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About

Hi there, I'm Erika. Thanks for visiting deadlifts and diamonds! 

Whether you're dragging your bum or flying high on an endorphin rush, this is the place to come for your dose of motivation, gym humor, and attitude. Here you can find workouts, inspiration, meal planning tips, and more.

Fitness

 I started this site to keep me accountable to my workouts and offer motivation to others on their fitness journey. I started living fit after sweating through my 1st spin class. I absolutely loved the challenge, the bumpin' music, and rush of energy as I pedaled through hills and sprints, shouting and woo-hooing along the way. I was hooked on fitness, and immediately decided to make it a priority in my life. I signed up for a Golds Gym membership, immediately cleared out my fridge of all the processed foods and junk and started my new fit life. It started with a crystal clear decision and a powerful conviction to be active and healthy and that initial decision has kept fueling me through the past few years.
Now I'm firmly on the fitness path and I keep pushing on for the love of it and hopefully I'll inspire others along the way.

 About me

I grew up in a military family and spent my childhhood traveling overseas, but I got to Texas as quick as I could ;)  I am a fitness and health nut and have been accused of being the 'energizer bunny' and am a self proclaimed fitness evangelist. I also love reading about startups, brand identities and design. You can find me listening to house music, working out, pinning print designs on pintrest, on the dance floor, or daydreaming about adventure traveling.

Join the party

Be sure to join the conversation on twitter or facebook and follow along with email. Sign up for email updates in the side bar and get notified of new posts. Feel free to drop me a line and say hello. :)


-Erika

Popular posts from this blog

How to deal with hitting a plateau--stay the course or say Fuck It?

Easier said than done. After 2 years on my fitness journey, I finally reached a breaking point. Yes,I had come face to face with the dreaded wall and found myself firmly stuck on a plateau and seriously questioning my motivation to carry on another day, week, year of grueling workouts. After countless hours in the gym, forcing myself to eat clean, and constantly feeling tired and sore, I was seriously wondering, "Why do I put myself through this?". I wanted to just jump to the after picture already! By this point, I was mentally exhausted, hangry and about to drop off that plateau!!I felt more and more like a hamster spinning my wheel full force to nowhere and I was ready for a break. I started to talk myself out of my workouts and summer fitness plans. I kept thinking, "Do I really give a shit if I’m ‘bikini ready’? Why should I give a damn about having a flat 6 pack??" Oh I was in deep and my mind was trying to talk me out of my all the
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Motivation Monday, Push Yourself

Hey everyone, I’ve been thinking a lot about fitness motivation especially in the critical moments when you’re digging deep to make it through. Here are my thoughts on it. How do you stay motivated and energized through the grind? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section. Its the end of your run and your legs are burning , you’re out of breath, and you’re starting to wonder if you’ll ever make it through .  You’re in deep, and the only way to the finish line, up that hill, or through that last rep is through pure will. This is the moment that counts. When you feel like you just can’t take another step, somehow you manage to move forward, shaky, but still going. This is where the transformation happens. This is where the real change occurs. That bit of grit that comes from your inner driving force, some thought telling you, yes you can, that instant is when your inner athlete is born. We’re all athletes regardless of physique—it’s all in the mindset. If you bring one
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Pump Day: Visualize Your Goals

              Happy Pump Day everyone! We are half way through the week and still going strong. This pump day is my last night with Andrew until he takes off for a wedding in Chicago so I will be doing an early evening run with him rather than hitting the weights today, but I'm still here to offer motivation and support for you all. For that extra bit of motivation and intensity, I have found that visualizing my workouts long before I hit the gym has helped me stay focused and alert during my workouts. By visualizing myself working hard and going for the burn, I can draw on that image and feeling and use it to drive my intensity during a workout when I feel I'm starting to fade. Visualizing and planning my workout ahead of time also helps me stay accountable to shorter rest periods, doing drop sets at the end of the last set, or any other lifting strategies I choose to focus on that day to keep me focused and working hard. It always helps to imagine my 'after' p
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