Monthly Archives: January 2015

Almost Halfway Through The Cleanse (or Bring On The Tonics And Detox Drinks!)

Posted on January 30, 2015 | 1 comment

The second week of Nykki’s Cleanse is definitely more intense than the first week. When you are not doing the 28 day group cleanse, the cleanse is only 14 days. So the 2nd and 3rd weeks are the “real” cleanse while the 1st and 4th weeks are transition weeks.

Starting on the first day of the 2nd week, I incorporated the tonics into my schedule. There are 2 tonics for the cleanse. A liver tonic that you take in the morning and afternoon and a bowel tonic that you take at night. Both of these can be mixed with either water or juice. Since I was pretty sure that the tonics weren’t going to taste delicious, I chose to mix them with orange juice.

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I basically do the tonics as a shot and hold my nose so I don’t taste them. The liver tonic tastes better than the bowel tonic, so I’m grateful that I only have to take the bowel tonic once a day.

To be totally honest, the taste of the tonics are so strong, that I questioned if I could really do them for the full 14 days. But I sucked it up and I’m so glad that I did!

I don’t know if it’s the tonics, the clean eating, or a combination of both; but my skin is looking so much better than it has in a long time! Also, before I started the cleanse, people said that while on it you experience mental clarity. At first, I was a little skeptical about that, but doing this has really cleared by head and allowed me to focus on what I need. A lot of the voices in my head (or the voice of my stomach in my head) are gone. I’m not thinking about what’s for dinner or what treat I can have. I’m focused on the here and now.

If you read that last paragraph and thought that I must be crazy, I don’t blame you. Reading people talk like that before I started this made me think that they must be crazy. But I’m shocked that it’s true!

The tonics are still not my favorite thing to drink, but they’ve become bearable and I’m getting through them.

The next thing that was added to my schedule this week was the detox drink.

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This was added in the middle of the week and I drink it once right now first thing in the morning. Again, it can be mixed with water or juice. Since I don’t want it to taste bad, I’m mixing it with juice (I’m getting more sugar in my diet than I’m used to, but it’s “good” sugar and I’m staying in my calorie range).

The first time I drank this, I was super nervous. But it was actually delicious! The psyllium husks have no taste at all and the bentonite either has no taste or the orange juice covers it up nicely!

For right now, I’m only doing the detox drink once a day, but soon it will be upped to twice a day. But I’m not worried about that (at least not yet).

Overall, I’m super happy how week 2 went on the cleanse. I’m not really feeling hungry and most of my cravings are gone. The only craving I really have left is for more protein, but I know that that will be the first thing that I add back into my diet. As far as other foods that I used to eat, I’m now thinking twice about a lot of them. I have lots of food stored in my fridge and freezer that I’m questioning if I want to keep in the house anymore. Like bread for example. I used to eat toast every morning, but now I think I’ll be fine with fruit and eggs. No toast needed. So I might toss out the bread that I have in the freezer. This doesn’t mean that I won’t eat bread again. It just means that I don’t think I need/want to keep it in my house.

But a fridge/freezer clean out hasn’t happened yet. I think I’m going to work on that next week. For now, I’m just so happy that this cleanse came into my life and I chose to take advantage of the opportunity!

Quick Update: Because so many of you contacted me about Nykki’s Cleanse, Nykki decided to do a sale today and tomorrow (so ending on January 31st) for all readers of Finding My Inner Bombshell! Just go to the website, pick your cleanse, and enter the promo code: BOMBSHELL . That will get you $50 off! I hope you guys get the cleanse and have as amazing of an experience as I’ve had so far!

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Posted in Food, Fun Stuff, Health, Weight Loss

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My Fit Foods (or Looking At Some Post Cleanse Options)

Posted on January 29, 2015 | 3 comments

Now that I’m almost half way through the cleanse, I’m starting to think about what I’m going to be eating post-cleanse. While I’m going to do a small splurge, I do want to maintain a healthier lifestyle and keeping the majority of my diet fruits and vegetables.

So when I was invited to My Fit Foods in West Hollywood for a tour and hear more about their plan, I jumped at the chance!

This particular location of My Fit Foods (they have several locations in a couple of different states) is pretty close to my house and I’ve passed it when driving around town probably a few hundred times (I guess I pass it twice a week on average). But this was the first time that I ventured inside.

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I was greeted right away by Chelsey who is one of the nutrition coaches at the West Hollywood location. She told me how My Fit Foods was started by a personal trainer who wanted to make sure that his clients were going to see results from the work that they did inside the gym and outside the gym. So he created My Fit Foods to help his clients eat right and get the right balance of nutrients to help them maximize their workouts (and their results!).

My Fit Foods is a meal service that has options for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. People can pre-order several days worth of food or they can come into the store and buy what they need and want.

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Everything that they have is fully cooked (no need to heat it up unless you want your meal to be hot) and they have lots of dietary restrictions that they can accommodate (like gluten-free, dairy free, vegetarian, Paleo, and low-sodium). And the food is good in your fridge for 4-5 days, so you can have several days of meals in your fridge and ready to go.

Chelsey explained that when most people get started at My Fit Foods, they take part in their 21 day challenge. In the 21 day challenge, you get paired up with a nutritional coach like Chelsey and they create a meal plan for you. These plans can be customized to your tastes and dietary restrictions. I got a change to check out some of the 21 day plans, and they look amazing! They have lots of different food options for each meal (all the dinners look super incredible and delicious so I can’t pick a favorite!). During the 21 day challenge, you come into My Fit Foods about twice a week and they have all the foods that you need for the coming days ready for you to take home!

It’s so simple for people to follow! I’ve done a meal delivery service before in college and for the first few days it was awesome. But because the service had so few options, after a few days, my meals were repeating themselves! I quickly got tired of the same few things rotating through. But when I looked at the 21 day challenge menu, while you might get some things twice within the 21 days, there is enough variety available to not repeat things every week!

After customers complete the 21 day challenge, most of them continue to order their foods from My Fit Foods. They can create their own meal plan or have guidance from a nutritional coach. But it is completely customizable and you do not have to order all of your meals from them if you know that there are a few days where you don’t need dinner (for example).

And for people who just need an occasional meal (so you don’t get delivery food that you regret), you can walk right into a My Fit Foods and pick up a single meal. They even have microwaves and tables there so you can eat inside if you don’t want to bring it home (or if you are having it as a lunch and don’t want to eat at work).

Finally, Chelsey showed me some of the supplements that they have available. I’m learning more and more about supplements now that I’m doing the cleanse, and what I think is awesome about the ones at My Fit Foods is that they are packets that contain everything you need (no need to purchase 5 or 6 different bottles).

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It was so awesome to get to go into My Fit Foods and sit down with Chelsey to learn all about it. They are definitely going on my list of good and fast choices that I can make if I’m not able to cook for myself. It’s so much better for me to run in there and grab a lunch than for me to get some fast food. And I need to be looking at smarter choices from now on if I want to continue the path that I’m going on. And it looks like My Fit Foods will fit into that plan perfectly!

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Posted in Fitness, Food, Fun Stuff, Health, Weight Loss

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Having Water At A Wine Bar (or Getting A Temporary Job)

Posted on January 28, 2015 | 1 comment

Continuing my attempts to not become a hermit during the cleanse, I went out to Bottle Rock, one of my favorite wine bars this week.

While everything on the menu is amazing (I love their mac and cheese), because of my limitations on the cleanse, all I could have was water. While staring at the menu drinking my water, I did decide that Bottle Rock will be a place I go to for happy hour soon after my cleanse ends.

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My reason for going to Bottle Rock was a good one (not just to drink water). I was meeting my old boss from my last telesales job. He is now working at a new theater company and had something to discuss with me.

It turns out, they need someone to work for a few weeks to help sell tickets for their gala this year. It’s a similar job to what I did for this boss before, but instead of selling show tickets, it would be gala tickets. And I would be the only person doing this, so all the commissions would be mine!

Of course, I said I’d take the job! It should start in a week or two and the job will probably only last a few weeks, but anything for extra money is great right now! And since it’s another commission job, there’s no limit to how much I can make in those few weeks.

And if I do a good job selling gala tickets (which I think I will) there might be another opportunity for me toward the end of spring to work for that theater company again and help them work on their renewals for their ticket holders.

The best thing about this new job is that since I am the only person working and it’s my old boss running things, he’s super cool about my current schedule. I’m probably going to work for him in the evening when I don’t work my current box office job and only on evenings when I don’t go to Orangetheory.

This is exactly what I need right now. While I wish that it was a longer job than a few weeks, anything that I can get right now will help. I feel so grateful that of all the telesales staff that worked at that old job with me, my boss chose me to come and work with him on this campaign. It proves to me that I am a good salesperson and that I will always be able to use this boss as a job reference if needed.

Since it doesn’t start for a few weeks, I’m still looking for other jobs that I can do either while I’m working my box office job or outside of my work and workout hours. I’m going to meet someone who is a friend of a friend who needs some organizing work done in their house. That might turn into something, but they are about an hour drive away from my house, so I have to see if I can devote enough time to it to make a 2 hour commute each time worth it.

I don’t want to get too optimistic and think that my job situation is getting to where I need it to be, because it isn’t. But these are all steps in the right direction and gives me hope that it won’t be long until it all works out.

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Inspiration On TV (or I Voted For Her)

Posted on January 27, 2015 | 1 comment

With this cleanse, it would be so easy to put my life on hold while I’m doing it. It would be so easy to turn down dinner invites and other social events. But I’m working really hard to not do that.

For the SAG Awards, I invited friends over. Only one friend, Robert, was able to come. But he and I had an awesome time! I love the SAG Awards. I mean, who wouldn’t love an award show that they get to vote for?

While watching the show, Robert and I shared who we had each voted for (sometimes we didn’t remember until they showed all the nominees for a category). A lot of people who I voted for won, which was awesome!

I think one of my favorite moments of the entire show was at the beginning. The first award was for female actor in a comedy series. And Uzo Aduba won for “Orange Is The New Black”. First of all, if you aren’t watching that show, go onto Netflix and watch the first 2 seasons! It’s incredible!

I voted for Uzo Aduba, and while I was happy that she won, that’s not what made it my favorite part. Right before she won, at the start of the show, they did the “I am an actor” introduction. She was one of the actors selected to participate in that segment. And she shared that she got her SAG-AFTRA card on “Orange Is The New Black”.

So her first major project was not only an awesome one, it’s an award-winning project for her (she also won for best cast ensemble for a comedy series).

That gives me so much hope. I know that her story is rare and there is usually a lot more career building before an award-winning performance, but it is possible to book something amazing without having to do a few co-star and guest star roles first.

Whenever I go in for a series regular role during pilot season, I hope more than anything that I will book it. I know a job like that can change my life and my career. But when I see who was cast in the part after pilot season is done, it’s usually someone with an established career. And yes, I am trying to get an established career, it just isn’t easy.

But it is possible for someone with so few credits as me to book one of these series regulars. If I am exactly who they want, the casting directors and producers won’t care what’s on my resume. I have to remind myself this if I get any pilot season auditions this year.

And on a silly note, I also have to share my second favorite part of the SAG Awards. I love getting to see my friend Woody’s name in the credits at the end as one of the producers of the show.

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We are coming up on the end of the awards season and with the Oscars coming up soon, I have to hurry up and think about what my costume will be for the party!

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Posted in Acting, Celebrations, Fun Stuff

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Working Out While Cleansing (or Being Easy On Myself)

Posted on January 26, 2015 | Comments Off on Working Out While Cleansing (or Being Easy On Myself)

This past week of workouts were the first workouts I did while on the cleanse. Even though I am eating (and I’m working on keeping my calories up), I’m eating significantly less protein than I’m used to.

On normal days, that is a small annoyance but I can deal with it. But on workout days, I’m discovering how important protein is for me.

Going into Monday’s workout, I was pretty nervous. I just tried to focus on my fancy new shoes. Before going to the workout, I decided to take a quick picture of my new shoes along with the 2 pairs that I’ve gone through recently (I’m not sure why I never got rid of my old shoes).

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I knew that the workout was going to feel tough to me, even if I was taking it easier than I usually do. So I decided not to focus at all on my heart rate monitor and just pay attention to how my body was feeling. And it was pretty rough. I was tired a lot faster than I’m used to and I got some issues with dizziness when transitioning from seated or laying down exercises to standing ones. But I got through the workout and focused on how to better prepare myself for the next one.

One Wednesday, even though snacks aren’t allowed on the cleanse, I added a snack pre-workout. I need the extra energy and calories to help me get through the intense workouts that I’m doing. And I noticed a difference. I was still tired and a little dizzy from time to time, but it was much less and I recovered a lot quicker.

By Friday, I was finally starting to figure out what my food needs to be like during the cleanse on workout days, so I was doing even better. My heart rate doesn’t get as high as it did before, but I can’t be mad at myself for that. Again, I’m just focusing on getting through my workouts and doing the best that I can for that day.

And I finally got off the waitlist for the Saturday workout! So in my first week of cleansing, I did 4 workouts! I know that’s a little crazy. And Saturday’s workout was possibly one of the toughest ones I’ve ever done. We were all put into groups of 3 and then there was a set workout for our group to get through for the entire class. There were no breaks or switching blocks. We just went from one thing to another for the entire class. I was having some serious trouble completing the workout for the last 10 minutes, but I pushed myself through it and managed to have not only an awesome workout but one of my higher calorie burns (which meant that I had to add some extra food to my lunch and dinner).

It is definitely not easy to workout this hard when my protein levels are so low. There really isn’t a way to increase that too much while I’m cleansing, but I did buy some protein powder that fits into the cleanse rules that I can drink if I need to. I don’t like protein powders because they remind me so much of the RFO Diet, but hopefully I can drink this stuff quickly if I need it and not have to think about it too much.

I’ve currently got myself signed up for another 4 workout week this week. I’m not 100% sure I’ll be able to do Saturday, but I’d rather be signed up for it and then cancel than to be on the waitlist and maybe not get in. Even though things are tough for me, I keep reminding myself that change isn’t easy and this is all for the better. I’m not doing anything that will hurt me and that in less than 3 weeks I can add animal products (and therefore more protein) back into my diet.

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Posted in Fitness, Food, Fun Stuff, Health, Tough Stuff, Weight Loss

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Week One On The Cleanse (or Temporarily Vegan)

Posted on January 23, 2015 | 3 comments

Today is the last day of the first week of Nykki’s Cleanse. This first week was all about eating good, healthy, clean foods. The tonics and other cleansing supplements will be starting tomorrow (I’m a little nervous on how my body will react, but super excited too!).

The food plan for each day this week was pretty much the same. And the foods that we can eat each day are the same. Basically, the “allowed” foods are fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, and whole grains like brown rice and quinoa (no processed whole grains like bread allowed). Any meat, dairy, processed foods, salt, and canned foods aren’t allowed.

So basically I’m vegan right now. I’ve gone vegetarian briefly in the past and I know that it’s not right for me. This is the first time that I will be vegan for a decent amount of time (28 days). And while I know that after the cleanse I will add animal products back into my diet (I’m really missing egg whites and greek yogurt right now), I’m intrigued to see how my body reacts with them.

I hate to admit this, but I’m a little boring in my food choices right now. I’m eating very similar things every breakfast, similar things every lunch, and similar things every dinner. But that’s what I’ve gotten used to with bulk cooking and I’m fine with that.

But even though my meals are similar from day-to-day, I’m loving them because by eliminating so many foods from my diet I’ve been spending this past week rediscovering foods that I love. And in some cases, I’m learning how to cook them on my own for the first time!

My meals have been looking pretty beautiful this week.

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I’m also rediscovering how much food I really need to eat each day. It’s ok to be hungry sometimes and I have to teach myself that. I’m eating less than I have, and while I have moments of hunger sometimes, I’m not feeling sick or lightheaded really.

I’m also learning how to not snack. Snacking is something that I’ve had issues with in the past. And more recently, I’ve been eating a snack right after work on the days that I workout. Those snacks are usually pretty small and healthy (like a banana), but sometimes I eat more than that. And while it hasn’t affected my workouts, it does affect the total calorie count for my day. I can’t completely eliminate snacking pre-workout (I need the energy and calories especially now when my protein intake is lower than it has been in the past), but I’m trying to limit those snacks. And I’m avoiding snacks altogether on days that I don’t workout. I’m getting enough calories in for the day (even though it’s lower than normal) and I don’t need them.

One of the most helpful things that I’ve found with this cleanse is that Nykki has set up a private FB group for all of us who are doing this 28 day program. We can share how we are feeling and share recipes and ideas with each other. I’ve talked on here in the past about how much I love having a community around me when I’m working on my weight loss, and the FB group has been perfect.

I haven’t technically had any slip ups yet. I did sample about a teaspoon of ice cream at the Local Ice event (my friend who was there guessed that it was less than a teaspoon). But beyond that, I have been following all of the instructions exactly as they were written.

And I’m sure that you are all wondering about my weight loss this week. Yes, I have lost weight. I don’t share specific numbers on here but I will share with you what my goal is. Technically, this is my goal for the national weight loss challenge at Orangetheory, but that is only 2 more weeks than the 28 day cleanse. I want to lose 10% of my weight. There are tons of articles about how losing 10% of your body weight does so much good for you. And I like that goal. And so far, the amount that I have lost on the cleanse makes it seem like that goal will be achieved.

I’m starting week 2 tomorrow. Weeks 2 and 3 are the most intense weeks that include a few detox drinks and tonics. I’ll update you again next Friday to let you know how it goes!

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Posted in Food, Fun Stuff, Health, Weight Loss

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Local Ice (or My New Valley Ice Cream Spot!)

Posted on January 22, 2015 | 1 comment

I was recently invited to check out Local Ice, a new ice cream shop in Studio City. In full disclosure, a friend of mine from when I used to work at Universal Studios is the PR person there. She invited me as well as other bloggers to come and check out the fabulous offerings that they have (plus, I got to catch up with a friend who I hadn’t seen in years!).

The location is actually pretty awesome, even for a non-Valley person like me. It’s just off of Ventura Blvd. near the Sportsman’s Lodge (which for me means easy to get to from the freeway) and there is tons of free parking in the lot!

When I got there, the first thing I did was say hello to my friend. And since she is the PR person there, I asked her for her recommendations on what I should try. There were so many flavors to try (and the menu changes when the owner gets inspired to make a new flavor).

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I ended up trying Caramel Swirl, Pecan Praline, Cookie Monster, Chocolate Marshmallow, and Mmminty Chip (that one was a cream ice). They were seriously all so delicious! There were also regular Italian Ices to try as well as lots of toppings that you could put on your ice cream.

I had to stick with the little tastes for now, but trust me, as soon as I’m done with the cleanse I will be going back and having a small scoop!

I learned at the event how all the ice creams and Italian Ices are actually made on-site! There is a room right next to where customers are where everything is created from scratch. And all of the treats start with an organic dairy base, so some of the treats are completely organic! And everything is super fresh too. As soon as they run low on a flavor, a new one is made. They don’t make a ton and store it in a freezer somewhere.

Local Ice is seriously such a cute little shop! It’s nice and open and bright and the seating area is adorable.

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Local Ice also has a super cute little handcart for selling ice cream treats.

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It can be used to sell at events, birthday parties, and even just in front of their shop when it gets crowded. If I ever do a big birthday party, I think the idea of having an ice cream cart is super adorable and so much easier to handle than having to serve ice cream yourself. Even to have a birthday gathering at the shop would be super fun!

I got to hear about some really fun ideas that Local Ice will be doing in the near future, but I forgot to ask if I could share them with you all. Your best bet to find out about some of the events that they will be doing soon will be to “like” their Facebook page.

If you are in the Valley (or happen to be in the Valley), I highly recommend going to Local Ice for a sweet treat!

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Speedy Shoes (or Props To Zappos For Saving My Workout)

Posted on January 21, 2015 | Comments Off on Speedy Shoes (or Props To Zappos For Saving My Workout)

When my shoes died during my workout last week, my first thought was that I needed to get my new shoes before my workout on Monday. I have certain shoes by Merrell that I love and I know that they are always available on Zappos.

I’ve been a big fan of Zappos for a while. My very first order with them went pretty badly (the shoes were lost and never found). But their customer service was so amazing! They sent new shoes to me overnight and upgrading my Zappos membership to VIP status for life! Any company that goes that above and beyond is awesome in my book.

By the time I was able to order new shoes, it was about 7pm on Friday. And with Monday being a holiday, I had no idea if my free next business day shipping would get my shoes to me on time.

I ended up contacting them directly to see if there was anything else I could do (or pay) to get them to me by Monday. The representative I spoke to said that there wasn’t really much that could be done. The next day guarantee is only for orders placed by 1pm. But they were looking at where my shoes were coming from and where they were being delivered and thought that there was a chance I would get the shoes on Monday (I didn’t know that UPS delivered on holidays).

When I got my shipping tracking information, it said that the shoes were supposed to arrive Monday by 3pm. I have to leave for my workouts by 3:30pm, so it was going to cut it close.

All day on Monday I was on high alert. And around 1pm, the UPS guy came to my door and dropped this off!

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I put the shoes on right away to try to break them in a little before my workout. And while they weren’t super comfortable right away, they were so much better to wear than the broken shoes.

Yes, this entire post is about how much I love Zappos. But I’ve learned that when you find companies that are awesome, you really want to share it with the world.

So thank you Zappos for rushing my shoes to me so my workout wouldn’t be affected by busted shoes. Now I just need to order a backup pair of shoes so when these break I can have new ones waiting for me in my closet.

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Posted in Fun Stuff, Health, Saving, Shopping

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An Evening Of Fabulous Women (or Getting More Involved At Women In Film)

Posted on January 20, 2015 | 2 comments

Last week, Women In Film had their annual membership summit. I had been to this summit once in the past, but the past 2 years it was held on an evening that I couldn’t attend. But this year, since I’m not working in the evenings anymore, I was able to make it.

Ms. In The Biz founder (and my friend), Helenna, just joined WIF so she and I went to the event together. The summit was being held at the Arclight movie theater in Hollywood and fortunately there are a bunch of great restaurants right there. We met up at Stella Barra which is right next to the theater. We had some dinner and got to catch up a little. The Ms. In The Biz book launch is coming up soon and we got to talk a little about that.

Soon, it was time to head over to the theater for the meeting. Check-in was little crazy, but soon enough we were at the theater where the meeting was held. And of course, we had to take a few pictures in front of the step and repeat.

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Because the check-in was a little slow, we were some of the very first people in the theater. So we got some pretty primo seats right up front and by the podium.

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The idea of the membership summit is kind of like an overview of everything that WIF has to offer. There have been many changes in the past few months so the person in charge of each of the different programs within the organization got up and spoke. They each shared what their program does and if they are looking for volunteers (and what they need volunteers to do).

It was a pretty short meeting because there was a little party afterward. As soon as the meeting was done, the different programs that were looking for volunteers had sign up sheets so we could get more involved in WIF. While so many of the programs seemed amazing, I signed up to help with the annual awards banquet auction and the film screening series.

I haven’t heard back from those programs on what they need me to do, but I’m super excited to be more involved in WIF. While I’ve been a member for several years, outside of the mentor program and various film screenings, I haven’t really taken advantage of my membership. I know that there is more to WIF than what I’ve been doing and hopefully volunteering for those programs will help me feel more comfortable with joining other groups and programs within the organization.

The party was held downstairs at the theater. As we walked in, we were handed hats with the new and updated WIF logo (it now includes TV, Digital and Media as part of the logo).

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There were food and drinks passed around. I didn’t get any photos of those because Helenna and I were busy meeting other WIF members. I also ran into one of my fellow mentees from my old mentoring circle. She didn’t apply for a new mentoring circle like I did so we won’t be in the new mentoring circle together again (I was kind of hoping we would be).

I didn’t stay too late since I had work the next morning, but I did meet a ton of new people at the event (and a lot of non-actors which is awesome!). I’m so excited to see what I can do this year with WIF and what new opportunities will come my way because of that.

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Default ThumbnailWomen In Film (or Brunch and Ghostbusters) Default ThumbnailLess Networking More Socializing (or Another Evening With My Fellow Mentees) Default ThumbnailMentoring Circle (or Women Who Support Each Other) Default ThumbnailEnd Of The Mentoring Circle (or One Final Lunch) Default ThumbnailGetting Ready To Get Mentored Again (or A Evening With WIF) Default ThumbnailAnother Evening Of Mentees (or Advice and Socializing)

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Posted in Acting, Celebrations, Fun Stuff

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Going To The Limit (or How To Work Out With A Broken Shoe)

Posted on January 19, 2015 | 1 comment

The past week of workouts have been insanely tough! I only got 3 workouts in for the week, even though I wanted 4. Since everyone wants to get into better shape in the new year, it’s been crazy crowded. I have to schedule my classes weeks in advance to make sure that I can get in. And when I didn’t do that for last Saturday, I wasn’t able to work out. Sadly, it looks like I might have the same issue Saturday, but I’m working on it.

Anyway, back to the workout recaps!

Monday’s workout wasn’t horrible, but what got to me was the Monday Challenge. First of all, I was the only person in the entire class to do the challenge after class ended. That made me a bit scared and intimidated, but I wasn’t going to let it stop me from doing it.

The challenge was a mini Dri-Tri. So it was .08 miles on the treadmill (I don’t remember what incline it was at, but it was high) to start. Then, 20 burpees. Burpees are still a killer for me and not only do they hurt my hips, I get really dizzy doing them. After I finished the burpees (I had to take a few breathing breaks to do them all), it was a 100 meter row on the rowing machine.

My time was over 3 minutes and I was nowhere near getting on the top 5 board. But I completed it and that’s what I have to remember.

Wednesday was another crazy day where I was doing insane incline work on the treadmill. Since I have issues getting my speed up, to get my heart rate up higher I have to add on more incline than I used to. I’m getting to the point where for most of the push paces I can do the walk at 10% incline. When the push pace is for 3 minutes, that’s when it’s a bit tough for me. But considering that I used to do all my push paces at 6%, it’s a massive improvement. I’m hoping that soon I can start increasing my speed without pain, but until then, it’s nice to know that I can still push myself on the treadmill with incline.

Friday was one of those days for me where the workout was so tough that I didn’t believe that I could really do it all. The treadmill portion was a 21 minute block (many classes have 7 or 8 minute blocks and then you switch between cardio and strength a few times to get all the blocks in). It was a treadmill block that was mainly push paces. And for some reason, my heart rate didn’t want to go up to where it needed to be, so I had to keep pushing myself more and more.

Then, when we did the strength portion, I had what I could have considered a set-back. While I was doing running man on the ground (it’s a move similar to mountain climbers), my foot slid out from underneath me. I thought that maybe the floor was just slick, but I couldn’t get my footing again. I just powered through and for the rest of the workout, I had a crazy tough time doing the running man.

When we were stretching, I took a look at my shoe and realized that a chunk of the bottom of my shoe (where all the grippy things are) was flapping in the air. I had taken off pretty much all the grips off of the bottom of my shoe during the workout!

This photo gives you an idea of the damage, but the blue rubber on my shoe was also coming off.

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I can’t believe I worked out for about 10 minutes with a busted shoe! And I can’t believe that when it happened I just pretty much ignored it.

After class, I showed the trainer what had happened and she cracked up. She wanted a picture of the fact that her workout busted my shoe and then she posted that along with a picture of the 2 of us online and named me the MVP of class (each trainer gets to name an MVP for each of their classes now).

As soon as I got home, I ordered some new shoes online. They are supposed to get here today before my workout, but if they don’t I’ll have to figure out something to do with my broken shoe. I’ve got an emergency pair of sneakers, but they are a little busted too.

Now that I’m on the cleanse, my workouts this week are making me pretty nervous. I’m going to do the best that I can and understand that I might not be able to push myself like I usually do. I’ll let you all know how it goes next week!

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Default ThumbnailGetting Closer To The Leaderboard (or I’m Almost In The Top 5) Default ThumbnailBack To Back Workouts (or It’s Hell Week) Default ThumbnailSecond Week Of My Orangetheory Challenge (or I Guess I’m Tougher Than I Thought I Was) Default ThumbnailSweating Away 2014 And Into 2015 (or Starting The Year Off The Right Way) Default ThumbnailFinal Days Of The Nike Challenge (or How To Work Out When You Can’t Breathe Through Your Nose) Default ThumbnailMy 2nd MVP (or Kicking Butt In My Workouts)

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Posted in Fitness, Fun Stuff, Health, Shopping, Weight Loss

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