The By Product

Happy Mothers Day!

I spent the day with my mom today for her special day. Made her bacon and eggs for breakfast, and handled the little items on her “honey do” list. Then asked her what she wanted to do today. She said maybe a little shopping at the outlets. I’m not a huge shopper but there are a couple of places I like to go there so it sounded like a good idea. First we headed to a small shopping center by her house and I of course checked out the Lulu and got a new red headband since red is my favorite color. Then met mom in Sur le Table. Now let me give you a little back story…….

So I eat strawberries every morning. Anti-oxidants ya know. And I spend about 20 mins twice a week cutting the dang things. That adds up to  34 hours a year of chopping strawberries!! So……….I have been on the hunt for a “Strawberry cutter upper” for a long time.

In the store I asked the lady if they had a thingy that cuts strawberries and sure enough they did! WOOOT!!!!

It is so amazing! It took minutes to cut up a whole box!

Can’t even tell you how happy I am with this $15 purchase!

Then off to the outlets. I went into the Converse store to find some new lifting shoes in the clearance rack. When I was a rocker back in the 80′s I wore high top Converse every day. When I moved to CA way later in life people would mention Chuck Taylors and I had no idea what they were talking about because we never called them “Chucks”. After being told they were Converse I looked on the shoe and sure enough there was the name. But really who knew I would be wearing them again now. In Powerlifting I use the shoes for the Deadlift so I needed a new pair just for that. And what do you know I found the perfect pair for just $20!

Not only did I have a great time with my Mom but I was very successful in my bargain shopping!!

Like!

I guess there are people out there that don’t have “things”. And even thinking about it for a few minutes I kinda like the idea. I have a great long time friend Kevin who used to live with not much more than a backpack of stuff and I always admired that. Just the thought of not having to worry about any of your “stuff”. You would never worry about someone breaking into your home.

I did a little research and this whole minimalist thing is popular. There are tons of websites telling you how to live with 50, 100, etc things. They have all kinds of challenges to get you into this. It sounds exciting, to start purging your unnecessary items. People also make up their own rules for the challenge. Some things can be counted as one thing, like underwear which makes sense. Common items within a family doesn’t count, like table, TV, etc. They have a time frame when they will accomplish this. Its mostly about counting your “personal” items.

As I write I am looking around and thinking if I could live with just 100 things??

Um……NOT! this is just a corner of my room. I think I could have 100 things of each activity I do. I have 5 bicycles, motorcycle and bins of camping, riding, and adventure gear. There is no way. BUT I will say that I am interested in thinking about this more and purging some items in the near future is a must.

In the end I think we should all try to live with less material things. Especially in this economy. We should only keep things we need and only buy things we need. We really should learn to stop satisfying our desires with material items and start filling our lives with amazing experiences, and being kind to one another, building relationships, and giving to others.  These things bring way more joy than a material item you just have to have. I am just as guilty as everyone else but I’m a work in progress too.

Can you live with just 100 personal items?

Is there something that you have always wanted to do? Do you keep a list of places you would like to visit? Do you always tell yourself “If I had time, money, etc I would do…….”? It’s never too late to start a bucket list. I know it might be a little hard to come up with ideas if you are not used to being adventurous. But I am going to help you get started.

I have always lived my life with the bucket list in my hand. Well not really in my hand but always in my head. My dearest friend always tells me “There is nothing you haven’t done”. Its kinda true. I rode horses in the rodeo, raced motorcycles, climbed mountains, traveled all over the place, water ski, snow ski, skate board, mountain biked, road biked, the list goes on. I think I do all that because there are so many things I want to do before I “kick the bucket”! Life should not be limited. Of course we have jobs, family, commitments and that’s why we should have the list. Make your list and do one thing at a time. If you are a goal person (we know you are out there with your “goal” list) you can still have a bucket list and put things on there that make you smile, like – See the sun set and sun rise in the same day.

Lets get started…….I will give you some ideas:

1. Places you want to travel
2. New sports you want to try
3. New look
4. Goals, dreams achievements
5. Experiences
6. Something you want to see in person
7. Something you want to learn
8. Change your career
9. Change your location
10. People you want to meet
11. Something you want to do for someone else
12. Create something meaningful

You can also type “Bucket List” into Google and see what happens.

I challenge you to start your bucket list today! Share it with me if you like. Oh and one little rule of the bucket list. The list is YOUR responsibility. You do not make a list and then give it to your closest person and say “You need to take me to these places!” (yes mom I am talking to you)

Here is the first 5 things on my list in order of importance:

1. Get a dog
2. Go to Greece
3. Kiteboard
4. Do something great (like world peace, well not really that but get the picture)
5. Love

Happy Listing!

Everyone should be concerned about the types of food they eat. We all need to be looking at where our fruits and vegetables are grown and where our beef and poultry come from. And we all should be aware of what our food is eating as well. I’m not saying you need to go crazy about it, but having all the knowledge so WHEN you have the opportunity to make a choice you choose what is best. When budget and availability allows (small print). So….. I flipped open this months issue of Cooking Light and there was a great article about beef. Grass fed verses grain fed. Get full article here.

The article touched on 3 issues; price, taste and nutrition. When it comes to price I think in the end there was only $.29 difference per pound. I have mentioned before in my blog that there are so many resources for purchasing grass-fed. I get emails from several different vendors and buy when they have sales and specials going on. I save more money that way. Or like they mentioned in the article you can go in on a cow with some other people and save even more. When it comes to nutrition well without getting on a soap box I will repost this quote from the article “Grass-fed beef is lower in calories, contains more healthy omega-3 fats, more vitamins A and E, higher levels of antioxidants, and up to seven times the beta-carotene.” I also can’t say enough how bad corn is and that is what grain is made of so there you have it. Oh and if you feed a cow grain they get e-coli, but you feed them grass and it takes it away. I’m just sayin. Now taste is a sensitive subject which is why I read Cooking Light. Meat tastes good because of its fat and grass-fed meat is leaner hence has a less flavorful taste. So you need to cook it right. Once you learn to do this I think your overall health and dinners will be better.

Just recently I started buying the lean cuts of bacon and let me tell you how picky I am about my bacon! The first time I cooked it I couldn’t eat it because it didn’t taste like “real, fatty” bacon. But I tried it again and this time I cooked it slower on lighter heat and added a little butter (yes I eat butter) and it was pretty good. Now I eat the lean cut all the time.

Read the article, its pretty good and look on the website for more grass-fed meat cooking tips and recipes! LIKE!

The women in this picture are amazing! Everyone was so nice and supportive and came from all kinds of backgrounds. Some of them just started powerlifting and others were national champion veterans. I am so honored to have had the opportunity to compete alongside them.

I arrived on Thursday with Max my coach. I was a little more stressed this meet not only because it was the Arnold but also because I needed to make weight which I haven’t had to do in the past and also I was having some trouble with one of my wrists and was worried about not being able to lift. That night Max bought me some Icy Hot and I put it all over my arms to sleep in. Now if you have never done this let me tell you what a treat it is. The smell is….well it made me cough it was so strong. Then I feel like my arms have a fever, they feel warm but they are cold. Then after an hour or so it starts to get pretty hot. It did make my wrist feel a lot better but it was an experience.

Friday morning we headed to the meet and weighed in 71.2kg and I had to be under 42kg so we were good. Then the backsquat. I felt pretty good in the warm up room and went out and got my opener at 286.5lbs. Then I missed the second and third lift. I felt discouraged because my personal record is 308lbs and I was hoping to get 315lbs this time. I knew after missing the squats the bench will probably be the same since usually that is the first one to go. And again got my opener at 154.5lbs. At this point its clear to me that nutrition was an issue. I am sure I didn’t eat enough the day before in fear of the scale and it just took a toll on me. When I started lifting tho I also started eating and by the time I got to the deadlift I had eaten a lot. I got my opener no problem and went next for my personal record of 352lbs. No problem. Then I went for 363lbs. Max told me that he was debating forever at the table whether or not to put 370lbs on the bar because I was looking strong. So I went up there for the 363lbs and pulled it up easy. I think I would have been able to do that 370lbs. But I’m not worried “I’ll be back!”

In the end I won my weight class and place 6th overall. I am very happy with those results and still can’t believe I was there. I am so blessed to have so many people supporting me and to be inspired by each and everyone one of those women who have the courage to step onto that platform and lift heavy weight.

My coach Max has everything to do with getting me to this point. He is an incredible coach and its his programming that has made me strong as well as everything else he does. I’m so glad he trained me when no one else would. If you want to jump on our program or follow along you can get all the info here.

Thanks Max Muscle Huntington Beach Gold’s for cheering me on and for all the great supplements.

One of the most common movements a human does is the deadlift. Just ask the UPS guy! I bet you even Adam and Eve did some deadlifts - Eve “Adam, I really don’t like these rocks in this part of the garden.” Adam “Yes Dear I will get right on it.” I think it would be really interesting to count how many times you deadlift in one day, let’s make it a new challenge! Post your counts.

Anyway I came across this really awsome write up about the beginning of the deadlift. I thought I would share it with you.

Read The Health Lift 

Reposted from The Five Tribe which is a awesome blog!

I’m sure everyone gets sick of hearing me talk about lifting and food and all that stuff, I get sick of it. I try to blog more but just run out of things to talk about. I have been looking at other sites to inspire my writing but nothing really sounds good. But I have had something on my mind a lot lately and its about inspiration. Having a goal and the desire to succeed is very important but without inspiration the passion can dwindle to nothing. People inspire me all the time but since I started on this journey of lifting heavy weight there is one person who has inspired me from the very beginning and continues to every day. My very favorite Fly Girl Jill Baker.

The very first time I met her she came into our CrossFit gym looking for a new thing to get in shape. She had an amazing natural overhead squat and thought Crossfit was the best thing since Starbucks Coffee. She wanted to get stronger right away and asked me how. It was easy to see “Jill you need to eat more.” From that point on we became good friends. She went on to become a Level I trainer and an amazing athlete with the desire to help more women get healthy and in shape. I could go on and on about the challenges she faced and the constant drive she had to overcome them. She wanted to be part of something bigger so she quit her job and opened a gym in her garage specifically for women. She always has plans and ideas and thoughts and just stuff going on to make her business better and her product better and her Fly Girls better! She personally cares about the success of all of her girls but more than that she cares about everyone she comes in contact with.

I won’t lie, this journey for me has been tough. Lifting the weight is the easy part for me, but staying motivated and getting in the gym and sticking to the diet has been hard at times. Some people don’t understand why I like Powerlifting or even why its a sport at all. There are people out there who think what I do is bad, will hurt me or make me look like a guy and they are not afraid to say it. They are few, but can be big downers. Jill has always squashed those negative thoughts. She always tells me that I am amazing and tells everyone about me. When she introduces me to people she follows the introduction all my titles and how much I lift, and with a big proud smile. (I’m smiling just thinking about it) She makes me feel like a celebrity. But in fact I think she is one. Jill not only has come to almost all of my meets but she brings all the Fly Girls, her loving husband and her two adorable kids. I have the biggest cheering section because of her. She pushes me every day. She tells me positive things every day. She sets an example for me to follow every day. And the thing is……she doesn’t know it.

Jill thank you for being my rock, for standing by me, for never doubting me and for never letting the negative get past our protective shield! You have inspired me more than you know. You are going to continue to do great things. I am so proud of you.

Jill is the owner of CrossFit Fly in Newport Beach, where she is growing amazing CrossFit Fly Girls!

I have always been a goal setter. I tend to procrastinate, so setting goals helps me have an end date for things. When I have a competition I usually watch my diet and try to stay as clean as possible (eat primal) and then after the meet I pick a special treat to eat as a reward. So last Sunday after my meet I ate a whole box of Fruity Pebbles (BK I know you appreciate this the most). The meet before that I ate a bag of those pretzel M&M’s, wow those are awesome!

This next competition has a lower weight class then what I am used to. Luckily I am really light in my normal weight class but we recently added a few pounds of muscle so I need to cut about 4lbs in 4 weeks. Im not super concerned since I am pretty sure thats not hard but the problem is no cheating. AND no beer (insert sad face here). I got through this week, first week is always the hardest. I felt like I was starving all week even though I really wasn’t. Its all in the head. So I have decided to set my goal or pick my gold at the end of the rainbow. That way when I really want to eat something bad I just think about the item I am gonna eat after the meet.

I am completely prepared to eat the entire box of these rolls, I think that will keep me clean until then.

Sweet Dreams!

This is one of my favorite pictures of the Governator! AH-mazing…….

Well I have been busy in the gym training getting ready for USAPL Raw Challenge at the Arnold Sports Festival this March in Ohio. After my last competition we went on a 12 week program of muscle building because I was still weighing in pretty light in my class. Which means lots of sets of lots of stuff and long hours at the gym. But its all been fun and well it worked! I put on some muscle and now we are going to use it.

We are about 5 weeks out from going to Ohio and I am very excited. I can’t wait to watch all those great lifters and I am also excited about watching the other competitions. Right now I have some good numbers going into it so I really just want to have a good time and do my best. I am really glad Max is coming with me, Im not sure I would have come without him and my friend Carla is coming to watch and cheer me on.

Just wanted to tell you one more thing. I was at the fitness expo this weekend and talked to some Crossfit Girls. They were telling me how much they loved lifting weights and that a few of them were coming to the CA State Championships in a couple weeks to compete. It really warms my heart that these girls are inspired to try powerlifting. I know I will be there cheering them on!!!