Go Ahead...Eat Dessert!

Hello, friends! 

Have you ever ordered dessert first or instead of a meal?  I do every once in a while, just because it makes me feel good.  One of my favorite desserts ever is the chocolate souffle cake at California Pizza Kitchen.  Those that know me well know that California Pizza Kitchen in Walnut Creek, CA...CPK...is one of my favorite hang outs.  Great staff, yummy food, and a chill place to hang out and read a book or catch up with friends.  Their chocolate souffle cake (with vanilla ice cream, of course) is sinfully delicious.  Once every couple of months I order it as my lunch or dinner.  Soooo delicious and makes me feel so good!

  

After all, dessert must make you feel good; otherwise why would you crave it?   

I know I can't eat this every day.  I don't even want to.  But having it once every couple of months won't hurt my health or my waistline.  

In fact, I've lost 35 pounds in the past 15 months just by listening to what my body and mind is craving--skating, healthy food, yoga, making jewelry, and, yes, sometimes even chocolate souffle cake.  I feel better than I have in years. So I'm not about to start arguing with my "deep wise mind."  The occasional dessert is an important destressor for me.

"Stressed" spelled backwards is "desserts."  Coincidence?  I think not!

There are other ways we can "treat" ourselves...a new book, a new candle for your home, jewelry, a fine bottle of wine.  Letting yourself indulge in an occasional splurge may be just the mental and physical respite you need in your hectic life.  

Last week was an especially busy week for me.  I had my first jewelry trunk show of the season (okay, I know nobody wants to think of this time of year as the start of any "season" but do you realize that Christmas is now only 90 days away, Chanukah only 73 days, Kwanzaa only 91 days, and Festivus only 88 days?!).  I also had several personal challenges piled on top of a busy time jewelry-wise.  The result: not enough time for exercise, sleep, or eating right and a little too much time for cookies and chocolate.  

I got to thinking, how can I feel like I'm giving myself a treat that is actually good for me?  Today I found the answer...go skating.  After a busy day today, I felt like I still had too many tasks ahead of me and not enough time...certainly no time to spare for skating.  But that's exactly what I did--strapped on my skates and took a short but intense skate along the Lafayette-Moraga Trail.  It actually felt kind of sinful...like I was doing something I couldn't quite justify.  And you know what?  It was exactly the indulgence I needed.  By the end of 30 minutes, the endorphins were flowing and my heart was soaring.  Yeee-haaaa!

And what's not to like?  The early-fall evening was sunny and warm.  The waxing moon was just rising over Bollinger Canyon.  The bells of Saint Mary's College were pealing sweetly.  The sky was clear.  The dogs, runners, walkers, and bikers were friendly.  My iPhone camera doesn't do it justice, but here it is:

So remember to treat yourself with some kind of "dessert" on a regular basis--a nap, a cappuccino, a small purchase, or time for yourself to exercise.  Moderate your indulgences, but not too much!  Just remember what Julia Child said:

“Everything in moderation... including moderation.”

Keep skating! 

Nancie ♥ 

Click here to see my online jewelry shop

9/26/12 

Skate #130

Lafayette-Moraga Trail 1.7 miles

Skating Beyond My Comfort Zone

Hello, friends! 

In my jewelry newsletter this week, I had a quote:

"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone." - Neale Donald Walsch

Limiting yourself to only activities that are comfortable means that you will keep yourself stuck repeating familiar patterns, never straying into new challenges and opportunities.  I know this all too well.  For many years, I had avoided taking the steps I wanted to take with my jewelry business because I was afraid of venturing into unfamiliar areas.  Now I know I can actually enjoy the rush that comes from doing something I am fearful of.  Pushing myself past my comfort zone while skating has made it easier for me to push myself past my comfort zone in all areas of my life.

Skating beyond my comfort zone has a very immediate payoff--an adrenaline rush that becomes addicting, causing me to continually push myself to try new techniques and paths.  I seek out new challenges because it is so exciting.  

In the process of 

skating, I have found that I like that scary, slightly-out-of-control feeling.  I feel alive, excited, slightly invincible.  Recently, for the first time, I skated down the steep downhill of the Lafayette-Moraga trail near St. Mary's College without braking once.  It was a rush, let me tell you!  If I add my battle cry "Yee-haa!" then I feel like I can do just about anything.  Skating beyond my comfort zone is addicting.  The fact that I have such a sublime view at the same time is a bonus!

Another way I push myself is with my new Rollerblades that I call my "Badass" skates.  These are more of a high-performance skate and force me to use my muscles and balance in a new way.    They provide plenty of challenge for me even on a flat trail, but at some point I'll hit the hills with them.  Here they are:

Why am I writing about pushing past my comfort zone while skating?  Because that same adrenaline boost I get from pushing into new territory when I skate, I can get anytime I try something I had originally been fearful of.  This is a huge, huge step for me.  

Before I started my online jewelry shop, I had so many areas that seemed unfamiliar and scary--learning the Etsy site, writing a newsletter, photographing my jewelry pieces, and on and on.  I used to feel fear when confronted with the unfamiliar.  But now I have taken that butterflies-in-the-stomach, unsure-of-myself, doubting-my-capabilities feeling and reframed it:

That feeling is exciting!  Learning how to do something new is a rush!  There is so much to learn and I view every challenge now as something new I get to do, something new I get to learn.  I embrace the feeling, because it brings a similar adrenaline rush as skating does.   I am grateful for the opportunity. 

Here's what I've discovered: 

If I'm willing to let myself be okay with that uncomfortable feeling of trying something unfamiliar, the distance between conceiving of an idea and acting on that idea becomes much, much shorter.  

Keep skating! 

Nancie ♥ 

Click here to see my online jewelry shop

9/12/12 

Skate #124

Iron Horse Trail 5.18 mi

When You Can't Skate Your Way Out of a Funk

Hello, friends! 

I'm been so busy getting my jewelry business off the ground...long hours, late nights.  It's all been so exciting, truly a labor of love.  When you have your own business that's mostly online, there are not really any "normal business hours."  I'm a bit of a night owl anyway, and there have been far too many nights lately where I don't hit the sack until 1 or 2 AM only to hit the ground running again at 7 AM.  Here is a new piece I just finished:


Normally, skating is a great way for me to deal with stress.  I've come to count on this regular exercise to keep my mind calm, my moods happy, and my energy level high.  

Last Saturday after too many late nights in a row, I woke up in a funk.  The weather had turned cold, I had a bit of a sinus headache, and I just felt blah...not just body blah, but mentally blah as well.  Full-blown funkiness.  I didn't really feel like skating, but I made myself go anyway.  I was hoping it would lift my spirits and put me back on track.   


Because the weather felt so chilly, I even got out my silly snowman socks to at least give my feet a chuckle:

I managed a short 30-minute skate on the Lafayette Moraga trail, usually one of my favorite skates.  Here's my view of St. Mary's College as I skate:

Besides the view, the uphill sections are usually just the thing to get my endorphins cranking, the downhills just exciting enough to give myself a bit of an adrenaline rush.  A hilly skate is usually just the thing to turn a funky mood around.  But not this time.  




So, if skating wasn't going to banish the funk, what would?  I tried the following:

• a nap

• a night out with friends Liz and Scott at Prima in Walnut Creek (a belated thank you for them rescuing us from a jam when we were out of town in the spring)

• quarreling with my daughter (haha...didn't really think this would work, but somehow that's where we ended up!)

• a friend's light-hearted incantation attempting to banish the funk 

• meditating

Everything helped a little bit, but nothing quite eliminated that dark-cloud-over-my-head feeling.  What to do?  Where were the negative thoughts coming from?  Why was my inner critic (I call him "Joey Nickels") screaming so loudly while my inner goddess ("NamiZuni") wasn't uttering a peep?

Finally, I stopped trying to fight it.  As soon as I did that I realized that I had just been pushing my body to do too much with too little sleep for too many days in a row.  A large part of me was just physically exhausted and it was showing up in my mood.  I gave up on fighting the bad mood and realized that it was just my body's way of saying, "Um, hello...you're not really doing so hot at taking care of me right now...how about paying attention?"  

Once I realized the source of my funk, I realized that I could interpret it a different way.  I didn't need to give the negative thoughts any real weight.  No cosmic significance to the negative chatter, just my body trying to tell me what it needed.

Sunday morning I woke up with a fresh new outlook.  Sunday morning yoga class with husband Marty, hanging out at Starbucks with our favorite "stalkers" Marie and Ken, and a fun family dinner at our favorite Indian restaurant, Swagat in Concord.

The next day when I hit the trail in Moraga, I was skating with a new attitude.  It's funny how when your attitude is positive, all sorts of guidance, wisdom, and even entertainment comes your way.  Here is a picture of the wild exercise shoes a woman was "running" on the trail with:

Click here for the official Kangoo Jumps web site

They are called "Kangoo Jumps" and look like running on the moon.  They looked so fun, they made me laugh.  I think I might need to get a pair for a change of pace from skating.  Thank you, stranger, who let me photograph you in your cool footwear!

Click here to see a video of them in action

Keep skating!  (But don't forget the other self-care as well.) 

Nancie ♥ 

Click here to read my jewelry newsletter

9/5/12 

Skate #120

Iron Horse Trail 5.43 mi