A Needle In A Haystack

I've been lucky to find one 'Needle in a Haystack' but will I find another? It's the question that I ask myself daily as I muster through cold calling these Christian churches, Southern Wedding Planners and posting on any Virgin Facebook Group I can find. 

I know... it's been almost FIVE months since my last blog entry, and as I sit here trying to write this, I'm sure you're just as lost as I am. What the hell happened? Where did I go? Here's my quick recap: After a year in a half, I left Screaming Flea Productions as their Production Coordinator on A&E's reality show, "HOARDERS" and jumped on the wagon at PSG Films to work on a pilot show for TLC called, "Virgin Diaries." 

From September to December, it's been a complete WHIRLWIND. I was literally thrown into the fire. (Which, I secretly love.) Well, if you know me, it's never really been a secret. I thrive off of the challenge. I quickly booked two shoots that were simultaneously happening at the same time and I was sent off to the East Coast: North Carolina and Maryland for 10 days as a Production Assistant. Those 10 days were intense and long with a lot of time spent in airports and 15 hour work days. Thank god for my iPhone. 

After my return, it was straight to business as we had our show delivery date the week before Thanksgiving and air date of December 4th. During Post Production, I learned two things: #1. I dislike it. #2. I dislike it very much. For anyone who works in Post Production, I have much respect for you because those long hours of me time coding and transcribing made me want to pull my hair out. Redbull did not give me the wings I needed. I saw many sunrises. Wait. I still see many sunrises! HA!

BOOM. Show was delivered. PSG then sent me to Kauai for a week to learn the ropes as a Field Producer on a show they were working on in following the footsteps of National Geographic, "Alaska State Troopers." Me in the back of a cop car. Amazing experience. One Word: Bulletproof. 

Fast Forward to December. 'Virgin Diaries' pilot show was a hit. The media chewed on it like my favorite watermelon flavored FIVE gum, savored that potent mouthwatering juiciness and blew bubbles all over every major talk show and website. BAM! So here I am now, working to cast for the next show. Which brings me to the whole, "Needle In A Haystack" idea because finding these virgin couples that are engaged is that 'NEEDLE!' 

Requirements: 28 or older, unique story and interesting. Luckily, virgins haven't been that difficult to find and during this SIX week casting process, I've learned so much about myself, relationships and people. 

So now, with one week left, how do I find another 'Needle In A Haystack?' 

Stay tuned.

P.S. As I'm RUNNING, I'll be going backwards to tell you my adventures of my travels. Yes, running backwards is FUN.

*BiKiNi WaRRioR* PART II

First of all, let me apologize to my readers, friends, coworkers and family. I'm MORE than a MONTH behind on blogging. (Is it two months?.... shit!) I know, I know, I made myself a goal to write a blog at least ONCE a week and I haven't been following through. Point the finger at me, I can take it. Second of all, since it's been more than a HOT minute... this is gonna be a LONG one. Don't say I never warned you. 

Let's get back into PART II of *BiKiNi WaRRioR*! The week leading up to the big show was  the most important and crucial time EVER in order to see the results I worked so hard for  the past 5 weeks. First, the water loading of 3 gallons of water from Sunday to Tuesday, decreased to 1/2 gallon on Wednesday, 2-4 oz on Thursday, no water on Friday (only to sip), and absolutely no water on Saturday. (Sipping is okay if needed.) Let me tell you that once I got to Thursday, I was grateful that I drank 3 gallons of water earlier that week. I craved water as the next few days continued like I was stranded in the Sierra Desert. I appreciated H20 more than you know. I also took a natural diuretic to help with the cleansing process. FYI: The bathroom was my second home. LITERALLY. 

Imagine killing it in the gym, pushing it through the prowler, swinging a kettle bell, pounding through a metabolic workout and not being able to guzzle down some agua!? You're sweating it out and all you can do is swish around some water in your mouth and spit it out to play tricks on your brain that you're actually drinking it. That's what you call GOT GRIT!! Mind over matter baby.

From Monday through Thursday, I followed Green Faces Phase 1 which consisted of only proteins and vegetables. However, sodium was the minor detail I had to pay attention to. From the Thursday to Monday before peaking, I consumed foods with high sodium, Monday - Low Sodium, Tuesday - No Added Sodium, Wednesday - NO Sodium and no salt added to my food whatsoever. Everything had to be boiled to remove salt. (Yes, I said boiled... meaning everything was VERY bland.) Thursday is the same as Wednesday and Friday is also no sodium, but this is where I began to eat carbs. 



During the first part of the week I felt bloated from all the water loading. I dropped 3-4 pounds in 2 days down to 126lbs. I felt so light with no sodium or carbs, but my body looked flat. Once Friday hit and I began consuming carbohydrates, I finally started to see visual changes to my body. My carb loading meals consisted of: Yams, Sweet Potatoes, Oatmeal, Apples, Blueberries, Rice Cakes and Almond Butter. Yams with cinnamon and rice cakes with almond butter were like heaven to me. (Matter of fact, they STILL ARE!) As the day progressed, I examined my body every time I ate a carb and I began seeing my muscles emerge from under the skin. 


The night before the show, it is important to get enough sleep and rest, but of course... that didn't happen for me. It was time to get tan which I was not a big fan of, but the dark tan looks good on stage. Thankfully, I had my best friend Diana to help lather the cream on. I felt like I looked like a Oompa Loompa from Willie Wonka. See the picture below for yourself. (Sing along if you feel like... "Oompa Loompa, do-ba-dee-doo...") 

OK. So ya'll get the picture.  This was my first Bikini Competition ever, so walking into the Auburn Performing Arts Center on Saturday, July 23rd, was definitely an eye opening experience. After checking in, Diana and I went backstage where all the ladies were getting ready. I had never seen so many fit women in one room in my life... EVER! Muscles everywhere. May I say tan muscles? Bathing suits everywhere. Hairspray, oil, makeup, rice cakes, almond butter, gallons of water... you name it, it was all there with a bowl of chocolates too. 

Diana and I came prepared (as always) with our lunchbox of food, hair done, nails done, make up done, everything did. All that was left: minor primping and time to relax before hitting the stage for pre-judging. I ate another almond buttered rice cake, mingled with the ladies, and took some pictures with my girls Diana and Erin who competed in Fitness. I wasn't really nervous, I was more so thirsty as hell and I wanted to dive into the bowl of chocolates displayed 6 feet in front of me, but I knew I would be devouring everything I could later that evening after the show. 

Therefore, I took advantage of some relaxation and posted up on the ground. Do you see the heels we had to wear? I mean, they are comfortable... but not forever. Plus, laying on the ground with your legs up actually helps decrease the bloating that occurs from standing in heels too long. (I hope you are taking notes.) That's what (me) a rookie learned from a figure fitness pro. (Thank you to the nice lady in the red suit.)

10 A.M. came and went like a blink of an eye. All of the sudden your walking on stage, flexing everything you have, smiling like you have Vaseline on your teeth and struttn' what your momma gave ya and then some. Truth be told, the stage is a place where I am actually comfortable in. I get butterflies but they vanish fairly quickly. It's mostly an adrenaline rush I feed off of. I was there to show these judges how hard I worked and so I charmed them the best way I could. Smile. Pose. Smile. Strut. Smile. Kill it. Done. Whip that hair. (Totally kidding on 'Whip that hair.") 

After the pre-judging, I was beat, grouchy and exhausted. I wanted water and carbs. I took my butt straight to bed for a 4 hour recovery nap until I had to be back for the evening show. You did NOT want to be around me. I couldn't think and I did NOT want to talk to anyone, except my pillow. When I woke up, I felt like a million bucks! Plus, my body felt SO happy. So happy that I looked more toned in the evening than I did for the pre-judging event that morning. That's when I learned that I should have carb loaded even more the night before and gotten more rest. Recovery is important! I mentally took these notes for when I decided to take on this challenge again. 

During the main event and as a part of the evening show, they introduce each individual bikini contestant out on stage by your name as you strike your pose and smile your sexy out. There is no time to be shy, it's only time to be stage ready! The photo to the left is the backside of Diana. Get it sis! 

My good friend and coworkers Nora and Jessica supported me in the crowd and helped take these photos. Feel free to click on the video below. It's super short, but if you have never been to a show it gives you a taste of what it is like. 

So, what happens after they introduce you on stage? Well, you line up with the rest of the ladies in your height class and do one pose. After you walk off, they then call out the 'Top 5 Contestants.' I didn't think about me being in the Top 5. My mission was to do the contest. And then... I heard my name. So I ran on stage like a crazy lady. Not really. But, in heels, you can only imagine.  

I was in shock! Surprised really. I had never won anything like this before in my life. Within seconds I was handed a Samurai Sword and a Tiara was placed on my head as  the rest of the Top 5 contestants were called out. All I could think of was, "What am I gonna do with this Samurai Sword... it's HUMANGEOUS and where am I gonna put it?" 





I could hear my trainer Luka and Vigor Vixens Pam and Rebekah in the audience cheering for me. All I could do was giggle inside and smile. I am truly grateful for my friends and family who supported and pushing me during my six weeks of crazyness. You know who you are!  


In a Nutshell, the 2011 NPC Washington State Open Bikini Competition was an experience I will always remember! 

On to the next!? WHAT!? Stay Tuned... as I have another challenge up my sleeve! PLUS... as one chapter ends, another begins. I'll spill the beans soon. I promise it won't take me over a month to share! 

*BiKiNi WaRRioR* PART I

People often use the phrase, "Milk does a body GOOD." But, this week I'm using the phrase, "H20 does a body GOOD." Never in my life did I ever think I would be able to consume THREE gallons of water a day. You may not think it is humanly possible, but for the past three days, I have consumed a total of 9 GALLONS OF WATER! 


Yep. NINE full Gallons of water. I peed every 20 minutes the non-color of crystal clear and woke up every two hours due to the bladder knockn' on toilets door. 


Why so much water? Gotta flush out the system and if you haven't been reading... this Saturday, I am competing in the 2011 NPC Washington State Open BodyBuilding, Fitness, Bikini & Physique Championship. This is the first time I will be prancing around strutn' my half naked self in front of hundreds of people.  

I am always up for a challenge, so I took this competition by the horns! I've been training like an athlete, eating crazy super clean and I even walked around Walmart on Sunday with a gallon of water, to stalk up on... well ya know, MORE WATER! Then, when I arrived at work Monday morning, my coworkers surprised me with more water for my birthday. Hence, in the photo above - the display of 8 gallons of H20! 


I have to say that this past week has been a challenge but fun adventure. I started off my Saturday with a pre-celebration of my 27 years of life by gettin' muddy and dirty at the Warrior Dash in North Bend, WA. I finished the filthy 5k in 43:30. Not as fast as I wanted and I probably would have finished a lot faster if I didn't fall so much in the mud... ON MY FACE! It was totally worth it! 

The best part about this experience? Running like a WARRIOR over cars, tires and lots of MUD! The grossest part was riding the bus back to my car and sitting in someone else's mud. Smelly. Gross. I should have taken a picture. 


On another note: Do you know how hard it is to take off muddy shoes? Take a look above. The mud literally suctioned onto my feet like cement. Needless to say, I had to say goodbye to my NIKE's and my Dri-Fit socks. Overall, I will take on this challenge next year and beat my time! 

Stay Tuned for Part II of 'Bikini Warrior' as I will be sharing the rest of this week's preparation leading up to Saturday's big EVENT! 

Back To Green I Go...

I'm no HULK and it would be really cool if I was referring to Green Apples or Green M&M's...maybe even Green Pears? But no... I am back on my Green Faces Diet: Phase I. This means the only foods I am and will be consuming for the next couple weeks are green vegetables and only foods that have a face (hello protein!). If you've been keeping up with my blogs, I did this same diet about 6 weeks ago and saw some amazing results, dropping 5lbs and 5% body fat! 


This time it is a little bit easier and my mood swings aren't devilish like before. (hehe) I am hungry all of the time as usual. I can out eat my dad with any steak dinner and I drink more water than your four legged best friend. Good news: I cut out coffee completely! YAY! That was hard. The smell of it is still intoxicating. At least I wasn't super addicted--otherwise those caffeine headaches would be killing me right now. After July 23rd, a Coffee Break will be in full effect. 


My workouts are still intense and I've been feeling the after-math once I reach the end of the day. I pass out as soon as my head hits the pillow. I wake up every morning at 5am, well more so my bladder wakes me up. That's what happens when you drink 2 gallons of water a day. Despite my crazy hormonal roller-coaster ride, I've dropped down to 129.7lbs. I've noticed the difference in how my body feels when I am eating carbs and when I'm not. My weight constantly fluctuates depending on TOM (Time of the Month, if you didn't know) and how much water I've drank that day. Let me tell you that my body has a mind of it's own. 


This week I have not been successful with my two-a-day workouts, but I plan to pick that back up next week while I house sit. My coworker has an awesome gym in her condo where I can do my cardio intervals in the morning before work. Her place is my sacred thinking temple because the city view from her condo is absolutely amazing. Perhaps I'll post a blog from the view next week and share a photo. :)


The bikini competition is in t-minus 15 days! My swimsuit should arrive any day now. I'll be posting pictures soon for you all to see. All I am going to say is... I am not a fan of those clear platforms. It's time to practice my walk and poses...!


Until my next post, I'll be eatin' my greens! 

What Can I Do To Get Better!?

It's the question that lingers in my brain on the daily. I am literally 3 weeks shy before I step foot on stage half naked in front of people I don't even know. Am I terrified? Not really. Maybe... kinda? Nervous? Just a little. It's the same feeling I used to get when I did theater in high school and I would run through my lines over and over again -- in hopes that I wouldn't miss a line when the spotlight hit my face. I keep thinking about walking in those heels and how I will do my best to NOT fall on my face.  


The preparation for this competition has been and continues to be challenging. Physically, I feel like my body is in a constant shock from the workouts I've been doing. This week, I started committing myself to doing 'two-a-days' with sprint intervals in the morning and then either bootcamp training, metabolic workouts and strength training in the evenings. Last week, I did a couple 'two-a-days' with conditioning rounds on the prowler in the evenings, but I soon realized that if I'm out or up late and try to do early morning workouts -- the devil in my body comes out and shuts everything down putting my ass to bed. 


For example, after a long hectic week from work and workouts, my body pulled a ninja move on me. I couldn't function and my body was hating me. On Friday, I left work early and went straight to bed. Let me tell you that the THREE hour nap that I took made an EPIC recovery on my body. It's crazy what rest can do for your temple that is oh-so-precious. 
I'm sore, but motivated. Truth of the matter is, there is ALWAYS some muscle on my body that is sore. Foam rolling, stretching, nutrition and recovery is the only way to keep my body healthy and to continue seeing results. 


My biggest challenge thus far has been my nutrition. I am compliant with my diet 99% of the time. 99 PERCENT! When I say compliant, I mean that I am eating protein with every meal 4-5 times a day. I am drinking at least a gallon of water a day (sometimes TWO gallons!) and I am eating my green veggies as much as a HULK could. As for that .1%? (ONE PERCENT....!)That's coffee my friend. Ugh. I am being brutally honest with you because I am NOT PERFECT. No one is. I wouldn't say that I am a coffee ADDICT but as of lately it's just that one cup that makes me feel warm inside. If I don't have it, I'm okay without it. I KNOW what I need to do and that is to cut it out COMPLETELY. At least for the next three weeks. I can do it. There are no more excuses. 


Everything else in my diet has been clean, I just need to eat more. It's already tough enough on this Green Faces diet 'Phase II' -- to eat more when I'm not even hungry. However, with the amount of workouts I'm doing I should be consuming about 1400 calories a day, when I am only reaching around 1200 a day. It is hard to fathom how I am going to eat more when I already feel like I eat a lot, when I am barely eating carbs. I just need to remember that I need to eat good carbs right now -- so hello yams and sweet potatoes, I love you long time. 


I will keep you posted on my how my diet will change as I get closer to bikini time! 


Okay, let's focus. Back to the title of this blog entry. "What can I do to get BETTER?" 
With THREE weeks under my belt...


Here is my formula: 
1. 100 % Compliant with nutrition (No MORE Coffee!)
2. RECOVERY (Rest, Stretch, & Foam Roll)
3. Training (Continue to push hard & challenge myself) 


Just THREE things to FOCUS on for the next THREE weeks! 


Let's DO it! STAGE READY BABY! 

Week SIX Over = Another SIX Weeks!?...

How did week six arrive so fast? I know I'm a little late on this blog post, but I've been swamped with my so called - 'Life.' Week 6 officially ended this past Monday, June 13th. It's been challenging, tiring and exciting all at the same time. 

What are my results after grinding and sweating it out for the past several weeks? 

Let's take a look from the very beginning to the end...

Week 1: May 1st, 2011 VS. Week 6 FINAL Results: June 13th, 2011

Week 1 Weight: 135.2 lbs 
Week 2 Weight: 131.2 lbs 

Week 6 Weight: 131.4lbs

Week 1 - Week 4 - Week 6 (FRONT VIEW/SIDE VIEW)

Week 1 - Week 4 - Week 6 (BACK VIEW)

                       

There it is! Week ONE VS. Week SIX! I feel great and leaner than ever before. I've built up my strength, confidence, endurance and stamina through these several weeks....BUT... as always, I am ready for the next CHALLENGE! 


What does 'Another SIX weeks' MEAN!?


On July 23rd, I will be participating in my first EVER... Bikini Competition. Am I ready!? Not right now, BUT I KNOW I will be! I am going to take my GRIT up a notch and train harder, focus my discipline on nutrition (GOODBYE COFFEE!) and to remember the importance of RECOVERY. 


I will continue to blog about my progress, nutrition and challenges for the next several weeks as I keep my GRIT alive!!! 


Thanks for reading everyone! 

WEEK 5 - ?

If it's 'just' one of them days, then the Monica song needs to be blaring in my ears right now. "That a girl goes through..." (I know you're singing it right now...)


I slept a total of about 13 hours last night and I feel like ????. Is this normal? I wish I had one of those charts full of pictures and descriptions of different moods to choose from so I could try to figure out which one I feel like today and why. Maybe sleeping 13 hours yesterday wasn't the greatest idea after all. On the other hand, it could be my hormones typing these words right at this moment. I mean, after all I am a Cancer and my mood swings follow the tides of the ocean and the moon, so I blame my sign. 


So there's that big question mark. It's now Week 5 and I have one week left of this contest.  How am I feeling? Well, let's just say I've learned a few things over the past week about my body. 


Number One: I need about 8 hours of sleep a night for my body to fully recover from a workout. This is also including eating healthy. 


Number Two: Recovery is more important than Quantity. If I'm putting in a high amount of quality and intensity into my workout, recovery is needed in order to see results. 


Number Three: Sleep is like my lover. People always say, "Sleep is overrated, You'll sleep when your dead." I agree to disagree. Sleep feels so good. (TO ME) The only time I will sacrifice sleep is for the following reasons: good company, a good laugh, meal, book or movie. I guess that means I sacrifice sleep a lot when need be. 


Listening to my body has probably been the most beneficial thing I've done lately. Please note that your body will shut down if you don't. It fights back like a shark attack. Trust me.


I'm ready for WEEK 6. Let's GET it!