When you feel good, share it!

Two blogs in a row? Shocking! I just wanted to share that today I had a really good day. I woke up feeling refreshed and ready for the week and was totally looking forward to my 5am workout. For the first time ever, I'm liking being a "morning person" and I never thought that day would come. Starting the day with a hardcore workout, whether it be HIIT, body building or a little bit of everything, really puts me in a good mood. It's very tempting to do this everyday.... I notice I don't get as frustrated with my kids while they get ready for school (and bicker) and I don't feel totally stressed. It's a win win for the whole family! 

With a positive vibe, you'll attract positive people in your life. The world isn't perfect, I get that, but if you can help what you're surrounded by, you're setting yourself up for success. And when you fail, because in reality, failure happens, the positive tribe you have surrounded yourself with, will be there to help you and support you. 

Back to my good day. I just felt good. The scale is moving down and I can see physical changes. I made myself hit my workout hard and I took some video and some gym selfies, because well, it was THAT kind of day! I was stopped numerous times and complimented about the hard work I've been putting in and that it isn't going unnoticed. That's such an awesome thing to hear. Getting that positive feedback and compliments can boost your confidence. Simple words go a long way. 

I got to the gym at 5am living my #thuglife haha But I felt comfortable because I was  wearing what I feel most comfortable in and of course, I had a fresh inTANsified spraytan. Wink wink... My clients can vouch for me, there's just something about a spray tan that makes you feel ready to conquer the world. Seriously. 

When watching my training videos back, immediately I focused in on my flaws. Cellulite. Jiggle. Squish. But then I thought, f**k it. I feel GOOD and I'm doing WORK. Unfortunately I have been cursed with some intense cellulite on the back of my thighs. I don't even know when I slim down and muscles up more if it will go away. Some people are just screwed and I may be one of them. I might as well just own it. I'm blogging from my phone so I'm not sure how to share my video in this blog, but once I morph them all together I will. In the meantime I will leave you with my selfie photo sesh. Because hey, when you feel good, share it. Confidence. Rock it. Own it. 

This is an impressive angle for quads! Haha! 

Because KCCO. I'm probably the oldest chick ever sportin' a Chivette hat!! 

Jacked and Tan. Okay, maybe not jacked....yet! But definitely tan! 

I got to end my day with a couple tans and then watching my little baller on the field. He's like my own Chicken Little! He has a little strike zone. So he either gets walked or powders the ball! It got super cold but it was a good win. 

Sometimes it just depends on which ear I choose to be deaf in...... Happy Monday peeps! 

Because Entrepreneur-Mom Life.

Holy tan lines, makeup, kids, bodybuilding, girlfriend, carb cycling, working, entrepreneur-mom LIFE!!! I haven't blogged since January!! Time flies when you're busy a f**k and loving life...well, most of the time. I don't even know where to begin to bring you up to speed. This could turn out to be really long, or rushed and brief. In my case, probably long and full rambling.
Kids are awesome, busy with school and sports. I've been so busy that I've actually had to sacrifice attending a few games. I definitely don't like having to do that and some people think that living the entrepreneur life means making your own hours, which IS true, but when you're building a business and you're a one man show, sacrifices need to be made. Of course my kids are my priority, they are my "WHY" of my success, but that doesn't mean that I don't ever miss out on something involving them. As long as we communicate and they know I'm proud of them and support them, then I don't feel guilty missing a game or two.

My oldest son Trey and I went to a "Reality Tour" for teenagers and parents to experience "real" situations of students using and over dosing on drugs as well as become educated on what is bad in this area. The best part of the night was the hour and a half we sat in Denny's together and talked about life. I am proud of this young man....

 

Gianna is doing a great job on the softball field, primarily playing catcher and pitcher. She is also playing on a club basketball team doin' work! Steven is Steven. Small but mighty little baller. 

 

And the Beasty Baby. Growing up so fast and keeping us on our toes 24/7. If he had been my first born, he may have been my only born! He's definitely in the ranks for cutest toddler award though. F bombs and all......

 

Let's catch up on my fitness plan. There isn't one. You're all caught up. Okay, for real, I don't have any competitions or huge goals right now. Ultimately, weight loss and muscle gains. That may sound a bit confusing, but I'd like to shed about 10 pounds but continue to build up the muscle. I've upped my cardio and I'm about to start week two of my carb cycling challenge. Those two things combined are super fun. Not. Scott and I have a mini day trip to our favorite place in just 20 days from today. we are determined to stick to our healthy eating until then! Because when we get there, it Cheesecake Factory, Carthay Circle, churros, dole whips, roasted corn...what am I missing babe??  And then it's about swimsuit season, which I don't typically think much about, but I was invited to a bachelorette weekend in Santa Barbara with a bunch of 20 something young babes.... I'd like to not wear a tent while chillen' at the beach. My training consists of two days high intensity early AM workouts, four days lifting with Scott and an additional 30 minute cardio sesh on a mid week "off day". Seems to be working. I haven't returned to the Crossfit scene since my competition.... I don't really have a reason why. When I'm in the moment I love it. LOVE it. But I truly enjoy my workouts with Scott and doing more power lifting type workouts. I seriously go back and forth on what to do. Right now I am pretty content with what I'm doing, but maybe I'll still go back.....

Mine and Scott's workouts together haven't been quite as consistent as they use to be, but hopefully this week we get back on track!

In March my work Give Fitness, celebrated its two year anniversary! Two awesome years! Shown here with us are our new friends that we have gotten to know thanks to Give. You can even listen to an up close and person interview on Scott's podacast, Fathom with O'Farrell with Brad Daughtry shown in the picture with his badass wife Becky.

Have to share a pic of me and my PIC cuz we da' (insert poop emoji)! Do you ever wonder how you survived life with out that ONE friend sometimes?? 

 

Some photo booth fun with my man beast. Last year at this time he was so sick! We ended up in the ER the next morning. Luckily, he survived and made it another year so he could celebrate. We are a team to be reckon with...watch out! 

Scott has been working hard on bringing his thoughts, ideas and goals a reality. Last month 

Redbash Media was created. It's a huge variety of everything. Business, humor, fitness, reality....so much and something for everyone. inTANsified was featured as the first business of the month as well as I got to do my first podcast interview. Go listen and hear about how I was once just a G living the "thug life". He's got big plans and with more followers and support, the more Redbash grows! I'm excited for him. Make goals, kill them and then make some more. 

 

I don't drink coffee. I drink chai. But I'm all about that quote even though its poor quality. I couldn't find a better version. "Do what you love, love what you do" I've been using a similar hashtag for that since I became a Younique presenter AND launched inTANsified two years ago! I do what I want and what I love every single day. Who knew my little mobile spray tanning business would evolve to where it is today. Let me show you.....

 

OMG. YES! This is inTANsifieds new location. I am now spray tanning out of Mod Studio in downtown Paso Robles. And know what it even more amazing?! All those pictures is ALL inTANsified! Talk about kick ass tanning parties! Champagne, music and tanning....we have a good time. Originally I had  no intentions of going away from my mobile business, this was just to have a nice location for my clients that preferred to come to me instead of bringing them to my converted "studio" which needed a lot of work. But once I announced that I had an actual studio location, my business began to sky rocket. Talk about not being prepared for the amazing response I received! I actually thought having a studio may hurt my business, and I couldn't have been more wrong. What went from a "occasional on the side" location has turned into a full time business. I averaged 5-9 tans per day as a mobile business, factoring in traveling time, set up and take down and chatting with my clients. I have now more then doubled my per day average.  I DO continue to offer mobile services and I have my VIP clients that have been mobile since day one but 80% of my business is out of Mod. I am still in awe everyday when I walk in and look around.... This is where my little business has gotten me. I only launched there in March but have hosted numerous tan parties there as well as a full on photo shoot with some of my lovely clients turned friends. My clients. They are golden to me. no pun intended haha. I would not be where I am at without them. Of course I couldn't be successful without Scott's support and help, it takes both of us to work together to hold our village together. But my clients, I've been through so much with them... weddings, babies, sad times, happy times, breakups, engagements, body transformations....when I see them share pictures of their weddings, engagement photos, maternity, fitness....whatever it may be... I'm like a proud mom every time. The smile of confidence that I assisted in putting there...that is what this is all about. I've turned my passion of making others feel better about themselves into a career. All the late hours and long days aren't work when you love what you do...

 

From photo shoot day at the studio! So much fun, boobs and laughter!

 

My new makeup business logo. I am in LOVE with it. I'm going to focus my next blog on Makeup Beast because when I get started talking about it, it can end up just as long as my inTANsified chat! We could be here all night! 

 

And my inTANsified logo. Pretty sick. I love the red script. Sums up my passion in three simple words.

 

Always hustling. My list grows daily with new ideas for both inTANsified and Makeup Beast. Going out and beyond this central coast living....the sky it truly the limit. I am anxiously getting some of my new ventures started, my expectations for my businesses are limitless. Combined with Scott's expectations for Redbash Media....and we haven't even shared our goals and plans for what we have on our plates for our future with you yet. You think we put our whole lives on social media but you have no idea. You may think we post too much, but you haven't seen nothing yet. 2016 is only four months in and its been an amazing year so far. No doubt it's had it's ups and downs, not joke that some days I felt completely overwhelmed, which is not a common feeling for me, nor a feeling I care to have ever, but I can't complain. We aren't where we want to be just yet, but every day we work hard and move a step closer to the big picture. Being an entrepreneur is about ups and downs, struggles and accomplishments, failures and successes. You can't please everyone and there will always be haters trying to ridicule you and bring you down. If you can't tune that out and focus on YOU and your business, then you won't be successful and you will waste a lot of time consumed with something you can't control. Be classy.

 

I follow so many other women and men entrepreneurs in business, fitness and motivational speaking here locally as well as globally. They deal with haters on the daily and it doesn't phase them or what they are doing in the business world. I admire that and I learn from that and it truly makes for a more positive and uplifting way of life.

 

This is a hashtag on almost everyone one of my posts. I've done what I wanted since I was a kid and I still do what I want now. Take it or leave it. Love me or hate me. Or at least like me....haha Soooooo...that is life in a nutshell right now. A very big nutshell. I'm going to TRY and stay up on my blogging game again. At LEAST 1-2 times a week. I've said daily before, but that turned out to be quite unrealistic. 1-2 times a weeks seems do able. We shall see.....

On THAT note my peeps......

SLO County Games 2016....another check off the bucket list.

Yes peeps. I DID it. I competed in my FIRST Crossfit competition! SLO County Games 2016 was just yesterday. My home Crossfit box, Atascadero Crossfit puts this event on in celebration of their years in business. This was year number three! One word to best describe this experience for me is just WOW. Yes, WOW. It truly was an awesome, emotional and amazing experience. The anxiety and fear I felt as each day got closer and closer to this event does not even come close to what I was feeling on the morning of the competition and the minutes before the buzzer went off for WOD #1. You would think that once I completed WOD #1 that I'd be less nervous and my appetite would come back before WOD #2.... Not. A. Chance. Getting any food in my system that day was difficult. So, here's a briefing of what the competition entailed: It was a partner competition. Two WODS. Top two qualifying teams from each level (Mens RX/modified, Womens RX/modified) moved on to mystery WOD #3. Cori, (who you should all be familiar with per my previous blogs) was my partner in the womens modified level. We trained together and separately and had goals set for the competition day. We completed both WODS strong and I couldn't be more proud of us! Although we didn't place in the top two of our level, I can't complain. We were up against some fierce competition!

Team PRcrastinators!

 

Here's the honest truth. If it hadn't been a partner competition and if I hadn't paid the registration fee to compete, most likely I wouldn't have gone through with it. I would've used the excuse that I couldn't miss my kids basketball games. I remember while working out with Scott one day, telling him I didn't think I wanted to do it. Especially since box jumps and dumbbell thrusters were announced in WOD #2. This wouldn't have been new for me. To not follow through. To freak out and bail. To let my fears get the best of me. To over think and suck the fun right out of the experience. I couldn't bail on my friend. I needed to prove to myself that I could complete something. I went to bed Friday night thinking I felt sick and couldn't determine if it was actually nerves or I was coming down with something. I didn't sleep well and I woke up feeling cold and my stomach was rolling. Scott prepped me this delicious breakfast and I ate a total of four bites. He dropped me off at 7am for check in and although I felt a bit more at ease being at ACF, the nerves were still on one. When the competition finally started, the music was up and the cheering was going.... Cori and I started warming up for we were in the second heat. Everything is kind of foggy up until that point. One of our ACF coaches Sarah was our judge and that made the experience that much more fun. WOD #1 was completed better then any of our practice runs and we were so stoked. While waiting for WOD #2, I felt sick all over again. There were more challenges for me in WOD #2. My thrusters sucked but I did those damn box jumps. We completed it quicker then our practice runs again. Success!!!

ACF Competitors!

 

Here is the link to the full coverage that Scott recorded. He posted it to his YouTube channel tonight. He filmed some of it live on Periscope which made for poor quality when transferred, but still awesome to watch. I have to admit, when I first watched it, I got a bit emotional. I wasn't blubbering my eyes out like when I watch Toy Story 3 or Tangled, but I had to swallow the lump in my throat a bit. Some of you may be thinking, "It was just a Crossfit competition!" insert eye roll. And you're right, it was just a Crossfit competition to many. But for me, it was getting out of my comfort zone. It was me overcoming a fear. It was not letting my friend down. It was not doubting myself. It was completing something that I said I was going to do "someday". It was so much more then just a Crossfit competition to me. It was proof that you can conquer anything if you put your mind to it. I'm 36 years old and have been through more then I wish on anyone. I have managed to balance a relationship, four kids, work, my own businesses, fitness and life...it can be tough, but it's clearly not impossible. Being told that I motivate, inspire and uplift other women is reward all in itself. I am not the warm and fuzzy type, but if anything gets me, it's knowing that I'm sending positive vibes out to women all over. I can't wait to sit down with the kids and have them check out the competition.

 

A Powerlifter and Crossfitter

Scott spent the whole day at ACF with us. In the video you can clearly hear him cheering us on and I know when he and I were making eye contact. To have him there supporting me meant the world to me. Although we workout together we don't always see eye to eye in the fitness world. This morning he said something to me that I wasn't expecting and meant more then I think he realized. A couple months ago I canceled my ACF membership for a couple different reasons. Life had gotten a bit crazy and finances. I sadly canceled to help better our financial situation. Obviously I workout at Give but there is just something about being in the box. Anyway, life moved on and I knew my decision to cancel was for the better. This morning he told me that he thinks I should join ACF again. He could see my passion for it and how much I love being there and a part of the ACF family. He enjoyed being at the event and between me doing Crossfit and his future in Powerlifting competitions, we see many events in the future. I am so excited. Of course I had to share the exciting news with Cori!! This competition opened up so many doors for me and to have Scott by my side cheering me on will make it all possible. He and I have goals, some that we haven't even shared with our closest friends and family. But everyday we get a little closer to reaching these goals. We have a vision and behind that vision is determination. Everything we do has a purpose. We have started making connections and putting ideas that we have written in countless notebooks into play. Some think we put our whole lives on social media....but oh....you have NO idea what we haven't shared yet....and you know what is helping us get there? Being ourselves. People are seeing that we are genuine. We have struggles. We have victories and we have failures. We make it work with children and we find a balance. We do it all together. Now don't me wrong, we have our time apart as well, but people are learning who we are as a TEAM. And we have big plans.

This is a screenshot from the Periscope video

 

My first competition is in the books. I'll say it again. What an amazing and awesome experience. I can't thank Cori enough for being the most wonderful partner! I am so thankful for our friendship, true friends are hard to come by and you're as true as they come! Thank you ACF coaches for believing in me! I'll be back at ACF soon! Thank you babe for supporting my passion and encouraging me to go back. And to all the competitors, congratulations!! SLO County Games 2016, mission accomplished!!!!



New Year! New You! And all that other bullsh...... GREAT Stuff!!

Happy New Year! I haven't blogged since November of last year. It's been a minute. I could try to re-cap from where I left off, but unfortunately, my memory is extremely short term. No joke. Makes me kind of wonder if I will suffer from Alzheimer someday. I'm completely baffled when other moms know exactly the time their children were born, their weight, nurses names, room they delivered in and all. I'm lucky if I can get my kids names straight.... Anyway, where was I going with this? Probably nowhere.
Here we are, a new year. 2015 is long gone. It seems like every year everyone wants to be better then they were the year before. I get it. But why not be the same badass bitch every year? There is ALWAYS room for improvement in all aspects of our lives. Every day. I can have more patience with my kids. I can put my phone down more. I can stop living beyond my means and I can eat more veggies and stop bitching about losing weight. Yes, there is always room for improvement. That doesn't mean I'm going to be better then I was last year though... Overall I am a good person, with good intentions. I have manners and bite my tongue when necessary. I'll always be sarcastic and I will always have a "suck it up, you're not dying" attitude.

Well shit. Maybe I am contradicting myself. Maybe all these things do equal to a "New Year, New YOU" since I DO want to put my phone down more (this hasn't improved yet, but it's only day eight of the new year, cut me some slack) and I DO want to budget better. Alright, alright, 2016, I'm coming for you.

 

So, what IS in store for myself, Scott and our children this year? It's a good thing I've taken the time to blog today. When I do this and set goals, it puts everything back in perspective and reminds me of WHY I made these goals in the first place. The kids are busy as always. School and sports. I dyed some of Gianna's hair pink and it fits her free spirit style. Potty training is in Cruz's future. Lucky little beast. Trey made the junior high basketball team. Love to watch that. I had no idea I'd be more of a basketball mom the baseball mom. Steven won first place in a free throw contest. He was the youngest, tiniest dude out there and he owned it. Baller.

 

Merry Christmas 2015

 

Scott and I have a goal to get out of debt. This clearly goes along with living within our means. Which also means, less eating out, which means more protein and veggies at home, which ties in with WEIGHT LOSS! I've done a bit better. I've made my portions smaller and been keeping up with my workouts 5-6 days a week. My appetite has shrunk some and that's a good feeling. Pretty sure this was all part of 2015's "New Year, New You"..... Scott is getting stronger and working on weight loss also. He has a goal to compete in a Powerlifiting Comp. He's got plans. He's also becoming quite skilled in his YouTube skills as well as his blog. I posted his latest video to my blog and I will ad a link to his blog as well so you can follow him. He's quite the Podcast guru and can definitely teach you a thing or two in the world of business, social media, health and fitness. Hopefully he will shave the beard back down to a goatee soon since "No Shave November" ended months ago. Ya, ya, ya, I still love him even if he looks like a lumberjack.

What else do I have going on? Well, I'll tell you something that makes my anxiety go up just thinking about it... I'll be competing in my FIRST Crossfit competition. Yikes. It is a partner competition so lucky Cori will be my partner. I have mixed emotions about this. I love that she will be by my side pushing me along, but I worry that I may hold her back from winning. She is strong in all areas where I am trying my best but not quite to her level. We DO make a good team and so I think it will be fun. Scary as shit. But fun.
I'm of course still at Give Fitness. Loving it just as much now as I have since we opened almost two years ago!! Wow. I won't be leaving there. Ever. I will be 90 years old a deadlifiting. Maybe just a PVC pipe, but I will be lifting something and caring for great grandkids of the kids I see today. Or something like that....
I purchased a new Journal on January 1st with the intentions to begin journaling everyday and using it for ideas (such as business, fitness, blogs etc.). Do you know how many times I have written in it? A big fat zero. I'll start tomorrow. Business is fabulous. Busy and a lot of the reason I have not taken the time to blog. By the end of a busy day, I just don't feel like racking my brain for words. People often think my business will slow down in the winter, but in fact, it tends to be even busier then the summer. My "winter" clients emerge because their natural summer glows have faded and some people just don't care to look like polar bears. Thank goodness for that. My regulars stay regular and you'd be surprised at the amount of peeps that take tropical vacations this time of year. I would to, if you know, I wasn't budgeting and living "within my means" yay. I have started producing my own line of exfoliating sugar scrub for my clients featuring Young Living essential oils. Yes, that's as "crafty" as I will ever get. And tracing a childs hand with crayons onto paper. That's crafty. My sugar scrub is available for purchase and made per order. All my clients deserve the freshest product. I have some other ideas related to my inTANsified business that I will share when I have more of it put together. I am excited that I recently joined forces with my hair stylist and we have put together a package to go along with "New Year, New YOU!!" For a great discounted price you can get a color, cut and style AND a full body tan. It's amazing. I highly recommend it.

Just because I like to break up my writing a bit. Here we are. Scott is having a "moment" and my eyes look tired as f**k.

 

But. Not for long! Do you remember prior to me starting my inTANsified business I was a kick ass presenter for Younique?! I sky rocketed to a blue presenter status (it was kind of a big deal in the Y world) but then I became so consumed with inTANsified that I lost focus of my Y biz and totally neglected it. Sad I know. But now that I have found balance in my inTANsified business, I'm back as a Y presenter and ready to reach and surpass my last status. Out of all the direct sales companies I have ever been a part of, Younique is my favorite and I love the product. Bye-Bye to these tired dark circles. I'm ready to impress you with my makeup skills.... This time around will be tougher. The company has grown tremendously and there are quite a few presenters here. I'm ready for the challenge. I'm always supportive and ready to empower other women.....but I'm also competitive and I like to see my name at the top. Tomorrow I have a bit of downtime in between a billion basketball games and will be setting a business plan up.

 

Yes.

www.youniqueproducts.com/tanlinesnmakeup

 

I love the business world. I love the fitness world.  I love motivating others. Being in business and having a passion for fitness allows me to motivate so many others. Scott and I are stopped daily and asked about all kinds of different subjects as well as our personal goals. We are thanked for being motivating and we are praised for "being real". We share our struggles, we share our victories and we never sugar coat anything. I don't have a college background. You may be able to tell in my juvenile type blogs. I don't try to sound like an expert and I don't use big words that I had to look up on how to spell them (partly fear of using the word in the wrong context and looking like a big dumb ass). I'm not perfect but I am confident in what I do. Scott and I both are. We know our flaws, some we work on and others just come with the package. It motivates US to be told that we inspired YOU!

 

Alright, time for me to dry my hair and relax with Scott. Last night we watched Wallace the Walrus. I believe the movie is called Husk. I don't think I was in awe and disturbed by a movie as I was that one. If you don't have at least 25 "WTF" moments while watching it, then you're doing it wrong.

 

Hope everyone is off to an amazing 2016. Keep being your bad ass self, just a better version then you were yesterday. Then tomorrow be better then you were today. See? Smart. No college education needed.

 

 

 

2016 A year of Action

Scott put this together and I freaking love it!!! Nice job babe!! Be sure to subscribe to his channel for more fun videos!

Summer bod, I'm coming for ya!

Okay, so it's official, on Tuesday, November 17, 2015, I had Scott take pictures of me to be used as "Before" photos. Time to shed this chub and stop wasting my workouts with bad eating! I haven't set a goal date yet. I am currently 134 pounds and I'd like to lose ten pounds or more, keeping in consideration muscle weight. I need to have a goal date. I will figure that out. This isn't the first time we have taken "Before" photos of me, in fact its probably the third time. But I've never actually had "After" photos to share. I fall off the wagon every single time. It usually starts with dessert one time and that leads to another night of dessert then another until all the healthy eating has gone to shit. I'm going to continue my flexible dieting but focus on filling my daily macros with healthy nutrient filled food and not anything and everything. I've gotten pretty good at making ice cream, pastas and pizza to fit in my macros nicely. Although flexible dieting does allow me to consume fun foods occasionally, I am cutting late night dessert out. I find that when I cut dessert out, the pounds start to shed.

I wish I could see food this way! I LOVE crappy food! It's part of my happy place! While some may thinks its punishment and wrecking havoc on their bodies, for me, good (but bad) food is a treat for me. That may sound awful, but I truly look forward to thinking about what I'm going to eat throughout the day.

I may say hashtag "no excuses" but really, I make an excuse for my eating every day. I truly feel that life is short and I don't want to look back and think "I should have eaten that slice of pizza" which is why I opt for the flexible dieting. Fun food in moderation. I want to loose these extra pounds. I have muscles growing underneath this thick winter body, and it's time I saw them! Plus, I paid a billion dollars for boobs a few years ago, they deserve to rock a hot bikini...haha! So, 2016, I will be summer ready. I better set that goal date...... I CAN do this. No more wasted workouts.

These are my current motivation pictures in my phone. Clearly I have a quad obsession. I want my whole body to be fit, but the ass and quads are my favorite areas to focus on. I know these bodies have taken hard work, healthy eating and dedication. With my workout plan, two days Crossfit for the high intensity cardio and weights and the rest of the week bodybuilding and heavy weights with Scott...... If I dedicate myself to healthy eating, I'm hoping to make some progress and feel more confident with my body. Hopefully it will lean me down and help with my cellulite on the back of my thighs which I am most self conscious about....

And now it is Sunday night. Almost a week since I started this blog. Since then I have consumed pizza, fro-yo, biscuits and gravy, a cupcake and probably some other goodness mixed in there. Not the BEST way to start my week of healthy eating....but there has been more protein and salads in there as well. I have to say, my love and craving for pizza and Ben and Jerry's has diminished. Weird right? I've reached a point where cooking something on the healthier side at home is more appealing then a meal out. Unless it's sushi. Nothing beats eating sushi out.

Today I wore non workout attire. My new skirt that I earned for hosting a LuLaRoe party. I wish I had some short black booty type boots to wear, but I haven't bought myself non workout attire (shoes included!) in I don't know how long! I admit, I like how this skirt made by booty look! It's the one area I get the most compliments on. I have that quad goal like I stated above also, and in the picture that I zoomed in on, there is the slightest hint of some muscles in my leg!! Seriously! For me this is huge. All my life I have always had scrawny stick legs. So to have meat on them AND some muscle is HUGE for me. It's quite exciting really.

Always keeping this in the back of my mind. Lately my schedule has been so busy and so I don't get to workout until later in the day, and I find it hard to stay motivated. I get myself there, whether it's to CrossFit or Give and I am ALWAYS so glad that I did. I've never regretted a workout, but I have regretted not going, feeling guilty. Plus, that adds to my eating excuses "Well, I didn't workout today, so I might as well eat bad!"

That's Christmas Abbott. She's my favorite. She is right up there with Dana Linn Bailey. People always hate on CrossFit, but I don't think she looks weak or has any reason to be hated on as a woman in CrossFit. I have a lot of fitness men and women that I follow on social media. CrossFit, Power Lifting, Bodybuilding....you name it, I follow them and admire each and every one of them for their hard work and dedication.

 

Pictured below is Bart and Gio, husband and wife, owners of the Barbell Brigade, Power Lifters and also popular YouTubers. Funny thing, when Scott and I went to our first fitness expo we walked past their booth and I bought a hat because they have my very favorite logo. The skull with barbell crossbones. If you go on my Instagram and go back many weeks, you will see a selfie of me wearing it. The only time I have worn it. Since then, Scott jacked it and wears it daily. Shithead. Anyway, we have started following them. They are hilarious and go beastmode every workout. I've added them to my top favorite people to follow. Following all these people help keep me motivated as well as inspire me to go after my goals. They are all different and I learn something from each of them. I truly feel that following people that have the same passion as you helps keep you on track. You see them keeping it real and kicking ass daily and it pumps you up. On top of their fitness lifestyle, they are all entrepreneurs. Each of them (Dana and Rob, Bart and Gio, and Christmas) have started very successful businesses. I have my own business with plans for adding to it as well as long term goals that Scott and I will fulfill. You can never educate yourself enough in an industry that is changing and growing everyday. You will fail, probably numerous times, before you succeed.

I went to an Essential Oils holiday party today. I have to admit. I was sucked in to the many uses of essential oils! Holy cow! I had no idea. I had so many different ones on me, I was high on life by the time I left the party haha! Pictured above on the left are all the fun goodies that I made! I am not a crafty type at all, but I was pretty proud of the lovely items that I made. On the right was the delicious spread that my friend Tracy put together. The brownies had oils in them! Everything was bomb. I may be jumping on the essential oil bandwagon.....



Let me finish up this blog with a quick update on my workouts. I recently hit a deadlift PR. It was quite entertaining to hit 205#. For a good laugh, go watch it!  On my blogs home page, there is a link to my YouTube channel on the right hand side. There you can see me ramble live on video daily as well as watch some of my workouts and sometimes Scott is in there at well. I hit a PR at crossfit the other day for Power Cleans as well. 75#. I always get really excited when I am able to do something that I was never able to do before. Which is a lot! I know I am forgetting a lot, with CrossFit two days a week and weights and bodybuilding with Scott four days a week, I feel like I'm finally finding a balance with the two things that I love without killing my body. I post a video almost everyday, so if I don't get to my blog daily or even weekly like I had been trying, you can always see what I am up to on YouTube. So, that's that. Like I said, "before" pictures were taken last Tuesday. My next blog I will have a goal date for reaching my ideal weight...and maybe an idea of when I will share progress pictures? Six weeks? Twelve weeks? Just at the end when I am done? I don't know, posting pictures will be waaaaay out of my comfort zone, but, maybe that will help hold me accountable. We will see......

 

 

 

Finding a balance.

Is it possible to have a passion for two different things? Different, yet kind of the same? It's no secret that my current "obsession" as some might call it, is CrossFit. I've been a member at Atascadero CrossFit for a couple months now and although I still get anxiety before each WOD, the adrenaline rush I get when I complete it is still there. I may be looking like I'm about to pass out and die but really, the adrenaline and feeling of accomplishment is there.

Prior to my CrossFit addiction, Scott and I were doing more bodybuilding. Focusing on certain muscle groups each day. And you know what? I love it also. I loved each week, watching in the mirror, seeing changes, more definition in my muscles and being able to lift heavier. Since focusing more on CrossFit I noticed gaining strength in some areas, but loosing it in others. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed.
So, I decided to try and do both, Two workouts a day, seven days a week. Weights with Scott every afternoon, followed by CrossFit in the evening. I wanted to continue to make those gains with Scott, but still kill it at the box. I was making this work. I wasn't feeling too fatigued or sore, so there must be no problem with it right?
I suppose the double workouts with no days off began to catch up with me. Low weight was feeling extremely heavy and past PR's couldn't be hit, let alone make new ones. Apparently my body was trying to tell me something. When I spoke up on social media about my frustrations and not being able to hit a new deadlift PR one of my CrossFit coaches stepped in and basically told me that I NEEDED to let my body have recovery days and that one CrossFit workout a day is plenty. Ugh.

As someone that 95% of the time wants to "give it her all" (sometimes I just want to lay around and do nothing, even at the gym), the idea of cutting back sucked. On top of that, having to decide, CrossFit or weights? The thing is, I love lifting with Scott. It's been our "thing" that we've been doing together for over a year now. One hour out of the day that we leave the kids and do something that we are both passionate about. Together. The idea of giving that up, actually really bummed me out. We had a mini getaway together last week. We did a quick overnight trip to Disneyland. The way things worked out we ended having FOUR days off from working out. On Monday we hit the gym together but didn't go too hardcore after that long break and horrible eating. My mind actually started leaning towards getting back into focusing primarily on bodybuilding again. But. Then I went to CrossFit on Tuesday and my passion for it all came rushing back. Sure, farmer carries with 35# kettlebells up a hill three times hardly sounds like a blast, but man, it was. The determination I feel once that WOD gets going.... I can't give this up. I love it way too much.

Seriously. I could go on and on about why I love it so much. But now, here I am, pondering on "what do I do?" How do I make my passion for both bodybuilding and CrossFit work? How do I work my schedule out? I've figured out my days off, (Sunday, family relax day and Thursday, crazy insane tanning appointment day) but how do I balance CrossFit and weight training with Scott? I don't want to give up either. Right now I'm thinking three days CrossFit and two days weights, never less then three days CrossFit (partly because I'm a paying member haha! My gym membership is free as I'm an employee there).

This is my first week doing this. I've been battling a lingering shitty headache that is making me not want to train at either place, but I'm still pushing through. No excuses.

I'm the queen of doubting myself. Especially when it comes to CrossFit. Thats why I know I love it, because I still keep going back for more. I've also failed in life. Many times. I could blog about it someday. Going all the way back to when I was just a G throwing around gang signs thinking I was a bad ass. All the way to the current. The most happy, healthy and stable that I've ever been. Yet, still a stressed out freak daily. Failure seems like such a harsh word. I look at my "failures" as learning experiences. I can take something from every single one of them.

I wish I had found my calling at a younger age. I think of where I could be now if I had started this in my earlier 20's. Not mid 30's. I've never found something that doesn't bore me after a short period of time. Jobs, cars, homes, cell phones....luckily not my children haha! But finally. FINALLY I am content with everything in my life. My relationship (it's far from perfect, and we struggle, but we push through and try to focus on the positives in our relationship), my job, my business and the fact that I have TWO places to train is way cool. I hope to move into a bigger home someday and I'd like to have a second vehicle for our family again soon and of course I'd love to be more financially stable, but in time, we will get there. I truly believe that living a healthier lifestyle helps me have a healthier more positive outlook on life. No situation has to be permanent. If you don't like something, then do something. I need to apply this to my "healthy" eating.

I started this blog yesterday afternoon and since then completed another WOD. Squat snatches make me so frustrated. Anything with "clean" or "snatch" in it when referring to CrossFit make me want to punch myself in the throat!! And after a WOD full  of them and pistols, my legs and ass are done for today. I loooooove it. I have so much work to do when it comes to my form and mechanics in CrossFit and I could easily just say screw this and stick with straight bodybuilding, but I'm liking this new challenge in my life. I don't challenge myself enough. I live pretty simple and go with the flow of life. CrossFit is hard for me, and I thrive on the idea of getting better every day that passes.

This is so true on so many different levels. Although this blog may be primarily focused on my struggle between pursuing CrossFit or bodybuilding, it can relate to so many aspects in our lives. I find myself in "dead last" on a regular basis in CrossFit. Normally, that would stress me out and make me extremely self conscious. Not in this case, having people there cheering me on and telling me not to give up is what I need. I find myself pushing myself harder when I hear "You got this Jamie!" "Don't let go Jamie!" "Two more reps Jamie!" Outside of the CrossFit lifestyle I have my cheering squad at home. I've Scott in my corner letting me know, "It's been a record day of tans, can't wait until you're home relaxing with me" while he's preparing dinner for a family of six. I've got three older kids that ask me how my workouts are and how my tanning business is going. That understand my busy life is better our home life. They know Mom wants to get strong and compete someday. I love that they see what hard work and dedication is between Scott and I at home. I have my few close friends that I can confide in, one in particular that in a short time has become one of my best friends and the one that I can thank for making my ass get out of my comfort zone and try CrossFit! I have my sister who doesn't really understand my passions, but supports me and lets my parents know (who don't understand my "obsession" to get fit and strong at ALL) that I'm happy and that's all that matters, and they still love me haha! You NEED a support system behind you to be successful.

This goes hand in hand with everything. Be yourself. Don't try to fit in with certain groups by becoming them. Have your own style. Have your own passions. When you try too hard to be someone or something you're not, well, most people can see right through that. Set goals, kill them and then set some more. When you hit your goals, be proud, but never act like you're better then someone else. Because well, you're not. No matter how you live, what your background is, what your beliefs are, you're not better then the person sitting next to you. Unless they are a mass murdering psycho. Then you might be better then them. You get my point though. Everyone is fighting a battle of some sort. Everyone has goals. Everyone has dreams. No need to be a resting bitch face all the time. Even if you're a CrossFit hater. I still want good things for you......

Now, it's been a WHOLE WEEK since I started this blog. Going back and reading it almost deleted it and started over. I decided to leave it. I don't like when that many days go by. I can tell in some areas I was trying to rush and get it done so it sounds like rambling. I ramble a lot though, so I guess it's just me being real...

I've done my days off, I've had good eating days and shitty eating days. Surprisingly I'm down another pound despite the Disneyland trip and so-so eating. I can't remember all my workouts but one WOD in particular that I remember because I am disappointed in myself for not pushing myself a bit more. It was back squats. Go heavy for three and then rest for like 10 rounds or something....I could've gone heavier and I didn't. And then a couple days later at Give I worked on my squats and was able to go 30 pounds heavier then I did for the WOD. That's me still being "safe" and in the comfort zone. On top of that was handstand walks. No bueno. I'd rather box jump haha! But, I am officially on the Goal Board:

 

There I am, right there on the bottom. Kick into handstand by 12/1. Yikes, I didn't even write it. Coach Sarah did, so it makes it even more legit. I'm scared. I don't know why kicking up into a handstand scares me so bad, but it does. I've been able to kick up against the wall but only a couple times. That scares me also. Soooo I definitely have my work cut out for me to reach this goal by 12/1. And. That's a wrap for this blog.