Keep It In the ZONE

This morning I didn't make it to spin class. I needed a little break from all the running around I've been doing (but today is shaping up just as busy), so today I decided to stay home and do a workout here. Although for the past three hours all I've been doing is catching up on blog reading & emails, texting back and forth with Joshua about our new business and trying to avoid a bag of Russell Stover French Mint chocolates....

STOP LOOKING AT ME!!!!!

Yes they are sugar free but still it's not on the plan, so I'm really trying to call on the "will power" God's and tell those chocolates to talk to the hand! 

I've also been trying to get in the ZONE when it comes to my training for Jr USA's. Yesterday I looked at countless pictures of all the women that competed in this year’s show. My gosh they look amazing. I have a long road ahead of me but I'm ready for the challenge! I've been comparing all of the looks of the women and I've come to the conclusion that I can't really compare my own look to them or say "I want to look like her" because I’ll never look exactly like any one of those women. When you compare each competitor side by side everyone looks different. Everyone has their own style and body shape. Yes we all know what the overall look should be but when you really get down to the nuts and bolts of it, they all look individual. I guess the main goal is to look the best YOU can. To the train the hardest YOU can. To follow YOUR diet so that YOU ensure your conditioning is the best it can be. Accountability is the name of the game. And Russell Stover isn’t my sponsor……

My plan is still the same. 

I plan on KILLING IT at my next show. 

Here's to finding your NorthStar....

I'll cheers to that!

Coronary Bypass @ The Votex
Joshua gets one every year! I have yet to try it....

I'm feeling a little rusty on my blogging skills today so hopefully I can pull it together and fill you guys in on whats new. In my last post I mentioned that Joshua's birthday was on Saturday. We had originally planned to go to Atlanta with bunch of friends and eat nasty cheeseburgers at the Vortex and then booze it up at our favorite bar Metalsome.. Wellllll none of those things happened lol. Mister Joshua had other things on his mind, like training...

Since we have taken so many months off from drinking and going out, it's been very hard for us to get back into it. Every once in awhile I'll enjoy a glass of wine and Joshua might take of few sips if I make him one to but he never finishes a whole glass. After the first glass the guilt starts to set in that any alcohol really does not coincide with training for my next competition so whats the point in drinking more than a glass? I hate drinking my calories so my days of downing the whole bottle are long gone. So instead of drinking the day and night away we met with Eric Jones for training. 

On Saturday we met with him at his friends gym since we live about hour and half from one another. As soon as we walked in he was talking with two ladies that also compete and he was giving them some advice. Always a Good sign. After he was done giving tips we all went over to another building on site to talk. Eric spent two hours getting to know us, talking about goals for the next year, going over nutrition, and work outs. He was extremely nice and very organized which we loved seeing. He has been competing since 1988 so he made it clear to us that if we want to succeed in the bodybuilding world we truly need to know our bodies and log everything. When it comes to diets, meal and nutrient timing is key. So Joshua and I have been keeping track of how we are feeling during the day and letting Eric know so that if he needs to make any changes to our diets he will know what to change. Let me just tell you all that our new revised diets have more food but we both so hungry before each meal! 

He told us both that we always need to lift heavy and really push ourselves. We both need to put on some muscle and limit fat gain. I've gained 12 lbs since our contest (I did own up to all the bad food I've been eating ;-( ) and I need to keep it to just that because I am going to need to lose those12lbs and then some! He gave us both very good critiques of our physiques and immediately made changes to our workouts to target the areas that we need to focus on. I am hitting shoulders twice a week and Joshua is hitting legs twice a week.

After we all talked for awhile he then worked out with us for another 2 hours. We did a shoulder and trap workout. He wanted to see our form and I guess see how much we know about working out since he won't be seeing us everyday.  Good thing for us he was impressed with both our knowledge and form so we set it up that every two weeks we would all get together and workout. 

Eric is just as busy as we are but he knows how bad both of us want to win and he really believes in us which gives us both tons of confidence! 

After meeting with Eric, Joshua and I headed home to get cleaned up to go to the movies. We were both dying to see Bad Teacher with Cameron Diaz but again we didn't make it to that either! On the way there Joshua spotted a Mustang Car show, he is OBSESSED with Mustangs and can hear one coming a mile away so we pulled in to take a look. It was a small gathering so once we were done we headed to the movies which was packed to the hills! We then said forget it and went straight to our favorite place to relax and celebrate love bug's birthday @ Half Way to Habana! 

LOL Yes I did have a glass of my favorite drink, Sparkling Moscato, it even had a nutritional label on it! ;-)

So overall my Love Bug had an amazing birthday! And I can't wait to spend many more celebrating with him! I'll Cheers to that! 

Here's to finding your NorthStar....

Helen, Ga

WOWZA! What a weekend did Joshua and I have! I have so much to tell you all that I'll have to give you a little today and little tomorrow or you all will be on BRITNEY OVERLOAD!!!

Let's start with Friday....

Well if you happened to read my post from last Friday we went to Helen, GA to meet Joshua's Mom and Granny for lunch and shopping. Saturday was Joshua's birthday and we had so much going on over the weekend that they wanted to meet early and spend some time with him. We all had a lot of fun!

It's such a weird little town, lol. It's of German influence so all of the buildings look like Hansel and Gretel live and work there! We had lunch at The Troll Tavern which is along the river that runs thorough the town. There were lots of people floating down the river on hot pink tubes. It looked like a really good way to spend a hot summer Georgia afternoon. After lunch (which wasn't that great and HIGHLY over priced) we went to look for a place to have ice cream. The ice cream shop was closed needless to say so we ended up finding this cute little shop and taking some old wild west photos! They are hilarious!



Not us but a cute photo

 

BAHAHA!!! A photo in the book of shots and clothes you could choose from. This one was a LOOKER!!!



 Ill post the photos we took tomorrow. After we had our photo shoot we eventually found an ice cream palor that makes their own homemade ice cream. I had the cookies and cream and Joshua had mint chocolate chip. I didn't take any photos of that because the ice cream was uhhh to me. I'm a mayfield kinda girl and this was just not creamy enough for me. Joshua loved it though...

Joshua and his son Taylor

Granny Nelda, Joshua, Me, and Mom Valerie

When we got home from Helen around 4 we were both so tired we ended up taking a nap! When we woke up Joshua had a missed call from one of his business partners letting us know that his wife had passed. Her funeral was today and we actually just walked in from it. So please bear with me today while I organize all my thoughts and get my post in order. 

More to come! Here's to finding your NorthStar.....

Good Eatin Friday!!!

Today I'm blogging from the road! We are headed to Helen, Ga for the day. Helen is a small German town in the hills of North Ga. We are meeting Joshua's Mom and sweet lil Granny for some lunch and shopping since Joshua's Bday is tomorrow!! Unfortunatly I'm STARVING now lol. That's ok though because we brought some protein, rice cakes, a banana and Joshua made some of his delicious almond butter right before we left. Even though we're headed to German Town I amcraving some Italian food. Sometimes I wish I were Italian. I tell Joshua this all the time, lol. I'm Cajun BTW however I'm sure somewhere in my family line there has to be an Italian. I bet my Aunt Ester would know if there was! Which brings me to my recipe this week. I've had this recipe probably 5 times this week and I'm not tired of it at all!! Turkey Meatball Spaghetti Serves 1 3 oz ground turkey Salt & pepper to taste 1 oz whole grain thin spaghetti noodles 1/4 cup Barilla tomato & basil sauce 1. In a bowl mix together ground turkey and seasoning. 2. Pinch off a small amount of turkey and roll into a ball. Do this to make 5 meatballs. 3. In a sauce pan cook meatballs on medium heat till done. About 10 mins or so. The meatballs should be firm. 4. While the meatballs are cooking bring a small pot of water to a boil and add spaghetti noodles. Cook till tender. 5. Once the meatballs are done and noodles are cooked and water is drained add meatballs to the same pot you cooked noodles in. 6. Add sauce and stir together. 7. Heat on low till sauce is warm. 8. Put your mixture on a plate and add 1 tbsp of parmesan cheese if you wish. This meal is very YUM! Let me know how you like it ;-)

Tuesday Things

Hi Gang! Happy First Day of Summer! Finally.... Although Mr. Britton and I haven't really spent much time outside this summer. Here in South Carolina it's been extremely hott. Like so hot you can hardly breath. At 5am when we are headed to the gym you could cut the humidity with a freshly sharpened knife!

Thing One

This morning, as some of  you on Facebook know, I made it through another day of spin class! GO me. It was so hard today. Hills! And lots of them. If you've never taken a spin class... Do it ASAP. I love it! Before we even started class I already had it in my mind that I was going to push myself really hard and I did. When Kelly would say "add on" I would crank it up. I guess I was pushing myself a little to hard at times or just making a terrible OMG! face because several times when I thought I was going to die, Kelly would be like "You ok Britney?" "Oh yea I'm fine!" (as I gasp for air). But what's funny is, I love it. I'm just not as conditioned as the rest of regulars are. Give me a few more weeks and Ill be good to go!

Thing Two

Today at 4pm we have a meeting with an attorney to go over plans for our new business. Very exciting! Im super nervous though because I really don't know what to expect. What kind of questions will he ask? Will this meeting determine weather or not we move forward? OH! So much to ponder. However lots to look forward to ;-)

Thing Three

Training

Training has been going well. I can really see my arms starting to develop and my weight is staying the same which is good for me right now. I only gained 10 pounds post contest so I am pleased with that. Joshua was right on with our diets and training program however we are both getting a little restless. The coach we used to get us in shape for the Palmetto Cup really gave us some great tools to help us maintain but we are ready to start growing. We really need to utilize the next 10 months as much as we can and with Jr. USA's in May I really need to step it up (because those girls are already ahead of me. YIKES). So we have enlisted the help of Eric Jones. He was Mr. South Carolina in 2008 and has been competing since 1988! Amazing. I can only hope that my contest career is that long. 

The video I posted yesterday of the 57 year old man who has been competing for 4 years, never really had abs before and finally won a show, yea Eric helped him get there....So as you can see he's pretty much got what it takes to make someone a winner.

Here is a picture of his State ring. WOWZA! I want one to! 

Joshua and I are so excited to work with him. We have a workout/meeting set up with him on Saturday. He is basically going to go through a workout with us, go over our nutrition, look at our workout logs, asses our photos from the contest and go over a lot of details! He is so well prepared and asked us to bring what I thought were great items he would need to put together the best training program for each of us. Next Tuesday I'll be sure to update you guys on how the meeting went. I know it will be great! 

So that's a few Tuesday things. I hope you all are having a great day. I'm off to get ready for our meeting with the attorney. Wish us luck ;-)

Here's to finding your NorthStar....

Motivational Monday & Weekend Recap

Happy Monday everyone! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and a great Father's Day. Things were pretty chill and relaxed at our house over the weekend. I made Joshua and Taylor breakfast Sunday morning and then Joshua made this...

What's left of a Coconut Creme Pie... YUM! 

On Friday Joshua had to work a few hours and after he was done we met up with some friends to go over plans for our new business venture!!! Yes, I'm finally breaking the ice, sort of, lol. Through our journey of becoming the fittest versions of ourselves many wonderful things have been happening for us. Joshua and I have had this great idea that we have been sitting on for quite sometime. We had a problem and with a problem there is always a solution. So we mentioned our problem to a few friends. Come to find out that they also had the same issue! So we all brainstormed over wine and cheese this weekend and this week it should all be coming together. There are so many details to workout and I just don't want to give them all away just yet but I promise there will loads of details and pictures coming soon!!

Source

Its been so long that Joshua and I have been able to enjoy a glass of wine with friends that we almost forgot what it felt like to just relax and not count every single calorie. We met our friends at new local wine bar called Viva! il Vino. It's a wonderful little wine bar on the corner of a small and quite street downtown. Joshua and I shared a bottle of clean white wine that I forgot the name of LOL but I'm sure well be back soon and Ill be sure to write it down and get pictures. I'm so terrible about remembering to take pictures. I always remember as soon as I get home.

We also had dinner at Summa Joe's. It was so delicious as well. I had the meatball sub which came with a very yummy house salad. Joshua had one of their famous pizza's and he raved all night long about how great it was. We will definitely be visiting this local eatery again as well. 

I bet you all are thinking I cant believe you ate a meatball sub and Joshua had pizza! But friends don't fret because we ate really clean all day long. I really didn't even think about what I was eating to much. Normally I obsess over the menu and all the things that I cant have. It's quite frustrating let me tell you. However, Friday night I had so much on my mind with our new business that conversation really kept me occupied and not food. With my wine I did have a few pieces of bread and some of the appetizers that the wine bar offers for free but I didn't over indulge. At dinner I cut my sub up into three pieces and didn't finish the last piece or all of my salad. I also drank water with my dinner and not alcohol. The next day I was pleased that I allowed myself to have whatever I craved off the menu but I didn't eat every single bite of food and didn't obsess over every little calorie. 

Something that I am learning post contest is that it's all about balance. I eat very good and clean 97% of the time and occasionally indulge in a sweet treat or meatball sub, lol. So those of you that are going through your first contest prep right now and are worried about post contest weight gain, don't worry. You are building the skills necessary right now to be able to enjoy food on a healthy and mindful level. I still keep myself in check because I know that I have big goals ahead of me and I want to build on the foundation that I have built instead of going backwards by gaining tons of weight. 

Every Monday I am able to stay motivated by reading all of the wonderful post that all of my new fitness friends leave on Facebook. This morning Joshua and I watched a video of a 57 year old man that competed June 11th this year and won overall and best posing. He was so happy that he won that it made me start tearing up. As a competitor we all work so hard for the bodies that we have that we just cant wreck them on the weekends. There is no off season for us. So those of you need a little kick in butt (I need it sometimes to!) to get back on your diet after the weekend watch this video. It reminds you what all the hard work is for and  makes you want to try your best all the time! 

Be nice....

Practicing my Snooki Poof LOL

Joshua and I are what you might consider social butterflies at the gym. Sometimes (definitely not all the time) we find it hard at the end of a workout (especially when we have nothing to do after the gym) to finish those last few set's because we get caught up in conversation. My Mamma used to say that I've never met a stranger and I would say that is true about Mr. Britton as well. Heck, even more so with him. If we happen to stop for gas somewhere and he has to go inside , OH LAWD, he'll come out 20 mins later on a first name basis with the clerk, lol. That's just how he rolls. I will say that because of his friendliness we have met some pretty awesome people and made lots of life long friends. (HI Doug and Julie!!)

This morning at the gym, before we started our work out mind you, Joshua said hello! to a guy that he's friendly with. I'm not even sure of this guy's name is but he's super nice and kinda shy. He's also a cop and BIG! Let's just say if I got into trouble, I wouldn't get to sassy with him. Any hoo, Joshua jokingly asked him, "so you gonna compete with me next year"(imagine that with a dude voice), and to our surprise he mention that he was actually in the process of going through a divorce and training for a competition would be a way to keep his mind of things ;-( How sad. You would never know from his demeanor that anything was wrong. He always comes in with the same smile and how's it going attitude, that you would never know he had something so heavy on his plate. 

Joshua instantly offered his apologies and said if he ever needs someone to talk to, have a beer with, whatever, don't hesitate to call or ask. This got me thinking. How many people do we run into or see everyday of our lives and never know what they might be going through? I've passed many people at the gym that I work out with everyday and never say a word to them just because I don't know them or feel they don't "look" approachable when that's probably not the case at all. So from now on I'm going to make it a point to be "nice" and greet folks with a smile and a "how ya doing" instead of assuming they just don't feel like talking me. You never know when someone needs to "talk". There definitely have been times when I've offered the "how ya doing?" and someone just unloads a years worth of issues and drama that has building up in their lives. However, I really don't mind at all. Sometimes I need to vent and when the opportunity strikes it just all comes out. 

So maybe today if your at the gym or work or where ever you spend a lot time, you could ask someone you don't know very well "how ya doing? and don't forget to smile big!!! 

Here's to finding your NorthStar.....

Challenging Tuesday's!

Hi Guys! I hope everyone is having a fabulous Tuesday morning. Mine has started out just grand. My love bug let me sleep in a little and served me a protein shake in bed two days in a row this week! Although this morning he said he woke up mad at me because he had a nightmare that I cheated on him! I hate those kinds of dreams! It makes you feel like sh$! the whole day. But he knows that would NEVER happen!!! I'm sure you've all had those kinds of dreams or weirder. Our workout partner said he had a dream he shot his son in the foot! Craziness lol. Maybe we've all been working out to hard or not hard enough? HMMM

Yesterday was chest and tri's and it was a great workout! Actually all of my workouts lately have been awesome. Although I have been slacking on my cardio :-(. On my new program Joshua has 3-4 hours of cardio listed but I probably did maybe an hour last week? I know bad. But what's even worse is that I didn't adjust my calories to make up for the calories I wasn't burning and well that's just a recipe for some dreaded WEIGHT GAIN! I did gain 2 lbs because of that. I'm sure the ice cream I had over the weekend had nothing to do with that though. Nope, no sir, nothing at all....

So because I've been a bad cardio girl, this morning I stepped it up and really pushed myself. I warmed up on the elliptical for 10 mins then went over to the treadmill and cranked it up! I had the mindset that I was going to whip that treadmill's a$$ however it whipped mine! Oh lawd, I only did a mile and it took me 10:35min to do it. Yall, I was huffing and puffing so bad... embarrassing. I then jumped on the bike and cranked that sucker up to for 15 solid mins. Then a cool down on the treadmill again. Geeezzz I just thought I was in shape. I'm not. That's ok though, because at least now I know where I am and where I want to be. I'll get there. Baby steps right?

I think that I'm going to start going back to spin class again. I really do love spinning. Well it's more of a love hate relationship. I hate the bike because it's so uncomfortable and hurts my bum however I love the class because Kelly our instructor really kills it! She makes me want to come back for more pain! I guess it's the burn in my thighs, the sweat poring off my forehead, and the "push harder everybody" that really get's me going. Maybe the love bug will join me this week? (wink, wink) Probably not though cause after about 5 mins of his hiney hurting he'll probably be over it lol!

So anyway that's how my past few days have been going. Training heavier, running harder (a mile counts), eating (cleaner this week for sure), and loving life. OH we also have something big in the work's but I'll let you all in on that as it develops. I hate that I keep teasing you all but Ya know, don't wanna spill the beans just yet ;-)


Here's to finding your NorthStar....

(PS: Yoga challenge= FAILED... I really don't think any of us were really into it and I probably should have thought it out more. See never start anything without a solid plan!)

Totally Motivational!!!

Watch ""Today Is Your Day" - Shania Twain (with lyrics)" on YouTube

Motivational Monday

There's a difference between interest and commitment. 

When you're interested in doing something, you do it only when it's convenient. 

When you're committed to something, you accept no excuses; only results.

Good Eatin' Saturday!

About a week ago I bought a few pounds of summer squash from our favorite road side fruit stand. Well, after eating a few I still a lot left so instead of letting them go to waste I made this classic southern recipe bodybuilder style  ;-)

Squash Casserole

Here's what you need:

1 tablespoon olive oil

6 medium yellow summer squash, thinly sliced

1 large Vidalia onion, thinly sliced

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup bread crumbs

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 2-quart casserole dish.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute the squash and onion till soft . Transfer to a bowl and stir in the Parmesan and Greek yogurt. Add salt and pepper, to taste.

Place in the prepared casserole dish and sprinkle bread crumbs evenly over the top. Bake for 30 minutes or until the top is golden and bubbly.

Adapted from My Kitchen By The Lake Blog

YUM!!! Here's to finding your NorthStar....

Is your kitchen wrecking your diet?

It's Saturday afternoon, your home alone. Your very hungry. You walk into the kitchen in hopes of making a healthy meal. You open the fridge and this happens: "Oh yum, there's still cake left from the cook out we had. BUT I probably shouldn't because I just started my new diet Monday and I've been doing so good. HEY! That's right I've been good, so I'll have my eat and EAT IT TO. Heck ain't no body here to see me do it....."

How many times has that happened to all of us. I am definitely guilty of it. I can't tell you how many times I've ate the last of something so that it didn't go to waste or eaten ten of something because it was just that good. I think I'm safe in saying that we all have done this on every diet we've been on. Hince the need for starting another diet. But don't fret friends. There is a solution to the problem. 

First let's address the problem. Which is: YOU. You are setting yourself up for failure by even starting a "diet". When getting healthy you must change your lifestyle. The lifestyle your living now is what has gotten you to this place you don't like to begin with. What can you do to set yourself up for success you might ask? Start in your kitchen. The kitchen is the main hub for most households. We all have to eat and drink to survive and it's also where we naturally gather. I know for us, as soon as we walk in the door we go straight to kitchen to make our next meal, or put up groceries, maybe get a little something to drink, ect... 

When we start our new healthy eating plan we always go to the store to buy new groceries to feast on but what you might forget about, is all of the other bad groceries that are lurking in your cupboards and fridge. Before hitting the store, first take inventory of what you already have at home that would be healthy and CLEAN OUT all the crap that isn't. I don't care if you have teenagers and kids at home. Our a stubborn spouse that doesn't care about eating right. Clean it out. You don't need creme filled donuts and neither do they. Then, organize all of your current foods. Put all your baking goods on one side, spices on the other. Pasta's, oatmeal, cereal in another and so forth. Do the same with your fridge to. Clean out any leftovers that no one will eat. If there are any leftover's that someone might want, then place them on a shelf you can't really see at first glance. Then let everyone know that Granny's spaghetti from last night's dinner is on the bottom shelf, in the back of the fridge and if anyone want's it they better eat  it in 24 hrs or it's in the trash. Then organize all of your proteins on one shelf, veggies and fruits in another, cheeses and cold cuts in another. You can organize however you like but make sure it looks nice and clean. 

Once you've purged your kitchen of all things crap, then make a meal plan with your family. Ask everyone what they would want to eat for breakfast, lunch, dinners and snacks. Compile a list of all the foods you will need and head to the grocery store. 

I know this seems like a lot of work. Quite frankly it is. However, all that hard work will pay off in a big way. YOU are now setting yourself and your family up for success. Everyone has to start somewhere, why not let it be in the kitchen?! 

I used my own kitchen as an example for everyone. 

Yes even I need to do this from time to time ;-)

This is my quiet, unsuspecting kitchen that's in need of a serious makeover but nevermind that, lol....

But when you open the cabinets, THIS happens!!!

My poor little spice cabinet. How do we even know what we have?

YIKES!

Time to take it all out and organize..

That's better  ;-)

I bet cha I know what we have now. But the poor hubby will be totally confused...

Then I tackled the fridge, but you all get the point of what to do.

Here's to finding your NorthStar....

Calling all bloggers!

Calling all blog friends! So as a newbie blogger I am always looking for ways to get my blog out there. Be it by word of mouth, facebook and so forth, however I would love to reach even FARTHER out into the blog world. My question for you all is how do you network your blog? What sites or groups do you all recommend? Any feed back would be much appreciated. Happy Blogging :-)

Here's to finding your Northstar...

Wisdom Wednesday's

Even if you have a kind heart, great ideas, or wonderful aspirations, without the courage to translate them into action, you’ll be no different from someone who doesn’t have any such things at all.

New Blogging App

So I strongly dis like Googles blog app for Droids. But tonight I found a new one and its awesome!!! It's called blog it! And so far its fabulous. Check it out if you have a Droid smart phone.

49 Weeks and counting....

Every Tuesday I want to update you on how Im coming along with my Jr. USA prep. Now, I know that it is 49 weeks away however I got's lot's to work on! LOL. I need muscle in a big way. Monday officailly kicked off my new diet and training program. Joshua put it all together for me. I get lot's of good carb's that include oatmeal (my fav), sweet potato's (another yum), and the ever so versatile rice cake ;-) Yea, we've grown quite fond of rice cakes. You can pretty much put anything on them and they travel well. Sunday I made these Turkey Pizza Rice Cakes.

On Friday I'll definitely share the recipe with you. Joshua snubbed his nose at them but I liked them A LOT! For all of my other meals I've pretty much been eating lot's of ground turkey with broccoli, egg white omelets, and protein banana shakes. On training days I am loving all the carb's and staying really hungry between all my meals. On cardio days like today, I cut back on the carb's and just let my body do all the work. When it's working I'm HUNGRY that's for sure. Overall though I'm feeling great and still looking good, lol. I did gain about 10 lbs last week post show but a lot of it was water. This morning the scale had gone down two pounds so I was pretty happy about that. I don't know what it is with me and the scale but I get on it everyday no matter what I think it might say and sometimes it can make or break my moods. I'm sure that's not very healthy but I have to know what's going on with weight on a daily basis. I never want to let myself go again or get out of control with eating. Gotta keep it all in check! 

Tonight I'm headed back to the gym for another round of cardio and some ab work. My abs are definitely a weak spot for me so I need to hit them as much as I can so they look a little something like this on contest day:

or so I hope, lol.....

Here's to finding your Northstar...

Challenging Tuesday's!

Hey Gang, How is everyone doing with their yoga challenge? I'm not gonna lie.... I'm STRUGGLING with it! I don't know what it is but I just haven't been making time for it. No other reason than that. It's only 30 minutes of my day but for some reason I just haven't been making it a priority. So I get a big fat F this week! I hope you guys are doing better than me. So today I'm going to press my little "reset" button and get back on track. When I have made time for my 30 mins I have been following this program I found in Oxygen Magazine. It goes a little something like this:

Forward Bend

Plank Pose

Downward Dog

Warrior (lung variation)

Warrior III

Warrior II

Bikram Triangle

Chair Pose

then back into Forward Bend

repeat as many times as you like ;-)

What yoga programs have you all been following? OR do you also need to set the yoga reset button as well?

Here's to finding your NorthStar...