Posts Tagged ‘nutrition

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02
Nov
12

You Just Never Know

By garagegym107 4 Comments
Categories: Living Fit Daily
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I have a very small personal training business with only out-of-pocket money for equipment and so on.  That being said, I recently put together an order for some cool Garagegym107 sweat shirts (special order only).   I must say I have been very humbled by the ladies who have gotten shirts.  Just the sheer fact that they are wearing my blog name on their back is humbling.

This morning in the gym, I was asked to order more shirts.  When I stop and think of the fact that my friends and family are willing to wear them I get all teary-eyed.  It is a very special thing for me.  You just never know who’s reading or who might be hearing a much needed message.

My little brother would probably laugh at me for being sappy.  But deep down he remembers how unhappy I was before I started my weight-loss journey. 

I want people to look at those shirts and google this blog from those fancy smart phones everyone has now-a-days and I want them to see the about tab.

I want people to know that this is me keeping it real and spreading the message that if you want to get fit YOU can.

If you want to beat the odds, YOU can.

If you want to take a step to a healthier life, YOU can. 

But the real kicker here  is YOU.

There are days that this journey isn’t easy, but it is always doable.  The statement “how bad do you want it?” is often used. 

For me it’s “How good do you want to feel today?”. 

For me that feeling good comes from doing the right things for me.  Whether that’s clean food, a hard workout, a free meal or a rest day.  Getting to the point of even understanding what your body needs takes time and patience.  But it’s so worth every single second and every tear you may shed.  Anything worth having is worth working for.

Everyday we go through this life just trying to live through it.  I ask you, what are you doing to really LIVE?

For now just keep moving forward.

 

 

 

29
Oct
12

Mmmmm…Eating Humble Pie

By garagegym107 Leave a Comment
Categories: Morphing of a Fit Woman
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I love my life and I love my friends and family even more.

Friday I wrote about my little adventure with the magazine in my chair.   Pay close attention because here is where the humble pie comes in. 

Bright and early this morning one of my most favorite people from work came in to my office and closed the door behind himself.  And don’t miss that…He is one of my favorite people! 

He said “I left the magazine in your chair so you would READ THE ARTICLES in it”.   Talk about taking a huge bite of humble pie!!   HE READS MY BLOG!!  🙂

You see the insecurity of “what if they think I have too much muscle” came floating across my brain at the moment I picked up that magazine.  Not once did I think that there was an ounce of good intention associated with the magazine being left in my chair.

Shame on me.  Jumping to negative conclusions is an old habit that I’m obviously still trying to break free from.  I have to say that 99% of the time I believe in the positive.  In that 1% of negative I always find a lesson.

I thought about the “too much muscle” topic over the weekend.  Working through my own mindset to see if some how my goals would change.  My goals haven’t changed and now that this contemplation has worked through the process I’m even more convinced that I’m on the right path for me.

This is a perfect example of morphing.  Ever changing, ever-growing.

Thanks to my friend for not opening the door and walking out.  He is really great at helping me to see the forest beyond the trees.

26
Oct
12

Haters Gonna Hate

By garagegym107 6 Comments
Categories: Morphing of a Fit Woman
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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.

 

 

24
Oct
12

Let’s Do Some Sprints

By garagegym107 2 Comments
Categories: Nutritional Cleanse Experiment
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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.

19
Oct
12

Fantastic Friday!

By garagegym107 10 Comments
Categories: Living Fit Daily
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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!

15
Oct
12

Fear

By garagegym107 1 Comment
Categories: Morphing of a Fit Woman
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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. 

 

11
Oct
12

Issues, We All Have Them

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

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.

10
Oct
12

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS)

By garagegym107 7 Comments
Categories: Morphing of a Fit Woman
Tags: , , , , , ,

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…

 

02
Oct
12

Never Going To Steal My Joy

By garagegym107 22 Comments
Categories: Random Thoughts
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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!

20
Sep
12

I Don’t Have Time

By garagegym107 6 Comments
Categories: Living Fit Daily
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I hear this comment often.  “I don’t have time to train and eat right.  I can’t imagine packing my meals and being at the gym at 5:30am. ”  “I can’t imagine doing that with 3 kids”.  In reality we all have the same number of hours in our day.

Some days I’d like to be a real hard nose about it, but the old fat chick in my head says “remember when that was you?” so I refrain.  

What I would really like to say is this.  You have a lot more time than you think you do so stop saying you don’t have time. 

Swap half of your social media time for working out.  Swap all of your TV time for food prep and you just might find a little extra wiggle room in there.  I the beginning it seems like an undoable, impossible idea.  It does for most people so you are not alone.

Give it two weeks.  Set a timer and limit yourself to 10 minutes of social media at a time.  For the next 10 minutes, try doing some air squats or some push-ups (even if your push-ups are on your knees or your leaning against a wall) or some good old-fashioned sit-ups,  just do it for 10 minutes. 

You will soon realize that you don’t have to move a bus to feel better, just move yourself.  Care about yourself enough to do it.

I’ve learned that my commitment to consistency has been the greatest link to my success.  Day after day, week after week, month after month and year after year.

Things got so much easier when I quit chasing “the end” of each phase.  When the end comes, it’s over but you are not finished.   I never imagined when I was 38 and just getting started that I would be creeping up on 50 in the best shape of my life and still working out consistently 5-6 times per week.

Ironically, I’m not finished.  Now I see 80 as a new challenge.  Just how good of shape can I keep myself in over the next 30-ish years.  And even better?  What do I want to accomplish?

Getting and staying fit is the greatest gift I could have ever given to myself.  Learning to live this lifestyle has taught me that anything is possible.  Now go get your greatness!

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