By Heather O.

Well, not exactly like her. I just want to look like her. Well, not exactly look like her. I just want her arms.
One of the odd perks of being told that you can’t have any more children is that you can really take a look at your body and decide what you want to do with it. There will be no more stretch marks, no more whacked out belly buttons, no more baby weight to lose. This is it, kiddo.
So I’ve decided to work on my arms. That’s weird, I know, but I’ve always thought I’ve had kind of ugly arms–scraggly things with no muscle. My roommates in college—a softball player and a swimmer—used to mock my chicken arms. Now, I am rapidly entering the season of Relief Society arms, and I don’t have any excuses. It’s time to make Evageline Lilly my role model. Or arm model, as the case may be. And I think having her arms is as high as I’m going to aspire. I mean, I guess I could TRY to look like the rest of her body, but the goal here is to get motivated, not totally depressed.
Anybody got some cool arm exercises they want to share? My favorite is when you are sitting on a chair, and you scoot your butt forward and off the chair, and put your hands where your butt used to be, and then you lower your butt to the floor, and without using leg muscles, lift your butt back up to the chair. Serious work out, no weights required, and can be done in between reading blogs.
In other news, I just found an empty buillion cube container on the playroom floor. It used to be full. This means my dog ate the whole bottle. What does eating about 25 foil covered beef-flavored salt licks do to a dog? I mean to keep her outside most of the day.
Also, I have to say how much I love to blog. I know I’ve been a little MIA lately, and I’d like to give you some awesome excuse about how I went on some jungle safari or something else wicked exciting. The truth is, I’ve been kind of burned out, and also working on other writing projects. You know, writing projects that require form, structure, transitions. Yes, transitions, those tricky little buggers that always seem to be necessary in real writing. But I’m done with those other projects (sort of, almost, well, kind of, not really), so I’m back in the world of loose transitions and random topics that don’t hang together the slightest, teeniest bit. And I can even overuse adjectives and adverbs, and write overwrought sentences. Ah, my unparralled rapturous joy glides in glorious and graceful leaps across the wafting meadow of my mind…..
And so, in the glorious tradition of blogging, which requires no metaphorical ending of any kind, I take my leave.
Thanks for stopping by.
The end.




Well, you know I’m obsessed with Mrs. O’s arms, but E Lilly’s are good too.
Comment #1 by Melissa McMay 29th, 2009 at 11:59 amYeah, I wonder if they work out together. If they did a video, I’d totally buy it.
Comment #2 by Heather O.May 29th, 2009 at 12:01 pmAnd this is the second time in a year that I’ve blogged about arms. What does that say about me?
Comment #3 by Heather O.May 29th, 2009 at 12:08 pmPerhaps that you’re (ahem) of a certain age?
Comment #4 by ResearcherMay 29th, 2009 at 12:28 pmHave you tried Kettlebells? They provide a good arm workout.
Comment #5 by NicoleMay 29th, 2009 at 12:44 pmI was talking to a friend who happens to be a personal trainer about this very thing. I want definition in my arms and shoulders! I am pretty muscular and therefore heavy weights don’t work for me. This is what she told me to do: 3-5 lb weights and do variations of a shoulder press (you know, weights at the shoulder and lift straight into the air and back down). Now here’s the kicker: You have to do 200 (yes, two zero’s) reps. I know this sounds like low weights and not a big deal, but I could only make it through 100 (20 at a time with a 30 sec. rest) and my arms were burning! Good Luck and may we all have lovely arms!
Comment #6 by TamiMay 29th, 2009 at 12:50 pmthis is all you need:
http://www.hundredpushups.com/
they have one for sit ups too.
I’d do it with you, but every time I start the programs, I get sick. Seriously, all 3 times I started, I got sick about 2 weeks into it with some random bug, and couldn’t finish. So I’m sticking with my Kathy Ireland workout video instead.
Comment #7 by GingerMay 29th, 2009 at 12:52 pmDo belly buttons ever go back to normal after you stop having babies? I have been wondering about that ever since my son was born a bit over a year ago, as my belly button has shown no signs of getting rid of its bizarre new surroundings or half-innie half-outie nature. I showed it to my younger sister and I think I scared her off from ever wanting to have kids at all, ever.
Comment #8 by kaduseyMay 29th, 2009 at 12:56 pmUnfortunately you will have to work on the entire body to get those arms. It is like the washboard abs people always want, you can’t just do crunches-you have to burn the fat too. I am currently so pregnant that any moment I will go into labor, but I yearn for pretty arms again. It seems to be the curse of my genetic gene pool, chubby arms that is. I did not gain that much pregnancy weight, but what I did is all in my arms.
Comment #9 by tiffanyMay 29th, 2009 at 1:09 pmI have entered the darkness that is having relief society arms, and much to my surprise, I’m noticing a very alarming and rapidly growing trend on my body… let’s just call it Relief Society ankles. Nuff said.
Comment #10 by meemsMay 29th, 2009 at 1:09 pmI like that hundred push-ups idea. I’m going to look into it–thanks!
Comment #11 by Heather O.May 29th, 2009 at 1:33 pmHeather, you just gave me something to work toward. I can’t have more kids either. BUT I CAN HAVE AWESOME ARMS.
After I lose approximately 300 lbs…
also I may or may not have a total girl crush on Ms. Lilly.
Comment #12 by KrisMay 29th, 2009 at 2:20 pmI heard on NPR that Mrs. O’s trainer says the exercise that gives her the arm definition is doing pushups with a kickball-type ball between her palms and the floor. I could see how that would do it.
Comment #13 by Chad TooMay 29th, 2009 at 3:21 pmKris, I may or may not have a girl crush on Ms. Lilly too. But look at her—what’s not to crush on? Plus, she totally rocks as Kate on LOST. I get a little tired of her smoldering looks with Jack and Sawyer, but her heart’s in the right place. And she can act, which is more than I can say for some celebrities. PLUS she was/is/was dating Dominic Monaghan(aka Charlie on LOST, and Merry in LOTR), which may not say much about her morals, but does indicate she has excellent taste in men.
Comment #14 by Heather O.May 29th, 2009 at 6:40 pmRelief Society Arms? oh great, now I have something else to worry about….
Comment #15 by Tracy MMay 29th, 2009 at 8:52 pmI think I hurt myself just reading that exercise.
Comment #16 by JamiMay 30th, 2009 at 9:07 amSo what does it mean if you have Relief Society arms and working in the Primary?
Comment #17 by mormonhermitmomMay 30th, 2009 at 10:57 amAt least my Relief Society thighs are hidden under my skirt.
Comment #18 by Melissa McMay 30th, 2009 at 11:32 amRelief Society Arms are my biggest fear.
Comment #19 by BYU Women's ServicesJune 1st, 2009 at 9:48 amAnd the turkey gobbler thing I’m apparently destined to obtain. Oh, gosh, I better live it up while I’m young.
[…] My other quest this summer is to develop Evangeline Lilly arms , and so I’m on the hundred pushups plan. And I found that I can do my pushups while watching Gilmore Girls, because half the fun is just listening to the dialogue anyway. My husband has been so impressed with my results, by the way, that he has started doing the hundred pushup plan too. He does them with me while we watch GG. […]
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