Thoughts of a Feisty Red Head

I have been a member here for one year, it has been great.

I started very slow, I was 235 lbs. on July 4th 2007, and now am down to 160 lbs. Once I got my gym in February things started to move along. I have hit a couple of plateau’s but have never given up. I work out 6 days a week, cardio 20-30 mins. and bodybuilding with Sunday’s off.

The best part is… I have met alot of wonderful people here.

My kids are very proud of me, they are impressed with my results, I am proud of myself for sticking with it.

I have had alot of compliments from friends and co-workers, sure makes you feel good about what I do. 

Hope ya’all had a wonderful 4th.

I read a comment in the May issue of Planet Muscle regarding exploitation of woman in their magazine, it was featured in the Sets and Reps/ Q & A section. It went on to complain that the magazine shows these woman in provocative and sexual poses,  this person stated that they were ashamed at these woman for letting themselves be photographed this way, and at PM for exploiting them as sexual objects…

My response:  

I am responding to the personal trainer/professional boxer in Manhattan who feels you are exploiting woman in your magazine. These woman know exactly what they are doing, they have consented to have their pictures published in your magazine. To insinuate they are disrespecting themselves is in itself an insult to these woman. I am a woman who has recently returned to bodybuilding after many years, I do not find it to be exploitation when one is showing off years of hard work through their pictures.

Hopefully my comment will appear in the August /September issue of PM. 

Good Night all … 

As of today I have lost 55 lbs. I still have a little ways to go. I work out 6 days a week, that includes cardio and abs, Sunday is my only day off. With that said, of course people have questions. I don’t mind them asking what it is I have been doing, I tell them proudly, I even direct them to bb.com for any other info they may need. What I do mind is when I am done they say well that’s alot of work, I don’t know if I could do that.

HUH!!! ???

Well either you want it or you don’t, I can’t make you do it, but if you want to lose weight, gain muscle and strength then this is what it takes.

I am tired of hearing them whine about how overweight they are, tired, etc… how they don’t have time to work out the way I do. If I can find the time so can they, I am up at 3 am most mornings, I do cardio and abs, then in the afternoon I do my workout, I have kids other things to do too. If you go home, sit and watch TV that is the time you should spend doing cardio or abs, "but I’m tired" is what I hear. Well I have a news flash for you… SO WAS I !!! but not anymore, I have more energy and feel so much better than I ever did. I also laugh because I am 51 years old, most of the whiners are 10 - 20 years younger than me !!! I tell them to start out slow with exercise, I did now it is just part of my day.

Then there is food…most of them also eat crap, fast food, huge deli sandwiches,my favorite a salad with  chicken, bacon, cheese, and full fat ranch dressing with a side fo greasy garlic bread… "but I am eating healthy" Ah, no you are not!!!

They justify not eating healthy with the time constrants also. How hard is it the throw a salad into a container, get low fat or fat free dressing and open a can of tuna ? And think of all the money you would save…

Oh and about the time constraints, most of them have to watch their reality shows,that is why they don’t have time to work out, sooo… that is more important than your  own survival, hmmm….

I did have quite the laugh on Friday when one gal who has asked me several questions and had made all the excuses…said that once her husband cleaned the garage she would start using the treadmill, and then she said, you use those little pink and purple weights right ???( this gal does not have a clue) I said what ???!!! Oh honey, I use 25- 30 lbs. for biceps, triceps, etc … and explained my gym, then I popped my bicep for her and her mouth dropped open, OMG!!! she said. It was pretty funny.(good thing it was back/biceps day on Friday)hehehe…

Bottom line either you want it or you don’t, and if you don’t then stop asking the question…because I can’t help you unless you want to help yourself.

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It was suggested that I write a blog regarding a comment I made about age and looking good, so here it is.

Yesterday I went to our local mall, I hate going to the mall !!! but my daughter and her friend wanted to do some shopping so, I wondered around while they shopped.(I did get some stuff from Victoria’s Secret …shhhh!!!) 

We were there early enough to miss all the little jerks that usually annoy me. There were alot of people closer to my age there, which was nice, I started noticing how many were out of shape. I mentioned this to someone here, I feel spoiled knowing  men his age who are in great shape, you tend to start comparing others at a new standard. You no longer see what most would deem natural progression of aging, as an acceptable way of life.

He mentioned that many people our age look like they are ready for "the home", and how we forget that, because we see the people here at bb.com. and how amazing an older body can look if one tries, he is right. We are all here for a reason, to be in the best shape and health of our lives, and we work very hard at it everyday.

Thanx for the idea. Hope you don’t mind me using some of your words…

I had to write this because I think it is an interesting phenomenon, that woman and men(young men)alike will go out in public with their underwear showing.

I actually noticed at work that alot of woman wear thongs… how do I know this ??? you ask, because they are sticking out the back of their pants when they are sitting down. I want to walk up and just yank them… it is not a good look, and not very professional for work. I really had a hard time figuring out why this accured till I bought some new pants, the cut is lower, I put them on, they look great but once you sit down… well,

Peek-a-Boo, I see you …they poof out in back, I felt this breeze behind me, reached around and there were my undies… needless to say that afternoon it was time for new undergarments… with that said, if you buy the proper size even a thong will not pop up above the pants…

I know it is popular for some males to wear their pants hanging past their butts, I laugh everytime I see it, they can hardly walk, mostly shuffle their legs to get around. I bet if you yelled fire they’d pull those britches up and run like the dickens…hehehe… my other thought is to pull the pants down to their ankles, what’s the worse that could happen, they certainly couldn’t chase me…

I just had a crazy thought: It’s July the Circle is in Ohio, we go to the mall and pants a few boys …when they turn around to chase us they are face to face with all our big bodybuilding buddies …hehehe… I digress.

Although I could see that happening…

Hope everyone has a great day…hehehe…

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Last weekend I went to the local Sports Authority, (hmmm… that might be what they refer to as an oxymoron) to purchase the Gold’s Smith Gym. I have looked at this particular gym for probably over a year. I researched it, and went to the store to check it out numerous times. When I told the sales clerk I would like to purchase it they sent their so called expert over to explain the gym, I said very politely that I knew all I needed to know about it, so he stopped talking and went to retrieve the 3 boxes it came in. I have a van and the seats fold down so I knew it would fit!!!

I am very good at sizing things up…well the two guys did not think it would, but my son assured them that if I said it would … well what he said was you don’t know who you are talking too… hehehe…

I paid for the gym and out the door we all go, hmmm…all three boxes fit, one box did get caught in the dip where the seat goes down so I opened the side door to pull it up and over and both guys said it’s too heavy for you to do that, my son rolled his eyes then said your really don’t know who you are talking too… I just said fine you want to do go right ahead. What cracked me up the most is the so called expert used to be a personal trainer, of what I am not sure, because he had no muscle what so ever.

Now to the fun part we get home and my son and I get all the stuff in the house, my son is very meticulous about laying everything out and making sure all the parts are there. We open all three boxes and no instructions??? I call and they have another book there, I go pick it up and he starts to assemble the gym, part way through he says something doesn’t look right with the bench parts and other stuff, I look at the boxes and the 2nd box is for a different Golds Gym system, I wonder if the so called expert knows how to read??? Well by the time the discovery was made it was late and the fitness guys were gone… the next day I call and they had the correct box waiting for me and said just put whatever I thought went in the other box and bring it back, I did…I still have left over parts in the back of the van…

I love my gym it is kicking my arse royally, but that is O.K. by me, it was the experience that of buying it that just about did me in. I guess I can laugh about it now. I posted a link to the gym itself. It is heavy duty, they did not mess around when they made this gym.

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http://www.sportsauthority.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2909663&clickid=body_rv_img

Recently after doing cardio(25 mins) I usually run up and down the 14 steps in my house… my 12 year old daughter challenged me one night to see how many I could do and how many she could do… I managed 15 up & 15 down… she laughed … she did 10 Hah !!! she turned looked at me and said I was a psycho… I love it !!!

I have been uping my weights and it feels great, I have also averaged about 2lbs. a week weight loss, I don’t know what has changed but I can’t seem to sit still for too long… I am outgrowing all my clothes or should I say they are outgrowing me, wearing smaller sizes… I love this lifestyle…I love the compliments ( yeah I’m becoming a real CW) that people give.

Well just thought I would share … have a great night ya’all…

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I think it might be. I kept debated on whether or not to right this post, but I woke up this morning and thought why not…

A couple of weeks ago my ex came by, it was late afternoon,I do not see him much, he was standing on the front porch, now he was talking to me, his lips were moving and all I could do was stare at his "gut", like a deer caught in the headlights. It was huge!!! It took every ounce of self control not to say anything or laugh, you’ve seen the dimples on a golf ball, well he looked like he swollowed a giant golf ball, he had on a thin t-shirt so it really showed…The reason I bring this up is because right before we split up he said that I was overweight and unattractive, which in my mind translated to fat and ugly, to this day that hurts to the core.

My life is turning around and I am in much better shape and will continue to make changes, I recieve alot of nice comments and encouragement from people here. I could not do this without you guys … Thanx 

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That was the question at the end of an initial meeting with a MFCC(marriage,family,child,counselor).

I thought it would be fun to share some personal stories with you guys since you are like family to me.   Well…

That was about 18 months ago, my soon to be ex-husband and his mom both thought I was depressed, this coming from two people that were taking psycotropic meds prescribed by our family Dr. and neither of them were in therapy. So I go.

The first question was how do you sleep at night? fine, no problem.

Do you feel tired during the day? No.

Have you ever had thoughts of suicide? No, no man is worth killing myself over, I like myself way to much to do any harm to me(funny she never asked if I ever had thoughts about doing any harm to my husband!!!).

Did I have any loss of appetite ? Honey I am 235lbs(at the time) do I look like I missed a meal ???!!! She just laughed… at the end of the session she said why do you think you are depressed? I explained. She said with all you have gone through any normal person may have been depressed she said the only thing you are is MAD…

Nothing wrong with that. She told me I did not have to come back, but she did enjoy talking to me. I laugh when ever I think about this story, I think they wanted something to be wrong with me…hehehe 

Oh, I did ask her what she meant when she said "any normal person" she said she liked the way I analyzed things for myself. I impressed the therapist, go figure… 

When I was growing up I knew maybe four kids that were overweight, now it seems that it is epidemic. Kids don’t seem to be bothered by it and neither do adults !!! I did not become overwieght till about 10 years ago.

We make larger more fashionable clothes, and now there is a show called how to look good naked, which seems to consist of large woman… I’m sorry but there is no way I would want my fat body on a show like that, instead I choose to workout and diet. We have fast food and convience everywhere we look, when does it all end. I understand that people work full time and don’t seem to have time to cook, how about a crockpot or cooking and freezing foods ahead of time ??? Instead of using time as an excuse. Surgery has become a common solution and insurance companies are even willing to pay for it.  I am sorry to be ranting but it just makes me mad when people make excuses for being overweight. I have no excuse. I really like coming to this website and chatting and seeing results of the people here who are after the same thing…hard work and clean eating = good health and a healthy body.

Thanx again for letting me rant.