Dance Videos

Okay, grandparents, here are the girls dancing. :)  The girls are on the front row, on the left.  Don't forget to go pause the music player before trying to watch the videos.  If we had a better video camera, you could see the look on Angelina's face when the audience applauded.  You see her head pops up, and she was just beaming.  They weren't used to getting applause when they finished dancing!



The girls are on the back row, far right in this one.



David was taping this one as I promised the girls I would stay backstage and be there on the sides while they danced.  I should have told him to just tape the whole song, but he tried just taping the girls.  Anyway, the 2 year olds went out first, and for some reason, Trinity went out on stage during their part.  We got her to come off stage to us, but by the time she got around backstage, her group was already on stage.  Thus, there goes Trinity, coming in late and having to run all the way across the stage!  This time they are on the back row, far right again.



There was another bit they were in where everyone was on stage, but it is too hard to pick them out on the video, so I'm not uploading that one.

 Dance Pictures

Thanks mom for treating the girls to dance lessons this year!  Here are pics from the recital.  Having trouble uploading the video, but that will be coming soon. :)


They were so excited that they got to wear makeup today.

Lined up to go on stage.

They are in the front row, first two on the left.  David took these pictures while I ran out to find light and figure out how to delete videos to make space on the FULL camera.  (should have checked that before they got on stage! duh!)  I taped the end of this dance and the others are also on video.



Ready for their next number.  I was not a fan of the pink headbands. 


No headbands - much nicer.  Now if only I could get them to smile!



Trinity was not in a smiling mood and when bribed with ice cream gave me this goof ball look.

Angelina took a turn taking pictures.  I'm actually in the frame - miracle!


 For Women Only

If you have been reading my blog for awhile, you know a few things about me.  For instance, I am not afraid to do things a little differently than most people.  Examples: dumpster dive for food, using family wipes instead of toilet paper, using baking soda instead of shampoo, and using baking soda instead of deodorant. (did I mention that on my blog?? I don't think I did...)  So you might think you wouldn't be surprised by anything I post after all that.  But here's the latest experiment:

I'm burning my bras.

Ok, just kidding!  I'm not burning them, just not wearing them anymore... well, that's not entirely true either.  I am definitely not wearing them at home anymore and depending on my mood/weather/outfit may not wear them out either.

Now here's why.  It's something I have been thinking about for awhile as I have come across information on the topic.  I had read some information on Dr. Mercola's site about how underwire bras in particular are like wearing antenna to attract electromagnetic fields.  This can increase your risk of breast cancer.  You can eliminate this issue by pulling out your wire underwires and put in plastic ones.  Kind of a pain, but if it is going to protect your health, then surely worth the little bit of effort.

The other issue is the lymph system.  Wearing constricting clothing, which a bra typically is, restricts your lymph system from draining properly.  Again, this can contribute to breast cancer.  Your lymph system needs to drain off the toxins that are in your system.  Part of this can be eliminated by wearing the proper size bra.  Want to know if you are in the correct size?  Step into the Bra Fitting Room and get into the right size - it will make a huge difference in your comfort!  Most women will have swelling in their breasts during their period, so make sure you do your measuring at another time of the month to get your accurate size.

So I have this information kind of rattling around in my brain and then Renegade Health show does this video.  I love this couple, btw.  They have awesome information on health and nutrition on their show.  (and a FREE downloadable book on eating raw - excellent!)



So how great is the risk of cancer from wearing your bra?  Well, according to the book Dressed To Kill: The Link between Breast Cancer and Bras, here is how it goes:

Women who wear bras 24 hours a day have a 3 out of 4 chance of developing breast cancer.
Women who wear bras more than 12 hours a day, but not to bed, have a 1 out of 7 risk.
Women who wear bras less than 12 hours a day, have a 1 out of 52 risk.
Women who wear bras rarely or never, have a 1 out of 168 risk.

That's a big difference from 3 out of 4 chance to only 1 in 168 chance.

So I know what you are thinking.  Won't I sag more?  Won't it be uncomfortable?  Won't people stare if I go out braless?

Sag
According to everything I have read, how much you sag has everything to do with your genetics and nothing to do with your bra.  I have read comments where people say something like, "Yeah, but my grandmother never wore a bra and she sagged terribly.  No way I'm doing that!"  But the reality is "to sag or not to sag" will happen with or without wearing a bra.  That grandmother would have sagged just as much even if she wore a bra everyday.  Other people can never wear a bra and have less sag than those wearing one 24 hours a day.  In fact the very act of not wearing a bra may improve your sag.  The ligaments that hold up your breasts will get exercised, which they don't get in a bra, and will be more effective at their job.  Part of the problem is the unrealistic image that the media put out as to what a normal breast should look like.  Perky just isn't normal for a grown woman, and especially after having children.

Uncomfortable
Uncomfortable?  I guess that is a personal one.  I went from being a B cup pre-kids, to a D cup after kids.  I know when I was smaller, I could go without a bra - no problem.  But, I wasn't at all sure that it would be comfortable in my larger size.  But guess what.  I've been running around the house without one and have never felt so good!  I don't think we realize just how uncomfortable bras are - even when properly sized.  We are trained to wear them - literally, we have training bras for when we are girls!  And I think we just accept the pressure on our shoulders and the snugness around the torso as normal.

Staring
As for people staring, you can be discreet and braless.  It probably won't even be a concern in cold weather when you are layered up and wearing bulkier sweaters.  In the summer, you can wear a camisole under your shirt or even layer tank tops.  Nothing is going to stop the natural movement when you are braless, but that same movement is going to help the lymph system clean out toxins and strengthen your ligaments.  A fair trade in my opinion.  But if it really bothers you, there are also sports bras and exercise tops that will give you more support similar to a bra.  You just have to look at the design and be sure to pick something that isn't binding.  If it has tight elastic bands around your torso, you might as well be wearing a bra.

So give it a try.  Go ahead.  Just stop wearing bras at home and see how you feel after a few days.  :)

 Raw Exercise

Okay, so just yesterday I posted my update on how I was going to see if eating all raw made any difference in my workouts this time through month one of Insanity.  I didn't expect to have anything to report so soon, but man, did I have a great workout this morning!  It was Cardio recovery, which means you get a break from the high intensity cardio, but you trade it for intense muscle work and stretching.  I was blown away at how much easier this workout was for me today than it was before.

I took a screen shot of this exercise, because I didn't think I could describe it and make any sense.  These are similar to your basic leg lifts where your leg is straight out behind you in your start position.  From there you lift your leg and lower back to start.  Shaun T's version you get on your hands and knees first, then you lift your knees off the ground, then you put your leg back and start doing lifts.  16 on each side.  Followed by....


...this exercise.  Same starting position, hands and knees, knees off the floor, leg back, but this time you bring your knee to your shoulder to work your obliques.  16 each leg of these.



I have not been able to do these at all.  I had to keep my knees on the ground before.  Today, I did them with my knees off the floor - unbelievable!  I did crash and burn early on the last leg of the oblique work, but I did all but 5 before I dropped.  Excellent results!

This encourages me to keep up the raw.  I can't wait to see how I'm doing in a couple weeks!


 Insanity Update

I completed month one and started month two.  Here are some lessons I have learned along the way:

It is hard to do push-ups with two little girls laying their heads on the floor under your face and saying "hi mommy!" 
This is a basic lesson - trying to stick to any exercise regimen with little kids can be difficult.  Sometimes they want to do it with mommy, so then they completely get in the way.  Other times they are off entertaining themselves. (i.e. destroying something valuable or messing up the house)  You have to make up your mind that taking care of your health is more important than any challenge that comes up and just do it.

Kids can also be great motivators.
Insanity has the fit test so you can see your improvement along the way.  There is also the scale and taking measurements - all things that you can use to monitor how successful your health plan is at accomplishing your goals.  But for me, nothing is as motivating as hearing my daughter say, "Mom, your butt is getting smaller!"

Headbands and towels are not optional.
This is especially true if you are doing Insanity.  I have NEVER sweat as much during a workout in my life as I do with Insanity.  And it is only getting worse as the morning temperatures are getting warmer.  Trying to keep pushing it with Shaun T. while you have sweat running into your eyes is not a pretty picture.  Neither is trying to do moving push-ups through pools of sweat on a wood floor. (that picture on the Insanity dvd is NOT an exaggeration!)


After completing month one, and attempting month two, I have made the decision to start over at the beginning of month one.  I believe this is a good decision as the point of doing Insanity was to get healthy.  For me, that's going to take a little longer since I was living a pretty sedentary lifestyle going into this.  But I am not in any way discouraged.  At least now I know the complete insaneness (is that a word?) that comes with the month 2 workouts, so I know what I am working up to.

I also made the decision to go all raw during the next 60 days.  There is a reason for this madness.  Back when I was working with Optimal Health Systems, I decided to go on a 100% raw food diet.  My boss had just the year before set the Guinness World record for the most push-ups in one minute.  The background on that happening was that he was the team nutritionist for the Phoenix Suns.  He was telling the coaches about a better training method for their players.  They weren't convinced enough to try it but challenged him to train using his method for one month and then attempt to break the world record for the most push-ups in a minute. (during half-time at one of the games, no less!)  If he could do that, then they would use his training methods.  With Guinness record officials on site and tapes rolling, he landed himself as a new world record holder.  Sorry, I can't remember now how many he did - 118?? 123??  Not sure.  Somewhere in that ballpark. 

But there was actually more to this story than his training method.  He also went 100% raw food for that month he was training to set the record.  He had noticed that when he was on an all raw diet, his strength improved.  Every night before bed he would do sit-ups and push-ups.  During the raw food diet, he could do them effortlessly, and even increased how many he was doing.  He shared this tip with me one day because I was questioning whether there was really any benefit to going all raw or if you could just eat healthy and supplement with enzymes. (He also told me about the more complex issue of levorotatory cells and dextrorotatory cells - counter clockwise spinning cells and clockwise spinning cells - and how your bodies cells spin one direction as does live food, but cooked food cells spin the opposite direction, etc.)  I was thinking about him sharing that tidbit of info with me and thought that it would be interesting to experiment for myself.

Since I am starting over on the 60 day Insanity program, it makes it easy for me to track 60 days of raw simultaneously.  I am looking forward to seeing if I can feel a difference and sharing it with you here on the blog.  Plus I will have the accountability of reporting my findings, so that will help me stay on track. :)  

Now, to catch up on some pics of the girls.  Since I had received my first deposit from a couple for my Bradley class, I splurged and let the girls each pick out a dress from Costco.  They had a hard time choosing, but eventually decided on this one.  They HAD to have the same one.  Love those girls! :)

Trinity was trying to be pouty because I was going to be helping in Angelina's Sunday school room that morning.


David started being silly to get Trinity to smile.  She's trying hard to stay pouty. 

I think they picked out a nice dress - very cute. :)  Trinity actually has quite the eye for fashion.  She decided a few weeks ago that I didn't need to dress her or Angelina anymore - that she was going to do it herself.  I have been constantly impressed with her ability to match up really nice looking outfits from all our second hand clothes.  I think I'm going to have her start picking out my outfits!





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