Posts Tagged ‘fitness

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06
Aug
12

Sulking Over Silver

By garagegym107 4 Comments
Categories: Random Thoughts
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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

 

 

 

 

03
Aug
12

Let’s Talk About Time

By garagegym107 4 Comments
Categories: Morphing of a Fit Woman
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How long did it take you to lose all that weight?  I get that question a lot.  Through clean eating and working out 6 days a week in 12 week cycles, it took me the better part of a year to lose the first 125#.  

I’m sure there are people out there thinking “That’s like forever!”.  Well it may seem like an eternity but in reality that was pretty fast and consistent.

What other choice do you have?  You are not going to wake up one morning and be magically thin, so just get busy doing what must be done.

Don’t think I’m unkind or harsh, that’s not it.  But the truth is it is just a waste of precious time sitting there saying I’ll start Monday.  Or I’ll start when I finish this exercise book.  Or I’ll start working out after I lose 10# or 20# or 30#.  Or I’ll start once little Johnny starts school. 

Does it really matter how long it takes?  I used to think that I had to have spectacular results in x amount of time.  Now I just focus on doing the work each and every day and the results naturally follow.

It’s time to get busy!

01
Aug
12

It Is Not About Them

By garagegym107 1 Comment
Categories: Morphing of a Fit Woman
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In the world of weight-loss it’s easy to play the victim.  Blame all of our shortcomings and lack of results on our upbringing, our past relationships, our lack of relationships, our jobs, our family time, our lack of money, and the list could go on for a full paragragh.  In all honesty, it is not about them, it is about you.

You can make valiant attempts to make lasting change, but until you realize that you are ulitmately responsible for your food intake and moving your butt, you are playing victim.  Sure life will give us lemons on occasion and we’ve got two choices, sit and sour along with the juice or make some lemonade.

Today I was heading outside to work-out with a coworker.  As I turned the corner to go down to the locker room I glanced to the left and saw two gentlemen coming into the facility to enjoy lunch in our cafeteria. 

One was suffering from health related issues, I have no idea what, but he struggled to walk slowly with his friend supporting his arm on one side and walking with a cane in the other hand. 

I smiled and nodded as I usually do and as I continued on to the locker room I was overcome with gratitude.  Gratitude that the man had a friend to lean on and walk with and emmense gratitude that I am now healthy.

When I weighed 328# I used to see the obstacle of weight-loss as  chore.  I used to pout when I would have to eat a salad and someone around me would be eating crap, that whole “why me” thing. 

Over time (not overnight) I realized that I was starting to feel better, my clothes fit better and then it got easier.  My mind shifted from this is a chore to this is a choice.  That one little switch changed everything.  The sooner you acknowledge that you are willing to do whatever is takes willingly to succeed the easier this path will become.

Hat Tip: Elements of Your Life

 

27
Jul
12

Do You Have Commitment?

By garagegym107 Leave a Comment
Categories: Living Fit Daily
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“Commitment is what transforms a promise in to reality.  Commitment is the words that speak boldly of your intentions and the actions which speak louder than words.  Commitment is making time when there is none.  Commitment is coming through time after time, year after year, after year.  Commitment is the stuff character is made of, the power to change the face of things.  Commitment is the triumph of integrity over skepticism.” ~unknown

I wish I could remember who wrote this so I could give them credit.  It has been hanging on my bulletin board in my office for years now.   I moved it higher so I could read it daily.  Do you have commitment to your health and fitness? 

26
Jul
12

Patience Grasshopper

By garagegym107 3 Comments
Categories: Nutritional Cleanse Experiment
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When I first started doing CrossFit two years ago this month, I was fanatical about it.  I went all the time, trashed my body as often as I physically could whether I needed to or not.  For whatever reason (my age most likely) I felt like I had to get better faster.  I felt literally like I was watching an hour-glass as the sand passed through.  I wanted to get better overnight. 

No one was forcing me to lift heavier or go faster except for me.  Over time I went trough a bunch of cycles of self awareness, self-awkwardness and most importantly self-protection.  I wanted to remain injury free so I could keep doing what I love to do.

The one thing that no one can train in to you is patience.  Patience for progress is the skill I’ve needed the most.  And it’s been the most hard-fought internal battle.  Getting better at any skill requires practicing of that skill.  Repetitive movement over and over until you can do it to the best of your own ability is what reaps the rewards.

Sure, there will be days you leave with a stinging ego because we are all superhero’s in our own mind.  When reality shows up and teaches us that we are flawed and we require more work it’s hard on our MOJO.

For me, I take that time to reflect on the journey. Where I’ve been, the people I’ve met, and exactly why I started getting fit in the first place.  It keeps me grounded and it reminds me to be patient.

This morning patience paid off for me.  After several months of practicing this movement, slowly and methodically increasing the weight in small increments it felt just right this morning.  I finally broke the 100# plateau for multiple reps.  Patience grasshopper.  A big thanks to my friend Christina Barnett for catching this photo!

 

 

25
Jul
12

Leaning on Accountability

By garagegym107 3 Comments
Categories: Nutritional Cleanse Experiment
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Some of us require accountability.  Not someone to police us, but instead a person that knows our intent and that will call us out when we are not holding ourselves to the standard of which will take us closer to our goals.

I have a couple of these accountability buddies.  They know who they are.  

Recently I talked about a goal I had and made the comment to my friend “What if such and such is still there?”.   It took her all of 3.2 seconds to send me a response that simply said “Oh, I didn’t realize we were living in the world of “what if.”

I love her for it.  It was an eye opener of the underlying lack of belief I still carry in some areas.  That just means there is more work to be done on my personal belief system. 

I have another accountability buddy that shares daily meal structure along with pictures of her meals.   We strive for small balanced meals every 3 hours.   I’ve begun to do the same with her.  It keeps my meal plans fresh because I know she will call me out for not having a variety of fresh veggies. 

I also have hard-core friends that never ever need anyone to hold them accountable, they don’t judge me just as I don’t judge anyone else.  It’s not my place.  Weight loss and fitness are a process, that process is different for everyone.

I like having someone to lean on from time to time.  It makes leaning solely on myself much more doable. 

Want to eat cleaner and work harder?  Find someone that will call you out, even if it stings a little.  You’ll be better for it!

24
Jul
12

Community

By garagegym107 3 Comments
Categories: Living Fit Daily
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I love it when I meet new people who are struggling.  This morning I saw a woman walk by my door and as I glanced up I noticed what a pretty dress she had on. 

A little later my boss pushes open my office door and there stands the woman in the pretty dress and she was saying “I knew she was the one!”   Hmmm…

Well, needless to say she wanted to talk workouts.  I love that.  I work for a company with over 1600 people.  When someone says “I knew she was the one” man that’ll make your day. 

Anyway, she was telling me about a recent weight gain, low iron and the fact that she’d been put on medication for it.  She is struggling with her mojo for sure.  Lack of energy, poor diet, etc.

As we talked, she mentioned knowing all about meal-timing etc., and that she wanted to get back in to shape.

My first comment was simply “get back to basics”.  You know about meal timing and working out so the only thing I see missing is community.  I asked her when the last time she hung out with like-minded people? 

It doesn’t matter what you do, whether it’s Zumba, Body Pump, Jazzercise, CrossFit or Running, remember to find like-minded people to do it with. 

Everyone struggles, everyone has an “off” day or even an off week.   Food may be spot on but workouts stink or just the opposite, workouts are great but food stinks. 

In a community though there will be days you will push, pull or drag each other along but that’s the point. 

Do it. 

It’s not always about YOU.  You soon realize that the greatest part of community is what you can offer to another person in the way of support. 

 

12
Jul
12

Rest Days-Battle of the Mind

By garagegym107 6 Comments
Categories: Morphing of a Fit Woman
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

One of my greatest struggles as an athlete is taking rest.  Deep down I suspect it’s either an addiction to the endorphins that shoot through my brain during and after a workout or an addiction to that feeling of soreness that comes with a really tough workout.

Mentally I fight the “just get up and get on it” over the “take the rest your body needs”.

I’ve been injury free for a long time, but it’s only recently that I’ve incorporated more rest days. 

It hasn’t been without a mental struggle, but my body is FINALLY starting to progress to heavier loads.  Yesterday I wrote about trusting the process and its high time I lived strictly by that rule. 

When you are surrounded by good trainers, set your ego aside, listen, and apply, results will start showing.

Overtraining is very common once you achieved your initial weight-loss goals because then you are ready to step up your game and make good even better.  You raise your own bar, rightly so.   Unfortunately, you tend to get stubborn and think that basic rules no longer apply to you.  Wrong.

For me, it’s the strong, selfish desire to never go back to that obese body I was once trapped in.  Now I trust myself enough to know that I won’t ever go back.   Now I trust the process.

10
Jul
12

Trust The Process

By garagegym107 Leave a Comment
Categories: Morphing of a Fit Woman
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I was having lunch with some friends today.  I love our lunches.  We are all fitness junkies and we all care about what we eat.  Most of the time that is.  I say that because as a collective group we are at different points in our fitness and nutritional journey.

Interestingly enough there is never, ever a case of “you know you should be doing better”.   There is talk.

Inquisitive questions that help each person think through why they are willing to give up weeks and weeks of good clean eating or consistent training for food culprits, ie. sugars, or processed food.

Ironically most of the time it usually comes back to not progressing as quickly as one would like.

I used to get so jammed up that I wasn’t progressing fast enough, getting stronger fast enough, getting faster fast enough.  All of these thoughts started hindering my ability to progress at all.

I finally came to the realization that trusting in the process is just as important as eating clean, working out and getting enough rest.  

A friend asked just yesterday:  “On a scale of 1-10 where are you in your fitness?”  I can soundly say I’m sitting at 7, I’m above average in both my clean eating and nutritional disciplines.  The interesting thing was the acknowledgement that I have no idea was levels 8, 9 and 10 are for me.  Not what someone else thinks my levels should be or are, but instead how do I define them.

Love that thought-provoking question and I’m working on identifying those levels.  Identifying them results in action.  Leaving them blank and unanswered leaves me right smack dab  where I am today. 

09
Jul
12

Be Weird. Be Random. Be Who YOU Are.

By garagegym107 23 Comments
Categories: Morphing of a Fit Woman
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Love this saying.  I wish I had made this one up myself.  I see people, especially women hiding behind what they think everyone else wants to see.  The lucky few may get a glimpse in to who that person really is. 

This morning I was the woman laying in the gym floor rolling on a foam roller shortly after doing five sets of heavy dead-lifts.  I got stared at while doing the lifts.  I don’t care.  That is who I am.  By today’s standards seeing a woman dead-lift isn’t common place.  It’s weird.  AND. I. LOVE. IT.

Want big biceps?  Secretly behind closed doors flexing your guns to see if they’ve grown?  Show ’em.  Be proud of ’em.  You bet I want nice bulky biceps and shapely shoulders.  Side effect?  I can paddle a mean kayak when I want to.  I can also whip up a good omelet with those same guns.

I have a paddle board and a kayak to haul up a steep lot when I’m finished playing on the water.  Every single weekend when I’m doing that hauling I thank my lucky stars that I made the decision to shed 168# and get fit.

Some say I’m getting too old for all that.  Pfffhhhttt, I’ll never be too old.  The day I get too old will be the day I stop having fun.  Living this life today is the only choice we have, I’m taking full advantage of it by keeping myself in great shape. 

If you’ve got pounds to lose, don’t waste another day trying.  Get busy DOING.  Hold yourself accountable.  You are the ultimate keeper of your success!  DO. IT.

 

 

 

 

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