Happy New Year 2006!

Steps To Success
Personal Training/ Coaching

Business is Booming!!
Wow...this is turning out to be a HUGE year and the New Year has still yet to begin:)
I have aquired several new clients recently and I am currently training several for competitions. In addition, I am in the process of forming May's 2006 "Team Abrams".
-"Jen" is the middle weight and masters division competitor I am
preparing for the April 1st 2006 Ottawa showwww.flexgymonline.com

Team Abrams- May 6th 2006 www.kevinnoble.com

-"John" super heavyweight and masters division competitor- Team Abrams

-"Kelly"(my dear friend) heavy weight division competitor- Team Abrams

-"Edith" figure competitor- Team Abrams

-"Kim" heavy weight competitor- Team Abrams

- "Jen" middle weight competitor- also may decide to be part of the Team after Ottawa.

"Karen" (my friend from way before bodybuilding:) heavyweight competitor- Team Abrams
Karen was part of the 2005 'Team Abrams" -Overall Winning Team!
That gives me LOTS to do up to and during my own prep. for Team Universe and juggling my other in home clients. I am excited though..so many dreams to come true for so many!!
And I have been asked to be part of the Journey...
the good, the bad, and the ugly!
And let me tell ya- competition prep gets UGLY!!!
I am honored!
Speaking of which...
The 2005 Goddess of the Year honor is being given to ME this year. I just finished writing a little something for the feature and I will attach the link for all of you to see when it posts the middle of Janurary.
Thanks Andy..for coming all the way from Germany for a photo shoot
and for thinking so highly of me!
The Team Universe that I am competing at this year has been changed from August to July 14-15th. It will still take place in New York though. I am actually very happy with the change! It fits better with all the other exciting things happening this summer I will share next month with all of you! My Feb. 26th Birthday will be my last big harrah, so- to- speak,
before dieting begins...
So my dancing friends out there (MOM, Kelly, Lauren, Jack, Karen)..mark your calendars..
we are going out!!
Jen;)

Quote For Today...
A Thought on Restoration:
"Year by year the complexities of this spinning world grow more bewildering and so each year we need all the more to seek peace and comfort in the joyful simplicities."

— Woman's Home Companion, December 1935

Female Athletes Trade Thin For Results:
.....More discovering that thinner doesn't mean stronger!
(Article from ACE News letter- Nov 2005)

Dietitian Nancy Pudwill says many female athletes don't realize how much fuel their body needs.
DENVER, Colorado (AP) -- After collapsing at the end of two marathons and struggling to swim just a single length of the pool, Olympic hopeful Jacqueline Mariash knew she needed some help. She got it from an unexpected source: a registered dietitian.

The 25-year-old Mariash has been a runner for nearly as long as she can remember, and began competing in triathlons in 1998. Like many female athletes, she strictly limited her food -- dipping as low as 800 calories a day -- to improve her performance by losing weight.
But her results were just the opposite.
"I used to wake up really tired," she said. "I used to take a lot of time off training because I was so exhausted."
Last summer, Mariash tried nutritional counseling. After about a month of sessions with dietitian Nancy Pudwill, the athlete said her energy levels soared and her performance improved. Weight loss was no longer her primary goal.
"In high school track, we all starved. That's not how you get to the Olympics," she said. "Now I can train harder, farther. Things I was afraid of, like a four-hour bike ride, are easy now."
If discipline is required for training, she says, why not for nutrition too?
For Mariash, the solution was to eat a lot more calories in three balanced meals plus several healthy snacks.
Before she began working with Pudwill, Mariash usually had cereal for breakfast and would then "basically nibble" all day -- crackers here, juice there -- with one balanced meal at night.
Now she has a full breakfast with eggs or other protein, a decent lunch, healthy snacks and an energy drink, plus a complete, balanced dinner.

Mariash is one of many athletes who have learned that thinner doesn't always mean faster or stronger, and that fitness and conditioning don't work well without proper nutrition. Athletes and coaches have increasingly turned to dietitians and nutrition counselors for such help, said Philip Haberstro of the National Association for Health and Fitness in Buffalo, New York.

About a year ago, Pudwill and several sports medicine doctors and therapists at the University of Colorado opened the Active Women's Health program after realizing many female athletes didn't understand how to meet their body's nutritional needs. Adding to the challenge is society's pressure to lose weight, Pudwill says.
"What happens with females is they don't realize how much it takes to fuel their body to do the kind of activity they're doing," she said. "Sometimes, typical of females, they're not eating enough."
Some problems don't always clearly point to nutrition -- stress fractures, low energy, anemia. But all can be signs of too few calories and a shortage of minerals like calcium and iron, said Suzanne Farrell, a Denver-based spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.
Unlike men, women athletes often resist advice to eat more, Farrell said.

"I had to stop reading magazines like Shape and InStyle," said Mariash, who agreed it was hard to gain weight. "All the magazines talk about is losing 10 pounds or shaving inches from your waist. For me, it's how do I get fast."
Mariash said many athletes and coaches don't pay enough attention to nutrition as part of their training regimen.
Simple changes in diet, including a different ratio of protein, carbohydrates and fat, can bring rapid results, Pudwill said. She said she usually steers clients clear of supplements.
Mariash keeps a diary of the foods she eats and her energy levels through the day. During her weekly visits with Pudwill, they review the diary, check her weight and discuss any needed changes.
"I'm really concentrating on getting lean, but doing it the correct way," she said.

Christmas Eve...
The children nestled in bed, so eager for Santa..they wanted to go to bed early!
Stories of the Baby Jesus and Santa Clause still fresh on their minds.
What a magical night...for so many reasons...
I wish you all a beautiful Christmas morning,
time with those you love,
and a moment alone to remember what the true meaning of Christmas is for you!
A blessed Christmas & New Year to you all,
Jen:)

Grandma and Alyssa..what a sweet picture!

Time to eat...

cookies, cookies

Surprise..my husband's brother and his wife took the day off from work and came for dinner!!

I Love you Alyssa!

Grandma, Grandpa and the kids..

Daddy wearing his reindeer lights;)

What? I didn't do it!..yahh right:))

Toothless Alyssa!

Gettin' tired...

Santa's Coming!!!!

Are they asleep???;)

4 Hours of Baking Tonight:)
...and my little helpers with messy faces!!

Quote For the New Year...
"Be the change you wish to see in the world.'"
— valesha

(My inspiration for the coming year!!)

A Christmas Get- Together...
my sister, her husband, my brother and his girlfriend spent Saturday night at our house while my Mom and Dad entertained and enjoyed the kids:) Here are a few pics before they came over.
I love decorating for Christmas! I can make a little go a long way:)
Just 4 days until Christmas...
I am helping with Alyssa's school party today...fun-fun!

Thomas Kinkade- one of my favorite artists!!

Quote For The Week...
"Besides the noble art of getting things done,
there is a nobler art of leaving things undone….
The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of nonessentials."

— Lin Yutang, Chinese writer and educator

What I've been up to:)...
Aside from all of us getting over the stomach flu:(

Santa made a visit to the fire station on Sunday!

Reindeer ears for Wade:)

Wade wanted nothing to do with 'Santa';)

Alyssa rollar skating at her Brownies outing with Mom on Sunday.

Alyssa all dressed up for her Winter Program at school...singing and playing a drum:)

Wade trying out some of the instruments after the program..he's our music child I think:)

Quote for Today...
And what if you were told:
One more hour?"

— Elias Canetti

Creative Artwork Sent To Me...
A while back an artist by the name of "Alex" sent this to me. Very creative!
He called it "The dark side of the moon".
Thank You Alex:)

Quote For Today...
"Let yourself rule and be ruled by these strings or emanations that connect everything together…"
— John Ashbery

Winter 1

Winter 2

"Baby Blue" and "Barre"
My members area galleries of the w eek...

"Baby Blue" gallery preview

Quote For The Week...

"We spend most of our time and energy in a kind of horizontal thinking.
We move along the surface of things …
[but] there are times when we stop.
We sit still.
We lose ourselves in a pile of leaves or its memory.
We listen and breezes from a whole other world begin to whisper."

— James Carroll, novelist

Amanda Dunbar wrote some really nice things about me in her journal from Atlanta...
www.amandad.com
Thanks dear, I had a great time talking with you as well:)
I look forward to getting together again next year- maybe this time we can get some gym time in!
Jen;)

Members Gallery Preview...

The Christmas Season Has Arrived...
The stockings are hung, our Christmas tree is a glow...
The garland is lit and the candles are a flickering...
Our home is Alive with the spirit of Christmas!

The past week has been filled with tree lighting, house decorating, writting my annual Christmas letter/card, cookie eating and spending some quality time with my husband. As the weather has gotten colder, the house has gotten warmer. A few days off from work for my husband gave us time to train together at the gym and decorate the house together. It has been so long since we've gone to the gym together..it was really nice to have my training partner again from before the kids were born;)
The kids are so excited about everything. The magic of Christmas burns so bright in their eyes!
Now that I am truely back to being 'me' again, my bodyfat back to where my body likes it to be and my hormone levels back to normal as well, my sensitivity to all things hightens. I really sence the difference in myself..the calm that returns, my gentler side returning as I hang up the "hard driven gloves" for the time. My training is still heavy and my strength is really unbelievable ..useless strength my husband calls it..LOL! Training hard and then being able to fuel up is such a wonderful thing..I am just enjoying everything right now...
Life, my husband, the kids, training, eating and all the 'little' things that are going on around me.
Little Wade and I came down with an upper respiratory cold yesturday:( I am doing ok, a little less peppy than usual and a cough but still able to run with my new client outside..I know I'm pushin' it but I am just so excited about her new goals for herself, and want to keep her going..I don't want to be the road block to break her momentumn;)
Wade seems to be better today but yesturday was not;( He was just precious last night...like I said..I am really feeling everything right now... I find all my sences to be at hightened awareness. We were making soup from scratch and he stood at the stove and helped me with it all..every piece of chicken, every vegetable, every spice and little dough ball to go into the pot...It was really a special moment:)
Then I tucked him into bed and watched part of a movie with Alyssa. About an hour and a half later as Alyssa brushed her teeth I heard little whimpering sounds from his room and him calling.."Mom" in a very raspy voice. Wade is always the kid who jumps right out of bed, kicks down the gate in his doorway (the gate is to alarm us he's UP!) , and is on his merry way. So to walk in his room, see him on his bed weak and not even wanting to get out of bed really scared me. His chest was very congested and it was very painful for him to cough. The vicks pad on his chest just wasn't working. I took him in the bathroom and steamed it up to help loosen up the cough a bit and then slept propped up on the couch with him on my chest all night..like when he was a newborn.
It's so sad to see them so sick but there is a small part of you that really feels good being the one to ease the pain and help them feel safe. I have so many memories of my mom taking care of me when I was so sick with athsma as a child.
We slept through the night that way and the elevation of him sleeping on me seems to have helped..today he is doing much better:)
Well, time to go....not sure what we are doing tonight yet...
Jen;)