​I can not believe I am graduating with my doctorate in Kinesiology this week. So many emotions are stirring. I am so proud to finally finish this dream and goal that started over a decade ago. To be honest, once the business started gaining traction, I had put it in the back pocket for some day that I was unsure would come.

I am also very anxious. Having technically graduated three times (high school, undergrad, and masters), I have only one typical graduation. I was not able to walk at my high school graduation due to a stupid mistake and the school thinking punishing me would be the best option for my future. They were wrong but that story and the ramifications will be told another day. This was probably the worse thing for my abandonment trauma (another story another time lol). I graduated normally for undergrad (thankfully). When I walked graduation for my masters degree, I received a call 3 weeks after with the registrar office telling me I did not graduate and needed one more class. Talk about completely halting my entire plan for the future. This is what led me back to Tampa and eventually starting the business, so I guess it turned out for the better but I still have ptsd flareups from this especially leading up to this graduation. This kind of stress leads me to just freeze, just waiting for the ball to drop. Like I messed up again and graduating isn’t going to happen. I keep checking my transcript and degree works to make sure everything is good, that nothing was missed. I had to physically see the package from the company sending my regalia as they did not provide proper documentation on when it was getting here while I was baby sitting my sister and brother in laws dog. I am already starting to create the schedule of things in order to make it all seem more manageable. I know I can handle it all and have proven with all these previous situations that I am completely capable. Too bad stress does not work like that.

Another feeling that comes up towards this accomplishment is liberated. I was considered dumb growing up and I took that to heart because I was told this before I could figure out who I was. I also was never given the tools to show my intelligence. I then saw those who were considered smart were ridiculed for it and I was already bullied just for existing so I think subconsciously I decided to just play the dumb kid as it was easier than being this complex individual that I was and still am. I finally feel liberated from those labels people put on me and it will be a big weight lifted once I walk across that stage with a prefix on my name that cannot be taken away and that was given due to hard work and determination.

Overall, I am just glad to celebrate and close this chapter. On to the next one soon!

Til next time,
Dr. Mark

​One way I ensure my day is the best it can be is stating my daily affirmations. Affirmations are statements to yourself to reaffirm confidence, build resilience and reduce stress. I started doing affirmations when I started going to therapy in 2017. My therapist set up some affirmations for me to get me started as there was just so much, I needed to work on. Nowadays, I have a set of affirmations that I have made for myself. These are based on things I found in my life that I need help with on a daily basis. I will share some of mine with yall along with the reasoning behind them.

1. You can handle everything that comes your way today- too often growing up something would happen and derail my day. Yet when I state this, it’s a reminder that I have indeed survived and figured out every situation that has come up in my life. If I did not, I would not still be here. Its worth noting, Im not telling my self to have a good day or anything like that because life is full of ups and downs and to place an standard on the day sets me up for failure. This was the 1st one that was ever made.
2. You can be a rabbit- I have a hard time with initiating tasks and with understanding how much time something may take and thus paralyzing action. When I state this, it serves as a reminder that I am capable of doing things when they need to be done and react when its necessary. This was the 3rd ever made. I came up with a rabbit because of their quick movement.
3. It is okay to want attention- Growing up, I felt that most of the attention I ever received was when I did something wrong. Thus I created this connection with attention being negative and went as far as just wanting to fly under the radar for most my life. This created some weird feelings when the studio got all the publicity it got and I turned down and sabotaged numerous opportunities because it felt icky due to this connection I created to survive as a kid. I say this knowing that I am not going to get the attention I want from everyone and that’s okay. This just allows me to acknowledge that its okay and natural to want the attention. Especially when its deserved, like a birthday, graduation or some other big time things.

I currently keep these on my phone, however I started with them on my bathroom mirror. This ensured I saw them daily and said them daily. I currently have them memorized and state them through out the day to help in the different situations.

If you need help figuring out and setting some for you, hit me up. I can help you discover some specific to you.

Sustaining proper nutrition as an autistic individual with food sensitivities is hard. Fruits and veggies tend to taste different with every little piece which can mean only certain ones get picked. This can result in not obtaining proper micronutrients throughout the day. This can cause numerous amounts of issues if not resolved.


Before I get to talking about my own diet through this blog, it is important to note that I am not a registered dietician or a medical doctor. So, it is very important that if you are looking to start anything new, consult with your primary care physician and do not take my diet as something that is meant explicitly for you. I will put this disclaimer for anything regarding my diet or supplements. However, I may have a link towards the bottom of each blog that takes you to the product (possibly discounted) to try after consulting with your physician.

For years and years, I had numerous gut health issues. I will not lie to you or sugarcoat this. I swung from diarrhea to constipation weekly. I had horrible stomach aches at times. This was due to a really poor choice of diet. By the way, when I mention diet, it means the totality of what I am ingesting food-wise. I had up to 48 ounces of Mountain Dew a day. I had pizza at least 2-3 times a week. I would also drink beer most of the week. This not only affected my gut, but I had really bad insomnia that I needed up to 10 mg of melatonin to get me to sleep (enough to down a much bigger person).

Fast forward to shortly after I started my business. I stopped drinking soda regularly, took a multivitamin, and gave up drinking. However, I still had sleeping and gut issues. I saw a product that looked appealing to me to try to bridge this nutritional gap I knew I had but was not able to try it out due to a very tight budget. I was finally able to try this product in late 2020, thanks to an uptick in my business towards the end of that year. This product is called Huel.

Huel is a shake-based meal that is vegan-free. It comes in a bag and is in powder form. I now use the black edition, which has a higher protein content than the original. One meal is two scoops and is 400 calories, no matter which type of Huel you choose. A nutritional label is posted below:

I just realized today I run a fitness brand and have not really posted a blog about it. Silly me. Since I am operating this differently than just a personal training company, I have so much information that I want to share and get lost a lot of times in when to share it with you all. 
When it comes to exercise there are three different groups of reps that are recommended depending on your goals for working out. These are categorized as strength, hypertrophy (growth), or endurance. Strength sets focus on building how much you can lift and are typically under 4 reps per set. Hypertrophy focuses on growing the size of a particular muscle and is recommended for reps of 8-12 per set. Endurance focuses on how many times you can move a given weight and is recommended for reps of 16-24 per set. This does not mean you can grow your muscles with strength training, or you cannot get stronger with endurance sets. These are just the recommendations. 
We got how many reps we need depending on the goal but how many sets are needed for each exercise. So, for strength-based programming, the rule of thumb is at least 4 sets. This gets the total rep count up to 16. For growth-based programming, the rule of thumb is 3-4 sets. This gets the total rep count to 24-32. Then for endurance-based programming, the rule of thumb is 2 sets. This gets the total rep count to 32-48. However, depending on if you are really focusing on one area or not, these may be adjusted to fit.
Reps. Done. Sets. Done. How long do I need to rest for between sets? And no its not when you feel like it. For strength-based exercises, its recommended to wait around 3 minutes between sets. This is due to the energy system being used. For growth-based exercises, its recommended around 90 seconds. Then endurance-based, its recommended to 30 seconds. 
Now you know how many reps, sets and rests you should have depending on your goal, but when do you increase weight? Very good question. This is progression and the recommended rule of thumb for moving up with when it comes to lifting goes by the 2x2 rule. This rule states that if you can manage 2 more reps on your final set for 2 consecutive workouts then you can move up in weight. An example of this would be if you're lifting on a machine chest press for 3 sets of 8. If you can lift the current weight 10 times on the last of the 3 sets for 2 consecutive workouts, then you can move up. I have different methods of progression that I acquired working with my clientele, but I've been told that's a company secret. lol 
Till next time,
Dr. Mark

You may be looking at the title and telling yourself, "I thought you're a fitness expert, why talk about mental health?" Because physical health and mental health are connected. I have seen numerous individuals improve one and it helps with the other, throughout my career. While I always want to get someone to exercise first, it may be a better option for them to work on decreasing stress through other means first. I say this because I've dealt with individuals that typically have lower tolerances for stress. This means even light exercise could be overwhelming. So, what are some ways to reduce stress outside of exercise? I'm going to talk about a few techniques that I use to help increase my tolerance for stress during my day, thus improving my mental health. I'll go into more detail in different blogs for each.

1. Meditate- Taking time out of your day just to be present with your body allows you to understand how you feel any certain day. 
2. Journaling- Writing down what occurred during a day is a great way to visualize it and then release it so it no longer weighs you down thinking about it.
3. Limit caffeine- Caffeine reduces the brains ability to feel sleepy and can put the body in fight or flight which can make it harder to be present in your day.
4. Drink water- Our bodies are made of water. Does it always taste as good as soda? No. But it helps keep the body doing all the things it needs to do to keep us alive and healthy.
5. Personal Boundaries- Creating personal boundaries between yourself and everything else in your world. If you're off work, then you're off work. 

Do not implement all 5 at once as that can overwhelm the brain that craves consistency and changing that can make the brain upset. 

​It feels like forever ago that I have written specifically about Autism. I stepped into advocacy for Autistic people way back in 2016/17 when I not only worked for an ABA company but started my blog that held the same title. I have learned so much in that time frame of all the intricacies of this subculture. I learned that I do have sensory sensitivities, and they can lead me to be quite overstimulated and overwhelmed. Something that was not even mentioned when I was diagnosed at age 11. I have learned how supportive some people are in the community, but like a lot of subcultures, there are people who will try to take advantage of you for their own means. I hope to write on so many more of these things in the coming months and years. For today, just now, there are those out there who see you and the battles you fight every day and are doing their best to fight alongside you. Enjoy your Journey today! - Dr. Mark