When You Hear Thunder, There May Be Lightening!

As a little girl I was known as Tuffy for my cocky attitude and tomboy behavior . . . always a diva though. The cocky don't mess with me girl who wanted her hair to look good and her clothes to match. The tomboy who would climb a tree in a dress and black patent leather shoes and swing upside down from the branch without a care that her panties were showing. . . they were clean and they did match my dress. AND I was six.

I ran, biked, roller skated, swam, played every kind of ball game you can think of with the other kids in the apartment complex every day. Jump roped, played jacks, hopscotch, climbed the monkey bars and basically knew no fear or limits to what I could do.

In my adolescence my thighs, hips and 'the girls' started getting fuller earlier than most of my friends. I was the curvy girl and I really didn't feel comfortable in that body. It bounced, wiggled and giggled in ways that felt weird when I ran, skipped or hopped. I still climbed trees, swam and skated but my body felt different.

Sometime around 7th grade I started being referred to as Thunder Thighs. This was not a welcomed attention to a part of my body I was self conscious about. I didn't want to be the curvy girl. I didn't like the way guys looked at me or talked about my thighs. I just wanted to be the tomboy girl who liked to fish and wear pink at the same time. We had also moved at that time so the guys I had grown up with were not around. I felt very uncomfortable.

Yesterday, during my Boom Boom Pow workout was the first time I felt comfortable with the idea of having thunder thighs. My legs felt strong and firm. Not giggly. I felt a definite kaBoom kinda repercussion when I walked. Not a sexy sultry hip swing. I powerful solid BAM as I stepped. I smiled, not at how my legs looked, but about how I FELT about my legs. A new appreciation for the body I have. A new acceptance for who I was created to be. It felt good. Very good.

In my excitement I wanted to celebrate that moment and share that energy with my friends on Spark and on FB. I posted my Thunder Thighs workout with all of it's bravado and cockiness. Later that evening those words would be read aloud to an audience they were not intended for and framed totally out of context and presented in a forum that was not appropriate to be talking about my thighs. There was a feeling of shame like I had been caught moonlighting as a topless dancer exhibiting my 'goods' on the internet.

I was saddened to my core that a 'friend' has chosen to use my words, out of context, to make himself the center of conversation. I came home and cried the hardest tears I have cried in a long time. I felt violated and 'exposed'. Once again I feel like I am an outsider and my focus on my health and fitness makes others uncomfortable. It is not I who draws attention to that difference, it is others who point out what I am or am not doing.

Even though I am saddened, I am not down, I am not out and I am on a mission and I will not stop or be stopped. So, when you hear the Boom, Boom, Pow you can choose to celebrate with me all the glorious power of a storm or be prepared to struck out of my way. This storm is rolling through.

Thunder Thighs

Wait! What's that sound? It sounds like thunder. . kaBOOM, kaBOOM, kaPOW!!! This was the sound of my powerful thighs as I walked out of the gym today! POWer!!!





Pow Baby! Todays Boom Boom Pow Lower Body Workout!



Standing Alternating Reverse Lunge 2 x 10 x 25#DB

Wide Stance Squat 2 x 10 x 25#DB

Platform Step Ups 3 x 15 x 50#BB

Wide Stance Deadlifts 3 x 12 x 90#BB

Seated Leg Press 3 x 12 x 160#

Leg Extension 3 x 15 x 25#cable



Then some plyo using medium resistance iron woody band

Squat Jumps 3 x 30

Skater Squats 3 x 30

Side Lunge Deep Squats 3 X 30

Frog Hops 3 x 30



Then to the mat

Hamstring curl w/stability ball 3 x 20

Leg Abduction w/resistance band 3 x 20

Wall Sit while squeezing a ball between my knees 3 X 1 min.



KaPOW!

And a Little Bit of Pixie Dust

Oh, my gosh!!! I am so excited!!!! I feel like a six year old girl with ruby red slippers, Tinkerbell wings and a pumpkin coach all in one!!!! Those would all be very good things, in case you didn't get the magical references there! I just found out TODAY that my fitness role model, Tosca Reno, is going to be at the Arnold Sports Festival this weekend!!!!! I don't know why I didn't think about her possibly being at the expo.

Oh, and the Arnold Sports Festival is only 3 hours from my house!!!!! I am going! Well, I am going to the expo! I am going to meet Tosca! I am going to purchase her new book and get my picture taken with her!!! Can you even tell I am just a tad excited!!! This is the woman who influenced me the most and continues to influence me in my health and fitness. She first gave me a glimpse that there was hope for those of us over 40 and frumpy. I saw her and read her story and thought . . . well now, if she could do that, I could too. She is only human. I am human. It gave me hope.

Now with the festival just a week away, I am so glad that I have been very diligent in my workout efforts lately and in my clean eating. And you better believe, I have even more motivation now!!! Oh, this feels like a magical pivotal moment for me.

In other related news. Last week I put the scale away and quit weighing myself. I had gotten in the habit of stepping on it every day again and it was messing with my head which was impeding my progress. What I am doing cannot be measured by the scale at this point. I am intentionally on a muscle GAINING phase right now. I want the muscle size and strength in my upper body to increase pretty significantly. My clothes are looser. I feel amazing. My workouts are going very well. I have a couple changes in my routines and I will share those with you in the next couple of days. My measurements have gone down in the past three weeks.

Waist is down 1/4 inch
High is down 1/4 inch
Thigh is down 1/2 inch
Chest (at bra band) down 1 inch

I will be trying to figure out what to wear to the festival and will need your help!!! I will post some pictures tomorrow for you to help me choose!!!

Live beautifully!!!