WHAT MADE THE DIFFERENCE???

I was recently asked “What made you come back to boot camp the second time?” I had just explained to this person how hard my first boot camp was for me. (I have given a blow by blow account of this in a previous blog!—Boot Camp Here I come!) The fact I’d even completed the 40 minutes and lived to tell about it was motivation in itself! But the other major factor was desperation!  This had to work for me!

For most of my adult life I’ve tried to lose weight. I’d tried most everything out there to no avail. It would work temporarily—lose a few pounds and then put it back on with more.


So why has this time been different?  Though I’m sure there are more, I’ve identified a dozen important factors I believe have contributed to my current success:

1.     Desperation—if this didn’t work, I knew of no other place to go or anything else to do.  My "last chance" work out!

2.     Support system—family, fellow boot campers, staff, and friends. There were people who actually thought I could do this on the Renton Results Boot Camp staff

https://www.facebook.com/?ref=hp#!/pages/Renton-Results-Boot-Camp/131962520198761

My daughter Rebekah knew I could. In fact she and her husband put their money on my success by helping pay for the first transformation contest at the beginning of my journey 10 months ago. These are all positive people who encouraged me in my goals.

3.     Eating plan with accountability with a green faces quick start plan that showed me it was possible to eat well and lose weight.

4.     Exercise like I’d NEVER done before!

5.     Mind set—I was going to do all I could to make it work. Approached from a position of

“can do”—“will do”— Instead of

I hope it will work L   

to I KNOW it will work! J

6.     110% compliance and faithfulness to be at boot camp and follow the eating plan. I have not missed a day of boot camp when I’ve been in town. – out of a total of 156 M/W/F boot camp session in a year I’ve missed less than 10 and that was because I was out of town for 2 ½ weeks. Even then I took boot camp with me doing a work out 16 of the 18 days I was gone!

7.     Overcoming obstacles—I turned obstacles into opportunities to be creative, to ask for help, to learn how to deal with situations that will always come up trying to derail or side track my progress.  You know there’s always going to be SOMETHANG!

8.     Quick start of green faces plan showed me it was possible to eat well and lose weight.

9.     I learned to “trust” the program. To eat all the meals and follow the protocol. To do as much of an exercise as I could, and know I’d do it better and have more results each time. And ask questions!!! That’s what the trainers are there for!!  I had to trust that I would see the results they said were possible even when I couldn’t wrap my brain around the idea of wearing jeans half the size I was then wearing!

10.  My body actually craves exercise now! This is a first. I see that extra trip down the stairs to retrieve something as an opportunity for more exercise! I'll take two stairs at a time or even three coming back up! I’m more likely to be the one to jump up and get it—its not the chore it used to be.

11.  Focus and structure for success—5:45 AM M/W/F are set in cement!  I don’t have to wonder the night before what I will be doing in the morning! Gives some focus and structure to my week. Gets me up, out of bed, and energized for the day!

12.  Celebrating the small steps along the way---one more push up that day! Getting new clothes that fit---Again, thanks to my daughter Rebekah—for new clothes along the way!

In what now feels like a rapid accomplishment, but in fact has taken months, I realize that my body has been transformed to a level of health and fitness that I’ve never experienced. At the beginning it seemed to be taking forever, but now in retrospect, it was really such a short time in which those 60 pounds have come off! And actually it is a very short time considering the previous unsuccessful years of fruitless attempts!

I’m reminded of the Bible verse that tells me “No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.”

Thanks for listening once again to this baby boomer grandma gettin’ fit & healthy!  Until next time-----May God richly bless YOU.

IF I CAN HELP SOMEBODY. . . .

I believe that if I had a theme song for my life it might be one from way back:

If I can help somebody, as I pass along,
If I can cheer somebody, with a word or song,
If I can show somebody, how they're travelling wrong,
Then my living shall not be in vain.

Chorus:
My living shall not be in vain,
Then my living shall not be in vain
If I can help somebody, as I pass along,
Then my living shall not be in vain.

If I can do my duty, as a good man ought,
If I can bring back beauty, to a world up wrought,
If I can spread love's message, as the Master taught,
Then my living shall not be in vain.

Here's a couple of U-tube renditions of the song. Both are very different and very inspirational! Enjoy if you like!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73xatTlWmDw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QE8bVPgB2E&NR=1

So what made my day at boot camp this week?  The  work out was great. I pushed myself to go farther. I did the progressions of everything I could. I felt good about what I accomplished in the work out,  but that was not what made my day!

As I arrived at boot camp a new friend Jackie greeted me with  “My friend Donna came today and she needs your encouragement.”

So now I have another new friend Donna!  Donna came to the boot camp orientation a couple of weeks ago and was so blown away by the intensity of the 8 minute workout that she just knew she couldn’t do boot camp. I met Jackie the previous week at her first time to boot camp. She was the first of a group of friends who were going to be coming. One of those friends is Donna.  I encouraged her to get Donna to just try it.  I was in the same place that Donna is back 10 months ago. I could hardly do a thing but try to hold a plank from my knees and a couple of push ups!! I was worn out by the 5 minute warm up BEFORE we even began! 

I just happened to have my before to present sequence of pictures in my gym bag and that’s all it took for Jackie to talk Donna into coming.

I was so pleasantly surprised to see Donna there!  She had all kinds of questions. One that really struck me was "What made you come back after the first time?"  I'd never been asked that. I guess I just didn't consider any other possibility.  I was desperate and knew that this was my last hope to lose weight and get into shape. I encouraged her to do what she could do and go to my tried and true "hold the plank" routine that carried me through a lot of the first boot camps I attended!


Donna and I stuck together for the boot camp work out. I think Luka picked up on the fact she and I needed to be in the same group---perceptive guy!!! J And guess what!!!! Donna made it through the entire 40 minutes, did VERY WELL, and is coming back on Wednesday!!! YEH!!! I’m so happy for her, because I know she’s now on the right track to regaining her health and fitness!

So what DOES make my day?

• When a complete stranger comes up to me at boot camp and tells me I am their inspiration for being there!  ME??????? Thank You Jesus! 
• When some of the much younger boot campers tell me they try harder because they see what I am doing! 
• When some of those younger ones tell me they are motivated by the fact that they don’t want to be “beat” by “mom”! 
• When some of the younger members bring their moms,  because if a baby boomer grandma like me can do this boot camp,  so can their moms!
• When someone asks me to hold them accountable!
• When someone reads this blog and is encouraged, challenged, and motivated to do better in their life and with their health and fitness!!

Yes, it does make my day when I can help, when I can cheer, when I can show somebody as I pass along…….then my living has not been in vain! 

Thanks for listening once again to this baby boomer grandma gettin’ fit & healthy!  Until next time-----May God richly bless YOU-----your day, your life, and all you do AND make you a blessing to others as well.

PERFECT TIMING



May 1, 2011 I started my third weight loss challenge at Renton Results Boot camp. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=678245124#!/pages/Renton-Results-Boot-Camp/131962520198761?sk=app_4949752878

It is called “Get sexy for summer challenge”! The idea being to target those people who want to look good at the beach a bikini! Now I want to look good at the beach, 

Here's the exception --15 years ago on
our 25th Wedding anniversary
Still trying to hide in the water!
In Jamaica!!!!

but you won’t find me in a bikini or even in a swim suit unless its on a beach in Jamaica. In fact most of my bathing suit pix are from Jamaica and my one and only bikini picture too! It was 1969 and I was 22 years old! Rebekah tells me that these photo album pix were quite intriguing to her as some of them I had covered up with a piece of paper. It was her delight, I found out in more recent years, to show her friends these ‘forbidden’ pictures of her very conservative mother’s ‘wild’ days! The reason I had covered up the pix is one of them was me lying on the beach face covered with a towel from the sun looking like a cooked lobster—I was so sun burned.

Her current assessment? You looked really good, Mom. You weren’t real toned, but you were young so you looked pretty fit! Enough of this discussion!

So this challenge came at a perfect time when I was lagging in motivation and needing a challenge. I had actually put back on some of what I had lost! :0 My daughter, Rebekah,  recognized that fact and as part of our 40th wedding anniversary gift she and her husband, Keith, paid for me to do the challenge as well as another month of boot camp! Thanks so much Rebekah for being sensitive to my needs!

I saw this 3^rd challenge as an opportunity to get within very close range to my weight loss goal. This being my third time around I’m more aware of what works and what doesn’t. I immediately knew to go right back to phase one of Green faces, eating plan which in a sentence or two looks like this:

For most beginners we put them on a “green faces” diet. Which means—the food has to have had, or going to have, a face or grow out of the ground green or you can’t eat it.

Yes it is that simple, but there IS more to it! Along with green faces, I had renewed accountability to drink more water. We were given a suggested list of training to do on our own along with the boot camp sessions. This challenge included once a week small group boot camp sessions with about 6 of us in the group. These small groups really kick up the intensity to another more challenging level providing more personalized training, form corrections, and motivation.

My weekly work out during this challenge looked like:

Sunday: Rest

Monday:  AM Bootcamp; PM intervals—I jumped rope

Tuesday: AM Small group; PM body weight complex

Wednesday: Same as Monday

Thursday: AM Speed walking with my husband on our neighborhood hills/PM 4 minutes of push ups

Friday:  Same as Monday

Saturday: AM Boot camp/PM 3 minutes of V-sits

This was my most successful time of doing exercises on my own. It is so helpful for me to have a definite schedule of exercises. A big difference with this challenge is that I’m now at a fitness and experience level where I know a lot more of what to do and can actually do it!

Even with all this knowledge and motivation I had now been into this weight loss thing for 8 months and taken off 44#’s. But, for about a month now I’d been struggling, not eating really bad, but not really clean either. I was dreading the weigh in for the beginning of this challenge. I didn’t realize it was the morning we were to weigh in, so I’d drunk my quart of water and part of my work out shake before boot camp. I was not feeling good about stepping on the scales. On top of that, the gym scales always weigh me heavier than mine at home!  Well, I did NOT like the number on the scales—204#’s. That was back up from the end of the past challenge when I came in second place with a 15# weight loss. Pam, one of the trainers, encouraged me that it was O.K.. This is a new beginning so this is good!  

I reminded myself of “THE SCALES” and how fickle they can be. I reminded myself that the number on the scales is not who I am. I chose to celebrate once again how far I had come and how the timing of this challenge is just what I needed to keep going in the right direction. So once again I was off and running!  This time it was only 6 weeks, so I had to hop right on it with all I had learned and really make it work!

I looked in my journal and noted on the first day of the challenge this assortment of entries: 

“I have continued my journey to health and fitness. Even though I didn’t feel that I did as well as I should have, I still came in second in the weight loss challenge ending in March." My rambling thoughts continued: "I’m going to hit the gate running this time and take off some early pounds as I do this next challenge! I’ve been able to work through some minor 'injuries' and maintain most of my current achievements in weight loss. I’m working on that positive attitude! I’m having trouble with motivation for some of my projects and home front activities. Maybe a bit depressed or burned out. My blog has helped me to look at things once avoided and process various times and events in my life. I need to not let things bother me, but turn them over to the Lord. I’m learning strategies along the way that will help me maintain my fitness and health as a permanent life style. My mind is gradually doing a paradigm shift from fat and hopeless failure to fit, focused and flourishing!”   Wow, this was really an assortment of thoughts coming from all directions!!!

I set these goals for the 6 week challenge:

ÿ    Reach the 180’s from starting weight of 204.6

ÿ    Fit into size 10 jeans

ÿ    Increase my strength and stamina

ÿ    Do 20 burpees non-stop

ÿ    Reduce my muffin top

ÿ    Take life-time charge of my eating to make better choices

ÿ    Have my blog totally up to date

ÿ    Plan and shop for every meal at start of week

ÿ    Cook ahead as many of those meals as possible

ÿ    Record everything I eat and drink

ÿ    Get 7 hours of sleep

ÿ    Look for exercise opportunities:  Shoot baskets with my grandkids; take the stairs 2 at a time; walk with husband in neighborhood;

ÿ    Put more into each work out

ÿ    Win the transformation contest J

My experience with small groups began in January when I participated in a weekly group for 8 weeks. At that time I felt like I was back at the start of boot camp again. Even though I could do most things to some degree, it was all new and I was exhausted. We started with warm ups the length of the gym instead of standing in one place. Because there were only 6 of us rather than the 20 to 30 at boot camp, we could utilize all the gym! Over the 8 weeks, my strength increased significantly!

As I began small group in May, I found that I was the “pro”---Would you believe it!  Everyone else was there for the first time. I could do the work outs, so now was the time to push myself and take it to a new level! I began to back off the number of repetitions in favor of a more challenging progression and/or weight! There’s never a time I--or should I say Luka, Albert, or Pam--can’t find a way to challenge my body. This is a continual journey of arriving to a destination, a brief stop along the way, but then continuing the journey in maintaining, increasing, and improving!  I love small groups. I love getting to know the people in them. We become a team working together encouraging and challenging each other.

As Albert, small group trainer, was explaining the first work out of this new small group, I’m thinking about the regression he gave me last time for the bear crawls. He had mercy on me and had me do knees to elbows. Can you imagine my surprise when I found I was able to do bear crawls the length of the gym!!! Hooray!!   However, the other day at boot camp we were to do bear crawls forward and backward the width of the gym. Forward is fine, but backward??? Another mountain for me to conquer and more practice at home!!

Another first for me was two semi-private sessions with Luka. These were part of the 2nd place prize from the last challenge and included 3 or 4 participants. It was also an EXPERIENCE! I found out that I could step up and over a box--a tall box for me--back and forth for 30 seconds with 30 second break and repeat it 4 times; that I could push the prowler with 50 pounds on it the length of the gym and back several times; that I could do kettle bell swings with the correct form and increase the weight form 35 to 45 pounds! 

The second semi-private session I did was called Hurricanes. I've never been in a hurricane. My husband has and if our work out is anything like a real hurricane, I don't ever want to be in one!  Basically we did three sets of 4 different exercise and sprinted a LONG way down the street between each set:  It went something like this:  12 kettle bell swings--sprint; (do this 3 sets)  12 squat and thrust with 18 pound kettle bell--sprint (3 sets)--then do other arm(repeat), 15 band pull backs/sprint (3 sets) AND to end it? 12 burpees/sprint---do a total of 3 times!  I finished last, but I did finish and Rebekah though finished already, ran the last sprint with me to keep me going!  It was HARD!  Then we did a similar version of it on Saturday boot camp 2 days later as well as something with a lot of sprinting at Friday boot camp!  I loved it Luka because I know it pushed me beyond my limits at the time! And I was so happy that I finished!!! You didn't let me off easy!

The 6 weeks sailed by and soon it was time to weigh in again!  This time I had lost 16 pounds in 6 weeks. I think that was pretty good. Don’t know what placing that is yet, but hope its good enough to reach my 1^st place goal!! We shall see.

Oh, by the way---my goals?  Yes I am in the 180’s now, I can still breathe when I put on a pair of size 10 jeans! And tghey are getting looser and more comfortable all the time!! lol I kept my journal faithfully and turned in a report of every thing eaten to Luka; planned ahead and prepared all my meals; found exercise opportunities in everyday life; caught up my blog; Have done 20 straight burpees and reached a new high of 16 in 1 minute; doing better at getting that needed sleep---in fact I reached all my goals—that muffin top is GREATLY reduced PTL, so 1^st place must be in there some place too! LOL  

        [ 244# 9/6/2010]          [222# 11/11/2010]      [204# 3/18/2011]   [188# 6/13/2011]
My progression of weight loss

AND a side note!! I just recently bought a swim suit. No it is not a bikini, but a swim suit none the less and I plan to wear it at a swimsuit friendly lake where an understanding friend lives!!

Thanks for visiting with this  "Babyboomergrandma".  It is indeed a life-time journey!! Until next time, and a report on the weight loss challenge, may God richly bless YOUR life.





What's there to learn from a walk??

The other day my husband dropped me off at Fred Meyer to shop while he visited one of our church members. I completed my shopping and figured I’d walk up to the nearby apartments. After all, I failed to get in my extra exercise for the day!   I would be walking out to Sunset in Renton and then up the hill and over to apartment building “F”.  Sounded like a great plan for me and I really like to get out and walk now!!

What I forgot was that I had just purchased 10# of flour; 4 # b. sugar; 4# of Salmon; 1# of butter, 2# of oatmeal,etc. [Before you  critique my purchases and my weight loss goals, let me tell you I was making cookies and banana bread for my nephew Cameron to take back to college.] So, I set out trudging up the hill enjoying the sunshine and fresh air as well as the walk. I did break a bit of a sweat by the time I arrived to our vehicle and I did change my load a couple of times from hand to hand on the way. It was quite heavy!  But then that's why I've been going to boot camp--to get stronger.

Out of curiosity I went right to the scales when I arrived

home to see how much I had been lugging up the hill. It weighed in at 28# including my purse! That is half of the 56# I have lost so far.  My immediate thought was that I lugged along every day on my body twice the weight I just carried up that hill! Even the 28# was a lot to be carrying, but 56? Wow what a great practical experience for me to ‘feel’ how far I’ve come!  I don't know if I want to try the 56#'s!

No wonder I just love to jump side ways with both feet up at the same time for no reason at all!  Just because I can do it!  It is pure joy for me to be light on my feet! Now those of you who have no clue because you've never been heavy on your feet will just have to excuse me while I do a happy dance!

 Once again this ‘light-on-her-feet'  

"Babyboomergrandma" hopes you too are or will be light on your feet soon!  It is an exhilarating experience! Thanks for visiting with me!  It continues to be a life-time journey taken one day at a time!  Until next time, may God richly bless YOUR life.

“THE SCALES"--Here comes the judge and jury! And the verdict is gulty as charged!

I’m still learning how to keep those scales in their proper place---under my feet!  I rule over them. I determine what they say. They don’t dictate to me. They don’t decide whether I’ve had a successful week.

There are so many factors that enter into the equation of a healthy body and the scales for the person who is knowledgeable about the workings of the body are no big deal!  More important is what my muscles are doing---the fact that my work outs are using all the muscle groups, that I am getting stronger, that fat is being transformed into heavier and healthier muscle!

There’s a tremendous ‘mindset’ adjustment necessary to attain and maintain a healthy weight not reflected by a number on the scales. The potential down fall for me with the scales is if they give a ‘good report’ I might feel I have license to ‘celebrate’ by eating unhealthy things. If they give a ‘bad report’ then I’m tempted to ‘self-medicate’ to lift my disappointment with something bad for me to eat. So it’s a loose/loose relationship with those scales that does nothing to help attaining my goals!

If there’s one thing I’ve learned its that the number on the scales is not who I am. It is one aid in helping to keep me on track, but it can be very fickle! Fickle defined:  marked by lack of steadfastness, constancy, or stability : given to erratic changeableness  In one day depending on what’s going on with my body, it can fluctuate several pounds. So to avoid the emotional ups and downs of “THE SCALES” I try to limit my weigh-in to once every 2 weeks at Bootcamp when doing a weight loss challenge. This is pretty easy during the challenge. It's not as easy other times. I'm tempted to jump on the scales to see what they say more often than is emotionally healthy for me! I may jump on at home first thing in the AM with no water load!  But basically I find it best to check my weight only once a week at the most. 

Don't misunderstand me, this is my intention that I am working toward and feel is best for me!  I don't always succeed in staying off the scales however! Sometimes they are never on my mind for a whole week or longer. Other times they are in my thoughts several times a day!  Whatever the case it helps for me to have them in the closet out of sight!

I can tell by how my clothes fit if I’m doing O.K. I’ve come to the point where I can pretty much feel what the scales are going to say. For the ‘fun’ of it I tried a little experiment with the scales!  I got on first thing this morning at 6:00 AM. My weight? 186#. Now that is a new low for me. Then I had some water to drink and a hard boiled egg to eat and went back to bed. When I got up at 9:00 AM,  I stepped on the scales. What did they say? 189#!  Come on an egg and a glass of water weighed 3 pounds!! To continue the experiment I stepped on the scales at 11:pm as I climbed into bed--back to 187#. Then at 5:00AM this morning---192!  And one last time after boot camp, breakfast, etc at 11:00 AM---It was 188#. See what I mean about fickle scales!!!
Give me a break!  In fact I'm taking that break! My experiment is ended!! LOL And I will not be climbing back on any scales for a while now!

So I try to keep "THE SCALES"  in their place—in the closet to be pulled out once in a while, not ruling over my life conspicuously taking up space on the floor in the bathroom begging to be stepped on daily!

 Once again this  is "Babyboomergrandma" hoping some of what I am learning is helping you.  Thanks for visiting with me!  It is indeed a life-time journey taken one day at a time!  Until next time, may God richly bless YOUR life.