Samanthalys’s BodyBlog

I am having the most trouble sticking to my diet. Everyday, I know what I should eat, but end up eating something I later regret, or binge, or try and tell myself it is okay. How do you really stick to a diet of eggwhites, brown rice, chicken and some veggies?

I find it so hard, I feel like I am not even living. I mean when your whole life you are taught that fruit is good, milk and cheese are good for you, and then you can’t even eat those…its a shock! I love carbs, bread, tortillas, and I love peanut butter. I am trying to find a diet I can work with, but I need variety!

I feel like I starve myself from the things I really want for so long, that I just binge and then feel guilty. This is not healthy!! And another thing, how long does it take to get to the shape you want to be in? 6 months? I am slim and have muscle mass; I am at about 17% body fat, but I find that these last 5-7 lbs. of fat will not go away!

I think its so hard to stick to one thing for awhile, when I don’t see results immediately. Yes, I will admit, I am an instant gratification child. But, how long???????? I am a month away from my planned competition, and am embarassed to go see my posing coach, because I know I should be further along in my progress. I am just doing this for bikini, how do figure women do it??

Another thing that is so hard is that I work at a bar, working shifts as long at 11 hours that stretch into the early morning. I consume most of my daily calories then and find it hard to know what to eat, with so much temptation. Somebody please help me out. I need advice, tips anything!! This is stressing me out, because I think of it everytime I look in the mirror, look at food, get bored… pretty much this is on my mind 24/7. I am obsessed.

Well, if you have been keeping up with my little journey to being a fitness model, my first step, besides working out harder and eating better, was my first competition. I was so nervous to be next to really fit women, who I thought would be more toned and lean than I was. My posing coach, Tatiana, was a great support, she had the most confidence in me and was so sure I would do fine, even though I still had to some work to go leaning out.

So, the morning of, I woke up, not sure of what I should eat, or drink and had a small bowl of a Special K protein cereal, yes with milk. Then, because I always wait until the last minute, I had to go buy my swimsuit! Drove to a couple of places and finally found one I liked. I had been trying to reach a lady I was referred to, for my spray tan, but had not gotten in touch with her yet and was starting to worry I’d be white, white, white on stage! I decided to start putting tanning lotion on, just in case, I have to get some other, weaker, spray tan.

I get to the meeting Friday night on time, yay, (at least I’m always on time), and feel a little awkward since I am by myself and this is new. After talking to some of the other girls, which I might add are deep shades of an orangey-brown, I ask about a lady who can tan me. I meet her and go back to the tanning room set up at the hotel. This was definitely a new experience for me, beacuse you cannot be modest while getting spray tanned with five other women in the room! lol I guess I am begninning to break out of my little conservative shell!

The first coat didn’t go on very smoothly, becaues, as you may remember, I put lotion on not only 4 hours previously, but I was hoping that they were professionals and would fix me before the show. I was sticky, blotchy and couldn’t touch anything without it "turning to gold." haha… I go back for the second coat, and it looks better, but $90 later, I was realizing just how expensive these competitions can be. I drive all the way back home, put clothes over every inch of my body and lay on a towel to try and get some sleep, seeing as a I have to be up the next morning at 4:30 AM.

When I get to the show, all makeup and hair done, I am glad I brought a jacket. The next few hours are spent watching the other competitiors, looking at muscles in places I didn’t even know existed. I was in awe at what these athletes could do with their bodies.

Spending most of Friday with no water  wasn’t bad, until Saturday morning came along and I was so parched I wasn’t even hungry! But, it was nice to see my training start to pay off, I could see a complete, hard two pack and was working on the 4th! May not seem like much, but before now, I just had a flat stomach.

Soon, it was time for me to go up, I am practicing my walk and find that I still sometimes wobble on my turns. I am competiting in the tall height class with only 3 other competitors. I am the third to go and could see the girl in front of me shaking on stage I try to remind myself to smile and act like I am confident, even though I was nervous. I don’t remember my walk too much, just that I don’t think I held my pose long enough and I studder stepped to catch my balance on my turn to face the back. But I had my smile, glued to my face and was thankfully able to give a "Whew-that’s-over-hope-I-did-okay?&quot
; smile to one of the head judges, who looked like he could read my mind and smiled, "Yes-you-did-fine."

During the comparisons I was moved next to the girl, who is also a fiqure competitor,  who later won. That alone excites me because it was obviously between me and her.

Later that day, we come back for the show and I am determined to nail my walk and all of my poses, which I do. And when they call my name for second place I don’t even know what to do but keep smiling. It may have only been a one in four chance of me winning, but I got 2nd place. That is what my trophy says: 2nd. Meaning 2nd best, and only one person beat me, period.

I went home and ate taco bell and a cupcake that I had bought the previous day, while watching sex and the city.

Well, I have my first competition this Friday, in Conroe, for the Branch Warren Classic, and I am pretty excited! I have been talking to everyone about it and my other competition (a little further out). I had started training about a month ago, and have learned so much about nutrition and training its crazy! From reading articles online, in magazines and just asking people questions, I have gotten so much support and good advice. Even though I am excited for this comp. this weekend, I honestly know I am not physically ready, which isn’t bad, considering I only gave myself a month of diet and intense training. But this will definitely be a great learning experience, and I’ll get to see what I am up against for further competitions.

Some things I have learned are:

Clean diets are challenging! I realized I have to pre plan and prepare my meals ahead of time to take with me during the day. No more just eating on the run!

Even seemingly healthy food, like fruit and milk, has to still be eaten in moderation. I thought I was doing good before! lol

You can’t do just 10-15 mins of cardio 4 times a week and have only one day of 30 min cardio, and expect to drop the weight!

You have to give your abs a rest day, just like every other muscle group.

I love my work out gloves, they get me pumped just putting them on! And really help when I’m lifting.

I don’t let anyone bully me off of machines or benches just because I am female. Screw you Mr. Macho!

It really takes time to see that six pack! Not just a few weeks, haha. It almost makes me feel silly, but that was honestly what I thought.

My walk should be flirty, confident and I need to hold my poses for 3 count. (Reminder: I am only doing bikini). I also need to use my shoulders and not be so stiff.

If I need added confidence in my walk, I need to just imagine how the best looking girl I know would walk, and embody that.

Well, this is all I can think of for the time being, gotta go work out! Today I am doing abs, then 30min steady cardio (thanks Oxygen Mag)  and arms/upper back. Thanks for reading!

I just had my first posing class yesterday with a spunky figure/ and bikini model. She really helped me bring out my confidence in my walk, make my poses flirty, and taught me some interesting tricks. I can’t wait for my competition and this really brought my motivation back 110%!! Now, for the next two weeks, its cardio cardio cardio! I need to drop these last 5 pounds. Oh! and new goal, to compete in the Ms Fitness Universe, in September I believe. Yay for fitness!

Thanks for everyone that wrote a comment, I appreciate them all! I think I felt a little blah when I wrote it, because I started looking through profiles, and then went and ran 2 miles at the gym!

I think since I am new to fully committing to a fitness lifestyle, and competing, I honestly didn’t realize how hard it would be. I lift weights on a regular basis, I think I need to just stay consistent with my cardio. And thanks for the diet tips, I can assure you I don’t just eat celery,  but it’s a good snack!! lol

Wish me luck, and check back to see how I do after the 11th!

Okay, I know that is unreasonable, but I have stayed slim and in shape since I was a freshman in high school. I am now a senior in college. I have lifted weights regularly, but mostly in my legs, and I ran 3 miles everyday last summer. I don’t know how I’m supposed to get these ripped, cut abs without starving myself, or getting a personal trainer! I guess I’m like everyone else these days, that I want to see immediate results, but I honestly did not think it would take much for me to slim down and tighten up to where I want to be. I know it’s like 80% diet, and I’m wondering if what they say about models is true? Do they really just eat celery and water?

Being a fitness model, I know that wouldn’t suffice, but I’m thinking I have to cut my already lean meals in half. And nibble on broccolli and celery for meals. I am starting to lose my motivation, and don’t see how these girls get so ripped??

I have three weeks until my first competition and I feel bad that I just ate a whole bowl of raisin bran cereal. Is that too bad for my diet?

If anyone has any supplements that helped them lose fat, and keep lean muscle without being unhealthy, could you lend  a few recommendations? Or maybe some helpful words of advice…

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