Hiatus

Hey guys....

I am going to go on a brief Blog hiatus....don't know how long but have some stuff going on personally and also work is burying me and just want to let you guys know I will be MIA for awhile. I love all you guys and will be back soon!

Promise.

Cynthia - I will be cheering so hard for you! WOO HOO!

Jess

Still Alive....But Barely & HAPPY ANNIVERSARY LOVE

Hey guys....well, I guess they are getting their money's worth out of me with this new promotion. :)

But before I jump into that....HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to the love of my life. On Monday we celebrated our first year together!!!! And you wanna know what is funny...we were talking about what we could do that would be special and because we are so in love every day and truly appreciate our relationship - every DAY feels like an anniversary! It is good stuff.

This week has been brutal. It was my hardest week at the agency in my 1.5 years there and dare I say one of my hardest weeks for work ever. Lots of deadlines and very demanding client requests.

All I have for you on the fitness front is a 5 mile run on Tuesday morning and another 5 miler Thursday. And ran 5-6 this morning with Amber at the lake which was awesome - forgot how much I love the trail! I have been eating good (not enough but good). I put in 16 hours a day this week.....tough stuff...leaves very little time for workouts. None in fact....I think I just barely fought off getting sick. Only 5 hours a sleep for four nights will do that but got 7 hours on Thursday night and 9 last night so I caught up on my sleep before it bit me in the butt.

I am managing three businesses right now - should just be managing one so time is scarce. My goal this weekend is to get so organized that when Monday hits I can sit down with each of the teams and get help - delegate, delegate, delegate. And depending on how that works, I need to reassess with management how much I have on my plate. No one should have to juggle this much, you know??? :)

Em, thank you so much for continuing to stop by and leave me notes, you have no idea how much that means to me! You are awesome!

Cynthia - you are gonna rock it in two weeks girl! I can't wait to see that new suit! :)

Kelly - your unwavering dedication to your blog is amazing to me and thank you for all the funny videos.

Here is my favorite parody of an advertising agency/client EVER and let me tell you this is exactly what I went through this week. Good, good times. I peed my pants watching this on Friday.


Now you know what I deal with - seriously.

Love you guys! Have a great weekend!
Jess

Fallin Asleep During Workout - Ah YEAH!

Can you tell I am feeling SPUNKY??!! Well, mostly it is because I am sleep deprived but also because I have had a couple great workouts so far this week - 70 minutes of legs on Monday am followed by 10 minutes of sprints and 20 minute doggie jog. :) and then today I ran 5 miles.

Funny story from my workout this morning - I have been working like a crazy woman (as you know) and over the weekend we ran a 5k on Saturday morning (so got like 6 hours or less of sleep cause we went rock n bowling Friday night) and then Sunday hubby did a tri so I got 6 hours sleep Sat night too and Sunday night and Monday night...SOOOOOO I am sleep deprived.
Anyhoo, woke up at 5:15 am this morning - had to drag myself out of bed - and went back to the workout room and started my super sets. Got through my first two super sets and the during the third super set, I sat down on incline bench and leaned my head back and thought - wow, this is comfy. Next thing I know, I woke up 20 minutes later. So, I realized I was exhausted and slept for 20 minutes more on the couch and then got hubby up and ran 5 miles with him.

WHOA!!

My eats are pretty good right now - just looking forward to really dialing things in more each day as I get closer to my Mexico vacation. :) Its gonna be fun!

Will keep you posted on workouts and eats! Prepped my food on Sunday night - made my turkey burgers and taco meat so that always helps a ton! :)

Have a happy hump day!
Jess

The Reason

Hey y'all! I have VERY excited news today! Remember that promotion I have been telling you all about - the one that has been pulling me away from my workouts so much??? Remember??

Well, I got the PROMOTION! Woo hoo!

On Wednesday they told me and on Friday they announced it. :) So I am now a Director! What does this mean? The thing I am MOST excited about it having an opportunity to give input at the leadership level. I have big plans for the leadership of our organization and I can't wait to start making changes! :)

Cynthia told me in an email or comment on my blog a LOOOOOONG time ago when I was complaining about having no time and/or energy to workout because I was working so much that opportunities for promotions may not come along that often but I can always get my body back in shape. :) She told me to do what I could do for workouts and focus on getting the promo. Smart girl she is....;) and so last week I was rewarded for all my hard work. Now, my hope is that I will get some support and be able to find more of a work life balance. Anyway, wanted to update you guys!

Thanks to all of you guys for ALL your support and your patience with me being somewhat missing in action in both my workouts and my blog posts! You guys are so awesome and I consider all of you my family!!! And to my friends and family - many thanks to you guys for me being more out of touch than normal. I have been working my BOOTAY off and I know it has affected my communication with you cats. I will DEFINITELY keep you posted as I get back to my workouts. I have a little under 9 weeks to get in great shape for my vacation in October! ;)

Oh, and remember the race Jody and I did last year on our wedding day??? We ran it again today - I wore the same veil and Jody wore his bow tie and we ran it in honor or our 1 year anniversary that is fast approaching. Here are the pics from that day and the article they ran in the paper for those of you who missed it. :)



Which speaking of, I have to give HUGE thanks to my wonderful hubby who is so awesome and is my biggest fan. He believed in me and makes me feel like I can do anything and he puts up with me working at all hours of the day. I love you baby! Have a wonderful weekend everyone! Jess

Baby Stepping, I'm Doin the Work

Finally getting caught up from being in KC last week and spending some QT with the hubby. He is the best - puts up with all my craziness.

Anyway, went for a couple runs over the weekend and then lifted yesterday morning (Monday) - Yeeeeeeeyyyyaaaaaa! :) Took today off because I had an early breakfast meeting and then we at the office until 7:30 tonight. Argh. But I am perfectly fine with taking the day off.

See, the hubby and I had a long talk on Sunday during one of my bad body image attacks (BBIA). I was basically having one of my moments that results in me getting down on myself and being too unrealistic of my athleticism and expectations of my body. And during this BBIA the DH explained to me the difference (in his mind) between working out and being fit. Working out is something people worry about and obsess over whereas being fit is just a part of your life so that you always make the time and are ok when you can't. Make sense? I love this attitude. Because then it isn't about being guilty or being mad at yourself, it is just knowing that it is a part of your life. I like this. It is BBIA repellent.

Will get a great workout in the morning and possibly even another tomorrow night. Woo hoo.

I do have a BAD story to tell y'all about my neighbor. It is a really long story but the hubby almost got into a fist fight with our neighbor over our dog. NOT cool. More on this later...promise.

Until then, I am hitting the RACK. Sleepykins.

Have a great rest of the week!
Jess

Assessment Over

I did my assessment Wednesday and am so happy it is over!!

For those of you just tuning in, I did a three day account service boot camp earlier this year and had to do an assessment yesterday which is basically where you present to the leadership team (CEO, CFO, CMO) and then they determine where your strengths are and where you have some areas for improvement. It is also important that you go through this process in order to be promoted. For me, this was a very important step and honestly, I had NO IDEA how much it was preoccupying me over the last few weeks and month. My poor hubby has been so awesome for putting up with me b/c until it was over I didn't realize how much it was bothering me.

But on Wednesday I spend an hour and 15 minutes with the leadership team - 40 minutes of which was me presenting to them and the remaining time was them asking me role play scenarios. It was very stressful but because I truly love what I do, it was also pretty easy.

I am now in Kansas City where I have been since Wednseday night - literally left town right after my assessment was over - for research with my client. It is a real challenge personally from a working out and eating standpoint because as an account service person you have to spend a lot of time with your client (Kelly girl, I know you know what I mean!). So early breakfasts and late nights of eating and drinking. :( I didn't get any workouts in and didn't eat that great but you know what??? I am not going to beat myself up over it. Won't do it. I have been busting my butt over the last three months for work and will do what I can do to workout and eat well but there are going to be situations I can't change.

Tonight we have a dinner party but I have the whole weekend to spend working out and eating well. Which sounds pretty darn good to me. :)

Hope you guys all had a great week!!!

Keep it up yo. Much love to you all.
Jess

Making it Work for Me

I had my reality check on Sunday and it was just what I needed to get my butt in gear.Here is a day in the life of me before:

Wake up at 5:30 - walk dog, work for an hour, get food ready and go to work. Spend all day trying to figure out how to squeeze in my workout....hours passing, get home exhausted - still planning on working out and then feel guilty about not working out all night. So I would spend most of my day worrying about when I would workout and feeling guilty for not working out.

Today I woke up at 5:10 and went immediately into my workout room for an awesome 80 minute MET workout and then ran my dog for about 20 minutes. Came home, got food ready and got out the door.

What did that do for my day? I didn't worry or think about working out all day BECAUSE I HAD ALREADY WORKED OUT! DUH!!

Why didn't I think of this before??? Well, I had but I convinced myself that I needed that time to work to get ready for the day. Now, my day today was a little crazy because I didn't get prepared but I felt completely at peace and wasn't stressed. Before it was a little nagging gnat in my ear: "when will you workout? are you going to have time to workout?"

Clearly, it took me about 6 months of not working out consistently to figure out what I was trying to do by NOT working out in the AM wasn't working. Oh well, you live and learn.

This weekend I did legs on Sat am and then did sprints, ran 5 miles with hubby and Sunday we went for a 90 minute bike and then walked 9 holes of golf. It is good to feel alive again. :)

Cynthia: here's to you chica! You make us all PROUD!

You go girl! 5th place in your first national show! WOO HOO!
Jess

Reality Check and Check Out Visionquester!

First off, I HAVE to give props to my girl Cynthia. She is competing in Las Vegas at the USA's and looks amazing!! She has truly come full circle in her growth as a figure competitor and I am so proud of her. Check out pics of her at Muscular Development's website:

http://www.musculardevelopment.com/browse/index.php?mode=browse&id=12067&eventcode=1264

We will know her results tonight but I am crossing my fingers for a top 5 finish for her! She looks amazing and is in the most competitive class at the USAs! I will post pics of her tomorrow!

As for me and my reality check, I got on the scale today, checked my body fat and took my measurements.

127lbs (not as high as I thought it would be)
22% body fat
hips at 38 inches - the highest they have ever been which I think is a direct result of contest dieting and rebounding. I have never put so much weight on one area like I am now....my hips, butt and love handles are unlike they have ever been.

Went to the mall this am to try on swimsuits and THAT WAS DUMB. ;)

I had to give myself a reality check to see how far I need to go. It is like the game of golf, if you cheat or keep fake scores, you will never know if you are improving so I had to set the benchmark.

And I know right now work is my main priority - I have my account leadership assessment on Wednseday this week - think of it like the Junior USA's for an account service supervisor at an ad agency! :) I hope to make you guys just as proud as Cynthia is making all of us. I will tell you all about it but basically in 1.5 hours I have to convince our senior leadership team that I am leadership material.

I did legs today for 45 minutes, did a few sets of curls and flyes, did sprints and then an hour later ran 5 miles with the hubby. So the goal is to get in another kick ass workout tomorrow through Wednesday and then I am in KC for research on Thursday and Friday which I will TRY to workout but can't make any promises. :) Will focus on my eats.

I have to focus on this one day at a time right now. One meal at a time, one workout at a time. That is the only way I can achieve my goal.

Have a great weekend everyone!!!!

Later gators.
Jess

Don't Give Up! :) I'm Still Here

Thank goodness for you guys and my hubby! You all keep me thinking on the right track and my hubby keeps telling me this is temporary (and it is). So I know that this time off of my intense workouts is only temporary.

I AM HOWEVER super pumped about Cynthia Herndon's NATIONAL stage debut in Las Vegas this weekend! She is going to rock it! She is absolutely BEAUTIFUL - has the personality of a tiger (I mean that in a good way! :)) and will ROCK it on stage! You GO GIRL!

Not much to write other than I am working like a crazy women trying to manage three businesses (was managing one).

Thanks for stopping back and I promise I will get back to good old Jessica, workouts included, SOON! '

Love you guys!
Jess

Brief Hiatus

Hey y'all! Sorry for the brief hiatus this week...WHOA is all I can say! It was a nutty week. Nuttier than normal.

I think a couple posts ago I mentioned that my client is leaving and my boss resigned...so lots of changes at work. We brought in a new hire from our Poland office and I had to train her all week which was pretty time intensive.

I did get in 5 runs - three jogs and two sprint workouts. No weights. :( Eating was ok - probably not enough but I did eat fairly well.

This week my goal will be to get my weight workouts in...it is SO freaking hot here - it was 98 degrees today - no joke.

Have a great Monday everyone - more blogs this week - I am coming back to you crazy kids - promise !

Jess

P.S. I had a birdie on hole 4 today. Which was awesome. :)