http://kerifit.blogspot.com/2013/04/contest-prep-update-6-weeks-out.html?_sm_au_=irVmQMjqsNQscJ7j

After about 4 hours of sleep, I was up and ready to do legs this morning. It was suggested that I do high volume to grow the muscle from deep inside the tissue so I focused on the leg press for that. Unfortunately, girl issues caused me to scale back after the first half of the workout. I could barely stand from the pain, but anyway...here's how it went down.

5 Min Warm Up

Leg Press: 20 reps, no weight as a warm up. Then 4 plates each side (420#) for 75 reps, dropped a plate on each side (330#) and did 4 working sets of 12 reps, and then dropped another plate on each side (240#) and did a 25 rep burnout

(Enter girly pain...that plus all that I just did means I can barely stand)

Front Squats: 65#, 8-10 reps, 2 sets was all I could do..had to improvise...

SUPERSET (4x)

Cable Squats holding onto Rope: 57#, 12 reps with

Walking Lunges, 15# each hand

Back to STRAIGHT SETS

Deadlifts on Standing Bent-over Row Machine: 1 plate, 15 reps, 4 sets

Lying Hamstring Curls: 60#, 12-15 reps, 4 sets

Leg Extensions: The goal was 50 reps at 100#, don't remember how that was broken down

Standing Calf Raises: 120#, 4 sets of 20 reps

10 Min Cool Down on the treadmill while realizing that I'm totally working from home today.

I know I've been away for a bit, but as I mentioned in a different post, I'm all over the social networks so that's definitely where you will see more of me.

Facebook: Keri Aarika (like my page!)

Twitter & Instagram: KeriAarika

YouTube: Mverick1219

Blog Site: http://KeriFit.blogspot.com  (I'm currently building the navigation menu but the rest of the site works just fine!)

Hope you all are doing well. Have a great day!

Sorry I took so long to post this folks. Life has been super-duper
busy.  A lot of things have happened in
the past few weeks, but I’ll just talk about the Arnold (mainly) in this
post. 

Soo…the first pic is me and Mike O’Hearn. Now, pretty much
like every other chick, I think he’s majorly hot. In fact, I thought he was so
hot, he wasn’t really a REAL person. Lol. My brother showed me a pic of him and
I was like, “No way, dude. He’s too hot to be real.” But as I’ve gotten onto
more of these social networks, I’ve been able connect with different fitness
professionals including him. So when I said that I was going to be at the
Arnold with my brother, he said “Stop by and see me.” So you know, I told my
brother right away that we must see him first! 
And he was the first one I took a pic with upon entering the Expo. Lol.
He’s super nice..and pretty silly actually. Glad his hotness doesn’t make him a
jerkface.

I actually met Ashley Horner on my way into the Expo. She is
all lean muscle and hair. She has SO MUCH hair. Lol.

Other people we met were Jose Raymond (pic) Dana Linn Bailey (who I LOVE- she
has an awesome personality), Candice Keene, Candice Lewis, Heather Dees,Yeshaira Robles, Monica Brant, Karina Nascimiento, Angela Mraz, Nicole
Ball (don’t have a pic with her, but she was super cool)…I saw but did not take
pics with Flex Lewis, Phil Heath, Kai Greene, Jay Cutler and Felicia
Romero.  I already took pics with some of
them at the Olympia..I was bummed I couldn’t catch Felicia.  Whatever booth she said she was working, we
could not find! So hopefully, I will get a picture with her at this year’s
Olympia (God willing). 

I have to admit that my brother and I did not enjoy the trip
that much. It snowed the entire time we were there…the hotel we stayed at was
pretty bad, the “Fitness Center” was a joke, they didn’t have room service (maybe
we’re spoiled, but that’s a first for us- good thing I had my food), and we
missed the “Meet the Athletes Event” because it was the day we got there and we
fell asleep after doing the 8.5 hour drive. 
We were so tired of the snow that we left before it was officially over.  I think the only way, I would go back next
year is if I work one of the booths. I would like to do that, but not quite
sure how to go about it.

Anyway, I got home late last night from my parents’ house,
but I did vlog!  It’s hard to manage 6
social networks, so bear with me folks!

Have a great day!

(A pic of my new blog site KeriFit.blogspot.com! Yay!) 

Hey everyone! It's been a while since I've been on...like almost 2 weeks right? Well, I've been working on pursuing my dreams one step at a time. I wasn't sure how I felt about all the social networks that were coming up but realized that it's something I need to take part in order to gain more exposure.  So, you can find me on:

Facebook (page): http://facebook.com/keri.aarika

Twitter: Keriaarika

Instagram: Keriaarika

My blog site: http://www.KeriFit.blogspot.com

AND I write articles for FigureandBikini.org. 

I was also contacted by Glipho, another blog publishing site, to share the same entries on posted on KeriFit. So you can also find my posts there too....BUT I would love if you could subscribe to my main one on blogspot! Does this mean I'm leaving bodybuilding.com? NOPE.  I'm going to try to maintain it all. But if you don't see me much on here, just check the KeriFit blog. I'm posting there once or twice per week: One post will always be a workout challenge on "Fitness Friday." The other will be my progress pics or anything life related. It's same stuff I post here. Actually, I think there are some posts here that I will repost at KeriFit so that more people can read it.  

I have been hesistant to create my own blog site due to mean people and the fact that I was hoping to work more closely with bodybuilding.com but I realized that I can't wait on things like that to happen and that I need to take matters into my own hands to achieve the things I want. I still want to work with bodybuilding.com one day, but in the meantime, I have to do my thing.

As for the YouTube videos where I'm supposed to be vlogging my contest prep, the camera in my phone is typically pretty good, but for some reason the sound quality is not once I upload it. So...I'm not sure if I should keep recording using that or wait until I get a real camera. That might take some time though...and I might be halfway through my prep by then (I'm 11 weeks out). Lol.  

And that's pretty much it. Just wanted to let you all know what has been going on with me. Hope all is well with you!

Oh and I just gotta say, my phone is the same size as everyone else's! It's all about perspective, if I'm holding my phone out closer to the mirror and I'm taking a pic of the mirror, of course it's gonna look huge! Lol. Geez, you guys...

(Me and my curly hair last night.)

Sorry if this post is all weirdly aligned. It does that when I type it in an email first. I can't just be having my blog all out when I'm at work. Lol

So yesterday was my planned cheat meal because it was Single
Ladies night…yes, on Valentine’s Day. WELL,
let me tell ya. It so was not worth it. I knew in the back of my mind that dieting
(for me at least) leads to lactose intolerance, but I thought that since I was
only dieting for almost a month, it wouldn’t be as bad…but then again…I never
really put it back into my diet. Chocolate doesn’t bother me, but anything that
milky in a more pure form (if that makes any sense) doesn’t work well with
me. By the end of the night, it felt
like my stomach was being torn in half. I was in pain until a little after midnight and then woke up at 2am in
pain yet again. I updated my other
social networks and blog site and then figured I would just go to the gym
instead of trying to sleep. My logic was just to get there, keep the weights
low, high rep and burn off the crap I ate last night.

But it turned out better than I thought, I hit my high
numbers and was able to really focus on the muscle even though I was running on
basically nothing. I’m not saying what I did was smart (rest is sometimes more
important than exercise), but I figured that I would be more tired if I tried
to push my workout until after work.

Here’s what I did:

5 min warm up

SUPERSET 1:

Incline Chest Press: 20 reps at 25# each to warm up, 15 reps
at 25#, and then 30#, 35#, 40#, 40# at 10 each, except the last set..I think I
got 6.

Alternating Bicep Curls: 15#, 20#, 25#, 25#, 25# - 20
reps/10 ea

SUPERSET 2:

Flat Chest Press w/ Barbell: 20-25 reps, 40#, 4 sets

Close-Grip Curls: 10 reps per set, 40#, 4 sets

Ab exercise, 4 sets

SUPERSET 3:

Upward Flys: 10# each, 10-15 reps, 3 sets

Unilateral Spider Curl: 10# each, 10 reps, 3 sets

SUPERSET 4:

My own version of Preacher curl (since someone was using
it): 20#, 2 sets

V-ups: 15-20 reps, 2 sets

Leg Lifts on Captain’s Chair: 15 reps, 3 sets

20 Minutes on the elliptical at moderate pace. I wanted to
do 30 min, but I was really pushing it with time.

I workout again tomorrow and Sunday. I’m a little scared for
Monday’s weigh-in. Ugh…but hey, I learned my lesson. Even though it was a
planned cheat, it just wasn’t worth it.

Have a great day folks.

Yea so… I actually made a vlog about this (but didn’t have
time to upload it), but I cheated on my diet. The first day was planned and the
others were NOT. I’ve never really cheated on my diet before, so I admit that I
feel like a bit of a loser for it. But I find solace in the fact that I have
13.5 weeks to get it together. I’m not
about making excuses, but it is good to know the reasons why it happened so
that I won’t do it again. Reasons why I
did it: I was extremely exhausted (had migraines from it) and sought a surge of
energy from something enjoyable; I was discouraged and intimidated by the
pictures on the internet (I told myself I wouldn’t do that and did anyway); and
my outlook changed from “let me just eat as clean as possible and see where my
body goes,” to “you have x amount of weeks to get a vascular body.” See the difference in those statements? The first one brought about a sense of ease
and leaves room for me to enjoy clean eating, while the other statement brings
about pressure and stress. I know that
my goal is to do the show in May, but it’s mainly mental for me. I do better telling myself that I will eat as
clean as possible and enjoy my life than saying “I’m dieting.” Because then my
brain will think of the not so healthy foods as scarcity items and I will want
to hoard it…in my belly. Lol.

Anyway, today was legs. I didn’t go for high numbers—I wanted
to focus on form and squeeze.

5 min warm up

FRONT SQUATS with Olympic Bar (I just started doing this): 4
sets, 65#, 85#, #115, #115

ROMANIAN DEADLIFTS with Olympic Bar: 4 sets, #115, #135,
#155, #155

Superset 1 (4 sets):

LEG PRESS: 420#,
12-15 reps, into calve raises

WEIGHTED REVERSE LUNGE INTO CURTSY LUNGE: 15# each hand, to
failure

Then I did LYING HAMSTRING CURLS: #65, #50, to failure

Superset 2 (3 sets):

STEP-UPS INTO LUNGE: To failure (omg..is all I gotta say
about those)

GLUTE KICKBACKS on machine: 145#, 12-15 reps

Abs are kind of hard to explain because I made it up, but it
was definitely challenging.

Some people say that you shouldn’t do a lot of abs during
contest prep, others say 4-5 days per week as long as it’s not weighted
exercises. I never did them often, so
this time I want to try something different and do them at least 4 times per
week. I had a hard time walking back into the locker room, but it is alllll
good. It felt good! I’m not sore now but I’m pretty sure my body will remind me
what I did when I wake up tomorrow morning!

Have a great day folks.

(Pic taken after work yesterday 1.30.13)

Well...I'm having quite an emotional day today. But it's whatever, can't spend the rest of my day entertaining my feelings.

Today was leg day.  Initially, I wanted to split it up into two workouts- where I could really focus on each muscle within the quad and then hit hamstrings. However, since I rested yesterday, I had to squeeze everything in this morning..which is okay. I think it went pretty well. I wanted to do something different. Instead of starting with compound exercises, I started with isolation. I'm going to start doing more isometrics too. Also, no counting...just went for the burn.

5 min warm up

Leg Extensions: 85# warm up, 125#, 145#, 165#, 185#

Sumo Squats with 45# Kettlebell: 5-6 sets to failure, really squeezing inner thigh and glutes

TRISET (3-4 sets, can't remember, got interrupted):

Smith Machine Hack Squats: 135#, 3-4 sets

Reverse Lunges with #20 dumbbells in each hand

Box Jumps

SUPERSET:

Smith Machine Deadlifts (didn't quite feel like doing free weight today): 135#, 4 sets

Booty Kickbacks

Then..

Hamstring Curls: #60, #80, #60, #50, #40

"Rehabbing" -Abductor Machine: 110#, 130#, 110# (someone else talking to me now)

Calves on Horizontal Leg Press (because person is still talking): 3-4 sets, 90#, 110#

And then instead of finishing with 10 minute walk to move the lactic acid, the person was still talking so I just stretched in place. Lol. I gotta make sure I get to the gym earlier tomorrow!

Have a great day folks.

Hey everyone! I’ve been wanting to blog for a while now and
it’s just been so hard because work is so busy! Anyway, I’m now 15 weeks out and am trying
to having fun with my contest prep, so I made what I call my “All-in-One”
protein muffins. They contain just the
right amount of protein, carbs and healthy fats and are pretty tasting for a
healthy snack. They are intended for my
meal #4 with my protein shake. Here’s
the recipe:

Ingredients:

8 egg whites

½ cup of oatmeal

5 tbsp of Reduced Fat Organic Unsweetened Shredded Coconut

1 medium sweet potato (baked)

3 packets of Stevia

Cinnamon and Nutmeg to taste

¼ cup of ground roasted pumpkin seeds

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Mix everything but the pumpkin seeds into
bowl. Place into muffin pan (makes 6
muffins 2 x 1.25in) and bake at 325 degrees for 20 min. Then take them out,
sprinkle the roasted pumpkin seeds on the top and bake for another 10 minutes. The result is a most nutritionally packed
snack that makes you feel like you’re eating like a “normal person,” but you’re
not. Lol.

Assuming all ingredients are distributed evenly within each
muffin, the macro-nutrient breakdown for EACH is as follows:

Protein: 7g

Carbs: 13g

Fats: 2g

I’m hoping to drop some more recipes for you all as the
weeks go by. I really want to enjoy this contest prep as much as I can because
last time I was absolutely miserable!

GAME PLAN FOR MY LEGS:

My legs used to be one of my strong points. But now I
noticed that they shrink rather easily—especially if I try to sprint on the
treadmill. I think sprinting outside is
definitely different in that you are dealing with different planes and you are
using more muscle to drive you forward (whereas the treadmill does it for
you). So I’m going keep a careful eye on
what I do for cardio. I also want to spend more time breaking the muscle groups
down so that it might take me more than one day to work the entire leg. For example, I might work my inner thighs and
glutes one day and then the medial and outer part of my quads the next…and then
hamstrings on back day…something like that. I really want these bad boys to be as large as possible with little
fat.

And that’s it for now. I mentioned in my fit status that I did 2 vlogs and didn’t upload
them. One was bad lighting and the other
isn’t really relevant anymore. I will
try again hopefully soon. Anything you want me to talk about or show you in the
next video?

Have a great day folks!

(Pic taken last Saturday 1.12.13)

 I’ve been wanting to blog for the past few days but I barely have any time anymore…and for some reason, I’m constantly exhausted. I’m still getting my workouts in (numbers are a step lower), but just tired.  

Also, I’ve been battling this crazy abdominal swelling for a little over a week.  I just woke up one day and there it was.  It made me mad because I was keeping up with my meals every 3 hours and just came up with healthy protein-packed sweets (protein brownies..etc), and the way my body thanked me for that was by getting swollen to the point where it hurt to the touch.  I figured it was either lactose intolerance, crazy carb sensitivity, or intestinal bacteria. Since I was diagnosed before with the intestinal bacteria, I put myself back on the antibiotics given to me over the summer.  It’s been one week since taking the antibiotics and the swelling has finally gone down significantly.  I would say I feel back to normal, but now the exhaustion.  It’s probably my muscle enzyme/thyroid count again.  Sheesh…

Anyway, I woke up Tuesday morning and noticed a small bug (about the size of a fennel seed) on my ceiling.  Before I took it down with a tissue, I stared and stared at it…and the more I stared at it, the bigger it appeared to get and I was actually a little scared to take it down.  Then God showed me how the bug situation ties into life in general-  We tend to stare and dwell on our problems until it appears to be bigger than it really is. God is so much bigger than whatever our problem is, and if we trust in Him, He will work so that there is good out of it.  “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 (KJV). Now this is easier said than done because I honestly admit I was once (and still fight to not be) the Queen of Worrying. But I am learning day by day to trust God with all the things in my life- not with just my finances or career, but everything.  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6 (ESV).  

I had these realization a few days before receiving some bittersweet news that affects me and my family.  My stomach started turning into a burning knot while mulling over what could happen, but I kept telling myself to trust God and said to Him, “I trust You.” And even today, a day after hearing the news, I am still doing the same thing.  I listened to Donnie McClurkin “I Trust You” upon waking up this morning and as much as the situation is trying to nag me, I’m going to keep repeating the same verses mentioned above while repeatedly telling God that I trust Him.  The result of the news was based on a very unfair situation, and I don’t know what will come of it, but I will trust.  God sees the bigger picture and  knows how to handle it.  So, I will continue to have faith and live my life the best way that I can.

If you are facing a situation that is taking hold of your life, please try to use these scriptures as a way to defend yourself from discouragement.  God is more than willing to be your comfort. Rest in Him and know that He will take care of you and the situation at hand.  

Keep the faith and have a wonderful day.  I can’t wait to go to sleep! 

Hey everyone.  So a couple of you may have read my fit status that said that my mind was attacking me. It totally was..I will go into further detail.

I kind of knew that the enemy would start whispering in my ear after writing those blogs because the last thing he wants is for others to be encouraged.  He started whispering things like "How are you going to afford this (fitness) lifestyle? Look at you, struggling to pay off your credit card- working 2 jobs, tired all the time. You also have to move. You will be spending money on food and moving expenses, dieting while packing boxes. You will be so stressed. Doesn't stress create cortisol and make you hold water? You'll never look like girls on Facebook and Instagram. They have coaches and you can't afford one. You made so many mistakes doing it yourself. You'll never get it right." 

WELL...I'd be lying to say that didn't shake me a bit. I almost burst into tears at my desk, and my mind started going everywhere.  I vented to my brother for a bit and just kept listening to sermons all day while working. I ALMOST started believing it....actually..I might have for a few hours. And after about a day and half, I started making some decisions.

1) Giving up AIN'T an option. - (Oh yea, I got street for a minute. Lol) I'm blessed to the extent that I'm good at a lot of things, but I've never gone full blast to "finish" something.  And in this case, I don't think there is a real finish line unless I make up a temporary goal, like getting vascular. Hey..MAYBE that's one of the reasons I don't finish. I need to make my goals even more specific. You've just witnessed my "ah ha" moment.

2) Move to another apartment WITH A ROOMMATE- My friend and I have dabbled with this idea for a good 6 months now, but kept using the "I'm so used to living by myself" excuse.  Since we are both in the same position and her lease ends a month after mine, we are highly considering becoming roomies. And by "highly considering," I mean we are looking at apartments this weekend. Lol. Just a year of rooming together could help us save so much. And for people saying "Why don't you move back home with your parents?" I'm allergic to the dog. I can only take so much of her when I'm over there.

3) Pick up more clients at 2nd job, which I'm already doing. -Yea, it's tiring, but I'm almost all caught up so working a bit more shouldn't hurt. For the record, I'm normally very good with finances, but I charged pretty much all of my last show and had an unexpected car expense that set me back a bit. All I have left is the car expense.

4) Dieting for the show in May (which means I'd have to start in Feb)...this one is kind of..still a question mark. I want to do it, but I don't want to put myself in a hole knowing that I'm going to the Arnold this year. In my mind, I'm still doing it. I have to be smart, though. I will prep as much as I can and if things get out of hand, I'll stop temporarily. Worst case scenario, I wait a bit and compete in the August and October shows.

5) Unlike and Unfollow some of the fitness pages on Facebook and Instagram. - "Whaaat? Why would you do that? They are inspiration!" I can just hear some of you saying that. Lol. Looking at pictures of extremely fit people CAN be inspiring indeed. However, looking at pictures of fit people during their peak season and reading that they don't have cravings and love snacking on cherry tomatoes so they can be severely jacked year-round can be discouraging. (You guys and gals still think I'm crazy. Lol) I wanted to write a separate blog on this, but to me, fitness chicks who say they don't have cravings is like saying they don't have feelings. Maybe they really don't have cravings, but for the most part, I think it's bull(crap).  Why make other women feel bad or ashamed for having cravings when it's a part of life? One of my next goals is to reach out to as many people as I can to say "YES, I absolutely have cravings, but this is how I deal with it (enter recipe). Let's do this together!"

Another reason why I unliked and unfollowed most fitness people is because I started COMPARING myself to them. Please read this and then re-read: WE ARE ALL CREATED BEAUTIFULLY DIFFERENT. Why am I comparing myself to a chick who has a completely different body than my own? Her metabolism (BMR), build, macronutrient sensitivities are most likely different than mine. So it makes no sense (for me, at least) to look at her pics on a daily basis wondering why I don't look like that.  I NEED TO BE THE BEST I CAN BE.  I compete against myself in that I continually challenge myself to improve.  I will see where my body is going and focus on it's strengths and weaknesses accordingly. I'm positive that doing it this way will get me to where I want to be in the next 6 months or less.

Maybe I will follow them again at some point, but right now it is of no use to me.

6) Embark on a "healthy sweets" journey   - Sweets are my downfall, so I'm determined to find a way to get around it the right way.  I started the journey this morning. I made pumpkin spiced protein pancakes and chocolate protein brownies. Almost successful (haha)! I think it would have been a lot better with unsweetened applesauce. Once I get it, I will definitely post the recipes here.

7) Bought Joyce Meyer's book "Change Your Words, Change Your Life" - In my offline life, I tend to speak on what's real in my life (like my troubles) instead of focusing on what God says about whatever the topic is. I want to learn how to change how I speak to increase my faith. PLEASE NOTE: I speak openly on my blog because I think most of you can relate. My transparency here is out of love so that you can be inspired to improve in your walk as well. I will always do this- even if it helps just one person!

And that's pretty much it for now. I always talk so much and I have so much work to do! Have a fantastic day everyone!

So… I could write about my workouts for the past two days, but I’m still on the PHAT program so it’s basically the same thing I posted last week.  There have been so many things running across my mind… revelations that could be applied to make positive changes in life. And I want to discuss it with you.  Heads up:  My discussion/blog is faith-based, so if you have a major problem with God, click the “x” OR keep reading anyway. You are more than welcome.

Let’s say you have been wanting a piano for a long time. You have been thinking about it non-stop, praying for it for years- specifying the exact piano you want.  In this case, money is not the issue and you know what retailer carries it, yet YOU CONTINUE TO DRIVE PAST THE STORE!   Do you see where I am going with this? You know what you want in life and know one of the most important steps to obtain it, yet you won’t do it (or go there).  Why do you do this?

I think that knowing the answer to that question is crucial to determining whether you could succeed.  It hit me like a ton of bricks this morning.  I pray for certain things and dwindle in faith as I don’t go to where I know it most likely resides… almost like I’m expecting it to fall out of the sky.  So I ask myself, WHY DO I DO THAT?  After an honest assessment, I found that:

• I am afraid.  I have been without what I’ve been praying for, for so long, that the idea of obtaining it scares me. And with that…

• I question if I deserve it.  Well, that’s not a good outlook.  This is where I need to speak more positivity into my life.

• I minimize the importance of the desire in my heart.  I compare the things that I want to changing the world- I look at all the problems occurring in the world and think that what I want is infinitesimal in comparison.  It’s one of my BIGGEST battles. God cares about everything in our lives- EVERY LITTLE THING.  And to further put it into perspective, God is a very BIG God. So everything is small to Him.  He cares about changing the world and feeding the little birds that soar through our skies all at the same time.

So you do the same- figure out why you aren’t going to the store to get what you’ve been wanting for the longest time.  Write it down.  If it is similar to my reasons, then we’ve already made some progress!    The tricky part is combating what your mind is trying to tell you, refuting and replacing those thoughts with God’s word.  Let’s begin.

• I am afraid – 

“For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7. 

“You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” 1 John 4:4. 

 “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” Romans 8:37

• I might not deserve it – I think this is reflection of our doubt regarding God’s love for us.

 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” Matthew 7:11

 “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” Matthew 6:26

 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 – And yes, if you were the only person on the earth, He still would have done it just for you!

• I minimize the desire in my heart because it isn’t necessarily “saving the world.”

“Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.” Psalms 37:4 – And it doesn’t say that He will give you the desires of your heart if it seems earth-shattering. It means in general, as long as it is within His will (and doesn’t go against His word).

“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.  And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” John 14:12-14 

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” James 1:5 – This will help when you really just don’t know where to start.

Remember that the “weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:1-6. The battle is huge, but God is greater. As long as we are living, we are going to continue to battle all sorts of thoughts.  We just have to emboss God’s word into our hearts and minds so that we know how to respond to those crazy thoughts right away.  And when we do that, we can push ahead to obtaining the desires of our hearts.

Hope you found this helpful.  Maybe I’ll vlog about this too. We’ll see! 

Have a fantastic day folks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccSbXi_nn-c

I tried like a million times to embed the video here..nope. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Anyway, my first vlog is found in my video section on the site. I did it on my phone so the volume is kinda low. I'll understand how this whole thing works evenually!  

Hey people. The above photo was taken yesterday after my bday dinner. I don't even want to tell you what I ate for dessert (hint: it was really chocolate-y). Lol. Okay, down to business. Day 3 of the P.H.A.T Program: Back and Shoulders

Pulling Power Exercise speed work: Underhand Bent-over rows- 6 sets of 3 reps, 60#

Hypertrophy pulling movement: Assisted chins- 3 sets of 8-12 reps

Hypertrophy pulling movement: Seated cable row (Pronated grip, straight bar)- 3 sets of 12 reps, #70

Hypertrophy pulling movement: Dumbbell rows- 2 sets of 12 reps, #30

Hypertrophy pulling movement: Close grip pulldowns- 2 sets of 12 reps, #100

Hypertrophy shoulder movement: Seated dumbbell presses- 3 sets of 8-12 reps, #30, #25

Hypertrophy shoulder movement: Side lateral raises with dumbbells- 3 Dropsets, #30, #25, #20

Hypertrophy shoulder movement: Upright rows, changed to Reverse Flys on Peck Deck because Upright rows hurt, 3 sets of 12-15 reps, #40, #55, #70 half, #40 remaining 

Then because I've been naughty with sweets lately, I definitely had to do my cardio. 20 min of MIIT on the treadmill to finish strong. Tomorrow is Hyper Legs, that should be fun.  

Have a great day everyone.  If you would like to read my previous blog on pursuing your dreams, use the "Previous" button or check it out here. 

You know how it goes: You are born with a sweet innocence, filled with dreams that are watered and pruned through your earlier years...and then pruning becomes chopping...or you just stop tending to it all together as responsibilities increase. All of a sudden, you are working at a place that you don't particularly care for just to pay the bills while your dream is still longing to be nourished.  

Let me be the first to say that there is nothing with doing what you have to do to put food on the table and keep a roof over your head. I am in the same situation- working a desk job that drains the life out of me because it doesn't interest me at all- yet it pays the bills. BUT I think it's potentially a problem if you allow your dream to completely disintegrate while taking care of life's responsibilities.

I, in no way, have the most ripped body, the prettiest face or the common "assets" associated with this industry. But my dream of excelling within the business still burns within me, and I truly believe that if the desire is there, I should at least try.

So really, what does it take to make dreams happen?  I'm still learning. At this point, it seems like we need: 

Dream

Drive / Will

Tenacity

Faith

Resilience

Continuing Ambition

We've already established that the dream (or dreams) exist. So then we need to do what we can to gain enough exposure to get our foot in the door or obtain the help we need. For me personally, I know I lack professional photography that most girls have ready for various opportunities because well...after the costs of dieting, I don't have any remaining funds for a shoot. Some people get photographers to shoot for free..and I'm working on ways to find out how to make that happen. In the meantime, I get help from family and am posting pictures via social networking. It's a start, and I plan to grow in this.

Drive and your will to succeed is like the gas pedal to your dream. You can use it to rev it up while it's in park, and/or push it harder to make it go faster toward the destination. Are you scared of what people will think?  Have you created a comfort zone in where you are now? Does the idea of moving out of your comfort zone scare you?  These questions can apply to anything you want in life.  For fitness, we will hear A LOT of opinions (mostly unwanted) and it's a hard pill to swallow. It's like insulting an artists work after he toiled for months on months. With us, we were made the way we were made....slowly sculpting our bodies to become something different. It's not easy- there is sweat and sometimes tears to get to where we are. Some of us had to lose a lot of weight to get there- yet someone can walk by and make a comment that part of your body isn't good enough. It's rough, to say the least. This is where tenacity comes in....

When we hear comments like "You're never going to make it," "You don't have the look we need," "You just don't have what it takes," "You have a lot of work ahead of you," giving up cannot be an option. Your ego and your feelings will get hurt plenty of times, but we have to have the tenacity to keep pursuing the dream.

Faith-I believe that God cares about the desires of our heart and He will help us as long as we do our part. There are some people who just sit around and wait in faith for things to happen. God tells us to wait patiently, but we need to show Him we are serious about it and actively trying with a positive attitude. Faith in knowing that God can do the things we cannot is an extremely helpful thing to keep in mind, not only in achieving dreams, but for life in general.

Resilience ties in with tenacity. Expect to be kicked down a lot. I've always read from successful people that you will hear 1000 "nos" in between every "yes" (or something like that. Lol). In order to get a hold of our dreams, we need to constantly get back up again and keep going. Take the meat of each critique to fuel you and spit out the bones of what won't do you any good.  Say "Thank you for your input," and keep moving.

Continuing Ambition- I don't think there is really an "end" to a dream. I think of a dream as an inhabitable destination that needs constant upkeep to maintain its pristine features. You shouldn't just get to your dream, throw your luggage down, and keep your feet up, expecting it to take care of itself. Have ambition- plant a garden, improve the existing furniture, or maybe hire a team to help you keep it up. You get what I'm saying right? If you've gotten this far, don't let it slip by the wayside. Keep going. 

And...that's all I have to say for now. Sorry that was so long. Lol...I'm writing this for me and you.  Be encouraged today as you reawaken or continue to go for your dreams! 

(This is obviously not my leg. lol)

Hey folks. I'm actually on Day 4 right now, but let's go through what I did on Day 2: Lower Body Power.

5 Min Warm up

Free Weight Squats: 5 sets, 5 reps, 95#, 135#, 145# (I was trying to see how much weight I could handle all by myself)

Leg Press (no hack machine at this particular gym): 4 sets, 6-10 reps, 330#, 470#

Leg Extensions: 2 sets, 6-10 reps, 160#, 150#

Stiff-legged Deadlifts: 5 sets, 5 reps, 105#

Lying Hamstring Curls: 3 sets, 6-10 reps, 80#, 65#

Seated Calve Raises (on horizontal press): 2 sets, 110#

Then I did a light 10 minute walk on the treadmill and called it a day. Lol. It was a very good workout. 

Yesterday was Hypertrophy Back and Shoulders and today was Hypertrophy Chest and Arms. I'm skipping Hypertrophy Legs because Power legs was my 2nd leg workout for the week and it's super important that my muscles recover.

And that's about it.  Have a great day everyone!