My Favorite Things of 2012

I frequently get asked what products I use and love, both for health/nutrition, and just life in general.  So I thought I'd wrap up my blog for the year with a list of my favorite things!

PROTEIN:

 Oh hai Brad Albertson

This is probably the question I get asked most frequently.  619 Muscle Foundations protein is my favorite. Yes, I am sponsored by them but I chose my sponsors based on products I use and believe in!  So what do I love about this one?  It's clean.  118 calories, 26 g protein, 0 g carbs, 1 g fat, sweetened with stevia, loaded with BCAA's and glutamine.  I absolutely love it!  The peanut butter flavor is my fav! 

PRE-WORKOUT:

This stuff will blow your MIND!

D-Stunner by Betancourt Nutrition is something that I've recently been introduced to and HOLY COW!  It was love at first try!  This pre-workout is not the cracked energy jittery type that makes you feel like Beavis when he turns into the Great Cornholio.  And no jitters means no crash!  Just a nice bump in strength, power and breathing.  That's right, it helps you breathe better! There is a bronchostimulator in this product to help improve your breathing during exertion!

GRIPS:

Yes... my grips are pink and black like everything else I own

I REFUSED to leave the Olympia Expo this year until I bought Versa Gripps because I didn't want to have to pay shipping online.  Well in the midst of all the excitement I completely forgot to go shopping - how incredibly unlike me!  In the last 15 minutes of the expo I frantically ran over to the Versa Gripps booth to snag my pink and black FIT model grips.  I absolutely love the control and improved grip I have when training with these. The FIT series is designed for my girly smaller hands and freakishly small wrists.  I lost these for 2 days and was devastated.  They enhance my workouts SO much!

SPORTS BRA:

The Robin Bra - named after ME!  Not kidding!

I am absolutely in LOVE with BodyRock Sport!  Kelly has designed some amazing bras that are not only the most comfortable and supportive out of all the gazillion sports bras I've owned, but they're fun and fashionable!  This year I was beyond flattered that she whipped up the fun green one pictured above and named it after me!  These bras are great because they even have hidden pockets to store a key or iPod AND it has a light layer of padding so that the whole gym doesn't know when you're cold.  Bonus!

GYM BAG:

Nice bag!

I don't travel lightly, that includes when I go to the gym.  I am an OCD organizational freak. Enter: The Peacoat Class bag by Fitmark.  It's like a dream come true, in a super high quality back pack.  Shoes go in the bottom, insulated compartment for your water bottle, padded back pocket for a laptop, anti microbial bag for your funky sweaty clothes.  SO FABULOUS!

BLOG THAT ISN'T MINE:

So badass!

Yes, I read other people's blogs.  This gorgeous lady is Kari Keenan - a figure competitor determined to earn her IFBB pro card.  She's hard-working, smart, sweet, a great writer, and she sends me pictures of cats.  Duh, of course I love her!  Her blog covers so many great topics from training, to dealing with the emotional hardships of prep.

IPHONE APP FOR THE GYM:

Did I mention I hate interval training?

I hate doing intervals.  Like really, A LOT!  They kick my ass and make me pray for death, but it's a very highly effective way of training, thus I do it.  I found this app and its AMAZING!  Again it appeals to the organizational freak in me because you can color code the warmup, highs, lows, and cool down periods.  You pick the length for each period, number of intervals and BAM you're on your way.  It takes all of a minute to set up.  

RANDOM GIRLY CRAP:

Game changer!

 I have horrible skin.  HORRIBLE!  Total combination skin, acne prone, just disgusting.  This stuff changed it A LOT! Much more even skin tone, faded old acne scars, just youthful glowy skin!

FAVORITE PERSON ON THE PLANET:

Alison Burgess

Annie Parker

Okay so it's a tie.  But they're both blond fit girls with names that begin with "A" so I figure I can post them both.  Shuddup, it totally makes sense.   Miss Alison Burgess and I met about a year and a half ago competing but developed a great friendship this year.  She's my go-to gal for advice about basically everything under the sun.  She always says things that makes my mind go in directions I've never contemplated so I can honestly say I really am a better person for knowing her. And also, she sends me pictures of cats.  And then there's my little pocket sized friend Annie Parker.  We have one of those friendships that consists of finishing each others sentences, laughing at things that no one else understands, and even started a business together!

So that's it folks!  My favorites of 2012!  Wishing you all the best in the new year!  xoxo

Screw Being an Adult- Train Like a KID!: The Key to Fitness Success

I'm a big kid at heart.  I am still intrigued by the magic of Disneyland.  I make wishes on shooting stars and dandelions. I hate doing chores.  I love watching cartoons.  I have aspirations of one day opening an indoor tree climbing gym. I think boys are icky - well okay maybe not that part.

Do you remember being a little kid?  Did you ever run so fast you thought your legs were going to fall off? Or feel like an Olympic gymnast swinging on the monkey bars?  Remember when PE was your favorite time of day because you'd get to be active?  When did all that exercise become a chore?  The point is, we were active in our childhood because we made it fun!  We ran around because we chose to, not because we felt like we had to!  Make your workouts fun again.  BE A KID AGAIN!  Involve your friends and family! Seriously, try playing "Duck Duck Goose" as an adult. It's exhausting.  Sit down, get up, SPRINT, sit back down.  Interval workout baby!

How many of you have ever tried to have a conversation with a 3-year-old?  I'm sure lots of you have, which means you are well aware that the favorite word of every 3-year-old is "Why?"  So what happened to that?  When did we feel like we know so much that we stopped asking "Why?"  Surely we're not so arrogant as to think we know it all.  When you're working towards your fitness goals - whether they be to build muscle, burn fat, run faster, run further, lift heavier, live longer - don't forget to seek the answer to WHY you're doing the things that you do.  Why should you lift in that repetition range?  Why should you be eating those sorts of foods at those specific times?  Why do you have to drink so much damn water?  If you know the answers to these, good job little slugger!

Let's play $10,000 Pyramid.  Goldfish crackers... plastic bag full of cheerios... peanut butter and celery...  granola bars... THINGS THAT YOU SNACK ON!  Ding ding ding! Winner.  We ate more frequently as kids.  We snacked!  Common meal plan as adults: coffee for breakfast, sandwich for lunch, mid-afternoon latte, dinner, DONE.  Bad idea.  3 planned meals a day all involving protein, carbs, and healthy fats, with 3 snacks a day, MUCH better idea.  Eat like a kid, small frequent meals!  

You know what else we did better as kids than we do as adults?  Rest.  We took naps, we went to bed at a consistent time.  We slept in without guilt.  So do it!  SLEEP!  Sure you may have to sit down and manage your schedule a bit, but you need sleep.  And I know some of you are saying "I'll sleep when I'm dead."  Well cool, if that's your attitude that whole "dead" part is going to come MUCH sooner than you think.  8 hours of sleep per night gives you 16 quality hours of day.  5 hours of sleep gives you 19 ass-dragging coffee-chugging fatigued-body hours of the day.  Not really a great trade-off!

So my advice to you - be a kid.  Train like a kid - make it fun! Think like a kid - ask why!  Eat like a kid - small frequent meals!  Rest like a kid - ni-night!