More ‘Can do’ attitude—

Is my cup half full or half empty?  You know there is a real difference don’t you? I have found that a half empty cup tends to drain right out where as a half full cups never gets empty! In fact many times it keeps filling up even to overflowing!

I needed that truth 8 years ago when our oldest daughter and her husband moved with our 3 grand daughters from 10 houses down the street to Long Island, New York--over 3000 miles away!  I remember waving good bye to them while fighting back tears. I went down to their house, walking through the empty rooms bawling!  It was at that point I stopped and told myself I had to get a grip on this. They were gone to NY and I had to face that fact and get on with my life! 

I remember going back to our house that day taking out a pen and paper and forcing myself to do an exercise that forever changed my perspective on challenges that life throws our way.  I made myself write down as many negatives as I could think of for them moving to NY. That was pretty easy to do!! Then I made myself balance each of those with just as many positives for their move to NY. Believe it or not I was able to come up with equal lists! Those lists became the basis for a lesson I taught at a convention in Jamaica the next spring! “Is your cup half full or half empty?” Not only that, it gave me insight on the positive attitude my husband always has and helped me to look more at the pluses in each situation rather than all the negatives! 

This attitude is essential when it comes to taking charge of my health and getting my weight and fitness under control. It would have been tempting to look at all I could not do the first day of boot camp. The list would have been endless!  BUT, I chose to focus on the fact that I made it through boot camp that day and was willing to come back!  Each time I looked for and found an area of improvement from the previous boot camp.  Some days it was one more push up! or holding a plank for a few seconds longer than before. I am now looking back 9+ month:  These are some of the progressions: 

Kettle bell dead lifts:  @ 18#, then to 24#, 32#, 42, 52, and now 70#! 

Kettle bell swings:   were 18#, 24, 32 and just recently 42#! 

Push ups from knees were a maximum of 5 up to 25 and I even did a 100 straight one day!  I’m also doing full body push ups—got up to 10 of then one time and pushing myself by doing cheater push ups—full body down, knees back up.

Bear crawls:  first time I crawled on hands and knees; Knees to elbows; a couple of crawls and back to knees to elbows; Straight leg crawls; Straight leg length of gym; bear crawls length of gym; inch worm length of gym!

V-sits:  absolutely none at first; had to extend  legs up in the air and try to sit up to the legs—more like toe touches; curl ups with legs down; v-ups with legs back to floor; v-ups with feet off floor and grab knees---recently 55 in 3 minutes!
Running: fast walking; high knees when I had injured my knee, then back to fast walking; now my ‘version’ of sprinting and continuing to pick up speed!

Burpees: hold a plank--from knees, then full body—couldn’t even come close to doing a burpee!  Then hands down and walk feet back and forward one at a time; walk feet back and jump forward; jump back and jump forward and up into the air; add a dyna ball to that; add a dyna ball slam.

There is ALWAYS something I can improve on each day. I am learning how to challenge myself and if I forget at small group or boot camp one of the trainers gives me a friendly reminder. Albert challenged me the other day to think about going up in the weight and down in the reps; to focus on getting stronger. My first attempt at 20# for an arm curl and press showed me I’m not quite ready for it but 15# is going good! But when I tried the 15# for 25 reps I quickly noted I needed to do 12# not 15! I will keep trying the 15# with reps and go on to the 20# soon! His challenge is uppermost in my mind! As I’m taking off the #’s and gaining strength I can do the exercises more easily and more efficiently. 

                      Here is a little picture of what
                    goes on at boot camp. Enjoy!!

Yes, I AM smiling doing
 prisoner squat jumps! 
I'm sure smiling
makes them easier!!

There are some exercises that we haven’t done in months, and it is a pleasant surprise that as I do them once again, I have improved! The low cone jumps are one of them. I’d done it only once before. Mind you, the cones are only about 3” off the floor! But the first time I was doing good to hop one foot barely over and get the other one to follow. This is the beauty of boot camp because whatever we’re doing builds and strengthens. As I see the cones I ’m thinking “Oh no” this didn’t go well last time. But what a surprise for me—I was able to jump both feet at once back and forth for about 15 seconds and the last half to rapidly jump one foot at a time just like Luka had demonstrated! Wow! Was I excited!! 

It was almost exactly the same scenario with the bear crawls! Though I hadn’t been doing bear crawls, I had been getting stronger with all that we were doing in boot camp and small group, so that the next time they were on the small group schedule I did them!  And did them pretty well in fact!!

I concentrate better with
my eyes closed!!

I love the ropes!
I had just finished
and thrown them down!



The whole charity bootcamp
made it to the end!



And this is just part of the warm ups!

My brain is leaning that those exercises I once dreaded are now my friends---I can do them! It really helps my attitude and approach to my health and fitness. At the same time, I keep in mind that there is always another level of fitness and challenge to be attained!  I enjoy burpees much more now and Mountain Climbers have become my next challenge to conquer. That is until we started doing L-sit ups! [On my back, one leg locked out vertically and the other locked out horizontally with foot just an inch or two above the floor. Now curl up with arms reaching above the vertical knee!]  I think this just moved to the top of my list of attitude challenges!! So how do I get my "can do" attitude to kick in on this one?  I added it to the end of my complex that I did this morning! (Squat jumps, split squats, push ups, burpees, mountain climbers, slingle leg deadlists, V-sits AND L-sits!! So there!!!  Always something to make me grow!  Thanks Luka Hocevar and staff!!!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Renton-Results-Boot-Camp/131962520198761

Thank YOU for visiting with this  "Babyboomergrandma".  It is indeed a life-time journey!! Until next time, may God richly bless YOUR life.

Picture Picture on the Wall

Family Photos tell the truth! 

One picture is worth a thousand words?

Of course these picture were not hanging on any wall in my home nor were they posted on my face book wall; But they were right there all the time confronting me on the walls of my mind!  Actually on second thought, some of them were tagged on my face book wall by family members! What can you do, leave out all the family pictures because they tell the truth about your size??

The following is intended to be a bit humorous, but some of it may be painful as well. To tell the truth, when we are so self-conscious about our weight we think EVERYONE is noticing. But really, in the bigger picture, we're not that 'important' to everyone that they are scoping out our dimensions! We are often our own worst critics and people are not seeing what we see as so wrong about ourselves! That said, please take the following in a light hearted manner!

Guess I like the end of the left side best!!

How many of us have looked at a group photo and our eyes go directly to ourselves in the picture? After a while you begin strategizing how to look better and avoid those “tell-all” photos.

For my sister, it was practice smiling in the mirror so she’d have a good smile without all her gums showing.  For me? Get in the back of the picture. That was pretty easy when we were standing since I’m usually taller than everyone else. But then our pictures with my sisters would often put me on the end—I’m the oldest and we’d automatically line up by age! Must be a throw back to those stair step pictures from our childhood years! There were 5 of us born in the space of 5 years, including our brother right in the middle position, so we did make excellent stair steps in our younger years! Or maybe I just hadn't caught on to something my sisters already knew, that grabbing the middle position is more figure friendly! 

Ah Ha!! Peeking out from the back!
Perfect positioning makes all the difference!!!



   Even my niece has this technique perfected. She was taking a picture of all my sisters and I with our mom. She stood up on a stool and had us look up at the camera—voila—no double chins showing!!! Thanks Shannon! 

My O my!! 2010, the 4th of July!!!





When there's only two in the picture,
you're always on the end! Could I have
at least stood up straight and sucked
in my gutt? It was a picture after all!! 2009



I didn't think to hide behind
the quilt!  My daughter Deborah
had the right idea and she
didn't even need to!!

More recently my rule had been get in the middle in back, turn slightly right side (best side) forward and if possible position part of my body behind whoever is next to me!  If someone's going to look bigger in the picture it won't be me!!



July 31, 2011



One of my last 244#, maximum weight pictures broke all those rules. There I was with my family, on the end—huge thigh accentuated even with my Lane Bryant black cropped pants trying to make me look cute! It was such a nice family picture—nice smiles, my hair looked good, I was with the ones I love, but I saw in that picture what was happening to my body. That picture stands out as a pivotal point initiating a mind and attitude switch from “Fat & Happy” to "I really need to get serious about my health!"  And as you have seen, I did take that attitude switch seriously! 

 

Thanks for helping me out a bit, Rebekah!
Much better angle! You made a
beautiful shield! July 4, 2010

  

Not exactly front and center, but
still looking like it!! July 4, 2010



Even now, with 56 pounds less of me, I am still reprogramming those pictures in my mind!  It is a process, but I'm changing them one mega-pixel at a time! Praise God!  According to the Word of God, I am awesomely and wonderfully made by Him!! And I am once again finding that awesome person He had in mind all along!

Just a note for you who are reading this, You are awesome too and don't ever think otherwise!!  

       

Thanks for visiting with this  "Babyboomergrandma". 

My life time journey continues!  Until next time, may God richly bless YOUR life.