.

Lol, those two are my favorites.  You can see more photos from the conference here.

I’m driving back home to San Diego tonight and will be at the Thread Show at the Wonderhaus Bakery all weekend with Jessica and Katelyn Rose of Suddenly Darling. If you’re in the area come by and say hello! There will be a number of indie designers, eco-friendly fashions, and beauty and gifting suites. 

Will post photos on Monday….have a good weekend ladies!

I do! I do!

The second ever Modestia give-a-way is sponsored by Andrea’s Beau, a premiere hair accessory online boutique. One lucky reader will win one of these super cute headbands free of charge. All you have to do is a leave a comment on the post. I will close the contest next Friday. Be sure to fill out the email box so I can contact the winner…and you get to choose which headband you want!

Good luck ladies!

Despite the fact that I’ve been an athlete since I was very young, it’s taken me years to hone a gym workout that I, 1) genuinely enjoy and 2) sculpts and tones my body in the places I so desire.

I’m sharing my workout because it never ceases to amaze me just how many of my friends claim they “don’t know what to do” at the gym and that’s why they don’t go. I believe that health and fitness is very important for the total wellness of any woman, so if you haven’t been to the gym in a while…what are you waiting for??

My Workout:

Cardio

1. 40 minutes on the elypticals ~ covers about 3-4 miles, depending on how tired I am that day, LOL.
2. 25 minutes on the treadmill ~ covers about 2-3 miles.
3. *Optional additional cardio ~ 30 minutes on the bike ~ covers about 7-8 miles.
4. 10 minute break…walk around, drink some water, and stretch…stare at guys… I’m kidding…

Weights

Since I’m a woman and do not desire huge arms, I typically use 5 lb. weights and switch to 3 lb. weights depending on the exercise. If it has an asterisk, I use 3 lb. weights for that particular exercise. This site illustrates some of the exercises I mention.

1. Dumb Bell Exercises, 3 sets of 20 reps each arm

 - Standing Curl

- Front Raises

- Side Raises

- Overhead tricep Extension*

- Bent Over Row Standing (uses back muscles as well)

- Bent Over Dumbell Row* (use a bench)

2.  Bench Press with 12 lb. weight bar, 3 reps of 15

And if you don’t want to use dumb bells, you can always use a resistance band. I actually think I would recommend that for a beginner.

Side Crunches

1. Using a 5 or 8 lb. dumb bell, 3 reps of 15. Can be done standing or using the tilted work bench. Just FYI, this is one of those exercises that if you do too many of you will not be able to move in the morning. I would highly suggest you don’t get cocky.

Legs

1. Leg Press
2. Leg Curls
3. Squats w/ 12 1b. weight bar…if you need to shape your backside and get rid of cellulite, squats with a weight bar are your best friend.  I would suggest using a mid-size exercise ball propped in between your back and a sturdy wall.

I personally don’t do a lot of leg work only because cardio takes care of most of my sculpting needs.  I wish I could, but I have various sports injuries including chipped cartilage in my left knee that don’t  like to be agitated too much.  If you also have this problem, balance exercises have helped me a lot.  In many cases, pain in the gym results from improper form/technique.

Abs  

1. Around this time I take another 2 min. stretch break.
2. Normal Crunches –  2 reps  of 25
3. Vertical Leg crunch + variations – 2 reps of 25
4. Reverse Crunch w/ exercise ball in between my knees, 2 reps of 15
5. The Bicycle
6. Full body stretch one more time.

It’s not as overwhelming as it might sound.  The only time I do every single exercise is on Saturday morning when I have hours to spare.  I want to stress that I do this particular work out in the order that I do it because it’s best for my body and the results I want. Everyone’s routine should be customized to their own personal needs.

Beginner’s Version

- 10 minutes on the elyptical

- 15 on the treadmill either at a brisk walk or at a medium-paced incline

- Standing Curl, 3 reps of 10

- Front Raises, 3 reps of 10

- Side Raises, 3 reps of 10

- Leg Press

- Squats w/ 5 1b. weight bar

- Normal Crunches,  2 reps  of 15

- Reverse Crunches, 2 reps of 15

- Bicycle, 10 times

For tips and tricks, I would totally recommend Fr. Roderick’s Healthy Catholic series. Hope that helps!

Angela S. asks:

Are you going to the Catholic New Media Celebration this year?

If you don’t know what the CNMC is, it’s the media conference hosted by SQPN, my favorite Catholic media production company. They hosted the first ever CNMC last year, which I attended as a guest.

I was planning on attending this year’s conference to be held in San Antonio, Texas, however I have filming dates scheduled that week. I might be able to finesse my schedule somehow, but it looks like I will not be able to make it this year.

Sorry Angela!

Well duh:

The “Wall of Shame” at Pearl Crisis Center depicts the relentless coverage in magazines, television and movies to show skinny, “perfect” bodies of young women.

And the roughly dozen young girls ages 10 to 13 in Pearl’s “Just As I Am” group are the ones who put the Wall of Shame pictures together.

Tired of seeing photographs of airbrushed, too-thin models in teen magazines, the girls have been meeting twice a month after school to talk about self-esteem, to scrapbook, do yoga and eat cake!

The girls want to see more modesty in clothing rather than baring it all.

But rather than just talk about it, they decided to try to make a difference by doing something about it.

The girls recently sent a letter to Jordache Enterprises, a clothing company, which often shows more skin than clothing in its advertisements.

From its website, Jordache touts, “In business for more than 30 years, Jordache has become a powerful name in the world of fashion and beyond. As the originator of the designer denim phenomenon in the late 1970s, the Jordache brand quickly became synonymous with sexiness.”

The Just As I Am girls each wrote their own thoughts to Jordache on the advertisements used to sell Jordache clothing.

Alissa, age 12, wrote, “I realize that people can go to extreme lengths to make money, but is there any other ways to do that besides showing off girls’ bodies in a sexual way? A lot of girls around my age can be affected by it in a negative way, and their self esteem can be lowered a lot. I wish you wouldn’t advertise like this.”

Twelve-year-old Hope wrote, “I think that your advertisements are really inappropriate because it shows off a girl’s body. In this group, we try to make ourselves feel better and strong and not think of ourselves as fat. Your advertisements are not helping us. I think you need to think of other ways to make more money by advertising and please cover your models private areas that we don’t really care about.”

As one girl in the group said, “It makes us feel like we don’t have perfect bodies or we need to be a perfect size to be attractive.”

The group of Just As I Am girls are a variety of shapes and sizes and have different personalities, but they are all strong and they are all beautiful.

And they are trying to help other girls understand that by letting their fellow classmates and friends know that no one has a “perfect” body. Shifting the focus from the body to what’s inside.

“I don’t think our bodies matter, it should be our personalities,” one stated.

“You need to take care of yourself and stay healthy,” another teen added. “As long as you’re healthy, it shouldn’t matter how you look.”

The girls are trying to maintain a positive attitude about themselves and help others keep a good attitude too.

“Don’t let how other people judge you affect how you look at yourself,” one of the girls commented.

That’s a positive outlook, but a difficult one for many teens to follow through on.

According to National Eating Disorders, as many as 10 million females and one million males in the U.S. are fighting a life and death battle with an eating disorder such as anorexia or bulimia. Forty percent of newly identified cases of anorexia are in girls 15-19 years of age.

Of the top 10 teen magazines on the web, only one showed teen girls not looking “sexy” or airbrushed. They were in basketball uniforms. The rest had pictures of airbrushed entertainers and models.

The girls want to continue Just As I Am, but funding for the program has run out and another grant will be applied for so a new group of girls can participate.

“Can we help?” the girls asked their coordinator Natalie Hagle. “Can we visit? We don’t want it to end!”

The girls will be able to help the next group of teens, just as they’ve already been doing by making the decision to speak out and be proud of who they are. 

(Source)

I passed by the LA store yesterday and thought “ooh-la-la.”

Her lines are filled with deliciously bright and funky pieces…and I’m lovin’ it.

You can now follow me on Twitter:

username: http://twitter.com/rebeccamodestia

Happy Memorial Day! We are very blessed to live in a free country with such magnificent servicemen and women who put themselves in harm’s way to protect us. Please say a prayer at some point today for all of our armed forces here and abroad, and for those that have gone before us.

I was insanely busy with the the conference on Friday, and as you have already seen, Modest Swimwear Week is spilling over into this week’s posts.  Also coming up this week will be:

+ My summer workout tips

+ My summer modesty solutions

+ New modest-minded websites

…and…

+ The second ever Modestia give-away! I won’t spoil the surprise just yet, but you’ll definitely want to enter the contest!

All of this is in addition to the regular celeb posts. Also, this week (and forever more for that matter) I want to field some of your questions.  I’ve got some emails I need to answer here, but I also want to open myself up to anyone else with questions about fashion, the faith, me…anything. Readers will always have a state of anonymity.  So shoot me an email, even if it’s just to say hello.

rebeccaechristian@gmail.com

<3.

Retro one-piece comes in four colors at $45, by BettieB

Two-piece custom-sized suit by Miss Brache, $115

Both suits by The Red Dolly for $59

More sites to check out:

+ MyBabyJo.com
+ GlamourSurf.com…15% off sale through May 31st!
+ Popina Swimwear

I was joking with Jessica the other day that one of the perks of being friends with her is that whenever I want something from her line…I don’t have to pay for shipping!

I wrote a post last year about Jes’ debut line of swimwear before I had even met her in person, and I am so proud that her line has just gotten more fabulous this season!

There are more designs and color options on the website.

BTW, Jes will have a booth at the Catholic Thrive Conference in Anaheim this weekend, and I will be there too. So if you’re going to to the conference, please stop by and say hello to the both of us. I’ll be at the Catholic Underground LA booth.

To my fellow plus size girls, when it comes to swimwear, vintage cuts and swimdresses ARE YOUR BEST FRIEND. And when I say best friend, I mean the kind of best friend that would take a bullet for you.  Seriously.

Vintage-Inspired

$89.99 at ModCloth.com

$19.50 at Old Navy…can’t beat that price.

Swimdresses

Always For Me wins the blue ribbon for this category. There are at least 30 more swimdresses equally as cute as these on their site.

Depending on your bust size, that last one may not be very modest.

Many Etsy sellers I will mention in another post make their pieces in plus sizes as does Esther Williams. Target also has some cute moderately priced pieces in.

Other sites to check out:

MyBabyJo.com – More vintage-inspired pieces.
Torrid.com
Newport-News.com
Swimsuitsforall.com
Roamans.com

OMG, I need one immediately.

Esther Williams’ swimwear includes a few vintage style cuts in a zillion different fabrics. Each suit runs for around $65.  Like I said, I need one immediately.

1. Bikinis are boring. If most people are wearing them, are you really fashion forward?

2. Bikinis are not flattering on the vast majority of people, even “skinny” people.

3. Modest designs, especially vintage cuts, are more flattering for more body types. And that’s pretty much a fact.

4. Modest swimwear decreases the chances of nip-slips by 78%. (Yes, I made that number up, but I’m pretty sure it’s accurate.)

5. You won’t have to worry about a “girl” or both “girls” falling out. (I’ve had some serious scares while surfing LOL.

6. You can stop being self-conscious and have fun!

7. You’ll get a ton of compliments on you’re cute and flattering suit.

8. The men in your life will thank you for it.

9. Other men will stare, but they’ll be thinking, “Man, who is that hot modest girl that totally looks like Mary!”

And perhaps most important:

10. You will have kept your convictions.

Two labels that have debut 2009 swimwear lines…and for the first go round I must say I’m impressed.

ModBod

Julia Smith designs Black and White Appparel. According to her Etsy profile, her goal is to create a “wide array of modest, chic, classy clothing for women.” Modestia approves!

Both lines are a little bit pricier within the $50-80 range, but it may be worth it for a modest design you can wear all summer.

Enough said, right?

Personally, I prefer to wear classic cut, solid colored swimsuits and dress them up with jewelry, sunglasses, and various other summer goodies.  Shade Clothing’s 2009 line of swimwear is perfect for the girl who likes to change up the style of her suit, and better yet, every piece is priced under $40.  Yay Shade!

YES.

Yes it does.

I will be the first to admit that I have not always been an advocate of modest swimwear, especially since some of it is not very….fashionable.  But when I was dressed in my tankini with a plunging neckline, I was never really able to escape the nagging feeling that I was being hypocritical.

I pushed the feeling away by telling myself that I was at the beach, I’m a SoCal girl, modesty standards are different here, and blah blah blah. In a sense I was correct—I am a SoCal girl and modesty standards are different here, but am I called to live to the standards of California or to the everlasting truth of Christ?

I personally know A LOT of girls who advocate modesty and yet still rock bikinis at the beach.  If you believe what I once did—that modesty doesn’t apply during the summer—please keep reading.

I had a discussion with a group of friends last week about this very subject. My guy friend, “D” as I shall refer to him, said something I think many men are thinking but won’t say out loud:

“I don’t think women really understand how poisoned we are and how much we men, especially Christian men, still struggle with lust. We need your help.”

Well there you have it. In a perfect, undefiled world, men and women would be able to stare at each other butt naked and think, “Wow, look at this beautiful creation of God.” But as I am sure you are aware, we do not live in a perfect world. We live in an ongoing war zone, a battle for souls.

Ladies, which side are you on?

“Love can’t wait to give, Lust can’t wait to take”
~Christopher West

This topic will be continued, but in the meantime I definitely want to hear what you have to say…

If you like fun, bright swimwear with bold prints, you’re definitely going to want to check out Lime Ricki’s 2009 line. Moderately priced between $20 and $50 Lime Ricki has a large number of swimwear options in tankinis and one-pieces.

Vintage-Inspired…I’m loving it!

I have been looking forward to this week’s postings for a month! 

I have scoured the internet and looked for the cutest modest swimwear. Every day I will highlight at least one 2009 line of swimwear from the more popular modest brands as well as some of the unknown lines you may have missed.

I will also give some of my workout tips (for that toned beach body!), and make a post or two about cover-ups, shoes, and accessories.

Now get excited! It’s summer time ladies!

They were a huge hit and played to a packed house last June, so we decided to bring the sibling duo back to the West Coast.

Saturday May 16, 2009
Adoration & Confession at 8 pm
Performance at 9 pm

St. Victor’s Catholic Church
8634 Holloway Drive
West Hollywood, CA

http://myspace.com/juddandmaggie

I’ve always been a fan of Vivenne Westwood. Her clothes are fun and modern, yet very modest and feminine.

My favorite by far:

Vivenne’s lines Anglomania, Red Label, and Gold Label are available for purchase at Net-A-Porter.

Also, check out these cute floral headbands by Motley Handmade…all for $12-15! One of these headbands would be a great addition to your spring/summer wardrobe.

H/T to Eliza Mag’s Blog.