What an Effin B****…

Oh, let me clarify!

WHAT AN EFFIN BEAST when it comes to her ZUMBA/LATIN HEAT class!!!!

I finally went back to the gym yesterday and just had to start it off with a Latin Heat sesh. It’s like Zumba but with more dance moves! I mean it’s the most perfect workout for someone that doesn’t enjoy to workout. I love to dance. I have been Latin Ballroom dancing since I was 10 years old. I met my ex-wife at a ballroom dance studio. And now my daughter is a young Cheryl Burke! Yeah, I said it! I’m one of those parents. Anyhow, it was the best. I actually didn’t know they had one at that time. I was confused by the schedule listed on LA Fitness’s website but it ended up working out. Get it?!? ;-P

It was an early day sesh, so it wasn’t that packed. The young to middle aged women that were there left some room for me in the back corner. I love walking into these workout rooms and getting all the wonderful attention. They all give me that stare of “What is he doing here? Eww!” Cue Jimmy Fallon…

 

 

I settle in and claim my space. Of course I made friends with the older women making enough room for them. I love to dance with older women. That’s for another post.

The class begins and I’m immediately in love! Why wouldn’t every workout dance sesh start off with Prince Royce’s bachata rendition of “Stand By Me?” Whaaaaat!

 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnmvh7akbWo&w=420&h=315]

 

At that moment, I knew that this was going to be the start of a beautiful journey! But I ain’t gonna lie, my body is aching from my first day back into the workout world. But don’t they say “No pain, no gain?” Well, I’m in pain and I better NOT be gaining any weight. The only gain I accept is an increase in losing the weight.

If you have the chance, Take Joelle’s Zumba/Latin Heat class at LA Fitness in Clifton. She teaches every Monday and Thursday at 11AM! Click back <– there for the club and class info! Tell her Flo sent you. I’ll be there next Monday at 11AM!

 

LA Fitness | Class Schedule (Print Version) – CLIFTON – CLIFTON, NJ

 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5uPO5VVnNE&w=560&h=315]

 

 

Watch out ladies, Chef Flo is ’bout to show y’all that my moves extend out of the kitchen! Yassssssss!

 

And if you come and try out Joelle’s Zumba or Latin Heat class, don’t forget to holla at me in the back corner. Oh…

A Path That Keeps On Giving

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My plant-strong journey started over two months ago. With one Engine 2, 28-Day Challenge behind me and another one on its 9th day, I’m feeling positive about this endeavor. Along with the challenges, I have lost 24lbs (without a workout regimen), my cholesterol levels have gone down 175 points, I have more energy in the morning, and an interest a formal education in dietetics is in the works. This new path in my life has not only kept me on a healthier road but has enlightened me on how I can share this unbelievable “cure” of western disease with, literally, the world.

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I love this picture of Homer Simpson because he literally captures what most of our country feels healthy living will do to them. I want to prove everyone wrong! Healthy living will be the only thing that keeps us alive WITHOUT complications!

Over at Whole Foods Market, I’m running my second Engine 2, 28-Day Challenge with another incredible group of people willing and wanting to get healthier. My first group of challengers inspired me to continue to teach others about what I know. But not only did they inspire me to keep sharing my knowledge but also to pursue a more in-depth training on dietetics and nutrition. This second group of mine are continuing to empower me to keep striving to learn more and to perfect what I do best, teach people how to cook in a healthier way than what we are accustomed to. I honestly thank God for being able to work at WFM because that’s where I found my interest in healthy cooking and living.

More recently, I received news that made this journey much more real and achievable. Whole Foods Market offers Total Health Immersion programs for their Team Members to teach and empower them on how to improve their lives and health. I am greatly appreciative of their want to better the lives of their Team Members. That’s exactly why I love working for the company, they care about the people who work for them. Anyway, I applied and was chosen to participate in the Engine 2 Total Health Immersion program this coming spring! Needless to say,

I’M SO EXCITED!!!

To top it off, guess where it takes place?!?! I’ll be eating, living, and breathing plant-strong for an entire week at the Kalani Oceanside Retreat on the Big Island of Hawaii! And if there is still room next to the cherry on top, I’ll be learning from the top experts in the world’s plant-strong community as well as working out with the best trainers in their respectable fields. I wonder if you can tell that I’m really excited?

On a serious note, the best part about me taking on this immersion program in Hawaii is that I can speak to these experts and find out if this path I’m hoping to take to go back to school is the right path to be on. My main goal is to be able to help transform people’s lives to get healthier, to rid them of their chance to contract a western disease, by teaching them how to live a plant-strong lifestyle. Too often, customers come into WFM searching for food on a list given to them by their nutritionist. A nutritionist that they just met after being recently seen by their physician and told that they have to watch their cholesterol, their blood pressure, or that they may be dancing with diabetes. Now when I help shop with a customer and they purchase everything they are allowed to eat, then what? They go home and don’t know what to do with half of these new, healthier, ingredients. That’s my point. They are told what they can and can’t eat but aren’t taught how to live this new way. Now, no disrespect to nutritionists or dietitians, but they aren’t trained to teach people how to live and cook this healthier way. I want to be able to give a patient or client medical advice, explain why they can’t live or eat like they normally do, then show them how to actually attempt to better their lives by showing them how to cook these new foods and make sense out of them.

When I spoke to registered dietician from the Desert Springs hospital in Las Vegas, that worked with me at the JDRFs Hope & Health Symposium at UNLV 3 weeks ago, she shared with me her complications with what she does. She agreed with me that it’s never a complete path medical professionals lead patients on to. They show them what they can or can’t do or eat, but that’s it. More than likely, the patients go home and attempt to change their lives but without proper knowledge on how to utilize these new ingredients and they never stick to their diet. Or worse, they stick to the diet but in an unhealthy manner. That’s where I want to come in. But not only come in at that point, I want to provide clients and patients with the entire treatment. I want to transform Serve M.E. Now into a “heathy living” service where we can diagnose, treat, and teach a patient to live healthier and keep it that way. And as far as I’m concerned, the only way to achieve these results to live plant-strong!

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