Crap I Haven't Blogged in Ages

I am the worst at keeping up with this. So I guess I'll start where I left off just before I went to Kansas City for Invicta IV. Going to Kansas City was fantastic. Joseph and I never really get to do anything very fun because we're so broke, but we decided to not get each other regular Christmas presents and save that money for our little weekend trip. We were also asked to cover the event for Fightergirls, so we had the awesome opportunity to see the action up close, take some pictures, and meet some cool people. The fights were awesome, and one great thing about getting to watch cageside was that I really got to watch the way these high level girls move. I learned a lot in one night and got to take that home with me to improve my own training. Plus, our hotel room was stupid comfortable and it was relaxing and I got a chance to recharge and refocus.

My 21st birthday was on Tuesday. I started out the day by driving the hour to Canton to get in some training so I would at least get one productive thing done that day. I didn't even drink my entire first drink because I didn't like it. Later I found some drinks that I do like a lot, but that one day of drinking was enough to last me for at least the next month and a half...because I have two fights scheduled! So my birthday was my last day of naughtiness; now it's time to focus.

Right now I'm five weeks out from my next fight in East Peoria February 23rd. I'll finally be dropping back down to bantamweight. I'm excited to get back to my original weight class because I know I feel more comfortable there than when I've fought at heavier weights, plus I'm stronger than I was when I used to fight at 135 and that feels great too. Two weeks after that I'll be fighting in Rock Island, IL for Caged Aggression's first ever female title, and that's exciting as well. I hope I get a tough fight and really get to show the improvements I made in the last couple months.

If anyone wants tickets for my fights, you can message me on Facebook or Twitter!

Happy New Year! (Progress Pics)

Happy New Year!

Did you accomplish the things you wanted to in 2012? I sure did! It may have taken longer than anticipated, but I wouldn't have it any other way. For me, slow and steady is the way to go when it comes to weight loss. I'm so excited that I've survived the holidays without reverting back to my old habits. I indulged on special occasions, never felt deprived, and had a great holiday season. I was a few pounds heavier after Christmas, but it only took a week of clean eating (no starving!) to get rid of the excess.

I'm really excited to see what kind of progress I make in 2013. Here are a few of my goals:
1. Continue keeping my good habits of eating Paleo and training 5-6 days per week.
2. Be able to deadlift 250lbs, and squat 200lbs for 5 reps.
3. Win my fight February 23rd.

Those are just a few of the things I want to accomplish in 2013, but right now my focus is on the task ahead, training for my next fight. I really want to finish this one with a bang.

Something else I'm extremely excited about for 2013 is coming up in four days...INVICTA FC IV! Joseph and I decided we weren't going to get anything for each other for Christmas so we could go see it LIVE! I can't wait to watch so many fighters I admire fight live, and even meet a few of them. I know this is going to be an awesome experience. It's going to be a nice little getaway for Joseph and I, something we've never done before, and it will be a chance for me to learn and grow in MMA.

What are your New Year's Resolutions? Are you setting the bar high? Don't be afraid to set a goal and really go after it!

New Year's Resolutions and Coconut Eggs

The semester is over!! Finally, I can quit worrying about homework. Sort of. I have to start studying (again) for my personal training certification, because I plan to get certified by the end of Spring semester, if all goes as planned. That's one of my goals for 2013. It's kind of like a New Year's Resolution, but what's really the point of starting on January 1? I can start now and be ahead later. BOOM. Success.

I've been think a lot about my 2013 goals/New Year's Resolutions lately, because it is getting so close to the end of the year. I've also thought about the things I've accomplished so far this year, and I'm pretty proud of what I've done:

1. I lost 30 pounds, putting me back in a healthy weight range, helping me feel more energetic, confident, and happy.

2. I started fighting again. I joined a new team that I love and have helped me improve my game a lot. I won all four fights I had this year.

3. I went back to school. College has been really frustrating for me, and almost feels pointless at times. I was tempted to stop going altogether at times. But I enrolled again because I know I'll be better off with a degree to fall back on if I need to.

I want 2013 to be even better though. I'm going to continue to progress in my fight game, fitness/health, and education. I also have some financial, career, and volunteer goal ideas that I'd like to put into action, but don't quite have a solid plan for yet.

Another one of my goals is to put more time and heart into this blog. My hope is that this blog will at some point, now or in the future, inspire and motivate someone to make healthy changes in their life. One way I hope to do that is to start sharing some recipes with you! Some will be recipes I've made up myself, others might be gems I've found on another site that I love. So, here goes nothin'.

My first recipe, created by me:

Coconut Scrambled Eggs

Ingredients-
3 whole eggs
2 T canned coconut milk (the thick part at the top of the can)
1-2 T fat (I usually cook bacon first, then use the leftover fat to cook my eggs)
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat a skillet on medium heat, add fat of choice (bacon fat and coconut oil are my favorites).

2. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, coconut milk, salt and pepper. The coconut milk will probably be lumpy, but that's okay.

3. Pour your egg mixture into you skillet and scramble. If you don't know how to scramble eggs, I feel bad for you son. I got 99 problems but an egg ain't one. Bad joke.

4. If you seriously don't know how to scramble eggs, here you go: once your eggs are in the skillet, take a spatula or wooden spoon and mix the eggs around while they cook, making sure to scrape all sides of the pan so the eggs don't stick. Cook until they're not liquid-y looking anymore (I'm so technical).

No veggies. Lame. Bacon. Mmmm...

Eat 'em up! I seriously love these eggs. Don't knock 'em 'til you try 'em. I love them with veggies in them too. I like to saute onion, green pepper, garlic, and spinach in the skillet before I add the eggs. Yum. Also, if you need to feed more people, just multiply the ingredients by the number of people. This isn't rocket science people! Just guess on the veggies, there's no such thing as a wrong amount of veggies in this case. Now quit reading and go try the stinkin' recipe, and comment here to tell me what you think!

Progress Pics 12-8-12

77 Days until my next fight! This will be my first fight back at 135, and I'm very excited. I've been eating a mainly paleo diet and focusing on lifting heavy. I'm starting to finally get some width to my back, and even though my weight's about the same, I'm getting leaner. I'm going to start working on leaning down for the fight starting in January. I currently have 15 pounds to go and I'm eating pretty much as I want as long as it's paleo. And I'm not denying myself holiday treats!

Now that the semester is almost over, I'm going to try to make it to boxing practice more. I've also started to train other people, so I'm getting a head start on my goals for 2013. But that's another blog post entirely :)

The Hell of a Shark Tank

Shark Tank: n. A training technique used by Mixed Martial Artists in which one person grapples and or spars with no breaks while their teammates rotate in every one to two minutes for as many rounds as there are team members.

The shark tank is hell.

The first time I did a grappling shark tank I think I had to grapple ten men, most of them at least 40 pounds heavier than me, and I cried through about half of it. I did the whole thing, but I cried like a baby.

That was an extreme case when my body was already exhausted form two-a-days and I trained with a lot of people who didn't know how to adjust to training with people of different strengths and levels.

Still, the shark tank is pretty much a cardio nightmare no matter what, because the people you're sparring/grappling are always fresher than you. You are frustrated and your arms hurt. You hate it but you know it's going to make you better. My coach makes sound effects to make things more frustrating and makes you laugh right before your teammate throws a kick right to your gut. It's a good time had by all.

After I got home from practice today (which consisted of circuits and shark tanks) I ate two egg muffins and a pumpkin smoothie, a couple dates and some cashews. It was a weird meal. I was starving. Then I showered and passed out for two hours in bed with my cat. I had planned on doing homework all day. Shark tank had other plans. 

I've been craving eggs a lot, so I had eggs again for dinner, with two paleo pancakes I made up that tasted like banana bread and and three pieces of bacon.  And a candy cane. Christmas made me do it.

Giving Thanks and Stomach Aches

Happy (Late) Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful day and/or holiday weekend surrounded by the people you love and plentiful food. I hope you all have plenty to be grateful for. I know I do. I was so excited for Thanksgiving and to see family and friends I haven't seen for too long. I started out the day running a 5K Turkey Trot with my best friend Jaclyn, who goes to college a couple hours away and is busy becoming a fantastic nurse, so I hadn't seen her for months. An old teammate of mine, Sarah, and her boyfriend Mitch also came to town and ran with us. It was chilling and my legs were killing me from lifting legs the day before, but I kept up with Jaclyn's jogging pace (she's a cross country runner) and finished in 26 minutes and some odd seconds. Then I hit the gym and worked upper body before the festivities began.

We went to my Mom and Dad's house for Thanksgiving dinner. I got to see my grandma and grandpa on my Dad's side, my brother and his girlfriend (they're having a baby!) and I got to meet her grandma and grandpa as well. It was a nice time. Pictures from my childhood were broken out, which is not a pretty sight, but I've learned to laugh at it now that I'm so sexy (kidding, ish). The women-folk talked about babies, since a new one's on its way, and further convinced me that I will not be ready for a mini-me for some time.

After my parents' we went to Joseph's Mom's house. His nephew was there, and he is so adorable I just want to squeeze him. Which I often do. We watched shows about tattoos. His family is awesome. We also got leftovers at both houses. Double awesome. Plus, his sister gave us an entire Oreo pie. It tasted awesome, but now I'm craving sweets again like a mofo and I must stop.

I ended the night with two bottles of wine. Shame on me. I have such a low tolerance for alcohol these days, those two bottles were too many. I never drink.

Thanksgiving also turned out to be a learning experience for me, because it was the first time I had eaten anything non-paleo in about a month. My body was not a fan of it. I had half a cappuccino mid-morning with Joseph and had to give him the rest because I felt like my stomach was tying itself in knots. I didn't feel too terrible after lunch, just sluggish and blah. By the time I went to bed I was a tad drunk so I felt pretty good. The next day not so much. It wasn't even a hangover, I was just crabby and bloated and felt like crap. I still kind of do. It's been hard to get back on track the past two days. We're short on groceries and I've been short on time. I'm planning on going back to 100% paleo tomorrow though. I'll either get creative with what I have or I'll go a little hungry. Whatevs.

How did your Thanksgiving go? Are you suffering from holiday food hangover?

How I Plan to Keep Losing This Winter: Part 1

I told you in my last post about my progress over the last month and a little about what I've been doing to get there. I've been feeling great and extremely motivated, but the hard part is coming. THE HOLIDAYS. Not to mention my 21st birthday shortly after. Winter has always been my diet downfall. During summer it's warm and lovely and I am the queen of sweat and fresh foods. Winter comes and all I want to do is stuff my face and go into hibernation. Not the case this winter, no sir! I am on a mission and I have a plan to not just maintain my weight loss thus far, but to continue to lose so I can meet my goal weight by February! You want in on the plan, eh? I thought you might....

MY DEVIOUS PLAN TO KICK WINTER WEIGHT GAIN'S A$$:

1. Stick to my freaking workout schedule. This is a pretty obvious one, but with all the festivities around the holidays, it's easy to start skipping a workout here and there, and eventually stopping going all together because you think you're too busy. DON'T DO THIS. Make working out mandatory, do it and get it done before your important plans and feel good about what a badass you are.

2. Gain control of my sugar cravings BEFORE the season gets into full swing. I've already done this part. I finished my 21 Day Sugar Detox two days ago. No sugar of any kind, real or artificial. I lost six pounds and feel more in control of my cravings. That's NOT to say I don't crave sugar any more, but my cravings are so much more manageable.

3. Don't say yes to EVERY treat I'm offered. Just because it's the holiday season doesn't mean you should have a treat every time they're around. A random Tuesday at work is not a good reason to engorge yourself on gingerbread men.

4. Make healthy dishes to bring to parties. I love pumpkin pie. I do NOT want to skip pumpkin pie. So I offered to bring dessert to my family Thanksgiving dinner. Little do they know it will be a paleo pie, grain-free, dairy-free, the works, and according the recipe it is just as good as the real thing. I will be doing the same thing for Christmas get togethers.

5. Indulge in the things I really LOVE, but don't forget MODERATION. There are some damn fine cooks in my family. If you think I'm totally going to skip out on all the delicious treats they'll be packing, you're high. The key is BALANCE.

6. PLAN PLAN PLAN. I've got an intense workout and maybe a 5k planned for Thanksgiving morning. I'll be killing workouts all week and keeping my diet pretty tight so I can indulge a little bit guilt free on Thursday. Same thing will go for Christmas parties and my birthday. Most days I will keep on my normal, healthy diet, because too many treats and days of slacking WILL add up.

My next fight is scheduled for February 23rd, and I'll be fighting at 135 pounds, so I've got approximately 15 pounds to go. It will be essential that I control myself this winter. You could join me and get a head start on getting ready for bikini season! Just a thought... ;)

Do you have any other tips to prevent holiday weight gain? I'd love to hear your thoughts!