I decided to write another entry and angle on my physical progress, as I hope someone is motivated and encouraged if he or she is working to improve their health and fitness.
I have always been passionate about health and fitness, and even now call myself an athlete despite the fact that I probably have very little natural athletic ability. I remember thinking in the past that I would really like helping others, especially those in my age group (fifty plus), to get fit and lean. I shied away from that because as I did indeed approach that age, I could not even solve my own fitness issues satisfactorily. A personal trainer started me on the right track and finally I did resolve those issues, as I wrote about in an earlier blog. I will not digress and repeat myself, but you may go back a few entries and read that about that.
It was and is very rewarding to accomplish a set goal. So now I do feel that I can really help others do the same. That is why I recently became a Beachbody coach. I have been using BB workouts for a couple of years now and have become very familiar with the company. Their return policy and integrity impressed me from the very beginning. Not only that, but the products do what they are touted to do if you use them correctly. It's only a ten-year-old company but is growing in an impressive way.
As I continued to mull over how I could be of help to others looking to reach their fitness goals, it seemed the only option was investment in a gym and equipment, etc. etc. I was not at all inclined in that direction. That's when I discovered the Beachbody's coaching program and I was intrigued, to say the least. At first I thought it to be just a mentoring program, which it is, but on closer inspection I found it is actually a way to build a business it you care to work it. So after some deliberation I decided to become a coach. The investment is minimal, and actually, anyone can become a coach. Many of the ones signed up are just beginning their fitness journeys. There are so many contests. I have had such fun entering the WOWY (Work Out With You) contests. You just enter your daily workout and then others working out at the same time become your "success buddies." At the end of the workout you can chat with those who have just completed their workout too. Every day a workout is chosen for cash and all kinds of other prizes. I have "met" and have been communicating with several of the buddies in TX. I just met one gal who basically lives down the road a couple of hours away from me. She is a taxidermist and is about my age, and we've had great fun exchanging notes about our fitness and coaching progress. I'm also entered in the monthly success story contest which is worth $1000.00 each month. If you win that you are automatically entered in the quarterly contest which is worth $10,000. And then there is the yearly contest worth $250,000.
Day 100
One of the neat things to me is the opportunity I have had to talk to others about getting fit and into shape. People are doing that more and more at home instead of at the gym, because statistics say that people that work out at home save 288 hours and almost $1000/year. Those numbers would be even higher for me since I live out in the middle of nowhere!! As I have said before, it is especially rewarding to talk to people my age because the general attitude is that once it starts going downhill, well, that's just the way it is, you know, aging and all. Poppycock, I say! Get off your duff and you can do it too! What is the price of adding at least a dozen years to your life?
Check out my BB website at www.bodyofhonor.com and read about my transformation. Find out more about the workouts, nutrition supplements, contests, and other fitness information. Let me help you learn about living long and living strong. What if YOU could get that way and then help others? That's the concept of Beachbody.
In my Bible I have two Mother's Day momentos. If the house was on fire, that Bible with those two things is the first item I'd rescue.
One is a letter written by my elder son when he was a sophomore in college. Here is an excerpt:
"You have always been an example of faith and perseverance to me. You never
do give up. You always have faith that things will work out. That is always a
source of strength to me. Mom, thanks for being my confidant. I always
remember spending vast amounts of time just laying (or is it lying?) on your bed
and just talking to you. You always put down what you were doing to talk to
me. Thanks, that means a lot..."
I wept for fifteen minutes after reading the whole letter. I've read it many times over the years and cried every time. You always hear about young people that never appreciate their parents until they're at least in their thirties, but I never felt more loved and appreciated than through this example of gratitude from a twenty-year-old.The second is a card given to me by my younger son as a junior in college. Here is a tear-jerker excerpt: (this is pre-Stacie!)
"How do you tell the single most important woman in your life what a
difference she's made--or how many times the sound of her voice has
lifted your spirit and given you the courage to keep following the path
of your dreams?"
I'm already starting to cry again!
What a joy these boys have been to me! We've rocked, read, swam, hiked, played baseball and football, ridden horses, skied, sang, flown, sight seen, fished, agreed, disagreed, overlooked one another's imperfections, laughed and cried together. They've trusted me with secrets, changed flat tires, opened doors, pulled out chairs, driven me around, and in general treated me like a queen. I cannot recall one time either one of them ever embarrassed me. I spanked them and loved them as hard as I could. When I'm tempted, usually on Mother's Day, to look back and regret all the things that as a momI did wrong, I shut that down quickly because I know they love me anyway. And I know that wherever I missed it, God is big enough to fill in the gaps!
At the San Saba River
"No, son, we're not taking him back. We're keeping him!"
Trait, Ty and I (You can't see Ty yet!)
Sons are never too old to rock!!
I found out last Sunday that the Four Gents For Jesus were reuniting for a singing during the Sunday service at the Methodist Church. I really wanted to go and hear them, but because of commitments at my own church could not. I did, however, hook up with them and their wives for lunch.
It was quite a lively group, and the laughter and fun was nonstop. They even sang one song just for me in the restaurant!
Mitch, Glennon, Steve, Jack
They do not get together very often, for just as they were really rolling along and getting strong, three of the four moved away. One moved to become a professor at a university. One retired and moved away, and one moved his business to another city. But they sing just as if they had never been apart.
I really love these guys and their great wives. They did much to help me promote my book. I hope it is not so long before I hear them sing again.
Miss California's determined stand on her beliefs deserves nothing less than heartiest laudation. I watch in admiration as Carrie Prejean refuses to back down from or apologize for her statements on marriage as between one man and one woman, despite the recent pressure from the Miss California pageant officials. In my book she is one amazing young woman, a role model for us all. Even though the winner, Miss North Carolina (I don't even know HER name!), claims she was always in the lead anyway, no one will ever know for sure how much Perez Hilton's zero score affected the final outcome. Carrie doesn't have the Miss USA crown, but in all likelihood her name is more well- known than the winner's. Heaven must be cheering!
"Like an athlete I punish my body, treating it roughly,
training it to do what it should, not what it wants to."
1 Corinthians 9:27, Living Bible
I have always enjoyed physical fitness. In school I played volleyball, basketball, and ran track. I picked up a tennis racket at age twenty-nine and still play a lot. My five-foot-ten-inch frame has always been reasonably slender, even eating anything I desired. So when my body began to change undesirably, it was a whole new game that I'd never before played and the rules were foreign to me. It was only a few pounds, but I noticed that I began to lean more and more toward clothing that covered the little roll starting to appear around my middle. I did not in the least like this. Because I am so tall, most folks didn't notice, but I did, and when I saw myself in recent Christmas photos I knew I needed to find what would work for me.
I have always worked out. After my first baby was born I bought a record album (yes, for you younger ones, an album that plays on a turntable!) called Jazzercise. I open up the accordion-style guide book and laid it on top of the dining room table while I played the album and tried to do the exercises. Talk about the dark ages! I did, however, quickly rid myself of the baby weight. In the past I could just exercise harder, drop sugar for a time, or bread, and get right back to that ideal weight. Enter menopause, and no longer!!
Right before Christmas my Tulsa Daughter-In-Law emailed me asking if I would like to do a session with her and her personal trainer during the holidays. I had never done that before and it sounded like fun. We arrived at 6 a.m. at Body Sculpt and this buff guy takes me back in the office to weigh me and get my body fat percentage. I shucked shoes and jewelry so I could get on that scale and be OK. He weighs me in at 162 pounds and 30% body fat. Here's how the conversation went:
" Are you sure this scale is right? My scale at home says something totally different!"
The trainer chuckles and sighs, and I can tell he's heard THAT before! "Yes ma'm, believe me, it's right."
"Oh gosh, you've GOT to be KIDDING!"
But he wasn't....and since this was absolutely unacceptable to me, on January 15, at age 53, I started a journey into new territory that has not only changed my body but also has helped me to completely renew my mind. Three things were key, actually four.
First, I put myself on 1400 calories a day. Come on...I don't need to do that. I eat healthy. Yeah, I found out I was eating healthy to the tune of about 2500-3000 calories/day! The first week was grueling. I DETEST counting calories. But I did it, and after the first week I didn't have to run to calorieking.com every few minutes. Now I hardly ever look anything up and I can even guess on things I haven't eaten before.
Second, I added a LOT of protein to my diet. The trainer said I needed at least 113 grams/day. If you're an athlete you need a gram/pound of body weight. More is better that too little.
Third, I started a really rigorous weight training program. In the past I had injured myself lifing weights and so I went to other exercises. But I found a really great training program on beachbody.com called Chalean Extreme, similar to P90X. One dvd exclusively teaches you how to correctly lift weights so you don't hurt yourself. There is also intense cardio in between days of strength training.
Last but not least, I dug into God's Word to renew my mind because that is where the real battle is fought.
Was I ever shocked when at the thirty day mark I had lost seven pounds and seven inches. Now, at the 100-day mark, I have lost 18 pounds and that many inches. My body fat percentage is hanging around 20, which according to Chalene's charts is on the lean side of lean for my age. Here are some of the really fun things I have noticed:
~The roll around my middle is gone.
~My cheeks (NOT the ones on my face!) no longer rest on the tops of my hamstrings!
~The little pooches on the sides of the tops of my hips at the back are almost totally gone
~When I'm bouncing my tennis ball getting ready to serve, out of the corner of my eye I can see a cut, defined shoulder
~For the first time ever, I HAVE ABS!! I'm just starting to see the rip in my abs! Oh wow, I didn't have that when I was 18!
I noticed so many other benefits. I have absolutely no pain in my joints after I finish three hours of tennis or thirty minutes of jogging up my mountain road. That would stand to reason since for every pound lost, four pounds of pressure are taken off the joints! And the more muscle you have the better your immune system works. My back is rarely sore or tired because my core is so much stronger. In fact, the only drawback is that now I need some new clothes!
Before
AfterI have to say that it took hard work, discipline, and a LOT of talking to God, but the journey has not been unbearable. It was very rewarding to see the transformation week by week, and my husband's compliments are music to my ears. Also, I've been able to help some other folks, especially those my age, who fall into that dreadful, deceitful trap of thinking that "it's just the way it is" when you get older. Nonsense!! Anyone at any age can get fit and healthy.
Well, gotta run now. It's time to go work out, and then I'm going shopping!!
Day 100
