Goals, Fitness and So much more!!

Ok so its been a while since I have posted. There has been so much going on! I am now a Consultant for Isagenix and I couldn’t be happier, I love sharing  this product with people. It has made such a difference in my life and how healthy I feel. I am also plugging away at my Health Coach Business, with lots of great things in the works. I have a webinar coming up June 17th at 6:30pm http://battlethesugarattack.enterthemeeting.com/m/do_register It is on how to Battle the Sugar Attack, If you have time Tuesday night please sign up there is some great information! I am also planning some workshops for later in the summer so stay tuned for that.

 

Now my journey….so I decided that 2014 was going to be an out of the box kind of year. What does that mean? It means I am taking it buy the horns and doing some stuff that scares me or something that I just wouldn’t normally do. As Cathy Savage says ” Trust the Process” I am taking that into consideration for everything I do in life. I started my journey this year with the decision to Compete in a Figure Competition, I am now about 10 weeks out excited and scared but I know that it is something I can do. I love having such an extreme goal to meet. I have been eating really good meals, hitting the gym at crazy hours to get it in and I feel on top of the world. I am now in the midst of posing practice, suit selection and just “Trusting the Process” I have an excellent coach and awesome team with Cathy Savage Fitness I am so excited to see what’s in store as this is just the beginning of my journey.

Next I went down some water slides on vacation…to some this might not seem like a big deal, but for people who have some Anxiety their brain starts going…kind of like this, what if my top comes off….what if everyone is watching me….oh my I’m so scared…I can’t do that. Well I shut it all up and had some fun. I went down the easiest of the two first and guess what non of the above happened I was just fine and I enjoyed it! So I decided to go down the enclosed slide. It was pitch black and some panic set in about getting to the bottom and I was shaking when I was done. But I felt great!!!

Next up was a Trampoline boot camp which I am going to be doing again every Saturday. It was an awesome experience and just  really fun time! I suggest you give it a try if you have a Flight Trampoline Park in your Area. And in July I am running my first mud run with Dirty Girl Mud Run. My competition is in August and I am going to just keep going with out of the box.

I have been working on establishing my business, I got really sick with Lyme Disease and that really knocked the wind out of my sail. But I got back up dusted myself off and am now going full steam ahead.

Once I compete I will post some before and after pictures on here. As always feel free to leave questions and comments. This Month I want you to try one think that scares, any one thing and let me know how you feel. I bet you wont be able to stop smiling after and you will feel on top of the world. Too often we live in fear of the what ifs…instead of just going for it!

 

Now a little rant…I don’t usually say anything but since when did it become everyone’s business why I eat chicken at 9 am or carry a large cooler around. Does it bother you that I bring my water bottle to meetings? If I walked in with a Donut and a coffee people wouldn’t look twice but throw in some healthy and its like I have two heads. Please respect the fact that I am working towards a goal and being healthy and fit is my lifestyle which I love. Don’t make it such a big deal that I carry my water around and I eat chicken at odd times of the day and I promise I wont make a big deal over your double mocha latte and two donuts 🙂 (Thank you I had to get that off my chest)

Have a great night! Keep plugging away at life and enjoy!

 

 

 

Women and Weights

Women and Weight Lifting

Weight Room in the Estes (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So…I don’t know how many of you ladies out there throw some weights around in the weight room but I will tell you it’s an amazing feeling.

Now I am not some athlete or superwomen…I used to play sports in high school and after that I dabbled in working out at the gym, some running here and there and some work out DVDs but nothing serious and at that time I didn’t need to…But I was what people are now labeling as skinny fat which means ya your skinny but that’s about it, there was no muscle tone. After having my first daughter at age 24 everything went back the way it was pretty easily and I also decided to train for my first ever 5k. I completed it and have never done one again, running is fine but racing is just not my thing. I am so happy I completed my goal.

After baby number 2 at age 28 and several weeks of bed rest things…well they didn’t go back to where they were. I still had the extra 15 pounds and mommy tummy that wouldn’t budge. So I started lifting some weights at home…here and there and doing some workout videos but I wasn’t sticking with anything long-term. I would get distracted by everything going on at home.

So at 30 I decided to join a gym again….I have…for several years now wanted to try my hand at a Figure competition so I figure I would join the gym and compete a few months later. HAHA…I had quite a bit of muscle-building to do.

I joined a women’s only gym in August 2012. I started out with a trainer because it had been a while. She gave me a plan and I was just starting out with two days a week to fit it into my schedule, then around December 2012 I added in a third day and I was training on my own creating my own programs.

In May 2013 I switched gyms….to a coed gym and I was nervous. I walked into the weight room and wanted to run right out looking at all the big men lifting ridiculous amounts of weights and there was little 5 ft 2 me. But I didn’t run I pulled up my big girl panties and picked up some dumbbells and after my first day that was it I was hooked. Now I can’t stop…I have made sure I can get in my three days every week! It is part of my life. I started out in August 2012 lifting 5 pound dumbbells for bicep curls and am now up to 15 lbs. Do I look like a man, no!

That’s just it…you will not look like a man unless you are using steroids or other growth stimulating products that effect your hormones. And while the weight room can be intimidating at first it is such an awesome place! You can start with a trainer who will show you the equipment and help you with form, when your ready you can go off on your own! I need some more ladies in the weight room.

You will put on muscle, lose fat and just look  better in your clothes. Trust me, people have asked me are you loosing weight and I honestly don’t know…because I don’t weight myself. I don’t own a scale!! I go by how I feel, how my clothes fit and now by the complements I get. Putting on muscle weights more than fat so I don’t stress over the scale right now, I just feel healthy and that’s what matters. If you are going to weigh yourself do it no more than once a week and at the same time of day. Don’t panic if it fluctuates from time to time and don’t stress over a pound or two its the overall trend you want to look at. Even better take pictures each month of front back and side. This will really show you the difference even if the scale isn’t budging much.

Yes the women’s gyms are great, but I think I lift harder and heavier when I lift with the men, I leave feeling like I got something done and I look forward to going back and trying to do better than I did the day before.

I want all you ladies out there to pick up some weights, at home, at the gym in your yard…anywhere! Just get out there and give it a try…Get off all the machines and switch it up a bit. Hours of cardio does not build the muscle.

Let me know how you do and how it made you feel! Enjoy

 

My Journey to becoming a Figure Competitor 2

So it has been a few weeks since my shoulder injury. I have been back in the gym, still feeling some discomfort and my strength has gone down. It is almost embarrassing to be back at 10lb dumbbells for my bicep curls, and even that is tough. But hey I can’t rush it and risk being out for good.

This week has been a bit slow, I am taking a few days off from the gym…feeling kind of run down. I hope to be back at boxing tomorrow and then heading back to the gym on Friday!

I have switched up my training routine as well. I am back to a three-day split with full body work out. I found that the three days was actually working better for me than the 5 days with body part splits. I lost a lot of strength and muscle definition by going to the 5 day split. This just goes to show how different everyone’s body really is.

Here is what I am working with right now. But I might switch it up again soon…I often get in the gym and go through my routine then at the end add an exercise for a body part I felt needed more work or seemed to be too easy to finish.

Monday, Wednesday and Friday

Squats                                  Bench Press                           Curtsy Lung

Lunges                                  Bicep Curl                              Reverse Lung

Pull up                                  Leg Curls                                 Push ups

Lat Pull Down                     Abductors                                 Ez Bar Curl

Leg Press                              Incline Dumbbell Press        Lying Leg Curl

Lying Leg Curls                   Military Press                         Leg Extensions

Calf Raises                            Step Ups                                  Calf Raises

Seated row                            Dips                                           Lat  Pull down

One Arm Dumbbell Row   Tricep Pull Down                    Seated Row

Hyperextension                   Shrugs                                       Hyperextension

Bent Row                               Upright Row                            Hammer Curl

I like to add in deadlifts too usually at the end. On Tuesday and Thursday I am still boxing and doing my ab work.

Hope you enjoy and any ideas on workouts would be great. I am always looking for something new.  I am also looking for a more local show in the October, November time frame. Heading to Vegas would be great but a huge expense that I can’t under take right now. But hey who knows…time will tell!