The Clank in the Night

As I lay in bed going over the course of the day, now behind me, trying to slow my heart and relax... my mind wanders to a clanking noise in the back of my mind. I found myself traveling back to the workout I had completed only hours earlier. The clanking noise in my mind does not relax me. It's more like excitement. Adrenaline rush if you will. It is the sound of metal on metal. The crash of released angst. The exploding muscle being coaxed and exhausted. It is the sound of completion and satisfaction. Set and match, conquered. To some it may be an overzealous "meathead" looking to turn heads, but to those who truly understand... it is the sound of victory. The gym's symphony. Work hard. Train hard. Push harder. This is what sings me to sleep and tears me out of bed in the early hours of the morning. This is the mind of an endorphined enthusiast.

Sweet Cinnamon Rolls and a Glorious Gold's Gym.

Our first destination is Birmingham, Alabama at my aunt and uncles with 3 brilliant little girls all under the age of 15. Needless to say it was hardly dull. More than I could handle more rightly fits it. After arriving late enough we stay up catching up as well. I was beat after my day starting at 4:58 a.m., workout, work and of course traveling. So the bed was what my entire being was craving. So, today I felt refreshed and started my day off right. Milk blended with BSN "Dessert " cinnamon roll protein. As I was mixing... the mouth-watering aroma of freshly baked cinnamon rolls consumed me. Man, I must be hungry- I thought. I even had my aunt wanting a shake until we both realized... it WAS freshly baking cinnamon rolls. Oh well. The shake still satisfied, especially since I willed myself against caving and having the real thing. Will power points- deposited. Cha-ching. Sitting around seemed to be the next thing on the agenda along with being entertained by my 13 year old cousin's masterful piano playing, making magnetic "mosaics" with my 6 year old cousin and making my gymnast cousin try a protein shake of which she was not a fan. Next in the day's plan was to find the nearest Gold's Gym. Oh the upcoming fitness establishments have quite the standard to meet. The competition is on. The lobby entrance area was stocked with an array of muscle powders and bars and drinks. They also had a rack of GG apparel. The only thing they were lacking was a shake bar. As I recieve directions from the less than peppy front desk keeper I am overwhelmed by the grandness of the facility. More like- got lost a few times. Even so, I attempted to keep my air of "gym junkie." The cardio equipment and track openly sat a floor above the spacious free weight floor and machines. They even had a "Womens' only" area. Up the stairs I ventured- onto more stairs: 25 brutal minutes on the rolling stair master and a mile run around the indoor track with open windows holding vast views of the mountainous Vestavia Hills area. It was exhilarating. A fantastic change from Mayberry's, let's call it (kindly) "quaint," gym. After my heart was good and pumping I headed for the weight floor to curl some 20's (lbs that is). Finding one's way around a foreign gym makes it very difficult to maintain a gym-goer composure. The machines and weights were more than adequate and the crowd was sparse (which is a good thing,  although I do like it when those of us with the same passion join together. It's the ones who socialize or take up unused space that I'd like to remove). I ended up needing a protein refuel, and after that I finished strong and called it a day. Time to pack back up and head to ATL! Cheers for the weekend. Healthy takes a back seat for a few days- until Monday. Hey, it works for me. My body needs the break. We all must find the plan that fits. Happy Friday:)

On Track Travels

Okay. So I've worked hard all week with little to no cheats in the week. Yay me. But here comes the challenge... vacation. Food, down time and sporadic scheduling usually including decadent dining. In my case- definitely including decadent dining. My mother is an all out Foodie and plans our trips to to a T. All of our destinations also happen to be in the south. One of which homes Paula Dean, the butter-slugger of the south. I was less than thrilled to learn this and vowed not to show an ounce of support to her famous/hazardous cooking. So, all of that to say- I will be keeping track of our travels. I am blogging this as a posted commitment to keep my fitness and nutrition in check even when faced with the obstacles of vacation lax. In order to prep myself for hours in the car with only quick stops for snackage... I packed a thorough cooler. By thorough I mean fully armed with the essentials: a week's worth of protein, N.O. explode/preworkout, vitamins and supplements. Also a hand-held emulsifier blender, a large bag of mixed nuts, two pre-made yogurt/Berry/PB/chia, two chicken breasts on a bed of lettuce annnnnd skinny waters. I. Am. Prepared.
So, set for obstacle numero uno: the "convenient " stop. Now on to the next obstacles that will attempt to knock me off my motivation wagon. Finding a gym to keep my routine a float and eating out. To keep myself on the ball I will be gym hopping and reporting back on each one and how well I am able to execute my burn session.  Lastly, eating out. This one hurdle can really shake up a dedicated plan in a quick minute. It's time to pull out the big guns- WILL POWER. Yep, I will be buidling that "muscle" as well. Truly- think of it as a muscle. Use it. Shape it. Master it. Don't let it master you! :) I'm yelling at myself as well. I will be reporting back on the art of choosing healthy options while traveling and tempted
Whew. I have my work cut out for me. Wish me luck and I will be back with updates along the way.

Here, We Go.

So far you have probably realized a few things- I like alliterations, I am slightly random and sporadic and sweets are my weakness (darn you Valentine's candy and my birthday the following weekend!). These assessments would be quite correct. As for alliterations- love 'em or hate 'em... I'm a fan.  The randomness will also continue as will my battle with anything containing copious amounts of sugar. But as promised- I will be bringing you updates of my new and improved on track life. It should be exciting for both of us (hoping maybe my viewer numbers will grow, but assuming at least one person might follow this).
The chest pain from my collision continues.. but I'm feeling optimistic. Starting my day off right with 5 egg whites and one whole egg on top of a piece of 4:9 Ezekiel toast with 1/3 of a banana... and coffee of course. Not to mention my army of vitamins - a multi, vit C, fish oil and gingko biloba. I try to wait about 2 1/2 hours before my next small meal, which consists of 6 strawberries cut up on 1/2 cup of fat free Greek Yogurt with a little over a table spoon of Naturally More (it has flax and more protein- SO good) peanut butter. Then onto "meal" numero tres: 5 oz protein- tuna today- with a cup of green veggies - I did spring lettuce with spicy salsa, and a side of half a sweet potato- my healthy Carb. And There you have a complete nutritious meal:)
About mid afternoon... around 3:30 I had prepared a baggy of about 22 almonds. Soon to head off to the gym after work for a much needed sweat- inducing, stress- relieving workout. Annnd VOILA! It worked. I think I somehow ran my chest pain away?  We shall see. After my healing cardio session and a fantastic back and shoulder focused weight training, I truly feel brand new. Homeward for my protein shake (1/3 cup mik, 1 hefty scoop of whey protein, 1 tbl spoon N M peanut butter, a dash of banana cream jello pudding- blend, then add ice and PRESTO...better than dessert ) and some r&r with Spielberg's SMASH. Which did not disappoint. We survived Monday. Happy day.

Dedicated. Determined. Driven.

Okay, the Superbowl is over (Go Giants!) And it's time to get serious. Sure, I'm a health nut, but my personal health nut has been on vacation and off routine 3 days too many. That's okay:) just picking up my dedication from her vacation and putting her back to work, thank youu. Though recovering from a blow to the chest from my airbag last weekend... hopefully normalcy and hardcore workouts will pick back up soon. And I mean soon.  Before my SANITY goes on permanent vacation. So, first I will straighten out my diet. Which I will be updating to this post. I already have my 5-6 small meal plan figured up. Just must deny myself!  - oh.. and those peanut butter cookies left over from the Superbowl -_+ . No mas. Clean eating time. My body will be thankful. But for those of you who do not know this- DIET makes all the difference in results. If you're not fueling right - you will most likely not get the definition and/or weight loss you want. Plus: YOU JUST FEEL BETTER!! So, back to happy eating.

Chains Chosen

Do you ever find yourself in a situation and- while almost experiencing an outer body moment- think, "Never in a million"? Whether it be a reoccurring habit you never thought you would deal with or that one mistake that led to disaster... Sometimes life throws major curve balls. Nonetheless, leaving you with a gut wrenching feeling that is foreign and haunting.  I, for one, am a firm believer in "everything happens for a reason." Basically, when things happen out of our control, we need a comfort saying to lean on. Not that there is anything wrong with that at all. Like I said... firm believer.  But just because a curve ball comes your way does not mean you have to let it hit you in the face, knock you down and let you feel defeated.  No. So, if everything happens for a reason, I believe it would be each of our individual duties to find the "why." We can ask ourselves questions, such as: Why me? Why now? Why not someone else? - Until we are wallowing in self pity with zero direction. Instead of choosing that route, what about the possibilities? What can come of a whirlwind situation? That's where our passions and our dreams become alive- if we let them. It's times like these that you have to search deep within your being to determine who you want to be once the shock has settled and the "Never in a million" has been looked dead in the eye.  And that is where I am today. My dreams and passions are begging to be let loose, but my battles are trying to snuff them out.  I hope that you will join me on this journey- fighting the battles that come my way. Maybe you will learn something. I definitely am planning to live and learn.