Breaking A Cycle

Have any of you ever heard of breaking a cycle in a family? Well I think I'm beginning to successfully break another cycle in my family. There have been emotional cycles broken, developmental cycles broken, spiritual cycles broken from how I was raised and how I raised my daughter and she is an exceptional young lady because of it. The HealthQuest on the HomeStretch is allowing me to break another. A health cycle. You see I was always the skinny one in my family when I was growing up because I had a super great metabolism and was constantly running here, playing there and constantly active because when we were young we didn't have computers, gameboys, PS360 (or whatever they are), Facebook, and T.V. was something you did at night as a family and talking on the phone....well we did that on a landline and it usually was answered by a parent and they determined the length of the call and IF we'd even be able to talk at that particular moment. Cell phones had not even been thought of until I was in my early 20s. But....you see in my family was obesity... I was determined I was not going to be fat. My sisters were heavy, my mother was heavy, my aunts were heavy. And most of them were depressed for some reason or another. And ate to compensate. In my 20s, as I've shared before, I weighed 119 lbs and thought I was FAT and out of shape, even though the scale told me differently and I worked out 5 times a week and danced or played sports and such all the time.

Okay, so when I matured and life started hitting me full on and I found myself with a daughter to care for....that was my focus and my health was not the focus...being fit was not the focus....making sure she had a roof over her head and food in her tummy was my focus. And that she had a strong foundation in her faith. That was my focus. My daughter and her growth was my focus. As I said before, all of this was not done for naught.....she is a healthy, self secure, happy young girl, who has a relationship with her Lord and stands firm on that foundation when faced with any challenge. So, several cycles have been broken. And this week we are taking the steps to break another. You see while I was busy breaking those cycles I was still fully immersed in the most unhealthy one....the lack of focus on my health. I didn't eat right, I either didn't eat when I was depressed or I ate the wrong things, I didn't devote time to exercise and my weight went up and my health suffered. When my daughter was 6, I weighed 120, when I began this HealthQuest I weighed twice that and then a little. Arrgh! And so this is a cycle that needed to be broken....not only in me, but in my daughter's future. I do not want her to be where I am right now, ever. I don't want her to have to worry about her health. I want her to know how to care for herself and eventually her family. So...as I said....this week we are taking steps to break that cycle....or should I say she is....and I have this journey to credit for that...

She is basically a healthy girl. But she loves her soda and sweets. Typical kid. Well, she came last Friday with me to D1 and then she came again today for Friends and Family Day. She still says I'm crazy to get up at 4:15 a.m. every day to come and work out at D1 but she wants to begin regular INTENTIONAL exercise and today she made a commitment to give up soda for a year. I gave up soda about 5 weeks ago and I feel awesome. I'm so excited that she is doing so as well. The chemicals alone are bad enough, but the sugar just promotes the desire for more sugar (and so does artificial sugar...so lets not go there) and you know where that ends up....on the backside. I told her this morning that I am taking strides now to teach her, so that when she's 46 she won't be having to re-direct her teenage daughter because she will have already shared with her the benefits of good nutrition and exercise. They might actually WANT to get up every morning at 4:15 because it's just that important. You make time to be healthy. And it 5:00 a.m. is all you've got, then you do it then!

At D1 this morning, she once again was challenged, but she did the workout! She did an awesome job and I was very proud of her. She did mountain climbers and burpies and pushups and leg lifts and crunches AND did bear crawls pushing a lightweight cushion first 10 yards and back, then 15 yards and back, and then 20 yards and back and then 25 yards and back. And when I was struggling to do the same......in the midst of other verbal encouragement I heard "Come on Mom, you can do it!" How cool is that!!!! Yep, I'm breaking a cycle! Praise the Lord!

She is one of the most important reasons I signed up for this.....to get her healthy from the inside out (along with myself). Today....the beginnings of the cycle started!

Thanks Carter. Thanks Kara for encouraging Savannah to join us again! It was great to see 4 teenage girls there working out with us today! 4 teenage girls who live in a society where sedentary activity is more popular than getting out and getting exercise. PRAISE the LORD and thank the Lord for Carter Hays, HealthQuest on the HomeStretch, D1 and Carilu Robinson for her nutritional advice.

How blessed am I? My cup overfloweth!

See you roosters in the morning.....although we'll be without the little "chicks" .....let's do this thing!

I'm here because of Magazines.com. Check them out!!!!
Blessings,
Juji

Friends & Family Day at D-1!

Brian and Savannah joined me today. Although you can see I worked much harder than they did! LOL!

It was great to have my daughter and Brian with me there today. It allowed them to see what we do regularly. Savannah was pretty impressed and said "Mom, I'm proud of you. I can't believe you go there and do THAT every DAY!!!" She did a fantastic job! She did say she was sore when I dropped her off at school, but I'm hoping she will join me again before the end of this HealthQuest. I'm getting healthy from the inside out and she is one of the reasons why.

Brian did pretty well. He only suffered in a few of the repetitions, but survived and didn't spill his grape nuts before the end. I was very proud to have him with us as well. He is the one I share much of my journey thoughts and tidbits with and he has been one of the most encouraging of my friends on my time on this HealthQuest. He knew it was a tough workout, but today he found out just how tough! He also gave me much credit today for sticking with this for 9 weeks. What a blessing and fuel to finish the journey.

I was blessed to have both of them with me today. And it was great to meet the family members of some of the other girls! We have all grown into a close knit group and that is another one of the many blessings of this HealthQuest on the HomeStretch.

And if I'm not mistaken.....my backside in that picture looks a little smaller than it did when I started this thing. Go ahead...scroll back up and check for yourselves. :-)

I am fond of the solid instruction we are receiving from Carter. He ROCKS my face off! and his workouts kick my butt ....off! I'm currently squirreling away my acorns to be able to continue this journey after December 5th. I've even put "Carter Bucks" on my Christmas List! Seriously....instead of receiving gift cards to stores I've asked for "gift certificates" to continue my journey with Carter.

Besides having my daughter.....this HealthQuest is the best thing I have ever done in my life! It is hard, but it is FUN! Believe it or not!

Another HealthQuest is starting in January....do you know someone who might be interested in making their lives healthier from the inside out? Check out the website! onthehomestretch.com

Have a great day fellow Roosters and all others reading this.

Blessings,
Juji

7 weeks, 2 dunkings and 4 big ole pounds of F A T!

Good news! Today I'm saying bye bye, adios, farewell, shoo, skiddaddle...get on out of here! to 4 lbs of Body Fat!!!!

Let me explain! Yesterday I went for my second "dunking" and received the results of a change in my body fat. I've lost .8 percent body fat (YEP, 4 lbs of ugly old fat!!!). I couldn't decide whether to be happy or sad about that. But it's official.....it's FANTASTIC!!! All of us were a little concerned this morning when talking with Carter about our results yesterday. We pretty much all had around the same % change in the body fat %, but the other numbers were different and a bit confusing. I personally was confused how I could lose 4lbs of body fat and not gain ANY lean body mass....yep, the number stayed exactly the same after 7 WEEKS of strength training and working my tail off...which is basically what I said to Carter. He assures me that that is FANTASTIC! So I am content in that. He's the expert and I trust him completely. David Harris from FitnessWave told me it was good as well....but Carter cemented it in my mind. In all of our minds. We just need to keep doing the work, fighting the good fight and we will do well and the numbers will eventually line up in "our minds" with what we're doing. Interesting fact he told us is that you have to burn 3,500 calories to lose 1 POUND of fat, but have to consume 2,500 to build lean body mass. Feats that are not possible at the same time. Most lean body mass begins to build AFTER you have lost the excess fat. And alot of people lose lean body mass when they are working out....so he was okay with the fact that my number hadn't moved. I'm sure I have most of that right in my head even if it didn't come out right here. At any rate....Like I said I trust Carter. He has a lot of knowledge that he shares with us and I continue to be blessed.
He told us that we need to be aware and maintain three things diet, exercise and sleep. It's baby steps here girls and we are doing it. So let's keep it up. I continue to be blessed and amazed by all the women on my team. Each week I get to know another one a little bit better. Each week we all make progress in areas we never thought possible. And Each week someone tells me good job....and that means the world to me in this journey. The support of Carter Hays, my other team members and the other people who come in to train occasionally with the Roosters.....is awesome. Thank all of you. But mostly, thank you to my wonderful friend Cindy....it's because of her that I am here. She works for Magazines.com and she suggested them as my sponsor when I thought I wouldn't be able to find one. She is my hero and I am forever grateful. Blessings to you all. May God Bless all of you tremendously this weekend and reveal Himself to you in ways beyond all understanding.

And Carter...Thanks for your words of encouragement, your creativeness to always make it new and still working us until we want to scream, for the smile I leave with each day because it totally rocked that I was able to do it and for your wisdom in your blogs and your heart for God. How awesome!

Have an awesome weekend! (And to my fellow squirrels...you know who you are....keep squirreling away...this journey isn't over when the HealthQuest ends on the 5th of December!) :)

Juji

Our Buddy Andrew

Hello fellow "Roosters"....I came across a series of videos by Andrew today on-line and KNEW you would all be interested in seeing the one in the attached link. What an inspiration this young guy is to all of us! I personally love having him come "play" with us at 5 a.m. He rocks and he's had an amazing transformation. For all of those people who still believe it can't be done...check this out! Yea Andrew!!!!! Just click on the link below and then hit the green arrow! I found it by Googling Carter Hays and then looking at all the videos by Andrew. There are several if you have time to watch...beginning in March and through May. Enjoy.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual
&VideoID=29965612

Blessings,
Juji

Week 6 is Officially OVER!

Week 6 is officially over and am I'm wondering if I'm the only one that is sad that we only have 6 more left. I am loving this. This week has been the "week" for me. The week when I can actually see I'm going places with this HealthQuest on the Homestretch. Don't get me wrong, I have loved it all the time...well most of the time. But this week when we had "Form Wednesday", I actually felt like I was missing something all day long because we didn't actually have a workout. CRAZY! I know.
I loved Form Wednesday and getting some informative answers to some questions and I was excited that we would have some "lecture time" with Carter. That man KNOWS things. :-) But I did miss our workout. This week I can do many of the things I COULD NOT do even a week ago. Is that amazing or WHAT??? I am personally seeing changes in my skin, in my face, in my arms (yeah...the giggle in my arms is not so much....just ask several people at youth group and they will tell you how I was showing off on Wednesday night...LOL!.....leave it to Ms. Juji....always being goofy!!)

Anyway, I'm in a bit of a need to buy a few pairs of pants because I KID YOU NOT....mine are so loose I if I walk for a bit I start to feel a little bit "gangsta" with the baggy britches! So a new wardrobe is in order at the end of this journey.

My accomplishments of significant mention this week.....

...I did 3 burpees PER LINE for 50 yards, coupled with pulling a 50 lb sand bag 5 yards each time and then something else all the way back, but seriously cannot put a finger on what I did on the way back because I was so happy about the burpees (squat thrusts)....until this week I've managed to do probably a total of 10 in good form of the I'm sure hundreds Carter has given us in the previous 5 weeks. It was a challenge and this week I made progress.

...I am mastering the Bear Crawl by way of pushing a 125 lb Hummer tire 20 yards and back.....several times.

....I can do 10 push ups nearly perfectly now without totally falling flat on my face afterwards.

....I stayed in the plank position the ENTIRE last 30 seconds.

....I am learning that I am stronger than I think I am. Mentally. And as Carter says...although not in these exact words....your mind can be your worst enemy when it comes to doing things....if you think you can't do it...you won't be able to do it...even if you are the strongest most fit person ALIVE.

...I was reminded that I am just a few weeks away from wearing those jeans that hang in my closet still with the tags. Hard work, pushing through is paying off. Thanks Carter....that meant a lot and were the words I needed to hear that day!

....I gave up sodas of any kind FOR GOOD this week. And here is why......I found out several things, but the one that was relevant to me is for years my legs have hurt and I just thought it was because an increase in weight. Well along with the HealthQuest I am on, I decided to finally listen to someone and go off soda completely...I did that for two weeks....I didn't notice that my legs had STOPPED hurting. Well on Saturday I went to a Band/Color guard competition with my daughter Savannah and "allowed" myself two fountain cokes throughout the day. I also walked about 1/2 mile (NOTHING for me these days since I usually RUN at least that during our workouts each day). At any rate, when I got home that night my legs were THROBBING...not muscularly, but in the tissue. Anyway, after some thought and some Motrin...I realized the only change I had made during the day was soda. I consulted with Carter on Form Wednesday and told him my self diagnosis...he told me that I was probably right to some extent..given the fact that soda dehydrates you...(you need to drink 12 cups of water to replenish what one soda basically zaps from your body)....and you have veins that provide circulation in your body....arteries that go down your legs and little tiny veins off of those that take blood back to your heart after the larger veins brought it down to circulate in your legs....when you are dehydrated not only are those little tiny veins constricted and so are the larger ones to some extent. The heart has to work harder, etc. etc. to circulate blood throughout your body. The fact that blood is trying to rush through those veins and return to your heart is causing the pain...the throbbing. I have always been a person who said "yeah, yeah, yeah, I need to give up the soda because of the sugar, or the chemicals or whatever....but never really did. And I can tell you that pain was real enough and strong enough that I don't want to have another soda EVER!

I had recently read a study about fibromyalga and MS and how some patients that admitted drinking diet soda regularly and had been told to completely remove it from their diets. They did and several had been misdiagnosed and the cause of the pains throughout their body was due to the excess of chemicals and sugars in their bodies from the Diet Coke.

Since I hadn't been diagnosed with either of those illnesses. I just read it for info....until Saturday happened...and I remembered my years of pains in my legs at various times.

Anyway, that's not all we learned, but I have learned enough over the last six weeks of this HealthQuest to completely take myself and my daughter off of soda. I won't drink another one. And it took an incident like Saturday to make me realize the seriousness and the accuracy of what I've been told for years. For myself. But also for Savannah. I'm working on getting it totally out of selections of drinks.

Wouldn't it be great if all of us just listened to the experts and saved ourselves a lot of grief to begin with.....Getting Healthy from the Inside Out took on new meaning for me this week. Marked events that will change not only my life, but my daughter's and her children and so on and so on. Breaking cycles in families is another benefit and blessing of this program. My family cycles have been changed on many levels throughout the years from a spiritual, emotional standpoint. My daughter's life is very different than mine because of it. Positive cycle changes. And NOW this cycle will be added. What a blessing all my new friends are to me. What a gift from my God who promises to bring me through anything He takes me to. He has changed my life in so many ways....and He's not done yet. I'm a work in progress and Week 7 of this part of the journey begins in a few days! Thanks God.....you spoil me.

If ever you feel that I am bragging about myself at all...remember this... I KNOW I can do all things through He who strengthens me....and my life is what it is today because of that one thing alone...that one comfort and promise. I boast to His glory and not my own.

Have an awesome weekend everyone!
Juji

Good and Happy News!

Well, at least to me......at nearly the end of Week 5, I am making better food choices daily....it's not too hard after working with Carter in the mornings....you are DEFINITELY more conscious of what goes in your mouth throughout the day.....and it's paying off....because the good and happy news is that I am wearing a shirt today that in recent months has stayed in the closet because it WAS uncomfortable...bunching up in all the wrong places, etc. and while it could fit better (and will eventually)....it is not bunching up in all those wrong places and I actually am comfy in it. Now...the next goal is those jeans I bought years ago because I thought they were my size and they weren't and I haven't worn them yet. Soon I'll be taking the tags off those babies and slipping into them. And I'm getting healthy in the process.....and all thanks to being given the privilege of being on this HealthQuest On The HomeStretch.

Thanks Carter!

Anyone ever seen a smiling Rooster?

A happy smiling Juji!

Week 4 Complete!!!

Well ladies and gentlemen, we did it. Week 4 is history. And history is always a look into where we are today and why....Well, I for one am happy and amazed! 1 month ago today I was one of the girls there at D1 after the first work out thinking...."I might not be able to do this"...."I'm going to do it, I want to do it, but I might be so far out of shape and still recovering from a fractured ankle that I might not be able to do this". But I've done it. Struggled, forged on and did it. I have done the bear crawl, although I am still in the "perfecting mode", still working on the burpee (squat thrust thingy)...but I will conquer it as well. And TODAY!.....today I stayed up the entire time during the front facing part of the Plank on the last 1/2 minute! I almost jumped up and shouted Hallelujah!! And TODAY, I pushed a Huge tire 30 yards and didn't fall on my knees! I did it....my body can do this!!! But, you know what, I have to give credit where credit is due..."I can do all things through He who strengthens me.." rings truer and truer each day that I go to that gym. I pray every morning as I do my walking warm up, that God give me strength to do at least one thing I think I can't do and that He sustain me through the workout...I ask Him for this with the promise that I will always give Him the Glory for the work He is doing in me. He shows up every single day! He blesses my efforts. He created me and I have allowed the world and too many other things keep me from keeping this vessel in the condition it needs to be to fulfill all the great plans He has for me. And, like Carter told us one morning....It's not God telling me I can't do this! This morning that voice started telling me at 1 am.....you know that calf of your's really hurts...you might want to skip your work out today.....I seriously thought about staying home....taking a day off...because I was hurting....but I said ...NO! I am going, if I can't do it all then I'll do a little and if I can't do a little then I'll wait til the end and at least hear Carter's talk for us today....Well, I went and within a few minutes....the cramping wasn't as bad and I was doing EVERYTHING being asked of us....God created our minds and He gave us free will. But we also know that He can take all the bad and make it amazing so that He may be glorified. He did that in my life, He does it daily , He did it today and now He is doing it in my transformation. My transformation in not only of my body and my health, but of my mind.....solidifying that promise I've read so many times and applied only to a few areas of my life........"I can do ALL things through He who strengthens me". He means THIS too!

I know I sound like a broken record, but I am so thankful for this opportunity. I'm thankful that I get this chance to improve the REST of my life by being on this HealthQuest on the HomeStretch. I'm thankful to have Magazines.com as my sponsor. I'm thankful for my new "girl" friends. I'm thankful for Andrew....a 31 year old INSPIRATION that shows up to work out with us 5 a.m. Roosters two or three times a week who is so encouraging in his words....I'm thankful for Jimmy.....a man that comes every day and works out with us and puts his all into every movement and NEVER gives up....I'm thankful for Holly.... a mother of seven who is a positive encouragement to all us girls and Jimmy down on the "Mall side" of the gym even though she is not officially on our HealthQuest team....she rocks....and, YES, I'm thankful for Carter.....he's tough sometimes, I almost walked in and said "good morning Jillian" to him on Wednesday morning after our VERY tough workout on Tuesday, but then he told us how proud he was of us and that NO we weren't imagining it...it was the toughest workout thus far....and honestly since that moment, I've heard every "good job guys"...."you guys are doing great"...."way to finish strong", etc. he has said. Thanks Carter!

Today, I feel like there is nothing I can't do....it's just a matter of time until I can do it. Thanks to everyone who is on this journey with me....whatever place you land in that scenario. I am honored by this opportunity and call it a JOY to not only know you, but to be blessed by knowing you! God has big plans for all of us! And like I always tell my daughter.....waiting to see what those plans are is like a kid on Christmas eve! Sometimes we get things that have been put on a well thought out list....but sometimes we get the most unimaginable treasures! (even if it comes by way of....50 jumping jacks, 6 burpees and a bear crawl....)

Sorry if I rambled on and on ....but I'm really, really excited! This is happening! This is happening to and IN me! How amazing is that!

May each of you have a tremendously blessed weekend!

Love you guys!
Juji