by Patricia | Aug 12, 2013 | Blog, Empowerment, Featured
If you want to be a strong runner, you can’t just go for one run. You have to go for runs over and over. If you want to be the best chess player you can be, you have to keep playing chess. If you want to be a great public speaker, you have to speak publicly, and then speak publicly again, and again. If you want to get stronger in any thing, act, or being, you have to repeatedly engage yourself in it. I was thinking about this concept recently in regards to my former and current fitness goals. My former fitness goal was to workout at least 5 days a week for 25-30 minutes a day at moderately-high to high intensity. With this goal in mind I started the Focus T25 10 week challenge three weeks ago. Today, at the beginning of week 4, I saw that I needed to change my goal, because the day or two I’d take off during the week lead to a loss in momentum. In the past, this kind of momentum loss has lead to me falling off completely when on other workout regimens. Learning from those past experiences I see that I need to focus on working out daily to keep my momentum going. Momentum, in this sense of the word, is “strength or force gained by motion or by a series of events.” For me, just that day or two off decreased a kind of strength I gained by repeatedly engaging in these workouts. Sure, my body might not have become noticeably weaker…but my mental tenacity decreased! And if my...
by Patricia | May 21, 2013 | Blog, Featured, Self Love of The Day, Wellness
I came home from work and I was TIRED. I woke up too early, and I’m still sore from yesterday’s Insanity workout (Plyometic Cardio Circuit don’t play!) Also, I stayed at work an hour longer than my body would have liked. And then there’s the humidity in NYC today….ugh! The LAST thing I felt like doing when I walked in the house was cooking. THE LAST. Standing over a stove? Even assembling a salad? Just not into it. I could have gotten my boo to run out and buy some chicken or something nearby. But instead, I put my feelings to the side and went in: I cooked and assembled my salad and now that I’m post meal, I’m so glad I did! I made something that not only nourished my body nutrient-wise but also nourished my taste buds! While making it, I reminded myself that crafting a nourishing meal IS an act of love even when I don’t feel like crafting. Putting my momentary (but real) feelings of fatigue aside lead to a great meal experience AND an energy boost, telling me that I probably needed to eat some hydrating foods to feel better (arugula, zucchini and tomatoes made most of the meal and they’re all pretty high in water content). Tonight’s dinner reminded me why #selflove is so important, all day, every day, even when it’s not the most comfortable choice. P.S. If you haven’t tried Saba yet, you really should! So yummy and versatile! I’ve tried it on meat but it could work on a salad and maybe on dessert. P.P.S. Check out my Instagram...
by Patricia | May 15, 2013 | Blog, Empowerment, Featured, Self Love of The Day
There is no higher form of self-love than allowing yourself to live your dreams. Not wishing, wanting, hoping, or planning, but stretching your mental, physical, spiritual limitations to allow the dream to be. Today was Day 1 of my second attempt at the Insanity 60 Day Challenge. Two months of potential pain, definite soreness, and extreme change. Two months of stretching my physical and mental limitations to allow my dream body and fitness level in my life. I’m SO in!!! I was sitting here, recovering from the fit test, and my friend sent me this link from Garnier Fructis’ facebook page that felt SO appropriate – completely aligns with what I feel. Every step is a new adventure, allowing my dream life to be my reality....
by Patricia | May 10, 2013 | Blog, Empowerment, Featured, Self Love of The Day
I’m currently reading this book – a popular one amongst those who concern themselves with personal development. Hill focuses on growing in financial abundance in the book, but the principles he discusses can be applied to growing in abundance in any area of your life. Taking the time to develop the mindset needed for success is showering love on your life! One of my favorite nuggets of wisdom from the book: Riches begin in the form of thought! The amount is limited only by the person whose mind the thought is put into motion. Faith moves limitations! Remember this when you are ready to bargain with life for whatever it is that you ask as your price for having passed this way. He talks about your mindset being like a fertile garden, and you’re the gardener that determines the kind of seeds grow in abundance. I don’t know about you, but I am working towards growing fortuitous, nourishing vegetation in my mind’s...
by Patricia | May 6, 2013 | Beauty, Blog, Empowerment, Featured, Self Love of The Day, Wellness
As important as my hands are, I don’t show them enough love. So my self-love of the day was pampering them with a nail buff and trim, a coconut oil massage (that’s the oily results at the top), and then painting my nails in a pretty purple shade with a little gold glitter accent. A tip: coconut oil is great for moisturizing every part of your body (as long as you don’t have an allergy), and helps maintain the strength of your nails and hair. My motto: if you love it, you have to show it. And I love me some...
by Patricia | May 2, 2013 | Beauty, Blog, Empowerment, Featured
The first time I thought of myself as beautiful, I was 21. I saw the picture above (taken at an event, so I was dolled up that day) and thought, “Wow! That’s me?” It was a little startling to think I was the pretty woman in the picture. This was my first (conscious) experience with perspective changing; I unwittingly happened on a tool that relieved me of a self-limiting thought (“I am ugly”) and increased my ability to shine. I just needed to look at myself through the lens of someone’s camera to see my outer beauty. Not that outer beauty is everything – one’s beauty goes so much deeper than their appearance – but I walk in this world with much more light now that I am confident in my appearance. Since then I’ve been on a long long road of learning to see the beauty in the very things I don’t like about myself. I’ve managed to do this successfully in a few areas of life – and if you’re interested, here’s how you too can see the beauty in your ugly: 1. Define Your Ugly. In this step, you start with identifying and getting clear with that which you find to be the darkest, the worst. Dig deeply on this one! Get very specific about why you feel the way you feel. Is it that you are comparing your life (or some aspect of it) to someone else’s? Did someone tell you as a child this thing was ugly, and you believed it? If you are going to change the way you see your ugly,...
