Day Five - Thirty Days of Celebration - My Quads!

Quadriceps, the four muscles of the front of the leg or thigh, are those muscles that stabilize the otherwise unstable knee joint. As I celebrate my quads, I noticed today in Bikram Yoga that my entire practice (of yoga) depends upon my pulling up and flexing the quad muscles. This offers stability at the base and the ability to move into more advanced poses. The quadriceps are responsible for knee extension allowing us to walk, run, kick, develope’ (or extend) in Ballet and prepare to dive off of a diving board. If you have weak knees, it is important to develop and strengthen your quadriceps. This will relieve pressure from the knees and assist in stabilizing your body. In celebration of my quads, I will take a hot bath and relax them after their strenuous yoga workout today. Oh, my happy thighs!!

Day Four - Thirty Days of Celebration - My Knees

Today I celebrate my knees. In 1994 I had ACL surgery on my left knee, a surgery I don't wish upon anyone. The surgery itself wasn't so bad, but the rehab...9 months. My knee experienced quite a bit of tendonitis and has had struggles in cold and damp weather ever since. Today I celebrate my left knee and my right knee for all that they've been through. These knees have supported the entire weight of my body for many years. They've allowed me to ski and dance and jump and play. My knees don't match one another in size. My left knee has a unique shape to it, has two screws inside and has a 2 1/2" scar which has been mistaken for a run in my pantyhose. "No, that's a run in my leg," I'd say.

My knees, despite their differences and their past, are beautiful, strong and resilient. Today I give my knees a break as it's my 'day off' from working out. Today I celebrate my knees!

Day Three - Thirty Days of Celebration - My Calves

As a dancer, I’ve always had strong calves. Today I celebrate them!! These calves have been so good to me. Not only do they look lovely, especially when wearing high heeled shoes, they feel good too.

Have you ever felt your calf muscles? Check em’ out!!! They’re pretty great. They begin at your heel and run up the lower portion of your leg.

They’re easy to strengthen by simply doing heel raises while brushing your teeth or drying your hair. Go as high on your toes as you can and slowly lower your heels. Your calves will be juicy and delightful in no time.

My calves have helped me jump rope as a little girl, jump long in field and track, and stay on pointe in ballet. (These guys really seek credit for those pointed feet). They’re a great assist in heel – toeing it around Chicago and certainly make my life easier when hustling through airports and up and down stairs. My calves are really great. Oh and they look good in knee-high boots, too. Yes, today is their day to be acknowledged, celebrated and loved. A little extra lotion and a deep tissue massage for my calves today.

Day Two - Thirty Days of Celebration - My Ankles

Ankles, that's right. Today I celebrate my ankles! Many, many, many steps have hinged on my ankles! These ankles have gone to battle hundreds of times and won despite twists and turns. My ankles rejoice at saving the day and assisting me with balance, grace and ease. During my ballerina years my ankles took all the credit for a well defined, pointed and arched foot in tendu, and for those beautifully flayed feet in arabesque (NCY Ballet style).
My ankles allow me to bike ride, walk on tippy toes and to crouch like a toad. Yes these ankles have supported and carried me well. I like them! Today I celebrate my ankles and they're getting a massage shared by my feet!

You know... ankles really are kinda cute!!

Day One - Thirty Days of Celebration - My Feet

Inspired by Queen, I’m taking on thankfulness for my body, altering the context for which I live around body image.

For the next 30 days I will celebrate my body.

Today I celebrate my feet!

My feet are amazing! These feet have carried me for 44 years. They have brought me through the terrible 2's and kindergarten, up through many years of education and play. These delicious, beautiful and strong feet have carried me through years of wearing high heeled shoes working at the Hyatt and standing on trade show floors. They've brought me throughout the US and several countries abroad. These feet have kept me stable and have allowed me to dance, wear point shoes and leap on a balance beam. My feet have stabilized me on rocky ground, carried the weight of my body at it's heaviest and have supported me while I carried additional loads. My feet are incredible, healthy, beautiful and strong. I'm happy to have such a fine pair of feet and look forward to where they will take me in the future. I love my feet. Today I celebrate both my left and my right foot. They're mine, they're beautiful and I love them!

This is Urgent!! (continued)

... At that juncture I pull all stops and I accomplish what there is to accomplish to ‘just get by’. This time, I’m not going to ‘just get by’. I’m going for it. No more making excuses and being reasonable about how I’ve been going off of my own program. I have a voice and I get to say how it goes. I say I will enjoy my life, my food, my body, my health and well being practices and I will get my health in order now. There is no tomorrow, there is only today and today and today and today. Today I am going to make a difference for myself for the rest of my life. What about you? Where have you been waiting for tomorrow before you start something? Do it now!! Your life, your fulfillment depends on it. I wish you the best, Delight.

Hearing it like it was the first time!

... told him my goal is to be in a bikini and look and feel great in it, by June 15, he really put the heat on!

Don’t forget what you said you want for yourself. You’re worth every effort it takes and sometimes it’s really going to take something for you to step up and do what it’s going to take. I’m with you, Sister, and you’re worth it!!

Southern Cooking and Thinking Thin?

I’m visiting relatives in Georgia this week. Ever eaten good southern cooking? Then you know that fried foods, black eyed peas, collared greens, okra, corn bread and sweet tea are staples to many a meal. I’ve had challenges and pitfalls.
Frustration and resignation appeared and I remembered my friend who lost 40 pounds this past year by ‘thinking like a thin person’. She credits the Beck Diet Solution! According to Amazon.com “any sensible diet will help you lose weight, but the challenge for 90% of Americans is actually staying on the diet they choose. …Dr. Beck, one of the foremost authorities in the field of Cognitive Therapy …created a … plan …[to] help people stick with their diet, lose weight with confidence, and keep weight off for a lifetime.”
This week I’ve added the goal of wearing a bikini (and looking great in it) by June 15th. This is simply a milestone to inspire me to stay on track. What I’m really up to is creating a sustainable fitness and nutrition lifestyle and I can see where the Beck Diet Solution is a natural addition to (my already) raw food exploration and regular exercise. It’s time to think thin!!

Rigor!!!

This past week I realized the importance of rigor. Therefore, I’m re-incorporating a statistic sheet, that I’ll spend 15 minutes a day with, as a part of my routine. I’m much more rigorous when engaged daily. I’ve already scheduled it in! With a strong infrastructure I’m able to stay present to my goals and commitment and, see the results that I want to see.

This past week I slept a lot. It was great to be rested. Since my teen years I’ve gotten irregular sleep. Unrested, I tend to reach for unhealthier foods and at all hours of the day and night. When I’m properly rested my body has a chance to heal, restore and rejuvenate. My productivity level is heightened and I can tackle things that take a lot of energy to complete. For my well being, once again, I’ve added sleep into my promises and will be sure to get 6 – 8 hours at least 5 days a week. Without proper rest it’s tough to find energy for rigor!! And you can see in my profile that I’ll need all the energy I can get as I’ve set my weight goal at 10 pounds this 8 week cycle.

Getting Stopped!!

Weighing in produced an interesting, unexpected ripple. I’d lost 1½ pounds since weighing in 11 days prior. Carsten said that if I maintain this course, I’d lose 10 pounds in 6 weeks. Suddenly, fixated on weight goals, I lost sight of my well-being goal of creating a sustainable lifestyle that continues well after my weight and fitness goals are met. Making excuses for not being rigorous with rest, snacks and exercise, I allowed my small victory to take over. My efforts to workout were weak, slacking as much as possible, in fact, my downslide continued until today when I forced myself, after ‘snoozing’ several times, to squeeze in the gym for 20 minutes.

Using tools from Landmark Education I saw that what was missing was focus, so I created the possibility of being inspired and focused, and began taking actions to support this possibility. I got back on track!

What’s missing for you? What possibility can you create and start living into right now?

Reality of knowing what's so....

So, I saw my trainer last week and he measured my body fat with two different measurement methods. First I stood on a special scale that allowed him to collect all sorts of data including my weight, body fat percentage and body mass index. Then he used calipers and measured my body fat under my arm, above the hip and on my thigh (that was fun!). He stated that neither method is 100% accurate however with information from both of them, we can get a pretty good idea of where I’m at in regard to excess body fat.

I have to say, I’ve never measured my body fat, never paid attention to how it’s done and had no idea whether my measurements were good or bad. After weighing and measuring me Carsten went to a website to plug the numbers into a formula and check out my body mass index (BMI). He said it was 35.5 on the scale and 32 with the calipers. Neither sounded horrible to me, but I was clueless. Ideally a womans BMI should be in the 20’s and a mans slightly lower than that.

EEEEEEEKKKK! To my dismay, I have much work to do. I mean, I knew that, but I guess because I can hold a lot of weight and not look like it, I was hoping my BMI wasn’t so awful. I can see that I was looking for a way to ‘look good’ with a low BMI rather than simply look to see what’s so with my BMI and move forward from there. It’s so amazing how quickly my mind goes to trying to ‘look good’ even when the reason I even went to a physical trainer in the first place was to get healthy, be fit and stop trying to hide behind styles of clothing that ‘cover up’ what is there that I don’t want to be there (like excess fat and rolls).

Introducing Delight

Fitness History
I was always a big boned kid, but had lanky limbs until I hit my 20’s when my metabolism seemed to slow a bit and my curves began to show. With a BFA in Dance, and having studied classical ballet for many years, you would think that I’d have a waif-like body. Not true. Indeed I’m a little stockier than most ballerinas and have thick muscles. While growing up a ‘tom-boy’ this might not be a surprise, but with a degree in dance and having spent day after day in front of the mirror with tiny dancers on either side of me at the ballet barre, being big boned was no joy ride. When I hit the 35 year mark is when the weight really began to show and I started to fluctuate between a size 8 and 12. Having tried fad diets I lost 20 pounds on the Atkins only to be gained back quickly. A few years later I took Bill Phillips’ Body For Life Challenge and lost 20 pounds in 12 weeks. It was great, but I wasn't really enjoying the new lifestyle enough to continue with it. I didn’t mind the protein drinks however I really didn't like putting supplements into my system. The weight slowly returned and here I sit weighing in at the top of this program at 160.5 pounds. That’s what my scale read, but in the next few days I’ll be heading out for several doctor appointments, so I’ll get the official weight then. What I like about this program is that I get to say how it goes. I know what to do, we all do, eat fewer calories than you burn. Basically eat less and work-out more.

A New Journey
Well, eating less and working out more is certainly my intention, but I won’t be counting calories, at least not at first. First of all, I’m going to add green into my diet, more raw foods and exercise. I'm currently reading The Raw Food Detox Diet by Natalia Rose to learn how our body responds to various foods and food combinations. I have an appointment to meet with a professional trainer this Wednesday, Carsten Beckman who has helped my friend Bob lose 70 pounds in the last year and a half. I will also be very intentional as this program demands integrity at every level. I’m looking forward to altering my lifestyle so that the foods I’m eating support my nutritional well being and provide me with the energy I need to work, play and make a difference for others, without compromising my health.

The Program
Well here I am, day one. Whew. I started with my green drink and lots of water. I've been eating more frequently and in smaller portions and I'm getting ready to get some physical fitness in before turning in for my 6 hours (min). This part will be tough for me, the minimum number of hours of sleep. You see, I pulled an all-nighter last night and I have enough to keep me busy for another.... ah, but it's about well-being. I better get out of here, then. I have an early appointement and an hour drive home. Hey girls, have fun. Remember to bring grace and ease into your week one. I'm looking forward to hear how you're doing...... Delight!!