Inspiring and motivating people...

Through out our lives, we will be inspired or motivated by something or someone. This past weekend, I felt inspired by my friend and fitness instructor, Liesa Burdett. She teaches different fitness classes at our local rec center. Her classes range from yoga, turbo kick, cycling, pilates, etc. She is truly inspiring and motivating. This past weekend she competed in a figure competition. She has worked extremely hard for this competition. Her first competition she competed in, she was in her early 20's. That was back in the 80's. She is 50 years old turning 51 tomorrow. I would've never guessed her age by looking at her body. (See the picture below.) I think for me, it's her age that inspires and motivates me...well, her body too. Doesn't she look amazing?



Because of Liesa, I came across the following ladies' blog. I think I posted about her blog awhile back. The writer began at a size 14, lost weight and went down to a size 2 and started competing. I like reading her blog not because she shares tips and stories that are a nice read. If you are wanting to get into clean eating -- she has lots of recipes that are great. Anyways, the writer was a judge at the competition Liesa participated in. She wrote about her experience as a judge. It is definitely a good read. Check it out HERE. How inspiring is that bodybuilder that competed?

Now like I mentioned above, I don't have plans to compete in figure or body building...it just so happens that this past week I saw Liesa's pictures and read Jenn's story about judging. I know I've been talking about weight & health a lot...well, it's what I'm trying to focus on for now - for me. Like I mentioned in earlier posts, of the 80 lbs I lost and maintained for a little bit, I gained 20 of it back. Twenty is a lot - that is almost equivalent to the size of a 25 lbs bag of sugar. I use that in comparison because we buy our sugar in the 25 lb size. When I lift a 25 lb bag, it reminds of what 20 lbs feels like. Also reminds me of how much more weight my legs have to carry. I know, I'm weird like that, but that's what helps me put things into perspective.

If you're wondering what I'm doing to lose the 20 lbs -- just taking the workouts to another level by pushing myself. I am also trying to eat clean -- eat better and natural foods. So far it hasn't been too bad. I'm trying to get use to sweetening my oatmeal with honey instead of sugar. I'm also trying to cut back on the salt. I have a tendency to salt my food before even tasting it. I'm also trying other alternatives instead of salt such as Mrs. Dash seasoning. We'll see how this goes...