StaywellMA

" The Selma to Montgomery march was part of a series of civil rights protests that occurred in 1965 in Alabama, a Southern state with deeply entrenched racist policies. In March of that year, in an effort to register Black voters in the South, protesters marching the 54-mile route from Selma to the state capital of Montgomery were confronted with deadly violence from local authorities and white vigilante groups. As the world watched, the protesters—under the protection of federalized National Guard troops—finally achieved their goal, walking around the clock for three days to reach Montgomery, Alabama. The historic march, and  Martin Luther King Jr. ’s participation in it, raised awareness of the difficulties faced by Black voters, and the need for a national Voting Right" Quote from : https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/selma-montgomery-march As someone who was born and raised in the motherland (Africa), there is such a huge disconnect about what our public educatio...

It's averaging 100+ degree every day and I've had to adjust my routine to take the heat into account.  Sometimes it means settling for an indoor workout in the AC or scheduling an evening walk much later at night when it's cooler. After a month of hiatus and sporadic workouts, am craving a routine with a target goal. My Fall fitness goals are; #1. Flexibility : So we are getting back into yoga and stretches #2. Cardio : because the weight meeehhn...the weight needs to GO #3. Back and Core strength to look cute in a 2 piece swim suite. C'est tous mes amies. No self righteous plans or intentions. Join me on the Nike app and let's motivate each other.

I didn't realize how much the tragic story of Ahmaud Arbery affected me. At first, it felt like another black man getting murdered story that we have sadly gotten accustomed to seeing in the news. The New York times did an article on it called " The condition of Black life is one of mourning" . But this one was different for me. As an avid walker + runner, I go everywhere. Even when I travel, which is something I do frequently for work and play. You will catch me on the first day of any hotel stay, asking for running routes recommendations from the concierge. Even now with the pandemic, I've been evacuated to a new city and all I do is run/walk on most evenings around my new  neighborhood as part of my mental health. For a while I will get anxious when I stepped out for my regular routine. I started turning down my headphones or having them completely off just to make sure I was more alert to my surroundings. This isn't to say I wasn't already...

Today, I listened to the minimalist podcast show while on my morning run. The conversation centered around technology and advertisement. And how advertisement especially online, is driven by all the data that's being collected on us based on what we consume. And this is my problem with online advertisement versus traditional media like tv or a bill board. Yes, I know that tradition media also places ads based on data. For example, they'll put laundry  detergent ads at mid day because there's a stay at home parent watching tv. And they'll put toy ads when they think parents and children are most likely to be home watching tv. BUT, to me, that is still not a personalized ad The ones that scare me, are the internet ads that are completely based on whatever data has been accumulated over time on the individual based on their internet usage. Those ones are scary because they know your weakness and they play to that, making it more difficult for you to break...

“Start somewhere today.  Don’t put it off.  You can do something no matter how ‘small’ you think it is in terms of your long-term goal.  Every step you take is one you’ll be thankful for when you get there.  Remember: You’re lapping everyone who’s still on the couch” _Caressa Sharp ____________________________________ June has ended with me on the floor of my good friend's living room, sipping ginger tea and wailing at the unproductive & fruitlessness of my life at the moment. .  I am not meeting my life goals. I am a corporate wellness consultant who is struggling with losing weight and working out. Even though I have a graduate degree in my field, I'm having major imposter syndrome. I am not putting to action my plan of action. I mean what's the point of having a to do list and a game plan if you're not going to put it in practise? I have YET to complete my vision board **Jesus take the wheel** lol As I evaluate the...

I had the opportunity to volunteer for this amazing event for kids through one of our fellow BGR- Boston member. It's so important to introduce kids at an early age to athletics and the fitness lifestyle. Beyond it's health benefits, I find that being part of a team, learning to invest and work hard towards a goal builds great character.  But even with all that hard work,  you learn that you will not always win.  You learn to accept defeat with grace. To portray good sportsmanship. To respect the talent of others Running and working out in general has this unique ability to build your mental stamina. Sometimes, when am going through a rough time with life in general, I use my running mental states  as a barometer to gauge if this is something I can overcome or if it's time to quit. If the stress level doesn't measure up to be more than what I've experienced in a long distance workout, I don't quit, because I kn...

Back in July I clocked in my 100th! run with NIKE plus. Even though I split my runs between this app and others like Mapmyrun, and in some cases exclude indoor  treadmill runs , I am still impressed with my accomplishment. Apps that help you track exercise or food patterns are great for weight loss. The idea is not to be obsessive about it but to have an awareness of how much your're actually eating versus you're rate of physical activity. I can say without a doubt that my weight loss was always very linear to my amounts of runs logged. Plus the extra competitive edge they provide when you compare your workouts to that of your friends is an added bonus. When I started using fitness and nutrition apps, I didn't have any specific goals. I just wanted to test out the new technologies. Now I find that signing up for challenges created by members who use the apps and meeting them keeps me motivated to keep working out. ...

I got tired of listening to my playlists. They were no longer providing the motivation needed to get over my running "humps".  So I asked  a friend to make me one based on the songs in his collection. While I know that many music apps exist like Pandora and 8 tracks, I still prefer having  ♫  files for those days when I find myself in a dead zone  with no reception. Listening to your friend's playlists  is a great way to be introduced to new songs, artists or genre of music.  Here are the songs/artists I've recently discovered through this exchange. 1.  Naëlle , A french artist and her song Kontrole' 2. Salif Kieta from Mali and his song Iniagige 3. Haifa Wehbe from  Lebanon and her song Yabn El Halal 4. Oxmo Puccino , a Hip Hop artist from Mali. I like Peur Noir and many of his other songs 5. Coco Argentee from Cameroon and her song Fallait Pas  is nostalgic because it reminds me of the time we liv...

I am on an agenda to spend as much time outdoors as possibly before we get hit with the first snow storm in Boston. For me, no indoor exercise class beats a morning trail run. And as usual, every time I need to make a decision, I hit the trails. Yup, am that girl running in the woods, talking to myself or to trees, squirrels and any other animal that would listen to me list off pros and cons of a given decision. Sometimes I get an answer Other times I discover new questions and dimensions to the issue* If you live on the side of the world that actually gets cold during winter (side eye to California), what are you doing to keep exercising outdoors?

...Because I need some visual fitness motivation this week. Goals........  ^_^ 

For Valentine's day I completed the Black Girls Run virtual 2 mile race on the treadmill at my local YMCA.I wasnt looking forward to this challenge because I hate running indoors. Its mentally decapitating for me. I am an avid outdoor runner. So, to endure the task, I decided to set the treadmill on a sprint interval training mode. This is better than running at zero percent incline because it doesn't accurately reflect outdoor terrain for completing races. Since my body requires 1 mile of running to "warm" up, the first 30 mins where just running at a 2% incline. After warm up, my 45 minutes workout consisted of 2 minutes speed work at a speed of 5mph at 5% incline followed by a 2 mins slow pace at 3.5 mph with 3 % incline. Interval incline training not only takes the boredom out of running indoors but can greatly improve your speed. The next time you run a treadmill, resist the urge to leave it at a zero incline and challenge yourself to a higher level.  H...

This past weekend my fellow BGR ambassadors and I organized a vision board party for the Boston group. It was my first time taking part in this type of activity. A vision board is basically an inspiration board of all the things you want to accomplish within a given time frame. I guess it could be synonymous to pin-interest. But I am not on pinterest so this works for me. What I like most about it is, the sky is the limit. You decide what you want to focus on. Even though our general idea was on running  races/goals, I chose to focus on the nutrition aspect. As a long time athlete, I know I am capable of training to meet any physical demands related to running. Where I struggle is Nutrition. And we all know that when it comes to healthy living, its 20% exercise  and 80% nutrition. Therefor, no matter the training intensity, you can easily revert all that hard work by making poor nutrition choices. This year I don't have any race goals. I will continue running an...

This year am taking part in the 4th edition of Marathon Sport's Winter Warrior Challenge. I'm running under our Black Girls Run Boston group for this January fitness challenge. My goal is to let it serve as a training platform for the 5 mile Super Sunday race I will be participating in alongside many Boston Brunch/ November Project members on February 1st.     Picture from http://www.marathonsports.com/ We are team   #28 and are currently ranked in the 31st position in this challenge of 125 teams. Am so proud of our girls!!!! I do  have to mention that one of the disadvantages of participating in this challenge is the inability to log in miles that are more than a day old. Therefor you have to consistently/daily log in your miles. However, am enjoying doing the challenge and leading run meetups with members of our BGR-Boston community. I know it sounds crazy to run outside in this extreme temperat...

Salut mes amis! Its been 2 months too long from proper blogging but am back to regular programming. Its been a rough but rewarding summer so far. I was teaching summer school and taking 2 summer crash courses  ( Chemistry & Statistics ).  I will not have made the good grades if I didn't take time away from social media to F.O.C.U.S (my classroom) The downside to being overwhelmingly busy was that between school and work, there was no room to work out regularly. I miss doing yoga :( I lost my stamina + endurance + gained weight (my friend thinks am being dramatic) BUT its true! Running the NABJ 5K was a reality check. I was struggling!  This...coming from someone who use to runs 10+ miles. But  now that am done with summer classes, here's to hoping I can get back on a regular running routine. As part of my new role of run ambassador for BGR (Black Girls Run), I've been organiz...