Fitness after stage III breast cancer
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| Plank on ball in silhouette |
Why a fitness shoot?
I am not a fitness model, nor am I ripped like one, but I wanted to do a fitness shoot for a few different reasons:
1. As a reminder of how far I have come
At the 5-year anniversary of my diagnosis of stage III breast cancer, it seemed a good time to remind myself how far I have come since I went through the trauma of diagnosis and treatment. That no matter how low I felt at the time, I came through it. Not all my sisters made it and many are still struggling today (shout out to my IV-leagers - those living with stage IV, EVERY DAY).
2. As a reminder of how much the body can do
It is a moment for me to acknowledge that while there are things I still cannot do, there are things I could
not do when I first started lifting weights, that I can do now and THAT is amazing to me.
When I first started weight lifting maybe I could do shoulder presses with 7.5 lbs, now I can do more than
twice that. I squatted my body weight for the first time this year. It boggles my mind.
My trainer keeps reminding me, don't say "Can't" say "Can't do it yet." Thanks Shan!
3. As a reminder of how much I have to be grateful for
See points 1. and 2. For these reasons I wanted it on my
50's list, and maybe in 10 years I will look back on this for inspiration or in fact any time I feel stuck.
My fitness goals
I have very modest fitness goals - I would like to become stronger and I compare myself with my previous self, and that's it.
I don't have the muscle definition like some of the ladies I see working out, and that is ok with me. My body has been through a lot. The strength conditioning helps with my osteoporosis and I am grateful I am able to continue training.
But Back to the photoshoot
I had a lot of fun thinking about the photoshoot, and planning it, and Luisa at
LadyLu Photography was gracious enough to take the professional shots for me. (There is a picture of us below).
But first there was the hunting on the Pinterest to see what kinds of shots I wanted to take. Then there were the test shots with my less than awesome phone camera:
Test photos
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| martial arts side kick |
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| side lunges in my back yard |
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| Come on triceps, pop! |
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| You too biceps, pop! |
Professional photos
Definitely some lessons learned during the shoot, but I'll share those in another post, along with some of the less than flattering shots. All in all, I was pretty happy with the result. Let me know what you think!
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| Upright row with kettlebell, side view |
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| That looks heavy! |
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| Yep. Them be muscles. |
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| Upright row with kettlebell |
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| Standing shoulder press in silhouette |
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| Luisa at LadyLu Photography and I |
Martial Arts
I also did a few shots with my arnis that I liked, in fact I liked all of my arnis pictures - too many, it was hard to pick a few!
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| Arnis, Filipino stick fighting, redonda, martial arts |
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| Arnis, Filipino stick fighting, redonda, martial arts |
If I look intense, that is just the martial arts face.
Outtakes
There were a few that were "candid" shots:
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| Yep, I own those rolls. |
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| Getting ready for the pictures. |
And a few more random ones
These are just a few that fell into the category "other".
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| Side kick martial arts |
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| Side lunge |
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| Posing, it's been a while since I've done some yoga! |
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| Kettlebell goblet squats |
And that's all folks. I will post more every now and again, maybe on my instagram and twitter accounts.
I would appreciate your comments, so feel free to leave them in the comments section of my blog!
Follow me on Twitter , Instagram AustinTrini
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Comments
Love,
Arati
But I ain't gonna lie- the exterior is HAWT too.
I'm constantly amazed by your strength and drive to achieve. You remind me every time to live life to the fullest and never stop pushing for growth.
I need to do a better job of checking things off my list!
Pat
Take care!