Get Real

So I have dropped the ball lately, I have been taking time off from the gym to study for the NASM personal training exam. I am soo close to getting certified. So at least I'm not completely loosing it from all angles. But I do need to suck it up and get my butt into the gym and start preparing for the spring season. The first week of January is the mark of the 16 week count down to Fitness Atlantic! I want to really build my strength up and get my flexibility back. So my goal for myself is well one get PT certificate, get an extension on my license and most importantly stay on top of my fitness game. I keep telling myself that once this happens everything will be easier, or once this happens everything will be better etc etc. I need to shake this mentality that the grass is greener is on the other side. But I do know that I need to get real and just start doing, instead of just saying I'm going to do things. I have big plans in mind and I am determined to do all of them!! I want to turn my dreams into realities!

Coming to terms

So I've been doing a lot of thinking and contemplating about my life and what I want and what I don't want. Basically trying to reevaluate my current situation, which isn't a bad one, it's just a stagnate one. I'm struggling with financials right now, and I don't want the rest of my life to be like that. I want to be secure and have the feeling of not depending on every paycheck. I've been very good about studying for my personal training certificate, I should be able to take the exam within the next few weeks!! But what I'm thinking is the best road for me to take right now...if I can extend my driving hours, is move back home, pay off my credit card, and just save money!!! I want to save a nice little nest so I can be able to really live on my own without having to worry about paying my bills on time. I also want to do a series of competitions next spring and I won't be able to do that paying rent and everything. I want a successful career, not just a moment. So by moving back home I can focus all my energy into fitness and work. Let's just hope that fait is on my side by allowing my driving hours to be extended.

Friendship....

I just got a bombed dropped on me and what really makes me upset and hurts the most is how disrespected I feel. You should be able to trust those closest to you, and friendship goes both way, both should be supportive of the other and help out when the other needs it. But apparently that doesn't ring true with all friends. It just goes to show that you can't trust people no matter what. just because you've been friends for years, doesn't mean they're gonna through for you when you need them. What I'm most upset about is that fact that I've always come through from this person and supported them and helped when I could and when I need support and a little help, it was every man for themselves. Had the situation been reversed I would been a real friend and stuck my hand out to help them out or given up my umbrella right away to cover them from the rain.

Actions most definitely speak louder than words!!

Remember that and stay true to it!

First time Competing

So I plan on competing in the October NPC show in Boston, and the competition is about 6 weeks away and frankly I'm scared out of my mind!!! I have been wanting this for the past year, but like most everything in my life that I've wanted, its always been just that a want. So the idea of me actually making this a reality is putting me into a constant panic attack!! I want nothing more than to get on stage and prove to myself that with hard work and self control I can accomplish anything. I just have to keep positive and keep telling myself that it will be okay, and that I can do this!! I can do this, I Can Do This, I CAN DO THIS!!!!!! and I will do this, I will get on stage and show my friends and family what I've been up to for the past few months but more importantly prove to myself that anything is possible I just have to put my mind to it and concentration.

If you believe, you can achieve!

Sticks and Stones

I just want to take a moment and just express my appreciation towards my friend Julie Costa, not only does she rock it out on stage, but she trains at multiple locations and is constantly on the move, but will always stop and help some one. She has been such an inspiration to me throughout my journey in fitness. I am new to competitive fitness and in October I will be doing my first show, and I am SUPER excited about, because ever since I saw my friend meg compete last year, I just kept thinking to myself "I can do that" and I can and I will. And its will the extreme help of Julie, she has been there to answer my questions about diet, exercise, different shows, and anything I need to know the answer to. I just can't even begin to express how much of an impact she's had on me and it's people like her that keep me motivated and grounded enough to realize that I can accomplish my goals, but I'm gonna have to do the foot work and hard work does pay off.

So thank you Julie, you truly are a genuine person, and for that I am grateful!!!

September!!!

Okay so it is officially September meaning that fall is here and soon it will be winter ( booo!!) but it will also mean the holidays!! I love the holidays, I'm such a kid at heart I love christmas and everything christmas, trees, decorations, gifts, hot chocolate, cheesy romantic movies!! ahhh It's good to be nostalgic. But what september really means to me is competition season! and getting organized and getting things accomplished! I have so really big goals for myself and I just feel like now is the right time to go after them.

Some of my goals are

-Compete in the FAP New York and NPC Boston fitness competition ( I have the best theme!! you have to come and watch to see what it is)

-work the Arnold Expo in March of 2010

-get certified in personal training

-get headshots done and get back into the acting and dance world

I have big dreams for me and my future, and I won't stop until I succeed and even then I'll probably get new goals to achieve! I love to challenge myself and try out new things. I am constantly seeking experience and knowledge, you can never know too much! and I love to learn, learn about everything and anything! I am a HUGE nerd but I love it!

So today I start really killing it in everything that I do and I must stay focused and never give up!!

Fall Back!

So September is finally here!!! I am soo excited, I love the fall weather and oh course fall fashion!! cute sweaters and boots and scarfs, I love it all!!! but something very NEW and exciting is the fitness competitions I will be doing in October. I have wanting to do this ever since I went and saw my friend megan compete last year in New York, I just remember seeing all the girls looking so glamorous ( even if it's just fake tan and rhinestones!!) and oozing all sorts of confidence!!! and I was sitting there just kept thinking to myself "I can do that!" and I can and I will!! I will be doing a fitness routine which is a mixture between dance, strength and acrobatics, depending on what you're good at you would do more dance instead of strength and vice versa. I can't even begin to describe how much I LOVE my routine!!!! it's soo awesome, Lil P did such a great job, and I can't wait for everything to come into place and to get up on stage and show my friends and family what I've training for!!! It's going to be a great end of the year I can just feel it!!!

blast from the past

If you had asked me 5 years ago what I'd be doing today, I definitely would never of said, working out at a gym or even caring about health and nutrition!

Rewind to senior year of high school:
basically for most of my high school years, I was stubborn and loved to argue, I also fell into the wrong crowd, had low self esteem, and never thought about tomorrow. I pretty much walked around with my middle fingers up in the air and wanted to tell everyone to go screw! I also smoked like an old war vet, and didn't want to give it up. Said I was gonna smoke for the rest of my life, and enjoyed it.
After graduation, my school host a "all night grad party" to keep students from getting drunk and driving. They keep it entertaining by hiring a DJ and a mechanical bull and other carnival goodies. One of the features was a card reader, so I signed up, and went to go see what she had to say, knowing that I was right and nothing she said was true. Well low and behold she told me that she saw me in the health field, I of course scoffed in her face and said "I smoke 2 packs a day!!!" she proceeded to say that the cards didn't read for the present but in the future I was to be in the health field.

Fast Forwarded 5 years:
Luckily I have been smoke free for about close to maybe 3 years now, honestly I don't know what made me quit, all I know is that one day I was with a nonsmoking friend and we just drove around all day. but the end of the day I had realized that I had yet to smoke a single cigarette, so I took what I had left of my pack, and threw it out the window. I knew that I didn't need it anymore, and that was probably the best thing I did for myself. I have also gone on, to study to be a personal trainer, I take great pride in working out and living a healthy lifestyle.

It's crazy how life works out, I never thought that I'd be doing the things I do today 5 years ago, but I don't ever look back and wish to change anything. I am who I am because everything that has gone on in my life. and I am just truly happy with how things are turning out!

Be Healthy

So the other day I was at the gym doing my thing, and while I was doing my cardio I noticed this frail thin girl going to town on one of the cardio machines. All I wanted to do was go over to her and shove a sandwich down her throat! not in a jealous crazy way, but in a be healthy way. This poor girl was way too thin and probably shouldn't be doing cardio at all! let alone putting all her energy into

But something beautiful happened at this moment, for seeing this girl, it made me feel really okay with myself and my body and THAT is such a huge step, for I was under the be thing spell for a real long time.

From the time I was in 7th grade up until probably 6 months ago, all I ever did was critize myself,
"I'm too short!" "I'm not thing enough" "Not pretty enough" "not smart enough" etc etc. I did everything one could do, fad diet, crash diets, cleanses, diet pills, not eating, force sickness. I wouldn't go out in public if I felt overweight or not attractive. This toxic thinking plagued my for years. But things started to change over the last year, I saw one of my best friends do a fitness competition, and the transformation that she went through blew my mind. I mean I had been active for most of my life, going to the gym, do sports in school, but never obtain the look I wanted and saw in magazine; and here my friend was up on stage with the exact look I wanted. I decided that I was going to do that! I started lifting heavier and becoming more and more excited about nutrition and what is was all about. And through my research and love of exercise, I have been able to except and realize the importance of truly being healthy, not just being thin.

Now I'm a perfectionist and I still have things I want to change and work on, but I know I will make those changes over time and nothing happened overnight, and the most important realization I've come to is that I no longer dream of a waif like body, I want a strong healthy looking body from the inside out!

So ladies please!! keep yourself healthy, make healthy foods choice, don't think that do 3 hours of cardio is going to help you, because it's not! it will only hurt you, and most importantly EAT!!! starving yourself is not the answer!! all those "hot bodies" in hollywood get that way but exercising and eating right!!

and don't beat yourself up if you don't fit into a certain size pant, or if you're hair isn't long enough. you are who you are and you can't change that no matter what so you better start enjoying it!

Box office gold!

Food, Inc. a new documentary exposing how the US manufactures the food industry and everything about profit not health!

It's about time that all of this information was brought to light for the public and that just because there is a USDA stamp of "approval" doesn't mean shit after all!!

I encourage EVERYONE to go see this movie and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't be fouled by the food industry! It's all a ploy to make money and they don't care if they kill people while doing so!! it's cheaper to send some one to the hospital than it is to stop production for the day! what kind of bull shit is that!

Diets, detox, cleanse, BULLSHIT!!

I'm so tired of hearing about people going on these "cleanses" with all the hoopla saying "it's soo good for you're body, it detoxes your entire system from toxins blah blah blah"

Sorry to break it down for you but it's all garbage!!! the ONLY process that truly cleans your system out is what a person goes through right before a colonoscope! and I know NO ONE in their 20s is gonna want to go through that.

Seriously girls smarten up!!! There's no quick fix to loosing weight or getting into shape and having that nice tone tight body. You can't take a pill, you can't cut out whole food groups (the no carb diet!! give me a break!!) And any of those fad diets that only last" 7 days" and you loose up to 7-10lbs, well it's all water weight and the second you put real food back in your system, all the weight comes flooding back tenfold!!!

The only TRUE way to loose weight and keep the weight off is exercise and having a well balanced life style. I say lifestyle and not diet is because you HAVE to to be dedicated in changing your whole way of eating. You can't just eat healthy for a month and go back to how you were before, because obviously how you were before, well didn't work out so well in the first place! so why of earth would you want to go back. You must change your lifestyle and what you eat and how you view your food in order for weight loss to be successful.

Also, if you have a goal weight in mind, it is NOT going to happen in a month!! So many young girls and guys, but lets get real, mostly girls want to be bathing suit ready in a month and it AIN'T gonna happen.

The truth hurts and whats gonna hurt even more is saying goodbye to pizza, and huge pasta bowls and anything else that is carb and fat heavy!! Person must learn to love veggies and fruits and whole grains and lean protein!!! trust me it sounds scary but once you live a life of unprocessed foods and go ALL NATURAL you will never find those once desired foods even appeasing anymore!

So remembered all you 20 somethings and up, you not going to starve your way to your goal weight, nor will you take some pill to get there! you'll only end up there if you change your lifestyle and start EXERCISING DAMMIT!!!!

Don't believe the Hype

So yes I work at Whole Foods, but NO I am not a dirty hippie, but I am a food snob!!! I am completely vegan but also hate processed food or food that requires a chemistry degree to understand.!! I read labels, research ingredients and I ask more questions than some one wants to answer!!!

but you know what, I'm okay with it because I know what I'm eating.

But what kills me is that the public out there has NO FREAKING CLUE to what is going on with the food industry and will read a "Fat Free" label and buy it right up!!!

Well let me clear just one thing up for you today, because If I throw everything at once at you, not only will you get hit in the head with information but you'll probably go into system overload!!!!

Cholesterol, there are many misconceptions on the matter and the label "Cholesterol Free" is put on certain products just to help sell the product.

Cholesterol is a steroid found in cell membranes, it is essential for building and maintaining cell membranes. YOU NEED CHOLESTEROL!!!!! YOU CAN NOT LIVE WITH OUT IT!!

HOWEVER, the human body natural produces the steroid, a bulk of it comes from the liver, there for in a nut shell no one truly needs to eat any product that contains cholesterol because like with anything too much of one thing turns into a bad thing.

all animals products will contain cholesterol in there products because it comes the fat of animals, such products are poultry, beef, fish, egg,and cheese. and American being the meat eaters that we are, suffer from high blood pressure and cholesterol due to the fact that you WAY TO MUCH MEAT!!!

NEVER EVER WILL THERE BE CHOLESTEROL IN FRUITS AND VEGGIES, OR ANYTHING ELSE THAT DOES NOT COME FROM AN ANIMAL!!!

so next time you see a box that says cholesterol free, don't be a propaganda fool!!! smarter up and freaking read ingredients and labels, and if you can't fucking understand the ingredients don't fucking buy it!! GET REAL!!! there should never be an ingredient found in you're food that was made in a science lab! we're not test subjects we're humans and should only eat natural food and NO NATURAL FOOD DOES NOT MEAN IT'S MADE FROM STICKS AND GRASS!! like most americans think, all it means is that not science made.

FYI SUGAR IS NATURAL

okay, thats it I can't stand this anymore I need to shut up before I go off the deep end

Rip off

So I won tickets on the radio to go see No Doubt, and I was stoked!! I mean who ACTUALLY wins on the radio?!?! I remember when I was like 12 or 13 and getting my parents to try and win NSYNC or Backstreet Boys tickets and couldn't EVER get through. Well here I am it's like 9am and I'm like what the hell just try what have ya got to loose!!!

Well fast forward to a week later when I get the tickets in, I open up the the envelope to find out the tickets I had won also are the cheapest tickets available!!!! WTF?!?!? seriously radio?? you're gonna give away free tickets of the cheapest/suckiest seats available when there are still decent tickets on sale??

Lame award goes to WFNX radio today!!!!!