Sun Warrior Protein
and Muscle Gain

A remarkable quality about Sun Warrior Protein is that it contains Gamma Oryzanol. Sun Warrior Protein is made from bio-fermented raw sprouted whole grain brown rice (with the bran and germ). The Japanese have been using and studying this natural compound for years. Gamma Oryzanol is found in different parts of rice, in particular the rice germ and rice bran. What the Japanese have found is that Gamma Oryzanol increases muscle mass, is a potent anti-oxidant and is very effective in healing ulcers, lowering cholesterol, and other conditions. Gamma Oryzanol is used by some athletes based on early reports that suggested it enhances muscle growth and sports performance. According to numerous studies, Gamma Oryzanol produces these benefits by increasing levels of testosterone, growth hormone, and other anabolic (muscle-building) hormones.

On a basic level, protein is needed to provide the essential amino acids necessary for GH synthesis. Protein is utilized by the growth hormones to build muscles. Protein is made up of amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of your muscles and muscle tissue. Without them, it would be impossible to build, repair or even maintain muscle tissue.

Sun Warrior Protein contains all 9 essential and non-essential amino acids in a perfectly balanced Amino Acid Profile. In fact, our comparison by an independent lab test confirms that Sun Warrior Protein is equal or higher in some cases than the amino acid profile of egg, whey, and beef (please refer to the website for amino acid profile comparison charts).

Sun Warrior Protein is living and more potent and absorbable than non-living animal proteins. Most athletes take high amounts of animal based protein that is not usable for the body and is actually acidic creating intestinal toxemia and other disturbances. Because Sun Warrior is predigested with bio-fermentation and natural enzymes, it has a 98% to 99% digestion efficiency. It’s completely hypoallergenic.

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Check out my feature on Sun Warrior’s new site at http://www.sunwarrior.com/experts/athletes.

Be Defiant!!!

Christy

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Here is the link:   Celery as Raw Viagara?

The title surely is an attention-grabber, but what really piqued my interest was the mention of the steroids androsterone and adrostenol. And it is high in arginine, which is the amino acid that creates great ‘pumps’ in the gym, and is in many Nitric Oxide supplements.   It makes me wonder just how powerful celery is as a body-building food? I knew its natural sodium was perfect for post-workout recovery, but maybe there’s even more!

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Defiance note:  I love my celery-kiwi-banana smoothies!   See the video HERE for an awesome post-workout celery smoothie.   Hmmmm….maybe there is another reason……

Be Defiant!

Christy

“Aging Disgracefully—and Proud of It!”

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Watch this video! You get to meet two of the owners of Sun Warrior, and Matt & Angela Monarch of The Raw Food World test out the amazing new Ormus Greens from Sun Warrior. Wait until you see what they do to a light bulb!

My greens are on their way, and I am totally psyched! I can’t wait to try these. It sounds like the energy rush will make one of those toxic ‘energy’ drinks look like flat soda!

The Ormus Greens are available NOW on the Sun Warrior website. Click any of my Sun Warrior links to visit the site (like the one flashing to your right!), and you will find it on the Products page, along with the protein and the awesome Activated Barley.

This company is poised to explode. Sun Warrior has some new products in the works that will blow your mind, in addition to what they have already. I am so proud to be associated with them!  Quality, integrity, and earth-shattering products—truly a rarity in the market!

Be Defiant!

Christy

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This goes right along with the information on my page,  So Where Do You Get Your Protein?

Visit the Defiant Recipes page for great ideas on incorporating greens into your nutrition program!

Be Defiant!

Christy

Aging Disgracefully–And Proud of It!

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I am so thankful for my husband, my family, and our beautiful farm that provides so many wonderful foods, animals, and lots of opportunities for great exercise through hard work. And all of my ‘most thankful fors’ were right there, enveloping me during the whole holiday. It doesn’t get any better than that!

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FOOD TRIGGERS

We drove over on Wednesday evening, after Michael finished work. My food struggles started that night. I had been pretty good leading up to the holiday, even though I was instructed to NOT work out for a week (that was killing me!) and there were no food restrictions. I didn’t want to destroy what I had worked so hard to build, so I stayed 90% on the diet, allowing myself a healthy treat meal every day. I was back on my beloved green smoothies, with lots of bananas! Oh, how I missed those. I also ate an Amy’s pizza–my favorite version: spinach with vegan cheeze and rice crust. I also had an Amy’s burger, and things like that. Not bad, just not things I can eat on a precontest diet. And lots of raw food! On Monday, I HAD to make healthy pancakes! My best bud Angela nicknamed me ‘Flaps’ last week because of my love affair with pancakes.

I planned that I was going to eat the heck out of my mom’s incredible German Chocolate Cake. I was dying for some, and figured I deserved it. One day won’t hurt, right? (Well, one and a half days. We started on it Wednesday night.) My body completely rebelled against the stuff I was eating! Wow, I was shocked at how bad it got. That’s the dichotomy of eating very clean for a long time–the things that didn’t cause any problems before suddenly become very toxic and make you miserable. For example, if you used to drink a lot of coffee or alcohol, and you eat mostly raw and abstain from those things, then when you allow yourself a little bit, very often the negative reaction is brutal. I used to enjoy a glass or two of red wine with dinners, and since Michael is highly knowledgeable about wines due to his former job as a wine distributor, we were part of a couple of vintner’s clubs before I started my raw food lifestyle. Now, if I have even a few sips of red wine, I immediately get a headache and want to go straight to bed. I just can’t handle it at all.

So, just one day won’t hurt, right? Well, it hurt me. I swelled up like a balloon and felt miserable. But the worst part was the cravings it triggered. I was amazed at how powerful they were. I was frantic wanting more and more cake and sugary things. It’s like it takes over your brain and it’s all you can think about. But I was feeling so miserable that my conscious mind was desperate to get back on my regular Bombshell diet. Which is just about impossible in the middle of nothing but Thanksgiving food. I definitely melted down on Thanksgiving, but the next day I didn’t touch any of the ‘trigger’ foods at all. I ate green smoothies, lots of salad, and didn’t touch cake or the sweet potato souffle (which was one of the best ones I have ever eaten.) That was hard–I was really struggling with the brain cravings. But my poor body kept me in line.

Foods like sugar, refined flours, etc. often cause negative reactions that end up manifesting as cold-like symptoms when the ‘detox’ starts. Both Michael and I came down with ‘colds’ after Thanksgiving. In my past life, I would have thought I caught a cold and taken a bunch of medicines. Fortunately, now I know enough to realize that our bodies were throwing out all those toxins and that we had to support our immune systems through the detox–yet not stop the detox, which is so necessary. I had some convincing to do with Michael, as he was ready to take a bunch of decongestants. Instead, I fixed up some great concoctions to support the cleansing process. The most successful potion was Apple Cider Vinegar, juice of 1/2 lemon, and raw unfiltered honey (that still has all the propolis, pollen, etc in it) That is amazingly cleansing.

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MY PUNISHMENT

My body really punished me! On Saturday, I conveniently reasoned that it had been a week since I last worked out, so I headed up to the rec center intending to bust out a very intense cardio session and hopefully sweat out the toxins and the huge amount of water I was retaining. I did my warmup on the Stepmill for five minutes, and felt great. I hopped off to do my first round of plyos, started my walkout pushup jumps, and after a few my quadricep muscles started to cramp up. No biggie, I thought. I stretched for a few seconds, and started another plyo jump exercise. My quads LOCKED UP. I mean, they cramped up so bad I couldn’t walk. I have never had a cramp in my life–ever! I was not prepared for the intense pain and complete loss of mobility.

It was all I could do to get down to the front doors to leave. I literally couldn’t walk very far, and the only relief was kneeling on my knees with my feet tucked under me, which seemed to help them release a bit. I had to kneel three times just to get around the track and then going down the stairs was pure torture. I finally made it to the couches and it was a good 30 minutes before I could even consider driving. My friend had to go get my stuff for me, because I knew I couldn’t walk back up to the cardio area.

I finally made it home, and immediately started looking for cramp remedies. I tried a few and then got in the tub in hot water, which was recommended to help relax the muscles. After an hour or two, I was OK and able to walk normally. But my quads felt like hard rocks and were so sore–some of the worst soreness I have ever felt. Only my quads cramped. Nothing else did, and other than my quads I felt just fine.

I didn’t try to work out on Sunday. Monday morning I tried cardio again, but this time upstairs in my house so I would be home in case it happened again. It did happen again, but not to the same extent. The foods I had been eating had obviously helped. In reading about cramps, I found that they are often caused by the body being extremely acid from–guess what–refined sugar and flour. Wow, talk about causing myself pain through food.

The detoxing has been hell. The cramps, the bloating, tortured intestines. Yuck! I am not exactly back on my diet yet because I have been eating a lot of foods to support myself through the detox. Not that they are bad–for example, honey is wonderful, but it is a sugar. No sugars are part of our diet, no matter how healthy they are. Same with fruit, which is also sugar, but oranges and bananas really help clear out the mucus that the body uses to help expectorate the toxins. But right now, my poor quads and my body need the help, so I am going to continue those things until I am back to normal. I still don’t know why only my quads are cramping. Weird.

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THANKSGIVING STORIES

OK this is already WAY too long, so I will save these for next time. We did have some interesting adventures.

Also, I am thinking about doing something very unusual, and I will share those thoughts as well.

The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is coming on! I gotta go!

Be Defiant!

Christy

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At the end of last week, I finished my first 4 weeks of Bombshell training. I am thrilled at the changes in my body so far. I can really tell a difference, and now I am getting comments from a lot of other people as well. This is definitely the best my abs have ever looked–by far–and I am still 8 weeks out from my show. My shoulders have really come up and are starting to actually have nice delt caps. And I am proud to say I have built some booty!!! The only thing I am frustrated with are my lats. They just don’t seem to be spreading out like I want. They are strong–I can lift crazy weight, but they aren’t giving me the V-taper I need. I told Shannon how I felt, and she told me to be patient, but also suggested I add a certain exercise 3 times a week that is specifically designed to build lat width. I know it works–I can really feel it!

OK, here are the progress pics for this week:

Can you tell a difference?

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Well, I am proud of the progress, but the party is now over. It’s time to get serious. I received my new diet and cardio workouts from Shannon this week. Whoa. Good news, bad news. The good news is I get to eat more food and the cardio is pretty much the same type of routines, just changed up a little bit. The bad news is that the ‘more’ food is a lot more broccoli and added mushrooms. OK–I just hit a wall. I think mushrooms are fungi that taste like dirt. Yuk. And the cardio got doubled up on me. Now I have to do cardio TWICE per day, once in the AM and again in the PM. Plus the weights, of course. Wow, that is going to be hard to fit all that in, just in terms of time. I am going to really have to work on my scheduling, especially with all the stuff I have going at night.

But the worst, for me, is that the ‘cheat meals’ now are very specific, and I can only choose from 5. And since 3 of them are red-meat-based, that leaves me with a choice of two—2 slices of pizza or 3 pancakes with 2 eggs. Two slices of pizza for me is a joke–a mere appetizer. I can easily eat a whole pizza and still have plenty of room for dessert! So that leaves the obvious choice for me–PANCAKES!!! I have always said that if I had to choose a ‘last meal’ it would be pancakes. And I can make pancakes fairly healthy–not raw of course, but with some great whole grains, etc. And I can add blueberries, peaches, apples, etc etc. Yum!

In fact, I have all my stuff laid out right now to make my first batch of pancakes this evening! I have a very healthy stone-ground 7 grain pancake mix, blueberries, and Grade B maple syrup which is much healthier and has tons of vital minerals in it. And since it is a cheat meal, I also have real butter and molasses! And I am going to scramble my eggs with Soy-rizo, which is a wonderful vegan version of Mexican chorizo sausage. It’s great protein and not very high in fat. YUM! I can’t wait!! I have to eat another couple meals of fish and vegetables, and then I am going in on the pancakes, right before the Bulldawgs kick off!

You know, I didn’t crave sugar at ALL when I was on my high-fruit raw diet. Even then, I knew I had to cut out fruit before my shows. Now I am on several weeks of almost no fruit. My 1/4 grapefruit was cut out on the new diet. And suddenly, now all I can think about is sugar! I crave sweets–and not the healthy kind either. On the regular raw diet, I didn’t miss cakes, pancakes, all that stuff, at all. Now it’s so tempting to me it’s ridiculous! I have heard many people say they eat a raw diet with little to no fruit or sugar–no dates, honey, etc. I don’t know HOW they do that! I think my body runs well on good healthy fruit sugars. It is definitely letting me know it misses the green smoothies and spirulina pies and puddings!

Now is when I really have to Be Defiant! I am having to defy my own body telling me what it needs. That’s not easy, let me tell you. I am not craving unhealthy things. I would kill for a banana! But I know that the competition is not real life, so although many foods may be very healthy, they are just not conducive to achieving my goals. And my goal is to WIN the Gold Cup on November 14th!

Would you believe my breakfast consists of 12 asparagus spears & 3 prunes? I also get oatmeal and egg whites. Here’s how I make it raw–I use the raw egg whites (totally safe–don’t even start with me on that one!), and blend them with my sprouted raw oat groats and barley, with pumpkin pie spice and stevia. It makes a nice cake-batter-type blend. I really enjoy it, actually! I eat the asparagus spears first, so I save the good stuff as a reward. That’s how I do all my meals–I eat the things I don’t like first to get them out of the way so I can eat the things I do like. Works for me!

Several of the girls from Team Bombshell are in NY for the Team Universe Championships this weekend. Shannon has been very busy helping all the girls get ready for this BIG show. So she hasn’t gotten my new weight workouts to me yet. So I got a little bit of leeway this week to make my own workouts up. I went back through all I have done so far at camp and my first workouts, and picked out the exercises that I felt were the most effective and targeted the areas that I want to work on the most. Wow–I think my versions were actually harder and more intense! Especially Booty last night–I was sweating my booty off, and boy is it sore today!

Tennessee is holding its own pretty well right now. I am eating one of my tastiest meals, with my little 1/4 apple as the high point. I do love the sweet potatoes. I cut them in sticks, put them in a baggie and shake with cinnamon. Yummy. It’s almost time to get ready to make pancakes and then settle in to watch the Dawgs kick some Razorback butt! I am also following the results of the Team U Championships on www.Siouxcountry.com as well as Shannon’s very timely Twitters right from backstage! Go Bombshell Sistas!!! I hope we take down several more pro cards tonight!

Be Defiant!

Christy

Nah–just kidding, but this new schedule has taken some adjustment, and is great because it is forcing me to be much more organized and efficient.  I need that.  My biggest downfall is my utter lack of organization, especially in my home office and my schedule. 

I am now doing at least two workouts a day, sometimes three, although the third one is just a short wind sprint session that only takes me about 15 to 20 minutes to complete.  Plus I am eating literally seven times a day–small meals yes, but think how hard it is for anyone who is busy to even fit in three squares a day!

You know, I thought I worked out really hard and pushed myself.  Maybe compared to most I did.  I want so badly to gain some beautiful muscle and I was really lifting hard to try to achieve that.  But I have learned in the past few weeks that I was wrong.  I was nowhere near pushing myself to the extent that I need to achieve my goals.  The training that Rob and Shannon set forth for us is truly world-class.  I have seen similar workouts extolled by the elite superstars of the NFL, like Jerry Rice, who is legendary for his work ethic, and Matt Leinart, who works out so hard that he has a bucket nearby so he can throw up and keep right on training!  (And I thought he was a wussy pretty boy–guess I misjudged!)

So far, a bucket has been unnecessary, thank goodness.  But I do have to say that my leg workout last week was the hardest one I have ever been through in my life.  Gone are the heavy weights with nice rest between sets.  Oh no, I am no longer pushing 500-lb leg presses for 8-10 reps and then recovering before doing it again.  Now it’s supersets of at least two exercises, done with no rest at all in between, so it becomes 6 to 8 exercises back to back that pushes every muscle fiber to its limit of endurance.  The leg press has become 30 reps with about 200 pounds, which I would have scoffed at before.  Hmmm….do 30 reps of that, jump to another leg exercise like deadlifts, and then back to the leg press for 4 rounds with no rest at all, and 200 pounds feels like a thousand! 

The cardio is not the powder puff sessions of endless, mindless pedaling on an elliptical machine.  No, it is intense intervals that are really high-rep leg workouts in disguise, building extreme muscular endurance while sending the heart rate through the roof and sweat dripping all over the place.  I said I wanted a bigger butt and legs.  Well, be careful what you wish for!  I am definitely heading in that direction and it hurts!

To ahcieve a goal you have never attained, you must do things you have never done.   I am definitely pushing my boundaries way out beyond my comfort zone.  It’s hard.  I am hurting.  I am sore.  I also have aggravated all those lovely old horseback riding injuries that had been lying dormant and not giving me much trouble.  My right lower back, hip, and especially knee have been screaming at me for a week.  Walking on my right leg has been literally difficult for nearly a week, but I gutted out every single rep of my workout schedule.  We get two days off on the weekends, and I have never been so glad to have a chance to heal! 

I finally was able to see my A.R.T. practitioner extraordinaire Dr. Renick, my massage therapist Shelly Daugherty and my naturopath Richard Weiler today.  Today was all about getting Christy fixed!  These people are all incredible professionals who truly support me and care deeply about my well-being, and also my success in attaining my goal.  No goal is ever achieved in a vacuum and I couldn’t make it right now without these fabulous people.  I love you all!!!

My diet–wow that’s a crazy subject.   I have been forced to make a decision to depart from some of the principles that have guided my nutrition for the past two years.  Anyone else would look at the diet they have me on, and think it was the healthiest diet they have ever seen.  But my perspective is different.  I am only eating fish, but I don’t even like doing that.  But so far, I have not found any raw vegan protein sources that truly mimic the effects of the fish, except for the Sun Warrior.  I am substituting seitan and tempeh for some of my meals, and they are great (although not raw), but they are higher in sodium and carbs, so I don’t think I will be able to eat them closer to a show. 

There are many fabulous protein sources in the raw food world, but most have a very high fat content.  For every day, that is just fine–the fats are necessary and healthy.   But doing what I am doing is not the real world.  For example, you all know I am very lean, usually hovering around 8 to 10 percent body fat on my every day diet, eating as much and whatever I want.  But for stage, Rob wants me to shed 10 pounds of bodyfat and gain a significant amount of muscle.  Stage is NOT real life!  So temporarily, I am going to trust their expertise and do what it takes to achieve my goal.  All my other foods I am eating raw.  For example, where they say oatmeal, I am eating sprouted raw oat groats.  All my sweet potatoes, veggies, etc are raw.   So as a percentage, I am still very high raw in my diet, and so far it is working pretty well.

I took measurements last week, and my waist has already come down over an inch!  Wow!  all others were about the same, so that means no muscle is being lost.  I am going to try to measure every week to see how things change.  Also, I will be taking progress pics.  I will share some of those, also.

It’s funny.  We get one ‘cheat meal’ every week, where for one meal we can have whatever we want–within reason.  This really helps jump start the metabolism and replenishes a lot of the lost glycogen depleted during the week’s workouts.   But I wasn’t craving pizza or cake like I used to.  No, I wanted more than anything—–a green smoothie!  Some fruit!  And Spirulina pie!  I ended up eating Amy’s burgers on awesome Ezekiel buns (those are fabulous–give them a try!), slathered in organic BBQ sauce, grapeseed Vegenaise and my homemade guacamole.  And I made a delectable white chocolate macadamia cheezecake for dessert, from my birthday cake recipe.  I thought I would literally eat at least half the cheezecake, but I was only able to eat about 1/4 of it.  I savored every bite, though!

Another cool thing I did this week was straighten my hair!  Shannon wants me to straighten it for stage, and I have never been able to do it and get it to look half decent before.  With some advice from some friends, I tried it last week for a costume party Michael and I were attending, where we were pirates and I wanted to wear a skull rag and that wouldn’t work with my big hair.  I loved it!  It turned out beautiful and was so easy to maintain, once the initial time-consuming work was done.  It takes me a good two hours to get it straight.  Hopefully, that will lessen with experience.  I also discovered I can just put a nice curl on the ends and end up with a great style.  The front isn’t cut right, though.  It’s probably just too short.  I am going to see my stylist Sept 8th, and we are going to work on it.

Here’s a pic of the new ‘do!

Arrrrgh, mateys! Swashbuckling pirates are we!

 Time to head to bed.  I have AM cardio so I am definitely improving on my bedtime habits.  Left to my own devices I will stay up half the night.  But this workout schedule will change that in a hurry!

Be Defiant!  Find out how far you can go if you defy pain and fatigue!

Christy

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I am fortunate that I found a compatriot on YouTube—RawVeganBodybuilder, aka Giacomo Marchese.  His videos are great and he’s a super guy.  I asked for his advice since he has been competing as a raw vegan already.  And coincidentally, we have contests on the same day!   How cool–two raw vegan bodybuilders competing on the same day, on different coasts, as his contest is in Oregon and mine in Georgia.  Good luck Giacomo!

Today, I practiced posing and basketball drills.  I can’t do any cardio this week, because that would cause me to retain water under my skin.  Normally I hate doing cardio but naturally I don’t think I am lean enough, so I am dying to work out!  I had an orange when I first woke up, then a big salad with greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, beets and celeriac root, with a few Brazil nuts and some of my homemade salad dressing–just a little bit.  It has sodium in it, so that will have to go later in the week.   Around lunch, I had a spirulina superfood smoothie made with fresh raw almond ‘mylk’, chocolate Sun Warrior protein, spirulina, Elements for Life Blue Green Algae, stevia, and a tablespoon of UDO’s oil.  Pre-workout, I made my delicious chocolate ‘Muscle Mousse’ of avocado, chocolate Sun Warrior protein, water and a dash of Celtic salt.    Yum! 

The workouts are totally different this week.  Since I am trying to deplete my muscle glycogen in the carb-depletion phase, I am supposed to change to a high-rep workout without going to failure.   The goal is just to work the glycogen out of the muscles so they will be depleted and hungry for carbs later in the week.  Hopefully, they will just soak up the carbs when I ingest them again, and will fill out nicely and be full of water, drawing the water out from under the skin into the muscles.  This is what causes that really ‘dry’ hard muscular look you see in competitors.  It’s not a normal look, and can usually only be achieved for one day.  The trick is to make that day the same day as the contest.  It’s easy to ‘miss’ and look better the day before, or even more commonly, the day AFTER the competition.  Many competitors will come in flat and smooth, and after they lose, go out and eat in frustration–and then wake up the next day looking like a winner.  The human body is difficult to predict and manipulate!

After my workout, I had another big salad, some Spicy Lime Cilantro Soup, and Vanilla Sun Warrior mixed with water & 5 grams L-Glutamine.

I was talking with a fellow competitor at the gym tonight, and we were discussing how easily we could shed bodyfat, water, etc.  just by manipulating our macronutrient (carb, protein and fat) intake, cardio, and weight training.   That led us to wonder how people have such a hard time losing weight and just seem to not have any idea what to do.  It reminded me of something I read yesterday, that the most dangerous ‘disease’ is IGNORANCE.  Most people just don’t understand how their body works or how profoundly food affects their bodies.  I can see my body change after each meal!  Any bodybuilder can.  A single food–even a single nutrient like sodium–can mean the difference between winning and losing.  The only cure for this ‘disease’ is education.  We aren’t born with an owners’ manual.  We have to SEEK the knowledge and make it a priority in our life.  Health is our only true wealth!

I am really happy I am doing this.  I am definitely learning alot about how raw foods affect the body, in detail under the microscope of competition.  It’s a great learning experience.  I did it the conventional way before, and I always felt so awful!  I was ravenous, desperate for sugar, exhausted, fighting uncontrollable cravings, headaches, cramps, etc.  This time, I feel great!  I have so much energy tonight, with no cravings or detrimental effects so far.  (I have a feeling the sodium depletion later this week will kill me, though.   I love my Celtic salt and Nama Shoyu!)  I do miss my fruit, and can’t wait to get back to my green smoothies.  But it’s not a bad ‘craving’ feeling, though.  I just wish I could have my smoothies.  I can make it for a few days without them, but I will be blending like a mad woman on Sunday!

I am watching the National Championship Basketball Game between UNC & Michigan State.  What a disappointment!  I was hoping MSU would really make this a good game, but they are getting blown out of the arena.  Bore-ring!

I will update you on how things are going.   Right now I feel great, with good energy and excitement.  I am looking forward tomorrow to having a critique of my posing, with great advice and instruction by a master.  I need this, and am eager to learn.   I am sure he will pick me apart, but that’s the only way to improve.   I also need to pick up a few final things to get ready with.

This weekend, I will have wireless internet access in our hotel room, so I will update you from the show too!

Until next time, stay Defiant!  Fight for your health.  Defeat ignorance, and learn about your wondrous body.  Every cell in your body is more complicated and sophisticated than a city of a million people!  We are an amazing creation, and we have an innate infinite wisdom that is constantly leading us to better health, if we will just let it–and not fight our own inner physician!  Fight the conventional medical doctors–not your Infinite Intelligence inside your own body!

BE DEFIANT!

Christy

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Today, I started with a Spirulina Smoothie made from 8 oz coconut water, the meat from one Thai coconut, handful of spinach, 1 tbs coconut butter (Artisana–yum!), 1.5 Tbs Spirulina, 1 Tbs raw carob, 1 tsp Elements for Life Blue Green Algae, 1/2 tsp Elements for Life Cordyceps, 1/2 tsp Elements for Life RevitaPhi, and stevia to taste (I used 2 packets), and blended it all up.  Not too bad, but definitely not as tasty as my normal addictive spirulina treats.  Can you tell this is a major superfood smoothie?    I figure I need the superfoods to preserve muscle while cutting the calories, sodium and sugar.

Lunch was broccoli, coconut water and a little pineapple blended into a smoothie.  It was OK, even though I was wishing I could use more pineapple and a banana.  Then it would have been really tasty.  I got really hungry in the afternoon, and ate a LifeForce Cacao bar, which is delicious and fairly low fat, sugar, and sodium.   Next week I won’t be able to do that, though.  I also had a tablespoon of UDO’s oil for pre-workout energy.  I am taking a tablespoon of that every day now.  They did a study where the athletes lost bodyfat and gained muscle by using the oil so that sounds good to me, and the body still needs SOME fats no matter what.

I worked out with intervals tonight, alternating shoulders with high rep leg intervals, like lunges, step-ups and leg extensions.   After the workout, I made a ’savory’ smoothie, which is really more like a soup.  I used a few cherry tomatoes, a few baby carrots, spinach, lovely fresh basil, 1/3 of a red bell pepper, 3 cloves garlic, 2 large celery stalks, 1/2 lemon peeled and tossed in whole, and water.  It was pretty good, actually, but would have been a lot better with some Celtic salt or Nama Shoyu!   

My assessment of my condition is that I am definitely improving in definition.  I can see more abs, and more veins are coming out.   Practicing posing last night, I felt I could definitely see more cuts.   It’s hard to tell, as the lighting differs so much from one place to another.  

Next week, I plan to carb deplete Sunday through Wednesday while drinking a lot of water to flush my body of any water-retaining substances, and then slowly carb load until the contest.  This protocol is supposed to shed the water from under the skin which obscures muscle definition, and force the muscles to ’suck up’ the water to make them nicely full and pumped.  I have been studying material from several books and former competitors, and I am attempting to take their suggestions and adapt them to a raw foods protocol.  For example, where they cut carbs by eating a lot of chicken, I plan to eat a lot of leafy greens, spirulina, superfoods, and Sun Warrior protein.   I feel nuts would have too much fat, plus my body doesn’t do well on too many nuts.   I will most likely be a salad-eating fool next week!  (And the savory green smoothies of course.)  For carbs, I plan to sprout some grains like barley and quinoa and use those to carb-load.   On Friday night,  I will eat a special meal to try to get the muscles as full as possible.  The suggested meal is a steak with Heinz 57 sauce for some sodium, so I am thinking I will make my Living burgers, which are kind of like a hamburger and have Nama Shoyu in them, which would do what the 57 would do.   My biggest fear is coming in flat, and retaining too much water. 

I plan to eat a lot of celery and asparagus, as those foods are awesome for diuretic effects.   This is just what I am thinking.  Again, this is an experiment.  If I see something not working, I may call an audible and change the protocol.   And I may find that in the future, I may want to add some nuts and that the ‘good’ fats in nuts don’t react in the body like what we normally ingest as fats.  But, knowing how I have reacted to nuts in the past, I will most likely be avoiding them like the plague for the next week.   But I plan to eat the heck out of a nut-based dessert on Easter Sunday when this contest is over!  I may eat the whole thing–with lots of dates, nuts, fruits, etc.  Maybe I will make my White Chocolate Cheezecake, maybe a Pecan Pie Cheezecake, or maybe something chocolate–who knows?

I have to share these two videos with you.  They were sent to me by a Facebook friend, and they are powerful.  The journalists didn’t pull any punches and they definitely called out some big brand names who are knowingly exposing our most vulnerable babies and toddlers to very harmful chemicals.  And all in the name of a germ-free, clean house……

Part One

Part Two

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DEFY these chemicals and toxins.  Buy holistic, chemical-free cleaners.  And not from big name brand companies, either.  Do not support them in their efforts to ‘look green’ when they are still just profit-crazed toxin-mongers.  Look for the truly organic cleaners from companies who truly care about your children and the earth, while still creating products that clean.  Many of the ones I use actually work a LOT better than the toxic stuff. 

More updates to come!

Be Defiant!

Christy

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Today, I started with hosting the Senior Alliance this morning, serving Mexican Quiche and Apple Cobbler to people who had no idea what Living Foods are, and probably didn’t really WANT to know.  But I converted quite a few!  I met some wonderful people and enjoyed the meeting very much.   The Senior Alliance is a networking group that I created many years ago for businesses that serve the seniors in our communities to gather, meet each other and create referral relationships to help grow their businesses and help more senior citizens.  It’s a lovely group of caring people.

Then at lunch, I had the distinct privilege of speaking at the Shaw Industries plant’s Lunch and Learn.  What a wonderful, large crowd we had, and everyone was just delightful.  I thoroughly enjoyed meeting everyone, and made some great new friends.  I really appreciate the opportunity to share about raw foods, and was blown away by the interest in raw foods, and how receptive the employees were to the idea.  If nothing else, I hope everyone starts making their own Green Smoothies!  There’s literally nothing healthier than Green Smoothies on the planet.

Right after lunch, I had a real estate listing presentation.  I was in competition with other agents, but I won!  Yay!  So I have some delightful new clients and a wonderful home that will be going on the market at a great value. 

Then I finally got to eat — I made my favorite pre-workout meal:  An avocado blended with water, raw honey, chocolate Sun Warrior protein, and raw cacao nibs.  Yum!  Gotta love a muscle-building chocolate mousse!  Michael and I worked back and biceps today, although I am focusing more on just cutting right now, so I was doing much lower weights and high reps, with super-slow reps to really FEEL the muscle contraction.  Then I did cardio afterward.  I did the stair machine for a while until my ADHD kicked in, and then I had to get off and do something else, so I went in the empty aerobics studio and just kickboxed to some rockin’ tunes for a while.  That’s much more fun! 

Then for my post-workout smoothie, I actually made one without fruit.  It wasn’t terrible.  I used a couple of carrots, cilantro, collard greens, parsley, red bell pepper, a lime and celery.  If I had garlic on hand it would definitely have been better.  I resisted adding sea salt, even though I wanted to so badly.  I have to cut down on sodium and fruit sugars for the next week and a half.  My whole goal now is to get rid of any water retention to ‘harden up’ and get ripped for the contest.  It’s now 11 days away!

Then when I got home, I was thrilled to find an awesome package in the mail.  My competition swimsuit and costume had arrived!!!  Kira Jones of Vandella Costumes (www.VandellaCostumes.com) made them for me and just did an AWESOME job.  I was thrilled.  The costume is adorable and the swimsuit is absolutely fabulous.  I would put it on any stage in any competition.   She truly did a professional, outstanding  job.  I will post pics when I don’t look like something the cat dragged in, like I do right now.  The suit is a shimmery purple fabric overlaid with teal-blue glitter and trimmed in Swarovski crystals.  It glitters like nobody’s business!  I love it.  I LOVE to ‘glittah’!!!

I am off to get some much-needed sleep now.  I love you all, and I am so happy I get to share my fabulous, beautiful day with you.  Blessings, love and light to you tonight and tomorrow.

Until next time, Be Defiant!

Christy

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