Just Thinking....

Most of you might know that I am in training for my second season of Fitness Figure Shows. My show is April 29th in Boise and I'm really excited for it. It's been difficult and challenging this year with a whole new set of trials. So many that it's just too exhausting to put down. Today, I woke up late and didn't make it to the gym this morning. Which just means double duty this afternoon for "make-up" time. I tried to enjoy the extra sleep but just woke up to unfinished work, i.e. taxes and oh the fact that my kids are on spring break. Okay, can we just clarify one thing; Spring Break is NOT a BREAK! It's a reality check as to why my kids are NOT home schooled. *wink, wink* Anyway, after receiving numerous phone calls, texts, emails on an empty stomach along with my children practicing football running drills in my upstairs hallway I was EXHAUSTED! Filled with tears of regrets and thoughts of "What in the hell were you thinking when you signed up for this AGAIN?" Feeling defeated, feeling like I just trained for 9 weeks with numerous vacations, long work weeks, Holidays, kids birthdays, supportive cheers for my husband with work and so forth I still feel selfish for the amount of hours I put into the gym each day. I'll be the first to admit that spending my 3 hours/day at the gym is my "hideaway." I just plug those magical earbuds into my ears and focus. It's just me, my thoughts and heavy weights. I can see why women get addicted to running. If you keep running you don't have to face the "real world." So, in my thoughts of despair while debating work with my husband (I'm his online marketing department) over email/cell phone I get a FB message from out of the blue! To my surprise it was one of the nicest emails I have had in a long time. It was the spoon full of sugar that I needed to get me through this day, this journey. It read: Georgia- "I just learned from "R" that you're a body-builder. Holy Cow! You are amazing! Good luck with your upcoming show. I wish I could be there and that would be so cool! Also, I've just go to tell you that when I joined KD you had already married and moved on, but we had a communications class together with "LJ." I can't even remember which one it was, but anyway..."L" introduced us and you were so very kind to me. Thank you!! I remember thinking that you were incredibly gorgeous and was so impressed with how freindly and sincere you were. I was expecting you to be a snob! :) I'm sure you don't remember that, but I just wanted to let you know that I really appreciated you being so nice to me in that class :)" "J" I didn't post this entry for pitty party reasons. Or to say I'm all those wonderful things "J" said (she was little to generous) *smiling* I posted it to prove a point that sometimes, just a nice "note" or compliment goes a long way. Even if you don't know the person or maybe it's been a long time. I should also mention that I had also 2 girlfriends who I speak to on a daily basis that told me to not be so hard on myself, thanks ladies ~ everyday seems to go much smoother with you two. So, with that being said, I am going to finish my work, feed my kids lunch, pump some iron and go swimming with my kids! Have a wonderful day! Thank you for all of your "Good Lucks" and compliments I really do feel like I've got a great support team even if it's via the internet :)

Are you a Glamour Gym Goddess?

Are you one of those girls who goes the the gym in full blown make-up with matching accessories to go with your new workout outfit? Or are you one of those girls who scrambles for the closet piece of clothing that will "work" for your morning aerobics class. Or are you somewhere in the middle?

I have to say I'm one of those in the middle. Having a fair complexion I only WISH I looked as good as one of my favorite friends in the morning! Yes, my girlfriend is blessed with olive skin and amazing eyes that shine without make-up on their own! Did I mention she is over 40 and doesn't have a single wrinkle without Botox! Okay, so she's amazing. - I'm not, truth be told I do put a layer of mascara on and use self tanning cream at night all over my body because I have very fair complexion skin and look really blotchy when I workout. Just a little to make me look alive in the morning and half way decent for the grocery store on my way home.

But have you ever seen one of those ladies that is completely decked out with lipstick and all? At 7:00 am?? Do these women even sweat? What is the point? And then to top if off....they're on their phone the entire workout on the treadmill?? Again, at 7:00 am??? Crazy huh?

So, are you a Glamour Gym Goddess or a Natural Diva?

Fun Photo Shoots

I did a small photos shoot this past summer after the last show at the Salt Flats with Rob Sims - he does all of the photos for Oxygen Magazine and other mags. Anyway, here are some photos from the shoot. I have to admit, it was a lot more work than I had ever imagined! It must have been 100 + degrees, we were STARVING, sweating and all I could think of was, "are my kids driving my mom and dad nuts? Will we be done with this in time so I can run through the In and Out drive thru? I DEFINATLEY could NOT be a VS model!!" Like I said, it was fun, but I think I was a little burnt out at this point from dieting and doing show after show. :)

This is Katerina, super fun girl!! She does Bikini shows and is much shorter then me - I just look like a giant compared to her, haha! Had some great laughs with her! She has done a lot more modeling than I and it shows :)

My Girlfriends Can Kick Your BUTT!!

(As you can see I look like I just rolled out of bed - hey I did drive 3 hours in the dark and they had 3 hours to put on that glitter, LOL They all looked GORGEOUS!!)

I've been meaning to post these for months but, as luck would have it I've been a very busy mom lately. So, without further delay here are some of my girlfriends who can really kick some BOOTAY!! All 3 of these AMAZING ladies cheered me on while I trained and then decided to give it a whirl! WOW!! Who does that? These girls do! They helped me get me back on my feet while they were training and I really enjoyed reconnecting with my girlfriends! It was such a fun day for me to drive 3 hours from my chaotic Saturdays filled with chores screaming kids who are "bored" to see this in action from the other side of the stage. Tons of fun!! I should say thank you to my wonderful husband who held down the fort :)

Lisa, Tammy & Melinda. Again, I really looked up to these ladies all through high school and it was SOOO much fun to reconnect with them! I would love to do a show with them in the future! Love ya Ladies!!

We all have excuses - what's yours?

Jimmy McMillan's race for NY Governor is just too funny for me!! Yes, I am a closet Fox watcher. In fact, right now I'm watching it as I blog, it's addictive :) And who can resist watching Jimmy McMillan wave his hands in the air with his black gloves on and his slicked back white hair and perfect part in his beard while he answers the same question 100x to Sean Hannity with "I pay rent" - do we even know what this guy is saying other than, "RENT IS TOO DAMN HIGH" If I had the time to look up YouTube and post him I would. So his excuse is, "Rent is too damn high!"

Okay, moving on....today I had a great time at lunch with my mom and brother. I have such a great supportive family that truly cares about one another and it's comforting to know that we all have each others backs. My brother Dave has always been very active and athletic, it's part of his lifestyle. Not only does he stay in great shape physically but academically as well. He has a BS in Economics, Law Degree and a Masters in Business - does anyone know a great girl looking for a guy like this? He's available :) My point is he keeps making time for the gym, it's part of his lifestyle. The other week he and I ran 3 miles together, that was one of my favorite moments with him. No kids to distract me and I could keep up with his much longer legs than mine :) Thanks Dave for taking time for me!

My mom has been doing a biggest looser competition at her gym and has lost a TON of inches and I am soo proud of her! Recently she was playing pool with some girls friend in her basement and tripped over her treadmill and dislocated her elbow!! OUCH!! Needless to say she has kept up with her training and didn't gain a pound while she was down for a couple of weeks! Great job mom!! Mom's always looked like a million bucks. We all grew up with mom's motto: "looking good is a full time job" - Mom will always look fab!! People still think we are sisters!

My girlfriend Barb has been an inspiration to me! Barb is doing one of the biggest looser challenges and was the motivation I needed to start up my blog again. Thanks Barb ~wink~wink ;) Barb is working her can off and I'm rooting for her everyday I see her at the gym!! Each time she runs a lap I wanna scream " GO BARB!!" however, everyone in the cardio room (which is dead silent because everyone is busy watching the 20 tvs and getting their heartrates up) plugged into their iPods would think I was yelling fire! So, Barb if you are reading this, know that I am watching you and cheering for you! By the way, Barb had excuses not to be at the gym, even though she said to me on several occasions, "it was time for me to loose the weight" - her little guy has 2nd degree burns on his body from a recent accident and doesn't sleep well so she doesn't get much sleep. But, she make time for herself!

Last, I've been thinking of my good friend Sarah. Her mother-in-law, who is very close to her is experiencing terminal cancer. It's been a hard past 2 weeks and with Sarah's busy schedule filled with grad school, 2 kids, husbands work schedule and so forth she lost 2 lbs last week!! YES!! So proud of her!! I really thought she would have put her goal aside with her issues with her family - she is a strong lady for making time for herself!!

I have so many friends that have given me the motivation to keep going and I appreciate it!! I have 3 special friends that I will be blogging about next week. These 3 ladies cheered me on for my competitions and then did their own 1st competitions this past fall. I will be sharing photos and more about their amazing stories!

How are you??? Let's catch up! We'll do lunch!! K - Call me or text me this week!! Ciao!

It's been a long time since I have blogged and I've had a few people ask what's going on? Well, a lot has gone over the past few 6 months. Really it's been that long - wow! So, over the next couple of weeks I will bring you all up to speed.

So, after my 2nd show things got a little crazy to say the least. I took 2nd in my 2nd show, but hoping for 1st - it was a really hard for me to accept 2nd. After feeling sorry for myself I realized I was be, well - STUPID!! 2nd is great!! My goal was to do 1 show, so doing 2 was an added BONUS! So, here are my photos from show 2!Looking back at these photos I think I was a little "nuts" haha!! But, truthfully, when you train this hard for so long you expect perfection and your mind gets - NUTS!! It was a really hard time for me to adjust to normal life again. I did good until my body started to look "soft" (which is normal athletic looking like you see in a shape magazines) and a girl took a double take at me at the gym. The last time she saw me was 2 days before my 1st show - she was a little shocked to see from 11% body fat to 15% body fat. Needless to say I have learned that 15% body fat is awesome for a woman and healthy.

So after this long not so fun journey, I returned to my old self and started to concentrate on other great things in my life .... like MY FAMILY :) Doing all of this training really takes a toll on your relationships. Mark and I took the kiddos to Oregon and we had a BLAST!! He even drove out of his way (another 900 miles) to take me to IN and OUT on the way back to Utah :) Love him!! Here are some fun photos of our summer vacation at the Beach House!

We also enjoyed some great boating trips this summer too! My whole family came out for a boating day and we had a lot of fun!! I seriously can't tell who had more fun, my kids or my dad!! He tubed for 4 hours straight! One thing I regret is we didn't get any photos of Mark - he was so worried that day trying to make sure everyone was having a good time!! Love that man!

Nutrition and Fitness 101

Okay, so I've had a MILLION (okay maybe not that many) e-mails/FB questions on what did I eat for 17 weeks of training? Sorry to say my answer is NOT going to be "sexy" so, I'm gonna try to make it sound it :)

First I'm gonna tell you what you have heard a thousand times - Diet is a temporary thing, lifestyle is a commitment! Now that being said....I've NEVER stuck with a diet longer than...2 days. For some of you, this may sound like what I heard when I came to this conclusion..."I will never be able to eat ice cream, dorritos, cheese, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate cake, chocolate ice cream - chocolate ANYTHING!" NOT TRUE! (Can you see what items I crave?)

What this does mean is, the "processed" foods don't do anything for you - HOWEVER, I do eat them but VERY sparatically and truthfully - I don't even crave them that often except that one week out of the month - not sure why the Dr. couldn't fix the craving part with my surgery that saves me from dealing with every month!! ANYWAY....

So....nutrition 101 (again, I am not an expert, these are just things that I have come up with over the past 10 years and from trainers)

1. Eat clean - if you need help with this - I recommend Tosca Reno's books, (it's the bible for ALL figure girls) http://www.eatcleandiet.com/ Tosca is an amazing woman who looks amazing! She knows her stuff! She will go over basics, like how much protein, carbs, and good fats you should be consuming on a daily baisis. Everyone's body is different and reacts differently to certain foods. She also recommends certain vitamins/supplements. These are CRUCIAL!! Before I trained I used to tell my husband that I eat "healthy" enough that I don't need any vitamins. Ha! They are my lifeline now! So, check her out, she's recently been on several "daytime" shows and is very "popular."



2. Exercise - First you need a routine. Exercise is very important for the outside of your body and internal. So, when you workout think about what you are doing not only to the outside of your body but the inside too!

Okay, routine. I like to lift and do cardio 6 days a week....it's kind of a habit now...but in all honestly it's not that easy to put into your schedule when life happens. So, what I recommend is for you to find what works for your schedule as long as you get in 4 days of weights/cardio. Abs 4 days a week too!

Crossfit and TRX are great programs where you can incorporate both - I really like these programs they mix it up for me :) See what works for your schedule! If you are in Logan, I highly recommend http://www.crossfituac.com/ this is a great gym with a very positive workout environment, plus you can get a punch pass if you can't seem to let go of your Gym membership (that would be me :) )

If you wanna take it up a notch and get a great personal trainer I recommend mine! Marla is AMAZING!!! And SOOO worth my $$ I honestly can say she put in 100% for me all 17 weeks! There were days I would call or text her and say, "I just ate 8&$%$&^" and wanna give up....and she would calmly say..."take a minute and look in the mirror and make your choice. You make your choices everyday, you decide how you want to look." I LOVE THIS LADY!! Duskin her husband also trains too!

http://www.bodyuwant.com/

Need a "trainer" away from the gym? I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Oxygen Magazine! It is my new addiction! I don't throw an issue away! Yes, they have a special shelf in my closet so that I can refer to them at anytime! If you don't have a suscription, you can find them at Borders or Sam's Club :) Also, http://www.oxygenmag.com/


3. The Whole Package - If you're like me, before I trained, I would get my "Fitness Magazine" in the mail and pour over the workouts for 1 week and then stop and wonder why I didn't look like the models? Well, truth be told (and I NEVER beleived it) till I tested myself with this competition....here is the secret formula...ready....it's not pretty...but here it is :)

80% Diet + 20% Exercise + 5% Sticking With It + 5% Genetics

YEP!! If you want your rock solid abs to show, then keep eating clean!

I hope this helps everyone, feel free to post any questions or comments - LOVE comments! Best of luck!!