Motivation | garagegym107

Posts Tagged ‘Motivation

Oct

Haters Gonna Hate

Categories: Morphing of a Fit Woman
Tags: BodyBuilding, Bright Spots, Clean Eating, Community, CrossFit, exercise, fitness, gaining self confidence, Goal Setting, Long term weight loss, Motivation, nutrition, Weight Lifting, weight loss, Well-Being

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.

Oct

State Of Mind

By garagegym107 Leave a Comment

Categories: Morphing of a Fit Woman
Tags: BodyBuilding, Community, CrossFit, exercise, fitness, gaining self confidence, Inspiration, Motivation, Training, Weight Lifting, Workout

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.

Oct

Let’s Do Some Sprints

By garagegym107 2 Comments

Categories: Nutritional Cleanse Experiment
Tags: Body-for-Life, BodyBuilding, change, Clean Eating, Community, CrossFit, exercise, fat loss, fitness, food, gaining self confidence, Goal Setting, goals, Insecurity, Inspiration, Motivation, nutrition, weight loss, Working out, Workout

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.

Oct

Just Keep Going

By garagegym107 Leave a Comment

Categories: Morphing of a Fit Woman
Tags: BodyBuilding, Bright Spots, change, Clean Eating, Community, CrossFit, exercise, Inspiration, Motivation, Weight Lifting, Well-Being, Working out, Workout

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.

Oct

Progress Report 1 of 18

By garagegym107 1 Comment

Categories: Precision Nutrition Certification
Tags: BodyBuilding, Book Review, change, Clean Eating, CrossFit, exercise, gaining self confidence, Goal Setting, healthy-living, Long term weight loss, Motivation, Precision Nutrition, Training, Weight Lifting, Well-Being, Working out, Workout

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.

Oct

Fantastic Friday!

By garagegym107 10 Comments

Categories: Living Fit Daily
Tags: BodyBuilding, Bright Spots, change, Clean Eating, Community, CrossFit, exercise, fat loss, fitness, gaining self confidence, Goal Setting, Motivation, nutrition, Training, Weight Lifting, Well-Being, Working out, Workout

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!

Oct

Fear

By garagegym107 1 Comment

Categories: Morphing of a Fit Woman
Tags: Body-for-Life, BodyBuilding, Bright Spots, Clean Eating, Community, CrossFit, exercise, fat loss, gaining self confidence, Goal Setting, Inspiration, Long term weight loss, Motivation, nutrition, Weight Lifting, weight loss, Working out, Workout

I had a conversation with someone yesterday and unbeknownst to her I could detect a strong vibe of fear radiating from her. Self-doubt. As soon as the conversation started the list of health issues came tumbling out. As if in some way that list lessened the importance of her overall goals. She said “I just want to be healthy”.

Being healthy is a great goal. In the beginning using the term “I just want to be healthy” is ok.

Fear of thinking too far ahead is very natural in the beginning, especially if you have significant weight to lose. I understand that fear. I’m absolutely certain I emanated that fear myself 12 years ago when I started my journey.

But I learned the hard way that you shouldn’t allow yourself to stay in that zone for very long. If so, you become reliant on your excuses. I remember the big one… “my knees hurt”…yes, when you carry 168# of excess weight everything tends to hurt.

At some point that vague statement of “I just want to be healthy” must transition to a plan. The plan must transition to action. The actions them must provide measurable results. If you can’t measure your success, you are subject to relapse into old behaviors, often.

See yourself as you want to be, not who are today, but as the fit and healthy person you want to be.

Oct

Issues, We All Have Them

By garagegym107 6 Comments

I was chatting with a friend who is struggling this morning. As we chatted, I was thrown back in time to that exact point in my journey.

I don’t know where these things come from, they just seem to come from deep inside somewhere teaching me again, that I have learned some lessons over this journey of mine.

“We all have issues. My issues are not smaller than yours. I’ve learned not to use them as an excuse to crap on my goals” ~Garagegym107

There is so much meat in that statement, I immediately had to type it out and claim it.

For years I allowed my issues to be my excuse for chronically sabotaging my fitness efforts with poor quality food. It took me quite some time to figure out that when I ate poorly, I in turn felt even more poorly and my issues seemed ginormous (yes, I know that’s not really a word).

It happens in the lives of most women who struggle with dealing with emotional eating. You are not alone.

Sooner or later, you must confront your fears in order to move past these issues. It’s not about willpower so much as it is about willingness to change and will to let go.

Our issues can stay buried deep inside and something silly can pull one of them back to the limelight.

In example, I’ve written about the online trainer that literally told me I needed to rethink my goals regarding physique training. In that moment that little liar in my head came screaming forward saying “see I told you so”.

I could have let both the negative self-talking voice and the online trainer derail me completely. The old me would have allowed just that.

The stronger, wiser and much more at peace, and confident me simply said “watch this”. My goals are set, my countdown app on my phone is set and I’ve been busy doing.

Sure, I have issues, we all do. Step back and think things through. If you are reaching for food, you are still allowing those issues to rule your roost.

Oct

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS)

By garagegym107 7 Comments

Categories: Morphing of a Fit Woman
Tags: BodyBuilding, Clean Eating, Motivation, nutrition, Training, Weight Lifting, Workout

I’ve been working out for a long time. Seriously. Today I have one of the worst cases of delayed onset muscle soreness in as long as I can remember.

Yes the funny holding on to the stall walls, etc. I asked myself a couple of times over the last 24 hours a few questions.

1) Did my minor shenanigans post Warrior Dash wreak that much havoc on my body?

2) Did I do one killer lower body combo on Monday?

I prefer to go with the latter as the main culprit with a kick in the pants from the first option.

You see for me, I’ve learned that when I’m eating really clean, as in, goal seeking week after week goal seeking, clean eating, just the smallest infractions wreak havoc on my digestive system.

I learned a valuable lesson, even on a relaxed day, I need to remember that my body prefers a pretty high standard of fuel.

Courtesy of Wikipedia:

Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), also called muscle fever, is the pain and stiffness felt in muscles several hours to days after unaccustomed or strenuous exercise. The soreness is felt most strongly 24 to 72 hours after the exercise.^[1] It is caused by eccentric exercise.^[2] After such exercise, the muscle adapts rapidly to prevent muscle damage, and thereby soreness, if the exercise is repeated.^[3]

What I really need…

Oct

Warrior Dash My Version

By garagegym107 2 Comments

Categories: Morphing of a Fit Woman
Tags: BodyBuilding, Bright Spots, Community, gaining self confidence, Goal Setting, Inspiration, Motivation, Warrior Dash, Working out

Saturday I ran my first ever Warrior Dash. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect and Warrior Dash like. It was 66 degrees and started raining while we were in the starting chute waiting. Muddy slopes to slide down and hills to slip up. I had a blast.

But my Dash comes with another story. I ran with two friends, or better yet, they ran with me. You see I’m not as fast as they are and I am much more cautious, mainly out of fear of an injury.

My story is for all of the youngguns out there. You want to do something big in your life?? Wait for a friend.

The sacrifice my Warrior friends made by waiting for me didn’t go unnoticed by me. They are competitive, they like to do well at what they do. Who can blame them, they are both swift on their feet and great runners.

Saturday, they waited. They waited as I cautiously went over things that scared me. Laughed at mud running down my face when I slid down into a muddy pool. But they waited.

Do you know how much patience it takes to cool your jets long enough to think of someone else? They set aside personal goals and personal bests to wait for a friend.

This life will pass you by in the blink of an eye. Before you know it, life takes over and your internal Warrior gets set aside for kids and life. But it’s never too late to bring your Warrior back. Out of over 6,000 people, there were only 27 or so 49-year-old female participants. I was one of them and I had a BLAST!

I was one of them, and these two ladies are the ones who waited. They are the rock stars!

Before the Dash.

And after the dash!

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