Ninja Girl Warrior

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                 “The question isn’t who’s going to let me; 

it’s who is going to stop me.”                    

~ Ayn Rand

Ninja Girl Warrior

Good things come in small packages. So meet our favorite small package, 24 year old Kacy Catanzaro, a female dynamo who has set records and broken down barriers for women on NBC’s “American Ninja Warrior”. If you’ve not seen the show, it’s a real hoot, as well as being inspirational in the physical and mental obstacles that the contestants need to overcome both in their training back stories, and while competing on the course itself.

American Ninja Warrior’s viewing allure is best described by Executive Producer Kent Weed: "It's the stories of our contestants that separate us [from other reality shows]," Weed says. "How people overcome adversity to achieve their goals, whether they're doing it for a friend who's ill, a mother that had breast cancer or whether it's a personal achievement they're trying to overcome like weight loss, beating drugs or alcohol. Its personal human achievement and it's something that audiences can identify with." 

Now, let’s get back to our girl, the physically diminutive Kacy Catanzaro, who measures in at 5 feet even and 100 pounds dripping wet. Granted, Kacy was both a Division I NCAA gymnast and Gymnast of the Year at Towson University, but on a show with obstacles that humble the fittest, strongest and most nimble males on earth, she is at an extreme size or ‘wingspan’ disadvantage from the word “go”.

Prior to her first run on the qualifying course in Dallas, consisting of six obstacles in all and testing every bit of one’s stamina, strength, balance, heart and guts, no woman had ever completed the course (and MANY super fit men had failed!). Ironically, the Warped Wall, a rounded-at-the- bottom 14 foot wall that contestants have to scale with a short run and jump, was the final obstacle. No woman had EVER made it up the wall. As you might imagine by now, our mini-might Kacy slayed that dragon as the first woman ever to complete a qualifying run and scale the Warped Wall!

The Beat Goes On and On...and On
What may even be more inspirational, with Kacy knocking down those previously unimaginable barriers, her conquests allowed 2 other women, on subsequent qualifying runs in different cities, to also complete their courses, including scaling the once unconquerable Warped Wall!

So next up was the Dallas finals course, where the top 30 from each qualifying city took on a 10 obstacle course (the original 6, plus 4 new challenges). Keep in mind, no woman had ever qualified to try the finals course prior to this. Of the 30, Kacy, represented as the only female, became 1 of only 7 to complete the course. Mind you, these are the cream of the crop, and 23 of these superstar men couldn’t finish the course!! Watching her absolutely smash this course is one of the most inspiring things ever. Click here to view her 10 obstacle finals thrill ride:                     

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It has yet to be decided what happens to the other 2 qualifying women in their finals runs, or even what will happen to Kacy when she takes on Mt. Midoriyama, but what she has accomplished and the ‘can do’ attitude Kacy has infused into the collective female psyche’ is crystal clear for all to see.

       “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. Our playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

                                                ~Marianne Williamson

PS: How did watching that video make you feel? WOW! She’s AMAZING!!

Having It All

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 “I don't think women can have it all. I just don't think so. We pretend we have it all. We pretend we can have it all."                                                                                             ~ Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo CEO

Indra, married 34 years and the mother of two daughters, continued on: “And every day you have to make a decision about whether you are going to be a wife or a mother; in fact, many times during the day you have to make those decisions. And you have to co-opt a lot of people to help you. We co-opted our families to help us. We plan our lives meticulously so we can be decent parents. But if you ask our daughters, I'm not sure they will say that I've been a good mom. I'm not sure. And I try all kinds of coping mechanisms.”

Did she really say THAT?

We wanted to extend out Indra’s original quote in bold italics, as high profile individuals are often victims of being judged on quotes taken out of context. But in reading her entire interview, the above is a fair condensation of the way she feels. And while we are not about judging others feelings, we will reserve the right to strongly disagree, especially since we see guilt as a controllable, as well as, poisonous emotion.  
Indra, during her candid interview, shared some additional antidotes about her family and her inherited, generational parenting values that seem to have some strong cultural influences regarding what the male/female roles of a family should look like. Our first question, with her in such a power position and undoubtedly the primary bread winner of most likely a top 2% type wage, is why was it that her husband even needed to work? Why couldn’t he be a stay-at-home dad so she could feel like she had it all and shed the guilt of being a ‘less than’ mom?
It was mentioned in the interview that she employed the help of her employees, a benefit most of us don’t have, as well as her family in child rearing. But it seems her motherly discontent arises from personal demons around the conflict between a power job with huge time commitments and feeling like a good mom to her daughters. Maybe therapy would be good?
Hillary Clinton, another female power broker once said “it takes a Village to raise a child”. This is true even in normal families, but applies doubly when parents are in time consuming positions of power, leadership and influence. And this can be an awesome thing, introducing our children to numerous different people, influences and even cultures so they can experience the American melting pot values and not be overly dependent on mom and dad.
Having it all can be possible
The key, we believe, is to find peace with this “Village” concept. Again, picture Indra’s husband as a stay-at-home dad with Grandma/Grandpa contributing, or a full-time Nanny, especially when money’s not the issue? Task-oriented child care could be taken care of by the Village, so power mom could provide the LOVE and NURTURING aspect by spending the time she has available in ‘quality time’, rather than task time. This would provide mom and the children the heart connection necessary to empower them both to feel loved, needed and integral to the nuclear family. We’re not saying that it’s easy, just that it’s possible.

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We all can acknowledge that guilt is a common component of parenting, enhanced when time limitations become magnified in the work/home balance equation. And we respect Indra’s feelings and opinions as they are real to her, but wish on some level that she had tweaked her message to one of empowerment and hope as the leader she is, albeit in the face of an extreme challenge. We think she should feel blessed on many levels.
For each of us, creating our own reality is our birth right. So if it’s possible in our minds, it’s possible in physical reality. We only hope Indra, and anyone else for that matter, will find the eventual release of useless guilt with a shift towards the reality of ‘having it all’ as a possibility.

       “What we call real estate - the solid ground to build a house on - is the broad foundation on which nearly all the guilt of this world rests”.                                       ~Nathaniel Hawthorne

PS: Do you feel it’s possible for females to have it all? What’s your opinion?

#Thinspiration

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“So many people hate me and love me for the exact same reasons. This is all the proof I need that my opinion about myself is the only opinion I should ever care about.”

                                                                                 ~ Unknown

Adam Richman’s Instagram fiasco 

“Man Finds Food”, an upcoming series scheduled to premier on Travel Channel, has been pulled from the rotation about a week after star Adam Richman (“Man v. Food,” “Best Thing I Ever Ate,” “Adam Richman’s Best Sandwich in America”) got into a distasteful war of words on Instagram. Initially, Richman posted a picture of himself related to his recent weight loss, something he was very proud of, with this “had ordered this suit from a Saville Row tailor over a year ago. Think I’m gonna need to take it in a little…” text, using the hashtag #thinspiration.

So here’s the rub. According to an XOJane essay by Amber Sarah, “thinspiration is very popular in pro-anorexia and pro-bulimia circles, generally consisting of pictures of emaciated bodies.” Adam was not aware, in any way, of the negative connotation of his made up word, thinspiration, and was caught off guard when a follower complained of its use.
This is where it all went terribly bad. Richman, evidently annoyed by the complaint, which I’m sure he felt was unjustified as his intention was never to insult or offend anyone or any group (his eventual apology reiterates this fact), reacted with a harsh reply prior to thinking it through. This of course is an absolute no-no on any form of Social Media, doubly true if you are famous. This set off an expletive laced volley (which we will not repeat here) of back and forth comments between Richman and followers that blew up and spread like wildfire, apparently at least temporarily costing him his new gig on Travel Channel.
   

So what can we learn here?
One of my favorite quotes, and I need to paraphrase, goes something like this: “If you wake up looking to be offended, you’ll most certainly succeed.” We get what we expect to get, and wouldn’t the world be better if we all just let most things slide, maybe care a little less (see opening quote), especially about what outer circle acquaintances think?
Social media is an extremely limited form of communication; what you end up with are flavorless words on a screen, leaving the meaning up for conjecture, and maybe worse, to the whim of the follower. We have no idea of the ‘posters’ (tweeters, texters) intention, so misunderstandings run amuck. There are no body language clues or voice inflection hints that in face-to-face can help us tune in meaning. Perhaps we as a compassionate culture should incorporate some empathy into our day-to-day Twitter (Facebook, Instagram) interactions with this understanding in mind.
And as far as reactivity, a very human and common attribute amongst us, don’t do it as it leads to nothing but disaster on social media sites. Some very passé sayings are incredibly pertinent here, despite their dated references to old fashioned spoken word. How would “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything”, “think twice before you speak”, or “count to 10 before you respond’’ work if converted for the inane world of 5 second attention spans and 20 words or less comments and replies?

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Finally, thankfully our present culture typically endorses forgive and forget (of course made possible and practical by incessant, rapid fire news feeds of someone else screwing up worse than the object of our current forgiveness) as a second chance giving mechanism. And who amongst us couldn’t use a dose of second chance after inserting foot in mouth on a twitter hashtag, Instagram screenshot or facebook rant?

We all need to lighten up and care less about random opinions and care more about our own. Can’t we just talk?

     “Social media is an amazing tool, but it's really the face-to-face interaction that makes a long-term impact.”   
                                               ~ Felicia Day

                                                                                                                                                                  

PS: Any good stories of other social media faux pas that you dare to share?

The Obesity Dilemma - Part 2

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“It’s great for people to be personally responsible, but we have to make it easy for them. We have to create an environment that facilitates responsibility.                                

                                                               ~ Marlene Schwartz

The Obesity Dilemma – Is there an Answer?
To echo the last part of our first blog on the obesity epidemic, at a certain point, a lack of hope is as much a cause or a shackle as the excess weight itself. And let’s be real, most times there are unresolved issues and emotional triggers that food seems to pacify in individuals who are afflicted by obesity. Again, one only needs to watch a few of the popular weight loss TV programs to understand this. Obviously we can’t tackle these types of issues here, other than to encourage personal responsibility in seeking professional help when and where it’s needed.
Since our theme here is hope and enablement, one can get free help with any and all emotional issues from The National Association of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapists (NACBT) @ 1-800-853-1135, or e-mail - nacbt@nacbt.org. With that out of the way, listen up - DIETS DON’T WORK. In case you didn’t hear us, diets do not work. Don’t frustrate yourself, probably again, by trying one. Remember, we’re offering hope here. It takes a directional change, one in which we start to incorporate changes in three areas: food intake, movement and supplementation.

Choices, Choices, and more Choices
Food intake needs to be based around lean proteins (eggs, meat, fish, minimal dairy products), fruits and vegetables (a rule on these and other carbohydrates - if it’s white, take flight, ie: bananas, corn, potatoes, etc.) in even ratio, and a couple of whole grain (sprouted grains are even better) complex carbohydrate servings/day of brown rice, bread, or pasta. Another rule that will serve us all well: if you eat a lean protein WITH any carbohydrate, the carbohydrates break down much slower into the sugar (glucose) that packs on pounds.

For those that don’t know, white or simple carbohydrates (bread, pasta, rice) turn into sugar nearly as fast as dumping sugar packets onto our tongue. Whole wheat carbohydrates turn into sugar slightly slower than white, but we are really looking for is WHOLE GRAIN (or sprouted grain complex carbohydrate) options that are the most complete and slowest converting, therefore the least damaging in packing on pounds.
Eating 5-6 times a day is advisable as this stokes up our metabolisms, assuming we are following the common sense rules and are practicing portion control. Do NOT use this 5-6 times a day eating rule to gorge yourself with crap! It is imperative to eat a good breakfast, balanced with a lean protein plus a complex carbohydrate, as this sets us up for success from the first meal of the day.
When shopping, try to plan ahead for meals as this will keep you from picking up the dangerous ‘quick fix’ or fast food meals and items that will sabotage your fitness efforts. Stay in the fresh food sections, avoiding processed foods like the plague. Cook more than you need and use leftovers effectively, or freeze the extra food for another day.

Movement is of course exercise, but this is to our own ability and a little beyond. For example, if just getting off the couch is now your form of exercise, then start walking. If you can walk easily, alternate walking and jogging. Take where you are, and challenge yourself to more. Supplements are just that, a way to get your body more supplemental nutrition than food alone will supply. Buy supplements with optimal nutrient levels.

Look Better, Feel Better, Live Better

To battle any disease or affliction, one must take back the control it exerts over us. Hopefully we’ve provided a small push for you in that direction. It is our sincere wish that whatever your weight, you’ll take back control over your life, setting a sterling example for those (kids) looking up to you.

  “Man must cease attributing his problems to his environment, and learn again to exercise his will – his personal responsibility.”
                                                                 ~ Albert Einstein

PS: Regardless of your fitness level or weight, if unsightly cellulite bumps are bothering you, UP Beauty’s Anti-Cellulite Cream will help for sure!