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Can you start off by telling us about yourself?
I just turned 30! Yikes! But I feel better than I did at 20! I love my life more. I feel better. I am not a slave to diets. I know how to eat healthy & balanced. I found a workout I enjoy. I am at peace with my body. My life is full of blessings. I am proud of who I am. I believe we create the lives we want and I definitely have the life I want and I’m thankful every day.
I married my high school sweetheart, now a pilot in the USAF. We are best friends and have known each other longer than not in our lives. We created a little person last year...what a joy she is! :) In my “former life” before our daughter, I had a successful career, completed my masters degree, obtained fitness & nutrition certifications and trained to compete in a figure competition. I have a successful career now also...I am very busy and I love everything I get to do in a day as a Work At Home Mom. I spend my days primarily with my daughter and work while she sleeps. I truly have the best of both worlds.
When and why did you decide to start FITori?
My first ever blog post was on March 23, 2008. I thought that by making myself sign a contract and posting it on my blog I’d finally have the accountability to lose the weight. I said then that I would someday use this blog as a way to document my journey onto stage as a figure competitor. In 2009, I started to train and I documented that journey on my blog! You can see my transformation via blog posts here: http://fitoriblog.com/category/fitori-2/progress-pics/
Where did you interest in health and fitness come from?
In high school and college I dieted the wrong way. I lost weight and gained it back. I had an eating disorder and I was unhealthy about being “skinny.” My last fad diet was the one I used to get into my wedding dress and look skinny on my wedding day. Well, the fad diet worked...until I stopped dieting. On my honeymoon I’m sure I gained 10 pounds of water weight when I started eating carbs again. I felt awful and it didn’t stop there. I finally felt out of control enough with my weight that I decided enough is enough. I was desperate to find the REAL answer! I decided to hire a personal trainer and she changed my life! The gym became my oasis. I loved lifting weights. I loved feeling strong. I watched the figure competitors and listened to their lifestyle. I started researching healthy eating and was HOOKED! I’ve never looked back!
When and why did you decide to start entering fitness competitions?
The first time I looked at the cover of an Oxygen Magazine, I thought “I could do that.” And, I decided that one day [before I had babies] I would do a figure competition. This was a LONG, expensive and hard journey that I wouldn’t trade for anything. I learned SO much about healthy & unhealthy nutrition, pushing my body’s limits, the bodybuilding world, how strong I am, how dedicated I can be, how it feels to push through to a goal when you want to quit but most importantly....I learned two things. First, I learned how to stay in shape for life. I know how to keep my body at a healthy weight and how to work out. I gained a love for both eating healthy and for working out and strength training. Second, I learned that abusing your body is NEVER okay. And that feeling good is better than looking good.
I decided through my training that it wasn’t natural for me to try to get to 13% body fat. It wasn’t healthy. I didn’t want to look that way. Most importantly, I didn’t want to FEEL that way. I wasn’t willing to push my body to a place it didn’t want to go and get that lean. My body was telling me to stop so I listened. I did compete....but not in figure. I didn’t get lean enough. I made the choice to quit where I was. I was happy with my transformation. I worked freakin’ hard! I looked great! I got on stage as a bikini competitor and was proud of myself for completing my goal and learning what I did in the process. I will never be as lean as a figure competitor nor do I want to.
Will I compete again? I do not plan to compete in a physique competition as long as my kid(s) are living in my house. I cannot rationalize explaining to my daughter that I am eating what I’m eating and working out as hard as I have to work out to compete....in order to look good! What is that teaching her about the importance of how we look vs how we feel? I want her to eat right, stay active and stay in shape for her health not beauty! Here is the post I wrote after the show and I remind myself to read it every now and then to remember the sacrifices I made to compete and how I felt afterward. http://fitoriblog.com/figure-lessons/
What are your favorite ways to work out and what is your workout schedule like?
Well, I’ve admitted to my readers that I have not made fitness a priority in the last year...not because I’m a mommy, but because I work all the time. I am blessed to have started my own business and I work all the time when my daughter is sleeping. It’s my own fault for not making it a priority. No excuses. But I do know that my nutrition is even more important without as many workouts as I’d like.
I work out now at best two times a week these days. I stay active with my daughter. We’re always moving. We go go go. But I do not work out as often as I should these days...and we have a Crossfit gym in the basement!
When I do work out....I love Crossfit! I love Crossfitmom.com because it’s helped me to get back into working out without feeling intimidated or discouraged that the “old me” could have lifted more. Instead, I can adapt the regular Crossfit workout with Crossfitmom.com and not feel bad about myself! I love that the workouts are short and sweet and that they include both cardio & strength. I know I need to add my workouts back into my schedule and I’m in a place now where I’ve finally started to think about where to finally add them back in. I have no excuse except that I have not made the time for it! Maybe I needed all of you to read this to get me back in the groove next week! Will you bug me next week and be my accountability? We can do it together!
How has your fitness regimen changed since having a baby? How do you stay motivated to work out and eat healthy?
The motivation to do anything these days is that sweet little face watching EVERY LITTLE THING I do. It’s simple. Eating healthy is a necessity so I can do all the things in a day I am needed to do for my family.
When she was less mobile, she would watch me workout in our basement gym. I want her to watch us eating healthy and working out as a family. I want her to learn how to be healthy and active from our actions. We have big plans for our home gym to include equipment for her: rings, bars & balance beams for her to play while we work out.
The same goes for eating healthy. I feed her healthy foods so I have to eat them myself. She watches me eat. She watches everything I do. I am very passionate about Baby Led Weaning and feeding her healthy foods. I am passionate about everyone eating REAL FOOD.
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I believe highly in protein and water. If my diet is lacking...eating out or eating too many sweets, I make sure I’m eating enough protein and drinking lots of water. I start my meals with the healthy stuff and always protein. It’s all about balance. If I am going to have a cookie...er..two cookies...I will be sure I have a healthy meal including protein before that.
We eat REAL FOODS as much as possible. We eat at HOME 95% of the time or more. We cook and bake our own meals. We try to buy produce items organic when we can. We eat healthy meals, starting with the most important meal of the day...always a healthy breakfast, including protein (eggs every morning) and carbs (fruit, veggie or starchy carbs) and then if we indulge here and there on a treat, it’s okay. It all balances out.
We are pretty boring when it comes to food. We enjoy quick and easy recipes. We make these recipes the most, when we’re not grilling!
Abs Diet Burgers http://fitoriblog.com/recipes-the-official-abs-diet-burger/
Crockpot Beef Stew http://fitoriblog.com/fitori-fave-recipe-crockpot-beef-stew/
Ginger Chicken Stir Fry http://fitoriblog.com/fitori-fave-recipe-ginger-chili-chicken-stir-fry/
What are your top five tips for our readers to start getting healthier today?
- EAT REAL FOOD. It seems so simple, yet so hard in this country. Eat foods with fewer than five ingredients on the label...and better yet...eat foods without labels! Eat real butter, real meat, real dairy, real fruits and veggies. Eat the real stuff. Don’t eat diet food. Don’t eat food out of boxes. Don’t eat snacks and junk food.
- STRENGTH TRAIN. I believe in strength training for women [and men too, of course.] I wish I could get every woman on the planet to start lifting weights...today. I believe that is a huge reason I am so healthy... I am strong. I worked hard to get strong and I know it was worthwhile. I know that my base of muscle keeps me lean and feeling better.
- LOVE YOUR TREE. Watch this video. I think every woman should have to watch this video. It puts things in prospective for me: http://fitoriblog.com/love-your-tree-love-your-tree-we-are-all-beautiful/ Are you overweight? Own it and Forgive Yourself. Don’t carry that around with you. Don’t look in the mirror and obsess. You are more than what you look like. You are more than what you weigh.
- THROW AWAY THE SCALE. It’s about your measurements, not your scale. You can be “skinny fat” while praising yourself for losing the “weight” on the scale. It’s not about weight. It’s about losing fat and gaining muscle. It’s about being strong and building muscle that will take you through the rest of your life. It’s about feeling better and living the life you want.
- STOP DIETING. I know it’s a cliché but it’s true. It’s a lifestyle. Make one healthy change per week or per month. Go easy on yourself and your family. It’s a process. Start with switching from white carbs to brown ones. Start by cutting back on eating out. Start somewhere. One change. It will build. Once that change becomes second nature, add another. It takes time. But you will get to where it’s all just second nature.
You have a lot of great posts on how to be more careful with what we are eating and not being deceived by labels. Can you give us some of your top tips on things to avoid at the store—the ones that people often mistake for healthy.
Avoid things with labels! I don’t believe ANYTHING marketed on boxes in the stores. Heart Healthy? Crap. Low fat? Crap. It’s marketing. I am a skeptic and I view all “promises” and “labels” on the front of packages as “sales” and “marketing.” I disregard all of it. The profit of these companies is the reason America is in the obesity trouble we’re in. They’re trying to sell you something. Instead...flip it over. Turn it around. Read the ingredients! Plain and simple. Read the ingredients and know them. I do not believe in calorie counting or fat gram counting. I believe in eating the right portions of REAL FOODS and listening to your body for the rest.
What does “healthy” mean to you?
Healthy is the entire body, including the mind and spirit. Healthy is being at peace with yourself, who you are inside and out. I don’t believe you can do that unless you feel good about what you’re feeding yourself and leading an active life...truly LIVING life. You can’t live life from a couch.
For more health and fitness inspiration from Tori, visit her blog FITToriBlog.com, and like her on facebook to stay up to date with all the latest!
