SpeedingKars. Gettin tickets.

And I apologize for that!!! You know how the holidays are….family, parties….FOOD! Shew, glad it’s all over with. I know, it’s February - but the holidays are a crazy time and it takes a while for me to get over them. Ha!

Anyways, back in the saddle again and doing things differently this time. I’m following the basic concept of the Body-For-Life program, but with my own little tweaks. The six-meals a day thing has been happening for a while, but I’m back to lifting 3 days a week, splitting and alternating between upper and lower each week. I’m also doing plenty of cardio–it’s almost bikini season, people!

School has been keeping me busy and stressed out. I’m so thankful to have diet and exercise to keep me sane and able to have an outlet on those days when I just feel defeated in every other aspect of my life. I can control how my body looks and what food I allow into my body. It’s a really great feeling when everything else is out of my hands!!

I’m teeter tottering about whether or not to do an upcoming triathlon. I did a "fake" one last year, meaning that the swim had been canceled and they substituted it with another run at the beginning of the race. I simply can’t decide if I like swimming enough to go through all the training again. I love to run and to bike, so I figure that I can always just do the duathlon. However, if this is one of the biggest dilemmas in my life right now, I believe I’m doing just fine

I’ll be posting some pictures soon. I think you’ll be able to see an improvement in my overall "cutness"..lol…

OH! Also looking forward to the Arnold Classic! Only 3 weeks away! Hopefully will be Jamie Eason again and perhaps get a chance to meet the editors of Oxygen mag. Too excited!

Anywhos, thanks for reading and I hope everyone has a wonderful week of sweating like pigs!

This is the day when I realllllly feel strong! Wonderful leg day. Usually Tuesdays are my leg days, but the gym was so packed on Monday that I had to push everything back a day this week. First week of classes, typical mad rush to the gym of people who, unfortunately, will probably not stick with it. Same goes with the number of people in the library…gets to be less and less as the quarter progresses. No one has any discipline anymore! Well, that seems to be the trend at my college, at least. It’s sad, yes. But if the college has to dump more money into the gym to make it larger for all of the increased traffic, my tuition would go up…that’s not particularly something I want - BUT I would be willing to take the punch in the gut of another tuition hike if that meant that more people were getting healthy. (And that I would be able to even step a foot inside the weight pit during "rush hour")

TRAUMATIC event at the gym today!!! I had finished my last set of squat presses and went to put the safety latch-thingy back into place so I could exit the machine and continue on my way…la-di-da…the dang latch wouldn’t move! I had been able to engage it for the first two sets so I don’t know WHAT was going on with all of that nonsense. I was stranded! After a couple minutes of panic and thinking that I was going to have to hold those 135 lbs for the rest of my life, I was able to wave down an unsuspecting gym-goer and have him help me out. I probably looked like FOOL but I could not get that thing to move for me!! Thank you, Mister Gym-Goer. You’re the best. Marry me.
Good day diet-wise today, as well. Like I said in my last blog, school really helps me keep my eating habits clean. Is it so dorky of me that I wish I had classes on the weekends so I made sure I didn’t cheat (like I usually do on the weekends)? I do have a birthday party to go to tonight for my brother’s 10-year-old daughter - thankfully, it doesn’t start till 7:00…which is right after I eat my 5th meal for the day and I’ll already be full of a delicious Myoplex. NO CAKE FOR ME, THANKS!!! (Ugh, damn healthy lifestyle)

Van’s coming to visit this weekend and you all know what that means…NO!! Not that, dirty, filthy, filthy person. It means it’s BBQ PULLED PORK TIME*! It’s our absolute favorite food in the world and, maybe in another life, if he does actually ask me to marry him, BBQ pork will be the only thing available to eat at our reception. No cake. No snacky-snacks. ONLY BBQ!

*Disclaimer: Van and I are on the same diet that allows us a cheat day a week. Saturday is it and we really know how to nosh it up.

Anywhos, time to get some shiza done. <3<3<3 BYE!

Shoot..so, can someone tell me the best (and healthiest way) to prepare eggplant? I bought one last week with such high hopes for it…turned out to be a DISASTER!! That’s what I get for thinking I’m Paula Dean, with my spices and my oil and my brush for brushing on the spices and the oil…Whole eggplant went into the garbage

Fortunately for the squash that I bought, I’m a veteran squash-preparer. Chicken breast turned out well, too…thank YOU green chile Tobasco! Preparing meals on Sunday for the week has really been fun. I listen to my MP3 player as I experiment (sometimes with vegetable casualties) with my grocery purchases. Dancing ensues. Sexiness happens. Bows are thrown.
Other than that, I’ve been walking around like, as Van’s dad described it, a Geisha girl since yesterday. (Apparently I was taking little tiny steps…similar to Geisha’s when they’re wearing those wooden sandals, I suppose) - I jumped rope for the first time in probably five months the other day. VERY sore calves. DANG, looks like I need to get back into that on my more regular basis. I’m very happy with the excruciating soreness, though, because I’ve been trying to bulk up my calves! They haven’t really been in "harmony" with my thighs. Mmm…does that even make sense?

Today was my off day from exercising so I’m ready for another week of great workouts. I start fall quarter tomorrow and I’m going to be spending the majority of my time on campus since that’s where I go to class (well, yes, of course), work, study, swim, AND lift. Being busy really helps me stick to my diet, too. I have to be sure I pack my giant lunch bag every morning with all of my food for the day. Look for some super progress pictures in the next few weeks…

And yes, I know my last blog says I was going to post some pictures of my calves…still working on that. BACK UP OFF MY CASE!!!!

hehe

Ok, my beautiful-bodied bloggers…leave me some nice comments and BE MY FRIEND!

-Karla

Pretty good workout today!! My college gym keeps the air conditioning soooo low (low as in you can’t feel it, not low temp) that I’m bound to sweat profusely…even if I HADN’T worked hard! As the title says, it was chest and bicep day today and I increased a few of my weights. I’m doing Zottmans with 20lb dumbbells (probably could go up to 25 in the next couple weeks), 21s with a 40lb barbell, and the incline bench press with 50 lbs of plates. And on my leg day I squatted 115lbs for 3 sets! My tush is SORE.
I’ve been scared for a while about increasing my weight..just because I wasn’t sure of myself. Today, though, looking at my workout log from the past weeks, I saw that I had been doing most of my sets to 12 reps…AKA…time to increase weight!! It felt awesome because I’ve gotten so much stronger from when I started back a few years ago. That’s what it’s all about!

I’m planning on taking some progress pictures today of my legs…just as soon as I shave them…hahaha!!! EW.

I hope everyone’s having a SUPER Thursday

Awww, my first blog post!! I’ve been reading a lot of other members’ blogs and I got kinda jealous…I want one, too! So..here it is

Where to begin? What better place than at the beginning! A little background information…

High school for me was typical - I was into sports and didn’t have to worry about dieting to appear to be in good shape. And then…dun, dun, DUN!! COLLEGE. My eating habits stayed about the same (not good at all), drinking went through the roof, and I was doing zero physical activity. Gained about 15 to 20 lbs.; can’t believe it wasn’t more! My best friend, Ashley, and I would buy workout videos at Dick’s Sporting Goods (where we worked), do them, oh, maybe twice, and then forget about them in the back of the DVD collection…you know, behind all the other movies that let us sit on our asses. We certainly liked the idea of health, but dammed if we weren’t into the actual "work" part of it!

And then, my angel sent from HEAVEN entered my life!!! Current main squeeze: Van Pimpenstein (<–boyfriend…this is actually his "stage name" for his band…which consists of him…and…him). Good old Van had been working out since he was 12. 12!!! He did sports and things, like most kids, but he actually lifted weights, too. I didn’t realize people started so early!

Van never pushed fitness on me, not in the least, but I realized that my sporty physique had been replaced with couch-potato pudge…completely the opposite of sexy - and WHO doesn’t want to look good for their man?!?! Van had all of the knowledge that I would ever need to be successful in diet/exercise…GOLD MINE. He was a trainer in the military and had always taken great care of himself. What a duder.

Upon the beginning of my fitness journey…well, let me just say it was a rough start. Workouts seemed like SUCH a chore. But I was so proud of myself when I  was able to run a mile without stopping. I even called my Dad! Van would help me as much as he could and I was seeing a difference in my body. YAY! I remember finally feeling sexy again and what a relief it was to not be *as* embarrassed in a bathing suit.

SO…here we are now.

Weight: 136 lbs.

Body fat: mmm, not really sure. Supposed to get Van’s calipers this weekend and find out (Van and I live 100 miles away from eachother…DANG)

I’m lifting four times a week with cardio usually 3-4 days per week. I was into running this summer but, unfortunately, it’s just not in the cards for me! In the midst of training for a marathon I was cursed with shin splints and sidelined. I was a disappointed, yes, but I’m excited that I can concentrate on my weight training again. My diet coincides with the Body-for-LIFE program…six meals a day, each consisting of a serving of carbs and a serving of protein. I also eat a crap-load of veggies. Lots of water and a OneAday women’s active vitamin. I use Myoplex as a meal replacement, but only for one meal a day.

I HAVE A HORRIBLE SWEET TOOTH.

I try to keep any cheat meals contained to one day a week only…and usually don’t let the meals get super crazy. Usually just big portions of pasta or some delish pulled pork BBQ…mmm…BBQ….my diet is the only thing that’s holding me back from looking my best at this point. I workout very hard and it’s a shame that I let food control me!! I’m hoping that I’ll be able to get support from people through this blog to help keep me on track

Anyways, that’s all for now! No more boring background stuff after this, just current events! Thanks for reading and good luck to everyone with their goals )))