back in the saddle

   In the weeks following Europa, i have taken major advantage of the fact that i didn't have a date with a sparkly blue bikini looming over my head anymore. I don't feel as though i have chains attaching me to the elliptical anymore, i don't really look twice at the stepmill, and when even the mere thought of tilapia and green beans crosses my mind, i get hit with an instant wave of nausea. To say i have been pretty relaxed with my diet and exercise is the understatement of the year. I had considered doing another contest immediately following Europa until me and the love of my life rekindled our romance... and my whole world has been turned upside down. Instead of reaching for a fat burner and protein shake the moment i wake up, i reach for my phone and lay in bed an extra half an hour just to hear his voice ( long distance relationships baaloooowww). I would trade my PM cardio sessions for marathon phone calls with Sam any day of the week. My priorities had completely shifted from busting my ass to sitting on my ass and doodling 'Sam' and big puffy hearts all over my notebooks (sooo kidding) and the only contracting my abs have been doing is coming from laughing hysterically at all of his nonsense (true story). After the week long visit with him that we had planned on hitting the gym daily and grilling dinner nightly turned into lazy mornings lounging around together and long dinners with friends and family, lingering over drinks and alllllll the desserts. Not exactly conducive for a six pack.

pre-epic dinner. Hate those jeans...Love that
man.

   Pre-Europa i had bought a pair of jeans 3 sizes too small for me at that time. They were adorable black denim skinny (more like skin tight) jeans that I had envisioned these to be my 'goal' jeans that i could wear with sky high heels and a tank top- not a muffin top. All through out the training process i never thought twice about these, thanks to the 70+ straight days of over 100 degree temps. Right before i left for my trip home, i threw them on for kicks and lo and behold-- they fit! I was sooo excited, i immediately threw them in my suitcase. When it came time to wear them out; 4 days, 4 decadent dinners, 2 different cheesecakes and banana ice cream later...they fit. Kinda. As in- they fit if i stood up perfectly straight and didn't bend at the knees or the waist. So after a dinner of fried artichokes, fried mushrooms, deep dish pizza, wine and a pizookie, i was sure that the jeans were so tight, they were on the verge of cutting me in half in the style of a wire cheese cutter. After dinner, we hung around reminiscing and joking over drinks and music. And by we, i mean Sam & his brother Elliott happily joked and sang songs while i stretched out almost perfectly horizontal in a recliner, complaining incessantly about how the devil clearly designed my jeans.Generally speaking, hanging around with Sam and his brother both belting out my favorite songs would usually be considered my idea of heaven.Unfortunately, all i could think of was that i was pretty sure i was about to lose my legs due to lack of circulation and then lose my boyfriend due to excess levels of whining.

   I think that's what they call rock bottom? HA! I was way too happy for that to be rock bottom, but it was definitely a turning point. I felt soooooo uncomfortable in my own skin at the moment and i actually missed my workouts. I had gone from being in the best shape of my life to just being shapes in a matter of a month. That was such an eye-opening night, all along i thought i was rewarding myself for my months of hard work and dedication when in actuality, i was basically waving the middle finger at myself for all the times i passed on simple carbs and my time spent on the treadmill. I earned my Europa body the hard way and after i got what i had wanted for all these years, i  traded it in for the things that don't matter to me even the slightest bit ( ie; pizza and cookies). Im over that! So- after a nice, long break I'm beyond  ready to jump back in the game.... before this damage is irreversible.

he's the only one that can bring that smile out of me.

it's a wrap!



     After 12 weeks, 1,000 lbs of chicken breast and tilapia, and hundreds of carb-deprivation induced mood swings later...it's over. Europa was this past Saturday and it may have been the most eye-opening experience of my life. Truth be told, I have never, EVER been comfortable with being in a bikini. I know i say that all the time and everyone always responds with an eye roll and "yeaaahhh right". I am dead serious. I grew up 20 minutes away from the beach in the bikini capitol of the West Coast and if you peruse all my photo albums, you will find maaaayyybe 3 pictures of me at the beach in a two piece. Three pictures in which will probably be me lying down and/or covering the mush i considered to be my abs. I woke up in a panic on Friday morning when it occurred to me that i would not only have to be onstage in a bikini, but i would be in front of a panel of judges analyzing every square inch of my body. Terrifying. I may have busted my ass and and look night and day different from what i did in March... but i apparently wasn't allowed to bust through a wall sized picture of my formerly fat self to show how much i had changed (a la Biggest Loser), i was just being judged on how i looked that day, which i thought was great until i walked into the competitors meeting. No one in that meeting appeared to have a body fat in the double digits, and everybody looked amaaaazing. It completely unnerved me and made me want to slink into the corner till it was all over. All i could do all morning was compare myself to every single girl in the room...i had to keep reminding myself how far i had come and while i may not be exactly where i wanted to be, i was a far cry away from where i was. As soon as my cohorts (Angela and Nina) were by my side, i felt soo much better. They reminded me i was only in competition with myself, even just being there was a huge accomplishment in and of itself. 

Day 2--our makeshift 'dressing room'
just happy I'm almost done!



      The entire day was a whole lot of hurry-up-and-wait and by the time we finally got onstage, it was right around midnight (we were supposed to be done at 9pm) which was exhaaaauusting. Luckily for us, we have an amazing support system of family and friends-turned-family members that were there the entire night, keeping our spirits up with us backstage. Then came the incident with spray glue. On a good day, i should never be given an aerosol can of glue and be told to use it to glue my bikini bottoms on...so to do that when the last carb i had was a day ago and i was pretty much brain dead, resulted in me spraying my ENTIRE ass with glue and then attempting to pull my bikini over it...definite fail. For the rest of the night, everything i sat on (I'm quite forgetful) stuck instantly and i had to rip it off like the world's worst band-aid, thus ripping off small portions of my spray tan. ha! All's well that ends well right? All i really set out to do was not make an ass out of myself and not finish dead last... I placed 9th out of 18 contenders in my height class which isn't too shabby for a first run! Best part of the entire contest was....the Cinnabun & cinnamon roll sugar cookies waaaiiiting for us the moment we walked off!

              I owe huuuuge thanks to Nina for not just believing in me enough to do this but for the endless support, help with workouts, allll my nutrition plans, diet tips, bikini advice, and everything i could have ever possibly needed to get thru this process. She is a trainer that should be in her own class...she is amazing. I have learned a HUGE amount of nutrition, bio mechanics, posing, etc from this woman and will be forever grateful for our amazing friendship <3 Going through this journey with her and Angela was the only thing that got me through it. Everytime i wanted to throw in the towel i could look over to either one of them looking just as tired as i was, powering through on the stairmill or choking down dry chicken and plain green beans and saying "we got this!"...which got me to suck it up and make it through the cardio sessions and boring meals everytime.





SO proud of all of our hard work and how far we've come!

Couldn't have done it without them :)



Me, Angela & Nina--Feb 24th, pre europa training

spray tan flex session!



Much love for my boys at Olympia....Huge help with motivation,
support and all the best supps :)

World's best Friend...Not enough words to say how amazing
she is...thats for another day and an entire blog
all to itself. Loooove her

Post-contest carb fest!! After a pizza, pasta feast....Katrine brought
us mini bundt cakes from Nothing Bundt Cakes..AMAZING!



onstage!



Now...it's on to the next one! Can't wait for the next contest and I'm ready to go hard and do work...

                                                                     

From Jack in the Box to Jacked

   So as the days tick away and Europa draws closer, I've been busting my ass and am starting to see some great results. The love handles i have neeeever loved are slowly but surely melting away, my abs are flattening out and i have officially stolen the thunder from my thighs. While a lot of it came from many whiny hours in the gym, 80% of it was born in the kitchen. I always used to ask trainers how to get rid of any belly fat or slim my thighs and was always told--diet. Back then, I immediately thought they were pompous jerks with natural born six packs, laughing away at the fat girl by giving her false hopes for flat abs. I thought you're either born hot with hip bones popping out of your jeans or you're not. Plain and simple... and if this so called 'diet' didn't include sonic blasts & kit kats, i wasn't really that interested anyway. Truth be told, genetics only have about a 10% influence on your body's structure. It will determine where you store fat, how easily you store it as well as how easily it burns it. What it doesn't determine, is the food you put in your mouth. You determine that. Once I got away from the thought that i was genetically predisposed to have a fat ass, i opted to give the whole clean eating thing a shot. Prior to May, I've never seriously dieted. I would finish teaching a class and go get ice cream (ice cream calories aren't real calories anyway) and spent more money at jack in the box a month than i would have on a new car payment (soo sad, but true). Sure, i would eat good at the gym...but I'm a trainer who works with other trainers so i thought that was pretty much mandated. Once i was off the clock, even if  i had the tiniest craving for anything, I would have it. I'm not gonna lie, dieting is the harrrdddest thing i have ever done and i have been whining NON-stop. It's not even a little bit easy for me but i am thrilled with the progress.....so i may have to place a cease and desist order on my whininess. Here's a peek of what the early weeks of the Europa diet looked like:

• 1st Breakfast: 1 scoop chocolate myofusion blended w ice & instant coffee...amazing. OR Isopure- Green Tea flavored.
• 2nd Breakfast: 2 eggs, 3-4 egg whites (or egg beaters) scrambled with1/3 cup of Jimmy Dean turkey sausage crumbles OR turkey bacon, 1/2 cup of oatmeal w/ 1 packet of splenda & 2 tbsp of ground flaxseed meal.
• Meal 3: 4oz of chicken breast or some other lean protein source...ie; tilapia, ground turkey or sirloin steak, 4oz of baked sweet potato or 1/2 cup brown basmati rice ( nina turned me on to this...so much tastier than reg brown rice)
• Meal 4:  *same as meal 3
• Meal 5: *same as meal 3 except in place of sweet potatoes or rice, i'll sub in asparagus, green beans, or zucchini
• Meal 6: Cottage cheese in some form of mixture with chicken or ground turkey

  Im a big believer in breakfast. I make it a point to make it my biggest and most carbed up meal, and taper down as the day goes by and my activity level decreases. Somewhere in between meals 3 and 5 i work out and have another Myofusion shake, post-workout. At the end of the day my calorie intake is somewhere around 2400-2800...not so much a typical "diet". It is super high in protein (close to 300g a day) and is geared toward building lean body mass so, definitely not in the cards for an extreme dieter (think HCG/500 calories a day...not so good) or if you're not doing the weight training to accompany the high levels of protein. I have yet to ever eat one rice cake, piece of celery or salad and i'm NEVER hungry. Do i miss ice cream? Hell yes. I'll sit at Chili's with the menu open to the dessert offerings, staring and drooling more over the Paradise Pie than i do the hot bartender. I may or may not have had the occasional dream about totally dominating at a cupcake eating contest only to wake up in a panic clutching my abs, thankful it was just a dream. Although Europa is a short 14 days away, I have learned a lot nutritionally and I'm sure after a couple days worth of a straight pizza and cupcake diet, I'll be right back on track with this diet with a whole lot less disdain towards it. I know the meal plan is rather boring but it makes grocery shopping soooo easy!

Burn, baby, buuurrrn.

   No one likes fat. Ok, well if its in a dessert or fries-who doesn't love it, but if it's on your hips, thighs and abs...right back to hatred. Which would make sense as to why fat burners are such a popular supplement. I am a self-professed caffeine junkie, so when it comes to the topic of fat burners; there's not a whole lot i haven't tried. Bear in mind- with any supplement, it is NOT a magic pill. It won't work unless YOU work. This is merely a list of the fat burners I have tried, am currently taking and have seen great results with-- not a shopping list for insta-abs. In combination with a hardcore diet & hardcore workouts you might walk away with a hard core. (too cheesy? I'm gonna run with it :)

• Oxyelite Pro-- One of my favorites. Pros: Kills your appetite, energy to burn..powers you through killer workouts and makes you actually want to clean & do laundry. or maybe that's just me? Cons: This might be the same for all of these but i have a (minor) heart condition called SVT...this fat burner tends to trigger episodes more than any other so i can only take it periodically, but any client i have recommended it to, loved it. Definitely not for the weak of heart or caffeine sensitive.
• RoxyLean--My current fat burner..Pros: intense thermogenic that increases your core temperature so you can literally feel it scorching away extra calories, gives you high energy without feeling too cracked out and jittery, also helps decrease your appetite. Cons: you have to take one first thing in the morning when my brain functions at it's worst. I have accidentally taken two at once and felt like someone set me on fire from the inside out. I literally had to lay down on a bed of frozen veggie bags just to keep from calling an ambulance. Well, that may not be a con so much as it was a user error but just feel like i should cover all the bases...ha! :)
• Redline--My favorite pre-workout energy booster. Pros: You can take it at anytime so you don't have to plan it around an empty stomach. I love this one the most because it gives me insane energy but has yet to ever trigger an SVT episode, so this one gets two high fives in my books. Cons: this kind of goes along with any fat burner but your body gets acclimated to it rather quickly so the longer you take it the less effective it is.
• Spirodex--A literal happy pill. Pros: Its a lot more mild so i like it for later in the day so that I'm not awake reorganizing closets at 4am, and its a mood enhancer which definitely helps on super low carb days when you're at your snappiest. Cons: it's kind of weak sauce. I like my fat burners to be on the cracked out side...but if you are caffeine sensitive it might be a good choice. Pretty sure i was pounding espresso in my sippy cups, so fat burners need to bring their A game to impress me.

   Did i mention that i am the furthest thing from a doctor? I am. So please, don't take this as a prescription of how to lose a muffin top. It's not. However, I get asked about fat burners allll the time so this is just what I am taking (and not all at once either)...what's right for me may not be right for you, so proceed with caution! Also, don't think that you can get away with eating garbage food, skip the gym then pop an Oxy and call it a wash. I used to do that and i can tell you from experience...it DOES NOT work!!

Now...Where to find them:
     I hate GNC with a passion that should never be directed towards a retail store. It's right up there in my books with Walmart. If you know me, you know that i rarely make sense on a good day, i confuse my rights and lefts while teaching and i coooonnstantly get the "did-you-really just-say-that" face from my better half ...so with that in mind i have a rather (semi) high tolerance for random acts of stupidity. However, GNC takes it to levels unknown. The last time i went into GNC, i went on an emergency Myofusion run straight from work. I went decked out in my 24 Hr Fitness training jersey, with "Personal Trainer" printed across my back, 24 Hr Fitness hat, and name tag with my name and occupation-- also with 24 Hr Fitness engraved into the tag. The dingy sales clerk then follows me all around the tiny store, spouting off her clearly memorized sales points. When i asked a question about different types of protein, you could almost see her brain flipping through a mental handbook and freeze when she came up short of a correct answer. Then she hits me with the question to end all questions; "Sooo, do you work at 24 hour fitness, or do you just workout there?" Really?? No one has ever worked for 24 hr fitness MORE than i clearly did at that point. How do you even respond to that dumb of a question without being completely rude? You don't. So, i paid for my protein and left.
     After being introduced to Olympia Sports Supplements...i refuse to go anywhere else. Ryan & Chris up at Olympia might be some of the sweetest, most knowledgeable men i know in my fitness circle. Instead of just trying to push expired calcium chews on me every time i go in (damn you, GNC) , they have helped me with every issue I've gone in for. When i was having trouble sleeping they steered me in the direction of all the right sleep aids, recommended proteins to match my needs, carry and/or order any hard to find supplement i want (i haaaate ordering things online). I'm huge on customer service and they know all their regulars by name, fitness goal,  right down to fave smoothie flavor (did i mention it's a smoothie shop too?), i LOVE that. They've been in the fitness game a while so you know your not just getting the most expensive recommendations just because that's what is best for them, you're getting what is best for you. Check 'em out for any and all extra-curricular supplements, they're located on 7th st right next to Lucky Strike...

Check out their facebook page for fitness tips, active things to do in Ft. Worth and any extra motivation that might ever be needed :)

http://www.facebook.com/GETOLYMPIA


...and if you ever have questions on any supps, ask away!! I'm always happy to help :)
  

If you're gonna talk the talk...walk the walk...

 Funny how no one informed me that walking the walk was THIS hard!! Now that were getting down to the nitty, gritty, final 4 weeks... the workouts that seemed sooo easy several weeks ago now seem daunting once carbs fell by the wayside. I miss them. A lot. I can safely assume that those closest to me miss me having them as well...high five for you guys being such troopers! :) Now that sodium is cut, artificial sweeteners are cut, wheat is cut...all my favorite "treats" (which btw...you would have to be good and brainwashed to think that a protein shake left in the freezer too long is a cheat treat) are also long gone. I always thought before i ventured into the world of bikini competing that i would do anything to get a body like the pros! I am quickly biting my words. Buuuut since I'm in too far to turn back now, here is what my week looks like in the muscle factory!

Monday:                                                                 
AM Cardio: 45 minutes  (low intensity)
PM Strength Training
PM Cardio: 45 min

Tuesday:
*45 minute (circuit training)Boot Camp
PM Strength Training


and now added to the repertoire: posing practice!! way harder than it looks!

 PM Cardio 30 min
*45 min Zumba (cardio)
Late PM Cardio: 30 min

Wednesday:
*60 min TKB (cardio)
PM Strength Training
PM Cardio: 40 min
*60 min Cardio Dance Party (cardio)

Thursday:
AM Cardio: 45 min
PM Strength Training
PM Cardio: 45 min

Friday:
*60 min Zumba (cardio)
PM Strength Training
PM Cardio: 30 min
*60 min Cardio Dance Party (cardio)

Saturday:
*60 min Bootcamp
PM Strength Training
PM Cardio: 45 min

Sunday:
sleeeeeeeep :)


   For cardio i have been semi-obsessed with the elliptical lately... due to the limitations my attention span places upon the amount of the time i can spend on any given machine...i switch it up a lot between the elliptical, the stepmill, the treadmill and i looove H.I.I.T.( high intensity interval training) i prefer to jump rope next to a treadmill for a few minutes then jump on it and walk at an incline. I am also lucky enough to have a significant other that introduced to me to the business end of hardcore the first time i ran treadmill sprints with him. For the record,---running intervals on the treadmill SUCK. The thing i love about H.I.I.T is that you're in and out with your metabolism  fired up in 20 minutes or less. A typical interval session is a quick warm up, walking at a quick pace (4.0ish) for 2 minutes then running to the point your legs fall off (typically a 10.0) for about a minute. Repeat till your time is up OR your legs give out and you face plant on the belt and become Daniel Tosh's newest Web Redemption.  Whichever comes first.The first time we ran sprints together i was sprinting at a laughable 7.0. After a lot of (encouraging) trash talk i eventually bumped my speed up slowly till i am now running sprints at a 10.5 (most times at least).  The trick with cardio is finding what you like...or at least what you can tolerate. My days in the gym are looooong but so far they are proving to be worth it! Note that any workout with an asterisk (*) is a class that i teach at 24 Hour Fitness...feel free to come get a beatdown from me for free!!

Bikini Bliss or Bust!

   While being a Southern California native and having the privilege of growing up with the Pacific Ocean a short drive away, i have neeeeeveer been 100% excited about being in a teeny tiny bikini in public. Ever. Every year around February, when the New Year's resolution fueled workouts have stalled and the holiday pounds set up camp around my abs, walking into Target and seeing displays of bikinis is enough to induce panic attacks in me. The only time it was ever two piece time in my books, was either after the street lights came on or if the activity of choice was laying down flat. Preferably, face down.

         So, with that in mind, what in the hell would ever compel me to sign up for a bikini physique competition? Still not quite sure...sometimes all you need in life is someone to have more (a hell of a lot more) faith in you, than you have in yourself. In my job i am blessed to work with some truly amazing people. When one of  my co-workers/ closest friends told me i had potential to compete, i proclaimed her to be drunk. or high. or blind. or all three. I would never in a million years think that i would be able to walk around on stage in a bikini and heels while not completely making an ass out myself and/ or offending the general public. Nina saw something in me (abs?) that i for damn sure didn't see in myself. She believed in me sooo much that it made me believe in me. Enough to sign onto the Europa Expo 2011....bikini division. That's happening. I've been pretty reluctant to blog about it or really talk publicly about it so that on the off chance i opted to drop out, you all would be none the wiser. We are now about 4.5 weeks out from the show and there's really no turning back now...I will be posting way more regularly with some diet & supplement tips and progress reports.



11 weeks out 5/28



5 weeks out 7/9



  The last 6 weeks have been ROUGH...My diet has taken a turn for the obnoxious.  After 86-ing the Sonic blasts, french fries, and Saturday night binge drinking, my abs have slowly but surely been coming out of hiding. Luckily, I'm not in this alone! With 3 of my co-workers on board to do the same show, our support circle is strong. The last 4 weeks are bound to be the hardest so I apologize in advance for the next month....carb deprivation does not make for a happy camper!

 If you're struggling through a rough patch or plateau, do NOT throw in the towel. Five weeks ago I was convinced that my body was in the best shape it could ever get into and that i could not change it for the better. I have come along way since then and still have a ways to go, only now i know that it is indeed possible for me to make major changes in myself. Don't ever settle for contentment, you deserve the best so fight for it. Make it happen!! Europa is Aug 12 &13th...wish me luck! :)



it's all uphill from here...

Peter: Uphill? No, it's all downhill from here.
Ethan: But everybody wants to be up. Nobody wants to be down. So it's all uphill from here.


    I'm not really one to sugar coat anything. If you've ever been to one of my classes or been the subject of my one on one beat downs, you will know that "suck it up" is one of my most commonly used phrases.  I can be Sally Sunshine almost to a fault at times, but when it comes to the gym and losing weight- it can be an all out battle sometimes and it needs to be approached as such.
   There are going to be times in your weight loss journey that are going to suck. Plain and simple, you're not always going to like it- if you loved exercising daily and eating right to begin with, chances are likely you wouldn't be in the position to be starting a weight loss venture at all. There are going to be days that you'd rather hit Happy Hour than hit the gym. Days that you wander listlessly  from machine to machine in the gym completely unmotivated to do anything worth your time. Days that you're tempted to eat from buffet tables at parties, meetings, etc. Days that the only curling you wanna do is on your couch in a snuggie with a DVR full of Jersey Shore reruns. These days are all on the edge of a slippery slope that can send you spiraling ass-first right back into your 'fat jeans'.
   Lesson? Suck it up. Yeah, there's times where its not going be fun, days that its going to seem like cardio is hardest thing in the world-do it anyway . These days are going to happen-that's life.If you treat them as just one day or just one meal and get right back on to your routine- you will be fine. Yes- It's going to be hard.  Its going to take work, alot of it. You didn't gain the weight overnight, don't expect to lose it overnight. Most importantly DO NOT GET FRUSTRATED! Trust the process and toss the scale. Burn Destroy more calories than you take in- you will lose weight. Lift weights and you will gain muscle. Do this at the same time and you will generally piss off any normal woman who expects to see epic drops in the lbs and sees nada. Advice? Keep moving forward and don't ever stop. Take pictures weekly to watch the changes in your body, take measurements, have your body fat tested, revel in the fact that you can finally do a push up on your toes- do anything but throw in the towel.
      It's not going to be a cake walk, cake walks probably got you to this point in the first place (red velvet anybody? HA!).  It's going to be a struggle sometimes but you're going to have to really want it, push past the Negative Nancy thoughts and know its only going to be hard for a little while. There is a light at the end of the tunnel and you just need to trust that you're heading in the right direction. Haven't lost a pound in two weeks? Tell yourself you haven't lost a pound yet. Can't do a push-up? Say 'I can't do a push-up yet'. It will happen, suck it up and be patient! We all know everything worth having is worth waiting for. Weight that comes off 'quick and easy' will come back just as quickly and just as easily. Earn the right to rock your skinny jeans, don't just have it handed to you in a pill. The weight that you have to all out fight to lose, you will fight just as hard to keep it off for good...and you know if  you ever need tough love, or in-case-of-emergency-motivation, I'm always here for you..just keep in mind if it seems like I'm yelling, that's just me motivating. Loudly..

Run for your life!

I HATE running. I can do three hours of cardio classes back to back and still have energy to burn. However, on the few occasions i run from the gyms front door to my car- I nearly pass out every time. Like most people, i don't like to do things I'm not naturally good at and i am not even remotely good at running. Sooo in order to change it all up, I'm taking it up effective immediately! To force myself to run, I signed up for the Warrior Dash in April with a bunch of my favorite fitness fanatics.

Brad, me & Brian post-race

The Warrior Dash is a 5k/mud run/obstacle course madness complete with flaming bales of hay, barbed wire, cargo nets, hundreds of tires and so much more.

I recently did the Spartan Race with my one of my best friends back home in Malibu and it was the most insane thing i have ever done in my life but the proudest i have ever been of myself. I thrive on competition and probably would have never done it had he not told me i couldn't hang(thanks, B-Rad!). When i went full tilt into a training program for it, he then pushed my competitive buttons even further by saying he would be on his 6th beer by the time i finally finished. HA! During the race, at the point i thought i was for sure gonna quit and have to be air lifted off the mountain, one of the course workers (who was swinging hammers and yelling at people as they ran past him btw..nice added challenge) told me i was the 3rd place female at that time. Hearing that got me so hyped up, i got my second wind and sprinted the rest of the way (okay really, sprint isn't the right word...that race was about 90% uphill so it was more like a quick hike). I ended up placing first (female) in my heat, HUGE accomplishment. Only downside is I haven't ran a step since the last sprint to the finish line at the Spartan Race. I've got about 3 months to get my run on... it's not enough for me just to finish, i need to finish fast. Most definitely faster than my Spartan time. Anyone who wants to train with me to get into Warrior-Mode let me know, the race is on April 16th-- lets do this!

It's gonna be a sports bra kind of summer...

be better than the bra

I've never been naturally skinny. Definitely envious (just a lil bit) of the God-given perfect girls (no offense if that's you!) but never in their ranks. I was never the skinny-gorgeous girl in school but I always conveniently managed to have best friends that were (GREAT self esteem builder). I loved them dearly but always envied the gap between their thighs and impossibly tiny waists. I've never had the ability to eat whole pizzas and have Dr. Pepper addictions and still maintain a perfect shape. I have had to work to be where I am now, and work HARD. I'm talkin three hour workouts 5-7 days a week....but I loved every minute of it.

While I've come a looooong way, the one thing I want to accomplish this year that I've always wanted to do is be able to rock a sports bra during a workout. To clarify, I know I can wear a sports bra during a class now, but when I do a ski or jumping jack I want my abs to stop moving when I do. In Texas, where summer temps hit well over 100 degrees and all you want to do is wear as little clothing as legally possible, having the kind of abs where wearing a sports bra doesn't offend the public would be pretty sweet. I'm all in on this, who's comin with me? I know it's not gonna be easy, but nothing worth having ever really is. Me and my abs will see you in June!