Yeah, I eat. Every day. Like a boss!

So when I first began "blogging" (if that's what we can call this) almost 2 yrs ago, I posted a lot about food, what I was eating, how I was training... Then I fairly quickly realized that there are SO many real food bloggers out there, and really VERY few people were reading this so... meh. all my food is pretty much the same anyway.... so it got boring pretty fast.


However, a friend mentioned recently that she wished I would post what I'm eating. I didn't even realize she read my blog :) BUT yo. I love it. I'll share whatever I can that might be helpful.

Zucchini, Squash, Onions and Eggs...
broccoli slaw is my staple breakfast 'veggie' though

An average day of Food

Breakfast = 3 eggs and some mix of veggies sauteed in Coconut Oil.
ALWAYS with coffee + canned coconut milk on the side.

*If I'm feeling a little spicy I may cut one of the eggs and throw in a diced Italian sausage.


Snack = follows breakfast by 2-3 hours.

I was out of blueberries... back up= mixed berries

Honestly this is my most frequent snack lately... frozen blueberries + a big scoop of Almond or Sunbutter + some shredded coconut + almond milk and maybe 1/2 scoop protein powder...

I have NO guilt over this when my training volume is heavy and high.

If I'm more relaxed in training... and more conscious of weight control,

a good snack is

1 Hardboiled Egg or Ounce-ish of Chicken + Cherry Tomatoes + a few almonds

OR just the berries with cinnamon and coconut shreds, without all the extra fatty goodness.


Midday Training is followed by 1.5 scoop Progenex. (I hate to love it).

Note: I did not make this salad.
A restaurant did. Mine is better.

Lunch is whatever I can throw together fast.
here are two samples:

Big bowl of spinach or greens. with about 1 cup of halved grape tomatoes. spoon of garlic, some kalamata olives, Sundried tomatoes in olive oils, maybe some nuts, and scallions if I have them around...

top it off with some chicken (3-5 oz) and balsamic vinegar and call it delicious!!

fresh cilantro makes it best.

OR if I've made it and it lasted this long I may have my favorite chicken Salad with home made mayo... mmm!

Go to "the clothes make the girl" for the mayo recipe. It's bomb.

Sometimes there's time and hunger for afternoon snack... It follows along with morning snack's options.

Evening training is followed by 1.5 scoop Progenex.

Confession: this was my lunch and
dinner yesterday. 

Dinner ... finally by 9-10pm... Dinner...

Almost always a hot plate of sorts.  Sauteed up veggies with pre cooked meat source tossed in with some spices.

Example: Spaghetti Squash with Ground Turkey, onions, and mini peppers.  Sauteed, with Sundried tomatoes tossed in for a little oil and extra flavor (I do this ALL the time in place of sauces).  This one has a little balsamic on it as well.... but if you're going for the asian flavor reach for the coconut aminos.

OR, maybe I'll have cooked a roast in the crock pot and serve it up with roasted veggies (tossed in EVOO, and baked for 30-40min at 400 degrees)

Finally, IF i'm not concerned at all about weight issues... I may or may not throw in dried mango, and dark chocolate, into my day at will.  I know myself.  I can tell when it's slowing me down, so that usually is enough to keep it in check. Fats give me energy, but extra sugars drain me,  so if I need to cut treats it comes from the mango and chocolate before the nut butters and almond or coconut milk.

And that's a day!

Disclaimer: Actually the beautiful simple thing is that any meal can be eaten at any time of day.  Foods don't have to be exclusively for one particular meal or another... so much flexablity.

Important Ingredient:  all of this is accompanied by a gallon of water a day... give or take a bit depending on heat and training volume. 

Training Power Deux

"We are what we repeatedly do.

Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit."

-Aristotle

Another video that gets my head straight and set to do work, make my training count, and generally gets me  fired up to make a habit of living for excellence in this moment.

"I have rassled with an alligator... I done tossled with a whale.

I have handcuffed lightning and thrown thunder in jail.

That's bad." 

Ha.ha. Muhammad Ali... such a poet 

"It's not about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.

How much you can take and keep moving forward." 

Thanks for that Rocky Balboa

"Never give in. Never give in. Never. Never. Never. In nothing great or small, large or petty,

Never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force. 

Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy." 

-Winston Churchill... He knows.

Comparing a Year's Progress

August 2011 goof off striving for athleticism Height:   5'4"  Weight:  142 Clean & Jerk:      140 Snatch:              100 Deadlift:            245 Back Squat:        200 Bench Press:       135 Thruster 130# 100 unbroken doubles unders Fran 4:07 rx 30 unbroken pullups Some goals to be practiced and mastered: Handstand walk 10ft 1 muscle up 250# deadlift sub 6:30 mile 10 handstand pushups to abmat 1 Handstand pushup to full depth Wallballs & boxjumps (because I suck at them. really.)

August 2012 Individual SoCal Regional Competitor Height:   5'4"  Weight:  143 Clean & Jerk:      163 Snatch:              127 Deadlift:            275 Back Squat:        235 Bench Press:       145 for 3x5 Thruster 130# - no clue if I’ve still got this. Probably. But I HATE thrusters. Fran 3:47 rx 30 unbroken pullups… I think I got 29 last time I tried :/ Some goals to be practiced and mastered: Handstand walk 10ft- pretty sure I’ve done this. 1 muscle up – Holla, every week! 250# deadlift - done sub 6:30 mile – not a chance 10 handstand pushups to abmat- forget the abmat, bust out the DB’s for deficit 1 Handstand pushup to full depth – got it. Wallballs & boxjumps- no longer a problem.

Victory and the Fire



C.A.L. Saturday Night Lights 
Crossfit Temecula South Aug 4, 2012



I post so much about the fight. the journey. the path. I suppose there are victories in there too - My muscle up. Qualifying for Regionals. Finishing the Whole 30. and today standing on a podium.

It was a small competition.  In fact I only had two competitors in the advanced female division - my beloved training partners, Natalie and Kim. Sharing this competition with them was really special. I love them. We dig for our best together all the time, while 100% encouraging and helping one another.  Everyday they are with me in this journey.  Saturday, we just took it outside the box.  Competing with your support system beside you is very different from competing beside girls that have no vested interest in you whatsoever, except to finish ahead of you. I am so very grateful for these girls.

I won this one. I wanted to win it. We train to win. But I know these girls, I know where their strengths and weaknesses are. I knew where I could gain and where I might lose ground with them. I know what their training setbacks have been. They've each a few setbacks and they still made me fight for it. They were right on my heels. They are phenomenal athletes and any one of us could have taken it Saturday.  But in circumstance and drive, I was positioned to succeed this time. 

Now, for the road ahead, how do I take that to the next level? How do I come off a victory, celebrating it, but thirsty to be better?  Just by being honest and real and remembering my goals.
I guarantee if I took this opportunity to sit and bask in self satisfaction, and to ease up a little on my training, because "Hey I'm doing great", and then face this competition again next month... the outcome would be different. I wouldn't be positioned to win, because I wouldn't be as hungry for it, because I would miss valuable training time, because the little things we do and sacrifice EVERY DAY add up and count in the end.

I listen to all sorts of crazy motivational youtube clips.  Everyday. It feels silly to share with people, but I know it works for me. Every day on my way to the gym I have to stoke and fan the flames of desire and fight in my heart in order to get the most out of the training session.  At the competition, I sat off to the side with my head phones getting my self pumped up and hungry to start in the lead and stay in the lead. hungry NOT to quit. Not to slow down. Because once that timer starts and the weights start moving... it will get heavy, it will get hard, my lungs will burn, my legs and back will ache, and there will be a point that I want to just stop, before it's over.  Always.

I have to have my head fixed harder than my muscles.
This was fun :) I have only ever been on the podium in my life ONE time, and that was as part of a team.

As small as this competition was, it was a victory for me. I need to celebrate that.  I need to let it reach my heart and hold it there. The podium is possible. I am capable of suceeding at this when I work for it.  These months of focus, and consistent drive, have been working. 

Oh, yeah, I don't do this just to fight every day. I DO have an end, a goal I want to achieve.
And one rest day later, I need to move forward from this experience determined to be even better and stronger and faster next week and the next and the next.
Back to the box.

What happened while I was busy training?

It's been over three years since I first walked through the doors of my local crossfit gym in Rio Rancho NM, just after my 30th birthday.

I don't know if I could do a single pullup.  I certainly remember starting out with the big black band for assistance.
I had never really had any experience with a barbell, and wasn't eager for a closer acquaintance.
I would go to the gym in the middle of the day, when the fewest people were there, so it was less intimidating.

I certainly remember being intimidated.
I remember the first time someone stayed through the class to cheer and encourage us.
I remember how this attention and care strengthened me.

Crossfit. We sweat together. We suffer together. We dig for our best together.
A lot has been written about it. Why we love it, why it becomes part of our lives, but that is not what this post is about. This post is just a reflection back on the beginning and stepping outside myself to look at today. 

I had no idea in the beginning how much I would suffer, how HARD I would fight, how much I would risk. 
I also had no idea how much I would gain.

Today,
I'm that girl.
That girl that totally intimidated me.
That girl that awed and wowed me.
That girl with those muscles and definition I dismissed as genetics when I saw them on others.
That girl throwing up crazy amounts of weight for a 3x5.
That girl straining and grunting like the boys.
That girl I never thought about being,
but that girl I AM.

Somewhere along the way, I decided I LOVED this stuff. I loved pushing my limits every day. 
I didn't think or bother to care about WHAT I'd become if I threw myself in the crucible of digging for my best....
If everyday I disciplined my mind and body to pursue this training.
To push when I wanted to give up.
To show up when I wanted to stay home.
To add that extra 5 lbs on the bar, full range of motion on a squat, full height on wall balls, that extra rep, that extra pull.
one day after another.

It's amazing what happens when you take a chance on desire. over. and over. and over. again.
The WHO you can find is pretty amazing. I catch a glimpse every now and then of what is happening while I've had my head down the hole of sticking to the program of my training.

I've become
That girl who hopes.
That girl who believes.
That girl who doesn't fear failure.
That girl who doesn't settle for excuses.
That girl who doesn't settle for the easy way out.
That girl who doesn't quit.
That girl who lives.
That girl who risks.
That girl who shrugs her shoulders at the odds not in her favor.

I'm still me. I'm just more powerful, walking a little more fully in God's glory,  a lot more real... and over a 1000 steps closer to who I was created to be.  and wow. It's a cool view to take in.
Just for a moment.
Drawing encouragement.

Before returning to being that girl. just doing what is hers to do. today.