Beginning of Week and NEW VLOG!

Hey y'all! Hope you are all doing awesome!

Yes, long, long LONG weekend and we recorded a VLOG but for some reason none of my computers are recognizing the USB device. So instead of posting vlogs or blogs, I was jacking around with my computer trying to show you the VLOG we did. UPDATE: Got it to work!! Check it!



Hope that was slightly entertaining - had no idea he was going to record it so totally had to wing it! And check out his walking while filming technique! ;)

As I said in my post on Friday, last week was a complete and absolute BUST. I didn't workout once. And this weekend I participated in the 48 Hour Film Festival project which is where you have 48 hours to produce a film. You can check it out at this link:48 Hour Film Link You are given the genre, a prop and a line you must use. Ours was a suspense/thriller, a pencil and the line: "What did he say? Tell me." I am not an actress, have never been an actress, but the lead creative guy thinks I look like a tough bit## so he cast me as the lead of a bank robber ring in the movie. So I got called in at 7am on Saturday and was there until MIDNIGHT! Holy crap. It was a LONG day. And I missed Jody's race which I felt TERRIBLE about. Terrible. But I had a blast on the shoot and the film ended up being pretty funny and campy.

Here is a couple of pics from the shoot of me in my "costume" and with the gun :) and check out the tattoo on my boob. Keep it classy bloggers. :)

Times Up! Charlie's Angels Pose

Check out the TATT!!!

Below is the log of my workouts from two weeks ago and since last week was a big goose egg I am just going to skip that recap. :)

Jody and I had a long talk this weekend and I am going to start running again. It is something I enjoy doing, I can do it anywhere and it is something we love to do together. That being said, I ran 9 miles tonight. NINE miles. WHOA! And I am wiped out. Legs pretty tight too - I am not sure if running 9 miles was the smartest thing in the whole world but I am shooting for 30 miles this week and I wanted to get a good chunk underneath me starting with Monday. So, Jody and I strapped on the running shoes.

Also, since I ate so crappy on Tuesday of last week (off site) and Saturday/Sunday weren't great either, I spent about 3 hours last night cooking food for both Jody and me. I cooked all my egg white waffles, measured my cereal, cut green peppers, measured broccoli. It actually worked AWESOME b/c when I got up this AM, I just threw everything in my lunch bag and was out of there. It was AWESOME!!! :)

I am not sure how to work the UFP into my running program. My guess is Scott would scoff at me doing any type of running AND UFP but oh, well. I am going to see how this week goes with running and some upper body UFP workouts and see what happens. My eating will be ON and sleep should be good.

Oh, and I am taking a day off this week - it has been so crazy lately, I have to put myself first. :) So, I will take Thursday off - and I am re-committing to blogging more frequently. I have a loyal following out there (I think :)) and I don't want you guys to give up.

Have a great Tuesday - I am gonna ROCK it. ;)

Jess

Week of May 26th through June 1st:

Monday:
Track Workout - 1 mile warm up, 5 quarter mile sprints
Day 1 of UFP - Lower Body Focus - 90 minutes
Tuesday:
Day of 2 UFP - Upper Body Focus - 85 minutes
Wednesday:
Day 3 UFP - Upper Body - Back Focus 90 minutes
Thursday:
OFF
Friday:
AM HIIT Intervals - 30 minutes - 400 calories
Saturday:
Day 4 UFP
Sunday:
Off

Wuv, True Wuv - HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

Happy Valentines Day to all of you fitness lovers out there! I love, love, love, love, love Valentine's Day because it is such a celebration of love and gratitude! So today, I ask that you tell those you love that you love them and be grateful for the gifts you have in your life.
One of my favorite quotes:

This quote became VERY special to me with my husband because I let go of my fears and embraced life as opposed to being scared of being hurt again. I smile each and every time I read this quote because I think of how liberating and free I feel when I do each of these things. I'm so fortunate to have my wonderful husband in my life - he is my soul mate and my heart. He is my best friend and my biggest fan. And we both feel like every day is Valentine's Day! Here we are having a smooch on our boat this summer. Luf.


Ok, enough of the mushy stuff!

I have had a couple of great workouts this week - did my kettle bell cardio on Monday and had a great chest workout that day at lunch. Tuesday I had another great cardio session in the morning - more running and some burpees. Wasn't able to lift over lunch but was still happy I got in my cardio. I had to take yesterday off because of work (worked 16 hours straight) but am hitting they gym over lunch today.

I wanted to talk a little bit more about carbohydrate timing in today's blog about nutrition. Carbohydrates are not bad for you - especially if you are eating slow digesting carbs and whole grains. This would include sweet potatoes, brown rice, oatmeal and whole grain bread - Ezekiel bread is hands down the best you can purchase. The absolute most effective way to eat carbs is to bracket your weight workouts with carbohydrates.
Vision your weight workout like this:

slow digesting carbs - approx 45 minutes prior to [weight training session] fast digesting carbs w/in 20 minutes after

This will allow your body to utilize the slow digesting for energy during your workout and the fast digesting for restoring glycogen and building muscle after.

Make sense?

Examples of fast digesting are simple sugars including maltodextrin as well as dairy sugars found in milk or yogurt, rice cakes, and fructose in moderation. If your goal is to maintain or build muscle you should be eating some kind of fast digesting carb after working out. Chocolate milk is great after a workout because it has protein and fast digesting carbs. Just make sure to add a bit more protein as you want 20 - 30 grams total.

Have a wonderful V-Day everyone!
Jessica

Big News! And Please VOTE!!!!!

Please, please, please vote! Look to the right and vote if you haven't already! Even for those of you just stopping by for the first time, vote away! :)

For years and years, you have seen me like this:
For those of you wondering, above is my high school pom pom pic and also a pic from when I dressed up like a football player (if it isn't obvious). I thought I would include it for a little laughter. Some of you have seen me like this:

And lots of the time you see me with straight hair, like this:

But today, I got crazy - like drinking whiskey all night and making a wacky decision crazy - and did something WILD....and here it is:
I donated my hair to Pantene's Beautiful Lengths program! While I only wanted 8 inches take off they hair stylist did not have a ruler (I should have brought one) and they "eye balled" it so I actually lost 11 inches of my hair. I would be happier if it were a little longer but overall I like it. It is the shortest my hair has been since I was 20 (a LONG time - over 10 years) but I am ok with a change. After all, hair grows back and I helped someone who lost their hair to cancer have a beautiful wig! :)

Here is my and my friend Maya with our hair (check out the ELEVEN inches!!!) right after our hair cuts!

What does everyone think????

I will have more of an update tomorrow on the rest of my week!
Jessica

Picture Post - Me & Hubby at Fundraiser

Doesn't he look so excited to have his picture taken? Oh yes. He loves it! :)

This was right before we left the house for a fund raiser on Saturday night...we had a great time! It was kind of date night for us...sorry for the red eye.

So, it doesn't count as a "before" pic but it is still a picture!!! :)

Happy New Year's EVE!

Jessica

Urban Adventure Race

Jody and I did an Urban Adventure race together last weekend and had a blast! It was a great 3 hour workout consisting of a lot of biking, running and yelling at each other :) but it was awesome! We took first place in our category beating our closest competition by over a half hour. The race required you plot coordinates on a topographical map and then you had to go to each checkpoint and get a sticker to verify....we started out on our mountain bikes and then spent the latter half of the race running. You were required to wear backpacks with a bunch of crazy stuff in it like an emergency blanket, poncho, etc. Results are at the bottom of the blow....we are team Ball and Chain. :) You know you love it!Sorry the pictures are so bad....I snagged them off the website.

Krissa - does this count as a before picture??? :)

If I can just get through the day today I will have lots of time for workouts over the weekend! This week has been crazier for work and last week was nuts. I can't wait for next week - when I have days off, I workout LOTS! So bring on Thanksgiving! Have a great rest of the week all!
Jess

Ball and Chain	Team - Coed	1	2:52
On Your Left	Team - Coed	2	3:24
Microgravity	Team - Coed	3	3:56

Brutal Week....and Fun Memory

What a brutal week....as of today, I have logged about 65 hours at work....so after I wrap things up today I will be close to the 73 hour mark...it was a tough one....we were awarded some additional business that had a super tight deadline in addition to some very hot projects for our regular business so I was getting up at 4:30, working for 2.5 hours, going into the office and working through lunch (I normally lift over lunch) and then coming home, eating and working another 2-3 hours. Rough stuff. I got in two lift sessions and two cardio sessions. Very frustrating but I also know I am going to have weeks like this occasionally. Thank goodness I am not in full contest prep. I should be doing cardio now instead of blogging but I am not feeling very good - perhaps it the lack of sleep and waking up 2 or 3 times in the night worried that my designers won't be able to open Illustrator files (coo coo for cocoa puffs).

The learning for me is that I have to schedule my workouts no matter what (yes, I already knew that) and I have to always put my fitness first. I also have to recognize that our business is cyclical and some days it will require more than others...regardless, putting cardio and lifts at the top of the list is key. I also found myself having 20 or 30 minutes and not working out because I didn't think I had enough time to get a good workout - I have to remember anything is better than nothing! ;)

The good news....I hate perfect! I ate enough and at my regular intervals. I have made a promise that no matter how crazy it gets or if I am on vacation, etc...I will either hit my nutrition goal or my workout goal. Ideally both but if an exception has to be made, I will hit one of those goals.

I have to give a couple shout outs to some peeps:

Fikenator - so sorry about your bad news the week but trust me when I tell you everything happens for a reason. I have the job I have today (which I LOVE) because I was laid off from my last job. You may not know the reason behind it now but you will...we are all working hard to help you find something new bud.

Cynthia - hope you are feeling better girl and we are all sending good chi your way! You are such an inspiration and a motivation and I am on pins and needs waiting to get an update! Thanks for still making me laugh and smile through your updates and I am thinking of you!

Bette - you aren't just my mother in law, but my friend too! Thank you for being so supportive and encouraging! Love you!

My cherub - I am including the article and picture from our wedding day 5k in homage to you and what a wonderful supportive husband you are...I am so lucky to have you in my life because at the end of a 14 hour work day when we are snuggled up, I forget about all my stress. :)

For those of you that have a few extra minutes, if you click on the pic of the article above and zoom in you should be able to read about the 5k my hubby and I did on our wedding day. Yes, we broke the rules but it seemed so fitting for us to run a 5k on our wedding day considering how many we have done together since we first met. Yes, I am wearing a veil and yes, he is wearing a bow tie. :) Fitness is definitely a shared activity for us both and our relationship is stronger as a result...so we knew we had to run a 5k together that morning!

Have a great weekend everyone and Krissa - I promise I will post before pics this weekend. Just didn't have time this week....go figure!

Peace.

Mr. Butler

I wanted to introduce everyone to Mr. Butler a.k.a my Number One Fan and President of the Jessica Fan Club. He is the best hubby a girl could ask for...he loves me (muffin top or not) and makes me feel like I can accomplish anything! He is truly the reason I got on stage the first time.

And if you MUST know, the shirts we are wearing (Fikenator - these are the hot pink shirts you WISH came in a 3XL), are shirts my hubby designed for me for all 30 people who attended my first competition (local) that had a rockin bod on the front and said "Body by Jessica". So very sweet!

Thank you for giving me wings my love!
Your Piddle

Bad 24 Hours

Well, RATS! I was so pumped about my day on Wednesday and then Thursday came around and I did everything right but didn't get my cardio in....Big RATS. But I did eat clean with the exception of a Michelob Ultra purchased by a friend while we were out...I only drank about 3/4ths of it.

So, overall, I was displeased that I didn't get my cardio in I did get my lift and my eat on. :)

Just to give everyone a good laugh, I thought I would show a picture of me sucking down a margarita after my first compeition. Yes, I was drunk after two sips. Man, how crazy do we look after a show!!


My day yesterday at work was insane but today is WIDE open so I will have a FULL plan for the next 30 days later today. WOO HOO!

Have a great weekend all!