Workouts - Arms and Shoulders (part 1)

I have been searching/collecting workouts and exercises for a long time.  Some of them are easy and some...well some really suck A LOT!  I have found muscles that I did not even know existed, and when you work a muscle that has been hidden for thirty years it can take a bit to feel not so sore.

Most of my workouts/exercise have been written down in a notebook with no clue as to where I got them from. In an attempt to make it easier to find what I need when I need it I'm putting it on here.  I also figure that it might help someone else that's not sure what to do in the gym or when they workout at home.

Things I should mention:
1 - If I can find one, I'll provide a video with an explanation of the needed movements.
2 - I don't do all of these in one workout....I'm not crazy.
3 - When it comes to choosing a weight, please be careful.  I am a very strong woman with powerlifting in her past.  If you can only manage a 10 or 15 lb weight go with that until you feel stronger!  Injuring yourself is not going to help at all!
4 - Some of these WILL FEEL SILLY when you are first trying them!  Don't let embarrassment over-shadow the benefits you will get from exercising!!  I use my phone to look up new exercises all the time to make sure I'm doing them correctly.
5 - Talk to the personal trainers, gym employees, and even those that are working out around you; however, don't bother someone that has headphones in and/or is really concentrating on their own workout.  I have learned that the gym can truly feel like a community if you let it.
6 - BREATHE! Using proper breathing while lifting is just as important as doing the exercise itself.  Oxegen!  Our muscles need it to function plus it can aid in the lifting/pulling of weights.  Don't forget to breathe.

Weigh In Monday

Well, it has been a rough few weeks.  I leaned on old crutches and indulged in old habits more than I should. My emotions influenced my actions on more than one occasion which, in the past, have put me into a downward spiral; however, I am happy to report that it did not.  I stumbled but didn't put myself down. Before I started, I made myself a promise that when I screwed up I would keep going.  Maybe that is why my weigh in results from this week are not so horrible.

I did gain .8 of a lb back, BUT I have still lost 19 lbs and over 50 inches overall.  Hopefully, I will break the -20 mark by next Monday.

Absent This Week

Sorry I’ve been gone this week (absence makes the heart grow fonder, right?).  A rollercoaster has fewer twists and turns then my life this week.

A few things you should know:

1: The last few weeks I have kicked proverbial butt! I’ve been eating healthy, moving more, and not making fun of myself.  Yep, the last few weeks have been good.

2: I truly care about the people in my life.  Sometimes to my detriment but I do.  I’m often the first to offer help whether it is in the form of a shoulder to cry on, chicken soup or loaning some cash.

3:  There is emotion boiling under the surface at all times…the good and the bad.  This mixed with my tendency to care too much can lead to trouble.  I have known for a long time that this combination has contributed to my weight gain in the past.  I say “in the past” because I believed I had moved past it but apparently not.

This past week I was asked to take a friend down to SLC so he could be with his family.  I’m a road trip junkie and jumped at the chance to help out a friend.  It wasn’t until we got down there that he told me that his marriage was ending.  Both of these people were my friends and I felt for them both.  I was there when they went to talk and saw the heartbreak and tears.  Honestly, it rocked me to my core.  You can’t comfort someone going through something like this…you just can’t.  So I said my goodbyes and headed home thinking the entire way that I wished I could have helped out….made them feel better….anything to help my friends.

Halfway home, I stopped in Drummond, MT to clean out the car and my aptitude for injury reared its ugly head.  Somehow, I managed to remove a three inch strip of skin off my shin (btw don’t do this…it hurts like the flames of hell are licking your skin). By the time I got home I was exhausted, sad, and in pain.   My poor husband!  He got to watch his wife laugh, cry, and then question if she was going crazy…over and over again.

I don’t do well when I’m exhausted.

It’s now Friday and I am well rested, but my leg still feels like I’ve taken a potato peeler to it.   I’m also still incredibly sad but I’ve now added anger to the mix.  I get that I can’t fix or help everyone….it isn’t even my responsibility to try, but this is who I am!  I feel sadness that a friend’s marriage is over. I feel for the kids who are going through this.  Now, I’m also angry.  I’m angry that my so called friend isn’t speaking to me any longer because…well I’m not really sure.  Maybe it’s because I drove her husband down to SLC? Maybe it’s because...hell I don’t know! I didn’t do anything wrong.  I was a good person and a good friend. 

For the last four days I have let the loss of this friendship eat away at me…while I ate crappy fatty food.  I’ve tried to deal with the issue directly but you can only do so much when they won’t answer their phone.  I’ve tried exercising the anger and stress away but my leg isn’t cooperating.  So, after going through the known ways of dealing, I fell back to comfort eating.  The only difference is now I instantly regret doing so.

So as of today, I’ve decided that I’m letting that friendship go completely.  I can’t stress and worry over this anymore.  I have my own problems that I need to deal with.  I hate to say it but it’s probably better this way.  Yes, I care…probably too much, but if a friendship is going to make me act like this I don’t need it.

  Tomorrow is a new day with healthier food choices, a clearer head, and good friends I can count on.

Bad Habits Can Suck It!

You know, you grow up learning how to do things a certain way.  You watch those that you live with, learning how they doing things and you mimic them.  Those habits then become who you are when you finally leave the nest and live on your own. 

Now, some of those habits are wonderful…helpful even.  I can thank my mom for teaching me to always rinse my plates/bowls out when they are put in the sink (don’t faint, mom! It’s shocking that it sunk in…I know!) . My Aunt gave me the habit of ALWAYS hanging the bath mat over the edge of the tub when you are done showering.  See these habits are helpful, and let me look like less of a slob. 

Some habits…well, some habits suck!  They are the type of habits that ruin your health, your self-esteem, and your confidence. I refuse to lay blame with my upbringing for these types of issues.  Yes, I did learn a lot of them growing up, but now that I’m an adult I take full responsibility.  Being master of my own destiny and all that…I can’t say I’m in charge of who I am to be if I keep looking back to blame people from my past.

To be honest, I really felt like I had a handle on my bad habits.  I had not eaten anything from a drive-thru or a gas station.  I made sure that the only thing to pass my lips past 7 pm was water.  I didn't make a single joke about myself to make others laugh.  I didn't make any excuses to get out of exercising.  I have been well behaved and a different person lately…that was until Tuesday.

On Tuesday I drove up to Glacier for some time with my camera.  Like I have done in the past, I stopped at the gas station on the way out of town to fill up the gas tank.  I swear that was all I was going to do, but BAM next thing I know I've gone in the store and bought all sorts of junk food for the trip.  The old me used to do this all the time.  She would go and buy a bag of chips, a couple of candy bars, and a few bottles of water. But the new me is different.  I didn't even realize what I had done until I was in the car and 10 miles down the road!

At first, I was disappointed in myself and in the fact that I was doing something the old me would do.  I must have looked like a loon talking to myself…swearing that I would take them to Steven’s work so I wasn't tempted.  HA! I should have known better. What I should have done is stop and thrown it all away (except the water…we all need our water!).  Well, half way up Glacier I was stuck in construction and got bored.  Yep! I broke open the chips.

See, my BIGGEST bad habit is eating when I’m not hungry…just bored.  It’s such a simple thing but so damn hard to break myself of.  At home, I have been doing really well with avoiding the “I’m bored so let’s see what there is to munch on” feeling, but in that car I wasn’t able to face down the temptation. 

The good news is that I didn't give in to my second bad habit of making myself feel guilty.  In the past I would have let the fact that I ate when I was bored get to me.  I would put myself down, which would leave me feeling like “I am never going to lose any weight because I can’t make it a single day without screwing up!!”  Feeling like this would cause emotional eating, my third bad habit!   

Do you see where I’m going with this?  One bad habit would lead to another and another and another!  In the end I would be left feeling sick from over-eating, sad for how I was seeing myself, and feeling that there was no hope that anything would ever change. 

Yes, I stumbled and I could have done better BUT I looked at it for what it was…a mistake.  In that moment I realized that I’m going to slip up occasionally and that I need to learn from it and move on.  Realizing and accepting that it was a one-time mistake kept me from putting myself down, feeling bad, and comforting with food.  One bad habit resurfaced but THAT WAS ALL!

So now I know that I need to be uber-aware of my actions when I’m doing something familiar.  I can’t rely on auto-pilot and expect a different outcome until I have changed my habits for the better.

Monday Weigh In

*eyes first mini-goal*

“Oh yeah baby! You are mine next week! Don't be scared. It’s going to happen. Besides, why would you fight the inevitable?!” This is my mind set after weighing in and taking my measurements for the week. 

As of today, I have lost 19.8 lbs and a total of 48.05 inches. Yep, you read that right! I had to re-weigh and measure myself three times to make sure I wasn't doing it wrong, but the numbers came up the same every time. 

Being bullied as a kid, I have this horrible “I can’t do anything really well” mindset most of the time. I mean I know that I can do things well, but I can never really be proud of what I’m doing without putting myself down at the same time. I'm not the only one who does this right? 

Take my photography for instance. I'm insanely passionate about it. I want to capture the world and the people that I see around me.  My friends and family have all said that I'm talented and that I could really do something with it.   I would love to build a clientele base...to make a career out it; However, I can hear in my doubt in my mind…the worry that I'm not good enough. 

But my weight loss…the shrinking size? I’m doing it! The proof is on the scale and the measuring tape. It’s in the pants I have to keep pulling up and the shirts I’m wearing that were WAY TOO TIGHT to fit into the same time last year.

<3 - Cat

Oh I'm still not sure if I have fixed the commenting issues.  If you try and comment and it won't let you please leave me a message on my FB so I know whats going on.  Thanks