"It's a lifestyle, not an event"

"It's a lifestyle, not an event" - I heard someone say this at a family get together this Saturday and it completely summarized what I've been thinking and feeling.

This last month has been an absolute blur. It started off in whirl with Jamey and I packing up from Utah and making a week's trek back across the USA... camping. At this point in time I was still convinced that I was going to compete and do the Arnold in May. After a week of eating half rotten food out of coolers from the back of the car and stopping every twenty minutes to pee on the side of the road (I can now do it without getting my shoes, ask me for pointers if you need to, ladies), and hiking down & up the grand canyon (and sleeping on rocks) on a figure diet... I knew it was a sign from God that I could not sustain this lifestyle. And why should I? Figure isn't fitness and it isn't even fat loss. I firmly believe that you can look just as good off stage as on stage and I'm embracing this new found belief.

In fact, this past month I have been all about creative clean eating and I'm reaping in the results. Without the stress & pressure of the stage I am starting to enjoy going to the gym again and even don't terribly mind my self-imposed cardio. I even discovered that I love hiking. After our 3,000 vertical feet descent into the Grand Canyon, camping out on a plateau with other hardcore hikers (did I mention we slept on a rock?) and then ascending the next day... I found the secret endurance I've been hiding from myself. I feel so lucky to have seen so many beautiful sights and done so many great things that I would have missed out on this summer if I had been tethered to a figure diet/prep routine.

I am all about FUNCTIONALITY now! I've figured out all sorts of little tricks to keep me eating clean. It's so easy when you're not obsessed with grams of this and grams of that. Sure, I might not be NPC nationals physique quality anytime soon... but I still look hot & I'm on the way to my skinny jeans all over again. This time I'm smiling, laughing, and getting to spend time with the people I love.

AND I have newly discovered energy for many things that I love and had to put to the side when I was competing. I decided to get back into my art and did a lot of nifty sketches during my travels. I even illustrated the cover for the new My Gym Fitness for Kids 6-pack that just came out and was featured in family circle magazine. Oh, and the MGF at Home for which I modeled is also out. I feel like a super star. Getting back into art helped me rediscover a whole side of me that was itching to come out and play. I've even decided to go to graduate school and get my MFA in a few years (yes I still need some down time from school). I also have energy for the new puppy that will be coming into Jamey and my life in about 4 weeks. Our little buddy "tickles" is a bull mastiff pup who won't be little for too long. He'll be a great motivator in the mornings and evenings when he wants a roam around the new neighborhood that Jamey and I will be moving into next weekend.

We've procured ourselves a quiet little corner of the world in eastern Tennessee on about 7 acres of land with a big fenced in backyard and lots of privacy. We have farmer neighbors who will come in handy when I need advice on how to raise the coup of chickens I will be rearing in the next year (rhode island reds!). Jamey is going to build me a custom chicken house :) Eventually we'd like to have some goats too in our little healthy haven. You best believe there is a lot of gardening space too. It's sustainable, healthy, and clean living all around for us as we start this super exciting new chapter of our lives.

I still can't believe I'm not in school like many of my friends and siblings. I'm also getting used to not having a billion jobs, and I really miss that! I've been job searching my little (ok, it is SO NOT little) butt off the last month and still searching.... just looking for a few part time jobs until I go back to school (I know I'd become obsessed with a "real" job). Right now the Piercing Pagoda at the Johnson City Mall is looking very promising.

Now that my life isn't in turbo drive I should be able to post more regularly about my little adventures. Trust me, there is still tons of fitNasti moments in my life (I am sure there are in yours too).