{"id":791,"date":"2013-05-09T10:58:01","date_gmt":"2013-05-09T15:58:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lovingonme.com\/?p=791"},"modified":"2017-04-09T14:46:34","modified_gmt":"2017-04-09T19:46:34","slug":"a-first-ladys-tricepsnewest-bucket-list-addition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/2013\/05\/09\/a-first-ladys-tricepsnewest-bucket-list-addition\/","title":{"rendered":"A First Lady\u2019s Triceps\u2026Newest Bucket List Addition?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"michelle-obama-great-arms\"<\/a>I did a double take when I read recent headlines\u2026<\/p>\n

First lady Michelle Obama\u2019s toned triceps have spurred an almost 4,400% increase in upper arm plastic surgery.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Really?! Oh my. This just in from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, I suppose the docs who make this country a beautiful place ought to know.<\/p>\n

Most women, yours truly included, really do want to look great, well at least good.\u00a0 Of course, one glance in the mirror can send even a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model over the edge, because we are our own worst enemy. But really, cutting up your upper arms to get that look\u2026not sure I get that.<\/p>\n

For me, feeling truly whole includes being fit, not simply looking fit. While the days of bikini modeling are long over (ok, so they never really existed) I must remind myself daily that the journey to my physical and mental wellbeing is life long.\u00a0 It\u2019s a lesson I continue to teach my two daughters. In addition to working hard at school, at a job, in giving back, work hard to take care of the beautiful body God gifted you.<\/p>\n

When I was young, I was one of the lucky ones\u2026naturally lean, long legged and with the appetite of Hagar the Horrible.\u00a0 But, I was also active and I devoured fruit and veggies with gusto. A satisfactory level of fitness was fairly easy. \u201cWas\u201d would be the keyword here.<\/p>\n

Years later, a new phase of life would slowly reshape this body of mine. As if my days as a single, working mom weren\u2019t chaotic enough – with raising children, working demanding jobs, being volunteer extraordinaire and so on – aging and the force of gravity were staring back at me. Mirror, Mirror on the Wall who\u2019s the fairest of them all\u2026<\/i>please don\u2019t answer that question!<\/p>\n

Hmmm, so my limited time hitting the gym to jump on an elliptical was no longer cutting it. I\u2019ve never been much of a scale person. Pants not pounds are my litmus test. If the britches are tight, Houston there is a problem.\u00a0 So, I threw in kickboxing class for a while \u2013 now that can kick your @*%!\u00a0 But as time passed, my sweat and weak jabs were simply not enough!\u00a0 A growing affinity for red wine may\u2019ve played a small role, too.<\/p>\n

So a couple of years ago-with a fast approaching birthday that has a big, fat ZERO at the end-I was ready to start a bucket list of sorts. When our children are young they have Well Baby\/Child doctor visits.\u00a0 Why not have a \u201cWell Mama List\u201d to take on a few new \u201cphysical\u201d challenges. Nothing outrageous or death defying… my list would just include sporty stuff I\u2019d never done before.<\/p>\n

Here we go: running, yoga, tennis and paddle boarding.\u00a0 Yes, that\u2019s enough for now.\u00a0 At the tender age of just shy of the half-century mark this mom decided to become a fitness warrior \u2013 my petite version of one, anyway.<\/p>\n

The quest began\u2026both frustrating and exhilarating at the same time.\u00a0 With best friend\/sister-in-law along for the ride and my two girls as occasional sweat partners and constant cheerleaders, my challenge has been fulfilling\u00a0 as someone who doesn\u2019t quite fit the natural born, athlete status.<\/p>\n

Running. At the beginning, the runs were slow and very, very short.\u00a0 We (me and my BFF ) began counting how many mailboxes, then utility poles and finally streets we could run past before taking a \u201cwalk\u201d break. \u00a0But the plodding and perspiring through the heat, humidity and hills of Tallahassee paid off.\u00a0 There are plenty of 5ks, a few 10ks and 15ks now under our belts.\u00a0 And, drum role please\u2026completed my first \u00bd marathon in the big \u201c50\u201d year and didn\u2019t even come close to dying.<\/p>\n

Yoga. Okay, my days as a cheerleader didn\u2019t provide quite the balance and flexibility skill set one would hope for on this venture into Downward Dogdom. (And, yes thank you very much, unlike my bikini model fantasy, I actually did jump around with pompoms back in the day.)\u00a0 Today, I can say I\u2019ve practiced Flow, Hot, Core, Vinyasa and a few other yoga styles that I cannot even begin to pronounce.\u00a0 Yoga is astounding and impossible; spiritual and silly (when one tumbles out of a pose); the epitome of yin and yang.<\/p>\n

Tennis.\u00a0 I am not sure where I was in middle school when the rest of the kids were learning how to volley and serve, but my experience in this sport was pretty much nil, I mean \u201clove\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0 With new court shoes and vintage racquet in hand I hit the court with BFF and teenage daughter in tow.\u00a0\u00a0 We\u2019ve come a long way\u2026from chasing\u00a0 out-of-bounds balls to playing a solid game.\u00a0 Just might join a tennis league this year. I know I can score way beyond \u201clove\u201d.<\/p>\n

Warrior.\u00a0 I have hurtled the great warrior wall, climbed cargo nets, crawled through muddy mayhem, and leapt above roasting flames to claim the famed and fuzzy St. Jude\u2019s Warrior Dash Helmet, all for a great cause.<\/p>\n

Yes, I am Woman, I am Warrior!<\/p>\n

\"LH-Warrior\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo caption: Me in the front row-left, along with my BFF in red & fellow Warrior friends.<\/i><\/p>\n

SUP. That\u2019s the lingo for Stand Up Paddle Boarding, in case you didn\u2019t know.\u00a0 It\u2019s all the rage and great for the core, they say. Not a bad way to work on the abs whilst also enjoying the sunshine and water.\u00a0 This venture is next on the list and will be shared with my beautiful girls, in one of my favorite places in the world.\u00a0 This summer, we\u2019ll SUP along beautiful Lake Trasimeno, tucked among the \u201cTuscan Sun\u201d hills of Italy.<\/p>\n

So, getting back to Michelle Obama\u2019s arms.\u00a0 A wee bit more weight on the rack and a few more of those blasted push-ups ought to get me closer to the \u201cMichellesque\u201d triceps.\u00a0 Think, I\u2019ll try to achieve that cut look without going under the knife.\u00a0 It\u2019ll be a lot more fun\u2026along with whatever else lands on the \u201cWell Mama Bucket List.\u201d The quest continues.<\/p>\n

Namaste\u2019, Ciao and Goodbye.<\/p>\n

\"kendall,<\/a>Liz Hirst is a mom of two and crazy about my not so mini dachshund.\u00a0My faith is strong, my extended family large-that’s what fills my life with joy. \u00a0I love putting pen to paper, sinking my soul and soles\u00a0into salt and sand, chillin’ to most music genres and traveling to places I’ve been or never seen before. My career is built upon the power of words, as a TV journalist, politco press secretary and today as SVP of Communications for the nonprofit Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I did a double take when I read recent headlines\u2026 First lady Michelle Obama\u2019s toned triceps have spurred an almost 4,400% increase in upper arm plastic surgery. Really?! Oh my. This just in from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, I suppose the docs who make this country a beautiful place ought to know. Most […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":12522,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sharing_disabled":false,"switch_like_status":false,"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[204998050,114917237],"tags":[104722,337,11914,204997597,122792808,5004,429843,15967,5417131,15433],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/michelle-obama-great-arms-1.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4eAxC-cL","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=791"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8988,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791\/revisions\/8988"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}