I FORGOT THE MOST IMPFORTANT THING.

Today at my salon I had the extreme pleasure to style the hair of a lady named Miss Edith, she is 100 years old. She walked right up the steps of the salon and straight into my heart. She had perfect hearing and a cute sense of humor. She wore glasses but did not need them to see while she was in my chair.
She was sweet and totally in the moment. Laughed at the apporpriate times and caught every word spoken.
I made some off handed comment about my age (56) and she instantly corrected me and told me that I was young and she wished she was 56 and that I had alot of life to live . I LOVED her and she was exactly right. She was spot on. Maybe God sent me a little message to tell me that your life is what you make it and it is never too late. Miss Edith got a perm at 100 and laughed and drank Coke Zero with me. She is my new idol, I love her. She passed on wisdom to me. I am not old! I'm not. She wished she could be my age. Can you believe?
Thank you Miss Edith I will never forget you. You are a true treasure. The real deal.
Her last words were, " I'll come here for my next perm if I am still around". Please oh please I hope I can give her the next perm.

BTW she was not over weight and solid like a little rock. She said she worked hard all her life and loved to be outside. AMEN

AWWWHHH

Haaay,
I got a Nike+ for Christmas from Muffy's mom Mary( so wonderful) and I tried it out tonight and FAILED to do it right so my tremendous effort on my bike trainer wasn't posted Awwwh I was riding like the wind and now I have none left. I'm pooped. I loaded songs on my Ipod and they totaled 39 almost 40 minutes and I road so hard to the tempo . ~You gotta have heart...miles and miles and miles of heart~~~~~~ I can't post them now. I know I did them but I was so curious how many miles it would say I rode. Oh well you have to drag some folks into the information age. I've fallen and I can't get up.*L*
Oh well would you like to know what my new play list is? You do? Thanks for asking I will be glad to share, alrighty then.

Turn in on again-Genisis
Tuff Enuff- The Fabulous Thunderbirds
Pride and Joy- Stevie Ray Vaughn
R.O.C.K. in the USA- John Mellenchamps
Legs- ZZ Top
Dancing in the Dark-Bruce Springstein
We Built this City- Jefferson Starship
All around the World- Lisa Stansfield
Sara- Jefferson Starship

The tempo was really fast and I am showing my age with these songs. LOL I am totally sweaty and glad it is over. BUT I will do it again.....and again....again........
Aaron leave my dot dot dot alone.

bicycles are so great.

I remember my old blue challenger bike when I was young. It didn't have foot pedal rubber just the metal bar and I had lost one grip. I rode that darn bike for miles and miles. Not for exercise but to get to my friend Penny''s house across town. I also made runs to the grocery down the road for cokes. Back then they were in returnable glass bottles so you had to be careful not to wreck. I had gotten so good at balancing a watermelon in my wire basket that I could get a melon and be back in a flash. I wasn't fat. I stopped eating when I was full.
I wonder when I broke the brain switch that told me I was full?

My sweet MaMa didn't really cook healthy foods, she just cooked whatever was popular at the time and more importantly fast. Hamburger helper, breaded fried spam and french fries. We so loved breaded fried spam, fries and catsup. Lol we weren't fat, ok maybe our arteries are clogged but we weren't fat. This makes me think that if you eat healthy food in moderation and add a modest bit of excerise to your daily routine then one should never get " fat". NOW if you have gotten "fat" and need to lose it THEN you have to work your buns off and eat lean. I am the second scenario. *L*

I have a trainer for my bike and I think I will go and set it up in the utility room and maybe get a little ride in. It is rainy and cold so inside is my best choice.
I have a question to all the bike riders. What about the sore bum you get when you start riding. Is it true that it is 18 days before it stops hurting? Why 18 if that is true. Is it 8 days of riding? I wonder what I can do to keep from getting so sore. It may just be part of the process.

Anyway tomorrow I go to the gym, I can't wait to go and work my shoulders and bi's and tri's.

It's over

Christmas is over thank goodness. I love the reason for the season but I dread the food fest.

The excess is tough. How much cream cheese can one consume. Cream cheese potato pie, cream cheese cake, cream cheese with pepper jelly and don't for get the cream cheese filled cookies.
I've had enough wine and holiday food to last a lifetime...... or at least a year.

Today was the day to get back on track with my exercise. The last day I exercised was last Saturday, so 6 days later I am back into the gym.
I think I have mentioned before about muscle memory. I have been reading a little about it and I believe it to be true. I have only been back to working out a little over a month. I have been away from exercising for 6 years and the weight I am able to lift is nearly back to my pre-layoff numbers.
Today I was able to bench the last two sets of 15 with 55lbs and then 60lbs. A beginner would have to work up to that weight unless they had enormous natural strength . Their are people who are naturally very very strong but in general that is not weight for the 4 week of exercise.
Again I believe that muscle memory exists even 6 years out. I am hoping that after the holiday is gone and the new year comes in that I can get really serious and I can't wait to see what happens.
I have to mention also that one of the biggest mistakes I made when I lifted before was not resting. I worked out everyday and only rested on Sunday. I took Sunday off because the gym was closed. I don't think I gave my body time to recover. When I taught at the gym I REALLY didn't get recovery time. I think you platau faster and it is harder to make big gains on the pounds you lift. I always felt a little fatigued. I think now I am gonna do much better because I see the mistakes I made.
Stretching has never been my favorite thing but I need to add more at the end of my workout. Being muscle bound is not just being huge with muscles it is also losing flexibilty by lifting and never stretching the muscle. Another one of my mistakes I am trying to correct.
The scale says the same thing it has said for the last weeks but I feel my pants legs getting baggier. My big shirts are getting bigger. Now having said that.....my gut is still huge. It will be the last thing to go. Clean strict eating will whittle it down but It's gonna be a long haul to get it off.
My son AKA Johnny Danger the rock climber, gave me a bike rack for my car so now I am gonna be nation wide. Aaron gave me an Ipod so I am enjoying opera on the treadmill. Life is good.

So the point of this whole post is to say I went back right on time and got right back to work. I stepped off the wagon but was able to get right back on it and get busy.
I am trying, nope that is not right, I AM working hard and pushing myself . If I cheat I am only cheating myself. It is 4 sets of 15 even if it is all I can do to get them all done.

~You got to have heart....miles and miles and miles of heart... la la la da da da dahhhhhhh

It's Tuesday.*

I don't have much to report today. My workout was really good. I am now sweating like a fat lady in church. The walking for 15 minutes is great but today I ran/trotted the last five once again and the **SwEaT** poured.
I realize that the temperature down here is laughable compared to Maryland but it's damp cold here cher. Now I go out with a wet head and soggy clothes. I nagged and nagged Aaron about getting sick if you don't wear a jacket after you work out. It's because I remember him when he was 1, actually I remember him when he was 20 minutes old.
Love you Boy( Aaron)
Well our temps here today were in the 40's. Damp cold and deary 40's and tommorrow it will be 74 and later this week 79. I just wish for cold for Christmas..
My tree hugging son is coming for Christmas Eve and I am making the old favorites to eat but I am gonna make them as lean as I can so I don't ruin his Christmas. He is a very very light eater so I don't have to make 22 pounds of cornbread dressing like we had when I was growing up.
Oh well legs on Saturday and then off to the grocery for holiday food. I will be hanging onto the buggy to keep myself standing after the lunge session.
I love Christmas, it's is the anticipation that is the most fun.

Monday

Today was the most awesome workout!!! I was so exhausted from it that I laid down on the couch and fell asleep for a couple of hours .
I was able to run for 5 minutes on the treadmill at 4.0. I don't think run is the right word, trot is more like it. I don't care I did it! First we start at 5 then go to 6 then on and on.
I bumped up my weight on the bench press to 55 pounds and got all of my sets and reps in. Remember 4 sets of 15 till further notice. I tried to move everything forward by just 5 pounds. So hard to maintain form and get them done.
I am starting to feel the lifting paying off big time. My appetite is less . But having said that I have to mention that apples are so good right now. My sweet treat is frozen red grapes. Also buying whole nuts and having to crack them is a way to eat less of them. So I am having 100% whole wheat bread and pasta ( not alot) and a few nuts and a little fruit. I found Splenda sweetened fruit and I have it with some fat free cottage cheese. I guess I'm eating way lighter than I have in a while.
At dinnner on Saturday, with my Saturday dinner friends, I had spinach salad and humus . It was wonderful and I felt like I didn't stray off course. I am 56 and past my fad diet days. I'm gonna eat healthy and clean as I can. That is a plan I can live with. Slow and steady as she goes.

I am so proud of my family. We are rewriting who we are. My son is rail thin and very outdoor active and now we are all falling into line with our new lifestyle. The lttle girls will never remember the old us.... and maybe I will be able to get on the floor with my grandbabies one day. ( emil! not today)

legs on Sat.

Saturday was leg day and I have felt the pressure to start do lunges again. Peer pressure, peer pressure from Aaron telling of his step-ups. Soooo I managed 4 sets of 15 reps per leg. I think if my math is correct that is 120 lunges.
In the past they were a piece of cake but now they are horrible. I could feel my heart rate rise and I had a full blown sweat going on but I hung in there and finnished them. So now they are here to stay. Every leg day I will do lunges till I feel like I am strong enough not to wobble at all and then I will add weight.
I had extreme fatique in top of my hamstring. I was dragging a--.The good news is that I wasn't really that sore. Just a little.
I really am enjoying the solitude of working out. I know that sounds silly since I am in the gym but I am working for myself and I am challenging myself and I need that time. If I am gonna keep this up then it has to be something that I feel compelled to do whether it is raining or if I have a little headache or whatever my excuse.
Today is Monday and that would be chest and back. I will let you know. BTW I was able to trot a little on the treadmill Saturday so I am hopful that my wind will return.
I don't notice any weight loss to speak of, maybe 2 or 3 pounds but I'm just getting going so it will come around I hope. I am watching my food.
Okey dokey here I go.

Monday and Tuesday workouts

Monday was chest and back and today was shoulders and bi's and tri's.
Jeff said I should share my info and maybe you already know all of this but in the event that you don't I'll explain my plan. Don't fall asleep.

As you all know the best way to burn fat is aerobicaly but to reshape your body you need to weight train. I noticed that the people in my aerobic classes that were faithful lost weight but basically looked like a thinner version of themselves. BUT the ones who added weight training reshaped themselves.

I believe that muscle, when it is healthy and worked correctly has a nautral shape. If that is confusing visulaize this, a perfect leg is a round leg. The growth of the front of the quad is equaled to the growth and thickness of the hamstring. The leg appears round. When the knee is healthy and worked correctly it will appear alot smaller and the tendons and ligaments will be strong.

Sometimes the funny thing in the gym will be the guys who pump up their chests with repeated chest excerises and their legs look like toothpicks. I used to get great entertainment from the ones who could barely drag the weight up. That didn't matter just as long as someone saw them heaving the heavy weight.

The weight should not be so heavy that you cannot squeeze at the contraction. That contraction is where the muscle lives, Not the dragging the sloppy weight up and letting it flop. It is the squeeze at the contraction of a bicep curl that is doing the reshaping. The squeeze, then the slow negative when you return to the starting postion.

Ok OK what I am doing is 4 sets of 15 reps at about 65% of what I can do. I can probably curl 15 lb. curls but not for 60 reps! So I use 12lb dumbbells and the last 2 sets are a bit of a struggle to maintain form. FORM IS EVERYTHING. Once you lose form you might as well stop.

I was trained for free for 2 years by a guy who owned my gym and he could squat 500lbs for reps. I can hear his words all the time...Make them pretty. Make them pretty.He meant keep the form pretty..perfect. It doesn't matter about how much weight it is if you cannot achieve the contraction and the SLOW negative.
Ohh I need to stop.
Well my two workouts were wonderful and I feel great for old lady. I made all my sets and worked my abs. I'm done for now and Legs are next..whu who!!!!

Saturday---Leg Day

I can feel the old me emerging, just a little.
Today I have plans to flea market with friends and have dinner with my Saturday dinner friends. This morning I made the decision to get up and get going. I dressed for the gym and kinda reluctantly went there. I knew in my logical mind that it was what I needed to do but my lazy eat pie self wavered a little. Figures.
After a messy warm up, I got stuck on a old eliptical machine. I finally got a treadmill and added about 12 more minutes to my warm up.
The legs machines where occupied so I had to begin with leg press. I stayed there for about 6 sets and the last two were with 245 for 15 reps. Ta dah!!!!
I squatted on the last 2 sets with 55 for 15 reps . I squatted!!! I finnished with calf presses and leg curls and finally leg extensions. Usually I do leg extensions first but today it was busy so I used it last . Kinda finnshed me off that is for sure. Abs and I was out of there. I did it.

The feeling of accompishment is awesome. I don't feel pressure to keep up . It is me and my own limitations. I have to get my eating under control better but the choices I am making are not horrible compared to what they could be. I have to remember that when the holidays are over that things will be better.

I think that the excerise is the best thing I could do for myself, I know this stuff, I have head full of information that I used to bore everyone to tears with. I just have to put it back into practice. I doesn't matter that I am 56 Iwant to live to be 96.

I LOVE THIS STUFF.

Thursday and a milesone

I went to bed really early last night and I had been feeling depressed about my Daddy's house and the whole end of our family home.
Today after a good night sleep I feel better and I have noticed that TODAY the workout is starting to pay off. I have a tiny bit of spring in my step and the workout moved up on it's own.
I have been curious about muscle memory. I know of it but I wondered if it is true. Well today I am telling you that it is. I have been working out for what? two weeks and today my curl bar bicep curls were with 35 lbs. That is not alot but I have only been back 2 weeks or so. It is all coming back. I stayed on the treadmill effortlessly for 25 minutes and the work out felt fabulous.
The gift of a gym membership from Muffy and Aaron is the best thing in the world. What awonderful thing to get to enjoy. I love them so much.
So..I am on a roll now and I hope my momentum stays high. Today I had it going on!!!!!

Tuesday and back on track

If I were to sit and make-up stories they would pale to my real life. Honestly.

I made myself get up and go to the gym. I had a huge headache from the dust and heat at my Dad's house. It has been closed up fro a while. I felt miserable yesterday. M_I_S_E_R_A_B_L_E

Today I dragged myself up and gave myself a pep talk and off I go to the gym and before I could get in the car I locked my keys in the car. *L*

Now to visualize this is key. I had to crawl through the dog door. So to go through is to put your arms over your head as though you are gonna dive. Then you have to wiggle and push with your feet till your upper torso is through. I'm sure it was quite a sight. Then there was the "talking to" I had to give myself to keep from panicking when I thought I was stuck . The story ended OK and I got my chest and back workout in and 25 minutes on the treadmill. So I did it, even in the face of extreme adversity, that would have thwarted a lesser mortal.

Crisis Incorporated

I'm back home

Thanksgiving is over and I am glad. Not because of being with Cheryl( sister) but the food. We ate the weirdest combos. I ate potato pie....a lot of it. Then we ate humus...a lot of it. We just grazed around and worked our heads off.
We are closing the family home and beginning to get it ready for sale. We didn't do step-ups but we carried a deep freeze out of the house and lifted it on to a truck. Oh my gosh. The hall is about 31 feet long and we walked that a zillion times . We pushed, pulled and lifted boxes. All in all we were exhausted. We just ate in spurts when we could. My choices were some bad and some good. I'm surely not gonna grieve about it, it's a waste of time. We have to be proud of what we accomplished in the house and I guess just move forward.
We ate in the nursing home with Poppa and the food was marginal. He loved us being there and it was a nice afternoon.
So now back to normal for a while and back to the gym.