A Little 'ME' Focus (And How You Can Too)

A cleanse elixir and little peak from the sun after a rainy
day... Read on to hear more about my latest cleanse.

It's no secret that I provide services for a living -- coaching, podcasting, writing, you name it. What I do is meant to help and benefit others, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I freakin love my career. But that said, I love it so much that I often neglect little things for myself -- ya, even during the offseason when I've stepped away from training in effort to make myself better off, I still get caught ignoring my needs during this downtime. That's ok to some degree and I'm fine with those days where I end up sitting at my desk for 10-12+ hours because, quite honestly, I'm motivated to do the work, and usually those hours just happen by chance -- I get in the zone and ya can't stop me. The only bad side to those days? I guarantee my posture sucks several hours into a 10+ hour desk day, my hip flexors and other muscles tighten up like crazy, I don't step a foot outside, and I may even be in pajamas the whole time without showering. Every now and then I need to do a better job at focusing on me, and making sure I'm all good.

There are little things to be done to still be on top of health, wellness, happiness and enthused toward work even when it's a grind... or going to be a grind.

Massage (even the free kind)
Either go out and get a real massage, or work on yourself by yourself. A real massage to me is not a luxurious visit to la la land. I get massages to work out my "bad" spots, and they, threfore, hurt like a bitch at times! I am working with my massage therapist currently on my issues with my frozen shoulders/posture/tight back and neck/thoracic mobility, etc, and holy crap sometimes I'm gritting my teeth and holding on for dear life -- like when she touches serratus anterior, subscap, traps, lats, etc... dear lord!!!

If I can't get massage then foam roller is my baby, and sometimes I just go do this and this. Or a little half moon pose, which is by far one of my worst in yoga due to shitty shoulder flexibility...

Massage also allows for a chance to meditate and clear the mind, as well, which I'm a fan of. Whether that's 2 minutes or 90 minutes, it makes a difference.

A Lunch Date
Sometimes doing things for yourself involves needing the company of others. While being alone is A-ok with me, I know I thrive off a good date with good company; it warms my soul. We as humans are meant to be connected with others. I've been lucky enough to have a couple of these dates recently, both with my guy -- hey, we're both busy right now so catching up during a lunch date is all the more necessary --  not to mention it was his birthday this week so I treated him to his first acai bowl.

His (the classic)...

...and Hers (the "velvet"). #ActiveCulture

Another day, this time @ Whole Foods.

Sashimi + "box o' everything" from salad bar
= perfection.

A lunch date can also be solo and not involved food (at first). My fav's are lunch swims. I often still have trouble getting to the pool, but once I'm in it's like hitting the reset button, I love it, and I get out of the water feeling like a new person. I don't care if I'm not training, swimming and lunch workouts are just the best. They don't have to be hardcore at all either; do what your body says to do!

Healthy Diet (& #LiveBeaming!)
Another easy way to take good care is just paying attention to what you consume during your work days/week. Lately, I've been working a lot in order to have some work-free time for the holidays (see below), and I was also sick recently. I decided to remedy these things with simple one-day reset cleanse where I didn't have to worry about gathering and preparing all the healthy nutrients my body needs during this time.

Of course, I did my cleanse through Beaming and was pleasantly surprised, as it was a different menu from my first cleanse with them; this round it definitely reflected the holidays and what's in season!

I picked up my cleanse Wednesday, and it included four drinks, a soup, raw salad and protein bite. Thursday was another busy work day but highlighted with this cleanse, and even some extra "me" focus with bikram yoga, a nap, and ending the evening reading a book.

Everything was delicious and so varied! Never a dull moment for my tastebuds. And luckily this time, compared with last, I got no headache/dead feeling from lack of coffee! I started the morn with hot lemon wtaer and a green juice for breakfast. After yoga I was ready for more and thoroughly enjoyed the smoothie containing almond milk, almond butter, Beaming's protein, maca, banana, blueberries, avocado, etc. That was followed by the protein bite after waiting to digest.

The highlight was the live soup. I would seriously serve this at a party, it was amazing and bursting with flavor. I won't give away all the ingredients, but just imagine a thick bowl of sweet and savory goodness. Mmmmm. It was the perfect concoction for a rainy winter day.

"Live Holiday Soup" highlighted with butternut squash, yellow curry, persimmons, and lemon for a tang,.

The only negative of this cleanse? Compared with last time -- where I was satisfied on the calories provided -- this time I did find myself extra hungry and in need of more calories than what was included for the day; kind of shocking because it seemed dense in calories with the smoothie and soup especially. I think, quite honestly, my heightened hunger was due to a couple things - 1) it's "that time of month" and, ya, I eat/need more when that is going on, and 2) I had worked out the couple days prior and probably still needed to make up for the expenditure. So, I simply added in more: raw nuts and seeds, dried coconut shreds (unsweetened; this my new favorite chip substitute), avocado, and chia seeds (put avo/chia in the salad that I had for dinner). Those extras did the trick... Funny how our bodies change day to day in terms of our needs, right??

Last thing on the cleanse: If you're in the OC/SD area and are interested in doing a Beaming cleanse with me, let me know! I am getting a group together to do a three- or four-day cleanse (your choice) on Jan. 13-16, and the more the merrier! More details by clicking here.

A Break
This is not just an hour or two lunch break sorta thing or a Sunday taken off. I mean an actual break, like you'd take when going on vacation, but in my case it will be a staycation because I don't feel like leaving lovely Laguna this holiday season and also would rather save my precious pennies for 2014 plans (!!!).

I've talked to fellow entrepreneurs/business owners about this, and have read about the benefits of truly stepping away from your work for at least a week to hit the reset button. All parties benefit. Business owner (me) comes back rejuvenated and ready to get at it, clients respect the need for time off and the fresh start that follows, etc, etc.

So we'll see how this works. My goal is to turn it off Dec. 24 in the afternoon (after a morning podcast) until first thing Jan. 2. I will still be on social media and am not totally turning off my computer/iPad/phone (I like to read, write for fun, research yummy recipes, etc, on those things), and I'm still making myself available to my athletes, duh, but phone only -- i.e. I told them to call/text me, not email me. Basically I'll be stepping away from the routine -- especially the email trap -- kinda like I did that one Sat/Sun, but now for even longer! What am I going to do? Paint, get outside, write, cook, spend time with John/family/friends, sleep, yoga, read, workout when I want, do nothing when I want, work on my offseason goals, who knows... no schedule.

Speaking of offseason... Sunday marks three months since Tahoe, and while things are going amazingly well with offseason at this point (HUGE GAINS BEING MADE), there is still offseasoning to be done so I'll be extending my downtime until mid/late January. Lucho and I have discussed this, and we both agree that this is the best approach. In the meantime, I am slowly working out a bit more -- because I want to, and I'm loving it -- and I no longer feel like a complete dud when I s/b/r.

Happy holidays everyone, and thanks for reading.... 

...please be sure to stop and smell the flowers. #peace