Slavery or Freedom?

Sometimes we doubt what it is we are doing. We doubt that our business we are creating is what we are supposed to do. 

That's ok. That's normal. It is a business. People work at businesses. They create systems. WORK. Money doesn't just fall into our laps. 

The following is some of my thoughts I shared with the ladies on my Beachbody team. We were doubting that we were on the right track. I responded and this is what came out. I wanted to share it here, so I can remind myself in the future. 

"You're welcome. And for the record I have doubts too. Like on the first couple days of this month when I didn't make sc5 (this is Success Club 5, a goal that Beachbody sets for us to ensure that we are building our business) after all my hard work. I thought, "maybe this business isn't for me? Maybe God doesn't want me to do this?" But yet, I'm still passionate about this. I still believe it can work. I still want it to work.

I think that God gives us the desires of our hearts. I kinda think what he gives us IS the desire. Not the outcome (which would come if we work it).

I believe that God wants us to be successful and to make money and to be rich. But not for greed or for selfish desires but to do what he called us to do. To make a difference in this world.

To help other people not be enslaved to their job, to make fractions of their potential, to have their spirits sucked out by "the man". But for the Man, God, to give us life and hope and peace and health.

I know there are scriptures about the rich man who wouldn't give all he has to the poor. People think it means that he/we as Christians, shouldn't be rich. But I think what it was about was obedience and giving. The man wasn't able (or willing) to give what he had.

I want to make a lot of money because I want to give. I want to give hundreds to kids going on missions, to missionaries who are living abroad, to people here in the states, in our backyard.

I think this is why God gives us the desire to make money. I also think we need to make money smartly where we can live our passions that God gives us and not have to limit it to 2 weeks a year that the man gives us for vacation. I believe that's slavery not freedom."

My Bike Got Stolen. It Was the Best Thing.

I remember the turning point in my life. This is maybe the most important thing that has ever happened to me. 

When I was seven I left my bicycle out in the front yard and it got stolen. Yes, this is the most important thing that happened to me. One might think that I was a victim, that I was wronged. My parents should go out and buy me a new one right? Nope. They told me that I was irresponsible, that I didn't not take care of the things that were given to me. Since I left it outside and it was stolen then it was my fault for leaving it out there. They were not going to buy me a new one. I had to. 

Ok no problem, I'll just save my allowance. No again. I didn't get an allowance when I was growing up. I had to go out and make money. I needed a job. But wait. I was 7 years old!!! I couldn't even get a job at McDonald's. So did I sit around and cry and whine and get my parents to buy me a new one? No I went out and raked the leaves in my neighborhood. I cleaned people's bathrooms and kitchens. I went out and made me some money. 

I remember I had saved up $67. My dad was so impressed. He told me that I should be able to pay for half the bike with that money. He would pay the other half and I would pay him back. We went to Toys R Us and I remember I found a bike on sale and it came out to $66 and some change. I didn't need to borrow from my dad. I did it on my own. 

This started something in me. I started making money doing odd jobs, selling things at a lemonade stand, cleaning people's houses, working in people's yards, I even made scrunchies. I sold them to a local hair salon. 

So here I am now a grown up. I love making money on my own still. I am still an entrepreneur. I am working on two businesses. A creative real estate business and as a health and fitness consultant. 

Not only do I enjoy making money for myself but I like helping people make their lives better. I want to see people succeed in their healthy, to be healthy and not get sick; I like to help people in their finances. I know how important budgets are. They are not restrictive but freeing. 

This is the reason I have aligned with Team BeachBody. They help people with their health, fitness and finances. It represents everything I find important in life. 

I am excited about this. If you are interested in joining me, wether you want help in your health and fitness or you want to build your own business please leave a comment and let me know. I can help.  

I'm BaAack!!!

I haven't posted on this blog in a very long time. A lot of things have changed since my last post. 

I traveled a bit to NYC, Hawaii, California  and all the way across the country and have settled for the time being in Kentucky.

It is beautiful here in Lexington. The rolling green hills, gorgeous trees and an array of flowers are everywhere. 

After 3 months of living here, Aleks and I both got full time jobs and 3 months later we were able to buy our first house. It is a duplex and we are working on getting our second one. 

We are very excited about where our lives have taken us and where it is going. 

I am working on building two businesses so that I can have the freedom to live the life I want. I would like to be able to travel, join a band, play roller derby and tend my garden. These activities are hard to do when you work 40-50 hours a week and only get 2 weeks off a year. 

One business is a creative real estate business and the other is as a health & business consultant through BeachBody. 

I intend to post more often in this blog. If you would like to receive emails with the blog posts please Follow by Email below, you can also follow me on Instagram @whips55 or Facebook.com/whips55.christinepalm

New York Baby!

I have moved on to New York. I will be here for 3 months. I normally don't like cities but this place isn't so bad. I think for me I hate driving in a city. Here there is enough public transit that it is easy to get around. The Metro card gets you on the subway and the bus. So that is nice. Most of all I walk a lot. 

You can follow me on Instagram @whips55

My friend who has lived here for eight years or so asked me if I feel myself getting swept up in the rush of life here. Maybe its because I haven't been here long enough or that being a nanny doesn't have too many timed appointments. If I'm by myself then I might walk across the street when there is a red hand on the crosswalk but I don't like to when I am with the baby. I kinda like waiting for the green man. I can stand there and really look at what is around. Sometimes this is not a good idea. I might notice bakeries and ice-cream shops or restaurants and bars that I want to go to. There are so many places I want to eat. I probably couldn't eat at all these places before I leave even if I never went back to the same place twice. 

These cookies were really really good. 800 calories each!

It is really nice that the family that I live with are Nutritarian. I really like this way of living. I think that when I live on my own I will eat more like this. She doesn't eat sugar, salt, fats as in oil or butter or much dairy. I know this sounds blah and gross but really there are other ways of flavoring foods with spices that it isn't needed. I like that we eat like this at home. Then I don't feel so bad eating a slice of NY pizza or going to a bakery. Although I might not go over in my calories I do feel a little sluggish or gross after eating these delectable treats. Even though while eating them they are so yummy the aftermath isn't as fun. But I like it. It helps me to not keep going back. I think this is how I want to live. Keep all unhealthy food out of the house. If I want to be bad then it needs to be eaten out. 

Even in the center divide of a busy main road there is this
beauty in the crosswalk. I love all the green in the city.

I have been finding it difficult to track all my calories. For one if I eat out I am not too sure what all is in it and I have just been lazy. Since the competition is over I have less motivation to log everything. Then I walk for hours everyday. I don't really want to count all those calories as exercise. I think I want to start biking or roller skating when my roommate gets home. Then I can track those calories. I don't want to let myself go especially since I want to try a lot of the culinary treasures in the city.   

Too Much Sugar!?! How Can it Be?!?

I had my final weigh in for my biggest loser competition on Saturday. I lost a total of 31 lbs in three months. I am really proud of myself. I didn't lose enough to make it into 2nd place but I did get 3rd. I am excited about that.

In my last post I talked about how I learned so much by using MyFitnessPal I have seen what I was over and under in my nutrients. The first thing that I noticed was that my sugar was over before lunch even arrived! How could that be? I had a Kashi GoLean Crunch cereal with fruit. That was all!

I made a video a while back about breakfast here it is.

According to MyFitnessPal I am allowed 25g of sugar a day. If I exercise then it is upped to 40g. I was getting concerned that I was over so early in the day. After breakfast where I measured my cereal and milk i was really close to 25g. I started to look at the labels and I realized that there was over 10g of sugar in milk, the same in the cereal and the fruits were very high in sugar as well.

I do believe that sugars naturally occurring in whole foods aren't as bad for you as processed sugars I still am trying to cut back on them. So for breakfast I switched to soy milk because it has half as much sugar as regular milk. I don't mind soy milk in cereal or coffee but I do not enjoy drinking a glass of it plain.

Lately I have not been eating breakfast. I have been doing this thing called intermittent fasting. Where you eat during an 8 hour window then fast the other 16 hours. So I have decided to stop with breakfast. I have noticed that it is way easier to eat less sugar when you don't have breakfast.

It seems that there is sugar in everything. So it is very important to read the labels and make sure that there is no added sugars. I always thought that yogurt was a very healthy option. I have decided to not eat it so much anymore. Most store bought yogurt has a lot of added sugars. So when getting yogurt make sure you read the label and find out where the sugar is coming from.

I have been reading up on this stuff and I read that high fructose corn syrup is bad for us. Our bodies don't recognize it and thus doesn't burn it. Then our bodies, after not burning it, turns it into fat and it is stored around our major organs. That is a scary thought.

Soda has HFCS. If the soda is diet then it has Aspertame. This artificle sugar is bad for us as well as it is cancer causing. For me, I want to give my body good fuel. I want it to be healthy so I am not going to put these things in my body. Most drinks, besides water, come with a lot of sugar or sweetener. Be very careful of consuming too much drinks. Water is the best. We need to stay hydrated.

Another thing that I have learned is that sugar inhibits the hormone Leptin for doing its job. Leptin is the hormone that tells us that we are full. I have noticed the days that I eat more sugar those are the days that I want to keep on eating. I also crave more sweet food on those day and end up going over my calorie allotment.

These are the things that I have learned about sugar. I hope that this was helpful to you in some way.

What I have learned from MyFitnessPal

I have been having a hard time lately being able to post. My computer is hooked up to the TV and it is always being watched. It will be easier to post when I get to New York. The computer will have its own place in my own place. It will be nice.

My weight loss competition will end in 6 days. I am really excited about this. I am doing pretty good. As of last Saturday I was in 3rd place and I am curious to see where I stand this week. Well, besides losing 27 lbs these past almost 3 months I have seen through my phone app MyFitnessPal where I have been lacking in my nutrition.

I want to start a series on my blog about the different nutrients we need in our diets. I personally dislike taking pills so I want to adjust my diet to accomidate these nutrients. I will start off by talking about the things that I have noticed that I ate too much of and the things I havent been getting enough of.

I will talk about sugar, pottasium, iron, calcuim, protien and maybe more. I keep learning more and more as I progress in my journey to getting healthy and I want to share it with you.

When I first started to use this app I didn't care where my calories came from but that I was staying under my allotment. As I started consistently logging my calories and seeing what had more calories for smaller portions of food I began to make better choices in what I put in my body. I want my body to get the proper nutrients and I am starting to learn that I can eat them and expand my taste buds and have fun doing it all.

No Gym!?! Four Fun Activities to do for Exercise.

I am on vacation and am still trying to lose weight. This is hard because you want to go out with family and friends and eat wonderful yummy things. I want to win my biggest loser competition so I can't be horribly bad. So I have been making it a point to exercise most every day. I normally exercise at the gym in our apartment complex but my sister's complex doesn't have one. While I have been on vacation I have compiled a list of four activities that are good for exercise and will get your heart rate up and burn calories. I just got a heart rate monitor and have been tracking my burned calories that way.

I have also made a YouTube channel and I have started Vlogging. I made a video about this if you want to check it out.

The first activity I enjoyed on this trip was going to the park. I have a hard time running because it hurts my hip just under my butt cheek so I just slitely jog. The problem with this is that is my heart rate wasn't getting up high enough to burn sufficient calories. So while I was out I kept an eye out for stairs or steps. Anytime I saw some I would run up and down them over and over to get my heart rate up. When I started to think I was tired of doing that then I would make myself go up five more times. This was a really good way to get my heart rate up. Just walking my heart rate is too low to burn as many calories as I want. This way I can get it up for a little while till I come across another set of steps.

It was a nice walk. There was a pond with ducks. I guess it's spring because there was a flock of baby ducks. So cute! This park has a Frisbee golf course and it was nice to walk around there in the trees. There was also a bunch of little streams surrounded by berry bushes. It is a shame they aren't ripe yet. I would be having free snacks of blackberries everyday! I also enjoyed listening to nature as I was out. I heard birds and bugs in the trees making their sounds and the water running in the brook. It was a really nice time. I enjoyed this time way more than I enjoyed my time on the elliptical. Even though I can watch TV and the shows I want to watch at the gym I think it was a nicer time being out in nature. Also, it was nice to get some of the rays of the sun on my skin. This is something that you can do with friends as well. I went to the park with a couple friends and their babies and we pushed their strollers around the park. The last time I did this I was pushing the stroller for an hour and eleven minute and burned 563 calories.

The second activity is jumping rope. I really like this because it gets my heart rate up faster than anything. Except maybe running up the steps. I have done this a few times as well for an hour. Granted the view is nice but its not as fun as being at the park. I do burn more calories doing this. I started off setting the timer for a minute and jumping till it went off then doing the same for a break. Then I started to make my breaks shorter. 30 seconds then down to 15 seconds. Then I upped my jumping period to 3 minutes with a 15 second to 1 minute break. I liked this. It made the time go faster it seemed. One thing that can get a little frustrating is when you step on the rope and the jumping stops. Sometimes it just keeps on happening over and over. I just keep on trying till the 3 minutes are up. Most of the time I can jump non stop for 45 seconds or more.

In addition to exercising at the park or jumping rope the third activity you can do is go to the roller skating rink. The rink closest to my sisters was in the surrounding area and they had a deal for $2 Tuesday. You pay $2 to skate and $2 for the skate rental. I already had skates so it was only $2 for me! This is a good exercise if you ask me. We were there for two hours and if you keep up a good pace then you can burn a good amount of calories. In those two hours I burnt 700 calories. I guess its not as much for an hour but it was good fun for two hours and I burnt 700 calories. So that is more than I would have gotten just running for an hour at the park or even jumping rope. This as well can be a group activity.

The fourth exercise you don't need a gym for is swimming. My mom swims at least an hour everyday. She swims laps in her pool. I used to swim laps when I lived in HI at the rec park and they had a full sized pool. My mom's is way smaller but it still does the trick. I think that I would burn more calories in a bigger pool because I think you have to work harder for longer distances. Where in the smaller pool you get to kick off more often thus you don't work so hard. Yesterday I swam with my mom. She burned more calories than me because she was going faster than I was but in an hour I burned 424 calories. Which isn't so bad. Today her complex pool was closed so we went to her gym. This is the pool they have there and this length was way better for me. As was the black lines. I was able to swim the crawl without stressing that I was going to crash into the side walls from drifting. Also the black lines end before the wall so you know when to stop. Today I burned 406 calories swimming for 54 minutes. If I had gone as long as I had in the past the calorie count would have been bigger.

I hope these are an encouragement to you on your weight loss journey or even if you are just trying to be healthy, exercise is very important. Times are tough so sometimes we can't afford the gym membership but this is all to say we don't need it. We can do fun things and get our heart rate up and burn calories and lose weight without the gym. Good luck everybody. If you have other ways of exercising without a gym then leave a comment below and let me know. I like to do different things and your ideas would be fun to try out!