I don’t know how much you were looking forward to my return to the stage this March. I certainly was!
Unfortunately, there are personal circumstances that do not permit me to do the show. I have to focus on these circumstances at the forefront before I can provide a new show date with certainty.
Although I want to keep plugging through, I know that my decision is for the best, and I will come back stronger, badder, and tougher than ever. Your support is greatly appreciated.
I wanted to share with you the success of my excellent client Christen Manak. She achieved extraordinary results in a short time due to her exemplary dedication and commitment! She wanted to get bikini ready for Hawaii. So I provided her with a program consisting of exercise, nutrition, and supplementation. She followed my program to a T! And experienced fantastic results
In the 6 weeks we worked for that bikini body she lost:
Chest under bust – 1.0 inch
Waist – 1.0 inch
Baby belly – 2.0 inch
Hips – 2.0 inch
Thigh – 1.0 inch
…and a total of 12 lbs!
Christen says: “ALL WITH FOUR KIDS AGES 5, 3, 2, and 10 months!!!! I can’t believe I’ve done this!!!! Thanks so much for your help!!!”
Here are pics of her two weeks before she started with me:
Here are pics of her after the 6 week program WOOO!!!
Started to work on posing. I put on my heels, and Akane showed me the “mandatory” poses and the “model” pose. The lat spread is definitely the hardest part- gonna have to work on it! (among everything else)
Today:
Cardio done- CHECK! Did it with a friend so actually time FLEW by- YES!
Legs done- CHECK! I don’t think I hit it “hard” (sad face) but I did hit it “all” (happy face). This week of weight training hasn’t been as bad as it was last week. I think I am still being cautious in terms of pushing intensity/load because of how tired I felt last week, and I’m not trying to recreate that. But I wonder if I hit it hard enough, because despite 2-2.5 hours in the gym today altogether, I really don’t feel at all sore or tired. Maybe I should just count it as a blessing?
New shirt in the mail- CHECK! I came home and got a person’s favorite thing to come home to- a package- yayyy!!! It was from my friend in Korea, the brain behind Stretch Exercise Eat, a really cool multi-faceted blog that approaches physical and mental health from so many unique angles. I even had the privilege of hanging out with him live in person when I was in Korea! It was awesome. And he was ever so kind to send me a shirt.
Is this how it goes?? –>
STRETCH…take a big, nice, deep breath and sinkkk into the stretch…
EXERCISE…messin around doing single leg push ups on the dynamax ball…
EAT…I am the asparagus monster…do not bring your asparagus near me or it is not safe…
Until next time peeps….I LOVE YOU!
By the way, check the site: http://thedailylove.com/ Every morning I get inspirational emails from them, they’re awesome!
I have been reading The Wise Heart: A Guide to the Universal Teachings of Buddhist Philosophy by Jack Kornfield, and I want to share with you some passages from Chapter 16: “Suffering and Letting Go” that really struck me.
…A reporter once pressed the Dalai Lama about his opt-quoted statement that he does not hate the Chinese Communists, in spite of their systematic destruction of Tibet. In reply, the Dalai Lama explained, “They have taken over Tibet, destroyed our temples, burned our sacred texts, ruined our communities, and taken away our freedom. They have taken too much. Why should I let them also take my peace of mind?” Because he had learned to let go, the Dalai Lama can work more freely to create a better future for Tibet. He knows that clinging to suffering is not the way…
..In Buddhist Asia [as well as in the West], popular culture mischaracterizes nirvana, imagining it as a heavenly realm where old monks go after many lifetimes’ work of purity and self-denial…[we should] look for nirvana in the simplest ways, in everyday moments. “Nirvana,” he would say, “is the coolness of letting go, the inherent delight in experience when there is no grasping or resistance to life. It is always available.”…We know how to do this. We love to let go of the world at night when we go to sleep. Letting go and having a good night’s sleep is delicious. Letting go while we are awake is delicious, too…
…When we let go of being the one who suffers, we are free to bring blessings wherever we go…
My first official jiu jitsu tournament was last Saturday (two days ago).
I was excited for the tournament for a long time!
On last Tuesday, though, in jiu jitsu class we were supposed to wrestle. This big guy threw me to the ground and I pulled a hip flexor I took it easy for the rest of the week, and was still excited for the tournament, but a little weary and cautious. Saturday morning I got into fight mode! I did this by getting my hair braided
Sorry da pic is lopsided! Turn your computer sideways ;P
I did it not only to pull my hair away from my face, but also to feel confident and hopefully intimidate my opponents!
There were six of us girls competing, and we were randomly matched up. I was paired up with an experienced wrestler! She defeated me by points. She ended up defeating every opponent thereafter, and ended up taking first place! So at least I got beat by the #1 chick ;P
My lack of experience was no match for her extensive experience! I did my best though and got my feet wet! Good times.
After the tournament, I decided though that I will take a week break from jiu jitsu and lower body training/cardio so that I can heal my hip flexor. I don’t want it to turn into a lingering injury! It’s been almost a week and I still feel it, so time to bring in the reigns and get it better ASAP.
I am working on resting it as much as possible by avoiding running/stepping/squatting/etc and instead focusing on upper body strength training, essentially alternating one day pushing and one pulling. I am also icing my hip flexor, using STEM, applying arnica, stretching, rolling it, and will also do some glute work to help stretch the anterior chain and promote activation of the posterior chain, which can help in maintaining pelvic stability, which in turn will help balance my kinetic chain and heal me up faster! Once I establish pain-free range of motion, I will begin gentle strengthening of the hip flexor such as standing or seated bent leg raises, then eventually move on to resisted exercises and proprioceptive work.
In the meantime, I am becoming reacquainted with my old friend, the weight room! It’s been fun to hit weights hard, and I’ve been getting my heart rate up with handbike intervals. Thank goodness for the handbike! I love my gym.
A quote I just read to leave you with: “Life is a pure flame, and we live by an invisible sun within us.” ~Sir Thomas Brown
First of all, the one year anniversary of my blog came and went while I was in Thailand. Happy belated 1 year anniversary to Freestyle Fitness Addiction Blog!
Secondly, February 1st marked the official one year anniversary of Functional Core Fitness personal training studio, the place
I love, support, and promote just as much if not more than my own individual business
*SO* if you can, you should come by the studio and check it out, take a class (like my new Wednesdays at 6:30 PM “Metabolic Playground” conditioning class!), learn some new stuff with a trainer, or follow us on Facebook
It’s been two weeks and 6 days since I leftThailand.
I left Thailand and had a long layover in Korea, where I was privileged enough to explore some of Seoul with Adam of SEE Adam Train.
After that, next stop was California and I was surprised to not experience horrible culture shock, jet lag, or existential malaise upon arrival.
I felt remarkably refreshed and hopeful. The fast lifestyle and stress has slowly been creeping back into my life, but I do feel an improvement overall in my quality of life. My trip was a success. Button was reset.
I am continuing to attend jiu jitsu classes, and just received confirmation of my registration to compete at Jiu Jitsu By The Bay on Saturday, February 26th.
My first official jiu jitsu tournament- wooo!!!! I’m a little nervous to compete against others with up to 18 months of experience (one is eligible in my bracket to compete with 0-18 months of experience, though Omar told me a lot of people “sandbag” by asserting that they have less experience than they do, so they can win the bracket), but I know I will enjoy my experience win, lose, or draw! Though I plan to win!
Here’s life post-Thailand: I’m ecstatic to share that business is going fabulous, and I feel extremely healthy, fit, and strong. It’s great to be able to feel so confident in these bold statements! I’m in grad school, which is NOT sucking my soul dry. Of course, there are other pieces of the puzzle that are not yet in place…For now, I am still figuring out a post-Thailand life, but relishing feeling a greater sense of health and peace.
Wow, it’s almost time! Tomorrow is my last day…I leave at night. I am being consistent in my training these past few days, and it’s jolly fun. This trip been so amazing and I have learned SO much! Thank you to all my teachers and partners!
Yesterday Andrew and I filmed the beginning part of our jiu jitsu private lesson that followed the morning MMA class. One take. I’m super-sweaty but whatevz. I am trying to share with the world interesting exercises, so admire my selfless qualities to post a video despite the fact I look totally disgusto! ;P Do you like the vid?
Thank goodness we didn’t do any triangle drills! I hate triangles. I am a happy camper with anything related to arm bars or omoplata. I am convinced they will be my specialty because they don’t require long legs. Okay, so what that I never catch people in them. It doesn’t hurt to know what you want
One more jiu jitsu session tonight, then tomorrow scattered training in between packing and everything. I fly to Korea, where I have a seven hour layover. I hope to meet up with Adam ofSEEAdamTrain! It will be my first official blogger meet up! If you haven’t checked out his blog, you should! Then from Korea, it’s San Francisco, baby.
Might post something else before I leave. If not, I’ll be in contact when I touch down on the opposite side of the planet!
Just a quick update: For Friday (after morning class), Saturday, Sunday, and Monday I was TOTALLY out of it. Felt like a cripple- couldn’t walk, NO energy, headache, senses heightened, could NOT get out of bed for anything. Tuesday I started to feel more like a human again, and I just did an hour of jiu jitsu for the day. Wednesday I felt even more improved, and just did morning class plus another hour of jiu jitsu. Today (Thursday) we will see what I pull off I would hypothetically like to do as much as I can here in this last week I am here, but I feel like doing the opposite- taking a more “relaxed” approach and only working out 3 hours a day instead of much more…We will see whether my mind or body prevails ;P
I can’t believe time has flown by so quickly! I have less than a week left! I leave next Wednesday. That will have been two months in Thailand! Wow, what an awesome, incredible experience this has been. Makes me want to travel MORE! Brazil, Japan, the Netherlands, all over South America, Indonesia, the Philippines, Spain, Antarctica, etc, etc…heheh…I’ve been to some of those places before, but that was a lonnng time ago. Ah, maybe I shouldn’t say I want to keep travelling, while responsibility beckons ;P Well, let me just say that it has been a blast, but I can’t wait to come home.
Here’s to health, wealth, peace, love, joy, harmony, and six pack abs~
I am a certified personal trainer, avid fitness enthusiast, and creator of Freestyle Fitness Addiction. Come visit frequently, as I add articles, video clips, and personal blog posts related to building strength, power, and stability in fun, outside-of-the-box ways; nutrition; inspiration; injury prevention and rehab; figure and fitness; mixed martial arts; random ruminations, and daily personal life. When not driven by my fitness addiction, some of my favorite things include being a badass with my hoodie up, sparkles, and kittens.
“Formulate and stamp indelibly on your mind a mental picture of yourself as succeeding. Hold this picture tenaciously. Never permit it to fade. Your mind will seek to develop the picture...Do not build up obstacles in your imagination.”
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STRETCH…take a big, nice, deep breath and sinkkk into the stretch…
EXERCISE…messin around doing single leg push ups on the dynamax ball…
EAT…I am the asparagus monster…do not bring your asparagus near me or it is not safe…
I took it easy for the rest of the week, and was still excited for the tournament, but a little weary and cautious. Saturday morning I got into fight mode! I did this by getting my hair braided 
(photo from 
