Weights are for girls too!

Hi, I'm Bambi, and I'm addicted to weightlifting. The above photo is one side of the leg press machine at my gym. There's a total of 400lbs on this bad boy! 

Let me back up here. My younger sister got married in May 2010. When I saw the pictures, I got so depressed about myself. I was the only fat bridesmaid and the dress definitely did not flatter me! That summer, I walked at least 3 miles a day and watched my calories. I lost 18lbs. Then, I fell off the wagon and gained most of that back. In March 2011, I decided to give it another go. This time, I lost 12lbs. Again, I fell off the wagon. 

Finally, in Feb 2012, I got a group of friends together online and we became accountable to one another. I took up pilates video's on Netflix and began counting calories. A few weeks later, we purchased a family membership at a local recreation center. I would go and just do cardio for an hour and a half five days a week. Then, I got curious and began using machines. That was pretty cool, so I did both. I still kept watching everyone in the weight section. One day, I threw caution to the wind and wandered over there. I've been there ever since. I only hit the treadmill so that I could get my running distance up to over a 5K in preparation for The Warrior Dash. I now only hit a treadmill when I'm in the mood for running!

Many, Many people hear "women weightlifters" and think of a male bodybuilder body with a woman's head attached. This is one of the largest fallacies out there. Female bodybuilders that are large are large due to them taking crap like steroids. Normal women do not get large. We get nice defined muscles! 

Since I began lifting, I've lost 30lbs and over 25 inches. I'm now a size 5! I never thought that I would be in this good of shape and I attribute it all to weightlifting. I encourage all women to lift. When I say lift, I do not mean the little plastic 3 to 10 pounders you see at the store. This means lift as heavy as you can that you can do a set of 8 to 10 reps. Also, if your breasts need a little pick me up, chest exercises are your best friend!

I truly love hitting the gym and doing everything the boys do, sometimes heavier and/or better. Mind you, I work out amongst men who have been lifting for years, men in law enforcement, professional bodybuilders, amateur wrestlers, and just regular guys . They challenge me in many ways, always pushing me to my physical limits. It's awesome!! 

Weights are for girls too!

Hi, I'm Bambi, and I'm addicted to weightlifting. The above photo is one side of the leg press machine at my gym. There's a total of 400lbs on this bad boy! 

Let me back up here. My younger sister got married in May 2010. When I saw the pictures, I got so depressed about myself. I was the only fat bridesmaid and the dress definitely did not flatter me! That summer, I walked at least 3 miles a day and watched my calories. I lost 18lbs. Then, I fell off the wagon and gained most of that back. In March 2011, I decided to give it another go. This time, I lost 12lbs. Again, I fell off the wagon. 

Finally, in Feb 2012, I got a group of friends together online and we became accountable to one another. I took up pilates video's on Netflix and began counting calories. A few weeks later, we purchased a family membership at a local recreation center. I would go and just do cardio for an hour and a half five days a week. Then, I got curious and began using machines. That was pretty cool, so I did both. I still kept watching everyone in the weight section. One day, I threw caution to the wind and wandered over there. I've been there ever since. I only hit the treadmill so that I could get my running distance up to over a 5K in preparation for The Warrior Dash. I now only hit a treadmill when I'm in the mood for running!

Many, Many people hear "women weightlifters" and think of a male bodybuilder body with a woman's head attached. This is one of the largest fallacies out there. Female bodybuilders that are large are large due to them taking crap like steroids. Normal women do not get large. We get nice defined muscles! 

Since I began lifting, I've lost 30lbs and over 25 inches. I'm now a size 5! I never thought that I would be in this good of shape and I attribute it all to weightlifting. I encourage all women to lift. When I say lift, I do not mean the little plastic 3 to 10 pounders you see at the store. This means lift as heavy as you can that you can do a set of 8 to 10 reps. Also, if your breasts need a little pick me up, chest exercises are your best friend!

I truly love hitting the gym and doing everything the boys do, sometimes heavier and/or better. Mind you, I work out amongst men who have been lifting for years, men in law enforcement, professional bodybuilders, amateur wrestlers, and just regular guys . They challenge me in many ways, always pushing me to my physical limits. It's awesome!! 

Meet my puppies!

I recently sat down and thought "what will I blog about now since I am switching gears?". I had said that I want readers to get to know me, so I'm going to take that and just go with it. I'm going to do a series of posts just sharing different things about myself!


Please meet my awesome pups! I love them to pieces!

 This is Savannah. She's a 12 year old border collie chow mix. I got her three months after Mary passed away. She was in bad shape and had some male aggression issues. Now, Savannah has the sweetest personality and is just wonderful. She has arthritis, but will get playful when the mood strikes! She loves being bathed and brushed, too. She's great!!

This is my Max. He is a 5 year old saint bernard. We've had him since August 2010. He's pretty well mannered, but tends to think he's about the size of a shitzu. This means he will get on my bed to sleep, jump on newcomers, try to lay on your lap, etc. He is a frequent visitor at the elementary school. The kids love him and he LOVES children. Luckily, he is a dry mouth, so the children aren't covered in slobber! Even teachers love seeing him.

This is Xena, our warrior princess, another saint. She was my weight loss/birthday gift. She actually came home four days before my birthday. In the first photo, she was one day shy of 5 weeks and was incredibly sick because, it turns out, the people who owned the mother was not taking proper care of mom or pups. She was a whole 3.3 lbs. When we got the initial call from the humane society in that county, we were told she wouldn't live through the weekend if we didn't remove her and get her vet care immediately. As you can see in the bottom photo, she is alive and healthy as can be and very happy! She still annoys my other dogs, but luckily, my mother has two large breed pups that Xena loves, so we have frequent playdates.