I realize that being in my 20's still, I am not exactly considered to be a wise and old person.  However, I consider myself to be mature-ish for my age.  It helped to have older siblings who were getting in trouble and grounded so I would learn what not to do! That being said, I thought I would compile a list of advice for young girls my age and even younger.  Things I would tell my own daughter someday.  Some of these I figured out myself and some of these I learned the hard way. Tips for young women 1.  Ease up on the makeup       I realize that this seems to be absurd for a lot of people, but trust me!  I know that makeup is fun to play with and its fun to play dress up and get dolled up, I even enjoy it too!  I'm not saying to not wear makeup but don't forget to give your skin a break from it once in a while.  You will be surprised at how much your skin will improve when you wear less, or heaven forbid, go without! 2. ...

I wanted to clear something up.  I know that I use the term "diet" a lot.  I realize that to most people when they hear the word diet, they think of starvation, sadness and deprivation.  However, when I use the term "diet" I use it by its very definition which means the foods that a living being habitually consumes.  I use the term diet as what I eat, not indicating that I starve myself with terrible and depriving habits. That being said, I do eat relatively the same foods almost every day.  You'd think that it would get old after a while, but when I use different spices and combinations, it can be made interesting.  I also love to use my treat meal on weekends as a way to satisfy my cravings and keep myself from feeling deprived and sad.  Who wants to go through life being sad about what you eat?! These are main staples that I eat almost every day and here they are and why! 1.  Chicken breasts       Chicken breasts...

I just got my stuff in the mail yesterday for my personal training course next month.  I am very excited for this new opportunity. As I've gone along my fitness journey over the past year, I've made up my mind that this lifestyle is something I want to adhere to for the rest of my life.  I do already have a successful career as a Veterinary Technologist and it is a job that I am good at- I don't mean to blow my own horn, but it's true.  I went to college and graduated 3.5 years ago.  I do not intend to stop being a Vet Tech- I love my job; however, I want to add another aspect into my life that includes my love for fitness.  This way I can do what I love and have the best of both worlds.  I can do fitness, Ju Jitsu and still work with animals and have the science and medical fun that goes along with it. I can put in IV catheters and deal with puppies and kittens and then go teach Ju Jitsu and then go do some personal training... Why not?!? I realize it...

It is debatable on whether or not you really need a gym membership to get fit.  A lot of people are intimidated by the idea of having to spend money to go and work out.  Many people find that you can workout just fine at home, no membership required! In my fitness journey, I have done it both ways.  I've worked out at home and I've worked out at the gym.  For me personally, I have more motivation at the gym.  I realize that is not the case for all people.   Some people are don't like the gym because of all the people and are unsure of how to use all the equipment.  They would rather workout in the comfort of their own homes.  It is not very appealing to a lot of people to get up at 5 am and head out to a frozen vehicle and drive to the gym.  It sounds much better to get up and workout in your nice and warm house.   I understand that people are worried about going to the gym because they are uncomfortable with working out in public. ...

When I began my fitness journey almost a year ago, my main goal was to be FIT!  Being fit to me meant to be strong, healthy and athletic.   I started looking at fitness pages and websites and I noticed something different about the women on these pages versus women in most magazines and movies.  I noticed that the women in the fitness pages were "fit" over the other women who were "skinny".  Don't get me wrong, both types of women were beautiful, but there was just something different about the fitness models over the regular models.  Their bodies were defined and they had muscle!  They looked strong, like they ate well and worked hard for what they have.  These women are athletes, they lift weights, compete in sports and train.  The other women in magazines looked skinny, and frail, not athletic.  I wanted to be the former of the two.  I am aiming to be strong, athletic and healthy, not just thin. Over the course of this past year, I ...

I managed to get into my doctor yesterday to have my knee looked at.  It is quite a bit less swollen compared to when I woke up on Sunday, but it is still swollen and more sore.  He doesn't think I have any major ligament damage at this time; it is either a really bad sprain or I possibly tore my meniscus.  Either way, I am thrilled that I didn't tear any of my major knee ligaments like my ACL or PCL.  My doctor explained that if I had a meniscus tear, it may heal with rest, NSAIDS (non steroidal anti-inflammatories), ice ,etc or if it's really bad, then surgery. I like my doctor for his honesty and he never sugar coats stuff with me.  He told me flat out "Your range of motion sucks right now Jackie!" which I already knew because I still can't fully straighten my leg and I can't even bend it to a 90 degree angle.  It makes stairs a bit difficult, but I manage.   Currently, my knee is more sore but it is manageable pain; comparable...

I know I've been slacking on writing this past week. I'm sorry but I'll catch everyone up to speed. Thursday and Friday this week were pretty hectic. I don't like to talk about my job on here but we were short staffed this week with Thursday and Friday being even more short staffed. Meaning that I was by myself for techs those two days. It wasn't a huge deal, I managed even when we got a foreign body puppy and a cat whose spay incision herniated resulting both of those to be thrown into surgery.  Friday was much better but a long ass day.  I did manage to get my morning workouts in both days and still made it to Ju Jitsu classes that night.  Thursday night I had a great roll with Ernie which pumped me up for training Friday. Friday's training was great and really improved my mood from my hectic last two days.  Saturday, Ernie and I were up and at 'em and I made an awesome protein pancake breakfast and we went to the gym. I did chest and abs and I'm...

There are many different types of people who do martial arts out there.  Young kids, older adults, girls, guys, the list goes on. There are lots of skills that can help a person with a martial art.  The need to be agile, flexible and fit will get a person far in martial arts.  That being said, there are many traits that are not physical that will help a person go fars.  In fact, a person can be as fit and fast as they want, if they don't have the right attitude, they won't get very far, not only in martial arts, but in life as well. Here is a list of remarkable attributes for all great martial artists on and off the mat. 8.  Perseverance      The need to be able to push through a challenge is required.  When on the mat, if you are caught in a hold down or getting hit constantly, you have to work through it and fight back, there is no giving up until the timer goes off.  Perseverance is needed to be able to work through the rank...

The words "Health foods" are responsible some of the biggest tricks used in advertising in our current age.  Now that we are a society more conscious of health and what we put in our bodies, food companies are changing their advertisements and the packaging of their food to seem more appealing.  Every company wants to come out with a new wholesome "healthy" food so that people will buy it and believe they are consuming better-for-you foods.  Companies do this pretty easily; they will use keywords like "sugar-free" or "whole grain" or "high in protein", put green & blue stickers, claim Non-GMO, "Organic" to fool people into thinking that what they are eating is good for them. I used to be the guilty type of consumer who would be easily fooled by such claims; I have now made it a priority to be much more aware of what I am eating and read labels a bit more carefully.  Bottom line, always read the nutrition information! ...

This weekend was another super busy weekend.  Friday, I had to work late which went well and Saturday, we were both up early to do some running around and then spent the day working on our basement.  We spent all day working, but managed to sneak away to the gym for a little bit to get a workout in.  I was making a great treat meal for Saturday night, so we made sure to work hard.  I did a hard shoulder workout and squeezed in a bit of core stuff too.  We came home and I made a great treat meal.  I made a huge thing of spaghetti and meatballs with homemade tomato sauce and an apple crisp for dessert.  I ate so much I felt like my stomach was going to explode; it was so great and satisfying. Today, we worked all day again on the basement suite which we are finally finished! Yay! Now I can have some more time to finish working on my Fit Like a Girl stuff and accomplish some of the things on my to-do list! I had to do our weekly grocery shoppi...

I've been teaching Ju Jitsu for years now as a Black Belt in Japanese Ju Jitsu.  I love to instruct and teach kids and adults about Ju Jitsu and fighting.  Although I haven't been teaching that long, I have developed a few quirks and have assumed my "role" as an instructor.  Ernie and I kind of have these good cop, bad cop roles in class.  You can guess which one I probably am, which is the bad cop.  Ernie calls me the spirit breaker because I am the hammer or "enforcer" if you will.  Its all in good fun, but I take my role as a Sensei seriously. Over the past five years, I have seen a lot of good habits and people who pay attention and work hard; and I've seen some bad behaviors that "irk" me we will say. I've compiled a list of my top 10 most irritating behaviors from students. 1.  Show up late all the time      I make a point to show up on time so we can start class when its supposed to start.  And almost...

This weekend was quite busy for us, almost too busy!  Friday night, we taught Ju Jitsu class and got in a bit of training as well as some rolling which was nice.  Saturday, we spent most of the day running around and working on our basement renovations.  I'm sure that everyone who does renovations in their house can understand; but I feel like these renos are taking over our life! We do not exactly have a lot of time during the week to work on them, so on the weekends we work on the basement from as soon as we get up in the morning, until night.  We are about one more week away from being done so we will power through. As we all know, yesterday was Halloween.  I'd like to say that we got dressed up in cool costumes and went off to a party, but instead, we hung out at home, watched a movie and ate some pizza.  Yes, I said pizza and I had a couple glasses of wine, it was a great little treat meal while we handed out candy to the neighborhood...

Yesterday I wrote about how I am reaching a plateau in my fitness journey. I've read up on plateaus lately, and found out the signs of them and why they happen ( see yesterday's blog ). I've discovered that fitness or weight loss plateaus are a real thing that happens to everyone.  In yesterday's blog, I wrote about how I am currently feeling frustrated and stuck. A friend commented on my Facebook page that I shouldn't be viewing this as a bad thing, that it should be viewed as "being on the brink of another exciting improvement!" I really like the way he looks at it.  So I need to change my mindset.  Instead of being flustered about it, I just need to see this as a great challenge.  And I like challenges, I get to use my stubbornness for something good!   So I did some more reading and researching yesterday on how to break through this plateau.  From most of the information I've read, the trick to them would be trying to recognize them...