Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

I am sooooo excited for autumn I just can't wait to start the basic white girl rituals. I got my nails painted orange and pumpkin in my smoothie. If you're ready for fall too, here's a treat for you...

Ingredients

• 6 oz. canned whole coconut milk
• 4 oz water
• 6 Tbsp canned pure pumpkin
• 1 banana
• 3/4 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• pinch on clove
• scoop of protein powder of your choice*

Combine all ingredients and blend until smooth.

*I only had chocolate protein powder on hand and it still turned out delicious. I'm thinking the most ideal protein powder flavor option would be 1st Phorm's CTC (CTC stands for Cinnamon Toast Crunch), and you can find that at any Supplement Superstore.

Ginger Blueberry Pineapple Smoothie

When I got out of bed this morning, I was a little worried about what smoothie I would have for breakfast. My groceries are getting low and so are my grocery funds. However, this turned out to be an UH-MAZE-ING smoothie and full of lots of ingredients for someone who thought she was out of food.

The title of this blog doesn't seem quite right because there's a lot more than just ginger, blueberries and pineapple but I thought those were the most predominant ingredients so, there ya go. As a matter of fact, I didn't actually put pineapple in this smoothie but I used pineapple juice. I already had some in the house but I'm sure you could substitute the pineapple juice with fresh, ripe pineapple and have the same flavor.

Be aware that I use a Ninja and I tend to make more than I really need. You may need to adjust your amounts if you are using something smaller, like a NutriBullet. Personally, I am DYING for a NutriBullet for easier cleanup. *Hey NutriBullet, wanna help me out here? :)
Ingredients:

• handful spinach
• 1 frozen banana
• 1 frozen clementine
• handful frozen grapes
• sprinkle of frozen blueberries, (probably 1/3 cup)
• 1 inch grated ginger
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1/3 cup pineapple juice
• 1 scoop mixed berry protein powder
• 1 teaspoon chia seeds, plus more for sprinkling

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
This is a sweet tooth satisfying smoothie. Enjoy!

Keys to Manifestation

This message keep surfacing in my life right now in one form or another.

I've been exploring the concept of manifestation and things have become a little more clear to me over the last couple of days. I've never been into "new age" beliefs but this one has intrigued me and I seem to keep getting messages about it, from the Universe, as new-agers would say. Of course, who wouldn't love to manifest whatever they want? Obvious why manifestation is so popular right now. But does it work?

I am only starting on this journey of manifestation so come along with me and we'll see what we find out. What I am understanding at this time is there are a few things you must do before you can successfully manifest anything.

First, you have to align yourself with what you want. You have to align yourself with LOVE. Not fear. Focus on Love Thoughts instead of thoughts that stem from fear. Focusing on the thought "I have to stay in this dead-end job because I have bills to pay" is a fearful thought. Focus instead on a thought such as, "My dream job is coming. The opportunity for me to do what I love is on it's way."
Do not fear that this is not going to work. (Likewise, do not fear that this WILL work.) Do not fear that you do not deserve this thing because of old limiting beliefs. You must live CONSCIOUSLY! Take captive every thought. Be aware of your thoughts and make sure you are not operating in fear. When you find your thoughts drifting toward negativity, bring them back to a positive place. Maybe even make physical changes; you might find that you are slouching and need to correct your posture to that of someone who is confident and has everything they want in life.

Do not fear that it will take too long. Don't think, "what I desire is 5 years away." It's a vibration away, not an amount of time. Release your old concept of time. It doesn't matter how long it will take, it will come. Have patience. Don't allow in negative inpatient energy.

Next, you have to tune yourself into the frequency you want so you can be a vibrational match for what you desire. Like I said earlier, you have to live consciously. This takes conscious effort. You have to think about how it feels to have this thing that you want. How does it feel sitting in that driver's seat? How does it feel walking through that house? How does it feel being in that relationship? FEEL it. Make it real. Feel the emotions that having what you desire will bring.

You also have to get clarity. You may have some old limiting belief systems that do not serve you. You may have learned these things from your parents, family members, friends, enemies, celebrities, etc. You may feel deep down inside that you don't deserve this thing you are trying to manifest. Maybe someone once told you that you don't deserve love. Or that you'd never be able to afford that car. Thoughts like that are creating a divergence of energy and therefore diminishing your power.

There is an old Cherokee Legend that I like to think of... An old Cherokee Indian is teaching his grandson about life.
"A battle is going on inside each of us," he tells his grandson. "It is a terrible fight between two strong wolves. One wolf is evil. The other is good."
The grandson thinks about this for a minute and then asks his grandfather, "Which wolf wins?"
The wise old Cherokee answers, "The one you feed."

Be careful what thoughts you feed. They will grow. Which thought is winning? Whatever you focus on, the Universe is going to amplify.

Lastly, you must raise you vibration. I admit, I'm kinda struggling here. It's just a difficult concept for me to wrap my brain around. But I'm working on it. But from what I've learned thus far, your vibe automatically raises when you choose your authentic self, you truth, continuously. Again focus on being a vibrational match. Focus on bringing good to you and DO NOT focus on repelling what you do not desire. When you do that, you are giving energy to what you don't want.

Ways to raise your vibration are to journal, exercise, stretch, sing, have a daily routine, perform acts of kindness.

I'm going to do more research on raising vibrations and this will be an area we talk about more. In the meantime, I have plenty to work on! I hope you got something out of this post and hope to see you again soon!
Much love...

Chocolate Protein Peanut Butter and Banana Smoothie

Just a quick note about today's smoothie...which is probably the most basic smoothie there is. But it's soooooo good.
I used:

• 2 Tbsp peanut butter
• 1 ripe banana
• 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
• unsweetened almond milk--as much as needed for desired consistency
• ice cubes

Combine all ingredients in blender until smooth.
On hindsight, I should've added a tablespoon or two of ground flaxseed and maybe more ice cubes. Problem with more ice cubes is that it can really water down your flavor.
Anyway, that was this morning's breakfast smoothie. It's delicious any time of the day, especially when you have a sweet craving and fruit alone just ain't gonna satisfy.

I'm back...

So, it's been a minute since I've blogged here. More like five years. I can't believe it. And a lot has changed.

I've gotten divorced, worked in the corporate world, got out of the corporate world, had a baby... And for most of that time I have been dealing with debilitating depression. I quit working out all together. Me. The hardcore drill sargent personal trainer quit working out. I didn't think there was anything that would keep me from the gym. I mean hell, I had put it before my marriage and family before. (dark humor there)

However, as painful as this period of time has been, I know it is serving a purpose. And I'll tell you how it's working for me.

I now have a new perspective on fitness and how to get where you want to be. Before, I would tell housewives a few "motivational" quotes and advise them what jittery fat burner pill they should buy. I, myself, was taking those jittery fat burners and working out like a madman, not giving a damn what consequences these drugs would have on me. Now, I'm on the other side. I know it's fucking hard to get motivated when you don't feel like you deserve to reach your goal or even have a goal for that matter. Life gets hard. When life gets hard, we often put ourselves on the back burner.

Getting in shape is way more mental than it is physical. When your "mental" isn't healthy, nothing is. Depression is a serious matter. It is important to get professional help if you suspect you might need it. I plan to explore further on this blog mental health issues in addition to physical health. I am NOT a professional but if I can help get one person go get the help they need, it's all good. I hope you'll stick with me on this journey.

Much love,
Rebecca
Visit my Instagram here.

No BS. Get To Work!

Fall is here. The weather is getting colder. You can feel it in your gut--the pounds are starting to pack on again. STOP!!! Don't just dismiss this season, assuming its already a lost cause! No matter what you've done up to this point, you'll be better off if you start working hard today rather than waiting for January 1. There's nothing magical about the first day of the new year. If there were, we would all be in excellent shape. If the best of intentions had any power over anything, we would all be in excellent shape. How many years have you seen how weak that first day of the year and your best intentions are?

Get your ass to the gym, outside, to your living room, wherever you can get some exercise. You say, "I can't do pushups!" Bullshit. Start perfecting them NOW. Start with modified pushups. Progress to regular pushups. Work up to performing 20 reps. Start doing rotational, spiderman or dive bomber pushups. You say, "I can't do a pull up!" Bullshit. Take your kids to the park, use the monkey bars to work on your pullups. Your kids will love it and you will get stronger each time. Maybe you can do nothing more than hang there for the first few times. Keep pulling yourself up! Before you know it, your chin will be above the bar. No excuses. Just f*cking do it!

Think About This...

I always encourage my clients to actually THINK about what they are doing when they are working out. Don't get distracted by what's going on around you. THINK about the muscles working. I'm about to get technical here, but I will try no to lose you.

Within the muscle are bundles of muscle fibers (fascicle), within each bundle are individual muscle fibers, within each muscle fiber are even smaller units called myofibrils. So, yeah, these are tiny. (It's like your anatomy's nesting dolls.)

When your muscles contract, protein filaments within the myofibrils slide across each other which causes the muscle fiber to shorten. When you weight train, the individual muscle fibers increase by increasing the number of myofibrils. More myofibrils=larger muscle fibers=larger, stronger muscle. Ta-da!

When I am weight training, I always like to envision these myofibrils sliding across each other, making me stronger with each rep. (I close my eyes if I have to.) This connects my mind to the muscle and I get a much better workout in turn. Try it on your next workout and let me know how it goes. Another great article on Mind/Muscle Connection: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/4-tips-to-help-train-brain-massive-gains-mind-muscle-connection.htm