Please allow me to introduce myself...

So you follow my blog...

Maybe you know me personally
or maybe you don't?

Maybe you have followed my blog from way back
or maybe you just stumbled upon it today?


Maybe you find me interesting
or maybe you think I'm insane?

Maybe you find me motivational
or maybe you think I'm a terrible person?

Maybe you admire what I do
or maybe you're just nosy and want to keep tabs on me to report to someone else!?

REGARDLESS

Please allow me to introduce myself to those of you who DO care and ARE inspired and WANT to have someone in your life who is POSITIVE and MOTIVATED and INSPIRATIONAL.  

Because THOSE are the things that I strive to do, be 

and inspire in anyone I come into contact with!

My name is Tammy
I am a mom!
I am a girlfriend :)
I am an ultrasound tech and I have credentials!
I am a daughter
I am a sister
I am an aunt
I am a friend
I am a powerlifter!!
 
I have an 18 year old son whom I have raised as a single mother since birth.
He recently graduated high school and is enrolled and ready to go to college.  He is a fine, outstanding, strong, good hearted young man and through the good times and the bad, I'm proud of every moment of being his mother and I'm so excited to see what a successful young man he grows to be in life!

I have worked since the day I turned 16.

I have waited tables, worked retail, worked customer service, worked at a bank, bartended, been an office assistant, been a receptionist, and currently I am a ultrasonographer.
(Man I'm old, and I've worked alot of different jobs!)
I attended college while working; some semesters full time and some part time... some day classes, some night classes and some online.
2 years ago - I left my full time job to attend Sonography school full time.
Once I graduated, I immediately went to work and I LOVE what I do!
It took some time and alot of work and sacrifice to finally get to where I am today!!

I was married once.   For barely over a year.
I am divorced.  I didn't believe in divorce.  I still don't.  And that part of my life is the part I least enjoy talking about.  What began in my mind as a very intentional act of God turned out to be a bunch of smoke and mirrors and left me with alot of questions but plenty of motivation to move on.
So moving on.......


I am now sitting in possibly the best place I have ever been in my life.
I have THE best boyfriend ever; no one has ever respected or treated me or my son any better.
I have raised my son into "adulthood" and he is enrolled and prepared for college and ready to face this world with a strong foundation and a family loving and supporting him and cheering him on.
My parents are good - both my brothers are happily married and I have a couple of great sister-in-laws!
I have the best career I could imagine and work with some pretty incredible people.
I have the best friends that I could ask for and each has a story of how they miraculously came into my life.  One of my best friends recently had a baby boy and another one has a baby girl on the way!  (this means NEW BABIES in my life without ME having to have them!  haha  Aunt Tammy again and again!)

AND

I have a brand new hobby that pushes me and drives me along with making me better today than I was yesterday.
I am healthy.  I eat healthy.  I lift heavy.  I compete.
And I talk about it alot
Because while you are passionate about your hobbies and past times - so am I  - and this is mine!!

On that note, along with trying to provide a place to find strength and motivation to get through this life - I have also decided to share my work out training plans and diet.
While some of you out there might think I'm crazy and think that what I do is impossible, I will show you that it's NOT impossible.  And that you can do absolutely ANYTHING that you put your mind to!

I'm the girl that LOVES to eat... and eat WHATEVER I want... WHENEVER I want... but I have done things over the past year that I never dreamed to be possible!!!
I have done things in my diet (especially over the past 5 weeks!) that I thought people were CRAZY for doing.
And it WORKS!
And all it took was some discipline and DRIVE and a little motivation beginning with B-rad and added by all those out there that inspire me.... Rob Bailey, Dana Linn Bailey, Brandon Lilly, Jesse Burdick, Caitlyn Trout, Dan Green, the Lilliebridges, Jennifer Petrosino, Mark Bell... just to name a few... and of course my work out crew:  my #1 slave driving, don't take less than the best, analyzing, "depth nazi", keeping me in check on mechanics B-rad, Chris "the Body" Flenor, Travis McIntosh, Dustin "HOG" Embry.... and all the others that have come and gone throughout our training cycles.

So I just wanted to take the time to give you a little insight into where I came from, what I'm doing, where I'm going and what's driving me to get there!!!
I will continue sharing life joys, heart breaks and motivational moments with you
But I will also be sharing work-outs and diet tips and advice and recipes and whatever I can that will help anyone out there who is looking to be better tomorrow than you are today!

Glad to meet you all
And feel free to follow me and/or contact me via this blog, facebook (Tammy Green), twitter (tamig30) or Instagram (TAMIG30).

Have a GREAT week!
It's explosive squat night for me!

Turning over "leafs"... and growing trees!

It never fails, after I have a crappy day... and spend a little time reflecting on things... that the VERY NEXT day there appears a GIGANTIC fire under my butt!!!

No time for pity party hats over here!!

I am instead focusing on how my life has changed and grown and how I am better today than I was before.

YES - I am going to toot my own horn!
And you should too!

Toot your horn, pat yourself on the back, stand a little taller and be PROUD!!!
(If you need help doing that, hit me up - I will SHOW you all the positive around you.  I will SHOW you how easy it is to be proud of where you are AND I will motivate you to keep going!)

First of all - My sweet baby boy is a MAN.  (on paper anyway!  ha)   I raised this little boy through good and bad, through some pretty rough times and sometimes on nothing at all but prayers, hopes and dreams.... And today I finalized his registration for college.  My baby boy is going to college.  My baby boy has grown up with a heart like none other and hopefully with just a smidgen of my drive to go out into this world and BE SOMETHING!!!  Leave a mark!
This single mommy did that.  I raised him, I taught him, I tried to be a positive role model and example and I pushed him to never give up!  *I'm not saying I did it alone...he has been loved and supported by many*
I am PROUD of who he is today and where he is going  :))

I love my job.  YES.  I do.  I quit a full time job and went BACK to school in order to find a career that is fulfilling for me.  Something I could do with passion.  There are days that are more stressful than others... and days I wanna kill someone... but that is normal.  Right?!!  LOL   But seriously.... I love what I do.  I even love that I work with patients every day.  I interact.  I meet people.  I hear stories - some that impact me!  And I tell stories... some that I hope have some impact on someone else.   This life is all about helping each other and being kind to one another.   Why is that so hard for people to understand?!!  Just BE NICE!  You never know when something you say can either make or BREAK someone's day.  Be kind.  Smile.  Enjoy every day of your life.  You never know when the direction might change... and there are things you can never get back!

I have THE best boyfriend of all time!  Who else would get up and fix me scrambled eggs EVERY day before work??!!  To keep me in line and on my diet!  No excuses!!  Who else would stick with me through all my insanity  hee hee * (insert one of my Lido "diddys"!!  ha)*  Who else would have the patience to work out with me {a newbie!} on a regular basis and not kill me?!  ha!  No one knows me like this man.   And for SURE no one LOVES me like that man!   I am one lucky little princess!

I am officially a GYM RAT.  Yes - I can say that now.   And I'm proud of that!  So many times before.. I thought I would get into shape.. blah blah blah....  But it never lasted.  What is that saying about making something a habit?  It takes how long?!!   BLAH   I don't think there is a defined time limit.  I think there is a defined PASSION that you must find in order to make a lifestyle change.   You can't make that decision for someone else and no one can make it for you.  To be totally dedicated you have to want it for YOURSELF!!!
And when you make that decision - people will look at you funny!!!   Guaranteed!
Because who WANTS to eat healthy and work out all the time...??
ME!!!

I AM A POWERLIFTER!!!!
WHAT?!!!
And I'm a GIRL (in case y;'all missed that memo!)
I have officially competed in TWO full power lifting meets.  (and a push pull meet that wasn't sanctioned) 
I am listed on the interwebzz YO!!!! 
APA (American Powerlifting Assoc) and SPF (Southern Powerlifting Federation).
WHAT?!!
Yeah - that's right.  I'm worldwide baby!!!  ha ha
Now granted - my numbers don't rank in the top gazillion lifters in the US - BUT I'm on my way and what are YOU going to do to stop me?  Or tell me that I can't?
Make fun of how I eat?
Make fun of how I spend my free time?
Tell me I'm crazy?
Tell me that I'll look like a boy?

nahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Some people play soft ball, some people shop (don't worry - I still do that!!  Just for different stuff now!), some people run, some do yoga...
This is what I do now.
And I love it!

My mom told me I'm going to blow out my veins!!
I told her Elvis did that taking a dump!!!  hee hee

I'm having fun and my body looks better than ever and I'm HEALTHIER for it!!!
WHAT?!!

I raised my kid to be a strong loving passionate man,

I have a man that loves me,

I go to work every day and I love what I do,

I pay my bills and I pay taxes,

I have a loving family I know I can count on,

I have the best friends known to man,

My best friends are having babies for me (ha ha) 

(making me Aunt Tammy again!),

I eat healthy

I lift heavy

and one day, I will hold a RECORD!!!

WHAT WILL YOU LEAVE BEHIND

WHEN YOU ARE GONE?

If I inspire one person to be better tomorrow than they are today - I will die a happy woman!  :)

And as I said before...... I will be happy to talk to anyone about lifting, eating, NO CARB, motivation, passion.... HOW TO GET STARTED and how to stay on track!!!!

I LOVE THIS LIFE!

I have met some of the most amazing and inspirational people out there through this lifestyle!  I hope someone can say that about me one day!!

Just over here being a girl and stuff....

I am STRONG.
I am independent.
I am hard headed.
I am stubborn.
I am determined.
I am DRIVEN.
I am focused.
I believe that everything God has brought me through, is to make me all of those things!
I believe that every fall along the way has made me tougher. 
It's made me WISER.
And it's always serves to remind me that HE has a plan for me that is bigger than anything I could have ever planned on my own!

I like fast cars. 
I want a jeep so I can take the top off and let my hair blow in the wind!
I like lifting heavy things. 
I can leave the house without makeup on and not care! 
I don't mind to get dirty. 
I like to sweat!
I am a FREE spirit.
I don't want to answer to anyone.
I believe there is NO limit to what you can do when you put your mind to it.
I like to dress up and hang out with my girls - but I also like to throw on a bandanna and jump on a four-wheeler and ride around all day long and get sweaty and muddy and not even care what I look like!

but SOMETIMES....  some days...
I fall to my knees (for good reason)
Sometimes I am weak.
Sometimes I am overwhelmed.
Sometimes when it seems that all is going well - it's only because I am forced to remember to focus UP!

Today has been one of those days.

Tonight was supposed to be a gym night for me.  And not even a HARD night.....
We are taking it easy this week since we just competed last weekend. 
We will start lifting heavy again next week as we start back with Week 1 of The Cube again. 

But this week... little by little... day by day ... for several reasons - I've been humbled.

Sometimes I can't even run and hide from it in the gym.

Sometimes I just need to sit alone.  Here with my laptop and FREAK OUT reflect.

Plan.  And go over and over and OVER things....
And... well - relive the day and what's going on and refocus on where I am going from here.

Without going into a lot of detail - just know that sometimes my hard outer tough shell serves to protect and hide the weak spirit that is thriving inside.

Don't freak out - NOTHING traumatic has occurred - life is good and I really have SO much to be thankful for and really NOTHING to complain about. 
and LOTS to be thankful for.... did I mention that?!  LOTS!
I just have alot on my plate today... alot of change, alot of worry, alot of directional planning... and although most days I can walk along and carry all of that - sometimes it just gets a little heavy.

(Reminder:  When the weight of the world is on your shoulders.... SQUAT IT!!!  ha)

Tomorrow I will arise and me and God will take on the day and all will be well

But tonight - I guess I just needed to be a girl.

~One Step at a Time~ Liftin Heavy and Learnin Stuff ~

This weekend was my second full power lifting meet.  The previous one was in February.
Since then we:
started training on The Cube Method,
went and actually did a mock meet with Brandon Lilly (where I blew out my alternator!),
and I've been doing some tweaking of my diet with the help of none other than Jesse Burdick!!!
So I was anxious to see how I fared on the platform!!!

Here's the run down of my day.  I seriously wondered at one point if there would be a time I walked up to the platform without something being screwed up!

Squat

1st attempt. 165.  When I went up to lift, the rack height wasn't right. And no one knew how to adjust it. So I waited. Knees wrapped. For them to fix the weight. Finally hit it. Felt pretty good but watching the video later, I saw my knees caved a little. Still white lights!

2nd attempt. 185.  I've done this weight before out of a mono, but walking it out was a little more uncomfortable. Just didn't feel right. Red lights!

3rd attempt. 185. Knees wrapped tight.  When I got up to lift,  the weight wasn't right again. So I waited. Wrapped tight in tougher wraps this time.  By the time the weight was fixed my legs were tingling a bit, but I went in for the lift.  Just not happening. Red Lights!

Leaving me at 165 in squat.  A meet PR but not what I wanted!

Bench

1st attempt. Set at 90. Made the lift but the weight felt heavier on the left. I immediately asked for a weight check and turns out I had an extra 5 on my left side. Making my opener 95.  And an uneven 95 at that. But white lights.  And they gave me the 95. 

2nd attempt. Set at 100. I don't know if my first lift being uneven threw me off or what but I was just off. Not tight. Didn't feel it.  Red lights!

3rd attempt.  Set at 100. Same weight. Same story. Im now too far into my head i think. Red Lights!

Leaving my bench at 95.  Again, a meet PR but not where I wanted to be going into deads!

Deadlift

1st attempt. 200.  Felt SOOOO good. White lights

2nd attempt. 225.  I've done this before.  It went up easy and felt good!  White lights!!

At this point I had planned to take 250.  But considering my day, I was a bit timid. When I checked my total I saw that 240 would give me an even 500. So I called it at 240. 

I also noticed the female closest to me in overall total was barely ahead of me. She missed her 2nd attempt.  So if I could HIT 240 and she happened to miss her third attempt (not that we wish people to miss lifts!), I might could pull off best overall female lifter even after so many red lights

So.... Here we go!

3rd attempt 240.  Felt freaking AWESOME!!!!  New PR for me with White lights!!!

And my closest competitor missed her final attempt ;-)

Deadlift at 240

Total at 500 for the day.
Meet PR.
Best in my weight class (only one).
AND pulled out best overall female lifter of the meet at the lightest weight!!!  (even though they ended up calling out the wrong name and giving the trophy to the other girl...... it's ok - we talked to the meet director and I still got a trophy...I would have never asked him to take a trophy away from someone who had already been recognized as the winner.   I know I barely inched over her ;-)  and HE knows that.  Good enough for me!)

I'll take that. Just wish it was without so many red lights!!

This all just means I have to train harder!!!!

I think after performing so well in my last meet and mock meet, maybe I had gotten a little lazier in training.  NO MORE. 

LESSON LEARNED!!!

I like white lights much better than red!

Back to the training board!!!

Cycle three with the Cube!!

Also, for video of my lifts at the meet, feel free to check out my YouTube Channel.  Tammy Green.
Here's my final deadlift...

Butterflies and Hurricanes

It's MEET TIME again!!!

When I started down this road of powerlifting less than a year ago, I had no idea how much it would change me.  Oh some things never change - but when I seriously look back at me THEN and look at me NOW - it really is overwhelming how far I have come and how different I am today.

NOT just in lifting - but in my whole perspective in life.

About me.

About health.

About people that do this religiously.

About ME doing this religiously!!

(I NEVER would have believed that I could actually "FIND" the time to really work out for HOURS.... FOUR days a week!)

It is a new perspective... a new RESPECT

and definitely a new UNDERSTANDING of my body and so much more!!!

I was the girl that thought I could "be careful" about what I eat and maybe hit some cardio every now and again at the gym... and eventually - if I stick to it - I'll have that flat stomach I've always wanted!

I seriously thought that.

And then after a few weeks of what I THEN called clean eating and working out - I would get frustrated that there were no results and eat SEVENTEEN donuts!!  Because it "wasn't going to work anyway"!!

Oh how far I have come and how much I have learned.

Tomorrow will be my second FULL powerlifting meet!

And I am soooooo excited and sooooo nervous at the same time.

I remember my first meet... I was just sick... and absolutely CLUELESS about what I was about to do.  I was more nervous about people watching me than the actual lifts.  I get anxiety getting in front of people.  That STILL hasn't changed.  When I think about tomorrow I am FILLED with butterflies!  It's not even time yet and just talking about it right now has my stomach in knots!  Oh the anxiety!

BUT at the same time..... I feel like there is a hurricane raging inside me waiting to get out!!  And I KNOW once I get there and get in my ZONE - it is SUCH and indescribable adrenaline rush!  And people in powerlifting really aren't there to JUDGE you!  When you step on that platform, all the crowd watching just fades away.  It is just you and the IRON.  And once you attempt your lift, the room is FILLED with people cheering YOU on...... it really drives you to put out to your maximum limits.. and THEN some!!!

I have changed SO much since the last time I competed - I'm SO anxious to unleash this fury and see exactly where I end up.  We have run TWO cycles of  The Cube Method - AND I've been diet training with the world renowned JESSE BURDICK  LOL

I have SERIOUSLY done a NO CARB diet for the past THREE WEEKS!!!!!

NO CARBS

ZERO

SERIOUSLY.

Me.

The girl that LOVES to eat!

AND I went on vacation during that!!!  And came back LIGHTER than when I left for vacation.

YEP - that's right!!!

And trust me - I put away some seafood (AKA protein!) on vacation!

BUT I also worked out 4 days during vacation and continued with NO CARBS!

And it was surprisingly easier than I thought it would be!

(other than on International Donut day.... when the gym PROVIDED donuts for post workout - and my DRILL SERGEANT of a trainer told me NO.... that's it - simply NO!)

So today - I am counting down the hours...  the nerve racking - butterfly filled anxiety hurricane ridden hours....

And I'll drink my coffee.  Just coffee.

And at 6:30 tonight I will weigh in for the competition.  

LIGHTER than I've ever weighed in.

And then I will eat.

Eat like a champion

And prepare for BATTLE!!!

Stay tuned...........