My sister was born when I was eleven. I remember being insanely excited by the thought of a sibling, and then insanely jealous of the endless attention a baby requires. I wasn't much for play as a pre-teen and was pretty content to stay locked in my room or at friends houses. It certainly wasn't her fault, or my younger brothers that I was so steadfast to leave home. I left for college at the tender age of sixteen. Kayla was five and Jacob three. I barely saw them through those hazy four years. (Thats another entry)
I got married in college, which later proved to be a major learning lesson. I learned a lot though being someones wife. Having to think and care for and about another human being as much, maybe more than myself. After college he and I moved up to the panhandle of the gulf coast. Desperate unemployed college students, we begrudgingly took an extremely kind offer from his parents to rent their beautiful "nearly" beach house for next to nothing. I’m certain they could have rented it for four times as much as we paid. It was an easy breezy summer, working our part time jobs, and enjoying the life of retirees. A life we did not earn, and a life I did not want. After moving back nearer to my family I quickly became exasperated for more meaning in my life. I joined the Army in 2009 and that led me far far away where I still didn't get to know my siblings very well.
Whenever I would come home I began to take the time to get to know Kayla. The older I got the more I realized she was like me in many ways; rebellious and hot tempered, I tried to be someone she could talk to. It was really hard though with my visits being short and infrequent. Kayla taught me things without even realizing it. She taught me that hard work can really take you far. She was an excellent student and gave 110% to her studies. She was kind and forgiving. She wasn’t interested in dating and gaining material possessions. She cared about her purpose, her relationships, her animals. She wanted to know and understand the world deeply.
When my son was born Kayla was thrilled to become an aunt, but at five months old I took that nephew of hers across the globe to South Korea. When Jaxon was 2.5 years-old we moved back around the world to Florida because Thomas had been stationed in Honduras for a year. We moved in with my sister, and instantly she became my best-friend. She was honest, and supportive. She stepped in to love and nurture my terrible toddler with as much gusto as I gave being his mother. She never ditched us to party with friends or hang with a boy. She was just present in a way I couldn’t have survived without.
We became like sister wives doing each others hair and giving back rubs while we binge watched Grey's Anatomy. We took turns dealing with the little monster trying to crush my spirit “who I love” lol. Who both cooked, and cleaned, and went grocery shopping together. Ok, ok, mostly I did those things, but she helped dang it. She babysat countless hours without ever asking to be paid, she walked my dog, and let me talk her ear off. If I could I might just want to be sister wives, because I miss her everyday. I wish she was there when i went to bed, and when I woke up. I love my husband but he just doesn’t get me like my sister and I love my friends but no one compares.
XOXO- Love you most
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
My journey to my first figure competition
This was just a listing of my measurements from 2015 when my son was one year old to the present when he is currently six. It had no explanation, no gut wrenching account of the months I spent weigh lifting, training for a half marathon, and dieting. I mean it wasn’t quite a “diet per se”. It was really me eating only healthy foods in healthy portions without exception but it was miserable. I love food, let me say again I Love food! Sometimes, not all the time I live and breathe for food, and in these times wether for days or weeks I want to eat all the things. Other times I don’t much care what I eat, and I aim to eat only healthy foods without much regard for taste. I don’t know why, I’m finicky. I think it relates to my mood, and the season. I know I enjoy food with friends. I love to socialize over a tray of homemade goodies which made losing the post-pregnancy that much more lonely. I learned a lot about myself though, and I pushed myself to new heights I hadn’t climbed since my days in the Army. Meeting physical challenges head on with the tenacity of a trapped animal I was all fight or flight so to speak. I fought through every workout getting stronger and enduring more pain for gains. I flew through the miles until six mile runs came easy breezy. From January 2015 to June I lost 29lbs on my 65” frame putting me down to a size 2/Xs. My boobs became invisible, practically inverted from the lack of body fat. All that remained was the sad shriveled template of my youthfuller chest.
I got a warning from my grandmother when I took my son home Christmas 2014 that baby weight could stick with you, especially as you got older. I was only about ten pounds heavier than my prepregnancy weight, and my goal wasn’t to lose more than that ten pounds and get my button on my old jeans to close since I’d gotten rid of all my maternity clothes early. We flew back to South Korea and I started doing home workouts. Looking back at my weight and measurements it’s funny I wasn’t happy at 145 even though I weigh more than that now. I think I just wasn’t happy. I was restless being a new mom, in a new country, and the holidays are never an easy time for me in general. I realized pretty quickly how unbelievably boring working out alone, at home is. It is truly isolating, and I don’t feel like most anyone is giving their 110%. We are social creatures who thrive on human interaction. Wether its a group fitness class, a running partner, or just the thrill of being around other warm bodies getting out of my house is one sure fire way to increase my productivity.
I enrolled my tiny human in childcare 90 mins a few times a week and began dedicating an hour to myself. I noticed a girl who had the physique i so wanted offering advice/training. Turns out she wasn’t actually hired to offer that advice in house, but we made a little arrangement and for 1/3 of the price of hourly personal training I got myself an accountability partner. She taught me how to train smarter not harder. She showed me how to eat clean (i.e. your whole 30 type diet) but high in protein, and lift lots and lots of weights to get quicker hard earned results. The process wasn’t fast enough for me though losing only about five pounds between beginning training late January and March so I decided to start training for a half marathon with a friend. Ive never loved running, other than the benefit of weight control for me. I trained for this half marathon with my best friend though so it hardly ever felt like work.
fitness 101
I got a warning from my grandmother when I took my son home Christmas 2014 that baby weight could stick with you, especially as you got older. I was only about ten pounds heavier than my prepregnancy weight, and my goal wasn’t to lose more than that ten pounds and get my button on my old jeans to close since I’d gotten rid of all my maternity clothes early. We flew back to South Korea and I started doing home workouts. Looking back at my weight and measurements it’s funny I wasn’t happy at 145 even though I weigh more than that now. I think I just wasn’t happy. I was restless being a new mom, in a new country, and the holidays are never an easy time for me in general. I realized pretty quickly how unbelievably boring working out alone, at home is. It is truly isolating, and I don’t feel like most anyone is giving their 110%. We are social creatures who thrive on human interaction. Wether its a group fitness class, a running partner, or just the thrill of being around other warm bodies getting out of my house is one sure fire way to increase my productivity.
I enrolled my tiny human in childcare 90 mins a few times a week and began dedicating an hour to myself. I noticed a girl who had the physique i so wanted offering advice/training. Turns out she wasn’t actually hired to offer that advice in house, but we made a little arrangement and for 1/3 of the price of hourly personal training I got myself an accountability partner. She taught me how to train smarter not harder. She showed me how to eat clean (i.e. your whole 30 type diet) but high in protein, and lift lots and lots of weights to get quicker hard earned results. The process wasn’t fast enough for me though losing only about five pounds between beginning training late January and March so I decided to start training for a half marathon with a friend. Ive never loved running, other than the benefit of weight control for me. I trained for this half marathon with my best friend though so it hardly ever felt like work.
fitness 101
My max heart rate
220-age (30)
190bpm max heart range
190x.85=161.5
Kates HIIT workout
20 minutes (50sec.on/10rest)
1. Jumping jacks
2. Push-up (chest tap-harder, girl push-up)
3. Butt Kicks
4. Lateral raise and front raise (compound movement)
5. High knees
6. Plank (forearm plank, plank tap)
7. Kettle bell squats
8. Wall squats
9. Skaters
10. Walking push-up
11. Mountain Climbers
12. Shoulder press
13. Single leg explosive lunge
14. Tricep extension
15. Squat jacks and air squats
16. Leg lift crunches
17. Weighted walking lunges
18. Bicycle crunches
19. Kettle bell high-pull
20. Weighted oblique crunch/toe touches
Cool down 10min
Windmill toe touches
Hurdlers lunge
Cross-bodyArm stretch
Overhead arm stretch
Neck stretch
Foam roller
Required:
Speakers
Kettle bells
Dumbbell
Yoga mat
Perfect post workout meal
5egg whites/tuna, brown rice, veggies
Eggs contains protein, aminis, and leucine
Tuna is Leucine rich
Whey protein has leucine
Rice replenishes glycogen "energy stores"
* Each workout should usually take around 45- 60 minutes. I would keep a log of your nutritional intake as well.
With cardio make it a mixture of hiit and steady state. Make sure when you do steady state it's on it's own without the weights until you have a sufficient rest time; 2+ hours. Low intensity cardio is the "safe" route to cardio, as you greatly preserve glycogen stores and burn primarily from fat stores. This type of cardio is considered to be the "best" type to perform in a fasted state (in the early morning) or depleted state (post workout). 30-45 minutes of low intensity cardio, in which you keep your heart rate at 65-75% of your max heart rate. The summary here is that cardio and weightlifting can be done simultaneously, if it is kept at a low intensity. If the desire to perform HIIT is present, then one should wait 6 hours or so and treat it just like a weight training session, incorporating a pre and post workout meal.
Monday-Chest, triceps, cable crunch
Tuesday- Back, abs, cable crunches
Wednesday-REST
Thursday-Shoulders, biceps, cable crunch
Friday- Quads, Gluteus, Hamstrings
*Change movements to 3x12sets last set drop set to muscle failure
Chest
1. Incline chest press @ different angles
2. Barbell press & P/U muscle failure
3. Chest fly stretch and flex on flat bench or
3. Chest fly cable crossover
Triceps
1. Skull crusher
2. Tricep extension
3. Cable tricep push down
*If you lie flat on your back on a bench, you can perform a chest press and chest fly, which work the middle of the pectoralis major in the chest, your shoulders and triceps.
Back
*If you kneel on the flat bench, you can perform a one-handed dumbbell row, which works your back. Lie face down with your arms hanging down on either side to perform the row with both arms simultaneously
*when doing hyper extension "hunched back reduces stress on low back"
Shoulders
1. Overhead press (hold abs tight)
2. lateral raise dumbbell
(Superset lateral raise and press)
3. front raise dumbbell above eye level
Bicep
1. Curl highest weight for one rep, reducing weight until muscle failure
2. 21 wavy bar
3. Upside down curls
2. Leg raises straight super-setted with and bent leg; take each set to total failure.
3. Get on an ab machine with a weight stack. Then start with your heaviest weight and drop it down 10 pounds
4. Plank
5. Cable crunch
Legs quads
*Warm up with ten mins cardio
1. squats single leg
3. front squat
3. back squat
4. lunges
5. Leg press "feet high on platform
6. Leg extensions
Hamstrings, glutes, calves
1. American deadlifts "posterior pelvic tilt"
2. Flat bench Glute bridge
3. Lying leg curls; Start with your heaviest weight for 6 reps, then drop it 20 pounds and take it to failure. Drop it another 20 pounds, etc. until you only have 20 pounds on the stack. Take the entire set to failure.
4. Put on your heaviest weight and drop set it until there is no weight.
Losing the baby weight
2013 Pre-pregnancy Fitness Level
Muscles failure-33 PU/80SU
March 2013 pre-pregnancy 150lbs
34" around ribs
30" waist
40" hips
more
August 20-6 months 170lbs
34.5"
34"
41.5"
September 6-7months174lbs
October 9-8months 178lbs
35.5"
37"
43.5"
November 1-9 months 183lbs
November 13-38 weeks 185lbs
November 20-1 week postpartum
165lbs
January 24-10 wk postpartum 160lbs
34" bra
32.5" waist
42.5"hip
August 24-10 mo postpartum 155lbs
32.5"bra
30" waist
40" hip
October 2014 152lbs
January 2015 145.5lbs
31" bra
30" waist
38" hip
March 2015 140lbs
32" bra
29 3/4" waist
37" hip
July 2015 130lbs and below
30"bra
28 3/4"waist
35" hip
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
Asan botanical gardens
The Asan botanical gardens resides about 25 minutes from Camp Humphreys. It is an easy drive to a beautiful series of greenhouses set out in the country. You pay a small fee of 2,000w about $2 to enter and children under 3 are free. The entrance fee includes a small succulent you receive. I went there many times with my son when he was a baby. In the carrier he loved to look around in every direction at all the beautiful plants and flowers. When he became a toddler he could gleefully walk around on his own investigating every area, pulling on the plants, and absorbing everything nature tries to teach a child. He learned some plants have thorns, and bees can pretty unforgiving when you interrupt their lunch.
We took my mom when she visited Korea. An avid photographer and lover of natures beauty she was mesmerized taking it all in through her lens. Theres a parakeet enclosure with hundreds of birds in the center of Asan. You open the door and walk in with food and the birds just flock to you to eat from your hands. I forgot what a bird lover she was, and she recounted to me how she had two parakeets when I was a child and I freed them from their cage through a window. This was like as if you had gathered all the freed house birds and brought them together to chitter-chatter all day and eat treats from transient tourists.
My son and I went back with our baby wearing group several times. Each trip a few months after the last you could see the new milestones the little passengers were making. Jaxon began crawling and eventually walking and wasn't content to be glued to me anymore. He started to talk and tried to names things with words that didn't fit but made sense to him. Eventually he learned the names of many things and knew exactly where he wanted to go, to the ice cream stand of course. He'd briskly walk through the center breezeway to the picnic tables giving me no time to enjoy the new blooms. Pointing and saying I-cream please, I-cream please momma.
I miss that beautiful spot so near to Anjeong-ri's hustle and bustle, and all the vast construction happening throughout 2015 and 2016.
We took my mom when she visited Korea. An avid photographer and lover of natures beauty she was mesmerized taking it all in through her lens. Theres a parakeet enclosure with hundreds of birds in the center of Asan. You open the door and walk in with food and the birds just flock to you to eat from your hands. I forgot what a bird lover she was, and she recounted to me how she had two parakeets when I was a child and I freed them from their cage through a window. This was like as if you had gathered all the freed house birds and brought them together to chitter-chatter all day and eat treats from transient tourists.
My son and I went back with our baby wearing group several times. Each trip a few months after the last you could see the new milestones the little passengers were making. Jaxon began crawling and eventually walking and wasn't content to be glued to me anymore. He started to talk and tried to names things with words that didn't fit but made sense to him. Eventually he learned the names of many things and knew exactly where he wanted to go, to the ice cream stand of course. He'd briskly walk through the center breezeway to the picnic tables giving me no time to enjoy the new blooms. Pointing and saying I-cream please, I-cream please momma.
I miss that beautiful spot so near to Anjeong-ri's hustle and bustle, and all the vast construction happening throughout 2015 and 2016.
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Gyeongbokgung palace in Seoul
South Korea although mainly known for the armistice with North Korea post war in the 1950's was actually ruled by Japan for some hundred of years. Japanese culture had a heavy influence on the county. This can be seen the the many palaces through the country which are so ornately painted and decorated with golden dragons. Gyeonbokgung palace is one of the larger and more spectacular of those palaces to visit. Not only because it is centrally located in the countries capital and bustling metro-center, but also because the grounds of the palace are expansive and make for at least a half day of sightseeing. Outside the main gates you should stick around to catch a changing of the guard, which i'll be honest, is much more exchanging and lively than the change at Buckingham palace.
There are scenic lakes that provide a beautiful backdrop for family photos. Several cafes are also inside the palace gates to grab a traditional meal. It is a lot of walking so you can work off those calories. Most of Korea is a lot of walking and Koreans answer by being avid exercisers.
If you're going to be in Seoul to see the palace there are so many things to do, a trip to the Coex aquarium perhaps, or a hike up Seoul tower. If you're visiting in April you have to see the Cherry blossoms and enjoy the festival foods.
There are scenic lakes that provide a beautiful backdrop for family photos. Several cafes are also inside the palace gates to grab a traditional meal. It is a lot of walking so you can work off those calories. Most of Korea is a lot of walking and Koreans answer by being avid exercisers.
If you're going to be in Seoul to see the palace there are so many things to do, a trip to the Coex aquarium perhaps, or a hike up Seoul tower. If you're visiting in April you have to see the Cherry blossoms and enjoy the festival foods.
COEX plaza Aquarium
I love Aquariums. I can't say this enough, I have been to an inordinate amount of aquariums on different continents, in every state we've lived, and many many times I'll frequent the one nearest our home. I think it's something about the water and the sea life that reminds me of home. Growing up on Floridas west coast I spent much time at the beach, wether it be with my mom playing in the ocean and getting a tan or with my dad and uncle fishing.
For a long time nothing could top the aquarium in Maui. Thomas and I had vacationed to the remote Hawaiian island mid-tour deployment May 2011. We stayed in a beautiful five star resort on the water and barely left the hotel. We did however, make a trip for me to see the aquarium. It was full of pacific native fish, urchins, octopus, and sea urchins. It resides right on the coast so you can even take a boat tour out to look for chance encounters with dolphins.
The aquarium is plenty for a half days exploring with sharks, rays, turtles, and colorful tropical fish.
"Named “Top 10 Aquariums in the World” by TripAdvisor’s Travelers’ Choice Awards, Maui Ocean Center is the premier destination to encounter and learn about Hawaii’s marine life. Home to one of the world’s largest displays of live Pacific corals, the Aquarium exhibits only marine life found in Hawaiian waters including tropical fish, sea turtles, sharks, stingrays, octopuses, sea jellies, and more. The Aquarium highlights the beauty of Hawaii’s undersea world while perpetuating the deep connection between the Hawaiian people and the sea. The Aquarium’s mission is to foster understanding, wonder, and respect for Hawaii’s marine life." https://mauioceancenter.com
Hyeonchungsa Shrine
Hyeonchungsa Shrine, say that three times fast, is also a short drive from Camp Humphreys. It was on of the places Jaxon and I visited many times. It is expansive and lush with bright green grass so kids can run freely without bumping into other patrons. There are multiple destination "sights" to see including the high stairs leading up to the shrine itself.
There is an archery range to try your luck at the ancient Soldiers weapon of choice on certain days and times. An instructor is present to make are you don't accidentally shoot your battle buddy, or someone else's. The "smaller representation" of a turtle ship is pretty cool. It is so named for the hard shell covering the deck to protect Soldiers from arrows, and prevent being boarded. It is a lot of steps walking this great place, and a lot of stairs if you choose. Since its pretty hilly and vast its more of a day trip.
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=264127
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