If you’ve read this site for some time, you know I’m an avid fan of lifting weights. And yes, I know it may come across as a “male only” oriented thing to do, which is why I love the following reader success story.

It’s about May, who discovered the benefits of lifting weights. She recently sent me an email regarding one of the M.I.T.’s I sent and also wanted to chime in about her success with incorporating weight training in her exercise routine as well. Now I know for some reason or another, many women are hesitant to incorporate lifting weights into their exercise routine so I hope her story will help encourage them to do so in order that they too, can experience the many benefits weight training has to offer.

Not only has May experienced the benefits of lifting weights, but that of positive thinking as well.

Let’s get to the details of May’s story via the list of questions I sent her to help better frame it.

I want to thank her for taking the time to answer the questions. I really appreciate it!

---

Can you please tell us a little bit about yourself?

I am a 24 year old law student from New York. How did you come to find BrianKim.net?

I googled “how to pursue your dreams” out of the blue one day
when feeling rather
blue (lol). How did you start to incorporate weight lifting into your exercise routine?

I started with a weight class. Then I moved to a new area and couldn’t make the weight classes there. I did some online research to figure out a routine. I eventually went with the following one: http://www.topfatlosstrainer.com/2009/11/08/get-a-jessica-alba-body-celebrity-diet-and-workout-review/ What are some of the benefits you’ve noticed?

1) I enjoy my gym routine much more. Weight lifting always varies, because you get heavier and heavier weights. For example, I started out barely being able to lift 5 pounds on lateral raises, this week I did 10 pound lateral raises with step ups! It’s a nice incremental challenge.

2) I love the tone and shape it gives me. I feel solid and strong.

3) Cardio work is more appealing. I used to despise cardio and relish a weight circuit as an escape. Now it’s a give and take – sometimes my weight circuit is more challenging, and my cardio routine seems more appealing. Basically, getting serious about weight-lifting really shook up my perspective on workouts. I especially love feeling a developed muscle pushing and working during a hard run – it makes me feel the relationship between the two activities and makes me feel really good! How has weight lifting affected other areas of your life?

I think I’m more confident and open-minded. Before I would not have gone to the weight area, or tried to do my own routine. I used to rely on classes alone because I wasn’t motivated enough to think about how to shape/sculpt myself on my own time. Now I feel confident that if I do research and seek out advice, I can tackle anything I want to pursue. I also like getting tips from people in the weight area. Ordinarily I would have been intimidated by the mostly male atmosphere, but everyone has always been very polite and helpful to me. So just goes to show, you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. What kind of diet do you incorporate along with your training?

I eat complex carbs, lean protein, and lots of fruits and veggies. I try to vary within these categories as much as my knowledge allows. For example, I started out doing the typical egg whites, oatmeal, chicken breast, broccoli, apples, etc. Those are great, but I’ve also tried new foods I never would have pictured buying/eating regularly before, like lentils (excellent for protein), canned mackerel, brussel sprouts, hemp cereal (it’s surprisingly delicious!) and mango. Whenever I see an article or tip about healthy eating, I always try to take a moment to at least skim it for new ideas. What kind of advice would you give to women out there who are hesitant to incorporate lifting weights into their routine?

I would say definitely try it! It’s very effective to do a mix of cardio and weightlifting. The sore feeling you get after working out a muscle is the best too =) Besides the improvement in the physical part of your life, how has the material on the site helped you improve the mental part of your life?

I need a lot of mental motivation to workout, so using material from your site has primarily been implemented here first. I used to be a great skeptic and cynic, which as anyone you reads your posts knows, is one of the most unhelpful ways to go around thinking. What I’m getting at is that it was difficult for me to use the mental approaches in everyday life, e.g. in relationships, school, goal setting, confidence, however, when it came to physical activity it absolutely clicked with me for some reason. Once I saw the results here, it leaked over to my personal life I think. I am now much more positive overall. Can you give us some examples?

I ask “Mr. Triumph” for help, because it helps me avoid panicking or becoming depressed when I jump to negative conclusions in situations that set me off. If people only knew I was picturing a little man running a google search, lol
well I guess this is being published, but I don’t mind to share that this is what actually helps! Instead of trying to be very “realistic” (which usually means overly self-critical) I’m able to look at a potentially difficult situation in a very positive way. For example, when I was moving apartments recently, I became extremely frustrated. At one point I just sat in the middle of all my boxes and felt like a little kid, hoping an adult would come along and figure it out. By simply taking a deep breath, and asking Mr. Triumph how I was going to move everything by myself, he ran a google search (I’m laughing at myself as I type this
) and told me to just keep moving obviously, every box put away brought me closer, and to call a friend for a favor. I got up, dusted myself off, called a friend, and moved out by that afternoon. I guess the solution seems obvious, but when I was bogged down in all my negative thoughts (You waited too long to pack stupid, How could you have so few boxes, You‘re terrible at organizing, etc.) I wouldn’t have reached the solution as quickly, calmly, and easily. What have you learned on your journey so far and what’s next in store for you?

People often remark to me that I’m very laid back and calm, and I think it’s all the positive thinking work I’ve done. I accept there will be setbacks, but I can choose how to react to them. They’re not setbacks as a matter of fact, they’re just surprises. And who wants to be angry and confused about these situations? Wouldn’t I rather be calm and clear headed, leading the charge ahead? The choice is mine. Up next, I am going to be tackling several projects this summer – a legal internship, a trip to see a good friend in Canada, preliminary research for a book idea I have, and recording some funny songs as a fun present for my close friends and family...I’m also keeping up a photo blog and hope to get out and take some great photos too! And
who knows what else
I’d really love to play piano again or do some painting
learn how to long-board better
work through more recipes in an amazing cookbook I have
the list goes on and on! =)

---

I want to thank May again for taking the time to write this. I really appreciate it!

I don’t think I need to extol the benefits of weightlifting any further here.

She and I and countless others have all told our own tales about how it has helped our lives tremendously and in the end, when it’s all said and done, it’s one of THE BEST things you can do to really improve your life.

But like all things worth of value, it’s worth repeating.

Notice how incorporating weight training has helped May.

She ENJOYS going to the gym more – (how many people can honestly say that?)

She feels SOLID and STRONG, loves the tone and shape of her body – (something I’m pretty sure ANY woman would love.)

She’s more confident and opened minded, takes INITIATIVE, gets help from others, feels like she can handle anything she wants to pursue, she’s discovering new, and delicious healthy food, getting more knowledgeable about health in general, andthe list goes on and on.

There’s a very good point to realize here and that is the MULTIPLE TANGENT BENEFITS that arise out of doing this one activity.

Normally we think:

One cause.

One effect.

Lift weights = toned body.

But as we can see, it’s much more than that.

So many TANGENT effects, or more precisely TANGENT BENEFITS.

And that point goes for everything, not just weightlifting.

So the next time you hesitate to do something, think of all the MULTIPLE HIDDEN TANGENT BENEFITS that you can get, that you won’t even see, unless you hear it from somebody who has already done it like May has.

That’s the physical side.

Let’s go to the mental.

But before that, one thing I do want to point out is how it all clicked for her in the physical realm when it didn’t really click in the other realms of her life.

That’s why I highly recommend starting with your physical body FIRST if you don’t know what area of your life to start improving on because you WILL nail it there and it WILL carry over into the other areas of your life

With regard to the mental arena, I love what she wrote here:

“People often remark to me that I’m very laid back and calm, and I think it’s all the positive thinking work I’ve done. I accept there will be setbacks, but I can choose how to react to them. They’re not setbacks as a matter of fact, they’re just surprises. And who wants to be angry and confused about these situations? Wouldn’t I rather be calm and clear headed, leading the charge ahead? The choice is mine.” I love the reframe here. Surprises.

I think we can all relate when we identify those situations such as the one she had with the boxes as setbacks but like she said, not setbacks, but surprises.

But the best thing is the question she asked in that paragraph.

Who indeed wants to be angry and confused?

Seriously.

Choose the opposite. Lead. The choice is indeed yours.

Your life will be much more peaceful and calm, as nothing will really get to you if you take that kind of attitude and by doing so, you too will rid yourself as she has, of that great critic and skeptic inside of you.