Day 231

Thoughts: Be Who You Are

I love an environment where the space is about not taking one's self too seriously! There aren't a lot amount of places that I have discovered that have created this kind of freedom specifically. I experience that at Byron Bay (Australia), Theaters, the ocean, Art galleries, my garden, yoga retreats and classes, New York, some Acting classes, and now Big Al's Family Fitness!



I am now a member of Big Al's Family Fitness Gym!!! It is absolutely the most authentic, dynamic and lively fitness center I have been to! They have everything - from yoga to dance, weights and personal trainers, indoor basketballs courts and track, boxing! Usually I am going one place for yoga, another for dance, and then a gym for cardio weights, but Big Al's has it all in once space!

The Earth Diet along with regular exercise is living an abundant lively lifestyle. You can have it all!

Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship. Buddha

Big Al's believes in family. A family made up of friendly staff and loyal members - all with a similar goal in mind - health and fitness! At Big Al's they believe that everyone should be treated with courtesy and respect, that integrity and honesty are more important than a profit and loss statement, and that no one should take themselves too seriously! They have absolutely created a safe, clean and friendly place to exercise that is welcoming and fun for people of all ages. Founded on love, loyalty and commitment, Big Al's is a place where you can be who you are.

Plus they have a children's center, so whenever you want to work out you can bring your kids for a play too! And it's extraordinary (I have never seen one like it in a gym before) as the kids get this huge jungle gym playground - with balls pits and tubes and tunnels, all my favourites when I was a kid!!!

1 in 6 kids suffer from childhood obesity, and I say suffer as I am not sure how else an obese person would live, and almost 1 in 4 are considered overweight according to the Department of Health. I absolutely have compassion for overweight and obese children as I was a slim and active child, always playing outside and exploring through the hills that lived behind us. I had no interest in video games, and watching the TV for longer than a couple of hours, and it was because how my Mum brought us up. I am extremely grateful that she had created such a healthy active life for us in Australia. That's why I love what Big Al's has to offer for the children. It is our responsibility if a child is overweight or obese, there is no reason for them to be, and it seems a unfair way to start a life full of health problems and restrictions. Babies and children don't know the difference, they would have no clue if you started feeding them apples as 'treats'.

Can you imagine your child asking for an apple instead of Mc Donalds?! You could even raise your child on raw live foods and they would not know the difference, unless you allowed them to eat other foods. Through our example, children can learn the benefits of healthy eating. It's 'grown-ups' like us reinforcing positive habits, who help children understand the importance of healthy living. With Big Al's schedule you can be sure that your little one will not only get proper exercise, but will also understand how exercise is benefiting their development. I started really learning this when I was 16, imagine if a child learned this at 6! Through caring instructors and productive activities, your child will be more aware of their personal development than you ever dreamed possible!

Big Al's have all sorts of activities for children aged from 2 to 15 inlcuding Lil' Explorers & Moon Bouncers (Sounds like so much fun! Is there an adult one of these?!), Lil' Al's Land for Tots, Lil Al's Dancers, Lil Al's Sports and basketball, Lil' Olympics (I remember doing lil Olympics as a kid! So much fun! It encourages children that yes they can do it, and give them a taste of Olympics!), Muscle Builders, Warriors: Combat MMA & Jui Jitsu and boxing. I doubt your child would prefer to play the x-box with all those options!

Every human being is the author of his own health or disease. -Buddha

Other amenities they have which I am yet to play with are:

-Turf Field
-Huge cardio equipment selection
-Large free weight floor
-Cardio theatre entertainment (Yes you can watch a movie and forget that you are exercising!)
-Boxing Club
-Lil Al's Fitness academy and nursery (for the kiddies!)
-TRX suspension training studio
-Indoor track
-Juice bar (sweeeeet!)
-Full karate dojo
-Bronze tanning salon
-More than 30 group fitness classes including yoga and pilates
-In house chiropractic and sports medicine services
-Sauna (my favourite!)



So there you have it! I have found a new friend that I will be spending at least 4 days a week with ;) Hehe!

If you live in New York then come down to Big Al's to try out a free week pass - there is one in Amityville and Westbury - if you live elsewhere then find a center like this that genuinely cares more about your health then making money to join! In my experience it is so amazing how a group of people working together to get people healthy and strong which can completely alter our state of being. When I walk into Big Al's I automatically enter into a active nurturing, loving and energetic place! I also find that this kind of atmosphere is encouraging and motivating - so sometimes when we slack off, we can go to the gym and be motivated by being surrounded by health and helps us commit to a regular program.

Earth Diet health and exercise tips:

-Ginger may reduce the pain associated with muscle injury after exercising. Eat a small chunk raw (It may burn - that burn is the dying bacteria) or boil some water and add some chunks of ginger to make a tea!

-Cancer patients should not avoid exercise; they can and should find ways to be physically active both during and after treatment.

-Exercise keeps your mind clean, pure and sharp. We inhale, consume, eat so many chemicals each day, if we are not sweating, excreting, ridding them out of our body they become stagnant, and we become a walking talking thinking chemical machine.

Check out www.bigalsfamilyfitness.com for locations and schedules!

Or call Big Al's Family Fitness:

Amityville: (631) 264 7114
Westbury: (516) 478 5800



Challenges: No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path. Buddha

Triumphs: Day 6 out of 7 on the master cleanse and this morning I woke up at 6am throwing up bile - which continued until 10am. Pain, misery and suffering for 4 hours. I was no where else other than where I was and what I was experiencing. I could not focus or think about anything or anyone else. My husband Andrew kept saying 'This is a good reference point for you for pain', hehe! And it was for sure. I have never been in so much pain for a long period of time, never broken a bone, I am so grateful for such a rosey and physically pain free life I have had. My next role in a film 'Long Weekend' requires me to experience physical pain and now I absolutely have a point of reference to base it from!

I believe my body was ridding something nasty. I had injections this year(Compulsory for me to stay in the USA), which were made up of 50% mercury (The stuff that causes autism see my blog www.theearthdiet.blogspot.com/2010/02/day-118.html), and I believe I was letting this go. Mercury settles in the softest tissue - first the brain and other organs. It is challenging to detox mercury out of your system as it takes deep organ cleansing. Throughout the week I was pooping darker and heavier than usual - the impacted waste on my bowel walls, my eyes were blood shot ridding toxins (they are now white! The beauty of a cleanse!), and my underarms and breath were smelly too. Once we clean our selves out we no longer smell - my friend JD who is 50 and eats only raw does not smell! His poos do not smell and he does not walk around with a hovering body odor!

After this I decided to start eating again, so I ate the foods my body was craving for healing - avocados, orange juice, strawberries, cherries and nectarines! I am grateful for this cleansing experience, and made it through 5 full days of only water with the juice of lemon, maple syrup and cayene pepper. I lost bloating in my stomach, feel lighter, clearer and cleaner physically and mentally!

What I Ate Today:

Food fest 1: Avocado

Food fest 2: Fresh orange juice

Food fest 3: Avocado

Food fest 4: Avocado (yes 3! Avocados are extremely healing, smooth and grounding for the body)



Food fest 5: 3 beautiful beautiful succulent and juicy organic white flesh nectarines! Macadamia nuts.

Food fest 6: Cherries and strawberries :)

Exercise: A Training session with Ryan from Gold's Gym! Worked abs and legs ;) It's nice to have someone there to tell you '5 more'!

134 days to go!!!

Visit:
www.theearthdiet.org