25

Me: “How old are you?”

Muscles: “I’ll be 26 soon.”

“So, 25?”

“Yeah.”

I chuckle. Of course…

They always are. Or close. And for some reason every man-child in San Juan is a surfer or rides BMX or both and I don’t mind. Lines between their shoulders and their tris… Something to hold onto on their bikes from behind. Oh, you sport the brand of your tag crew? Aren’t you sweet. A tattoo of your Norwegian underground rap troop? Lovely. New ink? Show me!

 

Clearly, what I want has changed. The shift happened at thirty. Now, I wouldn’t say I am a cougar… Yet. But, I am definitely headed in that direction. For now, in the words of my friend Vince, I’m really just “a little girl in a woman’s body.” At 23, my spirit-child is closer to 25 then 33. Twenty-five year olds just seem to be the age of the men who approach me. A few years ago, I may have scoffed at a man so young, now, I appreciate him. Thoroughly.

I used to like suits. Two-piece, three, Double-Windsored and bow-tied. There was a time, in New York, when nothing seemed more attractive than a man in tailored threads. The Fashionista and The Finance guy… Equally glamorous and well-healed was I, we “worked.” Now, a Jungle Child, I prefer my boys like my dog, wild.

I hear you work in an office…at a desk…crunching numbers: yawn-fest. “You…’work’?” The word alone has become a turnoff. Don’t get me wrong, broke without goals is not a turn-on. But, when you do what you love, what you “do” isn’t “work”, and if you never make a dime but you live everyday as the best day of your life, won’t you be mine? Now, he’s young, talented and in passion’s pursuit… Chiseled and sun-kissed. My dating pool is now one-hundred times hotter than it ever was. Sometimes, I feel for my girlfriends in the dark in New York. It’s not fair. So, I share…because I care. Would you come here? Change your life… Care to stroke your fingers through long hair?

Together in Love… From my Home in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua!

xob

Homemade Almond Butter

Since moving to Nicaragua, one of the U.S. treats I miss the most is my organic raw almond butter. In New York and in Florida, it was such a staple in my diet! A healthy fat, with benefits for my hair, skin, nails, and fat metabolism, a spoonful of almond butter helps curb my appetite for sugary carbs and chocolate. I love it on my protein pancake or in my oatmeal in the morning! But, in Nicaragua, nut butters are not accessible, and despite there being peanut farms, you cannot find peanut butter outside of the imported Jiffy brand which is highly processed and very expensive. So…

I MADE MY OWN!

This is my first attempt at making any nut butter, and it was so easy, I will never buy costly packaged nut butters again! Here’s how…
1. Soak raw almonds in water overnight (I left mine soaking in the fridge for two days because I was busy and no harm done!) I added just enough water to cover a large bowl of nuts (full raw almonds, skin intact). After a few hours the almonds greedily sucked up the water so I added a bit more and repeated that process once more.
2. Using a high powered blender (I love my Ninja blender, pictured), blend the almonds with all of the leftover liquid in the bowl.

This turned into a rather gritty almond mixture.

To smooth out the butter, I slowly added little bits of water to the blender until a creamy mouse-like texture was reached. And, voilà!

Today I used my homemade almond butter on my pancake with homemade strawberry-blackberry preserves! No berries in Nicaragua, I brought a large bag back from my Christmas trip to Costa Rica and made the jam as a way to preserve the fruit and enjoy it for longer! Another easy recipe which you can find, along with the BODYbybianca Pancake recipe on my blog (look for the jam recipe posted in April from Costa Rica).

Together in Health!
xob

Plan a FITivity For A Friendly Fun Fitness Activity

Happy weekend y’all!

Remember: GOALS do not take a weekend pass, so neither should you! Incorporate FITIVITIES into your social plans for fitness activities that are a friendly fun distraction from what is clearly a workout. Comment with your faves or try one of mine:

1. Surfing & SUP! In Nicaragua as in my past home in Florida it is beach season all year round! In South Florida visit my friends at Beach Shack Paddleboards for “SUP” stand-up paddle board tours!

2. Skiing/ Snow boarding. If your climate is opposite mine, there is no better FITivity workout for the legs and booty! When you ski/board you are in an constant squat position. “PLUMP THAT BUMP!”

3. Rock climbing! One of the many FITivities I love! I used to compete in indoor lead climb. It is so much fun, a brilliant workout and with indoor/outdoor facilities, available almost anywhere!


From Nicaragua with love,

xob

The Importance of Rest

My alarm just went off telling me it’s gym time, but I’m going back to bed. I will caution you here to never make the decision to skip the gym in the morning (it is far too easy to want to get out of your commitment at this seemingly un-Godly hour). After weighing the pros and cons of this morning’s workout, I made the decision to play hooky yesterday.

As important as it is to stay on course by keeping one’s commitment to a program, it is just as essential to listen to one’s BODY. The healthier you become through good nutrition and exercise, the more easily your mind will communicate with your physical BODY to decipher when you can be pushed (most of the time) and when rest in needed (essential time).

My day yesterday included three workouts. After lifting weight, followed by a boxing session and then the longest, highest mountain bike climb of my life, just getting home from town on my bicycle, my BODY felt broken. Spent to the vey last cent, I was close to tears on that last hill ascent! Have you ever exhausted your physical energy to the brink, such that your emotional self comes out to play? You are literally brought to tears from a training session? That was me yesterday. And “legs” were planned for today… Yeah, right! No dice!

So I turned my attention to healing through my restorative practice of stretching. People want to label me a “yoga girl,” because I manage a yoga wellness center, but I am not one. Yoga is a brand like any other; it is a money making machine. What I am, if you must label me, is a FITNESS queen! Fitness is all encompassing physical health. I lift weights to be strong, perform cardiovascular activity for my heart health, and I stretch my BODY for flexibility and anti-aging. Decades of ballet, Pilates and yoga have all lead to the formation of my own technique of stretching, whereby I combine the knowledge of all my disciplines and use yoga poses to enhance, but not set, nor restrict my practice. One-on-one stretch sessions are a gift I offer my clients, as healing as a day at the spa, therapeutic as a massage and more restorative than a yoga class. Yesterday, I spent several hours stretching throughout the day with a focused session in the evening showing myself love on my Manduka yoga mat, using a foam roller and a tennis ball for some self-appointed myofascial release (a massage technique of sustained applied pressure into areas of the muscle that are sore or “knotted”).

Today, I’ll continue to stretch my BODY, possibly after taking an anti-inflammatory ( I do not subscribe to Western medicine, but sometimes it is needed), applied heat, and followed by ice therapy on my back. Yes, I really am that sore! As my friend Isaac Williams loves to remind me, though I have many superhuman attributes I have built over years of training, I am indeed NOT Wonder Woman!

The image is a picture of my spine, showing my severe scoliosis. As crooked as as my back has been made strong, if I can do all that I do, then YOU CAN too!

I’M POSSIBLE. Are YOU?

Together in Health!
xob

Chocolate chip peanut butter ginger snaps

Be good to me, and I’ll take care of you always.

BLEND
1/4 c gluten free dry oats
1 egg white
1 tsp chocolate coconut peanut butter
quarter-size fresh ginger
1/4 banana
1/2 scoop Baddass Nutrition vanilla whey protein
cinnamon
—
MIX
raw cacao nibs
—
BAKE
6 minutes at 350°
remove from oven
spoon 1/2 tsp chocolate coconut peanut butter into center
sprinkle with chia seeds and cayenne pepper
bake another 8 minutes at 350°
allow to cool.

Follow me on Instagram @BiancaSultana!

Together in Health! In Love! And in Life!
xob

What Is Perfect?

Is she perfect?

Am I? … Are you?

I am a trainer, a coach, an athlete, a “model” of health, and yet, I am NOT perfect. My weight fluctuates with the seasons and I am still trying to get it right. I struggle with my diet everyday. And some days I flat out don’t want to workout. Sometimes I push through it, other days I cave and give in. Today, was one of “those days” where all I wanted was to eat ice cream in bed. I tried to fight the urge, but I just couldn’t shake it. As part of my work I take and post lots of photos, not just because I dabble in modeling, but because I genuinely love the art of photography. I enjoy everything about creating a photograph from designing the set and the mood, to creating angles with my body and character in my expression, I choose the fashion, do the hair, the makeup, I edit my own work and I choose what to share, it is not always fitness, sometimes it’s sexier, edgier, it is NEVER “glamour,” it is always artistic and it is always a part of me. In some pictures I have a six pack, in others, I clearly do not. But, I try to share my struggles as well as my success. Many of my pictures are edited (by me). These are not.

Here, some shots from my latest photo shoot with AJG FILMPRODUCTIONS that illustrate the mood I was in today, wanting to curl up in bed and indulge in sweet treats. I have traded my six pack for “rolls” in these shots, but I am sharing the photos untouched; not even lighting has been corrected. Completely raw, entirely real. UN-edited… ME.

 

Watch this video to see photoshop EXPOSED. Now, tell me, is she perfect?

HOW PHOTOSHOP SHOULD BE USED >>

Now, I am going to go to the gym. I had a lazy day. I ate ice cream. I stayed in bed longer than anyone should. Even if I only get through half my workout, I owe it to myself and my dreams to try! Not for perfection, not to be someone other than me. To be ME, for me, the best me I can be!

Together in Health!

xob

This BODY I Built

Move your BODY everyday and your BODY will never cease to move you! Love your BODY today and for all days, and your BODY will love you, and serve you always.

The sweetest reward of being strong is feeling my BODY carrying me throughout the day. With every step I take, I feel my muscles moving me. Do you feel it too? It is an incredibly rewarding feeling to have built a BODY capable of anything!

Mark September 2014 on your calendar with “BODYbybianca.” This September I invite you to the most beautiful place on Earth for a fitness and health experience that will stay with you forever.

Together in Health,
In Love, &
In Life,
xob

Beautiful SUP Surfing Costa Rica

Hey ya’ll!
Now in my second week in Central America, no longer in Nica, I have many new tales of adventure, love and surf in Costa Rica that I cannot wait to share with you. But, for now, I’ll leave you with this awesome new video I made with The Deejay yesterday. Know that my life gets better everyday.

Back home in Florida, I’ve been leading standup paddle boarding (SUP) tours in the ocean and intracoastal over the last year. But, I’ve never paddled like this! Battling the waves in Costa Rica is no joke! Watch me as I fall, laugh and learn to SUP surf in this Secret Beach in Guanacaste, Costa Rica.

“That’s What’SUP!”

Be EVERYDAY BETTER!
xob

BODYbybianca BODYblast

No gym? No excuses! The BODYbybianca BODYblast workout can be done anywhere! All you will need is your own BODY weight and a pull up bar. Don’t have a pull up bar? Be creative! The rafters on a construction site, so long as they are secure, work great! Or purchase a bar for just $30 with free shipping on Amazon that will hook into any doorway in your house! Here’s the link to the Iron Gym Total Upper Body Workout Bar > http://amzn.to/1fEQyw4.

If you are not strong enough to do a pull up, fear not! I have a solution to everything! The simplest, least expensive fix would be to use a chair under your feet that you can stand on with one of both feet to reduce the weight in your arms. But if you want to go pro, try investing in a body band which you can loop around the bar and step on for support. With this Power-Lifting Jump Band by SeriousSteel, anyone can do a pull up: http://amzn.to/1i4aRQP. As you get more advanced go from using the band under both feet, to under one, and then try a band with less resistance until eventually, you won’t need one at all!

Do this program 1-2x/week to build upper body and core strength. Don’t forget to train your lower half another 1-2x/week.

If you are interested in joining Team BODYbybianca and receiving custom workouts from me, shoot me an email at BODYbybianca@gmail.com.

Together in Health!
xob