Patience, Perseverance & Passion

Patience, Perseverence & Passion

For all the women out there looking for a change and needing a vitality fitness trainer - Alexa is here to inspire, influence, and encourage you towards becoming your truest version of yourself - healthy, strong, fast, powerful, and toned while keeping in mind the patience and loving kindness always exhibited towards your unique self. In becoming the best version of yourself and conquering life's challenges by first stepping into the strong body you were meant to flaunt - Alexa's workouts are here to sway.

Being active is a lifestyle.  It's not a temporary easy fix - our bodies were made to be in motion and will not function at an optimum vitality if we don't. Everyone is at their own unique level.  However, moving can be fun and customized to fit individual needs. 

A hand in hand approach must be used with this active lifestyle and  should incorporate strength training, cardiovascular exercise for your heart health, and stretching to improve flexibility while increasing muscle strength. Working out requires a set of skills that can be learned - while realizing everyone has their own pace and that is absolutely normal. I still see progress on my own body at various progression rates and I try hard not to put a time frame on it because I realize it is a lifelong road I've embarked on with my main focus being healthy. My workouts, although sometime strenuous, they always make me feel good, more energetic, happier, healthier, focused, eager to take on challenging projects, and with an increased capacity of staying positive and respond to life challenges in a calm proactive way to respond with a positive voice.  There are so many different patterns of training and progression models, for my own sake I don't believe in pushing musculoskelatal limits to a max. Again I am not an athlete, I am not in a competition except with myself - therefore results will occur with a disciplined regiment that follows your body's cues, that can be demanding at times without making you want to vomit or pass out.  

Detox January?

Improving and resetting our body

Dr. Steven Gundry the plant paradox diet- meal prep

Detox January?

As many of us out there, January starts off with a set of desires to improve and reset our body that we overloaded with calories from all the Christmas parties packed with good foods, heavy d'oeuvres and alcohol sprees. Although most of the days I am trying to make healthy decisions with regards to nutrition and activity levels, December is a hard month on your system and you need a reboot no matter how healthy you think you are. Recently as I was listening to one of my favortie podcasts "The Model Health Show" and Shawn Stevenson is incredibly informative and fun to listen to, he had a very interesting guest on - Dr. Steven Gundry talking about his new book. I have purchased it and started reading it for a few weeks now (I am a very slow reader as english is my second language and normally I have 2-3  books that I am reading at the same time so I cannot brag about the speed I have while starting a book). With that being sad, I was fascinated by Dr. Gundry's intellect and life story. A very famous heart surgeon, he decided to shift gears and turn to helping people through prevention, meaning he decided to stop performing surgeries, and focused on educating people on how to eat healthy, what to avoid, hence the need for medical intervention will dissipate, and people will be able to heal themselves from serious diseases through the "natural medication" that food can become if consumed with the indications he provides.     

I started phase 1 with excitement and motivation, felt great, the inflammation in my body reduced considerably, my daily thoracic spine soreness/pain was gone, I was waking up in the morning radiating. The only problem with high fat, dark leafy organic greens and lean protein was that my body missed the energy, that feel good state, the carbs put you in while converting into glucose in your system that fuel your brain and muscles. With a full time 8-5 job, part time Personal trainer and also working out 6-7 times a week, it was extremely difficult. Needless to say I went back to my "Peanut Butter diet" - lol - eating what I love knowingly that it might not be necessarily what Dr. Gundry recommends. It might take a village to change the love/ "addiction" I have for Peanut Butter, but hopefully without murmuring through the tears of desire, I will get there. Dinner last night was a beautiful pot roast grass fed Angus beef dinner with buffalo Brussels sprouts and a crisp 2013 Tangley Oaks, Merlot and that's because I have learned to listen to my own body and what it needs in terms of nutrition and workouts.  We always adapt and improve accordingly, it just a matter of staying sharpe in our awareness of needs. We are all beautiful, as Maya Angelou was referencing a notion, the idea of each one's "crown" has already been bought and fought for the only thing we got to do is put it on! Alexa's Team! I encourage all of you to take your crowns, put them on and walk with purpose, confidence and determination! Never quit, never stop, adapt, learn, discover and follow the path that was meant for you!

PS: I will give you just a preview of what my diet consisted of for day 1  - pictures proof :O

Day 1:

Breakfast: Green Smoothie

Snack: Romaine Lettuce Boats filled with Guacamole 

Lunch: Arugula Salad with Chicken and Lemon Vinaigrette

Snack: Romaine Lettuce Boats filled with Guacamole

Dinner: Cabbage-Kale Saute with Salmon and avocado

Informative references mentioned in this blog post:

TMHS 249: Foods That Are Fighting Against Us And The Plant Paradox – With Dr. Steven Gundry

The Plant Paradox, The Hidden dangers in "healthy" foods that cause disease and weight gain, Steven R. Gundry, MD with Olivia Bell Buehl

Oprah's Super Soul Conversations: Dr. Maya Angelou, Part 1: 9 Words That Changed Her Life