Fun Fitness Find: Lanacane Anti-Chafing Gel

Okay, so this one is straight from the "keeping it real" files.

If you are getting back into fitness, chances are that you have some area on your body that is occupying a bit more space than originally intended. If you are anything like me, this inconvenient little truth might just result in a little chafing.

Thunder thighs scrubbing?

Extra boobage rubbing the inner arm?

Bra strap screeching back and forth?

It happens to the best of us so don't feel bad. I was watching this hilarious dance show called Dance Your A$$ Off that is like an odd hybrid of Biggest Loser & Dancing with the Stars and a TV commercial for Lanacane Anti-Chafing gel came on. At first I giggled, but an ill-chosen wardrobe (boy shorts connected to an adorable tennis-style skirt) made me a believer.

I drew blood on my inner thighs at an early morning bootcamp run in said skirt and re-thought the genius of the product. About a month and a half ago, I slipped into my local Walmart and grabbed a tube. Since then, I've found that it also counteracts the scrubbing of my bodybugg on the inner arm and my braline (shoulders & chest).

The result? No more irritation & the darkening on my skin is fading. Hey, now that showing a little skin is actually a possibility, I gotta cover my bases :o)

Until Next,

Avoiding Failure vs. Finding Success

Remember the value clarifying exercise I mentioned in another blog? If not, it was an activity that I did with my family therapist that had me list where I spent money, time & energy in one column and then what I truly valued in another.

Ideally, the two columns correlate, but in my case it wasn't even close. I spent money -- a LOT of money -- on things I didn't value at all. It took a recession and a major change in the way we earned and spent money to make me take a long hard look at what I'd been doing.

Tonight, I'm thinking about values, goals and choices for how and where I spend my money, time and energy. As you may know, I've recently joined Team Beach Body/Shakeology, a multi-level marketing company. I also have a long-time affiliation with Mary Kay, which is similar in structure. Specifically, I'm reflecting on my own odd sensations in the last week regarding my experience with, perception of, and future in multi-level marketing.

These types of companies can have such a bad rap, but the truth is that in many ways they make sense. Further, I happen to know a few people who have been very successful in this type of business (not my companies) including three former high school classmates -- two of which are actually millionaires. These are people I actually know and they are normal. Not predatory in the least.

MLMs come in various models, but the basic idea is becoming your own boss and setting your own financial destiny. Time & energy invested results in income and financial freedom. Sounds innocent enough. So why do I feel a little person inside cringe a little at the idea of putting the whole business "out there?"

It makes no sense; I have friends who sell everything from candles to handbags to special water to jewelry. Why on earth is it that these ideas are a bad idea? And if they are why are they so popular? Of course, there are situations where the companies actually make their money off of people with ridiculous start up costs and pipe dreams. That's part of it. A big part.

I think the other part is the fear of trying and failing. So many of us are terrified to try and fail that we just sit back and ridicule the living daylights out of any one crab that crawls for the top of the barrel. Others just want to see someone else try just to make sure the waters are safe.

My husband and I had been discussing the difference between having a goal to avoid failure versus having a goal to seek success tonight at our Wednesday date. My older son has been dealing with the fear of failure issue and it has been a common topic of discussion in our home. How do you teach someone to go for it? How do you convince them that failures are opportunities waiting to happen?

I don't know, to be honest. It's right up there with how you teach someone to be motivated, how to teach ambition, and how to convince my bulldog to stop waking me in the middle of the night to go outside (I'm here all day for crying out loud).

Of course, who am I to give advice? I look at myself -- touting the joys of an amazing product for months without earning a dime in affiliation with the company. Now that I'm officially on board, I feel awkward about saying a word. What's up with that?

I'll tell you what's up with it: it's a fear of failure. It's a fear of rejection or perhaps, of change in general.

It is 1979 and I am afraid that all the kids will make fun of me if they find out I've been living in another country. It is 1986 and I am terrified that my crush will find out I'm in advanced classes. It is 1992 and I am sneaking out of my dorm to perform poetry in middle English because my roommates will look at me like I have two heads. I am tempted by the lure of blending because don't want to be seen as different, as motivated, as trying. The raised nail gets the hammer & all that.

Of course, this is precisely the mentality that led me to a 50+ lb weight gain in the first place. It was so easy to sit and go through drive-thru's and wish. So ridiculously hard and different to run and cook healthy meals and actually do. No one else was, at least I'd managed to steer my way clear of anyone who was (convenient, yes?) And before you know it- bam! Hello 206.

I dont' want that: the excuses, the fear, the denial, the beige. I want something more even if I am terrified of reaching for it; even if I am terrified of attaining it.

I know who I am and that is not some sales psycho. I know what I want and how I want to help others, and for me that will mean walking a clean line. No obnoxious nonsense. No marketing assaults when friends are least expecting it. No over-the-top in your face machine gun posts on Facebook. Just consistently being me.

It's just so funny to me that here, less than a month from my 37th birthday. I still have to talk myself into having the courage to follow my heart and live by my own truth. Perhaps I'll go easy on my son, when I see him avoiding potential failure, possible rejection like the Plague. Afterall, this standing firm business isn't nearly as easy at it looks.

Until next,

Not Yet

"We don't really have no's; we have now and not yet."
These were the first words I heard when I registered that my audition was a complete bust. Okay, not complete, I have the look & the "general essence" of Hustle. Otherwise, not so much.

Gotta say, I didn't see it coming. Even with my running late, chewing gum to help loosen my cheeks for big smiles (and forgetting to spit it out!), having to wear a waist band dripping in someone else's sweat and talk into a mic that I'd never used. Not with the fact that the sound system wasn't IPod compatible and my back up CD didn't have the music I've been using. Would you believe, not even with the fact that I was on a Jane Fonda style carpeted stage that I was certain I would fall from at any moment. Not when the evaluator stopped the music about 10 minutes in. Even then I still didn't have a clue.

That is, until I took a few moments of reflection. Then I went from bummed to excited & hungry in a way I haven't been in a very long while.

Here's the run down:
First things first. I didn't suck completely; I just lacked several things that need to be addressed before you hit the A-Team at a club like 24. I am certain that I could totally kick booty at a local community center. No problem. Still, I've always been kinda type A and if I'm going to do a thing, I want total world domination - or at least a close second :o).

In short, I just wasn't ready. It's been 9 months since I've been really into fitness again after an 11 year lapse and even then I was into participating, not instructing. Further, it's been less than 2 months since I first thought about being an instructor - I can cut myself a little slack here and take it slow :o)

With that said, the feedback rocked! I listened and, of course, felt the lump in my throat. I felt it on the way to my car and about 5 minutes down the road.

Then the irony of the situation hit me: I used to be in the evaluator's chair. I used to see areas for improvement and try to point them out with tact. I walked that line between nonnegotiable expectations and honoring someone's effort.

It wasn't easy and I didn't have nearly the grace that this person had.

Not a proud moment for me, but it's true.

I remember wondering what in the world these people were doing by bringing less than and expecting it to be enough. It kind of drove me nuts. There were those who held the philosophy that they were trying, even trying their best, so that should count for something. I always thought, "Are you nutz?" If my brain surgeon didn't quite have what it took, but he was really trying, should it matter? Duh.

The thing is that there are some areas of life that are open to a great deal of leeway while others are not. You can't totally suck at being a mom and hope someone will spot you the points. Sure, there are a few things like housekeeping, availability or coolness can be offered a Mulligan. But there are the basics that simply must be done, like safety, security, advocacy, food & love. If you aren't providing those, you kind of suck (sorry).

When I was a teacher working with teachers, I would think: you can not dial it in here. Kids get one chance at this school year. Just one. And no, you can't suck because it's a hard time. You can leave and come back when you are ready to be what they need. Sorry.

So now, on this day that started with me writing an email to a student in my Research Writing class that outlined what the expectation is and why that would pretty much be the only acceptable product - afterall, it's a research class; ya kinda hafta have research - and then led to my being informed of the expectation and why it would pretty much be the standard I needed to meet, I am actually encouraged.

I know that expectations make sense. I know that there are efforts that aren't good enough, at least not yet. I also know that this does not mean I shouldn't strive to be good enough. Everyday, a little more. And believe you me, I will be kickin booty and takin names very soon.

Until then, I'm not ready to give up on setting my own expectations or on meeting the expectations of others. I'm not ready to sit down and start making a laundry list of excuses and explanations. I've been at home for a while, but I am not out of the excellence game. Not yet.

Until next,