Wedding Bells....

No, not for me! LOL I feel like this has been in the works and talked about for so long - my best friend, Jamie, is getting married this weekend to his fiance, Scarlett! A bunch of us are headed to South Carolina this weekend to take part in all of the wedding festivities. I'm so excited to get all of us together in order to celebrate. With everyone's busy schedules and with Jamie no longer living in the United States, it makes it difficult to all get together so this is a treat - stay tuned for pics!!!!

Reaching New Heights

So the past week I was clearly in a fog. It was a rough week for me. Do you ever have those days or weeks when everything just happens all at once and you feel so stopped in your tracks? Everything left me feeling down and out and not wanting to do much. I even hauled my training and was so disappointed in myself for that. I guess I just needed it to pass and now that it has, I'm feeling back in action and more like myself again.

As of this past Saturday, I am officially 11 weeks out from my first pro show of the year and to say I'm nervous is quite the under statement. I am having all these feelings of self doubt along with so much pressure for what lies ahead. Questions keep flying through my head like "will I be ready?", "will I look ok?" and "will I fit in?". I've second guessed myself so much within this past week that I've needed people to just reassure me that I can do it. I have the best support system and friends who believe in me and for them....I am pushing through and reaching new heights! It's back on.

Chicken & Spiced Apples

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:
2 apples, preferably Braeburn, peeled and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
3 teaspoons unsalted butter, divided
1 1/8 teaspoons herbes de Provence, (see Note), divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed
1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest

Instructions:
Toss apple slices with lemon juice and cinnamon in a small bowl. Heat 1 teaspoon oil and 1 teaspoon butter in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the apples and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes. Keep warm.

Mix 1 teaspoon herbes de Provence, salt and pepper. Place chicken between sheets of plastic wrap and pound with a meat mallet or the bottom of a small saucepan to a 1/2-inch thickness. Sprinkle the chicken on both sides with the seasoning mixture.

Heat 1 teaspoon oil and 1 teaspoon butter in a large skillet over high heat. Add half the chicken and cook until no longer pink in the center, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove to a platter and keep warm. Add the remaining 1 teaspoon oil and 1 teaspoon butter to the pan; heat over high heat. Cook the remaining chicken in the same manner.

Add broth, lemon zest, the remaining 1/8 teaspoon herbes and any accumulated juices from the chicken to the pan. Cook, stirring to scrape up any browned bits, until slightly reduced, about 3 minutes. Spoon the sauce over the chicken and serve with the sautéed apples.

Energizing Smoothie

ENERGIZING SMOOTHIE
(makes 3 servings, 1 cup each)

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups orange juice, preferably calcium-fortified
1 banana
1 1/4 cups frozen berries, such as raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and/or strawberries
1/2 cup low-fat silken tofu, or low-fat plain yogurt
1 tablespoon sugar, or Splenda Granular (optional)


Instructions:
Combine and blend until creamy.

That Time of Year

This time of year is always somewhat sensitive for me and my family. For those of you that don't know me, my mother died unexpectedly in a car accident 20 years ago. That day forever changed my family and threw us all into a world wind. My family has never been the same since. Some years I'll find that I am completely fine and the day doesn't phase me at all. However some years I get into a little emotional rut and go figure, that happened this year. I think it's mainly because this year marks the 20th anniversary of her death. I was completely fine at work all day yesterday, got my training in and then once I got home, it hit me - wow, it's been 20 years! I have not been the same since. I am hoping that I can kick this when I wake up tomorrow. It's great to remember and it's great to celebrate her and to be close with my family. I just don't like being an emotional rut and not myself, as it's not like me at all.

Here's to the celebration of my mom's life and what she left behind. I love my family and know she'd be proud of all of us.

Vote for Me!

Help vote for me to be on the cover of Status Fitness Magazine - you can vote 5 times per day! Being on the cover of Status Fitness Magazine would be a huge accomplishment for me...thank you for your support!!!!! Just click on the link below....

Julie Costa

Living It Up

Over the holidays, I also celebrated my 30th birthday. To me, it was just another birthday and just another year older, but my family and friends convinced me that it was a big milestone and that we needed to celebrate. My sister and I decided to do something a little bit different and unique to remember my 30th birthday - we took a trapeze lesson! The picture above is of me conquering the art of trapeze. Although I am fairly strong and athletic, this certainly exceeded my wildest imagination in that it was really scary and really difficult! The lesson consisted of me, my sister and about 10 kids ranging from ages 3-12 - these kids looked like pros with no fears up there! I could certainly do it just like them, right? Wrong! Although very safe and harnessed in, I let my fears take over me. However the more I kept going up there and trying it again (still getting a wave of fear pass through me as I climbed the stairs), I felt a little bit better about the next attempt. In the very end, both my sister and I were able to hang upside down on the trapeze bar and let one of the professionals catch us from the other side - it was pretty cool! Will I be doing that again in my near future? Probably not LOL, but at least I can say that I will never forget my 30th birthday. Thanks to my sister for doing it with me and celebrating in the air!

New Year's Resolutions

January is into full effect and I am loving it! I am gearing up for a fabulous spring competition prep - this week's training has been right on and dieting is buckling down. I am feeling so much better after all the holiday gatherings, that's for sure. Things have been really picking up at the gym too - I am buuusssyyy but enjoying every moment of it.

With the new year, comes a lot of people with new year's resolutions. Many of these resolutions fall into the health and fitness category, specifically losing weight. Most gyms are now packed and jumping with people with all of these resolutions. I'm finding that a lot of people (regular gym goers) start to complain a lot about this time of year, in that they hate how busy a gym can get with all of the "new year's resolution people". The more and more I hear this, the more and more frustrated I get. Shouldn't we be happy that these people are getting up, out and to the gym in order to be healthier? Granted, the number of people sticking it through are not that high but can't we give them the benefit of the doubt? Instead of putting down these people, let's congratulate them on going for it. Maybe this type of support will make them stick through it longer than a couple of months? A little motivation and support can go a long way...

Organization is Key

It's that time of the year again...I am organizing, prepping and planning. Yup, you guessed it - I am entering full training/dieting mode for my 2010 spring shows. I spent the majority of today inside while it was snowing outside like crazy. I was so productive in that I wrote up all of my clients' workouts for the week as well as my bootcamp classes. I also had time to make new playlists for my IPod and figured out my weekly training schedule. I'm going to be trying out new things like hip hop classes and gymnastics classes in order to help with my fitness training, and I'm super excited! After that was all accomplished, I hit the grocery store and stocked up on a bunch of clean eats...I am ready to get cooking and prepping meals for the week.

I feel ready to enter my training/dieting for the spring season when I feel productive like I was today. It may seem easy to others to just hop right into training and dieting, but I like to write things out and get organized, it also helps to mentally prepare me for what's coming. With all that being said, I feel ready for what lies ahead...my first show is the first weekend in April and although that seems so far away, in reality it is not. I have a good solid 13 weeks to my first show of the season. So until then this girl is going into hibernation mode - you can find me at home or in the gym lol. EAT - TRAIN - SLEEP - REPEAT.....let's do this!

2010

The new year is finally here! Along with the new year, we are also entering a new decade - I am so excited! Although 2009 did bring many personal growths and achievements for me, I was ready to wrap the year up. I am ready for all of 2010's beginnings, challenges, rewards and personal growths. I am taking the next couple of days to get organized and to formulate my plan of attack for the next couple of months. Starting Monday, I am 100% back in full training and dieting mode for my upcoming spring shows. I am so excited and determined as this spring season will be the first time I step on the stage as a pro, I cannot wait to see what happens and what changes will occur during this time.

Be sure to keep checking back on my blog as I'll continuously be updating it with how my training/dieting is going!