You’ve seen the First Lady in an evening gown, right? You’ve noticed her gorgeous, strong-yet-feminine arms?
I LOVE arms like that!
I WANT arms like that!
I even know how to GET arms like that…but there’s a problem: I’ve dropped out of every strength-building program I’ve enrolled in. Four or five, to date.
It’s not that I’m unaware of the enormous benefits acquiring a respectable amount of muscle confers:
- I KNOW muscle burns more calories than fat. Strong people can eat more than weaker people without gaining weight.
- I KNOW having strong abs is excellent insurance against developing lumbar pain.
- I KNOW having strong back muscles and lats will improve my posture and frame and make me a better dancer.
- I KNOW that if I let nature take her cruel course, I will lose a percentage of my muscle mass every year and get progressively weaker.
And…
- I KNOW the main reason older people wind up in nursing homes is that they no longer have the strength to carry groceries, dress themselves, or even get up from a chair.
It’s not lack of knowledge that stands between me and Michelle Obama arms, it’s that I hate pumpin’ iron. Seriously. Every bench press, every curl, every fly, is hell for me. I’ve tried to make myself like strength training but never succeeded.
Does that mean I’ve given up and am just gonna let dear ‘ole Mother Nature take me down, little by little, year by year?
Heck, no! I’m fighting back. I’ve vowed to engage the weights (and the resistance bands and the balance-balls) yet again. And this time, I will stick with it.
Because THIS TIME is different.
THIS TIME, I’ve got EFT on my side. EFT (see About EFT on the main page, upper menu) helped me lose 65 pounds about two years ago. It’s great for cravings and emotional eating and I still use it frequently to keep those pounds from creeping back. Before I discovered EFT (and Ballroom dancing), I had given up on ever being a slender person – just as I’d given up on ever getting strong.
Oh, and THIS TIME, I’m blessed with a too-good-to-be-true role model and coach. Sally Meints (www.nutrifreak.net) is not only a fitness trainer, nutritionist, and competitive body-builder, she’s a dancer, too! Sally is a tiny bundle of muscle, determination and inspiration, and her arms are even more beautiful than Michelle’s. Sally’s no kid, either. She just looks like one.
I’ve already had one session with the amazing Sally. Did I enjoy it? No. I found straining against resistance as physically unpleasant as ever. Worse, I felt old, weak, and ashamed of the paltry amount of weight I was able to handle. I knew I’d be sore as heck the next day, too, which I was. But you know what? I’m going back.
And back.
And back.
I’m going to get stronger and I’m going to learn to enjoy the process. I will acquire Michelle Obama arms the same way I lost those sixty-five pounds – persistence. I’m going to stay the weight-training course until it gets easier, which it surely will as my body adapts to the new demands placed on it.
THIS TIME, there will be no dropping out.
THIS TIME, I’m going to make it.
