Me, Myself & Sweat

I am amazingly impressed with sweat.  It's an every day goal for me to sweat as profusely as possible and to make others sweat right along with me.  Hence being a fitness instructor.  Tonight I had a good gym session.  Although I loath going to the gym it happens to be the place to go when it's too dark to run outside by yourself.  I sweat my booty off tonight.  I ran at 6 mph on the treadmill for 30 minutes and then 30 minutes on the elliptical machine keeping heart rate at 170.  Treadmill was a breeze but when I got on that elliptical, whoa!  I have a tendency to look down when I workout.  I'm not really sure what I'm looking at but when I'm on machines I feel off balance when I look up.  Anyway, I was looking down and the sweat was pouring from my face during the workout.  I would watch as a drip fell down my nose and breezed past my knee and on to the ground. (side note: I cleaned the floor at the end) It's so weird and so amazing how fantastic it feels to sweat.  At a Body Back class recently, a 5:30am class mind you, one of my members was working out so hard with her core that sweat was dripping down her nose too.  It was one of those Nike pictures for sure!
It may sound gross but it's essential, ESSENTIAL, to good health and especially during exercise.  Did you know that women actually have MORE sweat glands then men.  Yet men still sweat more then us.  But of course women are more efficient sweaters then men according to researchers at the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw.
We're headed in to the summer and it's time to start sweating some more!  It's not dirty I tell you!  It's a feeling of accomplishment.  How much did you sweat when you birthed your baby?  I'm guessing it was a least a little and WOW what an accomplishment there.  So why not make yourself feel accomplished everyday with some good ol' fashioned s.w.e.a.t.!  And guess what.  You're in luck.  I have a few ladies at Stroller Strides who'd love to sweat it up with you.  Think about this.  If we lacked our fantastic sweat glands we'd be panting like a dog.  I'm not a dog.  I'm a pretty hot mama.  *toot toot*  Who's in?

The "I can't" turns in to "I can" and "I WILL"

Earlier this week at a Stroller Strides class I was coming down a hill and looked ahead.  I was looking at a single BOB stroller with one mom dressed in mostly black running in front of me.  I scanned my mind for who was in class that day and wondered who I was looking at.  I thought maybe it was just a local mom.  Not a SSr.  There were other moms in front of me too and I knew who they were but I just couldn't think of who was that far in front of me AND running.  At least a minute went by when I FINALLY realized who the mom was and I was so pleased with the fact that she has made such a significant commitment to her health that it literally shows to the point that I didn't recognize her.

Mid week I was teaching a class that I hadn't planned on attending.  I started with 2 in the class and ended with 6.  As we made our way in to the routine I noticed one mom running to catch us.  I haven't personally worked out with this mom in quite some time so I was a little taken back at the speed she was coming towards us.  I had heard through the grapevine that changes were being made with this particular mom.  We finished with our first station and as we moved on this mom shoots out in front!  WOW!  She's leading the pack!  And she LEAD the pack all the way to the next station.  As we progressed through our morning workout, she used the red band, she FINISHED every exercise, she DID NOT QUIT!

Every week of Stroller Strides and Body Back bring me new sights, sounds and feelings.  I get inspired when moms change.  I laugh with enjoyment when I hear things like, "I've toned down so much I had to buy new panties!"  I love when I see moms put on the tight workout pants and tank tops to show off their "guns".  And then the jubilee from the other moms congratulating them are true words of motivation.

You are a mother!  You have the strength!  YOU DO!  I swear on every inch of my body that YOU DO!  You have to let go of the negative thoughts that make you stop.  You HAVE to get uncomfortable.  It's the ONLY way to get the change, IF you want that change.  It's totally ok to be happy with where you are.  It's not my place or anyone else to determine where you should be.  I can only say to you, that if when you look in the mirror, and you are saying I'm not happy with [?].  ONLY YOU CAN CHANGE IT!  How many excuses did you make today?  Was time a problem?  Get up earlier!  Was food choice an issue?  Plan ahead!  I've got an answer to every excuse you've got.  If you're saying it out loud to me, then it's an excuse.  I don't need to know the why's because that's just you asking me to say it's ok.  You either will or you won't.  I've seen the will this week.  And be assured that the two moms from this week have at one point or another told me, "I can't".  Now they're getting uncomfortable BUT you should see the smile and the body they wear now!  You ROCK ladies!