Thursday, June 24, 2010

Back to Yoga

Now that I have my life back and have gotten over eating various peanut butter flavors for breakfast lunch and dinner I have come back to the little things I have missed SO MUCH these past several months.

While cleaning my apartment I knocked over both my door hangers that say "GONE TO YOGA" and "NAMASTE" NUMEROUS TIMES...I figured this was a clearly a sign so I went to see David at SOBOYO even though I clearly still look like an

 I also watered and rearranged my deck flowers, grilled some YUMMY veggies and slow cooked some kick ass chili. AHHHHH  I am back.

Here's a little peak at my freestyle yoga flow after a hardcore leg day.  I would NEVER strength train without yoga and I would NEVER practice yoga without strength training.



We know how I won't be caught dead without a headband at work or working out, so Suzannah the creator of FRESH KARAT was awesome and sent me some new samples of her headbands.  I LOVE this one :)

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

How it all went down



As you can see, nothing happens overnight.  
People have asked me time and time again why I chose to do a Figure Competition...


  • I LOVE LIFTING HEAVY and being challenged.
  • I wanted a concrete goal with a specific date.
  • I have a lot of food allergies (thus a restricted diet) so I felt I might as well dabble in restricting it further and see some results.
  • I put clients on nutrition plans all the time, never having actually been on a hardcore one myself...how can I  pretend to know what they are going through?
  • Confidence has never been my strong suit, being able to get up in front of strangers half naked...well I think you have to be somewhat confident to do that ;)
  • I love dressing up on occasion, so why not dress up in a suit that costs as much as a wedding dress and pretend to be Barbie for the day!


In November of last year I was strong and in good shape. I could do sets of 6 body weight pull ups, clean and press a 24 KG kettlebell and Turkish Get Up a 36 KG (yes I mean KG) bell.  I weighed in at 131 lbs.  The first 3 1/2 months of training I did not diet.  I was trying to put on mass so that when I leaned out there would actually be muscle there :)  For females, this in itself can be challenging.  I admit, I didn't love putting on weight but I had to have faith in the process.
As a personal trainer myself I loved reading Coach Nick Tumminello's work and decided to give him a call to see if he would take me on as a long distance client.  I loved how he kept his Figure Girls functional and trained them like the athletes they are.  For the first time in my life I was establishing a REAL STRENGTH TRAINING FOUNDATION :) I trained 5-6 days a week Upper Body Lower Body Splits and NO CARDIO.  My weight went up by about 5 lbs due to Nick's program design alone! Next time around I will definitely start my nutrition earlier to aid in putting on good mass.


It was not the smoothest of sailing when I started my nutrition. To make a long story short, it turned out that meat was not going to work for me.  BONNIE LEFRAK worked tirelessly to create a plan that would work for me! We played around with legumes and beans and fish until finally we found a solution.  Bonnie is a PRO, she f*cking knows what she is doing and once you have gone through her program there's no denying it :))))


I have never met Coach Nick Tumminello and I have met Bonnie once before my training started...pretty crazy eh!  Anything is possible!




I kept the fact that I was doing a second show this past weekend a little on the DL.   But I wanted to let you all know that thanks to my team of supporters I placed first in OPEN FIGURE MEDIUM and went on to be the INBF OVERALL FIGURE WINNER at Fulton's Fitness Pro Qualifier.


I WON MY PRO CARD :)


Sunday, June 13, 2010

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Results are in

I took 1st Place in Novice Figure Tall :)
And 4th in Novice Bikini Tall :0 
More than I could have ever asked for!

It's funny how Stacey busts her ass but BARBIE GETS WHAT BARBIE WANTS!

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Gratitude

I had an amazing weekend filled with new experiences and I am so thankful that I was able to keep it together and take it all in :)

The list of people I am thankful for is ENDLESS
 seriously, here are just a few...

MOM AND DAD RACHEL 
JT SHAN and CO
BONNIE
 NICK ALLI  
KEVIN AARON
CARON SHARON 
JESS ANGUS KRISTA
DAVID SOBOYO and CREW 
JENN NICOLE KIM 
KELLY MICHELLE MARIA YVONNE
GREG GRAZIELLA MARTHA  
EMILY BEN GRADY 
DEE JEFF ABBY
 MICHELLE PAULA KERRI 
NANCY STEF RUTH



Updates later :)

Thursday, June 3, 2010

:0

It's finally here! Holy sh*t ;)

I have so many amazing people to thank for helping me get here and supporting me through the rough times! Blogging has been slacking and I apologize for that, but I'll be back in full effect shortly!

I have worked VERY hard for quite some time, it's my time to shine :)

Let the transformation begin!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

The Awakening



This weekend I completed my Body Awakening Yoga Teacher Training with David Vendetti and South Boston Yoga :)))))  Pieces of the following were shared with us on our final meditation. And I too would like to share it with all of you.

There comes a time in your life when you finally get it ...


When in the midst of all your fears and insanity you stop dead in your tracks and somewhere the voice inside your head cries out "ENOUGH! Enough fighting and crying or struggling to hold on." And, like a child quieting down after a blind tantrum, your sobs begin to subside, you shudder once or twice, you blink back your tears and through a mantle of wet lashes you begin to look at the world from a new perspective.
This is your awakening.


You realize that it is time to stop hoping and waiting for something, or someone, to change, or for happiness, safety and security to come galloping over the next horizon. You come to terms with the fact that there aren't always fairytale endings (or beginnings for that matter) and that any guarantee of "happily ever after" must begin with you. Then a sense of serenity is born of acceptance.


So you begin making your way through the "reality of today" rather than holding out for the "promise of tomorrow." You realize that much of who you are, and the way you navigate through life is, in great part, a result of all the social conditioning you've received over the course of a lifetime.

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