Control
Hi Everybody! Sorry so long between posts. We had a wonderful trip to Georgia to visit my family for my niece’s birthday (and mine too–more on that in a minute). My parents don’t have a computer, and although I did get to use my sister’s computer briefly I had no time to put together a post. I put a lot of thought and effort into my posts, because I want to provide real value to anyone who is taking their precious and valuable time to read what I am saying. I appreciate that, and it means a lot to me. So I don’t just throw them up in a few minutes. It takes me a long time.
And since we got back in town, I have been running around like crazy getting ready to launch our Boat Smart class tonight for the Lake Murray Power Squadron. I am thrilled to report that the attendance far exceeded our expectations. We had about 17 pre-registered, and had 26 people in the class! That is wonderful, and we have many young people too, which is especially exciting. Our youngest tonight was Braxton, who is about 7 or 8 years old, and after I worked with him for a few minutes, he learned to tie a pretty good cleat hitch knot, so now he can safely secure a boat to a dock. I videoed him doing it, which I will post shortly. (Yes, I am playing with my fun new toy still. I love that Flip Video!)
I am getting very excited about my upcoming Valentine’s Day special Living Foods class, where I will be teaching some of my favorite treats that are easy and fun. I made the White Chocolate Strawberry ‘Cheeze’cake for the birthday celebrations this weekend, and it was a major hit, even with my family. And then I brought the leftovers to a Super Bowl party, and even the confirmed non-healthy-eating people there loved it, between their wings, hot dogs, pork BBQ, chili cheese fries and buckets of beer, of course. Oh well, at least they consumed SOME antioxidants and phytonutrients, among the SAD foods. I was proud of myself–I resisted onion strings that were sitting right in front of me. I used to love good onion rings/strings/bloomin’ onions/any form of fried onion, more than life itself, and those were always a big issue for me. Now I found it rather easy to simply not eat them. Of course, having two pieces of the ‘Cheeze’cake helped! On what other diet can you eat two big desserts without any guilt and actually be healthier after eating them? I can’t think of another one, so that is one reason why I LOVE Living Foods!
There is still time to register for this class. Please see the Defiant Events Page for more information.
Wow, I have had three workouts since I last posted. Michael and I did a quick but tough leg workout on Saturday before we left for Georgia. Yesterday, I rocked a great High Intensity Interval cardio workout with chest & triceps mixed in, designed to burn off some more bodyfat before my big day on Saturday. And today we had a very efficient back & biceps workout, before we had to run to set up for Boat Smart.
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I won’t go into a lot of detail, due to time constraints, but here is the overview of the workouts:
Legs:
- Warmup
- Leg Press—I got 10 reps TWICE with 475! Whoo–hoo! I was grunting big time getting those last two up, but that was the best I had ever done.
- Smith Machine Lunges
- Isolateral Hamstring Curls
- Isolateral Leg Extensions
- Calf Raises on Donkey Calf Machine
Cardio and Chest:
- Warmup on the machine that simulates skating for 15 minutes. Can’t remember the name of it at this moment.
- Jumping on the rebounder for about 5 minutes. Great for stimulating the lymphatic system.
- 25-lb dumbbell flyes on the exercise ball, supersetted with the following
- High Bench Jumps, supersetted with Single Leg Jumps, 3 sets
- Pushups with elevated feet supersetted with the following
- Jump Lunges, supersetted with Jump squats, 3 sets
- Pushups with various hand positions
- Side bench jumps, supersetted with side bench lunges
- Abs worked in randomly when I needed more recovery time from the cardio sets
Back and Biceps:
- Two-handled lat pulldowns
- Seated rows on isolateral plate-loaded machine–I got my highest weight ever on these tonight, 82 lbs each arm. Yay!
- Pullups on assist machine, wide grip
- Rear delt flyes on machine
- Dumbbell bicep curls. Another personal best. I got 3 sets with 22.5 lb bells. The last set, I only got 6 reps each arm, so I dropped to the 17.5 lbs and finished out to 12 reps. My previous best was struggling with 20 lb bells, so I am pleased with the strength improvements I am making.
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OK, speaking of my big day on Saturday—-It’s my 40th Birthday! Yay! I am not having any of this “Over the Hill” party stuff. Oh, no. I will be having a ‘Fabulous Forty’ Party this Saturday night at a club called Blue here in Columbia. If you are in the area, please come by. We will be rocking to a special night of 80’s music in my honor, since I am a total 80’s chick. The party will be cranking about 9:30 until we can’t dance any more. Blue is located behind Wild Wing Cafe in the Vista on Lady Street. Wear some of your best 80’s flashback fashions and come help me celebrate the big FOUR-OH!
I am actually excited about turning 40. Is that weird? I wouldn’t say ‘weird’, I would say highly unusual for most people. But I don’t think that age is a constraint, or a life sentence to pain and suffering. It’s a number that tells you how many days you have been on earth. Big deal. Doesn’t mean a thing. Kind of like your scale weight doesn’t tell you what you look like, neither does your age number. I feel better than I have since high school. I am literally in better shape than I was in high school, or even in my twenties. I know a lot more, I am much wiser, and I have learned to savor and appreciate the things that really matter in life. And number one is health. Without health, you have nothing. You can’t enjoy anything else, no matter how much you have. Having lived with pain and illness for many years, I understand and appreciate how incredible it is to feel good and not suffer every day. Number two is my family, especially my incredible Soul Mate, Michael. Every day I give thanks for him, and I know how fortunate I am. I have seen the other side, and I know what I have now, and I treasure Michael more than anything else on earth. I am so blessed, so grateful, and so intensely aware that I cannot take these blessings for granted.
The reason most people fear aging is that they feel resigned to accept a fate of declining health and vitality, living out their years in pain and sickness. Sadly, for most that is the case. That is their destination, according to the course they are currently charting. Borrowing an analogy from Boat Smart tonight, you are at the helm of your ship. You are the captain. You are charting the course, and you have full control of the direction you are sailing. Don’t like the destination? Change course! I heard a fabulous statement yesterday. Think long and hard about this: “Nobody has EVER accidentally eaten a meal.”
You are in full control over what you eat. In high school, my sister became nearly anorexic. She weighed only 85 pounds at one time. I myself struggled with that for a short while in college, until I discovered weight lifting, which cured me from that forever. My studies of eating disorders drove one point home. Eating disorders are often about control. When all else in someone’s life is out of control, that person can still always, always, control what goes into their mouth. What they eat is completely under their control, no matter what else is going on. You cannot blame anyone or anything else for what you eat. You are in full control. You may feel that through pressure from others, cravings, stress, etc. that you just can’t help yourself or you have to eat a certain way. That is crap. You don’t have to. It’s just the lazy, easy way out. You have to defy all those things–Be Defiant!
I don’t know how many times people have tried to justify their foods to me, saying that they would eat healthy, but ‘they have kids, and you know, all the stuff they want to eat.’ OK–that’s crap. The kids shouldn’t be controlling what the family eats, and by no means should the kids be eating harmful foods leading to disease and obesity. Their health is the parent’s responsibility. Hey, the kids are not the ones behind the wheel in the fast food drive-thru. The kids are not the ones writing the checks at the grocery store. I know it’s not easy, but be the adult. Be a parent, not a pushover. Set the example. Don’t allow unhealthy food in the house. The truth is, the parents want the junk food and the kids are an excuse. Same with spouses. So many women blame their weight on their ‘meat and potatoes’ husbands. Because “they have to fix him what he wants for dinner.” Excuse me? That’s crap too. That is called being bullied, if it’s true. More than likely, it is simply that they want to eat what they crave and take the easy way out of blaming it on their spouse. And even if he eats poorly, he is not holding them down and shoving cake down their throat. They can eat whatever they want to. It’s still somewhat of a free country, and there is no law that everybody at the table has to eat the same food. Eat what you know is good for YOU.
Am I stepping on a lot of toes here? I know I am, and that’s OK. I had to learn these lessons, too. It’s not easy. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. You can argue with me until the cows come home about it. I hear the same things over and over from dozens of people every day. Come on…..Take control! Be Defiant! Stop passing the buck and blaming everything else. You are in control over every bite and every food that goes into your mouth. Is it easier just to grab the artery-clogging, diabetes-causing, health-destroying ‘food’ at the drive through that tastes so good? Well, yes, it is. For a time. Until you get fat, or sick, or worse. Until you change your habits. Until you feel the improvements. Until you feel better and look better than you did 20 years ago. Until you see your kids thriving, with fewer illnesses, ADHD and behavioral problems. Until your spouse starts seeing you as a hot and sexy babe. Then how tempting is all that disgusting ‘food’? How hard is it then to eat natural, whole, delicious foods that nourish your cells and build a strong body and immune system? You just have to want health more than anything else, make a commitment, and visualize the end result of a vibrant energetic new you, free of disease and beautiful inside and out.
So, remember our Revolutions? Make another one, right now. No more excuses! You are in control. Stand up for yourself, eat to nourish your precious cells. Be an example to your family, spouse, and/or children. Let them see you becoming an incredible being of light and energy, thriving and healthy and beautiful. They will eventually want that for themselves. Don’t force anything on anyone. Nobody likes anything shoved at them. Simply go quietly about your own way of eating and let them come to you.
I feel strongly about this because I know how many years I struggled under false notions of what is healthy, and suffered so much because of it. Now, I am so excited to be reaching the milestone of age 40 in my life, and I just feel that every day I am getting better and better. It’s such a dramatic shift of consciousness. I know I can be very blunt about it, but why sugarcoat the truth? You can be what ever you want to be. It starts in your mind, and in your attitude. Get an attitude! Misbehave. Challenge the status quo. And above all, Be Defiant!
Blessings, love and light,
Christy
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