Photo Shoot Updates!!

Redondo Beach Shoot for NPC NEWS Magazine May 24th (L-R: Kristin Nunn, Krissy Chin, Meriza DeGuzman, Amy O'Neil, Sonia Adcock, and Me) Pics below were taken by J.M. Manion at his studio in March....

Oh how I love photo shoots! It's my fun-time playing actress in front of the camera lense, lol! I just got my CD back from J.M. this weekend at the Cal of the photo shoot we did in March at his studio. Holy cow we got A LOT of pictures!! Great content for my site. I've posted a few pics from each gallery of outfits. Thanks J.M.!

I also posted a picture from the beach shoot I did with 5 other Pro Figure ladies after the Cal last weekend. THIS was a BLAST! We all met at the host hotel and car pooled in a couple cars to the shoot location behind John Tuman's beach house at Redondo Beach. J.M. did individual and group shots of us, and each of us got a chance to get some outstanding shots with Terry Goodlad. He had me in the freakn' cold ocean, but man it was worth it! Those shots turned out awesome! A lot of laughs and good times during that whole shoot. We had a whole bunch of onlookers parked in their beach chairs, cracking open some brewskies and firing up the grill as we provided them plenty of entertainment LOL! We had some great girl-bonding time over chocolate-peanut rice cakes with more peanut butter spread on top. Mmmm, peanut butter...a Figure Girl's favorite :) After the shoot it was off to Rocky Cola Cafe for a late lunch. Almost our whole table ordered Blueberry Buckwheat Pancakes - so freakn' gooooood! Krissy and I ordered sweet potato fries as well - AMAZING. I proceeded to dump water all over her and then finished off her food that she didn't eat....I love Krissy :) The whole day was so much fun, and I'm grateful I got to be a part of it!

Tuesday I had a shoot with Muscle & Fitness Hers Magazine! The shoot took place at a kickboxing gym in Pasadena. This was the same gym where Million Dollar Baby was filmed. It was very vintage and old school - a beautiful facility. I shot with Corey Sorenson in the personal training studio attached to the side. It was a top notch crew on location and we got through shooting so smoothly. The pictures look awesome and I'm really excited to see the spread when it comes out in the September/October issue. I am so honored to be a part of such a great publication!

That last night in Cali, I ate Chipotle and then we went down to the Firehouse and ate more yummy banana pancakes (I smeared PB and syrup all over them) and a killer egg white omelete. So so good, especially at the end of such a fantastic trip :)

Cal Figure Pro ReCap

I can't believe it's already been a week since I was competing in California at my second pro show! Jason and I flew into California Wednesday morning and spent Wednesday - Friday training at the Gold's Gym in downtown L.A., which was right across from our hotel. We both are southern California lovers, so we spent the few days before the show driving down to Venice, Santa Monica, Hollywood and Beverly Hills where we also paid visit to friends. I'm a west coast girl as it is, and most of my summers growing up were spent in Southern California since we had so much extended family down that way. It always "calls" to me when I visit :)

"What did I think of the show?" The popular question asked of me lately. I am so glad I competed at this show. First off, it was very well run. Yes, it was a long day when you factor in all of the NPC competitors/divisions in addition to us pros, but it was well run. I like the venue, it's a real stage and I know a lot of us girls in heels are fans of the "real" stage thing! It was an awesome group of ladies. Some girls I was meeting and getting to know for the first time (which I love about competing; making new friends and networking is the best part of competing - so much fun), and others were old friends or ones that I had just gotten to know in Orlando, so it was fun catching up. I agree whole heartedly with the winners of this show. The conditioning and the look rewarded was right on :) Nice job Heather for taking home the top prize!!

I know what I can work on to be better for my next show. That's the beauty of getting out there and competing early, is I learn so much about my body from show to show. I am shutting things down for a short while and taking a mini off-season to bring back a rested, better, more complete, and fuller package to the stage. I've been dieting for 25 weeks now (yes, you heard correctly!), and I can see and feel my body crying for a rest, or at least telling me to scale things back a notch! I will be back this fall. My plan as of right now is to compete in the NY Pro September 18-19, followed by a couple shows after the Olympia. I think So. Cal might be beckoning for me again :)

Fitness Camp Weekend in Columbus

This superset BURNED up the tri's after some intense legs on Friday
My good friend, Terri Turner...stoked to be training together!!

Posing practice with Mike Davies Sunday morning


Me, Terri and my other good friend, Lori Mork posing after an intense workout on Sunday early morning!!

Terri and I getting one last pic together...we both are competing on the same day (May 23rd), but different shows. Hopefully very soon, we will be able to compete together again :)

I just got back from an AWESOME weekend training with my coach, Mike Davies, in Columbus Ohio. My good friends Terri Turner, Lori Mork and Pam Soper all stayed at the Davies' household and trained with Jason and I this past weekend as well. Friday we trained legs and arms, Saturday was chest and some leg shaping, followed by a super intense boot camp (one of the best yet!). We then all went out to support our friend (also staying at Mike's that weekend), Josh, at the Mike Francois Classic - he won the men's bodybuilding overall!! Sunday we trained back and shoulders, followed by posing practice. Terri is competing at the JR. USA's in Charelston on the 23rd of May, and she looks incredible! This girl is beautiful with a stunning, asthetically pleasing physique to match...not to mention she is a sweetheart and amazing friend :) Lori is 11 weeks out from Canadian Provincials; she has put on some great muscle up top with strength to match!! Her quad sweeps are amazing whether she is in or off-season. Lots and lots of laughs with Lori this weekend - love this girl! Pam is competing at the Julie Palmer Ultimate Figure Showdown May 30th, as a warm-up to Jr. Nationals in June. Pam is looking fantastic after coming back from some tough injuries last year. I'm so glad she made the drive over from Michigan to train and hang out for some good talks. All of us got some good banter with Mike and Julie Palmer in the cardio room of the house...and all of us skinny bitches got some good cardio in too! LOL Julie is always great about giving me good advice and a positive perspective on competing and the fitness industry as a whole.

Such a fun time this weekend; only bad part was me puking up my cheat meal on Saturday! Not really sure what I ate (and no, it wasn't because I ate too much! Trust me, it takes a lot of food to get me to feel remotely nauseated and this definitely wasn't enough to do it!! lol), but it kinda messed up my stomach for posing and I felt flat Sunday, when of course I'm normally super pumped after my weekly cheat!! :) Despite this little mishap, it's always super beneficial when I go up to see Mike. He's got my best interests at hand and I'm excited to see the little changes we are making come to fruition as I go into my next show at The Cal Figure pro in 12 days!