Tag: fitness

Protein Source Experiment Success

Christina BruniLeave a comment
Photo is of Mooala Almong Milk and Truvani plant based protein

This is the first post re: the Integrative Health Coach eating plan that I’m going to use as a weekly practice starting this fall.

She recommends consuming 100 grams protein per day or at least at or near 90 grams protein for the ideal RDA. The calculation using your weight only accounts for the average grams of protein that are thought to be acceptable.

On Amazon–yes on Amazon–I found the Truvani protein powder shown. It’s the only protein powder source without a chemical additive called natural flavor. In California–yes in Cali–I think it’s Prop65 that lists Truvani as having a cancer-causing agent.

I’m taking my chances as this product has been on the market for at least a decade. The Mooala almond milk you can order on Fresh Direct online grocery delivery service in New York City.

About a decade ago I bought soy milk and the soy milk tasted awful to me. So I was hopeful when the Health Coach vetted that I could use almond milk. Again, the Mooala almond milk was the only almond milk I found that didn’t have a questionable ingredient.

Inside the Truvani package is a scoop you use to pour the protein powder in the almond milk. I used a 12 ounce ceramic mug that I bought in Starbucks long ago. It might be Venti sized according to the Starbucks system. I have no idea. I used the 12 ounce mug and tossed one scoop of Truvani in the almond milk. Filled the mug with the milk to an inch below the rim.

One scoop of Truvani has 20 grams of protein. It has 2 grams of fiber too if that counts for anything towards your RDA of fiber while you’re at it.

After the awful taste of the soy milk I was reluctant to try the almond milk. To my surprise the protein drink is drinkable because it tastes better than I thought it would.

As the drink is actually drinkable to me I’ll be getting 20 extra grams of protein with breakfast. My said breakfast 3 large organic eggs scrambled with organic shitake mushrooms.

So there I’ll have it–at least 30 grams of protein in my first meal of the day. Like real experts to trust have repeated for years a person should have 20 to 30 grams of protein with each meal starting with breakfast. Not waiting until dinner to load up on protein.

Va bene! A protein drink that is really kind of delicious! With no chemical additives in the form of natural flavor.

The only drawback is that the scoop is big so I envision going through a package of Truvani in one week or so. And the Truvani if I recall costs at least $30/per package.

For those of us who can’t afford Truvani there are other options like having with the eggs a container of Fage plain Greek yogurt. Mix blueberries into the yogurt like I do if you want. Use only a drizzle of honey. As per my Health Coach honey is not really okay to have except in tiny amounts.

Fage plain Greek yogurt doesn’t contain chemical additives in the form of natural flavor. Should you be okay with it you can opt for the Fage full-fat plain yogurt not the 0 fat. I happen to be sensitive to food that contains fat in it.

So having the eggs plus a container of the Fage plain yogurt could bump your grams of protein up to near 30 grams for breakfast.

Forget buying a boxed cereal labeled as a better protein source. A food with only 8 grams of protein per serving for breakfast won’t cut it for optimizing your energy and health throughout the day. Should you really want to go the boxed cereal breakfast route it’s imperative to find a container of yogurt or other protein source that will bump up the grams of protein for the meal.

Also forget the commercial that claims having a round waffle product with added protein is an acceptable food for getting protein. I don’t think so. Not all sources of protein are the best sources.

Though who’s kidding who. I have pasta all the time being Italian. And it’s not really an ideal food even when it’s whole wheat pasta according to my Health Coach.

That’s OK. I plan to stick with my 80 percent rule: having healthy food at least 80 percent of the time.

My life is getting shorter. With life being short I’ll have the pasta. You can have the cheesecake. Enjoying life–and the food you eat–guilt-free is the way to go.

Wait Lifting

Christina Bruni1 Comment

I learned everything about health fitness and nutrition by checking books out of the library, talking to a health coach, and trainers at a gym.

Decades ago, I was appalled to see on the cover of a women’s magazine the come-on: Drop One Dress Size by Tuesday.

Why is this kind of advice given to women and not men? Why aren’t men scared to weigh 200 pounds?

Either way if a person is not willing to invest 4 years to get healthy when they have the rest of their life to live, they’re setting themselves up with unrealistic expectations for how quick they should see results.

It’s possible that most of us will live to be 65–retirement age if we’re lucky. Why the fixation on quick results if you’re 30 or 42 or 50? Far better to give ourselves 4 years to see lasting change not the typical 2 months then quitting with a yo-yo outcome.

The waiting is the hardest part. Only nothing worth having comes without effort. The goal is not to set the bar high for our health. We simply must set the bar. Reaching higher takes time.

In the coming blog entry I’m going to write in more detail about what I originally wrote about in 2007 when I was the Health Guide at a website: My idea of formulating a 10-Year Plan for achieving a goal.

Dancing in the Rain

Christina BruniLeave a comment

It was not lost on me that the Saturday after the election I woke up with a sore left arm. Since then the PT sessions took only exactly 2 months. Doubt I did that it would be over so quickly.

Not able I was to lift weights then. At the end of this setback I realized things must change. Ordinarily I work out like a madwoman in training for the prizefight of her life. The PT assistants at the rehab center kept telling me to ease up when I first started the sessions whirling into each exercise too intensely. Wise up I did and took it slower and calmer.

My PT therapist cleared me to end my time there. The quandary is: how to recover mentally from a setback after you’ve physically healed. How to begin again your normal fitness routine.

You don’t know what you have until it’s gone. I took my fitness for granted. The time had come to rethink my approach not just to lifting but also to living life.

I would practice mindful exercise and pace myself. Say a prayer before I first lifted in the routine thanking my body for being a workhorse that enabled me to achieve my goals.

Today I choose to act in a slow and deliberate fashion. The violent and quick workouts are gone like the dinosaurs. They outlived their usefulness.

Not only is the bigger better more ethic of consumerism an economic trap the bigger better more extreme of fitness is quicksand.

I became fitter after I started working out in my “home gym” (OK–the clear unobstructed hardwood floor in my apartment).

My new approach is going from fast and furious to serene and lean. As I turn 60 soon. Being proactive in our older years will help us stay mentally and physically fit.

Getting infirm is not the guaranteed outcome in old age. It’s the result of poor eating, not enough sleep, and not being active.

Recovery from any injury or illness or any kind of setback at all takes time, patience, hard work, and determination.

My goal is to return to the floor and gradually increase the weight as I begin to lift again.

We each should have the radical grace to change what’s not working and chart a new course. As hard as it is to start all over from square one the alternative is no option: not getting back in the ring.

This time around I want to lift weights to lift my spirits not just get muscle.

Perhaps this blog can be a guidepost for everyone who needs a shot of confidence to embark on a new path after the old route was a dead-end.

Dancing in the rain is the only way to live.

Water The Drink of Life

Christina BruniLeave a comment

The mug in the photo I bought in a museum gift shop. I get a kick out using the coral-and-turquoise green cup. Filling it up with water throughout the day in my apartment.

I cannot abide anything “neutral”–in the color of my clothes nor in the walls and furniture and items in my home.

Why not treat yourself to a mug you’ll feel wonderful using.

Take a stand every day by making each moment stand out for its beauty. There’s no shame in wanting to surround yourself with beautiful objects like a new mug.

Everyone and everything is beautiful.

Making it convenient to do what’s healthy for you is the way to succeed at your wellness goals.

Would a white ceramic mug be as motivational an ally in drinking water. It’s possible a white mug will inspire you. Who knows.

I go against the critics who claim you don’t need to drink plenty of water every day. They assert that “everyone” gets enough water in the food we eat.

Really. What about people chowing down on a Big Mac fries and cola for dinner. Frosted flakes of cereal for breakfast. Fried chicken nuggets for lunch.

You see why I don’t take self-appointed “experts” seriously.

Comparing your needs to what other people are able to do is foolish too. I for one strive to drink 72 ounces of water every day. Even when no one around me is drinking any water at all.

It’s our choice to decide: Are we going to be upset that others can “get away” with munching on Doritos and appear to remain healthy.

Food is fuel for our bodies which are workhorses to achieve our goals. Water is the drink of life.

If you ask me everyone should get a once-yearly checkup with a reputable primary care doctor that you trust and like and who is reputable. This is how to find out what you need to do to remain healthy. I employ an Integrative Health Coach too.

The other thing is to buy a colorful water bottle to fill with water to keep on your night table. Drinking the bottle of water when you wake up has benefits.

I bought a 23-ounce lavender water bottle in a drugstore. I drink the water when I wake up. I have a 27-ounce Kleen Kanteen purple water bottle I use at my job when I have lunch.

Water is the Drink of Life. It truly is. Tests can reveal that you need to drink more water when you get a yearly checkup.

Forget the so-called experts who hang out a shingle. They’re likely selling products. Like Dr. Gundry’s Reds which I’m skeptical of without having bought.

The products might not harm us. Yet we often really don’t benefit from the products like the experts say we will.

Water. Drink up!

Status of 3-Month Challenge – Update

Christina BruniLeave a comment

Hmm _ forgot I scheduled this blog entry and wrote 2 entries with the same title 🙂

On January 14, 2020 in this blog I wrote about the 3-Month Challenge I wanted to achieve.

My goal was to cook my own dinner 4x per week and do a walk-run on the treadmill 1x per week.

On March 17, 2020 the gyms in New York City were forced to shut down along with the retail stores.

As far as my goal of cooking dinners 4x per week this has been achieved.

In the time of the pandemic and living indoors it has been easier to cook dinner nearly every night.

My concern is how the changed nature of living life during the pandemic had disrupted anyone who was using the Changeology 5-Step 90-Day Action Plan to realize our goals and resolutions.

In this extraordinary time each of us needs to act kinder and gentler towards ourselves and others.

I live with the belief that everyone living on earth is doing the best we can with what we were given in life.

No judgments–that is the way to move forward–to live with no judgments.

Before the pandemic hit I had started to use the treadmill. I continued to lift weights.

Now that everything has changed I understand what it feels like to have your life upended by a circumstance outside your control.

I will talk about this more in the next blog entry.

Theme for This Blog Going Forward

Christina BruniLeave a comment

My goal in this blog has become to act as a motivational speaker in print.

I envision my blog as being a safe space on the internet to promote what I value:

Living in health harmony and happiness with yourself and others.

Most likely I have written in here before that I value fitness of body, mind, spirit, career, finances, and relationships.

As I remain mostly indoors while living in the epicenter [New York City] of the pandemic I’ve decided to continue to write motivational blog entries.

I choose to cater to a target market of people coming together to honor, accept, and embrace each other’s individuality.

I choose to serve a target market of individuals who want to be healthy, wealthy, and wise in the ways that count.

I choose to use my life experiences and accumulated wisdom to educate, empower, and entertain a target market of people who seek to heal what’s not right in society:

Namely, the corrosive hate and judgment that reinforces stigma and makes it impossible to heal from any kind of ill-ness.

My focus will be on ideas I have for achieving mental and physical health.

In the next blog entry I will talk some more about the six categories of fitness talked about above.

Better Exercise Routine

Christina BruniLeave a comment

In here a few weeks ago I had to referred to changing the time and frequency of of my exercise sessions.

Currently I lift weights 2x per week for 30 to 35 minutes of training with warm-up and cool-down stretching. For a total of 40 to 45 minutes for each workout.

I had written that I would report back as to how it’s going.

I find that exercising consistently 2x every week for a shorter time in each session has toned my body better than it’s ever been.

It might be that I train harder and more intensely because the time I have is shorter.

I’ve been doing the new routine for over 7 weeks so far. I had a 3-week setback of not training. Yet quickly reversed course and started the sessions again.

The proof of the success is that I’m 54, living in menopause, and haven’t gained weight. In fact I lost 4 pounds after changing the time and frequency of the sessions.

To maintain your physical and mental health post-40 years old I recommend strength training. Specifically lifting weights.

I weigh the same as I did 8 years ago when I first started lifting. The difference is I dropped one pant and one skirt size. This happened because I gained muscle.

I ask you: is 45 minutes 2x per week so hard to fit into a person’s schedule?

You’ll like the results you get.

Next week I will return to talking about the benefits of having a home gym.

How to Eat Healthier – Part Three

Christina BruniLeave a comment

One of the scariest true facts is that chemicals thought to cause cancer are often found in food and drink products in the U.S.

Not all chemicals in food and drink products are regulated. Most aren’t.

Awhile back I had no energy to get out of bed on most days. Without resorting to taking an anti-depressant (I wasn’t depressed just fatigued) I was willing to try any non-chemical method of regaining my vigor.

My primary care doctor had told me that emotional distress can cause physical fatigue.

One idea she told me was to buy Ubiquinol from the pharmacy. The pill was supposedly a better version of CoEnzyme Q10.

CoQ10 is thought to give a person energy. I thought nothing of popping this pill until I read the ingredients. The Ubiquinol was listed as having Red and Blue Food Dye.

No kidding. After that, I stopped buying and taking this supposedly healthful product.

The pills were coated in an orange color–which should’ve been a tip-off.

Shortly after I stopped taking this OTC product my energy started to get elevated again. So I was lucky the fatigue slowly slowly got better.

You might not know this: a lot of drugs that are prescribed like atypical anti-psychotics cause weight gain precisely because the pills cause a person to have a ravenous appetite.

I take a pill that I’m grateful didn’t cause weight gain.

To end this blog entry I want to give you a dose of common sense.

Alas, common sense isn’t at all common.

I’m 53 years old, so technically I’m living in mid life.

Yet I haven’t packed on any extra pounds in mid life and have maintained the same weight as when I was 40.

Part of this equation is that I don’t eat a lot of food. I eat healthfully 80 percent of the time. I wrote about the 80 Percent Rule in a long-ago blog entry.

When I’m not hungry anymore I stop eating. Often I leave food on my plate–not a lot yet there’s food left over.

Thinking that you have to “clean your plate” so as not to waste food is a mistake. Why are you cooking too much food to begin with?

It’s also not your fault that chain restaurants sell huge portions of food. The food they’re giving you is unhealthy most of the time: the food was bought cheaply and prepared cheaply.

Then it’s loaded up on the plate. You could be tempted to eat it all or take home the leftovers.

Taking home leftovers is better than eating the huge portion all at once. You’ll have a second meal the next day.

Eating healthful food in moderation–five a day of fruits and vegetables–is one sensible guideline I think is non-negotiable if you want to stick to the one best nutrition guideline.

In How to Be Well: The 6 Keys to a Happy and Healthy Life Frank Lipman, MD goes so far as to recommend eating two servings of fruit a day.

Eating two servings of fruit and three servings of vegetables isn’t that hard to do every day. I have an organic navel orange for breakfast and a serving of an in-season fruit for an afternoon snack. I have a salad three days a week for one serving of a vegetable that day. Mix in a vegetable for dinner on most nights:

Voila–you can see it really isn’t hard to eat healthfully 80 percent of the time.

How have I been doing in executing my sub-goals for Step Three Perspire with the  Changeology 90-day action plan?

Remember: I wanted to buy and bring salads to my job to eat for lunch 3x/per week. And I wanted to exercise at the gym 2x/ per week.

In the next blog entry you’ll find out whether I succeeded or not.

Setting Up a Home Gym

Christina BruniLeave a comment

I’ve exercised in my living room two or three times since I was thrown into the role of caregiver for my mother.

You don’t need an expensive gym membership to work out every week.

You can go on YouTube to watch videos to see how to perform different exercises.

For a cost of $90 or so upfront you can buy equipment to use in your home.

I’m not a big fan of buying things on Amazon yet I do shop on this online superstore every so often.

I bought from Amazon sellers a 20-pound kettlebell, two 10-pound dumbbells, and a 36-inch foam roller.

That’s all you’ll need to exercise in your living room: just these three items.

Amazon also sells adjustable weight dumbbells.

With this equipment you can do an exercise routine for thirty minutes or longer.

If you’re not ready for higher weights buy the weights you can use at this time.

Turn on the radio, internet, iPod or other device to your favorite music for a mood boost while you work out.

Some exercises you can do in your living room:

Stretches and foam roller

Kettlebell swings

Single-leg deadlift

Alternating V-ups

Goblet squat

Curtsy squat

Pulse side squat

Lunges

Dumbbell curl

Chest press

Renegade Row

Plank

Side Plank with hip drop

Bicycle crunches

Figure 4 crunches

Push-ups

Jumping Jacks

Drinking Plenty of Water

Christina BruniLeave a comment

I’m on a big kick now to get people to drink plenty of water.

Divide your weight in half to get the number of ounces of water to drink each day.

I’m as guilty as anyone of resisting drinking water.

If you don’t drink enough water you could wind up needing to go to the ER for hydration via an IV drip.

Without enough water you could get so fatigued that you can’t get out of bed.

If drinking water doesn’t appeal to you, try using a bigger glass and filling it halfway so you’re not overwhelmed. Or use only a 10-ounce glass and fill it all the way.

I’ve ordered one of the Ellen DeGeneres Joy mugs to use throughout the day to drink water.

Drinking water flushes out toxins. Drinking water gives you clearer skin. Drinking water keep you hydrated. Thus drinking water helps you maintain your energy level.

What’s not to love about drinking water?