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Incredible Ladies
Articles Columns/Blogs
Word of Mouth |
8th July - Training, Ice cream and more Training Gosh, I am ice cream addicted... I have phases, last week it was burgers - just the meaty bit, but still; and no, I am not pregnant! I am wondering though, if my fat loss and muscle gain is resulting in weird reactions telling me what I should eat. Like carbos for energy, and protein for muscle building. I know that it is not just cravings, I am really hungry, and then I want those specific things... Weird effects, really. Training is going well, incorporated an additional incline powerwalking session on the treadmill now to do a bit more for the old calves... well, and to burn off the calories from all the ice cream. The shoulders are eventually the first section to be finished on the Exercises page of the blog and I added some new Hightlights as well. And on the photo front there are no news because the photo shoot had to be cancelled to dear photographer friend having caught a bad cold. So I decided to contemplate the last one a bit more and asked myself why I am so keen on photo shoots. I have to say: I only can recommend it. So have a lovely rest of the week and don't shy away when hubby gets the camera out during your next BBQ! Love
1st July - Summer, Summer, Summer... And I could go on like this! It is hot... and I am loving it! Admittedly at times I have to slow down a bit, but altogether the warmth is lovely. I like it in the gym when the muscles are all soft, and I like it that I don't have to carry the spare pullover, pair of socks or cardigan. Only our cats are a bit annoyed... and annoying. They have become even pickier with their food, as we do when it is hot, and a big part of my daily tasks is to lid and un-lid cat bowls to avoid fly infestation. This eventually was an event-less week in regard to food; usually events have to do with eating, and I so much want to keep a rhythm for a while to become a bit leaner. But movie on Thursday 'Letters to Juliet' was quite enjoyable and not food related, and during the family fun day organised by BT for its employees at Adastral Park on Saturday I shipped around all the cliffs of ice-cream vans and hog roasts and stayed with my trusted sandwiches. And pay-off came: This morning I saw the 65kg for the first time in years, which was worth a 'quickie' on the blog. Then I took a decision which was worth another blog entry. Well, and I did a bit of column writing as well. See, that is the good thing when a week is rather boring, at times the mind is starting to float and I actually get some ideas about what I could write. So off we go into another warm and floaty week with a hopefully lovely weekend. Have a good one! Love
Love
What a week! Great Yarmouth Bodybuilding show already had set the pace, and although it was impressive, it has taken the scare out of it. I now know what I have to work towards, I know where the crux lies, I made a few contacts... and it will be just fine! One more year of exciting work ahead.
Actually, I was supposed to get an iPad, but they were all sold out. Now Detlef will order the iPad for himself since I already got my pressie. Not sure though, if all of those purchases are not actually for him in the end... hmmm?!? Love
10th June - Oh it's one of those days! So tomorrow is the day I have been working towards, trying not to get spots, scratches or bruises, collecting props and thinking about photo ideas: Babul is coming to town for another photo shoot. Hence this is why everything is brought forward a bit, and I am writing this on Tuesday already. And of course today is one of those days!
This will happen from next week on again, and then I will have some footage from the Bodybuilding Championship in Great Yarmouth this Sunday as well. It was great and very encouraging, so that report will be up next week as well. And of course I will drop the one or the other picture of the photo shoot. I may even be able to add one for this edition, given that it won't get too late tomorrow. For now I only have a column that contains a few thoughts about photo shoots and the weekly diary of the bodybuilding challenge. Have a great rest of the week, and a lovely weekend Love
3rd June - Photos, Videos and a bit of Narcissism Given that this week has pretty much been under the sign of photography this diary entry will be very undecorated. It is all happening a bit in the future I am afraid, and hence there is not a lot to tell about. I am hopeful, though, to even be able to revive an old project: 50 years, 50 pictures, 50 views. Yes, I am still hoping to become famous or rich or both with a book. But the most important thing for now is Babul's arrival in London. He will come to Ipswich next Wednesday and we will have another photo shoot. Yay! Well, and then, having had the bank holiday Monday this week and the gym being really rather empty, I took the video camera with me and filmed the exercises - 9 of them. It will need some time to get them all edited, but I managed to get the first two shoulder exercises published on Bloody Hell... Additionally I created a list of all the exercises I am doing, and will gradually link the videos in. For quick access this is one of the files listed in the right hand side menu of the blog. So far so good, the facilities are in place, this Sunday we will go to Great Yarmouth to watch the bodybuilding competition into which I want to enter myself next year, photo shoots are arranged, now I have to seriously start rowing training and the posing stuff. Since my video software was close to driving me bonkers today I will have to cut it short again now, as it got late again and I am starting to write rubbish. Have a good rest of the week and enjoy a hopefully sunny weekend! Love
27th May - What might the neighbours think? Yesterday I hugged the second very blue eyed man bang in the middle of my driveway within a week – hubby has brown eyes... well he has a brown and a green one, but that is not the point! The deed of hugging itself might appear suspicious, these two gentlemen, however are of the rare species of blue eye which are recognised instantly and which makes it hard to look anywhere else. So I, being fortunate enough to hug two of them within a short period of time, might raise an onlooker’s eyebrows.
Well, the owner of the cool bike as a matter of fact, is a dear friend who picked me up for a coffee to discuss his business which is featured in this weeks ‘support rural business’ section.
Well and blue still is the theme - his van is really rather recognisable, too; and the only one with the white stripes on the back as well. So if you see this beauty somewhere in the street deciding that your alarm actually does need maintenance... why not go and have a chat with the guy. The driver of the dashing car who fell victim of yesterdays hug attack is hubby’s best friend from school days waaay back in So dears, I might see some of you at the Afternoon Tea this week and for the rest of it have a lovely weekend. Tata
20th May - A lot of TED and a lot of happiness I stumbled over some TED talks recently, one of which was dealing with the matter of what makes us happy. Dan Gilbert asks, Why are we happy? I found it a very interesting talk, since in there it is claimed that "We are able to synthesise happiness, but that we still think it is something to be found". Maybe this is rather close to what I call the 'Glass half full' attitude, meaning the ability to see the good in any given situation and then to work from there, as opposed to 'Glass half empty' where all the bad things are highlighted and subsequent action is nothing but moaning. This guy is right: As soon as somebody is voicing opinions about all the good things happening out of a bad situation we call it 'whitewashes', thus diminishing the feeling of happiness. Maybe because we are jealous of such a positive attitude? Well, in this talk however it is suggested that it is NOT just whitewashing, but true happiness. Maybe a bit of whitewash training would in the long run teach us all on how to become truly happy people. Another thing that I found striking is that apparently people who take finite decisions are happier, than people who are keeping their options open. Since I truly believe that any decision is better than no decision I am somewhat thrilled that I may be doing something right in my life. The other talk I found was from Nathan Myhrvold on archeology, animal photography, BBQ ... The subject is rather unrelated, his last phrase made me think, though. This guy is doing so many things and is so successful with it. He is living proof that it is people who have many interests are able to think outside the box, and he seems to excuse himself for the fact that he never managed to focus. And again I see a similarity to my own life. The 'nerd vs. dilletante' issue. Isn't it astonishing that a guy this successful has the notion of being unfocused? To stumble across two great people who sort of confirm that what I feel is right, or at least is 'not wrong' makes me happy. I may appear pathetic drawing happiness from such a thing, but IL has grown out of a lack of confidence; I have been working hard to find my own reasoning for certain characteristics of my personality, and whether or not I should change or stick with what I have. I sometimes have been struggling to 'see the glass half full'. It is just nice to see that my little life has issues that are worth studying, and that it seems to be rather normal to doubt ones focus as even great people do so. It works as a positive reinforcement: I am even keener now to find happiness in simple decisions, I am even more focused in being unfocused. It is inspiring to find like-minded people higher up the rank. And then I found another talk which might explain why that is: Nicholas Christakis on: The hidden influence of social networks So today I feel a bit like a school girl who has been writing essays for three years now and eventually got a pat on the shoulder. Ahhh... happy! Love
13th May - Time warp: Back to my roots a bit differently I am inspired! I'm not sure if this is a good or a bad thing, but I can't help it. The indifference in regard to my new inspiration comes from the fact that it opposes my Bodybuilding efforts. Well, not the sport efforts itself but the food issues that come with it.
The inspiration and the pictures provided by the Cookbook are breath taking, though. Whether I will ever try to cook some of it or not: The book is worth it's money just for the pictures. I am now very interested in what the future will bring. I definitely will do my rowing and bodybuilding challenge: Last week I have started the rowing training and did the new Bodybuilding split for the first time - which is working great! And I definitly will dig deeper into the treasure box of inspired cooking. Sometimes it's good to look back to find a window into the future! And with this I will leave you for today, wishing you an inspired rest of the week and a dreamy weekend Love
6th May - On my way to USG and Success! Time is flying, days are still too short despite the light saving schedule and the wind is still too cold. I am starting to get the hang of my new schedule which includes the day job, the nitty-gritty bits, the rowing and the gym work, but still didn't have an single week during which I could stick to it entirely. There is always something else barging in and I am beginning to understand how life will be changing if one really goes for a challenge. But I am liking it! It is a bit stressful, but for some reason there are bits and pieces falling into place unexpectedly, and from something idiotic something good arises. I fixed the date for the food tasting dinner with MySecretKitchen products several month ago for this Friday and now it turns out Babul will be coming end of the Month visiting me for a photoshoot. Of course I want to be looking my best, so having intensified the training was a lucky coincidence, but the hair laser thingy needed to be done again. I anyway wanted to get it out of the way before the sun would leave a tan, given the English weather however, there wouldn't be such a rush, but with a photoshoot coming up I need about three weeks to get rid of the black ash dots. So I had to take an appointment TODAY! Hence me being a bit knackered and asking for forgiveness, should I be writing too much rubbish. Two hours of laser blitz and nippingly cold air with the steady click click noise of the laser made me somewhat numb. I parked in the middle of town as close as possible to the clinic, wanted to pay for the maximum four hours which is £4.70, and the silly machine stopped taking coins at £4.60 - in desperation I pressed the green button, the ticket printed and it was only two hours... Darn, I needed to run some errands and was preparing for a 3 hour session... That might exceed the 4 hours maximum parking anyway. Such idiotic parking arrangement, and then on top of it all the machine is not working. While thinking through the options the door of a little booth opened, a nice parking guard came out, scribbled something on my ticket and gave me 5 hours - sometimes a girl needs some luck In the end I didn't even need it, but I had the peace of mind while having the treatment. Now it is done and over with and in a few weeks time my legs and a few things more will be wonderfully smooth. Additionally the menu for Friday is sorted, the website is in work right now, and it even seems that my videos are successful. Well, not super-rich successful, but successful enough to earn me £ 4.73 in one month. A while ago I reported that my Basic Tummy Exercises video became eligible for advertising on YouTube, and although I am not a big fan of internet advertising, I gave it a shot, thinking that earnings could go straight into my Orangutan Land Trust Justgiving Page. And yesterday I got my first account statement! One only will get paid once £ 60 is reached - still some way to go - but it rolls over into the next month and I might get an advert linked to other video. So yes, that definitely cheered me up yesterday. And now my dear ladies I'd like to wrap it up. Sitting is not the most comfortable past time at the moment and just in case you are bored you might want to pay the Challenges blog a visit. I have written an article this week which you might like: 'It's a Female thing' So long, Tata, Salu and Tschüss Until next week Love
The updates here are likely to open with the word: 'Again...' in the future. I just finalised my training schedule and it seems that spontaneity will go a bit down the drain this summer and repetition will be key! I am only hoping that the outcome will vary with a trend towards 'Up' in what I can lift, and 'Down' in what I weigh.
Giraffe Love Play It got rather late now and I will call it a day. I hope you like my account from Colchester Zoo, and should you go there for a day out: Please say 'Hello' to Rajang, Tiga and the Limas from me! Hope to see you at the Afternoon Tea this Friday, Love
22nd April - It definitely is a PROJECT!
I probably should read my own website more often. And it doesn't really matter whether one wants to get into the desired shape, or if one would like to learn how to sew or take great photos, does it? As soon as the wish for achievement is entering the room a whole load of other stuff needs to get sorted as well. I however feel that it is a good place to be in, it makes me aware - again - that quickfixes don't work. I have been reading and browsing a lot these past almost four years, and boy - have I read a lot of bullshit on how to get things done the easy way. Now I even learned that fat cells grow back after liposuction - brrrr! I still will have to prove that one can get rid of orange peel by training and good skin care; the quickfix is not working for sure, except if one changes to a better lifestyle. Well, that change could have saved the whole operation in the first place. Focused and motivated I am now going into my 4th week - I can't believe it's such long already. The crowd of supporters is slowly getting bigger and they are following my quest from all over the world. The fund-raising is on its way since today and now I need flyers and a date for the rowing marathon. Getting there! So please have a look at the blog once in a while. I am updating more often than once a week and as mentioned before: It's not just about the sport, it's about getting the hang of the rest of the stuff as well. Now let me wrap it up for today, this lady has to get her beauty sleep! Good luck and all the best to all of you who are stuck somewhere due to the volcano, I hope you will be home safe and sound soon! Wishing you all a great rest of the week and a sunny weekend, Love
15th April - Blogs Blogs Blogs
There you are! I am well on my way and very determined... and I am happy! I am feeling so 'at home' in this project. At the moment there is hardly anything else I can think about, and hence there is not a lot I can write about here at the moment. Except of the second part of the interview with Michelle Desilets on ' The WildLife with Laurel Neme'. It is such a joy to listen to a first hand account on how Orangutans are taught to be Orangutans. She even is talking 'Orangutan' a bit. For now I am hoping that even all of you who are not particularly into Bodybuilding will like my blog. I would love to hear your opinion - everybody can comment on the blog, no login needed. See you next week Love
Oh what a week it has been! It was a week of ideas and decision making and pushing things into a direction. Voices from my past which quite shyly told me to go back to my roots last week, started to shout louder this week, and reminded me that the whole IL idea was to follow ones dreams. Ok! Heard it! Will do! So now there is a new kid on the blog - a diary of my challenges to be achieved by 2011, one of which is a dream that is bugging me since 35 years.
The other thing that struck me is that if you lead your life right, that then dreams will come to you. That sounds very spiritual, and I don't know if I am interpreting this correctly, but I think he is right: Sometimes we are trying to hard. I have to admit that once in a while I am doing the right things, but sort of for the wrong reasons.I don't mean cheating - it's hard to explain - sometimes I do things because they seem to be appropriate to reach a goal, it may be something that makes sense in a technical way, or it may be the wrong order in which tasks are executed. This usually is the result of hitting a brick wall, and taking a short-cut, using strategies that work for others instead of finding my own personal way. This always feels like being in the wrong place at the wrong time and living somebody else's life. See, when after all my past moaning I decided, that I will go on running this site despite not having real success with it, will keep shooting my videos and will keep pushing on with my projects - and that I will do it for my own fun and enjoyment, because that is how it should be done - just the next morning I had a wonderful fan letter in my inbox, from a wonderfully incredible lady urging me to proceed in what I am doing. Then I found this competition advert, reminding me of my old dream, and today I even got an email about an event that could become the backdrop for the rowing marathon. All my brick walls gone in a jiffy - all I have to do now is working hard and enjoying the ride. And then I found some more inspiration via a voice from the internet. I have been reading a lot about Michelle Desilets and her charity 'Orangutan Land Trust'. It is the charity which IL is mainly supporting. And now eventually I have heard her voice in a striking interview. It is amazing how one can talk with so much passion about her life, the orangutans, the projects and yet there is nothing judgemental in her voice or phrasing when she is depicting the brick walls she and her colleagues are regularly hitting. Those problems are there, they are fact, they are there for reasons, let's do something about it! What an incredible lady! There will be a second part next week. So yes! Life is good! We have reasonably healthy bodies, we have brains, let's use those in our individual unique ways to knock over the walls we really care about and let's have a lot of fun doing so! Always yours
1st April - Not a joke: Taking you back to the roots The IL roots that is! I had a few incidents recently which make me feel like stepping back in time to the beginnings of IL - actually before IL. Although I am much fitter now, nothing seemed to be working out. All my wisdom seemed to be long forgotten and even my drive for sport had been lacking for such a long time that I feel rather breathless, powerless and wimpish. So I decided to read a few of my own articles - if they were any good they should bring me up to scratch again; it's three years after all that I started writing for the site: Time to warm a few things up! Sometimes it helps to just be aware of how the body works, so that one knows that one is not alone in this, and then there are the little helperlines which can incredibly enhance the chemistry in the body and hence lay the ground for all the rest. And So here is my selection from the body, health and nutrition section:
Well, and when I started writing back then I did so about my sport. See, and there is the dilemma. I was inexperienced and I wrote about what I knew and what was important to me at that time. I quickly realised that my experience is not about sport, but about being passionate - for whatever. And I realised as well that by writing about sport a lot, I already had put off quite a few people from reading the site. In the meantime none of my friends from back then is reading the site because they still think that it is a Bodybuilding site. I was so desperate to please them and to get them back, that I entirely neglected the sport section. I haven't written about sport in about one and a half years, and the bodybuilding section is still incomplete although I have all the pictures sitting there ready to be processed. Back then I didn't understand how the internet works and how loyal behaviour in the internet is created. Not that I have become better in that, but I surely I have now decided for my lifestyle to focus on sport again, and I will do so on the site as well. Here is to catch up with a few of the articles we have already:
Now I am getting to the bit which a lot of people call 'airy fairy', but which I think is the most honest of the sections. Every article was written at a time when the issue was bugging me, and writing it down in a way that it didn't sound too much like a rant, helped rather well to thinking the matter through. Apparently there have been quite a few things bugging me - the number of articles and columns is really rather big; so big even that there was a point when I gathered the first year's pamphlets, worked through them again and wanted to publish them as a book. Oh yeah, dreams! Of course no editor thought that somebody would want to pay money for the wisdom of an old cow from the provinces. So the manuscript is sitting idly on my shelf. But here I would like to point you to the one or the other article nevertheless:
And then there is one more little article which sort of sums it up. I wrote it almost two years ago and it was to go into said book. Well it's about time to publish it now:- Have a wonderful Easter time and see you next week all fresh and full of USG! Love
These days the site diary is more my own diary than anything else. Incredible Ladies have been all so busy that we didn't even make it to the movies. Well, and then it so happened that all of a sudden the hubbies and some male friends got all excited about going out, so we had some mixed parties what was very nice as well.
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