• Reading: Be More.Do More.Live More – http://bit.ly/aV36Az WE DO NOT DO ENOUGH TO HONOR OURSELVES #
• Recipe: Paleo/Primal Lasagna – http://bit.ly/9SZ2fe ~ I'm thinking this, but with some kind of cashew cheese… #
• Reading: Work vs. Passion – http://bit.ly/dwNI24 ~ I dig the graphs and analogies! #
• I know I shouldn't feed my dog "people food", but does kale really count? Puppy just munched up a kale stalk and is back for more. #
• Hm, two recipe tweets and a recipe RT in half an hour? I think it's food time for Amy. #
• Recipe: Bacon Wrapped Tenderloin. Is there anything that isn't improved with bacon? http://bit.ly/aJZcb4 #
• I can never seem to get chicken stock right, but this recipe might get me to try again: http://bit.ly/9H5qNW #
• Recipe: The Cauliflower Chronicles Part 3 http://eatmovethrive.blogspot.com/2008/10/cauliflower-chronicles-part-3_05.html #
• Choose Your Path and Follow It…or Else! http://www.ridiculouslyextraordinary.com/choose-your-path-and-follow-it/ #
• CrossFit or Seizure? (video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgH_ZoMOht8&NR=1 #

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This is too hilarious!

There are just no words. I guess it’s a good workout, with or without the hello kitty thong.

I can’t count the number of women I’ve had “the talk” with. No, not birds and bees talk, the talk where I try to sell them on the awesomeness of not just lifting weights, but lifting heavy weights.

The talk is usually delivered shortly after they ask me what exercises they can do to loose weight, flatten their stomachs, tone their thighs, etc. When I tell them that adding some good heavy weight lifting is the best change they can make for their problem they either glaze over or look confused.

I don’t blame them. Any woman exposed to the “knowledge” that is floating around in the mainstream fitness world says that boys lift weights and girls do cardio and strippersize. Any information that does advise women to lift weights warns them that doing many repetitions with lighter weights is the only way for women to lift without “bulking up.” This is when I glaze over and look confused.

Most of my time in “the talk” is spent explaining what weight lifting will NOT do for women. Here I’d like to stress five very positive reasons, practical and aesthetic, why women should lift weights:

1. Weight Loss
Lifting heavy or “challenging” weights builds muscle. The more muscle on your body the more calories it burns, even when you’re not exercising. Depending on your metabolism, an extra pound of muscle can make your body burn between ten to fifty calories per day. If you had three more pounds of muscle on you right now, that could burn just as many calories as a twenty-minute walk EVERY DAY!

2. Functional strength
There is a sense of pride and security that comes with knowing how much weight you can lift from the floor, push away from your chest, or carry across a room on your back. Most women are strong enough to handle every-day strength requirements like carrying groceries but are unsure how capable they might be in an emergency situation. The question I always ask is “Would you be able to pick up your child, if hurt, and carry them to safety?” It’s a question that illustrates that lifting weight has practical reasons as well as health and aesthetic.

3. Bone Density
As we age, particularly after menopause, we become increasingly susceptible to bone fractures and osteoporosis. Weight-bearing exercise stimulates bone growth. As you put demands on your bones through weight-lifting they become stronger and denser. Resistance exercises have been shown to protect against and even reverse the loss of bone density associated with age, menopause, and other risk factors.

4. Muscle Definition
If you are primarily concerned about your looks you still have nothing to fear in the weight room. Lifting heavy weights can give you firmness where things are jiggly and lift areas that are sagging. Upper-body work can give you shapely arms and prevent the dreaded ‘bat wings.’ Lower-body work can give you definition in your calves and perk up your derriere. What lifting weights will NOT do is give you bulging she-hulk muscles. Women simply do not have the natural testosterone required to form that kind of bulk.

5. Self Esteem
Weight lifting is great for the ego. It offers many milestones, big and small, that you can celebrate and feel proud of. You should keep a written account of your “Personal Records” for each major lift you attempt. If you’re new to weight lifting then chances are good you’ll be able to hit a new personal record each week for several months. There are other milestones you can track as well, such as “lift over 100lbs” or “lift my own bodyweight.” Weightlifting allows for continual improvement, and therefore continual personal gratification.

I could list several more reasons why women should add heavy weight training to their gym routine, but this covers about 99% of the goals that most people want to achieve at the gym. Most people go to the gym to look good and/or be healthier. Weight lifting can do both, and progress can be obvious after just a short amount of time. So what are you waiting for? Get to the weight room and start lifting!

When I use the term “21st Century Amazon” I don’t want you to think that I’ve got some kind of anti-man feminist agenda, or that I want to populate an island with a race of she-hulks. When I picture the tribe, I simply picture a community of strong and confident women coming together with a goal of self-sufficiency.

Self sufficient is the best way I can sum up what a modern amazon should live. I means that you are smart enough, strong enough, and skilled enough to deal with whatever life throws at you. My shtick here is mostly going to be about strong, as in physically strong. I’ll talk about picking up large heavy objects and eating to fuel the effort involved in picking up large heavy objects. Sometimes I may go off on a tangent though, and talk about the evils of debt or how to raise your youngins’. Please bear with me, it’s usually only temporary.

There has been a big swinging pendulum in the world of women in the last century, and I think we’re still coming to terms with it. Though we’ve cast off the “shackles” of our homemaker grandmothers we are still very much told or shown what a woman should be. Not a person, a woman. There are some things that the modern world is telling us women that just don’t make sense. Imagine you are an amazon warrior, and you are suddenly transported right here, right now. How would you view some of the things that women do, or don’t do?

For example; why is it that it’s appropriate for a woman to enjoy running, or spin class, or yoga, but the weight room is still a male-dominated zone? Why is the barbecue so often a man’s cooking tool? Why are we supposed to eat salads while the men eat steak? What is with the media image of a woman who has no control over her spending habits when it comes to shoes? Women don’t have the willpower to resist chocolate? Really? I didn’t realize that was all dependent on having a double-X chromosome.

On the other end of the pendulum I think we’ve discounted some valuable skills because we link them to our past opression. I’ve met women who brag that they don’t know how to cook. How many women toss a perfectly good pair of pants out when they loose a button? The lack of skill in these things doesn’t make us better, it makes us stupid.

A self-sufficient 21st Century Amazon is:

Smart enough to make wise choices. It also means being accountable for your choices, good or bad.

Strong enough to meet the physical demands of life. That means boring daily things like opening jars and carrying groceries, as well as preparedness for an emergency.

Skilled enough to meet the necessities of life. It’s all about DIY ladies. Having the skill to change your own tire doesn’t mean you have to do it, just that you can.

So ask yourself this: was there a time this week that I made an effort to be smarter, stronger, or more skilled?