Making the Cut

Not that cut but it certainly was an exciting weekend of golf at the Masters, with Tiger playing into Sunday young  Jordan Spieth busting all these records on his way to victory. I actually enjoyed watching this tournament, while doing a little busting of my own:

OUT OF MY CLOTHES!!!!

and not like the Hulk but more like this. You see in the space of one year and the onset of the big P, a sista has put on 8-10 pounds depending on what day it is.  I am distraught, dismayed and sometimes disgusted but not too disgusted because I had a big hunk of CAKE just yesterday.  Hence, the cut from my closet clothing that this new body can no longer fit.

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Since it’s warming up here I was redoing the closet, moving the the winter stuff over and the summer stuff up front.  I thought it might be a good idea that I should try on a few things that I had in that fit well last year but perhaps would be questionable this year and they were more than questionable.  I think I can no sit a plate of food on my butt and and maybe a salt shaker on my stomach.  Pulling thos dresses out had me all up in my FEELINGS.  Even though I now that weight gain and a whole bunch of other stuff can and in my case is happening during this time, the medical reasons weren’t enough to help me feel better.  What did help me feel better? Shaking it off the next day and putting in some treadmill work.  It was that or lay around and sulk which is actually easy for me as a person who has struggled with poor body image forever and ever amen.  The thing is, the loss of the dresses weren’t enough to get me out the door and to the gym.  What did? The desire to have a good quality of life in the long term. I don’t want any further diabetes complications, nor acceleration of spinal and other joint problems. I just want to live and live well, so I continue to work.  If the work means that maintaining this new body is the best that can be done and all my numbers look good, then I will learn in time to be satisfied with where I am.

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What about you ladies AND gents, how do you handle weight gain physically and mentally? Let me know in the comments or on any of these other platforms.

Until next time, see you at the MALL, where I’ll be buying something that doesn’t require sucking in or Spanx.

Powered By Soul Flips for FlipBelt

There had to be a solution to lugging keys and phones on the trail and at the gym.  I mean I’m pulling enough (my body) around as is and being weighted down with unattractive contraptions to hold stuff on my body was on my LAST.  Leave it to my running girlfriends to show me how to get it done.  Goodbye hideous fanny pack and helloooo FlipBelt.

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You can see and hear what I think about it below. Yep, there’s video. The first and maybe the last but check it out anyway and I’m NOT getting paid to talk about it. If I were dontcha think the video would be better?  Enjoy and if you get one, let me know how it worked out for you in the comments.

Photos/Video: MsThorns

This is the Gym! Nose Knows Edition

Last weekend was the last weekend for walking outside as everything is starting to bloom. My nose knows as it has started to trouble me. My nose also knows what gym smells like. My regular gym isn’t so bad because its pretty big and airy, nevertheless gyms, fitness and yoga classes invariably smell like funk, must, food, feet and or farts. Gross as they are those smells are expected at the gym, but what happened on this particular weekend, Lord Jesus almost put me out.

I’m on the treadmill, mad and cranky because I’ll be spending an hour on it instead of outside on the trail.  After about 20 minutes I finally got my mind right as I listened to Rakim tell me how to Move the Crowd and am hitting my stride. At 22 minutes, this chick rolls up to the treadmill on my left.  The treadmills are this close together

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When she starts walking she blows my nose all the way up with her PERFUME! Now why she came next to me I don’t know because even with one section closed for maintenance there were at least 10 other treadmills for her to use. I’m like this heffa is trolling me right now with this perfume.

I’m thinking she won’t last, I can wear a treadmill out so and I knew that when it came Survival of the Fittest on the treadmill I would win.  I was dead wrong.  22 minutes went to 30, went to 40 at which time Sucka Ni**a was playing… how appropriate. Q-Tip says “So concisely, musically we are the herb so sit back and light me, inhale my style is kinda fat reminiscent of a whale…” I inhale and start coughing and praying she would leave.

She didn’t.

She was on the same one hour program I was on.  I got off and she was still walking, she won.

I understand mugs want to smell fresh and all but THIS IS THE GYM, you are excused to be funky.  So ye old broad asks each of you ladies and gents to save your store bought fragrances until after you shower and are GONE from the gym. Members especially old broads will thank you.

P.S. in spite of the extreme duress I got the time in.

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Photos: MsThorns

Geared Up

Back in the go-go 80s my primary fitness activities were running, the foolishness formerly known as high impact aerobics and lifting barbie weights. As an employee of a chain retailer of fitness shoes and apparel I had ALL the gear including those running (booty) shorts. Decades and pounds later I’ve reached the stage of no damns given and am doing my best to GET TO the gym let alone be cute. So, I wondered with the recent attempt at war on yoga pants if I really should care and for that matter do those who are wearing yoga pants or anything else care. Well I did a little survey which you can see in its entirety here and the highlights below.

What are your primary fitness activities?
The participants are doing ALL THE THINGS fitness-wise.

Describe the apparel, footwear, sleeves etc used for your fitness activities.
“My apparel consists of running leggings. Most are black, but I’m working my way to wearing more colored leggings.  For some reason I think I can’t, so I’m stepping out my box and purchasing pants/leggings with more color.”

Does this apparel have an effect on performance? In what way(s)?
“I don’t like for my clothes to chafe, make me hot, or restrict my arms and legs in any way, so I would say they positively affect my performance by not being a distraction.” Amen!

How important is the appearance of your apparel?
“Somewhat important” to “very important” outnumbers could care less 4-3.

Does brand effect your choice of apparel? If yes, what brands do you prefer.
“Yes, I wear CW-X compression crop/long pants different race because they provide the compression that I need to hold all my butt and thighs.” Not just some of them but ALL of them.

Does price effect your choice of apparel?
Only one respondent answered no to this question. As such I’m going to very unscientifically assume that the respondents aren’t going to spend a lot of money on fitness apparel.

Conclusions (again unscientific): participants are doing everything, wearing everything EXCEPT Reeboks (gotcha big guy) and are doing so at a reasonable cost.

Powered by Soul would like to thank Antoinette, Sonya, Ant, OTJ, Michelle S., Kym, Marla and Teresa for participating in the survey. Here’s a medley of some of their greatest hits.

Geared UP

Photos courtesy of (clockwise from left) Antoinette Lewis by MsThorns, Sonya Strider, Ant Pruitt, OTJ, MsThorns, Michelle Soloman and center, Kym McNair

Appointment with Dr. No

Oh the travails of aging.

The week of Valentines Day I got sick. Not flu or anything but sick enough to be home a few days. Well that little nastiness continued to linger and by the time I attempted that headstand I felt worse afterward and my nose was doing some unusual things. Being one of those nuts who Googles symptoms I was convinced that I had some awful/horrible/dreadful illness and promptly sent a couple of panicky emails to my PCP. By the next day was in front of her.

Turns out that the nose was no biggie just rhinitis and since I was there I asked her what types of exercise are safe for me to do considering this degenerative disc stuff. Dr. Diva turned into Doctor NO when she said NO to:

Squats
Jan1

LungesJan3
Anything that requires me to be airborne (running, jumping jacks, which is most things in any HIIT workout)Jan2

and headstands, at which point I entered my final plea:

Me: well can I do squats and lunges with no weight, I’m going to do them unless you tell me no.
Her: I thought already told you that.

Truth be told, I already knew the answer to my question, but as a stubborn old person I’m not changing unless it is required and now it is required.

Until next time see you on the floor do some old school doggie kicks or something like that.

Photos by MsThorns – thanks to Jan B. for being my fitness model 🙂

The Commitment – 30 Days of Yoga

There had to be a way for me to build some consistency in my fitness life but I had to be gentle.  Whenever I’ve been healthy I’ve always gone full tilt for about three weeks at a time before some illness or injury occurred.  Though yoga is more than a fitness thing for me it seemed like building a better yoga practice was a good place to start. So I made a commitment.

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I saw that Yoga With Adriene was holding a 30 Days of Yoga series at the beginning of the year, Ms Overzealous signed up and unfortunately did not complete the 30 days of her program, but a funny thing happened. I actually did practice every single day in January and am still doing so as of this writing. This is no knock against the program as it had a lot of variety but speaks more to my listlessness. I practice with the exception of a few days of “freestyle” and one class at Kaiser, all yoga practice has been with Youtube and primarily with:

Fightmaster Yoga

Yoga by Candace

Yoga with Adriene

SaraBethYoga

A working playlist of videos I’ve done is available here.

I know some of you could care less about Yoga and I’m good with that. What I hope you do care about is Consistency. Are you consistent with your fitness program, your diet, check-ups, rest etc.? Consistency, I’m learning, doesn’t require sweat till you drop, lift till you can’t move dedication, what it does require is effort and a commitment to yourself, to take care of yourself. Can you make that commitment to consistently take care of YOU? Have you already? Let me know how you’re doing so in the comments.

Blame it on the… (you know how it goes)

I’m not much of a drinker even though I’ve posted many pictures of 

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but believe me the most I’ll have is one glass or one bottle and I’m shut down. Ye olde broad cannot get down like she used to and I’m thankful for that because alcohol ain’t nothin but trouble. It still troubles me somewhat, for instance if I have a beer tonight, the early morning workout gets pushed to late afternoon or evening because I CANNOT get out of at the bed and I am usually dehydrated or moreso than I usually am.  Knowing my experience, I wanted to know a bit more about the science of alcohol, the body and exercise. I found some things that I already knew and one thing was a bit surprising.  Here’s what I found out.

Alcohol’s effects on your body and your fitness are dependent upon what type of drinking you’re doing:

  • Moderate: one drink per day for women, up to two for men
  • Binge: when blood alcohol levels reach .08 g/DL which is about four drinks for women and five drinks for men in a space of two hours (GEEZ) another standard is 5 or more drinks one one occasion in the last 30 days
  • Heavy: five or more drinks on five or more days of the last 30 days

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The most deleterious effects of alcohol on the body occur amongst binge and heavy drinkers such as:

  • Brain: alcohol can affect mood, behavior, clarity of thinkingetc
  • Heart: stroke, high blood pressure etc
  • Liver: cirrhosis etc
  • Pancreas: production of toxins
  • Cancer: several types
  • Immune system: weakened

What happens in terms of fitness?

  • Muscle – lessened blood flow leading to weakness and deterioration
  • Hormone – lessens testerone, increases estrogen, leading to increased fat deposits and fluid retention and…
  • dehydration, fatigue, weight gain (empty calories and drunk munchies), decreased nutrient absorption

Not a pretty picture.

Here’s the bottom line, moderate drinking is alright and shouldn’t preclude you from reaching your fitness goals.  Going beyond moderate can enter you into the danger zone.

One more thing that I found interesting about alcohol consumption that I found interesting was a study at Northwestern that indicates that people drink more on days that they are more active and less when they are less active. One hypothesis is that that extra bit of drinking may serve as a ‘reward’ and I know that’s the case for me.  After a week of green food, green drinks and protein, I think I DESERVE a cold brew or glass of wine.

What about you? Do you imbibe from time to time? How does it affect your performance in the gym, on the road or wherever you do your thing? Let me know in the comments and have a great weekend (in moderation of course).

Powered By Soul – Apparel Survey

When it comes to workout gear are you doing THE most or could you care less? Powered by Soul wants to know.  Take a minute to complete the survey and send photos of your gear to Powered by Soul it will all be featured in an upcoming post.

Thanks ladies and gents and have a great Valentine’s Day!

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Photo: MsThorns

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Shortest Park Review Ever: Caney Creek Preserve

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Ye olde broad shalt not break ankles, knees, hip, back nor camera on unpaved trails with rocks, steep slopes and tree roots.

Nope.

However non-skittish nature lovers will find Caney Creek Preserve in Cumming, Georgia to be quite lovely.

 

Photos: MsThorns

Where da party at?

Ladies and Gents we’re about one hour from kickoff of:

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How’s your festivities going? PBS wants to know.  Send us pics of your festivities here with your name and location and they will be featured on Powered by Soul for your halftime enjoyment. That is if you’re not watching Katie Perry or back at the table for some more fixins. 🙂

BrotherJR – SC

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BJr1 (1)

O – IN

RedStripeJplate (1)

Ant – NC

LCBAnt

MsThorns – GA

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