Posts Tagged ‘Bright Spots



17
Jun
13

My Thoughts On Being Strong

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

31
May
13

Show Me Your Brave

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.

19
May
13

Look Around You

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.

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10
May
13

Steel Your Resolve

My last post was all about making things work when the going gets tough and things get complicated.

This is a short post, a list of things that are working for me, keeping me on task and on plan.

  • Meal prep.  Spend 2-3 hours preparing, weighing and packaging individual meals for Monday through Friday.  Keeping it very simple, I tend to eat either the same thing, or very close to the same thing each day.  My proteins are priority one.  Take half to work, leave half at home.  This leaves no room for “hmmm….I don’t have anything, so I’ll pick something up”.  Saves money, time, and totally keeps me focused.
  • Cut out my early am net-surfing 30 minutes and started getting right on the rower.  The same could be accomplished with a run, fast walk, met-con, whatever blows your skirt up.  Just do it.  No one interrupts me that early, they are sleeping.  Prime ME time.
  • Don’t hit snooze.  Just don’t.  Get up and get moving, in the 9-10 minutes you snooze, you can floss, brush, and flush and be out the door.
  • Stay focused.  Find motivation.  Share motivation

Get busy doing.

Change or Not

29
Apr
13

Things Are a Little Dusty

Yes indeed things got a little dusty here in the land of blogging.  High stress day jobs and long hours tend to want to wreak havoc on my whole life, but I won’t let it.

Needless to say, when things blow up all around me, all I can do is focus on what I can do in the moment.  Staying in the moment these past several weeks has literally saved my MOJO and my sanity.

What I mean by staying in the moment is literally to stop worrying about what will be happening 2-3 hours or even 6-8 hours from now, much less, weeks and months.  I cannot change a single thing in the future as I have no crystal ball or time machine.

My day job hours have significantly increased upwards to 11-12 hour days.  When you add the coaching I do at our CrossFit Box, that leaves a shortness in my own training time.  Which leads to grouchy butt syndrome on my part.

I caught myself whining a little about it.   Then I reminded myself that I needed to put my big girl panties on and deal with things just as they are.  What if I get to continue to come in to work at 7:15 indefinitely…?  Well get up a little earlier.  So be it.

That one thought triggered several more reminders of what I can do to help myself remain consistent in all things I love when things get harried.

Meal prep and planning.  I spent three hours on Sunday taking away all excuses for not eating enough and well enough this week.  Everything is nicely packed in throw away Ziploc Freezer Bags so no dishes to whine about washing.

Workouts are shifted from AM five days a week to 2 AM workouts and 3 lunch time workouts one rest day and a new weekend workout.  No excuses.

Did these decisions come about easily?  Well no, of course not.  I spent three weeks trying to squeeze things in until I wanted to explode from being in a rushed frenzy before realizing that it was time to settle down and see things for what they are.

Changing.

Yes, the one constant will always be change.  Why on earth I fight it so much is beyond me.  My family would say stubbornness and I would agree.

Change is inevitable, but how we deal with it makes or breaks us.  When my poor spousal unit started getting tewky with me, I realized I have been riding around on my pretty little broom just a bit too often.

When you find change coming in a very fast and unexpected fashion, find a quiet place to reflect, even if it’s only for 15 minutes.  Write down what is really important to you and figure out how you will make change work instead of using change as an excuse to fail.

change

 

 

 

21
Feb
13

Have I Been A Slacker?

I realized when I sat down to write this blog I’ve begun to allow too much time to pass between blogs.  I’ve got way too much to talk about to not sit down and make it happen.

Anyway, one might wonder if I’ve been slacking.  Fat chance on that.  I work a full-time professional day job and then I step out with my favorite evening job, personal training.

I long to find a way to support myself with my first love.  Eventually I’ll get there, just not while I have a kid in college.

So, enough of my ramblings.  Have I mentioned lately how much I adore working out?  I really do.  Most people cringe at getting up at 4:30am to be at the gym around 5.  Not me.  I started my days off like that long before I ever allowed the fat chick to rule my world.

Back in those days I wasn’t over weight, really not even pleasantly plump.  After the birth of my 3rd son, I decided that working out at 5:00am allowed me to work out guilt free.  Everyone was still sleeping and I didn’t feel like I was taking away from the older boys baseball, etc.

Fast forward through the trauma of divorce and massive unhealthy weight gain, through the amazing and a times heartbreaking journey of weight loss and the release of  emotional baggage I find myself now older, wiser and still loving the 5:00am workouts.

The key in all of that chatter is find what works for you and your family.  It may not be the ideal time, but if this is really important to you, you’ll do it whenever you can make it happen.

I’ve discovered lately that having a fit mind is just as important, perhaps even more important than a fit body.

Someone in your life causing drama?  That doesn’t make it your drama.   Someone having a bad day?  That doesn’t make it your bad day.  Your friend decided to make an excuse not to go to the gym this morning?  That’s not your excuse.

My message and one of my own personal favorite lessons has always been “Just because someone else is having an issue, that doesn’t make it my issue”.  I’ve learned over the last 20 years that if you take it, someone will keep giving it to you to carry for them.

Put on mental rubber suit and let the excuses of others roll off like rain on a freshly waxed car.  Take care of yourself and six months from now your drama filled, excuse making friend will be asking YOU how you did it!

You’ve got enough to handle keeping yourself fit and fabulous.

Change or Not

 

 

 

 

 

05
Feb
13

Be Beautiful

For ALL of the beautiful ladies in my life, I write this blog.  You know who you are, you are near and far.  The ones who, at the drop of a hat send a kind word or do a kind deed.  You are the ones that simply place a heart on my FB page.  You are the ones who send a card for no other reason than you want to make someone smile.

With all of the noise surrounding the perfection of  women, be it in the fitness industry, the beauty industry, the clothing industry, remember that we are each in our own way simply beautiful.

Imagine a world with no commercials or billboards bombarding you with thoughts of what you should be, how you should look, or telling you what material thing you should have before you consider yourself beautiful.

Get up tomorrow and let it all fade to black.  Find the beauty you were born with, IT IS IN YOU, I know, I’ve seen it with my own eyes and felt it with my own heart.   Be the beautiful women that you are!

Please take 3 minutes and 20 seconds and watch this video.   A huge shout out to Karen Walrond for posting this on You Tube.  And a huge thanks to my Precision Nutrition coach Jennifer Koslo for sharing this.

Please, please, share this with every beautiful woman that you know!

Beautiful

19
Jan
13

Taking Those First Steps

In fitness no matter where you are, taking those first steps always seem to be the most difficult.  Most people know that I am not new to fitness and they know that I will change things when I’m not seeing progress.

Taking those first few steps, whether just beginning the journey to get fit, or taking stats years down the road and not liking the results of them.  Either way, taking those steps can be difficult.

This morning was my first measurements and progress picture posting day for the Precision Nutrition Lean Eating program I’m following.  Even after all this time and all of these pictures, those steps are still very difficult for me. 

Reasons:

1) I’m older and will never again have the body of a 20-year-old (I don’t care how much money I were to throw at it, my 20-year-old body is gone) so I must find peace with what I’m working with.

2) In my mind, I always see myself in a better place than I am in reality.

3) Changes always, always create insecurity for me.  What if I’m not good at it? What if it isn’t the answer?  Blah, Blah, Blah…

Negative self talk happens to the best of us, those are the moments when we are terrified but we know we must take the risk to improve. 

I’ve stayed pretty close to the same weight and definitely stayed the same over-all size for several years now and it’s time for me to move along done my path to my next goal.  No more excuses, just actions that speak louder than words.  Another journey has begun by taking the first step.

First Step

 

09
Jan
13

The Power of Food

This post is dedicated to those who struggle with emotional/stress/OMG it is just so good food issues.

I was born and raised in what is now known as “the deep south”.  I’m not sure when we went from being the south to the deep south, but whatever.

In the south everything is celebrated with food.  Birthday’s, weddings, deaths and everything in between.  It’s just courtesy.  We want folks to feel the love and feeding them has always been the best way to do that.

I used to live by that same thought process.  Food fixed or healed everything.  That is so not true so banish that thought from your excuse list.

For some people there is an illusion that food has power.  BIG power.  They can’t have a small portion, piece or serving.  They end up plowing through multiple servings before they realize what they’ve done.

This is a perfect example of giving food power.  Notice I said giving the food power.

Food is simply food.  It is there for the nourishment of our bodies.  It is not there to defeat us, we do that on our own.

Some how we decide we are not worthy of greatness so we in turn, give over the power of our greatness to food instead.

There is absolutely no food that we can put in our mouth that will fix a broken heart, a broken relationship or broken self-esteem.

How do you break the cycle of giving your greatness over to food?

First there must be the acknowledgement that the fork doesn’t fly in to your mouth without your own assistance.

Secondly, when you start randomly grabbing this or that to eat mindlessly, it is usually because you want to become numb.  You give the food the power to make you forget, even if but for a very brief moment.

Phhhfffttt…that never works.  Food won’t fix anything, in fact it will likely make it worse.  That vicious cycle of eat bad, feel bad so I’ll eat more bad is a very tedious cycle to break.  That being said GET TEDIOUS right back with it.

You will find things that hold you back are often so much greater when you leave them stuck in your head.  Get them out of there.  Write them down and burn them if you don’t want anyone else to know.  Better yet, hold on to that notebook because one day you’ll have the ability to reach another person who may be struggling with what you have already overcome.

Each time you stop yourself from reaching for food to solve your problems, the more empowered you will become.

YES, you may have a set-back or twenty set-backs; just keep asking yourself the hard, painful questions and the result will start showing.

The only power food has is the power that you give it.

backwards

03
Jan
13

Shedding

Shedding:  a. To lose by natural process:   b. To rid oneself of (something not wanted or needed):

First impressions would lead a reader to believe that this blog might be about dieting.  Ummm…Not so much.

After sitting here today realizing that I somehow had missed the new in this New Year, I realized that I’ve had some burdens that I’ve been allowing to weigh me down over the past couple of weeks.

Today I decided it was time to acknowledge those burdens and let them go.  Shedding the negative and focusing solely on the positive. 

Our lives are too short to dwell on carrying baggage, whether it’s a situation, a relationship, loss of material things, loss of motivation, and most importantly, the loss of self-esteem.

Everyone is not always going to do things the way you do them.  That doesn’t make your way wrong, it makes your way different. 

Be objective enough to step back and determine if perhaps your way has backed you into a corner or if it has truly brought you to a successful outcome.  If it hasn’t, be open-minded enough to say so.

Shedding old habits, old stuff you have no need or use for, old hurt feelings, and old baggage is quite the positive way to start a new year, perhaps even a new way of life.

Just as snow melts and sheds the water away from the earth, do the same for things weighing you down, things holding you back from accomplishing your goals.

Hat Tip for the photo: TheOvenbird2337109017_ea2ca7e9e0