fitnessprincess’s BodyBlog

Over the weekend I rented a Disney film featuring Miley Cyrus. I have had a crush on her “achy breaky” dad forever it seems - LOL! I won’t recount the story but the theme song debuted at the end of the movie hit a nerve with me and left me sobbing. I had so been looking forward to competing in November but this weekend I finally had to realize that’s not going to happen. Even now the tears threaten to come. I believe however that everything happens to God’s good purpose so I am going to trust Him and press forward because I know it really IS all about The Climb and I AM determined to be found faithful:

The Climb lyrics

Alexander, J; Mabe, J;

Lots of stuff has been happening over the last few weeks.  I wrote about traveling.  I came back and decided to buy a new futon.  The one I had was well many, many years old and really needed to be replaced.  So I went to the Sleep-a-rama and went whole hog going for the soft touch, the top-of-the-line model.  Had to wait a week for delivery (not happy about that) and when they finally brought it and the delivery guy took it out of the bag, well, it smelled really bad - chemical smell.  LOL!  Now that may sound humorous coming from me- after all I am a chemistry prof! but that’s not something I anticipated.  Come the evening I wanted to sleep on it but found that I couldn’t - the smell was that bad - I had a splitting headache by mid-night at which point I decided the sofa might be a wise idea.  Now best part!  Nikki the cat knew this wasn’t good - wouldn’t go near the thing.  Of course I went back the next day to tell them and guess what?  First words out of the guy’s mouth - oh yeah that’s totally normal.  Next thing I know he’s telling me that the boric acid that they apply to the futon for fire proofing.  Turns out there’s a federal law that says mattresses must be fire proofed - thanks all you smokers out there.  This week I got a cotton futon from another company but guess what?  yep smells!  So I have been sleeping on the sofa and airing out the new futon hoping to be able to use it next week.  So what’s this got to do with Bbing?  Well, I have learned this week how very important it is to get good sleep.  It really messes you up when you don’t sleep well. 

Another solid weekend:) So that’s three solid weeks with no mistakes.  I am happier than I can say because it looks like my mom is a beneficiary of the changes I have made, too.  She told me today that she has lost 4 pounds on my new diet!  I care for her on the weekends so she eats what I eat.  Yes!!! I couldn’t be happier.   My mom is a colon cancer survivor and has a number of ongoing health challenges most diet and lifestyle related - high blood pressure, partially occluded carotid artery, nonfunctioning thyroid (exception) being the most significant.  So this is such a blessing! 

A friend of mine (Heather) had this YouTube video on her blog(http://heathersfitnessjourney.blogspot.com/) and its message really resonated with me.  Ladies I think we are our own worst enemies at times.  I sure know that I am.  We have truly absurd standards regarding beauty that at times cripple us in terms of our overall health and quality of life.  This weekend make an effort to check in and listen to your self-talk.  If you find yourself uttering fat-talk, take a moment out of your day and a create a list of all of the wonderful things that you uniquely contribute to this world and the next time you open your mouth and fat-talk begins to come out pull out your card and affirm the beautiful, smart, capable, and special woman that you are!! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKPaxD61lwo

This morning I was reminded of how important one person - their words and actions - can be in the world and in the lives of others.  Yesterday I worked out in the morning and then donated blood in the afternoon.  Immediately afterwards I had to rush home grab Nikki put him in his carrier and head for the vet.  We were meeting our new vet for the first time and the news wasn’t all that great though certainly anticipated - possible heart problems and maybe kidney problems and coupled with that expensive tests (echocardiogram).  Note Nikki is a 19-year old seal-point siamese and the love of my life.  Sorry guys!  LOL!  When we finally got back home I knew I had hit rock bottom.  I was ravenous and I ended up binging - badly.  Needless to say I didn’t feel very good about myself when I woke up this morning and headed off to work.  I was grabbing a cup of coffee before class when a worker at Starbucks that has always been helpful and friendly shyly moved toward me and told me that she thought I looked terrific.  I just about started bawling.  I was so floored.  All of a sudden my spirits took a complete 180.  A moment before I had felt like a failure and felt certain the whole world knew my secret and the next minute I felt so good about myself and so happy.  I went to class and class was great - no doubt in part because I felt so good about myself.  It just took one person to change my world which in turn changed the whole experience in my classroom.  The worker’s kind words affected not only me but my students as well and who knows how many people will be positively affected later today because my students feel differently about themselves and their world because I did/do.  That’s the power of one.  So go and make it a great day and rock someone’s world!

As we move into the Olympics there are more human interest articles about Olympic hopefuls appearing in the sports section of my local newspaper.   I find these articles inspiring and educational.  Two of these in particular resonated with me this week enough that I wanted to share them with you.  The first article introduced me to literally a “Strong Woman, On and Off the Mat” which was, in fact, the title of the article written by Barbara Matson about 21-year old Ronda Rousey who will be competing for the second time in judo at the Olympics.  Rousey is amazingly mature for her age.  In fact it is her maturity that I admire.  As Barbara tells the story,  Rousey qualified for the Olympics the first time around at age 17.  She burned out, walked away and one day literally woke up:  “That was when it hit me:  I could go to judo whenever I wanted.  I could go, or I could sit and eat munchkins and it’s my choice, and I want to do this.  After that I just had a whole new lease on the sport and went after it with a new passion.”  LOL!  And she did!  I think the same mindset is needed for success in figure or bodybuilding.

You are a role model - whether or not you want to be and whether or not you know it.  Parents, friends, colleagues, teachers, and even people you don’t know are watching you - what you do, what you say, and the consistency between who and what you claim to be and what your actions say you really are.  Whether or not you choose to acknowledge it you are a walking, talking ambassador for our sport.  This lesson was brought home to me rather forcefully through the coverage that Albert Arroyo has received in the Boston Globe the last two days.  If you have not heard, Albert Arroyo allegedly took an accidental disability retirement and pension from the Boston City as a firefighter on March 21, 2008 claiming he was "permanently disabled" by a back injury.  Mr. Arroyo inspected buildings as a member of the Fire Prevention Division.  Subsequently, Mr. Arroyo competed in an INBF men’s bodybuilding competition on May 3, 2008, the 2008 Pro Natural American Championships, finishing eighth.  Wouldn’t you think Mr. Arroyo would know that people were watching him?  Wouldn’t you think that Mr. Arroyo would say to himself:  "hmmm.. I wonder what people will think if I compete in a national pro bodybuilding competition little more than a month after claiming to be permanently disabled?"  You would think this question might have crossed his mind because the Fire Department has been under fire (bad pun) recently for a series of questionable disability claims.  Apparently, the question never crossed Mr. Arroyo’s mind.

References

Robinson, Walter V.  Boston Globe 2008, July 14.  "On Injury Leave, Firefighter Stood Out as Bodybuilder."  See URL:  http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/07/14/on_injury_leave_firefighter_stood_out_as_bod
ybuilder/
Drake, John C.  Boston Globe 2008, July 15, B1.  "Mayor Urges Disability Pension Denial."  See URL:  http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/07/15/mayor_urges_disability_pension_denial/

I am writing today in response to a post Rebecca Slatt made recently (5/14) and DVSNESS’s blog today.  In her blog, Rebecca Slatt announced her retirement from competing in figure.  Her blog entry explained that she wants to live a healthy life and she has been struggling with the competition lifestyle.  I left her a comment but I think it is worth expanding on it and decided to focus today on the associated issues.  Dvsness featured an article entitled "No Apologies" by Charles Peeples.

The issues associated with the competition lifestyle aren’t new nor are they any different from those associated with dieting in general.  The problems I see arise because figure and fitness is a sport for young people and young people tend to believe that they are invincible.  Young people have little sense of time because time for them extends forever.  Consequently, they don’t take the time to ask the questions you really need to think about before beginning any venture, specifically:

• What is your ultimate goal? (where are you going)
• Why do you want to achieve this?
• What do you really want to get out of this?
• What will you need to do in order to achieve your goal? Be specific.
• How long will it take to achieve this goal?
• What are you willing to do to make it happen?

Too few people truly count the cost with an eye toward the long term (life) and even fewer stop periodically to reassess and reevaluate their answers to these questions.  As a consequence being short on time and patience, lacking the appropriate temporal perspective they make dumb decisions such as using diet pills, taking steroids or other drugs, eating an excessively low caloric intake, exercising excessively, and restricting in unhealthy ways the variety of food they eat.  Some competitors jump from coach to coach believing that this will allow them to "win."  Many think that they will be the next "IT" girl in figure/fitness winning the Olympia, getting a modeling, TV, or supplement company contract that will net them big bucks.  The truth is that few will ever reach the national stage and even fewer will ever receive any financial remuneration of any significant import for their efforts.  The bottom line here is:  Folks, wake up!  Don’t quit your day job.  (And the lessons here apply to your day job, too!)

OK so is the Figure/fitness lifestyle unhealthy?  It can be but it doesn’t have to be.  It all depends on you and what you do.  I think figure/fitness can be a fun and healthy hobby - and I emphasize HOBBY - but I think you need to count the cost and develop a long term perspective on your health and fitness.  If you are overly concerned with your bodyfat %, your bodyweight, measurements, your diet (calories, etc.), or your placing in one or more figure/fitness competitions then I submit you have a problem and I would encourage you to seek help before your problem becomes more serious even life threatening.  I agree with Rebecca and cannot say this strongly enough.  There is no shame in seeking professional help if you need it.   Each of us has been given one life and you have no idea how long it will be.  You do have some control over its quality - make sure your life is a life filled with health, love, and fitness!   Now I will climb down off my soap box.

Today has been a rough day for me.  I have to laugh when I say that though because nothing has actually happened to me.  It did happen to a very dear friend and graduate student.  She was coming back from a much deserved vacation after finishing the spring semester and passing her cumulative examinations.  "Cumes" as they are often called are usually the final requirement before submitting one’s dissertation in a Ph.D. program.  My friend is 23 and an amazing young woman - one of the most positive people I have ever met, a gifted teacher, researcher, and just a nice person.  She was training for a triathlon with her dad before vacation - like I said an amazing young woman.  I don’t know exactly what happened but she suffered a stroke and is now in the a great hospital receiving care.  They had her in a coma for a couple weeks and I heard today that she is being brought out of it.  Anyway, I realize it is off topic but I wanted to write today about her, which I have now done, and talk a bit about strokes.

Before I do though I want to make sure that everyone knows I am not a medical professional in any way, shape, or form.  I am just a person like you who now knows someone touched by a stroke.

A great place to go to learn more about strokes is the American Stroke Association website:
http://www.strokeassociation.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=1200037
and the National Stroke Association website:
http://www.stroke.org/site/PageServer?pagename=STROKE

Here are a few things you may not know about strokes:

1.  They are the third leading cause of death in the US

2.  Twice as many women die of strokes than breast cancer every year and more women than men will die from stoke
3.  African americans are twice as likely as caucasians to die of stroke

4. Strokes are not an old-persons disease.  They can strike anyone, anywhere.

5.  May is National Stroke Month.  Both of the above organizations have fliers on their websites that you can download and share with family and friends.  I hope you will do that.

I know before my friend was struck down I had no idea what the symptoms of a stroke were.  The symptoms can seem somewhat vague:  a sudden severe headache, dizziness, loss of coordination/balance, mental confusion, an inability to speak, a sudden numbness affecting your limbs on one side of the body.

The key to successful treatment and recovery from a stroke is getting medical help quickly.   The National Stroke Association has a simple test that can help anyone detect stroke symptoms.  It is based on the acronym FAST

F = Face - ask the person to smile - does one side of their face droop?
A = Arm - ask the person to raise their arms - does one arm droop?
S = Speech - ask the person to repeat a simple sentence and listen carefully to see if it sounds garbled or slurred
T = Time - time is of the essence call 911 if you suspect a stroke

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this blog today. You may have learned more than you expected but if it saves one person today, I will feel better. Please pray for my student.

This post is going to be rather rambling.  LOL!  Reflects my current brain fogginess unfortunately.  I am exhausted!  I am hungry!  I am also excited!  nervous!  and very happy, proud - I have been going through so many emotions over the past few days.

Weight Watchers

Yesterday (4/9/08) my weight was up a bit 129 lb - urgh!!  How can that be?!  The female body sure is a funny thing.  That is all I can say.  Calories in just doesn’t fit with bodyweight increasing.  Still didn’t get anything from Mike D’Angelo.  A bit irritated about that.  Went to WW and that p*ssant was so happy to say "your weight is up 0.4 lb."  I just wanted to smack her!  I weighed in at 129.8 lb - ugh! Don’t get me wrong - I love WW but at times I hate them, too.  The last few weeks have been difficult because they don’t like my dieting down.  Honestly I don’t know why they should care as long as I am above the weight minimum listed in the healthy guidelines but that said I recognize that they are a business and if I am 15-20 lb down from my goal weight then they are less likely to see any revenue from me as I won’t be going over my goal weight.  If you do this then you have to pay even if you are a lifetime member until you get back down below your goal weight.  So, from this viewpoint it is clear to me why they are probably none too happy about my dieting down.
Update on My Competition Suits

For the last few days I have been a bit nervous about my suits.  If you recall I decided to order new ones from Maggie Blanchard (MaggieFit).  A few days ago I posted about my negative experience with Lidia Conti’s poorly made suits on the O2 boards and mentioned I had ordered new suits from Maggie.  Next thing I know I got a PM from Maggie saying she didn’t think that I had ordered any suits.  Of course I read this just as I have to go off and teach my class for the day.  I went from happy to unhappy all in a second.  For the next hour I was  a mess!  I couldn’t focus on my teaching as I worried that I might not have any suits coming from Maggie.  I came back called and apparently she didn’t make the name connection - nice, huh?  She said my suits were in the works and I would get them before my competition.  I won’t say I was ecstatic after hearing that.  I had been hoping to have them here two weeks out in case there were any problems with fit like last time.  Since there were already enough things to worry about I decided not to worry about this one.  Anyway, yesterday Yeah!  I got a phone call from Maggie and she said she is sending my suits out!!!  That’s one thing less I have to worry about   I am so excited!!! and scared, too.  Scared that I will look fat and ridiculous.

Reflections on Loose Skin and Stretch Marks and Imperfections

Later in the evening I got a PM from a very nice girl on the O2 boards who has a background similar to me in that she has recently lost a lot of weight.  She is competing a few weeks after me and also works with the same coach I do.  She expressed her concern about the loose skin she has.  I shared my perspective.  As far as I am concerned I AM a winner.  For me just being able to put on the suit, do the makeup, etc. IS what this experience is all about.  I don’t expect everyone to think I have the perfect body - I am sure that from their perspective I don’t.  I do have fat inner thighs.  I do have a lot! of loose tummy skin and tons and tons of stretch marks! LOL!  but these are MY badges of honor/success from my weight loss journey and they do tell it all.  They tell the world I was huge and out of shape but that I have worked really hard to reshape my body and get fit.  So, trophy?  I don’t need one ladies and gentleman I AM THE TROPHY!!!  My beautiful healthy body and renewed mind and spirit ARE my gift to me and they ARE my gift to my family and the world.

I also booked my hotel room so I am all set on that, too!  Good feeling!