I am not really sure why, but it JUST really sunk in that in about 16.5 hours, I will be hopping in my car and heading to Champaign, IL to run my 4th Half-Marathon!  But that isn’t even the best part.  Not only are there at least 41 other HRRWC members and friends going to be there, but friends from all over the country from the Biggest Loser Club and the Novo Wellness Community(http://novowellness.com/) will also be there!  So excited to see everyone!  And watch some people finish their FIRST 5k!  The road to fitness is sometimes a LONG one, but to get to witness someone on their journey first hand is a gift.  I am so blessed to be a part of not only getting to witness these moments, but to be part of them, and in a few cases, even be part of the inspiration that got that person to the starting line to begin with:)

Life is GOOD!  Live it to the fullest!  Never pass up a chance to love or be loved.  And…My Friends…I LOVE You ALL!  Thank you for making my journey brighter every day:)

OK…this post is going to have to be short and sweet, because I am EXHAUSTED! But a GOOD exhausted:)

Last night I did an AWESOME deadlift workout by Fighter Diet’s own Pauline Nordin!  And I am going to tell you…my butt and thighs were killing me.  But since I started going to Legacy Martial Arts, I have found a whole new level of dedication to my health and fitness.  I want to BE BETTER!  For myself, AND to show that I appreciate all the dedication the instructors give to us, AND to inspire others the way I have been inspired!  And tonight was absolutely NO EXCEPTION!  Mr Dominique Jackson pushed me tonight to the point that I nearly threw up!  I think someone in the class actually may have.  By the time FIT class was over, I felt GREAT!  Fit, healthy, confident, and accomplished!  So much so, that I stayed for the whole hour of Zumba with Stacey Getz, who is just the best!  If you haven’t tried Zumba, because you don’t like to dance in public, or you feel too “uncoordinated”…who cares?  Fitness and Fun at the same time?  Who can ask for more than that?  Come and try out a free week at Legacy!  You won’t be disappointed!  Be ready to give it your all, because you will only get out of it what you put in.  But just remember that your being there may be EXACTLY the inspiration that the person next to you needed!  And being someone else’s motivator or inspiration, is the BEST motivation/inspiration you can find for yourself.

Mr Jackson has a saying…”No Recess!”  We have no recess, because WE DON’T PLAY!  We work hard at Legacy to reach a new level of fitness.  If your current level is beginner…DO NOT LET THAT DETER YOU FROM TRYING IT!  These classes are for EVERYONE!  BUT…BE READY TO GIVE YOU YOUR ALL!!!  We will push each other to grow to be in the shape that we REALLY wish we were in.

I have recently made a decision to see just how far I can go.  I am READY!  I am done holding myself back from that last little bit of accomplishment!  After a short post-Bridge the Gap rest period, I plan to push myself to a whole new level.  And I know with the help of Mr Bentley, Mrs Bentley(fall marathon training partner, right?:), Mr Jackson, and the WHOLE Legacy Family, that I WILL ACHIEVE MY GOAL!

So…who is ready to be dedicated and work tirelessly to achieve YOUR EXCELLENCE?!?!?  I know I AM IN!!!!

Small caveat: Please remember that even though I read everything I can get my hands on that pertains to nutrition and fitness, I am NOT an RD or a PT or an MD!  I do however have personal experience that has formed some VERY strong views, opinions, and thoughts on the subjects of health and fitness!

OK…It is time to talk about the latest twist in this old “fad” to lose weight….  Here is a link if you want to watch the video “of a satisfied customer” who actually only kept the feeding tube, YES I SAID FEEDING TUBE, in for 8 days, because she lost the 10# she needed to lose to fit into her wedding dress 2 days early!  Says she has kept it off, but I noticed they did not say what she eats now, and to me, she looks like she has NO muscle tone:P  What good is being skinny if you are NOT healthy and look like a stick figure???

http://gma.yahoo.com/k-e-diet-brides-using-feeding-tubes-rapidly-080053646–abc-news-health.html

First…those who know me know, as sad as it is to admit, that “back in the day”, I probably would have tried this:(  In fact, I drank nothing but diet shakes for 3 weeks once, and dropped 25#.  As an obese woman, I was ECSTATIC!!!  But now ask me how long it took for it to come back on when I decided to switch to a healthy diet!  Yep!  A HEALTHY DIET!  I was using it as a “jump-start” to what was supposed to be an all new healthy lifestyle.  But my body was so starved for nutrients after only 3 week, that I had already damaged my metabolism.  And even healthy, sensible meals like salads, chicken, broccoli, and brown rice, and an egg white and veggie omelette made me gain weight!  FAST!  All the weight was back and even brought “friends” within about 8 weeks!

As you can imagine, that just beat me down.  I was devastated and convinced that I was just destined to be fat my whole life.  So the next thing I knew, I was sitting in McDonald’s drive thru ordering enough food for a family of 4!

What really appalls me about this K-E Diet is that a DOCTOR is promoting it and saying it is perfectly healthy and that you will not lose muscle OR mess up your metabolism!

OK!  What do we know from A&P 101???  Your body, when in a state of starvation, will hold on to the fat, and cannibalize the muscle!  Maybe this doctor, skipped that day of PRE-MED!  I actually took this class in high school just for the record.  But he obviously did not skip the day that they taught them how to PREY ON OVERWEIGHT PEOPLE!!  In my opinion based on my personal experience, 800 calories of liquid for 10 days WILL put your body in a state of starvation and WILL screw up your metabolism!  I personally don’t believe in fasts and/or food free cleanses either for the same reason.  Besides the fact that I simply like to eat!  How do you think I got and stayed fat???

I love the part when he says that a side effect is constipation!  OF WHAT!  What are you going to make a bowel movement with when you have NO FOOD in your digestive tract???  That feeling is NOT constipation, but probably your colon seizing because it has not had the fiber it needs to work properly for so long!  UGH!  Also, your body NEEDS carbohydrates for energy and focus and simply for your brain to work properly.  HHMMMM…wonder why she was too tired to do anything?  UGH!  REALLY????

Now let’s talk about the money!  $1500 for 10 days of a doctor starving you!  If you want to throw your money away, give me $1500 and I will starve you for 10 days.  Let’s go!  Seriously!  I need the money!  For that kind of money, I could almost  quit my job and follow you around for 10 days and you wouldn’t even have to look like an escaped hospital patient!  That is just NUTS!

So PLEASE people…..remember!  THERE IS NO MAGIC PILL!  The ONLY way to truly get healthy and lose weight is a sensible diet and exercise.  Deprivation is NOT the answer.  LOTS of healthy food to keep you full is the key.  There are days that I eat POUNDS of vegetables to keep me from eating “junk”.   And other days, I eat pizza and drink beer.  It is about balancing your life in a way that works for you.  Starvation and Deprivation are NOT the answer.  I am WORTH the effort, and I work hard for my results!  What does it say about a person who thinks their health is only worth 10 days of hard work?  HHHMMMM

I apologize if this post seems like a big ramble.  I just get so upset that these things are even out there.  And since it has now been on all the national morning television shows, it will just become more popular and even more people are going to go down yet another scary road on their quest for a smaller waist and a lower number on the scale.  And the only place they are going is a farther away from their goal of being healthy:(

Before closing, I have to once again thank my husband for dealing with the crazy rants that things like this set off in me.  Often times like this when one of these crazy “lose weight quick” things come up, I will be screaming at the television(or him) arguing my opinion like a crazy woman!  This morning, he was like, “Baby…Baby…calm down!  I am on your side!”  LOL!  Gotta love that man:)

Girls….this one is for you!  Kind of along the same lines of my last post.

A young, single, male friend of mine just tweeted about how insecure women are a turn off.   That got me to thinking:P  I think he is on to something with that.  Have you ever noticed that when you are feeling really good about yourself, whether you are in the best shape of your life, or even just having a REALLY good hair day, that you ARE more beautiful!  A confident woman who walks with her head up and her chest out and shoulders back, and a smile on her face, can be the most beautiful woman in the room, no matter what she weighs or how plain she is.  Think about that!  Loving yourself IS the first step to treating yourself like the goddess you are!

I look at pics of me from 4 or more years ago, at more than 110# more than I weigh now such as this one from my wedding:And I am going to be honest…I did NOT like myself here.  I was embarrassed.  You are supposed to feel beautiful on your wedding day, and all I could focus on is that I had NOT lost the weight I wanted to before that day, and that my dress was a size 22.   I ruined the feeling you are supposed to have on your wedding day by not believing that I WAS beautiful.  I am a good person, and had on a gorgeous dress, and I was marrying my best friend!  And yet I was letting my weight and my self-loathing attitude ruin it for me.  I look at this picture today, and see that I did look beautiful that day, despite the sadness I see in my eyes.

Today, I have built my confidence not only through losing the weight and transforming my body, but proving to myself that I am capable of MUCH MORE than I ever thought possible.  I am STILL a good person, I STILL think that is the most gorgeous dress I will ever wear, and I am STILL married to my best friend.

So what has changed?  I am secure in my skin.  OK…Yes, I still have issues with the loose skin on my abdomen and thighs, and the fact that my boobs are GONE, but you know what?  Those things really don’t matter!  I am healthy, happy, and I have a GREAT life!  I get to inspire people to better themselves just by doing what I LOVE!  Working out, eating healthy, and being Me!  Which is now a secure, confident, happy woman who is proud of what she has accomplished, and is not afraid to post pics like this one to show how far I have come.  This was taken in my garage after a tough circuit that I set up for myself.  As the Rulership Movement states…”Excellence is the goal, dedication and tireless work is the key.”

I am worth the effort!  And I WILL keep working to reach my goals.

Be Happy With YOU!

We all have days like I have had the last few days(PMS – bloated, starving, self-critical), but there is ALWAYS something positive somewhere.  I just had to be willing to look for it.  Of course, cramps and a little bitchiness was NOT going to keep ME from training, so after work, it was off to the Kroc to ROCK the bi’s and tri’s and shoulders.  Obviously my favorite body parts to train.  So when I got home, I decided to take some progress pics of JUST my arms.  I really wish I had some good lighting somewhere in this house:P  Anyway, point is, I LOVE MY ARMS!   When I want to feel strong or am in need of a bit of a confidence boost, I look at my arms.  I think of all of the HARD WORK I put into them, and I am PROUD of that!  Granted it is at full pump and full flex, but I have went from 11.5 to 13 inches in my upper arms since December.  UH….I kinda ROCK! 

See?  I started out today feeling kinda crappy about myself, and now….well:)  Sometimes it IS simply a choice to be happy.  You control how you feel about you.  STOP criticizing what is wrong, and CELEBRATE what is right:)  And don’t tell me there is nothing!  That is NOT true and you know it.  I don’t care if it is the color of your hair, or your perfectly manicured nails, or the fact that you can jump higher than any human should be able too, or are always the most caring person in the room, or simply that I think you are AWESOME!  There is something about you to turn that negativity into positivity!  It is YOUR CHOICE! 

So…here are a couple of the pics that helped cheer me up.  Please ignore the goofy faces:P  I haven’t figured out how to do full flex without screwing up my face somehow:D  HAHAHA!!!

Considering my lumbar fusion, I have always been a little gun shy about lifting too heavy on my back, to the point that as strong as I am, I can STILL not do a pull-up.  But I realized, that I was not pushing it at all, and if I wanted to see progress, I was going to have to start adding a little weight.  So to the Assisted Pull-Up machine I went.  It was tough, but I did a ladder workout 10-8-6 reps with increased weight for each set.  Then I went to a close-grip seated row.  Then DB pullovers.  Then I decided to REALLY push, and did drop sets of one arm rows.  And finished up with DB bent-over high rows with 30#’s.  My rear delts were really POPPING!  I think I earned a little respect from some of the BB’s at the Kroc last night:)  Especially when I was done with back and instead of leaving, I stuck to my schedule and continued on to do abs:

3x tri-set :

1min plank(w 35# plate on my back)

30 second V-Sit

30 sec L side plank and 30 sec R side plank.

Repeat 3 times

Finished my night with a 3 mile run on the treadmill and 10 mins of stretching.  It still sounds crazy for me to be saying these things some days, but I LOVE the “strong and confident” feeling I get after a workout like that.  No more looking at the ground for me:)   Head UP, eyes FORWARD, confident smile ON!  I love my life:)  Who knew God hid my confidence in a gym?

Definition of Fit – April 10 – MY WGEM Audio track.

This is what I did this morning.  I gotta say, I LOVE spreading the motivation and inspiration for health!  If hearing this segment helps even one person to start getting fit and taking better care of their health, that makes me feel AWESOME!   I enjoyed doing this spot with Mr Bentley, and the WGEM Sports Center Crew, Josh, Dylan, and Broc.  Thank you to them for helping me spread the motivation!

For those of you in or near Quincy…please feel free to stop by Legacy Martial Arts and check it out!

FIT class is Tues and Thurs 7:15-8 PM and Sat 9-9:45AM

And stick around for Zumba with instructor Stacey Getz on Tues and Thurs 8-9PM.  We have a great time.  She also does a Sunday class that is 6PM right now, but I think that time will be moving up soon.  I will keep you all posted on that.

They also have scheduled MMA classes and Tae kwondo classes and many others are available.  Stop in and check it out.  36th and Broadway in the strip mall where El Rancheritos is located.  We look forward to seeing you there:)