Work out day

I have my meals packed for the day and will be leaving in a few minute to work out at Phy Ed Health Club in Superior. Today I focus on my back and legs.  Super Crunches and the crunch machine will also be on the list.  I managed to hit my water quota yesterday, now I will repeat that today. My weight hasn’t budged in a while, but I feel my body transforming.  These next few weeks will bring big changes. My goal is improve the package I brought to the stage last year in Elk River, Minnesota at the NANBF event.

Maud and Michelle

Here is a picture from that show. I had so much fun with Maud. She is a super woman and works out like a dynamo.  Working out can be a hassle, especially fitting gym time into your life but the payoff is worth every minute of sweat.   If you are interested in taking a tour of my gym follow this link http://www.phyedhealthclub.com    Have a great day and find a program that works and work the program.

Hard to sit still with the Olympics!

This year’s summer games in China are fun to watch on TV…but I hope the games inspire people to get off the couch and go in search of their own venues for health and fitness.  Really, don’t those strong and toned bodies make you want to go on a power walk, pick up the dumb bells and clean up your diet?  They are an inspiration.

Today I have been surfing the web for suit designs and rhinestones.  It is never to early to pull your suits together if you are working toward a figure show.  Many suit makers want six to eight weeks to make them.  Some offer suits on sale and you can get them as fast as you pay and Fed ex can deliver.

Another great place to search for suits is Ebay.  Often there are gently used one and two piece suits there…and might do in a pinch.

Today I worked my abs and got my cardio done.  My eating is clean and I have had no urge to binge on my ex-favorite cookies.   Funny, ever since my Coach/husband washed my car and detailed the insides…I have not bought one cookie. 

He simply said, “Your car is clean…no more eating cookies.”

It was like some magic mantra.  And the magic is working!!!!  I am not worried yet about weight loss.  I will get more serious by mid September.  As long as I continue my program and my food plan I will come in right where I want to be come show time.

This training is going so much better than the last one.  I’m not sure whether I was simply burned out going into that show or my heart and head weren’t in the right place.  This time…it seems they are both in the right place.  It is not about winning a trophy.  It is about reaching my personal best and feeling good about working to reach my next goal.  Goals are essential. 

Lift heavy, eat clean and  live your dream!

Body builders stew/hot dish!

Here is one of my favorite foods as I prepare for my figure show.

 

BODY BUILDERS STEW (Hotdish!)

Adapted by Michelle Lee

1 large grilled skinless chicken breast cubed

1 small packet of Herb Ox Chicken bullion (low sodium)

¼ cup water.

Simmer on low for two minutes until bullion dissolves.

Add

1 cup cooked brown rice

1 cup frozen broccoli

Simmer on low until broccoli is thawed.

Add ¼ to ½ cup of original Egg Beaters to the mixture and cook on low

until eggs are cooked.

 

Eat hot or put in storage containers and keep refrigerated

until you are ready to serve. I eat it hot or cold.

 

 

This recipe makes two big servings.

You can add your own favorite veggies.  Add or subtract the amounts

of ingredients to the consistency you prefer.

 

It provides me with great clean protein, complex carbohydrates

and my veggies.

 

BFL AMBASSADOR

Today I had the great pleasure of sharing the Body for Life program with a small group of women seeking to make positive changes. They meet weekly as a fitness, health and weightloss support group.  They had so much energy it really jump started my day!

When I share my transformation it reminds me how I got where I am and what I need to do to continue my success. It is so inspiring to see others take that first step in their own transformations. Within a few short weeks, attitudes change, skin begins to glow and the fat begins to melt. At the same time muscles wake up and start to grow. Muscles are a girls best friend. They will stay with you if you treat them well. They will help you grow gracefully to meet the future challenges.

Those who get it realizes it is so much more than looking good in a swim suit. When you reach your goal you need more than accolades. They fade as people get used to looking at the new fit you. Muscles on the other hand will be your friends for ever.

Today I will work out in the little gym at work on my own. I will battle the urge to go easy on myself…as I am feeling delayed muscle soreness…I plan to just work thru it and work around my shoulder which is healing nicely.

As I finished up my presentation this afternoon, one of the participants told me I had “Madonna arms.” It is the nicest thing anyone has said to me all this week!  Just one more reason to keep my steady date with my trainer.

 

not quite Madonna arms

Lift heavy, eat clean and live your dream.

Saturday I will take before pix, measure and weigh. That will give me a great starting point and give me an idea what needs to happen between now and my figure show on November 1.

Water and cardio

I hate cardio but I love what it does for me.  Wednesday was a very busy day…I started at seven am with my cardio and then made my commute to arrive on time for a ten am meeting at work.  I won’t leave work until 10:45 PM.  It’s a long day, but that early morning cardio kick started my motor and gave me the horsepower I needed to meet the challenge.

TENNESSEE 2007

My water intake is going much better.  If I had my way I would get all my liquids from Diet Pepsi.  Love that DP!  But I am switching it out for awhile with H2O for the time being.  My third figure show is in early November.  In October I will be traveling to Tennessee to meet up with my Body for Life buddies at the Champions weekend. 

These are great goals but, the biggest one is to live my life the healthiest way possible.  Being 56 years old can be challenging.  I thank my lucky stars that I found a fitness program in my early fifties that gave me the tools to stay on two feet and to improve my attitude about life.

Exercise, balanced nutrition, goals and a support system have saved my life! 

Lift heavy, eat clean and live your dream…

The night Bayfront Went Boom!

1988 Fireworks disaster Duluth MN

Here is what things looked like in Duluth, Minnesota during the Fireworks explosion at Bayfront Park. I was anchoring that night!  Here are some reports from 20 years ago, July 4th, 1988.

It is really amazing to me that no one was killed!

Gosh was I ever really that young?

Positive Mindset

Bill Phillips in his book, Body for Life talks about the importance of “Change your mind, change your body, change your life.” In my ffifties I now realize that this is indeed what it takes for me to make positive changes in all aspects of my life. And I have talked with hundreds of people who have or who are transforming who follow this concept and it works for them.

So how do we begin this process? I started to stop negative thoughts as soon as they began to crystalize.

“I can’t do this….I don’t exercise…I don’t like to sweat…I can’t eat brocolli…..” These were my thoughts and these thoughts sent signals that yes—you are right you can’t do these things so why bother?

Eventually I learned how to drop the “n’t” from the words above. You guessed it. I then found I can exercise, I do sweat, I can eat brocolli….and so on and so on.

The power of the mind is mystifying and exciting. Channeling that power has allowed me to do things I thought once were impossible. Like preparing for a Body Building Fitness competition at the age of 56. But I have a map to get there in November 2008 and I have put my mind and body into gear and I am heading in the right direction!

The photo below is me at my second figure competition in 2007. I had just turned 55 years old. I look forward to taking the stage again, one year older and one year fitter.

Figure show 2007

Lift heavy, eat clean and live your dream!

Getting off the treadmill!

Sometimes hitting the treadmill night after night can be a real pain.  I find I have to switch things up in order to reach my fitness goals.  Wednesday night I took a fast walk along Lake Superior in Duluth Minnesota. It was a perfect night!  The sights and sounds were wonderful and it was great to see so many people out working their bodies and being active.

Weather is expected to hold thru the Fourth of July and I will be back out the next couple of nights getting my heart rate up!  Here in the North Country summer is to short to waste a minute of it.

Back to work!

I’m back at work this week…and again balancing my fitness goals with my goals at work. It seems work tends to take a priority. The thing is if I am to be at my best on the job–I best follow thru on the things that will nurture me.

Today’s nutrition was clean. Today I also weighed myself for the first time in months. Actually I was weighed yesterday too…at my annual check-up. I was surprised when the nurse wouldn’t let me take my shoes off before hopping on the scale. New rules. You don’t want to get bugs by going barefoot. Hey didn’t she know that many of us are willing to put up with the possibility of bugs, if we can weigh in at a lower weight?

Anyway–as my favorite comedian/talk show host Ellen would say…..what can you do?

So I weighed in at my heaviest weight in five years. Yikes! Now I wish I could report this was due in part to additional muscle mass. But wishes won’t make that come true. But, working out will.

Today, sans shoes, and clothing the number wasn’t as bad and now I will continue weighing myself on a regular basis. It never takes long for me to develop a scale fetish. If I let it go for a month or two–I start fearing the scale. I hide it or I hide from it. Weeks pass and another pound is found.

I know the best way to stop the scale from creeping up into the danger zone (5 pounds above my personal goal weight) is to own the scale with regular step ups.

So…from now on out, I will be weighing myself once a week. No ifs, ands or big butts~

Red Bikini Society

www.redbikinisociety.com

Here is a link to my Red Bikini Society website. It was created to have fun and hopefully inspire other women to get excited about fitness and health!