What do I know?...oh don't answer that.

This has nothing to do with anything except it is beautiful and the view from the front of my house. And when I miss CA, I walk out and look at this.

But anyway, I've learned some things over my fitness journey and now at the age of 45 I finally get some credit. I always worked out. I was a serious gymnast (trained 4-6 hours, 6 days a week in the height of it), then moved on to kickboxing, weight training, dancing, teaching classes, personal training, you get it. So, I have logged the hours. But people will be people and some used to tell me things like:

1) oh yeah, you are young, of course you are in shape, just wait until you are 25, 30, 35, over 40...well each of those birthdays went by and now at 45 people have stopped saying it! Because I am just too damned old.
2) I would look like you if I worked out all day and had the time- I don't work out all day and I have the same time restraints as other people.
3) wait until you have kids- OK, I did that and I had them at age 37 and 40.
4) your lucky, your naturally skinny- this one kills me, because I am NOT naturally skinny and I hate being called skinny. I know it is some twisted compliment because it usually comes from women and they think it is a desired look. But I work to have the body I have.

So you see, people don't always want to give you proper credit, I believe the reason is that it would shoot down their million excuses of why they aren't doing it themselves. Because I am not particularly talented in weight lifting, time management or dieting. I have just made it a habit. The moral of the story is that you CAN be fit, you can create the habit and it is all about consistency. I just never stopped. Sometimes I was leaner or stronger, but I was always healthy and could kick someones ass, hence the kickboxing...lol.

Next I am going to single handedly dispel the myths of meal timing, protein consumption and clean eating. HA! Just kidding on that one. But I do have some insight into those hot topics.

I'm all for tradition, but...

Really, how do these say on?

Takin' it to the Streets

People here (Austria for sure and most of the European countries I have been to) do not wear fitness/workout/training/active wear out and about. I repeat, you will not see folks running around in their gym clothes. You might as well wear your bathrobe or pyjamas in public.

Of course I do. But since I am always going to be auslander (foreigner) I get more leeway in the eccentric department.

Which reminds me, I need to get more workout clothes and they only have the standard Adidas and Nike stuff here. I am going to order from the States. Who makes cool stuff? I am out of the loop these days living the Heidi life up here in the mountains.

Can I Offer You a Beer?

I'm getting tired of pictures of myself so after this one, I will take a break, promise.

My friend emailed me yesterday and asked if I could get her some lederhosen for Halloween. Now I love lederhosen as much as the next person, but they still are more popular on men than women. Frankly I don't have enough time to shop around or find them on ebay in time for Halloween, which includes mailing them to London. The Austrian post is notoriously slow. The trains are never late but the mail...good grief, Glacier speed, people. Oh yeah did I mention they run about 250-300 euros in the shoppes? That is about 400 bucks for a Halloween costume.

But I did have this little number. Behold the dirndl. It is a traditional Austrian dress, also seen in parts of Germany. Think Munich and Oktoberfest. You MAY think this is a costume, but it certainly is not over here. People dress like this on a regular basis. Kind of like how the rest of the world thinks of cowboy gear. I mean we don't look twice at cowboy boots, jeans, cowboy hats and western belts...to everyone else we might as well be dressed as an Indian or a clown. Touche.

I am going to send it off to London tomorrow and because my friend is a righteous babe who happens to work for a cool clothing design and wholesale studio, she is sending a load of cool clothes. Score.

I have to mention I am wearing white fishnets under that dress. My legs and arms are not that mismatched.

Doughnuts and Abs

Here's a funny one:

I teach English to kids. My kids like to join in and it helps because they speak fluent English. Right now we are making picture dictionaries. So for each letter we draw 3 things. We get to "D" and I am sitting next to Nicole, my almost 8 year old daughter. I say, "how about doughnut?" (yeah, yeah, my mind is in the gutter). She says, "what's a doughnut?" She DOESN'T EVEN KNOW! I am thinking on one hand, she is missing some very American stuff here. They do have doughnuts in Austria, but with their passion for pastry, they are not exactly flying off the shelves. On the other hand, I am thinking GOOD, she doesn't know what the deep-fried crap is.

It is kind of snowing. Yup, that's right, it is feeling very winter 'round here. I like winter. Sweaters, boots, SNOWBOARDING, holidays, family, fires, food and COOKIES. As much as I TRY to avoid it I usually put on 5 pounds and then I work my booty off in January to lose it for the summer. It's OK. I usually think it is worth the cookies and yummy food. But last January the thyroid went whack and I dislocated my shoulder and I seriously suffered trying to lose that fat. And I know 5lbs sounds like chump change, but I like to stay lean and when you are losing that last bit, it is tough. Now I am in a good place and I am not so willing to travel down that road again. So I am treading lightly.

SO, one of our cars is in the shop so we are working with one vehicle this week. My son has a Dr.'s appointment this morning and my hubby is driving him there. I wanted to go and coincide it with a stop at the sporting goods store to get some Adidas tights. (he didn't know THAT part)Well something happened and our wires got crossed. He called to pick me up, I was in the shower and thought he was just going to pick me up. Well he didn't when I didn't answer the phone. So I took some pictures because I was in my cute-going-to-the-city outfit. I don't wear this around the village because I would break my neck on the dirt roads in high heeled boots and people would think I am uppidy to get so dressed up to pick up my kids from school. So here they are. I am back in my workout clothes. I teach 2 classes back to back tonight. Can you say circuit anyone? That way I get to blow my whistle and "supervise."

PS. I saw some of the new Beachbody program, Insanity and you betcha those ladies will be doing some of that tonight. It is seriously hard.

PSS. I have to say I am pretty pleased about the abs shot. YES, they need more work and less fat, but considering that I have been basically vegetarian and no protein powder, for a couple of months, I am jazzed.

Look at me!

Look at me! That would be 3 posts in 3 days. I am on a roll, man.

So who am I? Just in case someone cares to know, and it will be fun for me to see where this goes.

I am a 45 year old woman from San Francisco, CA. I can't even believe it. The 45 part.

I now live in a small Austrian village in the mountains.

I have lived here for 4 years, my German still sucks, but I keep trying.

I hope to move back to CA one day. (more on that later)

This blog is about fitness and hopefully some funny stuff about living in a small village in the Austrian Alps because there is plenty of material here, folks. (see photo, this is a common occurrence in these parts)

I am married to surprise, surprise an Austrian. I tell people that I was traded for Arnold, it usually gets a chuckle, even though I am so tired of telling it. But when your German sucks, you stick with what you know.

I have 2 kids, 8 and 5. Yeah, I started that pretty late.

At the moment I teach fitness classes. It is an eclectic mix of Muay Thai kickboxing, weight training and yoga. Because that's what I know.

My current goals are to really learn German (beyond speaking in the present tense with the finesse of a caveman) and to be a role model for the women in my community and anyone else who gets something out of my experiences. It IS a tall order but I am making it happen with Divine help and Trust.

OK, that's it for now.

Auf Wiedersehen.

Dressing Room Meltdown

I live in Europe. I am an American. We have this store over here (Europe) called H&M. Perhaps you know it? If not, it is the equivilant of The Gap. The Gap is cool for some things, but I have never been a fan of their jeans. I do have some cargo pants from the Gap or Old Navy, same thing. So when I moved over here, I checked out the H&M for your basic t-shirts and tank tops. Thought I would try some jeans too. You never know.

Well, I will admit it, I get hung up on sizes. Not as bad as I used to, but I have this aversion to wearing a size 8 or above. I want/need to wear a 6. I am 5'9", by the way. Even as I write this I am thinking who cares! Get over the size thing. I should find pants that fit nice and if they are an 8, 10 or 12, well so be it.

Oh yeah, back to the H&M. So, I look at those Euros sizes and grab the equivilent of a 6. It tells you right on the label the various sizes, UK, European, and USA. I believe it comes to what is called a 36. They looked a little small for a 6, but I was not going into the 38/40 territory. No way.

After nearly ripping the seams in a desperate attempt to get that denim over my booty, I was humbled. Could it be that the good ole USA has been making us feel like we are a size 6 when the rest of the world is snickering at us as we dilude ourselves into giant pants with a small number? I am serious a size 10 over here is a 6 in America. I have the pants to prove it.

So which is it, do the Europeans want to make their women feel fatter or do Americans want their women to feel smaller. Or does anyone care about their pants size? Maybe I am a freak that way.

And what is up with Plus sizes for kids???? I just saw that for the first time as I was checking oldnavy.com for my daughter.

Bust out the Big Hair

Damn. I used to love blogging and I actually kept up a decent blog back in the day. That would be a couple of years ago. I tried to rekindle the magic again and it just wasn't the same.

And now it appears I am going to another failure.

But something inside me wants to do this again. Like the 80's. I had fun in the 80's. I want some of that again. So, I am going to wear the leggings and I bet the shoulder pads are not far behind and get in the mood. No stirups though. Yeah I rocked the 4inch pumps with the stirup leggings.

I am going to give another shot. Oh yeah, I suppose it would help if I commented on the blogs that I read. I think that's how it worked last time.

Oh yeah, I need a picture. People like pictures.

How about those 80's. Is it just me or do I have vampire teeth in that pic?

Yoga and Fitness Auf Deutsche

I am starting a fitness class here in the Alps. Finally. It has been 4 years and I have worked up the nerve to bust out my caveman German to the poor souls that are willing to train with me. So far my "students" are requesting lots of yoga.

Translation: Don't do anything too hard.

So I made a little yoga video to quell any fears that we might sweat a little.

Off to Croatia before school starts.

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Legs

Working on the legs. Muscle is there, fat too.

Yo-Yo

Finally some sun today. Rained solid for 2 months. I love this song.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

No Sugar, No Wheat= ABS!

No sugar, no wheat. Never ever would I have thought I would be a gluten-free, sugar-free girl. Did I mention never? Bread and tasty baked goods are a fine reason for living. Of course I tried to limit how much I ate and exercised intensely to counteract this passion. And I wish I didn’t have to use the word “try” here, but if the shoe fits….

But times change and sh$t happens. Namely, you might wake up one day and have a thyroid problem. You know the kind of thyroid problem that runs you into the ground. The kind that makes you feel like a burnt out cigarette that has been stubbed out into a very dirty ashtray. Sorry, but the analogy works. The kind of thyroid problem that makes you gain weight on a diet of 1200 calories and 2 hours of exercise a day. When you have that kind of thyroid problem all hell breaks loose, physically and mentally.

I did see an endocrinologist. One does not want to self-diagnose even if you had the energy to think straight and study up on the various thyroid problems. In a nutshell our whole hormonal system is very complex and can be a bear to regulate and get working to an optimal capacity.

I won’t bore you with the details of my medical diagnosis, but let’s just say, I was offered some standard care and therapies to fix my thyroid. One of them being to nuke the thing with radioactive iodine and hope that it doesn’t completely kill the bugger. No thanks. If I can avoid being on medication the rest of my life, I will.

I chose me. I will say this again and again, I am not conventional. And this bleeds over into how I treat my body. I got the info, I compared my options and I decided that I could tackle this problem and fix it myself. I believe my body is more than capable of this task. And later I will elaborate on the details of this healing.
* Disclaimer: This is my situation and not everyone has the options to do this, some people MUST be on thyroid hormones.

I am a couple weeks into the process and a big part of this is a nutritional supporting program. And that means no gluten, no sugar.

Guess what? I feel amazing. I mean really Amazing. I thought I tolerated starchy carbs pretty well and maybe I did in the past, but since this thyroid stuff, getting off the wheat and sugar has been the biggest jump in my road to optimal health.

I am also doing the P90X program, which is tough even if you are in tip top shape.

It has been a very challenging 6 months and I feel I have turned the corner.
And my abs are back! I haven’t seen them since this thyroid problem started.

Happy days.

Alert the Fire Department

Time for an update. Last week I turned 45. 45!!!! How did THAT happen? I remember sitting in that stuffy 7th grade classroom at Our Lady of Mercy grammar school, staring out the window and wondering how old I would be in the year 2000.
I would be 36. DAMN, that is ancient, I thought. So what is 45?

Truth be told, I did not look forward to 45. It is the first time in my life where I went hmmmm, that is not a nice number. I psyched myself up for it by saying I was 45 months in advance, the equivalent of going in that COLD water just up to your knees. Maybe it is slightly less shocking, but there is something to be said for just jumping in and being done with it. So I'm in. I am 45 and I have decided to enjoy it. What's the alternative? I am never going to be younger than I am right now and when I am 50-something, I will look back and think 45, what a baby...ok, maybe not a baby, it's not like 36.

On the P90X front, it is Rest Week that started with Monday yoga. I did mention that the yoga in this program is no cakewalk. I get a brand new workout today. Core-something and I have a feeling about this...a feeling that is going to involve a burning mid-section and some colorful expletives.

Week 2 Recap

Back in Blogland

Truth be told I started this blog because I started a business. We'll get back to that later.
I used to blog a couple years back. It was fun and then when it wasn't, I stopped. I still read blogs, the same ones I read back when I was doing it. So I HAVE kept up with your guys...just in case you find yourself reading this.

Back to why I started blogging again. I saw an opportunity to become a Beachbody coach. It looked interesting and a way to make some cash doing what I was already doing in my free time, hanging out in fitness forums, supporting and getting support with other fitness folks.

OK, I did think it was kind of like Amway for fitness. Not that there is anything wrong with Amway, it is just an analogy of marketing. You can use Mary Kay if you like. But since fitness is a passion, a truth, a HUGE part of my life, I put aside the corporate marketing feelings and looked at Beachbody as an opportunity to do what I love and get paid. Win-win, right?

So I love fitness. No big surprises there. How does Beachbody fit into that since I am going to encourage and recommend their products? My history with Beachbody was doing the Thin Thighs Guaranteed video (it was a VHS cassette..lol), the Great Abs, Great Buns, and Great Stretch series after my daughter was born. I simply didn't have the time to go to the gym. I stand by the quality of those workouts. By doing those videos and walking, I lost the baby weight. My friend and I had a pet name, the "Squat Nazi", for the women in Thin Thighs.

My next meeeting with Beachbody was Slim in 6. I got it on loan from a friend who raved about it. I though why not? I am still crunched for time (now I had 2 kids) and the others worked. Now Slim in 6 is an entire program to overhaul yourself. I was impressed. The workouts built upon each other and at the end of 6 weeks, I made some great progress.

Enter P90X. I have seen this program ALL over the place. I read about it in bloggerland, it's on TV, youtube, etc...can't swing a dead cat without...you know the rest. I also heard it wasn't a program for the squeamish. You should be pretty fit to attempt it.

So, I jumped on board and I am excited to see what Beachbody has delivered this time.

I am at the end of Week 2. I think this program is hands down one of the hardest I've ever done. I like to think I know what that looks like. It's old school, it's modern, it's intense, it incorporates ALL the elements to really be fit, not just look like it.

So that's where I'm at now. I will keep you posted on my P90X journey and give a little background of my current fitness level.

Jennifer (the artist formally known as Bootsy)

PS. Please buy lots of Beachbody products from me and we'll all be happy...just kidding!

P90X Week 1 Recap

P90X-My latest Look and Feel Badass Program

That's right P90X. Who hasn't heard of this program by beachbody by now? I know I have seen it all over the Internet and blogger-land for some time. Truth be told, I was skeptical. I have been training for over 20 years, and while I have had coaches or trainers on occasion, I felt that I could handle my own training at this point.

But sometimes you just don't want to or you need something fresh. It CAN get boring depending on just yourself for routines. So, I started to consider this P90X. I did my research and decided to do the 12 week program that promises amazing results. I happen to like 12 week programs. I am in the fitness game for life, but there will be cycles of maintenance, active rest, muscle-building, fat loss...you get the picture. So amazing results in 12 weeks is doable. I KNOW you can make serious progress in 12 weeks. I have done it and have seen it done.

I just wrapped up Week 1 and OMG! I can honestly report it has been a LONG time since I have been challenged this hard. P90X is serious, it is hardcore and it will kick your booty. And I am going to prove it.

I will be vlogging shortly about Week 1. Stay tuned.

Exodus of One

Let's jump right in. I am Jennifer, as I write this I am 44 years old, I have 2 kids, 1 husband and lots of animals.

I created an exciting life for myself and this chapter is about family. I waited until my late 30's to start this chapter because I wanted to do everything twice that didn't require kids. Now I am grounded and happily focused. Mostly.

Although I have had many chapters, one constant theme has been fitness. My parents were into fitness long before it was popular. Thank you, Mom and Dad. I forgive the natural peanut butter sandwiches on whole grain bread in lieu of baloney, Wonderbread and Twinkies. I didn't appreciate it at the time.

Next up will be my current look-and-feel-badass training program. I will also throw in my past experiences with the same program because THAT has also been a chapter revisited time and time again.

Aloha.
Jen-x