Panama City Beach

I got back from Panama City Beach yesterday. I had a great time, and I am definitely missing the beach! It was beautiful there. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves!

Add Life To Your Years

Exercise adds life to your years and years to your life!

Why would you not want the best for yourself?

Why would you wanna be weak and frail when you’re old and be miserable and not able to enjoy life?

Why would you wanna put yourself at risk for diabetes, heart disease, and cancer by not exercising?

People assume that getting weak and losing muscle and gaining weight and not feeling good is just a natural part of aging. Well, let me tell you-it is NOT. The reason our bodies start breaking down is because of disuse. If you don’t work your muscles, they shrink. Then you become weak. You become stiff and inflexible. Your bones become frail and easy to break.

A good strength training program will GREATLY improve your quality of life now and later in life. My clients tell me every day how much better they feel since they’ve been training with me. They are stronger, have more stamina, better endurance, and more energy. Strength training gives you benefits that simply walking everyday can NOT give you.

I believe that strength training is the fountain of youth! Give it a try, no matter how old you are. All it takes is a few exercises, 2 days a week. There is NO excuse. You don’t need fancy equipment or a lot of time. Anyone can do it. And it is NEVER too late to start. You'll feel better than you ever felt before!

Weekend

Finally we had a nice weekend. After a few days in the 50s last week(I mean, 50s in MAY-what the heck?), this weekend it jumped up to 85 degrees, with lots of sunshine!

So we spent most of the weekend outside-washed the car, worked out outside, got icecream at Culver's, and enjoyed some time laying in the hammock. I actually layed out a for a couple of hours Saturday(if it's over 80 degrees and sunny, you better bet I will be out in my bikini!). I'm a total sun worshipper! I know, I know, bad for the skin...but it's good for the soul! :)

Guess what? Next weekend I'm gonna be at the beach!! Woooohoooo! My friend and I decided to take a last minute road trip, and I am so excited! So I'm sure I'll have lots of pics to post!

Asher enjoying a nice day in the backyard

DON'T Eat That!

I thought I would write a post about foods that I think people should cut back on or completely eliminate from their diet. These foods are known to contribute to cancer, and all kinds of other diseases and health problems! They're all also low in fiber, low in nutrients, and high in empty calories! NOT good. Of course, occasional treats with these foods are fine in my opinion, but for the sake of your health, you should NOT be eating these foods every day. And the sad thing is, most Americans are!

Foods you should stop eating:
-All white flour products-breads, bagels,etc.
-Processed meats, such as bacon, sausage, hotdogs, deli meat, etc.(nitrates cause cancer!)
-Canned soups, frozen dinners(too much sodium and MSG-BAD)
-Milk(I choose not to drink cow's milk any longer because of all the hormones they give to the cows)
-Margarine(it has trans fat, the worst kind of fat there is!!)
-Soda AND diet soda(sugar, high fructose corn syrup, aspartame-all cause weight gain, diabetes, and other diseases)

If you want to be as healthy as you can be and not become a statistic, then start making slow changes to eliminate these foods from your diet. You don't have to do it all at once. I used to eat ALL of those things, even when I thought I was eating healthy! Now, I eat them very rarely. All it takes is switching from processed meats to fresh, organic meats, eating whole grains like oats and brown rice instead of breads and cereals, and filling up on lots of vegetables, fresh fruits, and healthy fats like nuts.

It's NOT hard if you make small changes here and there. I did it, and anyone can do it! Now I make my own soups, I cook fresh instead of packaged meat, and I snack on almonds and fruit. All it takes is just a little more planning. Prepare your food in advance-plan out your meals, cook your meats, chop up veggies and put them in containers in the fridge. It will make your life so much easier, and anyways, it's worth the extra time and effort to look and feel your best!

So since I like to get people to focus on foods they CAN eat instead of just what they can't, here are some of the healthiest foods that should definitely be included in your diet on a regular basis:

-Sweet pototoes
-Whole eggs
-Broccoli
-Raw Almonds/walnuts
-Spinach and kale (I need to work on this!!)
-Old fashioned or steel cut oats
-Berries
-Fish
-Tomatoes
-Chicken/turkey breast

Also, there are some things that you should try to buy organic as much as possible. Certain fruits and vegetables(peaches, apples, pears, strawberries, celery, spinach, green peppers, potatoes), are high in pesticides, and should always be bought organic. Another thing you should buy organic is meat, eggs and milk(pretty much all animal products!), because of all the antibiotics and growth hormones they give to the animals, which is not good for us to consume.

I do not buy ALL organic food, but I have been buying more lately because of what I've learned about all the pesticides and hormones and chemicals that that are in so much of the foods we eat. I just can't eat a regular apple now without thinking about all the pesticides I'm eating. I don't want that stuff in my body!

But like I always say, I do NOT eat perfect, all natural, 100% organic. You have to find the balance. I'm not afraid to have a treat here and there, and I'm not at all afraid to pig out on my favorite "bad" foods every now and then! If you read my blog, you know I love my cheat meals! The key is just not to eat them on a regular, day to day basis. I don't restrict myself, but when it comes down to it, I would much rather eat healthy foods because of the way they make me look and feel! Find what works for you.

Click here for a printable list of fruits and veggies you should always try to buy organic:
http://img.webmd.com/dtmcms/live/webmd/consumer_assets/site_images/media/pdf/health_tips/spending_organic_food_dollars_wisely.pdf

My ABC's

Just for fun! :)

ABC's of Me:

A = Age: 26, but I still feel like a teenager! It does NOT seem like I should be this close to 30!!!
B = Bed size: Queen
C = Chore you dislike: Cleaning toilets and taking out the trash. Those are the chores my wonderful husband gets to do!
D = Dogs: I have a White German shepherd named Asher. He’s a 130lb spoiled baby! We love him! E= Essential start to your day: My chocolate protein oats and coffee. I cannot function without eating breakfast as soon as I wake up!
F = Favorite color: Coral and Pink
G = Silver or gold: Silver, I hate gold
H = Height: 5’5″
I = Instruments you play(ed): I took piano lessons as a kid, but never really got very good at it. Instruments aren’t my thing!
J = Job title: Personal trainer
K = Kids: None! (Well, if you don’t count Asher!) I have no desire for kids just yet. I’m enjoying this time with my husband, and we are in NO rush to have kids.
L = Live: Kentucky
M = Mom’s name: Mom!
N = Nicknames: Ducky-a nickname I had in middle school because I was told I looked like Ducky from the movie The Land Before Time. I don't know, I guess it's the lips or something?
O = Overnight hospital stays: I’ve never been in the hospital for myself, but I have had to stay overnight a quite few times with my husband.
P = Pet peeves: Inconsiderate smokers

Q = Quote from a movie: I’m not a big movie person, so I can't think of a single movie quote!
R = Righty or lefty: Righty
S = Siblings: younger brother, younger sister
T = Time you wake up: Usually between 7 and 8:30
U = Underwear: What about it???
V = Vegetables you don’t like: ummm…most of them!? I should probably list the ones I DO like: asparagus, tomatoes(but I think that’s technically a fruit??)corn...that's it, really.
W = What makes you run late: When I can’t get this crazy hair of mine under control. Oh, what I would give for straight, non-frizzy hair! X = X-rays you’ve had: my hand once after I had a bike wreck…and lots for my teeth
Y = Yummy food you make: My faves are chili, healthy quesadillas, and pumpkin cookies
Z = Zoo animal favorites: elephants! They are so cute, especially baby ones!

Every Second of Every Day-Love This!

If you are aware of your weaknesses and are constantly learning, your potential is virtually limitless.
-Jay Sidhu -

5 minutes

Did you know that you can get an awesome butt kicking workout in just 5 minutes? Yup, you can!

My workout today was only 5 minutes. First I warmed up with some jump rope, squats, lunges and pushups. Then for the WOD, I had to get as many rounds and reps as I could in 5 minutes of 3 deadlifts with 165lbs and 7 push presses with 80lbs. I ended up with 5 rounds and 3 deadlifts.

It was tough! I love those super short but super intense workouts. Well, that's really what most CrossFit workouts are, pretty much, depending on your fitness level and how fast you can complete the workouts. A workout hardly ever takes me longer than 30 minutes, which is #157 why I love CrossFit!!

Here's me before heading to the gym. I found these pink shorts at Wal-Mart that I LOVE that match perfectly with my cool knee socks! Ya gotta look cute at the gym. ;) As long as you look cute AND work your butt off. Well, work your butt ON, hopefully, for me! Hehe.


So another guy today in the gym today asked me if I'm competing. Whenever someone asks me that, I think, "Competing for what??" I mean, I know most of the time they mean a figure competition or something, I guess. Like it's just so odd to look really lean and fit and not be a fitness competitor. I'm tellin you, it wouldn't be such a rare sight if more women would train with any sort of intensity and lift something heavier than 5lbs!!

How Many Hours Do YOU Sit??

This is interesting. Check it out:
http://www.medicalbillingandcoding.org/sitting-kills/

I'm glad I don't have a job where I have to sit all day!

My Total

Today's WOD was the "CrossFit Total", which is your one rep max of back squat, strict overhead press, and deadlift. You add up your final 1 RM on each to get your total. My total ended up being 520.

I got 205lbs on my squat, which is the weight I've been stuck at for the past 6 months! I tried 210, and almost got it...I pushed and pushed and pushed...but the bar was just not going up. But I AM gonna get that 210 soon, I promise you that! My overhead press was 90lbs, which I was disappointed with, since I have done 95lbs before. 90 felt pretty easy, but I couldn't get it up with just those 5 more measly pounds on there, dang it! But I was happy with my deadlift of 225, which is the most I've ever done, yay!

That was a fun one. :)

Oh-one more thing I thought I'd share. There was this cute little old lady at the gym today jumping rope, a sight that I have never seen! She had to be in her seventies, and I just thought it was the coolest thing. At first she tried a few times and could only get one or two jumps before she messed up, and I could see her shake her head in frustration. But she kept trying, kept messing up, kept trying. You just had to see the look of determination and focus on her face. And then she finally got it, and she was on a roll! It just brought a smile to my face seeing that. :)

My Muscle Building Journey

A strange thing has happened lately.

I remember years ago, looking through fitness magazines, hoping to maybe one day look like one of those models. I would cut out pictures of the ones I liked and thought I could strive to look like some day, for motivation. I wanted the muscles they had, their defined arms, their chiseled abs, their shapely legs... I admired them.

So I read all that I could about how to build muscle. I read books, magazines, online articles. I planned out all my workouts obsessively and tracked them in a notebook. I trained harder in the gym, started lifting heavier. I started changing the way I ate-eating more, getting in more protein. I was on a mission-to build as much muscle as I could!

Then today, as I was looking through my Oxygen magazine, it hit me. As I looked at the models on the pages that I had for so long admired, I suddenly realized...I kinda, sorta, maybe...look like that!? It's like all of a sudden I woke up one day and looked in the mirror, and I had the body that I have been striving for for years! I mean, of course I know that it didn't happen overnight, but for some reason that's what it feels like!

(Now, I have to say that I DO NOT, by any means, think I have the perfect body, or that I could be a fitness model, or that I look exactly the way I want to. That is NOT the case. I want to build more muscle(I still look a little scrawny to myself in pictures). I want bigger legs and a bigger butt, especially! And better abs.... BUT from where I started out 8 years ago, at a skinny 115 lbs, I have come a long way. I now have almost 10 more pounds of muscle, and I am leaner than I was then. )

It just goes to show that hard work and persistence pays off.

I lifted weights for years and years, and sometimes I thought that I would just never build enough muscle to look like one of those fitness models. It always seemed like a far off dream.... There were times when I felt like I was getting nowhere. But I kept striving for it and working harder and harder, lifting heavier, eating better. I was determined to look like one of those models one day, no matter if it took me 20 years to get there!

It wasn't easy. Building muscle was a long and slow process. My whole life practically revolved around building muscle. I planned my days around getting to the gym. I had to make sure I was always eating enough, getting my protein in, never skipping meals no matter where I was-I always had food on me. I choked down nasty casein shakes before bed every night, and made sure to get in my fast digesting carbs and protein post workout.

And now...I can SEE the results of all those years of training and nutrition. It finally shows! It's just so cool and makes me SO happy and proud to know that my hard work after has paid off! The first thing people notice about me now isn't just that I'm "little" or "skinny" anymore. They see my muscles, they see the definition in my arms and my legs, and that makes me feel good. :)

What I want people to get from this is that if you want something bad enough, you won't stop until you get it. You won't ever quit or give up on your goal. Set your mind to it, and commit yourself to it, with everything you have. Whether your goal is building muscle, losing weight, getting your first pullup, or squatting your bodyweight-don't EVER give up, no matter how frustrated you get. Even if you think it's not working, keep working at it. Even when you feel like it's hopeless, keep hoping for it. You WILL get there. You just have to be patient. And the feeling you get when you finally achieve your goal is just amazing, and it will make it all worth it.

Being Better

The principle is competing against yourself. It’s about self-improvement, about being better than you were the day before.
-Steve Young

I Do It For Fun

It's pretty funny the comments I get at the gym sometimes. And the looks I get when people see some of the things I do. I mean, I really don't blame them!

Most people at a normal, or "globo" gym(as CrossFitters call it), don't do workouts like I do, so people always think that I'm training for something. I have people ask me if I'm doing a competition or if I'm an athlete, and when I tell them that I'm just doing it for fun and to stay fit and strong, they always look at me like they can't believe it. I once had an older lady watch me do heavy push presses and then later ask me why I would want to do that. She looked at me in shock when I said, "Cuz it's fun!"

People just can't seem comprehend that anyone would put themselves through what I do for FUN, and not for training for a sport or anything. They've probably never seen anyone working out the way I do, or lifting as heavy as I do just for the fun of it! I guess it's not what most people call fun...But really, it IS fun to me! (Although I usually HATE the WODs when I'm doing them!) Maybe I am a little crazy...


Of course, its not just for the fun of it that I kill myself everyday at the gym or that I lift heavy weights over my head or on my back. I want to be as fit as I can be. I want to be as STRONG as I can be. I want to feel like I'm accomplishing something. I like working towards goals. I like being challenged. But yes, most of all, IT IS FUN!

A Sunset And a NOT So Good Cheat Meal

This weekend my husband and I went downtown to the waterfront for a free country concert and the chow wagon that was going on for the Derby. We had some horrible food(and I mean not just horrible FOR you, but horrible tasting! Bleh.) I was so mad that we wasted our cheat meal on that crap! Boo.

But anyway, we ate and then walked along the river as the sun was setting. The waterfront is SO pretty at sunset, so I had to snap a few pics. :) We ended up walking along the river to Tumbleweed and ordering a slice of their wonderfully delicious peanut butter pie. That kind of made up for the gross chow wagon food. :)

How good does that look??

Although I'm not sure it was a great idea to eat that on top of the nachos, hot dog and fries I'd just eaten.... I know, I know, that's a lot of food-BUT it sounded like a good idea at the time! Needless to say, I didn't feel so good afterwards.

So I have to share my handstand picture, cuz I just think it's pretty cool. :) I'm so glad I can do these now so I can just bust out a handstand in random places. Cuz that's just totally the cool CrossFit thing to do. Hehe. I know, I'm a nerd!

Go Squat

“Learn how to squat. It works more muscles than any other exercise. It’s harder. It’s a longer range of motion and it will make more difference in your appearance over a shorter period of time than any single thing you can do.” ~Mark Rippetoe


A lot of women are scared to squat, or at least to squat heavy. "It'll make my butt bigger!" they say. Well, okay, yeah it probably will make it bigger. So what? Squats will give you a firm, round, tight booty versus a flat and saggy booty.

I mean, which would you prefer?? So take my advice and go do some squats! Actually I'm off to squat right now! Grow, booty, grow!

Rant of the Day

How come people don't listen to me? Does everything I say go in one ear and right out the other? I mean, that's how it seems sometimes. I guess people think they just can do things their own way. Like I know nothing about what I'm talking about.

Everyone wants some secret to getting great abs. It's just annoying. There is NO secret. It's just hard work. And I don't mean doing hundreds of crunches, either. I'm talking eating right. But NO one wants to do that. It's just way too hard. But they sure will continue to complain about not having a flat stomach!

I tell my clients from day one that you canNOT spot reduce. Yet a few months later they'll say something to me like, "Can we work my abs a lot today?", or, "Can we do something to get rid of my upper back fat?" I'm like, really? I have to explain this AGAIN? If spot reduction were possible, everyone would be walking around with 6 pack abs and fat bodies because all I see people doing at the gym is a bunch of ab exercises! And obviously, that's not the case. It doesn't work.

I don't even train my abs anymore. At least, not in the way I used to. There really is no need to do a lot exercises strictly isolating the abs because EVERY exercise we do in CrossFit works your abs! It's called midline stabilization. Yet CrossFit, along with healthy eating, will give you some amazing abs, without a single crunch.
Okay, there's my rant for the day! I'm done. :)

Don't Get Too Bulky

So this older guy comes up to me at the gym yesterday after my workout, asked how long I'd been working out, said I looked good, and asked what I was trying to do. I told him that I just wanted be fit and healthy and also to build some muscle.

Well, then he goes on to say, "Well, the best thing is to just be fit and healthy, you don't want to build too much muscle and get bulky cuz I've seen some women that are bulky, and I just don't think that's attractive."

Thanks SO much for the advice, mister, I'll be sure to keep that in mind. NOT! This guy had no clue who he was talkin to! BUT I just kept my mouth shut, smiled, and let him go on his way.

So the WOD today is heavy bench presses and squats. I better be careful, then-don't want to get too bulky because that is just sooo unattractive. I mean, who in their right mind would want to look these women??? It's just SO gross.

Cookie Monster

So finally after days and days of unending rain and storms, we had a beautiful day yesterday. 75 degrees and sunny-PERfect!

We decided go to Cheddar's for our cheat meal, and I just had to have their famous monster cookie for dessert.

Oh cookie monster, how I've missed you! It was heavenly, and I ate it all of it myself.

Then we came home and enjoyed the nice weather outside in the hammock for a little while before going to church. Laying in the hammock on a beautiful spring day with my love is pretty much my favorite thing ever. :)
Aren't my boys just SO cute?