It has been a while since my last blog and I can honestly tell you it has been quite an interesting road for me the last couple of months. I am entering a new stage in my life and let me tell you I am very excited.  There have been some very tough decisions’ made for this new journey I am about to encounter, but I feel confident that the choices I have made will not only build character, but will create many new opportunities.  When you feel like your life is going through a stagnant period you need to sit back and analyze.  What about your life is making you unhappy, sluggish, unmotivated, ect? Then, change it! Easier said then done, I get it, but if you don’t your life will start crumbling all around you! Follow your dreams and don’t let anyone or anything hold you back! I feel like I am on an uphill climb to a very bright future and I couldn’t be more excited!  Don’t let life’s hurdles stop you from living the life you have always wanted, the only person stopping you is yourself!

 My next prep starts in roughly 5 weeks; I am going to have so much fun during my next prep.  I know a lot of competitors, myself included, put their lives on hold during this strenuous time, but why? We don’t need to do that! I am going to live it up, each moment and embrace it! That is what life is all about and if you can’t diet for 12+ weeks and be happy (at least 80% of the time) you may not be cut out for it! So my new journey starts here and now, not just my journey to my Pro Card, but my journey to happiness!

Thanks,

Jess

Every year around the Holidays people start to get a little bit anxious with all of the parties and holidays going on.  I myself am one of them.  I am just like everybody else; I love partaking in the yummy foods and cocktails.  In the past I would leave a party or a holiday gathering with guilt, but I have put that behind me.  This holiday season I am embracing each wonderful moment. Think about it, parties only fall on the weekends and usually in the evenings. That means for the rest of the week I can maintain my healthy lifestyle and ENJOY the parties and holidays to the fullest, with absolutely no guilt.  I am loving this Holiday Season thus far and yes I still keep on my cardio and training as normal.  I embrace each moment with my friends and family.  If people would center themselves around their loved ones and not focus so much on the food and how hard it will be to resist and this and that, they would be so much better off.  This time of year is all about surrounding yourselves with wonderful people and giving thanks to them and showing them how much they mean to you, it isn’t all about food, however it just happens to be a part of all the fun.  Don’t avoid it because then you will just indulge in something else later on that is just as bad if not worse and feel guilt on top of not enjoying yourself at the party, while your cortisol levels are going through the roof.

So when you are at a party don’t stand around the food table and go nuts, but nibble on everything that you want to try and leave the guilt aside.  AND if you do go nuts and eat until you want to pop, no worries tomorrow is a new day and you can get back to normal then, but enjoy each moment as if it is your last!

I hope this helps create a guilt-free holiday season for everyone!

My stay fit during the Holidays tip: Stay on track with your diet, training and cardio during the week and even on the weekends, but when you go to a Holiday party/gathering, out to dinner for a special occasion or if you are just going for your weekly cheat meal ENJOY it and embrace it, leave the guilt aside! The only thing guilt will do besides make you feel horrible, is increase your cortisol levels, which in turn makes those cheat foods even harder to burn off.

Happy Holidays,

Jessica Jordan

The following picture is from the Corona Del Mar Christmas Walk with my niece, my mom and my sister.



From Border States October 30th, 2010

I didn’t blog about it, but 2 weeks after Nationals I competed in the NPC Border States competition. I placed 1st in my class and finished my season up with a bang. I had a blast and definitely enjoyed some yummy food for a few days.  However, cutting back from the cheat foods is usually a very difficult task for people that compete. If you ask any competitor, weaning yourself off of the carb-loaded, high fat foods can be difficult. And for me it usually is, but for some reason I have had a much easier time stabilizing my cravings. I eat very clean during the week and even on the weekend days, but I am enjoying some indulgences a couple times on the weekends, for example we celebrated my boyfriends birthday and had a blast!  I am continuing my cardio and I am back to lifting heavy. I have my strength back from dieting for 17 weeks. IT FEELS GREAT! I am in a great place and I am really looking forward to the Holidays, which for me starts on Sunday. We are celebrating Thanksgiving with my boyfriend’s family this weekend and then with my family on Thanksgiving. I guess that means extra cardio, haha!

Right now my focus has changed just a bit, I am back to focusing more on my personal training business 150% and my family. I am going to be an Aunt again so I am very excited about that.  I am also focusing on building myself mentally, I have been thrown a lot of curveballs lately and I am a testy little thing. I have been really working at it and I am proud to say I am definitely making some progress with it all. Overcoming negative people and situations can be very difficult and dealing with, what we call nowadays, “haters,” is not easy. Walking away from these situations is getting easier and I feel like a better, stronger person for doing so. 

I read a great blog by a friend named Chris McCombs and he said it perfectly, “Rise above the naysayers and people who want to hold you back and see you fail because it makes them feel better about themselves and their lack of a good life. Rise above mediocrity, average pay, and deadly self-limitations. Rise above limited thinking, closemindedness and selfishness. Rise above what others think. Rise above stagnation.”

On Wednesday morning Oct. 27th at about 7am I had just finished training one of my clients and went to check my email.  There in my inbox was this:

“Good Morning Jessica!!
 
I just wanted to tell you how much of an inspiration you have become for me. I ran across your profile through some mutual connections and friends and I was astounded by your dedication and commitment. I also have actively started reading your blog and it provides me with so much motivation to reach my goals. I am training to compete in my first two competitions early next year, both NPC shows, NPC Northern KY Feb 26 and another the end of March. I am following a very strict diet and training schedule, which includes twice daily cardio and lifting 6 days/week. I have attached two progress pics from this weekend and I would love to pick your brain about diet and training techniques. I know you offer training, but wondered if you offer any sort of online training/coaching since I reside in Indiana.
 
Thank you for helping me reach my goals!!

-Anonymous”

I have to say this lit up my day! It is funny how something I find so simple, like writing my blog or putting inspirational messages up, without over doing it, can motivate someone else, whom I have never met.  I have once again been reminded as to why I do what I do. 

Regardless of where we are in our lives someone can always use a little positive reinforcement or an uplifting quote.  So often, I read a blog or a post on Facebook where people are complaining about their hardships, financial situations or their job.  Little do they realize the impact of their negativity on others. Do I have hard times? Yeah! Doesn’t EVERYONE have hard times? YEAH!  The thing is, people don’t want to hear you complaining about your struggles. They may want to hear how you overcame them, but not the negative energy that goes into them.  Negative energy is like cancer; it spreads so quickly that you don’t even realize it.  We are all guilty of this, myself included, but next time you are feeling down ask yourself, why? And what can YOU do to change it, because NOBODY else can change the way you deal with any situation.

This testimonial I received yesterday really lifted my spirits, I am 2 days out from my 3rd competition this month, I am hungry, tired, edgy, ect… BUT this opened my eyes and helped me to re-focus my thoughts and energy in a more positive way. I feel great!  Although I may be inspiring her, she has also inspired me! Thank you!

Thanks,

Jessica Jordan

Well, it is the day after my National debut in Atlanta, GA. As I sit here on the plane heading home to the OC, I find myself recapping the last 14 weeks of my prep and this last weekend where I took the stage and placed 6th in my first National show.  I have to say, there is absolutely NOTHING I would have done differently for this prep. I work with the best guru is the industry, Kim Oddo, and he has certainly done wonders with my physique since January 2010, which is when we first started working together. Early this year I placed 3rd at the Emerald Cup, which is one of the largest amateur competitions in the nation.  Since then I have improved my physique in all the right areas and just two weeks ago won my class at the San Francisco Championships.  Two short weeks later were Nationals. I was SO ready to get on stage in Atlanta and I had a BLAST! I met up with friends and made a lot of new ones. 

The night before I hit the stage in Atlanta my friend and fellow Oddo Angel, Mystra and I went to check out the bikini and men’s prejudging. There was also a small expo, with booths in the back of the ballroom.  We stopped by CJ’s booth, who makes figure and bikini suits.  One of the ladies working there, her name is Paula, came right up to me and asked, “You did the Emerald Cup, right?” I said, “Yeah” She said, “Class A? Blue suit?” I said, “Yeah” She said, “I judged you and I had you in first, you looked incredible.” This was seriously one of the best feelings I have ever felt, for a judge to not only remember me from a show back in April with hundreds of competitors, but to remember my Class and my suit color.  She truly made my evening and gave me a little confidence boost before stepping on stage the next morning, because I was very nervous.

My goal in Atlanta was to place in the top 5. I ALMOST had it, was I a little bummed at first, yeah, considering when you are in the 1st callout it usually means you are in the top 5. However, they called out 6 of us out of 22 amazing competitors.  I WAS ecstatic when they called my number.  They compared all six of us about 4 times, which made me feel like it was a pretty hard decision for the judges.  I am usually very relaxed after pre-judging, but not this time, because I had NO idea where I was in that top 6.  I was thinking 4, 5 or 6 and crossing my fingers for that 5 spot, at least.  The night show came, they announced every girl individually on stage and then we took the diagonal and waited to hear the top 5 in numerical order. Well, I was the second girl in the line up, so I knew if my number wasn’t called out first I would not be in the top 5.  We stood there on stage for what seemed like forever and then they announced the first number in the top 5, and sadly it was not my number.  So I knew right away, I was 6th. 

Every girl in the top 5 had placed 2nd, 3rd or 4th this year in a National Show, so looking back, I am very pleased with my placing and I am now ready to conquer the stage next year! It feels great to have broken the ice and to truly be a National Level Competitor and not just that, but to be a top 6 ranked National Level Competitor.  I have so many feelings and thoughts going through me, a lot of joy, feelings of accomplishment and excitement for what the future holds in my competitive career.  I have so much fun when I compete and I leave every competition feeling more motivated to improve and always beat myself, because in this sport that is all you can do.  There is so much subjectivity involved with the judging aspect that all I can control are all the hours of hard work in the gym and the kitchen. I have always given every prep 120% effort and I will continue to do so until my pro status is achieved.

Thanks,

Jessica Jordan