Not so simple!

On the surface, losing and gaining weight is simple; take in more food that the calories you use through metabolism and exercise and you gain weight. Take in fewer calories than that and you lose weight! Simple..................or not! Losing fat is difficult because your body fights hard to keep you at a constant weight - lose weight rapidly and the body release hormones that make you hungry and slow your metabolism down.

Braving the rocky road to weight loss takes more than a pair of Asics. There are rough patches, and for some women, it's even tougher to arrive at their target weight - no matter how strict their diets are or gym workouts. Studies have found that the ease with which a woman loses weight is largely determined by her genes. But Genes are not your destiny, no one is destined to be fat! Understand you challenges, work out a regime that will work for you. You may have to play with it a bit until the right formula appears, or alternatively you may have to keep you body guessing at all times, so that it does not get used to the same regime day in day out.

My principles at the moment are :-

• Do 60-90 min of aerobic exercise per day
• Include some form of interval training
• Do four heavy session of weights - concentrating on always pushing your muscle to the limit
• eat a well balanced diet that works for you and is easy to maintain
• drink plenty of fluids
• listen to your body.

In short, and in the long run, the best way to lose fat for good is with proper diet, cardio and a good strength training routine. Cardio will help speed the process along, but the key to permanent weight loss is increasing your metabolism - and having a healthy amount of lean muscle mass on your body is the best way to do this - again bring on the muscle! Group that with a lowfat diet rich in protein, you are set for life.

Well one week down and two weeks to go until the results of my DNA test to come back. Had an awesome week training with the exception of hurting my knee again.........same injury reinjured. Should have not done that extra bit of weights with J but could not resist the challenge. Something about weights, challenge, growth and acknowledgement all mixed together seems to get the better of me. I think I will need to strap my knee for the next couple of weeks while doing any cardio or weights. Went shopping yesterday and you know how the shopping trolley gets away from you, you pull it back into line and you twist your knees,legs,body to pull it around...................weeelllll OW! whammo just when I thought it was good again, I blew it! Maybe I should listen to others who tell me to go to a doctor to get it seen to????? Nahhh! wasting my precious time is all my head is telling me and who has time to go to the doctors!!! I guess I will stick to bike and xtrainer for a while for cardio, even rowing machine. Walking is a little hard, though it shouldn't be, must be the way I am placing my feet. Boxing will be a problem, but with a bit of good strapping, i should be okay. Had the sorest shoulders and upper traps all week after tuesday, thought it was the way I did my weights but worked it out. It was the 5 x 3 min sessions of skipping that did it............talk about major lactic acid build up leftover pain.

The rain was nice yesterday and today is turning out to be a good day as well with the sun shining. I am tossing up whether to go to the NABBA show at Southport or go do some gardening, cleaning and maybe even shopping. Well as it is already 10.00am I guess I am not going to the NABBA show.

Well I guess I had better cut, chop, dice, slice and make my food packages for the week. Will check you all later.

Ciao!

X:D)

Give me more muscle

Muscle plays a huge role in raising metabolism. Strength training has all kinds of great effects on your body like:

• Increasing resting metabolic rate so you burn more calories, even while at rest.
• Making you lean and slim - muscle takes up less space than fat so, the more you have, the slimmer you are.
• Strengthening bones and connective tissue which can protect your body from injuries in daily life
• Enhancing balance and stability
• Building confidence and self-esteem

For weight loss, science has found that lifting between 60-80% of your 1 rep max is the best way to stimulate muscle growth, which is what helps you lose fat.

I don't know about anyone else but I am totally hooked on weights. I would actually suffer if I was ever told I could not lift weights. The important thing to remember when it comes to strength training is that you must give you your muscles more weight that they can handle - that's how muscles grow. The challenge of lifting heavy is just as much a mental game as it is a physical one and , if you haven't pushed your bodys limits in a while, just the act of lifting weights may be all you can handle. In short, I want more muscle.

My week so far has been very good. I started with legs on Monday morning, but J made me lift heavy with weighted step ups (Olympic Bar, 15kg each side and step up on bench!!!!!!!!!!!!! total 50kg) and I have hurt my knee again. GGrrrrr! why does an injury persist not to heal!!!!! Knee actually didn't start hurting till late afternoon, but hindered me in boxing today as I could not do cardio stepups and skipping. Boxing itself was a little hard as I could not twist my knee. Spinning was okay though, I was able to put pressure on it, so all good on those hill sprints and standing hill climbs.

My eating plan is turning out to be a no brainer.........so easy, I am really enjoying it also so comfortable to eat.

Oh this is a short and sweet post, off to prepare meals and clothes for tomorrow. Cardio in the morning -no weights tomorrow. A day off. 2 on, 1 off, 2 on is the pattern at the moment.

So C u guys and Long Live Fitness!

Ciao!

X:D)

My Heroes! Women Warriors who believe in what they do!

Today I am approaching life and my fitness journey in a slightly different manner, with renewed vigour!. First, I have change my diet a little, I think much easier for me to cope with. Second, I had a talk with my pt on Monday and said to him, time for us to get serious, 100% only in return from him, I will need his push!!!! Thirdly I would like to draw amazing strength and insight and maybe even a little help from my heroes who I will list below. Ultimately I will change the way I think and look at myself. In time my self esteem will increase and in turn, I will be able to give more of myself to my family and friends - what a wonderful thing to acheive. I read in an article 'every human walking this planet has the choice to shape their muscles and proportion their fat in a way that enhances their genetics. Sure, genetics may make it a little easier for some, but if you really want a toned, buff body, the only thing that is stopping you from acheiving it is the limitations you place on yourself. Ie the limitations I have in my mind.'

My heroes:

Sabine: I have known Sabine for about 20yrs, has always has an amazing sense of self esteem that I always wished I could harness. Sabine herself has reached her fitness goal and I can hope to draw on her success to help me to help myself with mine. Sabi orginally got me hooked on gymtime back in the donkey's ages with classes, and I progressed from there. Perhaps Sabi can help me with my current goals, where I find my weaknesses such as self esteem, she can help me strengthen those??? As mentioned, Sab has an amazing self esteem and one can only hope to draw from that.

Chris: A rock. this little lady has been through cancer and back, brought up a child by herself while working 2 jobs and is always so confident with her focus. It was Chris who got me hooked on weights and that all started with one little phrase "Come on you bunch of pussies". That was about 8-10 yrs ago. Chris always tries to help me with my goals and we are very like minded, ie in finding out more information about what we do and what we eat and how our body reacts with certain things.
Carolyn: A strong mentor who doesn't pull any punches. I got to finally meet Carolyn last weekend, which I am still on a high over, and watch this lady compete. Carolyn has lost an amazing amount of weight and I draw on her weekly when I hit a low level and she basically tells me to wake up, no flowery feelgoods! Can not wait to catch up with her again in October, to cheer just as loudly as I did last weekend. talking to you soon.

Sue: when I found this picture, it was one of the first inspirational pictures I cut up and put in a book. I also had the pleasure of meeting Sue last weekend and I still can not get over how petite this woman is and sooooooooo friendly. Thats all I did was meet so many friendly people. Sue in one of her 10 golden rules, suggested that you surround yourself with like minded people, hence the idea of me meeting so many inspirational people out there in the fitness world.

All the bloggers and then some: All warrior women with amazing feats under their tiny little belts. Hiliary, Sharlene (amazing transformation), Liz Nelson, Lisa Stokes, Lia Halsall, Tara (amazing transformation) Em (Antigone) just to mention a few. Thankyou all for your inspiration and continuing inspiration......................gosh, I think I am starting to sound like I am writing an obituary???LOL.

Jo Rogers: It was Jo's guest appearance about 8 years ago that so got me hooked on wanting to compete one day and the love of muscle!!!!!!, but alas motivation is my downfall, so 8 years later I am still no where near my initial goal. I remember sitting and listening to Jo talk about her journey that year and how hard she had worked to put on lean mass.

Lindy: Up until last weekend, I have only admired Lindy in magazines and websites, like Ultra-Fit. She has always been one of my poster girls along with Monica, Rosa, Jenny, Cindy Phillips etc etc there are just too many to name. (Would love to get my hands on a John Stutz book one day) Then I met Lindy last weekend and again as previously posted, how unbelievably down to earth this lady is. So willing to talk about everything and then some. I have actually cut out my head and stuck it on Lindy's body on my board in my kitchen.............does that make me a stalker?????

So I am all fired up, have set myself some new incredible goals and totally excited and inspired. I do not lack the motivation with exercise, that part I do enjoy............just have to re-arrange to make more time!!!!! Some say I do too much, but I don't think so, I really beleive I can do more. Diet is always good during the week. At work it is a no brainer but weekends' tend to be my nemesis!! I go with all good intention Saturday morning, but forget to eat more often than not. But this is one the thing s I have been working on for a while. I am hoping with the change in diet, this should also be a no brainer. So far on paper looks good.

So this blog is my shout out to my heroes and also a 'visible goal'. Visualisation of my oucome is what I have to keep doing along with so many other things. To quote 'Powergirl' Stay Strong!

Now I have check my priorities, now let the event begin, not to say I have already began them, just let the changes begin. I had my DNA test done, so when this comes back, I can analize what I need to do to help enhance my bodies natural abilities. No more second guessing with eating plans and exercise regimes, following this rule and don't do this rule, increase cardio rule, etc etc etc just pure and simple DNA - genetic ability. As pointed out to me when I first asked about it, DNA does not change! What works for some doesn't always work for others. I wish it would hurry up and come back.

Happy posting and Long Live Fitness!

Ciao!

X:D)

Goodluck Woofie!

This is a shout out to Wolfgang, who goes in for an major operation tomorrow. Looking forward to hearing you are up and about soon riding your new Harley around the countryside. Goodluck.

Dedication to my inspirational Mentor!

Wow! Wow! Wow!

And lastly a bonus to my weekend!

OMG! Today I am just flabbergasted! I met and spent 2 1/2 hours with Lindy Olsen. What an amazing person. I have always admired Lindy, she is like one of my poster girls for inspiration and I got to hang with her today! How lucky can you get. Lindy is such a casual person, so totally not what I expected her to be. And her husband Dallas, what a legend. Amazing how perception can be so wrong. I pictured Lindy to be a small petite person, but wow she has an amazonian stature! WOW! LOL I sound like at silly school girl going gaga!

I can not get over how easy it was to talk to Lindy. I think I scared her a bit as I kept gushing, yep I was gushing. I stood back today looking at all the amazing people surrounding me. I started to feel inadequate, then I stepped back from my thoughts and then realised how special I was that these people wanted to know me.

Thank you to everyone for one of the best weekends I have spent in a while.

I am inspired to the hilt now, especially after listening to Lindy talk in our little casual get together. Makes such sense.

Second inspiration for the weekend!

To Carolyn, WOW! You were amazing. Look at that side chest pose, how awesome was that. Don't know what the judge didn't see, but who am I to judge the judge!

I am so pleased to have met you finally, it feels like I have known you for a long time, well actually almost a year via emails.

Looking forward to October, you will knock them down!

Today was the fantastic day, bit windy but an awesome day. A great finish to a great weekend.

Looking forward to seeing some of the photos that Dallas took during the competition, maybe a nice one of your back which was the best on the stage. Maybe one for my inspiration board in my kitchen.

Looking forward to many more conversations, maybe a little longer ones now that you aren't so busy with comp prep for a few months. Please let Heidi and Sabine know it was an absolute pleasure meeting them and if evey Heidi is sick of her man, I want one like that. Lucky girl!

Talk to you soon anyway.

First amazing person I met on the weekend!

First to Sue, thank you and and absolute pleasure meeting you! This lady is so petite!! and such a awesome person. Looking forward to the most challenging surprise you can give me !!

Also meeting gorgeous Shelly whose photos totally do not prepare you for the most amazing blue eyes and the prettiest smile, her partner Nate, who is absolutely gorgeous as well and so in love with Shelly.

Selina, Heidi, Zita, Sabine, Eleni are more amazing people who I met on the weekend.

Hiliary, it has been great getting to know you more.

The ladies I spent time with over the weekend are amazing people who have acheived most of their goals in fitness and in life. Inspirations for me to reflect on in my journey.

GO CAROLYN! GO CAROLYN! GO CAROLYN!

You CAN do anything!

Click on link below - you really have to watch this guy. I am in total AWE!

http://tinyurl.com/5vnhq2

Happiness and Change, but no Satisfaction!

Definition of Happiness: good fortune; a state of well-being and contentment; a pleasurable or satisfying experience.

Definition of change: to make or become different; modify; making an essential difference often amounting to a loss.

The thought of 'others are watching and judging' never leaves my mind and often blows my self-consciousness out of whack. I get to thinking just because my changes aren't as apparent as other people, that I am be judged for lack thereof!!! Controlling this thought is a key to getting self consciousness under control. I need to step back and see how realistic is this perception I have of others. Are they really staring and commenting. I often hear comments from other people about other people ie skinny people talking about others who have put on a few kilos, or carry more than they do and I wonder, what is it that you say about me???? In actual fact most women are self conscious and pre-occupied with appearance. So in saying that, it only makes sense that if so many women are so worried about how they look, then they are not really looking at me!

So on the flip side, how can your health improve if you keep putting yourself down? Take action and change what you can. Accept what you can't change, and focus on those you can! Funny how I really struggle over my whole over weight thing and become very self conscious around other people, but yet I have a lot of surface varicose veins on my legs that look like bruises and I never give them a thought until someone either pointedly looks at them or asks me how I got so many bruises!!! LOL then I become aware of them. So I need to learn to disconnect. I need to remind myself that I am me, and me will do what it needs to do in its own time.

So what do I need to do - communicate is one thing that comes to mind with other inspiring females. Women have a sincere interest in what is happening in the lives of other women. We share ideas and help each other to overcome challenges (emotional and physical). My biggest role models are women I interact with everyday, my friends and I aspire to succeed as well as they have. I have learnt to value myself as much as I value other women around me. I think with this in mind and the slow steady process I am currently on, I will see improvements. Little changes are still happening and have dropped some more weight. Now I am still thinking is the weight I am dropping bodyfat or is it lean tissue, but as a friend did say, I have a lot of lean tissue and can afford to drop some. But I worked hard for that lean tissue!!! Just think of the DOMS I endured creating that lean tissue!!! Man!!!!!

But I am going to have to rethink my favourite work pants, they are getting a little too long in the crotch now, and I guess they may look unflattering - don't own a full length mirror (another small self conscious issue of mine - that whole thing if I see myself whole, what horrible picture is looking back at me! Again the self loathing thing!!) so I really can not tell how bad they look, all I know they are a bit loose. (okay a lot). Continuing on, I am going to repeat this mantra daily - Don't force the numbers. They will come. Here is your job today. Adhere to a winning pattern of action that you know will produce results if you follow it consistently. Thanks Sue.

One day to go till competition Carolyn........................OMG! Hope you're ready for some loud support!

best be off - on my way to Body Balance - to take in some stretching.

Ciao!

X:D)

Amazonian Power!

Strong! Feeling extremely strong at the moment. Expecially after a draining weekend! I rolled my ankle on Friday at work, so missed doing cardio all weekend! Climbing the walls to get out. For a supposed nice quiet day for Mothers Day turned into a drama - my parents turned up and anyone who knows my mum, it is just so draining having her around. I know I shouldn't say things like that but she makes every situation into such a drama. I developed a headache aroun 6.00pm and it disappeared Monday 2.00pm. Life is never easy when it comes to my mother. Anyway her mothers day was made as I cooked a traditional european dish for dinner and she got to see her grandson.

Training has been pretty good, I feel like an Amazonian Warrior Woman! Monday I managed a nice back and shoulder workout, and today I did chest. I am getting stronger in my chest so this is a good thing, I can now bench easily 65kg with absolutey no spots 15 reps. Don't get me wrong, I do have bad days when 60kg is hard - all depends on what my hormones are doing. And I was particulary strong today with chest and triceps. I did my usual routine and had some extra time, so we did extra tricep exercises. I think I am going to be very sore tomorrow. I am starting to feel my back at the moment, very tight........could do with a nice deep massage. I missed cardio on the weekend, so I am madly trying to catch up this week. Did 2 hours today straight up after weights (which was 45mins) and I have 1&1/2 hours tomorrow morning and 1 hour tomorrow night.

Food is great, a little hungry at the moment but am going to finish up quickly here and then go to bed so I don't get hungier.

I was waxed last night, so no hair on arms, and full leg, etc etc etc. Then had a facial. I fell asleep during the facial and work myself up with a snore. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz yep that was the noise that work me up, but my darling beauty therapist, Hanna, I said I am sorry for falling asleep and snoring, she said she heard nothing. What a sweetie, I know I snored as I woke myself up. LOL what a hoot!

I am getting very excited this weekend is only 3 full days away. I am going to the INBA comp and then to dinner with a whole pile of inspirational women. I will have to try and remember to keep my mouth closed so I don't make a fool of myself being in AWE of these women.

Check Cindy's tricep in the picture above. Very Nice. I have triceps like that only covered in a doona layer which is working its way to just being a coverlet! Well happy training, healthy eating and have a fantastic night. Will talk to all soon.

Ciao!

X:D)

Self Help action steps!

DECIDING ON WHAT IS REALLY IMPORTANT TO YOU
When you know what is important, you are able to manage your time and gain self control
OVERCOMING CHALLENGES, DIFFICULTIES, LIMITING PATTERNS OF THOUGHTS, BELIEFS AND ATTITUDES
Self satisfaction is achieved when you break through those things that have hindered your personal growth and success. You break free from obstacles by going inside yourself to look for solutions. To change limiting patterns and things you are afraid of, you need to create the curiosity to grow and get to know yourself a little better. You have to be honest with yourself.
LEARNING FROM YOUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCES, MISTAKES, ERRORS AND SUCCESSES.
Your journey has taken you to where you are now. Use the experiences and pitfalls as a learning tool, relfect and improve your strategies to move forward. You will gain personal satisfaction when you take charge of your own thoughts.

The dictionary defines self-help as the act of helping yourself without relying on anyone else and improving yourself economically, intellectually and emotionally.

Most important - You need to improve on your self-awareness. You need to work on your attitude. YOU HAVE GOT TO START BELIEVING IN YOURSELF.

Well almost 2 weeks now on the extra supplements and already I can see changes happening. I sleep deeper at night - no waking up every 2 hours to pee!!!!! Water intake has increased as well, as mouth is feeling dry often (I think that is the Fenugreek) so it encourages me to drink more, which in turn makes me pee more. Nice, I often during the colder months suffer to drink more water as it is cold. Subtle changes also happening on body, so maybe we have broken the barrier. I hate talking about it as every time something good happens - it all goes stagnant again. But as part of my self help in "loving myself", I need to talk about it. I have had some drop in weight again and skin folds came back reduced as well, but one thing I am not happy about is that I have lost some lean mass. I understand that this will happen as there is so much already and with any strict eating regime, you can not just lose body fat, you will have to sacrifice lean tissue as well (just not as much as body fat).

I forgot to tell all on wednesday night that I had dinner made for me! Nice. My son who has just turned 19 cooked dinner for us all. He made this awesome tomato soup from scratch (no tinned stuff in our house) for his father and himself (I had a tablespoon to critique and WOW) and I think I have taught him well. When he was 10 years old, he wanted to help me in the kitchen, so I started to teach him how to cook, I figured if anything ever happened to me, he would be at least able to feed himself and his father(who has not interest in even learning how to brew a good coffee) nice foods instead of relying on tinned stuff. Anyway, he knew I am on a specific eating plan, so he poached me some barramundi in lime juice, steamed a whole pile of veges (a little too much carrot than I normally have which is NONE) but beautiful! This of course is for mothers day as he is working on the Sunday night therefore could not cook then, and as he said "I don't get up when you get up mum, so breakfast is way off the list". Bad habit of mine, I can not sleep in!!!!! Spoilt I think I am but I deserve it! There another think positive moment!!!!

Well I best be getting some work done so I will blog later.

Catchyallata!
Ciao
X:D)

Reach Out! Feeling OK about who you are.

People who have poor self-esteem tend to focus on and magnify their perceived shortcomings, and ignore their strengths and achievements. It's like looking into the mirror and seeing a warped picture - a bit like the ones at fun parks that make you look distorted - completely blowing reality out of proportion.

Your self esteem can affect how you feel, how you relate to other people, how you deal with challenges and how relaxed and safe you feel. In order to be happy you need to like yourself. A good way to build your self-esteem is to become your own best friend. This means talking to yourself in the same way that you would talk to your best friend. You would listen to them, try and help them change any situation, or help them look at it differently. You would convince them that they are really ok, so now think about how you would treat yourself if you were in that situation.

Your self esteem is something that can be worked on. Good self esteem isn't something that you can acheive overnight, but it is something you can work on and improve over time. My goal for this week is to build my self esteem. I was panicking about a certain photo shoot and looking 'fat' amoungst all the 'perfect' bodies there, but I have to like myself. I will be okay with it. I have decided that is will be a picture record of my journey to a new me. I also remind myself of my strengths. Comes back to the saying I mentioned a few months ago "Fake it til you make it". Self nurturing can be surprisingly hard if you are not used to doing it. Just have to learn not to be self critical of oneself. Remind yourself that people with high self esteem are not easily defeated by setbacks and obstacles, not overly worried about failing or looking foolish, not harshly or destructively critical of themselves and are able to laugh at themselves, not taking themselves too seriously.

So in short, I did this today all day. Firstly at the gym, I was training back and shoulders and I would look in the mirror to check form and I thought to myself ' WOW Doris, you really have great technique, soon you will be looking so hot to go along with that great posture and technique'. I did some awesome heavy weights as well. Managed 70kg on the latpulldown, nice and slow and controlled with no spot - 10 reps! Wahoo - another strength of mine - Strength! Then at work I took control of my position and put my foot down with the accounts payable clerk.......I always sit on the fence not to make life hard, but today I laid down the law and she was not happy, but I am not worried. I did my job and my boss is happy with my stance. Another! Double Wahoo *as she punches the air*

I also convinced myself that I am getting excited about next weekend! Yo Carolyn, only 10 days left and counting. Need to find something to wear for the photo shoot - sporty but casual. Hmmmmm.

Well time to go, have just watch Ugly Betty and now I have to get my food ready and clothes ready for tomorrow. Talk later bloggers.

Ciao!

X:D)

Ability, Motivation and Attitude!

Ability is what you are capable of doing; Motivation determines what you do; Attitude determines how well you do it.

"The world cares very little about what a person knows, it is what person is able to do that counts" Booker T Washington

People will judge you on what you accomplish, not on what you know. If you don't accomplish anything, people will begin to wonder. Because thin females are seen as the ideal in our society and we have come to believe that body size and shape are totally under a perons' control, most people enter diet and exercise programs with great expectations. BUT You must have a positive self attititude and be positive with your self image first. This means that your feelings about your body should not influence your daily life. For many people, lifes problems are projected onto their body! ie "If only I were thinner, I would be so much happier'. Your body becomes an easy target for everything wrong in your life."

Understanding the minds role and behaviour is one of the most critical elements in success. It is easy to get overwhelmed by negative thoughts, people and circumstances but we can try to understand. So much planning and effort goes into the day to day process, you ensure you maintain consistent efforts, then you don't see results fast enough. Then one little setback like emotions take over and you become discouraged. Realisation about getting discouraged over silly little things like not seeing results fast enought is simply stupid, so over the last couple of weeks I have come to one decision - "Life is perfect, even if I don't think so". Your mind is the control centre of your behaviour, and your behaviour determines how you look at your current accomplishments.

For almost a year now I have been hard at it trying to become fitter and leaner, and the results have not been so great.............................but they have!!!! I have dropped some size and a little weight but not the amount I had set in my initial time frame. I guess I need to do more in order to achieve my long term goal. But it is taking a little longer than I had anticipated.

The last week I have been looking at insulin resistance research, talking to naturpaths and the like. We all know that consistent planned eating and training makes the body more functional, but some actually need a little more. I am now currently taking a few more herbs to help me with possible insulin spiking, even though I am not diabetic. I now have included R-Alpha Lipoic Acid, Taurine and Fenugreek in my daily supplimentation.

Food has been very good in my dark weeks and there was one week where I did not exercise at all, but I felt great and my body did make some change in that week. One other change that did happen was that TTOM arrived finally after 18 weeks, so heres to hoping that all will be normal for a long while again. Fingers crossed.

Had lunch with friend Sabine yesterday at a great irish pub on Calypso Bay which was great. Have not done that for a long time. Met up with another fitness friend, Kimmi Boyd, who only competed last weekend in Sydney. Sadly Kimmi did not place but man she looked fantastic, a bit of a inspiring boost just to get you thinking again. I am so looking forward to the INBA comp in 2 weeks and meeting many people who I have admired and am inspired by.

Well it feels good blogging again and look forward to catching up with everyone again. Thanks Hiliary and Antigone for your concern, same Carolyn. I am getting quite excited about seeing Carolyn on stage. Not only has Carolyn been a fantastic mentor for me, but I feel like I have known Carolyn for a long time, like a close friend who I cherish very much. Carolyn is a very collective soul who always seems to know what to say, even if it is harsh sometimes. Thanks. Hey Hiliary, how is your neck/back/rib??? Have not seen you at the gym for a long while, although you were there in the week I was not.
Well talk to you all later bloggers.

Ciao!
X:D)