Flag Football w/9-10 yr olds = TACKLE

Sitrep: 2 wts - 1x Cardio, 1x Arms, 30 min Flag Football, 30 min Basketball

So I survived last night's Gym Night with Big Brothers Big Sisters. It was a lot of fun, really. And I totally stayed away from the 3-legged soccer. ;) Shanni & her older sister KT went with me. Apparently the Salvation Army has a church building in town, and they have a huge gym attached.

We got there just after 6pm, and did some warm-up throwing baskets, etc. Then they started the flag football. Can I just say I was the only adult on our team? A definite disadvantage for our team, as I am not athletically inclined. Shanni, 12, and KT, 17, were on my team. Thank goodness for KT. She's athletically inclined and fast...I guess I should count her in the adult category, huh? There was a 13 yr old boy and then a bunch of 8-10 year olds. The 8-10 yr old boys did not want to throw the ball to the girls. [g] The girls wanted to show the boys they were good too.

None of them cared about the "flag" part of the game. It was all rush and pile on, or rush and crowd into the wall. No one got hurt, though. One of the BBBS staff was the 'ref' and made sure everyone took turns as the quarterback. When it was Shanni's turn, we made our own "play" and she faked like she was going to throw it then handed it off (shoved it, actually) at her sister. Then we got in front of KT and barreled down the "field." Almost made it, too. If that darn wall would have stayed out of the way.

I have to admit, I didn't realize how into it I would get. Seriously. I haven't played like this in a long time. Thanks to the BodyRev workouts I've been doing, I had the stamina to keep going. Oh, I got winded, sweaty, etc. But I didn't feel like passing out or quitting. I had fun. And I was seriously going after whoever had the ball. I am not kidding. There was no holding back so the kids could feel good about themselves. Because holy cow, are they fast. It was all I could do to keep up! I did stop one of the 10 or 12 yr old boys from scoring because I was able to pull his flag 3/4 of the way to our goal. I held that thing up in the air and jumped up and down yelling "I got it! I got it!". Like I'd won the lottery or something. Cracked everyone up. Got my high fives from Shanni, her sister and my team mates, though.

We ended up losing, but had a fun time, which is the whole point of it. Everyone got to participate, and had fun. No crying or disappointment. After a short break, Shanni sat down to draw a "When I grow up I want to be..." picture for BBBS (for one of their fundraisers) and KT & I went back on the floor to play basketball. This one boy about Shanni's age came over and sat across from her, but didn't want to draw a picture. Just kinda sat there and watched her. A few minutes after she finished and joined us, he showed up with another basketball, and challenged her into playing with him. It was so cute. I don't think she even realized he was crushing on her. :o We played for about 30 minutes, before we had to leave so they could do homework.

It was great to be able to be out there and doing stuff with her. To be able to coach her and encourage her. To be able to show her how to throw the ball and give her tips to make a basket. I'm not the best player, but I can make a basic shot. And explain how I did it. Not only did she make it, she did 2 in a row!!! Yeah, Shanni!

She told me she wants to play volleyball at school. KT wants to try out for track or basketball, she's not sure which. I'm encouraging them both. ;) They also want us to get together once every week or few weeks to do what we did last night. I'll have to see what facilities I can find. That are free. Or at least cheap! I talked to our case worker at BBBS and she says they want to do this once a month.

Anyway. THANK YOU to all the BB posters, and Gator Patrol for the support and encouragement and sharing of their struggles in keeping healthy and exercising. It's been inspiring and motivating to me, and kept me exercising long past the point I'd have given up. And a SPECIAL HOO-YAH and THANK YOU to Alden, for taking all that time to encourage and motivate us. It has really made a difference for me!

Body Image

Sitrep (a/o Friday): 2 weights - Cardio 2x, Arms 1x

Thank you Janet W for your call last night. Your timing was perfect because the thought of the new J.D. Robb was not enough to motivate me. I think I'd been sitting here for several hours watching tv and telling myself to REV. :) After getting off the phone I did Cardio and Arms. And am going to do them again tonight. Although I think I must be channeling someone else. Preferring cardio and exercising at night instead of the morning is just not me!

So last night while waiting for the dogs to settle down (I'm dog sitting the boss' dog) I was channel surfing and landed on Tyra Banks. Now, I've never watched this show before but the sight of a group of mostly overweight naked women on the screen stopped me cold. WTF? Was my thought. Turns out they were wearing flesh-colored body suits and doing this little experiment in Body Image. It was brutal. Actually, they were brutal. They stood in front of a mirror and described themselves. Then they stood behind the mirror and the others had to pick a label out of things they'd all said. Like fat, unhealthy, thick, overweight, needs to eat, etc. It was sad. It really was. Because I think all of us have been there. Whether we're in-shape, overweight, too skinny...we're our own worst enemy, we women. We are so cruel to each other.

It was interesting to see them try to avoid giving anyone the worst label there "Fat Slob". It ended up going to one of the women who wasn't fat, but her attitude was pretty nasty. She was the one that had originally uttered the phrase. Her attitude was basically if you're overweight it's because you're a lazy slob. I thought they were going to lynch her. They might yet - part 2 is on tonight. I have to admit I'm intrigued enough that I'm planning on watching it.

And the discussions while picking labels for each other. The whole thing was about being truthful, yet you could see some of them didn't want to be hurtful. And when they talked about giving out the "hot" label...What makes someone hot? The "mean" lady (I can't remember her name) came right out and said you can't be hot if you're overweight. Sigh. People's preceptions are just so...I don't know.

Like the one they gave the label "couch potato". Turns out that yes, she's overweight. But she's no couch potatot. She has been playing baseball for 17 years, eats fairly healthily, is always on the go with her husband...Reminds me of my friend N. back in FL. By no means overweight; she never was. But she is not the typical skinny model. She's bigger boned; she really is. And I've known people that would consider her "thick" (one of the descrips used last night.) Which is absolutely nuts. N. is gorgeous. From head to toe. And very much has the athlete's body. (Even those 2 years when she couldn't be active because she just couldn't seem to keep that one leg in one piece for long.) [g]

Anyway. It was just eye-opening to see these women and hear how they think of themselves. And then to see how they judge each other. Downright cruel. It's not just something we do as youngsters and grow out of. It stays with us. It seems to me the only way to stop it is to stop it at a young age. And yet I worry that I've let my own insecurities and fixation on body and image influence my little sister in a bad way. I'm trying to make it about doing fun stuff together and having energy. Trying to make it about being healthy more than being pretty or fitting that mold that society says we have too. I guess only time will tell how well I do. It's frightening how much impact you can have on someone else, especially someone so young.

Gator Patrol

Weekly Goal (M-Su): Arms 3x, Cardio 3x, Abs 1x

Last week I did fairly good. Even though I skipped my workouts on Wednesday and Thursday. I moved those to other days, doing 30 minutes 2x instead of just 15. It wasn't too bad, really. I love the flexibility of REVing. Those 15 minute increments really work for me.

The goal for last week (Monday through Sunday) was to do Abs 2x, Arms 2x and Cardio 2x. I did the following:

Abs = Beginner 1x, Intermediate 2x (one weight)
Arms = 2x (one weight)
Cardio = 1x (one weight)
Legs*

* 50 minutes of weeding in the yard on Saturday = 1 legs workout. These weren't just any weeds. They were BIG. We're talking up to 5 feet tall, with stalks about an inch in diameter at the base. They were all on the back end of my property, lining the alley. Technically on the city's property, which is why I've not tackled them before. But they were taking over the parking space next to my garage, and encroaching in front of the garage itself. So I pulled them all up. Thank goodness they're shallow-rooted, and you can pull them up by the roots. The backs of my upper legs were hurting yesterday morning. So I'm counting it as a Legs workout. Definitely felt the squats when I did Cardio yesterday. [g] They still hurt today. I was moving like an old lady this morning!

I'm going to change my goals for this week. Still aiming for 15 minutes a day. But I'm going to stop focusing on Abs. I think I did something wrong on the first Abs workout last week, as each one after that I got this weird spasm/twitch in my mid back while doing crunches. I think I used my back instead of my abs on the hip lift. Oops. So I'm going to give that a bit of a rest. And going to ramp up the cardio and arms.

One thing I've noticed; I miss the gator patrol. And Alden's posts. I know it was only going to be for a short time that Alden posted, and that he is a very, very busy man. Which is great, I'm glad the business is going good. Saw him on CNBC's show The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch. That was fun; it was midnight my time and Alden almost had me fired up enough to REV right then and there. He's a really good motivator. He had Donny Deutsch giving the Perfect Pushup a go right there!

But the Gator Patrol has gone missing. Mostly due to summer, I think, and I've hardly been starting any posts myself. Maybe I'll do that later this week on Suz's BB, when some of the talk on the book dies down some. :) But that sense of comraderie is missing. I really liked reporting in each week, and learning something new, getting support. Seeing how many of us were taking charge of our lives! Ah, well. There's still support out there, from several sources (you know who you are!!!)

If the smoke from these darn fires would ever ease up, I'd tackle Mount Helena again. I really want to make that end-of-summer goal with my little sister. And get out on my bicycle. Smoke was really bad again yesterday. We've been getting several clear hours early on Saturday & Sunday mornings, but it's bad again by afternoon. Visibility was down to 1.75 miles by 5pm on Sunday. I'll just have to shift that goal to end of Fall, instead.

I'm going to stay FIRED UP and do 15 minutes a day this week. Yay Me!