What? I get to drive!!

Bioptic Glasses

As a child who was legally blind, I had been told I would not be able to drive. As I approached the age to get a license around 1978, I started looking into bioptic glasses. Bioptic glasses are glasses that have one or two scopes on them. These scopes magnifier from 2-4X  If you can get to a certain visual acuity with the scope you can drive in most states. The specific requirements vary state to state. I was lucky that I was in California which had bioptic driving since about 1970. The pair my eye doctor tried were similar to these.Mine had a single 4x scope attached and the carrier lenses were tinted. So the eye doctor took me out as a passenger and asked if I could see brake lights, signal lights etc. I could not. The problem was there was no protection from the light with the scope and no protection form the light on the sides of the glasses. I also did not know about red contact lenses at this time. I could not see the red lights or brake lights all. My dream of driving died that day and the doctor did not know how to deal with the specific issues related to Achromatopsia- total color blindness, severe light sensitivity, along with low visual acuity. If it was just the visual acuity of 20/200, I would have been driving but the other two were the problems. So for the next 25 years I resigned myself to the fact I would never drive.

In 1995, I got my first set of red central contact lenses from UC Berkeley. Here is an article about them Seeing the World Through Red Tinted Glasses.  They were amazing when I combined these contacts with sunglasses outside, I was not blinded by the light. They also have the effect of allowing red light through. I could see the red signal and brake lights. It does make greens go dark so I could no longer see the green lights. None of the eye doctors mentioned driving so I continued to think I could not.

My Ocutech

The chance appointment that changed my life. In 2013, I learned about Dr Windsor of the Low Vision Center of Indiana.  I discovered he specialized in Achromatopsia. What a change most eye doctors have never heard of it or have any idea how to help. I decided to see him in May 2013 to try out

My red and brown filter

different color contacts lenses because I found my reds were not the right color for school inside the classroom. He asked if i wanted to be evaluated to be able to drive. What!!!! Really!! Drive!! Hell yes i do!. So he tried the ocutech bioptic on me and had me read the eye chart. He said I was a good candidate but it is a long road. We have to find the right color combination of filters and contacts. Finally in Dec 2013, I received my Ocutech but I had to wait until May 2014 to go to Indian again to try to figure out filters. In May I went back to try out filters. I needed sun but it was overcast the entire time I was there so we pretty much had to guess. We decided on NARZ contacts and red contacts and the filters would be custom made red in the front and brown wrap around to protect me from the light coming in.The double layer of red made the brake lights and red light really pop out. I spent the next few months as a passenger practicing with the bioptic. In Oct 2014 the big day came to start drivers training. My training was through Driving to Independence. I did about 35-40 hours of behind the wheel with Jill and Jason. The red filters make it so I do not see green lights but I feel much more comfortable seeing the brake lights and red lights. If I don't see a

Troublesome signals for me

light then it is green. The only presents a problem making left turns where there is a signal with 5 lights. It could be a protected green arrow or a unprotected green solid.They do not go in the same order each time. It is often dependent on traffic. So, I am working on trying to figure out a combo that will work to see all lights. What I am going to try is red filter for my regular vision and amber or dark grey/green over just the scope. This is getting very pricey. Every pair of contact i try are $200-450 per pair and if they don't work I just have to try another. I read a blog about driving and the person had the same issue. It was called My Miracle Drive.  i saw his set up and I am going to try it. He uses NOIR red fitovers that are cut to allow the ocutech scope to fit

My Goal

through. I ordered a custom filter for the scope and will try my NARZ or brown contacts. I need to cut the NOIR fitovers and will hopefully be having that done on a milling machine at Arizona State.

On Feb 6, 2015 I took my behind the wheel driving test and passed!! I did not get my license that day because for bioptic driving teh test has to be sent to medical review along with my form signed by an eye doctor within 60 days stating that I can see 20/40 with the scope and what my vision is without the scope. A few weeks later

It's official!!!

I got the paperwork form medical review to take to the MVD to finally get my license. I went of Friday March 5th and the computers were down for the entire state of AZ. No license. Finally Monday March 9 I tired again and came out with my first drivers license at the age of 51!!!

There is still a lot I am working on. The green lights are one of them. Another issue is the setting or rising sun low on the horizon. When the sun is low but behind me the lights don't look right I can't tell them as well. Sometimes I think the yellow is lit but it is not. When driving into the sun when I dip to use the scope I am blinded but the sun coming straight in. I need to either avoid this time of day or find a solution. Right now I drive familiar places. I have been doing more freeway practice with Chase so I might be ready to make a solo trip down to ASU. I just wanted several trips to get confident with lane changing and traffic merging in and out.

Upcoming posts:
Shopping for the best car

Tricks I use when driving
Problems I face








Here is a video of me driving. The iPhone slipped so it is crooked. I will make another.

Why don’t you get better glasses: Life with Achromatopsia

I decided to change the focus of my blog to talk about life with Achromatopsia; so I decided to repost this blog from Feb 2012. Look for new post on my journey to driving.

As I squint and hold the book right up to my nose I hear “Why don’t you get better glasses?” I have heard this many times. I want to scream “Seriously! Do you think I am choosing to read this way? And never drive” but I bite my tongue and respond “I have a visual condition that cannot be corrected with glasses or contacts” They give me a strange look and walk off.

I was born in 1964 and when I was about 6 months old my parents noticed I reacted strangely to light and there was a shaking of my eyes. This shaking of the eyes is known as nystagmus. “Nystagmus often accompanies vision loss acquired at birth or soon after. In achromatopsia, it may be 3 to 6 months before the nystagmus is observed by parents. In infants with rod monochromatism, the nystagmus is usually rapid frequency and of low amplitude (fast moving, but only a small angle).”  (http://www.achromatopsia.info/nystagmus/) My parents began taking me to ophthalmologists and specialists. It was discovered and had extremely reduced visual acuity, totally colorblind and very severe light sensitivity.  The diagnosis was complete Rod Monochromatism a form of achromatopsia.  (http://www.achromatopsia.info/)  My best correct vision acuity was around 20/200 which made me legally blind.  I was wearing glasses and sunglasses by the age of two.  If someone is 20/200 they need to be 20 feet away to see that that a person with 20/20 vision can see 200 feet away.

What I can and can’t see. Often I am asked what I see compared to someone with 20/20 vision. This is hard to answer since I don’t know what they see. So the best way is to give examples.  If I go outside without my red contact lenses and sunglasses all I see is brightness. I cannot even see a car or house. I am totally colorblind so everything is in shades of grey. In school I could only see the blackboard from the front row if I used mini binoculars or a monocular.  I could not play sports since I could not see the ball. I cannot drive.  (Thee will be new blogs on this as of 2013 I was told I was a candidate to drive with bioptics and now at 51 have a license) I have to have a large monitor, enlarge the font and sit very close to my computer. I used large print books in school and still had to hold them close to my face.  I cannot read menu board at a fast food restaurant.

I have had some very hard times and I only discuss these as a way to get people to understand how things they say can be so thoughtless and hurtful and I know many other children are going the same pain. I was teased daily throughout my school years all the way through high school. I was either teased because of my vision or teased because people thought I was faking. When asking a teacher to get my test large printed again he replied you need this one large printed too as if I had a 24 hour blindness the first time.  While in college studying computer science and getting extremely good grades often the highest in the class, I went to speak to a dean about a new degree (computational physics) and the career options and he replied I can’t imagine a job you could do with your vision.  I constantly got people saying “You don’t need sunglasses it isn’t sunny out” yet for me cloudy or overcast and blinding bright. I would say to a bus drive “I am visually impaired is the #80 bus” and the reply I often got was “It’s on the front of the bus read it”.  I never understood the need for people to make rude comments.

Some of the hardest things I encounter are due to people not knowing or not understanding. An example would be if someone waved or smiled at me from across the gym I can’t see it then I hear from someone else that people think I am a bitch and unfriendly because I do not acknowledge their gesture.  I have a very hard time recognizing people I don’t know well even up close so I am unable to go up to people back stage and talk to them if I know them from the forums or other shows.  If I am at the gym working out with someone and I need to find him or her I have to walk up and down every row I can’t just scan the gym to find him or her. When I am introduced to people in a group I am not usually close enough to see them so if they come up to me at another point I usually don’t have any idea who they are. Due to the colorblindness I am unable to do my own make-up since I can’t see if I mess it up.  Before I got my red contacts I used a white cane and even had a guide dog for a short time. This was especially hard for people to understand since I had some vision. But I was borderline on getting round without it and tripping down steps or bumping into to things.  The red contacts combined with dark sunglasses help enough that I can get around on my own only on occasion tripping or hitting things.  Simple things like approaching a building with all glass I can't find the door without walking all along.

What are some of the solutions so everyday issues for people who are legally blind. Some of these will have their own posts.

•    Software to enlarge font. Windows - ZoomText. Mac MacZoom.
•    Magnilink Student Pro CCTV to see the board
•    Monocular/mini binoculars to see blackboards/whiteboards, menus at fast  food, screens at airport, street signs when walking, bus number
•    Magnifier books menus
•    Bus or walk. Bioptic to drive.
•    At school as a child all my markers were labeled with the color
•   Red contact lenses. Several different color contacts.
•   Dark sunglasses

In my employment I have had to find solutions. When I did computer programming I provided my own 19-inch monitor and bought the software to enlarge font. I was only able to accept employment on public transportation routes and that I could get to in a reasonable amount of time. Most of my jobs my travel time was 2 hrs each way. As a Montessori teacher I had to make sure my co-workers and assistants knew I could not see what was happening very far from me on the playground, my assistants handled anything that had to do with color ie making sure all the right colored pencils were in the right color holder. I was able to be a very effective employee with just slight modifications. The hardest part about the disabled with employment is not difficulty performing the job but the attitudes of employers. 

I have not let my disability stop me. I excelled academically. I have an AS degree in computer science and am certified as a Montessori Primary Teacher.  I am currently completing by BS in computer science. I took public transportation to school and work. As a parent I tried to expose my daughter to as much as possible even using public transportation to get to these places. Before I met Chase and for several years after I got to the gym and trained alone.  I always tried to find a way to be as independent as possible.

I have not let not being able to drive stop me including living in the snow. For 5 years we lived in Buffalo Grove, Illinois during this time Chase had a job in which he traveled often so I would train alone. There were many times during prep I would walk back and forth to the gym 3 times in the snow in sub zero weather.  I had a goal and I was not going to let not driving stop me.  At one point during my weight loss the time the bus travel took for my job did not allow me to make it to the gym.  I lived too far away to walk and the bus did not run early enough to go before work or late enough to go after work so I bought enough equipment to set up a small gym in my garage. There is always a solution.

I have had some wonderful experiences that I never would have had if I were not legally blind.  In 1984 I was a member of the US Ski Team of the USABA (United States Association of Blind Athletes).  As part of the team I participated in the World Games for the Disabled in Austria. Legally blind and totally blind skiers each have a guide that yells directions as they ski. As a child I went to summer school know as Daily Living Skills where legally blind and totally blind children learned basic skills cooking etc and how to do it with their limitations but we also went on several amazing field trips in order to experience things. These trips included: helicopter flights, train to Los Angeles, flew to Los Angeles, farms, behind the scenes at Catapillar,  behind the scenes in large bakeries like Orowheat and dairies, Disneyland, Magic Mountain, Zoo etc.  Lots of really cool stuff to a 6-9 year old kid.

Why red lenses? from http://www.achromatopsia.info/

“Let's assume you have complete rod monochromatism. You would have no functioning cones which normally provide vision in high levels of light. You would need to use your rod receptors in all levels of lighting. However, rod cells can function only at low levels of light. Your rod cells quickly bleach out or saturate in bright light, leaving you in bright light without functioning photoreceptors. The brighter the light, the faster and more severely the rods would bleach out, and the more you would struggle to see.

At low light levels, however, you could see to function easily, because the rods receptors use a chemical photopigments that function best in low light. 

Creating Night for Day

Thus, to help an achromat see better in the light, we must turn the light level into the night so the rods can function. Night scenes in the movies are often filmed in the daytime with dark filters used to darken the scene.  

Any dark filter will reduce the light reaching the retina and may help the achromats begin to see better. However, not all filters are created equal. If we look at the spectrum of light from the sun as it splits apart into a rainbow we see that "white" light is actually made of many different (colors) wavelengths from red on the outside to purple  and blue on the inside.

Shorter wavelengths like blue light have much higher energy than red light. The red light has only 1/15 the energy of the blue light. Thus red light has less energy to bleach out the rods in the eye. If we use a red filter on a complete rod monochromat, we lessen the bleaching of the rods and allow these individuals to maintain functioning rods to see with in bright light.” (http://www.achromatopsia.info/why-red-why-magenta/)

Much more information can be found here (http://www.achromatopsia.info/) for those who are interested including videos that show how people with Achomoatopsia see.

Why don’t you get better glasses: Life with Achromatopsia

As I squint and hold the book right up to my nose I hear “Why don’t you get better glasses?” I have heard this many times. I want to scream “Seriously! Do you think I am choosing to read this way? And never drive” but I bite my tongue and respond “I have a visual condition that cannot be corrected with glasses or contacts” They give me a strange look and walk off.

I was born in 1964 and when I was about 6 months old my parents noticed I reacted strangely to light and there was a shaking of my eyes. This shaking of the eyes is known as nystagmus. “Nystagmus often accompanies vision loss acquired at birth or soon after. In achromatopsia, it may be 3 to 6 months before the nystagmus is observed by parents. In infants with rod monochromatism, the nystagmus is usually rapid frequency and of low amplitude (fast moving, but only a small angle).”  (http://www.achromatopsia.info/nystagmus/) My parents began taking me to ophthalmologists and specialists. It was discovered and had extremely reduced visual acuity, totally colorblind and very severe light sensitivity.  The diagnosis was complete Rod Monochromatism a form of achromatopsia.  (http://www.achromatopsia.info/)  My best correct vision acuity was less than 20/200 which made me legally blind.  I was wearing glasses and sunglasses by the age of two.  If someone is 20/200 they can only read the largest E on the eyechart.

What I can and can’t see. Often I am asked what I see compared to someone with 20/20 vision. This is hard to answer since I don’t’ know what they see. So the best way is to give examples.  If I go outside without my red contact lenses and sunglasses all I see is brightness. I cannot even see a car or house. I am totally colorblind so everything is in shades of grey. In school I could only see the blackboard from the front row if I used mini binoculars or a monocular.  I could not play sports since I could not see the ball. I cannot drive.  I have to have a large monitor, enlarge the font and sit very close to my computer. I used large print books in school and still had to hold them close to my face.  I cannot read menu board at a fast food restaurant.

I have had some very hard times and I only discuss these as a way to get people to understand how things they say can be so thoughtless and hurtful and I know many other children are going the same pain. I was teased daily throughout my school years all the way through high school. I was either teased because of my vision or teased because people thought I was faking. When asking a teacher to get my test large printed again he replied you need this one large printed too as if I had a 24 hour blindness the first time.  While in college studying computer science and getting extremely good grades often the highest in the class, I went to speak to a dean about a new degree (computational physics) and the career options and he replied I can’t imagine a job you could do with your vision.  I constant got people saying “You don’t need sunglasses it isn’t sunny out” yet for me cloudy or overcast and blinding bright. I would say to a bus drive “I am visually impaired is the the #80 buss” and the reply I often got was “It’s on the front of the bus read it”.  I never understood the need for people to make rude comments.

Some of the hardest things I encounter are due to people not knowing or not understanding. An example would be if someone waved or smiled at me from across the gym I can’t see it then I hear from someone else that people think I am a bitch and unfriendly because I do not acknowledge their gesture.  I have a very hard time recognizing people I don’t know well even up close so I am unable to go up to people back stage and talk to them if I know them from the forums or other shows.  If I am at the gym working out with someone and I need to find him or her I have to walk up and down every row I can’t just scan the gym to find him or her. When I am introduced to people in a group I am not usually close enough to see them so if they come up to me at another point I usually don’t have any idea who they are. Due to the colorblindness I am unable to do my own make-up since I can’t see if I mess it up.  Before I got my red contacts I used a white cane and even had a guide dog for a short time. This was especially hard for people to understand since I had some vision. Bu tI was borderline on getting round without it and tripping down steps or bumping into to things.  The red contacts combined with dark sunglasses help enough that I can get around on my own only on occasion tripping or hitting things.  Simple things like approaching a building with all glass I can't find the door without walking all along.

What are some of the solutions so everyday issues for people who are legally blind.

1)   Software to enlarge font, mac os has it built in

2)   Monocular/mini binoculars to see blackboards/whiteboards, menus at fast food, screens at airport, street signs when walking, bus number

3)   Magnifier books menus

4)   Bus or walk

5)   At school as a child all my markers were labeled with the color

6)   Red contact lenses

7)   Dark sunglasses

In my employment I have had to find solutions. When I did computer programming I provided my own 19-inch monitor and bought the software to enlarge font. I was only able to accept employment on public transportation routes and that I could get to in a reasonable amount of time. Most of my jobs my travel time was 2 hrs each way. As a Montessori teacher I had to make sure my co-workers and assistants knew I could not see what was happening very far from me on the playground, my assistants handled anything that had to do with color ie making sure all the right colored pencils were in the right color holder. I was able to be a very effective employee with just slight modifications. The hardest part about the disabled with employment is not difficulty performing the job but the attitudes of employers. 

I have not let my disability stop me. I excelled academically. I have a degree in computer science and am certified as a Montessori Primary Teacher.  I took public transportation to school and work. As a parent I tried to expose my daughter to as much as possible even using public transportation to get to these places. Before I met Chase and for several years after I got to the gym and trained alone.  I always tried to find a way to be as independent as possible.

I have not let not being able to drive stop me including living in the snow. For 5 years we lived in Buffalo Grove, Illinois during this time Chase had a job in which he traveled often so I would train alone. There were many times during prep I would walk back and forth to the gym 3 times in the snow in sub zero weather.  I had a goal and I was not going to let not driving stop me.  At one point during my weight loss the time the bus travel took for my job did not allow me to make it to the gym.  I lived too far away to walk and the bus did not run early enough to go before work or late enough to go after work so I bought enough equipment to set up a small gym in my garage. There is always a solution.

I have had some wonderful experiences that I never would have had if I were not legally blind.  In 1984 I was a member of the US Ski Team of the USABA (United States Association of Blind Athletes).  As part of the team I participated in the World Games for the Disabled in Austria. Legally blind and totally blind skiers each have a guide that yells directions as they ski. As a child I went to summer school know as Daily Living Skills where legally blind and totally blind children learned basic skills cooking etc and how to do it with their limitations but we also went on several amazing field trips in order to experience things. These trips included: helicopter flights, train to Los Angeles, flew to Los Angeles, farms, behind the scenes at Catapillar,  behind the scenes in large bakeries like Orowheat and dairies, Disneyland, Magic Mountain, Zoo etc.  Lots of really cool stuff to a 6-9 year old kid.

Why red lenses?

“Let's assume you have complete rod monochromatism. You would have no functioning cones which normally provide vision in high levels of light. You would need to use your rod receptors in all levels of lighting. However, rod cells can function only at low levels of light. Your rod cells quickly bleach out or saturate in bright light, leaving you in bright light without functioning photoreceptors. The brighter the light, the faster and more severely the rods would bleach out, and the more you would struggle to see.

At low light levels, however, you could see to function easily, because the rods receptors use a chemical photopigments that function best in low light. 

Creating Night for Day

Thus, to help an achromat see better in the light, we must turn the light level into the night so the rods can function. Night scenes in the movies are often filmed in the daytime with dark filters used to darken the scene.  

Any dark filter will reduce the light reaching the retina and may help the achromats begin to see better. However, not all filters are created equal. If we look at the spectrum of light from the sun as it splits apart into a rainbow we see that "white" light is actually made of many different (colors) wavelengths from red on the outside to purple  and blue on the inside.

Shorter wavelengths like blue light have much higher energy than red light. The red light has only 1/15 the energy of the blue light. Thus red light has less energy to bleach out the rods in the eye. If we use a red filter on a complete rod monochromat, we lessen the bleaching of the rods and allow these individuals to maintain functioning rods to see with in bright light.” (http://www.achromatopsia.info/why-red-why-magenta/)

Much more information can be found here (http://www.achromatopsia.info/) for those who are interested including videos that show how people with Achomoatopsia see.

What Does It Mean To Win

Below is something I wrote about winning about 5 weeks out from my show in 2009. As it turns out I not only won my class at that show 2009 Jr Nationals but I also won the overall and it was the first time ever I looked at myself and really saw a bodybuilder.

Since that show I have competed in 3 others I placed 4th at 2 and 1st at the 3rd but whether I was 4th or st I knew each time I stepped on stage I won - i was better than my previous show, i gave 100% every day.

Outside of the physical there are other ways to "win". Over the years in the sport I have met so many people that have become good friends. We support each other through prep and celebrate each others victories. I have won a circle of friends who work hard, who I am inspired by and who are there supporting me. They will be there no matter how I place.

Pushing through the struggles of prep and frustrations that can come in the off season and celebrating your accomplishments and victories you grow as a person and "win" by becoming a better person.

So when the show is over and you ponder am I a winner put the trophy and placing aside and really look deep at the whole picture and what you did to get there and who helped you along the way - then you will know you are a winner!

(written May 2009 during prep for 2009 Jr Nationals)

What Does It Mean To Win

"We all want to win, to place first but is that really what is means to win? To have a

subjective judge tell you whether you prep was a success or failure?

If coming in first is the only way you will view your prep as a success then more

times than not you will be disappointed. You can't determine what the judges will

like that day and you can't determine who will be standing on stage next you. I had a

friend on stage with 54 other girls in her class at Jr Nationals one year if coming in first is

the only thing that doesn’t suck then 54 of them failed.

I see people post in others journals when they aren’t first “You will do better next

time” why dismiss the success they made by saying winning is the only thing that

matters?

If you come in with a better look then your previous show.

If you made improvements you wanted. More muscle. Tighter conditioning. Better

symmetry.

If you gave it your all every day.

If you NEVER cheated on your diet. NEVER missed a cardio.

NEVER missed a workout.

If you gave it all you had each and every workout.

Then you have won and the trophy, if you get one, is icing.

With this mindset you can be a success regardless of the subjectiveness of this sport

and enjoy it so much more.

I see so many people stressing in their journals and not enjoying the process and the

journey. I see people not enjoying life and avoiding friends and family just because

food is around. What does it mean to win a trophy if your life has been miserable for

12, 16 or more weeks?

Believe me I am competitive. I thrive of beating the person next to me in the gym. I

WANT to win but I can’t control judges or what type of physique is next to me on

stage. I have came in first and won an overall and was miserable the entire prep

worried if I would be good enough. Was it worth it? No.

My prep for Nationals 2007 was the hardest one ever I made no changes in weight,

pictures or measurements for the first 6 weeks. But I stuck with it, I never cheated, I

pushed to complete workouts when I was tired. I placed 10th of 12; yet I am more

proud of that accomplishment of pushing thru and not giving up.

Now my current prep; the most I have ever had to drop about 30lbs. I have never

dropped more than 12 in a prep. I have really just let go and enjoyed it. I have

complete faith in Jeremy and I know I will be my best ever. Will it be good enough

for first maybe, maybe not but I have won because I did make the improvements I

wanted, I put on the muscle I need to balance my physique. 

Taking this mindset the cardio does not bother me. I have had zero problems with diet including going outwith friends and family and enjoying time with them while they eat my favorite foods. I haven’t missed a second of cardio or a workout. Do I have hard days – sure

as hell do! I have had cardio sessions where I was lightheaded and dizzy, I have had

workouts that I felt extremely weak but I pushed through. I know that the reps that

are the hardest where you feel you can’t move it are the ones that count. We have

discovered things about how my body works and I totally look at the scale as a mere

indicator of what is happening but I don’t base my mood on what it is doing.

I can look back on this prep with no regrets.

I am thoroughly enjoying this prep and am a winner regardless of my placing!"

Christmas Traditions and Memories

I love the holiday season! Every year I can't wait to break out the decorations, find the perfect tree and all the other family fun.

One tradition that I cherish and still have every single one is that my mom buys me a new ornament every year. She started doing this back in the early 80s. I would have to get the ornaments out to get the exact year but i think it was 1981 or 1982. Each and every one is very special. I started the same tradition with my daughter Christine from the year she was born.

I collect the Hallmark Cat in the Hat, Grinch, Dr Seuss Book Series, and Dr Seuss characters ornaments. Every year I try to get to the store early before they sell of them.

Each year I get Christine and I a new set of matching pajamas. The first time we id this was 2001. Christine was only 10, it was when i first lost all my weight so i was super tiny and my mom has always been really small. So the first set the 3 of us got was a gap kids!! We have Grinch, a couple of different sock monkey and several other fun pj's

  

Once we moved to Illinois we began the tradition of going out the the Christmas tree farm with the dogs search the entire place to find the perfect tree. We always tried to wait until there was a blanket of snow on the ground.

On Christmas Chase, Christine and I pack up the dogs, Christmas cookies and hot cocoa and drive around to look at Christmas lights.

  

Every year we buy a new family ornament and put all of our names on it including the 2 cats and 2 dogs. Finding one with 7 places for names is hard! Sometime we have to get one with 3 for the people and a matching onewith 4 for the pets.

 This year we started the new tradition that the current year family ornament will go on a wreath.

My very favorite holiday shows are The Grinch, Charlie Brown Christmas and Rudolph. I love all the characters and most of the house and yard decorations involve them.



Once we moved to Illinois in 2005 I really missed being with my mom, dad, sisters, nieces and nephews for Christmas. Last year since we moved to AZ we did drive to San Diego and see everyone but my mom she lives in Maine now. This year I am realy happy because I will be seeing everyone. My mom is planning to fly out to visit and we are making the trip to San Diego to see every one else.

The very best thing about when we lived in Illinois was the white Christmas' I really miss that!

On Christmas morning, Chase makes Christine and I what before we can come out while he
*Starts fire in fireplace 9til we moved to AZ no fire place :banghead:

*Warms up something for breakfast Apple Pancake form Walker Bros, Cinnamon Rolls etc

*He finishes filling our stockings (he goes to bed before us so he has to do in AM)

*Puts "Santa" gifts under the tree (Santa gifts are wrapped in special paper) 

Another tradition that is very important to us is that every year we make sure we donate some toys to Toys For Tots.  I love to pick out the toys and we try to get a few different one so we have something for different ages.

One very special memory from childhood was when I was about 3 years old.  My parents had Santa come to the house and bring me presents. My very favorite was a set of The Three Bears stuffed bears.

Christmas time is a very special time to enjoy with family and friends. To reflect on what is really important in life. I am very blessed to be able to spend this season with my entire family. I am also surrounded my amazing friends. I can't ask for more.

 

Wishing you a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year!

Affirmations & Visualization: Creating Your Reality

I am realizing once again just how important the mind is when it comes to achieving ours goals. Visualizing the outcome and saying affirmations lets you mind believe and therefore achieve your goals.

Back in 1995 when I first began my weight loss journey I used affirmations. I am now just realizing how important that was.  At the time I knew nothing about training and nutrition. I didn’t use a trainer or nutritionist. I bought a few books like Getting Stronger by Bill Pearl and then just started to gradually make better choices with my diet. How was it I succeeded in something that so many others fail at? How was it I never gained the weight back? Could it have been my mind? I am beginning to really think so.

I wrote my affirmations on 3x5 cards and read them whenever I had a spare minute. I read them on the bus, on breaks at work and before bed. I carried them in my pocket or backpack at all times.

Important keys for Affirmations

1.    Affirmation should be said as if it has already happened

2.    Affirmations should be short

3.    Repeat the affirmations and just let it into your mind

Examples of my affirmations during my weight loss

“I am lean and strong”

“My body burns fat efficiently”

“I am successful”

“My body craves healthy foods and responds to exercise”

Once I had lost the weight I somehow stopped doing affirmations. I am not sure why. Maybe I was so consume with things that were going on I forgot the best way to solve them.

I did do some visualization and affirmations while I was prepping for 2009 jr Nationals. I even had some affirmations set in m phone for little reminders. I also visualized winning first place. I say myself receiving the trophy. I also visualized winning overall. I had never even placed first in bodybuilding but I did not think of that I just saw myself in the pose down and the presentation of the overall trophy to me.  As it turns out I did win the overall at the 2009 Jr Nationals and brought a physique head and shoulders better than any previous show.

I found this video to be extremely motivating during my prep for North Americans. Coach Flowers' "I Am a Champion" speech

Now I am in the off season working toward 2012 USAs and it is time to really focus on just how much our mind influences the outcome. I need to STOP saying I have a wide waist. I will now say “My waist is small and tight” I will be visualizing dry, full, shredded muscle. I will see myself posing with confidence as if I am already an IFBB Pro. I will extend the affirmations to help heal “My joints, tendons and ligaments are strong and healthy” “I am flexible” This year everything will be 100% my training, my nutrition and most important my mind. I will be my best at USAs!!

Some quotes on visualization and how important the mindset is.

“When I was very young, I visualized myself being and having what it was I wanted. Mentally I never had any doubts about it. The mind is really so incredible. Before I won my first Mr. Universe, I walked around the tournament like I owned it. The title was already mine. I had won it so many times in my mind that there was no doubt I would win it. Then, when I moved on to the movies, the same thing. I visualized myself being a successful actor and earning big money. I could feel and taste success. I just knew it would all happen.” Arnold Schwarzenegger

"I have been visualizing this show since the first time I hit the stage. My love for the sport never wavered and I know this is my destiny. I am here to show people that they can have anything they want if they put their minds to it and are relentless in their pursuit. This is not about being big, shredded, or ego. This is about the unlimited potential of the human will. I am doing everything in my power to achieve my goals and in the process am living life on my terms…are you?

The Time is NOW…"

Dusty Hanshaw

 “Thought allied fearlessly to purpose becomes creative force: he who knows this is ready to become something higher and stronger than a mere bundle of wavering thoughts and fluctuating sensations; he who does this has become the conscious and intelligent wielder of his mental powers.” James Allen, author of As a Man Thinketh

"The mind is everything. The mind creates the reality that you will see manifested in your life" (Greene, FLEX, May 2011).

"The muscle and the mind must become one. One without the other is zero"
- Lee Haney

 "I believe there is an inner power that makes winners or losers. And the winners are the ones who really listen to the truth of their hearts."
- Sylvester Stallone

A look back: How did I get here?

So how did I end up as a top national level bodybuilder?  Well it not a quest that I set out to accomplish as it all happened quite by accident. Growing up I did not participate in sports or even do PE class in school. I did not see pictures of bodybuilders and think I would like to do that. 

As a child and on through my high school years, I was never really active, participate in sports or even do PE classes in school. I am legally blind and cannot see when a ball is coming at me. Rather than suggest things that did not require good vision like track or weight training the schools found it easier to just have me take a different class, have a study hall or just go home one period early. So I never developed an active lifestyle or love to play sports.

Fast forward to my late twenties and I was slightly over weight maybe 5 or so pounds but not fat by any means. As the years went by my lifestyle contributed to slowly gaining and gaining over the years. During this time, I found it much easier to just eat fast food especially since my days were very long having to use the bus for transportation. I hated that I was fat but really was not sure what to do.  I knew the statistics that a huge majority of those who lose weight gain it back plus even more. I also knew about people yo-yo dieting – lose some, gain it back plus more, lose, gain, lose gain a never ending battle of weight. So at that time, I felt I was better to do nothing than to be even fatter.

I hated how I looked. Whenever I was in a dressing room trying to buy clothes I was in tears but still was not sure what to do. Then something happened that would change my life forever, my aunt, who was my age and renting a room form me, wanted to join the gym but did not want to join alone so I decided what the hell and joined. This was the end of 1995 and my heaviest weight 185lbs.  I bought a few books on weight training and read magazines like Muscle and Fitness.  Somehow I knew weight training was the way to go.  I did not go on a “diet” I just began making better choices. Cutting out sugar sodas and fast food made a huge impact on the calories. I did not count calories or weigh myself. During the first few years my single goal was drop down one clothing size. When I reached that goal I would go for the next size. I only used how my clothes were fitting as a measure of progress.  

In addition to the weight starting to come off, I found I really loved hitting the weights. It was my time with me.  I thrived on pushing myself harder and harder.  It was a slow process which at the time was frustrating but looking back going slow taking a few years to drop the weight was the best thing that could have happened because during that time I was also putting on muscle and by going slow my skin shrank with me so I did not end up with loose skin.  I alos learned a lot about food and training since I was doing this all on my own. I did not use any trainers or nutritionists. I kept grinding away and slowly but surely I was dropping sizes.

In 1999 was when I made the biggest changes in my approach to nutrition.  This is when I read Body For Life by Bill Phillips.  My nutrition became much more structured going to eating 6 meals a day, which included a lean protein, low fat and a good carbohydrate source.  This is also when I began to use supplements such as protein powders, meal replacement shakes and creatine.  At this time my work schedule plus transportation time was not allowing me to get to the gym so rather than just being satisfied with the weight I had lost in needed to find a solution. I decided to invest in some equipment and set up a home gym.  I trained in my garage at 4 A.M then took the bus to work.  Fortunately, my company had showers so I did my cardio on my lunch break. Even though I hate running it was the only option at the time that fit my schedule so I ran 30 minute or I did hill sprints.  Even when life’s obstacles got in the way I chose to figure out a way to break through them.

In 2001 my weight was finally at a really good place.  I wore vey small clothing sizes, looked very fit and suddenly was getting a lot of compliments on how I looked.  Several people asked, “Do you compete?” I responded “Compete? In what?” they would reply fitness or bodybuilding. Most of the time I just thanked them for the compliment but never really thought about competing.  One day in the gym a very fit older man who had judged bodybuilding and still competed in masters level said that I really should think about entering a bodybuilding competition.  I decided to give it a shot just for fun with no real thoughts of continuing or where it could lead. This was very scary as I was not comfortable being up in front of people and was very self conscious dues to the years and years of taunting I had endured due to my visual impairment.

In 2002 I hired my first trainer and did my first real “diet”. Prior to this I had done all my diet and training on my own and I never weighed or measured my food.  I had always gone by a serving size of protein is approximately the size of a deck of cards. This form of dieting was also considerably stricter than what I had done to lose weight. At times it was very challenging to stay strict and not cheat. Also during my weight loss I never did more than about 30 min of cardio on a rare occasion I did 45 so doing my first contest prep and getting up to two hours of cardio was extremely difficult.

My first show was March 2002, the San Diego World Gym Classic, and I fell in love with competing.  I was shocked that I actually had no fear or stage fright going out there to do my routine and comparisons.  I competed in two more shows that year and then oen show in 2003. At this time competing was really just a hobby and something to do for fun.

Even though I really enjoyed competing,  I had fears I thought to do bodybuilding you needed to be fat between shows. See I didn’t know any one who was a bodybuilder and had actually never been to a show before I stepped on stage. In my mind at the time, I also thought being big was the same as being fat.  I feared I would gain all the weight back I had lost.  Due to the fact that skin over my abs was a little loose I felt I would never be able to get a 6-pack.

Due to those thoughts in 2004 I decided to give figure a try.  I felt here is a way to stay small, get into competition shape, do photo shoots and get on stage.  Since it was all just a hobby still and I never thought it would go anywhere, I didn’t think whether I did bodybuilding or figure mattered.  Even though it was just for fun that did not prevent me from busting my ass and training as if I was competing at the Olympia, I still gave 100% in my dieting and training – I wanted to look like I belonged up there and look better each time I got on stage.  I competed in a total of 4 figure competitions in 2004 and 2006 and even won an overall in masters.  Although my placings were ok, but I was never really happy in figure. I missed the posing and my training was changed and I found it to not be challenging in the way I liked to lift.  I also like the look of very lean and hard physiques.

I hired Jeremy Minihan (www.sizeandshpefitness.com) at the end of 2006.  Our original goal was to compete at the 2007 Jr Nationals in figure.  He changed some of my training since my legs overpowered my upper body and we worked on trying to bring up my back and shoulders.  Then came the turning point, while I was in Oklahoma training, Jeremy asked me if I would be interested in switching to bodybuilding since my legs were already really lean and we were 6 weeks out.  Without even thinking, I said yes!  When I got home I thought “Am I crazy?” we are less than 6 weeks out form the show and I have to com up with a routine and practice posing.  But in my heart I knew I made the right decision. In 2007 I competed as a lightweight at Jr Nationals and Nationals.

We decided to take the entire year of 2008 off from competing.  My body needed a break from dieted and really needed a boost to the metabolism.  I also wanted to make improvements to my physique and really look like a bodybuilder. My back needed much improvement.

Prep began for the 2009 Jr Nationals at the end of February.  The year off really helped my body, as this was the best contest prep to date. We thought I would still be competing as a lightweight but as the date approached it was obvious I had moved up to middleweight.  This show was the one that rally made me believe I had what it took to do well at the nationals level.  When I first looked at pictures, I could not believe that was me.  The difference from the shows as a lightweight was amazing.   Now I felt I looked like a bodybuilder!  At that show I won my middleweight class and the overall.  I went on to compete at Nationals that year and placed 4^th.  No longer was this a hobby just for fun, now I was on a mission for a IFBB Pro card!

Most recently I competed at the 2011 IFBB North American Championships where I place 1^st in open middleweight and 1^st in over 35 middleweights. I brought my best ever physique to that show after the best contest prep which is much more important than the trophies.  I am now in my off season working with Dusty Hanshaw (www.DustyHanshaw.com) in preparation for the 2012 USAs.  Excited to continue this journey and seeing what I present in 2012.

 

Bodybuilding is so much more than the trophies and the competitions.  It is a lifestyle that I love.  The challenge of pushing myself harder and harder in the gym is something that I will continue to do long after competing is over. I also like having muscle and am very happy with my body something many people cannot say.  The training, the nutrition, the mindset of giving it all you’ve got is a lifestyle that will stay with me.  My determination and hard work got me started in bodybuilding but the drive, challenge and passion keep the fire alive.

(A future blog will give much more detail and insight into just the weight loss transformation)