I look at my clock every day at 9:26 via thisgreatstory.com

My best friend Briana, aka Breezy did not believe me when I had originally told her that I randomly glance at the clock at exactly 9:26 either in the morning, or the evening, and sometimes both times, every… single… day.    That is enough to drive a girl crazy, but in the spirit of sharing (cuz sharing is caring), I started contacting her via text, phone, social media, with every glance, and she soon was not only convinced of my plague, but inadvertently joined me in this affliction.

I don’t know the exact moment this started, but I do know it was around the time my oncologist unilaterally decided to turn me into a bulimic.  Yep, I had breast cancer at the lucky age of 20.  I say lucky because I was too young and naive to think I was going to get anything but better…and I really feel that was what cured my disease.  I guess I can give some props to the vomit-inducing chemotherapy, skin-irritating radiation and femininity-stripping double mastectomy…(who else do you know that would go to such great lengths for an insurance-funded boob-job?!).

Even though I walked away with complimentary “enhancements”…

To see the rest of the story, just go to ThisGreatStory.com

She masks our tears and sweat with a solid playlist!

This captures our class exactly...JenniferEra is THE intensity Queen!

I’m noticing a pattern, either I am attracted to instructors that are ridiculously intense and passionate about their work and mission, or all fitness professionals are freaks of nature!  I’m going with the latter…it makes me feel more sane (and trust me, I need all the sanity feelings I can get…I’m a chick, we often feel crazy;)!

Before I started on this much more organized fitness venture than my own happenstance approach, Sundays were one of my favorite fitness days.  I go to a killer, Rock and Roll studio in the heart of Hollywood, called Made in La.  It is a little boutique that isn’t mobbed with a lot of people trying to network through the gym, or meet their next 30 second relationship…its sprinkled with people that are inside actually working out, and to killer playlists, thanks to the amazing Ms Wyatt, Jennifer Era if your nasty…(that was a lil Janet Jackson reference, and no, I haven’t heard Janet in the playlist;)

Cycling was killer, but she started our mix with an inspirational, but Rock and Roll song by Local Natives, called Airplanes…sign up for Jennifer’s blog and follow her fitness music choices!!!  As far as the workout…I was pedaling slow, and fast, and we were standing and sitting, it was a blur of tears and sweat…more sweat than tears…who am I trying to kid…it was more tears…just kidding.  She is awesome, and she makes you get out of your own mind for the hour of her class……which I need for sure.  My mind runs like one of those bad Bing commercials.

FOOOOOOOD!

I predicted it…I no longer have a food pyramid filled with different types of cereal.  The food police put a halt to that…I am now learning balance in my meals with whole food options…I had an egg, apple and a handful ONLY of Kashi pre workout! PROGRESS…I think;) (you can take the cereal out of the girl, but you can’t take the girl out of the cereal, that’s how that goes right? when in Rome!)

Don’t tell her, but I felt better in my workout, I felt full and didn’t have a stomach ache or get the typical distended belly look…(ps, that’s not hot and it takes a while to go away!)  Check out her nutrition tips at Nutrition with Tanya!

For more information on all of the participants in the total image make-over, go to http://www.lacitydentalgroup.com/, we even are documenting by video…so subscribe to our youtube channel and get all the fitness, nutrition and image tips from the experts in the LA area…(and really, what city in America is more focused on image, than LA?)

242 stairs people! And Its Only Day 2!

I’m not gonna lie, I am scared for what is to come! It is only day two and my legs are pre-sore from the previous day workout. The preview to this workout came in a simple warning from the teeny swede…”make sure you eat something, its hard…I’m serious.” Uhhh, when your TRAINER thinks its strenuous, that is a daunting and HAUNTING (double scary:)! I met the woman at her house sooooooo early, ate a pear on the way and parked outside to do some pre-hike tweeting (messaging on Twitter.com for those not on social media sites). I looked up and the 100lb ball of muscle and strength was standing at my window staring at me pushing a piece of toast in my direction. AGAIN…”Did you eat, have some toast, you need energy for this one.” Uhhh, STOP…I don’t need to be peeing myself before my workout, I need maintain a solid level of hydration, obviously!
We got to the stairs, it was BEAUTIFUL! I felt like I had taken a trip to Ireland, the stairs at Jefferson Park in Culver City were made of stone and they are surrounded by vegetation. Not what I mentally had pictured. I asked right out of the gate how many stairs there were, and without hesitation, she responded “242.” We headed up the stairs with yoga mats and water bottles in hand. These were not normal stairs, the step was more like stepping up on a large box…my knee was right around my belly button level, so it was like doing 242 step ups…Feel the Burn!
I said we had Yoga mats in our hands right? Yep, we got to the top, so pretty, by the way, and started our Yoga/Pilates Circuit that Miss Sandra had programmed. I was hit by a car while on my road-bike so she has to deal with a lot of prior injuries and limitations (and I’m stubborn, so good luck to her:). There were three seperate circuits and in between we went back down the stairs, and trekked back up…OBNOXIOUS….I kept telling her, “we are already at the top…why not just stay here and finish the exercises THEN go back down to the car..duhh?” Its weird how we didn’t do that..(sarcasm). Video can be seen at “Sandra and I aren’t friends anymore!”
As far as food goes…after the workout while I was showering, the torturer turned on the charm and made me some oatmeal, with maple syrup….yummmmm! And then she sent me on my way with a small pack of raw trail mix, a banana and a Lara Bar, which was delicious by the way! I think she is definitely in cahoots with my nutritionist Tanya I did consume all of those goodies, but not all at once…I saved the banana for before yoga, and I had the Lara Bar at around lunchtime. I also had a piece of chicken, an apple (which was lunchish) and then a bowl of cereal for dinner…Kashi, with a handful of raisins for sweet yummy flavor! I love me some raisins!!! She still hasn’t told me that cereal is a go or a no, so I’m goin with it!

Talk Nerdy To Me…

Do you have that friend that wakes up really early, and wakes you up with the most obnoxiously chipper greeting? Yeah, that’s me (my poor poor roommate)…or what’s more annoying, is that friend, that corrects you when you lazily use the wrong word or term…yep, you guessed it, me again. I can’t help it…I’m a nerd. I admit it, and I am finally embracing this identity. I was enjoying a beautiful sunny day in Hollywood with my medical journals and was sweating at the thought of someone noticing what I was doing, what would they think of me? I’m not poetically speaking of underground grunge music or flipping through the pages of a fashion mag….will I ever fit in? NOPE…and that is OK!

No longer will I pretend to be twittering, when I’m really researching the benefits of proper dental health. I will hold my head high while walking through the library doors to return books ON TIME….Clark Kent was a hot nerd…and he had a lil Superman inside of him, so I encourage you, my friends, to be introspective. Go out and strive to be the best version of yourself!!! It’s a hustle, but we’re livin it!!!!!