garagegym107

Author Archive for Michelle Simpson

Jul

Lazy Arse

Categories: Morphing of a Fit Woman
Tags: Body-for-Life, BodyBuilding, Bright Spots, change, Clean Eating, Community, exercise, fat loss, fitness, Garagegym107, Goal Setting, Motivation, Training, Weight Lifting, weight loss, Workout

This evening my spousal unit and I were driving down the road. We were talking about health and well-being as we age. I made a comment about getting my lazy behind up each morning. He laughed and said “you are far from lazy”.

I haven’t thought about being lazy in a very long time. Lazy created havoc in my world years ago and I refuse to go back there. But enough of that.

I have often wondered what drives my desire to get up and keep moving day in and day out. Maybe it’s simply my joie de vivre that keeps me moving. Maybe it’s the people I get to see along my path. The guy in the gym that sometimes beats me there, yet always nods. The body pump instructor that teaches 5:30am classes and is always smiling even though I don’t take her class.

When it gets down to it, it’s the feeling of the iron in my hands, the strength it brings, the frustration on the days it breaks me. Iron doesn’t talk back, it just keeps giving more challenge. Iron doesn’t care if I am weak, it will wait for my strength. Iron doesn’t care if I’m scared, it will wait for me to overcome my fear.

Lazy doesn’t live here anymore.

Jul

Choose Wisely

By garagegym107 6 Comments

Categories: Morphing of a Fit Woman
Tags: Body-for-Life, BodyBuilding, Bright Spots, change, Clean Eating, Community, CrossFit, Garagegym107, Goal Setting, Inspiration, Long term weight loss, Weight Lifting, weight loss, Well-Being, Working out, Workout

I’ve learned a lot about fitness, food, workouts, etc. The one thing that applies to all is to choose wisely. In all aspects and remember that each facet of your fitness will flow over to the next.

If you are trying to find a coach/trainer to help you take it to the next level try digging a little. I’ve often felt like I was being interviewed by the trainers that I talked to. Almost as if they were trying to size up whether I was worthy of being taken on as a client. Pfhhhtt, it’s my money, I’ll do the interviewing thank you. Talk to people who know them, people who have trained under them, ask for references, call the references and get feedback. If the trainer is good, they won’t hesitate to give you the information. If they flat refuse, perhaps they are not the trainer for you.

Food is always such a hard topic to discuss because there are so many different “plans” for people to follow. Choose wisely. Simply put, the best foods you can eat are the foods that have been processed as little as possible. Fresh veggies, fruits, lean meats, things that require very little effort if you learn the basics in the kitchen. You want starches? Choose wisely, a sweet potato or squash is a whole lot better for your body than a over-sized (eye-eyeballed) serving of pasta. And remember, you can’t out train a bad diet.

Workouts can be just about as confusing as food. Choose wisely. Set yourself some measurable goals, measurable means specific things you can put a tape measure or mathematical calculation to and determine if you are progressing.

Measurable goal examples:

Reduce/increase inches: neck, shoulders, biceps, chest, waist, hips, thighs, calves.

Increase 1 rep max dead-lift to xyz.

Run 5 additional flights of stadium stairs before a x time cap.

If you struggle to go it alone, hiring a coach can be a great thing. But don’t go into it blindly, don’t trust your outcome to someone you haven’t checked up on. Ask around, if you are uncomfortable asking around the gyms, ask around the nutrition stores they usually know all of the local trainers.

Need a goal? Set yourself an appointment with a professional photographer for six months from your start date. Hold yourself accountable at the highest level. Keep a log. Take progress pictures every 4 weeks.

If you can go it alone, and you feel confident in your own ability, write down your plan and follow it to the letter. Hold yourself as accountable as you would expect a coach to hold you. Educate yourself on nutrition, don’t blindly follow along. What works for one doesn’t always work for another.

Jul

Unsung Hero’s

By garagegym107 Leave a Comment

Categories: Off Topic Posts
Tags: health-care, in home health care, in home health sitters, loved ones, Unsung Hero's

At 4:27am July 5th, our family lost a great mentor, father, father-in-law, husband, grandfather and friend. My post isn’t about mourning the loss, that’s a very private thing for me.

This post is about some things I learned that I never knew about before my father-in-law’s very short battle with cancer.

During the process of his care, I learned some things that I think are of the utmost importance to be shared with the masses.

1) Never assume your loved ones will get the attention they need. Stay on top of the daily activity and fight for their needs. If you don’t they will fall to the bottom of the list, especially as they age.

2) If your parents are older, go with them to the physician if they are diagnosed with cancer. Ask ALL of the most critical questions regarding quality of life with and without treatment.

3) Do your research regarding home care to determine what is best for the patient AND the family.

As I sit here writing this post, I think of the most helpful people of our entire journey. No offense to my friends who are nurses.

These people are called “sitters” at least in our area. They come in 4 hour shifts to help the family do things for their loved ones. They bathe them, change the bedding, clothing, etc. They launder the sheets and will voluntarily do any light cleaning you may need them to do as well. People even in illness have a great deal of dignity, having someone other than a family member to “change them” means much more than you can imagine.

As I sat through the last days and nights with my father-in-law, I realized that these unsung hero’s were the most compassionate and caring people I’d had the pleasure of meeting through this entire process.

I also thought of the people out there who are sick and have no family, or those who do not have the means to hire a service like this to help.

Moving forward in my life, I will give this service as a gift when I can. I cannot imagine how much more difficult this process would have been if it had only been the four of us that stayed with my father-in-law day in and day out without those wonderful people. They came in shifts that we chose to split up by four-hour shifts we took ourselves. If was relieving to be able to step into another room and not leave him alone.

At first we were concerned about “strangers in the house” etc., phfffttt. Looking back we absolutely were blessed, grateful, and relieved by their sincere compassion and help.

One would say with cynicism “well you paid for a service” and my sharp retort would be “we paid for medical care that was not even mediocre at best” during our hospital stay and rehab stay.

These are very special people and grossly unsung hero’s. Do your research, find a company that someone can recommend to you. Give a shift or even better give a week. Your gift will be far greater than anything you can imagine.

Jul

Using A Journal Part 2

By garagegym107 Leave a Comment

Categories: Morphing of a Fit Woman
Tags: Body-for-Life, Clean Eating, Community, exercise, food, gaining self confidence, Goal Setting, goals, Gym, health, healthy-living, Inspiration, Long term weight loss, Motivation, Weight Lifting, Well-Being, Working out, Workout

As I discussed in my previous post I began using a journal to record everything again after six months off from my workout journal and I really can’t say how long it’s been with the food journal.

I’ve been on again, off again with the LOSE IT app. I like Lose It. Another thing that requires integrity, but at least you can scan bar codes and access that app from your phone and your computer. I’m still a WRITE IT DOWN girl. Something about writing it down is acknowledgement for me. It’s personal accountability and I know that when I have a trainer get involved, that will be the first thing they ask for.

So after 9 days of keeping a daily journal, as per my expectations I see things that need to be tapped back in to place. I do very well when my meals are planned and prepared in advance.

It’s easy to sit and type about greatness. It’s easy to sit and type about rah-rah cheering people on. When you have to get down and dirty and spill the truth about things you could be doing better, it’s really hard.

A friend said once… “I’m not going to tell you this is easy because when you are screwing up you’ll think there is something wrong with you, there isn’t. It’s just hard.”

No truer words were ever spoken.

I’m sitting here typing this blog thinking of all of the not on plan foods I’ve had over the last four days. It’s not horrible. But it’s not great either. I’m not trying to be perfect. I’m trying to be better than the day before.

I’ve noticed that when I eat something off plan, I tend to scribble it down almost illegibly so. Ha! Like I think “someone” can’t figure it out. Uh…someone is ME.

I live with a junk food junkie. That’s not an excuse, that is a fact. I love Precision Nutrition. They clearly say “If there is junk food in the house you will eat it…eventually”. I’m good about steering clear of it. In fact 98% of the time I do.

The only drawback to any plan saying “get rid of all the bad stuff in your house”, well that is just not possible in every house. My spousal unit ate the same way he eats now when we married. I changed, that isn’t his fault. He’s not overweight or unhealthy. I’m jealous because I have the metabolism of a person who gained 168# in two years and proceeded to lose 125# of it in a year. I don’t care what anyone says, that jacks up your system. No excuse.

So is the 2% margin of error enough to screw up my goals?

Perhaps.

The question is not that, the question is whether the journal is helping me to stay the course.

Without a doubt.

It helps me to recognize and realize that I’m much more comfortable and relaxed when I do food prep. THAT makes me feel more successful in and of itself.

WRITE IT DOWN. You’ll learn a lot in the process.

Jun

Don’t Forget

By garagegym107 23 Comments

As I make the decision to take my training and nutrition to the next level I often forget where I started. It usually takes a conversation with someone I’m meeting for the first time to gently remind me of how far I’ve come.

I’ve got “battle scars” both mentally and physically related to all the weight gain. There will always be the potential that I will be disappointed when I get to the next level but I’ll deal with that down the road IF need be.

There is no sense setting myself up for failure before I even start. You see, I see that all the time.

Some women see photo’s like:

Mine

My friend Michelle

Lifting My Spirits

And they instantly start saying “that’s impossible”, “that’s photo-shop”, “that’s not the same person as the before” and those are nice comments.

After Lifting My Spirits recently competed in her second Body Building show placing 3rd (Congrats again), one of the FaceBook threads I subscribe to showed her before and after photo’s. Sometimes I just read through comments to get a feel for the support she is receiving and it never fails that there are some comments made about the transformation not being real. Some nasty comments are made by women that can only come from a place of misery and disbelief in themselves. So strongly disbelieving they never even take the first step to try to make a change.

I’ve seen videos of LMS and had private conversations with her and I’ve spent weekends with my friend Michelle. These women are just as real as I am. We chose not to hide our transformations, we chose to share them openly with the masses in hopes that we can inspire and reach another person who “thinks they can” but just haven’t committed to following through just yet.

The irony is that pictures do speak a thousand words of success.

What you will never see is the sweat, the tears, and the fear that we all had in the very beginning of our journeys.

You will never see the early mornings or late nights in the gym.

You won’t see the turning down of birthday cake or cupcakes so we stayed on task with our goals.

You won’t see the days where decisions were made to stay the course instead of having instant gratification in the form of food.

Thanks to the internet you can however now get a glimpse of food prep being done.

For those of you beginning and for those of you setting goals, not a single one of us will ever tell you this is easy. But it is certainly worth every last bit of it. If it weren’t? We wouldn’t so willingly keep doing what we do.

Jun

More Morphing of a Fit Woman

By garagegym107 7 Comments

As I read through a few friends blogs this weekend I realized that I could be doing some things a tad bit or even a whole LOT better.

In example over at 43 Fitness she whips out her workout log and shows all of her readers the key points and highlights that she relies on that notebook to remind her of. I love it.

I have several workout books/logs, but over the past 6 months or so I’ve gotten out of the habit of doing it daily and that has got to change. It doesn’t matter what the reason is behind not keeping up with it, all that matters is that needs to change. Today.

Keeping a journal of both food and workouts is the ONLY way a coach or trainer or faithful friends can help you figure out why you’ve hit a plateau or whether you are making excuses. Accountability.

I am weak. I need accountability. I admit it.

Underneath it all I am as normal as they come. I want to cheat on my food and so long as no one saw me eat that extra handful of nuts, it doesn’t matter right? Uh huh.

Oh last week I cleaned 95# 15 times but this week I’m just too tired to clean 85# 10 times. Uh huh.

As long as it is not written down, it doesn’t matter, right? Uh huh.

See the pattern?

While watching the video 43 Fitness did, I remembered a time way back when. Yes, a long time ago. I was keeping my very first food journal. I remember making it through the first week with everything nice and tidy. During the second week things started to change. One day I ate 4 chocolate covered Oreo cookies. In my mind they are a whole lot better than they are in my mouth these days. Now they just taste overly processed. I digress…

The day I sat with that food journal getting ready to write down those cookies, all sorts of feelings cascaded through my mind. Shame and guilt were in the front row. Followed by honesty. Honesty said “write it down and be uncomfortable with it”. Shame and guilt applauded the uncomfortable part.

That was the turning point for me with keeping a food journal. Most of the time I no longer need it. Seriously, most of the time I’m spot on with both meal planning and portions. When it is time to set a new goal, it is time to journal.

In reality, I do believe that is just what my fitness goals need to come to fruition.

A journal should be filled with all of the important details of your workouts and your nutrition. If you lift you want to keep up with the lifting progressions. Try new things that challenge your body. Sometimes they don’t work out for you. If you journal it, you won’t likely make the same mistake twice.

When keeping a food journal, you must have integrity. I promise you, strong character is built when no one else is watching. Because the only person you are cheating is yourself.

WRITE IT DOWN. You may be surprised at patterns that develop. Patterns that can help you understand whether you sabotage yourself. Patterns that help you understand if you are a stress eater. WRITE IT DOWN. Over time you’ll get stronger because you won’t eat it because you don’t want to WRITE IT DOWN.

I talked to the spousal unit last night and told him it was time for more serious goal setting and record keeping. He is the best “are you SURE you want to eat that” person on the planet. Especially when he knows I have a goal set.

As with most everything, I intend to share the new journal process with you all. Hopefully I can start making a few videos along the way.

Jun

Be A Fighter

By garagegym107 1 Comment

I read a lot of blogs, a lot of FaceBook posts, and a lot of email asking questions and for help in making lasting change. I’m honored and humbled by every email I receive because I’m just an ordinary person who has become a fighter.

What does that mean exactly? It means I have committed to myself everyday to fight for the fitness I want. It means I refuse to settle for status quo. It means even when I’m not spot on, I press on consistently. Getting knocked down and getting back up again to go at it another day. Preventing the decline, slowly creating a fit body and mind for myself.

I don’t have all of the answers, even for myself, but I work hard to educate myself on topics that will assist in my efforts to take things on to the next chapter in my journey.

Often we encounter set-backs, at times it is even possible to be indirectly set-back by another person’s decision. What do you do? Become a fighter. Stay the course, keep training, keep doing what you can with what you have. Stay true to you.

A little music motivation courtesy of Gym Class Hero’s.

Jun

My Thoughts On Being Strong

By garagegym107 6 Comments

My last blog was letting all my blogging friends know I was competing in a strongman competition as a way to honor my father-in-law who is currently battling cancer.

It’s taken me a full week to get my thoughts together and to make a picture video of the event.

Things I learned while competing. First, I’m stronger than I think I am. Second, I have some of the best people on this planet in my cheering section. Third, fear is much bigger in my head than after taking the first step in a competition.

This event has been the highlight over the past month. I watched friends PR (get a personal record) all day long. We all got dirty together, we sweat together, encouraged each other and we encouraged total strangers through tough workouts.

If I’m not mistaken, the next closest competitor in my age group was 14 years younger than me, and on average most were 20-25 years younger. Yes, I questioned my own sanity a time or two for coming out and competing with kids, but it’s not about beating them, it’s about being a better me than I was yesterday. As you will see by the pictures, I carried heavy things, flipped tires, pulled a sled 50 meters and got a personal record of 240# on my dead-lift.

The best thing I did that day was set an example for a group of young women who now see that aging doesn’t mean you have to stop doing things that challenge you. Being smart about my fitness, keeping myself healthy and injury free allows me to compete in this environment.

What a great day.

On the mornings I head out to Garagegym107 to row, I see the before pictures hanging on the wall and remember where I was and that I am unwilling to go back there. It can be done, it is being done. Day in and day out, me vs. me. I live by the mindset, there is no finish line.

Pictures courtesy of CrossFit Madison

Video: A special thanks to Jason Thompson

Song: The Script-Hall of Fame

May

Show Me Your Brave

By garagegym107 6 Comments

Today’s blog is a bit deep, but hear me out.

My last blog was about stepping up in the face of challenge and adversity. I blogged about an overwhelming workload etc., however, what I didn’t share with my blogging friends is that my father-in-law over the last 4 weeks has begun a full on war with stage IV cancer.

I don’t share an overwhelming amount of personal information because I don’t want to distract my readers with personal noise.

About 3 months ago, I registered for Beast of the Valley Strongman competition. Over the past 3 weeks I’ve come up with about 20 excuses to bail out.

Yesterday, while watching my father-in-law struggle to consume an 8 oz nutritional drink I had a complete mindset change.

Tomorrow I will do this competition for him, in honor of his battle, my internal battle will be fought for him. No excuses, just results. To all of my super supportive friends, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your love and support. To the athletes of CrossFit Madison THANK YOU for bringing me joy each morning that I am allowed to coach you through your workouts.

Tomorrow it will be about having the courage to fight this fight along with him.

You see 6 weeks ago, my father-in-law was an avid tennis player at 79 years young and today, 6 short weeks later he has mentally decided to show us his brave. This could happen to ANY of us. Don’t take a single day for granted. Get up and do everything YOU can do to take care of your body and soul because you can.

Thank you to Lifting My Spirits for introducing me to this song.

To all of the strong and beautiful women I know who are competing from all over town tomorrow, I’m so proud to be a part of this community no matter where our home bases are, we are a family built on strong values of supporting one another.

May

Look Around You

By garagegym107 14 Comments

I have been on my fitness journey for 11 years and 5 months, but who’s counting. I’d have to say the one thing that still amazes me is how often I continue to choose to “raise the bar” both in mindset and in physical training.

It is as if the few moments after I become comfortable with a skill I’ve finally mastered, it is suddenly time to move on to the next task at hand. I’m sure some of my friends think I should slow down and try to break this sense of driven I have, but for me, it is not that simple.

For me it is life. My life. I’ve fought my way back from a place where hundreds of thousands of people resign themselves to live in for the rest of their days. More than likely not because they WANT to stay there, but instead, they decide it is too hard a battle to fight to leave that place. Trust me, I know all too well how tough that battle is.

Here lately I’ve found myself noticing more and more how unhealthy folks are getting. Perhaps that feeds my drive.

I’m not getting any younger. But through my fitness bar raising I’m able to prevent the decline for another day or two.

Seems rather like a hamster in a wheel doesn’t it?

Truth of the matter is, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Look around you. Really look. I’m in the minority, the doer’s. The get up and give the aging process a swift kick in the arse people.

Also known at work as the woman with the muscles. The hardass. The one who consistently trains day in and day out. Those who know me, absolutely know that I’m harmless, yet one of the best trainers they’ll find. I care. I want others to feel the success that I’ve had and continue to strive for. Nothing brings me more joy than watching someone else achieve a goal they set for themselves.

I thank God everyday that I am a healthy, fit person. In that thanks, I also remind myself that it is truly a blessing to be physically able to pursue the goals that I have set for myself. There are just too many others out there who are not able too. So if you are able to and chose not to…shame on you. Use what you have and make a better life for yourself. Don’t be status-quo.

Just look around you.

Follow Blog via Email

Join 1,261 other subscribers

garagegym107

Author Archive for Michelle Simpson

Lazy Arse

Choose Wisely

Unsung Hero’s

Using A Journal Part 2

Don’t Forget

More Morphing of a Fit Woman

Be A Fighter

My Thoughts On Being Strong

Show Me Your Brave

Look Around You

Recent Posts

Archives

Categories

Blogroll

Meta

Follow Blog via Email