Bikini Buffness

Being the resident slave at a gym I am often exposed to interesting things.

And by "exposed" I mean "I want to look away but I can't!"

Which when said out loud, makes me sound quite perverted which I can assure you, I am not.

So let me explain:

There they are...bedazzled bikini bottomed buffs parading across the class floor in high heeled stilettos without falling. (It is important to add here that I am super surprised I even know what a stiletto is and it is more important that you know...I would most definitely fall if I was wearing them myself.)

It all started off innocently enough.

Fully clothed.

But slowly, over the course of a few weeks, there was less and less apparel and more and more skin.

A crowd started to gather.

With big admiring eyes and those cartoon dream bubbles of desire hovering just above their heads.

These girls were transforming right before our large staring eyes.

Not the squishy cute fat little furry caterpillar to beautiful butterfly typed transforming.

No, no.

It was so much more than that.

These girls were already beautiful butterflies to begin with.

This was a journey.  A push.  An achievement.

Most people when they go to the gym, go to work out, build a little muscle, feel a little healthier,get a bit of a break from the kids etc etc.

These girls, excuse me, ladies...dedicated themselves to waking up for 4am workouts and committed to a routine of exercise and meals that most of us would just gulp at as we enjoyed our tall skinny non-fat soy milk sugar free caramel latte thank you very much.

Oh...I am pretty sure those weren't on their menu.

I digress.

What I am trying to say is, from beautiful butterflies to bedazzled bikini bottomed buffs.

Those girls worked hard and their hard work paid off big time!

I am so proud of each one of them, the ladies that competed in the Figure and Fitness Championships (because seriously why would anyone be dressed in a bikini and strutting across a class floor in stiletto's?) and the ladies that are still to compete in competitions to come, and of course the awesome personal trainers that trained them to reach the goals they made!

I had to blog about it before I burst!

Seriously...be inspired :)

Ballerina Lessons

So here I am on vacation unplugged from the world and completely off the grid.
Okay...almost completely off the grid.
There are still flushing toilets here  and running water although the lights are run off battery power which makes for interesting shadow puppets.
But no television nor Internet nor cell service.
However if you perch precariously on the rooftop of your car you can, if you are lucky, pick up a single internet bar.  And if, whilst up there, still perched precariously upon the car roof,  you put one hand on your hip and your opposite leg on your other legs knee and stand up really straight and pivot slowly while humming a pretty melody such as Swan Lake, you can get as many as three bars.
I don't recommend it though.  Strangers started clapping and throwing precious pink roses when I did it.  I can only assume they thought I was immitating a ballerina in a musical box.  I of course didn't spoil that illusion by pointing out that my creative yoga pose on top of the car was a desperate and crazy attempt to search for Internet access.
Yes...that is what off the grid does to a person.

Actually, I must say...Tofino is really cool.  No really, it's freezing.  Bone chillingly cold.  And I have to keep this post really short because I have to find a place that sells long johns for a not so tofinoish looking price.  Besides...there is a half naked women next to me begging us to drive her to get her "I survived surfing lessons" sticker... But more on that later!  Bye for now!

The Naked Truth

Did you know that if you hang a resistance band between two hooks outside...you can dry your clothes in the fresh air on a nice sunshine filled day?  Or that they make a good "tug o war" toy for your favorite pooch!  Did you also know that if you can use a dumbbell as a meat tenderizer and make a nice big juicy barbequed steak?  Or that an ab roller makes a wonderful wedge to prop open your child's door on a hot summer's night? And don't forget that stylish almost one of a kind treadmill / eliptical / stationary bike clothes closet.

Who knew how many "good / great / awesome" uses there are for all that dust collecting unused exercise equipment that we have at home!

What a relief eh...a justified reason for buying the stuff in the first place!

Oh the things we talk ourselves into!

But much like jumping to conclusions, dragging your heels, pushing your luck, running in circles, grinding to a halt, throwing fuel on the fire, lifting your spirits, shopping till you drop and tooting your own horn...not many calories can be burned nor fat dropped by not using the equipment for its actual use.

Darn it!

So the solution...

Garage sale!

No...I'm kidding :)

September is the "new year" for a lot of families.  As kids go back to school, regular routines begin again and summer slowly disappears.  People start jotting down must do lists, promise new exercise commitments and get all prepared to trade in the picnic friendly days at the beach for hot soup in front of a roaring fire.

There is no denying it. 

Hibernation season is right around the corner.
And with hibernation season comes the body's natural want to store fat cells!

Yep...that's right...

Time to put all those pieces of multi purpose exercise equipment to their real use!

Or...

Keep the status quo...come join the gym and use our equipment...we don't hang clothes on it and if we did that means you would be working out in the not so buff buff...Eeek!

Gobble till you wobble day

Due to the over-stuffing of the clients this weekend and their reluctance to weigh in today I was able to get away from the office a little early which is why you are actually seeing a second blog entry!

Please save your applause till the end...

Thanksgiving weekend was awesome (well maybe not for the turkey!).

I was able to spend quality time with quality people whilst still managing to refrain from the whole "gobble till ya wobble" scenario.

I must admit however, my pants did have the elastic waistband just in case!

It, surprisingly, wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to cope with all that delicious food around.

Perhaps it was because when feeding 20 odd (lovingly odd) people I was able to keep myself so busy that I really didn't have time to snack and pick at the miniature sugar pumpkin candies, cheese curls and chocolate covered yummy things.

Or maybe it was because by dinner time I was sick of looking at food.

Seriously.

After two days of chopping and prepping, washing and cooking...

I was done.

I got over that feeling pretty quick though (feelings aren't always fact!)...

By the second Thanksgiving turkey dinner (the one I didn't have to prep) I was ready for the sausage stuffing turkey accompanied gravy smothered dinner.

Nom Nom Nom.

But I paced myself, savored the marvelous morsels and the results were worth it...

Despite a twin turkey treats twice enjoyed...

Today I weighed in at 3.11 pounds of fat lighter than last week.

Now you may applause!

So...

This is my theory:

Running between two residences (one up and one down) to get two turkey dinners cooked on time in two separate ovens (one up and one down) is a great way to burn off the calories you consume before you actually consume them!

I hope your thanksgiving was as slimming as mine was :)

Exercise Allergy

Sitting on the couch with a cold one, my hand tucked snugly into the top of my pants, watching yet another riveting episode of "Days of our Lives" simply does not appeal to me. I am a do kinda girl. If it needs doing, lets get it done and lets get it done now! Why waste time!

Lets rip up the carpet and install hardwood.
Weed whack the entire 12 acres of land the house is perched upon.
Build a deck of epic proportions.
Install a swimming pool.
Paint the house from top to bottom, inside and out.
Landscape and design a whole new garden.

Hot, sweaty and super busy.

That's me.

Miss Instant.

Not afraid of hard work.

But mention the word exercise...

You better toss me the remote because I am getting comfy and ain't nobody moving me!

Why is that?

It isn't like I am an inactive couch potato.
I rarely sit still.
In fact, I am more on the ADHD side of the scale.

Always busy doing.

And really all that work, is a form of exercise and I know it.

But call it that?

Let me over react, dig my heels in and refuse!

I think maybe part of my problem is I see exercise as a form of time wasting.

There is no pretty flower garden at the end of an hour long walk on the treadmill.
No nicely stacked pile of wood all ready for winter after a hard weight workout.

I don't see any instant physical change in front of me.

And I get mad with myself for wasting time doing something that seems to have no results.

But...

I am forgetting there are results...

And I forget because I often pay no attention to myself and my own state and too much attention to the state of things around me.

Days of our lives?

How about days of my life!

I guess I better work on that :)