Posts Tagged ‘health



27
Jul
12

Do You Have Commitment?

“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? 

25
Jul
12

Leaning on Accountability

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!

09
Jul
12

Be Weird. Be Random. Be Who YOU Are.

 

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.

 

 

 

 

22
Jun
12

Mirror Mirror

This morning I stood in front of the mirror criticizing my perceived flaws.  As I realized what I was doing I stepped back and thought “hold on now, lets take a look at what we really have here”. 

I have a healthy body that allows me to trash it working out 5-6 days a week.  It doesn’t give up, it doesn’t quit.  It just keeps responding to the physical challenges I dish out everyday.  

Did I get there overnight?  Absolutely not.

What’s even more important than what I see staring back at me in the mirror is what I’ve built up on the inside. 

My mind, confidence, willingness to succeed, discipline and consistent dedication to living a healthy lifestyle.   Being able to stop myself from comparing my physique to that of another is invaluable.  I am me for a reason.  Why would I change that?   

You want instant gratification?  Get yourself moving.  There is nothing more gratifying than taking that 30 or so minutes a day to work on your goal of getting fit. 

Want more instant gratification?  There is a tremendous feeling of empowerment that comes from making healthy food choices every day. 

Need more instant gratification?  Stop comparing yourself to other people and focus on becoming the very best you that you can become.

Sooner or later your instant gratification vault will be running over with results.

21
Jun
12

Community and Support

Community and support.  I had no idea what those two words really meant outside of community = neighborhood and support = a helping hand if needed.

Since I started my fitness journey, I’ve come to see both of those words in a completely different light.

Community now means a group of people who support each other in a common goal. 

That means the good, bad and the ugly too. 

There are some folks out there than can simply go it alone.   I’ve found that I am much better as part of a community.

Higher goals, higher level of accountability, higher levels of support, both give and take.

If you are just starting out, find a group to get involved with.  Whether its classes at your gym or online forums or joining a CrossFit box.   

Don’t expect everyone to coddle you, don’t expect everyone to check on you when you are down.  If you need support reach out instead of having a pity party. 

People cannot read your mind and know if you are having a lack of motivation, feelings of discontent or even a life crisis.  Your support group will rely on you to let them in on what’s happening.  And trust me, everyone eventually has a lack of motivation.

These two ladies are two of my dearest friends, they are from other states.  We’ve been a part of the same fitness support group for years.  We all met up in DC for the Marine Corps Marathon in 2011.  Here they are coming across the finish line. 

Community and support!  Get some!

 

20
Jun
12

Amazing

For those of you who don’t know me, I’m an early riser.  Up with the chickens as they say down here in the south.  I’m up and getting ready to go workout at 4:30am every morning during the week.  That’s my “me” time.  The no excuses time that works out best for my life.

As I was running out the door of the gym this morning another lady looked over her shoulder and said “I am 48 and you’ll pass me in a minute”.  I jogged up beside her and I said “you are never to old to reach for amazing” besides I’ve got you beat by a year.

I gently reminded her instead of comparing ourselves to the ladies in the class who are 20-25 years younger we needed to remember to focus on how we stack up against our peers and more so than our peers, compare ourselves to who we were yesterday.  Better today than yesterday.

On the next lap which was in between dead-lifts/push-ups and air squats/sit-ups we continued our conversation about wisdom, discipline and consistency being the keys to staying at least within sight range of the younger crowd.  As we finished up the last run she looked over at me and said “now what was that you said earlier?”.  I said the amazing quote again.  I suspect she’ll be holding on to that one just like I have.

Wisdom comes with age.  And to this day I still greatly appreciate my friend you said “you are never too old to reach for amazing” to me.

19
Jun
12

The Thing

I read this today:

“Talking a lot about something that bothers you is a clear sign you’ve got something huge to learn, unrelated to “the thing.”  ~Mike Dooley

Seriously, over the past month my blog posts and conversations have been all over the board. 

After writing my post from yesterday the word truth stuck with me while I worked through my not so obvious thing.  

As of this morning I decided to re-label myself.  Up to now I’ve been a number of things.  An average mom with 3 little boys, morphed in to a morbidly obese single mom with 3 big boys, morphed into a before and after weight-loss success story, morphed into a masters level CrossFitter.

As of today, I am re-labeling myself a general bad-a$$.  How did I come to that conclusion?  Up to now I’ve blocked and tackled myself just before I reach that next step in getting better.   Notice I said blocked and tackled myself?  You see when you realize that you keep getting in your own way to success it’s now time for change.  Today, I’m throwing down the gauntlet for change.  The first thing that must change is how I see myself.  If I don’t see myself as a bad-a$$ then I will never be one. 

Raising the bar again, simply because I’m happier when I have to jump to touch a new goal.  

So what if I have to step up on a box to reach the bar from time to time?  So what if one of my friends has to say “here let me help you up”, so what if my son and his girlfriend have to count the last reps so I don’t have to think, I can just do. 

It’s all about getting better inside and out.   It’s about learning that it’s you that has to make the right decision for yourself.   No-one else can change you.  They can support you, train you, and listen to you, but you are the only person that can follow through.

 

18
Jun
12

Truth!

One thing is on my mind today.  That is truth.  Truth is what you do when no-one is watching, reading or listening.

I work myself up in to a tizzy sometimes over lack of results both with nutrition and workouts, when in truth I am not holding myself to the level of discipline needed to achieve those results.

Does that mean I’m a train wreck?  No, absolutely not.  It means perhaps that I’m being complacent.  It means I’m not focusing with intent to a specific goal and/or it means I’m not taking things to the next level.  I’m just hanging out in my current comfortable place.

Truth is that it’s time for me to get back to the task at hand with no excuses.  In reading “Switch” by Chip & Dan Heath, I find that little ah-ha moments come to light.  I had one of those this weekend.  The average person (myself included) wants an open-ended criteria when goal setting especially where diet and exercise are concerned. 

In example,  “I will work on running 4 miles without stopping” = open-ended instead of saying “I will run 3 days per week until I reach my goal of 4 miles in 3 months”.

Or “I will cut back on sugar” open-ended instead of saying “I will only consume natural sugars from fruit or honey”.

Truth is TRUTH. 

There is no way to know what I’m capable of until I make that goal black & white.  I’ve notoriously made my goals escapable.  Funny thing is that I am very successful at being an escape artist.  And that my dear friends will hold you back from your morphing efforts.

I like the freedom of truth.  I like the self-honesty of truth.  Truth keeps me on my toes.   Truth is success. 

I like knowing where I am and each time I take a look at the truth I grow exponentially.

15
Jun
12

Finally Friday!

What a challenging week this has been!  My spousal unit has been battling kidney stones for the past 4 weeks.  Two trips to the ER and still no stone passage.  Talk about upsetting the whole apple cart and my training routine!   Long sleepless nights will do that. 

Dealing with someone in serious pain can wreak havoc on a positive attitude.  Out of respect and concern for my spousal unit I found myself keeping extremely quiet in an effort to prevent from disturbing him.  The quieter he got the quieter I stayed. 

I didn’t realize until just this morning that the effort has begun to take a toll on my mindset.  Normally I am a very positive person but the missed workouts, sporadic meals, trips to the ER and trips to the drugstore along with the medicine bottles and paraphernalia sitting in the bathroom, I realize even more how very precious a fit mind and fit body truly are.  I recognize even more how important it is to eat and drink the right things to properly nourish our bodies.

I’m resolved to make-up my missed workouts over the weekend and I actually look forward to spending some time in garage gym 107.  It’s got great MOJO.  It’s got a great way of breaking me down with a barbell and kettlebells and a pull-up bar, yet builds me up and makes me stronger.

This weekend I’m going to add something new.  I’m going to make some homemade Bulgarian Sandbags.  They look like just the ticket to mix things up a bit and will give me an outdoor project.

The interesting thing will be varying the material used to fill the bags so that I can make them full, but different weights.  I’ll report back and let you know how this project ends up.

If you are heading in to the weekend and feeling sad or down and out, get outside and move.  Whatever it takes to get some fresh air and renew your spirit!

14
Jun
12

It’s Not About the Weight

Only DataI think back on the number of times I jumped on the scale and waited with held breath for that thing to tell me something I considered good.  And I remember the days I didn’t perceive the results as positive.  It took me several years to figure out that the scale is simply a data gathering tool. 

Have realistic expectations.  In the beginning I literally thought I could lose over 150# in 3 months.  Yes, I was that naiveHaving or showing a lack of experience, judgement or information.  

My personal experience , which I am elated to share with you is that it takes more time than most women are willing to invest in themselves but that doesn’t have to be YOU.  

YOU can choose to be one of those women that resets your mind and commits to long-term success as opposed to a short-sighted solution. 

Women in general give so much credit and power to the scale that they will literally throw away months of hard work and effort if that scale doesn’t tell them what they want to hear.  I’ve been there.  The scale does not dictate your success or perceived failure.  STOP doing that to yourself!!

There are so many other things you are changing with fitness and clean eating.  

– Your body is getting healthier inside. 

– Your soul is happier because YOU are taking care of YOU and not waiting around for someone else to do it for you.

– You are gaining self-confidence with each workout and each clean meal you choose to eat.

– You can overcome set-backs.

– You are opening yourself up to new experiences.

– You are opening yourself to meeting new people.

– You can control your weight, your food and the outcome of both.

– You can trust and believe in YOU!