Ana Tigre

Ana and I getting some time on a gorgeous gelding named ‘GQ’ owned by a great friend of mine! Name is so appropriate! Photo Credit: Terry Goodlad

Somewhere around 2007, I made friends with an aspiring fitness/figure Brazilian beauty named Ana Tigre. We were both living in Austin, TX and soon became good friends with more in common than just fitness. We both grew up riding and jumping horses and bonded instantly.

If you love horses and meet others that share your passion, you end up having a strong connection. Since we were both involved in figure shows, we worked on stage presentations. As Ana started her first clothing line I was also able to do small runs of a similar line that I sold exclusively through the F.E.M. Camps that I was hosting.

Ana helped put her design to our line and for the time it sold, it was a lot of fun! Since those days in Austin, Ana has moved to Vegas and married one of my dearest friends and favorite photographers, Terry Goodlad. Her talent and design ability has skyrocketed! Everything she creates has a natural beauty and flow to it that comes across when you slip into her items.

I still have various items from her earlier lines Fizeek Brazil and Sweet Revenge, which are still in great condition and wear nicely. I must admit I take special care of all of my training clothes (wash cold-hang dry), but still, these items are all some of my all-time favs!

Moving (fast) forward to a couple of years ago, Ana came out with her newest line of ‘skins’ called Beleza Brazil, and needless to say I absolutely love them! I am quite addicted and would wear them every day if I could - and sometimes I do! Not only are they extremely comfortable in any form of exercise, relaxation, travel or heading out with some hot boots or spicy heels, but they are also extremely soft to the touch and wear just like another layer of skin. The colors don’t fade and are easy to pair with any item.

Of course for me, being able to wear them for my intense sessions is key, and trust me, I’ve put them to the test! Last year, while I was running in Spartan races, I wore a pair of her original Squat Pants and was delighted with the condition of them even after mud, streams, ropes, etc.. and the best thing was that they did NOT slide down nor do I have to roll the waist down to fit my hips/waist! This my friend, is my favorite part. I like pants to fit under my hip bones, and these do and stay there! Even on some of my toughest sprint workouts at the track complete with Plyos, or as you can see in the ANW training I’ve been doing this year - perfect wear. I can easily say I especially love my squat pants although she has come out with some killer hoodies and tanks too!

Working on the ‘Unstable Bridge’ wearing the Turquoise SquatPants

Working with ANW Daniel Gil wearing my ‘FaithNotFear’ tank with red Squat Pants 

3 red pairs of legs with models: Ana herself, my Goddaughter, Daisa 13 yrs. old, and me! 

All of us in the XS size. 

On the ‘Ring Toss’ obstacle at PowerPark Fitness with Terry and Ana for ‘Bella Fit’ Mag! Wearing RED SquatPants and an older ‘but still looks new’ Black basic tank (no longer available - sorry!) 

My beautiful Mom wearing the ‘PROUD USA’ tank 

and my princess Goddaughter wearing the basic tank in Grey with the red Squat Pants. 

Of course me wearing (yet again) ‘FaithNotFear’ tank and SquatPants in navy. 

Ladies, these clothes are a must for your closet too! They're super soft, really comfortable plus they look amazing on every-body. Take it from me, I’ve been wearing 100s of brands of exercise wear for almost 30 years. I know what I’m talking about. ;)

Please head straight over to the Beleza Brazil site and use my code: MoBrant for free shipping.

Stock up because items run out fast and some colors don’t come back around after they sell out. Feel free to pre-order too so you don’t miss out!

Q&A with Jennifer Soos: Frustrated with Friends

Jennifer Soos is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist 

based out of San Antonio, Texas, and a childhood friend of Monica. 

You can find her at www.JenniferSoos.com ​ ​ 

Do you have a question for Jennifer? E-mail it to monicabrantnewsletter@gmail.com.

A new question is answered every month! 

QUESTION: ​

Hi Jennifer and Monica,

I'm trying to make some changes to get healthy and I'm feeling really isolated. I can actually handle doing this on my own, but my biggest challenge is the negativity I encounter with my closest girlfriends. There are 5 of us and out of the 5, I'm the only one who is not overweight. Because of this, I feel left out and unsupported by them. They don't think I need to diet and exercise because I'm not "fat" but I'm doing it for my health, not to lose weight necessarily. I've tried talking to them individually to explain that it's hurtful and they apologize and agree to ease up but as soon as we get into a group I get picked on. I always welcome them to join me but they are not interested. I've been friends with them for most of my life and love them very much but I'm at a loss at how to handle this.

Thank you,
Frustrated with Friends

ANSWER:

Dear Frustrated with Friends,

Thanks for such a great question about a very, very common problem. First and foremost, good for you for trying to be conscientious about your health and well­being. After all, it is YOUR journey and YOUR body and YOUR life ­ no one else has to walk in your shoes so taking responsibility for that is a very mature and healthy choice!

Let’s talk about negativity. It is safe to say that most negativity comes from those places in us that are full of fear, insecurity, hurt and/or shame ­ those dark places that feel really vulnerable. We use negativity and anger to avoid those feelings, to cover them, to deny that they exist. I would bet that your friends lash out at you because your healthy behavior is threatening to open up those places that they don’t want to look at in themselves. Maybe they are fearful of having to truly examine their own habits and how healthy/unhealthy they might be and they aren’t ready or willing to do that. Perhaps deep down they already feel shame about their choices or their weight and being confronted with your changes brings that shame to the surface. Picking on you helps them cover it up again. I’m sure that if each of them was to be honest about why that hurtful group dynamic occurs when you are all together, they would each have their own unique story to tell. But the punchline here is this: Try your hardest not to take it personally. Their behavior is very much about THEM and has little or nothing to do with you. (That doesn’t mean you have to tolerate it... it just means that it isn’t really about you.)

So, since you aren’t responsible for their apparent emotional hangups and you can’t fix those for them anyway, here are some suggestions for what to do in the meantime:

- Keep doing you​. Your instincts are great and you will never regret taking good care of yourself.
- Find some people who ARE supportive​. Someone who takes the same classes at your gym or a co­worker who walks at lunch or anyone you see in your life who is already making the kinds of choices you are making. Create some other areas in your life where you feel supported to help balance out this area of deficit.
- Don’t advertise your healthy choices​. Let your actions speak for themselves and don’t talk/invite/persuade them to join you in your journey. Some people interpret different choices as unspoken judgment of their own choices... so best to just keep it to yourself when you know you are around people who aren’t on board with your lifestyle.
- Spruce up your boundaries a little​. You’ve already done a very smart thing by having individual conversations with them...now take that one step further by expecting them to respect your request. The next time you are all together and they start picking on you, smile your prettiest smile and leave. No drama. No lectures. Just go. Boundaries aren’t about controlling other people, boundaries simply tell other people what they can expect from us. They will quickly learn that if they start shoving their negativity at you, they can expect you to leave. What they choose to do about that new reality will tell you how important your friendship really is to them.

Great friendships between people who are emotionally mature will seek to support and celebrate each other, especially the successes. If they can’t figure out how to do that for you, at some point you may decide to re­evaluate how valuable these friends really are.

Keep up the great changes!


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