~~BuffMother! GET BUFF~~

Well….so far my POA is not happening this week~ I BUT that is JUST fine! I know that typically my POA’s don’t work.  This crazy ICE Storm is keeping me home bound with 4 kids~ YIKES…actually it’s not been bad at all. We’ve watched several movies: Dust Factory, Kit Kittridge, Leatherheads, Barbie’s Christmas Carol and soon we’ll be putting in Martian Child and Fireproof.

With all this “homebound” time on my hands I’ve had the chance to reflect a bit. Reflection leads to Rejuvenation in my determination to reach and stretch towards new goals. Each time I reflect on how blessed I’ve been in life, it STOKES the a fire that God has placed in me to continually RESOLVE to be a better person, to conquer new challenge, to learn new things and to love others.

That’s the spirit, drive and passion that leads me to make New Year’s Resolutions each year. To me they are more than “wishes”, they are goals and focus points that will shape my entire year and years to come.

My 2009 Resolutions revolve around 3 main skills I aspire to attain: 1- to LOVE; 2- to DECIDE; 3- to DELEGATE

1-TO LOVE:
To love is the greatest commandment…my mission from God is to become Christ-Like. That’s what “Christian” means…to be like Jesus! And if GOD is LOVE~ that makes JESUS= LOVE too… so I need to LOVE! Each year I try to remind myself of this goal/aspiration to walk in LOVE with EVERYONE. Being a light in the darkness, leading by example and simply LOVING others in all I do! Loving is a SKILL…it has to be developed, honed and constantly utilized to stay sharp and effective. In striving to love others, I need to first fill up my love tank with GOD’s love! I MUST learn to take time each day to build my relationship with God! From there I’ll have the perspective and strength to love others in my life. My husband Travis and my Kids need my LOVE…they need to know I love them more than my work and more than any other people in my life! They need my time and attention~ so that they know they are LOVED! I also need to love myself…investing in myself is key for me to have the energy and desire to love others. Without my me time, I lose myself and I lose my ZEST and Passion to love others. Investing in myself and in others is key to my LOVE SKILL!

2- TO DECIDE:
I have a fault…I have a hard time being decisive about things. I hate shopping because it’s soooo hard for me to DECIDE between these shoes or those?? My DH and I are so much alike in this area that we’ve had a hard time planning vacations, dates, what to spend our money on, etc…Alot of the time we end up frustrated, and bored because we can’t decide and end up doing NOTHING, LOL! WELL, my goal this year is to build up my “Decision SKILL”…I need to tap into my true feelings about the item in question and DECIDE to take the action I want to take at that moment vs. wondering what if this or that?? or worrying about what someone else thinks about my decision, or worried that if I say no I’ll never have the chance to say YES in the future, etc…. Simple decisions like: what to eat or cook, when to workout, what to watch, what to throw away, etc…is where I’ll start. Then once I get good at deciding on the small things then I can tackle some big questions like: where to live, what do I want to be when I “grow up” (hehe), what kind of house do I want, etc….
Being decisive about my attitudes and actions will help me enjoy the journey towards reaching my goals. The decision to have fun, stay positive, not complain, to be “sexy”, to take risks, etc…all help when striving to make the BEST of life! Because as we all know, life is HARD for everyone…but how you react to the adversity in life is what separates the winners from the losers. I have decided to be a WINNER!!

3- TO DELEGATE:
Part of why I want to learn to decide on things is so that I can then DELEGATE to others the operational things that need to be accomplished to get things done. I like to be in control; I am very independent and that means I have a hard time asking for “help” and also a hard time letting others do my work. I need to learn the SKILL of delegation. My kids are getting to the age where they contribute in a BIG way towards the household Chores. That’s where I’d like to start….I need to delegate chores to them. From there, I’d like to hire other “help” to do some of my work. A personal assistant would be GREAT! Delegation is an highly tuned SKILL that my husband possesses; he is the BEST at it. And you know what they say in order to be the BEST you should LEARN FROM THE BEST! So that’s my plan~ to observe and learn from the best!

I am going to focus hard on honing these 3 skills over the next year, along with keeping my priorities intact. I have so many amazing things to be excited about this year… and along the way, I just want to be able to savor and enjoy every aspect of my Blessings and help others learn to do the same!!

Let’s RESOLVE to make “2009 our time to shine!!”~
Love Your freind,
Michelle, aka BuffMother!

Happy Wednesday!!!  It’s Question of the WEEK time again!!  Over the past 5 years I’ve had countless of women inquire about after baby boobies and Breast Implants…so for our question of the week this week, we’ll discuss BOOBIES!!  Do you have any Breast Augmentation tips, advice, warnings, boobie stories, etc… to share?? Please do! 

Here is a short Q and A:  Question: 

Okay, I’m seriously thinking about getting implants. I saw a friend of mine a few weeks ago and she admitted that she had them (she has two kids). She just filled in what she had lost through pregnancy, nursing and stuff.  I used to be a D cup and now I’m barely a B. However, the skin from the D is still there like a deflated balloon. So here is my question. Where do I start? I wouldn’t even know how to find a reputable doctor and such. For those of you who have taken the plunge, how did you go about it? Thanks- 

Answer: 

“Research research research…and find a surgeon with a good reputation and that you are comfortable with. If he turns out to be more expensive than another surgeon…so what…It’s your body…be VERY protective of it because ALOT can happen and you need to make sure you’re taken care of before, during, and after the procedure. 

They will run higher with a lift…but if you need a lift…get it done with the implants so that you don’t have to have them re-done later. A good honest surgeon will let you know this and you will usually save money by having them done at the same time rather than in two surgeries as well! 

Go to www.implantinfo.com and spend all the time that you are saving money researching, asking questions, and educating yourself.” 

Q:  Hi, first I would like to say that you look awesome! I have seen in some other threads that you have talked about your implants and I was wondering if i could ask you some questions. Here goes……Did you get them over or under the muscle and why? How many cc’s did you get? And like most women do you wish you went a little bigger? I have my operation in 9 days and Im so curious as to how others feel about there own. Thanks in advance, and I hope you dont mind my questions. 

A: 

Hi- Well since you asked so sweetly I would love to answer your questions. 

1. I have had 2 surgeries. the first time over the muscle: a Big mistake in hindsight 

The second under-100% better in look feel and all the way around 

2. For cc’s 300 saline the first time, 600 silicone the second 3.  The first operation, i had good b’s naturally so I was happy with the size, but at times I wished I had gone bigger 

for the second, after nursing 4 kids and having a much lower body fat there was no choice but to go with that size, I am very happy now with the size…not too big and not too small and silicone is SOOOO much better.  Good luck with your surgery, you are gonna love them.  Take care, Michelle 

A few years ago I took some time to put together the START to a short booklet/article about how to get:  ” Golden rules of Spectacular Breast after Augmentation”  GOLDEN RULE #1 

Placement should be under the muscle especially if you are planning a family.            3)  Surgery # 2 – In 2004, I made the decision to have an augmentation revision with placement under the muscle.  Everything went according to plan and before I knew it my breast were good looking again.  I was pleased with the results but wanted to see if there was a way to make my breasts more natural looking and feeling  •             Details of surgery  This surgery took 3.5 hours  was very extensive and very painful to recover from.  I was in bed for 4 days post op and did not hardly move for 2 weeks.  By 4 weeks I was able to do light cardio and by 6 weeks was able to do some light lifting with my legs.  By 8 weeks I was cleared to start some chest / back exercise •             Size- 600cc smooth silicone low profile implant. 

•             Advantages over surgery 1- this twice as big implant did not make me look any bigger, with clothes on .  It filled out my chest cavity and the low profile prevents me from looking top heavy.   •             Placement Under the muscle-  This was very important to make the breast look as natural as possible.  I did not want to see my implant ridge or it’s ripples. 

•             Advantages over surgery 1 •             Type of implant 

•             Advantages over surgery 1 •             Silicone vs. Saline VERY FEW DOCTORS WILL TELL YOU THE TRUTH!  

GOLDEN RULE #2-When it comes to size, err on the large side.  You will be happier     down the road.  A larger diameter implant looks better and more natural. (low profile) 

GOLDEN RULE #3-If at all possible, go with silicone.  You and your husband will be happier with the feel. 

II.   How to make good breasts SPECTACULAR! 

•             Spectacular breasts are full, soft and most importantly VERY NATURAL LOOKING. •             Several factors can cause breast implants to look less than spectacular- the “ridge” caused by the top of the implant. 

GOLDEN RULE #4- You must rebuild your chest muscles post operation 

For me this was the breakthrough!!  I needed to rebuild the muscle on top of the implant so that the natural shape to my chest would return. I started slowly working through the pain.  I focused on re-building my chest muscles.  Almost immediately I started seeing a huge improvement in the look and feel of my breasts: 

•             They were softer •             They were fuller 

•             The ridge of the implant disappeared •             My flexibility increased and I was able to regain good posture 

The workout 

I advise waiting for your doctors approval before starting any exercise program after surgery.  Every augmentation case is unique and only you and your doctor know when the time is right for you to start rebuilding your chest muscles.  This workout is simple designed for anyone to do at home all the equipment you will need are dumbbells.  Post Operation lifting Program: Stage 1: 3 weeks post operation 

Cleavage squeeze- place your hands in front of your chest like you are going to pray.  Push your hands together and squeeze hold for a count of 3.   Stage 2: 4-6 weeks post operation  Wall push ups: 

Stand 2 feet away from the wall place your hands a little wider than shoulder width apart and slowly lower your body towards the wall and push back up to the starting position  Dumbbell Flys: Lay on the floor or on a bench if you have one and hold 2 5-8 pound dumbbells above your chest.  Slowly lower the weight to the side as low as you can and then return the dumbbells to their starting position.  Stage 3: You can progress to doing all of your regular chest workouts…just be aware that you need to warm up extra well, lift extra light and be in some pain due to breaking up scar tissue that has formed.  Expect full strength recovery within 6-12 months. 

THE END…  Hope some of this info helps you~ 

BTW- I love my boobies   LOL! 

-Michelle 

42 Days to GO!!! 

Guess What?? 

I have 42 days to go until my goal!! 

I am so fired up and motivated… although you wouldn’t think so by some of my food choices this week - burgers, pizza, pop and a couple other mis-haps! 

But I AM fired up!!! More than I have been in quite awhile.  I’m getting in better shape every day and once again have that extra little MOJO I’ve needed to hit the BEACH at my BEST in March!! 

So…today I did my second Back workout of the week: 

warm up r-bike 10 mins -talked to my Sissy~ she is so nice :love: 

Lat pull downs 

110×10 

140×10 

150×10 

160×6 + 130x 5 

paired with lower back extensions (booty focus) 

70×25 

90×20x2sets 

assisted pull ups focused on biceps 

20×10x2 

30×10x2 

paired with 

shoulder press seated backwards 

50×10 

70×10 

90×10 

100×10 

seated rows 

90×10 full extension 

110×10x2 

paired with Full extension sit ups (on hyper-extension machine) 

15, 15, 10 

Wide hi-cable lat pulls on knees- one arm at a time 

50×15 

65×10x3 

Paired with pose down cable bi curls 

30×10 

40×10x3 

2 sets of knee ups on bench 

then I ran for only the second time this year~ 

I did 4.5 intervals~ all of this at 2.5 incline on treddy 

4 mins warm up, 1 min hard at 8mph; 1 easy min at 6mph total of 4mins 30 secs of hard mins–total time on treddy about 13:30. 

I’ve decided I am going to try and run on every EVEN day for a bit…come hell or high water….I am going to try and run every other day even if it’s just for 30 seconds~ RUNNNNNNNNN!!! 

After my workout I picked Tia up a tish early from school for our “date”…we went to Chuckie Cheese~ thus the PIZZA and POP! 

Even with that my eats ended up halfway decent today, but overall I this is a way below average day for me, I’ll give myself a C–at least I didn’t over eat and at least I mad some good choices (apple, celery, steak and I did take my supps and drank plenty of water): 

5 P’s:steak, steak, pizza, steak, steak (lots of tenderloin!) 

4C’s: apple, pizza, pizza, pizza 

F’s: pizza, pizza, steak fat, steak fat 

G: tomato sauce on pizza, and I’ll have some celery b4 bed 

T: pop- mostly coke zero (I’ve never had this b4…it’s okay, but I like diet coke better) and some root beer 

too many C’s for buffing~ I’ll fix that tomorrow with a better day! Fridays are always better than Thursdays! 

Okay, now I’ve gotta go to bed! 

toodles, 

Michelle 

It’s ”Weekly?” TIME!!!
Our question for this 3rd week of 2009 is….Do you have pets? …or have you had any in the past?(Week #3-2009)
I was amazed last week when EVERY news station in the world was covering WHAT kind of DOG the new president should get?? It is amazing how much value is placed on pets in our society! Pets are fun, they bring joy, laughter and love into our lives…plus they also help teach responsibility and often times provide helpful services in the lives of owners (security, assistance).
So…with that said. Please tell me about all about your pets!
Currently the Berger household has NO pets! We have 4 small children and I look at adding pets to our home as seriously as adding more children~ I have too much on my plate already without adding more. However, I do expect that we will have have pets in the future. We’ll probably start with a Dog, then depending on how that goes…add other animals to our life from there.
I have had pets in the past. When I was 5 my parents got us a dog- SMOKIE was his name~ he was fun, but CRAZY. We ended up giving him up for adoption about a year later and I didn’t have a pet until I was in college. We got a ferret names SQUIRT and then a few months later a cat, who got sick and passed away, then another ferret name BRUTUS. The ferrets were fun for that “season” in our lives, but they were a mess and in the end we moved and gave them away.Do you have any pets? or have you had any pets in the past? Do you have any funny, heartfelt stories to share about pets?
let’s have fun by sharing~
-Michelle
 

It is so GREAT to be back home and back at the gym to work BACK! LOL!!

I am really loving my workouts with my hubby~ and it’s really fun to see how much stronger he has gotten in the past three weeks. 

warm up- tanned (new bulbs!)
r-bike 10 mins 

lower back extensions
70×25
70×20
90×20 

Cybex lat pulls
110×10
130×10
150×10x2sets 

Pull ups 6 

hammer strength ISO High lat pull
70×12x3 sets 

knee ups between sets
12 front/12 rt./12 left x3 sets 

Hammer strength rows
70×10x3sets 

2 sets standing HIGH knees 

Shoulder press
50×10
70×10x2 

Arnolds
25’sx10×2sets 

Shrugs
45×15x2sets 

front raises with
25#platex12×2 

knee ups on roman chair 3 sets
hanging sit ups 1 set 

20 mins intervals 1 min hard; 1 min easy– on octane elliptical– level 7 for most of the easy; level 9 for most of the hard mins. 

That was it, eats are GREAT today~ off to eat supper now!!
-Michelle

HI girlies!!
Just wanted to check in with my BUDDIES!! I have had a GREAT week and really am feeling so blessed every second of the day. God has really shown up BIG TIME for me this week~ as HE always has for me in the past! I feel so loved by my LORD!!! Shooting our exercise DVD’s has really been a ton of hard work, but really fun at the same time! I can’t wait for all of you to see the finish product and infomercial. 

Even though things are going great…I am so FRIED!!!~ we wrapped up our first day of shooting this afternoon and WOW!!! I have not worked out this much EVER. 5 hours yesterday and today at least 6 hours! 

We have 1 more long day of shooting then I will take SUNDAY totally OFF!! I can’t wait to wrap on shooting these DVD’s~ 

I’ll be back with all of you full force on MONDAY! Have a GREAT weekend~
Love ya,
Michelle 

Question of the week #2 for 2009-
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?15years? 30?
I was thinking back today and talking to my DH about how our life has changed in ways we never imagined 5 years ago…that got me to thinking: Where will we be in 5 years? And what about 15 years or 30?
5 years from now~ I see myself living in a NICE home, with lots of acreage. I’ll have kids that are close to puberty or going through it—YIKES! I expect that we’ll be traveling a lot having a couple family trips a year. I’ll also be sure to book trips with just me and my DH. As for business, I KNOW I’ll still be involved with my dear friends in the Team BuffMother! Rally Room. Fitness wise, I’ll be nearing the age of 40 and will be on FIRE to be as sexy as ever.
15 years from now~ My Dh and I will be empty nesters…we will have been married 30 years and still madly in love! We will be dealing with all sorts of interesting “grown children” issues…college, boyfriends and girlfriends, jobs and maybe even marriage?? It will be an interesting season! But it will be fun. By this time I see us having more than 1 home and I expect to be a GREAT golfer by then.
I hope that I will have gone on several mission trips and had many grand adventures by this point in my life.
30 years from now~ I’ll be 63 and expect that I’ll be a Grandmother…A BUFFGrandmother! Who is the coolest, most spry grandmother ever! Travis and I will be free travel and enjoy our families~ and of course I expect to be still hitting the weights hard and showing the world that aging is not a factor I am willing to accept! By this time the technology availibe in supplementation and nutrition will allow me to look and feel at least 20 years younger that I am!
The future is bright…where do you see yourself going??

Let’s rock it!
-Michelle
 

I am feeling quite refreshed today!! I had a good flight to LA…thought a lot about my resolutions for 2009 and last night I focused on recharging: 

I ate a great meal-a Cesar salad, hibachi steak with mashed potatoes at the Cheese Cake factory and I even ordered cheesecake for dessert to go~ the 1st time I’ve ever had cheese cake from there….crazy since I’ve eaten there 10+ times. It was good….
Once I was back at the hotel I just layed in bed, watched tv, fiddled on my computer and SLEPT! I needed the rest (my legs are SORE from my last workout~ ouch!). 

So today my focus is to practice hard for my DVD shoot and to enjoy some of the awesome sunshine here! It is going to be 85 today!!! 

Hope you have a super productive day and be sure to take some time to REFRESH! REST is vital to our bodies health…don’t deny yourself REST when you need it! 

Your spry friend!
Michelle