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2007/06/05, 09:13 AM
I thought it would be motivational for people to have some inspirational links/stories here - I found this one this morning - what an amazing woman!
http://www.liftforlife.com/denisejames.htm
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2007/06/05, 03:21 PM
From your Pics Asimmer, tell us your story, I would really like to hear it.:)
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THE NATURAL WAY IS THE ONLY TRUE PATH TO SUCCESS, PRIDE, JOY, HAPPINESS, LONG TERM FULFILLMENT AND SELF-ESTEEM!
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2007/06/05, 03:33 PM
Found this in the Women's section, very inspiring, Thank you Asimmer:)
A True Story
I myself am one of these women who have discovered that I can achieve the ideal body type by working out intensely with weights. When I first started working out, I thought, like most women do, that weight training was only for boys, and I didn?t want to look like a boy. I wanted to keep my feminine figure, but become ?toned? and not have as much fat. So, I assumed that the best way to do this was to spend mindless hours on cardio equipment and every so often, lift a few weights. Over time I did lose some fat, but I remained, what most women look like today, ?skinny-fat?. I was smaller, but my body was still smooth and soft, and didn?t quite have the sexy shape to it that I really wanted.
Finally one day a girlfriend of mine, whose body I always admired, took me to her gym and introduced me to real weight training. At first I felt a little intimidated to work out with weights because I didn?t know what to do. It was just so much easier to just run on the treadmill and then maybe do a few bicep curls, because they were simple. That day we did a chest and back workout. She showed me all the exercises with free weights and some things on machines. The workout was quite hard, and she pushed me to use heavier weights than I would normally have chosen.
I remember how thrilling it was to watch my muscles work in the mirror and seeing that I actually had some definition that I hadn?t noticed before. Weight training workouts cause a muscle pump that brings out definition while training. After each exercise I got this euphoric feeling, a feeling that I have never experienced before with aerobics. I felt so strong and powerful, and so in control of my body. Each muscle was full and hard, and I knew that this type of exercise was going to help me achieve my physical dreams. I was hooked.
After that workout, I decided to hire a personal-trainer to learn further techniques in weight training. As a university educated woman, I realized that there are people out there who have spent years of their lives learning about this topic and they are the ones I should consult with. The trainer I found was a woman named Carla. She was living proof that weight training created a very appealing feminine shape. She had nice shape to her arms and shoulders, her waist curved in tightly before it met her hips, and her legs were strong and sleek all at the same time. Carla?s body was firm and when she showed me how to perform each exercise I could see the way her muscles moved. I wanted the same thing. So, I gave weight training my full attention. I trained intensely four to five days a week and I cut significantly back on my cardio workouts. After a very short time, I honestly could say that I set the foundation for the figure that I always wanted. I could see lines in my abs, my shoulders had a curvy shape to them and my posture was much improved. I stood tall with a confidence that I had never had before.
As more and more women have begun to experience the same feelings that I?ve described here, they are beginning to recognize that weight training is no longer just for men. It is the ultimate strategy for women to safely and effectively reshape their bodies into the goddesses they are meant to look and feel like. Keep in mind though that the creation of muscle with resistance exercise will also do more than just make you look and feel sexier. It will enable you to perform activities that are functional and useful. You will never feel weak and insignificant compared the opposite sex. You can become a strong woman, a woman that doesn?t need help to open something usually found difficult, or lift something normally considered heavy. Weight training will also help to improve your health, and increase your quality of life. Medically, it has been proven to increase your bone density and help prevent the onset of osteoporosis, which is a common disease for many women.
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THE NATURAL WAY IS THE ONLY TRUE PATH TO SUCCESS, PRIDE, JOY, HAPPINESS, LONG TERM FULFILLMENT AND SELF-ESTEEM!
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2007/06/05, 04:55 PM
Just to be clear, Sandysford, that isn't my story - I hope it says somewhere in the original post who wrote it...
I don't know if my story is that inspirational - but here is the barebones version:
I was a juvenile delinquent, often in trouble, running with the wrong crowd, using the wrong substances...ended up in my late teens/early twenties depressed with very little self-esteem or identity left.
I started going to the YWCA to figure out how to get healthy and to have alternate activities to the ones that had gotten me in trouble. My roommate and I used to swim nearly every night, and I also took up the water aerobics classes when I could.
Somewhere along the way I saw an issue of Muscle and Fitness, featuring Cory everson and I was hooked. I started weight training (well, floundering about with routines in M&F) and started seeing some good results....I enrolled in the nutrition classes that nursing students take at the local community college (there were no personal training programs back then), and tried to figure out what a trainer would need to know, taking classes as I could afford them.
I was in pretty good shape (good enough to be head bouncer at a night club) when I met my husband and got sidetracked by marriage and my daughter. Not that all those things aren't/weren't wonderful, but again I lost track of who I was and what I wanted.
My husband and I had wanted a big family, but life had it's own ideas, we lost a baby and we all sank into a few years of depression and turmoil. I gained a lot of weight when preganant and even more when depressed. I topped out over 200 pounds on a 5'4" frame.
When my husband finished school and didn't know what he wanted to do next, I decided it was my turn to pursue what I wanted - the local business college had just started their first year of a new program called Health and Exercise Science - it seemed to be the perfect fit - a blend of kinesiology, nutrition, program design, business how-to...all the things I had tried to combine on my own before. I enrolled and started on my journey anew - but that meant peeling off over 50 pounds!
There was a gym near the school and I started training there at 5am in the morning so that i could be home before my husband had to leave for work at 6. I had a few training partners throughout the 2 years...lost quite a bit of the weight but not enough to feel like I was 'there' yet. I graduated and luckily the Manager at a local health club thought I was 'there' enough to be a trainer. I started working in the early mornings and evenings. When I wasn't training clients I was trying to fit in my lifting and my cardio sessions - my training partner and I decided to compete in a bodybuilding show - so now we had to fit in all those meals, too!
In the end I had lost over 50 pounds and competed at 145 pounds. I was wearing smaller clothes at 145 pounds than I had ever worn at my lowest weight of 135 in my late teens and had more energy than ever before.
Since then I have started my own personal training business, homeschooled my daughter and gone through many up and down phases with my training and physique. I am planning to compete again this November, about 12 pounds heavier and leaner than last time!
Umm, the story hasn't ended yet, I will never stop improving and learning!
But there you are, Sandysford - that is my story (condensed..)
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Permanence, perseverance and persistence in spite of all obstacles, discouragements, and impossibilities: It is this, that in all things distinguishes the strong soul from the weak.
Thomas Carlyle
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2007/06/05, 06:14 PM
Amy, That is wonderful inspiration to anyone. Thank you for sharing.
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2007/06/06, 02:27 AM
very nice. :)
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Bettia
You Get What You Train For!
- Unknown
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2007/06/06, 03:51 AM
Thank you for sharing the ups and downs and everything in between, I thought your story was very inspirational, a BIG wtg to you.:)
PS sorry about the mix-ups on the story, I guess I missed something somewhere. It was good too.
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THE NATURAL WAY IS THE ONLY TRUE PATH TO SUCCESS, PRIDE, JOY, HAPPINESS, LONG TERM FULFILLMENT AND SELF-ESTEEM!
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2007/06/06, 09:25 AM
Wow, what a great story. You are very inspirational Amy!
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