It is absolutely normal to gain weight after leaning down so much for a competition. As of Sunday of this week, I had gained 4 pounds and then I made an agreement with my hubby that I needed him to hide the scale from me. I did not want to become obsessed with my weight. So he did, I woke up yesterday and realized that the scale was gone and felt SO much freedom to not be tied to that number. I looked at the mirror and said “hey! I look pretty good today!”

After taking two weeks of rest to recover from such intense training, I started another round of P90X this week and I have to say, EVERYTHING I have read about rest and recovery is absolutely true. I am stronger and was able to lift much heavier with the bands and free weights. I woke up pretty sore today and it feels GOOD.

It took me 14 months to reach my fitness goal and along this journey, I have met people who have been extremely supportive and maybe one or two who are a bit uncomfortable with my commitment to fitness. This morning on my way to work, someone asked me “do you have to workout so extreme all the time?” and I replied, “I workout as extreme as I feel like working out. So if I am waking up early to workout, you bet I’m going to make it count.” I was then asked if I was working out because I was preparing to compete again next year since I have said I want to do it again. I explained that the truth is that even though I do want to compete again, I am not training to compete, this is a lifestyle. My friend protested “No it’s not!” I replied, “It is, I could decide not to compete and I would STILL be working out.” Then I got “the look” you know which one, the terrified look of “she’s going to convince me to do the same.” Followed by the “judging look” that I am familiarized with because I’ve mastered that one (and can laugh about myself which helps break it up.)

 Not everyone will understand and that’s the truth. Not many will step up their game and want to get in shape and do what it takes. Most people just complain about their health, about how their joints hurt, or how their lower back hurts, or how they have lack of energy, or their clothes don’t fit (and the list goes on.) I decided to break the mold, that’s all. Complaining day by day was not an option for me when I had a say in the matter and could change my lifestyle, feel better and live longer. There is nothing special about me, NOTHING. The only thing different about me is that I got in action.

 I now have the tools, know what to eat, how to eat, how to prepare my meals and what to do to stay healthy. I don’t work out to compete. I workout and eat healthy because I want to stay healthy and the truth is, that I have the utmost respect for my body and how it works, which is why I take such good care of it by eating what it needs and how much it needs. Is living this lifestyle extreme? Yes, staying healthy, being fit and living longer IS extreme and revolutionary. It is what Brett Hoebel (who was on “Biggest Loser” and is the creator of Rev Abs,) has called the “health revolution.” Yes, I am part of that revolution and although I cannot force anyone to join me, I am here if someone does choose to take those little steps that compounded over time will make a difference. I will empower you, cheer for you and help you along the process.  Not everyone will like it, not everyone will support you along the way and that’s okay… if they don’t support you, encourage and empower you, then you may want to look for other friends who do.

 Taking a stand for your health and fitness is revolutionary and extreme and I am absolutely okay with that. Are you?

This has been no kidding the most amazing personal experience ever, I can actually place it next to jumping out of a plane with a parachute (dad, if you’re reading this I don’t mean to freak you out and I promise I won’t do it again)   I arrived to the competition place expecting to find a lot of catty women, on the contrary, they were pretty awesome, supportive and helpful. I loved that they were there for me even when they didn’t know who I was and I was not part of any team there. I think we all knew how hard we had worked to get there so there was a level of respect that I have not experienced among women, it was a sisterhood and I loved it. As i got ready to go on that stage, these women cheered me on, encouraged me and told me “you’ll be great” and when I was done, they cheered me again and said what a great job I had done.

I was pretty calm until I had to walk on that stage, then it all hit me at once and I got a bit nervous… but then as the audience was silent… I heard my little girl yelling “YAAAY MOMMY!” and when it was my turn to pose she yelled: “GO MOMMY! GO MOMMY! GO MOMMY!” I remembered that I was not there by myself and that my daughter and my hubby were cheering for me from the audience. Joseph said that a few people chuckled at how cute my daughter was, she was the only child who did that

Once the competition was over, I felt pretty tired, burned out and exhausted. The first week after the competition was brutal. I wasn’t working out because my body needed rest more than anything. Quite honestly, I trained non-stop for five months with one rest day/week to reach my goal… you BET I was tired! So I took a break for a week and that week turned into two weeks. Yes, as shocking as it seems, I have NOT worked out for two whole weeks and I have been pretty good with my diet except for the pizza I had that made me sick this past week. I think my body was telling me NOOOOOOOOO!! DON’T EAT THAT PIZZA!  After losing one night of sleep (I won’t go into details) I can honestly say, lesson learned, my body just does not like that amount of greasy stuff and salt.

What seems incredible to me is that this all started with P90X. After completing the first 90 days and seeing my results I could tell that I had found something that truly worked, but I never thought that I would get into the shape I am now, at 43, after having a child! It all started with a comment from my hubby saying “I have seen this infomercial and I’d like to get P90X” and then I wrote a question to a Facebook friend at the time who later became my coach “Does P90X really work?” The truth is that once I saw my results, I had to keep going, pushing play and digging deeper. We bought RevAbs and then Insanity and here I was, getting ready to be on that stage after only 14 months of beginning my fitness journey.

So what now? My biggest fear quite honestly has been reverting to how awful I felt a year ago. I honestly don’t want to go back to that. I had no energy to play with Angelina and it felt awful. I never, ever, ever (did I say NEVER?) want to go back to that! So here I am, going into a maintenance plan, working out with Joseph and doing another round of P90X and then Asylum while P90X2 gets released. My diet is not as restricted, although I’m still eating clean (which means non-processed foods, no TV dinners and nothing that contains ingredients that I cannot pronounce.)  My goal for next year is to get the posing down to a “T”, more confident on that stage and come home with a trophy, that’s my personal goal. My professional goal is to help as many people as possible reach their fitness goals.

Maybe your personal goal is not to compete, maybe it’s just to feel more attractive to your hubby, or maybe it’s to fit into that beautiful dress that you have saved. I can tell you for sure, that If I could lose weight and get in shape, so can you. If you don’t know where to start, let me know and I will guide you and coach you for FREE. Send me a message for details or look me up at http://www.facebook.com/ExceptionalFitness

Yes, that’s me. I was obese in May of 2010. If you’ve been following my story, you may have read that I started working out with P90X and lost a substantial amount of inches in only 90 days. In February of this year, I decided to up my game a bit and joined training to become a bikini competitor. I was VERY shy about it at the beginning but because I was committed to breaking the mold and really pushing myself… I decided to announce it on this blog… (actually that’s not the truth LOL,) the real reason is that I know myself too well and the only reason that I would stick to the training and nutrition was if I announced that I was going to compete so I did. I let the cat out of the bag and announced it on this blog.

In March, Joseph (my hubby) told me that he was taking me to a bikini competition so I could get an idea of what it would be like. So we drove to Los Angeles and at the competition I met an amazing bodybuilder who inspired me with his story. He had beaten cancer and was getting ready to compete again after finishing his cancer treatments that week. I was amazed! He had even worked out during his treatments. With that, I told myself that I could do it too… all I had to do was lose the last few pounds and get toned.

I came back home that weekend and announced my competition date to my training group on Facebook: July 23, 2011. But would I be able to pull it off? I wasn’t sure and knowing me, I’m skeptical about everything. I try stuff thinking that it won’t work or that I won’t get what I want or whatever other silly story/excuse I can make up about whatever it is that I’m doing, so I try stuff for a few months to see if it works, if it doesn’t I simply give up and if it does, I never turn back and keep going. In order to get this training to work, I had to give it my 100% and stick to the plan, no kidding! So I did. I screamed, whined, complained at times. “I’m not getting results!” Then followed by really looking at what it was that I had failed at… the frozen yogurts ended up being too much of a temptation for me so they went out the window. Slowly but surely, my goal to compete became stronger than my urge to sabotage my training and nutrition. I was on a roll now, 100% committed to doing this. I could NOT give myself the luxury of standing on that stage and feeling underprepared physically or mentally.

Last week came and I was on an emotional high. I was excited, a bit spacey and extremely focused. I felt a bit tired too and it reminded me of my marathon training days, when you’re about to hit the finish line, you’re exhausted but you have NO other option but continue and so I did. I also noticed my tendency to bring a stressful situation that was unnecessary into my life. I had been contacted by someone who had offered me what seemed like a good business opportunity and I had to consider it, but when I reached out to someone for questions, the call did not go the way that I was expecting and I found myself shaken, in tears and pretty upset. I called Joseph and his response was: “You need to focus. You can’t allow yourself to be distracted by this. Surround yourself by those who empower you and don’t waste your time with those who don’t.” Those were the EXACT words I needed to hear.  I’ve noticed that whenever I am getting to do something BIG, I cause distractions to come into my life and under normal circumstances I would have thrown my arms up in the air and sabotaged my training and nutrition. I could have used this situation as an excuse, but I didn’t, I took my husband’s coaching and set that problem aside until after the competition when I had the ability to deal with it.

I booked a tanning session, hair and make-up session. I did not want to worry about having to do these things myself so I trusted myself into the hands of the very talented people who are experienced in these competitions and they were pretty darn amazing. My first tan coating was done on Friday afternoon. My hair and make-up were done Saturday morning at 4:30 AM., yes THAT early and so I was ready to go. The girls that compete were incredible. It wasn’t the usual cattiness that I would have expected in a competition… we all knew what we had been through, our hours of training and strict nutrition. We were considerate towards each other. They all knew I was brand new to this so when I went out there and came back, everyone back stage told me what a great job I had done.

No, I didn’t place and I honestly didn’t care. I had already won. I had told myself that my level of fitness at this moment in time was more than a trophy to me. The judges did not know what I had been through, what my weight-loss journey had been like, only I knew that. That was my trophy, my story, my weight loss triumph. I did it! I earned my right to be on that stage in only fourteen months and if I did it, anyone can.

So what now? It’s time to pay it forward. Now it’s my turn to help others lose the weight, get fit and healthy. If you’re interested in getting fit and healthy, send me a message and we can talk about it. You have nothing to lose… (except the weight) and a lot to gain, (your health).

Yesterday, I found myself telegraphing my intent to quit the competition. I took my pictures and measurements and unfortunately, after working really hard last week there were not many changes in my physique. I found myself wanting to push the competition date further and caught myself thinking “why am I doing this if it’s not working?” I wrote in the wall of my group “I’m having an off day and I’m ready to quit, I don’t like my pictures today.” However, when comparing my pictures from yesterday to the ones I took in February when I started the training, the changes are huge and I have come a long way. Thankfully, I have a husband who won’t let me get away with quitting, nor will he allow me to push my competition date any further and on top of that, I have a great accountability group that has offered me their support. I would have quitted a long time ago if it weren’t for them!

This morning I woke up feeling better and I realized what’s missing from my training is getting adequate rest. After sitting down with Joseph and discussing this, we figured something that will work for me… I will be going to the gym straight from work, instead of having dinner first, waiting two or many times three and a half hours to go to the gym because all I want to do is stay home and not have to workout again at night. I end up coming home from the gym way too late, going to bed past 11:00 and then up by 4:00 to do Insanity and the rest  all over again. By doing this, I’m only sabotaging my training, my rest and giving myself even more reasons to quit. Last night when I had that conversation with Joseph, all I could hear were my mother’s words on one of our many mother-daughter conversations: “none of my kids are quitters!”

So, enough of this self-sabotage on my part! At the same time, I invite you to take a look at your promises to start taking care of yourself… consider that every time you have stopped working out and eating healthy, you are doing something that is a self-sabotage. What is it? Dig deep into your intentions, look for your reasons of “why are you doing this?” Trust me when I say this, I have been really struggling these past couple of weeks and have to constantly talk myself out of quitting and when I can’t talk myself out of it, I look for support from the girls or my husband. It works to have support, more importantly, if you do quit, take responsibility for quitting and don’t blame anyone else. No one can really “make you” do something you don’t want to do… (unless your life is being threatened.)

It’s so important to find the right type of support you need as well. I don’t always like to hear “you need to rest more” because I know it’s true. I don’t always like to hear “you shouldn’t eat that right now” because I now it’s true and I especially don’t like to hear “you CAN’T quit right now” because I know that this is 100% true. Surround yourself by people who will support you in your intentions to get healthy. It’s so easy to find people who are resigned about their weight and health issues, it’s easy to feel resigned but it’s courageous to step out of the box and fight that tendency to do nothing about it. Be courageous, reach out and ask for help and support… heck I hate asking for it, but I am reminded that I’m not perfect and I need ALL the support possible when I’m ready to throw in the towel. The truth is that I would have never, ever started this journey to better health and fitness had I not had an awesome Beachbody coach who saw in me what was possible and not the proof that I was seeing in the mirror and in my pictures. Every now and then, he’d give me a gentle kick in the butt to get me to push harder. There is no way I’d be able to workout the way I’m doing today, had I quit P90X, RevAbs or Insanity.

The only secret to success is getting the support you need to ensure that you don’t quit when you start to feel discouraged. When you notice yourself telegraphing your intentions to quit… notice that, stop and know that the only way to succeeding is by not quitting. So don’t quit!

I found out through my cousin about her passing. I casually told him when he contacted me after my daughter was born “send my love to your mom.” He replied “she died in May, but she had a good life.” I was shocked, sad and angry at my family for not telling me. It was obvious that they had not planned the secret too well. No one had thought that I may actually be in communication with one of my cousins and find out that way. When I gained weight after giving birth, my biggest fear was that I’d get diabetes too. I was at a higher risk because I had been diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Had I continued on the path I was going, I am 100% certain I’d have diabetes today.

 “Nothing fits, I’m fat… I hate this” I’d repeat those phrases constantly to my husband, everyday for a whole year. He was so tired of hearing me complain about the same thing over and over again, that one day he told me “stop complaining and DO something about it.” So with that, I decided it was time to get off my lazy butt. By then, something had shifted in me, I was grateful that I was still healthy and in time to reverse whatever damage I had caused in my body.

I remember how at this particular time, my husband and I had been able to move to a nicer property when a friend talked about P90X. I contacted him asking if it “really” worked and after I purchased P90X, he became my coach. The best thing about it, was that he never charged me a dime for coaching because his services were free to me through Beachbody… boy was I thankful that I now had a “free” coach who would support me because I needed ALL the support possible and trust me… I called him more than several times during the first 30 days. “This P90X thing isn’t working!” he’d say, “be patient and stop using the scale every day.” When my first 30 days rolled around, I had lost 8 inches around my waist. That’s when I knew… “This stuff really works!”

Being grateful about our circumstances really helps shift things and even transform them. This is not magical thinking, seriously.  The way I see it is that when we value or treasure something, we take care of it, right? We take care of our homes, our children because they are our treasure… if we were thankful about our health, wouldn’t we do the same? I know I am and I know I do. To be honest with you, this journey has made me a better person, more compassionate towards people who are on the same journey that I am because I KNOW how hard it is and I KNOW how much our mind wants to get in the way of our fitness. That’s why I chose to be a coach, because I’ve been there and I know how it is and to date, I STILL have that mental struggle.

As I end this blog entry, I leave you with the following thought: The secret to success is not a lack of failure, the secret to success is simply the act of not quitting regardless of how many times we fail. Instead of being hard on yourself for every time you fail… be thankful for those failures, because each failure will teach you something new if you let it; and each failure brings you closer to success.

If you like what you are reading and need a coach, contact me. My coaching is free with the purchase of any Beachbody product featured on this website. If you need more information, send me a message.

A friend said “well I know someone who has 3 kids and looks great.” What was my friend’s response “Oh, she MUST have good genes.” Again, I said nothing… because to a certain degree, I actually also believed that it was true. But then with the help of P90X I proved (mostly to myself) that those theories were actually wrong. We CAN lose weight and we CAN lose our belly fat. I joke now: “It took me 42 years and having a child to get my 6 pack!” It sounds funny, but it’s true and you know what? Genes had nothing to do with it (I’m sorry if you’re a doctor, scientist, biologist or whatever, but no one in my family has abs! NO ONE!!!) And I’m still a work in progress, getting stronger!

So there you have it, 42 years, a child and six pack abs!

Today happens to be my wedding anniversary as well. My wonderful, amazing, freakingly handsome husband has joined me in the efforts of getting in shape as well. He also looks much younger, has more energy and let me tell you, is looking quite hot. If we added how much we’ve lost together, I can tell you that 100 Lbs. are gone, gone, gone, forever! Just like the 365 days that I’m telling you about.

I know I don’t have control over the future, I don’t know what next year is going to bring, but at least I can be responsible for my health, for feeling and looking healthy and for teaching our daughter to eat healthy, nutritious, delicious foods. We no longer eat processed foods, nothing that has been pre-cooked and sold frozen at the grocery store. We have learned to eat at home more often, which has affected our wallet favorably. We also have taught our daughter to enjoy foods that we make at home. We are growing tomatoes, blackberries and strawberries. She enjoys watering her plants and baby talks to them which I must say, is quite cute.

I can’t help but feel proud of my achievement, every muscle that peeks out, every time I realize I’m stronger than the previous week gives me a reason to do a Snoopy dance. I am THRILLED to go shopping for smaller clothes! Even my small clothes I had stored are fitting me loose here and there… I weigh more than when I met Joseph, but I am a size smaller. That’s what muscle definition does.

My daughter is taking after me, flexing her little arms and saying “I am STRONG mommy! I have MUSCLES!” What a difference that is, from the conversations I hear from the media, teaching girls that rail skinny looks good or selling the latest diet fad. She imitates my P90X moves, tries to do push ups and even will do some Kenpo X moves whenever she has an opportunity. This wouldn’t be possible without my hubby’s help, support, commitment and encouragement to our health and fitness. We have fun together, and make fitness fun for us as well.

This post goes to my hubby, I love you, I celebrate my partnership with you and our commitment to our family, to health and fitness. Here is to many more, healthy, fit years to come with you.