How Powerlifting helped me battle through life as a wife, mom, and friend.
Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.
— Oscar Wilde.
This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.
𝐈’𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
We all grew up asking permission from our parents, or teachers or whomever, to do things. We asked to stay the night with friends, go to a movie🎥, skip a chore. We asked permission to do everything.
But we are grown ups now, are you still asking for permission?
I came to a realization last week that I tell myself no, a lot. I can’t do this, I can’t be that, I’m not ready, I’m not good enough. I’m not allowed to… fill in the blank.
🆆🅷🆈???? I’m a grown up. I don’t have to ask permission to be amazing!
As I dug deeper into this concept, I also realized that I wasn’t only denying myself the right to better myself, I was denying my fundamental right to be healthy, happy and purposeful. This went much deeper than buying a new blouse. I could not grant myself permission to relax. To the point that I was constantly in a state of tension. All my muscles were tense all the time. I’m not talking about allowing myself a self care day. I’m talking about never being able to relax, ever.
I challenge you this week to do a check-in with yourself every hour or so.
If so, take a moment. Take a deep breath, drop your shoulders, let all your muscles go limp for 30 seconds.
Just note how many times a day you catch yourself tensed up.
Then ask yourself this question. What else am I NOT allowing myself to do?
I know it seems like a crazy concept, but I think I have not allowed myself to eat healthier. I’m haven’t allowed myself to be happy. I have not allowed myself to be calm. (And that is funny coming from a daily meditator.🧘♀️)
I was not allowing myself to do these things because I didn’t believe I was worth it. But I am worth it! I’m worth being happy, and healthy, and relaxed. And so are you!!!
ᗩᖇ𝐄 𝐘𝐎ᑌ ᗯ𝐈ᒪᒪ𝐈ᑎ𝐆?
Yup, I totally ripped this off from a book 📖 by Gary John Bishop. I can’t say the name without the possibility of offending people. Just look it up…
I have been saying for years that the secret to sticking to any program is not motivation but by creating good habits. After reading this book, I had the realization that it is more than that. It is about what you are willing to do (and not do) to achieve your goals.
My challenge for you is to make a list right now. What are you willing or unwilling to do?
𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠?
𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐮𝐧𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠?
The question has never been what you want out of life. The question is what are you willing to do to get there, and is it worth it?
Are you willing to try something new?
𝘽𝙞𝙜 𝙬𝙚𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 😱𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙮😱!!!
Do you feel like the free weight section of the gym is a meathead🥩🤯 only zone?
🅸 🅶🅴🆃 🅸🆃!!!
I think public gym layouts are made to keep women out of the free weight zone. It’s intimidating and many women feel it is just setting themselves up to be hit on and harassed. I also believe that it is a way to “keep women in their place.”
Let’s get something straight! You have every right to workout in the free weight section of the gym. It is 2021!!!! We live in the world of crossfit and strength training for all!! It’s time to take a stand!
If you are worried about not knowing your way around the free weights, or you feel intimidated or uncomfortable crossing the line between the treadmills and the weights, here are some tips to help.
💥 Research. What are you interested in learning? Do some google searches and watch videos on how to use specific equipment.
💥 Ask for a tour. Speak with gym employees and ask for a tour of the free weight section.
💥 Be okay with not knowing exactly what you are doing at first. We all start somewhere!
If you are ready to take the leap into the darkness of free weights, and you’re looking for someone to push you (just a little) drop 💪 in the comments! I’d be happy to lead the way.
DIABETES (TYPE 2), HIGH CHOLESTEROL, HEART/KIDNEY DISEASE, HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, OBESITY🤒
You may have a family history of these illnesses, but EVERY 👏 SINGLE 👏 ONE 👏 is avoidable &/or treatable.
But here’s the catch: You have to want it for yourself. You have to be ready for it. You have to do it for you!
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 “𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟” 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮!
Are you looking at your family medical history & having nightmares?
Do you feel like, no matter what you do, you won’t be able to avoid the ailments of your lineage?
Are you afraid it may be too late to start getting healthy?
I feel you – because I was there too, friend. 🥰
Here’s some practical steps to help you get started:
1. See your doctor.👨⚕️ Ask for bloodwork & advocate for yourself. Make sure you are healthy enough to begin an exercise program.
2. Start slow. 🐌 You don’t have to run a marathon on the 1st day. Build movement into your daily life & give yourself time to progress.
3. Be consistent. 📈 Consistency is the key to reaching any goal. Ask yourself if what you’re doing now is something you could do for the rest of your life.
4. Be patient. ⏰ Sustainable results take TIME. You don’t have to go fast – but you do have to GO.
Are you worried about your future health? I can help! Shoot me a DM and we can talk.🗣️
𝗜 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻!
I wanted to be skinny. Like all the other girls.
I wanted to wear skinny jeans & not worry about them bursting with any false move.
I did about everything I could to make that a reality…
But it didn’t work.
I dieted.
I took diet pills.
I wouldn’t eat.
I ran on the treadmill until I puked. 🏃 🤮
I did sit ups until I puked. 🤮 🤮
In the end I finally sought out a trainer and got real with what I am going to look like and why.
At my lightest as an adult, I weighed about 165 pounds.Which is not light enough, according to “diet culture.”
I was not satisfied at all.
I thought 165 was too heavy…
Until one day I looked at pictures from back then & realized I was a skeleton! 💀 💀
My jawbone was so pronounced.
I looked like my head was detached from my neck.
Yet my perspective at the time was that I was fat.
At my heaviest I was 272. I know that number for a fact because it is what I weighed the day I got real about my health, my size, my perspective, and my reflection.
I sought out a personal trainer who taught me to take things one step at a time. I learned to not depend on the number on the scale, but instead concentrated on how I felt, how I performed, & my quality of life.
There are still days that I look at the scale and think “I should be thinner.”
But because I know I am doing everything I can to be healthy, the number on the scale is only a number.
Are you ready to conquer the scale & start living your life on YOUR terms? Send me a DM to get started. Believe me when I say I’ve “been there, done that!”
I’ᗰ TOO ᖴᗩT TO ᗯOᖇKOᑌT!
Do you feel like you’re too fat to go to the gym?
Scared you won’t be able to do the exercises or fit in the machines?
Afraid people are staring at you? (Or worse, laughing behind your back?)
⏰𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄’𝐒 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐖𝐀𝐊𝐄𝐔𝐏 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋⏰
I might be ruffling some feathers here, but I’m living proof that you are not too fat to exercise. I went from feeling too fat to queen of the squat rack. HOW? By debunking the excuses we make about weight & working out.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡:
#𝟏 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐈 𝐠𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐲𝐦.
🐂💩- While it is always good to have a nutrition plan in place, the excuse that you need to have one before you start a fitness program is really just another way of putting it off and only exacerbates the problem. Meaning, if you fall off the wagon after a couple days you have proven to yourself you are not worth it, so the cycle continues.
#𝟐 𝐈’𝐦 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬.
🐂💩 – Whether you are going to a Zumba class or Powerlifting bootcamp a good instructor will have modifications for nearly every move. And guess what? It doesn’t matter if you can or can’t, it only matters that you are moving!
#𝟑 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐞.
I’m not going to call 🐂💩 on this one. Your perception of what others think of you can be a major roadblock to your fitness success. What I will say is this: Walk into that gym like you own it. Don’t take yourself too seriously, and only worry about what 🆈🅾🆄 are doing! While there will always be people in this world that don’t have anything better to do than judge you, most of the people in the gym are feeling the same way you are. So smile, say hello and make some friends!
𝙃𝙚𝙡𝙥 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙥𝙨!🖱️
If you are anxious to go to the gym because of your size, Comment below! I will help you! You know why??? Because I was scared to death too. I feel the lump in your throat. You are not alone. Stop making excuses and start feeling better!
In October of 2020 I qualified to compete at USAPL Raw Nationals. Since that moment I have been working toward that goal.
6 weeks out from Raw Nats I cracked my wrist. It was a hairline fracture, nothing really, I refused the cast and tried to train around it. I did everything from calcium boosters to hyperbaric therapy to help heal faster.
3 weeks out I had a repeat x-ray. I walked in sure that I had healed enough to live out my dream.
I was wrong. The break was worse and I had no choice but to cast it and withdraw from the competition.
I was heartbroken.
If I’m honest, I was also a bit relieved that something so large was taken off my plate. You see, I have bigger dreams than competing. Although I love it dearly, I also love to help others become stronger. Working on my physical strength is always important but I am qualified for so much more than that.
Taking a break from lifting has given me the opportunity to start courses in personal training and nutrition coaching. I’m so excited about the concept of showing women how strong they can be, an how that strength transfers to life in general.
In the end, it doesn’t matter if you’re the best powerlifter in the world. What matters is what you do with that talent. Do you keep it to yourself or do you use it to help others? I’m choosing to spread the love!
Today, as I travel to watch my mentor and coach, compete and dominate on the national platform, I’m a little sad that I won’t be joining her, I’m also excited to spend some down time with my family and soak in everything I can.
Enjoy every aspect of your life, and remember you’re meant for great things!
Keep lifting ladies!
I was insulted the other day. Insulted and judged by someone I know well. Someone I considered a friend.
I’m telling you this because we all handle these things differently, and with yesterday being “Mental Health Awareness” day, I thought it would be a good topic.
I grew up with my fair share of bullies. I have been put down, terrorized, and emotionally damaged by many different people, in many different ways. Hell, it even lasted into adulthood. I feel like I have coped well with that trauma, put it to bed, and gone on with my happy, healthy life. I don’t care much anymore what people think of me, but I do care about how I impact people.
I am one of those people who can’t verbalize my feelings immediately when things like this happen. I either lock up, or laugh it off and play along so there isn’t a scene. That is exactly what I did. I laughed it off and played along. WHY???? I am old enough to take control of my feelings and stand up for myself! But here I am, writing about it two days later instead of confronting that person. I do not know how to handle the situation. What was said was not only rude, it was hurtful and really made me wonder why I continue to harbor this friendship.
But something else happened yesterday. While having a chat with a friend who has been a workout partner in the past. She told me that I inspire her. That she worked harder in the gym because she wanted to be like me. That as long as I was there, she knew she could handle it. Those words meant more to me and will be remembered far longer and deeper than any insult that is ever hurled at me. The idea that I have inspired someone to be everything they can be is mind-blowing! I am so blessed to be loved, looked up to as an athlete, and also as a woman of integrity.
It all comes down to how people perceive you. Are you a threat to them? Are you a mentor? Are you a passerby? You have no control over how others see you! And frankly, it is none of your business! It is not your responsibility to make others feel good about themselves, or to change their minds about who they think you are. What is your responsibility, is how you react to those situations, to take care of your own mental health and stand strong in the person you know you are.
I still haven’t decided how to handle this situation. I want to really think about it and react in the right way that is best for both of us. But I can tell you this, I do stand strong in my personal truth. I will not allow hurtful words to harm me anymore. I wish this for every single one of you out there that is reading this and feeling down because someone hurt you today. You are strong, you are beautiful, and you do not deserve to take shit off of anyone! Friend or not.
Please feel free to leave a comment, whether about a similar situation, of how you deal with adversity. I am all ears, and there is no judgement here.
Happy lifting!!!
I grew up believing that girls should be thin and blonde and pretty. That was the story implanted in my brain by, I’ll just say… people. Well, I am not blonde so I strived every day to be skinny. I would suck that gut in and hold it all day! By the way, did I mention I was about 7 years old when this started? Yup, 7. All the other girls were so much prettier and skinnier than me and I envied them to no end.
You would think that I would have developed anorexia or bulimia, but I didn’t. I loved food way too much. I was a western Kansas farm girl and we ate big meals full of fat and carbs. My eating disorder surfaced in a different way. I would stare at myself in the mirror wishing to be thin, drink my mom’s Slimfast shakes for like half a day… then, damnit I was hungry! Dinner would come and I would load up on meat and potatoes. Then try again to be anorexic the next day. I could never force myself to throw-up, I tried a couple times but I just couldn’t do it.
Fast forward 30 years and I found myself doing the same thing. At 37 years old! After years and years on the roller coaster, I finally got so sick of the way I looked that I started taking prescription diet pills. That’s right, Phentermine. And boy did it work! I lost like 70 pounds! I was fitting in to clothes I had never dreamed of fitting in before. But, I still wasn’t happy with the way I looked. The bottom fell out when I had to have surgery and go off all medications two weeks before. No more skinny pills.
After the surgery, I tried to start taking them again and they no longer worked. I quickly started gaining again. Depression sat in and I was off to the fat farm. I added on all the weight I had lost plus about 30 more pounds. I was devastated. I didn’t want to be seen in public, or even think about having sex. (Who wants to look at that?)
My worst fear arose when my parents had their 50th wedding anniversary and I had to see all the family and friends from my past. I was severely overweight and boy did the pictures prove it. I was appalled by my appearance and swore I had to fight my way back. But I still didn’t.
It took four more months before I stepped into the gym. Scared to death, I felt like I didn’t belong. I wasn’t fit, or strong, or healthy enough to be there. Who was I kidding? But slowly and surely, I fought my way back.
I still struggle with weight, I’ve lost a lot of it in the last 18 months, but I am far from being considered skinny. Powerlifting has changed my mind (a little) about what I should look like in the mirror. It’s hard to argue with muscle tone and a squat most men would envy.
P.S. – Looking back at pictures from my childhood, I realized I was the same size as all those thin, pretty girls.
Raising The Bar