Be Unexpected

I have been thinking about this blog for a while. As I have not written in months. The New Year is upon us and I have been fiddling with the concept of the dreaded resolution, but as I am not making any resolutions this year, I've had trouble thinking of what to say.
Then it hit me. 
While driving my daughter home from school today she proclaimed, "When I get older I am going to do a back flip." I replied with the acceptable amount of enthusiasm expected from my bossy four year old. There was a count of one, two, three... then.... "Can YOU do a back flip Mommy?" To which I proudly answered, yes, that when I was younger I could do a back flip into a pool (really I could do a back DIVE off the diving board, but tomato tamato). I told her that  her Pops had taught me when I was little. She thought about this and announced that she believed her father could do a back flip into a pool, TODAY. (I am pretty sure he can't, but I kept that to myself.) But it made me smile both to be faced with her hero like worship of her father and to remember my own teaching me to do something so. cool. As I drove home I continued to think about that back dive. The best thing about it was not the actual act of it, but that from coming from me, this ordinary girl, it was so unexpected. I remember going to the IBM pool with my grandparents one summer up in New York. I walked up to the diving board. There were a bunch of older boys hanging around the base of the diving board, doing what older boys are great at. And so I turned around, back to the water. I can still remember those boys huffing, No WAY. And so I bounced, once, twice .. up and over, back dive into the deep. And I still remember smiling, not because I did anything fantastic (I am pretty sure it was one heck of a messy dive) but that no one would have guess I would be able to doing something as close as I did to that dive, and the truth was, I could.
Monday at the gym this happened to me again. I had finished my workout, phase one with my sister and phase two on the treadmill and walked over to the assisted pull up machine. Where they have the machine in my gym your back is to the world, so you have no idea if people are watching you. I raised the assistance bar and grasped the handles. I pulled myself up unassisted. ONE. Lowered myself back to the step took a breath and pulled myself up again. TWO. Lowered myself once more, breath and up again. THREE. And once again. FOUR.  I turned to hop off the step and notice an old man laughing in my general direction. Not out of rudeness, but honest surprise. I had made his day. And it is not hard to guess what he expected to see when a relatively tiny non threatening thing has the guts to forgo the weighted assistance on the pull up machine. As I passed him he looks at me and goes, "You did that with no help." And I smiled at him and told him my Army husband loves pull ups and our home pull up bar broke so I am trying to get back in to doing them, but yes, they were all me. I told him not to be too impressed though, as I can only really do one. He was shaking his head and laughing still as I walked away. It was the same  as that back dive from so long ago- it really was not anything overly impressive but it was unexpected. And that makes all the difference.
And so my new year advice to you is to do just that. Challenge yourself. Be and do the unexpected. When you believe you can only do five do six. When you truly think all you have is a 4 push and give an 11. We all have this in us. All it takes is heart and we all have one of those.

If you ask me what I came into this life to do, I will tell you: I came to live out loud.

Emile Zola

Shake It Out

Who I am is a thirty year old woman who has always tried to balance what is expected of her and what is definitive to being me. I have always worked hard to make my parents proud, but I did go to art school and not West Point. I graduated with honors, but I married the love of my life at 22. I worked two jobs through out college, but I once dated a boy with piercings and black fingernails. I am a likable person, not because there is anything overwhelming fantastic about me, but merely because I take the time to see the needs in other people and am intuitively sensitive to those needs, all the while holding on strongly  to very particular sense of self. I would be lying through my teeth, though, if I did not admit to struggling sometimes with my own sense of self worth. Am I pretty enough or strong enough. Am I a good mom. Am I patient. Am I honorable. Am I successful. Am I good wife. Am I good. Do I love enough. Am I enough. On a good day, I am able to say. "Yes. Yes I am." And on a bad day I bury my head into a pillow, beat my fists and cry, "NO! No I am not!!" (Ask my husband, he's seen this behavior in person.) We all struggle with this. We wonder why we feel like outsiders. We question our tenacity. We doubt our partners. We doubt ourselves. Many of us have done this for years. We have been sad for years. We blame our parents. (Sometimes rightfully, sometimes childly) We blame genetics. We linger on those who have mocked us. We hold on to our failures. We cling to pain. We label ourselves with fat or worthless. We give these feelings power. And sometimes it consumes us like a fire and we come crashing down. And then we have two choices. We can sit there in the ashes and play with matches or we can stand up and get a broom. (Or a Dyson, which I highly recommend if you have pets and small children.) The truth is, this moment is all you have. F the past. It's the past. Stop holding on to whatever and whoever you blame for your failures and your sadness. Be the need you have. If you need someone to push you, push yourself. If you need a cheerleader, grab some pom poms. If you need a hug,  take the two arms god gave you and squeeze.

And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back so shake him off.

"Shake it out"- Florence and the Machine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbN0nX61rIs

Go EPIC or go home!

Tonight I held 12 pound weights and performed burpees in my garage, sweat dripping down my face as I held the weights, squatted to the floor, jumped back out and in and came up to standing. I jumped roped and alternated between dead lifting 65 pounds and a combo move of weighted lunge to jump squat (holding my trusted twelve pounders again).  I did Russian twists, planks, triceps push ups and hydrants to donkey kicks. And though I worked out for less than an hour, when I had finished stretching I felt happy and proud.  I absolutely love short, fast and heavy routines. I love combo moves and I love getting my heart beating. I love feeling strong. I love feeling my body do things my brain is screaming are too tough, and finding I can do more and go longer than I previously believed. As I finished my workout tonight I started thinking about these hard fast workouts. They get results, and they can get them fast. And not to mention that they can be exciting. When you do this type of routine your brain is pushed to survival mode and releases adrenaline to get through it-- Much like this... "Brain: Holy crap, this chick is jumping up and down holding 24 pounds, she is straight bananas- release the crazy juice or we will never survive- !!! Adrenaline: Don't worry brain, with our super ability to tackle crazy we will get you out of here alive! Brain: Thanks buddy... this lady is going to be the death of me. Adrenaline: Not on my watch pal. -Cue fist bump- end scene." This is why the short, fast and heavy routine is so awesome. It tests you and when you are done you feel like you have accomplished something EPIC. Take a moment. think about it again and whisper to yourself.... "epic".  It is the same heart pounding addictive feeling that  keeps people jumping off of bridges, base jumping, skydiving, swimming with sharks and going to those Black Friday sales after  Thanksgiving. It is our nature as humans to challenge and overcome. It is deep down inside of us.  It is when our blood is pumping that we at our best, for it is then that we can dig in our heels and push on. And boy is it worth it. So go on and give your better judgement a little scare. Remember to listen to your body- but if you have reached a wall that you are game to breakthrough, by all means go grab that hammer! 

Do not confuse motion and progress. A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress.

-Alfred A. Montapert

In the Raw

I was on Facebook just a few moments ago and saw a post from a friend where she talked about changing her diet and her successes that followed. Someone asked her what she did and she responded that she cut out all animal products, no meat, eggs or dairy. She has become 80% vegan as she puts it.  I am not sure if she knows it, but she is following the raw food movement, a diet the includes only foods that haven’t been heated about 115 degrees Fahrenheit- hence the name RAW - they are not cooked. Though, I also call it the NAKED diet because these veggies are also being consumed without "dressing" them. (Get it?! "Dressing" them... no SALAD dressing!!! Genius.) The basic belief behind the movement is that when you are not heating the food up past the 115 degrees you are preserving t naturally occurring nutrients – especially water-soluble vitamins (like Vitamin C)- which may be lost when heating the food.  On the raw food diet your daily intake of fruits and veggies sky rocket, as they become your main staple, whole grains are essential as well and your protein becomes mostly plant based (soy - though you can have some fish which is prepared "raw"). To me this is a yuck but to some it is a yum, take your pick!  For someone like me, who weight trains and wants lean muscle gain, a strict raw diet will not work. You need a certain amount of protein in your diet to build muscle and I know I won't be happy doing it only on soy and fish.... however, some do. I am however very intrigued by the raw movement. A raw diet is much like an eating cleanse. A detox or cleanse is often liquid based and should have a time limit, but raw foods can do the same basic flush. On a raw foods diet you are banning processed junk and incorporating whole foods, ones that are not processed.  If you are thinking about doing any type of detox I recommend getting your diet as raw and whole as you can first, then doing the detox and then moving back into the raw stuff and then finally adding animal proteins if you want them. So what do you think? Are you up for life in the raw? I recently found a blog on Wholeliving.com where a woman (Lindsay Funston) went raw for 14 days. She was successful in her endeavors but does admit in a following blog to an all out meatfest at a gathering called, no other than "Meatopia"- AWESOME! What I like about this is it shows us that some of us do need animal based meats and it is okay to incorporate them. I am not sure about "Meatopia-ing" it up frequently, but finding balance in your diet is key to whole healthy living.  Fans of the raw diet rave about it's blessings (glowing skin and abundant energy!) so much so that I am keen to giving it a try. So after this move, I too will give the fourteen day challenge a go. Though I will not officially begin the two weeks until the fifteenth of Aug. I plan on weaning myself off of the meats and cheeses starting sometime during the first week of Aug. (as I am sure it is not wise to commit one's self to a major diet change when you are living out of moving boxes- I will give myself some wiggle room!) As I get closer to the start of the fourteen days I will be posting tips and recipes in hopes of  successful navigation through  the streets of rawtown.  Aside from a raw diet, the five principles to healthy eating are as such: 1. Drink water first 2. Eat every 2-3 hours 3. Eat Veggies at every meal 4. Eat Protein at every meal 5. Only Whole Grains (no processed foods!) - so even if you are not going raw,  following those principles will help one stay on track. If you would like to interlope at the raw party with me, I encourage you to come along!

"Respect your body. Eat well. Dance forever."  -Eliza Gaynor Minden

Conquering Slacker Mountain

I am moving in one week and everything that goes with it has up turned my routine. Mostly do to the stress,  lately I have found my self tired and worn out. It has not been a surprise to turn around and find I have missed three consecutive days of workouts, that I have been forgoing a good run for a stretch on the couch. Stress is a sneaky siren. Her call has you capsizing into the doldrums with not much hope of rowing yourself out. And though I know that giving into it merely generates more stress, even I succumb to her sometimes, as I almost did yesterday. Yesterday my husband came home early from work, at about 3:30 pm. I had two choices. I knew if I worked quickly I could beat him to the punch, calling "Gym!" before he called out "Golf!" (think "Shot Gun!" for parents and imagine me putting on my shoes as I hop and bump my way out the front door - leaving husband reaching for golf clubs, mouth open and children with confused expression frozen on face...) - and if I did not work quickly I would forgo my window of opportunity and given in to my tired body. I mustered everything in my stressed out downtrodden being and reached for my shoes....  "Gym!" I yelled- shocking my family, old dog, new dog and probably half of the neighborhood- beating my poor sweet husband to the coveted front seat of freedom. (This is of course a dramatization- but it is an accurate description of how it feels to win alone time when you have kids.) So as I pulled on my shoes, hoping out the front door, almost tripping over dogs and adjusting exercise pants which requires tugging and wiggling and looking quite foolish, I made the decision to run the two miles to the gym- leaving my cool comfortable car parked where she stood.  HA! I believe the expression most appropriate here hints at a pool and jumping in rather than wading slowly.  And so I took a deep breath and jumped feet first into the heat of the day.  "Why?!", you ask, "Why would you do that to yourself?!". Surely I must have died there on the side of the road and most likely  I am typing  this today from the great beyond! No. I made it. I ran the whole way and ended up at the gym a sweaty, stinky, thirsty mess. The point is - I tried. I did it. I ran to the gym after a couple workout-less days and forced myself to demand a couple inches of space among all the other guys and gals and punched out a leg workout. And then, then I slowly walked myself home. The key here is this: Just give it a go. Tell yourself twenty minutes. Tell yourself you are only going to commit to twenty minutes and if you are still tired- you will go home. More often than not, if you at least begin a work out, no matter how tired you believe you are, you will find your footing along the way and finish it. And even if it is half ass, you will have moved. You will have injected something positive into your stressed out worn out day. You will have conquered Slacker Mountain and you will feel better!

There is no happiness except in the realization that we have accomplished something.
Henry Ford

Run Like Kevin Bacon

Let's be honest: ruts happen. They happen without us even noticing what is going on. Maybe it's the new job, new baby, new boyfriend... new TV? Basically take anything in your life and add "NEW" in front of it and you have a recipe for disaster. (The only exception: putting "NEW" in front of "Episode of True Blood" because watching vampires flaunt their naked mad attractive selves on your TV screen will have you doing push ups right then and there out of pure magical creature body envy.) So basically life works like this: Month of getting up early to (insert work out goal of choice here) until end of month when all the work of month one leads to new confidence which then attracts new (insert distraction of choice here) which then leads to Month Two of new distraction bliss with a foggy undertone of all the work outs not being accomplished peppered with a side of guilt. The key to surviving this anomaly is pulling ourselves out of it. This, of course, happens to be one of the many great feats of human life: the power to overcome the challenges we face. There are many resources one may look to for guidance when facing times of hardship. Many look to spiritual strength found maybe in the Bible, the Torah, the Qur'an or the words of the Dali Lama. Some may look to great writers like Twain and  Thoreau. Some may trust the age old favorite of "Go Ask Your Mom." All great resources I agree. However. When faced with life's speed bumps, esp. health and wellness ones, I turn to the often overlooked inspirational greatness which is the "80's Dance Montage". Yes, the amazing awe inspiring power which is only found in that of movies laced with brat packers and Kevin Bacon. I mean seriously. If the power of dance can inspire a whole town of misfits to overcome the anti-jubilation prejudice of their rural small American town think of what it can do for you! If you don't get goose bumps watching Ren's iconic warehouse dance, then you just are hopeless to begin with. Come on people!! Ren McCormack transforms that dusty warehouse into a hot bed of social revolution with only three minutes worth of fist pumping, heart pounding dedication and you can too! You can start right now. Get yourself on itunes and download  your own $1.29 worth of greatness. (If "Holding Out For a Hero" does not get you off your butt, then seriously, stop reading this blog- you are officially a lost cause.)  Then play it loud and get moving: jump from cubicle to cubicle, do the Egyptian down the grocery isle, go ahead leap, tumble and spin all over your back yard! Grab that ipod and your sneakers and run like Kevin Bacon as fast as you can, for as far as you can (fist pumping optional). Just get moving, you Benders and Claires, and you'll get back on track.

A Few of my Favorite Things...

The gym closest to my house is quite busy during the hours I visit it, so lately I have been primarily working out at home. I am lucky enough to have a spin bike, barbells, bar with plates, kettle bell, medicine ball, pull up bar, TRX system and a multitude of DVDs (basically - the works) at my disposal.  Though I have all this fancy equipment, working out the same way at home often becomes boring, leaving us seeking refuge on couch potato island watching LOST reruns in our workout outfits. Thanks to a husband who has a less than reliable work schedule and a will not to set up permanent residence on said isle- I have become the queen of the ad-hoc  home work out system. Give me a toddler, a staircase and a swing set and with in five minutes I can develop  a circuit guaranteed to get your heart racing and your muscles screaming. These are some of my favorite work outs to do, esp. the ones where I include my kids. I have very distinct memories of being on family vacations and my father pulling us onto his back to add resistance to his push ups or curling us up in preacher curl "hugs", so I have first hand knowledge of how fun being included can be for a child. I have been known to do squats with one of my children riding piggy back and do pull ups on playground equipment. I have done step ups on picnic tables and lunges in community pools. I have found that once you get over the "there goes that crazy lady doing sprints around her house again" stigmata - these patchwork workouts can be the most fun. They definitely beat the rat race you often find at a health club and they often get you out of your house. So if you are stuck at home working out, with no extra money in the budget for a gym member ship or even a set of weights- fear not! There are great workouts to be had, but you have to get creative! So grab your kid, or borrow one from a neighbor! Head outside and find a park bench or a picnic table . Find a straight strip of side walk. These are all great workout tools. Lunge down a straight sidewalk, forwards and then backwards. Then sprint down it. Do step ups, triceps dips and decline push ups on a bench. If you can't find an appropriate sized kid anywhere.. (and I would have to ask you, Really? Did you look hard because the buggers are everywhere.) fill up a backpack with soup cans and do squats! You can seriously get a great work out with nothing more then your body weight and sense of adventure! (And a sense of humor don't hurt either!) However, if you do have some dough to put towards a home workout system, here are some of my favorite things:
10 LB Kettle Bell... Swing from your core- not your arms!
Pull up bar- one you put in your door way... if you can't do a pull up unassisted - help yourself with a chair (We bought ours used... and I bet you can find one too!)
Yoga Mat
Balance Ball
Three sets of dumbbells, weight that you curl the following reps: rep 15-20, rep 10-15 and rep 6-8 with
Jump rope
And there you go. If you want to get fancy I will tell you I also enjoy the Nike Training App and the Nike + ipod App...  The first has preset work outs with how-to videos that you can sync the music on your ipod to and the second will track your speed and distance which you can access while you run!
But, honestly, to get cut - you need only to get creative! So get outside and get your buff on.