GETTING PHYSICAL IN OHIO!

Hey there, Rawfood Fans,

Hope you're all doing well!

Here's some photos from our trip to Ken and Debbie's in Ohio from 2 years ago, since we don't seem to be taking pictures this time!

We've been visiting Ken and Debbie since Saturday and will be here until Friday morning. We're having a great time!

There's my Cliff throwing a frisbee from our last trip, playing "disk golf," a frisbee game, at the Disk Golf course.

Here is Ken at the disk golf course, setting up an amazing shot into the metal goalee.

On our last visit, we did a fair amount of this frisbee game since they have 5 or 6 Disk Golf parks in Dayton, and Ken is an AMAZING AMAZING disk-golf-frisbee-dude. Cliff and Ken are going to play tonight. [Addendum: There was a competition, and Ken came in 5th and won $12!]

Debbie and I are having a girls night out with her sister tonight. You may remember a post long ago about the MUSTARD SISTERS, where I made a raw food dinner for all of us. The sisters with the last name Mustard and I dreamed of opening a raw restaurant together and calling it 'THE MUSTARD SEED!"

Here's Ms. Debbie Mustard at the frisbee park cradling her and Ken's beloved doggie (the most wonderful poodle in the world), Walter! We just adore Walter. He is the perfect dog!

I'm having a nice time moving my bod here in Ohio! I just got back from a 45 min early morning walk in Ken and Debbie's very peaceful lovely neighborhood in Dayton, Ohio. I'd gotten up early and wanted to get a walk in before it got too hot.

I just try to enjoy and be free and easy with movement. I don't take my pulse or set crazy unachievable goals or make myself go fast if i feel slow or any of that. I go with the flow!

Pressure and rules are completely unnecessary in my book today. I just get out there and ENJOY and move, look at the birdies, look at the houses, admire the general splendor, smile and just keep moving, no pressure, I just DO it. A very wise approach. Guilt-free exercise. As long as I do it, I'm a winner!

I worked up quite a sweat this morning, and enjoyed the walk very much. Nice breeze, not too-too hot yet, and it felt very very good! I got lost and found my way back home! Hey, i've got a good sense of direction!

Feeling good and able - is a gift i give myself now!

I TRUST that all of this daily exercise coupled with with raw is going to get me where I want to go.

Yesterday, Debbie and I took a brisk walk as we did the previous days, very nice to have a motivated walking partner! Debbie is a statuesque 5'10, and has looooong legs and can walk fast, so I have to keep up with her! We also walked around Home Depot and Loews doing some shopping, yesterday. That's exercise, too! Every little bit counts! We also parked far from the store, so we had to walk a few feet more! I was TiRED last night!

When we were at the lake, Debbie and I, or Cliff and I, went for enjoyable walks around the lake community neighborhood. Man, was that nice! Such cute lake houses! RUSSELLS POINT is a lovely little town that Ohio-ans fill up every weekend in their summer weekend lake houses that surround the lovely and very big INDIAN LAKE. After the weekend is over, they all depart back home to other towns in Ohio.

When we walked in the evening, watching the purple and orange sunset over the lake....that was AMAZING!

You really start to appreciate nature the more and more you get out!

You know, don't feel bad. NO ONE WANTS to exercise, until you START. The trick is, you just have to start.

THEN you begin to enjoy it, and the more you do it, the more you enjoy it, and the more and more and more you do it, the more and more and more you enjoy it, AND the more you ENJOY it, the more you DO it, ad infinitum, etc, etc, etc!!

Moving your bod is a wonderful cycle that feeds itself of desire and joy mixed with effort and work, mixed with pleasure and feeling good and getting stronger and liking it...all feeding off of each other!

I encourage you to exercise today!

Imagine yourself eating a bag of greasy chips right now, while plopped in front of the TV.

How do you feel afterwards?

Now imagine yourself working out at the gym or going for a strenuous swim or walk!

Now...how do you feel afterwards?

EXERCISE MAKES YOU FEEL BETTER, LOOK BETTER, BE BETTER!

We never WANT to DO it, but no one ever finishes exercising and says, "Man, i'm sorry I did that!"

Swimming in the INDIAN LAKE was an experience I will NEVER forget - 85 degree water that felt like you were taking a bath!! With the temperature of the water, you felt like you could stay in that lake...forever! I didn't swim laps because i had shoes on and it's like almost impossible to swim with shoes on. (It's ooky to touch sand on my feet sometimes, especially if i can't see bottom.) But, just swimming around for an hour having fun must burn something up!

We all slept good that night!

When i think back to my days at OHI when i lost 140 lbs on raw in 8 months, I remember that EXERCISE was a HUGE part of my program. I often walked for hours because my job at the retreat was less than 20 hours a week, so i had lots of time on my hands....and no CAR! I had NO choice if i wanted to go somewhere, i had to WALK! I'd go walking for hours, then i'd go swim or water walking, and then i'd walk back home! I just kept moving! I loved to have a goal - to the library! To the market! To go buy a new size 18 shirt! To the Thrift Store!

I aspire to continue along in that vein now. Walking. Walking. Walking!

When i watch EXTREME MAKEOVERS WEIGHT LOSS EDITION, I become very inspired to move and it becomes impossible to make excuses. Trainer Chris Powell has his SUPER-obese clients exercising for 4-5 hours A DAY! On the last episode, Wally, nearly 400 lbs then, walked over 100 flights of stairs in the Sears Roebuck Building. Powell said, "I don't care if you crawl on all fours, you're finishing this." And he did.

Can you IMAGINE how GREAT he felt?

If he can do THAT weighing MORE than ME, i can do ANYTHING!

(And so can YOU!)

We are only limited by our own fears, our own false beliefs about our limitations, and the excuses we choose to believe.

Break free from yourself, from that part of you that holds you back from getting and being better.

Flap your arms for 30 minutes or go outside and walk around the block. Breath in the fresh air, listen to the birds chirp, and thank God that you are alive today and able to do WHAT YOU CAN.

We don't exercise sometimes because we think we'll WAIT until we get HEALTHIER to start.

That's such a lie. In 6 months from now, you'll be WORSE STUCK in a RUT, HEAVIER and MORE addicted to food than ever.

Choose to break FREE TODAY!

It only takes ONE positive action to start the ball rolling.

You can do it! I believe in you!

Because if I can do it? YOU CAN DO IT!

We are all INFINITELY SO MUCH MORE POWERFUL than we believe.

Start to believe TODAY.

YOU ARE WORTH THE EFFORT!

xoxo michelle joy