Mother's Day

Mother's Day has just gone by and we've probably done the dutiful visit like always. I got an email which made me realise we don't need to wait for 'special' days to make someone feel special.

After 21 years of marriage, my wife wanted me to take another woman out to dinner and a movie. She said, 'I love you, but I know this other woman loves you and would Love to spend some time with you.'

The other woman that my wife wanted me to visit was my Mother, who has been a widow for 19 years, but the demands of my work and my three children had made it possible to visit her only occasionally.

That night I called to invite her to go out for dinner and a movie. 'What's wrong, are you well,' she asked? My mother is the type of woman who suspects that a late night call or a surprise invitation is a sign of bad news.

'I thought that it would be pleasant to spend some time with you,' I responded 'just the two of us.' She thought about it for a moment, and then said, 'I would like that very much.'

That Friday after work, as I drove over to pick her up I was a bit nervous. When I arrived at her house, I noticed that she, too, seemed to be nervous about our date. She waited in the door with her coat on. She had curled her hair and was wearing the dress that she had worn to celebrate her last wedding anniversary. She smiled from a face that was as radiant as an angel's.

'I told my friends that I was going to go out with my son, and they were impressed,' she said, as she got into the car. 'They can't wait to hear about our meeting.'

We went to a restaurant that, although not elegant, was very nice and cozy. My mother took my arm as if she were the First Lady.

After we sat down, I had to read the menu. Her eyes could only read large print. Half-way through the entrees, I lifted my eyes and saw Mother sitting there staring at me. A nostalgic smile was on her lips.

'It was I who used to have to read the menu when you were small,' she said. 'Then it's time that you relax and let me return the favor,' I responded. During the dinner , we had an agreeable conversation nothing extraordinary but catching up on recent events of each other's life. We talked so much that we missed the movie. As we arrived at her house later, she said, 'I'll go out with you again, but only if
you let me invite you.' I agreed.

'How was your dinner date?' asked my wife when I got home. 'Very nice, much more so than I could have imagined,' I answered.

A few days later, my mother died of a massive heart attack. It happened so suddenly that I didn't have a chance to do anything for her. Sometime later, I received an envelope with a copy of a restaurant receipt from the same place Mother and I had dined. An attached note said: 'I paid this bill in advance. I wasn't sure that I could be there; but, nevertheless, I paid for two plates - one for you and the other for your wife. You will never know what that night meant for me.

'I love you, son'

At that moment, I understood the importance of saying in time: 'I love YOU' and to give our loved ones the time that they deserve. Nothing in life is more important than your family. Give them the time they deserve, because these things cannot be put off till some 'other' time.

Somebody said it takes about six weeks to get back to normal after you've had a baby... somebody doesn't know that once you're a mother, 'normal' is history.

Somebody said you can't love the second child as much as you love the first... somebody doesn't have two or more children.

Somebody said the hardest part of being a mother is labor and delivery....somebody never watched her 'baby' get on the bus for the first day of kindergarten... or on a plane headed for military 'boot camp.'

Somebody said a Mother can stop worrying after her child gets married... somebody doesn't know that marriage adds a new son or daughter-in-law to a mother's heartstrings.

Somebody said a mother's job is done when her last child leaves home... somebody never had grandchildren.

Somebody said your mother knows you love her, so you don't need to tell her... somebody isn't a mother.

Pass this along to all the GREAT 'mothers' in your life and to everyone who ever had a mother.

This isn't just about being a mother; it's about appreciating the people in your lives while you have them... no matter who that person is!

Watch your thoughts, they become words.
Watch your words, they become actions.
Watch your actions, they become habits.
Watch your habits, they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes...
your destiny.

'Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet
is fighting some kind of battle'.

Swimming to slim

Swimming is great all over exercise but may not be the best for slimming. Researchers at the Unoversity of Florida had subjects exercise on a static bike under water for 45 minutes, first in water at 20 degrees C, then after a 45 minute rest, in water at 33 degrees C.

After each session they spent time in a room full of food without being told their calorie intake would be monitored.

After exercising in the cold water the subjects ate 44% more calories than after the warm water exercise and 41% more than after just resting.

So it would seem that body temperature affects your post-exercise appetite. Swim by all means but get into some warmer exercise before finishing your workout.

Mind over body

It’s long been known that there is a thing called the Placebo Effect where if you believe you are getting medication when you are actually getting a sugar pill — your body can sometimes respond as if the medicine is actually working. Recent research suggests if you believe you are exercising, your body may respond as if it is. Read more in this article “Can Your Thoughts Affect Your Weight? “ by Alix Spiegel

Diet for men (a joke)

A guy calls a company and orders their 5-day, 10 lb. weight loss program. The next day, there's a knock on the door and there stands before him a voluptuous, athletic, 19-year-old babe dressed in nothing but a pair of Nike running shoes and a sign around her neck.

She introduces herself as a representative of the weight loss company. The sign reads, "If you can catch me, you can have me."

Without a second thought, he takes off after her. A few miles later huffing and puffing, he fi nally gives up. The same girl shows up for the next four days and the same thing happens. On the fifth day, he weighs himself and is delighted to find he has lost 10 lbs. as promised.

He calls the company and orders their 5-day/20 pound program. The next day there's a knock at the door and there stands the most stunning, beautiful, sexy woman he has ever seen in his life. She is wearing nothing but Reebok running shoes and a sign around her neck that reads, "If you catch me you can have me".

Well, he's out the door after her like a shot. This girl is in excellent shape and he does his best, but no such luck. So for the next four days, the same routine happens with him gradually getting in better and better shape.

Much to his delight on the fifth day when he weighs himself, he discovers that he has lost another 20 lbs. as promised. He decides to go for broke and calls the company to order the 7-day/50 pound program

"Are you sure?" asks the representative on the phone. "This is our most rigorous program."
"Absolutely," he replies, "I haven't felt this good in years."
The next day there's a knock at the door; and when he opens it he finds a huge muscular guy standing there wearing nothing but pink running shoes and a sign around his neck that reads, "If I catch you, your ass is mine."

He lost 63 pounds that week.

Heavier weights to build muscle

Thanks for the comment Kimberley (see How To Get Rid Of Flabby Arms Jan 24). Yes you are absolutely correct. Heavy weights do need to be used if you want to build muscle.

Toning that underarm flab, like any part of the body, requires two things: an overall approach to reducing excess body fat rather than a spot reducing approach - which won't work of course.

The second thing is the right exercise to strengthen and build those underarm muscles. Light weights are great to start with so you don't get sore or strain muscles that aren't used to work. But it is essential to gradually increase the weight so that those muscles are working progressively harder and growing stronger.

Also ladies don't worry about getting big musclely arms. They are a lot of hard work.

Doing lots of these exercises with really light weights may help a little to start with but you'll mainly be working those red slow twitch endurance muscle fibres. These are the ones endurance athletes work most and they generally don't have huge muscle size.

So the heavier weights are better for working the fast twitch fibres which become bigger over time. They fatigue more quickly, that's why you won't be doing as many repetitions with the heavier weights.

And it's also a good idea to work the whole body, not just the triceps group, otherwise your training regime and your musculature will be out of balance.

It's how you see it

One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live.

They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"

"It was great, Dad."

"Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked.

"Oh yeah," said the son.

"So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.

The son answered:

"I saw that we have one dog and they had four.

We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.

We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.

Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.

We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.

We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.

We buy our food, but they grow theirs.

We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them."

The boy's father was speechless.

Then his son added, "Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are."

Isn't perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don't have.

Appreciate every single thing you have, especially your friends!

Using mind to build muscle

I've always believed in the power of visualization and now breakthrough research in the field of exercise physiology has yielded stunning revelations about the way we get fit. The big surprise, though, is not what we "have" to do, but what we might "not" have to do.

Our thoughts can literally redefine the size, shape and strength of our bodies.
Read this interesting article by Jonathan Fields (Source: JonathanFields.com) on how imaginary workouts can build strength and fuel weight loss.

http://www.mindpowernews.com/ImaginaryWorkout.htm

How To Get Rid Of Flabby Arms

You won't want to hear this but the first priority is to reduce the body fat overall.

Now, in order for that flabby area under your arm to become tone, you'll need to build the triceps muscles in the back of the arm. There are several good exercises you can do to build up that area.

Some of the more common and better exercises you can do for the back of the arms are * Weighted dips * Close grip bench presses * Close grip push ups * Lying barbell French presses * Overhead cable extensions * Cable press downs * Reverse cable press downs

Combining these exercises with a good all round fat reduction program of diet factors and high intensity interval training will see those flabby arms tone up nicely. And the bonus will be...

So will the rest of your body.

Tone your legs

Even the busiest people have many idle moments in their day. With a little thought you can get more value out of that time rather than accepting it as lost time.

Here are 3 tips to firm and tone your legs during idle moments.

Increase your walking speed by taking longer strides rather than shorter, quicker steps. When you lengthen your pace you use more of your thigh and hip muscles.

In the theater, on a bus, or during meetings, sit with your lower back against the chair and press your legs tightly together as if they were one for as long as possible. Cross them at the ankles and try to pull them apart. Again with the ankles crossed push the top leg down as the other one pushes up. Then swap legs so the other one is on top.

These are all simple isometric exercises which can be done in otherwise idle moments without any equipment or anyone even noticing.

Swap it around

People often ask, "What's the best weight routine to use?"

Answer: There is none.

Okay, sure, some are better than others maybe, depending. God what sort of an answer is that!!!

The fact is there's an infinite number of routines you could do and there's hundreds of exercises and variations on how they can be put together. Fast, slow, super slow, one rep max, heavy, light, high rep, low rep, ascending, descending, matrix... the list goes on.

Just make sure you keep changing what you do to keep your body from adapting to whatever you're doing.

Let's say you are training your back, biceps, forearms and abs on Friday. Instead of always doing them in that order, why not train your abs, forearms, biceps, and back (in the opposite sequence).

Yeah I know they say work the big muscle groups first. That's good but you can occasionally switch everything upside down. This will ensure that the smaller muscles get an opportunity to train first in the week when your body is the most fresh.

There are plenty of ways to mix it up. This is only one. Keep your body guessing what's next.