What weight lifting has done for me

If you would have asked me 2 years ago how much I squat or bench I would have thought you were crazy. I used to be someone who thought that women do not belong in the weightroom and should stick to cardio. I used to think that if I would lift a dumbbell a few times that my arms would immediately start looking like a man's. I still regularly get weird looks when I tell people that I lift weights, this is also mostly followed by ''be careful not to get too big and bulky!''.

I have been lifting for more than a year now, but I have only been taking this serious for a few months. I have never felt better about myself and I have definitely not gotten too big and bulky. A few things that have happened however:

*I am the smallest I have ever been, even since my high school days.

* While I am smaller, I feel strong. There is nothing more empowering, especially being a woman,   than feeling strong. A few days ago I was at the gym doing squats and one of the regular muscle dudes stopped what he was doing and watched me and as I finished he gave me the nod and a thumbs up. I offcourse politely smiled back and gave him a thumbs up back (while thinking in my head DAAMNNNNNN RIGHT DUDE!). That there is an awesome feeling!

* I feel feminine. I keep seeing curves which I never knew existed. Can you say BOOOTAY?

* I appreciate my body so much more. While I still occasionally have a love-hate relationship with my body, I definitely respect what I have put it through and what it is possible of. 

* I am proud of myself. Last week when I picked my daughter up from daycare she asked me to come with her to a room which they made into a dark and spooky haunted house for halloween. I took her hand she told everyone that her mommy is very strong so she can handle the dark. Proud mommy moment right there!

I never imagined that I would love lifting as much as I do right now. I have always enjoyed working out. Even when I was bigger I went to the gym often and I even did Step Aerobics up untill I was 37 weeks pregnant! My diet was rubbish though and I was training incorrectly. I never thought that you would need to lift weights to get a firm and toned body. I wish I knew what I know now much sooner. Lifting is now my therapy and makes me happy and I can not imagine my life without it. So here is to many more years with my iron friends!

xxxNatasha

Zombie Rush 2015!

Today I did the Zombie Rush obstacle run. It was loads of fun. I have done 1 obstacle run before in April this year, but never got to finish it as I injured my ankle after a few meters. This time I wore an ankle brace and was abit more careful.

This run is a so-called fun run and was held in the forest in the middle of nowhere (Soerendonk to be exact). www.zombierush.nl . It's a 5km run with obstacles along the way, but the real challenge is to reach the finish without getting infected. You have a belt with 3 red flags which represent your lives. Along the route there are zombies who are aiming for your lives. Reach the finish line with 1 life still attached then you can say that you have survived the zombie acollapse!


Getting ready and having fun with the zombies! 

The zombies were great and the make-up was very realistic! The obstacles were not super challenging but as this is my first obstacle run I don't have anything to compare it with. It was fun none the less! And there was plenty of super girly screams whenever a zombie came near!

Different groups leave at different times, so people are spaced out and you don't need to wait too long when you get to an obstacle. We didn't have to wait very long when we got to an obstacle.

There was also a few obstacles where you could win back a life. One of them was to run through a tent where paintballs were shot at you. I have a nice round bruise on the back of my leg from this one! Another one was putting your hand into a dark container and trying to fish out a finger like here below:

A few more kilometers and a few more obstacles- even a mini foam-party!

And then we were finished!

I also thought that I would attempt to do a little vlog, but I am so technology challenged that I can not even call this a vlog. The music went missing somehow, but you can hear us scream like little girls :-) . Tips are welcome!