classes. They stress proper form and they recommend I start at the very beginning to make sure I am  performing the poses correctly. They have a candlelight flow, which I am excited about and some of their classes are set to music. I am going Saturday morning for my first class, and I am truly excited to be able to take my practice to another level. Just another notch added to my journey of fitness and well being. I am making time for my My Change For A Ten by running towards my goals, and it feels so amazing.

Speaking of running, I  recently started running with Mike, my trainer and friend and he wants me to be able to run longer and with more ease. Yesterday I waited until the evening since it was a scorcher, and I walked to this little park up the street from my house in Beverly Hills. There is a fountain, and a little walkway that goes around the fountain. For me it is the perfect place to practice running, I can run around the park and then take walking breaks and then run around again. Yesterday I ran twice around the park with somewhat ease. I was listening to music, and it drowned out the heavy breathing sounds I probably make so I did not think about my breathing as much. Each day I will try to run just a little farther. 

My journey is an ongoing one, with hard work and dedication and I understand not everything will be simple or in my comfort zone. I accept that and I know I will progress as time goes by. Time will pass, I might as well make the best of the time I am given. Time is elusive, we think we do not have enough time but in reality we have all the time in the world, it is just how we use it that really matters. I am managing my time, it is not managing me. I will no longer let time hold hostage of my life, I own each and every day and I will continue to run towards my goals and away from the fears that held me back in the past. 
Wishing everyone a beautiful day.
Namaste'
Rose

HOW BAD DO YOU WANT IT

Good Morning Thursday. This is a particular good morning since I have the whole day off, and I work tomorrow and then I have the weekend off as well. My driver's license expired and apparently they need an updated one for my work, so my manager told me to take off today to get it done. So yes, I have to go to the DMV, yawn. But then the whole day is mine to do as I please once I am finished there. I was just saying I needed a day off during the week to have some alone time, alone time at the pool or to take another yoga class and I was granted my wish. So today is mine.

I have been thinking a lot about my goals, and how I am really sticking to my program. I am really trying hard, I want to achieve what I seek, and I want it bad. Nothing will get in my way because I am on a mission. A mission to change my life, a mission to make a difference in the lives of others as well as my own. I have so many things I plan to add to my list of goals, and I know I will make each and every one of them happen. I am making them reality because when the mind and heart believes anything is possible. I have decided I would approach everything with no fear and no procrastination. I may bend but I will never break. 

Yesterday was my Wednesday evening yoga class with Nicole at Pink Iron. It was an amazing class, she is a fantastic yoga teacher. I was much more centered and I felt great. I am so excited to say that I took my bridge pose into a full back bend for the first time. I did my first back bend ever!!  I did wheel pose.  That was such a feeling of elation. I decided to just go for it and I was able to lift my whole body up into the back bend pose. I am definitely getting stronger. I do have to give Mike kudos for that, I believe my Tuesday workouts are strengthening my yoga practice. Like I have said countless times before, and I will always say it,  no person can go it alone.  I am full of  immense gratitude for those who support me on my endeavors. I also believe in supporting all of my friends and loved ones in their paths as well. We are all each others biggest fans and cheerleaders, belief in one another is the heart of inspiration and motivation. After all one of the meanings of Namaste' is we are all one, we are all connected.

I wish everyone a beautiful Thursday, full of belief in all your heart desires.
Namaste'
Rose

CORE OF THE MATTER

Good morning Wednesday. I am up extra early today, savoring a few precious moments of sunrise, solitude, and silence and trying to gather my thoughts over a delicious cup of coffee. I greet my day with a heart filled with gratitude for everyone that has graced me with their positive presence. I am grateful for this beautiful planet we reside in and of course for my beloved cats and this cup of coffee. I am grateful for the sheer blessing of being alive, tired yet so alive.

I am really getting much stronger and more balanced in my workouts with Mike my trainer and friend. Yesterday he stepped it up a few notches, He said he has been too easy on me and it was time to make things more difficult, and he and guaranteed I would be sore today. I woke up sore of course, but it is that job well done type of soreness that comes with accomplishment. 

We jogged a lot, or for me it was a lot. The hardest part is my breathing, and some of that may be due to allergies. Nothing that the neti pot cannot cure. I actually did more than I thought I could, and I will continue to improve on the jogging part of the workouts. I will do some jogging this week when I do my walking.  I have also been googling breathing techniques. I will get this. He plans on us jogging longer distances. Nest week we are going to video tape me doing simple beginner burpees for Melissa @ Melissa Bender Fitness so she can post them on her blog. We figured out a way for me to do them using the bench as a prop so I can ease into them without straining my knees. 

My core is pretty darn strong. I was a dancer and of course your "center" as we called it in dance is the most important part. You have to constantly pull up, suck in, relax your shoulders and do not arch the back with your hips tucked in. I still walk like this to this day, head high. I guess some habits stick over time and this particular dance habit is really helping me with my core. The core matters!  My sit ups are getting so much more fluid, I was really proud yesterday. My hard work is starting to really pay off and I feel so motivated to continue. I am very grateful to Mike, he teaches as well as instructs and I can feel my body changing. I am so much stronger than I was over six weeks ago. 

When I got home I did some yoga poses to stretch, but of course doing yoga poses at home with cats is a challenge. They are mesmerized by the mat, and attack your feet as you are doing downward dog. Tonight is yoga with Nicole. I will be sure to drink enough water and eat enough so I do not get lightheaded or sick like I almost did last Wednesday. I still need to get to YogaWorks and use my month unlimited Groupon, it doesn't expire and works from the first day you use it. I will begin there either this week or the next. I am really enjoying the process as well as the results, and that is what keeps me going each and every single day. This is my lifestyle and I absolutely love it.

Wishing you a Happy Wednesday
Love and Light
Namaste'
Rose

WEIGHT LOSS UPDATE 8/27/2013

Good Morning Tuesday. I just weighed myself and I lost two pounds bringing my total weight loss to 9 pounds and my weight is now officially 188 lbs. I am so excited, last November I actually weighed 207 lbs, so I have lost 9 pounds since I began my My Change For A Ten Project but since last November I have lost a total of 19 pounds. I am almost at my first ten pound My Change For A Ten goal, and then I will set the date to feed the homeless with The Monday Night Mission. I am really proud I am sticking to whatever I say I will do. This is just the beginning for me to change my life and to help make a difference in the lives of others. I am reaching for the moon.

Here is a photo of me and my wonderful friend Amy this weekend, we were out with our husbands at Barney's Beanery in West Hollywood CA.  I will have more full body shots when I return to Richard Simmons this week, he was out of town but I believe he is back Thursday. I went out and I was disciplined. I ate extremely healthy, a turkey sandwich on whole grain with Dijon mustard, avocado, lettuce and tomato and steamed vegetables. I also had a cup of bean chili with no meat.  I believe you can eat healthy almost anywhere. I drank Perrier and tons of water since I do not drink, which helps me save on calories.

Tonight is my workout with Mike, and I am really learning so much. I am also learning how much food my body needs to sustain my workouts, walking, and yoga. So I will be sure to eat enough from here on out. The whey protein shakes help me fill in the blanks when I do not have time to sit down to a meal. I have also been watching my sodium intake. It really makes a big difference. At work I have been ordering my chicken plain with no marinade and no dressing, and I use oil and vinegar. Little changes add up for big results. I buy tuna and peanut butter with no added salt, and I try to eat as clean as possible without obsessing or depriving myself. I am achieving mind and body balance.

“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”

― Mark Twain


I wish everyone a terrific Tuesday.
Namaste'
Rose