Taking The High Dive

Something hit me after my three mile run in West Long Branch, New Jersey this past fourth of July weekend. It was 95 degrees and the last time I remember sweating so much was when I lived in Israel, a dessert basically. When I got back from my run I jumped into my in laws pool with my clothes on when no one was looking. As the cool water washed over me I caught the diving board from the corner of my eye. Now, even though the diving board has always been there I hadn't dived since high school over ten years ago. I thought to myself why not? I took my first dive and plunged into the water head first, feeling like a bird finally released from my cage. After that first dive, I could not stop, I kept getting out of the water only to dive back in again and again and again. I must have dived 10 times in row.

Why was this feeling so amazing and why could I not stop? Suddenly it hit me! Here's a little story you might not have known about me. I started off high school not being able to swim. When everyone was diving I was in the shallow water walking back and forth. They called us, 'the shallow people.' I remember looking at my fellow classmates diving thinking that I could never do that. Le sigh. Fast forward to the beginning of my senior year and my gym teacher, Mrs Fleishman, finally felt like I was ready for the deep end. Towards the end of my senior year I worked up the courage to learn how to dive. I stayed after class, often times until 6 pm (class ended at 4:45) just practicing. I was the last one out of the pool every time. And then it happened, right before the end of my senior year, I achieved the impossible, I was diving like I never thought I could and I was addicted.

Diving at my in laws house brought me back to a time where I conquered my fear and persevered. When I did not let my negative self talk get in the way of achieving my goal. If I did it then, it is certainly within the realm of possibility that I can do it now and so can you.

Plunge into the wild unknown!

Rules Are There Are No Rules

Hey Folks. Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there. I dedicate this blog to Michael Angel, who as I already mentioned in previous posts, is one heck of a dad :).

We are on our way to Deal, New Jersey to spend the day at my in laws house. It's kind of hard to type and think in a moving car on this ridiculous tiny touch screen keyboard but here goes nothing...

A little insite into my night last night. It's 830 pm I am breast feeding, of course, and Bean is tired  and I am thinking, "yes! He is going to fall asleep early and I am going to have the whole rest of the night to myself!"

It's 9:05 and I gently place him in the crib and runaway only to hear 5 seconds later that he is screaming. I pick him up and breast feed him again.

It's 9:30 and I try putting him down again and this time he immediately cries. I pick him up and try putting him back on the boob. As soon as I do that I feel his whole stomach growling making weird noises. I sit him up and he throws up everything he ate all over me my clothes, himself and the sheets. As I am sitting on the bed covered in warm sour milk I scream out to Michael, who by the way was in the other room watching the Simpsons, to come help.

At this point, I basically have to start the whole process all over again and I am tired! He finally falls asleep at 10:30 and I am literally drained! Mike is snoring to the left of me and I fall asleep on top of puke soaked bed sheets.

At 2:30 in the morning, I wake up mid dream to my sons gentle cries and figure he is probably still hungry. While breast feeding I jotted down notes on the dream I was having right before Bean woke up. Basically I was in a classroom in which the subject of the class was 'Rules are there are no rules.' The teacher continued to demonstrate his point by asking a classmate if she think she can fly. To which she responded, "no absolutely not!" And all of the sudden the teacher raised his hand ceremoniously and the girl was levitating in the air. Everyone including myself was amazed. He then asked another older women if she thought he can cure her authritic knees. Of course she responds, "no way!" He demands that she lift her legs onto a chair. He jumps onto her knees and is basically standing on them doing this weird massage with his feet and Lo and behold she is cured. He shouts loudly, "RULES ARE THERE ARE NO RULES."

As I lie on my puke soaked sheets reeking of sour milk while breasting my son I can't help but laugh to myself, rules are there are no rules.

MOMumental Changes

Hey Folks its been a while but I am back to share my thoughts with the world. I am a MOM now and my whole world has shifted 180 degrees. I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, Benjamin David Angel aka Bean, 7lbs 11oz 19", on December 7, 2012.

There have been so many moments of pure joy, when I look into my son's eyes and feel so blessed to have brought such a special soul into the world. Along with the joy there have also been some struggles. As any mom knows learning how to get a lot done in short time spurts is essential. It has been especially hard for me to learn since I am the queen of procrastination and on top of that kind of a slob, I will admit it. Sometimes when I have free time all I want to do is veg out and watch TV but I am learning that my spare moments are precious and I try not to waste them.

I find myself thinking a lot about the past and the future. What I could/should have done and what I will do when I have more time. Which makes it kind of hard for me to enjoy the time that I have with my son right now. I know that just because I am a mom does not mean that I will not get to achieve all my personal goals. But sometimes it hard to even think about my dreams when I am changing 20 diapers a day, breastfeeding on demand all while cleaning the house, doing the laundry, food shopping and cooking ect..

All in all I am so thankful for my fearless warrior of a husband who is willing to do whatever it takes to support us so that I could be home with our child; that I have a safe and warm apartment to call home; a family that lives close by and that loves and supports me unconditionally and amazing friends that inspire me everyday. We all have good days and bad days and what helps me, especially when I am having a bad day, is being consciously aware of all the good things.

LOVE TO ALL

Nelly reflections on being Vegan

I'm BACK and my latest experiment was with the vegan diet. Integrative nutrition, the school that has changed my life and taught me so much, constantly discusses the health benefits versus non-benefits of the Vegan diet. Being very curious, I set out on a journey to figure things out for myself once and for all. Even though I had every intention of becoming vegan I had no clue how I was actually going to do this and not starve to death. While contemplating my plan of attack, I came across a movie called 'Vegucated' in which three random meat-eating/loving  New Yorkers were challenged to go vegan for six weeks. I even went to a free screening of the movie in Whole Foods Tribecca, met the participants of the challenge and was fortunate enough to hear them explain how much easier it is to go Vegan than it seemed. At that point I was inspired and was ready to give this vegan thing a real shot .

I became vegan on February 2 and even though I set out to be vegan for only six weeks I actually stayed vegan for six weeks after that. That's right folks I was vegan for thee whole months! Why may you ask did I decide to stick with it for that long? Simply put I just felt too good to go back to my old eating habits. My skin was clearer, softer and shinier than it has ever been. I felt more energized even though I was sleeping less (I just didn't need to sleep as much). Physically, I lost three pounds, I was able to run faster and longer and I was more flexible in my yoga practice.  I was in a steady over all good mood and my issues with PMS all but disappeared!! Additionally, things were great with the hubby enough said :) Basically, living on fruits vegetable, nuts, seeds, sprouts and some soy products made me feel vibrant, healthy, and alive! Coincidentally, I had a doctors appointment six weeks into my experiment in which blood was drawn and I asked the doctor to test my Iron level and over all minerals etc. Guess what? it came back completely normal. In fact my healthy fat otherwise called High Density Lipoproteins (HDL) came back extremely high. This means that my chances of developing heart disease was close to nil. Coming from a family that has been plagued by obesity, diabetes,  heart disease and premature death, finding this out meant more to me than words can describe. Despite what people think you can be vegan and get all the vitamins and minerals that you need to stay healthy.

So why do you ask did I not remain Vegan? For a few reasons. First, my husband, who even though ate a mostly vegan diet while I was on the challenge, was not vegan and had no desire to become vegan. My relationship with my husband (the most important person in my world) and the closeness we share when it comes to eating and sharing the same foods, for me, superseded sticking  to a diet that set us apart. So unless the hubby decides  to go full force, I am sticking to a mostly vegan diet with the sprinkling of local cheeses, cage free eggs and the occasional wild fish. So far a mostly vegan diet is definitely still working for me. Another reason I decided not to stay completely vegan was because I found it to be a very extreme lifestyle. After keeping kosher for most of my life, which I always thought was strict and annoying enough, I found being vegan to be even stricter. I believe that everything in life should be in moderation and staying vegan no matter how you look at it  is subscribing to an extreme way of living because after all eating is everything. I prefer to keep my options open and if I feel a need (or a craving te he he) to eat something none vegan I am free to just go for it.

In the end, I give a lot of credit to people who are and remain vegan they are really doing good for themselves (their body and mind), for our fellow animals, and the planet with which we all live on. They are truly choosing a diet of love and compassion, because after all my vegan challenge proved that we do not have to kill animals in order to survive. So why then should they have to die in order for us to live? We are all creatures of the earth and gods creations. So I thank them because if we were all able to become vegan the world would surely be a better and more compassionate place.

If you or someone you know would like to know more about becoming vegan feel free to get in touch with me, it is definitely easier than you think and you will reap health rewards greater than you have ever imagined.

Love Always,
Nelly

Creating True Prosperity: Reflections on a truly great book and the New Year.

Hello again and Happy New Year! Looking back on this past year, it has definitely been a year of self growth for me. I have been trying to figure out what I truly want to achieve in this new year of 2012 and my mind immediately thinks back to a book I have just read called 'Creating True Prosperity' by Shakti Gawain. My good friend and fellow classmate recommended that I read this book and boy am I grateful. At first I thought to myself, why do I need to read this book about how to make money, all I need to do to succeed is focus on Health Coaching, follow the program's instructions, study hard and the money will come. After reading this book, I have learned that there is so much more to making money and becoming successful than what I previously thought. Our ideas about money and achieving true prosperity has everything to do with the idea of the 'disowned self.' What is this 'disowned self?' Well this can be explained by first discussing what the 'primary self' is. The 'primary self' is the self that we show the world and the most dominant qualities of our personality. For example, my dominant qualities and the parts of my personality that is easiest for me to express is my generosity, ability to give, vulnerability, my ability to care for others, spontaneity, friendliness, outgoing-ness and sensitivity.

Gawain, then goes on to explain the idea of the 'disowned self' or the parts of ourselves that we have suppressed, basically the opposite qualities of the 'primary self.' Her theory is that because of damaging experiences we had in our early life we learned that acting in a certain manner or expressing certain feelings were 'wrong' or 'bad' and will only cause harm. So we were conditioned to deny these parts of ourselves thinking that we are protecting ourselves from harm when ultimately what this causes is more imbalance, frustration and pain. For me, my 'disowned self' would be my ability to receive (love, help ect..) my sense of power, self-confidence and the ability to care for myself

So what does all this have to do with Prosperity?  Well, no one can put it better than she does, "The more we learn to accept and express all aspects of who we are, the more freedom, satisfaction and wholeness we experience, and the more prosperous we feel. Since our lives mirror our consciousness, the more balanced and integrated we are internally, the better our external world will work. Our relationship with money and our overall experience of prosperity reflect how well we have developed and balanced the many energies that are within us."

What a profound idea!! Gawain goes on to explain that every experience we have and all the people in our lives are meant to redirect our focus to what is imbalanced and what we have to work on. I think this idea explains why I have been feeling so stressed and unsettled. Lately, I feel like life is constantly pushing me in the direction of reclaiming my power and confidence. More and more I end up in situations that are requiring me to speak up and state my case. This idea has also forced me to think about everybody in my life, why I attracted them into my life and what I can learn from them.

Since, my husband Michael and I have recently celebrated our six year wedding anniversary, I will use him as an example here. When I think about Michael and all his qualities it makes a lot of sense why I chose him and he chose me. We are a great example of how opposites attract. He is a person that is always on time, responsible and has the strongest work ethic of anyone I know. He gives himself whole-heatedly to anyone in need with a smile on his face that extends from one ear to the other and is not ashamed to say what he thinks in a very straight forward manner. When he wants something he goes for it like an animal stalking it's prey, like his life depends on it, his focus unfaltering. He is self-aware and he accepts his imperfections, claiming that "they make him who he is and he likes himself." What an amazing man and how lucky I am to have attracted him into my life. With him in my life I don't have to look very far to figure out what my imbalances are. All of his strengths mentioned above, remind me of what I need to work on in myself and motivate me to be stronger and more confident than I ever thought I could be.

I encourage you to think about these ideas of the primary and disowned selves and to reflect on this past year. What can you learn from each and every person in your life and the experiences you have cultivated including the not so excellent ones? What do you want to achieve in 2012 and what changes will you make to get there? I am going to leave you with the idea that life is constantly  nudging us in the direction of greater balance and with that said I hope you have a wonderful 2012 full of self-awareness, growth and above all a year of true prosperity.

Blessings and Peace to you all.

figuring out what breakfast works best for you

Vices...is it okay to have them?

Hello all! I hope everybody is having a wonderful holiday season. Now, I need to address this issue of vices. When I tell people that I am a Health Coach in training, people immediately either stop drinking their diet coke or drop their chips ahoy cookie that they were in the middle of eating and apologize to me. When I first witnessed this reaction, I thought to myself, "that's weird why did they just say do that?" "Do they think that I am perfect and I don't eat things that aren't healthy?" And then after I kept seeing the same reactions over and over, I thought to myself, "oh my god they do!"

As I sit here typing I can't help but giggle to myself because I am such a work in progress when it comes to my own health. I am still battling unhealthy eating habits, the occasional cig, alcohol etc. Just because I know all this information about health and nutrition does not mean I am anywhere near perfect.

In my six month program, when I am working with clients I emphasize the 90/10 law. What is this 90/10 law that I speak of? Well, it is the idea that  if 90 percent of the time you are eating healthy, wholesome, well-balanced and nutrient dense foods, then it is okay if the other 10 percent of the time you are  eating what I like to call 'crap.' Crap that comes in a package/can/box, on a plate or in a cup. Because it is what you do most of the time that is going to determine whether or not you look and feel healthy. So believe it or not there is room for coffee, chocolate and yes even ice cream in my program. I don't believe in any of these new age, fad, ridiculous diets of calorie restriction that are basically pure torture in my opinion. Come on, do you really expect to be able to live off of water with lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper three times a day for the rest of your life? Or to inject yourself with Human Gonadotropic Hormone  (a hormone that pregnant women produce to burn fat around the belly and make room for a growing fetus) everyday to burn your fat while eating only 500 calories a day? And you want to know something? Most people that are on these diets will fail miserably. They will then feel like they have failed themselves, when what has really failed them was the retard who came up with the diet, the publishing companies that are making millions if not billions of dollars off of publishing it, the advertising companies that are marketing them and the stores that are selling them. They will revert back to their old eating habits, gain back the weight and feel worse than they have ever felt before. Trust me, I have been to that party many many many times. It is a vicious and nasty cycle that is flawed to its core and sets the person up for failure.

My program, on the hand, sets people up for success. What I do emphasize in my program? Being self aware! I try to teach people how to listen to the many signals your body tries to tell you. A stomach ache is not just a stomach ache, a headache is not just a headache and a craving is not just a craving. The human body is perfect, it knows to breath without you telling it to and your heart never skips a beat.  Your body doesn't care what you are thinking, it loves you and wants to keep you alive even if you mistreat it by feeding it unhealthy foods, doing drugs and alcohol and not exercising it.  It is smarter than the most high tech computer that exists even in our modern day world and if you just listen, it will tell you what you need to eat, how much of it and when. Every 'body' is different, therefor everyone needs to be on an individualized diet. As they say, one person's food is another person's poison.

I wold like to conclude this article on an apologetic note. I started typing the article based on an idea and sort of took off from there. I get very worked up about certain topics and I apologize if I came off as too strong. It is based on my own personal experience as is every article I have written until now.

Blessings to all!