Tag: Nutrition

Stay Hydrated

I used to drink copious amounts of soda when I was a teenager-early twenties because it was cheap and I was addicted to sugar.

Nowadays, I value my brain and performance on and off the bike so much more that I prioritize my health by staying hydrated.

Did you know quality salt helps you stay hydrated? Not the white table salt that’s heated, treated with chemicals, and stripped of all important minerals that contribute to hydration. I use Redman’s Real Salt

I add a pinch or two to my water during riding/training and in my protein shakes afterwards. I also add some throughout the day on all my food. Tastes better and helps the body in so many ways beyond simple hydration. 💚✌️

-Josh P.

Fail & I Fail Some More

We, as BMX athletes, fail more times in a day than people are willing to in a lifetime. BMX teaches us how to get up when we fall and try again. Not to look at it as a failure, rather a learning opportunity.

The difference between “failure” and “success” is the information we gather and the choices we make moving forward. It’s all just information for us to utilize to reach our next success.

Assess what happened and how you want to move forward. This applies to any aspect of life. Success is not easy, quick, or overnight for anyone. There is a lot of background effort to reach that success. Yes, some success are easier than others. But, that’s also built off of the foundation created over time.

When you fall down in any respect of life, don’t be discouraged. Be motivated to use that as an opportunity to learn and grow. Just like any trick, success takes patience, effort, and conscious thinking and self-awareness. 💚✌️

Taken from this Vlog:

-Josh P.

Outwork the Negativity 

Doubt and fear, among many other negative beliefs, are just that. Beliefs. Not facts. We choose what to believe. Sadly, many are born into “traditional” beliefs and/or believe in what society suggests to be what they should believe. I sure did. Then through a few life or death situations, an exploration to figure out who I was and what I wanted out of life, and pursuing what I love, I created my own beliefs from the data I’ve collected over my short 29 years on this planet as who they call “Josh Perry”. I encourage you all to do what you love and push through the fear and doubt that arises, no matter what it’s origin is. It’s up to you in which you believe. Fear, or love. Choose love. It’s much more enjoyable. 💚✌️
-Josh P.

Success Is Rented 

People think success is easy for some or “over-night” for others. FALSE! Success is a constant work in progress or practice, if you will. 
It’s day in and day out choices we make to better our lives. It’s a constant effort. It may looks “easy” to some, but that’s because they enjoy what they do. 
When you lead a path of little to no resistance, have gratitude for your life, work hard to be the best you can be, visualize the life you want and take action towards it, success is inevitable. 
Set a goal, have a WHY or purpose for that goal, visualize and take action, and believe in yourself. That’s all it takes. 💯💚✌️
-Josh P. 

Depression or Deep Rest?

People are scared to talk about depression for fear of being judged. As someone who has gone through it and gained a new perspective on what depression is compared to sadness, I found that most confuse the two.
 The difference between sadness and depression is…sadness is from “happens stance,” as in whatever happened or didn’t happen to you. This could be loss, circumstance, grief, or whatever it is. Depression is your body saying “fuck you, I don’t want to be this character anymore. I don’t want to hold up this avatar you’ve created in the world.”
Depression is your body and mind going into deep rest. Your body feels it needs to be depressed. It needs deep rest from the character you’ve been trying to play. Depression comes about when there is an imbalance and/or resistance with your inner true self and the version of you you’re trying to hold up to societal standards and what you think “they” want you to do, say, or become.
As you know, I am a huge advocate for nutrition and exercise. It is not only for physical well being, but also your mental health. When we make positive choices within the three pinnacles of health (nutrition, exercise & mindset) they play a fundamental role in the health of our mitochondria. The mitochondria are the “powerhouses” of our cells that create the energy our body, and most importantly our brain, uses to function called ATP. When the three pinnacles are weakened or out of balance, they compromise the strength of our mitochondria resulting in less energy production which creates anxiety, depression, fatigue and overall dis-ease. 
Once I began taking my fitness and nutrition seriously and I let go of what I thought “they” wanted me to do, say, and/or become, and just did what I felt deep down inside to be true to my loving inner voice, the depression, anxiety, fear, and worry all stripped away little by little the more I stayed true to myself and followed my gut and my heart.
I’ll say this again and again, do what you love and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Take care of your body. You know best and so does your gut. 💚✌️

-Josh P.

Training Is Just For Money? 

Training isn’t about “money”, “winning”, or any other nonsense people want to say it is. At least for me and what I represent. 
Training is about taking care of my health and my performance with the thing I love most in life, and creating longevity for all the above. Yeah, training will improve your riding. But that doesn’t mean it’s focused on money or winning. 
Take me for example, I decided to not compete this year nor take a paycheck from anything bmx related. I still rode at a level to compete and also trained in the gym. That was my personal decision to do so for my health and performance on my bike. It’s made tricks easier, recovering more efficient, sessions stretch longer without fatigue, and increased the ability to take the physical stress from landing or falling on a trick. What’s also an equal part of this equation is nutrition and mindset. 
That being said, all this shit about “bmx is just about fun” and blah blah blah is just that, shit. Ones ignorance and insecurity at its finest along with inability to embrace others to do something similar yet take a different approach. Nothing about my riding or career says anything but fun and love for it. If I was focused on money, I would have kept the job I had in high school making twice what I’ve ever made from bmx, which would have been way more by now as well. I don’t do anything for money, I donit for the love! 
Bmx has led me to where I am today, shown me paths to passions I’ve developed along the way, shown me the world, saved my life, and gave me a outlet to share my story and passions. Some, like myself, find training fun as well as the benefits that transfer over to the bike to be fun. 
It’s funny how many riders enjoy training just from the health perspective and enjoyment, let alone the riding benefits, and the disciplines of riding that people least expect one rider in such a discipline or stay of riding to train. 
At the end of the day, if you love something, do what you love! Don’t be afraid others doing it differently or taking a different approach will change whatever it is for you. Bmx is a lifestyle and anyone who wants to use the term “freestyle” to say it has to be one way and can’t involved progressive new ideas is missing the whole point of “freestyle”. 
What’s wrong with someone loving the sport of BMX so much that they decide to make a career out of it? What’s wrong with someone putting their heart, blood, sweat, and tears into something for so long they want to make a career out it that and share it with others? What’s wrong with making money in any form that’s positive? There isn’t anything wrong with it other than the judgmental people’s views that have a negative relationship and story with money. 
I’ve said this before, money is a tool. It’s not good nor evil. It what you make it. There isn’t anything wrong with someone making money at what they live rather than what society has been washed into thinking the way they just make money- unfulfilled, stressed, no enjoyment, 9-5, hourly pay, etc. 
BMX is something special to me a lot of other riders. The amount of sacrifice, dedication, and pain that has gone into should be enough to not need an explanation for training or even making money from the time and skill that goes into it. 
I encourage you all to take a risk on what you love, ignore the haters, and believe in the life you want. Why live to do something you don’t enjoy just to make money when you could do what you love to make money and enjoy the fuck out of your life? 
I train so my brain, body, and riding all benefit. Not for money. For me! For what I am and what I want to show up as in life. I don’t care what others think because I know my truth and I’m being 100% authentic in life. 
Until next time….💚✌️
-Josh P. 

Fear or Love? 

 “You will only ever have two choices: love or fear. Choose love and don’t ever let fear turn you against your playful heart” – Jim Carrey
Far too often do I hear people give me all kinds of excuses as to why they are unhappy, suffering, and/or didn’t/don’t follow their dreams or passions in life. Bottom line, it’s because of fear. Fear of failure or failure again, fear of the unknown, fear of what others may say or think, fear of even succeeding and what that’ll do to their life, and so on. I’ve been there, many times. 
Any successful person has. The difference? Gratitude, love, and a choice to not let fear dictate your life. I encourage you all to figure out what it is you love to do most, WHY that is so, and how to make that a regular habit in your life while ditching the excuses. Life’s way more pleasant that way. 💚✌️
This Video trailer is from the original vlog I made at the beginning of this year “JP Weeklies”. Here is the link to the full episode 

-Josh P 

WHY

WHY we do anything is a million times more important than what we do. 

WHY is the driving force behind what anyone does, whether they are conscious of it or not. Whether they like what they do or not. 

There is a reason WHY they set out for that path and the more conscious we become of our decisions, the more we can navigate to the lives we want. 

Find what you want to do in life and be conscious to your WHY. It will help navigate your path to success and keep you motivated in times of doubt. 💚✌️

-Josh P.

Thanks To My Health

Gratitude is, in my opinion, the single most crucial aspect of life.

With the holidays coming, it seems to be the one time of the year everyone, for the most part, agrees on gratitude being so important.

I disagree, though.

Not with celebrating gratitude, or with my first statement, but the fact we dedicate one time a year to be grateful.

It’s great and all, but I believe it’s a facade concealing a business. But that’s a whole other topic.

Back to gratitude. Gratitude has been a game changer for who I am, how I live my life, the relationships I have built, the career I have developed, the health I maintain, how others perceive me, and how I move forward with my life and set goals. See, I used to be ungrateful. Very ungrateful.

Then one day my life was threatened. Then again and again. AND, still.

When you’re 21 and told “you are going to die” if you do not go into risky cranial surgery to remove a massive brain tumor taking up the lef portion of your brain and may die, even so, your perspective on life and what really matters shifts.

Then when it happens two more times, you get serious about this change of perspective. All the petty drama and negativity, we seem to let grab our attention and focus easily, goes right out the window. Why? Because it doesn’t matter at the end of the day and has no real affect on our lives when we stop and give it thought.

Once we shift our perspective in life and focus on the things that matter to us most, our health, family, friends, happiness, fulfillment, etc., gratitude starts to manifest itself every day in new ways. That is precisely what happened to me eight years ago and then again six years ago, and recently earlier this year.

No one thinks they are going to run into major health concerns or even having to face death at an early age. Or at least they don’t consciously think about the possibility. Why? Because we are all so focused on living but, not in this current moment. We are worried about the future and what we are going to do after school, what we are going to do for a career, how much money we “need” to make, what others will think of us, what happens if we take a risk on what we truly want rather than what we are told to want, etc. I was wrapped up in this.

When we are living in this state, it creates dis-ease, which creates “disease.”

Although I was pursuing my dream with massive success, I was still in a state of fear, worry, lack, and judgment. Once I began to shift my perspectives, I saw massive improvements in my life and those around me. This included taking my health into my own hands regarding nutrition, fitness, and mindset, and focusing on doing the things I loved, and what I think is the second most important thing in life, WHY we do anything.

Today I live, ride, train, and coach with 4 brain tumors in my skull and I wouldn’t have it any other way. No, honestly. People say “that’s gotta be the worst thing that ever happened to you.” No way! It changed my life around 180 and all for the best. It took that moment to show me what was important in life and teach me what gratitude truly is. Things could always be worse in our lives, and I don’t think people give that statement the credit it deserves. Don’t agree? Well, the fact that you have an opinion on this backs my statement. YOU ARE ALIVE!

Thanks, to my health, I can continue living my dream, develop new passions, and what I think is the greatest, I can share my experiences, beliefs, love, and support with others around the world in an effort for us all to live as healthy and happy as possible. It starts with gratitude, and it begins with us, then it spreads throughout the lives we lead.

 

-Josh P.

Trust The Process

“When we focus on results, we don’t get change.

When we focus on change, we get results”

 

I heard this quote in 2013 by a dietician while enrolled in the Institue for Integrative Nutrition, and it has stuck with me since. I believe in it so much that I have aligned my life, goals,  and all my actions around this quote.

 

I must admit, I was skeptical of change providing me the results I desired for a while at first and didn’t want to make some necessary changes I knew I needed to make. My ego stepped in and told me that being settled into what I was familiar with, even though I was not happy, was better than the unknown.

 

I began to put my faith in this quote once I started to make some much needed and long overdue changes in my life. Whether they were difficult or easy, I started to see the small changes take place in my life and then the results followed. It was enough to make me a believer and since fully believing, I see so much progression in terms of results.

 

I noticed along the way that when I get cocky and comfortable with my ways, I begin to get anxious and stressed out. My mind and body don’t like to be stagnant, and goals don’t like this either. I am a big lover of discipline and my routines, but I know full heartedly now that change is inevitable and the more we fight change, the more tension and resistance we create along the path to achieving the results we want.

 

Once I get back to implementing change into my routine while still fostering discipline,  the stress, fear, and anxieties disappear.

 

If we are only interested in results, we defeat the purpose. The process is the purpose. There is no destination. We are always evolving, internally and externally, and must embrace the journey because, at the end of the day, the journey is, in fact, the “destination”.

💚✌️

 

-Josh P.