Posts Tagged ‘weight loss

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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? 

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. 

 

17
Jul
12

Getting Fit! Tami Rose

By garagegym107 42 Comments
Categories: Living Fit Daily
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I’d like to take a moment to introduce you to a woman I know.  I met Tami a year ago when she joined the CrossFit Box I attend. 

With her permission, this blog is for her.  To celebrate the victory of consistency with both her nutrition and her workouts.  Tami has made changes that have now become visible results.  No super secret code or plan. 

Clean conscious eating and working out.  I do not train Tami.  She works out at CrossFit Impulse.  She does this on her own with the support of other CrossFit community members, friends and trainers at the box.

For all of you out there struggling, use this as motivation. 

Instead of me saying a thousand words, I’ll let the photo’s do the talking.  Congratulations Tami!

March vs July 2012 Congratulations Tami!!

16
Jul
12

Want Something? Go get it!

By garagegym107 9 Comments
Categories: Morphing of a Fit Woman
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Some days I step back and think about where I’ve come from, looking for the moments of clarity on when my greatest progresses have been.

I have found that happens when I turn off all external noise and I get busy actually doing.

Forming a plan and sticking to that plan 90% of the time.  Whether its training or nutrition.  That’s what has worked for me.

I’m happiest when I have a barbell in my hand, but I realize that I must work on skills that I don’t like even more.

I’ve been working on my strict pull-ups for two years. Yes, two years. Actually probably a little longer than that. 

It would have come sooner if I had been just a bit more strict in my weekly discipline of working on them.  So now it’s time for me to go get it.  Get the strict daily regimen that will result in those dead-hang pull-ups.  No excuses.

This is me two years ago on the biggest band I had.  Today, I am on the smallest band I have.  That being said my chin lacks 3″ from getting over the bar.  No more excuses.

It will be 2 years come this October since this picture was made.  The next picture will be in two months and with no band.  I am determined.

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

20
Jun
12

Amazing

By garagegym107 Leave a Comment
Categories: Living Fit Daily
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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.

18
Jun
12

Truth!

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

08
Jun
12

Making Long Term Change

By garagegym107 Leave a Comment
Categories: Morphing of a Fit Woman
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Over the last couple of days, I seen the reports of the 600# Virgin regaining 400# that he lost.  It’s been on my mind and I decided to write about when real long-term changes started happening for me and how they happened.

The mis-leading thing about all of these tv specials about weight-loss don’t really tell you about when everything is over.  I know I’ve seen one of the Biggest Loser’s, the pizza guy from up North gained all of his weight back.  

In a perfect world, every person could go to a fitness camp, have world-class trainers and chef’s preparing perfect food. 

But in reality we have lives that aren’t put on hold because we decide we want to get healthy.  It can be done but it won’t be without sacrifice. 

One of the hardest realizations I had to come to was that there were people who have always known me and they just weren’t willing to accept the person I was becoming. 

Whether they realize what they are doing or not, there will be the tempting lunch invitations, happy hour invites, your favorite cookies or candies showing up etc. 

It took awhile for me to realize that my change was making people around me uncomfortable.  Change is hard.  Not just for you, but for those who know the old you.  Some want to stay in the old comfortable place they’ve always been and they’d like to keep you there with them.

Change takes courage.  You don’t have to be mean or rude, just say “thanks for the invite, but I can’t make it”.  After the first decline it will get easier. 

You may lose a friend or two over it, but remember there ARE like-minded people out there who want to socialize with other fit people. 

One of my fondest memories was this past fall while watching a college championship game with a group of people who I had just met from a local gym.  Every single dish was healthy and tasted great!  I felt as if I were in a safety zone.

One of my clients is a young 24-year-old professional.  One of her greatest obstacles is hanging with her friends.  We plan her workouts and weekly nutrition goals around her social schedule so her free meals fall on the day of the event she has scheduled.  It allows her to enjoy life without feeling restricted.

Being fit isn’t about giving up everything you enjoy and feeling miserable.  It’s about having the courage to make the choices day in and day out to be better today than you were yesterday FOR YOURSELF not for anyone else.

07
Jun
12

Random Workout Thoughts

By garagegym107 2 Comments
Categories: Random Thoughts
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– You have to start somewhere.  If you haven’t been working out at all start by walking.  Go just one block.  Every single day add another block to the previous days total until you are up to 45 minutes.

– On the day you don’t want to workout, do it anyway.

– People in the gym really aren’t really looking at you.  Don’t be insecure.  You deserve to be there.

– If you don’t know what to do in the gym ask someone.  Don’t strike up a conversation, just ask for help.

– If you don’t want to ask someone, there are plenty of forums that have demo videos.  http://www.exrx.net/ is one of my favs.

– If you’re bored do something different.  There are plenty of parks and places to get in a body weight workout.

– Yes, you will get sore.  In some cases more sore than you imagined.  Especially after walking lunges.  Lunges bring a booty back though and are well worth holding on to the bathroom stall walls.

– Someone will always be stronger, bigger or faster than you.  Keep going.

– Never forget there is someone wishing they could be where you are today.   Someone who is physically incapable of moving due to injury or illness, you should do it simply because you can and they don’t have that luxury.

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