Happy Halloween!

I don't know about you, but this is the cutest little fairy I've ever seen!

Kira and I went trick-or-treating last night. Fayetteville celebrated on Saturday this year, so we went around our block and filled her little bucket with all kinds of goodies. Her and I both had some chocolate together and then threw the rest into our bowl and handed it out to trick-or-treaters as they came to our house. Ghetto? Smart maybe. :) I can't have chocolate laying around my house! Lol.

Friday night we went to a Halloween party at a friend's. I decided to opt out of the Rainbow Bright costume I had originally planned to wear, and bought some wings and a tutu so I could match my little date. :) She had a lot of fun at the party eating cookies and playing with the balloons.

Hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween!

Competition Photos

Photos by Bersano Photography of Chicago, IL

A Week of Recovery - For the Body and Mind

I took this past week off from training. I promised myself during my final week of competition training, that I would give it to myself - I've worked hard, and I deserved it. :) Sunday after the competition, I ate so many sweets that I literally made myself sick! Monday morning I had a not-so-clean breakfast, and when I felt like poo all over again, I realized that my body has adapted to this whole process, and I actually craved real, clean food. So the diet has been back on track ever since (I hate to call it a diet since diets always fail - it's a lifestyle). I've had more carbs than I would normally have, but everything has been healthy options, so no sweat.

Not going to the gym has been a challenge for me, however! I can't wait to get back into the gym on Monday morning! Lol. I know that I needed the break, and I think it was a smart decision, and my body will probably thank me later - but boy is it hard!!

I've had some extra time to myself since I wasn't going to the gym, and it gave me time to think and reflect, and really focus on where I am going with all of this. I trained so hard for that competition, and counted down the weeks until it finally got here, then it's all over...so then what? I suppose it's normal to feel a bit let down after a competition - you're so used to having something to look forward to, then all of the sudden, life is back to normal. Well, I spent a lot more time this week playing with Kira. She sort of got thrown on the back-burner the last couple of weeks, and I really wanted to spend some time just playing and spending time with her and showing her all of my love. It's really been a great week with her. She amazes me so much, and she's literally growing up right before my eyes.

I also re-evauluated my plan for the future. I have been planning to start my own small online training business, but kept going back and forth with it. It won't bring in a lot of income - but I don't need that. I really want to help people. I've realized since this whole journey started that I've inspired A LOT of people. I get emails daily on training and diet advice. I want people to reach their goals just like I did. So, my online business is a go. I'm going to go for it. It may turn out to be a huge flub, but I'm going to give it a whirl. I feel like it's the direction God is pulling my heart in, so I'm going with it. So keep a lookout for that! I'm studying for my Nutrition certification, and once I take that test, I hope to launch the website. So pray for me, that this is God's will, and that things fall into place as I begin to work on this over the next couple of months. Of course, I'll still be training downtown. I love my job, and wouldn't miss that one-on-one training for anything!

Lastly, I started a Dave Ramsey financial course at my church. I'm so excited to pay off debt, save money for retirement, and be able to pay for my kids to go to college in the future. What a blessing this class will be!

So, my competition is over. There will be more, but not until after the holidays. Now I have more goals to accomplish, and other things to look forward to. It's all about enjoying the moment. Enjoy everyday like it's your last day on Earth. :)

Clean Eating - Easier Than It Seems

If you're like me, you've probably picked up one of the many diet and/or cookbooks that advertise clean eating - and then sat it right back on the shelf after looking at some of the ingredients listed in there. Sucanat? Agave Nectar? Flax seed? Wheat germ? What the heck is that and where on Earth do you buy it from?? That was my delimma before I jumped on the clean eating bandwagon. I didn't know what this stuff was, and I wasn't willing to go outside of the comfort of my local grocery store or Walmart to find it.

Well, there is good news: You don't HAVE to buy those things. I survived many months on basic clean food that even a college student could handle in a studio apartment. Fresh veggies: I would just eat them fresh or steam them with salt and pepper. Fresh fruit: can be found in every grocery store. Lean protiens: I ate chicken breast, ground turkey, egg whites, fish, and protien shakes - usually on the grill or on the skillet, nothing fancy. Starches: Minute brown rice and oatmeal were staples for me, followed by the easiest of all - baked potatoes. :) This is all fine, and trust me - you will see results. I did.

But then I got bored. I got tired of eating a lot of the same foods and I became a little jealous of my non-clean-eating friends who got to enjoy yummy meals and sweet desserts. So I started to do my research. I started with dessert since I have a huge sweet tooth. I looked up numerous recipes - most of which had either sucanat or agave nectar in it. I found some other recipes that sounded good, but that had ingredients that I'd never heard of or had seen in the grocery store. So I made a list, and took it down to the local whole foods market here in town. I asked the lady working there what in the heck all these things were, and she helped me find everything I needed, AND explained what they were! (Sucanat is non-refined cane sugar, and agave nectar is a sweetner produced from several species of agave.) I loaded up on these "weird" ingredients, spent about $50, and went home and made some really delicious treats! I just made no-bake cookies this past weekend that taste just like the real thing! But they are good for me!

So, clean eating is easy. There are some daunting ingredients out there, but if you make one trip a month (or less) to the organic section of your grocer or your local whole foods market, you will find everything that you need - and the rest can be found where you usually shop! Don't be scared to try something new - you may be surprised with how good it tastes!

**If you live in Fayetteville, check out The Apple Crate on Reaford Rd. or in Hope Mills. The Food Lion at the Westwood Shopping Center also has a great organic/whole foods section that has all your clean eating needs. :)

Enjoy!

I Did It!

Well I did it!!!!! One of my life long dreams has come true. I competed in my first fitness competition! Woohoo!
I had a blast this past weekend in Chicago. The show ended up being much smaller than the previous years which was kind of a bummer, but it wasn't so small that everyone got trophies. There were 12 girls in the Bikini division, and 7 in the tall class. I placed 4th in my division. I was a little disappointed after the show because I thought I should have been 2nd, 3rd or even 1st. But that's the thing with these competitions. There's a lot of politics, and it's very subjective judging. You never know who is going to win. I'm very happy that I did it. And I got a trophy!!
Now I am back to reality. Will I do it again? More than likely. My coaches just put me on a building plan to build more muscle and add a little size. I'd like to be able to cross over into Figure in the future. I like how fun the Bikini division is, but Figure is judged more scientifically, and I like that. So for now, weightlifting and eating will be the name of the game!! My goal is to compete again in the late spring/early summer.
After the show, I enjoyed some Chicago-style pizza with my friends. It was SO yummy! That many carbs all at once, made me SO sleepy though, and we went home and went to bed. So much for a celebration! :) Sunday, I ate a good breakfast then treated myself to a yummy cupcake and had some chocolate at the airport on the way home. All those sweets made for a bad tummy ache that night though! So today I am back on track with my clean eating. It feels good. My body is used to good food, and I'm glad for that. So that's it!
I will post some photos of the actual show when I get the CD from the photographer.
Thanks to everyone for the support throughout this journey. I've been truly blessed to have such a strong supportive network around me.