My Fitness Journey

I have been thinking about health, fitness and overall wellness and the journey my life has taken in regard.  Also, on my radar is the terrible state of mind in our society among girls and, really, women of all ages - this struggle, goal, obsession to look a certain way - "skinny" - so heavily influenced by images in the media and now, social media.  I have two teenage girls, and this bothers me.

Admittedly, I have been influenced by what I've seen as well and have suffered in various ways in the past.  In college, I was obsessively exercising every day and would literally complete my morning run at the door of the School of Human Sciences at Auburn before my 8:00 am class each day.  Yeah, gross, huh? This exercise combined with a restricted diet lead to my having so little body fat that I experience "amenorrhea" (no menstrual period) for a year and a half.  It took several months with my gynecologist to get it back with hormone therapy.  Thankfully, I heeded my Dr.'s advice about my body NEEDING a certain level of fat in order to fully function in a healthy way.  Also, when he said that I might have trouble becoming pregnant in the future, I got my mind right and toned down my workouts and adjusted my diet accordingly and successfully got back on track.
Clearly, 3 children later, I moved beyond this issue.  Thankfully.  Thankfully

So, in this bombardment of images from Hollywood, magazines, the internet be REALISTIC and know that many of those women suffer and sacrifice health and happiness to look "skinny."  It's not worth the price you pay in ANY WAY with the toll it takes on your physical, mental and emotional health.

I have been an athlete all my life.  I have been "working out" since I was 12 for cheerleading, basketball and ultimately, tennis.  In high school, I cheered and played tennis for Athens High School, participated weekly in a rigorous tennis program in Huntsville, taught aerobics in 1984 at the Exercise Studio in Athens (no leg warmers did I wear ;), played summer tennis tournaments 4 summers.  At Auburn, I walked on to the varsity women's tennis team (Division 1) my sophomore year and helped teach tennis camps with Auburn's men's tennis coach in 1987.  HOT, HOT, HOT summer!  Since college, I have played on city tennis teams thru USTA in Huntsville and St. Paul where I lived.  I even tore my right ACL in 1993 preparing for the state tournament as our Huntsville team had won the regional tourney.  That was a full year setback, but I had a successful surgery to rebuild and rehab my torn ligament into full health and function and am not limited in my activity at all today!  Grateful!  The past two years I have done the Insanity workout (HARD!!!!) and still do a variation.  Sometimes, I follow Lisa Marie with Bodyrock online.  In all of my life's journey, I can't emphasize enough the value of exercise and a healthy diet to live a full life!  Now, at 46, I feel blessed to have been guided by my mother (a nutritionist/dietician), various coaches, Dr.'s and teachers to know how to work out and how to eat well.  We all have to remember these things:

Living a healthy lifestyle is a CHOICE.  We either make it, or we don't.  It's ok to not exercise or have a treat to eat as long as you don't sabotage your routine.  Make the healthy choice the norm and don't obsess over having that brownie or that glass of wine every so often.

It's a JOURNEY! ... all your own!  Follow different workouts, teachers, etc., but don't succumb to comparing your body to anyone else's.  I'm an identical twin, so this is something I've REALLY had to learn as people have found differences in us physically over the years.  You may be INSPIRED, but if you get upset that your body is not shaping up the same way as someone else's then you've lost perspective.  LOVE your body!

In order to LOSE weight, you must, must, MUST burn more calories than you consume.  That's just the hard fact!  There are no pills that will do this for you.  Don't be swayed by the next diet, the next pill that claims to do this for you.  It WON'T.

MODERATION IS EVERYTHING!  I mean, EVERYTHING.  Even something that is "good" can be overdone.  This was my Mom's mantra, and she was RIGHT ON!

Be YOU!

My fitness journey in pictures

 Note my knee scars above!

Insanity workout February 2012

Orr, MN July 2013

 Workout on October 2013

You Can Poison Our Trees, but...

 ... you can't kill the Auburn spirit!

Seems the Auburn win of the Iron Bowl got the best of this Alabama fan that he would drive 30 miles from his Dadeville, AL home to come poison the 130-year-old trees on Toomer's corner - trees that are the symbol of Auburn spirit for celebratory wins when they are rolled with toilet paper.
  62-year-old Harvey Almorn Updyke
was arrested today and charged with 3 felony charges. 
Read LA Times article here. 
Great one from SI.

 

Let's hope and pray that they live...

There's just SOMETHING about my school (AUBURN UNIVERSITY)

Well, after 20 years since I graduated from Auburn, I STILL break down in tears when I see the Auburn games on tv especially if they are played in Auburn. I haven't known why, exactly, that I get so touched to tears with such a sense of pride and joy about Auburn. Well, I figured out a big part of why tonight after receiving this email from my dear friend Diane from a friend of hers who attends Opelika Baptist Church right outside of Auburn. Here's a great story below:

from a friend....... I received this blog this morning from a young lady who goes to Opelika > First Baptist Church . This sweet, life changing event happend on Thursday night. I wanted to share it with each of you...God is working everywhere...and it just gives me chills. Wish I could have been there to witness the Holy Spirit at work once again. Tonight at church we were SO BLESSED with the opportunity to watch the following four men be BAPTIZED by their team chaplain:

Walter McFadden
Antonio Coleman
Eltoro Freeman
T'Sharvan Bell

Recognize those names? Yeah. It was awesome. He had a hard time lifting some of them out of the water, they weigh three times as much as he does! Yet with tears in their eyes and soft hearts as big as the room, they stood in front of hundreds and confessed their faith in Christ. Following them was a steady stream of high school boys who looked like miniature versions of them, big shoulders, dread locks, goofy grins... following in their footsteps, committing their lives to Christ, choosing to stand up for Christ in their schools despite their less-than-ideal backgrounds... it was so cool.

It was such a fresh reminder of how active our God is in Auburn and how capable He is of moving mountains. I underestimate Him and put Him in a box far too often! God allowed those boys to come to Auburn to play football here with this very purpose in mind, and don't you know He was celebrating with His angels to night as they professed their love for Him? This is such a huge part of why I love it here! This is what happens when you routinely hire a Christian crew of coaches for our football team. This is what God can do in the lives of those men who, outside of football, often have nothing else to hope in. This is just the beginning of what He is capable of on our campus, and it is so exciting. Antonio Coleman finished out the service by telling us his story and had the whole place in tears. He finished by saying, " Auburn is a special place, it is such a special place", and I couldn't agree more. Auburn IS a special place. God is moving here. Next time you see them on TV, just smile and know that they are living for so much more than football.

Walter McFadden (above)

I broke down just reading the email of this letter, and I realize that my soul continues to be stirred by stories like this coming from my school. I felt God's present so strongly during my years at Auburn in all that I did - the girls in Kappa Delta sorority, the Auburn tennis team, philanthropic activities on campus and late nights drafting for quarter end projects for interior design.

It truly IS "great to be an Auburn tiger!"

Chette Williams is the Auburn team chaplain. I read his book, Hard Fighting Soldier, and it was an amazing story. Great for anyone wanting to see God's work of perservering in the lives of those who seem to having nothing or nothing to hope or live for. AMAZING!

Last week while in Alabama, I had the pleasure of attending the Huntsville Madison County Auburn Club Annual Party & Awards Dinner where my twin sister Carole and I painted live. Our piece was auctioned off as part of a fundraiser to raise money for scholarships for Huntsville students to receive and attend our AUsome Auburn University.

What did we paint? Aubie! We did a collaborative piece, painting taking turns, on the same canvas. That was a first for us and was very fun! And the greatest thing was, Aubie loved it!

If you don't know Aubie, he is the mascot for Auburn University's football team. He is also the number one mascot several years running in the nation! He is pure entertainment.

Thank you to Larissa Chastain for hooking us up with such fun event. It was great seeing so many people passionate about our awesome Auburn.