Family

THE TUTTLE CLAN

" The Girls" - Tina, Carole, Kathy, Mom, Dad, Cindy, and Pammy.

"The Boys"- Timmy, Tommy, Mom, Dad, Mike and Bobby

This was the last time we were all together, Christmas 2009. I want everyone reading this to remember to cherish the moments you have with your family as you never know when they will be your last.

Timmy, I will miss your smile, your laughter, and the funny things you always had to say. God promises to take good care of you until the day we meet again.

I love you brother,

Carole

What's Your Excuse......

"I vowed not to eat fast food, but Aunt Flo was coming to visit and I decided Taco Bell wouldn't hurt!"

"I wish I had your resolve!"

"I had to, I was starving!"

"I know, I know, I know, I couldn't resist that damn Coke!"

"I gave blood today, I deserved it!"

"popcorn, forgot to measure was glued to the screen...Also, I'm sure measuring cups are illegal in movie theatres!"

Cinnamon Roll "It was bad, but tasted so good!"

Do any of these look familiar? They should I have taken some of them directly from the food logs on the CrossFit Michiana Website! Every one of us is great at making excuses for why we are eating and drinking what we are. Myself included! I can come up with just about any reason to eat a sugary carby snack that I like to call my feel good food! I feel really good while I am eating it, and for about 10 minutes afterwards. Then, I get mad. I get mad because I let down my resolve. I didn't stick with my plan of choosing a healthy lifestyle.

Yeah you heard it, it's a choice. You can CHOOSE to eat healthy or you can CHOOSE not to! Either way there is one person and one person only who makes that choice for you....YOU!!! Don't blame it on your kids, your husband, your significant other....YOU are responsible for what YOU put in YOUR mouth! I have never seen anyone's kids stuffing cookies down their parents throats! I have never seen anyone's husband refusing to eat a nicely cooked steak dinner with roasted vegetables and a colorful salad.

What's your excuse? I mean choice? Is it time to make that change in your life?

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I don't want to go through the motions......

"........I don't want to spend my whole life asking, what if I had given everything, instead of going through the motions........."

So today I had my last fit club at Schmucker Middle School...I had to cancel on the kids for the next couple of months until we can get another trainer to cover ALL of the stuff we have going on at the gym! I will tell you that was one of the hardest things I had to do was tell my kids that I wouldn't be able to be there for a couple of months. You should have seen the looks on their faces. I didn't realize the impact I had made on these children until I was steps out of the front door and one of the little girls wrapped her arms around my body and said "Thank you so much Ms. Carole, I am going to miss you!"

You know some days I just feel like parts of me are going through the motions to get to the next day. And then something like this stops me dead in my tracks! It makes me think deeply about the impact I have on people's lives. Big people's, little people's, and all the people's in between! I didn't even know it (or take the time to notice) that this little girl had grown attached to me. She looked up to me. She respected me. That made me feel like a "SUPER STAR!" So, what am I going to do about this you ask?

I am going to live each and every day as if it were my last. I am going to make every minute of my life count. I am going to work with my eyes wide open....ready and willing to change lives at every turn in the road! I really thought I was doing this already, but somewhere along the line a day here and there I let myself hit the "going through the motions mode" and that's not where I want to be!

A really good friend of mine told me one time to listen to the song "Motions" by Matthew West - I highly recommend it to anyone who is ready to make life count. Each and every moment of every day!

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Trashed - I Chose Monday

Hookers and Crack.

Tomorrow or Monday.

Cheat Day.

Treat Day.

It's New Year's Eve.

It's New Year's Day.

It's the weekend.

I can't stop myself.

What is this? All of the excuses that I have fed myself for the destruction and trash that I have fed my body since noon on Wednesday December 30, 2009. I kid you not I can not stop myself. As I was fixing this huge banana split last night I said out loud "Well, I guess I chose Monday!" I read Jim's whole dialog on whether you would choose the first day of the year or Monday to kick it in to gear and realized then and there as I sat drooling for that first bite of banana split that I CHOSE MONDAY! And I was pissed! But did that stop me?

I have eaten, peanut butter cookies, chocolate walnut cookies, Reese's peanut butter cups, beer, pretzels, crackers, ice cream, Chai after Chai, DOTS, Hershey's chocolate bars (dark chocolate is good for you right), almonds and other nuts by the handfuls....each time with some apparent reason in my mind that this was OK!

I sit here on Sunday evening at 7:22 pm knowing that in approximately 12 hours I have to do Angie at the gym and my belly is literally hanging over my pants and growling for some decent protein! So, I guess what I am trying to say is "If this is you, you aren't alone!" Monday morning will be here and we can start right then and there! I chose Monday and I am pissed that I did, but that was a choice I made and only I can fix it now!

Please post comments or questions:

Build It and They Will Come...Do It and They Will Follow!

Yesterday morning I was coaching in the gym and I had one of those Ah-ha moments! You know the ones, when you realize you have a point to make and you want to let everyone know what's going on in your mind. Let me paint the scenario for you...I am coaching the 8:30 class which consists of seven people two of which I want to bring to your attention today. Greg and Angie are normally in our corporate boot camp program but were given the opportunity to use the gym on their off week of boot camp. They showed up every morning this week with two little ones in tow Lily and Carrie.

Now, sometimes it's enough work for us to get ourselves out of bed and drag our butts to the gym but this is an entire family getting up in the morning on their week off of work and school and hitting the gym. What are we teaching our children here? What are they telling their kids? There are so many things that come to mind:

• Mommy and Daddy want to be healthy so we can take better care of you.
• Our health and fitness are important to us.
• Make healthy living a priority.
• We love you enough to take care of ourselves.

My point is this:

If you show your kids that living a healthy lifestyle is what you want to do then do it and they will follow.

I coached and out of the corner of my eye watched as these two little girls mimicked everything their parents did. The workout was:

21-18-15-12-9-6-3

SDLHP

Wall Ball

Box Jumps

They stood in the doorway of the gym (I assume they were told that was as far as they could go) and found the equipment they needed in order to do these exercises. As Greg was doing his SDLHP with a 65# barbell...Lily was in the doorway doing them with a 10# kettlebell. When they would see him switch to the wall ball I saw Carrie take the 5 lb orange balls and toss them in the air and catch them. When it was time for box jumps those girls jumped up and down until their father moved onto the next exercise.

Those little eyes we don't always know are watching us do because WE, as parents are their true role models. Kids are sponges and the younger they are the more "sponge" like they are. I frequently get asked "Do your kids CrossFit?" All of my kids have experienced CrossFit in some form or another but I will save that for another post. My kids are active, they swim, cheer, dance, play rugby. They have after school sports and activities. Teach your kids now, that being healthy is the way to be!

My best wishes to all of you for a Healthy and Happy New Year 2010!

Build it and they will come.......do it and they will follow!

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Traditions

I am a very traditional person. When it comes to the holidays I love doing the same things at the same time with the same people to create new memories year after year! It's crazy, my kids laugh because they know my traditions...they know what is going to happen year after year! Oh, and if I try to change something up....I hear about it. They love it as much as I do. They have grown to "expect" these things to happen. One thing that I always make sure to buy at Christmas time is the token gingerbread house. My girls will sit for hours year after year to make their gingerbread house. There is always a picture taken at the end to record the many beautiful houses we have made over the years.

Brianna and Brooke- Gingerbread Experts!

This year we decided to spread the "Gingerbread Cheer" a little bit further. Can you believe we found some people that have NEVER made a gingerbread house?

Bob and Marge Tuttle (those are my parents), when my mom saw me walk in with the gingerbread house she was actually mad and said "oh no that's not for me is it?" And I said, "yes it is, and you are going to like it!" And they did....this was the first time my parents have ever made a gingerbread house.

Gage and Gabby...helped us make a gingerbread tree. You can see the beginning stages of our tree in the picture.

Traditions....this is just one of many things you can do. Take time this season and spend it with your family. Create memories that will last a lifetime. You can bet next year, I will be dropping in on my parents with another gingerbread house. This might have been their first but it won't be their last.

He's A Mean One....Mr. Grinch!

So, today I had my FitClub class at Schmucker Middle School. I have been having a hard time keeping all of these kids busy for an entire hour. The attention span is much different in an 11- 13 year old than in an adult that is trying to "get in shape!" So, I have had to be very creative and I think today was a HUGE success.

Today I read, The Grinch That Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss - with a twist! Every time I read the word Grinch, the kids had to do 3 burpees. Each time I read the word Who, the kids had to do 15 jumps with the jump rope. I had three other words that I had picked out - Christmas, tree, and roast beast! So, I started reading with the title of course and they quickly got the hang of it. I know by the end they were dead tired, time passed quickly, and I had to read the last 8 pages with the kids lying on their tummies looking up at me with sweaty faces and smiles from ear to ear. I love to see these kids working hard, the same kids show up week after week to see what I have in store for them.

The foundation of exercise starts from the get go. Get your kids active...dance, sports, exercise, there is something out there for every child. This time of years it's easy for kids to sit around and play their video games or hang on the computers! Childhood obesity is at its worst in this country.

I can promise you one thing, each and every one of these kids will watch Grinch over the holiday season and there is not one of them that will not think about what they accomplished in that workout! Brooke and I just watched it together (yes, she is in my FitClub) and she gently placed her hands over her ears when the word "Grinch" came across the TV and stated "No more burpees!"