March 10, 2015 I’ve waited a long time for this single day. From the moment I was first published at 11 years old for an honorable mention about an injured bird, to the day I won second for an 8th grade poem about changing the world titled, “One Day”. I knew I wanted to be a published author. I would write short stories, create small screenplays (that I acted with my siblings) and even send queries out to literary agents…
Still STRIVING….
February 17, 2015Nothing great comes without sacrifice. So it’s no surprise when people assume I have an unclean house, am an absent parent or have a shallow personality because I am in good health. Obviously – something had to give, right? I didn’t know what those sacrifices were until recently. In this last year, I’ve had little open time as I toiled from sun up to sun down, often rushing to walk my son to school, training hard through a brief workout,…
Everything that went wrong in 2014
December 31, 2014From severe acne, weight gain, war zones and betrayal – how everything that went wrong, really went right in 2014. Like most, I began this year with high hopes, a set timeline and a desire to hit resolutions. Despite ending the prior year at a low after being banned by Facebook for supposed hate speech, I was ready to take my newfound public platform and motivate others to stop making excuses. In January, I launched the No Excuse Mom Movement,…
Life’s Exploitation.
December 23, 2014The first time I felt exploited was in 2003, right after placing top five in two national fitness competitions. While waiting for two post-contest photoshoots, I watched as colleagues pose suggestively in thong bikinis at the hotel pool. I saw as our hard earned physiques was being used and exploited by photographers, magazines, companies and contest promoters to gain money. I canceled both shoots scheduled that day and left Los Angeles alone in my Honda CRV, driving home to Sacramento…
New Beginnings…
December 4, 2014I was betrayed today. I woke up and received a notification that my Instagram password and email was changed. I could see who the perpetrator was and in shock, called her immediately, but she didn’t answer. I haven’t spoken to her for some time and relieved her from being our NEM Instagram manager months prior. I discovered that she renamed the account and told thousands of No Excuse Mom followers that she rightfully felt what she built was hers. Suddenly…
Pilgrimage to the Holy Land
September 12, 2014
Are you ready to die? I often ask myself this question. As a child I wondered about the vastness of the world and my complete obscurity compared to the billions of people who exist. I asked why life felt so unfair, almost left to fate – whether or not we would be born with the advantages of clean water, surplus food, a protected environment and strong genetics. After all, we aren’t given a choice what country we are born in…
Revealing an insecurity.
May 19, 2014May 19, 2014 My once-flawless skin is now covered with scars, traces of an acne breakout I’ve undergone for the past two months. In the age of social media, we don’t often share the downsides of our daily lives. We see hard bodies, beautiful vacations, happy children and perfect marriages wondering what’s wrong with our imperfect lives. We compare ourselves with others who freely share their success and hide their failures in marriage, weight gain, depression or facial defects. After…
Nightline Prime and ‘the body wars’
April 6, 2014April 6, 2014 *** This is an open-letter to Sara. The mother I met in Kansas City, Missouri *** Dear Sara, Thank you for inviting me into your home and allowing me to follow your tasks throughout the day. I hadn’t read any of your criticisms about me prior to Nightline requesting that I meet you and Dionna Ford, the blogger behind the “We don’t need an excuse” campaign. I was initially apprehensive of this meeting because I didn’t want…
The No Excuse Mom Movement
March 30, 2014March 29, 2014 I just interviewed with ABC Nightline. They followed me for nearly two days while I prepared a potluck dish for my father’s birthday party, cooked my boy’s breakfast (in my sponge rollers!) before dropping my eldest to pre-k. They filmed as I checked in on my elderly care home, taped a live News10 segment and led my No Excuse Mom (NEM) workout group. This all happened before a mini photo shoot with Guardian UK magazine and a…
Building the American Dream
February 27, 2014February 27, 2014 Patience is a virtue but it isn’t my best virtue. When my husband and I first became pregnant I wanted to purchase a home. After all, creating a residential nest egg was an instinctual desire as a mother. While we were financially capable of purchasing a humble property, we decided instead, to save and invest. Following my parent’s example of attaining the American Dream, we would also live a simple existence – rarely eating out, spending weekends…