LFG27’s BodyBlog

I am thankful because life is awesome in this way:

Everytime you think every door is locked, someone, somewhere opens a door and invites you in. Sometimes you have to ask, but heaven never ever leaves you alone.

When the night is darkest you can be certain the sun will rise again. It is a certain fact. The same is true in the hardest parts of life. You will someday look back and be thankful for the strength you learned and gained when you felt the darkness would never leave.

That no matter what destiny has placed before us, ultimately we have the power over our own existence. Despite of our hardships, or our fortunes we are who we want to be. We make that decision, none other.

I’ve been off of Bodyspace for a while. I’ve still been hitting the gym but got caught up in a whirlwind of events that left me with little spare time for the internet. One event being someone dear to me nearly ending his own life. It seems we all forget how precious those close to us are at one second or another. We get wrapped up in ourselves, in our jobs, and even our gym time. I knew he was struggling but didn’t see his walls caving in on him until it was almost too late. I return to Bodyspace with a newer understanding, a renewed strength and purpose. To better myself so that I may be a pillar for others. I wrote this poem the week after my friend went into the hospital.

Time

Remember what matters most

Time is simply the measurement of moments

in a fragment of our eternity

It passes without permission

and didn’t we

look at the clock and wonder how

quickly seconds pass

the hands gone round

and we’ve still never found

in all our lives just what we are looking for

*****************************************

Don’t let anymore time pass without realizing your strength and your dreams because each second that passes is one that will never return.

Always be kinder than necessary for you do not know what obstacles others face.

Few of you close to me know that I have Celiac disease. A disease is defined as: pathological condition of a part, organ, or system of an organism resulting from various causes, such as infection, genetic defect, or environmental stress, and characterized by an identifiable group of signs or symptoms. My disease is genetic and totally un"spreadable". I have started saying that I have Celiac disorder in order to prevent the "OMG" wide eyed and scared look people give me when I say I have a disease. I vowed when I found out 2 years ago that I had this condition that I would help spread the word on what doctors have thought for so long was a rare condition. In reality it isn’t as rare as originally thought. Celiac disease is quite often misdiagnosed as doctors only receive about 20 minutes instuction on this condition in all their years of med school. It took about 6 months of agony before I finally INSISTED on a blood screening for Celiac Sprue simply because I knew my father had it and knew there was a slim (10%) but real possibility I could have inheirited it. Sure enough, blood tests came back overwhelmingly positive. What is Celiac disease? It is a auto-immune disorder. My body reacts to a protein found in wheat as if it were an enemy. When wheat is ingested, my immune system attacks my intestinal lining in an attempt to destroy what it perceives as a very real threat. In doing so I destroy my own tissues which leads to malabsorbtion. Untreated Celiac patients eat but starve to death due to malabsorbtion. Common symptoms of Celiac disease are: Weight loss due to malabsorbtion-I was actually a weight gainer before diagnosis. I felt so hungry all the time because I wasn’t getting proper nutrition that I ate and ate and never felt satisfied. Bloating and abdominal distention-One of the ONLY symptoms I exhibit. Children with growth retardation Patients with recurrent mouth sores-I had these only if I had consumed large amounts of wheat. Changes in bowel habits Skin rashes-dermatitis herpetiformis Extreme fatigue The ONLY symptoms I showed on a regular basis was abdominal swelling and fatigue which put me out of the symptom range that doctors normally look for in diagnosing Celiac. The only treatment available for Celiac disease is a lifelong adherance to a wheat/gluten free diet. I urge anyone who has been diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome, acid reflux, even depression (untreated Celiac has been linked to depression and neurological damage) to request testing for Celiac. You may be met with resistance as I was, but it is a simple blood test and YOU are in control of your health. If anyone has any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me! Best wishes for health and happiness:)

I went to an open audition Sunday for JOICO haircare. I didn’t accept the job for the fact that they wanted to chop my long hair, and not only is it long but its healthy. But that isn’t what this blog is about. Its about the other girls that were there. All extremely thin, I felt like a muscular sore thumb sitting there amongst girls that look as if they have survived on carrots for the whole year. Not that thin is bad if it is the persons natural build. My natural build is muscular, that is the genetic pool I swim in. Nevertheless, I had to draw in a deep breath and disengage the panic button. Inside I was going through the mental banter that all women do. "hmm..does her butt look better than mine. Geez, shes tall and her legs definitely are longer than mine, blah, blah, blah."

I strive to maintain a balance between the quest for external beauty and internal beauty. Realizing that it isn’t really what I have outside that radiates, its kindness and compassion that lends a special glow to someone. I always try to nurture that glow above all else. Yet, I am human and fallable. I try and remind myself on a daily basis what life is about. What my life is about. My children and teaching them what is important, my personal spiritual growth and helping others find peace with their bodies as a trainer. Being a friend, a listener, a shoulder to lean on. And yes, that shoulder carries more physical strength than the average female. That is different, unique, and beautiful in its own way. We all have beauty and strength in our own wonderful ways. Let not the size of our hips take precedence over the size of our hearts, now that is beautiful.

You might see from my newest shot a softer physique. I have decided to take my look down a few notches for modeling purposes. I have also decided not to compete. I’ve been called a "sell out" by a few of my bodybuilding buds here in town, but this decision was made not only for myself but my children. Modeling is helping to pay the bills, unfortunately competing not only doesn’t bring home the chicken breast, it takes money to compete. It is tricky I’m finding to lose some of that hard earned muscle and not greive its passing. It was hard to build. And its also hard to keep everything firm as my body makes the transistion.

As I have always said, chase your dreams and never let anyone tell you they are beyond your reach. That is what I’m doing. god bless!

My dreams the past few nights have been strange. I am wondering, perhaps, if these dreams are caused by what I ate before bed. Normally I don’t eat past 6pm but the night before I cooked dinner for my mom and ate with her RIGHT before bed and last night I had a late spinning class and needed to have something.

My chicken induced nightmare the night before was about global warming, and banking. All the polar ice caps had melted and had rendred the worlds ATM machines innefective. Not only was there a panic about rising sea levels, but no one could access their bank accounts on the go. Talk about scary.

Last nights soy pasta dream state was about me being back in the 80s preparing for a school dance of some sort. As if my hair being 5ft tall wasn’t enough, my shirt dissapeared everytime I tried to leave the house and I had to run back inside and frantically search for something to wear all over again. There was also a strange focus on chewing gum. The kind that had the comic book type wrapper on it. I had TONS of it in my pockets for some reason.

The moral of this story is: for a trim waistline and a good nights rest, don’t eat after 6pm:)

I was looking up at the night sky the other night before the rain we’ve had the past few days rolled in. I found my favorite constellation, Orion, right off the bat. After which I closed my eyes and tried to erase the thought of looking for star patterns in the sky. I opened my eyes again and wondered at the vastness of the universe I reside in. Each star twinkling in its own individuality, seemingly small as a reflection here on earth, yet I know the huge energy and light it is in its own galaxy. Much like people. Caught up in everyday life, paying bills, commuting to and from work, the sun rising and setting on each day leaving us feeling like not much more than a twinkle. What we forget is that beyond those everyday things we get lost in, we have so much power and energy to be and change so many things! We are presented with opportunities to shine every day. These opportunities can be as big as donating time to a shelter or as little as a simple smile to someone who is having a bad day. We are all peices of a puzzle. And like with any puzzle one missing peice leaves the whole picture incomplete. Live and do the day to day things that are necessary, but don’t forget about others, don’t forget about yourself, and most of all take time to look up.

Much love to all! Keep up the good work!

I had a great day with my diet and exercise the past few days. My gluten episode is behind me, I am re-hydrated and ready to roll again. Sunday night I ran sprints and felt like I could go on forever. Yesterday I woke early had a small meal and did cardio then I worked out late last night. I am back on the Thyrotabs after taking the recommended break. I think they began working faster this time. I am sweating immensely durning my workouts and even having to take the covers off at night because I am getting overheated. Thyrotabs work by increasing your core temperature and from what I see they most definitely have increased my core temperature.

God bless!

I had started feeling unwell beginning mid week last week and couldn’t figure out what was wrong. My diet was tight and consisted of only fresh unprocessed foods but yet I was exhibiting symtoms of a gluten reaction (I have Celiac disease). I had began taking a Citrulene Malate supplement manufactured locally and suggested by a friend but didn’t put two and two together until Tuesday when I became VERY ill. I had used the supplement that morning before my leg workout and by the end of the day, my whole body was swollen, my abdomen was distended, and I had a terrible upset stomach. The manufacturer has yet to return my phone call to tell me if their product contains wheat. My guess is YES it does. Some supplement companies are now including allergen statements on the label but ALL of them should. I have kept with my lifting routine but eliminated cardio until my energy comes back.

Best wishes to all!

Yesterday was a strange day in my fitness world. I got the idea that maybe I should start doing fasted morning cardio. Thing is that I have to be at work at 5 a.m. so to have time for a decent cardio session I got up at 2:30 a.m. I had a great energizing workout but found myself unable to stay awake around 10:00 a.m. and I was extremely hungry the entire day. Yesterday evening I decided to do a heavy leg session to burn off the extra carbs I took in all morning. I got under the vertical leg press and all was well until the 10th rep when I got stuck under the weight and had to yell for help. The weight wasn’t that heavy I just hit a wall and my body said enough already.

No more early morning cardio for me:)

Hope everyone is doing well!