I'll take mine black

You see peeps for the last 6 weeks I have been cheatin' on my beloved Joe with Mr. Insomnia. It didn't end with just Mr. Insomnia though. It seems that he has friends that he wanted to bring along for the ride. I would go to bed with Mr. Insomnia and wake up with Mr. Nausea. On the particularly long nights Sir Hot Flash would make an appearance as well. I know that most of what I am going through is just a change in hormone levels. I am old you know. I get that part, but I couldn't help but think that there might be something more to this insomnia he** I had entered in to.

In an act of sheer desperation I decided that the only other thing to do was to give up my beloved Joe. Not my real beloved Joe, but my beloved cup a Joe. My coffee people. My dear, sweet, lovely coffee. I miss it so. I miss how it would fill the house with its sweet aroma. I miss how I would mix my creamer just right to get that nice taupe color. I miss everything about my coffee, but it had to go. You see in all of the books that I have been reading over the past 6 weeks there was one common denominator. It seems that most doctors recommend that if you are suffering from insomnia one of the first things to give up is the Java, the beloved liquid Joe, the caffeine baby. UGH! Reluctantly I did give up the Joe and boy has it been a ride. Day one was not too bad, day two the headache from he** arrived and stayed through day 4. But finally on Monday afternoon day 4 the headache magically disappeared. This strung out caffeine freak had made it through. I was so excited. I couldn't wait to go to bed and officially break up with all of the other men in my life. It seems Mr. Insomnia doesn't take break-ups that well. That night I woke at 12:19 am and didn't go back to sleep AT ALL. I thought all of this agony for still no sleep. But wait, night 5 was a totally different story peeps. I slept through the night for the first time in 6 long weeks. I feel like a different person today. Thank you Baby Jesus. I am still not sure if giving up my caffeine is the total answer to my insomnia. I am hopeful and might just have to continue to take it one day at a time. One thing I do know for sure is that I feel a million times better. I don't think I realized what a toll the loss of sleep was taking on my body. I am kinda feeling like a rock star again. Could it be that I am caffeine sober?

Wishing all of you a good night's sleep!

Show up and make it count!

Consistently Inconsistent

My beloved Joe is the inspiration for my post today. I am sad to say that I have temporarily fired myself from training the boy. He seems to be one of those people that is in love with the idea of training. He has become so inconsistent in his training that my fears of him getting hurt came true last week. We were finishing up the work-out and had about 8 minutes left so I added in some extra ab work to pass the time. He seemed to be fine as he was doing the exercises, but later that evening his back completely went out on him. We are talking flat on his back with me waiting on him hand and foot. I thought to myself, "I am quitting this boy." He just doesn't get it. He trains for a week and then slacks for the next 2 weeks and then shows up for one work-out and ends up killing his back. I just can't let this happen anymore.

My point today is this...make a commitment to training. Be consistent. If you train a day here and there you are just going to be sore as crap and pissed off from the pain and sometimes INJURED. Make the choice and put your training on your schedule just like any other appointment. Look at your week each Sunday evening and find at least 3 days during the week that you can get a work-out in. Just do it. We Americans need to face the facts that we are living on junk food and we are FAT. Our hearts are struggling just to keep us upright somedays.

As I have said before start walking, join a gym, call me. Just get going as we are quickly getting fatter and less healthy.

I know that this sounds harsh. I know that firing myself from training my beloved Joe seems mean. I think it is just time to give the boy some tough love. I hope this separation is temporary. ;-)

Show up and make it count!

2=1 Hot 50+

I feel it has been forever since I have written on this blog. If you look at the last date it was back in January. I am feeling like a big loser, but I am back in action now. I am writing today because I am so inspired by one of my clients by the name of Alysia.

Alysia starting training with me back in August of 2009. She has been coming consistently 2 times a week. We concentrate on total body work-outs. Since she is only coming twice a week I want to cover head to toe. Let me just say that Alysia is all of maybe 5 feet tall and she is not much over 100 pounds soaking wet. Don't let her little size fool you. She rocks it in the gym. She has the most positive attitude and is always receptive to train hard. I simply adore this lady. She and my beloved Joe have become the best of teammates as well.

Alysia is great in many ways, but the thing that made me want to write today is that she only comes to train 2 times a week. This 2 times a week has turned her into one hot lady at the young age of 51. This girl is 51 and she is rocking it.

I hope today that you will realize that with weight training it only takes a couple of sessions a week to make a difference in your health. Get going today and start training. Go to the gym, get a set bands and work-out in your living room, CALL ME and I can help you. Just do something. Just remember that 2 can equal 1 hot 50+!

Show up and make it count!

Feeling like a Rock Star

Anyone that knows me and trains with me could tell you that 2009 was a really tough year for me. I struggled beyond belief to train with any kind of intensity or purpose (#3 on my list). I seriously thought that I was falling out of love with training. I wanted to break-up with lifting weights, running, riding my bike and running bleachers. I was starting to really hate it all. Me, Miss Gym Ratt of the world not feeling the love for training. Please Baby Jesus say it ain't so. This my peeps started to scare me and scare me good. I am glad to say that with alot of shear strength, tears, will power and just down right getting pissed off I now have a crush on training again. I know that my reconciliation with training is very multi-faceted. The work I have done with my balancing my hormones, the decision to postpone school for now and the total overhaul of my diet have all helped tremendously. But I did want to add one more thing. I have started using some supplemental products from a company called Ascential Bioscience and let me just say they are awesome. I wanted to continue to tell you about all the goodness I am seeing from using these products.
The products that I wanted to talk about today are E2, Pro Arginine and Lean. Every morning about 45 minutes before I train I am mixing up the most wonderful cocktail of E2 and Pro Arginine and with that beverage I am taking 1 Ascential Lean. By the time I make the 30 minute drive to the gym I am ready for duty. I feel like a ROCK STAR. Not just any rock star I am talking Angus Young (ACDC) with a little bit of Joe Perry (Aerosmith) and just for kicks a little Mick Jagger (The Stones) all mixed together. My energy has gone through the roof. I am lifting heavier, running harder and just lasting longer through the work-outs then I could ever have imagined. I am in love with training again. It is so sweeeeet to train with intensity and purpose again.
Please know that I have plenty of samples and would love to sell you truck loads of this stuff. But my main goal in writing this is to tell you that I feel great using these products. I am 42 and am training as though I were 20 or at least I feel that way.
Check out the links above and read about the products. Let me know if you want to try some samples as I have plenty. Who knows we might get enough ROCK STARS together that we could just go on tour.
Show up and make it count!

Be Better

This blog post was inspired by one of my teammates clients Alysia. She has been training with me since late August and is doing awesome. She is a little powerhouse and has to be one of the sweetest most genuine people I have ever met. I feel truly blessed to have her as one of my clients.

We were talking during her last session and the conversation led to the discussion of supplementation of the diet. I have started using some new supplements over the past several months and I will have to say they are helping me tremendously. I have given Alysia several samples, but she has been somewhat reluctant to try them. She stated to me that her husband believes that if you already feel good in general then why supplement. This statement got me to thinking and my answer to her was this. "Alysia with these supplements I have found that you can BE BETTER!" Her husband is a runner and I am thinking if I could just get him to try some of this stuff he will go from good to GREAT! I know how good Alysia is doing and I do believe she could go from really good to really GREAT! Girl power you know.

I thought I would just discuss what I am using and take it a step at a time. I decided to talk about what I feel I am getting the most benefit from and then just take it item to item in other blog posts. I would have to say that my most favorite item I am using right now is the Ascential Hydration. This stuff is awesome. I have been trying not to eat much past 6 PM at night so about 9 PM I am drinking one of these bad boys and man I wake up the next day feeling like a rockstar. It is a fruit punch flavored powder mixed with about 6 to 8 ounces of water. It is full of lots of the good stuff that rehydrates my body overnight so that I am ready to go again in the morning. If you don't really believe that you need supplementation I would encourage you to at least give this try. I firmly believe most people walk around dehydrated most of the time. This little simple beverage can help you get back going and make you feel great.

Go here to check out Ascential Hydration as well as all of the other offerings from this great company. I am a distributor of their products and would be happy to provide you a sample or order some product for you. Just give me a shout.

Show up and make it count!

Sticking to the list

I am not ashamed to admit it, but it did take 4 calculators to get me through my math class at TWU. It was a beast of a class and I am soooo glad that I made it through. It was a bittersweet accomplishment for sure. I will go on the record to say that I hate math. It stresses me like nothing else can and I will not miss the course one bit. I will however miss the instructor. She was awesome and I could not have done it without her help. Thanks Jena I will forever be thankful to you. You rock girl!

My main reason for writing today is not about math or chemistry or TWU. My goal today was to share with you some of the things that I learned over the past 16 weeks. My main lesson is that going back to school at 42 with children and a husband that travels is not the best idea I have had in awhile. It was a challenge and I am somewhat sad and somewhat happy to say that I will be putting TWU back on my bucket list. I just can't do it right now. It was just way too much to ask of myself. I realized back in late September as I was going to drop my Chemistry and Chemistry lab class that I had met my match at TWU. Yes I felt tremendous guilt as I had just blown 1,000.00 for a couple of classes and yes I had been pretty much ignoring my family for 3 weeks. I felt defeat like I hadn't felt in a long time. But in this defeat I felt compelled to make a list. This wasn't just any list. This list was 5 things that I would do if I only had one week to live. This list is the nitty gritty of life. I wanted it to be a short amount of time with a small amount of choices. Hard core list making was the goal. This my peeps was the list that I came up with at that time.

If I could do or be anything for one week what would it be?

1. My body, mind and spirit would be totally free and able to be totally present both physically and mentally for my beloved Joe.
2. My body, mind and spirit would be totally free and able to be totally present both physically and mentally for my girls Alex and Carly Jo.
3. I would train each day with intensity and purpose.
4. I would train my favorite clients each day with intensity and purpose.
5. I would learn something new each day about something I enjoy.

That is it in a nutshell. When I do these 5 things I feel free as a bird. In all the turmoil of going back to school I realized that sometimes when you are trying to figure out where you are supposed to be going you realize you just might already be there.

I challenge you to make a list. Figure out what makes you most at peace and do it.

Show up and make it count!

Lovin' my new toy!

My new heavy punching bag is finally installed and I love, love, love it! It is the funnest thing to just beat the crud out of it. Stress be gone for sure baby! Thanks to my beloved Joe for installing it and trust me it ain't going' nowhere.

Show up and make it out!