Kettle-what?

Today was the first day of my "Competition Kettlebell Training" class. It was a fantastic workout, but luckily, this week anyway, no more difficult than my regular hour long class on Mondays, nor my private training session on Thursdays. I expect that will change, as there was a lot of info to get out today.

I've had a few people ask me what the heck kettlebell training is. I've directed them to the ROC Boxing website, as well as encouraged a hefty google search. In fact, one really good basic article can be found at:

http://www.kettlebell.net/articles/what-is-a-kettlebell .

I thought that I might share what Kettlebell is for ME today, as that definition is considerably different. I mean, I work out in the weight room regularly ... why is this much of a change? Why do I need to add yet another *thing* to my crazy fitness agenda? I guess if I need to sum it up in one word, it would be:

COMPETITION.

Let's face it, I am not a spring chicken any more. If I had been a more diligent runner or biker in my younger years, I might be a more competitive racer today. Maybe, if I had started boxing while in my twenties, I might be able to hold my own effectively in a ring. However, starting in my mid-life (How the heck did I get here, already?!) renders me fairly ineffective, competitively, in most sports.

And I need to compete.

Kettlebell offers me a way to compete, with a chance at actually being competitive, even though am starting late. It's tailor made for my muscular structure. It's also a pretty good fit for my ability to zone out and just keep going until the body stops working. Top that off with the cherry I call "Fun Factor" and you have a pretty perfect little workout plan.

As I mentioned New Year's Eve, they have kettlebell competitions at the Arnold. Give me a year, and I might actually be able to attend as a competitor, rather than an awe-struck fan. Certainly won't find me entering any power-lifting or bikini-fitness competitions, but with kettlebell I stand a ghost of a chance.

Part of the competition class is entering at a certain weight, which means setting a goal weight and hitting it within 12 weeks, when we actually compete. This means no more latte's, or a dip with a chip on Super Bowl Sunday. I have decided to give Tosca Reno's Clean Eating program a try. I have followed my own (or rather Maureen's, then a combination of both of ours) clean eating regimen for over a year. Following Tosca's plan simply takes the guesswork out of the equation for me. Less work, less thinking. Just eat what she says. For those of you familiar with the plan, I am following the Cooler 1 plan, at least for the 1st month (It is recommended that you only follow this plan for 1-2 weeks. However, as it is very close to the eating plan I have already been following, I feel it's OK to extend it a bit.)

Summing it up, Kettlebell offers me a chance to train for a competition, actually be competitive and gives me a goal with a finish line, forcing me to be consistent and diligent.

“A competitive world offers two possibilities. You can lose. Or, if you want to win, you can change.”

Determination ...

You know that it has been too long in between blogs when the system kicks you out and you can't remember your passcode. I'm just sayin' ...

Of course, I haven't much time today. This has been my excuse every day ... however, I opted to ignore all excuses today and simply state it. Then rush my little fingers into action in the 45 minutes I have available to me for showering, dressing, eating, now blogging, and finally springing my son from school to take him to the endodontist consultation this afternoon.

I have written many entries in the past week ... in my head, while driving ... in totally inappropriate and unworkable places. Inappropriate meaning ... no means to jot down the masterpieces composed in my head, sitting at red lights, watching my son at karate (sans pen and paper) ...

Actually, this is one of the few weeks that I wished for a laptop to take with me everywhere I go. I spend a lot of time waiting for Ian to complete whatever it is he is doing (karate and tutoring being two such things). I don't write well. For some reason, my brain blocks up hard creatively when I put pen to paper. However, put me in front of a keyboard and I can light it up fairly quickly. The trouble with a laptop is ... I can NOT type on one of those itty bitty little keyboards! I would have to carry a real keyboard with me everywhere I go, plug it in and find a place other than my lap on which to type. And this somewhat negates the purpose of a laptop computer.

I digress ... what I am trying to say is that there have been lots of lovely and creative thoughts this week that simply have not made it to *post* due to my time constraints.

Today I barely have time to discuss any of them ... but this one little short one will have to do. I KICKED THE BOTTOM OFF THE STAIRMASTER TODAY!

Remember, last post I was bemoaning Maureen's suggestion that I tuck in a 40 minute, level 8 stairmaster session on January 21st due to my schedule conflict for my usual spin class? I was certain that they would be mopping me up from the floor if I so much as attempted that mind-numbing task. She gave in and allowed me the option of a level 6 climb. Many of my friends and exercise cohorts deemed her certifiable and agreed with my assessment that it simply wasn't to be done.

Which of course, put me in a competitive mindset. It's one thing for ME to say I can't do something ... but when other's start agreeing with that lowered assessment ... hmmm. It gives me something to prove. I'm kind of freaky competitive like that.

So I started right away trying to get my 20 minute sessions up to a full level 8. It took 2 days. OK ... I do one minute at level 5 to warm up, then finish it out at level 8. Tuesday I was off stairmaster duty. But other than that, I have climbed every single day since my last post. Today I accomplished 42 minutes on the stairmaster. One minute warm up of level 3, 4 minutes revving up my brain warm up at level 5, then 35 full minutes at level 8, followed by a 2 minute cool down at levels 6 & 4. I climbed 2,160 total stairs today ... just shy of the Sears Tower. I would have kept going just to get that Sears Tower goal (another 75 steps or so) but there was a gentleman who had been patiently waiting for me to finish my climb and didn't complain that I stayed on the machine 12 minutes longer than the rules allow. I didn't want to push my luck ... but I did climb as fast as I could in cool down, hehehe. I know, not much of a cool down that way, but I was competing, you see.

I walked my heart rate down after, no worries.

What I was left with, after cleaning up the pools of sweat beneath my machine (rather than the staff cleaning ME up off the floor!) was this:

NOTHING is impossible for me, if I put my mind and determination behind it. No matter how big and difficult it might seem, if I just keep doing what I need to do, I can accomplish absolutely ANYTHING I put my mind to.

Even that Iron Man Triathlon I have dreamed about since I was too young to be scared.

No, I am not putting my name into some hat for the Iron Man. Not yet. But I do believe that if, when, I decide to do it ... I can. Funny isn't it ... how people agreeing with my own lowered assessment of my abilities actually brought me to this realization?

Now, don't any of you change and start telling me anything differently than you have been. I need you to be just who you are and have been so that I can become something different. If that makes any sense whatsoever ...

>"A man of sense is never discouraged by difficulties; he redoubles his industry and his diligence, he perseveres, and infallibly prevails at last." Lord Chesterfield

Ps. Thank YOU, Maureen, for pushing me beyond my own limits and expectations for myself. For believing I am even tougher than I thought I was and never letting me get away with being wimpy. I intend to keep proving you right, no matter what my first reaction may be ...

Resolved

January is the time to rethink one's life and what has been done with it. To look for ways to improve its quality over the next 12 months. Many of us make "Resolutions" and gamely put forth maximum effort towards success ...until our energy dies out and takes our will power down the drain with it.

A few years ago I decided I would never make another New Year's Resolution. That's not to say that I haven't used that ever-so-convenient timetable as a kick off point for various weight loss routines. I just refuse to make the official proclamation. This year, I resolved to kick that goal into high gear several months before the usual convenient timetable. So far, it has worked quite well for me, but there are a few things that I have let slide and I am here to "resolve" those particular issues.

Let it be known, however, that these are NOT New Year's Resolutions. ;-) These are just tweaks that I see need to be made in my current routine in order to ensure continued success.

1) I stopped logging my every bite. It seemed pointless after a while because I was literally sitting at my desk and entering data off a sheet of paper in front of me. And since my food varied very little from day to day, it was more *cut & paste* than anything. Go back and look ... every 3rd day was identical. But when I stopped putting down every bite, it became easier for unplanned items to slip in ... such as the little bags of chips. I was pretty good, in comparison to the old me, even with those little slip ups ... but you know? They add up! OK, so I was extra hungry one day and reached for carrots. A couple of cups of carrots ... and didn't bother to write it down because ... for goodness sakes. It's CARROTS! However, if I go back and look, those carrots might have been the extra 30 or 40 calories that put me over my daily allowance ... and since I wasn't adding 30-40 calories worth of exercise to counteract the intake ... well, you get the picture. It adds up. So I have decided that it is time to start writing everything down again. I probably won't blog it because ... well, its not exactly reading excitement. But I will post my slip ups. Hopefully, there will be very few of them!

2) I will blog more regularly again. After the surgery, it was difficult to type. It was difficult to do anything. My snow globe office can be quite chilly if I haven't sufficiently warmed it up and the cold made the shoulder ache. So, I avoided the computer. After a while, I *fell out of the habit* of taking my coffee at my desk and writing. Or posting after dinner each night. I don't get a lot of feedback, so it didn't really feel as if it mattered all that much ... and I just let it slide. What I have realized is this ... I do not NEED feed back. This writing is for me, not for anyone else. This is where I share the deep and the dark of my soul on this particular journey. If there are others who want to read it, that's great! But the purpose of it is for me ... and for that reason alone it is important that I keep on putting fingers to keyboard.

3) ABs are important. Yes, I do them ... but they have not been a priority. I always know that I can *get to them at home ... sometime*. And if any part of my workout is going to slip through the cracks ... it is the AB work. It used to be my favorite part of the workout daily grind. I held the dorm record for sit ups. (Yes, we actually had a contest. I did 700. There were a couple of breaks in there and the last 200 were not full sit ups, but crunches instead, but still, I did 700. I beat Skippy. Long story. Remembering how I felt the next day(s) ... I will never do it again.) I intend to make sure the AB workout is intense and varied ... and 6 days a week.

4) Finally, I signed up with my best friend, Toni, to run a 5k in April ... on her birthday. She signed up first and I horned in on her commitment. I need something to run for, something to train for. I love the idea of being a runner ... and I do fairly well at it, as long as there is a goal. But I would rather spend hours on the Precor at the gym than the treadmill. And this is Rochester, NY ... I'm not running outside until it is at least in the 40's and most of the snow is gone. I'm just not. So I am excited to begin training for that race in a couple of weeks. (Physical Therapist says the shoulder should be ready for that kind of jostling by the end of the month.)

That's it. The above-mentioned 4 things are what I am resolved to improve upon. If they become easy and old-hat before the end of the year, I will make some new ones. I want to always be a work in progress. I don't ever want to be *finished*. And I don't need to wait for a national holiday to make a resolution. I can make a new one every single day, if needed. It's just about improvement.

"Remember that what pulls the strings is the force hidden within; there lies the power to persuade, there the life - there, if one must speak out, the real man."
- Marcus Aurelius

Will. Power.

Will (wil) n. 1. The mental faculty by which one deliberately chooses or decides upon a course of action; volition. 2. An instance of the exercising of will; choice. 3. Deliberate intention or wish. 4. The power to arrive at one's own decision and to act upon it independently in spite of opposition. 5.a. Determination; diligent purposefulness. b. Self control; self discipline.

Pow-er (pou'er) n. 1. The ability or capacity to act or perform effectively. 2. Strength or force exerted or capable of being exerted; might. 3. The ability or official capacity to exercise control; authority. 4. Forcefulness; effectiveness.

"It's not that some people have willpower and some don't. It's that some people are ready to change and others are not." James Gordon

"Willingness is essential in any initiation or in making any dream come true. I can't often means I won't. You can change I won't to I will with will power." Marcia Wieder

"What you have to do and the way you have to do it is incredibly simple. Whether you are willing to do it, that's another matter." Peter F. Drucker

"There is not great talent without great will power." Honore de Balzac

If ever there was a secret to life, Will Power must be it. Without it, nothing can be done. When one's will has been taken from them, even the simplest act of getting out of bed each morning becomes a task impossible to achieve. The desecration of human will is the weapon of terrorists and dictators. Having the ability to sustain during times of incredible duress is most certainly the greatest gift God gave us upon creation. Human beings are made to be resilient. We were created with a desire to accomplish, with an ability to stand back up even when our world has collapsed for the hundredth time.

Always, there is something that desires to upend your will power, but nothing diminishes our ability to stand back up ... except ourselves.

Ok, if you are the person reading this who has someone standing over top of you and literally holding you down, foot on your chest, pressing with all their might to keep you in a position of subservience, then you are right. Someone OTHER than yourself is holding you back. You have a justifiable excuse.

The rest of us do not.

I have been accused of having Iron Will Power ... and right now I am very proud of that accusation. However, it is not because of any super-human strength. It's just a decision that I made and I my intention to be a woman of integrity. The only person who will benefit, really, from this decision is me. The only person I have to answer to is me. And the only person I can truly disappoint by my failure is ME.

I am OVER failing myself.

Why is it that we hate to disappoint others, but we have far less qualms about disappointing ourselves? Am I not worthy of the same respect that I try to give others? If I told my friend that I was going to be somewhere, or do something, would I not be sure to do just those things? How, then, can I excuse myself for failing to ... finish my workouts when I say I am going to? Eat the things I am supposed to? Avoid the things I know will trip me up?

In September I made a decision that I was no longer going to disappoint myself and this amazing thing happened. I learned that I have a tremendous amount of will power. I also learned that not buying any excuses, from others OR from myself, was perfectly acceptable. NOT doing the workout, NOT eating the right foods, NOT avoiding the unhealthy stuff ... all of this is NOT ACCEPTABLE.

I will not accept my son failing in school. When he struggles with a subject, we get him the help he needs, either by sitting down and working through the problems with him, or finding a tutor who can do a better job. Either way, allowing him to simply fail is not an option.

In the same way, allowing myself to give up, flail, fail ... not an option. If I am struggling, I will get the help I need. I will find a new direction, but I will not just quit. Ever. Again.

So, for those who have asked me how I do it, how I have scrounged up the will power ... there you have it. I have always had it, hidden inside of me. I just allowed myself the option of quitting previously. And this time? It is SIMPLY NOT AN OPTION.



(food diary to come later)

When was the last time you tried something new?

I never would have pegged myself as the non-adventurous type, but as I look back over the past couple of years, I can only come up with a handful of things I have tried that are completely new. Have I always been reticent to try new things?

Looking back, I think the answer is "No, but sometimes ... yes." I have never been afraid of much, but I also enjoy the familiarity of routine. I like knowing what is going to come next and how I am going to react to it.

What, you ask, does this have to do with a health and fitness blog? I have this new workout tomorrow, you see. And I am a little intimidated by it. I am very comfortable in a weight room. I know my way around pretty much any cardio machine. And I like the "Ball". It's great for ABs.

New workout? ALL on the ball. Core intensive, butt burning, abdominal screaming full workout on a big ball. What's so scary about a ball? Kids love them! Every spring I am infatuated with getting a "W" during that Tuesday night Ball Game. FootBALL is my favorite viewing sport. What's wrong with a BALL workout.

Nothing really. It's just very knew and I am finding myself apprehensive about it. I'm sure it will go just fine. I will maneuver my way around this very heavy workload, probably fall on my face a few times, but all in all, I will get it done.

And on Thursday I will be crying out for mercy God for the extreme pain my muscles will be inflicting upon me in revenge.

So, this is going to be my something new to try for a while. Who knows? Maybe it will reopen the doors to my adventurous soul and I will be rock climbing, sky diving and wind surfing in no time!

"Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark; Professionals built the Titanic." Anonymous

TUESDAY'S FOOD DIARY
Breakfast
Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted 100% Whole Grain Bread, 2 serving
*All Whites* 100% Liquid Egg Whites, 4 serving
Blue Agave, Organic (Wholesome Sweeteners brand), 0.5 tbsp
Olivio Buttery Spray 5 sprays, 2 serving
Blueberries, fresh, 0.3 cup
Lunch

Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies (RoTel), 2 serving
Jennie-O Lean Ground Turkey, 4 oz
Beans, red kidney, 0.5 cup
Dinner
Bib Lettuce, 1 cup, shredded or chopped
Ken's Lite Accents Honey Mustard Vinaigrette (10 sprays), 1 serving
Shrimp, cooked, 3 oz
Kraft Mayo Light Mayonnaise (Mayo), 0.5 tbsp
Snack
Universal Super Whey Protein Powder, 23 gram(s)
Milk, nonfat, 1 cup
Ken's Lite Chunky Blue Cheese salad dressing, 1 tbsp
Cottage Cheese, 1% Milkfat, 0.75 cup (not packed)
Libby's Tropical Mandarin Oranges w/ Splenda, 0.5 cup
Carrots, raw, 1 cup, strips or slices