Phenomenal Woman, That's Me

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I`m not cute or built to suit a fashion model`s size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I`m telling lies.
I say,
It`s in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I`m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That`s me. 

I love this poem - seriously. It says a lot about how women SHOULD view themselves instead of how society views them. It was written by Maya Angelou, just so that we have that crediting thing out of the way. ;)

Today has been another day of ooo, oooh and hmm.

Tho today was the first day in this week where I haven't had to scream "BABIES" at myself while working out - that sounds like progress to me! Okay, at least on the exercise front. The food front? Not so much - Chipotle, Peanut M&M's and Pizza. Ugh.

Tho I did only have 2 pieces of pizza and 2 cheesy bread-sticks.

Gimme a break, folks, it's been 4 days!

However, I'm trying not to beat myself up over this....thing.

How am I doing this whole process, you ask?

Well, first exercise - part of my problem is that my metabolism has about as much energy as a 10 watt lightbulb. As most of you know if you don't have a fast-working metabolism you have a lead butt trying to grow bigger. Yeah, the imagery there is a bit messed up, but you get my point - my metabolism SUCKS.

So, to begin...

This week, week 1, I'm doing 15 minutes of biking (moderate speed) on our stationary bike. It's sitting in my living room, so I might as well use it, huh? ;) Then I plop my butt on my floor and I do arm curls, lifts and tricep lifts (over-my-head) with a 5lb weight (15 reps in each position). Doesn't sound like a lot, you say? Yeah, try to dead-lift that puppy on your back up over your head...then you tell me how "a lot" it feels. -.-

Week 2 - increase time on the bike to 20 minutes, increase reps to 20, add in *GROOOOOOOANNNN* Crunches!

Did I mention that I started my period this week? Yeah, Trisha + beginning crunches on the first week of my period? HELL-TO-THE-NO!

Now, for the naysayers out there - "don't you need to workout, like, an hour per day to see any differences?!" 

The easy answer? No.

The longer, more complicated answer?

The point is to gradually increase my activity - ANY activity at this point is better than absolutely nothing I had been doing. GRADUALLY because I have arthritis in my knees - moderate, per the doctor - so I'd like to NOT hurt myself, hmmm k?

This is hard. It's SO hard. Several of my wonderful friends on my Facebook are facing this struggle as well - we all have days that suck and we all have days that make us want to rejoice. Right now, it's kinda sucking - I'm not going to lie. However, I know that if I step on the scale on Saturday morning (my planned "checking" day) and I've lost even ONE pound I will be SO.PROUD. of myself! 

So maybe I should keep my sights on Saturdays? Yeah, that's a good idea right there.

Anyway, back to the poem bit at the beginning...

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I`m not cute or built to suit a fashion model`s size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I`m telling lies.
I say,
It`s in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I`m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That`s me. 

That IS me.
I am a phenomenal woman. The reach of my arms is enough to encircle the ones I love, the span of my hips attracts and keeps my husband's attention (he's a butt guy), my lips give kisses happily and lovingly. I am a woman. A phenomenal woman. 


Yup, that's me.