Recently, Gwyneth Paltrow, said in her weekly GOOP newsletter that she “had the beginning stages of osteopenia.”  Osteopenia is the thinning of bone mass considered by many doctors to be a precursor to osteoporosis.  (Thank you Google.)  One of the causes is a lack of vitamin D and Dr. Lipman finishes off Gwyneth’s (yes we are on a first name basis) newsletter by detailing the importance of Vitamin D and how to increase Vitamin D levels through healthy sun exposure.  (Enjoyed the article and think it’s worth the read.)  I’m glad Gwyneth will be getting more vitamin D but I’d also like to see her start lifting some heavier weights as weight bearing exercises help increase bone density as well.

Do a quick google search for Gwyneth Paltrow Strength training and this video of her and her trainer, Tracey Anderson, creator of the “Tracey Anderson Method”, pops up multiple times.  You might have seen it before.   I know I’ve seen it on like 25 different blogs and message boards but it never ceases to entertain me.

Tracey Anderson, “Only three pound weights.  No woman should lift more than 3 pounds weights.”

Really?

Well girls, don’t pick up that gallon of milk because it weighs over 8 pounds.  Your child wants to be held?  Not if mommy is going to get bulky.   Speaking of holding children the video continues….

Gwyneth, “I hold my 30 lb son in my left arm all day so this one (pointing to her right arm) is like…sags lower than this one (the arm with which she holds her 30 lb son) so she makes me do more arms on one side.”

Hmmmm….anyone else see the irony here?  Gywneth points out that the arm she doesn’t lift heavy with is saggier than the arm she uses to lift her heavy child.  Maybe she should rethink the 3 pound weight rule.

I’m not knocking Gwyneth.  I think she’s beautiful and looks good.   Not to mention she plays one of my favorite characters in one of my favorite movies of all time, Margo in The Royal Tenenbaums.  If those are the workouts she loves then by all means go for it.

As for Tracey Anderson, this video makes it too easy to pick on her. I could say a lot.  In fact, I deleted two entire paragraphs after deciding I don’t want to be Miss Critical.  Besides, I have smart readers who know that lifting weights heavier than 3 pounds is not going to turn them into the She-Hulk.  What bothers me the most was that this aired on Oprah and millions of women, who or may not know that strength training doesn’t automatically make a woman bulky, have seen it.  Thus, perpetuating the myth that so many women and men who know better are trying to dispel.  I’ll speak from my own experience.  Before I started lifting heavy weights my upper arms measured 11″ around.  After more than TWO years of heavy lifting they are 10.25″ around and much tighter than before.  I’ll repeat what Gwyneth said, “I hold my 30 lb son in my left arm all day so this one (pointing to her right arm) is like…sags lower than this one (the arm with which she holds her 30 lb son) so she makes me do more arms on one side.”

Could The Tracey Anderson “Method” work?  Sure and by the looks of her clients, Madonna, Shakira, and Kate Hudson, it does.  (Although be certain those women are also eating a SQUEAKY CLEAN diet as well.)  Muscles will adapt by growing stronger when a greater than normal stimulus (overload) is placed on them and with enough reps you can get results but it’s going to take A LOT of repetitions, hence, a lot of time.  And what is going to happen when 100 reps becomes easy if you shouldn’t pick up weights heavier than 3 pounds?  150 reps?  200?  500?   No thanks.   I don’t have have the luxury of hours (nor the patience or interest for that matter) to devote to my physical appearance every day.  I’ll stick with my short intense workouts with heavy weights like the ones Gwyneth Paltrow’s Iron Man co -star, Scarlett Johansson, did to fit into the Black Widow catsuit.

What about you?  Do you like lifting heavy?  Have you gotten bulky from lifting heavy?  What is your favorite movie with Gwyneth Paltrow?  What do you think of the Tracey Anderson Method? Did anyone else feel a twinge of jealously when they showed the outside of that workout studio?  :-)

A note to my subscribers:  I’ve been having some off and on difficulty with my email plugin.  My subscription list has grown so long (THANK YOU!!!!) that it is taking hours to send out all the emails so they sometimes come a day later than I intended.  Does anyone know how to tell which email addresses are spam?  It would be helpful if I could delete those that are spam. We’ve also been having problems with occasionally posts being sent out twice sometimes days after the first post.  If this has happened to you I’m sorry.  We are upgrading the plugin and hope that will solve the problem.  Lastly, my unsubscribe button is broken.  As soon as my web slave husband has some free time he will fix it.  In the meantime, feel free to shoot me an email if you want to unsubscribe.   If any other readers have any advice regarding wordpress mail plugins I’m all ears.  jenn (at) girl-heroes (dot) come

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

That’s a lot of alliteration.

I had almost forgotten my little birthday present to myself that I have yet to “enjoy”.

My  upcoming RKC certification.  I got an email from Dragon Door yesterday reminding me of the requirements.  Oh yes….those.

Can I confess something?

I’m nervous.  I was nervous for the one day HKC certification.

I don’t want ripped hands.  I don’t want to wake up day two and not be able to move.  But most of all I don’t want to fail.  (I’ve foolishly been reading blogs of people who didn’t pass.)

Fear of failure is not a good reason to not try.   Fear of failure is not a good reason to not give it your all.  Fear of failure, however, is a good reason to pray.

If the certification was tomorrow I would kill myself trying to pass fail the snatch test.  I’m not quite ready but I’m holding onto the hope I will be.

I have been training hard on my own and with Doug.  I’m feeling my endurance and strength grow. I’ve been teaching others and seeing them get stronger.  Why am I not ready?  Because I still don’t meet the weight requirements to be able to test with the 12k (26lbs) kettlebell and I can’t snatch the 16K (35lbs) 100 times.  However, I did snatch it one time.  ONE. TIME.  I was so happy you would have thought Thom Yorke  had offered Brent and I a private concert.  I’m still missing the requirements by 99 reps but I figure if I can do it once I can do it 100…right?  Maybe not  by August 27, which is why I’m still slowly carrying out Operation Six Pack even if I have been slacking on my food journal.  (Seriously, I don’t know how you food bloggers do it.)

It’s been interesting to be losing weight for reasons beyond vanity. I feel like a wrestler trying to make a weight class but thankfully I don’t have to touch anyone else’s sweat or wear a singlet. Instead of looking at a pair of jeans that are too tight, I look at a kettlebell that is too heavy.  The same goal but an entirely different mindset.  I like it.

I like being intentional.
I like having a goal.
I like looking for strength outside of myself.

Have an awesome weekend.

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

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A Fluffy Flashback.

I really can’t think of anything much fluffier than cupcakes.

and

This post has been patiently waiting amount the other 123 “drafts” in purgatory.

A few months ago I took a mini-road trip to visit a cupcake truck even though I don’t eat refined sugar myself.
(Don’t worry I asked what they had been sweetened with before I passed.)

I didn’t intentionally dress to match the trailer.

I’m not that dorky.

Really, I’m not.

Lovely Raya who unlike myself is a real photographer.
(Just in case you couldn’t tell by the 3 cameras hanging off her body.)
Her photos are beautiful check them out.

While I didn’t partake in the fluffy goodness these guys did.

And enjoyed every bite.

I never imagined I would be a mom but I’m sure thankful I am.
(even if they don’t look too happy about the idea)

No this is not posed.
Meow Cow and I gaze out the window all the time together.

Have a great weekend.

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

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Title is from a headline on CNN.

New body ideal?

Really?

Since when is slender (so they’re not stick thin) with big breasts & full butts “new“?
Since the last Maxim cover?

(Don’t even get me started on the above headlines.)

Admittedly, I’ve never watched the show.
I haven’t had tv for over 10 years and I’ve chosen not too because I would be tempted to watch bs like this.

If our culture isn’t telling us we are too fat
then they are telling us we are too skinny, too flat, too boxy, too short, too straight, too….

Enough.

If this is the “new ideal” I still only know a handful of women who fit it and it’s not me.

What about the naturally very thin woman?
Gorge on Big Macs?

What about athletic women who put on muscle easily?
Quit working out?

What about the curvy on the bottom, flat on the top women?
Breast implants?

What about the curvy on the top, flat on the bottom women?
Butt implants?

What about the broad shouldered with narrow hips women?
Fat transfer to hips?

What about the straight waisted women?
Remove a  few ribs?

I could go on.  My point is #$%!@* ideals.

This obsession with “ideals” is NUTS.

You are beautiful with curves or not.  You are beautiful because you are YOU.

Take care of your body because it’s YOURS.

We will make body image progress when we celebrate ALL body types not just the “fashion models” or the “hour glasses” or God knows what’s next.

I’m not buying it.
I’m beautiful because I said so and so are YOU.

Moving on…
I wrote a guest post over on  Making Food and other Stuff.
Please go check it out.

Have an awesome weekend!

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

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Iron Man brought me breakfast.

Speaking of Iron Man

I read on Self Magazine’s website that Scarlett Johansson used kettlebells to prepare for that skin tight black catsuit the role of Black Widow.

Her on set trainer Bobby Strom was quoted saying,
“but what she really loved was the strength training–things like pullups and kettlebells–and the idea of feeling and looking strong.”

Sounds like my kind of workout.
You know, because I really want to wear a tight black catsuit to take my kids to the park.

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

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I am not with it when it comes to popular culture.  For instance, I still make Paris Hilton references.  I know.

So it’s no surprise that I was clueless when I signed up to take a burlesque dance class/workshop.  I love all things vintage and in my mind I was going to a retro inspired Jazzercise class.  I knew Dita Von Teese was a burlesque dancer.  I had seen pictures of Dita in Us Magazine wearing vintage outfits I only dream of wearing but I didn’t really know what “burlesque” entailed.   Had I spent a few more minutes with my pal, google, I might not have wanted to cry been so surprised when I flipped through class syllabus and saw a page with two circles labeled  ”Pastie Pattern”

You see, I’m the girl who ran out of the dressing room in tears at my first figure competition or nearly passed out when I was asked to pee in a cup in front of someone at my second competition.  I’ll make a long story short.  I have issues.

Bunnie, one of the teachers, wasn’t in the room for 2 minutes before she was changing into a pair sparkly pink panties and a matching bra that puts Barbie’s clothing to shame despite…well…looking nothing like Barbie.  When the topic of “body image” came up, she said she knew she had “rolls” (Her words not mine.) but she didn’t care.  It was true.  She did have “rolls”.   Her tummy very visibly hung down over her panties and to be honest there were bumps and lumps coming out from every strap and seam.  She  definitely wasn’t what came to mind when I thought of burlesque dancer but I also didn’t think of pasties either.

After going over  how to choose the perfect burlesque name (Do NOT use words like kitty, kitten, or cherry….darn it.), making your own burlesque accessories and costumes, the type of glue to use to bling out a perfect pair of burlesque shoes and passing around pasties, it was our turn to stand up and find our “inner burlesque starlet”.   I started to wish I had a magic cookie to make me shrink like Alice in Wonderland so I could hide inside my glove instead of “seduce” with it.  After learning how to pull our gloves off with our teeth and about 2o0 different ways to use our boas, (Who knew a feather boa was could be so versatile.) they said it was our turn to dance.  ”You first!” we protested.

Bunnie turned on her music and began to strut her stuff and strut she did.  If she was self-conscious about her body you certainly couldn’t tell it.  She shimmied, shook, and seduced as if she invented the word “confidence”.   She clearly didn’t give a damn that she wasn’t in on Victoria’s Secret (excuse the cheesy play on words).   Bunnie was having a blast and I thought about all the times I let my lack of self-confidence steal my joy at the beach or at the pool.  I may not have rolls but I’m still a long way off and will always be from “the ideal” and you know what, Bunnie made me feel like Victoria and her Secret can kiss…my glove.  Burlesque may not be for me but confidence is no matter the circumference of my waist, the size of my bra, or the number on the scale and I’m not going to let anyone tell me otherwise.

Confidence is mine when I embrace me as me.

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

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This month I set out to complete the 10,000 swing challenge.

This meant I “have to get  my swings in” be it the In-N-Out parking lot or rest stops.

Never mind if people stared at me as if I was insane or I was embarrassing driving my family nuts.

No siree. I won’t quit.

The great thing about kettlebells is they make it easy to feed my neurosis workout anywhere.

Yesterday I got in 200 while cooking, Mozzarella Chicken.

It’s just too tempting to pick one up and crank out 50 swings while the onions sauté.

Off came the jacket.  It gets warm doing kettlebells next to the hot stove.

I even had to open a window.

Yes. I just posted a picture of me opening a window.  WTH?  Next thing I’ll be posting a picture of an apple and two almonds.

I have 900 more to go today to reach my goal.  Procrastinate?  Me?  Noooooo.

Have an awesome weekend!

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

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Normally, I save these sorts of post for Fluffy Fridays but since the Oscars were last night I’ll call it  Meaningless Monday.

I don’t get television so I don’t actually watch the Oscars.  However, that doesn’t stop me from going online to look at all the fabulous dresses, toned arms of the Oscar attendees, and giving out my own personal awards.  Last year’s Girl Hero Oscar winner for best arms went to Jessica Biel.  She called and thanked me profusely.  This year, the winner goes to Cameron Diaz who is also on my old top 5 fit celebrity bodies list.

Incidentally her dress was my favorites too.  So lovely.

The other nominees for Girl Hero’s Oscar for Best Arms.

Sigourney Weaver

Demi Moore.  Can’t say the same for the dress.  Not big on matching your flesh with your dress.

Samantha Harris

Zoe Salada The bottom of her dress reminds me of a pinata. Bizarre.

I believe the key shapely arms is building shapely shoulders.  Defined shoulders look great in all styles of dresses and tops.  Currently my favorite move for strong shoulders are Turkish Get Ups.  Before my kettlebell obsession I used dumbbells for shoulder work and would often do  this workout.

If you haven’t already hop on over to One Fit Foodie and enter her Celestial Seasoning Giveaway! You have one day left to enter!!!!!

Did you watch the Oscars?  Who wore your favorite dress?  Who would you have given the Oscar for Best Arms to?

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

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So this is not really fluffy and probably no longer Friday for you but in CA it’s still Friday and I love alliteration so fluffy it is.

According to US weekly,  America’s most reliable news source, that “America’s Toughest Trainer” Jillian Michaels is being hit with a third lawsuit this month.   A woman in CA is claiming that her dietary supplement is made with potentially dangerous or lethal chemicals.  Earlier lawsuits alleged the product made false promises and customers were duped into buying a worthless product.  Really?  They don’t work?  I’m shocked!

On one hand….

Regardless, if Jillian is a good trainer or not, she unarguably has influence over millions of people. Which is where the question arises.  Should Jillian, as a role model to millions, to put her face (and abs) on a bottle of “magic” pills?  I get it the truth, hard work & discipline, can’t easily be bottled and sold for $29.99 but as a health and fitness celebrity that people trust is her choice the responsible one?

On the other hand..

Speaking of responsibility, we have our unhappy consumers angry that the magic pills aren’t as magic as they were led to believe.  Maybe I should sue Victoria Secret because those panties sure don’t make me the seductive temptress I was led to believe I would be?  I realize there’s a big gap between panties and weight loss pills.  Most dietary supplements carry some amount of risk whereas panties are relatively risk free. I couldn’t find out any information if the third woman was actually harmed by the pills.  Although, I can attest that my ego has been harmed many times walking into Victoria’s Secret.

Was Jillian being irresponsible?  There are hundreds of weight loss supplements on the market.  Is she being targeted because she’s a celebrity?  What about the personal responsibly of the consumers?

xoxo
j

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No Pink’s not fluffy.  Her abs are rockin’

That outfit is not.

I just watched Behind the Scenes with Pink on the Women’s Health Magazine website.

“I am a walking contradiction.  I go to extremes…….it’s got to be organic, fresh fish, tofu, greens, and then I’ll order a pizza at night and drink a bottle of wine.”

Sounds familiar.  Anyone else relate?  Thanks Pink for keeping it real!

Speaking of fluff, the extra fluff I accumulated over the holidays is in its last days.  Tomorrow, I am going to the HKC workshop.  I’m really really really excited.  So excited, that I’m having trouble sleeping as if Santa is on his way with a kettlebell.

Have a great weekend!

xoxo
j

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