(If you haven’t done so already, please post your ideas to eradicate obesity and you may win a free FITNESS WARRIOR gym towel. I’ll announce three winners mid-week.)

One of my favorite topics to discuss is working out at the gym. It’s to the point now where family member’s eyes glaze over; I get “the stare” and people change subjects on me. That’s okay. I get it. It’s kind of like when you first have a child and all you talk about 24-7 is what little Billy is doing and your child-less friends are bored to snores.

Every time I learn a new exercise or accomplish a new best for myself, I feel so good. When the sweat is dripping off of the tip of my nose and splatters, the sound of it hitting the floor echos in my ears. My heart races just thinking about how I’m going to demolish the next exercise or task in front of me.

It all sounds really corny and cliche. Maybe a little unbelievable if you consider that I’ve still got a good 70 lbs I’d like to lose and the fact my first introduction into the gym wasn’t a smash success. Go figure…

I won’t bore you to tears with all of my gym struggles and tribulations when I was first introduced to the gym last November. You can read through my archives if you are interested. (Be forewarned, there is a lot of whining contained within.)

The core of my love for working out in the gym goes way beyond those accomplishments though. Among all of the sweat, the frustration, the initial nervousness – I’ve truly found myself.

I drudged through some of my “before” pictures today and my mouth hung open for so long it got dry. Here I sit before you, once again, exposed. When I took the before pictures, I made sure that I didn’t suck in an inch. I didn’t smile. I had actually just finished one of my first training sessions with my personal trainer and I knew I looked my worst – a sweaty pile of blubber.

There was to be no sugar coating in the pictures. I didn’t want to convey that it was happy times because it was not. I was miserable and lost inside a mass of fat – all by my own creation.

I didn’t know who I was anymore. The weight defined me.

Now, nothing defines me but ME. That’s just one of the many gems I’ve learned from my time in the gym.

I have mixed feelings when I look at these pictures. I am sad for the person I once was on the left. Today’s me (on the right) is only just beginning, only just discovering how good it feels to be defined by more than just my weight. Maybe that’s why it’s so easy to smile and so hard not to?

I am very critical of my stomach. I hate it more than anything. But then I look to the left and see how far I’ve come. I couldn’t even see my belly button in the top picture. Amazing. Even though the skin and fat is still holding strong around my middle, I can feel the muscles forming beneath.

I’m thrilled for the new me that is emerging from the layers and layers of fat. I’m ecstatic that I’ve found muscles and an inner strength that I thought only fictitious people could discover. I’m content that I’ve found so much in the gym.

I’m thankful that the gym doesn’t intimidate me and I can go in there and kick my own ass. I’m grateful for everyone that I’ve met on this journey. I’m just living a very happy moment right now, even though I’m very aware I’m nowhere near my destination.

Maybe it’s because I know anything is possible, even for the obese like me.

It will take time.

It’s guaranteed to take determination and hard work.

It’s the promise of a new tomorrow, an unexpected journey.

It’s a road I’m willing to take.

Robert D. Bickel
July 27, 1956-Oct. 31, 2007

Robert D. “Bob”, 51, died at 2 p.m. Wednesday at his residence.

Family members surviving are his sisters … and brothers …

Friends may call from 1 to 2 p.m. Saturday. The funeral will begin at 2 p.m. Saturday at the funeral home.

This time of year in particular I always think about my Uncle Bob. It’s been almost three years since he passed away.

From obesity and it’s complications.

I wasn’t particularly close to him, but I always felt sorry for him. He was very large ever since I can remember. He never dated much or married, he never had kids. My mom often referred to her younger brother is a bit of a hermit. When he passed he was so large they had a hard time getting him out of the house. They didn’t know how much he weighed, but they guessed it was anywhere between 400-600 lbs. That’s a quite a range. But, when you are very large like that, it’s any one’s guess.

Many years ago at a family get together when my mom was on one of her fad diets, I remember vividly being at the food table alongside my mom and Uncle Bob. My mom was grabbing a diet coke and my Uncle Bob looked at her with disbelief. He said something to the effect of, “Why the hell are you drinking a diet coke? What’s the point? Your overweight and it doesn’t seem to be helping.”

Of course my mom stood there mouth agape looking at him in horror. Back then I didn’t get it. I didn’t understand why he would say that. Now I get it. He had already given up. Why make little changes in your lifestyle when you are destined to be fat? What’s the point? Hey, we are cursed with these “Bickel genes” and just about everyone in the family struggles with their weight so there’s no beating this. Why give up my Coke Classic?

The last time I saw Uncle Bob he was sitting on his riding lawn mower, using it as a mode of transportation to and from his house and shed in the backyard. We’re talking maybe 15-30 feet in distance. My heart ached for him.

His obituary is very short and to the point. He lived a closed off life from the rest of the world. He lived a lonely life. I think it’s fair to say he lived a miserable life because of the effect obesity had on him. I have no pictures of him to post here because he never really had any taken.

RIP Uncle Bob

“One voice can change a room, and if one voice can change a room, then it can change a city, and if it can change a city, it can change a state, and if it change a state, it can change a nation, and if it can change a nation, it can change the world. Your voice can change the world.”
— Barack Obama

For the last several months, I’ve thought a lot about how we as a society can eradicate obesity from our lives. It keeps me up at night. It’s on my mind all of the time. It’s every one’s problem, not just a problem for those that are obese. It’s become a national catastrophe in my opinion. It’s become the norm. It’s destroying lives, it’s taking lives.

Some of you may say I’m yelling at air. No one will listen. What’s the point?

For those of you that think that way, I would guess you could be the same type of people that think one vote doesn’t matter so why even vote? A good example that one vote DOES matter is right here. And yes, folks, the official results were certified with one vote being the difference in the race…

If even one person listens I will have done something good. I’m talking about changing lives here. It sounds grandiose in print and it sounds silly, I KNOW. But I’m talking about coming up with ideas that we can take up with legislature. Ideas to improve every day life. I’m talking about things I can do in my community and ways I can help my family and friends to fight obesity and to take steps towards a healthier way of life.

I’ve got some wonderful gym towels that carry a slogan that was created by my readers here at AFG. I have three gym towels I am offering up for FREE. All you gotta do is leave a comment with ideas on how we as a society can beat this obesity monster. No gimmicky tweets or need to blog about it on your blog to win – just leave a comment below with your idea. Winners will be picked at random.

I’m looking for fresh, real ideas that can change lives. I’m looking for ideas that may be brought up to local or state-wide legislature; ideas that will help the average person reading here; ideas that will help children and families. ANY AND ALL IDEAS – BRING ‘EM.

P.S. Please read this post over a Truth2BeingFit by Dr. J: The Great American Obesity Machine.

I’m still hardcore eatin’ clean and occasionally making recipes from Clean Eating Magazine.

Today I made these tasty Multi-grain pancakes with raspberries & ricotta sauce. They are a nice alternative to the boxed pre-made crap they sell in the grocery stores, but with a fancy topping.

Multi-grain pancakes with raspberries & ricotta sauce

Clean Eating, September/October 2010

Serves: 4. Hands-on time: 10 minutes. Total time: 20 minutes.

Nutrients per serving (about 4 pancakes, 1/4 cup raspberries, 1/4 cup ricotta sauce): Calories: 408, Total Fat: 6 g, Sat. Fat: 2 g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1 g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g, Carbs: 70 g, Fiber 10 g, Sugars: 17 g, Protein: 23 g, Sodium: 350 mg, Cholesterol: 13 mg.

INGREDIENTS – PANCAKES

• 1 1/4 cup white whole-wheat flour
• 1/2 cup spelt flour
• 1/4 cup wheat germ
• 1/2 cup regular oatmeal, ground
• 1 tsp Sucanat
• 1/8 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1 egg white
• 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 1 cup unsweetened plain soy milk
• Olive oil cooking spray
• 1 cup raspberries

INGREDIENTS – RICOTTA SAUCE

• 1/2 cup nonfat plain Greek-style yogurt
• 1/2 cup low-fat ricotta cheese
• 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
• 1/8 tsp cinnamon, ground

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Prepare pancakes: In a medium bowl, mix both flours, wheat germ, oatmeal, Sucanat, salt, baking soda and baking powder. In a smaller bowl, whisk together egg and egg white, buttermilk and soy milk until foamy. Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix until well-blended; let sit for 5 minutes so flours have time to absorb liquid (mixture will thicken).

2. Prepare ricotta sauce: In a small bowl, combine yogurt, ricotta, maple syrup and cinnamon with a whisk until smooth and creamy.

3. Heat a griddle or large skillet over medium-high heat (about 350 F) and coat with cooking spray. Pour pancake batter onto griddle in large spoonfuls (4 inches in diameter). Cook until bubbles form around edges, about 3 minutes. Flip and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.

4. To serve, stack pancakes evenly among plates, drizzle with 1/4 cup ricotta sauce and top with 1/4 cup raspberries. Serve immediately.

TIP: If you’d like a thinner sauce, simply add more water, 1 tbsp at a time.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I did not like the ricotta sauce. Instead, I ended up using sugar free syrup with the raspberries. The pancakes were very good, and a wonderful alternative to the usual junk out there.

If you are like me – dumb to the world of cooking (ha ha) – maybe these tips will help you:

• Ground oatmeal: At first wasn’t sure how to make “ground” oatmeal. I ended up just throwing the oatmeal in my mini food processor and it worked great.
• Sucanat: You can usually find Sucanat at your local whole foods store if you are unsure where to purchase it.
• Buttermilk: No, it’s not found in liquid form (at least not in my experience) but rather in a powder form. The back of the container gives you instructions on how to mix it for recipes that call for liquid buttermilk. (A real light bulb moment for this girl!)

Do you remember in your youth playing “duck, duck, duck – goose”? I used to love that game. I’d squeal with delight when I’d get picked to run around the circle and tap the other children’s heads, and finally pick someone (the goose!) to chase me around the circle. Those were the good old days.

The days before OBESITY was such a problem for all of us.

I don’t know what it is about that word – OBESITY – that pisses so many off. When I use the word OBESITY in one of my posts I almost always get some ridiculous emails. It makes people mad! They don’t like that word. They don’t want to hear that word. They’re not obese. It’s NOT their problem. I get accused of hating obese people. I get accused of a lot of things…

I’ll let you in on something. I play a game I like to refer to as “obese, obese, obese – fit”. It’s kind of a spin on the old classic “duck, duck, duck – goose” game, but it doesn’t involve any running around in circles or head tapping.

It goes like this. I go somewhere in public. I am much more aware than I’ve ever been in my life, and I do a lot of people watching. I try and find fit people. Unfortunately, there are hardly any. It’s mostly the obese crowd. Now, you may say I’m hanging out at places where fat people go. Hey, I’m obese myself, so I’d fit right in… Right?

I know what you’re thinking…

Whoa Nelly! What do you mean? You’re obese and you are playing a game that makes fun of other obese people? What is wrong with you? And you also are going to drop f-bombs in your posts? What are you trying to accomplish with your bad language? My kids read your blog lady! What the fuck is wrong with you? (Um, yes, I had someone email me that they were upset I dropped the f-bomb because she leaves my blog up for her children to read. Do I REALLY have to comment on how inappropriate the subject matter of my blog is for children?)

Look, I’m not making fun of obese people. Just surveying my society. OUR SOCIETY. I’d really like to play a game called, “fit, fit, fit, fit…”

When I go to Wal-Mart it’s hard to be optimistic about our society. The thing is, it’s very frustrating because about 9 out of 10 people are obese instead of the usual 4 out of 5… “obese, obese, obese, (oh shit, gotta add a few more), obese – fit!”

I went to Applebee’s last night. I wasn’t even there for five minutes before a very obese lady was being wheeled in on a wheelchair. Now hey, I don’t know if she has a leg condition or some reason that prevents her from walking, but I would bet good money that her condition is obesity. You may call me a judgemental jerk for thinking that, which would probably be a fair statement. But, when I see numerous electric scooters and wheelchairs that are primarily occupied by folks that are obese, I start to wonder.

I wonder about a lot of things.

What is it going to take in our society to wake up?! Our entire society as a whole is slowly being eradicated by obesity. People are dying, people are unable to walk, people are sick, people are OBESE.

Obesity is worse than any mass murderer in the history of the world.

I’ll tell you why. Because we are doing it to ourselves. We are slowly poisoning and killing our bodies for instant gratification, lack of education, cheap food, laziness and loss of direction. What kind of world will my children have to look forward to?

I don’t know what we can do together as a society to fight this. And YES the obesity problem is EVERYONE’S problem. It doesn’t matter if you are fit or not, it will and has effected your life to some degree.

My pledge…

I for one will continue to fight this obesity monster one bite at a time, one gym session at a time and one post at a time. I will do everything in my power to beat this for myself, my children and others. I will help anyone that needs help. Our now is everyone’s future. I will put everything I have into saving myself and anyone I know from obesity. If that means I lose readers or I lose friends and relatives get mad at me, then that’s the way it is.

Haters may write me shitty emails because I said the word “obesity” in a post and dropped too many f-bombs but I will sleep well at night because I will know I’ve done everything that I could for that given day to fight this monster and give myself, my family and my friends a chance at a quality life. I’ll know that my passion at fighting this monster has been conveyed in a manner that is appropriate to me and my personality.

We gotta make a change…
It’s time for us as a people to start makin’ some changes.
Let’s change the way we eat, let’s change the way we live
and let’s change the way we treat each other.
You see the old way wasn’t working so it’s on us to do
what we gotta do, to survive.

-Tupac Shakur, Changes

Recently, I switched back to an iPhone from my Blackberry. There are many pluses and minuses between the two phone platforms which I won’t get into here, but one thing that stands out is iPhone’s ability for custom third party applications.

There are lots of free and pay for applications. Like most things in life, you usually get what you pay for in the App Store, especially if you compare reviews for the application you are interested in.

There are two applications I want to discuss today. (For the record, I am only endorsing these apps because I use them – I am not getting paid for plugging them. Just purely love them and want to share how much and why.)

————————————————————————————-

Livestrong.com’s Calorie Tracker App – $2.99
1103+ Ratings, 4 star average | Website
What it is: Calorie tracker, diet and fitness tracker. You can track calories, weight, foods and fitness calories burned. I use it every day!

I love this app. After coming from using the FitDay PC program on my computer, this is a huge step up. For one, there is a huge database of food items, thousands and thousands – and I very rarely have to enter in custom foods, unlike the FitDay PC program where I was ALWAYS entering in custom foods that was very time consuming.

Also, the Livestrong.com app syncs up to your device so that you can also use a web based version. Awesome! So if you are at work and only have the web on your work computer, you an login, track your foods and then later when you have your iPhone you can sync and see all of the same foods. (Blackberry users: It does appear they have an app for your Blackberry too.)

PumpOne.com’s FitnessBuilder App – $9.99 + Subscription if you opt to have more features
384+ Ratings, 4.5 star average | Website
What it is: FitnessBuilder is the most comprehensive fitness database in the world. It contains the largest library of exercise images & videos, the most challenging workouts across all disciplines, access to a live personal trainer and a complete set of every fitness tool, calculator and tracking feature available.

I am a tight wad. Seriously. Add to the fact that money is tight – spending the $9.99 on this app was difficult for me, but I’ve gotten to the point in the gym where I’m feeling stale and need some new ideas. After reading through pages and pages of awesome reviews, I thought what the hell. So I did it. Then the next day I purchased the additional $34.99 year subscription which adds on hundreds of more exercises and allows you to email a PDF of your workouts to yourself and others to share. Get this – the PDF actually has links to videos showing how the exercise is preformed. Awesomeness.

There are hundreds of different workouts that are already created for you. You also have the option of creating your own workouts using the exercises in the library. I love the free weights at the gym – that is my favorite thing to work with, so the first thing I did was create my own free weights exercises. Then I emailed the workout to myself. See my FitBuilder custom workout example.

The exercise library shows you images and details on how to perform the exercise, plus allows you to view a short video of someone performing the exercise. I also like the fact that the exercise names are clearly shown. (I’m such an idiot with regards to exercise names!)

Have you tried either of these apps or do you have favorites of your own?