Dream Live Thrive the Dherbs Battlefield: Phuck This I’m Cool

The first thing I do when I wake up is sit up on the side of the bed, have a glass of water and 5 capsules. I make my way to the kitchen to prepare my Green Abominator (I find that a Green Juice with less of the sugars of fruit get me moving better) and before you know it it’s time for 5 more of those damn capsules. I move into my day and then by noon another round of you guessed it! Capsules. Baby, I got so tired of those capsules that I almost quit on their ass’s.

Green Abominator and the Full Body Cleanse

True story. I just got tired and it became burdensome; at least that’s how I felt before I weighed in. Lol. Once I saw that scale though I was On Board. Now the truth is 30 capsules a day can become a bit tiring but we have to consider our goal. Or maybe I had to consider my goal. Remember, I already take 13 pills a day to control my heart disease, and on top of that 30 extra pills! Yeah, that’s crucial folks, but its all a part of my goal. FFL Fight For Life, yes, that’s right… I choose life and it’s that simple.

On my way to the gym, had to check the Gym-Fit.

Now lets talk about our choices in choosing. Some of you will never want the gym and believe it was actually created to help you live a better life. After all, pain doesn’t feel so good. It took a bit of personal pushing to get me to the place I am now. Actually enjoying my gym runs, hikes etc. Don’t worry; you’ll get there one foot in front of the other. I’m not in love with pain, but I am in love with me!

Find your source for cardio. I do the treadmill and elliptical, but you may prefer walking in a park; whatever it IS, find it and don’t stop until you conquer your goal. We, yes me included have got to kill that seed in ourselves that only wants to go “part” of the way. Naw baby you’ve got to push. Like tonight, I wanted to stop before I hit my 3-mile mark. I could here me telling myself it was ok to quit, so I jumped in…my Superman self I mean… I jumped in and bitch slapped the hell out of defeat; there are no doubts, there is no quitting. I asked myself “If you quit now, who loses? Abraham”. Never give up on yourself. I pushed through and made it happen.

Today’s Abominator with a Celery Boost

Now lets talk about this leaf eating, fruit grabbing, nut smashing, live-food nibbling, water drinking, no sugar having situation I done signed up for. Baaaaaaaby, I almost slapped the hell out of whoever created the words Raw Diet. Trick! Please!!! Everybody needs Mac n Cheese, Fried Chicken, Potato Salad, Rolls… (Lord let me stop I’m making myself hungry!) No, but truly, Raw Dieting is an uphill climb in the beginning. I remember when it felt like the damn time had stopped; lord is it really only 1p.m. in the afternoon. OMG! That was some fight I was having with myself. I couldn’t believe I’d signed up for this shit! No this and no that, even the things I’d believed were healthy for years, turns out that stuff was no good too! (Lol, I wasn’t eating that stuff either though anyway, lol).

This is my point, yes its hard, oh and it does get HARDER. It’s not about the food though. Food is simply survival. Nothing more, nothing less.   How long you live and survive is on you and what you’re choosing to put in your body. I told you, I Choose Life. That doesn’t mean that I don’t want some of the foods I mentioned earlier on, it means that they no linger rule me. The portion sizes have changed for the things I still want to enjoy (I reserve for my Sunday Funday) and other things, well, I just don’t indulge in any more. I eat a lot of salads that have a lot of great veggies. But don’t think we’re limited to that. No ma’am, there are all sorts of tasty vittles available and a growing number of Raw Restaurants in the city, its about slipping a great pair of sneakers and hitting the pavement. I’m no expert, I’m out here trying like you baby, choosing life. For those of us who like to cook, check out the Dherbs.com site for recipes. They’re awesome for things like that. Listen, there’s no reason we should have to suffer, after all we want a fuller life, usually everything is better with a fuller life, including the food. We chose a Live Life sentence, not a death one, so why should our taste buds have to die.

I haven’t been as good as of late with posting what Ive been eating, but I’ll do better…but you have to share too! Blog, take photos, Inspire.

Give Life A Chance

http://www.Dherbs.com

http://www.Facebook.com/AbrahamMcDonald001

Dream Live Thrive the Dherbs Battlefield: The Weekend Roundup

What it do America! Yes, you guessed it, I’m a happy guy today I’ve been having a ball, feeling good and making life happen! And before I make this next week happen, I need to tell on myself. Yes. Your fearless leader got smacked in the face by a fried chicken thigh, a piece of chocolate cake and a few pieces of bacon. Now of course this didn’t all happen on the same day…but that s#*t did happen. And in case you’re wondering, I did enjoy it. It was mmm, mmm, mmmmmmmmm, good. Lol.

Let Talk About It

The New Year brought great hope and cheer, along with an unbearable craving; I mean I felt it deep in my gut, lol. It was a strong calling that I just couldn’t get away from no matter what I tried to eat to “trick” the craving. Look! I know I sound crazy lol, but that’s beside the point. I’d just cleared my cleanse-free-week from the Dherbs Full Body Cleanse. Breaking: working out and eating clean while not taking Dherbs supplements. You do eventually run out and have to refill. 

So, as I was saying, I had just cleared my cleanse-free-week and I wanted to prove to myself that I could push right through and make it buuuut I failed. Not miserably though because I enjoyed the break. Now, I didn’t break the bank, I partnered two chicken thighs with a side salad and watermelon. Choices help us make the race. Admittedly I definitely took a few liberties but that all ended today. After mom Mom’s B-day brunch at Hamburger Mary’s http://hamburgermarys.com/longbeach/, which was an absolute ball. I mean they were a lively show with lots of surprises. I couldn’t help but chuckle when I looked down to see two older white gentlemen blushing at the sight and not amused at all by the parade of Drag Queen’s adorning the stage. Moms was a glow the entire afternoon, I’m sure the three mimosas helped.

Believe it or not, this weekend was a rather quiet one. I did the gym, drank some beat juice (fresh pressed) ate some bacon, ya know. I kept it light. Oh! But my New Year’s evening was absolutely amazing. I worked with my friend Raqual on our annual church watch night service. This year’s theme, “On The Mark” an All White event. We’re a bit extra’d out but it was all to the good J. Our resident thespian Lady S. wrote a two-act monologue based original piece, the Praise team sang, the Dancers danced and Family Feud almost stole the night. We had breakfast prepared for after the church hang from Ms. Silvi but of course the highlight of the night was prayer.

Lead by our gir’ Pastor C, we joined hands around the church on our knees. Young and old, locked in arm. If someone needed to lean, they had a shoulder to lean on. It was beautiful to see and to experience. I remember what my New Year celebrations once were but this was a new height on my life-list. Grateful to share my Holiday Season with my Mom’s sister and brother, I’ve been very reflective during this time and I realize that we may not always get along, live in the same city or state, we will have differences and arguments too, but what ties us together is stronger, more real and ironclad, family love is irreplaceable and I’m glad that though they asses wear me out sometimes, I always have them. My family.

100 Pounds and Down; The Weekend Warrior

Floyd Mayweather Celebrity Basketball game 2010; Abraham McDonald sings the National Anthem

Weekend Warrior! 100 Pounds and Down!

S a t u r d a Y

Travel Bag:

• Oranges √
• Plum √
• Nuts √
• Dried fruit √
• Distilled Water √
• Good attitude √

Schedule:

• Merge Summit 2012 with Niecy Nash and the cast of TV Lands The Soul Man,
• Guest performer for the 2012 She Cares Foundation Celebrity Basketball Game
• Song Writing Session with Wendy Parr
• Jam Session with John Morayniss

A good attitude and keeping busy is unquestionably what kept me afloat this weekend as I balanced my new diet plan.  Having a support system, whether its one or two people is going to be a saving grace for you also…trust me, it has definitely been that for me.

I woke up Saturday morning excited because I’d made it to Saturday without compromising my decision to change.  I thought to myself this Type II Diabetes is gonna get its tail whooped one way or another!  I’m armed with my DHERBS cleanse, exercise and a support team around me.  Winning isn’t easy and it sure as hell feels like something in the process, ya know?  I had put things in order and felt victorious, hopeful that I could do this, that I can win therefore making the difference in my life and adding years to it.  Again, there I go sounding all profound, right?

Well, It was some weekend and it did have its ups and downs.

Wrote a song `bout it, like ta hear it, here it go!  What the “bleep” was I thinking, going cold turkey with no damn turkey?  Where were the angels of all that is rich and fattening, tasty and fried when I made this decision to uhm, “better my life”.  I mean, who in the hell left the gate open so they could escape?

Saturday held a lot of inspiring moments and anecdotes from some of my favorite friends and people; however none of those things, stories, people or pushes satisfied the hunger pain I was having.  When it was said, “man shall not live by bread alone” I most definitely thought he was saying that I should partake in all things ham, fried and creamy!  And now I have to go through an entire LA day with a bag of nuts and packed fruit to survive?  I mean really!?

And really, that’s what I did :).  This figuring it out as you go plan is something of a headache.  I’ve never cooked raw food, damn-it, raw food has never been cooked!  Lol.  But, the mere thought of caving now is more than disheartening.  It’s Not An Option.  You see?  I’m a firm believer that it took a lot to get it on, so it’s going to take something New in me to get it off and defeat this disease that takes so many lives unexpectedly.

I guess when you hear the term “raw food” there’s an automatic dislike emblem that stamps itself across your forehead.  Lol.  I’m still battling with my “old” taste buds and I’ve found out the hard way, their ass aren’t going anywhere without a fight!

Something inside of me all weekend has nudged… “if you don’t get me a piece of chicken there may be some kind of spontaneous combustion that will eventually take course inside of me”.  Well, needless to say, that didn’t happen. But I do want to talk about the discomforts that come as you’re transitioning into a new space and way of living.

Being uncomfortable will become the least of your worries.  The discomfort is your body naturally acting out just as a child would.  It wants what it wants and that’s just it.  But you, me, we have to be the masters of what thinking we ascribe to.  I will not get chin checked by my belly or my taste buds!  I recall a friend saying to me, “we need to eat for energy, not taste”, of course I thought, “Shut D hell up!”  But how many times have you eaten something and instead of wanting to get a move on it; you decide to sit down on it instead.

I had my “eureka or ah ha” moment as Oprah would say on Sunday while dining with friends.  I was sitting at the table whilst people piled gobs of ranch dressing on their salads, eating bread and filling themselves with iced tea, lobster, steak and chicken.  Granted, I thought, ”I could have just one piece of bread, right?  No sooner the thought came the evidence that I had the wrong idea.   It wasn’t about what I could eat because truly I can eat what I want, it became about what I should eat.  Not much of an epiphany, but it did give me the strength to do none of what I’d originally wanted.

If I have to pack a bag, I’d rather that than wrap up and amputated leg.  It boils down to making the decision.

This weekend was a rough one but a victorious one.  It was me finally becoming ok with what I’ve decided to do…again.  I say again because there are constant reminders all around the city that say stop and taste this.  Today, I’ll just have another taste…of life.

See y’all Monday.  God only knows what obstacles will be there waiting for me.

A photo I took while doing the Oprah show.