I fell off the wagon

So, i fell. Yup, much to my dismay I fell off the workout wagon. and I did really great for a week, did every workout and really enjoyed it. (although I only blogged about the first one, I did do the rest). Then I got sick. The no fun upper respiratory kinda sick that takes forever to get over. Well, I'm over it and its time to get back on the wagon. I suppose it comes at perfect timing. Next Monday start a month of vegan eating! Yes, the husband and I are taking a challenge. We are going vegan for 30 days. We keep hearing all these things about how amazing people feel when the go vegan, so we thought we would give it a 30 day try. It has nothing to do with a animal right thing, in fact we are both pretty big meat lovers. The truth is, we need a jump start into eating better. What better way to do that than to cut out all the things you really don't need. I have spent the last few weeks pulling ideas from Pinterest to see what kind of things we will eat. I'll be honest, I was worried at first. I am already gluten free, what more am im going to have to cut out!? Turns out, most things vegan, end up being gluten free or have very easy substitutes for indigence to make it GF.
So I guess I'll see if this diet and exercise thing really do go hand in hand :)

Tracy, I'm a fan

So, this morning was day 1 of my Tracy Anderson workouts. I have to say, so far I'm a fan. Several things I liked right off the bat.... 1.) she doesn't talk much. for someone like me who would rather focus on the move than hear the annoying voice of someone counting out reps, I find this a refreshing change to the typical video with instructors who incessantly talk. 2.) She is the only one in the video. There is no distracting class behind her or "models" for modification. It's the closest thing to a one on one training session.

She wasn't kidding when she said you will use muscles you never knew you had! I'm down on all fours doing things with my legs that made me feel parts of my leg that I didn't even know existed. I have no doubt, by Wednesday I will be blogging that my legs are killing me. You start off your hour with 30 minutes of dancing. I felt a little silly in the beginning, but I get the point; cardio. Ever go to a wedding and sweat your butt of bc you have been dancing for hours? Its that concept. Have fun and sweat while you're doing it. You have the option to make your own music mix too! Once you get the hang of the moves, its pretty easy to put that to any music. I will be doing this for sure.

I spent about 3 hours last night blending, boiling, and chopping food for her different recipes. This is going to be a KILLER to stick to. Its very rigid. And for someone who needs a complete overhaul to their diet, this is a perfect detox. like I said, I will stick to it as best I can, but I'll be honest, I don't have hours and hours of extra time to prep this food. If you get the basic concept of "eat clean" don't eat processed foods full of sugar and salt, you'll certainly loose weight.

Day 1: Complete!

The fit friend

Its not secret, I'm an athlete. I've been an athlete my whole life. I've been the girls my friends looked at and said, "I wanna be fit like you". The odd thing is, I've never seen myself as the fit friend. I just thought, I love sports, I love to play them, I love to watch them, I just in general really enjoy every aspect of being physically active. I epically loved the fact that I could eat whatever I want and not seem to gain a pound.

That is until I hit my mid-20's. All of the sudden it didn't matter how many miles I ran, hours at the gym I spent or sports I played, keeping the "eat whatever I want" mentality finally started to catch up to me. Now, I've never been over weight, I'm also not a rail. I'm "athletic looking". I have a booty, thicker thighs (thanks softball) and what my husband calls a "sturdy" body. I'm almost 30 now (ewww even tying that was painful) and I feel like my once athletically toned self has turned soft and squishy. I can fool what other see, I'm great and fooling people as to what I actually look like. But I see what I look like under my clothing and I'm ready to make a change.

I'm forcing myself to blog about this in hopes that I will help keep me accountable. I'm changing things up! I will still enjoy my nightly runs with my husband (that's time we spend together that i really enjoy) but I am making an overhaul to the diet and adding some some training aspects that I've never done before. Listen, if there is a workout program out there, I've probably tried it. P90X, Insanity, blah blah.... although I find them to be extremely challenging and very effective, I bulk. Every time I do anything that involves a good amount of weight I bulk (again, thank you softball). I want that body I've never had, the lean athletic look. So I'm trying something new.

 Tracy Anderson is know in the Hollywood circles as a "it" celebrity trainer. (along with Tony Horton and Gunner Peterson who also have fitness plans out there). So I studied her. The first thing that got my attention was, she doesn't use more than 3lb weights. For someone who used to leg press close to 300lbs in college, I was asking, "well what good is 3lbs going to do"? Her plan focuses on the small muscles, muscles that I have a feeling, in my 29 years of athletic life, I've never once focused on those.

So, the new plan arrived last night. I won't lie, I read through her meal plan thinking, "if I can actually stick to this, there is no way I wont loose weight! You basically go on a juice diet for your first week!" But seeing as how my husband wants to do a 30 day vegan challenge (this is a whole other blog topic) I figure I'll get a little head start. So starting Monday morning Sept 24th, I will start on my new adventure to make my attempt to truly be the Fit Friend.

My Goal:

• Start every morning (6 days) with Tracy 
• Do everything in my power to stick as close to her meal plan as I can
• Blog about it 

Lets do it! 

Famous Friends

I'm done a lot of different thing in my days, so much so that I refer to my resume as the smorgasbord of what I want to do with my life. I'm not easy to tie down (just ask my husband) I like variety and spice in my life. Along the way I have met some very very cool people, some of which have become dear friends of mine.

One in particular happens to have his own show now!!!! He might just be one of the most fantastic people I know. Super funny, incredibly genuine and one of the most loyal people around. He has all those wonderful qualities and some how still manages to stay that way in the entertainment industry! what a guy!

I was strolling through the TV and came upon this....

His wonderful face on the ad for his show! (Eat St. on the cooking channel. check it out!)
I am sharing this for no other reason that seeing my friends face made me smile! We don't get to see each other much, usually just a quick dinner and shopping date in the middle of his world travel (hes a very important person). To my dear friend James Cunningham, here is your bright smile on the Direct TV channel guide!

The Intolerant Tolerant

Here is something I just don't understand....why is everyone jumping all over Chick-Fil-A? They have a view point, everyone is entitled to one, but because it is a "faith based" stance it makes them bigots? If there opinion was the other way, would they be hero's? I thought the big goal is "tolerance"?  Wouldn't that mean you are to be tolerant of view points and opinions that may or may not be the same as yours? Chick-Fil-A has never made it a secret that their owners are Christians and by that you would assume they will more than likely have a biblical view on a lot of social issues.

I just don't get the back lash. If they professed their views to be the other way, the media would be praising them, but instead, because their value lies in a biblical stance, they are being crucified and accused of being judgmental and condemning a section of society. Why? Because they have a view point? Isn't everyone entitled to one? I thought that was the whole point that modern society it trying to get everyone to be tolerant. Isn't the anger towards Chick-Fil-A intolerant? I thought we were all suppose to be accepting?

Regardless of your stance on the issue, why is  the conservative view point considered "intolerant" but a liberal view point the only acceptable way? I make no secret that I was raised in an extremely conservative home, but has I grew up and formed my own views, I became less and less conservative. That doesn't mean I left my values, it just means I became an adult.

I guess what I am getting at is, regardless of your view point, can we all just stop pointing fingers and be nice?

Who stops Blogging!?

I had started this blog as a way to document all the things that I see while living in New York. I must say, I did see some CRAZY thing living in the city. Moving to New York City may have been the single craziest thing I have ever done in my life. A decision I do not regret one bit. My experience in New York shaped a lot of who I am today. Almost 2 years after taking a hiatus from my blog, I suppose I should catch you up on what has happened....

My last few blogs happened to be about my stays in NYC hospitals. Clearly something was not right with me, but at the time no one could seem to figure it out. I soon became too sick to really do anything on my own, let alone blog. The difficult decision was made to move back to Michigan and be closer to my family who could help out with my recovery. Just days after arriving in Michigan I was admitted to the hospital yet again with more stomach pain and a really really high fever. Pneumonia was the initial diagnosis that had me admitted, but the doctors were positive there were other things going on. A VERY long story short, they figured it out! In simple terms, I had the plague. Yes, you are reading that correctly, the plague. I've never really had the strongest immune system and was somehow able to inhale the bacteria that made me so sick. Most likely from a subway or some other really dirty place in the city. (lets be honest, as much as I love that city, its pretty nasty). After a week long stay filled with spinal taps, scans, and heavy IV antibiotics, I was sent home to venture on the long road to recovery.

The first few months were tough, my strength was next to nothing and I was dealing with depression, feeling like I had failed in the city and wasn't too thrilled to be back in Michigan. Slowly but surely I began to feel like myself again. Started a new job, making new friends and meeting what would turn out to be my Husband. :-) Yes, you also read that right, my husband. The forever single city girl, determined to prove I would be just fine on my own, fell in love. FINALLY!

Really, I moved back to Michigan and became a mid-westerner again. Ugh! I don't really like admitting that. The adventure to see the world (which I still fully intend on doing) is alive and well in my heart. I am a  wife, homeowner, kick butt project manager, friend, coach, sister, auntie, wanna be marathon runner and triathlete, cook (or trying to be) but most of all and always will be a dreamer.

So here is the new plan, I still see things everyday that make me say "really, are you serious?" and they don't always take place in NYC (Michigan and all the places I travel have crazies too). So I will do my best to documenting the crazy, the outlandish, the simple and maybe just the thought that I have in my head, hopefully sliding in a bit of my humor and always with a smile.

Stay Tuned....

With my absence having been very long, I've decided to do a "Summer in Review"

stay tuned.....