Just Jess, diary of a fit girl

With the year coming to a close I like to start thinking about how I want my next year to shape up  New Years Eve has always been my favorite holiday ( I'm aware it's not a'real' holiday ) I like to get a new outfit, maybe get my nails or hair done etc I actually do my hair and - gasp wear make up ... it's fun :) I always remember growing up our parents and their friends would have a party and there was lot's of food and dancing, and when I got older ..drinking I'm not a big drinker, I do enjoy a bevy here and there. Wine, bellini's, margarita, rum & coke but it's only every once in a while. I've always been that way. Especially once I started competing, alcohol isn't exactly a part of my "clean eating" diet. For anyone who is curious I'm considered a "clean eater" I have a free meal once and week and a high carb day once a week. The rest of the week is a little lower in carbs and higher in fats. I do not s...

Went away for another mini vacay with my sister   this time our adventures took us to Seattle I was a bit nervous only because I'm obvs not from there and dont know my way around that well.. and we cant use our ever present cell phones to navigate us around (I dont have a roaming plan) so I spent an evening before the trip google mapping places and writing down the important exits turns etc that we needed to know    And it worked out great! Seattle is surpsingly easy to navigate .. if you pay enough attention haha Went down sat afternoon/evening after I went to the popeyes fall classic with amanda   traditional big show.. there was a bikini class G  Competition was pretty stiff for the most part, I noticed it the most with the womens masters division. I feel like previously it was considered the "easier" division because youre not up against these young girls who come in naturally symmetrical etc.. these women BROUGHT it.. and the work theyve p...

almost 12 wks post show and my weight is 135!! If you had told me last year that after this ON season I'd be able to maintain my weight.. eat MORE food than ever before and ENJOY my SHORTER workouts and LESS Cardio... I never would have believed you this time last year I was already 15lbs higher than stage weight ... and climbing I ate bad food constantly .. by bad I mean things that made me FEEL bad gassy/bloaty/irritable sugar highs.. then sugar lows... Not this time around, I've been very mindful... I'm a very mindful person just in general .. but a lot of the self talking was negative in the past.. it's certainly something I still struggle with. but now I try to be more aware and to talk to myself and essentially talk myself out of whatever funk i seem to be jumping into Do I still have hard days?? Um HECK yeah. Do I skip the gym sometimes? yeah there's time when I need a rest more than I need a workout.. that's a rare one for me but it does happen...

as the title above reads, Love Languages. There are five love languages Physical Touch Acts of Service Quality Time Words of Affirmation Receiving Gifts Interested in improving more than my bod (this is a "fit girl" diary after all) I've always been into Self Help or Self Improvement.  Being a Gemini through and through I bounce back and fourth on tonnes of things. I've started countless projects and only finished some of them. I have somewhat of a obsessive nature and sometimes I'm the complete opposite. I go for weeks and sometimes months on end without taking a break. I work three jobs and try to keep my schedule full. I like to be stimulated. However, once in a while I crash so to speak, and will take a break from everything (except the gym.. obvs) SO .. I've been reading the love languages book by Gary Chapman, and it's quite a lovely read. It's nice to learn something new about yourself and improving your relationship or marriage alo...

Hikes! Something that I love to do I really enjoy getting outdoors. Provided the weather is good to me, or at least I have the appropriate layers to not feel like I'm going to seize up. There's nothing quite like being outside in the fresh air, a little exertion and some good company! Today I spent the day hiking with my dad :) It was his bday on the 21st and I've been meaning to get out on another hike with him, so today was the day! We both have sundays and mondays off so this worked well I had invited others to come but people were busy with their own stuff so it was just us two.  It was awesome We went to Chilliwack BC to a place called Elk Mountain.  We had done part of this hike before, I'd heard how good the views were and my dad likes to hike as well so we put it on our list! Last time there was six of us and two dogs.  It didn't go as well. We got lost -- the trail was pretty obvious, but that couldn't be it! let's keep going? and the dogs...

Just a quick update.  I did get approved to do the Natural Nationals show! It was an experience :) it was really neat to travel for something like this and I had a great first time on the national stage. I was in Bikini Tall (obviously) there were 19 beautiful tall bellas in my class. Previous year there was only 6! I placed 16th out of 19 so I'm pretty happy to say the least :) I did not however feel as confident as before on stage. I wasn't entirely sure on my posing. I met with my coach the tuesday before I left and we changed up the way I set up.. it looked/looks so much better! But its hard to break a habit 8  months in the making! Plus these girls brought their A games! So many fabulous bodies! I felt like I managed a great prep. With so many hurdles right before my show I still came in smaller than last year (yeah you read that right) I was scary skinny last year. I'm roughly 5'10" and weighed in at 124 last year on stage and 15% BF this year I stepped...

Well here we are... saturday night and I'm home by 9pm I've been getting pretty tired lately.  My diet has not changed at all.. which I'm actually kind of surprised at to be honest.  This time last year my diet was much more restricted.  I was weight training 6 days a week and doing cardio every day .. minimum a half hour and make a full hour This year.. I'm only weight training 4 x a week and cardio is 5 days... I'm allowed to do extra and I have been. My lower half is slow to progress this time around. It was last time as well to be honest but it almost got me not approved to do this show The way my team works is 95% online feedback check ins etc online, and you have to go through the 12 wks of ON Season prep to prove that you're ready to be on stage.  Not only are you proving it with dedication to workouts and meals but also to checking in on time and being committed to your coach However, just because you do it all right on paper does not mean you au...

Hello Hello, Just under 5 wks out from the World Qualifier and 6 wks from the Knight of Champions :) This update is actually about something else that I'm really excited about.  Volunteering .  I have a few things coming over the next two wks that I'm volunteering for 1) the   Vancouver Pro/Am show  http://www.ifbbpro.com/events/2015-vancouver-pro-am-and-expo/ 2)    Sunfest  sunfestconcerts.com This will be Vancouver's first IFBB Pro show, which is terribly exciting. The promoter Michelle Krack (who is local to abbotsford btw!) and I'm excited to see some of the local pros do their thing I've never volunteered for this association before (the BCABBA) although I have competed.  The days are long and tedious so I'm hoping to be able to give back and take part in the excitement back stage. The only down side is my day starts with 7am check in... in Vancouver so that will be a bit rough, and then again the night @ 4pm for the...

Well today marks it! 12 wks out from CBBF Natural Nationals, also known as the World Qualifier in Toronto.. you can win your pro card at this show... whoa. Someone has to win a card in each category.. so why not me? that's my attitude anyways. My final show last year, third one in 8wks was the BC Provincials.  It's a non-drug tested show. I placed 8th out of 10 for all the tall girls in BC It was my worst placing of my season ( I got 2nd, 1st then 8th) but it was also my most competitive I was up against girls who had gone to nationals before and done well! They were seasoned competitors. I'm glad I went and saw the caliber and I've even followed a few of them online and watched their journeys unfold which is something I really like about the competitive life style and the role that social media plays. I hope that over the years my body will show the mature muscle that some of these other wonderful ladies have and I can be as competitive over time My first two...

OK. So this isn't really a post about fitness.. <disclaimer> My husband and I have been together for ten years. (10.5 as of yesterday actually haha) We got married in 2013 so as far as married life goes... we're still pretty new at it We lived with my (very generous) parents for the year before we got married and the year following while Blake went to school and now has started a job.  So, we decided to try being real grown ups and have moved out on our own .. we did live together before we got married also (without my parents) and they offered to let us move in so that Blake could try his hand at a career and so we could save for our wedding Back to the reason for this post... I had a terrible day at work on weds, I work several jobs and am 16 wks out from my next show ( The World Qualifier in Toronto ..aka Drug Tested Nationals )  I just saw the poster for the show on FB today actually :) With prep right around the corner and the monetary strain and co...

Well the team photo shoot has come and gone... I haven't seen the final shots of the team photos yet but I have received my personal shots :) This wasn't my first photoshoot and it wont be my last.  I've booked with Dave Laus in Toronto when I'm there for CBBF (World Qualifier) Natural Nationals .. a mouthful I know, but so worth it ;) Anyhoo.. did the shoot, was so so so happy with my hair and make up.. Jag in Vancouver can do some crazy things, I showed her a PIN from my phone she took one look at it and said yep, I can do that.. and poof there it was.  Eliza (of Trendi Creative) and also a team Blessed Bodies member did the hair.. I brought my extensions and wanted to go with a chunky braid, there was def a braid theme going on for the day I dont actually have blonde in my hair but my extensions made the details in the braid stand out a lot better The shoot (for me) didn't last too long.. just under an hour, then it was to and fro from Delta (my gf w...

I was cruising around Facebook today on my day off (not a normal day off for me) and I came across this article/blog that someone had shared http://tonygentilcore.com/2014/08/an-open-letter-to-everyone-who-has-told-women-dont-get-too-muscular/ It's a mans blog where he's highlighting another blogger (a woman) who writes about Women who lift and are told not to get too manly I found it interesting and thought it was share worthy :) Certainly an interesting topic from the point of view from someone who was very skinny/frail/thin etc and was never told that she should worry about getting too skinny and the astigmatism that follow women's bodies too fat too skinny too this ... to that.. I have also been told that I should worry about gaining too much muscle.. its not sexy (legit a guy told me that at the gym ) my own mother warned me about looking like a man I've been lifting and dieting like an athlete for almost 2 years and I look anything but mannish...

So today I signed up for the Sun Run Running is what got me into trying to push myself in fitness.  I had first started going to the gym at the advise of my (now) husband about 8 years ago.. .eventually I got bold enough to go by myself even! Which I'm sure many women can attest to.. is not an easy feat when you feel out of place with all the 'gym rats' in the gyms I used to wear sweat pants multiple shirts/hoodies at the gym.. (ps I've never been over weight or anything just always comfortable in more clothes vs less) and now I'm all about that cute gym outfit.. Don't get me wrong, I'm anything but girly .. when I get done up for being on stage that is the MOST amount of prep I've ever gone through for ANY event haha So, a few girlfriends and I start going to the gym together (always easier to be held accountable with a buddy) and one of the ladies says that we should do a ten km race! (the Sun Run) I'm not a runner, so when she suggests tha...

So I was tagged in the post going around on instagram (follow me: @xjust_jess)  so I thought it would be nice to share the info here on my blog... eventhough the tag is diary of a fit girl... there are other things to know about me as well :)  Five non-fitness things about me as tagged by@_amandalei ..took a while to think of this ha i dont consider my ig/fb etc a "fitness account" but u realise just how much of your life revolves around your habits when someone asks u what else u do haha so here goes: 1 - I've been with my hubby @bcrome84 for ten years, we got married in 2013 (where the pic above is from ) 2 - my sister and i are really close, she's the reason i met my hubby in the first place & has always been super supportive of our relationship & all my choices in life ♡ 3 - I work a lot, i have three jobs. I'm a certified dental assistant and work in a specialist office & GP office ..i also work at superstore and have for ...

woot woot.  Natural Nationals in Toronto! Aug 22, 2015 (my wedding anniversary weekend) As you know I competed in bikini competitions last year. Three to be exact One was with NPAA (an association out of alberta that is drug tested) I got 2nd place in novice bikini tall Second was with BCABBA in Kelowna where I placed first in novice bikini tall, also a drug tested show Third was BCABBA Provincial Championships where I placed 8th and it was not drug tested At the time I competed in Kelowna only the top 3 went onto the next round and everyone got a good luck next time.  Top 5 takes home some kind of hardware and first place gets the chance to 'win it all' and take the over-all win against everyone else who also took first in their categories (different by height) I won first at that show, qualified to go to Provincials that year or this year and had the chance to win the overall ... I did not win the overall (ha) This year they've changed the rules and now top 5 g...