Brea Getting Fit

I think that what motivates us (me) is not so much the actual work, but the results that we see. I have to confess that I’ve been a little less than strict on my diet for the past few weeks…which has lead to my realization that fitness needs to be a mind/body/food marriage, and I seem to keep forgetting that. Most of you know that I became vegan for health reasons, and have stayed vegan not only because a whole new world of food (that I LOVE!!) has opened up AND because it’s a personal choice. I realized this morning that while I’ve been working out, I’ve been eating lots of (vegan) junk food…like Oreos and Fritos (darn only needing 1/2 the bag to make my Enchilada Bake!!)…while it’s technically vegan, that DOES NOT mean that it’s healthy for me. So…I’ve come to the conclusion that in order to be healthy, I need to focus from the inside out. I know that I keep talking about eating raw (which I am proud to report that I HAVE eaten 90% raw so far this month!! GO ME!!), but it’s really hitting me that one of the benefits of eating vegan is all the wonderful produce available. Today, I’ve enjoyed a fresh smoothie (strawberries, spinach, silken tofu & soymilk), banana, salad, nectarines, oranges, and some baby carrots. SUPER delicous!! I also had one of my cherry pie larabars, which is ALSO raw! If you can’t tell, I’m feeling pretty pumped about my renewed motivation. Having had a great run this morning (after which I felt so great that I’m GIVING AWAY an interval timer! To enter, click here!!), and doing Tracy Effinger’s Squeeze Stronger (fitness workout) lower body…which, by the way, is absolutely KILLER!! After the pretzel/clam combo I always have jell-o legs. If you haven’t tried it, you absolutely MUST!! Okay, back to my realization…I’ve KNOWN for a very, very long time that fitness is a mind-body-food connection, but it’s a totally different thing to wake up and know exactly what you MUST do to feel (and look…which definitely doesn’t hurt things) great. I’ve set a goal to try a different fruit/veggie/legume each week, and so far this week, I’ve tried white nectarines, a pluot (YUM!) and I’m going to have collard greens for the first time tomorrow!! I am SO very excited (stay tuned for the post about the collard green experiment) for the rest of the month!!