Unexpected Surprise

Isn't a surprise always considered unexpected? Hmm oh well! Day 2 of getting up and having Tilapia and green beans at 4:30am and....This.Is.Going.To.Be.Hard. I think that this is one of the harder things thus far in my journey for the fact that I am starting to grow gills and fins from all the fish I am eating and pretty sure I will be searching for my long lost sibling Nemo! Yesterday was a tough day and I felt really low on energy and I am not sure if it was just because it was Monday or what my deal was but I made it through my shoulder workout and cardio to treat myself with a massage. I don't know why I only get these once in a blue moon because today I woke up and for the first time in a while, I was not nearly as sore! My body is probably telling to me cool it and start treating it better for all it does for me. Ok... point taken.

So here is where the unexpected surprise part comes in and this gets a little personal but I promised to share this journey and I will keep that promise. My whole life (since I was in middle school) one of my biggest insecurities has been my backside. I have always felt that it is disproportionate to the rest of my body, I feel like I have a huge bubble butt, and I have never liked that I have to buy my jeans a bigger size just to fit it in em. It is an area where I carry my weight, so if I gain weight it goes right to my behind however, if I lose weight, it comes off of every area EXCEPT there. How frustrating I know! When I started training to be a figure competitor, I knew it was going to be a lot of heavy lifting and time spent in the gym but I will tell you the biggest thing that has changed for me...I love (yes I said it) love the fact that I have some booty. I love squats, lunges, and although I whine about it on a weekly basis, I love leg day because it is helping build and sculpt my backside. Over the course of the past few months, I have had numerous conversations with women and even men about the rear area and how difficult of a time some have trying to get a little curvage here. I have it and now I am trying to perfect it, which I find is a tad easier than starting with nothing and trying to build to something. This morning something really funny happened and I had to giggle. I was at Starbucks grabbing a coffee before work (in which I wear my yoga pants) and there were a few gentleman in line (one a Policeman in uniform and the other a gentleman in medical scrubs). I had seen them both walk in and as I was putting a little nonfat in my drip, I caught them out of the corner of my eye looking over my way. I walked through them as they stood in line and watched their reflections in the windows as I headed towards the door. Both gentleman turned and watched me walk out. Not sure if it was the beautiful half-moon they were staring at or what but case in point... You may have an insecurity or something that really bothers you about your body but it can turn out to be one of your best assets (literally!)

Ciao for now,     J

Food for thought...

I found this quote and I had to save it and share it with y'all...

"This is a very important practice. Live your daily life in a way that you never lose yourself. When you are carried away with your worries, fears, cravings, anger, and desire, you run away from  yourself and you lose yourself. The practice is always to go back to oneself."  -Thich Nhat Hanh

I stumbled across this and it made me think about how in life, we can be overwhelmed with the everyday things and things that may be worse in our thinking than in real life (my common practice). For me, I have to remind myself that I am ok and always will be ok no matter what is on my plate. I live my life in "go" mode and at times this is a challenge for me. I am always racing here and there, usually eating my meals in the car or so quickly I don't even taste the food anymore (which isn't a bad thing when I can barely stomach Tilapia as it is). I guess what I am feeling today is that no matter what, where, when, who, whatever is going on in life, if you always come back to yourself and know who you are, everything will be ok.

J

Weekend Rewind

Cheesecake of Champions!

Back to the grind I call Monday Funday. The weekend was great especially because I started my 4-week competition diet and it still contains a "modified cheat meal". How can a cheat meal be modified you ask? Ha well I still follow strict guidelines meaning 3oz salmon, 6 spears asparagus, but I also get 6oz of cheesecake and 6oz loaded baked potato (and no not sweet potato!) Saturday started with round one of cardio followed by an arm session that left me unable to lift my arms the past couple days. I met my family up North and did a Costco run with my dad. Now this wasn't your average J/Dad Costco run (in which he and I jet through Costco for everything in 20 minutes or less). My cart contained 7 bags of Tilapia, 2 bags asparagus, 1 bag green beans, eggs, and new socks. The thing is.... Those 7 bags will probably last me maybe 2 weeks since I eat fish 38 of 47 meals (the rest consisting of protein shakes and one egg meal). Once we finished at Costco, I met with my mom and sister and we had a great time getting our toes done and chit chatting about my sister's upcoming college graduation. Raced from North back home to unload all the Costco stuff and headed into the gym for cardio session #2. Two 45-minutes sessions and a lot of sweat later, I practiced my posing in the group exercise room before meeting my team mate for our 'modified' meal. Let me tell ya something, she has the exact same meal for Saturday night which made for one heck of a time! We ate our salmon and asparagus then jumped in her truck and headed to Cheesecake factory. After grabbing a table in the bar, the Waiter asked if he could bring us something to drink and I said "water please and I will have a piece of Reece's peanut butter cheesecake" Team mate "make that two!" Waiter "Cutting straight to the point huh?" He returned with our cheesecake when my team mate ordered a side of mashed potatoes loaded, I mean LOADED with goodness! It was a sight to be seen that's for sure! Two buff girls stuffing their faces with gooey potatoes and cheesecake. Yep it was RAD. Afterward, I was in a sugar coma and my team mate was bouncing off the walls so we went for a walk around Seattle before heading home. What a fantastic night. Sunday consisted of am cardio, A LOT of food prep and pretty sure my house smelled like a Tilapia factory and I don't know how many candles I will have to go through to get that smell out of my house (but Stella doesn't seem to mind). You know you go to the gym too much when one of the employees asks if you had even left from the first time he saw you that morning. Headed to the gym for cardio session #2, practiced my posing and headed home to get my gear ready for the week. 6 Tupperware containers and and 21 ounces of Tilapia later....Here I am! Happy Monday Y'all.


 Ciao for now,     J

She's Like Texas

Happy Friday! This has been a long week and boy am I happy to see the weekend. This will be the first weekend in months that I have nothing really planned and it is also the last until May that is not filled up. I am excited to surround myself with friends, family and do things for me. I was talking with Batman and Robin at the gym yesterday and I was explaining that I forgot what it feels like to not be sore. I live my life in soreness! I wanted to blame it on the fact that I was sick but now that I am feeling better, I can not figure out why I am sorer than ever ALL THE TIME. I am not complaining, but it would be nice to get a nights sleep without waking up due to soreness when I roll over. After a good back workout yesterday, I headed home and I have no idea what got into me but I LIKE IT! I felt very productive (usually I just want to sit and do nothing after a long day) but yesterday was a different story. I should of had a superwoman cape on or something because I am one multi-tasking motha! I had laundry going, dishes done, tilapia baking all the while giving Stella a bath, re-organizing paperwork and bills, cleaned my kitchen top to bottom (literally I was on my hands and knees scrubbing the floor and finished the night of with food prep for today and shooting off emails that have needed attention for a couple days. I was then in bed by 9 and up at 315 am for cardio. What a great feeling to wake up and have some organization, which usually I feel like I live my life out of my car and by the way it looks like that sometimes! Don't judge me on how the back seat of my car looks because that is not fair!

I have to share something with yall. So if you have ever listened to any red dirt country, there is a band, Josh Abott Band, and they have this song "She's Like Texas". This song is one of my absolute favorite songs and it just so happened that when I streamed Pandora this morning, it was the first song to play. This song is absolutely amazing and I think parts of this song describe me to a T. There is a few lines that really inspire me and if you ever get a chance to listen to it you should! You wont be disappointed and if you are, well tough luck. A few lines that I LOVE are:

"She's as bright as the Dallas sky
She always holds her head up high
She loves the company of her family
She has faith in God's greater plan"

I love my family more than words can explain, I believe God has a master plan for me and will guide me along the way and no matter how well I do or where I place when I hit the stage in 4 weeks, I will hold my head up high! I know how hard I have worked and I will keep shining bright and be proud of what I have accomplished. I feel that by holding my head high no matter what, shows true strength and I am soo strong that I could make snow angels in concrete! Just kidding (but not really)  :)

Ciao for now,    J

Here. We. Go.

Last night was officially my last cheat meal for the next 2 months! Sad day I know! I met my family up North and had a bacon cheeseburger and a Carmel brownie... We were sitting at dinner, about to finish up and leave when my dad asks "J, how was your burger?" My mom looks at me before I can answer and says "Wait, where did your burger go?" Dad "She ate it while you were talking" Mom " YOU ate the WHOLE thing?" Me "Umm yea its now considered a food baby and I am going to name him Charles." Yea so I shocked my mom that I could put down a whole burger which actually shocked me too but I figured go big or go home right? because it is the last one of those I will see for a while. Of course I had to give Charles (my food baby) some chocolate because in case you don't know me... The way to this girls heart is Coffee and Chocolate! When we were leaving I told my family I needed to be carted out in a wheel chair but didn't know if it was because I was soo full or if it was because I couldn't walk due to heavy leg day! I got home and snuggled up with Stella when my phone rang. It was a team mate and a really good friend of mine who needed to talk. Now I know we all have those days when you just need to clear your thoughts and by talking to someone, especially someone who will just listen and let you get out what you need to say, can make a HUGE impact. So as I lay there listening and chiming in when I felt appropriate I realized this... It feels soo great knowing you can be someone others can turn to when they need someone. Someone others can trust, rely on and overall be a great friend. I appreciate and love all those in my life who are there for me when I need to talk, cry, yell or what have, and I am just as thankful for those relationships in which the other person can turn to me. I stayed up late on the phone with her which made it a little challenging getting up this morning or should I say more like peeling myself out of bed only to find Stella digging through my clean laundry. All I can say is "Hello Thursday, nice to see you, what do you have in store for me today?"

Ciao for now,   J

Double Double Trouble

Yesterday was a Pete day. Enough said. It went better than I had expected and I am about to start my 4-week out diet plan. That means no more cheat meals, and basically I will eat fish and sweet potatoes with a side of green beans or asparagus everyday. Jealous? Yea I thought you would be... After Pete, I jetted for the gym and met a team mate to pose in the group exercise room before doing my afternoon cardio. It was a good time as always except at 4ish in the afternoon, there are ALOT more people (ahem men) that will "need" something from that room in particular. I'm on to you, don't think you can fool me. Cardio actually was rock solid and I ended up doing 30 min of intervals on the stepmill at a higher level than normal and an additional 10 min at an even higher level. I was soaked with sweat and very content. Sounds gross but in all reality it was rad. Earlier in the day I had been asked by a good friend to watch her twins while she did some grocery shopping and after racing home from the gym to grab my tilapia and green beans, I went to get my fix of 2-month old babies. They are the cutest dang babies and have such unique personalities even at such a young age. In addition to the twins, I was also watching her adorable 4 (or 5) year old daughter who is soo stinking funny and a little diva. The quote that made my day came from her little voice telling me "Today is Justin Biebers birthday and I like him and so does my best friend". WOWZA at 5 they have Bieber Fever?! I thought keeping the regimen I had was difficult...But I give major kuddos to my friend for having brand new twins and a young girl because at one point in the evening I think I was sweating more than I had through my entire 40 minutes of cardio! When one baby would fall asleep, the other would get fussy so I would give him a bottle to have the other one wake and fuss. I looked like I was doing some type of acrobatic move with one baby in my arms and my chin holding the bottle while I had one in his swing and my other hand was trying to prop his bottle up with a blankie. Then trying to get both of them burped and back to sleep... That is another story in its own. I had a great time and would do it again but man is it hard work! So this goes to you Ma and you truly are an amazing woman for how you manage it all!



Starting to get the posing down

 Ciao for now,    J

Energizer!

March 1st already?! Where has the time gone because I remember when I first started on this journey and it was the week of Thanksgiving. Who starts a diet on the week of Thanksgiving? Yep, this girl! It is getting down to the wire with less than 5 weeks to go and I am getting nervous to say the least. Yesterday in the gym was a weird day... It was not a bad workout but it did not feel like a good one either. It was shoulder day which I have grown to love and I am pretty sure my shoulders are starting to look like small boulders when I work them, which by the way is RAD! I have to admit I am in a funk the past couple days and on top of that I am worried about too many things to list which is probably the reason for the mediocre work out. If you know me, you know that I am always on the go and as Batman once said to not only me but to Robin as well, "You are like the energizer bunny, do you have a D battery in your behind that keeps you going and going?" Why yes, I just might! Kidding but seriously when it comes down to it, mental focus and positive self-talk are what keep me going even when I feel like giving up. More than anything, I have learned that I am one tough chick both mentally and physically and bad days aside, its time to bear down and push forward. Thanks to all of you who have been with me and behind me this entire time! It really helps knowing that there is love and support all around especially when you feel like leaning on someone.

Ciao for now,      J