Just Jess, diary of a fit girl

Sunday ... rest day Took the actual day off for once. I slept in. after i went out last night in the storm of 2016 (haha) and was out till about 12ish came home turned on the boob tube ate some ice cream... i had saved SC for bday cake.. and there was none! so when i came home i had ice cream cause.. well gains   Went to my very first power lifting competition today to watch a girl compete. She used to be a part of blessed bodies actually and a trainer herself, but that's not how I met her. I actually met this beauty through another friend when they did STRONG camp together. She totally killed it! She only missed one lift (you get three attempts) of all her lifts and ended up placing second in her weight class It was a really cool atmosphere. A lot of cheering (turns out I like to cheer for complete strangers) it took a minute to figure out when was the right time to cheer.. i did it wrong trying to be supportive but fixed it with some guidance haa  Next we...

Well well.. October Where did this year go? work.work.work. some fun here and there.. work.work.work Those who know me... know I work a lot. I've made an effort to take more time off to do some fun things this year. I've really enjoyed that! I always say that I wont work three jobs forever. I truly believe that. BUT I don't know which job I would give up. I like them all for their own reasons. So for now.. I'll stay at all of them and complain that I don't have enough time for anything extra haha Glorify being busy? Perhaps. haha Diet these days is going well. I've been testing out this whole.. does it fit situation and its been fun. Had some bloating going on and obviously a work in progress haha. Open to eating all the things which is fun. Having some binge like moments having some under eating type moments and had some real enjoyment and savory moments .. so really its an overall win! BIG news.. my friend is having her baby.. next week ! Due in No...

Hello! I've been MIA.. Partially because I think of all these posts I want to make when I'm not near a computer and when I finally DO get the time to share some stuff I don't have the same momentum. I also have recently had my computer die! (sorrow) so it's currently under the care of the GEEK squad at Best Buy awaiting to see if it can be fixed at all. So this post comes live from my work computer (yes I'm signed out for the day) Update.. three months post  BC Cup Test Provincials.. and up 3 pounds from my stage weight. Things have changed quite drastically diet wise for me. My coach introduced a different way of tracking food than I was previously doing. I still count my starchy carbs (SC) healthy fats (HF) proteins fruits dairy etc but now I can also have more  processed stuff.. What does that mean? Well, previously I was considered solely a "clean eater" so I generally made all the foods that I ate myself and generally also ate at home... so now ...

Had three days off last weekend and used it to go camping! Went to Malawka BC (between Sicamous and Revelstoke) which is approx 5 hrs from where we live in the Fraser Valley. We (my husband and I) went with my sisters boyfriend and a bunch of his friends. We also went camping with most of this crowd last year a little closer to home and just for an overnight. This time we made the trek and it was nice We did all the regular stops. Starbucks obvs  haha. Trying to get my hubby into starbucks more so he can be as basic as I am but he goes back and fourth still. I went to the gym first thing that morning so that I didn't have to sacrifice missing any weight training or cardio for the sake of a long weekend. The gym didn't open until 7am though! Damn holidays We got on the road around 1030 am and got to the campsite around 430. Considering it was a long weekend the traffic wasn't so bad once we got out of the lower mainland. SO back to camping, weather turned out alrigh...

I read a blog recently that got me thinking ... http://www.elle.com/beauty/health-fitness/news/a37301/why-my-post-partum-body-is-not-a-topic-of-conversatio n/ It talks about the pressures that women face on their body image. Something that I certainly have some experience with. I have not had a child but I have certainly had my share of comments about how I look. Now, I'm a sensitive soul and after I did my shows there were plenty of comments about following a show diet during and after the season had ended. I struggled with body acceptance and had trouble with binges over eating and peoples comments. Whether coming out of jest or out of some actual cruelty didn't really matter to me. If I ate a salad... I thought you didn't have to eat like that anymore ? If I ate a cupcake ... is that part of your body building diet?   Life is what you make of it. How you interpret things and how you accept things is solely up to you. I took both of those types of commen...

Two weeks post show. Worked today and haven't had enough sleep all week. Did some extra cardio today and did not go for the hike I had planned strictly due to the rain and feeling cold Did adult things, went grocery shopping came home and prepped some food. Made some bison chilli and I"m excited to see how it turns out. I've never had bison meat before, which is strange because I'm first nations (Metis) and it's a super common cuisine in the native culture. It's also first nations day next week so it felt fitting haha I just had my 30th bday and I went to Oregon last weekend with my hubby my sister and two more sisters. It was too much fun. Honestly, I feel like we can't go back because we couldn't recreate how that went down haha. I had a good time obvs. Had some really nice weather got to see almost everything I had wanted to and had some fish and chips at Cannon Beach! Dreams come true haha I had halibut fish and chips and some of my sisters p...

Well someone has been lazy updating! There have been so many times I think of a good topic to touch on in this blog and then get to doing something else and it leaves and I don't feel inspired enough to write and then this happens.. My apologies. I was approved for my show!! the BC Cup, aka tested provincials is a tier TWO show and gets you a qualification to the world qualifier which will be in New Bruinswick this year on June 25 Top 5 will move on. Will I go this year? No. It's too much money at this point. I've always wanted to explore more of eastern Canada and this is an opportune time to do so yes but the expenses to do another peak week, more weeks on season. Another tan, make up and hair application not to mention the flight and hotel and food pick up.. oh and the time off of three jobs... that old thing haha So this year I'm only doing ONE show.. weird right? Since I've started competing I've always done more than one show. My first season I d...

Well, 12 wks out from the BC Cup AKA Tested Provincials. I've been going through some minor diet changes and upped the cardio Now, I do one more HIIT session than last month and one more Interval session so things are starting to tighten up. I was previously eating what I felt... was LOTS of food! It was actually hard to get it all in at times, and I would under eat. That's not consistant with my goals, for maintenance or for prep So I've lost about 3 pounds so far since starting my prep 4 wks ago. I opted to do a 16 week prep this time vs the traditional 12 wk one. So far really happy with my decision:)  working on posing and being more mindful about what food choices I'm making is good process to start when it comes to prep I'm by no means restricted at this point. There will come a time for that but at this point my diet is still 'wide open' just the portions for the day are smaller. It's super easy to get my protein in for the day now (that sh...

As I wrote before I've been listening to a lot of podcasts while I workout, or while I have a long drive etc I recently was recommended the Valentines day special (2 parts) pod cast by Jess C Lively of "The Jess Lively show" about pleasure. I really enjoyed it, and I think you might too. No, it's not about strictly sexual pleasure as the title might lead you to believe. It does touch on that but it's more about what brings you pleasure It got me to thinking. What brings me pleasure? Well, on friday nights I usually spend it alone and quietly. I work most saturdays and friday is just another workday. So, on friday night after work I go to the gym and it's usually a cardio day. I pick a podcast pick a machine (or two) and grind out my 30+ mins After I'm done that part, I do some stretches and then I sit in the infra- red sauna for another 30 mins. There I"ll either continue another podcast or I'll read a book. I have finished You're a Ba...

New to the Pod Cast scene. My husband has been an avid listener to the Joe Rogan Experience (JRE) and told many a friend that they should also tune in. Whenever we go on a longer drive or a road trip of any kind we put one on, since we cannot agree on any type of music haha SO I have an older phone, that is now basically my computer like music device haha I downloaded pod cast addict and started tuning in! So far I've listened to JRE and Layne Nortons channels. Of course I've found some stuff about fitness and health and since I'm at the gym all the time anyways I figure why not expand my mind while I try to grow some shoulders! (and glutes, lets get real... I'm a bikini girl haha) Previously I would just stream the radio on my ipod but I wanted something a bit different. The harder part is the fact that most of these pod casts are over an hour.. and my workouts generally are not. but it's given me something new to look fwd to at the gym If anyone out the...

Setbacks, we all have them. It's time for me to own up to mine My OFF season started in Sept. that's approx 5months ago. I weighed in at 133 the morning of my last show and slowly worked my way up from there. I've been doing less cardio and eating a lot more food! As a matter of fact, after I finished my reverse diet I found that I was having a hard time getting all that food in! I believe I even made a post previously about how slowly my weight has gone up. My coach has played around with my program a bit and as of this month I'm currently weight training 3x a week and doing cardio 3x a week. 30 mins steady state and 2x 15 min HIIT sessions. Previously I would get up at 545 and do 20 mins of cardio before work. Most days of the week. This was not part of my prescribed plan, but I did it anyways. It wasnt necessarily bad, but it wasnt beneficial either. I promised myself that I would take a step back from the cardio. For the next 30 days (started Jan 1) I committe...

Well, maybe some not so new adventures. 2016 has only just started and I've already gone on two hikes the first was Joffre Lakes, just outside of Pemberton area. I'd never been before but seen tonnes of pics online and really wanted to experience it. It's very far away from where I live! haha Stayed the night at my mother in laws the night before in Squamish and then spent the next morning driving the 1 1/2 to Joffre. It was a balmy -16 that day but really clear and sunny. So beautiful. We hiked all three lakes and it took us 2 1/2 hours round trip.. so not bad! Would really like to go again and maybe do an overnight in the summer time to see those beautiful lakes, instead of walking on them haha We (my girl friend and I) rented snow shoes from MEC. To rent for the weekend and grab a cliff bar cost 15$ totally do able! AND found out that you can rent tents etc from MEC as well so before I bite the bullet and purchase a tent that can be compressed down into a hiking ...