Month: November 2015

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Give Up OR Give Thanks?

I just realized that I missed doing yesterday’s Thanks post on my Body By BrendaT Facebook page.
But seeing how Day 24 – Wisdom
and Day 25 – Lesson from a Trial
Both hit me in quite the same place in my heart right now, I decided to do them together as a blog since I knew it would go a little long 🙂
I am beyond Thankful for the Wisdom that I have learned during the past stressful year and a half. I know it may seem like I harp on it, but some of this is taking me a long time to process, deal with, and get through. My Dad becoming someone I didn’t recognize, to selling my childhood home, where the BEST Mom in the world helped me get through some pretty F’d up Crap!, to watching my Dad slip away and the aftermath of grief, guilt, heartache, stress, and questioning myself time and time and time again, if I handled everything the best that I could. Was there ANYTHING that I didn’t do that would have made things better for him or my family?
But recently, I went through a program, that is helping me realize that I need to just STOP questioning all of that. It is in the past and nothing I can do now will EVER change PAST EVENTS! I am letting my past once again control my present and future! My head is so full of the POSSIBILITY of regrets that I might find if I think of a way that I SHOULD have done something in the past, that I am not letting in all the AMAZING things that will lead me to an even MORE AMAZING future!
I am not saying I am “fixed”. I am still a work in progress on this one, but every step forward is a step in the right direction.
A step I will be taking this weekend, is putting up my Christmas decorations. If you know me, you know that Christmas has ALWAYS been my favorite time of year! I love that people smile just a little bit more, and give just a little extra effort. And I also LOVE the lights, the joy, the brightness that all of my decorations bring to my home.
christmas-tree1
This year, I have just not “felt” it yet. It feels like something I “have to do”. I don’t have children. I don’t have big parties or gatherings for family and friends, so I don’t have that to worry about. But I have come to the conclusion, that I do need to do it for ME! I love it, and isn’t doing something nice just for me worth it? I think so, and I am hoping it will be another nudge in the right direction towards my healing.
light to darkness
You see, I live right on a busy highway, and hundreds of people have honked or stopped or told me through Facebook or friends that my home at Christmas makes our dark tiny little town a little brighter. So if the brightness of my home can bring a tad bit of joy to someone on their way home from work after an exceptionally CRAPPY day, so that by the time they get home to their family, they are in a better mood, then it was all worth it. Because sharing joy is what makes ME happy! That is why I have continued to smile even though inside, many times recently, I would have rather crawled back under my Rock Bottom Boulder.
So, how does this all fall into my fitness world?  I was cruising along in maintenance having lost well over 125# and keeping it off for 4 years, but in the last 2, I have gained back enough that I am barely a 100# weight loss success story at this point.  I have been struggling to be OK with me.  But you know what I also realized on this journey?  I don’t have to be perfect for anyone to love me!  And if someone IS looking for perfection, then there are a lot of starving fitness models that they can follow.  Me myself, I struggle with emotional eating and days where I just don’t get everything done, so food prep or a workout may suffer!
But I do MY best every day!  And for me, THAT is what most people are looking for.  It is watching me work through my struggles that shows my strength, not just seeing the pics that I feel show me at my best!
So I am Thankful for the wisdom and lessons that this trial period in my life has brought to my life.  I am learning to love me for me, and not just for what I have accomplished.  I am NOT a failure, I just found out that I need to deal with stress and trials a little bit differently if I want to have the future I dream of.
My dreams are big.
My dreams scare me.
My dreams will take a lot of work.
My dreams WILL be my reality!
Show Gratitude and Thanks every day for the blessings in your life!
 Happy-ThanksgivingLove. Peace. And Fitness!

MAKE today GREAT!!!

bodybybrenda@hotmail.com

www.bodybybrendat.net

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#Empower #Strength #SelfLove #SelfConfidence #WarriorGoddess #PunchFearInTheFace #YouAreBeautiful #BeYourOwnLight

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The Sweeter The Better!?!?!

As a ZIN member, I recently did a class to further my abilities to understand clean eating so I can pass it on to you and my clients and students.  I am still NOT an RD, but I did get certified in the Plate program, which is a  clean eating program for a healthy lifestyle by Zumba™.
 PLATE_CIRCLE_250x250
The very first thing I want to share with you all is a BIG one!
Sugar Detox!
Specifically the role that Artificial Sweeteners play in trying to detox from White Sugar!
They are NOT the solution!  Many of you have seen my rants on sucralose in the past.  The fact that it is bleached with chlorine.  The fact that it disrupted my hormones so badly, that my endometriosis symptoms had me close to putting a gun in my mouth a few times from the pain.  The fact that within 30 days of quitting it, all the hormonal and bloating issues that it causes were GONE!  It is a hard one to avoid, because food manufacturers slip it in EVERYTHING!
Here are just a few facts about artificial sweeteners and thinking they are better and a way to stay away from “real” sugar using the specific example of diet drinks and diet sodas –
artificial sweeteners ZP Lesson
So ditch the sodas!  Regular AND Diet!   Both have their own evil traits when it comes to your metabolism!  Stop giving them the power over you!  And think how much money you could save!  I know, I live with a Dt Mt. Dew addict!  He doesn’t always listen to me, but is down to just 2 a day!  I feel so much better without that junk in my body!  I know the struggle is real, but if you are THAT addicted to something, don’t you kinda have to wonder exactly what is in it MAKING it that addictive???
MAKE today GREAT!!!
See you on Facebook at Body By BrendaT
artificial_sweetner_a
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No Time to Workout?

I am a busy girl!  I work a Full Time job in the business office of a family owned retail pharmacy, I teach Zumba classes 3 days a week, I do a lot of my own choreography for those classes, and I am a Beachbody Coach and help many people online throughout the day.  So sometimes, all that is left for me is a quick 30 minute workout.

That is one thing I LOVE about Beachbody!  They have found the right tools to getting in a GREAT workout in just 30 minutes, and continue to run with these theories and are seeing AMAZING results!  I myself have always been partial to Tabatas and Circuit-Style Workouts.  So Max 30 and 21 Day Fix for me are AMAZING!!!

But I also LOVE Tabata Workouts for precisely this reason! I even teach a 25 minute Tabata Class every Saturday morning immediately after a 35 Minute Zumba Class at Legacy Martial Arts in Quincy.  Many people don’t realize that they can do just that class if they really aren’t into dance.  Which is a foreign concept to me, but I know Ya’All are out there, and I forgive you! 😉

But here is just one example of the type of workouts we do –

TABATA

1

Jumping Jacks

&

Squated Fast Punches

2

Push Ups

&

Alternating Lunges

3

Standing Windmill Crunches

&

Sumo Squats

4

High Knee Jog or March

&

Speed Skaters

And here is a link to an awesome FREE Tabata timer –  http://www.tabatatimer.com

With Tabata training you exercise for 20 seconds then rest for 10 seconds, and repeat 8 times. This with a short preparation time before starting is a Tabata.  With this workout there is 4 Tabatas.  Alternate each set of 2 exercises for the whole tabata.  Take one minute rest between Tabatas, reset your timer and go to the next set of 2 exercises! 🙂