Archives for February 2010

The response to IFBB Figure Pro Andrea Watson’s “Walk with Watson” has been great. Thanks to Andrea for sharing her candid, honest thoughts along the way. She’ll be taking the pro stage for the first time next Friday and she’ll be one to watch. Join me in wishing her good luck! Here is the final installment of Walk with Watson. Let us know in the comments field if you’d like to hear more from Andrea after the Arnold.

The Final Stretch!!!!

Holy mole peeps, we’re entering the home stretch…thank you Jesus…I am finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel!  My evenings now consist of me walking around the house with my posing suit on and Brian shooing me out of the way because I’m blocking his view of American Idol!  Sheesh, I’m half naked man, look at me damn it! Tell me if my butt still looks fat, if I’m still holding water in my back or if you can see my abs. My little pinkie toes are squished and hanging on for dear life because they’re forced into my new clear heals… so I decide to put on some socks to stretch them bad boyz out!!!

I am dreading this weekend because there is so much I must get accomplished.  For one, I have to give myself a bikini wax… yes, I do my own because I don’t just let anyone see my golden gates of heaven…this is one of the most painful things about prepping for a competition! I debate on whether or not I should just shave the Thursday before the show but then I think to myself, sista!, Are you crazy? Don’t you remember you’re half Filipino and Italian and God has blessed you with so much hair…too much hair…then I get a vision in my head of me showing up on stage on Friday with a Chia Pet that has grown 10 inches in the middle of the night and is now waving at the judges! Yikes!  Better do the wax!

My dear mother is constantly on my case about whether or not I’m losing the weight and if I am going to be ready for the show. She even bought me a Tony Little No Impact glute workout DVD from Food World because she is trying to help!  Bless her little heart. She has said so many Rosarys for me over the past few months that I think I have enough blessings to carry me and every competitor in the NPC and IFBB into the next lifetime! Just picture a little Filipino woman (smaller than me) saying (note the accent please), “Andria, I don’t see dose little bumps (muscles) in your back like I did at your pirst show….hab you been doing your butt DBD dat I bought you?  Hab you been sticking to your diet?  Your butt is big.”

The purse that I carry around with me the last month reminds me of something Inspector Gadget would carry around…if he was a figure competitor. It is not a fancy Coach or Luis Vuitton, no people, it is a bright yellow, nylon $8 TJ Maxx special, which has numerous pockets, zippers, hiding places, etc.  In any given day it holds my iPod, 3 packs of sugar free gum, empty orange roughy, chicken, or asparagus baggies, tanning lotion, deodorant, clean panties – just in case, baby wipes, etc.  The other day I was at Publix checking out, spending half an hour looking for my wallet that was mysteriously hidden in there somewhere….when all of a sudden a disgusting, dirty, smelly gym sock falls out.  But wait a minute!!!!  To my surprise I see a little piece of heaven sitting at the bottom of my Inspector Gadget purse…is it a purple skittle?….a M&M?…I quickly grab it, sniff it and pop that baby into my mouth!  Ha, ha little sucker, can’t escape little mama…to my pleasure it was a delicious Reeses Pieces left over from a couple of months ago…I had just experienced a tingle inside of me that I had not felt in a long time…who cares about the nasty sock and the look of disgust on the cashier’s face?

Well folks, this has been the toughest prep for me. I have faced many challenges since last July: from having surgery, to the doctors finding cancer in my appendix, gaining 20 pounds out of depression, rushing Sam to the puppy ER because of her heart condition and being told to make preparations for her death, dealing with the recent loss of loved ones, and a few other issues that are too personal to list. I could have given up many times but I decided to go on and finish what I started. I have grown so much spiritually this last year and I know that my faith will get me through anything and everything.

Through this short journey of mine, I have learned to be a fighter and a very positive person. This sport has given me the strength to see just how much I am capable of doing. I may not have the perfect body or be the best on that stage in Columbus but I am proud of what I have accomplished. I have worked so hard and given 110% each and every day. I can say without a doubt that there is nothing else I could have done leading up to the show to bring a better package. In the end, my placing is out of my hands and in the fate of the judges.

Thank you for following me along my journey.  Thank you for all of the e-mails, comments, and encouragement.  Now, to my fellow competitors…HEELS ON LADIES, IT’S STAGE TIME!!! GO HOBBIT, GO HOBBIT, GO HOBBIT!!!!  HEEEEEEEEE HAAAAAAW Y’ALL LOOK OUT COLUMBUS HERE THIS COUNTRY GIRL COMES!!!!

P.S.  I will be working at the Met-Rx booth on Saturday and Sunday so please feel free to stop by and shower me with pans of eggplant parmesan, any type of sweet, or just food in general! Tee hee.

GOD BLESS, I WISH YOU ALL OF THE BEST IN 2010!

Welcome our newest contributor, IFBB Figure Pro and Fitness Model Jessica Paxson-Putnam. Jessica has been featured in numerous magazines as well as their covers. She was last year’s Jacksonville Pro Figure champion and is a sponsored by Optimum Nutrition. Those of you attending the Arnold Sports Festival can meet Jess at the Optimum Nutrition booth. We’re excited to have Jess as a Hardbody contributor.

Hello everyone! I want to thank Isaac with Hardbody.com for inviting me to contribute to the site! I will be covering a variety of different topics ranging from diet/training, to photos hoot tips, relationships, and faith. You name it, I will cover it! Please respond to my posts and let me know if you have any questions or topics you would like me to cover! Or you can email me at Jess@JessFit.com.

The first topic I want to cover is “healthy eating”. As fitness enthusiasts and competitors we all know what it means to eat healthy. Some of you may be like me though, and while I can easily grill or bake a chicken breast with some Mrs. Dash on it, I have never been much of a cook.

I really had no desire to try and cook a healthy meal, mostly because my husband is also a competitor and we eat pretty bland simple foods most of the time. Lately I’ve become interested in trying healthy recipes. Peter and I plan on having a family one day and I’m sure the kids might get tired of bland chicken after awhile! I’m thankful my hubby likes to cook also, so we have been trying out quite a few fun healthy dishes as of late. I wanted to share one of the recipes we tried the other night. It is a Rachel Ray recipe, but I changed it up to make it my own:

MUSHROOM, SPINACH, AND GOAT CHEESE STUFFED CHICKEN

Ingredients
– 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 6 ounces
– Large plastic food storage bags or waxed paper
– 1 package, 10 ounces, frozen chopped spinach
– 12 small mushroom caps, crimini or button
– 2 cloves garlic, cracked (I used the canned chopped garlic)
– Chopped onion
– Salt and freshly ground black pepper
– Crumbled goat cheese (as much as you want)
– 1 cup Fat free Parmesan cheese
– Can of fire roasted tomatoe or sun-dried tomatos
– 1/2 teaspoon fresh grated or ground nutmeg
– 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
– Toothpicks

*We didn’t make it with the sauce and it still tasted great!

Sauce:
– 2 tablespoons butter
– 2 tablespoons flour
– 1/2 cup white wine
– 1 cup chicken broth

Directions
Place breasts in the center of a plastic food storage bag or 2 large sheets of waxed paper. Pound out the chicken from the center of the bag outward using a heavy-bottomed skillet or mallet. Be firm but controlled with your strokes.
Defrost spinach in the microwave. Transfer spinach to a kitchen towel. Twist towel around spinach and wring it out until very dry. Transfer to a medium-mixing bowl.

Place a nonstick skillet over moderate heat. When skillet is hot add  chopped mushrooms, garlic and onion. Season with salt and pepper and saute 5 minutes.Transfer to the mixing bowl, adding the mushrooms to the spinach. Add goat cheese,grated cheese, and tomatos to the bowl and the nutmeg. Stir to combine the stuffing. Return your skillet to the stove over medium high heat.

Place a mound of stuffing on each breast and wrap and roll breast over the stuffing. Secure breasts with toothpicks. Add 3 tablespoons oil to the pan, 3 turns of the pan. Add breasts to the pan and brown on all sides, cooking chicken 10 to 12 minutes. The meat will cook quickly because it is thin. Remove breasts; add butter to the pan and flour. Cook butter and flour for a minute, whisk in wine and reduce another minute. Whisk in broth and return breasts to the pan. Reduce heat and simmer until ready to serve. Remove toothpicks. Serve breasts whole or, remove from pan, slice on an angle and fan out on dinner plates. Top stuffed chicken breasts or sliced stuffed breasts with generous spoonfuls of the sauce.

I ended up putting them in the oven for 30-45 min b/c the chicken breasts were big. You could serve this with brown rice also. Here is a picture of the finished product…The wine is optional 😉

Stay fit and God bless!
Jess

Andrea Taylor checks in with her latest Fit Pregnancy Journal. She’s expecting her first child and is sharing some of the challenges of staying fit while being pregnant here on Hardbody.com.

When we train, we constantly compete with ourselves. That crazy voice in our heads does not let us slow down when we’re tempted to, plus we know that dreaded feeling when we realize that we could’ve worked harder. It’s tough to change your mindset from “the competitor” to “the mommy” when you’re pregnant!

For the first 5 months, I trained as usual- and felt great! I was starting to think this pregnancy thing was easy. . .until one night when Micah (hubby) and I went out for our normal run. About 1 mile into the run, my legs felt like they weighed 100 pounds each! And breathing? Forget it! I felt so lame and out of shape! I didn’t give in at first- no thank you! I spend hours every day yelling at my clients not to stop what they’re doing, push through the pain, focus on your breathing . . . I quickly learned this probably shouldn’t apply to me at 5 months pregnant. I simply could not run anymore. I threw my hands up, took a deep breath and said “I can’t go anymore. I give up.” Yup, the loser words. I said ‘em.

Micah stopped, held onto both of my shoulders, stared directly into my eyes and said “Honey, YOU’RE PREGNANT.” Thanks coach- I needed that! He laughed at my frustration and we enjoyed a nice stroll until I felt good again. After that it was all run/walk intervals (C’mon! Us Hardbodies don’t go down without a fight!).

When we shared my story of wretched defeat with the doctor she also had a laugh! She said there’s not a point in a pregnancy that a doctor can tell an active person that this is the time for them to stop. Instead, we have to listen to our bodies. Oh. . .ok. . listen to our bodies. So, when we feel like we can’t go on, then don’t? Little does she know about the voice I have to compete with!

Bottom line for us pregos: don’t be stubborn and make your body scream at you before you start to listen to it. Forget the voice- tell it to go play on the freeway until the little miracle is here- then it can come back with a vengeance!