First Derby Bout around the Corner and time to shape up!

Coming out of Bronchitis and still having issues with Coughing up my lungs and trying to breath and have energy was a hard thing to deal with last night during practice. The hardest thing for me is knowing when to stop and when to keep pushing. I know a good part of my problem is I have been off skates for over two and a half weeks which can really kill you on top of the coughing! I remember asking a coach/derby girl who is freaking amazing and a true athlete how to constantly improve your stamina and your ability in exercises and she said " when you get to the point where you feel you cant go any further you push yourself for 10 more or you push for 10 more seconds." So I have this ingrained in the back of my head as I head forward starting with my cross training that I am now deciding to begin and conquer to help me become stronger for the upcoming roller derby season. So I have set up a schedule and talked it through with various athletes and this is what I am going to try to start with. Schedule: monday: core in the AM, derby practice in the PM tuesday: light cardio wednesday: Cardio thursday: upper body and core in the AM, derby practice in the PM friday: day off saturday: practice skate for fun, core/upper body sunday: cardio Some links I have started using for exercises: http://www.prevention.com/print/26102 http://theberry.com/2012/04/03/need-some-motivation-29-photos/motivate-yourself-22-3/ http://www.wholeliving.com/147374/six-core-abdominal-moves/@center/136759/your-best-body-summer" I started searching for things on Pinterest and have a cross-training board. This helps to motivate me! My first Bout that I may be playing in is September 1st. So keep your fingers and quads crossed that I can at least get a little stronger and definitely have more Stamina by then!

Oh and the pic is of me and Covalent Bondage. She is absolutely an inspiration to me in her workouts and work ethics!

Athlete?

a discussion lit a fire in me today about what a "True Athlete" is and thinking back on the discussion I wondered if this person thought because of where I allowed myself to get in my life... Out of shape, not doing anything athletic for the last 15 years of my life if secretly they thought I had never done anything athletic or even had a clue as to what an athlete was. I secretly wondered myself...had I ever been an athlete? Could I become an athlete at this age? What is even the true definition of an athlete or for that matter a "True Athlete"? So I decided to first look for definitions Athlete:1 A person who is proficient in sports and other forms of physical exercise. 2. A person possessing the natural or acquired traits, such as strength, agility, and endurance, that are necessary for physical exercise or sports, especially those performed in competitive contexts. The majority of things I see listed do not take into account dancers. So here has been what has been rattling around in my brain... What is a True Athlete and what makes them a true athlete? I am not going to answer this question but ask you to answer it! I have read many articles this morning and many blogs wondering just what the definition might be. I was livid when I thought that someone assumed that I had never been or never could be a true athlete. Notice I said assumed they thought. They never stated it and so I realized that I was livid at myself because I must NOT be showing qualities of an athlete and maybe they are right. So here is my journey. Is it athletic? I am still not sure! My life at 4 years old began with Ballet. I took Ballet for 8 years. During the last 4-5 years of Ballet I was dancing almost every day taking back to back classes of bar work, floor work, across the floors, Pointe classes, Modern. Outside of Ballet I would use the back of a dining room chair as a bar to work on my foot work and I would relax at night by stretching after a hot bath in front of the T.V. I lived Ballet for years. I drove hours to rehearsals for the Delta Ballet Nutcracker rehearsals. I had no life outside of ballet. Were there trophies? No, but I did receive a recognition by the times picayune. The Times had come out to Slidell to do a piece on the Delta Ballet's school they had opened on the north shore. They took pictures of all the girls as we practiced. Secretly I thought it would be one of the three tiniest girls in the class I had most envied for their structure of their bodies. I was constantly on a diet for my art. When I flipped through the Times Picayune one morning I saw my picture as I was being instructed on bar work and I gaped. I looked at myself for the first time and saw I was beautiful. the teacher's hands were lightly framing my face tilting it to the side as my whole body was elongated through a Grande Plie. Under the picture was the caption. "Ballerina to be Lorraine Slaughter receives instruction from Delta Ballet's Joseph Jacobi" This was my trophy. I did not do Ballet for a trophy... does anyone do their sport for a prize. I did Ballet because I felt I could not breath apart from it. It was apart of me and in every pore of my body. Ballet did take it's tole and my parents made me quit due to their concern that I had no life outside of Ballet and it had become at times more tears than smiles. They did not want their 13 year old daughter thinking this was all of life. I tried filling in the hole Ballet left. I tried Gymnastics for several years but it was not the same for me. I tried Soccer and was rather late starting it compared to the other girls that had already been playing. Once again with Soccer I put in everything I had. I practiced hard even though I was out of breath and always behind on running drills I never stopped. I warmed the bench most of the time but I was always yelling and pulling for my team. I would go over to other girls houses and practice drills with them as they would try to help me catch up on my game. I loved it but I knew I would never be scholarship material or a true competitor in the world of soccer. While doing Soccer in high school I was able to also do marching band. I know... not athletic right. High school marching band and most marching bands are not. I was a flag girl for 3 years in high school. I attended camp after camp after camp all on my own. I choreographed all of the flag work my senior year and our winter guard show. I spent hours working on Jazz runs and underbody dance work and countless hours spinning and practicing flag moves that believe me would kill most peoples arms. In college I was able to take this to the next level with getting to march in a competitive Drum and Bugle corp all summer long. We ate, drank and slept Drum corp. We started every day with stretches and running and then ate a prescribed meal then went out to run drills over and over again for hours, then pieced together our show running it over and over until it was time to eat lunch. Then we would run the show again and again. Each mistake you made you dropped and did pushups and then did that section over and over again as to not make the mistake again. One might think I was insane for loving it but it was the closest I had gotten to my days in ballet. I was able to dive into it and lose myself. I pushed through pain and fatigue that summer in a way that only a true athlete could. I came back from that summer in the best shape of my life. My quads were ripped and my arms were killer and my abs were cut. I was the happiest I had been in so long. I tried to keep it up after coming home from Drum Corp with running and working out. I did not feel any passion for just working out alone. Not enough fire to make me want to keep going running or even cycling. I got married, started teaching, had two kids, still nothing. Nothing athletic to fill the void. Then I found Roller derby. If my coach said you need to work on wall squats outside of practice I did it and am still doing it. I am still not where I should be. If my coach said I needed to go to as many practices as I could I did. I worried about being gone so long from my coach this summer when I was on the road. I promised myself and to my team mates I would come back stronger and would find a way to work on my roller derby while I was gone for a month. I found teams to skate with as I traveled, I found the gym, I found the hotel room floor for core work and I came back leaner and stronger. I admit I lost a lot of my endurance while I was gone because most of the groups I worked with did not work on endurance. Now that I am home and my practices have dwindled down to two possible practices a week my heart has sunk a little. I lived for 3 a week and even then I wanted more. So it is time to go it on my own for myself and my team. So when I think about what people see of me and what they may think because of my size and not knowing my background I am sure they think I have never been an athlete and maybe I haven't been according to their definition but as one of my favorite quotes from one of my all time favorite movies the Cutting Edge..."No one tells me what I can and can not do!" I may not be an athlete yet and I may never have been an athlete according to some peoples definition but I sure as heck am going to give it all I have. So what is your definition of an "True Athlete" What are you willing to sacrifice for the love of the game? No matter what anyone else thinks... Derby is my passion now and I am glad to have found it! I may end up a bench warmer since I am coming into it at 36 years old but you will not catch me wasting anyones time by not trying my damnedest!

Finally Back to working out after Bronchitis

Rolled out of bed this morning at 5:30am. I hit the alarm clock with dismay and then stumbled to fridge to get a thing of pudding and a banana. I know... Not Healthy. I had to grab something to get my head going and to make myself not want to crawl back in bed and want to pull the covers back over my head. Mind you I have a very comfortable Raulph Lauren Comforter that is just dreamy! I slowly get up and slide on a pair of tights a workout skirt and a roller derby shirt I acquired at a double header derby bout. My hair is already in braids so I just put a bandana on and socks and shoes and grab my keys and water bottle before heading out. First I hit the treadmill. Did the fat burning setting where it does some interval climbs and stay between 3.5 and 4.5 for 25 minutes and then hit the elliptical for another 20 minutes adjusting the resistance to 6 and then cooling down with stretches. Make it home to do 20 leg lifts out thigh on both sides. 20 leg lifts inner thigh both sides. 20 bridges, 25 old fashion sit ups, 20 cross to the other side opposite leg up crunches on both sides and 20 superman and then more stretches. So I did get back to something today but I can tell I am not where I should be. While there I asked if ten fitness had a punching bag and they said no and wanted to know if I was into boxing... I said no but was wondering. They looked at me as If I was crazy and then said why do you want a punching bag? I was just curious about doing some body blocking drills since I do roller derby so I thought I would ask. They looked at me as If I was insane and then said they had thought about it at one time but did not have one. Bummer I thought! well off to take the kiddos to registration. In my thoughts... if you can endure registration and deal with that mess and come out on top roller derby really should not be so bad!!!

Central Arkansas Roller Derby and Fueling Up!

In my endeavors to become a strong Roller Derby Girl that is in shape there have been many things that I have had to take into account! First hurdle for me was Fueling your body, Second had to be how do I train outside of practice, Third hurdle has been the right type of equipment. So let's start with why I chose roller derby then I will hit on the first topic of diet and food. It was Spring Break and I am an Algebra 1 teacher at the historical Central High School in Little Rock Arkansas. My husband and 2 kids had left for the week for vacation but due to numerous doctor appointments and dental appointments that could not be done during work I chose to stay at home by myself to fill the appointments on my list. I had found out at an early dental appointment that most of my teeth needed crown work due to all the throwing up I did while pregnant and acid reflux. I was depressed and had not been working out since the summer before. I had done nothing once the stressful school year had started. The only thing I had carried over from the summer was eating right by avoiding fast food and alcohol and cooking ahead of time and taking my lunch to work and drinking all water. So I was at home... alone.... and depressed. I decided to text a rather new friend I had made through my husbands work to find out if I could hang out with her. She texted me back and said she was busy that night with Roller Derby but I was welcome to come watch a practice. ROLLER DERBY... I thought. I used to love skating! I quickly asked if I could skate and she replied back with a "sure but it will not be just a skate around the track and be silly type of skating." I immediately thought I don't care as long as I get to put on skates. So I headed to practice that night and met the coaches and filled out paper work. I literally could not get off the carpet that night because I had not skated in 15 years. I was so embarrassed by my lack of ability to skate that it triggered a challenge in my brain. "No body tells me what I can and can not do" Plus on the bright side dues were free for the first month and then the second month only 20 dollars and I could practice with a coach training me for 2 hours 3 times a week! There isn't a personal trainer that costs that little and I loved skating as a kid... This can't get any better! So I kept going and doing additional practices on off nights to get some skate time in and get my legs back under me! So the food issue started arising as I got into the swing of practice. My doctor had me eating only 800 calories a day to 1000 and he also had me on a prescription weight loss drug. Practice had me so Hyped up that I had kind of put the weight loss drug aside and had not used it since. I had started Roller Derby and the 800-1000 calorie thing I knew was not going to work. I kept taking my lunch and though I knew I was suppose to be snaking prior to starting Roller Derby I was not. I was only eating about 3 meals a day. Once I started Roller Derby practice I was hungry all the time but at the same time I was getting full quicker. I snacked and snacked between classes, after school and after practice. I made sure the day before practice and the day of... to have a large breakfast that were healthy. I love organic vanilla yogurt and cereal, crustless quiches that were made of egg whites, tomatoes, feta and other ingredients. I made sure to eat plenty for breakfast. Lunch was rather big too! I remember taking my lunch one day and having a fellow coworker just stare at me until she said, "Are you really going to eat all of that?" I looked at her and smiled and said yes. I had a left over Steak we had grilled during the weekend, a whole wheat flat round and some mustard, a cup of fruit and a huge baked sweet potato. I was so hungry that I ended up not making the sandwich and eating the steak like I was an animal just biting straight into it! Then I ate the wheat round and half of my sweet potato. She looked at me so shocked and said that it could not be helping my diet to eat like that. I just laughed and drank my water. During my Prep period I ate a handful of Coco dusted almonds and the rest of my sweet potato. That afternoon before practice I ate a peanut butter sandwich on a wheat round... no jelly and a banana. I started eating 3 to 2 hours before practice because my nerves would get to me plus you don't want to skate on a heavy stomach I have learned. My other favorites were taking Grilled Chicken and tearing it up over a salad with all types of wonderful ingredients in it and a light dressing, dried fruit and so many other things. I learned that the less processed it is the better I felt for practice! One afternoon before practice I had made the mistake of not taking a nap and instead studying for the written test and since I was so tired I thought I would take one of my weight loss pills because it hypes me up and helps me focus. Well I did and I was wide awake and felt ok until I finished the warm ups at practice. We do 100 laps for a warm up at practice and 50 of those laps go clockwise and 50 counter clockwise then we pack up and do pack drills. We take a water break and then we usually break off into "Tot" practice and team practice. (Tot in our league is a new skater who is learning skills that need to be learned in order to pass the minimal skills test in order to play roller derby) So I had gotten my water and skated over to the Tot practice and I felt my body shaking. A fellow Tot was looking at me like I was an alien. She asked if I was ok and needed to sit down. I said I am just shaky and felt weird. I stood there for a moment and regained some control. I couldn't push myself that night and I sat with Slambert my coach and we discussed what had been different about the day and I told her about the pill. She looked at me and said not to ever take that pill again. I haven't and I have learned that I was putting my heart under a lot of stress by doing such high endurance work while on an amphetamine. I have learned I have better practices when I fuel properly and I can't afford to be harming my body with unneeded chemicals. There have been days where I have had a practice and I can tell I have not fueled properly and I get mad at myself. My thinking now on eating is not a matter of will it cause me to gain weight, but a matter of how will this fuel me for practice and how will it sit during a practice. Food is Fuel and yes it can be great tasting but what it boils down to is not the desire to eat for the taste but for what it does for my Body! Don't get me wrong... I still eat for taste especially in Louisiana but now I have a better balance on things.

Me and My Roller Derby Girls

Me and My Roller Derby Girls! These are of course only a few of them and I love them dearly! Fun times and a great way to get in shape mentally and physically!

Roller Derby and Trips

This past Summer I was on the Road a lot and with the need to keep my legs in shape and prepare myself for the Roller Derby Minimal Skills Test I asked Roller Derby Teams from the areas I was staying in If I could practice with them. In the pictures I have posted are two beautiful ladies from The Louisiana Swamp Dolls who I was able to practice with. The Swamp Dolls are out of the Pearl River area. They split their practices between Slidell Louisiana and Picayune Mississippi. While I was with them we practiced at my old skating home, Skater's Paradise. The Rink had changed drastically due to Hurricane Katrina but it felt like coming home. The pictures were taken at a double header bout in New Orleans where the Swamp Dolls took on the Crescent Wenches. It was so much fun to watch and learn from! If you are interested in Roller Derby simply google roller derby for your area. You might be surprised to find you have one near by. You don't have to be able to skate already or have skated in a long time. I had not skated in over 15 years and was on the carpet my first night! I am now apart of team and can do so many wonderful things on my skates now! Look into it! It is awesome and you will always have a group to skate with no matter where you go.

Changes from Roller Derby

The picture of me all dressed up is from around January before I started skating. I was probably about 230 pounds. The picture of me in Roller Derby Clothes was taken this summer while I was on the road and skating with the TEXAS ROLLER GIRLS. I was 225 pounds but my waist and other parts of my body had toned up!

I am Back!

It has been forever since I posted and there are so many new things in my life! My fitness goals and weight loss goals are still there and I am slowly reaching them all! I have lost weight since I have last posted! I am currently a strong 222 pound woman and though I have not really lost a lot of weight I have lost a lot of inches! I am currently playing Roller Derby for the Central Arkansas Roller Derby League and I have just been drafted to the Big Dam Rollers which is names for Little Rock's Big Dam Bridge. I have never been so happy in my life as I am now. I have gained family in Roller Derby and Strength not only in body but in Spirit.

I have been skating for about 5 months now and loving every minute! I think the key to any healthy weight loss program as well as lifestyle change is finding something you love that makes exercise seem fun! For those of you that have just started following you will see a lot of Roller Derby on here as well as cross training ideas and my changes as they occur. For those of you that were following before you will see a huge change from the starting of this blog to where I am now! Remember to live the life you love and love the life you live!