Food Rehab and Inflatable Insanity

Hey, guys. I am already battling my inner demons this week. My medication change has me off of my thyroid meds on the weekends and I realllllllly feel it at the beginning of the week. The stress of it makes me want to eat. Not eat... binge. 

I have to admit that I had 13 perfect days in the bag and then yesterday I went and ate at maintenance calories. Not too bad, right? Well, I ate the additional 700 calories in one fell swoop with peanut butter and Lucky Charms. Now that I am no longer in ketosis, rather just low carb, I am not too worried that it will hurt me, but I am disappointed in myself. That being said, today is a new day and I am on plan. Time to get back into food rehab. I would like to be at 175 in two weeks for my next set of progress pictures. 

In other news, not too much is happening here - just contest prep, working out, running, and running my circus. My little girl will be starting Irish Dance next week and I am beyond excited for her. I just hope that she can focus and follow direction. She is very strong willed and possesses many leadership qualities, so I am curious to see how well she does. 

Oh, yea! My hubby, brother in law, sister and I all ran the Insane Inflatable 5k a week and a half ago! It was a blast. Aside from the heat and the pit stop we made at the car to get more water, it was really a lot of fun and a healthy new way that we celebrate birthdays now. :) 

Enjoy! 

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Behind the Scenes of Coach Life!

Hey sunshines and beasts!

You've read about and seen my posts about coaching before, I'm sure and if you're following along, you've seen my mentions of Summit. Today, I wanted to just take a few minutes to share a little bit about what I do as a coach.

"Coaching" for me and my business is really a blanket term. Specifically, I help men and women across the United States and Canada reach their health and fitness goals through at home and gym compatible fitness programs, nutrition plans that are tried and true (as well as customized nutrition plans that I build for those with special nutritional needs), and my personal support. I become your cheerleader - for life! I help to monitor your progress, choose programs that work into your lifestyle, and discuss stumbling blocks along the way to prepare for the future.

When we all pool our "light" together, we can light up even the darkest sky.
This powerful moment at Team Beachbody Coach Summit had my heart stopped.

For me, the support was the biggest aspect that I was missing in my own health and fitness journey and when I found that, I found the strength and momentum to get back up when I failed instead of quitting. My fitness family and my coaching team have been an incredible asset in that respect. As a coach, it is my job not to do the work for you, but to educate you on how to get it right, how to do it better next time, and to push you to be your best self. I also will love on you and celebrate you as big as you need it. Praise works wonders!

Left to Right - Me!, my personally sponsored coach, Hank and my own coach, Jess! These people lift me up and I am happy to return the favor. Sometimes you can't find your own community, you need to BUILD it. 

The other aspect of my business and coaching, is that I am a business mentor to my friends and colleagues in this business. I provide education and support on building a fitness related business from the ground up. Yes, I have over 100 clients. Yes, I take Thursdays and Saturdays off. Yes, I make my own schedule. However, I didn't start that way. I was a student first (and am always a student really), learning from others and putting in the time and energy investment required to get my business going. I teach others about consistency (in health and business), social media, growing your market, publicity, and how that pays off. I am always willing to train new folks on how to do what I do, how to help others on their own health and fitness journeys, or on their entrepreneurial journey.

Massive banner! I signed my name there because this business and my team help make me stronger every day. xoxo

So what do I do? Basically, I teach and I cheer for you. It's that simple. If you are thinking about becoming a coach or want more information, click on the coaching link at the top of the page or email me at photobombfitness@gmail.com!

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Operations Bubbles!

Hello my gorgeous beasts!

Today is day 3 back on my medication under the new schedule and everything seems to be going well. I am a little tired, which I think is to be expected, especially when I am kicking my butt daily with my workouts again.

I am happy to say that I am back on track and as I mentioned before, I have committed to the Beachbody Classic in July 2017 - which means I really have very little time to play around with my workouts and nutrition. For those who have never heard of it, the Beachbody Classic is a physique show that takes place at our annual professional development conference called Summit. in 2017, it will be taking place in New Orleans! People from all over the USA and Canada come and display that they are products of the products and show off the amazing work the programs have done for their bodies.

For many years, I have said that I wanted to compete and make a go of a figure or bikini competition and last year, I actually intended to compete, however I was waitlisted and lost all motivation shortly after. This time around, I am committing to the show, and whether I am waitlisted or not, I will be preparing, as if I will take the stage.

Day 1 picture - 46 weeks out: August 14, 2016

I have not work a bikini in any sort of public fashion in 16 years so even taking and sharing this progress photo set is waaaaaaay out of my comfort zone, however my coach and teammates told me that its going to be much easier to see the changes in this small suit rather than a t-shirt and shorts... and they are right.

My goal is to get to 14% body fat before the show. I will also be working primarily on getting my triglycerides under control and staying compliant with my food - which directly impacts my medical condition.

So far, so good. I have 3 perfect days so far.

 - water goal hit!
 - food/macros hit!
 - workouts complete!
 - supplements taken!
 - medication taken!

I will be sharing my stats on Saturdays on my facebook page (Photobomb Fitness) and my monthly updates both here and there (with photos!). Hopefully, it will help me to stay accountable and on track!

Oh yea, the title? I nicknamed my butt "Bubbles." Operation Bubbles is my journey to the stage and is my goal to make the rest of the body match that booty that I grew through hard workout and determination. I used to be a pancake butt. Actually now that I think about it, I might need to get smaller bottoms soon...

Stay tuned folks! Thanks for following along. I love you all!!!

Catching up!

Hi sunshines! So where did we leave off?

Between our family vacation and my business trip to Nashville, I had my blood drawn for my August appointment with my endocrinologist. Based on eating all of the amazing food and treats while away on vacation (and leading up to it) I knew that my results were likely going to be bad. I left for Nashville hopeful that I would lose a few pounds and at least have that merit when I met with my doctor upon my return home. 

When I got back from my trip, my blood work arrived at the house - ahead of my doctor appointment and I couldn't help myself. I opened it up and saw the results... 

Not only were my numbers BAD in more than one area, my triglycerides were the highest they have ever been and I learned that my lab actually uses color ink. 😒

As is my nature, I started researching and panicking and researching while I panicked. After about 24 hours of panicking, I started having chest pains. I figured, I'll be talking my doc in the morning, so we will see how it goes. 

The next morning, I take my fine behind down to my endocrinologist only to learn that not only is she not in, but that she is out of state, and no one called to reschedule me, which sent me over the edge. I cried for the ride home. The only other way for me to conference with her would be two days later by phone. 

The chest pains lasted another 24 hours before I finally decided it was time to go to the emergency room. I wasn't sure if it was stress, a heart attack, or something else, and my brother (who is a cardiac guy) told me to go and get an ekg. 

Apparently, everyone in Jersey City gets some kind of emergency sick on Monday nights and we were in the hospital forever. I was triaged quickly but had to wait in the lobby until there was a bed for me. My resting heart rate was 128 when I got there. I had some ekg tests done, blood tests, urine tests, and some x rays. They ruled out heart attack and blood clots and it seems like the culprit was actually my thyroid medication. 

I had slipped just below the normal TSH threshold, which has never happened to me in my life, and I experienced the rapid heartbeat and chest pain because of it. Ok, we leave the hospital the next day, ready to have a chat with my doctor. 

Wednesday, my doctor and I phone consult and chat about the triglycerides. They are dangerously high and I am being given one last chance to get them down. I have 8-10 weeks. If the numbers aren't better in October, I will be put on medication to control it. We also chatted about the chest pains and trip to the ER. New medication schedule has me skipping my dose on the weekends, which is scary for me, but so far I have been doing well. We will be checking that in October, too, just to be sure that the new regimen is working. 

To my butterflies out there... I'm tired! This is an ordeal. It's always a new thing coming for me, but I'm ready to go crush it for the next 8 weeks! My life depends on it!

Working on ME

Hi all of you sexy beasts! It's been a few weeks, and I really hate when I let time get away from me like that. Since I wrote last, a ton of BIG things have happened.

* My grandfather was allowed to return home from the hospital after his stroke!

* My family and I went on vacation to the Jersey Shore, Maryland, and Washington DC.

* I had my blood work done for my thyroid (right between trips).

* I traveled to Nashville, TN for a professional development conference.

* I received my results from my bloodwork - they weren't great. :( 

* I registered for next years work trip in New Orleans and committed myself to compete in my first "bodybuilding" competition.

It has been a really really crazy time and I'll try to tackle it piece by piece here and what I've learned while away. First part - my Poppop. As many of you may have previously read, my Poppop had a stroke while in the hospital for a stent replacement surgery. His sudden and scary hospitalization sent me into survival mode. I took my kids to see him in the hospital and even got to see my parents who came up north from Florida. My nutrition, workouts, and hydration plan all went out the window and I honestly haven't been on plan for very many days since then and it's been almost a month. Which leads me into....

We met the baby Pandas!

We went on vacation! My sister and her hubby joined my husband, the kids, and I on our annual vacation. We kept it low key at the shore, the National Aquarium and DC. It was nice seeing family in MD and catching up. The kids LOVED everywhere we went (TONS OF WALKING) and even had an amazing time in our DC hotel. We stayed at the Topaz and had the good fortune of having this awesome nook type couch thing where my little girl made herself her own personal space. It was amazing and hilarious.

Charlotte rocking out in her area. 

Raphael had the best time! Giving his peace sign!

I am already looking forward to our next family trip. We had such a blast unwinding and destressing from our day to day lives. Even though we didn't go too far, it was so nice to just BE!

More to come on my bloodwork and Nashville, but for now, enjoy this hilarious clip of us at the shore. My husband is a *spectacular* camera man and was going for "action shots."  xoxo