Kick Ass & Take Names

Wow! My daughter just had her birthday party last night and I remember one year ago, getting dressed for her party & not having one pair of jeans fit my bloated body!!  I had to wear a denim dress & cursed myself all night for allowing myself to get out of shape over the summer.  Alcohol and eating large portions, skipping meals - it really takes a toll on your body.

I am happy to report that last night when I got dressed for her party, I had the opposite problem…..I had to go through a bunch of jeans to find some that didn’t fall off of me!

Almost every aspect of my life has changed in this past year - some good, some bad.  I have training and diet to thank for keeping me sane - they are the only things I really have control over.  My kids and my friends pull me through the hard days. 

So it’s been a year and I’ll never go back – EVER!!!!

Hey Guys!  I’m still stoked from my Girls Weekend!! It was my first one ever!!  5 fit Babes walking the beach & dancing ALL night………. It was SO much fun!  Everyone really ate clean for the most part – Jerk Chicken, Spicy Chicken, Protein Shakes, Bars & water were my choices. I brought shredded turkey, cooked sweet potatoes and cooked broccoli  from home and ate that most of the time.  Everyone bitched about the stank from the broc. every time you opened the frig!!  Rose and I both brought it (LOL) We’re Die Hards what can I say????

Yes I did bring Junior Mints!!  I admit it, but I didn’t drink alcohol.  I had a little rum forced on me when we first arrived (LOL) but that was it……..  I don’t have any desire to drink for several reasons – so I’m always the Designated Driver.  We all had a BLAST!!!!

Hey All!  I had a table at a Bodybuilding Contest yesterday and it was outside, so of course we had terrible thunderstorms!! So for me the show was a total bust…. Anyway, I keep thinking about this young guy, I don’t know how old he was probably around 20.  He was walking around asking people ‘How much do you think I can bench?’ you know the type…. So he comes over to my table and loudly says - and I quote - "You are pretty fit for an older chick".

There were so many things I wanted to say to him (LOL) but I just laughed and said "Thank you! I’m sure there’s a compliment in there somewhere!"

Well, I survived my 4^th 3 day fast.  I’d be lying if I said it was easy!  It actually helps a lot if you tell people you are doing it, the whole peer pressure thing.   Last time I did it, I ate some vegetables and didn’t take it very seriously.  As a result, I didn’t feel any leaner at the end of the 3 days which was upsetting.

I usually break out on my shoulders and back afterwards, real attractive, but it’s the toxins coming out thought your skin.  So I am dealing with that right now.  As for the peer pressure, since I wrote a blog about my Detox Fast on here, it kept me honest!  I was so hungry, but I didn’t eat one morsel because I thought ‘How will I face my friends on Body Space if I cheat?’  So thanks to all of you, I did it 100%.

Of course my mom – the best baker on the Planet – had to send over fresh-baked cookies during my fast!! Not just a couple either! Like 8 dozen!!  So I ignored them for 3 days and watched my kids eat them – but after starving for 3 days, I ate about 10 of them!! So BAD!!!  Throw in more Junior Mints than I’d like to admit to and that’s the end of my Confession!

Now it’s back to protein and veges before my abs start to disappear!!

Well I am in my 34^th hour of my detox fast and I’m feeling fine.  Thanks to all my friends who are writing to me asking how it’s going!  I didn’t train yesterday since it’s the weekend and I rarely get the chance  - I just focus on Monday thru Friday.  So I am basically just working on the computer answering mail and entering new products on my website.  I had to be the lifeguard out at the pool for a couple hours while my daughter and her friend swam, so I cleaned the pool and took some filing outside that I’ve been ignoring and got that done.

I have to stay busy or else I can’t get thru it.  Yes, my mind keeps telling me it’s time to eat along with my stomach, but I just constantly drink water and it’s not bad.  I don’t feel weak or sick or any negative effects actually.  I did get a little grouchy yesterday after making pizza for my kids and Carribean Snapper and sweet potatoes for my husband and then doing a full sinkload of dishes – none of which were mine!  But that’s a whole different issue…..

I just avoid the kitchen and know that I’m doing something good for my body.  ‘What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger’.  Right??? LOL

I offered a free raffle at the Fit Fest last month to anyone who visited my booth.  My daughter (9) mixed up the forms & chose the lucky one for me.   Lori H. of Quakertown, PA was the winner!  She won her choice of any of our Work It Out Tops and a pair of our yoga pants that just came in.

I already spoke with her on the phone and she made her selection.  I hope she enjoys wearing them.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by!  I will be at the Sports Fest on July 27^th at Cedar Beach if you happen to be in PA, come check it out!

Well, I decided to start my quarterly detox fast this morning.  I’d rather be eating my oatmeal though!  My nutritionist tells me I should do it every 3 months and I listen to him, he’s a smart cookie.  So I will bury myself in work and try not to think about food.  Fat Chance! As soon as you can’t have something, you become obsessed with it! LOL

It’s not bad really if you ever want to try it.  I still train during the fast although the 3^rd day gets little tough.  Save an easy muscle for that day, like shoulders and abs.  I always feel good after I’ve done it.  Not to mention how proud of myself that I actually DID it!  When Jeff suggested I do these, I said ‘No way!  I can’t do that!’

It’s good to surprise yourself now and then by doing something that you really didn’t think you were capable of.  I was sure I could never stick to a clean diet, and if someone would have told me I would do it for 10 months straight – I would have bet my house that they were Dead Wrong!

So try it sometime – it’s just 3 days.  Yes it’s a long 3 days, but do it sometime when you are very busy.  One time I cleaned out and painted my garage during the fast.  You’ll look back and think ‘Wow! I can’t believe I did it!’  Not to mention you might feel better and  be a little leaner to boot!

HaHa – my stomach just growled REALLY loud – it’s looking for it’s oatmeal!  I’ll make some tea and get to work.

Great question! I guess I should have done a blog about that sooner. Well here’s what I know through my friend Jeff Moser.  About 4 times a year, I do a detox with the Detox-Kit from Heel.  I got it through him, but I would think it’s available at health stores.  Plus there are many others out there.

This one has three tinctures.  You put 10 drops of each in juice 3 times a day. No food - to give your body a rest.  Lots of water, juice, tea etc.  If you really need to eat something fruit is fine because it’s easy to digest.  I usually don’t even need fruit, maybe a little the first day, but you get used to not eating.

I make sure to do it on days that I’ll be very busy - keep your mind off of eating or else you will obsess about it! (lol) I never had any adverse effects from it.  After that 3rd day, I usually feel incredibly lean.  I know several people who lose a decent amount of weight when they do it.  I usually drop about 3-4 lbs.  Then you want to start your very clean diet to keep those pounds off.  It’s a good way to kick off your new diet.

I also have a buddy, Jack Carter who is my other fitness Guru.  He told me to take MSM every day to keep my body clean.  Both of these guys are in incredible shape and really know what they are talking about - so I listen when they tell me something!

There are other ways to detox - this is just the one that I do.

I walk in and pick 2 body parts + abs. I don’t always do the same ones together.  Legs day is only legs + abs & today I was running late, so I just did shoulders + abs.

I don’t get worked up about the whole push/pull theory - just work your muscles to exhaustion.  I know I had a good workout if I can barely walk because my legs are shaking or the muscle I worked won’t stop twitching.

I do typically 3-4 sets of an exercise and 3-5 exercises for each part. When I can’t lift the weight anymore, I’m done! I like to go from one set to another to another.  I might stop for a drink at the end of my super-set & then right back to work. This keeps my heart rate up and keeps me focused.

I go pretty heavy for a girl - nothing insane, but I never pick up baby weights.  I also do high reps.  I like hard shapely muscles and this works for me. Some exercises I’ll do 30 reps - others 15. I don’t even always count - it doesn’t matter to me - I just do it until I can’t do it anymore & then sometimes I’ll drop the weight to the next one down and crank those out until I’m dead!

It doesn’t matter if you’re lifting dumbbells or rocks - as far as I’m concerned. Just moving weight from one place to another works your muscles like nothing else! Diet is what shows off your muscles. Muscles just look big if they have a layer of fat over them. As I started to diet, my muscles showed their definition and people were saying to me ‘You look HUGE!’ I was getting smaller, just my body fat was dropping and I finally looked DEFINED.

Just get your butt in the gym, focus on the muscles you are working & train hard or go home!

I just got back from 3 days at Lake George in NY.  My ‘Girls’ and their families all went and we had some quality ‘Girl Time’ for a change.  Most of the time was spent chilling on the boats, getting sun and eating our healthy food – I’m not kidding!  I enjoyed riding the jet ski a lot – I really wanted to master maneuvering it, so I put a lot of hours on it in three days.  Every muscle in my body is screaming from hanging on to that thing, so it’s definitely a workout, especially if you have passengers hanging on to you.

I got a little overconfident the last day and flipped all three of us off of it.  One of my girlfriends, Rose, drives a super-fast motorcycle as a summer vehicle, so we thought it was fun! My other girlfriend wasn’t amused though! Sorry Ally – love you! (lol)

We did a video blog on ‘How to keep on track during vacation’.  Hopefully it will give some people some good tips.  My friend, Rose, who did the blog with me is a figure competitor with lots of trophies on her mantle!  She knows her stuff and is beating those young girls even as she turns 40 this month!  

I hope everyone got a chance to relax over the long weekend!

Keep pushing forward!