Archive for the 'Random Thoughts' Category

16
Jan
15

Shaming of All Kinds

By garagegym107 Leave a Comment
Categories: Nutritional Cleanse Experiment and Random Thoughts

I’m just going to go ahead and get this little rant off my chest.  I’m 51 years old, and I do everything in my power to live in the present.  What I’ve discovered of late is there are A LOT of people who literally attempt to make me feel bad (shaming) because I live in the present. Because I live fit, because I want the best of what’s left of my life to be positive.

Let’s dig a little deeper than surface level today.

What I mean by my comment is, there are people who are so trapped in their victim behavior, even still playing the victim years after being divorced, fired, cheated on, being financially swindled, you name it.

They are so miserable, they want me to have a bad day too.  They want me to fail in my goals of long-term change. Because they have chosen not to move forward, they want me to stay in the same place with them. They may not even realize what they are doing, but thankfully I DO.

And have I’ve got news for you.

If you don’t make the conscious choice get over it, you will never move forward.  And for that matter you will never be able to enjoy your present life because you are holding on to bitterness and grudges.

You may ask, what makes me so special that I feel perfectly comfortable in saying these things?

Well, for starters I’ve done it. I’ve gotten over myself enough to look deep in to the dark recesses of my past enough to acknowledge that I played a key role in the incidences that occurred and heck yeah, I screwed up plenty in my day.

I moved forward, I sought forgiveness where I could, I wrote letters and burned them where I couldn’t ask forgiveness. And then, I moved on. I’m no saint, but I practice what I preach.

This time of year especially fires up my thoughts on long-term change.  I’ve said this before. People who refuse to let go of the past are waiting for some hero to come in.

Hear this, because it’s really important.  NO-ONE is going to swoop in and change things for you.

I see it all the time.  People making lists of goals and changes they want to make and two weeks later when the darkness creeps in after a horrible workout, motivation wains, pity begins to flare up, and forward progress screeches to a halt, and the blame game begins again. If I hadn’t been done wrong 5-10-20 years ago when this, that,or the other happened, I would be able to do it.

Oh sure, you may meet Mr. or Mrs. Right Now.  And you may have happiness and joy for a little while. But if you don’t deal with the inner darkness that constantly wants to pull you right back to square one, you’ll stay stuck there.  Relationships will suffer, self-esteem will suffer, YOU will suffer, because if YOU don’t think your good enough for greatness, no-one else will either.

Stop letting things from years ago ruin your today and your tomorrow’s.

We all have pain, we all have sorrow, but it’s our choice to move.  It’s frightening at first, but eventually you’ll find joy in your heart and the ability to receive the goodness that is there. The goodness you currently can’t see because you’re looking in that little review mirror instead of looking forward through that big wide windshield.

Rant over…

light dark

 

21
Nov
12

Holi”DAY”

By garagegym107 1 Comment
Categories: Random Thoughts
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Ok now is when I keep it real.  I’ve talked about the helpful hints for the holiday and now I want to emphasize the meaning of the DAY in holiday.

So often people use the entire week to celebrate a holiday.  You know what?  That is just another one of those cooky comfortable excuses people like to use for over indulging.   Don’t do it.

Wallowing in several days of poor food choices can set you back by a couple of weeks.  Yes, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.  If you are going to start stuffing your face three days before the holiday and eat leftovers for three days after the holiday, you bet your fine-looking booty you will cost yourself two weeks worth of workouts in the gym.  

It’s a HOLIDAY.  Singular.  One day.  Behave.

That was one of the lessons I learned in the hard-fought battle to get and stay fit.  You don’t need a week to celebrate a day.  Yes, the options will be there, work, multiple family outings, etc.  I do realize that not everyone has the luxury to eat at one place so don’t get all up in a twist. 

Step back and look at your schedule and think about it a little ahead of time.  You can make better choices than to consider each gathering a grubfest.  I love food, I know what a grubfest is.  Remember, no appetizers, no nibbles. 

If you have grown kids, send the leftovers with them.  They will appreciate them more than you will.

Enjoy time spent with your family, even the cooky ones.  Someday you will look around and realize that even the cooky ones make the days special.

Have a blessed holiday!

 

 

11
Nov
12

By garagegym107 Leave a Comment
Categories: Random Thoughts

Simply said and perfect. Thank you too all Veteran’s and their families.

CultFit's avatarCultFit

… How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!

-Maya Angelou

Thank to all of the men and women who have so bravely served our country.

On this Veteran’s Day, we ask you to take a few moments to remember those who sacrificed their lives and selflessly served to achieve peace and democracy.

Thank you friends … YOU will not be forgotten.

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02
Oct
12

Never Going To Steal My Joy

By garagegym107 22 Comments
Categories: Random Thoughts
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Over the past month I have seen numerous postings of one of my best friends before and after photos.  Ironically, these photos are being taken by people attempting to claim her success as being a part of whatever fitness and training quick fix they are pushing.

What’s been interesting about the whole thing to both of us is reading all of the comments associated with her transformation.  Especially the nay-sayers.  One woman claimed to be “a trainer with 30 years experience” she didn’t believe the photos were real.

In my humble opinion, I’d run from that trainer.  If she doesn’t believe this type of transformation is possible then you sure don’t want to pay her to convince you that it is not possible.

That’s why I love my friend and I love my life.  We live our transformations every single day of our lives.  We don’t have to go around using other people’s pictures to build ourselves up.  Instead we use our own photos to build others up. 

You see, no-one can ever steal our joy, we built it, we earned it, it’s ours to share.

We can walk the walk not just talk the talk.  Let me just say this, it hasn’t been a cake walk.  It’s much easier now than it has ever been before for both of us.  But were it not for the road we’ve traveled, I would not be writing this blog.

People want change but people want change for nothing. 

For all the ladies in the house…grab a tissue because this is a good one! 

Let me introduce you to my friend Michelle T. .  She is real, she is authentic and she is my mentor. 

She has listened to me sob over realizing that a goal I set wasn’t going to happen.  She never said I wouldn’t, just said maybe now isn’t the right time.

She has stood by me and patiently watched me impatiently struggle with being too strict with food and over training myself in to the ground all the while knowing that in my own time, I would come out on the other side.

You see, here is the thing about all of that weight-loss.  Everyone is different.  With personal patience, self-awareness and a personal belief that never waivers, long-term successful weight-loss can happen.

Each one reach one…Thank you Michelle for paying it forward!

YES this picture is real! Yes I have seen her in a two piece! YES IT CAN BE DONE!

12
Sep
12

Unbelievable!

By garagegym107 3 Comments
Categories: Random Thoughts
Tags: , , , , , , ,

I read this yesterday and was taken so far aback I needed to wait a day to write about it.

Junior Tennis Player Benched

As you read this remember that this is a young woman in our society today.  Unbelievable pressure to fit in a mold that wasn’t made for her body type.  I get it.  I get it because I’m a big girl.  At 5’8″ tall and 165# I am not the size of the average female.  What’s average height?  5’4″ or 162.5cm. 

So yes, I’m above average by 4 full inches.  And outside of that I’m also more muscular than average because I choose to workout with weights.

The social pressure for young women is unbearable.  Watching my beautiful step-daughter struggle because she has the most beautiful red hair was hard enough. 

The young lady in the article is a very talented tennis player and that physical ability is being clouded by judgemental people WHO AREN’T THE ONES PLAYING.  Give me a break.

When will the madness stop and people begin to truly grasp that this world isn’t one size fits all, neither are human beings. 

Perfect example of this very thing, my friend at 5’0″ and I both doing the same exact thing, same weight ball.  It just doesn’t matter.  I don’t like her because she’s 5’0″ and tiny, I like her because she is a great person.

Hat tip to CrossFit Impulse for the picture.

10
Sep
12

Beware!

By garagegym107 3 Comments
Categories: Random Thoughts
Tags: , , , ,

I thought I’d share this little tidbit with all of my inter-webz friends.   This company is hijacking personal photos from either Facebook or blogs or Pinterest and touting them as their own success stories.

GreenLife Weight Loss, LLC
Phone: (800) 561-9041
View Additional Phone Numbers
14725 Pleasant Crest Avenue, Fishers, IN 46037

They do have a company link but I am not permitted to post that here on Word Press.  You can google it to find it I’m sure. 

They have attached my before and after photos to their link professing their product/training system works.  I have never done their program, nor do I endorse these people.

I’ve gotten so many email or FB or Pinterest messages stating that my pics are all over the place, I love having friends near and far. 

It’s kind of funny, I put myself out there to help people along in their own journeys and some schmuck decides to use them to drum up business.  I don’t even do that.  Dipwad.  Just sayin’.

29
Aug
12

Julie and Julia The Movie

By garagegym107 1 Comment
Categories: Random Thoughts
Tags: , , , ,

I watched this movie over the weekend.  Rather a chick-flick but even my tom-boyish self found enjoyment in it.

I enjoyed the fact that she blogged about her experience, you never know who’s reading that may be going through something you can distract them from for a brief moment in their day.

It was about food.  Yes, how I adore food.  I adore cooking food.  For a former obese person this might seem odd, but really, food TV is in many ways therapy for me.  I don’t eat poor quality foods any longer but watching an episode or two of Diners, Drive-in’s and Dives warms my soul.

Anyway, back to the movie.  The one thing that I took away from that movie was that I had never ordered Julia Childs cookbook.  I felt I had been remiss in honoring such a wonderful woman.

I have countless cookbooks.  Some of my favorites are YES Paula Deen, even in her stick of butter madness, she still cooks things I grew up eating.  I’ll take the risk that once a year one of her recipes might kill me.  Just sayin’.

I have a whole bunch of Southern Living cookbooks too.  One in particular shows everything from how to set a table to how to carve a turkey.  You never know when you might want to set a pretty table just because you can.

At one point in the movie, the main character Julie was distraught because a guest that was to attend dinner had to cancel.  She was terribly upset because she had nothing to share with her blog readers.  People from all over that she had connected with through her adventures in cooking the entire Julia Childs cookbook.

I loved it.  All she wanted to do was reach people.  I can relate.

These days, people get so wrapped up in “me, my, mine” that they totally never experience the joy of knowing other people.  Just paying attention to what others are doing, simply listening is a most priceless gift we are all given.

Smile at someone.  Hold the door for someone.  Step out of your self-absorbed word and truly listen to another person.  Watch a smile appear.  Watch a tear stream.  You never know until you do.

=0)

edited to add the photo I took of my new cookbook delivered yesterday…

17
Aug
12

Fantastic Friday

By garagegym107 Leave a Comment
Categories: Random Thoughts
Tags: , , ,

A huge shout out to my friends over at CultFit for writing such a great guest blog yesterday!

So yesterday I spent the day moving the youngest boy to his apartment down in Tuscaloosa for what I hope is the remainder of his college term of two years.  We’ll see how that goes.

It was about as uneventful as it could be.  No hiccups along the way, etc.  I was relieved, and then I came home.  Who knew that empty bedrooms could make a mother so melancholy?

Anyway, enough of that sappy stuff.  Today I hit the gym with vigor some days you feel it and some you don’t.  I figure I’ll control what I can and leave the rest where it needs to be.  That saves me a lot of needless worry.

Get outside this wekeend and have some fun!  Tomorrow I should be in my house getting things back in order, but instead I will be outside on the water playing.  😉

Check this out.

Dubstep Freestyle Dance…

06
Aug
12

Sulking Over Silver

By garagegym107 4 Comments
Categories: Random Thoughts
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

I’ve got to rant for just a minute and then I’ll leave it alone.

What are our young daughters and granddaughters and nieces to think when they see our beautiful and talented gymnasts sulking over silver medals? 

I mean really? 

Our baby girls are already bombarded by outside influences telling them from the earliest age that perfection is the only acceptable.  Acceptable what??

 Acceptable body, acceptable hair, nails, clothing and now gold for the athlete.  Pishaw!! 

Smile your little glorious behinds off for being an Olympian!! 

Good grief have we ever lost sight of the accomplishment because sponsorships, etc. are determined by all or none? 

I’m so stinking proud of every single American Athlete that has stepped totally out of their comfort zones for most of their young lives to go before the masses and lay it all on the line.   Win or not, they are Olympians! 

Shame on the all or none attitude surrounding those young people setting perfectionists goals and creating self-doubt and sulking over silver!

Have you heard all of the Brits singing their national anthem after each and every gold?  Not the athletes but the whole crowd!!

Hat Tip: selihpxe8

 

 

 

 

20
Jul
12

Random Friday Thoughts

By garagegym107 3 Comments
Categories: Random Thoughts
Tags: , ,

For the first time since  my spousal unit and I met, we actually went to a movie theater last night.  He’s not a fan of theaters and after the tragedy in the late night in Aurora, Colorado we may never go back again.   My thoughts and prayers are with the people and the families involved in that tragedy.

Here where we live we have this relatively new open air mall and even in the sweltering southern humidity the mall seems to be doing ok.  We bought our tickets to see TED  and settled in to our seats. 

Here comes the rant.  A couple sat behind us and shortly after they sat down, the male started giving play by-play of the movie.  As if his girlfriend didn’t get the humor.  This went on throughout the entire movie.  WHO DOES THAT?  Of course we got up and moved about 10 seats down but could still hear him talking the ENTIRE TIME. 

Anyway enough of my complaining.  If you have kids, even teenagers, know that this movie is very bawdy and filled with the mother of all cuss words (as we say in the south).  It’s rated R for very good reason.  So just know what you are getting in to when you go.

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