Author Archive for Michelle Simpson

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05
Nov
12

Flash Cards

By garagegym107 2 Comments
Categories: Precision Nutrition Certification
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Just typing that subject reminds me that some things, no matter how old school, still work.

I spent a couple of hours getting caught up on making the flash cards for the key terms in the introduction and chapters 1 and 2.

Things are progressing along and each time I sit and study I am reminded that you are truly never too old to learn.  I’m also reminded that to pass, you must study.  I truly don’t believe I could fly through this material and nail the test.  It’s going to take hard work and discipline on my part.  It’s worth the work. 

It’s been years since I’ve had writer’s cramp.  Bring it ON!

02
Nov
12

You Just Never Know

By garagegym107 4 Comments
Categories: Living Fit Daily
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I have a very small personal training business with only out-of-pocket money for equipment and so on.  That being said, I recently put together an order for some cool Garagegym107 sweat shirts (special order only).   I must say I have been very humbled by the ladies who have gotten shirts.  Just the sheer fact that they are wearing my blog name on their back is humbling.

This morning in the gym, I was asked to order more shirts.  When I stop and think of the fact that my friends and family are willing to wear them I get all teary-eyed.  It is a very special thing for me.  You just never know who’s reading or who might be hearing a much needed message.

My little brother would probably laugh at me for being sappy.  But deep down he remembers how unhappy I was before I started my weight-loss journey. 

I want people to look at those shirts and google this blog from those fancy smart phones everyone has now-a-days and I want them to see the about tab.

I want people to know that this is me keeping it real and spreading the message that if you want to get fit YOU can.

If you want to beat the odds, YOU can.

If you want to take a step to a healthier life, YOU can. 

But the real kicker here  is YOU.

There are days that this journey isn’t easy, but it is always doable.  The statement “how bad do you want it?” is often used. 

For me it’s “How good do you want to feel today?”. 

For me that feeling good comes from doing the right things for me.  Whether that’s clean food, a hard workout, a free meal or a rest day.  Getting to the point of even understanding what your body needs takes time and patience.  But it’s so worth every single second and every tear you may shed.  Anything worth having is worth working for.

Everyday we go through this life just trying to live through it.  I ask you, what are you doing to really LIVE?

For now just keep moving forward.

 

 

 

31
Oct
12

Be Authentic…Be You.

By garagegym107 4 Comments
Categories: Morphing of a Fit Woman

My most favorite blogger CultFit said that in a comment to me.  I love that statement. 

Be authentic:  true to one’s own personality, spirit, or character.

Ever tried to be authentic?  Being who you are without pretense, without bending to someone else’s expectations can be very difficult.  Especially if you don’t like who you are.

I tried conforming to all sorts of things, the perfect wife, the perfect mother, the perfect employee.  Is there even such a thing?  The more I tried to conform the more miserable I became.

Don’t waste time trying to be perfect.  Instead enjoy spending time being who you really are.  If you don’t know who you really are, start trying to figure that out.  What are your moral values?  If you stand in always doing the right thing, that’s a great start.  What do you like to do when you are by yourself?

I used to be so jammed up trying to be what other people wanted me to be I had no idea what to do with myself when I was alone.  Now I find enjoyment in the simplest things.  Reading, really good coffee, studying and when I’m lucky, working out with friends.

I can remember when I used to feel like working out and eating clean were a temporary thing and would eventually be over.  I’m so grateful both of those things are part of me and my authentic life.  Not because others think I should be doing them, but instead because I know they are right for me.

29
Oct
12

Mmmmm…Eating Humble Pie

By garagegym107 Leave a Comment
Categories: Morphing of a Fit Woman
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I love my life and I love my friends and family even more.

Friday I wrote about my little adventure with the magazine in my chair.   Pay close attention because here is where the humble pie comes in. 

Bright and early this morning one of my most favorite people from work came in to my office and closed the door behind himself.  And don’t miss that…He is one of my favorite people! 

He said “I left the magazine in your chair so you would READ THE ARTICLES in it”.   Talk about taking a huge bite of humble pie!!   HE READS MY BLOG!!  🙂

You see the insecurity of “what if they think I have too much muscle” came floating across my brain at the moment I picked up that magazine.  Not once did I think that there was an ounce of good intention associated with the magazine being left in my chair.

Shame on me.  Jumping to negative conclusions is an old habit that I’m obviously still trying to break free from.  I have to say that 99% of the time I believe in the positive.  In that 1% of negative I always find a lesson.

I thought about the “too much muscle” topic over the weekend.  Working through my own mindset to see if some how my goals would change.  My goals haven’t changed and now that this contemplation has worked through the process I’m even more convinced that I’m on the right path for me.

This is a perfect example of morphing.  Ever changing, ever-growing.

Thanks to my friend for not opening the door and walking out.  He is really great at helping me to see the forest beyond the trees.

26
Oct
12

Haters Gonna Hate

By garagegym107 6 Comments
Categories: Morphing of a Fit Woman
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I think too much.  Yes I do. 

Strange things happen that poke at me.  They also make me go hmmm.

Today while out on the parking deck working out with the crew someone left an anabolic steroid catalog in my desk chair.  I’m sure they were just being funny because that what’s people do when they think they will get your goat.

I’ve got my own goats, I don’t need their help with them. 

I posted that little quote “I’m not strong for my age. I’m just strong” evidently there’s a bit of truth to that.  🙂

Good for me.

Over the course of changing my life from being just a total train wreck to being a fit woman, there have been many haters along the way.

The funny thing about that is I didn’t realize that those haters could come in the form of people who I thought really mattered in my life.  So keep this in mind if your journey is just beginning.

It wasn’t until I began saying no to the buffet lunches, the weekly happy hours, the business lunches of pizza and the monthly birthday cake club did the original haters first appear.  I don’t hesitate to take my own food in to any training session now.  Once people got used to me being different, it became a non-issue.  This goes back many years and even a past job.  I am not the food police, I don’t criticize what others are doing.  That is not my place.

It took me a very long time to realize that choosing to be healthy has a tendency to make those who choose not to feel guilty.  Whether they ever admit it or not.  At first it bothered me but not any more.  Let ’em hate. 

I eat clean food, I work out 5-6 six times per week and I’m perfectly happy with it.  Not to mention that I am a much better wife, mother and employee.  Does that mean I hate on peeps who choose not to?  Absolutely not.  Remember I’m married to the Junk Food King.  He was that way when I married him, I changed.  I don’t expect him to, if he wants to he will.  He’s a grown man.

Back to the catalog left in my chair.  What most people I work with don’t realize is that I get up at 4:30am Monday thru Friday and I march myself in to the gym and I devote time to working hard on my body.  Whether it is Olympic lifting, body building or metabolic condition, I’m working HARD while most of my peers are sleeping, both male and female.

That’s a choice.  I’ve made mine and my choice is clean eating and working my butt off. Literally.

 

 

25
Oct
12

State Of Mind

By garagegym107 Leave a Comment
Categories: Morphing of a Fit Woman
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I have no idea who said that.  At this point, I like it so much it doesn’t really matter.  I believe I’ll be painting that on the wall of Garagegym107.

I’ve noticed a pattern among my peers.  At least among the ones willing to give working out a try.  It takes a good month or two for a middle-aged female to get off the cardio equipment and past the strong mental desire to lift no more than  5# dumbbells.  I understand, I used to be intimated by strength training too. 

The average woman spends hundreds if not thousands of dollars chasing youth through creams, clothing, and accessories.  Try investing in strength training for your body instead.  It will respond and not only will you look younger and more firm, you will feel younger too. 

Is it off the shelf quick like a pair of spanx?  Well no.  In time your jeans will be way more comfy without the spanx.

Perhaps we will be one of the last couple of generations of women that have been lead to believe that women shouldn’t lift weights and be strong.

I choose to set the example for my boys.  It’s quite acceptable to be strong even fiercely strong.  Not for a mom (a girl, an old lady), but strong in general.

Age is mind over matter.  If you don’t mind; it just doesn’t matter.

 

 

 

24
Oct
12

Let’s Do Some Sprints

By garagegym107 2 Comments
Categories: Nutritional Cleanse Experiment
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Want to see a group of people visibly get better before your eyes?  Have them run sprints together.  Not just a couple of rounds of sprints but instead 6-10 rounds of 100 meter sprints.  It’s suckage to say the least.  It forces each person to work hard through the pain.  It creates personal growth.  Ages range from 28-54 and yes, they all ran together.

After you’ve finished the timing for them, have them  do the timing for you.  Little makes people feel better than to see the trainer suffer the same fate they have just endured. 

Nothing makes them feel better than to realize what they’ve accomplished when they finish.

Struggling together creates an unspoken bond.  You know as a trainer, deep down inside they are pushing each other to run just a tad faster than if they were running alone.

Lucky for me today, two additional people came up and ran with me.  Humbling and motivating that I didn’t have to run by myself, instead I GOT TO run with them.

Healthy competition is great as long as you are grounded in improving yourself more than anything.   I don’t believe that every workout has to be a competition. Some would say  that makes me soft, I disagree.  I believe that its me vs. me.  Not me vs. you. 

If I focus all of my efforts on beating someone else, the person I’m not watching is going to pass me. 

You vs. you, always.

22
Oct
12

Just Keep Going

By garagegym107 Leave a Comment
Categories: Morphing of a Fit Woman
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I have such a hard time when confronted with a client or friend that gets emotionally upset by her performance. 

You see, the sweet and kind me wants to coddle them and say “it’s ok, really it is”.  And that isn’t a lie.  It is ok because if you get emotional it just means what you are doing is very important to you.

But then the hard-nosed woman who came from that same place starts wanting me to blurt out things that could scare the bee-jeezus out of her instead.  Yes, I always choose to inhibit my inner Jillian.

You see, I can be that person.  I wish someone had been that person to me 12 years ago when I was shoving chili-cheese smothered tator-tots in my face just a little too often.  But then, if they had, maybe just maybe I wouldn’t be here writing to you.

You see each person is different, each journey is for the person travelling it.  It’s not for any outsider to change but instead to impact that journey in a positive or negative way.  Each person has to change themselves.  The lucky ones have others to poke and prod them. 

That being said when I step back and think about my own journey, my most dramatic changes always followed some type of negative interaction with another person.  Like a catalyst.  And not in a good way.

It’s healthy to receive constructive criticism, not so on destructive criticism.

I’m my clients biggest fan and choose to remain that way. 

 

 

 

22
Oct
12

Progress Report 1 of 18

By garagegym107 1 Comment
Categories: Precision Nutrition Certification
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I started the process of obtaining my Precision Nutrition Certification about a month ago.   I received all of my study material and slowly dove in.

After completing the required tasks of the introduction and chapter one, I settled down to complete the questions in the work book. 

At my age, things tend to stand out more than they used to, perhaps because I’m a bit more open-minded about myself.  I’m definitely one who retains more information if I write it down.  And I’m much more eager to learn at this point in my life than ever before.

I realized that I had been sitting at the table for almost two hours answering the introduction and chapter 1 questions when it hit me.  TWO hours will be the time limit cutoff for taking the full exam which covers 18 chapters.

When I voiced my concern to my spousal unit his response was simply “It’s not supposed to be easy”. 

He’s right.  The more difficult this process is for me, the more I will learn. 

 

19
Oct
12

Fantastic Friday!

By garagegym107 10 Comments
Categories: Living Fit Daily
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Lets just start the day off here.  Old School style.

If this doesn’t make you wiggle a little this fine Friday morning not much will.

This week has been a week of success for myself and quite a few of my friends.

My friend Melanie is seeing progress for the first time in a while, it’s given her hope and the belief that she can make changes… Here’s to you Melanie!

My friend Tami went to the doctor for a check-up and was told she is ridiculously healthy.

My friend Melissa is over her funky cold Medina crud she picked up after the Warrior Dash.

My client Sheena has made amazing progress since coming back after giving birth to her healthy baby girl 3 months ago.

My friend Mary who works out in our parking deck group has made amazing progress on her air squat ability.

My friend Jamelia, also of the parking deck club is shrinking before our very eyes.

Joanna sent the sweetest email of how much she enjoys the parking deck workouts.

My friend Carol came through her shoulder surgery and even though she knows there are months of struggle ahead, she’s up for it.

My friend’s son Jackson in Washington State was overjoyed with a simple box of freshly grown cotton that I sent from the deep south.

Let me tell you folks, it’s the smallest things in this life that matter most.  Being healthy, having the ability to move your behind, even if not exactly to the movement you’d like. 

But biggest of all is having the ability to stop and be reminded of all there is that is going right in this life more so than complaining about what is wrong.

And on a final note, high-five to the Madison, AL police officer that pulled over the driver that flew past a school bus that had its stop sign out this morning.   Happy Friday peeps!!  Make it a fantastic voyage!

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