Live your life like you are ON FIRE. Blaze your own trails. Beauty is a state of mind not measure. Feel & look Bellisima - I mean you! - Stories, tips, insights about beauty, image, fitness & life from an Italian point of view. And Surviving Cancer. You only live once. Do it well with Grace, Guts n Gusto!
PLAN A That's for the highly blessed, the super rich, or those who have great publicity agents and personal trainers.
PLAN B - that's for our special group:BLUE COLLAR BABES. I used to bemoan this, however, I have learned that when life throws us curves, if we love them on our bodies, then we love them anywhere else, too.
WHEN PLAN A GOES ARRAY
I was injured recently while intensely training for a 1/2 Marathon. Damn! What to do? What to do? All my fitness goals for the new year de-railed. Doctors orders. After bemoaning my fate, I came up with some alternative exercise options even though I did have to give up the marathon in April.
Plan A --- running 5-6 miles 5x a week, gradually adding 2 miles a week
until I achieved 12 miles with ease.
My fave Brazil Buttlift classes 3x a week for 2 hours each
time; along with free weight training on alternating days.
Trampoline 2x a week just when watching TV. And anything
else I could come up with. Eating for intense training.
then re-opened old injuries on elbow, shoulder, bicep, neck, and hip.
SOOOOOO ~~~
PLAN B - BE A BLUE COLLAR BABE HOTTIE EVEN WHEN INJURED
Plan B --- water aerobics 1x week, elliptic 30 min. 3x (no arms) on
a low incline and effort (Level 5-9 not 12-15), lower body
weight machine training 2x a week. Stairs (19 floors) also very long, hilly 2-4 mile walks. Eating Heaps of steamed broccolli and stringbeans.
Goal-- Healing... then....getting ripped bikini season of course!
A Blue Collar Babe Over 40,50 or even 60 (Helen Mirren is an icon!) - wears bikini's proudly.
You can do it. Transforming is a specialty of mine. I believe in you.
(Don't worry we will be in touch for that - failure is not an option)
I saw this card in the store and had to pick it up -- it encapsulates this philosophy:
I AM WRITING THIS FOR MY 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY AS A CANCER SURVIVOR-- MAY 25th, 2002.
I survived cancer. But hated the way I looked.
I gained my life. But lost my self-esteem.
For 7 years.
Then - * I got the woman in the mirror I liked to see back again.
I am determined to make up for those 7 lost years.
In between, I learned that we all really need and want to feel beautiful. That society puts way too much pressure on woman to be skeletal skinny and prepubescent and that there is a huge prejudice for any woman out there who is a size 8,10, 12 or 14.
I had a conundrum.
I feel magnificent as a size 4, fat as a size 10 --- so what can my philosophy be?
"Are you a hypocrite?", I asked myself.
No.
My viewpoint is:
I am not advocating skinny, nor am I condoning too much fat. Neither is good - both are reflections of poor eating habits and perhaps poor exercise regimes.
I decided to propose & promote a positive outlook ---
to seek health and happiness based upon your own values. Not Vogues.
The thinking that "taking care of yourself" is important.
A tall building won't stay upright without a deep foundation and strong supports. The same goes for your body- it needs proper food and exercise to excel. Take care of the inside and the outside will take care of itself. Your spirit needs to wonder and feel light. That's why we love mountain aeries. Feeling close to the sky transports you. You must have moments in life when you feel as if you can jubilantly soar through the Heavens.
The more you take care of yourself, the better and lighter you feel. Your mind and emotions need to feel inspired. Creating new ways of eating, moving and then yes adorning, create a sense of well-being.
LIVING IS ABOUT HAPPINESS.
I want everyone to look and feel as pretty as they can, based upon there own comfort levels. Because I know, I know that no matter what any woman says, she wants to look and feel beautiful.
The reason why I am a lunatic in the gym?
Because I can be.
Because I am still here.
I could have been LONG gone.
I am grabbing Life and not letting go.
No one can stop me. No one can pull me down.
I won't let myself and I won't let anyone else.
AND NEITHER SHOULD YOU.
No matter where you are in your journey to look good and feel beautiful, remember that you are alive and able. Just start. It will become a wondrous adventure full of surprises. You will surprise yourself the most. I guarantee it.
Sure there are setbacks. Life is about "dancing in the rain" afterall. Any rebirth symbolism involved water; a sprinkle or a plunge, drinking or sweating, it's all the same.
When I am in a class and basically moving at 100 mph an hour while others drop around me. I am not showing off.
I am exhilarating in the fact that I can move, that I am alive.
I am not competing - I am exhulting in movement and breath and life. I look in the mirror and I am grateful, incredulous and absolutely amazed.
Working out has become a celebration.
So yes, I run for my mom who has survived not one but TWO bouts of breast cancer, and I run for me.
The scars on my body are my testiment, her testiment, every woman's testiment. They say "I have survived."
YES! I RUN FOR LIFE!
If you are a cancer survivor I would love to hear from you.
If you would like to read some other blogs about cancer, my fitness and weight loss journey and getting your groove back with Brazil Buttlift see blogs #1,2,3,6,8,10 & 14
*thanks Leandro - I may not be a VS model, but who cares? I feel like a gorgeous one and at my age --- that is enough for me!
More info click onto IMDB www.imdb.me/joannabonaro
When I was recuperating from surgery hoping that my cancer had been cut out and decimated forever I had plenty of time to rest, think and read.
I discovered Ralph Waldo Emerson, and I have chosen to live my life by many of his credoes. At the start of the new year I want to share with you some of his sublime wisdom and tenets to live by. I hope you are as inspired by them too:
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends. To appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, (a well loved pet), a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.This is to have succeeded.”
“Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”
“Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.”
“Always do what you are afraid to do.”
“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Thankfully I was cured by wonderful doctors, recuperated with a loving husband and family by my side and visited by loyal friends. This is to have succeeded. Namaste.
Let the joyful journey begin.......
Future posts --- on seduction, glam - wear clothes, skin care, great food choices, key area exercises, make-up tips, mindfulness,
Tell me what you want to hear & see, concerns and questions. And thanks for reading. Strive to flourish!
Say, "I love you" often... Call your mother and compliment her... Tell dad your proud of him...
Eat really tasty food, you deserve the good stuff...
Take lots of long, long meandering walks... Tell someone an unexpected truth that makes them smile...
Be especially kind to animals, children and the elderly...
Laugh as much as possible, as often as possible, and spend time with the ones who you care about the most... Travel... explore... excite your mind...exercise your body. LIVE!
Say goodbye... Say goodbye to all your doubts and self-recriminations...
Say goodbye to your guilt, the late night food fests & self -prevarications...
Say goodbye to the 4th slice of pizza and the whoopie cookie binge...
Say goodbye to dressing room dread and summer clothing cringe...
Before the midnight bells ring this is what I wish for you on January 1st 2012... Joy --- in your first breathe of the day as you open your eyes Joy --- as you feast on the sunshine and clouds and wonder of nature Joy --- as you plan all the activities that will make you smile.
Savor --- your morning coffee Savor --- the first hug of the day from your loved ones Savor --- every step forward, every smile, every kindness
Keep --- your wonder Keep --- your hope Keep --- your determination
and think of all that you have and not what you want.
You are your own creation BREATHE DEEPLY
Please, Do it all with Heart
HEALTHY TIP: CRANBERRIES Eating a heart healthy diet is one important step you can take to reduce your risk of heart disease & lower cholesterol. Cranberries contain no fat, no cholesterol, and very little sodium. ( read entire article at www.uscranberries.com )
BUON NATALE!
My Italian Christmas centers around L’albero di Natale e Il pranzo di Natale
My mother started this tradition when we were little girls. Every year we would wake up very early and dress in a special outfit, usually red, to hop onto the express bus that deposited us right in front of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. There we would climb the steps in anticipation, buy a button and then skip behind the grand staircase, into the Medieval hallways that opened majestically into the cavernous room that displayed the Christmas Tree and Neapolitan Creche. Every year I was awestruck with a vision of splendor. Being Napoleatano it had and has special meaning. I continue this annual pilgrimage still.
Picking out our own tree was an annual sojourn. Finding the perfect tree was critical. To this day my trees have to be tall, chubby and full. The lights (luci dell’albero di natale) always multi-colored, the ornaments (palline dell’albero di natale) varied and sentimental with silver tinsel as the final dressing. Our own Nativity creche (presepio) nestled below in an undulating sea of red velvet and pine needles. An Angel always set atop to look over us and keep us safe and warm. Annual viewings of "White Christmas" (hence, my ongoing love affair with songs sung by Rosemary Clooney) were mandatory. Today decorating the tree is a festive occasion of Medieval and Renaissance holiday songs and red wine.
Our Italian Christmas was focused around food and family. Xmas Eve (la vigilia di Natale) was dedicated to fish: shrimp appetizers, baked clams, bacala, broiled cod, drowned broccoli rabe better known as Christmas broccoli and i dolci -chocolate biscotti and cartellate and the tall cupola-shaped panettone. Midnight Mass (la messa di mezzanotte) with friends or at home watching Il Papa in Rome, and then, opening gli regali, the presents.
At last, Christmas Day and Il pranzo di Natale (the Christmas day meal). It started with our own traditional antipasti of soppressatta, sharp provolone, roasted red peppers, olives, artichokes, mozzarella and bread sticks. Then a broth consisting of pasta, cappelletti in brodo, little hats stuffed with chopped meats. Next, most people have turkey but our house was reserved for the Christmas lasagna stuffed with over 100 tiny meatballs, accompanied by hand rolled braesola. To this day, friends, neighbors and family clamor for my mother's recipe as it has been handed down to me. (A guarded family secret)
Again, demitasse coffee and i dolci --- struffoli (Neapolitan honey pastry); cenci (fried pastry ribbons sprinkled with powered sugar); dried figs, candied almonds, and chestnuts.
Being also Calabrese, my father would recite the following children's rhyme from when he was a boy in the mountains of Serrapedace.
La filastrocca di Natale Babbo Natale viene di notte, Father Christmas comes at night; viene in silenzio a mezzanotte. He comes in silence at midnight Dormono tutti i bimbi buoni All the good children are sleeping e nei lettini sognano i doni. In their beds they dream of gifts. Babbo Natale vien fra la neve Father Christmas comes in the snow porta i suoi doni là dove deve. He carries the gifts where they must go. Non sbaglia certo: He never makes a mistake. conosce i nomi di tutti He knows all the names quanti i bimbi buoni. Of all the good children.
Sojourn for your eyes and soul: *The Metropolitan Museum of Art displays 18th-century Neapolitan crèche figures collected by Loretta Hines Howard and gifted to the museum with a Christmas Tree - until January 8, 2012. Lighting ceremonies on Tues., Wed., Thurs. & Sat. at 4:30pm and Frid. & Sun. at 4:30, 5:30 and 6:30pm www.mma.org
Be especially kind to animals, children and the elderly...
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