Enjoy Where You Are Now

 I do! I am happy where I am right now. I feel really good!

 I sent these pictures to my friend Jamie to see what she thought about my new tankini that I got for my birthday. I asked her if she thought I could actually wear this at a pool or beach right now and she said "Yes you are ready to wear it right now!" I said " A few more pounds to go and then I will wear it." I guess we all are our own worst critics.

  

 I have never really worn a two piece or a bikini. Oh wait, yes I did when I was about 6 and I was very chubby with two long ponytails. My bikini was green I think. There is a picture of me somewhere in Mississippi on the beach in my green bikini. I'll have to find that picture. Anyway, I'm not really very comfortable wearing one these days. I feel like I look fine in it, but I would prefer to feel very comfortable in it. I don't want to look down and see my belly jiggle or my thighs clappin. I also don't have the prettiest or thinnest legs in the world! Our family didn't get the lovely legs gene, but that's okay! ( I will just make them be as strong and solid as possible :-)) Anyway, it may seem silly, but that's just me! I know that nobody else cares and plenty of women of all sizes wear two piece bathing suits.
 My friend said to enjoy how I am right now and just wear it because we don't even know if there will be a tomorrow! That's true and I agree! Although I still want to work towards my goals and not just settle. I know I have come very far and that I look just fine, but I never want to have it in my head to stop now or settle with where I am just because it's good enough. As long as my goals are reasonable and I am working towards them in a balanced, healthy way then I will continue to do what I do. Why not?  We can always be better, work harder, and have new goals whether big or small. I think if we become too content or settled it would be easy to slip in the wrong direction, no longer move forward or improve in some way or another.

 For me working out and eating right are things that make me feel good mentally and physically. If I stop doing that I feel yucky real quick. I am used to it and I like it! I love the challenge and I love learning more and more about health and fitness. I love the mental aspect as much as the physical. It's not something that I will be done with when I reach a certain weight or clothing size. It's just the way I want to live my life. My friend Jamie is right, though. We should just enjoy the way we are right now and be proud that we work hard to be healthy people!

There is a lady at our gym named Abby who is 80 something years old. She is there every day! She goes to Zumba, Spin, Yoga, Turbo kick and who knows what else! I want to be like that when I am her age. Every time I see her there I think of how I want to be like her!  So awesome!

I know everyone has different goals and desires. Not everyone loves going to a gym or working out hard. Maybe your goal is just to stay as healthy as you can,  become more flexible,  take a walk every day, kick a bad habit, or choose healthier foods. Maybe you have very ambitious goals, like wanting to complete a Triathlon ( not me) or win a bodybuilding competition ( not me).  Any goal, even simple or small goals help keep you going and working towards something. It always feels good to achieve or conquer. It just makes us become better versions of ourselves! We should also not be too hard on ourselves. Everyone has hard days and times you just don't care or feel like doing good, but no big deal! Tomorrow is a new day!

Some of my goals right now are things like losing that little bit of belly fat covering up those ab muscles I work so hard on, building more muscle all over, getting my ACE personal trainer certification, and going back to school in the Fall to get my degree in Sport Management, Wellness, and Fitness. Oh yeah and watching my portions! Even though I choose healthy foods, I tend to want to eat too much of them sometimes. I'm looking forward to doing all of these things!

I have to tell you about this cool free app I found for my iphone. It's called Fooducate and it's pretty fun, handy, and informative especially if you aren't familiar with what foods are good or bad for you. It has a scanner that you use to scan the upc on a food or drink package. It grades the item and tells you what bad ingredients are in it or why it's a good choice. You'll want to go around scanning everything :-)

Try it, you'll have fun with it!

I'm looking forward to the weekend. I am staying at Big Cedar Lodge for a night or two in Branson with my son Gabriel. We are driving my grandma home and she lives about 45 minutes from there. It's always a beautiful place to go! Hope you all have a great rest of the week and most important of all.......

Go Heavy!

  I love weight training! I also love to lift as heavy as I can. The results are worth it!

 

8 Reasons Why You Should Lift Heavier Weights

And no, you will not "bulk up!"

Shape Magazine, Charlotte Andersen

Experts agree: Heavy lifting is in! You can't swing a kettlebell these days without hitting some workout guru, exercise program, or book advising women to not only lift weights but lift heavier weights. But why? And should you try it if you're already happy with your current workout routine? Here are eight reasons why you need to make this change.

1. You'll Torch Body Fat

You may have been told that cardio is the ultimate fat burner, but that effect stops the minute you hop off the treadmill. Build more muscle and you'll keep your body burning fat all day long. According to one study, adding just two sessions per week of heavy lifting can reduce your body fat by three percent without cutting calories.Another study from the University of Alabama in Birmingham showed that dieters who lifted heavy weights lost the same amount of weight as dieters who did just card, but all the weight lost by the weight lifters was primarily fat while the cardio queens lost a lot of muscle along with some fat. And more muscle, less fat translated to smaller clothing sizes than their less muscular counterparts.

 

 

2. You'll Look More Defined

Love the lean, defined muscles on super-fit ladies? "If women want more definition, they should lift heavier since they cannot get bigger muscles because of low testosterone levels," says Dr. Jason Karp, an exercise physiologist and author. "So, lifting heavier has the potential to make women more defined."

3. You'll Fight Osteoporosis

The key to this one is consistency, as research has shown that lifting heavy weights over time not only maintains bone mass but can even build new bone, especially in the high-risk group of post-menopausal women.

 

4. You'll Burn More Calories

You may burn more calories during your 1-hour cardio class than you would lifting weights for an hour, but a study published in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that women who did weight training burned an average of 100 more calories during the 24 hours after their training session ended.And the effect is magnified when you increase the weight, as explained in a study in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. Women who lifted more weight for fewer reps (85 percent of their max load for 8 reps) burned nearly twice as many calories during the two hours after their workout than when they did more reps with a lighter weight (45 percent of their max load for 15 reps).

5. You'll Build Strength Faster

Lifting lighter weights for more reps is great for building muscle endurance, but if you want to increase your strength, increasing your weight load is key. Add compound exercises such as squats, deadlifts, and rows to your heavy weights and you'll be amazed at how fast you'll build strength.

 

6. You'll Lose Belly Fat

While it is true that you can't spot reduce—your body is born with pre-conceived places it wants to store fat—a University of Alabama study found that the women who lifted weights lost more intra-abdominal fat (deep belly fat) than those who just did cardio. This not only helps you lose your belly pooch and look better in a bikini, but it also lessens your risk of diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and some cancers.

 

7. You'll Feel Empowered

Throwing around some serious iron doesn't just empower women in the movies. Lifting heavier weights—and building strength as a result—comes with a big self-esteem boost. Your strength will not only show in your lean, toned body, but also in your attitude.

 

8. You'll Prevent Injury

Achy hips and sore knees don't have to be a staple of your morning run. Strengthening the muscles surrounding and supporting your joints can help prevent injuries by helping you maintain good form, as well as strengthening joint integrity.

 

8 GREAT reasons!!!!

 

 

Headband Cuteness

 Happy Friday! I'm so glad it's Friday and that we've been having such nice warm weather! Looks like the weekend and next week are going to be warm too! Hurray for sunny days! I wanted to show you these awesome headbands that we bought at the Arnold Expo a couple of weeks ago. If I had realized how great these were I would have bought a few more at the booth while we there. These Glam Headbands are adjustable and also do not slide or pull at all. They stay right in place and you can adjust them after you put them on. There are so many pretty ones to choose from!

 Here are the headbands that we have so far, but I have more on my list.

 Aren't they cute!?

Paige with the black sparkly one on. This is my favorite because it is thin and can go with anything!

 These are the ones on my list~

 I love all of them! Headbands are fun to wear and are great when working out to keep your hair out of your face. I like all the ways that they can be worn.

 

 This flower is attached, but you could clip a flower onto a headband. That would be cute! Here are some more pics of headband hairstyles that I liked.

Well, this one is a little crazy, but if you are feeling wild then go right ahead!

A little bit of classy glam.

Cute and sporty!

 So there ya go! Cuteness with some awesome headbands! Here are some good words to think about~

 Hope everyone has a great weekend and a Happy St. Patty's Day!

What Fun This Was......

Not only fun, but inspiring and very entertaining too. My mom, my daughter Paige, my son Gabriel, and I drove to Columbus, Ohio last weekend to The Arnold Sports Festival. I had seen this festival advertised in fitness magazines and online and thought it sounded like a fun event to go to for a weekend getaway.

On Thursday evening we arrived at Easton Town Center which is not far from downtown where the convention was. Easton is a really neat and different kind of place. I loved it! It's like a nice shopping town with almost any store you can think of, a few hotels, and lots of restaurants. Not many homes or neighborhoods around, just shopping. Actually there were some beautiful apartments right across the street. The building was beautiful. How fun to live right across the street from Trader Joe's, Cheesecake Factory, Barnes and Noble, PF Chang's, and a whole bunch of other great places. The Easton Commons Luxury Apartments are the picture on the bottom right ~

 After checking into our hotel we wandered around Easton a bit and had dinner at Abuelo's.

 Mexican is my favorite and it was pretty yummy. I had three enchiladas... one beef, one avocado, and one spinach with cilantro rice and beans. So good!

 Our second night at Easton we ate at PF Chang's. Yum again! On our last night we found this Mediterranean restaurant called Cafe Istanbul. I forgot what the dish was called that I ordered, but it was delicious with bell peppers, onion, beef, lamb, and mushrooms sauteed in olive oil. The coffee was very good too! This restaurant was very pretty inside. I loved that awesome chandelier with all the little glass holders hanging from the black iron base. Beautiful!

On Friday morning we drove downtown to the Convention Center. Boy was it crowded! Had to drive around a bit to find parking. The parking garage we found looked like it was crumbling, but oh well, at least we found a place to park. We just hoped it was still standing when we came back for our car. :-)

Inside the convention center there were soooo many people! This was an awesome people watching place for sure! There were super muscled people, beautiful people, overtanned wrinkly people, skinny people, fat people, large fake boobed people, six pack abs and big biceps, people in all kinds of clothes, some with just sports bras and little shorts, lots of tank tops and yoga pants, tattoos, cool hair, just a little bit of everything. Just sitting on the side of the center hallway watching all the people was very entertaining. Inspiring as well. There were so many fit people that must work very hard to stay in such great shape. It was definitely a great crowd of people attending this event.

The Expo was full of fitness celebrities, bodybuilders, crazy characters, free samples, t-shirts and clothing for sale, neat products for sale, contests to enter, martial arts, boxing, and figure competitions. There were aisles and aisles lined with booths, people, and products. The crowd was exhausting though. At times through the aisles it was crammed with people inching along. Still so much fun and once again very entertaining.

 Body Building.com was one of the booths I knew I want to go to because I knew Jamie Eason was going to be there at some point. We walked up to the booth and there she was greeting fans in the line. The super long, long line that I was not willing to wait hours standing in to meet her much to Paige's disappointment. I thought a couple of pictures would be good enough! She is a beautiful lady and seems so nice. She has a great 12 week program on Body Building.com called Live Fit Trainer for anyone looking for a guided workout program and nutrition tips.

 WE also ran into a few other celebrities. Right when we first walked into the Expo, Tosca Reno was standing at her Eat Clean booth with no line there at all! We went right up and had our picture taken with her. Then a couple of booths down we saw Lou Ferrigno ( The Incredible Hulk), and later in the afternoon we came to Jennifer Nicole Lee's booth where we bought her Believe tank top and her book The Mind, Body, and Soul Diet. Looks like a great book. I have just started reading it. She is another beautiful lady!

 

 The Expo was the main attraction, but there were many great events and competitions going on all weekend in the Convention Center. Paige did an hour of TurboKick in the ballroom while we rested, watched her, and ate some yummy turkey jerkey that we bought in the Expo. Paige was so good doing the Turbo Kick that the instructor pointed her out and asked if she teaches and told her that she should. Go Paige! They also had Zumba classes going through the day.

We watched gymnastics, cheerleading, boxing, martial arts, Crossfit, power lifting Olympic trials, fencing, Figure and Bodybuilding competitions, and ballroom dancing. The ballroom dancing was wonderful to watch and the dresses were gorgeous! I could have watched it all day. Here are some event pictures~

I loved watching the figure competitors. I was rooting for my three favorites, Nicole Wilkins, Erin Stern, and Alicia Harris. Nicole Wilkins won for the 3rd year in a row with Erin Stern coming in 2nd. Alicia Harris came in 16th. I think they are all such beautiful strong women! So glad we got to watch them compete.

 These were just a few of the people we saw in the Expo. I love this girl on the right. She looks like a super hero! I want to look like that!

This was such a fun, fun, fun, weekend for us and we already have hotel reservations to go next year over the weekend of Mar. 1.  Next year will be the 25th Anniversary of the Arnold Sports Festival so it is sure to be an extra special year to go. I can't wait!

Hiit and Arnold Sports Festival

What is High Intensity Interval Training (or HIIT for short)? HIIT is a variant of exercising that is the quickest way to burn fat and gain muscle simultaneously. How does HIIT work? HIIT optimizes your workout time by utilizing a series of short, high-intensity intervals, followed up by longer, low-intensity intervals. The reason HIIT is so successful is that HIIT’s repeated intervals constantly keeps your body. Your body is never given a chance to “plateau” or get used to one setting, something that is common with other forms of cardio. Due to the nature of HIIT, it is typical to have workouts that are only 20 minutes or less and still burn the same amount of calories as an hour of regular exercising. The best part of HIIT is that it boosts your metabolism and will continue to burn hundreds of calories hours after you are done exercising!

One of the advantages to HIIT is that it can be applied to almost any form of cardio imaginable and can even be custom tailored to fit any exercising level, from beginners all the way to Olympic athletes! By simply creating your own combination of intervals or using common HIIT workouts such as the 30-90, 30-60, or the 30-30, you can easily integrate HIIT into your own cardio routine. When creating your own HIIT workout, use this simple guideline: typically, the low-intensity interval should be set at a pace where your heart rate is 40-50% of your maximum, and during high-intensity intervals, you should set your pace so that your heart rate is 80-90% of its maximum. The common HIIT workouts employ combinations of 30 seconds of high intensity, followed by either 90, 60, or 30 seconds of low-intensity intervals (depending on skill level). HIIT, although ideal for sprinting, can be adapted to work on treadmills and other gym equipment as well as other sports.
HIIT is a very effective way to get in shape quickly and stay in shape. The key to HIIT’s success is that it constantly keeps your body guessing. HIIT can be strenuous for the first time so make sure to go at your own pace and stay hydrated. HIIT is all about changing it up and fighting the ever looming “plateau effect”, and if used properly, HIIT is one of the best ways to reach your fitness goals.

 From ~ HIIT Training

I love Hiit workouts! They are intense and don't take much time. I usually do 2-3 Hiit workouts each week. I do mine on the treadmill and they last anywhere from 25-35 minutes. I run at 9 mph for 30 sec and recover at 4 mph for 1 min. I repeat those intervals for at least 20 minutes and it really wears me out. Everyone can fit in a 20 minute workout, so no excuses!

I'm really looking forward to Mar. 1- 4! It's nice to have a little getaway sometimes especially during the gloomy winter months. We are heading to Columbus, Ohio for the Arnold Sports Festival. There will be all kinds of sports and competitions going on. Tosca Reno and her Eat Clean team will also be there which is kinda cool. I think it would be fun to meet her.

Tosca Reno

 We are staying at Easton Town Center. It looks like a really neat place with lots of shops and restaurants to walk to from our hotel. It should be a fun few days!

Easton Town Center

I took a little Facebook break this past week. Sometimes Facebook can get really annoying. I'm sure you all know that. It's nice to step away from other people's negativity and clear it all out of your mind once in awhile. No point in wasting thoughts or energy on it. Thank goodness for the Hide button right lol ?! Overall I think Facebook is fun and a great way to keep up with friends. I'm thinking Pinterest is even more fun, though :-)

Have a GREAT day!