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We're back, We're black, We're brown.
And ambition Ambition Ambition today. Girl, Well you know I have I've got bronchitis. You got the itis, but the bronc of the itis. Yeah, the ninth grader and me who was in the marching bandness like, can we eat a little sharp, but I'm on the I'm on the man that that took some antibiotics.
Oh good. Bronchitis is the word.
Yes, I just I realized what it was. It was like likely a cold that I did not take care of, and I just wasn't. I just felt so exhausted and I didn't rest, and so just you know, this happened same time last year it happened.
I was like, Tiffany, We've been through this and.
You're also on a book launch. Don't you always get sick when there's like yeah, really, I just feel like it's our body's way of being like and now I have to make you sit down. Yeah, so I'm cool with it. The body can only communicate through symptoms.
Yes, if I feel like you know, I feel all in.
I feel pretty good considering when does main hole hit the shelves. It hits the shelves November twenty first, oh so close. Yeah, so let's do like we'll do like a show like that that day, we'll do like a made whole show like the whatever that Wednesday is of the week that it comes out.
Let me ask the boss, Tiffany, can we do a show like? Oh, that's the best, So.
Like imani like, just let's make sure we don't book anybody for that for that day whatever the twenty I think it's the twenty sex like you know what.
Yeah, so let's not book an event.
Yeah that pho, Tiffany.
So how so we might as well just jump on ask me into it.
Okay, Well one, let's start with I know you went to you know, late to rest your your uncle Mark.
Yes, I did, and it's over now, thank the Lord. And it was as sad as can be expected, but good positive things. My baby is a dream travel buddy and he's just like the emotional support.
Dog I saw the pictures he looks so cute, but it was holding him.
I was like, oh, when I tell you, I didn't have to worry about childcare for like six hours. I just put Remy in the stroller and just I was like, he over there, some someone's got him.
Yeah. I mean, it's always nice to see my family, but you know, second time in one month, and yeah, I've got some great love from the ba fam after last week's episode.
Code.
But yeah, we're doing we do and what we can do. And I came back to New York. By the way, Lagardia. I love Logardia now really beautiful.
Yeah, did they renovate or something? They've renovated.
I remember when I think when I moved here thirteen years ago, they started renovating and it finally got done. I don't know when, but it's just been delightful to travel through there. And let me tell you, if you want a cheat code.
For airports, get you a kid, get you a baby, get you a baby and a stroller, and go by yourself, because the way I am just ushered through to all the shortest lines I get to and I don't even need like diamond mendallion status. I get to board first anyway, sure, get comfy and shout out to the random strangers. I'm at that level now of comfort where I'm just like, people.
Will ask if you need help, but you know how, you do it automatically. You don't expect the person to be like yeah, and I'm like, here's the baby, because it's hard to buckle my seat belt with the baby in my arms, very hard.
So everyone wants to hold a little baby. I'm like, oh, yes, it's just hold your baby.
Whit especially run me. He's just a dream, you know, he's just so smiling. But yeah, I was really really happy to get back and I was like, let me get back. And we had I thought what was going to be a delightful double date planned.
I brought Tracy as my date.
But yes, that's fine. I was just really excited. I was going to get to see you and we were gonna do something cool.
And I had your your your Webby Awards with me.
Did you really hauled that heavy webby from Newark to Brooklyn?
Yeah, that's because they sent me the two boxes and so like I was like okay, and then I was so, let's down on back. So Mandy and I were supposed to go to the Brooklyn Museum because Kimberly. What's Kimberly's last.
Name, Kimberly Grant.
I believe, Yes, Kimberly.
Then I so I love her, And so Kimberly Grant, who's a listener?
Hey, Kimberly.
Kimberly.
She reached out to me and Mandy was like, oh my goodness, I am a a curator at the Brooklyn Museum, one.
Of the curator.
Yes, I believe.
Yeah, there's three black female curators at the Brookle Museum, which she said is.
Like unheard of.
Oh wow, yes, And so she she hit us up.
It was like, I love the podcast. I love what you guys are doing.
I would love to give you guys a private tour of the new Spike Lee exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum that she curated along with her team and Spike Lee. And I was like, fancy behind the scenes, special treatment. Yes, we would love that. So Mandy and I planned to go on Sunday and meet up, Like, Mandy, you bring you brought husband? Is that who you initially bought?
Oh? I you know he he came with me for the ride. Did we arrive at the museum, did we get to partake and no, but our marriage survived yesterday.
So what happened.
What happened was so the night before a friend, I was like, cause I was going to have like dinner with a friend after and my sister came with me, and they were like, hey, just so you know, it's marathon Sunday. And I was like, what's that. They're like, that means there's the New York City Marathon and so just be mindful cause I was going to uber in and they were like, don't uber in, you know, just take the train, and I said at first, So I got nervous, and so I text Mandy and Kimberley the
night before. I was like, Hey, it's marathon Sunday. Should we reschedule because I heard it's kind of crazy and it was just kind of like, no, just take the train.
You should be fine.
So I told Tracy, let's leave or extra early and we will hit up the Brooklyn Library to go to the jay Z exhibit.
I'd seen it, but Tracy had not. That way, we're there an hour early.
That way gives us plenty of buffer, and then we you know, will walk down because the museum and the Library of a five minute walk from each other. So we did that. We got up, We took the train. It was actually super smooth. Took the path path to the World Trade Center, World Trade Center, took the two to.
Grand Army Plaza.
We got there ten minutes before the library opened, walked around for an hour, enjoyed ood ah over jay Z's genius and brilliance, and then walked to the museum and I was like, that was Mandy was right.
That's the meanest that is the meanest thing you've ever said to me. The way that you described how easy it was for you to get you from point A to B yesterday. Why would you be so cruel?
And then well, I wasn't nervous, Nelly like, I don't know, man, Who's like, don't you worry about it? I love marathon Sunday, So then that's optimistic. I was excited.
I was so excited because you know what, how did it go for you?
Sorry, I'm so mad at you for starting because the way that that is the opposite of how my day went. I mean, after all this darkness and like bullshit, I feel like I've barely seen my husband and we all know my attachment style now I need physical I'm like, just sit next to me, so our thoughtys touched to me. I can like, you know, feel that physical connection. So I was really excited to have a reason to drop the kids off with the Buelos. And then I was like,
it's perfect, we can drive down. Well, then we'll take the train. It'll be easy. And we too left Hella early because I got two kids and I wasn't about to be late. And I think we hit yeah. We got on the train at twelve thirty pm, and which.
Was yeah, to get to Brooklyn.
It was going to take us like maybe forty five minutes, and I was like, we can grab some food. We can see I haven't been a Prospect park in a minute.
Maybe we'll spectate.
I love the marathon because it's just so joyful. I don't want to run it, but I like to cheer people on. And like, I don't know if the gods were with your they were on your side, because we both were on the same express train, but you were there maybe like twenty minutes before me, and you just missed someone someone deleting hitting delete on their life via the subway because someone jumped on the.
Drugs and I don't know they jumped.
Oh my god, yeah, I mean yeah, so yeah, our train stopped and it was like this is the last stop due to an injured passenger. And then of course you got on X or Twitter or whatever it's called. Still good for, you know, finding out what the heck's happening on the train, and it was so bad, it was we couldn't. We were like in the We were in Lower Manhattan, and from there it was just catastrophe. We got off. I was so hungry. We grabbed the taco for like five minutes and so I could get
my mind straight. And then it was like, there's really no train that can get us across this river to Brooklyn. So what did we do? We called lyft when we try to lift, and it was like it took fifteen minutes for the driver to get there, inexplicably because there wasn't much like traffic in downtown Manhattan.
Anyway.
Lyft driver gets here and he seems like, sus I'm not gonna lie, you know, when the car smells a little funky, and he like didn't really understand what we were trying to tell him on like which corner we were gonna need him on. But anyway, we get in the car and just like get me to Brooklyn at this point, I'm gonna be late anyway. And we start driving and we do get across the bridge, and then as soon as we do, he starts like he's not
following the map. He's trying to find his way around all these like because there's all this like road closures because of the marathon.
We get trapped on.
This dead end where there's a barricade and there's like five cars behind us and they are getting out and yelling at each other, get out of the way, get out of the way. Our driver's like there's a barricade, we can't move. Everyone's stuck. And then you know, like when you're when you're stuck on a one way. Our card left driver was trying to like fast, like like vin diesel his way out, like you know, a little bit for a little bit back turn around, you know,
try to like squeeze himself out. It wasn't happening, and my anxiety, I am not proud.
I just was like, give me the fuck out of this car. I'm getting out of this car and getting out of this car. And my husband was like okay. So we got out of the car and then couldn't get another lift. So we're like at this point where maybe a thirty minute walk from the museum and it sounds so silly, but at that point we start walking and found out that husband man, bless his heart, but to be a New Yorker, he has the worst sense of direction. And I was like ge and I was like, Jesus,
take the wheel. Someone else planned, like someone else, get me to the museums. I was like, Bay, you handle the walking instructions. He went the wrong direction, and then all of a sudden, a thirty minute walk was a forty minute walk topen me. And that was the point when I tell you, if you were outside the Whole Foods and Guanas yesterday and you saw a woman with her head banging against the fence, that was me and a very very concerned man who had no idea what
to do to comfort or that's my husband. And I was I was like updating all along the way, like oh, this obstacle, you know, but we're in this obstacle.
Yeah, okay, yeah, I was reading those.
Texts and it was like my husband's looking at me. He's like it's three forty five. We got to pick up the kids by five because Bila has Bengo night and we promised her she could go to Bingo and I was like, let's just go home. Let's just go home. But the night ended fine because once I had my kids, I was just when I'm like anxious like that and I'm kind of spiraling, I hate being away from home and my kids just like get them near me. I
need to like see them. So once they were in the car and we were on the way home, I finally like could mellow out, and I said, you know what, let's turn this day around. So we went to the grocery store and I got what I like to do to I don't know if this is like something that helps you. You don't cook very much, you don't like cooking, right, But for me, when I'm really struggling with anxiety, cooking so calms me down. So I made some bang in
food last night. I made chicken pikada and I made this like apple kale salad that I have been fantasizing about eating but I couldn't find anywhere. I finally made it my damn self, and we had and mashed potatoes. And I got a brand new potato riser the way I'm excited about a kitchen utensil, but a potato riser because you put your boiled potato in it and it makes it so much like creamier than like mashing it with a masher. And I had a big old glass
of wine and all is well. But that was a hallacious and I'm sorry if I cause any secondhand anxiety for those listening. Yeah, it wasn't my day yesterday. It just wasn't.
And you know, and here's I'll say this that, well, what I'm not gonna lie. The way home was a nightmare because they now closed the Holland Tunnel at a certain time and so they like don't tell anybody. They're like, oh yeah, it's closed, And so we all had to take the Lincoln. So I was stuck in New York for like an hour, just sitting in an uber like am I not gonna get home? So it makes you feel any better? Yeah, But I was just like, no.
I don't want you to suffer, but I will listen to you. When you said maybe we should reschedule.
No end up working because Kimberly it because that was really the last weekend because you know, now I'm on book promo, so I wouldn't have gotten a chance. And she was so awesome and like the exhibit, please go see at the Spike Lee exhibit. And she's just like so smart. She has her bachelor's, her masters, and her doctorate.
I want to tell her, yeah, well.
No, well she's gonna, she says, she's gonna. Definitely.
She's like she wants to take you and husband whoever on the tour. She was like, no, I'm gonna do it again.
For Mandy.
It was just so amazing to kind of go behind the scenes and to like hear about the pieces and why they were chosen and what she was thinking, and it just was like an amazing, amazing, amazing exhibit. So just for clarity, the jay Z exhibit at the library is really like the history.
Of jay Z in his life, like you know, all things jay Z his life.
Spike Lee's exhibit at the museum is Spike Lee's actual artwork and collect so it's not really about Spikes at least life directly. It's like he is an avid collector of movie posters, of art, of photography, all things creative and art, a film and so it's his a fraction of his immense collection, which a large part of it is you know, black artists, you know, And so it was just really she split it into seven categories. It
was like Brooklyn sports, activism or something like that. Like family, it was just Spike, I did not know, comes from a very very very artistic family. His sisters and actress, his brother's a photographer, his grandfather was a jazz musician,
his mother was an art teacher. It was just so it was just this amazing collection, like this, this amazing collection from this man who clearly has a huge love of all things creative and art in blackness and so like, and you know, to hear from her like why they chose certain things and that other things and what those things meant, and how each of the seven components was anchored.
She she chose like a clip from one of Spike's movies to anchor that component, like Crookland was like for the family component, and all pictures of like his his family were all in there. So it just it was really awesome And so I can't wait for you to see it. If you haven't, please go see it. It's just an amazing exhibit. Each of the seven rooms is separated by what looks like, which I thought was really brilliant because you know, he's a film director and so it looks like a.
Like a film shoot, you know, yes, and.
So it was just really it just so yeah, it really was, honestly, and she just, like I said, it was super kind and nice and smart and and it's just I also be cause my my niece Amelia is really into art, and I just was asking her questions, like how did you get into this like space, like what does it look like? So at one point she
worked at Newark Museum, she worked in Chicago. I think she's from Chicago originally, and she was just kind of sharing kind of like her history and and like the school that she you know, like how she got her master's and her doctorate and like what you can kind of do with it, because I think people think of the liberal arts degrees and you can't do anything, yes, but here she is being this dope, you know, brown woman curating and she was telling me, like, I said, well,
what's next, because I could tell she said, this was almost two years in the making to do this amazing yes, And she said the next thing, I think I want to say in February or March of next year, is that she's doing the Dean So she's doing Alicia Keys and Swiss Beats. They have an immense ye she said, yes, watching when I saw some of ad art.
Architecture.
Doctor, yes, so she said she actually went to their home to kind of view some of their arts to help them to side and pixel she's curating that.
I just thought that was amazing.
I mean, oh, she just Kimberly, you just honestly just made my heart saying and just think a good person, you know, good energy. So I can't wait for you to meet her and for her to you know, take you around and then she's inviting us back when that when the Dean collection.
Is is that's so sweet? Yeah, of the arts in general, man, because you know what, I'm gonna make it happen, because I really I still need it just a day to like look at something with some levity and some because there's so much darkness. But you forget about these, you know, these public spaces that are available to anyone in the museums.
I haven't been to the Brooklyn Museum in years, and I remember, for me, there's this hall at the Brooklyn Museum where they have all these statues of black women. I don't know what exhibit it is, but I'll never forget looking at those statues and being like, that's my body. Those are my like my little rolls, my fouah, my thighs, like felt so seen even before, like fini and you know, giddy. We're using models with like, you know, regular bodies. Anyway,
that's so amazing. I can't wait to have. And I'm glad, you know how it's hard to It's really difficult when you're when you have. We've talked about it recently, but it's really difficult to say to say that's enough, I'm going to try again another time. And yesterday when I had to, I mean it felt like quitting, giving up or whatever. But I wasn't at that point in the right headspace to even enjoy it. I knew, you know
what I mean. And I'm really glad because now I've I've got a chance, and thank you to kn't believe for giving me a second chance. I can have a chance to come back in a better headspace. But yeah, girlugh, it was not it was not the day for me.
Yeah, And I mean, like I said it was okay.
And we talked also too about just like for those of you interesting and purchasing art, because we talked about that because you know, artists an investment. Oh okay, Yeah, so we talked about that. I was like, how would somebody who wants to invest in art? And she said, you know, obviously when artists are already being shown, you know, it could be tens of thousands of dollars, which she's like,
it's way out of her price range. So she said one one of the ways, so like if you are interested in investing in art is to look into prints, you know, like.
If your favorite artists.
He said, well, one start to go to different galleries and museums to get an idea of what you enjoying. What you like is very subjective, and then when you find maybe and you know, the type of art that you enjoy in life, you can start to do a little bit more research on are there any other artists that kind of like follow in that genre, and then look to see if they have prints available, So that allows you to have a piece of the art in a way that is cost effective for many people.
And then also too, she said.
There are literally art schools where artists will young artists that are up and coming will have showings, you know, well, they'll do like, you know, like an open studio like tour, and so you can invest in a young artist for maybe a few hundred bucks or whatever that you you know, ten years from now, you're like, I can't even purchase anything, you know, from them, So consider if you're really into art, Like now that I'm decorating my condo, you know, I'm
really interested. Because that's why I was asking her, like, well, how do I purchase art in a way that's cost effective, because I really want to fill my condo with largely
black and brown artists, especially artists women, you know. And she was like, you know, look into these open studios and you know, purchase from students, people whose art you just think it's delightful and beautiful and it may turn into something one day, meaning they're this huge artist, and if not, you have a piece you love either way, directly.
From the artists themselves, you know.
And so I just thought that was a great way to dip your baby tow into purchasing art.
Oh God, we should have Kimberly on and do your whole show on black Art, I could see it. What else is this going on in the world? So if you notice behind me, the zen den is not so zeny right now, if you guys are watching on YouTube, this is November and it's a double it's this is like I mentioned, this is this is the time of year when it's like, okay, let's get it together because Rio's birthday is coming up, and so is Thanksgiving, and
my dad's going to be in town. But for Rio's birthday, my husband and I are trying to be like, you know, we want to give him his own day. We don't want it to feel like a Turkey Day extension because it is like the day after Thanksgiving or a couple of days after Thanksgiving.
But also, I have hate.
So deep for toys. I know that I had toys as a kid. Obviously I did. I loved Barbie Dolls, I love Power Rangers, I love video games and Game Boy like every other kid, Giga pets, I had them all.
But the.
I don't like what it turned like, what it does to my kid, like he is so toy obsessed that he wants to talk of nothing else. We can't even you know, sometimes we can't even go to a store like CBS. Whoever decided to put model cars at the entrance of every CBS, like, you're the reason I can't patronize your store with my rid.
Anymore because the number of times I had to like drag him out, kicking and.
Screaming, Oh my goodness. And last year, I mean it's because he's a pandemic baby. I don't know, but.
Last year we did the whole birthday, like the bounce house and the toys in the morning, and my husband, I think, to heal his inner child, was like little all these trucks laid out on the kitchen tables. We can come downstairs and be like, whoa overstimulation is the is what happens. So anyway, long story short, I decided for this birthday, my gift to him is going to
be his own space in my basement. I have I'm starting to I've been thinking about it, thinking about it and designing in my head, and I have the perfect plan for his little play area because he doesn't have like we don't have a family room, you know, because I didn't have a family when I bought this house.
I wasn't thinking. But anyway, he's going to have. I'm gonna trick it out. It's going to be amazing. I'm gonna take all of his favorite toys. I'm gonna purge a bunch of stuff he doesn't need anymore, and I'm going to show him that he has amazing toys. And I'm going to have a little arts center and a little kitchen. I'm going to set it up kind of like you know, preschool style, like with little little zones and in a little library reading area so that he
and Remy can play on here. And that's gonna be his birthday experience. So this is me just starting it and Husby has no idea. I threw out a lot of his stuff today, these old drop clause and like you know, like nicks and knick knacks and pieces of like who knows what even the half this stuff goes to. So that's my uh, that's my project for the month.
Okay, my project for the month is just made to do this launch.
You're gonna do made to do the launch?
You know, you know, actually, if you are listening.
Which you are, I forgot to say so on there's there's probably a few copies left. So I signed about five thousand copies of the book. Yes, with your own hand. Well you don't, so the way you signed book, you don't because it's impossible to like handle that many books.
They have you signed those book plates? Have you ever said it? They do' like stickers?
Oh okay, you know, so some books you actually signed themselves. But like when it's that many, because they wanted me to sign thousand and you can't possibly because they're like, they can't mail you five thousand, so they send you like book plates. So I signed five thousand of those that you stick in that then then the team will stick them inside the books. You know, well, do sign copies of the book, and I mailed them five thousand of my.
Budget ester bracelets.
M hm, So you should have gotten an email. I'm trying to think like where you'll be able to get it? No, No, you know what if you go to maid Whole workbook dot com if there are any of those like you know you want to pre order the book. Now, last time I checked, we had already sold half of them already to over twenty five hundred copies have already been sold, So I don't know by the time this comes out,
Hopefully there's a few hundred copies left. If you want to sign copy of the book and it comes with the bracelet for free, same price as like the regular book. Yeah, Mad Whole Workbook dot Com. Get your signed copy, get your Budgetesa bracelet. Yeah, so yeah, I just want to make sure that. I was like, wait, did I tell them? I'm like no, So hope when you go, you're not likely already sold out. I'm like my dad, so it should be.
I'm sure there'll still be a few hundred copies left by the time this comes here.
We do a couple, you can do we I'm like.
B a fan.
Yeah, so like it should be.
Yeah, Like but just Harry up, Harry up and go Made Whole work Book dot Com. But yeah, do you want to take a break, So we come back for brown Break, brown Boost.
That sounds good, see you on a bit.
We're back and we're black and we're brown.
And then well, some of y'all don't remember that song. We're back now and like it's like a like a preschool song.
I had this chicken Chicken boom boo. When I tell you that earworm, don't want to get out.
I love that book. Chicken Chicken boom boom, will there be enough root boom.
Yeah, it's great, but I heard that I've been listening to books on tape with Rio in the car and get some updated narrators because the guy it just sounds like they were made in like the fifties, Doctor Seuss anyway, Chicka boom boom, yeah, yeah yeah.
Uhbery yeah. Do you want to go first? Because I can't think of anything just yet, so you can go.
Oh, I'm gonna do a boost because you know, one of the bright spots of this weekend other than getting to squeeze my brother and squeeze my dad was I just happened to be watching CNN on Saturday. Yes, Saturday morning, around seven am, there's a brand new show and it's called First of All, which tells you what you need to know, is hosted by a black man.
First of All.
It's called First of All, and it's hosted by Victor Blackwell. And I was not familiar with him. He's a CNN anchor and I kind of like read his bio. He's, you know, worked a bunch of different stations in Florida, but now he's at CNN in Atlanta and he has his own new show, weekend show on Saturday Mornings, first of all, and what I love about it other than the fact that he is beautiful black man with like
the perfect bald head, like no shine at all. The makeup team was on it, and it was his premiere day, so it felt special and it was fun. He had an expert on to talk about the new Beyonce fragrance, and he even like whipped out his like space boots that he wore to the Renaissance tour because he's like, I don't have a lifestyle where I'm gonna wear these again, so if I talk about Beyonce, I'm gonna bring these shoes to work. And then we.
Talked about black art.
Earlier he featured this black artist who I immediately went and found on Instagram and does some really amazing art sort of putting like he's a painter and he focuses on trauma, but you know, painting in a way that sort of like is liberating or liberating from trauma. And I just thought it was a dope show and it put a smile on my face. And so shout out to first of all on CNN, and to Victor Blackwell, who I don't know, but I liked it and maybe I'll watch the news more often now.
We love that.
I think I saw I think I think I saw you had posted a clip of it, so I posted a little bit don Lemon, who who needs them? You know?
I mean, I'm worshim well, but it was you know, we can have more, can be more than one, do you know what I mean? And I wish him all the best, and I hope that this show is very successful.
We wish you the best. Two brother, I will do a boost as well. So I have been trying for the last twenty years to do the full Like I don't wanna say trifecta because it's more than three things. Like so when it comes to health, right, there are a number of things you're supposed to do to have optimum health. So one of those things is like drink water, you know, like you know, like over index on drinking water versus like sugary drinks whatever that like, that's what
that was. That was like the first shift I made. I want to say, ten years ago, I was a girl. You and this ginger has a choke hold stop it, So like drink water. I was like, okay, two, you know, you want to have a reasonably healthy diet, you know, like low on processed foods, and so like I I've been at that space for a while, Like, I don't healthy diet for you. So for me, red meat doesn't sit well with me.
Neither is this chicken.
But for you, like my sister Karen, she needs red meat because low iron, you know.
But for me, the.
Reasonably healthy diet, I eat a lot of veggies, very low on processed foods. I get my protein in and so these are things like I'm like, I'm like, all right, finally, Tiffany, you're pretty good in that space.
Then it was a cardio.
So two years ago, y'all know, I started walking, and I walk almost every day, typically for about an hour. So I'm like, all right, I got my cardio in. For some of y'all might be running, rollerblading, whatever that is. And so the last component has been.
Eluding me for the longest, which is strength training. You know.
Like, so if you get your diet together and make sure you have your protein, your veggies, your healthy eat, you drink your water, sleep too. That's why the fifth one of sleep, I definitely like my sleep has improved significantly. My cardio was here, but I could not get back into I just didn't. I used to go to the gym all the time, and I used to love lifting weights and stuff like that, but I just I didn't want. I was like, so for the longest, I was like,
this is the one part that's eluding me. And I found that I was yo yoing in weight. And I know a large part is because I wasn't strength training. Because with no real muscle, you don't have anything to stabilize you, you know. So it's like if I ate great that week, stable, if I didn't, I'm up five pounds.
I'm like, damn, just one week, you know.
And I knew it was because, like I said, I wasn't strength training and I really didn't have any strength.
Despite my arms looking like they're cut, it's deceitful. This is just good jeans.
But I recently started doing calisthenics and I've been really enjoying it.
And so the stomachs is like you use your body weight, yes, yeah, you're not like lifting weights.
Okay?
Is that like like is it a class or it's just a genre of a genre.
I guess if you if you know, yeah, I would say so.
I was trying to figure out because a friend of mine does calisthenics and he was like, you know, he's been trying to get me to do I was like, I don't want that's like clinking and and yeah.
So they are like five core moves. There's like there's push ups.
Which I do very modified, meaning like in the beginning really was just me pushing against the wall because girl who had their arm strength not me, you know, I couldn't even do like the ones on your knees. I'm like, So it's like pushing against the wall and then like against the kitchen table, so it's like you try to get as close to the ground as possible. Right now, I'm I'm on table level. That's how much my arms
can do, you know. So push ups then pull ups, So pull ups like you know, like those those are especially really hard, especially for a lot of women because we don't have as much arm strength as men tend to. So I do a super modifate, moderated modified version, yes, where it's like I hold on like I have like a bar thing in my basement and I hold on to it and I just pull myself toward it.
So I'm slowly building.
The muscle that I'm in a need to eventually be able, so it might take a year before I could do one pull up, if even that. But pull ups is one another one of squats, which I have downpad like you know, women have them strong legs, so the squats are easy. The other one is dips, which when I
tell you, I didn't realize how my chicken. So dips are like you know, pretend like think about like the double handlebar, like well, like the the two bars like on the left side right, and then you basically lift yourself up and down and it looks so easy.
You don't use a bar because it's calisthenics, because I know dips with like the.
Bar, yeah, so I don't. So you can actually do a dip literally like I just do. I have a bench like a like a you can literally just sit in a chair and just like put your hands on the side, but and then you kind of sit at the edge of the chair and then you dip. But the dips were so hard because I have no muscle strength back here, so I could do like half a one, and I was like, oh my god, I'm so weak.
But dips is one, so it's five. It's dips, dips. Oh, and the last one is something called the el sit, which is basically.
Core strength against them.
Yeah, but I ain't doing all that, so the the what I'm learning is to build the mussle a muscle up to be able to do the thing. So for that I'm doing leg lifts because it's just core muscle strength. So right now, so it's so those are the five. In the beginning, when I could tell tell you the first week, I could barely do one of each. But it wasn't about that. I was like, tipicanally, just wake up, they call it around the world. When you do all five, just wake up and just do one of each if
that's what it looks like. And then I was like, oh, I could do five of each, and now I'm.
Up to eight.
Well, the squats are easy, but I'm up to eight of even the hardest one, and I'm like, okay, so I think this week I'm going to see if I could do two sets of eight when it comes to the hardest one, and I feel really good. I'm like, because you can see yourself getting stronger. And I am trying to create a lifestyle for myself where I don't need things in order to be healthy, meaning I want to be able to do this type of X size,
whether I'm in a hotel room, whether I'm home. You know what I mean, because I find myself falling off if I don't have access to the gym or my dumbelts, you know. So I'm like walking, I can do wherever. Calisthetics for the most part, I can do wherever. And so it was just I just wanted to do that as like, as like a boost to be like, Okay, I finally I'm like, you're sleeping, you're drinking your water,
you're eating better, You're you're walking, and now your strength training. Tiffany, Yes, I feel like I'm finding Oh go ahead, God No,
I don't know. I just feel like good about Like a holistically healthy lifestyle is what I want for myself, one where I feel good on a regular basis and it doesn't feel like this FOURTHD thing because I love to walk and I'm actually enjoying calisthetics and I like to drink water, and the food that I'm eating, even though it's healthy, I like the way it tastes because I don't like I'm choosing a healthy lifestyle not from a place of I guess girl, like all the choices
I'm making are made in a space where I'm like, I'm enjoying those choices.
And I didn't think that that was possible.
I thought like healthy lifestyle meant deprivation and martyrdom. And I'm not feeling that like that at all. All the five ways that I'm achieving this healthy lifestyle feels good to me. So I'm just excited about like navigating into that space good.
That's funny that you mentioned that because and I was gonna ask so that the calistonics to you, are you just coaching yourself or do you like follow a program or YouTube university?
So there's like iet the Grip.
There's a young woman on and you do I forget her name, and she does like she does. What I love is just she did super beginner. So you can kind of see like, oh, you can't do a push up? Can you push against a chair that's too low? Can you do a table that's too low? Can you do against the wall? So she does, like you know, I
love that. So it's like, no matter what kind of like modality you have, She's like, here are the exercises sometimes to even just build a muscle to be even able to attempt the thing.
So so yeah, that's what I'm just doing.
Mm hmm.
Yeah, that's funny that you mentioned it, because in the last like two months, my mom friend and she's just my friend friend, really good friend named Jessica. She's a runner and she you know, she's also anyway, she works downtown, and she'd be like, yeah, I mean I ran the broken bridge when I got to the office this morning. I'm like, you're special. I love that for you. But she and her husband have a sick gym at their
house and they're like five minutes for me. Anyway, I asked Jessica because she's always kind of like going to like traveling for little races, and I said, I really want to build up to doing like a five k or a ten k because I enjoy running and I just haven't run in a long time. And I asked her if she would train me. And I don't know much about her history, but I know she was like a she was a jock, you know, she used to like do sports in college and high school and all
that kind of stuff. So Jessica has been we've been meeting up on Saturdays at her house, and it's so fun because like her, she has a four year old named Cary and he just kind of like hangs out and her dog Beanie just hangs out. And Carrie's like blasting paw patrol on his iPad and she's training me on the treadmill.
But we do.
We've been doing strength and the reason I asked if you had a coach is because I didn't. I tried to tell Jessica, no, I cannot, and.
She will hand me. She's like, you better.
Get those fifteen pound weights. And I have been so like pleasantly surprised by my own strength and it does. It feels really good to be, you know, building that muscle and it's like, you know, little progressions. Jessica's advice was we pick one, like we use her. We both have pelotons that we use and she has the tread so we use the peloton strength workouts and she's like, we're gonna pick one because analysis paralysis too many to choose.
We're gonna pick one, and we're gonna pick one ad workout and one strength and one we're gonna do one kind of like running plan and we're gonna do that strength one so Andre, that's who I follow for the strength exercise. I've been doing that with him and like it's it's cool because it's the same movements and you're like, oh this is a little easier.
Oh yes, does that look You're.
Like film, I know, yeah, but I needed Jessica have because otherwise I'd still be doing my ten pound weights as my heavyweights. She's like, no, no, no, fifteen to twenty is your heavy ten.
Is your light.
Okay, okay, Jessica.
I love just making like these small progress you know, Like I just I just feel like, you know, I love how we are holistically, Like, Okay, there's a better life out there. Doesn't have to be like this push and pull. You can walk joyfully toward like a holistically healthier life and still love where you are right now.
You know.
Yeah, I'm all about Yes, I'm about that. Yeah, I'm like no judgment zone where I'm at. I don't know, I'm not I don't I don't weigh myself. I don't think about I have like I have to really talk to myself when I get into any kind of thought where it's like, oh I should be or I didn't do this today, and so I'm such and such. Yeah, it's like it's really yeah exactly. I think it's about doing what makes you feel good. It makes you feel happy, and I think we all have our own way of doing that.
Yeah, so we hope you're getting your your help onto ba fam. You know, like this is years in the make of child was five years ago. I started with water. I'm just now getting here.
So like, whatever small little thing you can do, whether it's eating a little better, sleeping a little better, taking your walk or run, or you know, do a little strength training, start to add those things on.
You know, someone was like.
You, yes, I love that doing that something with your neighbor, with your kids, something, you know, because if you're going to be here.
On this this this.
Rolling rock that we call earth, you know ideally you want to be and as healthy as you can be so you can enjoy it as long as you can.
So mm hmm kaba fam. We will see you on Friday for b a QA.
Financial questions, business questquestions, career questions, just question questions. You can ask them at Branda Vision podcast dot com, brin A Vision Podcasts at gmail dot com.
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All right, y'all until next week or next until Friday,