When Titanium Breaks- When the break is over.

It's been a year and two months since my last Ironman. I promised myself a year to just take it easy and really rest my body and more important shed the invincibility cloak and be regular.
In the past year, I have worked out when I felt like it and didn't went I didn't. I did regular people do and chose work and excuses over getting to the gym. I ate what I wanted and really didn't eat terrible but did eat without regard. I am happy to say I have hit rock bottom and now it's time to get back in the game. I am planning one hell of a come back. I am happy to say all the years of eating healthy and working out has made it impossible to ignore how difficult it has been to just let things go.

I did take the break for another important reason and that was to be present in my life. I used exercise and eating and trying to leap tall buildings with a single bound as a distraction to being present. I had wise counsel that say said "just sit with the feelings" the ones that brought yucky stuff to the surface and lots of times the good ones too.  It was time to really be present in my life and try to figure out whether I could manage not to run away or hide from myself. I know -- deeper than "eat less move more" as a life plan and way more complicated than dieting but after two half Ironman races and two full IM races in two years with a major life change (a divorce) and a number of other obstacles (career shift, life shift -daughter leaving for college and giving up my personal training business) Not only is that a run on sentence it's a S*$# storm of a life.
----- I needed to see if the stuff I was chasing would matter much when I wasn't chasing it or measure who I am by it when I didn't have much to brag about. You see many of the people I know who do big things might tell you they aren't sure why they do it - it just has to be done. For me, I just wonder when you give yourself permission to rest and not chase things that don't seem to change your life all that dramatically, is life better?

So here I am... fairly unsatisfied with my new resolve of just sitting with my feelings and a new perspective. I plan to be present and use the time I rested to fuel the next wave of kicking butt and taking names.

I needed the time off - it was so important. I realized that much of what I did was to prove something to the audience of one. I just had to learn to be "the one". My hamster wheel was put in the cage by someone else and now I needed to dismantle the nonsense and really be deliberate which helped in being present.

Who are you? Why do you do what you do? Have you enjoyed the success or just kept moving the finish line?

I am certain the break in being perfect is the time when titanium breaks.... sometimes it's a necessary thing.

If you are depressed you are living in the past.
If you are anxious you are living in the future.
 If you are at peace you are living in the present.
 Lao Tzu

What's next?

           It's been twenty five years since I started in the fitness business. I fell into by accident in Germany and have been in it ever since. I started as a fitness instructor teaching step aerobics in my apartment complex laundry room to ladies in my building. At the top of my game I was presenting in Las Vegas for IDEA (a large trade conference) to a room full of instructors a yoga weight combination I created called Yo-Wei.
      It was the perfect gig for an entrepreneur, ADD, stay-at-home (mostly) mom with a deep desire to help others. I giggle as I look back at the things I learned about people, their weight and how life with it's ups and downs would allow me a rare glimpse into the dark places few people allow others. I was trusted with lives that had seen ups and downs and many had the scars to prove it.
         I got into personal training after my daughter was born. I was fat from pregnancy, depressed and needed to do something. I figured I would help myself first. I went back into the fitness room to teach aerobics weighing in at 200 lbs. Ashamed of my weight I knew I couldn't hide and needed to be as honest and transparent as possible. I was my first and most important client. In the past 19 years of personal training I have learned so much about this field.
I learned that:
-You can't want it more than your client
-If people don't pay for it they don't appreciate it
- If someone doesn't "feel" sore they will think you didn't do your job
- Sweat is somehow the only way you know you are burning fat, so they better sweat
- Your body is your business card make sure people believe what you say by the way you live
- this job is tough not everyone likes your style and some will go on to be successful without you
- you can't win them all and you can't lose the weight for them
- people will lie about everything including what they eat
- I was hired to change their bodies but really many wanted me to change their lives--- I often failed . they had to do that on their own.
- for many, exercise is where people go to hide their pain they need love and care first-- an ass whooping second-- be kind
- people are more afraid of success than failure and they will quit more often because of that than anything. Help them succeed first then they can stop trying to fail.
- If you don't offer a quick fix or magic pill they will find ways to get it without you
- They will show up time and time again hoping you will continue to help and believe in them - - there is magic in that -- be grateful you were chosen.

Our bodies are the most important place we live- our soul resides there but with a host of the best of who we are, the worst and the hope that we can change that in the future. My personal training career was a gift to me more than to my clients. I spent that time; running races from 5k's to marathons, competed for several years as a natural bodybuilder and completed two half Ironman races and two Full Ironman races. I never did those things to "prove" how great I was but really to create a path for anyone I worked with to show that they too could do anything they wanted to do.

I must be honest, I'm tired and it's time to call it a great success. I have spent many hours rearranging my schedule to help someone get a workout in, fielded countless phone calls of folks who "forgot" they had a sessions. Listened to hours of people telling them selves lies about what they were capable of and not doing great things because of it. I have given up traditional jobs, health care and retirement  funds to see people be great. I have been through it all, the good, the bad and,the ugly, and I wouldn't change a thing. I loved all my experiences and couldn't be more grateful for everyone who participated in my life and allowed me to participate in theirs.

I couldn't give up fitness or my life in it completely. I have already started the next - next thing.
I am working full time in real estate and will be doing some freelance work in fitness.

I will be blogging. I will be taking classes at fitness studios all over Asheville reviewing them and telling  you what's happening in the industry. Writing is a passion I have had all my life and a hobby much of it. Now it's time to really do more. My son and I are working out together and I am doing now what I call "oxygen mask behavior" taking care of me first. It's difficult to not help when it's where you feel like you really shine. It has finally occurred to me - I have to help myself first then help others.  Look for me on FB at Get Fit Asheville -- Thank you if you were one of my clients..
Also Look out for me doing real estate full time is the new/same gig!!

How to: "the happy kind of wellness"

I have mentioned a number of times wellness is not all about pain. It should be about healing but mostly we assume its about pain. I like to include more non- conventional aspects of wellness in my life to keep my hopes of happy and healthy alive. I visited two places in the last month that I really count on for help with the well rounded wellness. 

Hand and Stone is a massage therapy and facial spa on Hendersonville road in Asheville. It has an amazing feel and high end spa reception. What I enjoy most about Hand and Stone is you become a member and go for a monthly massage and/or facial. Finally! a membership you sign up for and are anxious to use. The concept allows you to be committed to a monthly massage and can be a yummy part of wellness. It's considered a luxury but with the way we live our lives, the level of stress and the amount of illness, massage can be a vital part of living longer. 

The Salt Spa of Asheville - Also on Hendersonville road across from Atalanta bread company- it's tucked into a small group of stores but it's not lacking. The whole experience is worth the $35 and I can assure you I tried another salt spa in Asheville for less money and didn't enjoy it as much. The Salt Spa is a way to work with your ions. I could give you the science behind it but it's difficult to argue with good vibrations. I felt more relaxed and much better after the one hour experience. 

Out of the box fitness-

I took my son to the Smokey Mountain Adventure center to do a little climbing. I have never done any indoor climbing and the only place I had gone smelled so much like feet I could barely take it. This place was shiny and new and didn't smell like feet. I was surprised to find that "popping in" to climb is frowned upon and it would be best to take a climbing class offered once a month. Unfortunately, my wild ideas don't usually cooperate with modern calendars. So either plan to wing it a little and be patient with the staff or take the class. It's pretty tough and your arms revolt quickly so it can be a hour outing but at roughly $45 for two people and gear it's not cheap. 

Wellness isn't only a gym and a bank draft - its a journey make sure you see some things before you only resort to the punishment you think you deserve for eating the chocolate cake. 

Live life well...it's doesn't last forever.

Resilient

Resilience – it was the word I picked this year to be the word that I would learn about, experience and hopefully growing as my guide. Resilience – is the ability to recoil or spring back bending to recover quickly from difficult situations. I knew this all too well given the last year that I've had and the changes that took place.  I also began to look carefully at the programs I was teaching in wellness to companies and individuals. I realized that much like my teaching and guiding reflected the "how to's" when everything goes right. What I had begun to realize is that you also need to "how to" when everything goes wrong. I'm not saying that things of been going wrong for me I'm just saying when things don't look like they should or  are a perfect case scenario you need to have a plan  and that is resilience.  The University of Southern California did a study on athletes, endurance athletes specifically and they could work, perform and succeed under tough training and race circumstances. They found that endurance athletes were in fact able to condition two parts of the brain influential in the ability to both feel stress and then adapt to stress. Interception which is the practice of training your brain to be as tough as your body was part of this study. There are two parts of the brain the insular cortex and the medial prefrontal cortex that influence resilience. The insular cortex is data collected in the brain from outside the body in within the body. The medial prefrontal cortex is the part of the brain decides how strongly we react to those outside influences. For instance when you get nervous and your heart starts to beat fast or you're embarrassed and your face turns red – each person reacts differently based on their ability to condition the response the more often you submit yourself to being in an uncomfortable situation the better you get at adapting- that is resilience. In wellness it's not how perfectly you eat and exercise but how willing you are to you continue to follow the path towards your ultimate goal. For instance resilience comes  in the ability to adapt when you forgot your shoes on a day you planned to walk at work. Resilience is the ability to adapt when life gets in the way and you need to continue on your wellness journey. This new aspect of training has become very monumental for me and for the people that I work with. I find myself no longer trying to teach the perfect time exercise plan but chiseling out what works in daily life of the people that I'm working with.

Resilience – the key to getting through just about anything. Jim Thorpe was considered the world's greatest athlete in 1912 and would also be the first Native American to compete in the Olympics. The night before Olympics his shoes were stolen he was forced to get in a dumpster where he found two different shoes. He wore an extra sock to make the shoe that was a tiny bit bigger fit better. He won two gold medals in the 1912 Olympics wearing shoes that were not his own. 

Resilience is more about problem-solving that it is planning what happens when things don't go your way? What dumpster will you find your track shoes in?
I'm going to be teaching an online class and resilience if you're interested send me an email at
jolenepuffer@charter.net
Bounce don't Break.

Big Magic

I finished Elizabeth Gilbert's new book "Big Magic" and loved it. The timing couldn't have been more perfect and I want to share the three things I got out of it.  The book is acts as a guide to living in creativity. Gilbert helps us to explore what creativity is, can be and how to live it out. She believes what you are destined to do is inside with your creativity  but creativity may need it's own journey to find it's way. Yes, creativity as though it has life and finds it's own way.  I found her description of it fascinating, giving it life and making it clear that you have it but it doesn't always have you. A good idea will find it's way into the Universe and even if it was your idea it doesn't mean you'll be in charge of doing it.
Gilbert talks about the elements of creativity and many of them aren't sexy and require a level of work and commitment many aren't willing to give. I love what I do and have struggled for years with whether I should get a "real job"according to my critics. As a personal trainer I do so much more than just help people get fit and it's where I feel the most creative. When I design a workout or find a way to get someone past a fear or when someone loses 50lbs with my help, It's all big magic to me and I am glad to be on the journey.
Big magic gave me permission to think about my creativity as part of my craft and it made sense of things I have been grappling with for years. Here are my three takeaways:
1.  Creativity doesn't propagate scarcity, people do. - Do what you love to do even if lots of people do it. Gilbert reminds us " no one will do it the way you will". As a trainer I can see there are lots of people who need my help and finding those people or having them find me is part of my creativity.  In Seth Godin's book "The Purple Cow" he notes "you don't have to be the best, you just have to be first" So don't analyze things too much and paralyze your creativity. Get busy.
2. Your creativity shouldn't have to pay your bills- If you have a good idea then begin to work it and don't blow up your whole life and put everything on red when the dealer calls black. The past 20 years I have done everything I can do as it relates to fitness. Couch to 5k programs, corporate wellness, fitness classes, training teens, adults and very reluctant employees, help trainers increase their business, cook for clients, host dinner and yoga and make t-shirts with cute fitness sayings.  I have said "yes" to just about anything that would help me get ahead in wellness and get a check. I haven't given up on my dream of the big office and the big windows with a big pay check training America's largest companies in wellness and speaking around the country- but for now I have to hustle.
3. Eat your #%$* sandwich- Gilbert refers to the unpleasant things we have to do to get to the next level as a sandwich that you have to eat to get to the place you are trying to go. For me, it's paperwork. Each month I sit down with my &*%$ sandwich and send out invoices so I can get paid. It's part of the work and although I love what it yields but sitting still and thinking about numbers, yep not my favorite. She maintains our desire to get ahead and keep creating can lie in the eating of that sandwich. There are just somethings you will have to do.

I cooked for several clients for about three months. I loved the idea that it helped make Monday's (the hardest day of the week for me since my divorce) productive. My therapist said "don't get pissed get productive"  cooking answered that call.  It's been therapy for me and taking care of people makes my heart sing. Now, Monday's are good in fact they are great and I am no longer feeling the need to cook. It served as part of my healing, I had big magic and now I have more of me back. Somethings you must do may only serve as a bridge to get to the other side. I am on the other side and it feels good.

The book was an easy read and allows you to get out there and start over everyday.
It's big magic that space we hold to do things that make us smile, sleep better and leave this world a better place.

JPWellness: When healthy is Yummy...

JPWellness: When healthy is Yummy...: The rule was always if it taste good spit it out. But the truth is healthy can be yummy! I have been preparing food for clients for a while ...

When healthy is Yummy...

The rule was always if it taste good spit it out. But the truth is healthy can be yummy! I have been preparing food for clients for a while now and I am really enjoying all the things you can create that are yummy, but even better easy!
I have had a number of requests for my Eggplant lasagna recipe so I am including that for you today. I am also including the Yummy treats I made for clients this week.

Eggplant is a night shade that grows on a vine. It contains Nasunin, which is a potent antioxidant and free radical scavenger that has been shown to protect cell membranes from damage. You can prepare eggplant many different ways but my favorite is as a substitute for lasagna noodles. I use the mandolin slicer and slice the egg plant thin using them as layers for the lasagna.
1 Jar of Red sauce ( I look for the ones lowest in sugar) Barilla Marinara All Natural has been my choice in the past
8 oz of ground turkey cooked
1 cup of low fat cottage cheese ( even if you aren't a fan it taste good in the dish)
1 egg
Mix those ingredients well
spread sauce on the bottom of the pan and layer with egg plant
cover with a blend of shredded cheese sprinkle enough to cover add some Parmesan
repeat until you get to the top will be roughly three layers
make sure sauce covers the edges and cook at 350 degrees until you can smell it.

Yummy Protein bites
1/2 cup of peanut butter
1/2 cup of honey
1/2 cup of protein powder (vanilla)
Mix together form into balls
cover with unsweetened organic coconut shavings
chill and enjoy

You may need to hide them they are yummy but also calorie dense so be aware. Save them for before a workout or afternoon when you are tired and need a boost.




Eating healthy can be fun but you have to be creative!
It's Sunday and I am cooking for the week- Are you prepared for a healthy week?