......

I cant wait to eat tomorrow. I am really hungry. I should be asleep then I wouldn't be hungry, Id be sleeping. My party is next week and I have BEEN partying with the cast of the Sound of Music for like, 8 days straight. So guess who's hungry? Me. 8 more days of hunger. Happy New Year Fittins. Come to my party at the Ensemble Theatre Dec 29th 7-10pm.

JUST FOOD and the Battle of the Holiday Cravings

Hey Fittins,

I don't know what to call this entry so I'm just going to call it FOOD. I mean, that's all I am thinking about these days. In the summer, I am preoccupied with becoming my best, in the winter, I am preoccupied with how to get my mind off of food glorious food. I mean, it's cold outside! I work all the time!! I don't have a boyfriend therefore I need some comfort! Bears do it!!...(wait. that's hibernate, whatevs.)

It's December and I am going to make it to the end of this year and I will be focused on this fitness. My goal was to lose 30 more pounds from July to December 31st. By New Year's eve, I am confident in saying I will have lost that amount of weight over the course of these 6 months. Now whether or not I have kept it all off, we have to see New Year's Eve. Entering tech week of my third show this Fall, I'll admit it: I'm tired. And sometimes I just want to eat a pizza and drink a bottle of wine. I am also tired of going back and forth with myself and my preoccupation of what food item would be perfect at any giving moment. So I officially surrender.

I surrender to all of my tingling tastebuds,my memory's recall and emotional association with certain foods and food groups, especially during this holiday season. I surrender to my love of Food. But I am creative and if I'm going to eat and eat to satiate me, its time to pull out the Gift of Alternatives.

Driving home tonight, I compiled a list in my head: The list of foods I will be consuming for the month of December 2009 (for the most part)
The list that made me excited about planning my food and controlling my plan by making this list! Here it goes:

Almonds Almonds Almonds
Raw almonds Wasabi Tamari Almonds!!! Yummm!!! Those are special. Like a treat!!! Enjoy it.

Meatless chicken nuggets and meatless chicken patties. Tonight I ate meatless chicken patties with spinach leaves on top, A TBSP of Tomato sauce and eggplant sauce on top, and a sprinkle of shredded mozzo. It comforted me thoroughly for just under 200 calories. I can do that 1-3 times a week all month before getting sick of it. Next!

I know I don't eat a lot of cereal, but its December and I want to eat some cereal dammit. So I have a budget of one bowl of cereal with vanilla soymilk in the morning, should I choose to cash in on it, every morning this month (which will probably end up being 15-20 mornings this month) Why? Because it also feels like a treat to me. And I have learned to recognize that shaky knee of pleasure-depravity that urges me to heed its warning's tremble just before all hell breaks loose. And we are close, hence the list. Also!

Cereal is sweet. Soy milk is.. milky. I feel like I am participating in this season and all the yummies therein when I eat cereal. And its good for me for just under 200 calories.

Cabbage. I can eat cabbage every single day. It is amazing. And I steam mine with a chopped tomato, chopped onion, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, and a taste of whipped butter. sea salt black pepper, cayenne. The perfect soup to eat when you want quantity first and quality first. Its warm and reminds me of all the trimmings on a soul food get-down plate. I find if you remember the star(s) you will remember the whole production. I do the same thing with Collard greens or mustard greens. Even a baked Yam. These comforting soul foods can give and give and give individually each starring in a one man's show.

If I throw in Salads which are a bit miscellaneous this month ( its hard for me to eat so much salad in cold weather) and my odwalla superfood bars which I pull out of my purse around 4pm, and my last treat "100 calorie" snack bars ( I do not eat more than 2 of these anyday. And if I want 2 that day, I decide that morning and I spread them out) I already have a list of yummy things I can crave all day and night and plan for and achieve still averaging 900-1000 calories a day. This is my plan for December. Oh! I almost forgot: ALL Things Mushrooms, Spinach and tomatoes. Stir-Fry?! You better believe it. Broccoli Crowns, raw or steamed, either with a splash of lemon juice, sea salt and olive oil? abso. And apples. for those mornings I dont want cereal. For those mornings I want a little more Fiber and a break to make my cereal feel like a treat again. And I can mix and match these unitary food items to keep my belly full every 2-3 sunlit hours, and I STILL have a safety net of 200-300 calories a day that I can fall into if I happen too, and still lose weight. CAUTION: We plan WITH our safety net. We do not plan FOR our safety net. (this safety net equals 2-3 "bingeable" snack bars. also equals 3-4 of the ULTIMATE unitary treat: STRING CHEESE) I'm just sayin. You better be ready.

When your thoughts of food consume you, get creative! Get in you head and consume your food thoughts. There is power in Planning. And sooo much food tastes good. Oh! I almost forgot another thing for this December-The Battle of the Holiday Cravings: Cauliflower, steamed, mashed, with curry and turmeric. and a tbsp of coconut milk if I'm feeling naughty.

Feast, Fittins! Nature has a beautiful Garden for us. Get Creative and Stay Focused. I am refocused now that I know whats on the menu. I'm trying to go to sleep so I can wake up and eat my next meal!! And please remember to Say Your Grace!

xoxo
Lisa E.

Work Out or Be Out Worked

Everybody is out here trying to get it. Get it Get it Get Win It Win it Win it. What happens when you are working so hard at something and it seems like nothing is coming your way?

There is a sixteen year old boy who has repeatedly been running away from home. The last time he ran away he was gone for 6 days, completely defeating his mother's spirit at the same time annihilating all trust and hope she struggled to maintain for him. When he showed up at my door, he was cold and hungry, his feet were sore from "walking the streets" for days doing who knows what to "make that money". My mom and I talked with him, while he showered and attempted to rinse some of that life off of him, I made him some vegetarian spaghetti. He was very hungry and informed me that in a few bites he was definitely going to be looking for the meat.
He ate, we talked, and as he sleeps in my bed right now while I am on the couch writing this, I still don't know what he is searching for and if he ever really really thought he would find it. He said he was looking for quick money. But if quick money were on the streets, everyone would be on the streets looking for it, and then of course there would be a shortage of that very thing that is in high demand.
My friend told me at the gym, "Lisa, Work out or be out worked." I guarantee you that while you are not working out those issues or "problem areas" in your life that are standing in between you and your success and happiness, someone else is working at or already has worked out that very thing and is now a little closer to a destiny that could be yours. This confused teen is not working out his issues and he went out on these streets and got out worked. His naivetee has led him down a very common path of fail fail learn fail fail stumble fail fail getting it fail fail understanding. In counseling him, I am reminded that I make the same mistakes of neglect and habit that he is making. And I am experienced at working out.

This week I am working out for him. If you can lead by example, please do. Someone IS watching you, and only you can determine what it is they get to see.

THE GIVING OF THE GETTING

Whew! I completed 10 days of the Master Cleanse. Not my intended 13, hey, I'm in 2 shows concurrenty and Tech week started to get intense! For those of you who don't know what the MAster Cleanse is, google it. AKA Lemonade Diet, it is a detox like no other. when I went to my neighborhood health food store to get some of my ingredients 2 weeks ago, Sunshine the store owner asked me if I was doing the cleanse for 41 days. Whaaaaaiii??? Um, no Sunshine. Are you smoking rocks? Just kidding. But He urged me to do it as long a s I can. Now that I have broken my fast I must say that I miss it. During this particular Fasting experience, I went in with a certain goal: to make a physical sacrifice so that I might attain a higher level of understanding of myself in general. The first few days were the most difficult because the physical abstinance was evident. But the duration lead my search on many different journeys. I was hungry until I was hungry no more and then I began to get full.
Prayer is a huge part of any fast, I believe. And although this is a detox, it is a fast too. I prayed for endurance, focus, release. I practiced endurance, focus, release and patience and those things I laid down at the starting line were waiting for me at the finish line.
Last night was opening night at the opera, "The Elixir of Love", Donizetti's adorable Italian opera about love, hope, magic, and faith. In the opera, a country boy becomes the riches man in town, wins the girl of his dream and the respect of his neighbors. He gave his Faith to a Doctor and put his belief in a magic elixir. WHether the Elixir worked or not, we will never know. But what was real and what you could see was the Faith. Faith without Works is dead so we must activate our belief in some way. It is not all metaphysical. It can not all be a dream or fantasy either. Give a little bit of your self to reach a little bit of your self.
I miss my quiet, hungry spirit during my fast. My conscience that sent me home to my bed after a long day rather than on the dark streets to sniff out my desires. I miss the loud converstaions with my mind as I fed on files taking up space in my brain, I sucked out all of the nutritional value from these beliefs and digested what I needed to sustain me, and the rest I flushed out with salt water.
These Mantras came to me and helped with my endurance and my understanding of the Gifts and the Gift of Giving. Maybe they can help you too.

To Give is to To Get.
You want to Get It, You Must Give It.
Forgive It and Forget It.

I do this for Me, I don't do this for You.
I do this for You, I don't do this for Me.

DETOX

I am doing the Lemonade detox for 13 days starting tomorrow. Who wants to do it with me?

Reminder Fittins! Drop me One Comment Here By Oct.8th to Stay in the Race!

Hey Fittins!

Congratulations on completing your First month in the Fashionably Fit With Lisa E Challenge.
Now you know I am going on and on about accountability, for you AND for me!

So I need you to do your monthly check in with me here Oct 1-Oct 8th. If you signed up before the September 15 deadline that qualifies you for prizes, but you have not yet specified your measurable goal, take this time to think it over and come up with something.. No Pressure!! Things always can and often do change, so be flexible with yourself if that is what you need right now. But be accountable, this is our first discipline training. Check in.

Those of you who do not check in by the monthly allotted time, risks the chance of being disqualified, and will certainly be demerited at the time of vote tallying in December.

Talk to me.
Lisa E.

CHICKEN STOCK: DON'T BUY INTO EVERYTHING THAT IS FED TO YOU

Happy Friday, Fair Fittens.

I am keeping a close eye out on most of you and watching your progress as you share your journey with me as well. Today I want to talk about Food. Yes the good stuff. The things we eat, we ingest. That which is meant to nourish and replenish our selves is often the deliciously, disguised indulgences that would to do us in. Now as you may know, I am a vegetarian, going on roughly 2 years now. I made that choice not because I am an animal rights' activist or because I don't like meat. Meat was just not adhering to my Life's Philosophy at that time. You see, around two year ago, I started to think deeply about the phrase, "you are what you eat". I began to propose it as a literal statement. Since I had eaten chicken most of my life, was I a chicken? A bird I am not but colloquially speaking I did possess an abundant amount of fear and "Chicken" tendencies when it came to certain areas in my life. I grew up eating alot of pork (till I was 18)...and I was in fact a pig! I went through a long list of foods to see if I were like those foods until finally I was sick to my stomach.
So if I am what I eat, I decided that wanted to be alive, raw, growing, sprouting and colorful! If you can think of the food you put directly into your mouth as a direct reflection of yourself, your lifestyle and your health, it might help you lay off of the greasy cheeseburgers. Ask yourself, "Hmmm.. am I sweet? Juicy, red and nourishing like this strawberry? Or sweet, syrupy crusty, and fried like this doughnut?" Describe your food aesthetics to yourself and make sure it counts as you welcome this foreign object int your ecosystem, your body, your world.

As with everything, I am not jut talking about the physical material world. Conceptually, there are a lot of "fast food" vendors out there, positioned to lure your appetite for fulfillment and sell you a bunch of lies and junk. These things that you take into your eyes, your brain, your ears, your spirit, do they represent you and your future self? Because that who we work for, Fittins. Our future selves. STOP THESE FREE AGENTS AT THE DOOR!!! Be aware of things being positioned to enter into your realm and do a security check each and everytime. And if it doesn't make the cut, then you are better for it. Nourish your spirit. Feed your mind and Soul with the best. Become your own very picky eater when it comes to your digestion..
Be careful of what you ingest, my loves. Like I say about chicken stock, which hapandstancely creeps into so many prepared food dishes, "DON'T BUY INTO EVERYTHING THAT IS FED TO YOU".
WITH LOVE,

Lisa E.

TRAIN TO MAKE IT COUNT

So today is Friday, alas. Another week has passed and I am feeling more or less Fashionably Fit. It wasn't the easiest week to jump back into, what with Monday's Labor Day laziness lingering over to Wednesday, but we made it. As you might know, my routine consists of working out at the gym Monday thru Friday. Well Scratch Monday, Tuesday I found myself at the gym running across and back over the Memorial Drive Bridge 24 times. To and fro equals 1 time. Yeah. It took me a while and I had to break up the daunting goal into sets that I could accomplish at a reasonable pace. I decided to do 3 sets of 8 laps. After 8 laps I gave myself the option to go inside and refill my water bottle and let the a.c.hit my neck for a few seconds, giving me enough rejuvenation to do 8 more laps. When the 8 lap sets became a little ominous, which was almost immediately, I started thinking about the 8 laps as 1 set of 4 where I would skip a step on the way to the top of the bridge, and another set of 4 where I would run each step and optionally walk very fast across the bridge.

Point is, I finished. I was sweating, I felt strong and I learned something new about myself and the process that will make this obstacle a little easier the next time: I must keep my foot in. Lisa, what does that mean??! When I am running, and walking, I have a "Southern" gait in my step that some might call flat-footed, slew-footed, planters feet, etc.. But feet will turn slightly outward if I am not aware of it. I noticed this when I was running and realized that this is indeed the stance of a planter, someone who is doing work in one place for a certain amount of time and needs a firm stance to root down. I don't want to root down when I am running and when I am trying to get somewhere in a short period of time. An angled-out foot position then starts to act as a brake, much like on the wings of an airplane when you begin your "final descent". A turned out foot also makes me contemplate every step, which is exercising my mind too much at a time when I want to get across the bridge in record time. When I started to actively tell myself almost like a mantra "Keep That Foot in, Keep That Foot In", My speed increased and I had a lesser tendency to stop mid-bridge and walk it out.

In our goals of being Fashionably Fit, we have got to make it count. Whatever that IT is... one hour to work out, 3 days to complete a proposals but only 4 hours to devote to it, $100 left in your bank account on the weekend and yet really want to buy something for yourself, etc. etc. Time and Space, and our Tempo Spatial existence is metered by numbers, whether we like it or not. The ancients figured out numerical systems to help us keep count of what is going on in our lives, what counts, and how to remain accountable.
Overall, I have a goal to increase my Power. Power= Work/Time. If you want your Power to count, Make your work count. Make your Time Count.

Lastly, this week I have suffered the pangs that come with being a woman, ladies you know what I mean (fellas I hope by now you do too) and I wanted some sort of satisfaction that was not adhering to my Fashionably Fit lifestyle and goals. But with a slightly larger investment on my part, I enjoyed a beautiful Bourgogne Pinot noir, goat cheese warmed with hot pesto, and freshly baked ciabatta bread. And it was divine. Now, I don't do it up everyday, but when I do, I train to make it count. And although it was more expensive perse than me going to get a fast food fix, my choice was more complimentary to my lifestyle therefore more satisfying, better quality therefore more nutritious and well planned, not in haste by me nor the chef, which makes it a win win situation.

This weekend, Train to Make it Count.

xoxo
Lisa E.

5 EASY STEPS TO JUMPSTART YOUR CHALLENGE!

Hi Friend!

Thank you for taking the first, largest and hardest step of any challenge and that is Changing your Mind. At FashionablyFitwithLisaE.blogspot.com, we congratulate you and want to take these steps with you in your transformative journey.

Meet Nicole Laurent. Nicole is the young, beautiful director or ARCH, Architecture Center of Houston, and a contestant in Fashionably Fit With Lisa E. Nicole wrote to me with her specific goals and we have already devised a plan to get it together. Maybe Nicole's journey is similar to yours. Here's what advice I had for Nicole:

"Dear Nicole, With your 30th birthday approaching you have set a goal to lose 15 lbs and strengthen your core. Here are 5 preliminary steps that I would like you to incorporate into your lifestyle to help you attain this Totally Attainable Goal.

Nicole's Goals for Sept 4-18

1. RUNNING TO THE LOO CUTS CALORIES TOO!
Reduce your beverage intake to Water, Mineral Water(s), Unsweetened Green Tea, and RED WINE(reserved for Fri night thru Sun night ONLY)

This is an imperative first step Nicole. That means no soda, high fructose corn syrups, no Stevia, no aspartame in Diet drinks, no fruit juice:O( Just for this initial metabolic boost. ******NOTE: if these beverages absolutely bore you, try Acai Mango White Tea by HOnest Tea(Whole Foods) or Moroccan Mint Green Tea also by Honest Tea. They are both a tad sweet and tolerably yummy with ice on these hot days. Make it to the 18th, I have another drink surprise for you.

2. MONDAY THRU FRIDAY, REPLACE 2 OF YOUR MEALS WITH SALADS.
If you are a breakfast lunch and dinner kind of girl, replace 2 of those bulk meals with salads. If you are like me and dont eat that many times a day, push yourself to snack so you are rewarding yourself with something nutritional maybe 5 times during the day. 5 times a day you should be opening your mouth and putting something in it. Great Salad dressing: Olive oil+lemon juice+sea salt!! It is fab!! And reduces water weight which is about 6-7 of your 15 pounds right there.


Good intermitten snacking:
Raw Almonds. So good and buttery, chased with club soda makes you feel like you are getting something special.

Lump crab meat or claw meat. Good for salads and also a low calorie no fat protein that give you a luxurious feeling of not being on a diet.

Avacado. I eat these for breakfast or snacks most days. great for your hair, brain and skin.

Pickles. Gerkins and Klausens are bests, hamburger slices( but be careful because these are packed with sodium)

Olives. Almond stuffed. any kind.


3. ABSOLUTELY SHUT YOUR MOUTH NO EATING AFTER 7PM MONDAY THRU FRIDAY.
Notice I have not told you to stay away from carbs. you can carb, Nicole. But you must salad 2 times a day and preferably carb in the AM. This is one of the hardest things to train yourself to do and I battle with it constantly but you must close the kitchen and shut your mouth by 7pm, Mon-Fri. &pm comes everyday so plan on your calendar if you have to, so u get all of your meals in before that clock hits 7pm. Healthy Hint when You hear those midnite cravings: I can eat that tomorrow!!!

4. CHECK ON YOUR G!
There is a spot between your navel and your pubic line. half way in the middle. Sexually referred to as your G Spot, it is a power source unimaginable and I want you to pull it in and far as you can and squeeze it. when you are sitting at your desks, hold on to your G!! especially when you walk, hold on to your G! breathe all the way down to her and and regenerate your breath from her. play with her during the day and just please always remember yor G. It is your Power. and these exercises lengthen your core because it is a low focal point that you are strengthening and as you breathe you are stretching up and shining through your face.
Its a door opener.(Yes, men have G's , too!)

5. Replace the word TRY with the word TRAIN.
I am training to lose 15 lbs by my birthday.

I am so hungry right now but I can train to focus on other parts of my life during the night, and train to nourish my new body during the sunlight hours.

I am training to change my life."


SEND ME YOUR GOALS. USE THE INFO ON THIS FORUM TO BE ENCOURAGED AND ENERGIZED. AND REMEMBER WE HAVE GOTSTA GET!!

LOVE, LISA E

Ready Ready

I am back from France and I must say, it was a bit stressful not being able to think about my Fashionable Fitness because I was GRINDING too hard. I have become accustoed to resorting to food for comfort and stress relief for the larger sum of my life thus far, so to return home from a high stress sejourn in the same if not sliiiiiigggghty better shape than I left is randy. And by that I mean great. And now, I am confident that the fundamental changes that I needed to make in my lifestyle and mentality are established. I just gotta keep up with myself. Check on the ol girl, make sure she's doing fine.

I am on the lookout for Morgan Camp. If you see her, tell her I WANT YOGA!

Ciao.

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FASHIONABLY FIT WITH LISA E


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