Confidence – Victories Build Upon Victories
So you often hear New Years resolutions and people coming into the gym with a goal of losing weight, getting healthier, being more toned, feeling better.
But what is their REAL reason WHY?
Honestly, it really isn’t to look better. Or even to get healthier most of the time.
It is to be more CONFIDENT!
I mean why do you want to look better? Is it really just for the sake of looking better? Or is it because you want to FEEL better about yourself – be more CONFIDENT in how you look?
Do you really want to get healthier? Or do you want to be MORE CONFIDENT in you health – know that when you wake up you will have the energy to tackle the day and won’t constantly be falling ill?
Yup…Underlying just about every health and fitness goal is a person’s real WHY – CONFIDENCE.
And while I would say this is definitely the case for women, I think it is also true for men.
Even high level athletes train to have more confidence. Yes, they train to get stronger…But they really train because they want to be CONFIDENT that they can win.
A healthy lifestyle is all about confidence no matter what terms you actually use to describe your goal.
That is why having a measurable goal, which is broken down into SHORT-TERM goals, is so important.
A big part of confidence is seeing progress – seeing SUCCESS…no matter how small.
When we accomplish something, there is definitely a feeling of pride, a feeling of CONFIDENCE.
I know that is why I make a daily task list. I love the feeling of success and accomplishment that I get when I cross something off of my to-do list!
Even if it is something small. Honestly, I usually even start with the easiest and smallest task for the day because it is the least daunting and seems quick and painless. AND it gets the momentum going because once I’ve finished something and see the list start to get smaller, I feel even more motivated to continue.
Usually getting the momentum going is the hardest part, which is why it is so important to start with something small. Easy to accomplish tasks present a lower barrier to entry…aka they make it seem less intimidating to get started on a difficult task.
So while your long-term goal may be something that will take months or even years to accomplish (and may seem incredibly daunting at the moment), your short-term goals should be things you can accomplish daily or even weekly.
You NEED to have easy to accomplish short-term goals, especially at the beginning because those quick and easy victories will get the momentum rolling.
And when you start seeing success, no matter how small, your confidence will build. And as your confidence builds, you will perform better, feel better, and even look better.
So if you want to accomplish all those more “superficial” goals like losing weight, getting more toned, being healthier, you first have to target the real reason you want all of those things – CONFIDENCE!
P.S. By superficial I don’t mean not important…your health is VERY important and does drive people to eat better or workout, but if you build your confidence, those other goals don’t seem near as intimidating or out of reach!
The Best Thing EVER
There are two types of “The Best Thing Ever People” that bother me.
There are those people who start something new and claim it is the best thing EVER and then about two minutes in give it up and start a new thing, which will of course then become the best thing ever. Fad jumpers I call them. They jump from one bright new shiny thing to another. Constantly following what’s new and “hot.”
And then there are those people who latch on to one thing and never change. They won’t admit that there may be new research out there. They won’t admit that there are any flaws in what they are doing. They won’t accept any criticism and they condemn anyone who doesn’t follow the program as strictly as they do.
Loving what you are doing, believing in what you are doing, is great. But fanaticism isn’t. But neither is never committing and giving up the second something NEW comes out.
However, I find the second type of “best thing EVER-er” worse generally.
Fad jumpers can be super frustrating because they can complain when they don’t get results. And if you tell them that constantly jumping from thing to thing won’t ever get you results, they will say, “Of course it won’t!”
The problem is….most people don’t realize that they are doing it. They don’t realize that they never really give any program a chance to work.
Most of the fad jumpers just don’t have PATIENCE. They want results now.
However, these fad jumpers, these “Best Thing EVER-ers” aren’t near as difficult to deal with. At least most of these people are open-minded.
Whereas the other type of “best thing EVER” people aren’t open-minded at all once they choose a program to follow. And the funny part is….most of these people are also FAD JUMPERS….they just do it more slowly over the years.
Yes, some stick with one program their entire life, getting deeper and deeper into the science and beliefs. And these people aren’t near as infuriating…generally you just don’t even bring up the topic because they are so grounded in their beliefs and you, potentially, in yours.
But honestly most of the super dedicated, and MOST VOCAL, are actually secretly fad jumpers. They jump from one slightly off mainstream diet to another just, as I said before, at a much slower pace.
And the problem with these people who believe they are now doing the “best thing ever” is that they become closed-minded. They may have changed diets – done some learning and growing – but now they are done and what they are doing right then and there is now the best thing ever and anyone who doesn’t agree is wrong.
Even if the founders of the movement continue to learn and grow, these followers don’t. And sometimes the followers even condemn the leaders for their growth, saying that they are giving in or catering to more people to just make money.
It’s like time stands still once they decide on something. No more learning or growing can happen.
No new information could possibly come out that would make you want to revise your program. Because revising would be like admitting that you were WRONG!
AH!
Revising something doesn’t mean that you are admitting that you are wrong! It means you are smart enough to learn and grow! It means you really are dedicated to seeking out the best and healthiest program out there!
And what gets me is that most of these people at some point made huge jumps from one diet to another. Like I’ve seen Vegetarians jump to Paleo and then condemn anyone who doesn’t do strict Paleo when they once thought that eating meat was the worst thing you could possibly do!
I don’t get it.
While you can’t constantly jump from one thing to another, you also can’t pick something and then close your mind off to other ideas.
I know that I found some simple fundamentals through lots of self-experimentation that I will probably never change; HOWEVER, that doesn’t mean that I’m not constantly learning, growing and building upon those simple rules.
So now…take a look at your diet and exercise program. Are you getting results? Because if you aren’t, yet you think you’ve found the “BEST THING EVER,” you may have one of the syndromes I’ve outlined above!
Making Noise at the Gym
So this is a random post, but I’m still baffled by the industry’s new trend toward “silent” weight rooms – toward Planet Fitness like gyms.
Why are we afraid of the sounds of work being done!?!
I mean don’t get me wrong, I think it is stupid when guys literally deadlift a ton and then just drop the weight from the top of their lift, but a little banging as they hit the weights at the bottom…?
WHO CARES!
Apparently some gyms care enough to do this…Which I couldn’t even believe since the weights didn’t sound that loud!
Ok so I do think you need to respect the rules of the gym. And I do think there is proper gym etiquette that needs to be followed out of respect for other people (like wiping off your sweat…not hogging machines….not grunting super super loud….not slamming weights around when not necessary).
BUT watching this video (and a couple other on this guy’s channel), I really don’t see anyone just DROPPING weight disrespectfully.
And no offense to the people who confronted them, but their excuses as to why he shouldn’t drop weights were utterly stupid.
The weights could break!?!
Really!?!
And their floor could break?
Well if that is the case they shouldn’t allow any deadlifting whatsoever regardless of whether or not they “drop” weights. They probably also need a different floor then since they are a gym where lifting weights is MEANT to be done! Or they could just get platforms or bumper plates!
I mean I do understand that people can be rude with extra loud grunting and slamming of plates. And I do think there is a need to be respectful when working out in the gym.
But at the same time, a gym is a place where work is meant to be done! Where people are trying to get stronger and lift more than they lifted last time.
If getting work done means making a little noise, that is fine by me!
What is your take on “dropping weights” at the gym?
10 Different Core Moves
Notice I didn’t say ab exercises because these moves work way more muscles than just your abs – they work your ENTIRE core.
I could have listed things like the single leg squat and deadlift since they are so great in terms of working your core, but since I’ve talked about them a few times recently, I decided to include some different ones to add to your exercise repertoire.
Really any single limb movement is going to engage your core more be it rotational or anti-rotational. For some single limb movements you can use to work your core, check out this blog with single limb exercises.
Below are some core focused moves that I really love!
- Wall push – This move can either be super easy or super tough…It is up to you. To do this move, stand up against a wall and push into the wall as if you are going to move the wall backwards. Get up nice and close to the wall as if you are at the bottom of a push ups. Drive all the way up through your feet into your hands against the wall. Your core should be tight enough that if someone comes and pushes on you from any angle you won’t move. (To make the move more difficult, have someone actually push on you from all angles as you hold!)
I recommend bending your elbows and getting close to the wall, but as long as you are pushing the wall back an inch or two….
- Pull up and hold – You can do this as a chin up or pull up. You can do it off a bar, off a peg board, off of TRX straps…wherever. But what you need to do is pull to the top of a pull up or chin up and HOLD. Keep your legs straight down toward the ground and your chin above the bar. Keep your chest pressed out and shoulder blades down and back. Squeeze your belly button in toward your spine and keep your glutes tight. Hold as long as you can. This move is also a great way to work on pull ups (especially if you do a slow negative on the way down!).
A great pic of Francine who is killing it at her new gym even if her bear crawls need a bit of work! 😛 Loved that video by the way!
- Inchworm with row – So when I first started and had to train both of the owners, I busted out this move for one of their workouts because it is probably one of the best full body moves out there! To perform the inch worm, start standing. Place your hands on the ground as if you are performing a hamstring stretch. Then walk your hands out until you are in a high plank or top of a push up position. Then walk your feet back in, keeping your legs as straight as possible until you are back in that standing hamstring stretch. To make this move harder, add a dumbbell back row in the plank position. So with the weights walk your hands out to the plank just like you would with the basic inchworm. In the plank, perform one dumbbell row on each side, then walk your feet back in. Make sure to keep your hips from rotating when performing the row (you want a solid plank position…not butt up toward the ceiling!). To make this move super hard, add sliders or even plate weights that will slide to your feet. Instead of walking your feet back in, slide them together back in, like you are performing a jackknife. The sliders will also make it more difficult as you walk out and as you hold the plank.
- Power Ropes Sidewinders (Can also do rainbows) – I picked this rope move because it is super super good for the obliques and works rotation unlike the moves above which all work in the sagittal plane. In a nice athletic stance, you rotate side to side as quickly as you can, causing the rope to smoothly snake all the way down. You can also mix in some rotation with the rainbow wave, which reminds me a bit of a Russian twist. You start at the hipbone and make a rainbow up to the shoulders and down to the other hipbone. For videos of these moves, check out John Brookfield’s Youtube. He and Ingrid have some great moves for the ropes, including waves and pulls (as well as a lot of other cool random stuff!).
- Windmills (or progressed to Turkish Get Up) – So I actually saw these in an article the other day and was like “I haven’t done these in FOREVER and I used to LOVE them! I haven’t done them in forever because recently I’ve been doing the Turkish Get Up. BUT both are great for shoulder stabilization as well as core strength. To perform a windmill, you can start with out weight. Feet should be about shoulder width. Turn out the toe of the side that you aren’t going to work to about 45 degrees. Straighten the other arm up toward the ceiling. You are then going to hinge over, driving the butt cheek of the arm that is up out to the side as much as you can. Then you are going to stand back up, keeping the arm straight toward the ceiling the entire time.
I did get made fun of for using the kettlebell that matched my outfit haha
- Landmine wipers or twists – So this can be both a rotational and anti-rotational move. You can either rotate from hip to hip with the barbell or you can decide to fight against rotating as you lower the barbell down to about shoulder height on each side.
So the one on the left is the starting point for either twist. The top one shows the rotational one and the other is where you fight the rotation of your core. The best part of this photo collage is the photo bomb by the other Corey.
- Sit Thrus – One of my favorite moves. It kind of looks like breakdancing when it is done correctly…at least to me anyway. To do this move, start in a table top crawling position. Start up on your hands and toes with your hands under your shoulders and your knees under your hips. Then you are going to literally sit through. With your right knee bent, you are going to sit through your left side, raising your left hand off the ground. Then return back to the starting position and repeat on the other side. (Check out the top two photos below to see the two main parts of the move.)
- Planks with pulls or waves – So there are actually like three exercises really included in number 8. There is the plank with a pull from either in front or behind. This one can involve a hip hinge like the one show below with the chain.
Thank you Jamie!
There is also the plank with a pull through across the body. With this one you reach your hand under and across your body while holding a plank to grab a rope or a sandbag. You then pull the bag or rope across your body to the other side. Depending on your goal for the move, you can either use a slight hip hinge or you can fight against the rotation of your hips to hold a strict plank. And last, but not least, there is a plank with one-handed battling waves. I had my volleyball girls do this one the other day. It is harder than you would think!
- Handstands – Handstands are just an amazing move. A full handstand without support requires a lot of core strength. As you work up to that, you can work on your core strength by doing variations of the handstand. You can start with a downward dog and then progress by walking your feet up a wall. As you get your feet up higher on the wall, walk your hands as close as you can to the wall until you are completely vertical. Once you get in super close, you can advance the move by walking side to side or lifting one hand up to tap your thigh.
On top is the sit thru, on the bottom left is the plank with one-handed waves and on the bottom right is an amazing mom and her daughter doing handstands!
- Bar rotations – I found these when reading Nick Tumminello’s articles. He has some AMAZING STUFF about…well…EVERYTHING! These honestly are like a standing variation of the Russian twist, but I definitely like them better! (And I kind of like them when I need to vent a bit of anger…they feel like I’m fighting something haha)
Runners up: I really love these moves as well so want to mention them even if I don’t go into detail.
Medball throws both sideways and overhead. Medball slams both rotational and straight ahead.
Any front loaded exercise like front squats or good mornings. When you front load you force your core to work harder to stabilize!
Also, I love any sort of hanging knees to elbows or feet to bar or even skin the cats. However, since crossfit became popular I feel like most people know those so chose not to include them. Also, those can be incredibly tough and not easily done by everyone. Everyone can do some variation of the exercises above.
I also wanted to include a ton of plank variations…Plank on the power wheel. Plank with reach throughs. Plank with reach back and out. Planks on sliders where you slide your feet backwards and stretch out then come back to starting…ACTIVE planks. I love ACTIVE planks. But there were just so many that I honestly feel like planks need their own full article if I’m going to touch on them!
And last but not least, resistance band rotations and even the stability press…actually especially the stability press. I love anti-rotational moves!
What are your favorite core moves that aren’t either crunches or sit ups?
I Don’t Like Photos of Myself
So the other night Jodie and I got pictures from our 10k race.
I actually said to Ryan when we got them, “Well those weren’t very attractive angles are they?”
Ryan shook his head at me and said, “You never really like photos of yourself.”
I started to make excuses saying that I did usually like photos of myself just not certain angles because certain angles highlighted my flaws.
But as I made the excuses, I realized they weren’t completely true. I usually SEARCHED for flaws in photos. I tore apart every photo of myself searching for any bulge or wrinkle instead of just looking at a photo and saying, “I look good.”
Which, honestly, is kind of weird since I’m usually not negative about how I look…I’m actually usually pretty confident and happy.
Ryan then said to me, “I wish you could just see yourself the way I see you.”
Ouch..That comment hurt and struck a nerve.
My only response was, “I see myself accurately.”
But now, I wasn’t so sure.
Why couldn’t I just look at a photo and be happy with how I looked? Why did I even find flaws in photos that other people complimented me on?
Later that night, Jodie brought up the photos of us at the race. She wasn’t happy with them either, which made me sad since she looks great!
I told her that I didn’t like the photos either and that I thought I looked bad in them too. I told her that I did believe they were just from a bad angle.
She wasn’t appeased and said she didn’t like other photos from the day as well.
When I said, “I think we females just NEVER like photos of ourselves.”
Another female client then chimed in as we discussed not liking ourselves in photos.
She said I should watch the new Dove viral ad and later that night she texted me the video.
If you haven’t seen it, please take a second now to watch it. It struck a note with me and I hope it also enlightens you.
We, women, are especially guilty of focusing on our physical flaws instead of celebrating all of the great things about our bodies.
We need to stop.
Why do we hone in on the one spot that we don’t like, no matter how small, until it is all we can see when we look at a photo? Why do we ignore all the beauty and instead seek out that one supposedly negative and ugly spot?!?
Why can’t we all see our own beauty?
I see beauty in all of the women around, but it doesn’t fully matter because they, themselves don’t see it. I even tell other women the are crazy when they criticize themselves for certain things.
I will say things like, “Only you see that. I don’t even know what you are talking about. You look great!”
And I mean it.
But then when it comes to applying that mentality to myself…I just don’t do it.
Ryan said, “I wish you could see you the way I see you.”
Dove said, “You are more beautiful than you think.”
Ladies, let’s start listening. Let’s start recognizing our own beauty.
Because guess what, WE ARE ALL MORE BEAUTIFUL THEN WE GIVE OURSELVES CREDIT FOR!
Yoga – Relaxing Under Tension
For awhile now, I’ve been telling myself that I need to start up yoga again.
Yoga makes me feel so good…after it is over.
In a way, it’s like foam rolling and stretching…even warming up and cooling down…people either love it or skip it because they don’t see an immediate benefit, like sweat pouring off of them and their heart beating hard.
You may not be gasping for air or have that feeling that you were just “destroyed” by a workout, but if you want something that will help your lifts and make you both mentally and physically stronger, yoga is it!
Very quickly though, I will note that there is a big difference from a yoga that is simply stretching and one that does force you to hold more strengthening poses that may cause a bit of muscle shake-age. Both have their place and can be very beneficial, BUT there is a difference between what you will get out of each.
The yoga that I prefer is one that, yes does have stretching, but more importantly creates a bit of muscles shake-age. (AND also to note…I’m not necessarily talking about one specific “type” of yoga. Sometimes people can take the same class and get very different things out of it based on how low they choose to go in their warrior pose….)
While both can be great for recovery and mobility and flexibility work, ones that force you to hold a low and strong warrior pose for a decent amount of time are going to create more strength both mentally and physically.
I believe that one of the best ways to create more mental strength (and physical for that matter) is to force yourself to do something longer than your mind tells you that you want to do it. Our minds will give up way before our bodies have to.
Do one more squat than you want to…One more push up…Run that extra sprint…
All those things push you just a little beyond what you want to do.
But personally, I don’t think any are quite as good at developing mental strength as forcing yourself to hold an isometric pose while your muscles start to shake just a bit.
So yes…I am in pjs and this was actually take about three years ago. And no I’m not very good at yoga haha But I haven’t taken one recently since when I’m working out…there is usually no time for photos!
Pushing yourself to hold that Crescent pose even when your leg is shaking is an incredibly difficult thing. You don’t get to move…AT ALL.
At least when you are doing that extra sprint or extra squat, you are moving. For some reason, getting to move makes pushing yourself to do an extra rep just a wee bit easier. It’s like because you are moving you can feel yourself getting closer to the end so you can hold out through that extra rep or so.
Whereas it is WAY easier to give up when you are simply holding a move while being super uncomfortable and just waiting for the time to pass. It is hard to keep calm while your legs or arms are shaking and your mind is screaming at you “GIVE UP!” and you aren’t allowed to move.
Continuing to hold Warrior I as your legs shake until that teacher (or timer) tells you to stop can be incredibly challenging. You just want to stand up so bad as your leg muscles burn.
And the best part is…your instructor is probably also telling you at the same time that your mind wants to give up, “Just relax and breathe.”
Just relax and breath….
As your legs or arms are shaking, as your mind is telling you to give up, just RELAX and BREATHE.
And the reason the instructor is telling you this?
Because your mind will give up before your body has to.
Your mind will start screaming at you all sorts of negative thoughts. It will make you tighten and clench muscles that don’t even need to be clenched. It will force your breath to become more shallow, labored and even “panicked.”
But if you just focus on deep calming breaths and keep your mind on trying to relax the muscles, you may just manage to beat your mind and successfully hold the pose longer than you ever thought possible.
If you want to reach your full potential, if you want to lift more or run faster, you’ve got to not only strengthen your body, but also your mind.
You’ve got to be able to be RELAXED UNDER TENSION.
So the next time you consider skipping yoga because it isn’t that hard a workout, think about what your body and mind really need.
My guess is that most of us out there aren’t getting enough mobility and flexibility work let alone ever really focused on working on our mental strength during our workouts….Physical strength yes…maybe even “pushing ourselves” but truly focused on relaxing under tension? I DON’T THINK SO!
So try adding in yoga once a week. It may just be what your body and mind need to take your performance (and even your health!) to the next level!
Thinking about Boston…
I wasn’t planning to write about the events from yesterday or even the Marathon itself, but honestly I can’t stop thinking about them. I can’t even describe how I feel about them, but I just feel the need to write SOMETHING.
So when people usually ask me what I miss about Boston, I usually can’t really think of anything to say…
The weather in Cali is SO MUCH BETTER. There are so many more outdoor activities that I have easy access to. There is Mexican food EVERYWHERE…There is no MBTA here or snow or cars splashing puddles of water on you or rain that turns your umbrella inside out so that you actually get wetter than if you just walked without one….
I mean what would I miss about Boston!?!
But yesterday watching the horrible events at the Marathon and a visiting from one of my favorite Boston lifting ladies, made me really miss Boston.
I spent the last seven years there and even though I can’t describe WHY I love Boston or even why I miss it….I really really do.
The atmosphere of Boston is unlike any other. I can list a ton of things that I don’t like about Boston…and even when I can’t list one thing that I really specifically miss…I miss Boston.
It’s like it seeped into my bones…
Anyway, the events yesterday affected me deeper than I expected and am just thankful that all my friends are safe. My thoughts are with all those who were affected.
It did help in an odd way to see a friendly face from Boston yesterday.
On a lighter note, seriously strong chica, Judy, came in for a little “torture” session last night, which she CRUSHED!
It was a metabolic Monday and she forced her partner to work extra hard. Her partner even said to her, “I can’t keep up with you!”
Judy, you are awesome! I’m so glad you came to visit!
If you are looking for a serious core move, try a plank with one arm waves!
Metabolic Monday
So today is a “metabolic” workout day – aka…MY TYPE OF CARDIO!
A metabolic workout is a high-intensity workout where you do compound movements back to back with as little rest as possible between them.
That doesn’t mean stringing together the hardest exercises you know of and just doing them back to back to back for an hour only resting when you feel like you either can’t function or are going to puke.
The point of a metabolic workout isn’t just to destroy you – it is to raise your metabolic rate both during and AFTER the workout so that you can burn some serious calories and more importantly some serious FAT.
It is also super good for athletic performance since it can improve your cardiovascular capacity. It can help improve your lactic threshold and VO2 max.
Yup…If you want to be able to run faster for longer or do well in any endurance sports, you may want to incorporate metabolic training into your workout routine!
So how do you design a metabolic workout?
My mom and sister in town for a metabolic workout around the holidays!
Well..there are a ton of different ways. The key points to consider are…
- Include compound moves – aka work the BIG muscles groups…Bicep curls and such are pointless moves to include.
- Use some resistance. You don’t need to use the max weight you can handle, but you do want to incorporate challenging weights to make your muscles work to their max!
- Add in rest – The key here is to teach your body to recover as quickly as possible. HOWEVER, if you don’t include any rest in your workout, you AREN’T going to be working at a max effort the entire time. To really get some of those cardiovascular capacity benefits, you need to be working near a maximal effort as much as possible, which means you NEED to rest and recover! When you start, you may want to rest 3 to 5 times the time you work. As your fitness level improves, cut the rest until you even hit a ratio of 5 times the work to rest.
- Keep the intervals short – When you get into the 2 minutes and above range, you start to work the aerobic energy system. If you really want to focus on improving your lactic threshold, keep your intervals of work between about 30 seconds and a minute thirty. Honestly, I even prefer keeping the work between 30 seconds and a minute.
- Don’t throw in the kitchen sink! – Don’t just combine 30 hard exercises and do them each once. Balance what you are working. If you pair up exercises, or even go through a circuit, make sure that you vary what you are working. Think about movement patterns (push vs. pull) as well as hemispheres (upper vs. lower body). If you vary how and what you work, you will find that you are more able to work to your full potential each round EVEN if you feel a bit fatigued and out of breath.
Below is a sample Metabolic Workout. While we love using sleds and ropes and sandbags, I do realize that not every gym or household contains those things so I tried to stick with bodyweight or more traditional equipment. (If you don’t have any medicine balls you could mimic with a dumbbell or even a cable machine with a double-handed overhead chop down toward the ground. Make sure though to use your lats for the pull over as well as your abs and legs!)
Metabolic Workout
WARM UP (make sure to do dynamic stretches, foam rolling and activation. Very important to be WARM!)
40 seconds of work, 20 seconds of rest between each exercise. Rest for 1-2 minutes after each round of all 5 exercises.
Repeat anywhere from 3-5 times depending on your fitness level.
Front Squats (add dumbbells or kettlebells in a front rack…light but challenging)
Medball Overhead Slams (Bring the medball back overhead and then slam it straight into the ground)
Crawling (Table top position..Forwards and backwards)
Lateral Hops (aka Skater hops…So hop as far as you can to the side off of one foot onto the other)
Russian Twist (Hold a weight plate and rotate side to side as QUICK as possible)
If you are a beginner, you may want to start with less work and more rest…Even say 20 seconds of work, 40 seconds of rest and work your way up to 40 seconds of work and 20 seconds of rest. For lateral hops, you can also sub side shuffles as long as you stay LOW and move quickly!
Yay! Metabolic workouts…what a great way to start the week!
Everyday Super Heroes
So over the past few weeks, I’ve been searching for super hero t-shirts.
I wanted to get ones for Jodie and I to wear during her first 10k race. A Wonder Woman shirt just felt appropriate because Jodie IS a wonder woman!
But honestly, it was near impossible to find super hero t-shirts for women, let alone t-shirts with female super heroes on them!
The only few I could really find that weren’t impossible to get were just a tad bit too ridiculous for me.
So in the end I settled on a couple of men’s t-shirts with The Flash logo on them (which I did feel was appropriate for our race!).
But I was still surprised and disappointed that there wasn’t more female super hero apparel easily available for women (let alone more female super heroes show by mainstream media!). There were Barbie t-shirts and “Girl Power” t-shirts…but no SUPER HEROES.
I know this is a random thing to complain about, but it really bothered me.
Why aren’t our girls encouraged to be super strong. Super Fast. Super POWERFUL!?!
And then I realized WHY I had become obsessed with finding a super hero shirt for Jodie…
Because I wanted to express to her that I thought that all of her hard work, strength and determination made her a “SUPER HERO!”
Super Hero Mom Jodie!
For the last month, if even that long, we’d been training for a 10k race.
Before this past month, we hadn’t really done any running. Lots of weight training…a few sprints, but no real running of any length.
She was nervous to commit to a 10k knowing that we had only a few weeks to train. The last time she’d run that far, she’d spent months working up to it and training hard. And here I was telling her that she was going to go from never really running to running 6.2 miles straight.
I told her that she would be fine, but, while she trusted me, there was definitely doubt in her eyes.
But despite her doubt, she threw herself whole-heartedly into the training.
She focused on eating clean and sticking to her eating program even during stressful days. She stepped up her weekly workouts and pushed herself harder and further than she had before.
She made time for a healthy lifestyle even when there wasn’t time to spare between work and taking care of her beautiful two-year-old daughter.
Jodie committed to the 10k and didn’t let anything deter her from success.
And today all of her hard work paid off.
While there were no big awards…No huge paychecks….No huge public praise…Jodie did run her first official 10k race with a personal best average mile time.
But what is more important than the fact that she ran a fast mile time is what she proved to herself.
I think that during all of the training, Jodie began to believe more and more in herself. Her confidence climbed.
And today…she just gained concrete proof of how incredibly strong she truly is.
Today Jodie proved something to herself. Today Jodie became her daughter’s personal super hero (whether or not Jodie or her daughter know it).
While Jodie’s daughter won’t remember this race, she will witness other of her mother’s super hero feats. She will witness her mother’s strength, determination and perseverance throughout her life as she grows up.
And these feats of strength that she’ll witness, will lead her to become a super hero herself.
There may not be many female super heroes out there in the mainstream media or on girls’ and women’s t-shirts, but there are plenty of female super heroes that live among us every day…
They are fighting every day to become stronger, healthier, and more confident individuals. They are pushing themselves to accomplish things that they didn’t previous believe possible.
They face fears and risk disappointment and failure…
These everyday super heroes don’t have any super powers and most don’t even have a super hero suit (unless their friend does happen to buy them a The Flash t-shirt….)
And, unfortunately, everyday super heroes don’t always get “the bad guy.”
But the crazy part is…despite all the risks, fears and failures…despite all the setbacks and disappointments, these everyday super heroes never give up!
And honestly, the fact that these female super heroes accomplish such great feats without any super powers makes them even more awesome!
Jodie…You are an amazing and strong woman! You are an inspiration to all of us and more importantly, you are an inspiration to a future generation of women!
Is eating well really difficult? Or are you just lazy?
So yesterday I got a text from a friend asking me if a certain pre-made smoothie was healthy.
And my response was…”Well…not really.”
She then replied with, “Ugh. Nothing that tastes good is healthy.”
Is that really truly? Or is it the excuse we use to stop our diet?
And when I told her to make her own delicious smoothie, she said, “Okay fine. I’m lazy.”
I hear all the time that “nothing healthy tastes that good,” but is that really true? (And actually few ever really admit that they are just being lazy!)
Yes, there are bad foods that I love because of the way they taste and I do indulge in them on cheat days but they don’t really taste BETTER than all the delicious whole foods I eat on a daily basis. And they also make me feel WAY WORSE than all of the whole foods do!
I actually believe that most people would agree with me that meals cooked with whole natural foods can be extremely delicious and that TASTE isn’t really the reason why they don’t eat healthily.
It is laziness.
And yes…maybe that laziness is brought on by the fact that we are emotionally drained or stressed or dealing with lots of other things in life, but it is still laziness.
And our LAZINESS is what makes eating healthily seem super difficult.
Laziness makes us pick fad diets and stray away from cooking.
Everyday we make choices about how we are going to spend our time. And many people decide that cooking whole natural foods isn’t worth the effort.
So they start some diet where they don’t have to cook. They try a short cut. Pre-made foods. Juice diets. Special K cereal (Sorry Special K but you bother me).
And then they wonder why they aren’t losing weight or feeling healthier.
Why aren’t they getting results?!?
So they end up giving up on the diet…”It is just too hard eating well and I’m not getting results,” they say.
HA!
If you are TRULY eating well, you WILL get results.
Yes, you WILL have to be patient. Yes, you will have to spend time cooking. But YES, you will get results.
Sorry…there are no IFs, ANDs or BUTs about it…If you eat well, you WILL get results.
If you are lazy and take short cuts, yea you won’t get results and “eating well” WILL seem impossible because who can stick to a juice diet!?!
I mean when you really break it all down, is cooking whole natural foods really that much more difficult or truly time-consuming?
Is it really more difficult or time-consuming than bouncing around from fad diet to fad diet never getting results?
In the end, you waste way more time doing all the failed fad diets than you do spending a little time each week prepping and cooking meals.
Shoot with the Crock-pot you can basically throw everything in at once and just go about your day and come home and have a week of meals cooked for you!
I mean on a Sunday morning while you are eating breakfast, you can easily throw a whole chicken into the oven and cook it for the next few hours while you go about your chores or spend all that time you supposedly don’t have watching TV.
Is that really more difficult than going out and buying prepackaged foods that you throw in the microwave and that leave you always feeling hungry and never get you results?
Is eating crap really less difficult and truly more tasty if you aren’t happy with how you feel?
What matters more?
When it comes right down to it and you dig through all the crap excuses, is eating well really that difficult or are you really just being lazy?
Man Bicep 