Within/Without

Peace Y’all, I bet you were wondering if I was still running? I am! But there are some REALLY important things I have to build about…. MY CLOTHES! I’m a girl, such a girl…. I KNOW I need to be most concerned about my health. But I freely admit, I’m also concerned with how I look when I’m maintaining my health. And it is never more obvious than right now; since the weather is getting cold. A few weeks ago I went to run and it was cold. Cold weather presents special challenges. When it’s warm, it’s just a matter of matching my pants and top. There is nothing to that. But when it’s cold, you have to wear a hat, a jacket, possibly gloves/mittens along with the top and pants and the reflective vest. At one point I was running down the street looking like a homeless person. Nothing on me matched. I cannot have that. I run in the hood and I know I should only be concerned about the exercise. But folks look at you like you’re a thief if you don’t have the right uniform on. So I have a respo...

Do you know what I find Hilarious???? The fact that after 5 months of diet and exercise I have lost ONLY 8 pounds. BUT… My clothes really show like I have lost much more and folks are telling me my face is smaller. This morning I put on a top that normally I have to wear a minimizer and put a pin in it and it is staying closed with no additional aid. I’m just wearing a regular bra and everything. I am so good! BUT… the skirt that goes with the blouse is tight around the waist. Not so tight other places but the waist is distinct. Now here is my question…. Why is my lower half seemingly not losing any weight while my upper half is? I am not working out my upper body in anyway other than the occasional yoga. I so don’t get this. Also…. The mathematical approach to losing weight is not helping either. By making a debt in the calorie: exercise ratio should guarantee me weight loss. But it hasn't. I so don’t get why I have this inability to lose big chunks of weight quickly, evenly ...

Peace. Do you know what cracks me up? The amount of people that do not fast. I’m a faster. I fast in different ways several times a year. I do a 21 day juice fast leading into the Asiatic New Year. I fast 1 day a week for 24 hours. Sometimes I do Ramadan. It really depends on what has happened the year before. And I freely admit…. I like Ramadan more when it is in winter. And soon I will do a 1 month vegan fast. I am not a vegan. I am a pescatarian. It’s what works best for me and my body. I find when I am without fish protein, I’m stupid. I can’t find words that I need I’m often confused and tend to be more air headed. So I could not be vegan long term. But a month of cleansing works for me. And it also gives me a way to cleanse my palate and try a few new recipes. Now…. Other people…. IRRITANTS. I have a new coworker who doesn’t get my clearly stated boundaries. She calls me sensitive. And she is nosey as fuck. She heard me tell the 7 that I was planning to be vegan for a month a...

Peace y’all. I’m still here and I’m still running. It really doesn’t seem important enough to blog about anymore. I have been consistently running for 3+ months now so the newness of it is gone. I still love it… or I love it when I’m done. My general routine is about 7+ mile on the weekend and 4 miles during the week. I do a long run (4+ miles) on either Friday or Sunday and 3 miles the other day. On Mondays and Wednesdays I run 2 miles. And on Saturday, I run lightly with a friend who is trying to get up to 5k status for company and encouragement. I kind of cross train with 1 hour yoga, 1 day. I have a mountain bike. I’m thinking of getting on that. Maybe… maybe not. I have decided to table my 5K plans for now. I’m just not ready. I’m not really running at the speed I want to finish a 5K with. I don’t mind being one of the last people to cross the finish line; I just don’t want to be dead last. That honor has to go to someone, and I want that someone to be somebody else. I have...

Peace. I don’t just run… I research running. One of my biggest concerns was whether I should eat before a run or not. Not eating burns more fat. Eating makes increases performance. Now this is something I had to really teach myself. The doctor in me labored on this. The information is out there, but it’s very confusing to interpret if you are a novice. And I have a hard time taking advice on face value. So here is the skinny in case you were interested…. If all you’re interested in is losing weight, and not becoming a better runner and possibly competing, then don’t eat first. Running will burn through the glycogen stored in the body 1st and then move onto the fat. Yes you might pass out on your run because you get light headed, but you will burn off fat. And if that is your goal along with fitness then don’t eat before a run. The run will be harder because the body goes into debt because it’s not normal for it to want to burn fat. And because of the previous reason, the more you r...

Peace. This weekend marks my first time running 3 miles!!! It also marks the 1st time I actually got super dizzy on the trail and was actually afraid that I wouldn’t make it home. I have no idea why. The only difference was that additional .5 miles. My goal for September is twofold… (1) to get my 5k under 30 minutes or damn close to it and (2) to run every other day. There is only 1 way to achieve these goals….. The cool thing is that the weather is breaking. I’m going to eventually need to switch from morning running to evening. We’ll see how that works…. I think I have put to bed my concern about eating beforehand. I should, but I can’t. I run too early in the morning. And if I eat right before a run, I will get a stitch or vomit. So… that’s a done deal. It doesn’t make a difference as long as I can do it and not pass out. I don’t like the prescribed running clothes. I prefer cotton to the so called wicking fabrics. I have eczema and they mess with my skin. I shouldn’t be super ...

Peace. There is so much controversy attached to being a woman. The God told me recently the only reason he didn’t want to have girls (I only want to have girls and NO boys!!!!) is because it is so difficult in this world to be a girl. And he is not lying. This controversy extends to the exercise arena as well. I am still within my childbearing years. That mean I host company monthly. The question that has always been floating through my mind is whether I should be exercising during my cycle. Traditionally… and I am going back to the last century and beyond… the answer has been no. women are so fragile that we shouldn’t be exercising at all. But we know that woman can and do compete athletically. Taoism and Ayurveda say no to exercise during your period. That is the time a woman is most vulnerable outside of pregnancy. Also both modalities teach that there is a time and place for everything. But Western doctrine says go ahead and exercise to the fullest extent. Actually western doctr...

Peace. I am not a runner. This morning I woke up at the crack of snot to put 2.5 miles on the log. I only put 2. I got up, went out and did one of the worst runs in my recent Koran. I just don’t get it. I am supposed to be getting better, not worse. One I can say about my alternative route is there are many hills. My regular route is all flat and includes a high school track. Yes I have to run under the interstate, but there are no damn hills. I ran the alternative before and it seems like I should have known that. Oh well. Also, I went out in the dark with my reflector jacket on and I was SCARED. Y’all don’t know this, but I live in the hood. Not that I have a problem with my living situation. But I don’t necessarily feel like just chilling outside in the dead of night. Precise isn’t going to run with me so I have to do this thing on my own. If I wait until the circumstances are perfect, then I will only log miles in 2 days a week. I will never be ready for a race because I will...

Peace! I know it’s been a while. But I discovered Tumblr.com! Y’all can find me here: http://www.tumblr.com/blog/renewingmykoran that being said. I still need to keep y’all updated or end this blog. It’s not really fair to keep a blog open if your not going to update it. I have another blog that I am going to coalesce into this one… Righteous Urban Crunch. No need to have that one when it’s essentially the same as this one. So what’s new with me? I have started to run! I am not calling myself a runner until I complete my 1st race. I used to run track in high school. I only did it because I wanted to letter and my brother (a former football player) said I never would. I wasn’t very good at it but I stuck with it for 1 season. AND I LETTERED! I attempted cross country in the next season but I didn’t continue. There were plenty of reasons…. (a) I got a job, (b) I already had a letter, but most importantly… (c) I don’t like hills! But I did like running. And from time to time I would ru...

Peace, I called my mother on my way into work. I should not have done that. Now I’m depressed. And work is hard enough for me to pretend I like, without me superimposing my mother’s bile on it. I will go on record and say that I love my mother… But I don’t like her. She’s too much of the bad and not enough of the good. You have to wade through a lot of much to get at the best part. so much in fact, that I can’t see where it’s worth it. But wade through the muck I did. And the jewel that I took from her this morning, is I seriously need to lose weight. My mother has been overweight as long as I’ve known her. And it is catching up to her in her old age. She has several problems that I don’t want. So in order to squash that future, I need to take steps now. I spent the better part of the morning doing the Knowledge to the weight loss cipher. I approached this not from a position of emotions but mathematically. My goal is to lose 2 ponds per week. I sat down and made determinations and...

Peace, I get asked this question a lot. I suppose it’s because I am a long term vegetarian, a healthcare professional and hippie looking chick. But folks are always asking me what type of water I drink… Well my answer might surprise you. Filtered tap with lemon. I have heard and attended seminars with regard to the appropriate drinking water for the Original human body. Spring water is water from a mystery spring. It does not mean that it is free from impurities. Spring water is affected but the ground it flows through and the process that it takes to bottle. You do know that warm-hot bottled water will leech poison into that water. Toxins, whatever can seep through the ground and infect the water. Also, spring water is not subject to restrictions; meaning there is no regulation on bottled spring water. It can make whatever claim it wants and patrons can neither prove nor disprove the claim. I hear a lot of people promoting distilled water as the “it” water. It’s not. The distillati...

Peace. More than ever before, I have been really, Really, REALLY looking at my lifestyle after my last fast. I’m a faster and I claim a natural lifestyle for over a decade. But I keep finding myself correcting the same things after every fast. I think it’s time to make honest decisions on how I plan to maintain; taking into consideration my flaws as well as my strengths. I have come to grips with my weight. I am not a small woman. I never have been and probably won’t ever be. My brother is about 500+lbs and awaiting weight loss surgery. My mother, aunts and cousins all suffer from obesity. My grandparents not so much. Yes I suppose a lot of what affects my family is generational habits. But I like to think that I have cut those ties. I’m a pescatarian and no longer eat the swine my mother raised me on. I have converted many of the recipes of my family to healthier versions, but still I have my mother’s thighs. I have come to the final stage… acceptance… with regard to how my body l...

Peace Fam, This weekend I finally completed a liver flush. The last time I completed a liver flush was in maybe 2008ish? What is a liver flush? I’m glad you asked. Here we go…. The What’s and Why’s: The Liver is an important organ to cleanse. With the exception of the skin, the liver is the largest organ in the body and performs over 500 functions, far more than any other organ in the body. We cannot be healthy or recover from illness without a strong, clean well-functioning liver. If the liver is unable to carry out its full function, not only does it become congested and weak; all other organs will be more challenged as a result. The flush I performed could be done at home. This flush can be done in just 24 hours, so it is easy to fit into a busy schedule. It is recommended that you have done a full 7-day cleanse prior to this flush, mainly to take the toxic pressure off your organs and to be sure that your body is alkaline. This is why I waited until after I completed my 21 d...

My fast is officially over!!!!! And my sweet weekend is officially over too. There was a lot of eating opportunities this weekend. There was a lot of social equality going on in my cipher. I did my thing thing. But now that the sobering breeze is flowing over my head wrap I have to get back on the good foot and tend to my body. Because I was fasting, I knew I wasn’t going to be physically able to overdue it this weekend, I wasn’t at all worried about my eating behavior this weekend. But now that things are starting to normalize again, I have begun to become concerned once more. This morning I started to eat as planned. I juices some fruit, made my lunch, and have plans to eat a sensible salad for dinner. Also, I had an opportunity to eat a croissant and a danish. I passed on the danish. Not saying that was a better choice, but I am showing some restraint. I like that my skirts are loose and can wear my heels in peace. I’m still drinking lots of water still. We’ll see how that g...

Happy Asiatic New Year!!!!! 2 days away from the end of my fast and I’m hungry and pre-menstrual and hungry, and angry and hungry. The only reason I’m going to continue to fast is because I have made it this far. No other reason. I am hungry damnit! I have been maintaining. Doing everything I said I was going to do. The detox has long since subsided and I am not physically hungry. I am mentally hungry. Meaning I have no hunger pangs or discomfort. But when I see food I want it, I’m still obsessed with food and I find it difficult to be around actual food. It has been longer than 2 years since I last fasted and since that time the God has moved in. When I was single and living alone, it was easy to remove all temptation from the house, but now….. I find it VERY difficult to abstain from food. Especially when the God can’t cook, and I have to cook his meals. I have been managing by mass cooking on the weekend. It’s hard to cook food that I would normally eat and not taste it. But tha...

Peace! Day twelve… Unbelievable. Do you know last week, after all that ugly detox, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do this fast. I had been investigating other methods of pre-fasting. Maybe a bunch of 3 day fasts leading up to a 10 day fast or something. But I am happy to report, the worst is behind me. I am now in the good part. I am feeling sublime….. Though there are food cravings like crazy!!! Last night I saw a commercial for tacos at Taco Bell with Dorito shells! What???? It’s about damn time. I would have been out the door! But it is on my list for that day after the fast is over. I have been really interested in food. I mean REALLY interested. I have been watching the cooking channels like crazy. You would think that I would avoid those channels like the plague but for some reason I have been really enjoying them. I notice that when I fast, I do that. My interest in food is perked up. I read an article that cited a study, that people who fasted started to obsess over food vs. ...

Day 5 The Power Day! If you say so... The word is detox. So far I’m feeling really blah for this fast. I don’t know if that is because of detox or what. I must say that my hunger has decreased; but it hasn’t completely left me. The first 2 days were bad. Also… I experienced a level of detox on Friday that I had never experienced before. I have never been moved to vomit before. And I was and I did! It was crazy!!!! Of course since that was a completely new and unexpected effect I had to Google it hard. And what I found was that it was severe detox. Now I know I haven’t fasted in about 4 years, but even the first time I fasted I didn’t have that violent a reaction. It was really not a good look. I have been followed by a low grade of nausea that I’m not really cool with. And I have been really tired. So much in fact, that I have been sleeping a lot. Must I must need it so I’m going with it. I have been having some abdominal cramping and sharp stabbing pains since day 2. I don’t kno...

Peace Y’all, I used to fast for 3 weeks every year when I was a Christian. It was part of my Lenten and Hoodoo ritual preparation for Easter and Spring. Yes, Serenity touches many ciphers….. But when I became righteous, I stopped. For many reasons. I wanted to completely separate from my previous incarnation. I figured I could do it in May when the God “Raises the Rod.” That didn’t really happen. But in my devotion to my Culture, this thing I did, got lost. Well, I’m taking Jerusalem back. I like fasting. It reboots my body in a good way. First it is a shock to the system. You need that sometimes. I always managed to lose a couple of pounds in the process. Stuff comes out that I cannot identify. I feel stronger at the end of fasting; and that is a good thing no matter how you slice it. There have been times where a second impromptu yearly fast needs to happen just to put me in order. When I am faced with personal challenges and I find my response to said challenges is inappropriate...

Peace Y'all, Talking to my mother is really funny. She has a pure 85% perspective. Her doctors are as important to her as her minister. She listens to them like it was white Jesus incarnate telling her to step out on faith. What my mother will not entertain is treating herself without meds. My mother is on a plethora of prescription medications. She spends Sunday evening for about 2 hours, watching TV and arranging her meds in those daily snap things. She will tell you that she no longer has diabetes because she has a pill to treat it. She doesn't have hypertension because she takes whatever. All the medicine that she uses causes dry mouth so she has a pill for that. She also gets constipated so she takes a laxative. My mother is a junkie and my inspiration. I don't want to be like that. She doesn't have to be like that. She could adjust her diet and alleviate a lot of different ailments. My family and I recently moved. Unfortunately we did not time our utiliti...

My back was stiff and hurting. I did some light yoga stretching for about 5 minutes and it doesn't hurt anymore. No matter which way I move. Hmmmmm...... I'm gonna see how long until the pain returns. ***UPDATE*** I didn't do anymore stretching yesterday and my back still feels fine. This morning I did more stretching. And my back is still feeling good.

Peace! Well I am on yet another diet. My college reunion is this fall and my high school reunion is next summer. Serenity has got to get it together. I had success on the HcG diet (20lbs gone), B.U.T….. My diet connection no longer works at her job. And I am able, but highly unwilling to get off $500 for the pleasure of starving. So I have had to investigate other options. Knowing myself as I do, I am not going to write down everything I eat. I’d rather just not eat. I know and have heard it before…. That is one of the tools that successful dieters use, but I won’t do it. I’m not toting around the paperwork and I’m not going to stop while having a good time and look up every single thing I plan to eat. That removes the joy of eating. I have so little joy in my life. Eating is still one of my pleasures. It’s just not going to happen. The diets that will allow me to eat without writing are the low carb diets: Atkins, South Beach and Paleo. I have the Atkins book, perused the South ...

Peace. One of my New Years resolutions was that I would show this blog a little more love. Once a season posting is really not the hotness. It is my ambition to post more regularly over here. And if I feel like I can't really love this like I should, then I will combine this blog with one of the other blogs I keep. And they are all different. The only thing that is the same is the "Peace." That being said..... If y'all haven't joined Pinterest.com you need to. It takes a minute to get up and rolling, but it's so worth it once you get going. It's on my most visited list now a days. I find a lot of homemaking tips on there. One of the tips I found is for dry skin cream. Now I have been blessed/cursed/you call it with eczema since birth. I suffer. Prescription creams and ointments have helped some, radiation some, infections some... but as the crunchy Earth I have become I don't want to use those things. I don't want to itch and become disfigure...