Growing up in Indianapolis, there was this one particular pizza place I loved to visit and gorge myself on for their pesto.  It is so good.  Fifteen years later, I still visit every time I go back but it has sort of lost it’s luster for me.  The reason, a waitress with a big mouth.  A few years ago, I was telling this waitress how much I adore their pesto and she started rambling on about the ingredients which are not exotic but  the consistency is perfect.   As soon as she walked away, I wrote what she had said down on a napkin and went to work trying to recreate it. After a few tries,  I got the ratios right and now can I have my favorite pesto whenever I want instead of waiting until I visit Indiana.  While this is my favorite pesto in the whole gigantic (yet quickly shrinking) world, I actually named it Perfect Pesto because it’s a great “annoying people” repellant. So if you make it for a date night make sure you both eat it.

Perfect Pesto
1/2 cup fresh basil
1/4 cup of pine nuts
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup olive oil
1.5 cups of finely grated parmesan cheese (I use a pre-grated parmesan romano blend from Trader Joes’s)

Directions:  Put the basil, pine nuts, garlic and half of the oil in a food processor or blender.  Blend until smooth and scrap mixture into a bowl.  Still in the parmesan cheese and add more oil until desired consistency is reached.  I like mine thick and chunky.

I use this pesto for pastas, pizzas, stuffed tomatoes, on chicken, and, on french bread (of course). Oddly enough, my favorite time to eat it is at breakfast either plain on eggs or on an egg sandwich.  Yum!

Ezekiel bread, pesto, scrambled eggs, tomato, and sea salt.

or…

l

...with a fried egg and melted mozzarella. Mmmmmm....

Check out these Giveaways!
Raw Honey at The Suburban Jungle (Ends tomorrow!!)
Mirra Beauty Products (also) at The Suburban Jungle
Funky Monkey at Eat Drink and Be Hopeful
This one is TOTALLY RANDOM but since I saw this movie not long ago and loved it, I thought I’d share it.
The Fantastic Mr. Fox DVD at Tiara’s & Tantrums (If I win it we’ll make a perfect pesto pizza and watch it!)

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

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Normally, I save these sorts of post for Fluffy Fridays but since the Oscars were last night I’ll call it  Meaningless Monday.

I don’t get television so I don’t actually watch the Oscars.  However, that doesn’t stop me from going online to look at all the fabulous dresses, toned arms of the Oscar attendees, and giving out my own personal awards.  Last year’s Girl Hero Oscar winner for best arms went to Jessica Biel.  She called and thanked me profusely.  This year, the winner goes to Cameron Diaz who is also on my old top 5 fit celebrity bodies list.

Incidentally her dress was my favorites too.  So lovely.

The other nominees for Girl Hero’s Oscar for Best Arms.

Sigourney Weaver

Demi Moore.  Can’t say the same for the dress.  Not big on matching your flesh with your dress.

Samantha Harris

Zoe Salada The bottom of her dress reminds me of a pinata. Bizarre.

I believe the key shapely arms is building shapely shoulders.  Defined shoulders look great in all styles of dresses and tops.  Currently my favorite move for strong shoulders are Turkish Get Ups.  Before my kettlebell obsession I used dumbbells for shoulder work and would often do  this workout.

If you haven’t already hop on over to One Fit Foodie and enter her Celestial Seasoning Giveaway! You have one day left to enter!!!!!

Did you watch the Oscars?  Who wore your favorite dress?  Who would you have given the Oscar for Best Arms to?

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

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Yesterday, I was reading the comments on HEAB and came across this article which led me to the Nourished Kitchen blog (which btw I ended up subscribing too). As far as I can tell, The Nourished Kitchen seems to be a blog devoted to traditional food preparation.  A very cool blog, I might add.

However, I found the title of the CNN article, “An Inconvenient Challenge: Eat “Real Rood” For a Month” misleading. It should have said eat “Traditionally Prepared Food for a Month” because if you are using traditional methods of preparation you have no choice but for your food to be real. You can’t sprout Cheerios. Not only was the title of article misleading I feel like it was somewhat irresponsible.  Why?  The majority of Americans are struggling to make some simple changes such as not eating out every night of the week or switching from white to wheat. Then when these Americans read “Eat Real Food”, they scroll down with hope only to find out they must make their own lard and grind their own grains if they want to be healthy.   Suddenly, for some, eating “real food”becomes more than a challenge, it becomes impossible and they give up before they even begin.  I’ve been reading and trying various methods of traditional food preparation for years and even I felt a little overwhelmed reading it. Then again, I have issues.

The CNN article was presented as it if was simply about eating real when, in fact, it was about eating traditionally prepared food. I like traditional foods.  I own Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon, the Bible of traditional food preparation.  I do soak my beans. I’ve tried sprouting. I’ve bought raw milk.  Hell, I even bought raw colostrum once which tasted the way baby spit up smells.  BUT I also have canned beans on my shelf and bread that someone else sprouted and baked in my fridge.  I don’t grind my own grain.  I don’t churn my own butter.  I live in 2010 not 1010. I do the BEST I CAN with the resources I have and I refuse to feel guilty anymore.  I get really tired of the media telling me I’m not thin enough, pretty enough, rich enough, and now they are telling me I’m not healthy enough because my cottage cheese came off the shelf. Sure I’d love to make my own yogurts and my own chicken stocks.  I might even pluck a chicken if I had too.  Last summer, I went to the fair to talk to goat breeders about buying a milk goat but I came to the conclusion I like a lot of things in life and milking a goat twice a day doesn’t make the cut. Health is a priority including my mental health.  A few years ago I nearly drove myself (and my family) nuts trying to eat 100% traditionally prepared foods.  When I feel overwhelmed I get depressed and when I get depressed I’m doing good if I cook at all much less figure out what grains I need to sprout on Monday so I can grind flour and bake bread all day on Saturday.

I’ve always said I don’t do moderation well but after reading this article I realize I don’t give myself enough credit.  Okay so I may suck when it comes to eating a handful of M&M’s (which is why I haven’t had one in over two years) but I’ve gotten pretty good at eating healthy and maintaining my sanity.  In one of my ideal worlds, I pick deep red peppers from my garden, get up at dawn to milk my goats, collect eggs from the henhouse, sprout all my grains, make yogurt from my goat’s milk, and my kids delight in my homemade cheeses.  In my other ideal world, I travel the continents, enjoy frequent museum visits, have lunches with friends, spend weeks camping, become a world class martial artist, write screenplays that actually get made, compete in figure competitions, spend hours frolicking at the beach (sans cellulite), build lifelike famous monuments out of Legos with my kids and have enough energy left over at the end of the day to carry on important conversations with my husband. Neither ideal is going to be fully realized and certainly not both of them.  I’ve realized I am my happiest somewhere in the middle.  I spend some time in the kitchen preparing traditional food but I also spend a lot of time outside of it enjoying other gifts in my life and yes…sometimes that means, for time’s sake, I will use canned beans or even (gasp) take a trip through the drive-thru.

This is how I merge REAL food into my REALity to keep my sanity.

How do you make real food a part of your reality?

Hugs and High Fives,
jenn

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“Pau” emailed me last year when I was whining talking about my thighs.  She commented and then sent me a sweet email telling me that she thought my thighs looked really good.  Like any normal girl who receives a compliment, I immediately asked her to be my BFF even though she lives in Ecuador where she works as a marketing assistant and competes in figure competitions.

We started emailing back and forth and over the next few months I learned some things about Pau.  Pau wasn’t like me.  She had not lost weight to look how she looked she had gained.  ”WTH.  People like that really do exist?” I thought.  Pau sent me some some before pictures and as a woman, who has worked really hard for the muscle I have, I was amazed by her transformation.  Regardless, as to whether muscles are your thing Pau’s transformation shows a commitment that is not often celebrated, she went from very thin to athletic and strong…by choice.  How did she do it?  Most people in her situation might choose to gain by eating junk and all sorts of other crap.  Not Pau she chose to eat mostly real food and lift.  It took her years to literally BUILD UP her physique. I very much admire her dedication, discipline, and personal conviction to build muscle in a world where stick thin is considered the ultimate mark of beauty.

What sparked your lifestyle change?
Actually, I was sooooo skinny, probably not very healthy, and wasn’t happy with my body, so I wanted to workout to gain some weight. I started at about 90 pounds and now off season I’m around 127 more less.

How did you eat before compared to now?
Ohh no.. I used to eat junk like Burger King and nothing happened to my body. Now I have learn to FEED my body in a healthy way.  I need carbs OR I will desintegrate myself but don’t eat sugar or saturated fats.

Do you consider your journey “hard” or “easy”?
The easier part is working out.  I just love it.  I have been doing it for 9 years and I can’t stop.  When I travel I must find a gym near the place I’m going to be. It only gets hard right before my shows when my carbs are temporarily low.  Like I said, I need carbs but the week before my show they are low for water reasons which sometimes makes me very tired.  But overall everything about my changes have been so positive in many aspects of my life.

Is PMS a struggle for you?  If so, how do you reduce hormonal cravings?
Yes, I try to eat less salt and no sodas on those days.  Chocolate protein shakes also help.

What are you most proud of?
Inner – My discipline and strength of mind not to give into cravings.
Outer –  I guess my back……. All of my back.  :-)

Practicing….

…for the stage.

Do you think you just have “good genes”?
I don´t think so.  I didn’t used to look the way I do now.

I worked very hard.   It´s all about what you do for your body and your soul.

Does your significant other share your lifestyle?
I live with my BF and yes he supports me. He doesn’t compete but he has been working out since he was 14.  So when I am leaning out for a show he understands I can’t go out with him every Saturday to eat pizza.

How have your friends reacted to your transformation?
Some people think I have no life because I prefer to eat healthy or carrying food with me everywhere I go but other just say they would like to be like me.  I find woman to be more open to muscles.   Men…well if they don’t have muscles obviously they won’t admire a woman who does!! Ha!

What are your favorite or staple foods?
I love meat and eggs!!! Mmmmmm there’s something very popular here in Ecuador made with black beans, rice, and meat!! MMMMM delicious.  I also like making omelettes with eggs white, mushrooms, spinach, and ham.

What is your favorite fun food?
Italian food or hot dogs!!!  And chocolate! Ha!!!

If you were stuck on a desert island what one food would you want with you?
Optimus nutrición Protein Bars.

How often do you exercise and what’s your favorite move?
I workout Monday – Friday.  My favorite exercise is the squat.  I love to workout my legs.

What is your favorite form of cardio?
Swimming.

What motivates you?
How I feel.  The mirror. How clothes fit.  Monica Brant!!

What goals have you reached?
I went to nationals for figure as a novice…but I went!!!!

What goals are you working towards?
My first competition with professional competitors! Uhhh scary..

Are you a scale addict?
Nooo!!!  I rarely  know my exact my weight.

What Disney princess do you most relate to?
Fiona! She´s from Dreamworks… but a princess!

Thanks Pau for sharing a part of your life and  being an example that strong women are  beautiful women!!!  Wishing you the best on your journey.  You are a Girl Hero!!!!

Giveaway Alert!
Don’t forget to enter Lara’s (from Thinspired) food scale give away!   You have until Saturday to enter!!

If you or someone you know would be willing to share your story as a Girl Hero send me an email.  All types of “heroes” are welcome!

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

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Today is Dr. Suess’ birthday so I got the BRILLIANT and FUN idea to surprise my kids with green eggs and french toast (we try not to eat pork) for dinner.

Who doesn’t love breakfast for dinner!

Green eggs and additives.

I skipped around my kitchen imagining shrieks of glee when the boys walked in to the kitchen and saw…

“What a fun mom!” I thought proudly anticipating their smiles.

Instead I got this…

…before he turned around and walked out as if I had made green eggs and sauerkraut.

(Note: I did not dress him.  He was being a Jedi.)

I don’t have a picture but my 9 year old was even less impressed.

I thought it would be fun to read Green Eggs and Ham during dinner.

They thought it was about as exciting as reading the closing stats of the S&P 500.

Yawn.

Seriously mom.

I guess I was about 3 years too late on this one.

But then…

Daddy used the scary man silly voice….

(Watch out for the lazer-eyed kitty.)

Ah ha!!! There are the smiles I was hoping for!

I’ll say goodnight with a quote from my favorite Dr. Seuss Book, Oh the Places You’ll Go-
“Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So… get on your way.”

Thanks for the inspriation and smiles Dr. Seuss.  Happy Birthday!!!!

Hugs & High Fives,
Jenn

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First I want to thank all of your for your kind comments on Friday’s post.   I didn’t sit down to write about my past mental illness.  I had planned to just post the playlist and (as usual) I got carried away.  I was very nervous about letting that skeleton out of the closet free to roam cyberspace but I decided I wanted to share my story of hope for anyone who stumbles across my little corner of the internet.  Thank you again for the kind words.

It’s March first so I thought I’d do  a quick little  update on my News Year’s (Life) Resolutions.

Eat only whole foods until July.  Here are my slip ups.
1. Corn chips at a Mexian restuarant. (We won’t talk about it.  Let’s just say I had enough to feed a small village.)
2. Pizza this weekend.
3. A cheetoh.  Yes A Cheetoh. Someone was eating them I grabbed one and inhaled it before anyone could even see it, so it doesn’t count.

I’m okay with this.  In fact, in some ways I’m happier about my consistency rather than perfection because when I’m trying to be perfect I’m also quite a pain in the azz.  Not too mention, I’m too hard on myself.  Saturday night, went out for pizza to celebrate our taekwondo tests.

Originally, I had thought I could just order a salad but….   The good news is that I ate until I was full (2 pieces) then stopped.  Of course, I had to sit on my hands but I STOPPED!!!!  Friends, if you know me this is nothing short of a MIRACLE.

The pizza was not as big as it looks in this picture!

Later that night, Brent made homemade coconut ice cream.  I only had one bowl!  Score again!  (Although I decided to have a bowl for breakfast but we won’t talk about that.)

Train for the RKC

This is going well. I still haven’t registered because I’m a little nervous.  They only have a 70% pass rate.   I got thrown off my Enter the Kettlebell workout schedule last week but I reminded myself that it’s a flexible schedule and I did get all my workouts in.  Saturday, was supposed to be moderate intensity day but I think I pushed a little too hard as I’m still sore today.  I used to train to failure every time but since I’ve been reading up and practicing kettlebells under Doug Nepodal’s direction my position on this has changed.

Daily reflection and prayer.

I’m about 50/50 on this. This morning I started off the day with my Bible reading.  I would like to read the entire Bible this year and I’m already behind. I did it once about 5 years ago and learned so much.  Even if you don’t believe the Bible is “God’s word” it’s still an amazing piece of literature and worth reading.

Learn to use a curling iron.

I think I’ve curled my hair once since January and it didn’t turn out so hot.  Except my fingers.  I burnt them.

Sunday, we went on a hike.  I was sore from my Enter the Kettlebell workout so I considered it an active rest and with 3 boys under the age of 10 on a muddy trail believe  me it was ACTIVE.

I ended the weekend by making myself motion sick by dancing like a typhoon to Arcade Fire in my kitchen.  It’s a good life.

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

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I used to be a functional “psycho chick”.  I could hide it well until I got close to someone and I felt like I might be abandoned.  Once, I kept a boy who wanted to break up with me in my car all night long.  Every time he tried to get out of the car I would hurt myself.  After a long and painful night for both of us, I put my foot through the windshield.  Told ya I was crazy… and that was only the beginning of the crazy girl stuff.

This weekend marks 11 years since I met my husband and this is the story of how I went from psycho to princess.

Me.

I used to gel those swirls to my cheeks. Nice.

A funky girl with “issues”.  When I met Brent I was a junior in college studying english lit and theatre.  I was lonely, insecure, and mentally ill but I was also creative, adventurous, and sincere.  I had moved out to California from Indiana at 18 because I wanted to be an actress and was trying to finish college in 3.5 years so I could move to LA or NYC. I should add that although I was crazy, you might doubt it from the outside. I believed in God (the Jesus-y God) and had since I was in 7th grade.

Brent.

A quiet pensive guy who was also a bit lonely.  He had been a drummer in a band and was lucky enough to have toured the country and parts of the world.  When the band broke up he worked in the bookstore at my college, where he had graduated from 4 years earlier.   Although the college was small I had never met him.  A few months prior to our meeting he had gotten a job at a skate park where he was going to make skateboarding videos but ended up designing websites instead.  He too believed in God.

We were neighbors, literally living right next door to each other but didn’t know it.  Yet.

A week before we met.

I was in Scottsdale, AZ, visiting my grandparents.  I had lived in Scottsdale the summer before maxing out credits at the community college and ASU because, like I said, I wanted to graduate early so I could move to the city.   Every time I go to Scottsdale, I visit the church I went to that summer.  On this visit, a boy who I was friends with asked me if I wanted to hang out that night.  I remember sitting in his living room, his perfect living room in his perfect middle class home, imagining what it would be like to be married to him.  It freaked me out.  Not a little.  A lot.  The thought made me feel like someone was locking me away in a dungeon filled with spitting cobras.  I’ve never been the princess-looking-for-the-knight-type of girl.  Too many issues I guess. Late that night after returning to my grandparents house I found myself kneeling on my bed, praying.  This was my prayer, “God if you want me to get married You better make it crystal clear because there is no way I am going to lock myself in a dungeon on my own.  Amen.”

The following weekend.

Have no idea how we got this photo but it's from the night we met. (No I'm not wearing a jean jumper.)

My girlfriend and I were having a party at my house.  We had the best parties.  We would line our long hallway with butcher paper and tack boxes of crayons to the walls so people could draw.  We had muscians playing, belly dancing, poetry readings.  It was great fun.  That night, I was in the kitchen preparing for one of our parties. I was chopping away at the kitchen counter wearing red hair extensions that fell to my waist and homemade beaded  false eyelashes when my friend, Ed, poked his head through my front door.  With him was Brent.  Brent. Brent. Time froze.  Standing on my doorstep was the most beautiful human being I had ever seen.  I loved him that moment.  Maybe not deeply but I loved him and nobody will tell me otherwise.  Ed introduced us and just struck by Cupid’s arrow I mumbled the most clever of clever questions “What do you do?”.  His response, “I’m a filmmaker.”  Gaining my composure, I responded, “Reeeally, well I’m an actress” holding out my hand flirtatiously to be kissed.  True.  We were ridiculous.  That evening we had a magical time dancing and hanging out. I didn’t want the the night to end and I don’t think he did either. Finally, in the wee hours of the morning, he walked back over to his house…next door.  I stayed at mine.

The next evening.

Again showed up on my doorstep.  He was trying to be chivalrous.  I opened my door wearing a black turtle neck and thick black glasses.  ”Jenn?” he said?  Yes, it’s me.  We sat on my couch and talked for hours.  I had to ask what he thought about God.  Although I was crazy and had 5,698,000,000 issues to work through, I knew one thing that a relationship without God wasn’t going to work for me.  So I said, “What do you think about God?”  His answer, “What else is there?”  His simple answer rang deep within me in a place I can’t adequately describe.

A week later.

We were slow dancing and listening to music in his room.  In my head, like a dream, I saw us dancing in front of what felt like the feet of God.  Brent was kissing my head and drops of oil were forming.  The drops of oil were stacking up on top of one another, a glistening tower reaching up to God.  It may sound weird and I suppose it was but it was also beautiful.  So beautiful that I hugged him tightly.  In that moment, I heard these words, “You are holding your husband.”  It wasn’t an audible loud-speaker-booming-bluelight-special voice but I could hear it as certain as I am alive.  ”You are holding your husband.”   It had been two weeks since I was on my knees in Arizona.

The next two months.

No I didn’t tell him about the dream or the voice.  I knew better.  I simply started praying and fasting every Monday and asking for “a sign”.  Over the next few months, the crazy girl began to come out. I found out there was a name for my mental condition, Borderline Personality Disorder. (That’s another post entirely.) I read a book on the disorder and while most people find labels restricting I found freedom.  Finally, I knew there were others who felt like me and while statistically the prognosis looked bleak I was determined to not lose what I had found in Brent.  How did Brent repond?  He continued to love me.  Somethings I’ll never understand.  He loved me through every up and down and honestly during that period of our lives there were more downs than ups.

I "surprised" him by handing 30 Promax bars from his ceiling with dental floss.

We had met at the tail end of February and it was now April.  In a few weeks, I was to leave for a month’s study in Israel.  After Israel, I was planning on spending 10 days in London by myself.  I had been there a few years earlier and fell in love with the city.  I teasingly said he should meet me in London.  The next day he surprised me by saying he had bought a plane ticket.  He also joked about getting married.  That’s it.  That was “my sign”.  I’m easy to please.

Israel

In the Dead Sea.

Israel was one of the most amazing places I have ever been.  I wandered the stones paths of old Jerusalem and swam at dawn in the Sea of Galilee pondering my faith and future. Still the ancient marvels of Petra (in Jordan) and the weighlessness of the Dead Sea could not compare with my thoughts of Brent. I counted the days, the hours, the minutes, until I would be able to feel his embrace again.  While in Israel, a friend and I discussed our thoughts of marriage.  I had not told a soul about the dream or the voice the night we danced in his room.  However I said, if I ever get married I want a single small solitaire to symbolize simplicity.

London (3 months after we met)

I had arrived in London a day before Brent was to arrive. One of the longest nights of my life was that night I spent alone in a bed and breakfast London (in King’s Cross nonetheless) waiting for the sun to rise.  London was what you’d expect from two young adventurous people in love.  We risked our lives by renting a car venturing out into the Cotswolds.  We put waaaaay too many amazing meals on the credit card.  We stayed up late dancing the night away.

We visited museums, famous sights, and cuddled on park benches.  We also got engaged.  One night he slipped away to call my parents to ask for permission. Late that night in a conversation he simply asked sweetly, “Will you marry me?”  I simply said, “Yes.”  It is the best thing I’ve ever said.  We were excited and couldn’t sleep.  Finally, in the early hours of the morning, we hopped on the tube and went down to the Thames river to walk and talk about the wedding we were now planning for December.  The sun was barely up.  Brent bought a muffin from a corner convenience store and we strolled happily along the Thames.  Just as Brent was about to bite into his muffin bird poop fell from the sky landed on it.  He looked at me and exclaimed in disgust, “A bird just shit on my muffin!”  Laughing, he threw it into the Thames.  I learned that day no matter how wonderful things are shit still happens.  It just does.  To everyone.  We can’t control the shit but we can choose our response.

Wrap Up.

Brent ended up buying me a ring in London.  The first one we saw in an little unassuming jewelry store on a random street.  It is a small simple solitaire that I love to this day and have no plans of ever replacing for something bigger.  We said our first vows to each other alone in a small church in the Cotswolds. Because of some choices we made we ended up moving our legal wedding from December to October. I’ll let you fill in the blanks on that one.  We had a small simple lovely wedding.

We used a Lego theme because from the first weeks of our meeting he always said, “We fit together like Legos”.  ”Like Legos” is inscribed inside our wedding bands.

I never made it to LA or NYC like I had dreamed since childhood.  Thinking back on my mental state it was probably for the best and I married my soulmate.  I wouldn’t trade him for all the world.  The bliss of marriage didn’t take away the cloud of mental illness in our life, in fact, in some ways it complicated it.  It would take 5 years of therapy, tears, hard work, perseverance, prayer, and unconditional love until I could confidently call myself healthy.  Even then depression would still creep back into my life from time to time. Once I combined all I had learned from therapy with healthy food, exercise, and faith that God loved me because I am me, I was able to step outside myself.  I was able to begin to see my potential and the potential of others.

The Playlist

Camping alone in the Sequoias last summer.

If you’ve made it this far thank you for taking the time to read the most important story of my life and my most vulnerable post to date.  At this point, you may be wondering what the hell any of this has to do with a playlist.  It does.  When Brent and I met 11 years ago this weekend, music was one of the first things we found we had in common.  Both of us had hundreds of cd’s many of the same ones: Radiohead, The Cure, Depeche Mode, Bjork, New Order, The Velvet Goldmine Soundtrack, The Smiths, Smashing Pumpkins, Led Zepplin, Nirvana, Portishead, Yo La Tango, Air, to name a few.

I love music.  All sorts of music from the more obscure to Britney Spears to Kiss.  (I’m sorry my love.)  I have playlists specifically for lifting, cardio, and stretching.  And others for certain moods or events.  In honor of meeting my soulmate, who has loved me for 11 years on my journey from psycho to princess (He makes me feel like one), I made a playlist based on our common cd collection.

Love Song – The Cure (Possibly the best love song ever.)

The Whole Shebang – Grant Lee Buffalo, Velvet Goldmine Soundtrack

We Carry On – Portis Head (I like this for lifting)

There is a Light That Never Goes Out – The Smiths

Violently Happy – Bjork (Best song title ever!)

It’s No Good  - Depeche Mode (Another good lifting song) 

Street Spirit – Radiohead (Good song for stretching. Thom York’s voice makes me cry…in a good way…seriously.)

True Faith – New Order (Cardio or road tripping.)

Autumn Sweater – Yo La Tengo (All around cool song – good 4 stretching)

Bullet with Butterfly Wings – Smashing Pumpkins -(Not a love song but killer for lifting or hard cardio.)

Sexy Boy – Air (That he is easy cardio song)

You can listen to snippets of the entire playlist here.

Enjoy and thanks for reading.  Have a wonderful weekend.

Hugs & High Fives,
Jenn

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WWTD?

What would Tara do?

I’ve asked myself that more than once in moments of temptation or laziness.  Tara has been immensely motivating for me.  So motivating that I had a picture of her taped inside my kitchen cabinet when I was training for my first figure competition! I’ve used all the excuses in the book from “I don’t have time to cook healthy” to not having “the right equipment” to “I have a pear shaped body it’s impossible” to change it.  But Tara challenged me to question all my excuses.  Frankly, she makes most excuses look…well like excuses because she is a commercial pilot (she flies a 737!) whose busy schedule takes her all around the world.  Despite her not always “convenient” schedule she still chooses to eat healthy and get her workouts in.  Not only has Tara transformed her body but she is caring, funny, supportive, and honest.  I was part of an online group of figure competitiors with her a year and a half ago and she never stopped encouraging other group members.  More than once she took the time to answer my questions and offer support!  I’m really excited to share part of Tara’s life with you all because her life changed my life by giving me hope that I too could change.

What caused you to make your lifestyle change?  Was there a moment you just knew you had to change your habits?  Was is a major change?

Rather than a defining moment, or realization that I had ‘become out of shape’, I think it was more that I picked up the BFL book and got all excited over the before/afters.  I knew when I saw those, that not one person on there could possibly have something in them that I didn’t.  In fact, I thought….”I have a killer work ethic!  If I just really hunker down, I can do this for sure–these people aren’t magically gifted– I can do this, too!”

It was AFTER that, when I took my ‘before’ picture, where I truly discovered that I was WAY out of shape.  I always thought I was ‘pretty fit’ with just a small layer of fat.  Wow, I was way past out of shape.  I never pictured myself as out of shape as I was in my photo; it was an eye opener!

Changing my habits….it’s still a process! I am still working on them!  Initially, I really thought 6 meals a day was such a new, ‘hard core’ thing to do.  I thought using low fat mayo was the biggest step toward being fit.  I had no idea how to do any weights other than that leg sled press.  I used to just get on that thing and push 12 reps, maybe one set,, with as many plates as would look impressive.  I really had no clue about mind-muscle connection, balancing the upper body (or even caring about it), or working out in a consistent manner.  I was all over the place, dabbling in fitness, calling myself a fit minded person, yet never fully committed and never had a ‘plan’ for workouts or meals.  Nutrition was entirely new.  I  used to think Slimfast was healthy.  A small amount of white rice for a meal–like that was the secret to being healthy.  I had a veggie drawer full of mini tootsie rolls in the fridge– ’smart snacking’ because hey…they’re ‘fat free’ and can ’curb a chocolate craving’!  You know…most of us have been there.

What was your diet like before?  Your exercise program before?

It’s hard to say WHAT my diet was before…I never had a ‘diet’.  I was big on cereal in the morning- dinner, maybe, too….I liked Raisin Bran, but I also liked sugary cereals.  I never ate eggs–hated them.  I liked bacon, though.   Lunch and dinner might be ziti and sauce with butter, spaghetti, soup, plenty of candy on a daily basis, diet soda several times a day, Doritos here and there, and tons of Balance Bars or Slimfast shakes(I thought these were healthy…and I thought the MORE of them I ate, the FASTER I would lose weight!!! Really!!! ).  I didn’t cook steaks or chicken or fish.  I might buy deli chicken.  I might have a frozen meal…in fact, I remember buying a lot of these for less than a dollar.  I was not big on fast food at all.  I skipped meals all over the place.  One meal a day to who knows how many snacks a day.  I just had zero thought pattern about it, because if I did a workout here and there, I figured it was the main thing that made you ‘in shape’ or not.

Exercise ranged from weeks of nothing to a stray day doing some convoluted leg thing.  I remember looking at fit gals in the gym, and then thinking I was ’so much stronger’, I’d load up the leg press sled and think, “My genetics might not make me look like her, but I am way stronger.”  These days, my weights are down because my form is up… I see girls like me come in and load up plates like I used to, and walk away after their 1 set.

I did stair master in college and had great calves.  I would judge a cardio machine based on how I might think it would shape my legs– how it might make them lean and shapely.  I didn’t know to think in terms of ‘overall body fat’.  I was a ’spot reducer cardio equipment chooser’.  The concept of weights to lean up just didn’t occur to me, and I didn’t even think to research.

Once I started flying for the airlines, I didn’t work out on layovers at all.  It seemed like there was no time– It was fly and sleep and eat, get up real early, do it again.  I flew a lot at my smaller flying jobs to build time to get to a major airline; I focused on my career and barely at all on my health

What is it like being a pilot?  What’s a typical schedule like?

I do love to fly!  I love the challenge; I love to see the terrain…the way it goes from mountians to oceans and seeing the way people find ways to build small villages in seemingly remote places.  I love to see mountains and islands in the day, and red lava marking volcanic activity at night, and I love weather– I love the mechanics of a good storm, and it fascinates me.  I love when the wind is crazy and the runway is slick and short, and I get the landing.  I know it’s the job I was meant to have!

Pilots are always living out of a suitcase…even at home.  Pilots are always keeping current on procedures, training, checkrides, etc.  We are busy when we have our trips, and at home, we are trying to play catch up, getting packed for the next trip, and trying to find some down time…some quiet.  Most pilots wind up eating at airports, grabbing food between flights in the day.  Long layovers are becoming a thing of the past, so exploring a city is not common anymore.  Many times, we arrive late at night and leave the hotel the following morning.  We can do one to six flights a day, or more. A pilot can be on duty for 16 hours; this does not include going to or from a hotel, or security screening.  Piloting is truly a consuming lifestyle; it is not a part time gig.

There is not a typical schedule.  I tend to fly 4-day trips, which means I am bouncing around from city to city several times a day for four days, without coming home.  In between, the days off vary, but 3 days off in between trips is a decent average.

I have been home less than a week in an entire month, and I have been home for half a month at a time.  I have times where I fly 3 days, come home for one, go out for two, home for two, and out again for four.  This is what I am doing this week.  This type of skeddy is very hectic.  Time zones are always changing, and we swap flying days to flying allnighters (redeyes).

Can you share the some of the challenges you face trying to maintain a healthy diet and workout as you fly?

The challenges lie mainly with refrigeration and heating, and international rules.  I have to be able to eat whatever I bring, and I have to eat it cold (I never count on finding a microwave– if I find one, great! A treat!  Most trips I do not have this.  I keep food cold by filling a sturdy ziplock with ice.  I leave Denver with the food all frozen in my cooler.  I get to Texas and fly my day.  By the end of the day, I need ice, so I either get leftover galley ice from the plane, or wait till the hotel to get ice.  I must carry my food with me; there is no place to ‘leave’ food to get it later.  I am in a different city/airport all the time.

International rules restrict meats, plants, nuts, fruits.  I fly international every month, so on these trips, I rely on canned tuna, canned chicken, powdered eggwhites, shakes, and a green supplement.  It gets old eating this stuff for 4 days.

The little newstands with every candy on the planet can be tempting.  My crewmembers often have some tempting foods, too!

At times, hotels do not have gyms, or the equipment is inop, or the gyms have certain hours.  Since I want to be competitive, I can’t exactly go, “oh well! no workout today!”  So I have definitely lunged hallways at midnight in the hotel, sprinted parking lots, and gone up stairwells and down stairwells for cardio.  I can bring a jumprope and go in the parking lot and do a series of pushups, rope jumping, sprints, plyo, etc for a killer HIIT workout.  People do stare.  Sometimes I’m sure that I’m ‘the freak’, but I know I’ll never see these people again.  The more I do this stuff, the more I don’t even consider what I look like.  It becomes just a normal thing for me, and ’feeling stupid’ isn’t in the equation.

What have been your biggest roadblocks and more importantly how do you get pass them?

Roadblocks have definitely come from me, mostly.  From where I look at a situation (99% of the time it’s to do with work), and say, “There’s no freakin’ way!!”  Once you get that mindset, it’s VERY hard to poke around the possibilities and figure out how to make it work. I get all mad and frustrated, and that gets me nowhere.  I have slowly recognized this pattern.  The more things that I have MADE work, the more things that I can MAKE work.  When I make something work, I feel like a rockstar…unstoppable!

Right now, the roadblocks come from full flying days where the layover is either scheduled to be short, or delays have made it very short.  I feel helpless because I can’t control time.  I can’t give up sleep– flying and being safe for my passengers is a bottomline–it’s the priority.  I have learned that so far, I haven’t turned into a blimp from missing a workout.  I found the things that I can control, and that is prep time and diet.  I allow a longer time to prep for a show, and I absolutely cannot be sabotaging my diet.  I also do request my monthy schedule to have layovers that allow me longer sleep and some time to workout.  Being proactive on the prep time, honest about where my diet needs to be, and in better control of my schedule is how I maneuver the obstacles best.

On your personal health journey have you had any super low moments?  Moments that just made you want to throw in the towel.  Did you learn something from that experience?

In October of ‘08, I developed severe knee pain that required an MRI.  Nothing could be found, however, and I continued to have this knee pain up until 2010.  It drastically affected my training.  I was lucky to have enough leg muscle to get by, but the conditioning (cardio) aspect became very tough.  I had NO leeway with diet.  I had to do slower, less effective cardio.  I became very frustrated at not being able to train like I wanted.  For my health, I felt that my competitive career would be cut short.  I had times of ‘why’, and times I knew it would be better to just stop training.  I think I probably should have stopped, but I did not want to quit.  I pushed

One day, I came across the website Truth About Splenda, and I saw that joint issues were mentioned.  I immediately took Splenda out of my diet, and learned so much about artificial sweetners, and how damaging some of this ’substitute’ food that I was eating is.  Within a month, I regained nearly all knee function with no pain.  It is not 100%, but I am not restricted on workouts!! I am ecstatic!!! I also had the opportunity to better my health.  I learned that food is a BIG DEAL to every function, down to the cellular level, of the body.  It is this that has sparked my interest in nutrition for athletes, and I am working on a certification course to learn more from ISSA.

What do you find to be the easiest aspect of your lifestyle?  What do you think makes it “easy” for you?

The ability to do whatever I want, whenever I want.  This comes at a price of course, but I am a single gal with no kiddos or pets.  This is what I choose right now, and I am enjoying every minute of it! I can workout at 2am if I need to, fly an extra trip if I want to, and need to consult with no one.  I mean, I work around my job, which can be inflexible at times, but outside of that, I DO get the flexibility.  I really am grateful for this, because so many gals have a household to run, too, and others around them need to be considered.

Have you ever done anything “silly” to lose weight?

I did try to have white rice for every meal, once.  Not sure how long that lasted, but knowing what I know now….that was the dumbest thing I could have pulled!  I also did Slimfast in college, and thought…”If I take extra scoops, I’ll lose weight even faster!” No, I am NOT kidding!

Have you ever dealt with depression?  Do notice changes in your diet coincide with your moods?

I have not dealt with depression.  I have ups and downs like regular people, but I am generally a positive person.  When I really am going through a true tough time, I actually find that putting on the ipod and getting on a tready ‘just to run’ is really calming.  I don’t try to set a record or go for a time, or ‘get a workout in’.  It is simply time to listen to the music, run at whatever speed feels effortless, and just go.  If I can go outside, to a trail or scenic area where there are no people around, this is where I feel best.  I don’t like to sit and feel down and out.  I tend to fight that.  I feel weak if I sit and allow myself to be down and out.

What I notice about diet is not necessarily that a certain food makes me more positive (ok, besides the coffee ‘take on the world’ thing that happens to me), but the way that I feel after eating and nourishing my body with clean foods is different because I feel like I’m truly HEALTHY–it’s more knowledge based than an actual physical reaction type of feeling from a food.  I feel cleaner and lighter…. like I have nourished my body.  This knowledge about that nourishment is what puts me in a good mood.

What are you most proud of?

Some people say, “I relate to you”, or “You motivate me,” and that definitely makes me proud.  I am proud of my work ethic, and I am proud of being and of having always been a natural competitor.  I want other gals to feel that what I have attained is something that they can do, too.  I never want to hear, “Oh, but she has this going on, and I don’t….”  I want people to succeed, and I am proud if I can somehow help that.

What do you think about people who say you’ve just got “good genes”?

1. Look at my before picture.

2. Come spend a day with me.

You’re really strong and beautiful woman, I’m curious, how do the guys at the gym react when you go into the gym and show them you don’t messing around with pink dumbbells?

Aw, that is a really nice thing to hear!  Thank you!  Wait–there are guys at the gym???  Hehe …. I honestly feel that I might be seen as a bit standoffish in the gym.  I keep to myself…I don’t look around, and I don’t really interact.  If someone’s on a machine I need, I use another one.  I sound like a freak! Haha! But I am just really all about making my session count!  I really, really want to be among the BEST, and I am very, very focused in the gym.  I sometimes wish I balanced my gym personality better, but I haven’t made the effort.  I’m afraid it will take away from the intensity, I think.  The gym is a place of business, really.  I have had two people comment at all to me in the gym, and both were very kind comments– not, “you look hot’” or anything, but more like, “You really hit it hard on your workouts!”  and “Are you training for something, because I see you in here, and you seem to work really hard.”  These are the best comments–they made me feel good

How have your friends reacted to your transformation?

I remember taking a picture in some cutoff jean shorts after my 12 BFL transformation.  I cut the head off, and entered a little online contest.  I called up my best friend, who lived in another state and had not yet seen my transformation in photos, but knew I had done the 12 week program.  I told him to call up the web page and said, “Look at all of all these girls–they kicked butt, huh?”  I didn’t tell him that one was mine.  He said, “Hate to say it, but this girl looks better than you.  Wow.  She did a good job.”  And I laughed, because that photo was MINE.  He was stunned- and a little embarrassed!! haha!

He came to my first competition with his girlfriend, and when I came out on stage, they did not at first know it was me.  Again, very very suprised.  I know it motivated them to start their own programs.  Most people really said, “you were never fat”.  Then I show the before pics in the bathing suit and they say, “Oh, but you couldn’t tell you looked like that, really.”  One friend asked me if I had liposuction– very loudly, in the airport, he asked this.  I was there in uniform, and dozens of people turned around to stare.

How does your lifestyle affect your social life?

Oh, this is baaaaad….I don’t have much of a social life!  Between flying and working out, I have decided that right now, I want to push the competing thing, and see how far I can go.  I don’t want to try to fit a relationship in, because I can’t give the kind of time that I will need and want to give to someone.  I have friends, but fortunately– I live with both of my best friends, so we don’t have to arrange special times to see each other.

When I am ready to compromise, I can open myself up to a relationship, but I choose this right now.

Any advice for staying on track when going out?

You are who you are.  If you are a competitor, don’t try to be a ‘party girl’, or a ‘girl trying to fit in’ on what’s on the menu.  You are a competitor, so you either bring ‘your foods’ (yes, you are a freak   ), or you have a say in where you go, and your order food accordingly.  Going to a club?  Go ahead!!! Go!!! But you are who you are.  YOU drink water, tea, whatever matches with who you are.  Don’t try to play ‘cool’ and ‘just fit in’.  You have to go against the grain a little, and that takes a little bit of not caring what others think.  Come on, you’re not going to be ousted from the table if you eat your own stuff.  Make less of a big deal of it, and do it like you’ve done it forever.  It really is just the way it is right now– You have GOT to do what you have to do.  I brought chicken and a sweet potato to Applebee’s when I met up with an old friend from high school.  I told the waiter that I would order coffee and that I have my own food.  The waiter said, “Do you want a plate?”  That was how hard it was.

By the way, you can expect comments and maybe some grief from family and friends.  It really is normal, but it really is frustrating, too.  I just get upbeat, positive, and tell them how I feel so good, and I want to be place first, and how excited I am over my healthy foods.  I have heard it all, from ‘freak’ to ‘eating disorder’, to ‘good for you’.  Go with it.  Don’t let anyone slow you down.

How do you look at food differently than before?

Yes!! It’s more ‘what can this food do to nourish my body, my cells, make me fight disease…’   I am angry at advertisers and at manufacturers of junk food– I feel like if I buy their stuff, I promote their worsening of our health!  I’m PAYING them to slowly poison me!   I feel like they could care less about what disease it gives someone, and more about whether they can get a bigger yacht with the profits.

My staple foods are oatmeal, organic chicken, corn tortillas, berries, and of course–any kind of nut butters and nuts.

Do you have an easy meal you’d like to share?  Or maybe some food and travel advice?

Every meal I do is easy– it’s as hassle free as can be, so by nature, also pretty boring.  A great little snack for a carb in place of corn chips is to spray corn tortillas with Pam, sprinkle with seasalt, and bake for 5-10 min at 400 on a piece of foil…(poke holes in the foil for best and most even heating, or put directly on the rack)  (you can also cut them into triangles before baking).  My roomies gave me this idea, and I love it!

For my travel food, I invested in a $99 FoodSaver (Sam’s Club or Costco are cheapest).  I cook my food for work and seal it up in these baggies.  Like I mentioned, food is always cold, and it gets to be that you really just want warm food after so many cold meals!  So sometimes I get in the hotel, put the sealed bag of whatever (let’s say it is salmon) in the coffeepot.  I fill the coffeemaker with water and turn on the coffeepot.  That hot water will drip onto the salmon baggie in the pot.  It sits in there a bit and gets warm.   I pull out the baggie and dump the fish out…and it’s nice and warm to eat!  I especially do this with fish, because cold fish is not fun for me!

What is your favorite fun food?

If you want to know what I would love to eat that I won’t…it’s a Cadbury egg!  Once I eat that, it sends my insulin soaring, and it’s hard to reel the cravings back in.

How do you deal with cravings????

Oy! STAY AWAY FROM SUGAR!  STAY AWAY FROM SUCRALOSE/SPLENDA!  That’s the secret right there.  No kidding.  I also cannot chew gum or have any diet soda.  Artificial sweetners REALLY do give me cravings, and it was a long time before I cared enough to try and figure out if I had a craving pattern or not.  I had heard about the sweetners but thought, “Well, I’m not getting cravings from that…I have good willpower.”  Yeah, right.  What am I, superwoman? I figured out that my craving patterns almost always followed when I had some kind of sweetener.  (stevia does not do this to me)

Don’t discredit yourself:  You’re going to say, “I know my limits, and I can’t give up sugar.”  I am the ultimate sugarbug, and I am telling you!!!  My sisters struggle with this, too!  You are so convinced that I have no idea how bad YOU are, but I KNOW.  And I’m serious.  Cut it out.  You HAVE to.  It sucks at first, and it’s eye-opening later on when you realize it’s a big deal, but not as big as you think.  You still won’t believe me, and I don’t know what else to say.  I know it’s a fact, but I had to do it myself to believe it.  Sugar is not natural, so please do not rationalize it with that thought.  It’s nasty stuff, and it is so far from its original form that we can say it’s just another chemical that’s messing you up!

The other VERY important thing is this: GET SLEEP.  Yup.  Sleep.  When I’m tired, that’s when I cave.  Nearly EVERY time.  This is one of my biggest and most helpful discoveries.  Knowing it is one thing.  Honoring it and GETTING sleep is the other half.  I had to give it respect, because life tends to draw on your sleep–don’t allow this.

When it’s outta control: I eat frozen berries with the stevia on top.  The other trick is white tea with stevia.  Two more tricks: 1) GET OUT OF THE HOUSE, because you’re only going to open and close cabinets/fridge a gazillion times and wind up making some weird thing with corn syrup and flour and protein powder and then cave anyway.  2) Write down your craving escape paths.  Write down the berry thing and have it avail in the house.  If you’re used to having a craving and your mind is used to thinking ‘chips, soda, chocolate’, you will NEVER get the clarity to even THINK of berries.  Have a PLAN.  You will have cravings, so what are you going to DO ABOUT IT????  Decide NOW.

Do you have any foods you know you probably should give up but won’t?  Are you able to incorporate that food without it sabotaging all your effort?

Hm.  Probably coffee.  The reason is because if you have coffee, you want creamer.  And you don’t want stevia, you want sugar.  Or Splenda.  And I am not doing either.  So I make the coffee with a little creamer that is nonfat, and I can say this: that stuff bloats me if I take too much. Plus it’s fake stuff, that creamer, right?  But I love my coffee.  I just have completely sworn off of any sweetner other than stevia, and I do not use ‘yummy’ or those ‘liquid creamers’.

If you were stuck on a desert island what one food would you want with you?

Cashew butter.  Haha!  I’d be so lean that I could eat lots!

You have an online trainer right?  What’s that like?  How is it helpful to you?

I train with Kim Oddo, at Body by O.  I did some research, and I like his integrity, his style, his method of communication, his knowledge, background, client results, and professionalism.  I have a very strong work ethic.  I tend to research and figure out thigs like how a muscle is attached and how it moves, and what I need to be feeling to know it’s getting worked.  Because of this kind of thing, I am a good candidate for online training.  I don’t mind that I never see my trainer, nor do I train with anyone.

Here is the thing.  Most people have the capability to learn how to train, to diet, can research, etc.  I have a very time consuming job, and while I do research, this is not my area of expertise.  I feel that I need some guidance; I know very little compared to what an expert with experience knows.  I want that expertise and I am willing to pay for that.  It relieves me of much research and of trying to figure out which path to take to the stage–there are so many! Not one way is right!

In addition, I look at myself and ‘think’ I know what I need to do, but I am not sure.  I really am still a rookie in this sport. I also do not have an objective eye when looking at my own photos.  I don’t know exactly what the judges might be wanting, but the judges do communicate with the coaches, and coaches take time to interview judges.

I like the ‘accountability’, in other words, if my trainer wants a photo of my progress, I know I can’t be messing around!  I want to show that trainer that my work ethic is there!  I want to ‘represent’ for that trainer because I support that trainer.

Together, all of these things make me a less worried competitor, a more informed competitor, and a better presentation on stage.  Competition is in some ways, an extreme sport.  You have the opportunity to challenge yourself, but you can also mess up and be malnourished, overtrained, and generally go backward in health rather than forward.   I have an experienced trainer who knows the pitfalls and I have had a wonderful experience in my contest prep because I remained sane and had my health the entire time.  This is what I was looking for when I hired him.

How often do you workout?

Right now, 6 days a week.

What is your favorite exercise?

Behind the head shoulder press.  I really feel my delts burning!!!  It doesn’t bother my shoulders (and many trainers recommend NOT doing this exercise due to stress on the shoulder joint), and I put it in my program here and there because I like how it holds my posture up and that BURN!!!

How do you feel about cardio?  Is there a particular form of cardio you really enjoy?

Cardio is…well, it CAN be boring.  When it’s intense, I really hate it at the moment, but after each burst of intensity, I am loving it–does that make sense?  I really enjoy sprints.  I had a knee injury last year, and I had a hard, hard time doing anything intense.  I have most of my knee function back after cutting Splenda out (!!!!) , so I love to dig in and GO!  I feel like I earned my supper.  I also love Zumba, but at times, it’s too easy because I have done a couple of months of it.  My body gets really efficient, so I switch things up to keep myself really challenged and not ‘cruising’.

Favorite brand of workouts clothes?

Fizeek Brazil, hands down.  The pants are awesome!

What motivates you?

I am competitive! I want to win– I want to be the BEST….I have always sought competition in things I have done, from flying to riding a bike.

I am motivated by possibility.  To see someone achieve something makes me think, “Why not me?”

I am motivated by success.  When I am successful in one area or at one step in a process, I really want to smoke the next part!

I am motivated by the faith that other people have in me; I cannot, will not let them down.  I do feel like I need to push for them, too.

I am motivated by the lack of faith in me, too.  If you tell me I can’t, I am going to be sure you see that I CAN.

What goals have you reached?

Competing!!!  I didn’t even have a placing…just to get on stage was a big, huge deal, and I did it!

Being ‘inspirational’.  I really want to be a little fire burning at your bootay to get movin!!!

Before that, completing 12 weeks on Body for Life! Can I tell you— when you’re in the middle of the weeks, down in the trenches doing that program, it seems like a long, hard road.  I started and stopped many ‘programs’ in the middle because they got tough; to complete one and enter the official challenge was a big accomplishment.  I learned a lot about myself along the way.

I definitely want to place first in a national show.  I want to be inspirational, and I can do that when people know who I am.  I have so many ideas and ways that I want to incorporate fitness, motivation, etc.  Narrowing it down to something that I can handle and actually make work is a goal that I need to focus more on!

Are you a scale addict?  Do you ever have “bad scale days”?

Yeah, kind of!  I get on there, but if it’s a bad number, I’m much more informed and know it’s bogus than I was in the past.  I go up 3 to 6 pounds after a trip, every single time.  I had a 124 on the day of departure, and returned 48 hours later to 130.  That is the effect of cortisol and water, it’s not even possible that I would have eaten 18,000 calories!!! Ha!  You really do learn the way of that dumb scale, so I get on it every day, just about, because it’s kind of interesting at this point!

How do you track your progress?

Pictures!! (Click on the above to see what this girl acheived with her legs!) I also have a habit of writing weight down in a little planner, and “W,H,T.”  That’s waist, hips, thigh.  I just measure them every week first thing in the morning and write down the biggest number I get in the area being measured.  It’s great to watch the numbers come down, and to compare different years.

Do you know if any friends (besides me ) or family have made lifestyle changes because of you?

I do know my close friends are eating clean because of me.  I think it has to do with the relatability of someone who they see as ‘one of theirs’ accomplishing something.  They then feel that it is possible for them, too, because I am not a celebrity, not a special anything– and they can see, step by step, exactly how it happens.  There is no mystery, no special technique, no magic supplement.

I know from being on the online forum with you that you are good at offering motivational advice.  Any you could share?

I guess just to really give you a reality check on yourself.  Look, you’re staring at these girls in these magazines and thinking ‘that’s her’….when in reality, why don’t you think, “I can do that!”?

Tell me this…why not YOU?  What makes you so much less special than any other human being?  What does someone else have that YOU don’t?

What are you waiting for?  Why not YOU…why not NOW?  There is no perfect moment, no perfect setup.  But you DO have to decide that you are 100% as capable as the next person.  You DO have to realize that YOU are your own worst enemy.  WHAT MOVES you?  What do you CARE about when it comes to your REASON for getting fit?  The WAY that you motivate yourself is to figure out WHAT IT IS THAT MAKES YOU TICK.  It’s not what the magazines say, and it’s not what makes me tick.

Moms: Picture this– you’re at the park, your little shiny haired toddlers are running all over the grass, full of energy and life.  Your family and friends are standing over the picnic table, asking that ‘adult’ question, “Where do these kids get all this energy?”  And you suddenly smile, and feel a jolt of playfulness.  You leave the table, and run to your kids.  You don’t care that you have shorts on, and you don’t care how you look as you pick up your little boy and are able to lift him over your head as he squeals with delight! ‘mama’s got me’!  You laugh and get right down in the grass with your little ones, and you soak up that moment!  Focusing on the kids, laughing in the sun, not a single thought of what you look like , not a single out of breath struggle as you lift up your children.  Don’t you want to be this mom??? Isn’t it worth this moment???

Redefine yourself.  Who do you want to be?  What are you doing right now that the NEW you would never do?  Step into your new shoes, sister, and start walking in them.

Or you can leave them there and see if someone else can fill them.

But then you’ll never get to take that walk.  And in a month from now, will you still be standing here???  Your life is moving on, and it’s time to keep up.

And just for fun!  If you could have one super power what would it be?

To fly! Without a plane

Tara’s pretty awesome, huh!  I’ve mentioned she should start a blog because not only would it be fascinating hearing about her travels, it would be CRAZY INSPIRATIONAL!  I know she’s busy but one can always hope!   Tara, thank you so much for taking the time to answer the questions and share your life with others.  You are truly a Girl Hero!!!

xoxo

Jenn

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In keeping with our decision to eat vegetarian a night or two a week, I’ve been creating new or revamping old recipes.  Last night, we converted my Mozzarella Chicken to Mozzarella Eggplant.   I can’t believe I’m saying this but I think I actually like the eggplant better.  It was sooooo good.  I nearly cried for joy when I found out my husband had a business lunch today and I didn’t have to share the leftovers.

Mozzarella Eggplant

1 eggplant
1 tbs olive oil
1/2 red onion – sliced
2 tbs balsalmic vinegar
2 tbs water
4 tomatoes – chopped into big chunks
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves – chopped
4 oz part skim mozzarella cheese – Not shredded, the kind you buy whole. Cut into little chunks. A piece about the size of you palm. (Cheese sticks work too.;-))

Brush the eggplant with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic salt.  Grill on each side for about  3-5 minutes.  (Grilling the eggplant was key.)

Heat the rest of the oil in a saute pan and cook the onions until they start to soften.  Then add the water, vinegar, tomatoes, and basil.  Cook over med/high for a few more minutes until the liquid starts to thicken.  If you want a more sauce add a little more vinegar and water in equal parts. Keep stirring it so it doesn’t burn.  Turn down the heat just before servings and throw in the mozzarella.  If you put the mozzarella in too soon it will start to melt all together.  It’s better when the cheese stays chunky.  Spoon the sauce over the eggplant.

The fact that there was no meat on the table did not stop Meow Cow from practicing his usual tactics. Every evening, Meow Cow saunters in and sits down on the bench at the table right between my Brent and I.  Meow Cow patiently sits looking up at me pretending he actually loves me.  He knows if he stares sweetly at me long enough I’ll let him eat off the table. Yes, I am that rogue-ish. Occasionally, Brent scolds me but most of the time he pretends he doesn’t see because secretly he wants to feed Meow Cow from the table too.  He would never admit this because it greatly goes against the civilized code of conduct but it’s true.  When Meow Cow doesn’t get what he wants he gets extra nice and climbs onto one our laps.

If he fails to score he gives us kisses.

And then when he gets what he wants.

We love Meow Cow anyway.

xoxo
jenn

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If you’ve read my blog for any length of time you may have noticed I don’t do many long workouts.  Sure, I enjoy going long hikes, walks, or even an occasional jog but as far as scheduled workouts I prefer them short and intense.  It’s better for my body, for my sanity and I’m not a hamster. (re: long treadmill sessions) Call me lazy but I don’t want to make the time to bust out an hour or more in the gym every day and if I can do the workout in my living room I’m even happier.

Living Room Workout
(short, sweet, and sweaty)

8 minutes of Turkish Get-Ups
4 minutes of Tabata Squats

Stretch

Loved it and will definitely be doing it again.  The video shows the get-up with a kettlebell but a dumbbell can be used in it’s place.  The weight distribution is different but it still works just fine.  Don’t let any kettlebell snob tell you differently.

Over the last few months I’ve come to love get-ups.  It’s a very “functional” movement that really works the “core”.  (Don’t you just love fitness buzzwords. I don’t.  I think they are annoying but I still use them.)  Get-ups are great for overall strength (fantastic for the shoulders) and flexibility. You can google turkish get-ups and quickly find a wealth of information as to why they are kick azz but there is another benefit I haven’t read about: relaxation. When I am holding an iron ball (or dumbbell) above my face I better have serious mental focus.  I find this forced extended period of mental focus almost meditative.  A long set of get-ups is on par with taking a long bath, albeit, a sweat bath but relaxing nonetheless.  When I’m done I feel strong and focused.

If you’ve never tried Tabata and you’re like me preferring short and sweet, then you might want to give the Tabata protocol a try.  It’s another one of my favorites. Tabata protocol?  Wth is that, you ask?  You can read about Tabata here.

I’m trying to make my blog a little more personal so I thought I’d share my attempt to shorten my longish bangs yesterday.  I was hoping to have Bettie Page bangs but ended up looking more like a drunk Cleopatra.

You can’t tell as much in the pictures but they are pretty choppy, short, and UNEVEN.  Ugh.  When will I learn to stop playing with scissors!

There is a yummy giveaway over at a new (to me) blog I just found called Jocelyn Eats Fresh!  Who happens to be another low sugar gal!  Yay!!!!  Check it out!

Have a great Monday.

xoxo
jenn

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