Merry CHRISTmas

2011 CHRISTmas greetings to our family and friends!

With all my good intentions of the past years, I think I will actually get this news letter completed!  We have finished our Christmas gift giving for 160 children in our community and have one more activity tonight when we have a Christmas party for the 30+  children in our Family Bible Club!  We are very grateful for all the help of others  making it possible for   our small church group to  do more than we could ever imagine! That’s just the way God does it!  When God is in it little is much!

My extended family got together on the 17^th for Family Christmas. I should say that as many as possible were here!  We had another VERY EXCITING family event occurring. Our oldest niece—Mom’s oldest grand daughter Shannon gave birth to twins that day! We were ‘watching’ on the sidelines via text messages keeping us updated! Both little girls arrived safe and sound. Nana Mary is delighted and is retiring to help care for them! I have pictures on my face book site.

We are getting together at our home Christmas Eve for our traditional Jamaican Christmas dinner with Calypso Christmas Music and all!  We are expecting most of Richard’s extended family who still live in the area, our nephew Cameron who flew in from college in California,  as well as Rebekah & family and a number of her/our friends!

Our New York Family:
Deborah, Danielle, Raquel, Ayanna, Jay

Our daughter Deborah, her husband Jay and daughters Raquel (15), Ayanna (13) and Danielle (11) are back settled in their home on Long Island, NY. They had a brief time in Washington DC and an even shorter time in Baltimore a year ago. The great news was that Mom and I got to go visit them in Baltimore last October, 2010! They are keeping busy with their consulting business, Deborah teaching piano, lots of sports, music, and dance lesson!  They are delightful grand daughters!!! It is hard to believe that in a little over 2 years Raquel will be starting college!  We love and miss them very much. We enjoy our phone  calls. They Skype with Great grandma to her delight! Hoping to see them in Seattle in the coming year!

 

Mom will be celebrating her 98^th birthday this February! She is still bowling on two teams. She lives with Martha and Jack. Martha bowls with her on one of the teams. Jim and Kathy take her to their home whenever they can as we do too. She is so grateful for children who love and care for her so much!  We are blessed to have Mom with us! We’re all planning on helping her celebrate her 100^th  Bd. in a couple years!

Rebekah, her husband Keith, Isaiah (11), Justin (9), Kya (7) and AJ (5) do live near by and we get lots of grandma and grandpa time with them! Keith & Rebekah have just launched a new online business: ProBodySupplements.com

Which is in keeping with their health and fitness focus. Both Rebekah and Keith have competed in figure and physique contests and have each place 1^st! The children are doing well in school, and with their sports. Football, Basketball, Soccer, track, ….Isaiah is a super soccer player while Justin absolutely loves football---ran in a 93 yard touch down as well as many other TD’s this year!  Kya is dancing queen & AJ just being his charming self! Rebekah has blessed me by updating my wardrobe and helping me coordinate everything!  Now she’s helping her Papa!  He doesn’t know yet that she wiped out all his size 36 and 38/ XL baggy saggy slacks/shirts! However, she has replaced them with some very nice ones that fit so well AND are still comfortable too! Comfort is a priority to Rich!!

Richard is keeping fit and healthy doing his elliptical every day. On top of that our big yard and garden are another source of exercise. We continue to pastor Seattle International Christian Fellowship, with Family Bible Club, Sunday services, Saturday nursing home Bible Studies and food bank 3 times a week.  There are lots of opportunities to share His love! One of Richard’s favorite pastimes is watching the Soccer channel!  He’s up on all that’s happening around the world of Soccer!  He will be quite blown away by the quantity of packages under the tree for him this year!  But with his closet wiped out, he was long over due for a new wardrobe!  His argument that he already had too many clothes, no longer applies thanks to Rebekah!!  (He really did have too many clothes he couldn't or shall I say shouldn't even wear!!

Over the past year and a half I have stepped out of my comfort zone with a quantum leap! Having become tired of carrying around a lot of excess baggage----on my body----I joined a boot camp September 2010!  I go for 45 minutes of very intense exercise at 5:45 AM before anything else can railroad my plans! All my efforts and humorous challenges are recorded in another outside my box site---my blog: http://babyboomergrandmagettinfitandhealthy.blogspot.com/  All that I could do when I started was a plank from the knees, holding it 3 seconds before I dropped to the floor exhausted!  I have come a long way in that time, including losing 70 lbs!   It is great to have more energy, stamina, and strength!  I still have to pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming! Especially when Rebekah brings some of her clothes over and they FIT ME!!! I love playing outside with the kids. I can run, jump, play basket ball with them and wrestle the big boys down to the ground! I know that will be short lived with how they are growing in both size and strength!

            I was determined to enter Medicare this September in my best health in years!  I’m considering that the new 65 is the old 45 and I’m going to live like it!  Rich and another friend whose wife goes to boot camp with me came to watch us recently.  He was impressed—also noting that I was the oldest there and my 10 year ‘junior’ friend was next in line for that honor!  I love to encourage those who are struggling as I was. I love to challenge the younger ones not to let MOM beat them. Now my challenge is to maintain what has been lost!! Boot camp 4 times a week and spinning class for cardio on the other two helps. Sunday is my day of ‘rest’!! At least I’m not working out at the gym. 

            Wishing you all the joy of knowing Jesus as we celebrate His birth which is the Reason for the Season!  We cherish the relationships carried through the years and trust this New Year of 2012 will be everything you hope and pray.

Love and hugs to all,

 Richard & Susan

Thanks to my baby boomer grandma friends for letting me share this with all my family and friends not usually on my blog. I will Be back on with more posts soon!-----
BBG Susan

Boot camp's challenge to our amazing bodies!

I remember doing classes at big box gyms and for some reason the routine was the same every time. In fact I think we could have done it without the instructor after a while! 

BIG PROBLEM however----our amazing bodies adapt to whatever we are doing and the effectiveness of the exercise diminishes over time.  The solution?  Don't do the same thing every day.

At Renton Results Boot Camp that is never the issue!  Today's boot camp is such a great example of this fact. I just started doing the floor ladder a week ago.(I now know it's called the Agility Ladder!)lol Already I know about 5 different ways to challenge my body on just that piece of equipment. I hopscotched and tiptoed the length of it last week, but today? I did side moving in and outs two feet in and two feet out traveling the length of the ladder. Sprint back to the beginning and this time do bear crawls making sure BOTH hands go in each ladder space!  Sprint back and repeat. I'm thinking this ladder length must be about 15 to 20 feet at least!  Believe me, my body had adapted to NOTHING with the ladder!  And I know Luka has not even touched the surface of what can be done with just the floor ladders, not to mention everything else we do!

Ropes are another example. I love ropes, so figured I'd start with them since I'd have 3 rounds of 50 seconds and only two rounds of the superset push up burpees. WRONG----I've never been so exhausted on the ropes------one arm waves--HIGH waves as I jumped with each wave. I learned that if I give a little slack in the rope I can actually get a higher wave!!! So after 50 seconds high waves I'm feeling dizzy----no not 'dizzy blond' mode-(my blond is gray now anyway--I mean silver!!) --but wow that was hard mode!  Not quite to wanna 'puke' point, but almost!! On to burpees with a pushup--really s---l-----o-----w  on what I can usually whip out quite a few of in 50 seconds!  10 seconds 'rest'--I think they call it recovery---and back to the waves----repeat the burpees and then the waves to finish that station! I guarantee you that my body has NOT adapted to the ropes!!!  My idea of doing the 'easier' ropes first really backfired on me today!  I can hardly believe that I was wishing for more burpees and less ropes!

After that the TRX pull ups were a relief and I even did them hands together with the progression of straight arms up to one side as I pulled up!  Again, something new for me. Though the lunging band pull aparts were not fun, they too were a bit of relief to catch my breath!!!

So what had I started with?  The first station was a combination kettle bell gobblet squat and dead lift with 35 pounds. So glad I didn't do the 45 pounds. Rebekah did that one, so I felt real good about 35!  Pair that with pushups---did full body for a while then regressed to the knees. This was a new kettle bell exercise for me. I had done each separately, but not the two together!

Let me tell you, my body has NEVER had a chance to adapt to anything at boot camp!!! Luka always keeps it mixed up so much that my body has no clue what's coming next!  I think I lost count of all the new moves that assulted my body as well as my brain today!

I must say that even with as hard as it was, it was a good day!  A friend comment that her goal was to work so hard she was exhausted as much as I was in this picture!!! My butt in the air!! Guess one of my claims to fame is that picture!  Whatever I can do to motivate my friends!!



I left it all on the turf that day!

Hoping you are mixing up your routine and getting the most from all your effort! 

God bless all those efforts and may you see lasting results!
Baby Boomer Grandma Susan

Thanksgiving Dinner!!!

Thanksgiving Day 2011

Last year’s Thanksgiving was a no brainer for me when it came to eating.  I had just lost 22 pounds. I was totally motivated to continue the momentum achieved in the Back to School Weight Loss Challenge!  I continued to maintain and even lost another 6 pounds by Christmas!

This Thanksgiving was different. I have lost 66 pounds and am almost to goal so any little ‘cheat’ really shows up!  There’s not so much ‘fluffy fat’ to cover it up! To help off set this I did boot camp 4 days in a row.  I’m learning how to adjust my eating to incorporate more carb and still maintain my current progress. It is a big challenge for me to keep those carbs limited!  One even healthy carb can often lead to another! Again I find that being prepared and planning ahead makes for a more successful day! I don’t know that there will ever be a time I can just ‘wing it’ and stay on track!  

We had lots of choices for dinner!  So I majored on the turkey, ham and green beans with a little bite of mashed potatoes with gravy, stuffing, mac & cheese, fruit salad, sweet potato salad—skipped the dinner rolls. It all tasted soooooooo good! And I did not feel guilty because it was planned and it was moderate!  I tried a couple of bites of dessert from my husband’s plate!  My challenge came later back at home with eating too much fruit and eating some more dessert!  Why?  I hadn’t planned beyond the TG dinner! 

Love that Jamaican cooking, ususally!!

On Friday I made a  big pot of Jamaican Red Peas Soup using the Thanksgiving dinner ham bone, Jamaican spices, and kidney beans!  It looked so good and I figured that a small bowl of the soup would be great!  My bowl was very small compared to my husband's. He had a serving bowl full of the soup!  However, about 10 minutes after eating the soup, my belly started growling and swelled up to way over twice its size. YUK!!! Not a nice feeling! I think it might have something to do with the fact I have not eaten beans for a year and a half!  All I could do was take a couple of “Beano” tablets---which are supposed to be taken BEFORE, not AFTER the fact and head for bed!  Even 15 hours later on  Saturday at boot camp as I did the table top hold, I did NOT have my usual flat belly!!!! So much for Red Peas Soup. Rich gets to eat the rest of it and he will gladly comply!!

We put up our icicle lights along the eves today. I always do the ladder work while Rich sets it up and makes sure it is steady. How was it different this year?  With 66 Pounds less of me, the ladder didn’t even sink into the ground at all! Wow! What a pleasant surprise!!!  In the past it sank to the first rungs!!! LOL

This week’s boot camps were extra brutal according to Luka, our trainer. He wanted to counteract any over-eating!!! Four days in a row were quite a challenge for my body, but I enjoyed doing some new things. We did the floor ladder—hop-scotching the entire length of it, sprinting back and repeating for 50 seconds. Also did pushups with slide pad under our hands. All the regular exercises had progressions to challenge us to a new level!  I could do some of them, others will have to wait for another day. The bottom line?  I’m making progress each time---still doing a few more reps and making my body do those last moves and not quit early.  I'm watching my form and trying to get the most from each session!  

A big plus of boot camp are all the friends who work out with me. They are such an encouragement and I am able to encourage them as well. It really helps to be accountable to friends who are concerned for my health and fitness!





Before TG dinner!!! LOL



Hope you have some friends to encourage you too-------  
May God's
Abundant blessing 
bring success
      in all you do!          Babyboomergrandma Susan