Beauty & Beast in one

Why women should weight lift!

- Reduce your risk of Alzheimer's, improve cognitive function in elderly women
 - Endorphins make you happen, happy people don't shoot their husbands
  - Smarten up, Southern state Uni research proved strength training is associated with higher GPAs
   -  Decrease injury risk
    - Decrease osteoporosis risk, denser bones, less fragile
     - Zzzz... better sleep
      - Calm down! Stress relief, reduce irritability, anxiety
       - Burn more calories
        - Banish belly fat, weight lifting burns more deep belly fat then just cardio alone
         - Diabetes proof, causing muscles to use more glucose for energy which lowers blood sugar
          - 12 weeks of training can lower systolic & diastolic blood pressure
           - Heart disease, no thanks!! Body will be leaner, less fat, less risk
            - Open your own pickle jar, improved handgrip is a marker of overall strength
             - Confidence boost, one of the most empowering things a women can do
              - Protect your back, reg. strength training helps ease lower chronic back pain
              - Relieve neck, strengthening neck and shoulders reduces pain
             - improve balance
            - lower cholesterol, boost good cholesterol which combats against bad cholesterol
           - Breathe easy, improve max capacity to transport and use oxygen while exercise
          - Run faster, improve 5K by 3%
         - Boost libido, increase testosterone which boosts sex drive in females
        - Curb cravings, lower ghrelin levels, a hunger stimulating hormone found in the gut
       - Hit cancer hard! protect body against oxidative stress, believed to contribute to cancer
      - Boost metabolism, muscles builds up your metabolism, burn more longer after workout
     - Look sexy, help yourself build and preserve lean muscle, creates tight and toned bod
    - rid yourself of cellulite, diminish it
   - Stand tall, improves posture
  - Body image
 - Explore, reason to venture out of land of steppers, spin class & treadmill & go into the weight room

Banana Butt

In a few weeks I will be leaving quite a bit to enter into the unknown.
University.
Brochures, pamphlets, emails, websites, phone calls were what I saw of Trent. The life there, trying to grasp how I will fit among the crowd of busy students, all trying to make a name for themselves. Now I'll be fully submerged in the coming season.
Its pathetically true, but the one thing, the one living, glorious creature I will miss most of all is my Labrador-retriever Jessie.

She has white and blond eyelashes, doe brown eyes, the biggest fan tail and a plethora of names to fit every mood we're in. My little banana butt. The apple of my eye. It's very hard for me not to believe that an animal can have a soul. I swear she does.
These past weeks, she been giving me more and more attitude, I suspect she's gathered that I'll be leaving her soon.
One thing I love to do with this 6 year old beauty is get her outside, photograph her, capture her character. My companion. My buddy.

Here are some that I hope will be inspiring, but also show off my Jessie-girl ...

What to expect?

as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.

phil 1:20 

I remember a few years ago, looking at my friends, looking at magazines, filled with jealousy and envy. All I wanted was to look like those girls. I looked more like the boys, beefy, chubby, strong. Words like dainty, tiny, skinny, feather I wished could describe me, but that never happened. I thought there was something wrong with me. I'd ask my dad, "when will I start to look more feminine?" He'd smirk and say "just wait!" I boiled in disbelief.

 

I see myself differently now.

I'm tall and that worked to my advantage. I'm an upside down triangle, portioned to swim and run and lift heavy objects with joy and pleasure. Sixteen was my year for courage. To fold up self pity and tuck it away. I rolled up my sleeves and began a new shameless lifestyle. Belief in my body's power. Every temple is unique, some are made of limestone, marble, some are pointed, some are flat, inspire of Egyptians, Aztecs, Romans. Colorful, plain.

 

God desires our own acceptances for ourselves. We're critics of a perfect artist. We should be silent and admire and yet we degrade the art piece.

 

Challenge yourself to expect that God has given you this blueprint of your temple for a reason, for a gift to the world, for your eyes to behold and rejoice in.  

 

Many paths

Changing the name of this blog, my blog, little babe of a blog was difficult, but it now allows me to embrace a new direction it will be taking. I love many things. God, people, creation, empowerment, admiration for our beautiful temple-bodies, creativity and all other things I can put words to. I like words, letters forming words, sheers of gold, onto the lips to form speech. To read, to envision. To enjoy.

So I will be writing about my dreams, about powerlifting, about limits and trying to overcome them, about scripture, photographs, recipes, school. Every entry, different and messy.

//Here we go//