Coming Clean

One woman’s honest quest to clean up her unhealthy life for herself and her family.

On-the-Road Workout

By Courtney Opdahl (@clewisopdahl) / May 8, 2012

This weekend, I traveled to Madison, Wis., with a friend for a bridal shower. Our hotel accommodations were just swell: comfortable and clean rooms, a pool and hot tub, and a complimentary breakfast that included hard-boiled eggs. My only complaint was a fitness center that left much to be desired.

Sure, it had cardio machines — treadmills, elliptical machines, and upright and reclining bikes — but I’ve become accustomed to circuit training with free weights, exercises like renegade rows, squat thrusters and man-/woman-makers. Yes, I could’ve used the machines, but the thought, at least right now, makes me yawn. An open floor, dumbbells, plates, barbells, kettlebells, bands and boxes…now we’re talking.

Add to fitness snag #1 was the fact that we were traveling, and I was very tempted to sleep in. I mean, I’m on vacation!

But I knew my Boot Camp team in St. Paul was meeting that morning (a few were planning to meet early for hill sprints), so I dragged my body out of bed, suited up and headed downstairs. I had hill sprints and pushups in mind, and I thought back to our November 2011 story, “Body-Weight Training for Beginners,” for inspiration (for ideas, check it out online and watch the video, produced and narrated by yours truly, for demonstrations).

Summer is usually my busy time for travel, so I’ll be experimenting and blogging about my workouts along the way. Here’s what worked for me last weekend:

Hill Sprints x10: Quite literally. Run up a hill as fast as you can, walk or run back down the hill. Note: Because of the softness of the grass and the incline of the hill, this exercise is lower impact and nicer on the knees.
Parking-Lot Sprints x5 + Incline Pushups x10: Using the lines of parking spaces, pick lines 10-, 20-, 30- and 40-meters apart. Run to the nearest line, then back, then sprint to 20 meters, and back, repeating to the farthest distance. No need to worry about exact measurements — just choose your markers as every other line or every third line. Between sets, perform 10 pushups on a low wall. (You can also use a sturdy tree if you are building strength; the higher the incline, the easier this move will feel.)
Squats x10 for 2 sets: Just because I was ad-libbing.
Walk/Run for 10–15 minutes: You can walk the entire way, run the entire time, or sprint and walk to get your heart rate pumping. Or, for fun and a great challenge, skip.
Jack-Knife Sit-ups x20 for 2 sets (or crunches if this stresses your lower back; you can also hold a plank pose for 30 seconds, 2–3 times)
Mountain Climbers x20 for 2 sets
More Pushups! (on my knees) x20 for 2 sets
Stretch with a few yoga poses: downward dog, warrior 1, warrior 2, triangle pose. Add a few more poses that feel good, if you’d like. Incorporate ujjayi breathing with your movement and clear your mind to make it more “yoga” than simply stretching.

It took me about 45 minutes to complete this workout, but it could easily take less time. It could have been a 30-minute workout, but I did allow for adequate rest during the sprints. I was on vacation, after all.

Alpha Showdown

By Courtney Opdahl (@clewisopdahl) / May 7, 2012

In the past few weeks, I’ve been focused on one major goal: competing in the Life Time Fitness Alpha Showdown. Sound intimidating? It was.

Our event took place on April 21, and later that day, my family was getting together to celebrate my grandfather’s 83rd birthday. I was corresponding with my aunt, who was the hostess (and also a member of Life Time), about arrival times and any items we could bring to the gathering. I mentioned we’d most likely be late to lunch because I was in a competition that morning.

“Wait, are you doing the Alpha Showdown?! Isn’t that an extreme athletic event?!” she wrote via email.

Why, yes, yes it is. And I’m participating. Am I an extreme athlete? Heavens no!

But that’s not saying this event was for someone new to fitness. Our T.E.A.M. Boot Camp group has been together, more or less, since October 2011, and even those with the greatest fitness capacity had to muster the strength to finish. It was that challenging.

The event consisted of three parts: power, strength, and endurance, one section after another, all for best time to win. So even though I felt great while doing strength, power and endurance had me arguing with my sensible side. Just stop! she’d shout. This is too hard. That voice was most vocal during the burpee broad jumps, the snatch (that’s me pictured at right with the women’s weight of 45 pounds, midway through my 10 reps), and the duck walk, which I’ve practiced but opted out of since it aggravated my lower-back condition. (I had to listen to my body on that one, even though it meant my time would be disqualified.)

As the voice in my head grew stronger, I became weary. I was fatigued, but knew I hadn’t reached my limit. When I nearly laughed out loud at myself — my internal dialogue was seemingly delirious — I considered quitting.

But then I’d hear the cheers from my teammates, all of whom seem to dismiss the idea of competition with each other in favor of challenging themselves. And then, like something out of a boxing movie, my fellow Boot Camper Earl came up to me as I was losing speed, and put his hands on my shoulders: “You got this. We do this all the time in Boot Camp. You can do this.” The voice of my sensible side faded as he spoke, and I realized she was attempting to make concessions for me. Yes, it was hard, but I was indeed capable of completing the course. All my work in Boot Camp had prepared me for it, and I was strong enough to finish the challenge.

“Finishing is winning,” Earl told me. He’s right. I think we often get so convinced that the only way to win is to take first place, and if that motivates you, terrific. Counting those smaller triumphs, though, are equally important (some would argue more), especially when you’re working toward a larger goal. I needed to finish the Alpha Showdown that day, not win it, because finishing was indeed my prize. Finding stamina during moments of perceived weakness helped me see that my personal reserves of fortitude are big, and when I feel myself losing sight of my goals or veering off track, I can remember Earl telling me, “You got this,” and know that my teammates, too, have got my back.

Play Ball

By Courtney Opdahl (@clewisopdahl) / March 26, 2012

In grade school, the boys would play kickball at recess. It wasn’t that the girls weren’t allowed to join the game, we usually just chose to occupy the swing set. My best friend Amanda, however, was not the type of girl who would sit and braid the other girls’ hair. She was outgoing and tough, a girl who could later perform pushups on her knuckles, and when the boys gathered for kickball, she was one of the few girls who participated. And she encouraged me to do the same. We’ve gone our separate ways now, but I will always love my childhood friend for inspiring me to get off the sidelines and play the game.

I summoned her fortitude for Boot Camp’s new Saturday format: play in the park. Across the river from our Highland Park location is the beautiful Minnehaha Falls Park, and on Saturdays, we walk across the bridge to sprint, crawl on the ground and play a form of Frisbee Golf with a ball instead of a disk. It’s a nice way to mix it up after a week of circuit-style Boot Camp workouts.

Unfortunately for anyone on my team, my hand-eye coordination has been drastically diminished in years I’ve spent sitting at a desk. I haven’t participated in team sports since I was a sophomore on our school’s volleyball team. Throwing a ball? Come on! Can’t I just toss it instead, maybe roll it? Even our lab, Chloe, is unimpressed when I throw her the tennis ball — she always outruns it, expecting me to really chuck it. When it lands several feet short, she spins around in to make her way back to me and retrieve it, clearly as confused as I am to its whereabouts. Everything in my body positioning, from the outreach of my arm to the exertion of my breath, would indicate a long throw, but alas. Add “throw a ball a distance” to my list of goals.

So what’s my role on the team? Defense and distraction. Swatting at the ball. Run back and forth and not accomplishing much — save for sweating a lot and burning calories. Maybe I won’t be MVP anytime soon, but at least I had fun.

Sprint, Slog, Then Sprint Again

By Courtney Opdahl (@clewisopdahl) / March 13, 2012

Since last October, I’ve been going to Life Time’s T.E.A.M. Boot Camp two to three times per week. Save for a week in December, I’ve made it most weeks. I have skipped a session, I’ll admit — trainer Shane called me out, and I confessed my date with the couch that trumped a workout — but the times I do miss I regret it. Usually because of days like today.

Highland Park’s Boot Camp team is the best. The people are friendly and motivating, and when someone is clearly pushing past their limits, an encouraging “You got this!” is often proclaimed. Tonight’s workout, enjoyed outside during Minnesota’s unseasonably warm March, involved sprinting to the end of the block and back in between push-ups, jumping jacks, burpees, lunges and flutter kicks. That’s right: sprinting before and after each exercise that we performed for 30 seconds. Before and after burpees.

I’m not a fan of burpees, and there’s definitely no love for sprinting. Really running of any kind. That’s not me. I love lifting weights, swinging a kettlebell, even holding tree pose in yoga. But running has never made me light up.

Usually I shut down. Maybe I improve, like when I went from the 15-minute mile to the 11-minute mile in 5th grade (oh yeah!), but generally not without complaints. Last fall, Shane had us run a mile on the treadmill. My walk/run was about 18-minutes long. (I was taking the scenic route.) So when he said sprint, I immediately started to doubt myself. I even glanced at the door and thought about counting myself out before we began.

I kept up for a few rounds, then took a few rounds off to do burpees or jumping jacks instead. By the time we got back to running fartlek-style around the building at the end (we started with it to warm up, and I was able to keep up longer than when we did the same drill in the fall), I was wiped out, but gave it one good hard push to race to the front of the line. I told the group to go on without me while I jogged at a slower pace behind them. Soon, they were gone.

As I rounded the building, one of my teammates met me to run alongside for the final stretch. When I caught up to the group at the finish line, a few of them cheered for me, “All right, Courtney!” For a brief moment, I started to feel defeated. I thought, they aren’t cheering because I just made an awesome time and blew everyone away by my speed — they are cheering because the fat girl finished. It’s a horrible thought, and thank goodness it was fleeting, but it’s the voice I battle in my head. The teenage girl who was curvier than the rest and picked on for having “thunder thighs” or who was told by her gym teacher in 5th grade that her weight “wasn’t where it should be” — in front of all my female classmates as we got weighed in together (what kind of medieval torture was that?!). Of course, I know that’s not what they were thinking, and I hope what they were thinking, what was behind their cheers, was the positive message I quickly sent myself: I finished. I did it. And I’m getting better each time we run.

Sure, I'm all smiles now that the workout is done. Me and Life Time Fitness personal trainer Shane Kinney.

Boot Camp Fitness Testing

By Courtney Opdahl (@clewisopdahl) / March 12, 2012

In January, trainer Shane announced that we’d have fitness testing one Thursday instead of Boot Camp. Climbing rope, stretch-and-reach, and running the mile?! Please no! I immediately flashed back to middle-school Presidential Fitness Testing and the residual trauma.

Rather, we did a cone drill, standing broad jump and vertical jump, among other tests. And when we tested again recently, I improved all around!

My scores on January 19:
T-Cone Drill: 9.2 seconds
Ladder Drill: 8.8 seconds
Broad Jump: 41 inches
Plyo-Pushups (clap your hands on the -up of pushup): 11 (I did these on my knees)
Vertical Jump: 9 inches (I’m 5’5″)
Plate Push (70 pounds): 19.6 seconds

My scores on February 23:
T-Cone Drill: 8.4 seconds (0.8-second improvement)
Ladder Drill: 8.3 seconds (0.5-second improvement)
Broad Jump: 43 inches (2 inches further)
Plyo-Pushups: 21 (still on my knees, but nearly double my old score!)
Vertical Jump: 10 inches (1-inch improvement)
Plate Push (70 pounds): 17.2 seconds (2.4-second improvement)

We re-test every four to six weeks, so I’m hoping to see even better scores next time.

8-Minute Kettlebell Workout

By Courtney Opdahl (@clewisopdahl) / February 21, 2012

My favorite (and most often used) excuse for not working out: I don’t have time. I’m just too busy.

I’m too busy for my body, for my health? Maybe I don’t allow myself to think of it that way, hence why I skip a workout here and there, but this is essentially the excuse I’m making. And when I do reconsider my rationalization for “too busy,” I start to think of the things I do that are time-suckers and moments when I could squeeze in activity instead.

For someone always claiming to be “too busy” to workout, kettlebells have offered the perfect solution. It’s a quick twofer: the body gets stronger and the heart beats faster. Kettlebells are also great for coordination and balance, and burn mega calories, if you are keeping track. You’ve probably read all the reasons why a kettlebell workout is so great already, so I won’t go on about the benefits. If you want a fast, kick-butt kettlebell workout, try girevoy, which we feature in our March 2012 Workout department.

What do you do when you don’t have 10-minutes? How about a full-body workout in eight minutes? Just eight minutes! Try this routine from this week’s Team Kettlebells workout, developed by RKC and KBA certified Jen Sinkler, senior fitness editor at Experience Life and author of Survival of the Fittest:

Kettlebell Snatches, One Arm, 40 seconds. With hips back, swing the kettlebell so you are lifting it nearly straight up overhead. It felt kind of like a swing and a push press combined. When the kettlebell feels weightless, flip it over so you guide it to the outside of your wrist. (The move kind of looks like this, seen in the first 10 seconds of the video, only with one kettlebell/arm.) Start with your weaker side (whichever isn’t your dominant hand). Rest for 20 seconds.
Kettlebell Snatches, Alternate Arm, 40 seconds. Repeat the same movement with the other arm. Rest for 20 seconds.
Goblet Squat, 40 seconds. Use a heavier kettlebell if you have it for this move. (At home, I keep a 10-pound kettlebell and 25-pound kettlebell that my mom bought me in our den for on-the-fly workouts.) Grab the kettlebell by the handles and lift to chest height in a rack position (you can also flip it over so the bell is upright like in this demo video), then squat (whatever depth feels good — no need to dip below the knees if that doesn’t feel comfortable) and stand back up. Repeat until time. Rest for 20 seconds.
Mountain Climbers, 40 seconds. This is the move I do in T.E.A.M. Boot Camp that both challenges me and makes me giggle. Partially because I’m thinking about how I look and partially because it feels kind of fun. It’s also the move that I’ve demonstrated to two different friends, once in a parking lot and once in a coffee shop. Yes, it’s a conditioning move that you may randomly find yourself doing in public. (It could become the next flash mob: flash mountain climbers.) How to do it: Squat down, place your hands on the ground, then kick your legs back — first one and then the other — straight behind you, alternating legs. Keep your butt down and make the movement quick-paced. Rest for 20 seconds, then repeat from the top for your 8-minute workout.

A note on kettlebell snatches from Jen: You want to be in charge of the kettlebell when you flip it to the outside of your wrist so it doesn’t smack against your arm. If you are bruising, you can buy wristbands, but don’t let them compromise your form (don’t let the cushioning allow you to lose control of the KB). You can find inexpensive terrycloth wristbands at sporting-goods stores or Target, or if you’re big time, check out KettleGuards.

Next time you’re faced with a day that leaves little time, add this workout to the mix. Maybe you’ll even find you have time for more rounds — or a repeat performance later in the day.

Yoga Life Lessons

By Courtney Opdahl (@clewisopdahl) / February 8, 2012

Two weeks in a row of hot yoga at Life Time Fitness, and I’m already feeling more introspective.

Last week, toward the end of our class, Aleeah’s music playlist started with Baz Luhrmann’s “Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)” based on the wise words from Mary Schmich’s 1997 column in the Chicago Tribune. I hadn’t heard it in ages, and if you haven’t either, add it to your meditation mix. There’s some profound statements in there. My two favorite lines:

Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes
you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with
yourself.
AND
Enjoy your body — use it every way you can. Don’t be afraid of it, or what other people
think of it. It’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.

Tonight, Aleeah had a great story she shared as we were in frog pose. She pointed out a student near the front of the room as a reference for those needing an example, but was quick to remind us that we shouldn’t compare our pose to the student’s positioning. Then she mentioned an episode of Oprah she once saw when Dr. Phil was a guest. He was sharing all the benefits of yoga and meditation, saying that everyone should be doing yoga as much as they can — everyday, if possible.

During the interview, Dr. Phil showed Oprah downward dog. Oprah asked if one’s heels need to touch the floor when they are positioned in downward dog and Dr. Phil said yes. Aleeah’s response:

“No, Dr. Phil. No. That’s not yoga. If our heels don’t touch the ground, that’s OK. They may never touch the ground. And that’s OK, too. Be where you are right now. That’s yoga.”

It was one of those statements that reminded me to appreciate my body right now, and just be present.

Team Kettlebells

By Courtney Opdahl (@clewisopdahl) / February 7, 2012

As I’ve been working hard to lose weight, I’ve found a great support system in my teammates at Experience Life magazine. My co-workers have a wealth of knowledge and have either lost weight themselves or are maintaining weight loss, or are generally eating healthy, trying different detox methods (for the body and mind), or are working to improve their strength and fitness.

Several of my co-workers are registered yoga teachers. One competes in long-distance cross-country skiing competitions (always my go-to guy for tips on outdoor winter gear). One is big into rock climbing. A few are avid bikers. And our senior fitness editor and author of Survival of the Fittest, Jen Sinkler, is a certified kettlebell instructor (RKC and KBA), senior-level USA Weightlifting coach, CrossFit Level 1, and L.I.F.T. certified through Ultimate Sandbag.

Every week, our team gets together to do a kettlebell circuit designed by Jen. This circuit gets your heart pumping and builds strength. You can also modify it based on your level of fitness (or if you forgot your workout clothes and are wearing stockings). Two rounds are about 10 minutes; work your way up to four rounds if you have the time. You can also grab heavier kettlebells as you get stronger.

Alternating Walking Press, 45 seconds. Hold two 15-pound kettlebells at shoulder height with wrists straight. Press the right kettlebell up, lower, and then press the left kettlebell straight up. If the kettlebells feel heavy, use a push press (squat a bit and use your legs to help) to raise the kettlebells overhead. Rest for 20 seconds.
Row, 45 seconds. Bend at the hips and place your free arm on your thigh. Using your left arm, pull a 15- to 25-pound kettlebell up — bend your elbow and squeeze your shoulders as you row. Keep your gaze in front of you on the floor so your neck remains neutral. The back can often handle more weight than the shoulders, so you can use a heavier kettlebell. On round two, use your right arm to row. Rest for 20 seconds.
Jumping Lunges, 45 seconds. Lunge backward and jump straight up as you switch legs; lunge on the other legs; jump to switch again and keep a fast pace as you continue to switch legs. You can also perform regular lunges here to decrease the intensity. Stepping back vs. forward on lunges is often easier on the knees. Rest for 20 seconds.
Waiter Carry, 45 seconds. Press a 15-pound kettlebell straight up with your left arm, keep your core tight and walk around the room. Make sure you don’t lean to one side! On round two, carry the kettlebell on your right side. Rest for 20 seconds.

Repeat the circuit after your 20-second rest. Once complete, you should appear as happy as this:

Here I am doing Alternating Walking Presses with 15-pound kettlebells.

First for Everything

By Courtney Opdahl (@clewisopdahl) / February 6, 2012

I love the first of the month about as much as the first of the year. I also love Mondays. Why? Because it feels like a fresh start.

There’s something very human about wanting a fresh start. Everyone makes mistakes, and many of us would rather not. We’re perfectionists, or perceived perfectionists, and some of us prefer to seem infallible. I’ve had several moments in my life where a mistake has devastated me, where I feel almost paralyzed from moving forward in fear of making it worse or repeating the error. But we’re human. We’re children growing up and learning new lessons. And forgiveness — for others, and especially for yourself — is a beautiful gift.

I still struggle with appreciating my mistakes, but I’ve been better at dusting myself off and taking the next steps forward.

Case in point: New Year’s Resolutions.

I try to avoid making them altogether because I feel like it’s too much pressure. And usually I quit my program by late February or early March, which is longer than most: one-third don’t make it past January. But I love, love, love goal-setting and self-improvement, so I make them every year. Of course, I don’t always have the best plan in place, which is usually how I fall off-track so quickly. And sometimes, I’m not truly at the place where I’m ready to change, even though I insist I am. This year, after speaking with life coach Lauren, I really thought of my resolutions as promises to myself. I could adjust as needed, but the steps I was taking to accomplish my goals were nonnegotiable. If I slipped, as I did, I wouldn’t let it stop me from making progress.

Here are my health-and-fitness resolutions I committed to during my recent Dream Body teleseminar:

Participate in Life Time Fitness T.E.A.M. Boot Camp three times per week.
Take a yoga class at least once per week.
Attend a weekly dance class.
Eat “clean” and avoid: gluten, dairy, soda and processed foods.
Communicate about my health goals via my life coach/personal trainer/family or friends/blogging so I feel a sense of accountability.

I’ve missed a few boot camps, once due to a conflicting family event, once when I had a migraine, and once when I just didn’t want to go. (I made a date with the couch instead, but felt a sense of guilt all night long.) I’ve been eating well, but broken the gluten rule one night on a bread binge — the next day I could barely think straight and felt tired, even with a nap. And I’ve been chatting up my friends and family about my health goals, usually coming away with more positivity and motivation.

BUT I didn’t go to yoga or dance in January, so the classes moved to my February list. Last Wednesday, I attended a yoga class at Life Time Fitness. About 10 minutes in, I thought, Man, it’s hot in here! I had made a plan to take the class with one of my fellow boot campers, suggesting that the relaxing Vinyasa 1 class would help us feel more flexible for the following day’s boot camp. After 20 minutes, my body was pouring sweat — this definitely didn’t feel like a Vinyasa 1 class, as I thought I read on the schedule. It was much more vigorous. By the time our instructor, Aleeah, had the yogis move into shoulder stand (Salamba Sarvangasana), I was preeeetty sure I was in a more advanced class. And I was: hot yoga. It’s a class I always wanted to take, and, even though I ended up there by accident, I felt capable and completely calm when the class concluded. Maybe it wasn’t an accident after all.

It’s often our mistakes, whether small or large, that turn out to be the greatest lessons. Don’t fret the stumbling, the gaffes, the blunders along the path to change. I’m using them to guide me in each new day, in each new moment. Yes, there’s always next month, next Monday, but today seems like the best time to make it happen.

Big Dreamer

By Courtney Opdahl (@clewisopdahl) / January 17, 2012

This is the season of dreams. If last month was for giving to others, January is the month to give to ourselves. We make resolutions. We change the way we eat. We join a gym. We make a plan for the new year to better ourselves, our relationships and our lives. It’s an exciting time to be in the health and fitness industry — not to mention on my own weight-loss journey — but it’s also a bit maddening.

Case in point: The uptick of marketing weight-loss pills, cure-all diets, and fitness gadgets promoting less work and faster results. (See Jen Sinkler’s “Expert Advice” column for the real deal.) I’m a sucker for these commercials. I’m a busy woman. If there were an easy and safe pill or tool I could use to lose weight, why wouldn’t I want that?! So over the years I’ve acquired a few gizmos: the Thighmaster, a type of “ab rocker,” a mini stair stepper and an ab roller. In my defense, the last two are legit, although the stair stepper broke and no longer has any resistance, thereby making it worthless. Oh well. I have two kettlebells now that give me a much better workout when I’m at home.

There are many out there that profit off our collective naiveté, and they have every right to market. Paula Deen can push her Lady’s Brunch Burger, a hamburger topped with a fried egg and bacon set on a glazed doughnut, around the same time she’s diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, a secret she’s kept for three years, if she so chooses. Like I said, she has every right to market. It doesn’t mean that it’s right. But we all have a choice to eat the food or not eat the food.

Choice, in relation to food, has been a hard concept for me to grasp. And to clarify up front, it doesn’t always exist: Many communities around the U.S. and world still don’t have access to healthy food let alone organic food. But the more advocates and policy busters out there that petition to help neighborhoods survive via a farmers’ market or community garden the better. I could go on about how said food needs to be less expensive, but this isn’t a political diatribe. I’m in a position where I can easily find healthy food, so this is a commentary on my own choices.

When I think about my past food choices, they’ve been poor until recently. My choice is usually to sit on the couch and watch TV versus walking outside or going to the gym. Or in the past I’ve usually chosen to go to the bar with friends instead of joining them in a yoga class. Last fall, when I began my work with Lauren Zander of The Handel Group, I got called out. (Lauren spoke at TED Talk Amsterdam; see her interview below to get a better picture of this very cool and honest woman.) And even though I felt I could improve in several areas of my life (The Handel Group defines 18, which I’ll explain in upcoming blog entries), the main focus for me kept coming back to my body.

The Handel Group’s method focuses on personal integrity, on making and keeping promises. When we started talking about it, I laughed a bit. Of course I keep promises. Don’t I? As we spoke, I realized I make more excuses than promises. And the first promises I break are always with myself.

Think about it. It’s easy to break a promise to yourself to, say, eat right or not go to the gym. You’re not going to get in trouble, so to speak, because you’ll let yourself off the hook. But you keep your promise to meet a friend for coffee, go to work, or attend a family event. All those broken promises to myself had made me worse off, and I realized I maybe wasn’t even able to keep promises to others. Since I wasn’t keeping a promise to myself to do healthy activities and thus be healthy, I felt sick often and missed work, or had little energy to spend with friends and family. Lauren recommended a more intensive route: Dream Body.

Dream Body is a group teleseminar led by a Handel life coach over the course of 4, 8 or 12 weeks. I chose the latter option — I figured I had a lot of work to do.

I recently concluded my work with Dream Body and had a lot of great insights that I’ll be sharing over the next several weeks. Tonight, however, I wanted to focus on the theme of dreams. The core concept of promises and consequences, along with personal integrity, are the roots of the workshop, but the base of the tree is all about the Dream Body statement, one I struggled with all session.

When I first wrote it in October, I kept envisioning my former self, a blend between my svelte 18-year-old and 24-year-old bodies. Then the advertising entered: the Victoria Secret models and the bikini-clad fitness models on women’s magazines. My dream was getting clouded by what others deemed “sexy” or “beautiful,” not what I really wanted. And I needed to be clear about my own goals, and my own thoughts about beauty — because it’s much less narrow than it was years ago.

I started realizing that my “dream body” was first and foremost a healthy body, one that felt and looked strong. It was one that was full of vitality and energy, a body that was flexible and resilient. A powerful immune system. A clear and focused mind. It started to be more about what my body could do than what it looked like. After I spoke with Handel life coach Christine Young, who led the teleseminar, about this new vision for myself, I felt good. The Dream Body statement was different for everyone, but for me, the promise to reach optimal health has been a huge motivator. It’s behind every choice I make every day for my body.

I also keep in mind one of my favorite quotes from this month’s greatest dreamer, motivator, activist and extraordinary man, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: “The time is always right to do the right thing.” For me, that means the right thing as a citizen, in my work, for my family and for my health. And the right time is always now.

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Coming Clean

On-the-Road Workout

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Alpha Showdown

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Play Ball

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Boot Camp Fitness Testing

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8-Minute Kettlebell Workout

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Yoga Life Lessons

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Team Kettlebells

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First for Everything

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Big Dreamer

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