Thrive On



Continuing on my Thrive in 30 Journey, I looked at the biker on the cover (Brendan Brazier of course) and I realized I needed to address another component – Exercise.

I bike. I bike only during a short season in Chicago, maybe 7-ish months. The weather the first half of the Thrive in 30 Challenge was not biking weather for me, so I needed to look at alternatives. My calorie consumption remains the same year-round but my activity level does not. This poses a problem for my mood and my comfort in my wardrobe!

I could definitely benefit from more consistent and varied physical activity. I wasn’t going to get to a group class unless it was at 5:30 am or at 9:00 pm. So my only options were working out at home or a gym. I know myself well enough it will not happen at home. And, committing to a gym was spotty concept as well. Thanks to a one week free deal I attended a gym daily, and joined that gym at the end of the two week mark of my Thrive Journey. I am there 4 or 5 early morning a week thanks to a workout partner. I wouldn’t be there quite as often without her.

Another muscle that needed exercising was my brain. Brendan states it in Thrive (and I say it to my clients), it only takes a few more minutes out of your day. Joke’s on me! A new activity or new food or concept being asked of a client could be completely foreign or maybe something familiar but not part of a routine, it is going to take more than a few minute a day to implement and time for new neural pathways to develop or a re-wiring of the old.

I think nothing of whipping up a complete vegan 5 course meal, but to tell the average Midwestern meat-and-potatoes family to just add green veggies or some flaxmeal or omega 3s to their day falls a little short.

I know what sprouting is. I haven’t done it but once as an experiment. I’ve soaked beans overnight, only to cook them thoroughly the next day. Despite the easy steps involved in sprouting or soaking, these were all new steps and I needed to do my own research, needed a little longer to add it to a routine or think ahead on how much I needed to sprout for the week. I admit for the future will I sprout only to the germination point to release the enzymes; I don’t grow mason jars of sprouts in my fridge. Between the coconuts kefiring, the beets fermenting, and the seaweeds, gojis and dates soaking there’s enough activity in that box!

So if you see a woman loaded down with 3 or 4 bags at 5:30 am, it is probably me heading to the gym with 1. A bag of Thrive food and sprouts for the day, 2. A bag of gym gear, 3. My laptop and/or other equipment, and 4. Just my bag.