Yes, I'm alive. The earth did not swallow me whole.
I promise to share what's been going on with me
but while I'm working on that,
enjoy this beautiful song by John Legend.
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Thursday, November 7, 2013
The Time Has Come
A couple of weeks ago, I shared with you in my Revitalized post that I would be making some decisions about what the next steps in my competition journey would be. Well, decisions were made a couple of days after I published that post but I wanted to wait until November started to share what those decisions were.
Since 2010, I have competed in 10 figure competitions. I have placed in the top 5 in 7 of those shows and in my most recent show, I won my class. 2013 was the year I stepped on the national stage for the first time and while I did not do as well as I would have liked to, I discovered that I loved competing at the national level.
After Junior Nationals and the AZ Open in July, I began thinking seriously about what my next steps would/should be.How seriously did I want to compete at the national level? Was I hungry for a pro card? Should I continue doing figure or contemplate switching to physique? 10 shows - was that number I needed to stop at?
When I met with Randy a few weeks ago and we sat down to talk about my future & goals, he said something that really stuck with me. He said that he's seen me on stage in good shape not great shape and that I can't walk away from competing without showing up to a show in great shape and seeing how I do. I knew that there were shows that I could have used more time to train/lean out/etc but to hear someone else say it was completely different.
I walked away from my time with Randy knowing that if I was going to continue competing, I would have to make some serious changes. I went home and talked to Tom because these changes would affect not only me but him as well. I spoke from my heart and told my husband that I wanted to put myself in someone else's hands. Honestly, I was scared. Tom has been my trainer since this all started and now I was, in a way, walking away from him. I was surprised to find out that Tom felt the same way I did and agreed that it was time to let someone else take over.
November 1st, I became an official member of the BYB Fitness family and hired Randy as my new trainer/coach. The next few months are going to be spent reshaping parts of my physique and helping me get into the best off-season shape I can. This will mean traveling to & from Phoenix to train one-on-one with Randy in addition to training on my own. We've talked about the shows I would love to do next year but no concrete plans have been made. El Jefe (the nickname I've given him) has told me that I have the potential to do big things and his excitement is contagious. I'm even more excited for the remainder of this off-season and can't wait to see what I look like when I step on stage next year!
I'm ready to put in the work and make things happen!
Since 2010, I have competed in 10 figure competitions. I have placed in the top 5 in 7 of those shows and in my most recent show, I won my class. 2013 was the year I stepped on the national stage for the first time and while I did not do as well as I would have liked to, I discovered that I loved competing at the national level.
After Junior Nationals and the AZ Open in July, I began thinking seriously about what my next steps would/should be.How seriously did I want to compete at the national level? Was I hungry for a pro card? Should I continue doing figure or contemplate switching to physique? 10 shows - was that number I needed to stop at?
When I met with Randy a few weeks ago and we sat down to talk about my future & goals, he said something that really stuck with me. He said that he's seen me on stage in good shape not great shape and that I can't walk away from competing without showing up to a show in great shape and seeing how I do. I knew that there were shows that I could have used more time to train/lean out/etc but to hear someone else say it was completely different.
I walked away from my time with Randy knowing that if I was going to continue competing, I would have to make some serious changes. I went home and talked to Tom because these changes would affect not only me but him as well. I spoke from my heart and told my husband that I wanted to put myself in someone else's hands. Honestly, I was scared. Tom has been my trainer since this all started and now I was, in a way, walking away from him. I was surprised to find out that Tom felt the same way I did and agreed that it was time to let someone else take over.
November 1st, I became an official member of the BYB Fitness family and hired Randy as my new trainer/coach. The next few months are going to be spent reshaping parts of my physique and helping me get into the best off-season shape I can. This will mean traveling to & from Phoenix to train one-on-one with Randy in addition to training on my own. We've talked about the shows I would love to do next year but no concrete plans have been made. El Jefe (the nickname I've given him) has told me that I have the potential to do big things and his excitement is contagious. I'm even more excited for the remainder of this off-season and can't wait to see what I look like when I step on stage next year!
I'm ready to put in the work and make things happen!
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
New Release Tuesday
I rarely discuss politics on my blog. For me, it's not the forum
where I want to have certain discussions/conversations.
With that said, I had to share this video. Immigration is a
"hot topic" in our country, especially here in Arizona.
I don't want to discuss my stance nor do I want you to share your's.
I just want you to watch the video and think about what's going on in our
country day in & day out.
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Open Wide!!
Disclaimer: I was provided with products from Designer Whey to review as part of my affiliation with FitFluential.
As always, all opinions expressed are my own.
I think we all know that I'm a lover of food. Food makes me all warm & fuzzy inside (and that's not because it's spicy!). It makes me do my happy wiggle and sometimes even sing a little song. So when I was asked if I would be interested in reviewing a new food product, you know I practically screamed "YES!"
Designer Whey, which you may remember from the review I did of their Sustained Energy product, sent me an incredible box of their products. I was so surprised! I was excited to try everything in the box but started with their Protein 2GO product.
Protein 2GO is a post-workout recovery drink mix with 50 calories, 10g of protein, 1g of sugar, and 2g of carbs. It's gluten-free, lactose-free, and caffeine-free. Now....let me be honest....after reading the box..well...I thought to myself "this is going to taste like dirt!". I was wrong!! I added one packet of the mixed berry flavor to my water and I was pleasantly surprised by the subtle berry flavor. It mixed well with water, didn't smell funny, and didn't have a weird aftertaste!
In addition to the products in the box, Designer Whey included several coupons that I could use to purchase a new yogurt called Smari. This is a thick and creamy, organic Icelandic-style yogurt and is available in four flavors – pure, vanilla, strawberry, and blueberry. In Tucson, you can find this particular yogurt at ONE store so I made the drive (42 minutes!) during a lunch hour to pick it up.
When I made it back to library, I tore into the Vanilla flavor like a scavenger. My first taste made me stop, look at the spoon, and say "Ok...that's pretty good". I added half of a Len & Larry's Muscle Brownie to the cup, stirred, and just savored my tasty snack. I promise when I tell you that it was totally worth the long drive and fighting traffic just to get to the store - don't believe me - check my twitter account where I tweeted about the yogurt being worth the 42 minute drive :)
Smari is made in Wisconsin with organic milk from grass-fed cows that live on small family farms, organic cane sugar, fruit from Oregon with no preservatives, and uses natural tapioca starch as a thickening agent. This yogurt is so thick, you can stand your spoon in it without it falling over! It’s also gluten free and kosher!
My in-laws have a pomegranate tree in their backyard so each year, I impatiently wait for pomegranate season to arrive and the free pomegranates I know I will be receiving. On Tuesday, I got my first one and I knew exactly what I was going to eat it with! Wednesday morning, I put together this snack before heading to work. I put my spoon in the Pure flavor before adding anything to it and WHEW! It's tart!! Consider this your warning. If you don't like tart, then this flavor (by itself) is not for you. I think it's the perfect base to build upon. You could add fruit, protein powder, granola, or whatever you would like to it!
This simple snack is yogurt + pomegranate seeds (1/2 a pomegranate) + honey (to taste). I took it to work and shared it with one of my co-workers. For a second there, I thought it was going to get ugly because she liked it so much she ate more than half :)
You can win some free yogurt and have some Halloween fun at the same time! There are 100 chances to win! 1.) Click here to download & print the viking hat! 2.) Take a picture wearing your Viking hat - perfect for a Halloween costume 3.) Post it on Designer Whey's Facebook wall & share! The first 100 people to post their Viking hat #selfie will receive a FREE Smari Yogurt coupon!
Be creative & have fun with it! I can't wait to see what pictures you guys post!!
 |
| From my Instagram |
In addition to the products in the box, Designer Whey included several coupons that I could use to purchase a new yogurt called Smari. This is a thick and creamy, organic Icelandic-style yogurt and is available in four flavors – pure, vanilla, strawberry, and blueberry. In Tucson, you can find this particular yogurt at ONE store so I made the drive (42 minutes!) during a lunch hour to pick it up.
 |
| From my Instagram |
Smari is made in Wisconsin with organic milk from grass-fed cows that live on small family farms, organic cane sugar, fruit from Oregon with no preservatives, and uses natural tapioca starch as a thickening agent. This yogurt is so thick, you can stand your spoon in it without it falling over! It’s also gluten free and kosher!
My in-laws have a pomegranate tree in their backyard so each year, I impatiently wait for pomegranate season to arrive and the free pomegranates I know I will be receiving. On Tuesday, I got my first one and I knew exactly what I was going to eat it with! Wednesday morning, I put together this snack before heading to work. I put my spoon in the Pure flavor before adding anything to it and WHEW! It's tart!! Consider this your warning. If you don't like tart, then this flavor (by itself) is not for you. I think it's the perfect base to build upon. You could add fruit, protein powder, granola, or whatever you would like to it!
This simple snack is yogurt + pomegranate seeds (1/2 a pomegranate) + honey (to taste). I took it to work and shared it with one of my co-workers. For a second there, I thought it was going to get ugly because she liked it so much she ate more than half :)
You can win some free yogurt and have some Halloween fun at the same time! There are 100 chances to win! 1.) Click here to download & print the viking hat! 2.) Take a picture wearing your Viking hat - perfect for a Halloween costume 3.) Post it on Designer Whey's Facebook wall & share! The first 100 people to post their Viking hat #selfie will receive a FREE Smari Yogurt coupon!
Be creative & have fun with it! I can't wait to see what pictures you guys post!!
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Mixin' Things Up
Sometimes I feel like I always do the same workouts for shoulders. When I look back at my workout log, I know this isn't true but still, I've been craving some new exercises. I save all of the Muscle & Fitness Hers magazines that I receive in the mail so this is where I went for some ideas on how to mix things up.
In the July/August 2010, there was a "Workout To Go" featured and the target area was delts. Umm....perfection! Some of the moves featured where ones I hadn't done in quite some time so it was nice to add them back into the rotation :)
I have been waking up at 4:00 am and leaving the house no later than 4:15 am for workouts. 4:00 am is EARLY and there are days when I just want to snuggle deeper into the covers and not leave the house but I can't! I have work to do (remember, this is my "improvement season"!) so I get my tired ass out of the bed, put my workout clothes on, and head to the gym. On this particular morning, I decided to try the N.O.-Xplode 2.0 that I received in one of my monthly Jacked-in-a-Box. Honestly, this pre-workout isn't one of my favorites but it gave me enough of an energy boost to get my workout done. I did enjoy the tingling in my lips when it started to kick in....I know....I'm strange...lol!!
As I walked out of the gym at 5:57 am, here's what I had accomplished:
In the July/August 2010, there was a "Workout To Go" featured and the target area was delts. Umm....perfection! Some of the moves featured where ones I hadn't done in quite some time so it was nice to add them back into the rotation :)
I have been waking up at 4:00 am and leaving the house no later than 4:15 am for workouts. 4:00 am is EARLY and there are days when I just want to snuggle deeper into the covers and not leave the house but I can't! I have work to do (remember, this is my "improvement season"!) so I get my tired ass out of the bed, put my workout clothes on, and head to the gym. On this particular morning, I decided to try the N.O.-Xplode 2.0 that I received in one of my monthly Jacked-in-a-Box. Honestly, this pre-workout isn't one of my favorites but it gave me enough of an energy boost to get my workout done. I did enjoy the tingling in my lips when it started to kick in....I know....I'm strange...lol!!
As I walked out of the gym at 5:57 am, here's what I had accomplished:
Incline dumbbell press
20 x 8 25 x 8 30 x 8 35 x 8
Seated lateral raises (with dumbbells)
25 x 8 (2) 30 x 8 35 x 6
Seated iso-lateral low row
90 x 10 (2) 110 x 10 (2) 140 x 8 (2)
Front raises (with plates)
25 x 8 35 x 8 45 x 8 (2)
Bent-over row (with barbell)
95 x 8 115 x 8 135 x 8 (3)
Seated row (wide grip)
105 x 10 120 x 10 (2) 135 x 10 (2)
Has anyone tried any new exercises or workouts lately? I'm always craving variety so please share!
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
New Release Tuesday
Ok...this is one of those videos where every time I watch it,
I get teary-eyed (yes, I have emotions...lol!)
This is not only an incredible powerful video which
will make you think about the power of the
words you speak, but the lyrics of the song
are just as powerful. Plus, Emeli's voice
is simply amazing.
I love this song & video. I hope you will too.
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
New Release Tuesday
Mario...is it wrong that I have a crush on this handsome young buck? I don't care...if it's wrong, then I don't wanna be right ;)
Now, don't get me wrong, I love my firefighter but what girl doesn't want a piece of eye candy that can also sing softly in her ear? I know this girls does!! Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!
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