Age Is Not Old!

(This is dedicated to a special woman I only just met via my blog.)

"Oh well!", "So what?", "Who cares?"

I really love those two word mantras of mine and they have served me well in times when I want to beat myself up for eating the rest of the cheesecake I should have thrown out or drank too much at a party only to remember I demonstrated the 'running man' for the crowd.  But, in the wrong hands, these two word mantras become a saboteur!

When Helen (check her out by scrolling down a bit in the "Calories Count" blog) first came to me on February first of this  year, she weighed thirty-one pounds more than she does today.  We couldn't determine her percentage of body fat because it wasn't on the chart.  Soon to be sixty-three, she decided she needed to at least try to lose some weight and get more fit.  I must be honest here, Helen had a goal even I was suspect of, she wanted to run a marathon again.  But hearing her declare this goal made me realize she was hoping for the best possible outcome.

Helen, today, September 8th, 2010

"It is never too late to become the person YOU ARE inside!"  Helen said this morning.  "I want to inspire anyone out there who doesn't believe they can be fit and tell them 'YOU can do it'!  But, you will need support.  Debra was that for me.  She believed in me even when I didn't believe in myself.  She gave me hope and had the expertise to show me the way."

"I am a nurse and I work hard, but I made the commitment to her and I paid her (expensive!) fee for fifty sessions up front.  She told me honestly that making this kind of commitment would be worth it as there would be days when I would want to blow it off and say, 'oh well, 'so what' and 'who cares'.   She knew that given my current lifestyle and physical condition, I would have some difficulties in my transition.  She never gave me more than I could handle.  In fact, I can see now that it was part of her psychological tactic to give me slightly less so that I could feel like a winner every time!"

Helen on February 1st, 2010

Helen has come almost every Wednesday and Friday at 7:00 a.m. since she plunked down her hard earned cash.  Today, she said that she ran for the first time and it felt great.  She also brought me four of her homemade ice cream sandwiches.  They were one inch square and made with graham crackers and whipped cream with a few more added ingredients (recipe to follow another day).  "I got fat when I stopped cooking.  I'm cooking again!  I found I eat less when I prepare food.  It's like all of my senses receive pleasure and it satisfies me without having to pig out.  I smell the cookies as they bake in my warm kitchen and see and feel what I am preparing.  Now I can am totally satisfied with one cookie because I savor the fruits of my labor!"

How Bodeci is that!!

This is Tony, he is a student in my Bodeci method workout class.
I snapped this on Saturday.  It was his birthday.  He turned 59.