Well, well, well I said to myself when I read an article that my good friend and colleague sent to me last week. It seems that there are more CurvyGirls out there who are not afraid to show their curves than I ever thought possible. I mean let’s get real here. Most women have such serious issues with their bodies- curvy or not. Thats right, you big girls out there who think you have the market cornered on that subject, please know that there are lots and lots of women in the single digits who do not like their bodies for whatever reason. I know its hard to grasp this notion and most larger women do not understand it, but it is true. I hear it all the time. We curvier girls somehow think that women who are smaller or thinner must have no problems with the way they feel about themselves. Wrong. It is a deep-rooted problem stemming from low self-esteem and self-acceptance problems somewhere in their lives. And maybe also a reflection of the way our culture is often un-accepting of real women. Now, thats not to say that all small or large women have body image issues. But I will venture to say the percentage is pretty high. That feeling that I am not good enough begins with a message that a little girl hears listening to their own mother being negative about her body. Somehow it just sticks and becomes a problem later on in life. So be careful what you say to and around your daughters, sisters and nieces. The message is heard loud and clear and it does nothing positive for any female. So, yes, I can say that in my many years of working with women of all sizes I have come across maybe thousands who do not like how they look. So, when the aforementioned e-mail came to me I had to really give it some praise and share it. OK, we all know who Pierce Brosnan is (see photo below). He was James Bond. He always reminded me of the Marlboro man. Handsome and rugged but classy and looked great in a tuxedo. Im sure lots of women probably have fantasies about him. He was, and still is, a handsome adorable man. He is still making movies with 2 new ones coming out this year. He is still in demand at age 54, but so is Jack Nicholson at 70! It seems men in Hollywood who age can still get work while the women need to look younger and younger, but that is for another blog. I open the e-mail and the title says,,”PIERCE BROSNAN SHOWS OFF HIS BOND GIRL WIFE”. I am wondering why this was sent to me and almost did not read it but there were pictures of Pierce and Keely Brosnan (see photos below) on the beach in Hawaii. Now, I did not know who she was. But as I read the article I learned she was a journalist and hosted TVs Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack. Anyway, Keely married Pierce in 2001 but they have been together about 10 years and they have 2 children. It seems that Keely who was probably a size 2 back in the day when they met, has now become a very curvy girl herself in the past few years and she has no problem with it. The article goes on to say that she has TURNED HER BACK ON THE HOLLYWOOD SCENE and is a pin-up girl for larger women. She is writing and giving fashion tips for women in American Vogue. It seems that this mother of 2 has more to celebrate. She has the backing of her gorgeous husband, who rightly thinks she is STUNNING and says “I LOVE MY WIFES CURVES”. Wow, can you believe it? A sexy, adorable, classy, handsome, rich and famous man that likes a women with curves? Hear me out, CurvyGirls. There are large numbers of men who like bigger girls. So, if I know that how come I am not married? Hey, if anyone has a single father or grandfather who like a curvy girls let me know. Did I say grandfather? So, the best part of the article to me was the fact that Keely does not shy away from her body and curves. She like to flaunt it up. Now this is what I am talking about, CONFIDENT ABOUT HER BODY. She never hides in BAGGY CLOTHES as she realizes that the bigger the clothes you wear the bigger you look. She is celebrating her curves and does not shy away from wearing a bikini as a size 18 or 20. I totally agree with her. I have learned in my life that people will talk about you whether you look good or you look bad. So why not just be yourself. Hey, we need to get her a copy of the CurvyGirl Workout DVD! Debra

http://pdn.philly.com/podcasts/fitness118.mp3 NOTE: You may need QuickTime to view the podcast. To download QuickTime go to http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/

Road Trip Many of you know that I certify trainers for the NATIONAL EXERCISE TRAINERS ASSOCIATION, known as NETA. Last weekend I had to go to upstate Pennsylvania to teach some new fitness people and certify them. I was really looking forward to the weekend not only to share my knowledge and education but more so to meet women who are new in the fitness industry. The workshops are 2 days long but I always get to my destination the day before to relax, get acclimated to the area, drive around and see what the town has to offer and to settle into my hotel room. This time was no different. The event was in Bloomsburg, PA, about 150 miles from Philadelphia. Past Quakertown and Jim Thorpe, my favorite town near the Poconos. So, I figured it would take about 2 hours or so, depending on traffic. Although I love to travel and go to new places, I do find myself worrying about a few things when Im on the road. First of all, I hate getting lost and although I have a GPS system in my car I still like to have printed directions with me to follow just as a backup. Another big problem I have when I travel is WHAT, HOW AND WHERE TO EAT. That is always the issue for me when I am off my routine. I know it is a problem for a lot of women who travel so I wanted to address how I handle this as I have gotten so many e-mails about this. Also, it can get very lonely when you travel. That in itself can set me up for binge eating – IF I LET IT. When I have lots of time that is unstructured I can fill the time by eating some junky food. Most of the time it is so easy just to go out and splurge and say I will start back on my food program when I get home. I have done that once or twice and before you know it, those little splurges can become a binge. Then the poor little old me voice starts inside me and then one thing leads to another and the calories add up to thousands. I got to the Bloomsburg area but I was staying in a tiny town called BUCKHORN, right outside of Bloomsburg. I looked around and thought to myself where the hell am I? Buckhorn? You know us Philly girls, we like the comforts of the paved streets. As I got off the exit, I began to see stores and life somewhere up the road. I must admit it was really pretty and the mountains looked great. Then I saw a mall and the GPS is telling me to turn into the mall. Well, it seems the hotel is right in the middle of the mall. You know what that means, RESTAURANTS, FOOD COURT, JUNK ALL OVER THE PLACE. Im telling myself, dont panic, its OK, you have this under control. Start to breathe deeply and get into those mental skills techniques. Its almost 7pm and Im starving. The trip that should have taken me a little over 2 hours took me 4 hours. So I get to the so-called hotel. I learn theres no internet access, no coffee shop, no Dunkin Donuts to get coffee, no Wawa and my room is in in the back where the traveling truckers take refuge for the night. Well what is a girl to do? SHOP! Now, everyone knows my favorite stores are Kohls and Target. I go to the front desk and the clerk tells me were 30 miles from the closest Target and she had never heard of Kohl’s! Oh my god whos never heard of Kohls?! But wait, she said, We do have Super Walmart up the road. I asked her Whats a Super Walmart? and she looked at me kind of funny. I have been in Walmart before, but never a super onehow much more stuff can they sell? Well it seems a lot more. The clerk told me that is the happening place for shopping in beautiful Buckhorn. Finally I decided to go to a restaurant that some of the local truckers who I met in the lobby suggested. They actually told me that they wanted to see my website and had copied it down from the back of my car. It seems they like CurvyGirls themselves. I told them they had great taste in women. By this time it was almost 8pm and the carpet was beginning to look nasty to me. Id only eaten fruit, popcorn and some yogurt that day. But I needed to be very sensible about my choices. So off I went to the restaurant. I looked at the menu and decided to order fish since I was told a great salad bar comes with the dinner. I asked the waitress to have some Tilapia cooked in a little bit of butter with lemon and plain steamed broccoli. I knew that tackling the salad bar was going to be a challenge so my dinner needed to be very nutritious and not really high in calories. As I got up to go to the salad bar I began to think about how hard I work to keep myself healthy and that food is the fuel that I use to keep myself at peak performance. But then there is that other voice saying come on, you can live it up. Have what you want and start tomorrow. There have been so many tomorrows in my lifetime that I have lived through. At the time when I used to waituntil tomorrow I didnt know any better. But life is different now, I am accountable for my actions and every decision that is made I am responsible for. So, as I stood there looking at 40 different things on the salad bar that I could indulge in I knew had a CONSCIOUS DECISION TO MAKE. I would have a little bit of what I wanted and after dinner if I wanted more then who was to stop me? I did just that and I did want a little more as there was a really good pasta salad. I even let myself have 2 small rolls with butter and my dinner was great. Did I want a big baked potato with butter and sour cream? Sure. But I knew that the next day I would have been so tired from all of those calories. I got back to the hotel, had an orange and went to sleep. I felt great the next morning and did it all over again the next day. I have learned in my life that every day I have the opportunity to make choices and decisions about what I allow to hinder or help my life. Now, you may say it is not that easy. If you keep practicing this CONSCIOUS THINKING I promise you it will get easier. Does it work all of the time? No. But it will work most of the time if you open your mind to it. Debra

Listen to Debra Mazda’s live radio interview on your radio (900 AM) or on the internet at www.900amwurd.comtonight from 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM. If you want to listen on the internet go to www.900amwurd.com and click on the Listen Online! brown box at the top of the Home page.

BROAD STREET RUN Sunday May 4, 2008 at 8:30 A.M. This morning I went for a run with Hannah, my 6-year-old yellow Lab, and Hannah’s Aunt Angela, dear friend, coffee buddy, Kohl’s shopping girlfriend and running partner. I have been playing around with the idea of presenting the CURVYGIRL WALKING CHALLENGE to train for the Broad Street Run but had not finalized my decision yet, as there is a lot to consider. I think I was waiting for some kind of sign from the heavens on the idea. This is a 10 mile race which begins way up Broad Street near Girls High School and finishes at FDR Park in South Philly near I-95. There are 10,000 or more people who come from all over the country, as well as abroad, to walk, skip, jog, power walk and wheelchair this race. The race is held the first Sunday in May every year and usually the weather is gorgeous. Not real hot, but sunny and cool. People line the streets to cheer on the walkers and runners along the course and there is so much support and energy. The high is amazing. There are hundreds of volunteers who get up at the crack of dawn to make sure the participants are hydrated to the finish line. All in all, it is a fun day. As Angela and I have WALKED, POWER-WALKED AND RAN this route many times our goal was always just to finish it. I remember the first year, as we rounded City Hall, I began whining and mumbling some words I cant repeat here. I was hot, tired and cranky. I asked Angela, whose big idea was this – yours or mine? She totally ignored me and told me to just getting moving. Hey, thats my line! Before I knew it I was 2 miles from the finish line, my legs hurt and as always I was starving. To top it off, my mind was telling me I was not going to finish and those old negative demons wanted me to give up. I was that close to quitting. Then I saw a guy right near me walking on one leg. He was as happy as could be and I caught up to him, as I needed to feel some of what he had. That was all I needed to get myself in gearto stop complaining and realize that I had trained for this – for months – and I was not going to give up. I took a deep breath and tapped into some of those MENTAL SKILLS and positive reinforcement, went into a power walk and finished. It was a great feeling to be there, little old me, in the midst of all of these people, to accomplish a personal goal. The feeling of finishing what I started was fantastic. It was a personal victory for me and for Angela. As I am writing this, I can still see it. So, Angela and I have decided to take on the CHALLENGE again this year and both of us wanted to extend this to the CurvyGirl Community. Now, before you say Youre crazy, I could never do this. I am too big and out of shape!, think about this. All you need to do is put ONE FOOT IN FRONT OF THE OTHER to finish. Really when you think about it, thats all it is. It is one big mental game of Can I or cant I? I will post more in the coming weeks but I will begin some serious training for the event in early March. We will train and you will feel high, low, sad, tired or exhilarated but you will also feel a feeling that is fabulous: I will DO it because I can. All I can say is THINK ABOUT IT – try it. Whats the worst that can happen? You might actually finish. And isnt that what lifes all about? Running a good race and making the most of the journey right to the end? Debra

Hi everyone, Wednesday evening fitness classes at First Philadelphia Charter School begin January 23, 2008. For those of you whoshowed up on Wednesday January 9 and found no class please accept our apologies as the class was mistakenly posted in our weekly Calendar to be held on January 9 and 16. The Calendar has been updated. See you soon! Debra

Join Debra Mazda for the ShapelyGirl Fitness Weight Loss Challenge at: Bally’s Total Fitness 2425 S. 24th Street 2nd Floor Philadelphia, PA 19145 Phone: 215.468.6741 This workout consists of: * Weekly weigh-in and measurements * 45 minute low impact workout * 30 minute lecture All workouts are safe, fun, energizing, supportive and motivating. All levels welcome and no experience necessary. Do it at your own pace…just move and breathe. Debra wants you to succeed and get fit! No membership is required Non-members: $10.00 per class Bally’s members: $7.00