Keri Lynn Ford

The past week has been crazy exciting and my fitness career has truly taken off this year!

FitnessX Magazine
After my photoshoot with Eva Simon in Las Vegas last November, I had submitted my images to FitnessX Magazine for a Model of the Month feature, but the editors loved one of them so much that they wanted to use it as the COVER of their April 2012 issue!!!!!!!!! I am still pinching myself that I landed my first fitness magazine cover! The fabulous Tricia Anne Abernathy, who has previously interviewed me for her website, did a great job writing my cover story. I hope you all enjoy the cover story she wrote after taking a peek inside my gym bag! You can view my FitnessX Magazine cover and cover story digitally OR you can also buy the print version of the April 2012 issue of FitnessX Magazine! A few other thank yous include: Gifted Earth Originals (GEO), Eva Simon, Lindsay Messina, Marie-Lynn Piscitelli and Adamm Shannahan for hair and makeup, my husband Dave for his constant support in keeping me sane and all of my friends and family that put up with my constant training schedule and diet demands.

April 2012 Cover Model

Order your print copy today from fitnessx.com

My first endorsement advertisement for GEO :)

love, 
K

Happy Wednesday! This week has been great. My food is on point, my workouts are on point and I am SO SORE still from Monday's workout. Holy legs! I am loving some of the new boxing workout moves in my exercises too. I can also tell you that today was an extra fabulous day because... it was an oatmeal day!

What doesn't belong here? Hmmm

One week from today I will be shooting with fitness photographer Noel Daganta on some upcoming (secret) projects. I can't spill the beans yet, but I am really excited! Noel is not only talented, but an incredibly nice guy that I have a lot of business respect for. My diet and workouts will stay the same up until the shoot.

Also, this Friday through Sunday I will be at the P28 Bread booth at the Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, CA. While I LOVE LOVE LOVE this show, I know I will need to be well-prepared because there will be easy-to-grab samples EVERYWHERE. This specific expo is amazing because of the sheer volume of booths and industry folk, including retail buyers, distributors, gym/nutrition store/restaurant owners, dietitians and other food connoisseurs. The crowd that this expo usually draws is incredibly knowledgeable from the way the food is packaged to the ingredients on the label.

Stay tuned for more updates and pictures from the Expo West!

Read my latest feature as FitnessX Magazine's March 2012 Model of the Month! Photos by: Eva Simon and PictureGroove

Thank you, FitnessX Magazine for the feature!

xoxo
Keri

It's funny how one day you can feel like a big grumpy pants and the next like you are on top of the world. I guess adding some yams into my diet over the weekend helped to boost my mood and jump start my body back into weight loss mode. Since Monday I have been setting new personal bests in the gym which feels pretty awesome!!! My usual seated rope row is 60 lbs/15 reps, but yesterday it was 75 lbs! Today I did 45 decline push-ups to failure and, on Monday, 55 lbs/15 reps on the leg extension AFTER super-setting some other moves.

Minty gum + water = bad burny feeling. Eating one piece after the other.. not so good either.I love how my body is responding to the training, diet and supplements. I am proud of myself for sticking exactly to my plan since as you know from my last blog post I am a former "One Bite Betty." I still need to work on upping my water intake (SO close to a gallon the other day) and that is something I have been focusing on specifically these past few days because otherwise I become a serial gum chewer. Yikes.

After stepping away from the scale since Sunday and seeing several of my business efforts over the past few months come to fruition, I am feeling good. I am elated that one of my Gifted Earth Originals recipes has been featured in the February issue of FinessX Magazine (p. 25)! 

FitnessX has had over 11,750 reads this past January and is still growing. Whether you are looking to invest in some ad space for your business or be published as a model/contributor, this magazine is certainly on the up and up! I congratulate Bill Aguirre and Kat painter for their continued success thus far. 

February FitnessX Magazine featuring my protein-packed football "cake" pops!! p.25

Random Acts of Love
Today I was trying to chase away a throbbing headache and decided to grab a cup of coffee (black!) from the McDonald's across the street from my gym. I know, I know, I shouldn't even be giving them business, but it's the only place within walking distance. Anyway, I grabbed two dollar bills and paid $1.09 for coffee. A homeless man came in while I was ordering and asked for a refill in his cup that he had saved from this morning. As he walked out the door I followed behind and asked if he would like some change towards another cup of coffee although I was a few cents short. Although it was a small gesture on my part, his eyes lit up and he was incredibly thankful. At that moment I felt a wave of gratitude for MY life and being able to afford such luxuries as a warm, fresh cup of coffee. I also decided that I wanted to try to do more "Random Acts of Love". I challenge you to do the same. I will share my stories and I hope you share yours with me.

xoxo
Keri 

Somehow the day has arrived. Today I am roughly 18 weeks out from my 2012 fitness show debut on May 12th in Kansas City. I have been training hard in my "off season" and now the time has come to reel my diet back in (yes, I indulged over the holidays too) and change up my training. Today is a great example of how much my conditioning has changed. After four weeks of workouts with tons of drop sets and compound movements, my body felt like a machine. I had an entire sheet written out of back/shoulder exercises to complete today, and not only did I lift heavier than ever before, but I was able to push through the entire workout (I survived!). I am excited to see how my body will be changing over the next 18 weeks with the new workouts and my diet back in order.

Ready for the gym!

In a few weeks I also have a photo shoot with Sarah Lyons of PictureGroove in Palm Springs... so it is crucial that I stay on track with my diet. Sarah shot a few of my most recent images, including the pictures that were published the November 2011 issue of Physique Magazine.

Later today I met up with Kat Painter and Bill Aguirre, the publishers/editors of FitnessX Magazine. I can't wait to share some of the fun projects that will come from joining forces with them!

love,
Keri