OFFICIAL NEW FAVORITE FOOD

my new favorite food is....


....drumroll please....


ORGANIC MEDJOOL DATES




if you ever want to buy them for me, go ahead! I'll give you my address! lol, because I can't afford them all the time. BUT whatever, they are like the new freakin CANDY.

exhausted

Today I am physically EXHAUSTED.

I'm so ridiculously sore!

It hurts to move. I am also sleepy because I went to bed LAAAAATE and woke up way too early to do yardwork with my dad for the owner of the climbing gym.


I've done random stuff today. not really important.

all i know is that i'm tired.




OH AND HIHOROSIE - guess what, the whole foods CLOSEST TO ME sells YOUNG COCONUTS! It took me so long to find them... they are hidden, seriously, They are buried in the ice near where you would sell ready-to-eat fruit cups --- and they blend in with the ice, its so weird!

so i definitely got a few. =)






anyways, i did my biking and my yoga but i havent finished the pushups and crunches... i dont know if i physically can... seriosuly... this is going to be hard!

Local comp

CLIMBING COMP

Last night I competed in a local climbing competition.



There was one word to sum it up: HARD.


It was the hardest comp my gym has ever had. The climbs were absolutely ridiculous.


Usually at local comps, they combine girls and guys. So I'm usually stuck with all the advanced men. It usually sucks, because I WANT to be motivated but you should see these guys!

I entered the comp with a positive mindset --- I was going to try and be one of the guys. I know I'm strong (for a girl) and I wanted to try my personal best (which I did.)

Even though it was hard, I tried my ABSOLUTE best and still fell WAY short of all the guys who were CRUSHING.

I crumbled up my scorecard and the routesetter stopped me. He told me to turn it in.


So I did.


Apparently they split guys and girls up this time! That means I'm the only person in women's advanced!

sooooooo long story short, I won! Well, I got some money! I didn't really win except with my OWN self. In a way I did win - I overcame my I'm-never-gonna-win attitude that I get when I compete with all the advanced men. Even though I was the only advanced woman, it was still a blast and I am pretty happy with how I did, PERSONALLY. I hardly did any of the climbs, because of how hard they were, but i was constantly giving my best effort.


When they gave me the money, Kyle, the person giving out the awards, talked about how I always show up even though I have to compete against the guys and I still always give my best effort and I really deserve getting first, even though I'm the only advanced girl in Nashville.

It made my night.

IM SO PSYCHED FOR USA CLIMBING COMPS TO START! this is only the beginning of the hype!

HERE ARE SOME PICS FROM THE COMP:

These are of me working on some of the advanced problems:

Biking indoors, comp tomorrow

Today it was raining, so I had to do my biking indoors at the gym.

...I did my biking indoors earlier this week too because it was black-out hot outside, and the minutes went by SUUUUUUPER slow. But this time i brought a book, Training for Climbing. And needless to say, the minutes FLEW BY!!! it was awesome!!!

I am lucky to have such a good climbing gym...

TODAY'S TRAINING
soooo this is what i did/am doing today:

-biking
-200 squats
-200 ab exercises (hyperextensions / bicycles)
-vinyasa flow


Tomorrow there is a local comp at my gym. I have to compete against all the advanced men since men and women aren't split up at local comps... but i'm going to do my best!!!

SUPER PSYCHED ON COMPS

CLIMBING COMPETITIONS:

Last night I figured out my competition schedule for the upcoming climbing season.

I AM SUPER PSYCHED.

Here is the schedule:

september 27 -- Georgia for an ABS comp @ Adrenaline
october 4 -- North Carolina for the Triple Crown comp @ Hound Ears
october 24 -- my local gym for an ABS comp
november 1 -- Alabama for the Triple Crown comp @ Horse Pens 40
december 6 -- Chattanooga, TN for the Triple Crown comp @ Little Rock City
december 13 -- another "local" gym about 35 minutes away from me for an ABS comp
January 3 -- Louisville Kentucky for an ABS comp (this one is tentative for me)
January 17 -- ABS REGIONALS in Georgia @ Adrenaline!

** ABS is the "American Bouldering Series" and for those of you who don't climb, bouldering is a type of climbing that I do best --- no ropes, powerful moves, really fun. Look up some pics or check out the pics on my myspace -- www.myspace.com/badashclimber

***Triple Crown is a series of 3 OUTDOOR bouldering competitions. They are SO MUCH FUN.

I'll share a few old pics with you from competing in the past:

climbing out the roof/cave on finals number 3 at ABS regionals at Adrenaline in Georgia, 2008?
hand/foot matched on finals number 3 at adult regionals in Nashville at Climb Nashville 2008? here is the same problem (climb) from another camera / further on the climb:ABS 8 Nationals... in baltimore? i think? (i always get the nationals locations mixed up) I'm pretty sure this was finals number 2:
I think this was Adult regionals in 2006? it was during the regular comp, not finals... but i was on an advanced problem. Photo by Adrew Kornylak.

WORD.

surprisingly delicious

BANANA/DATE ROMAINE BURRITOS

ingredients -
1. small head of romaine lettuce
2. 2-3 bananas
3. a bunch of dates

directions -
1. lay out a single leaf of lettuce
2. cut up the banana and dates into really small pieces
3. spread on lettuce leaf
4. eat like a taco/burrito


it is so sweet and delicious, and you get some greens in as well as some good carbs and sweetness from the bananas and dates.


Man, I really like dates. They look gross to me, but they give me really good energy to climb! high calorie, sweet, perfect for climbing in competitions and what-not for a pick-me-up!!!

My brother's b-day party

On Saturday we hosted my brother's birthday party. He turned 16 !


We had a bunch of family and friends over, so I made a raw apple pie.


But since my family is extremely unhealthy, I didn't tell them it was raw until AFTER they ate it.


Well, long story short people LOVED it!!! I was psyched!

pushups suck

TRAINING

yesterday

Yesterday my training included:

-25 minute bike ride

-200 push-ups

-200 crunches

and the pushups were KILLER. I do 10 sets of 20, and each set i feel like i'm going to collapse. Me and push-ups don't get along!

I'm not as good as this 6 year old kid who did 10,000 pushups in like 3 hours! check it out:

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/photo/2006-07/27/content_651249.htm

The crunches are EASY , i could do 500 more! (i hope my coach isnt reading this, LOL)

but i seriously could... so... i might do that later.

anyways, just wanted to update you guys on training!!!

today

-7 routes above 5.8 (Easy, Fun - i haven't dont routes in MONTHS!)

-worked on HARD advanced routes (5.12+) and i got close to sending a couple. I did all the moves on them, but with falling a couple times... They were really hard and since I am a boulderer, I have little endurance!)

-i'm about to do a vinyasa flow...

THE DARK KNIGHT

I am not the type of person to go see superhero movies, but somehow my friend managed to make me go with him, and I'M GLAD I DID!

The Dark Knight is unlike any other movie. I am pretty sure it is the best produced movie that i've ever seen!!! I don't think its my FAVORITE movie, just because it's not in my interests, but as far as best filmed and produced, it definitely gets my reward.

To be completely honest, I usually fall asleep in movie theaters. Yes, even action packed movies. I have fallen asleep in Spiderman and even Harry Potter. I went to the late night show at the Imax - 10:20pm. I was really tired before I went, and since I didn't even care about the movie, I thought for sure I would doze off..... but man, theres NO WAY. As soon as the movie got going, I lost all feelings of sleepiness. It just kept me going. The funny thing is, my friend who dragged me to it FELL ASLEEP. But hey, i'll give it to him, because he just got back from South Africa THAT MORNING and then went straight to a full day of work! It was kind of funny though.



ANYWAYS, back to the movie. SO CAPTURING, so POWERFUL!!! And the Joker!!! Man, everytime the Joker came on the screen, I just couldn't stop thinking about Heath Ledger. He did such a FANTASTIC job, it was CHILLING. Seriously, I got the chills at times!





long story short, YOU NEED TO GO SEE THIS MOVIE. I don't care who you are. You HAVE TO.

still haven't found the right way

OKAY, so

I've been doing a lot of research on the DIFFERENT TYPES of raw food diets.

Some raw fooders eat mostly greens, some mostly fruits, and some rely mostly on nuts and seeds.

Some do the low-fat thing, some do the high-fat thing, some sprout a bunch of stuff, some dehydrate their food....... there are just so many ways!!!!

I've been trying to find the best for me.

and I thought I had it a week ago when I was talking about my increase of greens ---


but this is whats happening:



Since I discovered how much energy greens give me, I started making green leafy vegetables the main part of my diet. I started drinking over 32 ounces of green juice a day and eating the biggest green smoothies you'd ever see, JAM backed with spinach.

But what I now realize is that when I increase my greens, I cut down on my fruit, and I lose energy in THAT sense --- fruit has always been the number one thing to give me energy.



Today I was feeling kind of weak and tired. Perhaps it was a build-up of almost-sleepless nights? In any case, I did the high greens thing and I just felt lousy.

I also wasn't hungry AT ALL because my body was loving on the nutrients so much that it didnt let me know i needed some fruit.


So I really needed to have a perk-up, so even though I wasn't hungry, I went to the kitchen and chopped up half a box of strawberries into really small pieces in a bowl. Then I took 2 really ripe bananas and chopped them with it. I ate it slowly, and OMG I HAVE SO MUCH ENERGY! It was the perfect pick-me-up.


As great as greens make me feel, I CAN'T FORGET about my high fruit intake.


I have eaten way too many nuts in the past 2 weeks and I'm SICK OF IT. I gained about 3 pounds. And now I know why! I was eating too many nuts (obviously) and greens and it wasn't making me hungry enough to eat fruit!

now I need to increase my fruit, lower my nuts (and still eat them in MODERATION like I was a few weeks ago) and keep my greens where they are at !!!!



Someday I will find my personal best way to eat the raw food diet.

Day in the life of BADASH

I feel like sharing a day in the life of Ashley.

so here you have it, a
DAY IN MY LIFE:

You really can’t imagine it in full detail unless you have been to my house or know my family, but here is a glimpse:

-I wake up and get out of bed. My feet hit the floor and I thank the Universe for another day.

-I walk over to my laptop, flip it up, click the internet and let it load while I go to the bathroom to pee. Then I check myspace, email, and my blog.

-While I am at my desk, I look at my vision board. This is something I made from watching The Secret (please watch it if you haven’t already – it changed my life and it will change yours as well) Anyways, it’s a bulletin board type of thing where I post goals and things with pictures, but I act like I have already achieved them. So I meditate on those things on a daily basis. It helps my dreams become reality!

-I go to the kitchen and right away drink a LOT of water. Then I take out my juicer to make my green juice.

-I drink the green juice outside and think about the day ahead of me – what I need to do and what I need to accomplish.

-my dad is usually outside gardening in his speedo. He is a CHARACTER, let me tell you. But that is a whole different story.

-I come back inside, and take the big pulp thing out to the compost pile located at the edge of our yard. I throw it in there and then on my way back to the house, I stop by my watermelon plants, check out how they are doing, and then do the same to the tomatoes. I also look at my pond and experience the beauty. I usually spend this time to thank the Universe again for the beautiful plants and my beautiful yard. (which I also have to thank my dad for!!!)

-sometimes I drop the pulp container and just collapse in the sun for around 30 minutes, just because it is SO powerful. It makes me feel so good!

-I waste an hour or two on the internet, looking at recipes, my email, videos, myspaces, and all that stuff.

-Then I make a green smoothie and go CLIMB!

-When I get to the gym, I am often side-tracked, as I am friends with just about EVERY SINGLE PERSON in that place. I talk to everyone for a minute, and then I get to BUSINESS and TRAIN. (having so many friends at the gym is kind of hard sometimes when you are trying to train – they all want to talk to me and show me climbs and stuff, but recently they understand that I need to get to business!)

-After the gym, I come home and do a vinyasa flow. It’s pleasant.

-Then I make something to eat and then just THINK for a very long time. Think about my life and where its going. I think about my day, my past, my present, and my future. I DO A LOT OF THINKING. Then I support my thinking by looking up things online for knowledge. I do a lot of research. I don’t learn a damn thing at school – I learn everything in my own time.

-After a while, I go to bed and the whole process starts over in the morning.



I bet nobody read that, LOL. I just really felt like typing it. Some day I will make a movie and you can watch that and understand.

SOOOOO as you may notice when you scroll down the page, I added pics to some old posts. CHECK THEM OUT!




yesterday's training ---


-25 minute bike ride

-160 push-ups

-160 crunches

-vinyasa flow

weight and water

I have been increasing my water intake (to about 100 fluid ounces a day), and since then I have gained 1 or 2 pounds. Is this normal?

I hate gaining weight!!!!!! BUT i DO LOVE WATER!

Yesterday's training

I forgot to post yesterday.

VISITING
During the day I visited my tutor. She is one of my biggest inspirations and I missed her very much, so I stopped by and we talked for a few hours! She is one of the wisest people I know, and she ALWAYS has an open mind!

We talked a LOT about raw food! She might try it! I love when people I know are interested in trying it. It really makes me happy that people support me! ALSO she is planning on building a greenhouse! ITS SO EXCITING! It really makes me want one! I might come over and learn a few things!!!

We also talked about spirit guides, aliens, meditation, and all that jazz.

THE GYM
Then I went to the climbing gym and I swear --- every single day, SOMEONE who I haven't seen comes around and says "ASH you look different!" and I always say, "have you seen me with my haircut?" and they either say "yes" or "no but its not just that"........ and they all say that "I look skinnier" or "I look more athletic" or "Your cheeks sunk in more!" or something!

It's pretty awesome. They all ask me what I've been doing different, and I'm not afraid to tell them. "RAW FOOD, DUDE!"

Anyways, as far as training goes, I did this:

CLIMBING
-5 by 6s (5 problems, 6 times each)
-campus routine levels 1,2,3 (campusing is a training style for climbing where you don't use your feet -- only your arms!)

YOGA
Then I came home and did a late night vinyasa flow by candlelight.



(this photo was a few days ago, but it was yoga by candlelight as well soooo it all works in this post!)


RISING UP:
Yesterday after I came home and I was typing on my computer, I felt like I was lifting out of my body. It was the weirdest thing ever, but I wasn't giving into it. Like, I was in the middle of an email so I wasn't opening myself up to rising up further. BUT SERIOUSLY, my body or soul or something felt like it was lifting out of my body!!!!!!!

okay, i'm outta here. I'm gonna go meditate, do a yoga flow, and then go grocery shopping!

AWARD WINNER

THANKS TO HIHOROSIE, FOR NOMINATING ME FOR THIS WONDERFUL AWARD!

I AM HONORED!!!

I am glad that a few of you actually read (and enjoy, apparently?) my blog! It really means alot... now I know that my words aren't completely worthless!!! THANKS SO MUCH!

I don't really know what to say............ but thank you!!!!!!!!!!!

UNDER THE INFLUENCE

I was seriously just thinking about green juice, and getting excited about how many cucumbers I got for free from my friend's garden.

and then all of the sudden I had this intense creative energy flow over me, and I ran and got a piece of paper and a couple green sharpies...

and this is what I came up with.

It's not the best, but its what 10 minutes and on-the-spot thinking gives you...

I was going to call it GREEN ENERGY but instead I thought this was better: UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF GREENS

I think in the future I will do a more detailed, awesome version!

p.s. i was too lazy to crop and edit these, so they are straight up images... not the best pics, but oh well!

late post

hey, sorry i didnt post yesterday or today --- I spent the night at my friend's house LAST MINUTE and then today I hosted a tyedye party!!! so that was fun!

heres the training update though:

YESTERDAY
-climbing:
-set of 5 by 6s (5 climbs, 6 times, little to no break between sets)
-worked on HARD projects and climbs until i was completely wasted

and I forget what I ate, but I do remember what I ate for breakfast!

"oatmeal" --- my own raw version:

-2 apples, chopped in food processor until apple sauce-y with a few chunky parts

-1 ripe banana, blended/chopped with apples (gave it a creamy consistency

-cinnamon and raisins sprinkled in

-fresh fruit mixed in (in this case, strawberries)

it had the same consistency as oatmeal and tasted FANTASTIC!

TODAY
i'm a little late on doing my sets since I hosted a tyedye part and had friends over all day, but I am about to finish this:

-160 squats
-160 reverse crunches

and I was supposed to bike this morning but I wasn't even at my house so it was impossible... but i DID go swimming but it was with my friends, so it wasn't laps or anything. I tried to be active as much as i could, but its hard when you have friends over!!!

i'll do a yoga session later as well... i love late night yoga sessions in my room with candlelight! =)

wimpy training and madwoman cleaning

Today I took on some of my mother's traits.

I was on a cleaning and organizing RAMPAGE. It was CRAZY.

I totally transformed my room!


This also meant I didn't spend much of my time training. I still got everything done, (well I'm about to finish off my crunches) but.... it was wimpy all day.

When I woke up and went outside to ride my bike, it was SO HOT that I would've seriously blacked out if I rode up my neighborhood hills... seriously...

SOOOOOOOO instead I got in the pool and started doing laps, but then got lazy and just kinda messed around. BUT HEY, at least I DID quite a few laps! Probably not enough, but at least I didn't totally back out!

SO all in all, this is what I did today:

TRAINING:
-swimming (well, a few laps in the pool)
-160 push-ups - it was a struggle
-160 crunches - feel the burn!
-vinyassa flow / stretching

FOOD:
ummmmm I forget (oops) wait wait...
I know I drank green juice when I woke up, and not long after I drank the water from a young coconut.

Thennnnnnnn I put together a huge plate of fruit that was chopped up and half frozen (similar to icecream!) and I drizzled a cacao sauce over it (made out of dates,water,&cacao) The fruit was bananas, strawberries, and a little mango. IT WAS DELICIOUS.

I don't really remember eating anything else... I ate the fruit plate in 2 servings, so........ yeah thats all I ate. (there was a LOT OF FRUIT)

it was so good, like.. omg... i'll post pics later but my laptop is frozen right now because of facebook - i hate that site!

the NASHVILLE meetup

HiHoRosie reminded me to talk about the meetup I went to (you can see the apple pie I brought in a few posts back from this one --- it was delicious!)


It was a great meetup. And a small one at that.


I was kind of sketched out about an "online meetup group" or whatever (I found it on www.meetup.com) and I knew that I was going to be the youngest person, so I brought my friend Annie who is down to do anything! (She is not raw, but is very open-minded)

Annie also brought HER friend who is living with her for the time being. SOOOOO in "MY" posse, there was only 1 RAW foodie, which was me.

We got to the house and were greeted. There were only 3 people there!!! So there were 6 of us total! It was awkward for about 5 minutes but then everything was cool.

Having a small group, we were able to sit down and all say what we have to say. We talked about (and shared) certain raw food books. We talked about nutrients, health, and raw food in general. We talked about how our Whole Foods kinda sucks compared to most Whole Foods in the nation, and the lack of raw foods it sells. We also talked about Young Coconuts (HiHoRosie!!!) anddddd we dove into blue green algae. It was a good little group, and even my 2 friends were able to talk a LOT about stuff (I think the raw food vibe rubbed off on them too --- they want to go raw for a week!)


Since we had the small group, we got to really EAT everyone's food! It was great! There was this watermelon/tomato soup thing ( i forget what its called but ive seen it in a recipe) There was also strawberry pudding, and this delicious... um... falaffle type stuff that was served on a bed of greens -- it was AMAZING. Not to mention, MY friends brought "Ants drowning in the sea" --- kind of like ants on a log (you know, the celery with the almond butter and the raisins on top), but the raisins were mixed into the raw almond butter because we were kinda late to the meetup, LOL. funny stuff... Man i think theres something else I am missing, but im not sure. OH WELL.

oh....... and of course, the raw apple pie!


anyways, the meetup is monthly so i look forward to next months! I'm STILL surprised and psyched that there raw foodists in Nashville.


After the meetup I went to a going away party for my friend. There werent very many people there... we were talking about going apple picking when apple season comes (for some really cheap apples!) and i realized that I still had some raw apple pie in my car, so I was like "HEY WHO WANTS APPLE PIE!?" and of course they all did. I brought it in, and it was devoured. They seemed to really like it. A few of them couldn't believe it was raw, and one of them thought I bought it at Kroger, LOL.

This post is getting long enough...... i'll post later too!!!!!!!

2 months RAW

I'm not POSITIVE,

but i think today was my

TWO MONTH ANNIVERSARY!


YAY FOR RAW FOOD!

eating OUTSIDE

You could maybe tell from my pictures,

but thanks to Sarah and Dr. Douglas Graham and a few others,

I have learned to eat outside in the SUN.

Recently I have felt very attracted to the sun...

For instance, I will be going outside to do a particular thing, and I find myself dropping everything and just laying in the sun for 30 minutes or so, for no apparent reason --- just because it feels so GOOD.

I feel almost as if I collapse in the power of the sun. I've been a magnet too it recently --- I spend most of my time in my beautiful yard!!!

I eat all my meals outside, and it truly makes me feel ALIVE.

I am BLESSED to have SUCH A BEAUTIFUL YARD.

Here is a picture of the view from main area where i eat. (I'm going to change it up this week and eat somewhere else, though!

RAW APPLE PIE

I don't remember if I posted this already, but

I FOUND A RAW FOOD MEETUP GROUP IN NASHVILLE!

I would have never guessed that NASHVILLE has so many RAW FOODISTS!!! I'M SO EXCITED!!!





.......and they have a potluck today!!! SOoOoOoOoOo I'M GOING!!!









I just made this raw apple pie... hopefully they will like it:

I used Ani Phyo's recipe for the basics but gave it my own touch. I hate using exact measurements, so I basically did everything to taste. Oh and I really like cinnamon so I added extra. And the top of mine looks totally different than hers. BUT if you are looking to make a raw apple pie, she has SUCH an easy one to make!!!

To finish it off, I had a few extra thin apple slices, so I put them on top of the circle of raisins, and then sprinkled some extra crushed up almonds ("almond flour") on top of that.

BAM, [[SEXY]] RAW APPLE PIE!

HELL YEAH!!!

OKAY, i'm off to the raw food potluck soonish, and I will post later about how it goes.

and P.S.

I've been lazy all week and JUST NOW uploaded a bunch of photos, so if you care, you can scroll down my blog and look at the newly added photos to the old posts, LOL. ENJOY!

FOOD

breakfast: green juice (romaine, celery, cucumber, 2 apples, ginger)

snack/drink: water from a young coconut

lunch: pineapple mango smoothie

snack: almonds. I would like to say “one handful” but they are too addicting… eh, oh well, I’ll work it off and eat more greens later on

dinner: apple sauce delight:…well I took a look at what I have an abundance of--- I’m trying to be smart eating what is the RIPEST and in ABUNDANCE, so that I don’t waste any food. It looked like I have a LOT of apples. So this is what I did:

1. I took 3 apples and pulsed them in the blender so that it was apple-saucy but with bigger chunks too
2. I sprinkled cinnamon, raisins, and a little bit of cacao nibs on top (to taste) and mixed it together
3. It needed a LITTLE something else, so I took a tablespoon of almond butter and mixed it all up. IT was pretty good!

it kinda looks like shit, but it tasted similar to apple pie... like... apple cinnamon raisin goodness:

drink: I just realized that my almond milk is going to go bad if I don't drink the rest of it today... so I enjoyed the last cup of my almond milk. MMMmmm.

notes:
For dinner I was GOING to eat a huge mono meal of grapes because they will go bad if I don’t eat them, buttttttt after I took a few bites I realized either they weren’t very good grapes, or I just REALLY wasn’t in the mood for them… back in the fridge they go!


TRAINING / EXERCISE:

bike ride – my legs were getting really tired after 10 minutes, but I rode for 25 at a constant speed… I got pretty wiped out, but 20 minutes later I was back on my feet and ready to do more exercise!

viyasa / stretching – relaxing

100 pushups – I am so bad at pushups… I can barely finish each set (of 20) these are KILLERRRRRRRR!!!!!!! I want to say, “fuck it” every single set…. but then I remind myself of the benefits I will get and the goals I will achieve. I gotta stay strong!

100 crunches -- definitely burned

notes:
-IM STILL SORE. I’ve been sore every single day in different areas. Today when I woke up, my arms were really sore. I also feel really stiff – I need to do more yoga and stretching.

-I'm pretty exhausted. I randomly took a nap today, which is something I hardly ever do. It felt good!!!

RAW FOOD ENERGY and LIES

OKAY, I have to confess.

For the past month and a half (in other words, my raw food journey so far), I have lied to people.

Yepp... I have.... about one thing:

Although raw foods made me feel happy and high and cleared my head, i never felt the "raw food energy" that everyone talked about.

I did, however feel the clarity of mind, the weight loss, the athletic body forming, the happiness, the natural high, and everything else, but the energy was non-existent.

I don't know if I ever flat out LIED and said that "I feel the energy," but I definitely have agreed with people, even though I never felt it. (I was pretty much in denial)

Besides the benefits I just listed, I also felt WEAK, had no energy, and actually started BLACKING OUT ... more than once.

[BUT WAIT, don't stop reading!]

I don't lie much, and I promise to be completely honest from now on.



but guess what?????????????????
I FEEL THE ENERGY NOW!
and for the record, I feel STRONGer than ever, and NEVER black out!

like... HOLY COW... its outta this world!

I SERIOUSLY don't know what to do with myself!!!

I have always been energetic, but NEVERRRR like this. I used to get energy in bursts, at random times.

But now its like a NON-STOP BURST OF ENERGY!!!


SO, if you are reading this and are a raw newbie, and you haven't felt the raw energy that everyone talks about, I have 2 things to tell you:

1. WAIT IT OUT, it will come if you do things right.
2. EXERCISE... this might be because i am increasing my exercising, and the endorphins are going PSYCHO.


GUYS, THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!
just like yesterday and tomorrow! =]

p.s. I posted another blog about today but since I started it earlier as a draft, it got posted UNDERNEATH the one under this one... wait thats confusing... uh... its the 2nd post below! =)

IM SO HAPPY

I don't know if its the DAILY GREEN JUICE, the RAW CACAO, or the INCREASE OF EXERCISE, or a combination of everything, but DAMN, i feel good!


I used to have random bursts of energy, but now my energy never stops!


You know... I have realized something about raw foods.... you see results FAST. (and thats what i think keeps me going)



I LOVE EXERCISE. I LOVE CLIMBING. I LOVE GREENS. I LOVE FRUIT. I LOVE RAW CACAO!!! I LOVE LIFE. I LOVE RAW FOODS.

Thursday July 17

*****I HAVE BEEN HUNGRY TODAY. I feel as though my metabolism is boosting up like crazy... maybe from the increase in exercise??????? anyways, i swear im not a pig!

FOOD

breakfast: BIG glass of green juice – romaine, celery, cucumber, carrots, ginger

lunch:
-raw granola bar (i went to a different whole foods than i usually go to, and they had these and i wanted to try one --- wayyyyyyy better than expected. Also, they had YOUNG COCONUTS! so i got a couple!!!)

- HUGE salad with romaine, swiss red chard, spinach, parsley, celery, cucumber, diced pineapple, and a handful of nuts sprinkled on the top.

snack:
- half of a raw organic chocolate bar, HELL YEAH

-a few sips of a banana/date smoothie -- unil i realized that i bought WHOLE dates instead of PITTED dates, and the pits were in tiny pieces and getting stuck in my throat, GROSS. LOL.

dinner: 2 glasses of a GREEN SMOOTHIE. Okay, this is DEFINITELY my new favorite drink! 3 really ripe bananas, 1 big ripe mango, 2 handfulls of spinach --- seriously I could LIVE OFF OF THIS! I never saw the day...

notes:
I'm definitely eating more. I guess it happens when you increase the exercising. I have so much energy that I don't know what to do with it. I did a pretty HARD workout at the gym, and then 20 minutes later I was a freakin BOUNCING ball and I was just FULL of energy. Even right now, I feel like getting up and SPRINTING through an open field... and i HATE RUNNING!!! its so weird, but I LIKE IT.



TRAINING / EXERCISE:

climbing:

-5 by 5s (5 problems, 5 times each) - this was easy for me this time, but it just kinda sucks to do. I seriously always feel like giving up near the end of the workout, but I always have to remind myself why I am doing it, and that I will become a strong climber by doing it....

-campus routine --- for those of you who are non-climbers, campusing is the act of using JUST your arms to climb --- no feet.... (oh and for the future, if you are questioning what I am saying when I use climbing terms, you can refer to http://www.abc-of-rockclimbing.com/climbingdictionary.asp for a climbing term dictionary, or you can just ask!)

notes:

AHHHHHH as I mentioned under the notes for food, my energy is NOT dying down. I will be tired for like 20 minutes after a workout, and then I will be up on my feet again looking for something else to do. I have never ever EVER felt like this. I AM TRULY A WHOLE NEW PERSON. raw foods are doing WONDERS. I'm going to make a whole new post about this...

training

FOOD

breakfast: BIG glass of green juice – romaine, celery, cucumber, ginger (does anyone know how to properly juice this? or am I supposed to grate it?)

lunch: HUUUUUUUUUGE salad with romaine, spinach, parsley, celery, cucumber, pineapple, and mango with an orange / avocado dressing… and a few nuts sprinkled on the top. Yes, it was fattening. but I got in a ridiculous amount of greens, so it was well worth it, as I usually don’t even eat salads.

dinner: chocolate smoothie --- 3-4 bananas (I forget), dash of cinnamon, dash of vanilla, a little bit of cacao powder / nibs

notes:
I definitely took in a lot of greens today, especially with the salad. I realize that it was a fattening salad since I used an avocado to make dressing AND I sprinkled nuts on it, but I ENJOYED the salad more than I have enjoyed any salad in my life, so it was definitely a step in my eating habits. Plus, I will burn any fat tomorrow when I climb!!! For once while being raw, I feel FULL at every meal!!! I feel FANTASTIC!!! and STRONG!!!

and about the chocolate smoothie --- well, before I discovered raw chocolate, I was ALWAYS hungry and I felt pretty weak. I never told anyone this, but I constantly felt like blacking out (and my vision WOULD go black sometimes!) But then I found Raw Cacao and things changed. I felt really solid and strong at every workout, and I actually felt really full after my meal. It makes me feel HAPPY, and it’s almost as if its what my body NEEDED. I try not to overdo it, but at this point in my life I reallllllly like raw cacao!!! like, REALLY. I eat under 2 conditions --- if it makes me feel good, and if its healthy, and raw cacao is both. =]

TRAINING / EXERCISE:

bike ride – riding in circles for like 10 minutes and then going down the big hill and back up then riding in more circles, LOL. The hill got me breathing HARD, but I made it!

100 squats with 10 pounds – these weren’t really hard, but simply annoying (since I had to pay good attention to my form and make sure I was doing them right).

100 reverse crunches -- definitely burned

50 bicycle crunches – (one crunch = a movement to each side) this burned towards the end and I definitely broke a sweat. I love doing bicycles!!!!!!

swimming – laps and non-stop movement in water for 20 minutes, easy, I got myself breathing hard when I was doing speed laps!!!

notes:
I’m still sore from earlier this week! My chest area is sore from pushups and my arms/shoulders/back are sore from climbing and push-ups…. GEEEZ.

oh and I totally forgot to do a vinyasa flow today. I might do some yoga later, but get this ---Yesterday I was cleaning my room and I found a yoga-strengthening video that a friend gave me last year… I think it was a SIGN. Since I always lose focus and forget what I am doing, I am going to watch this video to get more knowledge. It’s weird though, whenever I used to go to yoga classes I’d do everything FINE. But now I get SOOOOOO distracted. I’m working on it!!!

Tuesday, July 15

FOOD

breakfast: BIG glass of green juice

snack: young coconut

lunch: green smoothie (4 bananas, 1 mango, 2 handfulls of spinach

dinner: raw chocolate smoothie with bananas


notes: I tried to increase my dosage of greens today --- I’ve eaten too much fat for the last week and DEFINITELY not enough greens… Today I felt good but I hardly ever got hungry because my body was loving the nutrients in the greens!!! I think I could increase it a LITTLE more though!!! I love the way they make me feel, but I don’t necessarily like the taste… I think I can get used to it though!!!

TRAINING / EXERCISE:
climbing:
-5 by 5s (5 climbs - 5 times each, minimal break in between sets)
-every intermediate rated climb in the gym --- one chance on each

-vinyasa flow – short…. distracted…. I need a lot of work

notes:

im sore. and my sleep loss from the other night caught up to me!

My shoulders and arms are sore from the push-ups yesterday! I guess I haven’t done too many in a while!!! My legs are still sore from simply taking a walk the other day – pathetic, I know!!!as far as the 5 by 5s go, I didn’t have much of a problem except for laziness creeping in on me on the last 2 sets… I was definitely sweating and people in the gym were looking at me funny since I kept getting on the same 5 climbs, doing them, and RUNNING to the next climb, LOL.

after the 5 by 5s I was WASTED. I know this seems pathetic --- but I haven’t done CLIMBING workouts in SO LONG. Usually I just go to the gym and mess around and climb all over, but I hardly ever did actual exercising workouts.

I gave a solid attempt to all the intermediate problems (climbs) in the gym, and surprisingly had a difficult time on a few. A few of them had crazy long moves – totally against my style. Since I was tired from the first workout, I fell on all 3 of them. The funny thing is, the rest of the intermediates felt SUPER EASY… there were just 3-4 that were really hard!!!

monday, july 14

FOOD / DRINK:


-morning: green juice (nutri-boost from Ardens Garden - http://www.ardensgarden.com/)

-afternoon: 3 ants on a log (3 celery sticks with almond butter and raisins on top)

-snack: more than my fair share of a blended raw nut mix -- almonds, cashews, pecans, macadamias, and walnuts

-banana (my mananger had an overripe one he needed to get rid of...)

-evening: HUGE glass of grapefruit / pineapple juice

NOTES: I need to go a few days and eat ZERO fat.... i totally ate way too many nuts. They are so addicting. OKAY, zero fat for the next 2 days (and then slowly i will add a LITTLE more later on) LESSON LEARNED.





TRAINING / EXERCISE:


vinyasa flow - man, I was totally not focused... I need to work on this!!!

biking - whew! I went through 2 really steep hills in my neighborhood and had a hard time with it. I'm not used to biking uphill to say the least --- I wish I could ride somewhere FLAT to start!!! My heart rate definitely got up though, FOR SURE.

100 crunches throughout the day - easy, light burn...

100 push-ups throughout the day - i felt like giving up all the time. I'm really weak at push-ups.... i did 5 sets of 20 and i had to kinda push myself.... it kinda hurts my back!!!


**general notes: I feel sore today.... my upper thighs / butt is kinda sore??? I don't know why??? The only exercise i did yesterday was walk a couple miles through my neighborhood --- maybe that was it??? My neighborhood has some massive hills, and i hadn't walked in a WHILE.

RAW STRENGTH

check out the shirt i made!!!!!!!!

ripe fruit = bliss

When I came home from ATL, I had 4-5 EXTREMELY ripe bananas --- like --- if they went another day they would be totally rotten

and i also had 2-3 avocados that were only good for one day, if that... soooooo i made some chocolate mousse out of them!!! =)

so.... i made this up... to use my overripe fruit! It's kind of like a banana split soup or something, LOL

GETTING SERIOUS

GETTING SERIOUS ABOUT TRAINING ---

LIFE IS AMAZING.

my attitude towards all areas of my life is changing...



So guess what guys ------

I am going to be a professional climber when I grow up.


Yes, I said it. My whole life I've always secretly wanted to do this, but I always tell myself, "oh no i could never do that --- i am not good enough"

but what i JUST realized it that if i tell myself that i CANT do something, then i really CANT.

.........but the beauty of life is that I C-A-N do ANYTHING i want, and i WILL!!!

I W-I-L-L become a pro climber.


I KNOW that I won't be THE BEST climber in the world (and i am totally fine with that) BUT what i do know is that I can do ANYTHING i want in life, and I WILL be a super strong girl climber that will be pretty well known and completey dedicated and commited to climbing and the climbing community.


For the past two years, my motivation has had its ups and downs. This whole summer has been a down... until now.

I have always TOLD myself that i WANT to be strong, but i never do SHIT about it.

until now.



In the past 2 years, my training has been low, and my coaches keep changing. I know that most people are like "oh whatever you dont need a coach, and comps are bullshit and yadda yadda" but this is what I think and believe:

-check out the girls my age who are WINNING the comps. They all have coaches who train them FREAKIN hard as shit.

-comps might be lame to some people, but I feel like they really push me to train harder, which will inevitebly make me stronger so i can ALSO crush outside!!!

-i am going to be a pro climber, so i want sponsors!!! Sponsors like their products to be noticed by as many people as possible, and winning comps can really help them out --- and i will be traveling for comps AND climbing outside, so its twice as good!

-I personally have had a hard time self-motivating myself... having a coach to help me figure out my schedule and my training plan has really helped me in the past (and in the NOW) and i really like having someone really push me --- because i can get pretty lazy and give up easily, but in the back of my mind i still want to get strong


I am learning about RESOLVE.... about flipping the switch and freakin COMMITING myself to climbing.

this is the process I am learning how to use:

1. PSYCHE - getting myself psyched to climb
2. MOTIVATION - using my psyche to watch vids of strong climbers and stuff to get motivation
3. RESOLVE - flipping my MIND switch into tunnel vision to achieve goals and climb a damn problem --- basically deciding what i am GOING to do, and not questioning it anymore
4. ACTION - DOING IT.... actually getting on the problem and sending it.... achieving goals... stuff like that



My training has been shit for SO LONG NOW. I just kinda lay around, talk to people at the gym, and dont give my workouts 100%. Even when i have told you i've been training, it has been wimpy training and i give up easily.

but from today on, my training is hardcore. WIth the help of my friend / coach, i have come up with a whole new training schedule, and i am dedicating myself to it. I will send it to you later if you want!!!


anyways, i just had to let that out... THANKS FOR READING, if any of you did!!!

I AM SO FREAKIN PSYCHED!

ATLANTA RAW FOOD MEETUP

Hey guys,

Sorry I have slowed down on posting --- I thought that nobody read my blog so I pretty much didn't care to update if nobody was reading it. (well I knew 2 people kinda read it - they are my commenters. ha ha)


But I met a lot of people at the meetup who have read my blog, so I think i am going to start posting more soon!


ANYWAYS,

Steve picked me up in Nashville, and we went back to Chattanooga and picked up Nicole, then we headed out to Atlanta. We went to the Dekalb farmer's market - it was HUUUUUGE!!! It is pretty much a raw fooder's paradise!!! =)

Then we headed towards R. Thomas for the dinner:

THE ATLANTA RAW FOOD MEETUP

The meetup was an absolute BLAST. THERE WERE SO MANY PEOPLE WHO SHOWED UP! IT was amazing! Everyone was full of good energy!!! I met a lot of new people and every single one of them were beautiful inside and out.

I had YOUNG COCONUTS for my FIRST TIME and OH MY GOSH - I HAVE A NEW FAVORITE FOOD!!! It's amazing because i HATE mature coconuts - I cant stand them! Young coconuts are TOTALLY DIFFERENT!!! =) =) =)

I shared a gourmet meal with BUNNY BERRY (http://www.bunnyberry.blogspot.com/) and it was amazing. (check the vid she posted on her page of the meetup)

I also met Audry, who shared with everyone her homegrown cucumbers!!! I brought a few home and I plan on adding them to my daily green juice.

I even got to meet Dhrumil himself - such a cool guy!

This was my first raw food meetup and the first time I have hung out with ANY raw fooders!!! I felt like I could really connect with everyone!!! I wish I knew more in NASHVILLE. oh well.

HERE ARE SOME PICS i stole from www.welikeitraw.com:

CHATTY

Then we headed back to Chattanooga where I stayed with Steve and Nicole. The next morning I skimmed through their library of raw food books and I am borrowing Raw Food Real World - It's pretty amazing! I also really want to buy RAWvolution but I don't have the money for either at the moment. =/

Before I came back to Nashville, we stopped at Greenlife and I got a huge thing of green juice made by Ardens Garden -- http://www.ardensgarden.com/ - check it out, its unpasteurized, raw juice that is made daily! I WISH THEY WERE IN NASHVILLE! ha ha

I also got some raw "Berry Good Cereal" and even a raw chocolate bar. Greenlife has a little raw food section, unlike Nashville's whole foods..... I am going to have to talk to my whole foods!!!


anyways, I am going to go climb now.... IT WAS NICE MEETING A LOT OF YOU!!!

RAW FOOD MEETUP!

off to Atlanta for the raw food meeting......... SEE YOU GUYS LATER!

update, update!

Sorry I haven't really posted in a while...

I got kind of umotivated to post....



Yesterday I made a mini RAW APPLE PIE and OMG... it was heavenly!


I also ordered some raw cacao in the mail, so I am excited to start making truly raw chocolate smoothies and such!!




as of right now, I am really really really interested in doing a JUICE FEAST... I am studying it before I indulge...






OH AND GUESS WHAT - I am going to ATLANTA this weekend for a GIVE IT TO ME RAW meeting!!!!!!!! im so excited!

Farewell Chicago

Chicago was pretty amazing.... 11 days of the city was quite wonderful!

okay, so I am not going to go into detail about every single day, BUT i do want to share my raw food experiences:

KARYNS ---

I went to a raw food restaurant called Karyn's. I ordered a stuffed pizza. OKAY, so I'll be completely honest - it TASTED AMAZING. It tasted just like a real pizza.

BUT

omg... i wasn't hungry for the next 2 freakin days. Seriously. that pizza must've been so dense! My body had been so used to a low fat, mostly fruit diet that when i ate this gourmet meal, my body freaked out!!! it took a while for it to digest. I mean, don't get me wrong, it tasted amaaaaaaazing!!! I also got a carob mint cake to go... and it took 2-3 days for me to eat it (it was so rich, i could only eat a little at a time! it was freakin amazing though!)

after that i went back to LOWWWWWWWWWW fat.... and finally i'm back to normal.



one other amazing raw experience was this market right up the street from where i stayed --- it was called Stanley's and OMG its amazing! ITS SOOOOOO CHEAP! 10 kiwis for a dollar.... 10 plums for a dollar.... i mean, CMON! i got a huge watermelon for like 4-5 bucks!!! and half the store was organic, and even THOSE prices were SO CHEAP! it was definitely exciting!!!


one more thing - i went to a whole foods there and they had a BIG area devoted to raw items. since my local whole foods doesnt have anything like that, i got a few things: raw cacoa nibs (for whenever i occasionally make some kind of chocolate treat), raw chocolate cookies (which i ended up not even liking --- i decided i hate coconut), and a "climbers mix" --- it was raw cashews and goji berries, but i just thought it was amazing that it was for climbers. =)

now i'm back in nash and i came in and weighed myself --- 103. YIKES. slightly underweight, but i think that might also be because i lost muscle weight for not climbing for 11 days.



.......................im out

Chicago

CHICAGO IS AMAZING.

i will post more when i get home... on July 5th