BRIDAL SURVIVOR

short story of me and jason, and our wedding!
we met on a blind date set up by scott and heather fischer....
we dated for 9 months, got engaged and then a few months later i entered a contest called BRIDAL SURVIVOR ( 2004) i was one of like 300 who sent in applications. from there 25 were selected as semi finalists, and had to answer more ” personality based” questions. From there, 10 finalists were selected.
I of course, was one of them.

We had one weeks notice. I was a full time college student, and I worked 3 jobs, cleaning a doctors office 1 day a week, and at 2 local gyms the other days. So I had a lot to figure out. Plus i shared an apt with Beth and still had bills to pay.

I got coverage for all of my jobs, and my hubby agreed to go to one of my classes for me and take notes. and one of my other very LOYAL friends….. actually wrote a paper for me!!! I told her she had to dumb it down a little bit so the teacher would not know. lololol.

I planned on staying in for 10 days. this way i would only miss 1 week of school.
All we knew was that is for $15,000 towards a wedding. We knew we had to meet at an empty store front at a mall in Albany. We could only bring, a pillow, a sleeping bag, something borrowed and something blue.
I brought a toothbrush, and a ” borrowed” notebook with a pen inside. I was addicted to lipgloss, so i smuggled in 2 different ones. LOL
Thats it.

We had to live in this store front. We had to wear really ugly old, used, wedding dresses 24/7. We had to eat Wendys food 3 times a day….and mind you, they do not serve breakfast. and we had no shower. no change of clothes. no clean under wear. lol. we could not leave and no one except the dj’s or the ” bride sitters” could come in.

We did different contests, just like the real survivor. One was called to have or to hold……and we had to hold a 10lb block of ice with our bare hands, untill we were the last one standing…. I won. after 2 hours and 44 minutes. my biceps have never been more sore in my life. frost bite will occur after 3 hours….we were close. LOL

for winning that i got to go out into the mall with jason for 1 hour. while chaperoned by a a dj. i got $10 to spend on hygiene products in CVS. i bought deodorant, some cheap makeup, and i think, some gum.
we had to do other contests as well. but the ice one was my favorite. we were on the news alot. we were on the radio everyday. people came out just to see us. they would crowd around the front of the store like they were looking at a new litter of puppies. LOL.

( back tracking a minute…..on the first day, 1 lady did not make it in time and was disqualified. another lady was in grad school, and said she could not stay past the first day and left after dinner…… day 5 a girl kissed her fiance through the “roped off door way” so she was disqualified, and then a few others straggled out. by day 10, it was me and 2 other girls….i had to stay. i was 2 people away from a 15,000 wedding)
it was mostly boring though. we just sat there. around day 11 or so, jasons ex girlfriend emailed the station and asked for them to buy us new underwear. so they did.

one day  we woke up from a nap and found that one of the girls, was gone and the contest was now down to just 2 of us. this was the same day that we had to spend 24 hours of silence. we had to sit facing away from the doors and windows. we could not talk, we could not laugh, we could not do anything. they brought us our food 3 times and that was it.

when our time was up me and lindsey ( the other girl) started screaming and moving all over the place. lol. we screamed about the other girl- tina- leaving, about the wendys staff never bringing us creamer with our coffee…..about the bad food, about people banging on the window…..lol. 24 hours is a long time to sit facing the wall, and not be able to speak.

finally, on day TWENTY ONE….. it was May 5th…cinco de mayo… and the contest of the day was a boquet toss. i thought i would lose….. and the consequence for the loser, was to eat 5 live tequila worms. at this point i was fried. it was aweful. they had blacked out the windows so we could not see out. they ropped off the room to make it 1/2 the size of what it started with. they turned up the air. they turned up the radio and left it on 24/7, they took away our blanket and pillows. we had nothing. we slept on the floor. my hair was so dirty and nasty. i had not showered in 21 days. i was not sleeping. i was used to teaching kickboxing, yoga and body sculpting classes 6 days a week…i wasnt even moving around the store. i was cold. i was hungry for real FOOD.

so at this point, i said, if i lost the toss, i would not eat the worms and i would leave the contest. however, i miraculously WON. the other girl did not want to eat the worms. which kicked her out of the contest. instead of taking it like a good sport…….she cried and begged and pleadied with me to give her the wedding. she sat on the floor crying and pulling on my knees, begging me to GIVE her the 15,000 wedding i just competed 21 days for.  of course, this was all being broadcast live over the morning radio show. the calls were coming in like crazy. the people were loving the drama. i was not. i wasnted her to stop. finally the dj told her they were going to give her 1000 and a 2 night stay at some place in florida.

i won. i won 15,000. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH for the next few weeks , it was like i was a local celebrity. everywhere i went, people knew who i was. LOL. so funny.

my roommate came to pick up with her 2 year old daughter. they both gagged the whole way home. i was gross. i was still in the wedding dress. my armpit hair was like 4 inches long. lol. not really, but it was long.
they dropped me off at home, and i went to get in the shower…. NO SOAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LOL

they did not give me cash. it was all gift certificates too certain places.

1000 to the apple inn wedding dress place
2500 for flowers from renaissance florists
1500 for museum of dance ( reception hall)
9000 for food ( only included 100 plates)
and then some towards wedding bands, and 1 other thing.
we had to still pay for, extra food, wedding cake, photographer, and a few others,
it was amazing.
this is a story you never forget,
i did it. i knew i could do it. and it was amazing!

Getting uncomfortable!

Good Morning! I am coming off of cloud nine over here in vbeach!! Last night I had to opportunity to step really really far outside of my comfort zone. I was honored to host a LIVE webinar, called " getting physically and financially fit" and then it was followed by " with Brooke Fischer' WOW. I knew I would be hosting this webinar for about 6-7 weeks. I actually thought it was a mistake when I was asked to do it. The other ladies who host it, are a big deal, and pretty high up in the company. They are all women who I look up to, and here I am, ME, being asked to do the same thing that they are doing.
again, WOW.
I have been really stressing over this webinar for about a week. I have been practicing and recording the webinar while doing so. There are lots of buttons to push, slides to move, things to rememeber, videos to upload, etc, while doing it. While practicing, I did awful. My words were fumbling, my stories werent making sense. I wasnt smiling. It was awful.
Last night was the big night. I hosted the webinar, and let me tell you, I was FIRED UP. As soon as I started talking, I felt right at home. I talked about my story and this business with all of my heart. I enjoyed myself. I am soooooo passionate about what I do, and i think it really showed.

112 people signed up for the webinar. And 44 were on the whole time. FORTY FOUR. I just did a live webinar for 44 people! to me, thats huge. I stepped so far out of my comfort zone to do that.
I emailed the recorded webinar out to everyone who registered as soon as it was over.

Also as soon as it was over, I was filled with emotions, and relief, and blessings, and I cried. I really cried. I have come so far, and I still have so far to go and the possibilities are endless. I was on such a "high" after it ended that I could NOT fall asleep till well after 12:30am, and mind you, I have to wake up at 4:15 to teach a 5am bootcamp.

I taught a great class this morning and then I went for a one with one of my clients friends ( 3 miles in 32 minutes, woo whooo) and then I went to my car to stretch. I turned the car on so I could listen to music while stretching and this song was on......

It was just what I needed to hear. I was brought to tears having a mini worship session, all by myself, in a walgreens parking lot at 6:45am, standing outside my car. Those are the best ones. Just me, my God and raw emotions.
the best part
" waiting here for YOU with our hands lifted high in praise, and its YOU, we adore Lord, singing Alleluia"

Amazing. Ive listened to it on youtube about 10 times so far since I have been home.

 I am feeling so blessed.
Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day!

I am planning on taking the kids to the beach all day!

Conference Calls and Facebook

Good Morning!
Im going to start this morning blog post off with some randomness....
1. Ran/walked 5 miles in the sand during sunrise this am ( sweet)

2. I read a book called "She said Yes" the other day, I thought it was about marriage just based on the title, but it was about a girl who died during the school shootings at Columbine. read it.

3. My dad, Joyce and my sister come next weekend ( big yay for that)

4. I listed to a conference call from my coach last night ( she is rockstar millionaire) and she was giving pointers on social media training and I asked her to take a look at my facebook page and give me some feed back. Here is what she said
 A. my profile pic was cropped to cut other people out.... no good. get a new pic of just me, up close.
  B. I change my profile pic way too much...i  need to set a branded image of myself in someones head, so when they think of me, or look for me on fb, they will think of my profile pic.
C. my status posts are just facts, and have no content. No reason for people to want to chat with me, or follow me.
D. I need to create a LIKE page and only post over there.

YIKES! Lots to work on! If I was not building a business ( or two) online- this would not matter. But I am building a business online ( or two) ,,,,,, so it does.

5. I will be attempting to make my own vanilla creamer today. From organic 1/2 and 1/2, fresh vanilla beans, and turbinado sugar. we will see how this turns out.

6. heading to the beach in under 2 hours. lots to do before then.

Have a great day!

Beachbody!

Good Morning!
My exciting news today is that I am a sponsor on TAKEHEART blog. I will be doing a giveaway on this blog in a few weeks and I am very excited about that!

So for those of you who are following Danielle's blog and happen to click on my button, I will tell you just a wee bit about me.

My name is Brooke, I am trainer/owner for Jabb Fitness LLC, and we own the license to Bootcamp Challenge. I am also a Diamond Coach for Beachbody. They are the makers of.....

I  am pretty sure you have seen an infomercial for at least one of these bad boys! The best home workout programs ever. Being a "coach" means that I help people stay on track with their diet and exercise programs, I offer them free encouragement and support. People can sign up for a FREE account at my site RIGHT HERE by clicking join. You can of course also order a program from there as well, and I will coach you for that too. Its a really great thing. Helping to END THE TREND of OBESITY in our country.

I have been involved in fitness since I as 19 when I first got certified to teach group classes. I have come a long way since then, but I have struggled greatly with losing the 60 pounds I gained with my 2nd pregnancy, and although I work out ALL THE TIME, and mostly eat well, I still have 20 pounds to lose.  Food is my problem! I love it! I can be great all week and bad all weekend! No good! I need someone to coach me, just like I am able to coach you! It is a daily struggle for me. Its a fight I am willing to fight each and every day.

I believe health and wellness is that important. I would love for you to follow me here, and I would love to help coach you. Please read a few posts below here for the one called IM LOOKING FOR YOU. You may be one of those people!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a fabulous day!

black flies and running

Hello There!
I know I have taken several days off in a row, I know , I know! I will be posting each day this week, so keep coming back. I also have some exciting news for tomorrow! So stay tuned for that.



I have 2 topics today the first is my enemy- the black biting fly, and the second is running.

Every ( well most) Sunday I meet my friend Val and we go for a run, its normally always a 5 mile hilly, sandy, trail run, filled with pretty water views, tons of moss covered hanging trees, and tree branches to duck under, hop around, or fallen trees to jump over. Its normally a good time. However- about 6 weeks ago, i decided that I was going to wear bug spray ( for the first time EVER) and about 1-2 miles into the run, we started to get ATTACKED by massive amounts of black flies.
Now keep in mind- we were in the middle of the woods, on a loop. We cant just say Ok, I'm done and hope off the trail. We were stuck and we had to keep going.
So for the next 2.5-3.5 miles i ran, screamed, and cried while continuously and furiously swinging my arms around my head. It was quite the site.  I normally run for 10 minutes ( i carry a stop watch) and then walk for 2 minutes. Well, I couldnt walk at all! The attack would increase like CRAZY if I slowed down at all. I am not used to running that fast, or used to running while swinging my arms all over the place! My back and core hurt so bad from all of the swinging, I kept needing to just stop and lean over to relax my back for a second, but was bit each time I tried. AH!
I was so mad, so mad that words can not explain it. I mean, really, I was being attacked by BUGS. BUGS! Finally- we got out of the trail and onto the road for the .75 mile walk back to the cars. We were supposed to run 8 miles that day. Needless to say, I didnt run 8 miles and I could not get out of the woods fast enough that day.
Since then, I have been back to the trail TWICE, but havent ran that 5 mile loop b/c i was scared.
We also thought MAYBE the bugs were attracted to my organic bug spray. So I blamed Jason for buying it. ( only KINDA, LOL)
Today- no bug spray. First 2 miles were great....swatted the bugs 2 or 3 times. Then all of a sudden, BOOM! Attacked! For 2 more miles! TWO MILES! All the same stuff that I was doing last time, I did today. These flies were in my ears! On top of my head! Bitting the front , back and sides of my arms, and flying into my eyes! Each time i swatted an arm- i hit 1-2 bugs with EACH ARM. I wanted to cry. I saw RED. I was SCREAMING. I actually yelled out for God to please make it stop. TWO MILES.
 Can you imagine being attacked by something biting you for TWO MILES? Well- let me tell you....its AWFUL.
 We made it out of there and I told Val i will NEVER run that trail ever again! At least not unless it is freezing or there is snow on the ground! HA!

Stupid bug! I was searching for pics of "biting black flies" and I wasnt finding what I was looking for, and then Jason said, thats b/c its a HORSE FLY. Ok. LOL! So here is a pic of the stupid horse fly that terrorized me for over 2 miles!

Thats my story for the day and it had to be shared! Even though I was attacked, I am glad the 5 miles got done early! Only 4 more weeks till the Rock N Roll 1/2 marathon! YAY!

A pic of Bryson just to make you smile....

and one of Alivia- also to make you smile!

Come back tomorrow for some exciting news!

Im looking for YOU

I am looking for you IF

1. if YOU have 30,50, 75, 100 pounds or more to lose.
2. if YOU would like to be lead by me for free
3. if YOU will cut the excuses and listen to what i tell you
4. if YOU will commit to do a workout program by beachbody
5. if YOU will commit to food journaling EVERY DAY and emailing it to me once a week
6. if YOU would like the chance to win $300-$1000 each week day that you log your workout on WOWY ( ask me about wowy later)
7. if YOU would like to win $12,000 just for being a finalist in the body makeover challenge
8. if YOU would like to win $25,000 for being one of the TOP 12 finalists
9. if YOU would like to win $100,000 for being the number ONE male or female body challenge winner ( based on votes)
10. if YOU are ready to DECIDE, COMMIT and SUCCEED

Does this sound like you?
If you....... the contest starts August 1st! You can apply here.....
http://www.teambeachbody.com/connect/beachbody-challenge?tracking=BEACHBODYCHALLENGEDOTCOM

and leave me a comment here telling me you did so!

Start taking charge of your life people! Stop making excuses and start making CHANGES!

as for me, I have been doing well this week ( i had a small pity party for a few reasons on Monday overate and didnt workout, and then I woke up refreshed and renewed on Tuesday)...... i am doing a 5 mile run tonight with 2 friends, and an 8 mile run on Sunday with a few friends as well. Everyday I am working on my fitness. I will never stop.

Roasting Artichoke, I am Free, and me

Well Good Morning!

Would you like to see me 18 months ago? How about 8 months ago? How about me yesterday? Check it out...

Pretty Crazy huh? Check out how miserable and unhappy I looked? and look at how happy I look now! Its been a long and rough weightloss journey. Gaining 60 pounds with Bryson, and starting 10 pounds heavier than I started my first pregnancy really hurt me.  I still have 20 pounds to go and I am not going to stop working on it! I workout 5 days a week, I drink my shake almost everyday, and I try to watch what I eat. However, I am a big food lover. I can lose 3-4 pounds during the week and gain it all back during the weekend.
Anywho...... This is what I looked like yesterday!

 I love artichokes. I love them them whole, i love the hearts, I love them anyway you can make them. I bought a can the other day from trader Joes of Artichoke hearts in water ( NOT OIL) and i drained them, Tapped them with some papertowels to dry them off, placed them ( and 4 other veggies) on a cookie sheet and roasted them at 350 for about 30 minutes ( with a little olive oil, kosher salt and pepper) and they were soooooooooooooooooooooo good! 1/2 a cup of artichoke hearts is only 60 calories. I ate slightly more than a cup ( the whole can).
 It was so darn good. If you have not tried to roast artichoke hearts, you must try it.

I heard this song on the radio today for the first time in a long time. So I turned it up nice and loud, opened my windows all the way ( it was 84 degrees at 6 am on my way home from bootcamp) and had a little praise and worship by myself.

  LOVE THIS SONG! They used to sing it alot at the church I went to for 5 years in Clifton Park, NY.

 Thats about all today! I hope my weightloss struggle, journey and success so far can inspire you to do the same. I would love to help you on your weightloss or fitness journey.

Have an amazing day!