Tag success

My First Free July 4th Weekend Since 2009!

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TU Overall Winners

Pictured above are the division Overall winners from NPC Team Universe last year. That’s me in the tangerine bikini third in from the right. I took home the following placings last year from the NPC Team Universe (you can click on the image to enlarge it):

Overall Master’s 40+ Bikini
1st Place Master’s 40+ Bikini B Class
1st Place Master’s 35+ Bikini B Class
4th Place Open Bikini D Class

I just realized that for the first time since 2009, I am not slated to travel to New Jersey to compete at the NPC Team Universe! No wonder I feel a bit out of sorts. I had grown so accustomed to flying to New Jersey and missing the July 4th festivities in the Los Angeles area, lugging bags full of food and competition gear and stressing out over whether I am dialed in sufficiently to do well onstage. It truly is an odd feeling not to be wound up like that!

It’s also bizarre to regard the NPC Team Universe as an event which is dear to my heart, because prior to 2013, it had always been an event in which I never placed very well. No one wins a Pro Card by placing 14th, 11th, 12th or 8th. There was something magical about the first week of July last year, and by the time I arrived in New Jersey, I knew that I would finally attain my goal of winning my Pro Card.

The NPC Team Universe is a fantastic event, and I am so excited for every single person who is competing this weekend! Best of luck to all athletes who are competing this weekend!

Green Coffee Bean Extract

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You may be wondering what green coffee extract is, especially when the roasted variety has such a characteristic mahogany brown color. “Green” coffee refers to the most pure and raw form of coffee before it is roasted and processed in other ways. When coffee beans are roasted, a powerful chemical called chlorogenic acid is leached out, and it is this chemical which is believed to slow absorption of fat and glucose from foods, resulting in less fat deposition and greater weight loss. Dr. Oz was a major factor in popularizing this supplement, and allegedly conducted his own study using the extract, demonstrating effectiveness in his subjects. There are several studies which have concluded that green coffee extract can have a modest effect on individuals looking to lose weight, even if all other factors (diet, physical activity) remain unchanged.

I am very much a skeptic when it comes to supplements with weight loss claims, but green coffee extract seems to have some validity. I am seeing more thermogenic formulas with green coffee extract as part of the formulation, and feel comfortable recommending it either alone or in combination. The recommended dosage of green coffee extract is 800 milligrams twice daily before meals.

green coffee

Too Many Cooks

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Adult female with personal trainer at gym.I am getting pretty tired of clients who think they are suddenly fitness authorities, or who think nothing of following the advice of 52 different people on what to do about diet, exercise after signing up for a comprehensive training and meal plan which I customize for them. Honestly, why hire me if you’re just going to follow whatever your whim decides is cool at the moment? I don’t get easily insulted, but it’s more that I put time into customizing plans and don’t appreciate it when a client reads some silly excerpt in Shape magazine and decides that it must be better than my advice because it was in a women’s magazine.

I deal with know-it-all attitudes as a fitness professional and as a physician. Let me be very clear. I have a four year college degree in Exercise Science from a well respected college. I have over twenty years of experience with weight training, and have done contest prep coaching since 2010. I am a professional athlete.

As a physician I have over a decade of experience, am board-certified and fully licensed. Yet I am challenged on a regular basis by people who think that because they looked up something on WebMD that they are suddenly more knowledgeable than I am. In fact I am not sure which bothers me more: the disrespect I get as a doctor, or the disrespect I get as a fitness professional?

The BEST advice I can give to anyone who is looking for a comprehensive plan in fitness, nutrition, or hormone balancing is to pick ONE expert and stick with that person’s knowledge instead of second guessing the individual by throwing other mostly uneducated opinions on what to do. While I give people a lot of credit for knowing their own bodies. I think it is important to remember that contradicting your coach, physician or mentor is a study in animosity that will pitch you in poor stead with that person who is trying to help you.

Back To The Drawing Board…How I Plan To Sculpt Myself For the Next Contest

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glass-female-body-sculptureEvery time I step onstage I am acutely aware of what I bring, and my research on what needs improvement begins the day after the event, during which time I scrutinize my images to determine where to focus. I am CONSTANTLY punishing my gluteal region in an effort to make it as round, high, and tight as I can possibly manage despite my ever advancing age and the ravages of gravity. Unfortunately, my glutes began to deflate a few weeks ago, just in time for me to compete in two back to back events! It was frustrating to say the least.

I have already implemented a new regimen which should serve to plump up my rear view and lift everything up in time for my next competition. Another issue which I now struggle with is increasing deposition of fat in my inner thighs which makes my thighs look thick. This will be addressed with adjustments to my routine so that I can “run down” my legs a bit. Because I have been competing for a while, and because of my background as a trainer and coach, I know what I need to do to get myself dialed in. You had better believe the race is on to see how much I can accomplish and how quickly I can do it! Though I make my own adjustments, I do not recommend this to the average competitor. Invest in the advice and guidance of an experienced, practiced eye that can direct you to specifically correct or improve on weaker areas.

I honestly think it is important to always make a post-contest assessment, even if you get an overall win. You never know who will be at your next contest, so if you have an area which could use even the slightest bit of improvement, or if you need to make an adjustment on posing, suit color, or some other detail, make sure to address those issues in advance.

How I Select Pro Contests To Compete In

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DJ ClassicYou might be wondering what process I go through to determine which IFBB Pro Bikini events I will prep for, especially since there are a whopping THIRTY-SIX Pro Bikini events slated for 2014. Eight of these contests are outside of the United States (Australia, New Zealand, Toronto, Finland, Slovakia, Korea, Mexico, Russia), and I would very much like to do two of them, provided that sponsors would be willing to send me to the locations I have chosen.

Aside from the international events, I have zero desire to travel via plane to get to the U.S. based contests. That is partially due to the fact that air travel is less enjoyable than ever before due to all the TSA regulations. I would much rather throw my stuff into my car and take a road trip to get to a destination that is a reasonable distance away. I did this two weeks in a row recently, driving to Phoenix, AZ the week before last (400 miles each way), and then to Sacramento, CA last week (also around 400 miles). Through this process of elimination I have omitted the majority of events on the list, including all East Coast events. This means that several contests on my to-do list will either be in California or Arizona.

No matter where you are on your competition journey, it is important to map out a schedule so that you can establish clear goal markers. You may consider criteria such as geographic distance, getting in front of certain judges, hitting masters’ divisions, or pursuing that Pro Card. In all but the rarest of cases, try to avoid jumping into an event at the last minute, because chances are, you won’t come in at your best. Sometimes you’ll hear about a particular contest being so well-run or so much fun that you want to do it almost solely for that reason. This is what happened for me in 2010 as an amateur at the NPC Emerald Cup in Washington. I ended up having a fantastic time and won a tiara along with my second place finish and trophy. You can do this, but make sure that it somehow keeps you moving forward towards your competitive goals.

Bleeding Money

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flying money

Do you ever find yourself in a vicious cycle in which any influx of money leaves your hands almost immediately because a bunch of bills come at once, or unexpected expenses pile up? I have been going through a pretty consistent “money bleed” for the last few weeks, and it is extremely frustrating because I just cannot catch up. I take one step forward, only to take two steps back.It This has been happening when extra funds have come in, almost like clockwork. It’s just random and weird and it needs to end!

I am sure many of you can relate. Times are tough, and people continue to struggle to make ends meet. Salaries are not rising sufficiently to accommodate the rise of inflation, soaring credit card APR’s, and the mess that is the Obama Care Act. Sadly, many people are slowly trying to dig themselves out of financial holes, at times losing their ground and falling back. It’s enough to make one give up.

I have literally received payment in the mail for jobs I have completed, only to find 1,2 or more bills in the same stack of mail which equal or exceed the amount of the payment I received. Money in…money out! I have taken on more work to try to absorb expenses, only to find that such a tactic doesn’t work. It’s almost like I am meant to always scramble, that perhaps for the time being, that this is my karmic lesson. The strange thing is that I am NOT a spender, and I pretty much detest shopping. So it doesn’t make sense that the bottom always seems to drop out on me. I am a planner, a saver, and never gamble, qualities which I suppose have kept me afloat during especially rough times when others would have sunk.

The goal is to be one step ahead. I am determined to accomplish this, SOON!

Block The Haters

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you are meanIt certainly seems to me that people have been extremely edgy these days, and I keep running into them. I know that a far more evolved response to people who spread negative energy is to approach them with compassion, but my sass level has been amped up lately, largely due to the fact that I am deep in contest prep and dealing with a ton of petty frustrations in my life. So at this point I will just hate the haters, until my level of enlightenment enables me to come from a place of neutrality, because it sure isn’t going to happen ten days before a competition!

Here’s a prime example of the weird and random stuff that has been thrown my way. The other day when a dog suddenly jumped on me and scratched my leg, and I went, “owww!”, the owner decided to get all snippy, saying it wasn’t HER fault the dog jumped on me, and when I said to let it go, she KEPT talking to me, getting literally up in my face, screaming, “No, you don’t understand!” I had to walk away from her nastiness.

Thankfully that incident was isolated, but one day every week I deal with the meanest people on the planet. There is a valet where I need to leave my car when I work at one facility, and it is run by four incredibly rude men who never smile, mumble angry things in Spanish under their breath (which I can UNDERSTAND), and get upset when I ask them for a receipt each time. I know they deal with an upper crust clientele which can be very demanding, but I certainly don’t see the point of being unfriendly to everyone who has to go through the valet there. I drive away with such a sense of relief, knowing I will leave that ugliness behind.

Lately I have also been getting negative energy from a few individuals who have decided to take issue with some of my social media posts. I do not tolerate such energy and always automatically block them, and if they are especially nasty or threatening, I will file an official report of abuse. I realize that I am more susceptible to such contentious people because I have built a name for myself and I put myself out there constantly, but it is not fair to blast me when my posts are primarily meant to inspire my fans and followers and entertain friends. The fact that some people go out of their way to be mean and to spread hate is mind-boggling to me. I begin to wonder what kind of karmic load they are carrying to spread so much negativity.

I am trying to hold onto the idea of a force field of positive energy around me, and hope it will somehow protect me from any further incidents before I step onstage. Perhaps this concept will blossom into compassion at some point, but this is definitely something I need to work on.

What is the best way to defuse hostility? It is always best to refrain from reacting to it. Physically walking away, ignoring hateful statements, employing the blocking feature on social media sites, email, and cell phones, smiling at the person who is being difficult can all work in neutralizing the bad energy.

How Weekend Drinking Binges Make You Fat

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young-people-in-club-or-bar-drinking-beer-out-of-a-beer-bottle-and-have-funOne of the reasons why people tend to look forward to the weekend so much, besides being away from work, is the ritualistic imbibing of alcohol and consumption of rich foods which many tend to engage in. I have clients who will follow a sensible and healthy meal plan during the week, only to abandon all self-control, put on party hats and eat and drink during the entire weekend.

I will explain to you why this practice is a sure way to keep you from attaining your fitness goals. When you drink large amounts of alcohol, say 3 drinks or more, your body gets a sudden influx of alcohol which puts your body’s metabolism of nutrients to a grinding halt. Why? Because the body cannot store alcohol and must use it immediately as a fuel source. What happens with nutrients is that they are converted to fat and then stored in fat tissue for later use, so alcohol essentially prevents the body from utilizing fat. High consumption of alcohol also impairs the cerebral function (specifically the prefrontal cortex), flattening inhibitions and increasing the appetite. That is why you will often crave greasy foods when you drink, because the body turns to rich foods to replenish nutrients. The combination of increased appetite and behavioral changes are enough to get you to eat a calorie laden, fatty meal which is then stored as fat.

I enjoy the occasional cocktail and as a result will never tell people to avoid drinking altogether. However, I have several recommendations which will minimize the fat deposition which alcohol consumption triggers.

1. Always eat a meal with PROTEIN, FIBER and HEALTHY FAT before you begin drinking to offset the surge in blood sugar which occurs with alcohol connsumption andto slow the absorption of alcohol once it is introduced to the gut.

2. Drink two glasses of water for every drink of alcohol. Alcohol is a diuretic, meaning that it will dry you out. Because of this, it is important to maintain a high level of hydration to offset the diuretic effect.

3. Limit consumption to 1 or 2 drinks in an evening. This will keep calorie consumption down.

One Of My Client Transformations…Vegetarian Plan

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This is what happens when you take someone who had great genetics but hasn’t pushed it to the next level, and kick it up many notches to get her stage ready! The pic on the left was from August of last year…my client prepped for a contest in early December, ut circumstances beyond her control prevented her from competing at that time. She regrouped, picked a contest in late May, and I designed a new 12 week prep program, this time incorporating a vegetarian plan.

If you have dietary restrictions, such as certain food allergies or a preference for vegetarian, vegan, pescetarian, no fish, etc., I can accommodate you. My plans are always customized to fit your needs. Please go to http://www.cutcurves.com to view packages and pricing.