An Acre Of Attitudes

Thanks to Lincolnian (Brian) for this photo. 

Here is a post from Seth Godin. Although it is not specifically about getting fit, it does speak to having an attitude of success. Let's be successful at getting fit this year!

"Everyone is given an acre of attitudes at birth. It's yours to tend and garden and weed and live with. You can plant bitterness or good humor. Feel free to fertilize and tend the feelings and approaches that you want to spend time with. Unless you hurt someone, this acre is all yours.

Probably worth putting up a decent fence, so that only the attitudes that you choose will have a chance to put down seeds, but it's certainly a bad idea to put up a wall, because a walled garden is no good to anyone passing by. You get to decide what comes through your fence gate, right?

Watching out for invasive species—spending sufficient time on weeding and pruning and staking seem to be incredibly powerful tools for accomplishing the life you want. I refuse to accept that an attitude is an accident of birth or an unchangeable constant. That would be truly horrible to contemplate."

One Woman's Week At The Gym

Found this in my inbox, and even though I am not a woman, I can relate to the sentiment.

"A Woman’s Week at the Gym 

Thanks to Neeta Lind for this photo.

Dear Diary, 

For my birthday this year, my Husband (the dear) purchased a week of personal training at the local health club for me. Although I am still in great shape since being a high school football cheerleader 43 years ago, I decided it would be a good idea to go ahead and give it a try. 

I called the club and made my reservations with a personal trainer named Christo, who identified himself as a 26-year-old aerobics instructor and model for athletic clothing and swim wear. My husband seemed pleased with my enthusiasm to get started! The club encouraged me to keep a diary to chart my progress. 

MONDAY: 

Started my day at 6:00 a.m. Tough to get out of bed, but found it was well worth it when I arrived at the health club to find Christo waiting for me. He is something of a Greek god – with blond hair, dancing eyes and a dazzling white smile. Woo Hoo!! Christo gave me a tour and showed me the machines. I enjoyed watching the skillful way in which he conducted his aerobics class after my workout today. Very inspiring! Christo was encouraging as I did my sit-ups, although my gut was already aching from holding it in the whole time he was around.. This is going to be a FANTASTIC week!! 

TUESDAY: 

I drank a whole pot of coffee, but I finally made it out the door. Christo made me lie on my back and push a heavy iron bar into the air then he put weights on it! My legs were a little wobbly on the treadmill, but I made the full mile. His rewarding smile made it all worthwhile. I feel GREAT!! It’s a whole new life for me. 

WEDNESDAY: 

The only way I can brush my teeth is by laying the toothbrush on the counter and moving my mouth back and forth over it. I believe I have a hernia in both pectorals. Driving was OK as long as I didn’t try to steer or stop. I parked on top of a GEO in the club parking lot. Christo was impatient with me, insisting that my screams bothered other club members. His voice is a little too perky for that early in the morning and when he scolds, he gets this nasally whine that is VERY annoying. My chest hurt when I got on the treadmill, so Christo put me on the stair monster. Why the hell would anyone invent a machine to simulate an activity rendered obsolete by elevators? Christo told me it would help me get in shape and enjoy life. He said some other shit too. 

THURSDAY: 

Asshole was waiting for me with his vampire-like teeth exposed as his thin, cruel lips were pulled back in a full snarl. I couldn’t help being a half an hour late – it took me that long to tie my shoes. He took me to work out with dumbbells. When he was not looking, I ran and hid in the restroom. He sent some skinny bitch to find me. Then, as punishment, he put me on the rowing machine — which I sank. 

FRIDAY: 

I hate that bastard Christo more than any human being has ever hated any other human being in the history of the world. Stupid, skinny, anemic, anorexic little aerobic instructor. If there was a part of my body I could move without unbearable pain, I would beat him with it. Christo wanted me to work on my triceps. I don’t have any triceps! And if you don’t want dents in the floor, don’t hand me the damn barbells or anything that weighs more than a sandwich. The treadmill flung me off and I landed on a health and nutrition teacher. Why couldn’t it have been someone softer, like the drama coach or the choir director? 

SATURDAY: 

Satan left a message on my answering machine in his grating, shrilly voice wondering why I did not show up today. Just hearing his voice made me want to smash the machine with my planner; however, I lacked the strength to even use the TV remote and ended up catching eleven straight hours of the Weather Channel. 

SUNDAY: 

I’m having the Church van pick me up for services today so I can go and thank GOD that this week is over. I will also pray that next year my husband will choose a gift for me that is fun — like a root canal or a hysterectomy. I still say if God had wanted me to bend over, he would have sprinkled the floor with diamonds!!! "

I'm Not Done

Okay, things have been difficult, did I say I was not a professional?  I'm victim to the flakiness of 'regular' people when it comes to this exercise workout thing...  I admit that when I started this, I was gungho and I expected to continue on this for the next 90 days and I would handle it like a pro.  Well, like a pro flaker I guess but... I ain't done yet.  I did get my workout on yesterday before work I got my 20 minutes in.  My goal is to at minimum jump around for 20 to 30 minutes.  I actually do well with my videos it's just carving out the time required to make sure I 'get it in'!  I do see a slight change in my physique but I needed a lot of work when I started and all that work is STILL NEEDED!  Today I didn't get any workout time in except for 5 minutes of stretching which I don't count but probably should since it's 'something'.  Other than give everyone an account of my progress and activities I am committed to being honest with you through my peaks and valleys (seems like it's all down hill at this point) and I am confident that eventually I'll start climbing one of these mountains to reach the top.  Don't drop off yet cuz then you'll miss it!  Thanks for hangin' tight and I am hoping that when I'm not giving you my daily breakdown that you get some good information from the articles that are posted.  Feel free to reach out and drop me a bit of encouragement as well.  Come back and stay tuned!

Day Fourteen

Up early today.  I had to put in a little extra OT at the job.  Now I gotta put some extra into my workout, but it's 10:30pm, and I'll be at work at 6:30am for another 4 hours.  That means I'll hang out with Tony on Friday and Saturday and the plan will be to do something different.  I might either go with Plyometrics/Yoga or CardioX/AbRipper X...  I'm thinkin' plyo because I know AbRipper X hurts... :-(  Let there be no mistake, Plyometrics is ridiculously hard but AbRipper does hurt...  I have not weighed myself but I see a slight tightening of my upper body muscles.  Whoop whoop...  Beachbody we're gettin' there!  Let's keep this pushin'!

Day Thirteen

Now it's back on track.  I went to sleep early and woke up early, so I got in my 58 minutes worth of Tony Horton and Kenpo X.  I think I like it because I'm familiar with the moves and it's getting easier and easier to do.  Now that I'm back to getting on my workout routine, I gotta combine that with eating better.  I'm doing okay with my eating habits, but I'm skipping meals and opting for fast food instead of a home cooked meal. Well, anyone feel free to toss out some suggestions and we'll go from there... I'll report back mañana.

Day Twelve Part Two

The best motivator is the Nike slogan, "Just do it".  After I blogged that I was starting my workout, I really felt like flaking but then I thought about what I would write the next day and didn't want to jeapordize my credibility by telling you one thing and doing another.  So, I grudgingly started my workout and slowly but surely got into it.  By the end of the routine I was sweating (as I knew I would), and I felt really good about the exercises I had just completed.  It must have been those endorphines we hear so much about that give us that 'natural' high because my body had a certain positive warmth to it.  I had that 'feeling good' sensation.  Get up and get started,  your body will reward you for it!!!! Beachbody, here we come!

Day Twelve Part One

Okay, last night at about 9:45 I psyched myself up for a workout:  I am getting ready to start my workout now.  Finished dinner about 1 1/2 hours ago and I'm going to elevate the heart and burn off some of these calories.  Tonight I'm back at it with Kenpo X.  I am exhausted after another 11 hour day, but I gotta at least put in these 54 minutes for my health and well being.  Let's get back at it!

Day Eleven

I meant to post this yesterday.  Sorry for the lag.


My routine is 'make as you go' cardio.  Again, sticking with the P90X series until I get INSANITY my workouts revolve around the non-prop vidoes.  Kenpo X is my preferred routine but not because it's easy, but I think my former martial arts training endears me to the program.  Full of kicks, punching combinations and blocks, Kenpo X will definately help you lose a pound of water weight easily.  Tony makes sure to stretch and warm your muscles before getting into it because you will feel it if you have not been working out often.  


Now my confession, I didn't complete the entire workout.. as a matter of fact I made it 15 minutes into the video when I had an emergency.  Perfect segue for me to remind all my folks about diet.  What you eat is so important to your overall health; it cannot be understated.  Side track: we celebrated my niece's 15th birthday at a restaurant from  my youth which has recently revitalized and is operating nearby.  Their signature food is ice cream, and I'm lactose intolerant.  When it came to exercising this morning, my body had it's own agenda.  So this morning 15 minutes into the stretches, my body did a stretch that lead to me leaving my workout floor to my inner office.  Whether you're intolerant to dairy or not, your body requires the proper fuel to continue creating the incredible you you are.  Stay fit!