2008 Transformation Contest

My weekend didnt go as planned.  I had a very rough weekend- lots of inner turmoil and emotional eating.  Yes, emotional eating is something I thought I was done and over with.  An obstacle that I thought I had already conquered. It just shows that we have to stay diligent because our foes can creep up from behind.
It’s easy to turn to comfort foods when things aren’t going right.  Mine is rocky road ice cream and nachos and on rare occasions homemade macaroni and cheese.  I don’t know why these foods make you feel better but they do.  Well at least until you realized that you fell of the wagon and may have made steps backwards instead of progress towards your goals.  Also you let all your friends down that have been cheering and encouraging you to reach for the stars and yourself.
I should have turned to my back up plans for when this kind of thing happens.  A long walk, a hot bath, blues music with candle light, call a friend, yoga and meditation- the options are unlimited but they don’t involve eating.  I haven’t had to face this issue in so long, I didn’t even realize that I was doing it until it was over and I was at the bottom of the ice cream container.
Well, I am going to take this as a lesson learned. Life will throw many things at us but how we choose to let them affect us makes all the difference.  Today is a new day and I am on track.

I mentioned the 10 rules or habits of good nutrition that I follow.  If you would like to read about these in detail you can find them on my personal blogspace.  These rules are simple. but when put in practice they offer great results.

My kids are jamming out on "Seussical The Musical" right now.  I have drop dead gorgeous drama nerds for daughters.  Ok.  My daughter just walked by and is super pissed.  "Drama Nerd???  Who the heck you calling a drama nerd??"  lol  I’ve got good kids.  Having a family was the greatest thing I have ever done.  Yes, it wreaked havoc on my body.  Yes, it left it’s permanent markings.  Worth every bit of it.  So glad that whole childbirth thing is over with me for me though.  Also the preschool years. I enjoyed every bit of the youth, but I am very ready to move on and watch these ladies flower into the beautiful women they are about to become.

So let’s talk about nude pictures.  If you have read my latest blog in my private journal, you will know that I have done it.  These are things that will sometimes come back to kick people in the face.  Never take a picture that you are not comfortable with the whole world (including mom and dad) eventually seeing.  Always be true to yourself, and your own values, and you can never go wrong.  If you ever do make a mistake, which we all do from time to time, face up to it.  Know that you can learn from it.  Life is not about perfection, but a journey towards authenticity and acceptance.

My diet.  Hmmmm.  I fell off just a bit.  I am going to be real honest.  I lost my immediate 7 lbs and was thrilled to pieces.  Went back two days later after a few Sprite Zeros and an entire jar of jerkins.  The scale read 2 lbs higher.  (Go figure!)
Still, this messed with my mind enough that I slacked off a bit.  

My family went out for Mexican last night.  I knew there was nothing safe on the menu at this particular restaurant, so I opted to stay home, telling hubbie "just order me a large salsa".  I did not know that they were going to send home an entire QUART of the stuff.  lol

So I cooked my first chicken.  Boiled it in water and it’s own juices, with plentiful fresh cloves of garlic, some red pepper, salt, pepper, and parsley.  Cooked it down to nothing, and continued to cook it, pulling and tearing it apart with a fork as I went.  It was DELICIOUS.  I only gagged twice.  lol  (Remedial vegetarian here.)  Tons of salad (a whole bag being 35 calories) and 1/2 a quart of salsa.  Finished off the leftovers in the morning.  (Yes, the entire quart of salsa is completely gone!)  

I looked up the calorie and carb count on salsa.  Seems truly it’s not such a bad thing.  The whole quart was likely about 160 calories, and 45 grams of carbs.

Not a sad and tragic falling off.  But not exactly a competitor’s diet either, which is what I am trying to follow here.  I am going to start over tomorrow, and hope to at least be down to 149 by weigh in.  

Going to look into KETO more closely.  I don’t believe I have been doing this thing correctly so far.  But hey… I am a work in progress here. 

I am on a quest for hunger.  I want to get to the point of allowing myself to feel it daily.

One way I get enough protein in my diet is through protein shakes. I drink several a day.  I have decided that my favorite protein is Intrapro by Gaspari.  I dont care what flavor. They are all fantastic and mix easily.  

Now having a chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry shake is fine.  After a while it gets a little boring.  Whats a girl to do but make them a little more exciting.  There is no reason to not enjoy the food and drink you put in you body.  I thought I would share a couple of recipes with you.

Apple Pie Protein Shake
6oz unsweetened apple juice
6oz water
1/2 tsp butter buds
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 - 2 scoops Intrapro Vanilla Protein
6 ice cube

Put all in blender. Mix and enjoy.  I have a personal size Hamilton Beach blender that I keep in my office at work.  You mix and drink from the same container.  Makes things nice and easy.

Reese Peanut Butter Shake
1 - 2 scoops of IntraPro Chocolate Protein
12 oz water
1 TBSP peanut butter

Mix it up and enjoy.  Not quite a peanut butter cup but pretty close.  

Now I know what your thinking…apple pie and reese… nope I am not failing off the wagon.  There is no reason I cant enjoy these great tastes in a healthy manner.  Diet is about making healthy choice.  Success is keeping it flavorful and satisfying.  I dont feel guilty.

I feel great.  Extremely sore but great.  The new routine has the DOMS kicking my hinny.  I need a body message.  Despite being sore as hell, I wouldnt change a thing.  I know I am making progress and doing my body good.  I am transforming it one day at a time.  I will keep pushing.  Progress is happening and I am loving it.  Bring on the burn baby!!!

Todays plan:
6:00am  Yep slept in! LOL  cytolean

6:30 Meal1:  4 strips of turkey bacon, 1 slice cheddar cheese, and 2 slices of whole grain bread with animal pak and flex.

8:00 Meal 2: 1 scoop instapro, 10 oz milk, 1/2 cup oatmeal, 1/2 cup raisen, 12 almonds, 1 tbsp peanut butter.  Mix together and enjoy the protein pudding.

By the way did I tell you gaspari’s protein is absolute fabulous.  I open the chocolate and want to dive right in.  Strawberry made my mouth water and the vanilla–all I can say is real french vanilla ice cream.  Dreamy.

11:00 Cardio  multimachines 45 minutes
0-5   EFX level 2 rpe 3
5-15 EFX level 6 RPE 5
15-30 bike RPM 80  RPE 5
30-40 treadmill 3% incline RPE 5
40-45 treadmill flat RPE 3

12:00 cytolean

12:30  meal 3: 4oz grilled salmon, 1 cup each squash and zucchini

3:00 meal 4: 1 scoop instapro with 1 cup yogart

5:30 Meal 5:  1 cup cottage cheese and 1/2 cup pineapple.

So today was my first official day using SuperPump……..ok so I tested it yesterday right when I got it, and did a Dumbell routine at home…plus I had some PlasmaJet.

Anyways so this morning is back day, of course followed with cardio.

First things I noticed, energy is there, even though all I had this morning was about 4oz of chicken, and the superpump befor hitting the gym. My drive to succeed is way up, is this the focus everyone talks about with NO products..I’m working out starting with only 1 scoop. I’m about 30 minutes into my routine and just about wrapping up back day….and I suddenly realize, while I have done about 4 exercises, aside from my pumped up back…I have this aching desire that I havent even worked out. Its the weirdest feeling I have ever had. I mean come on its 6:00am, I am usually sleeping right now how is it that after 30+ minutes of back work, I feel as though I havent done anything. I pushed it hard, and can feel some burn..but I feel like I could go on for another hour, so to tide me over I did one more back exercise..then hit cardio.

I have to say I dont think this would have been possible without………..Superpump.

Thats right burn baby burn!  I previously posted my experience with a man in uniform, now I want to tell you about my experience with one of the gifts he brought me-Cytolean.  Now you may not know this but I dont use a lot of sups because quite frankly, most fat burners dont seem to do squat for me.  I think growing up with asthma and lots of albuterol has my system jacked.  To get back to the story.  I took my first two cytoleans this morning at 4am and wow.  By the time I started my cardio, I could feel that my body was all revved up.  That right the heat was on.  Cardio was fabulous.  

Before cardio, I usually stop by and check out some posts here at bb.com.  This morning I received a wake up call from my "Mickey".  That’s right Ninjabill sent me the Eye of the Tiger Rocky video.  Got me all pumped up and ready to rumble.  That treadmill had it coming.  We were going to play rough now.  GRRR.  Thanks Mickey.  I know you got my back.

Here is todays plan.

4:00  2 cytoleans with 12 oz water

5:00 Cardio 52 minutes of cruising treadmill fun.  Oh let me get all hot and sweaty.  Went 2.83 miles and burned 366 calories

6:15  Meal 1: 1 cup Kashi cereal with 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup strawberries.  Animal pak and flex

9:00  Meal 2  Intrapro protein with a small banana.  Cant wait to taste the Intrapro.  I got in three fabulous flavors.  MMMM…. Gaspari is so good to us.

11:20  Cytolean - 2 capsules

12:00  Meal 3: 4 turkey meatballs with 1/2 cup marinara sauce and 2 TBSP Parmesan, 2 cups steamed vegs, and 1 scoop shredded mass creatine

2:30  Meal 4  Instapro protein and superpump 250 (1 scoop each)

3:30  Weight Training - Legs, Calves, and abs
squats  15,12,10, 8
lunges 12,10,10
leg extensions 15, 12. 10  Last two sets are drop sets
deadlifts 12,10,10
Leg curls 12,10  partial reps
calf raises 15,15,15
Decline weighted crunch 10,10
Straight leg crunch 15,15
Hanging oblique knee raises 12,12

5:30  Meal 5: 3oz sirloin, 2 cups grilled bell pepper and zucchini

Gonna be a great day.  Started off good.  
Oh and heres to Day 3 of no diet mt dew.  Woohoo. I so got this.  Team c.w. all the way.  Catch us if you can.

So its been quite some time since I got up so early for gym activity, in fact I think the earliest I’ve ever gotten up for the gym was about 6:15, and let me tell you when you have a 2 year old that doesnst like to sleep, getting up at 4:45am isnt easy. But non the less I did, got to the gym and did my chest/ab/carido routine for the day. You can read more about that in my personal workout tracker.
I will say it will be nice once my products arrive, I’m doing a similar diet to SCT but not quite the same, I have carbs throughout the day but its only complex low GI green fiber veggies mainly, which if you didnt already know do very little (at least for me) in the way of energy at the gym.
So to cover this right now I start the morning out at 5:00 with some lean protien, and 1/2cup oatmeal, and some almonds…Then about 30 minutes before the gym I’m taking down a whey shake to get some BCAA’s in me.
This morning felt pretty good, I’d like to say week one is conditioning week and thus the lower intensity but that isnt correct, I’ve just plain lost some strength since I layed out of the gym for about 4 week’s prior to this……this is what I get for being lazy, most of my routines are at least 10-20lbs down from normal.

Looking forward to getting my supplementation from either BB, or Gaspari

Thats right. Today is the big day.  Day 1 of the transformation contest.  I am so ready.  Yesterday I felt like a caged animal ready to be released.  Over the long weekend, I wrapped up the final phase of my stategy for the competition.  It just built up the excitement for me.  I would have been in the gym yesterday if it wasnt for other things going on and if my gym was opened.  Ninjabills home gym was a little far to travel for an hours workout. I did donate my fee to the little red kettle though.  LOL

Todays plan of action:

4:30  12 ozs of water with D4 (my cytolean has not arrived yet)  Really missing that morning Mt Dew also

5:00  Cardio hills on the treadmill (More information on next post)

6:15  meal 1: 1 cup oatmeal, 1 scoop protein powder, 1/4 cup dried fruit, 1 tbsp walnuts mixed with water.  

9:00 meal 2: protein shake with 1 small banana and 12 oz water

11:30  12oz water with D4:  Take before pictures

12:00 Meal 3: 4oz grilled chicken, 1 small sweet potato, 1 cup broccoli.  1 scoop shredded mass creatine and 12 oz of water

2:30  Meal 4:  Protein shake and water

3:30 Weight training (Chest, back, Abs) and Garbage
Bench press                15,12,8,8 (last two sets are forced reps)
Incline DB press           12,8,8
Pec Dec Fly                12,12
bent over rows            12,10,8,8
Seated Cable Row        8,8  (dropsets)
Back Extensions           20,20
Pullups                       3 sets to failure (wont take much LOL)
Hanging Leg raises        15,15
crunches                    20,20
Decline Russian twists   15,15
Note: I will fill

5:30 Meal 5:  Baked salmon with large spinach salad (spinach, tomato, mushrooms, and cucumbers spritzed with vigarette)

My official weigh in video.  Weight is up slightly because of the holidays but that just made me more determined to kick butt in this contest. 

I will be posting pics later today. Until then have a great day. TEAM C.W. RULES!!!!

Well, I am up way past my bedtime.  Normally this old guy is in bed by 9 and up at 5.  If you have been following my bodyspace blog you know that I have been sleeping in late.  The big day is tomorrow.  We will be weighing in on video and taking the traumatic before pictures with obligatory newspaper.  

Here is what tomorrow holds for me.   I will wake up when I wake up.

Morning Meds and 3 ACIDOPHILUS and BIFIDUS, 2 Ginseng, 2 ZMA

Exercise
Treadmill for a 30 min walk that keeps my heart rate at about 75% max
Extensive stretching routine  

Feeding 1
Breakfast: 1 cup cottage cheese + ½ cup blueberries + 1 oz walnuts + 2 cups spinach, 1 NOW BRAND Superenzymes, 2 Fenugreek, 1 Ginger root, 1 tsp Fish Oil
Swim 30 minutes – break – swim 30 minutes more

Feeding 2
Breakfast + 3 hour feeding:  beef cabbage soup + 1 cup kale + mushrooms + onions 1 tsp Fish Oil

Housework

Exercise
Dull axe Tree Chop – 30 minutes with no longer than a 5 deep breath pause

Feeding 3
Breakfast + 6 hour feeding 5 oz cod + 1 oz mozzarella +  Salsa (homemade) + mixed greens salad with oil/vinegar dressing, 1 NOW BRAND Superenzymes, 2 Fenugreek, 1 Ginger root, 1 tsp Fish Oil

Housework/free time

Exercise
Counter pushups 3  x 15
Bench squats (no weight) 10 X 10
Treadmill for a 30 min walk that keeps my heart rate at about 75% max
Extensive stretching routine  

Feeding 4
Breakfast + 6 hour feeding 5 oz cod + 1 oz mozzarella +  Salsa (homemade) + mixed greens salad with oil/vinegar dressing, 1 NOW BRAND Superenzymes, 2 Fenugreek, 1 Ginger root, 2 ZMA, 1 tsp Fish Oil

Exercise
Core: Crunches, Swiss Ball Work

Feeding 5
Breakfast + 6 hour feeding 5 oz cod + 1 oz mozzarella +  Salsa (homemade) + mixed greens salad with oil/vinegar dressing, 1 NOW BRAND Superenzymes, 2 Fenugreek, 1 Ginger root, 1 tsp Fish Oil

Weigh-in

45 min Prayer/Reading

I will be drinking mostly water with a couple of glasses of green tea and licorice tea.

My focus for the first week is to take care of my digestive system, immune system, and maintain energy.  Other than the axe work my day is fairly low intensity and nothing is done for a great length of time, but the work is throughout the day keeping the metabolism working hard.  Fish oil is a big key.  On Saturday and Sunday I will be taking cod liver oil for the D due to the lack of sunlight.

What are the other competitors thoughts on Salt intake? I’ve never really paid attention to the salt content in anything, but I’ve noticed there is the obvious corelation between high salt and water retention, maybe this isnt such a concern on the high amounts of water we drink.

Lets take the average can of green beans, this is Kroger brand. There is 400mg of salt per serving, and 3.5 servings in the can. 400mg is 17% of your Daily intake so this one can has nearly 60 percent of your daily value in salt, add to this anything else you eat some seasoning on your chicken, a can of tuna, peanut butter, and everything else. I bet without even noticing I’ve been topping out at 200-300% of daily value probably more then that.

I have to wonder if this is what has been holding me back some weeks on my results. Maybe not, but who knows. I’ve now switched to no salt added green beans, and using more frozen veggies instead of canned. Tuna in low sodium form. and mainly salt free seasonings on my chicken.
Salt cant be avoided as I know it does play a role in your body, but in excess is it doing more harm then just water retention.

I think so, that why my nutrition plans includes keeping in below 125% of Daily Value’s.

What are you thoughts?

A sample breakfast of what I eat approximately 1 hour after working out. I work out first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. This may not work for everyone but I’ve found it is the best way to start my day.

Sample Breakfast:
• 8 Eggwhites - 1 Yolk
• 5 strips of 90% fat free turkey bacon
• 1 tablespoon of diced mushrooms

Spray the skillet with Pam cookie spray - dice the turkey strips and mushrooms - mix them up and cook everything together. I like my eggs hard and not mushy. I also put pepper on the eggs while still cooking.

Along with my eggwhites. I eat:
• 1 cup of Oatmeal
• 2 packets of Splenda
• Cinnamon

Mix this all together in a bowl - add a little water and put in the microwave for 1 minute. I don’t like my oatmeal "soupy" so I microwave it without much water in it and it ends up as having a thick, hard consistency to it. It tastes like an oatmeal cinnamon cookie, well in my mind it does.

I have a gallon jug of water with Orange flavored crystal light which tastes as close to tang as you can get. I have a glass of that with my meal. Along with this I take my vitamins and UDOs. Throughout the day I try to take in at last 1 gallon of plain water along with an occasional Diet Coke or Crystal light flavored water.

1 - Multi-Vitamin - AST Multi Pro 32x, 100 Caplets  
2 - Chewable Vitamin C
2 - Enchincea pills
1 - tablespoon of UDOs oil
1 - table spoon of Higher Power Glutamine

I will explain more on the UDOs oils later but it is refrigerated and has all my Omega 3-6-9 oils in it.

That my friends is what my usual breakfast looks like.

I have been stumbling and tripping around, trying to find a nutrition program -ok, who am I fooling- DIET,that I can live and thrive on for the next 13 weeks.

I am a food addict.

I have food issues.

For some of us, food is sustenance and we can keep a clear line divided.  But for others (most of us), there is this big, fuzzy grey area where food meets pleasure, meets unmet needs.

Ever since I became aware that this contest might be a possibility for me, I  began to eat more.  Not because I wanted to.  Not because I wanted to gain back even one iota of the weight which I have fought tooth and nail to lose.  But because psychologically something took over.

RESTRICTIONS, RESTRAINT.  

THE LAW.

"Thou shall not eat this.  Thou shall not eat that."

I haven’t eaten things like Taco Bell for 3 &1/2 years.  I found myself pulling through their drive-through.

I hadn’t had pizza for a year and a half.  I’ve eaten it twice now in 6 weeks.

"Thou shalt not taste.  Thou shalt not touch."

It’s been driving me crazy.

The mental game for me in the following 13 weeks is going to be living by the following;

"All things are permissable to me, but not all things are beneficial."

MAY GRACE ABOUND.

In an effort to really dial every aspect of my transformation in, I haven given up control of my nutrition to those who have much more experience than me. I set out to find a program that could combine what I know works well for my body with foods that were sustainable as a lifestyle and not just a ‘diet’. A few weeks ago I found that very plan in the form of a free e-book from Scivation, it is called The C.H.A Diet, or Carb Haters Anonymous.

This plan is based around the premise that carbohydrates are not neccesarily for physique purposes. Now let me also state here at the beginning that this nutrition plan is not intended for endurance or performance athletes, but is a very viable and feasible option for those of us who like to lift heavy and keep our cardio moderate.

One of the key reasons I chose this nutrition plan is that in the past I have had great success with lower carbohydrate diets. In fact, most of my weight loss has come at the hands of either a Cyclical Ketogenic Diet or a Targeted Ketogenic Diet. In addition, Carb Cycling has also provided me with much success.

However, during most of my lower carbed experiments I always found that it became difficult for me to use my carbups or high carb days in a clean and efficient fashion. I’d end up either eating bad foods or sleeping all day. However, the CHA diet changes all of that since you don’t have a standard carbup but instead a protein/veggie day once to twice per week. For more in depth details you’ll have to read the book, but for now, I’ll share my personal menu for the program.

**Note - Slight modifications have been made based on my available foods and the personal preference for a post-workout shake**

Meal 1 - Preworkout
4 Egg Whites
6 Whole DHA eggs
56g protein, 30g fat

PWO Meal
2 Scoops IntraPro - 48g protein, 5g fat, 9g carbs (2 fiber)
   OR
2 Scoops Protein Component - 40g protein, 4g fat, 7g carbs (4 fiber)

Meal 2 - Post PWO Meal
8 oz Ground Turkey
12 Almonds, 4 tsp Peanut Butter, 2 tsp Flax Oil
56g protein, 30g fat

Meal 3
8 oz Chicken Breast
36 Almonds
56g protein, 30g fat

Meal 4
8 oz Chicken Breast
36 Almonds
56g protein, 30g fat

Meal 5
8 oz Chicken Breast
36 Almonds
56g protein, 30g fat

Meal 6
8 oz Ground Turkey
12 Almonds, 4 tsp Peanut Butter, 2 tsp Flax Oil
56g protein, 30g fat

Meal 7
8 oz Tilapia
28 Almonds
56g protein, 30g fat

Meal 8
8 oz Ground Turkey
12 Almonds, 4 tsp Peanut Butter, 2 tsp Flax Oil
56g protein, 30g fat

**Any meal can be moved around in time, as all have the same macro breakdowns, however I will most likely stick to the exact form presented as scheduling will be tight. **

Veggie/Protein days are pretty simple to explain. You take the grams of fat that would normally be in a meal, 30g, and replace it with 30g worth of green veggies. I prefer Green Beans or Spinach.

SCT

I’ve finally got some free time today to post some information in regards to my plan for the next 12 weeks. I’m not big on Fad diets much like SCT, FAD stands for Failed Attempt Diet to me……..they might work intially but for the long haul forget it.

With my goals primarly being to loose as much bodyfat as possible, and not so much high weight loss I will be following a nutrition plan that includes 6-7 Meals a day. Each meal will consist of at least 6oz of lean meat, 1 green vegetable, and some good fat be it from nuts, or some other source.The diet will cycle through complex carbs with the majority of the limited amount in the morning, or pre and post workout. I plan in starting with a 3k calorie diet. I’ll be supplementing of course with Gaspari products, but in addition I will add Multi-Vitamins to keep my immune system flowing, Sesamin and Fish Oil Mixture for some natural fat burning and mild ketosis, ZMA before bed up the test some, and lots and lots of water at least 1 gallon a day.
Protien shakes will only take place in tight situations and to make my famous protien based pudding.

My workout plan will intially consist of a Middle Weight medium 10-12 rep routine, later rolling into a pyramid system to really push the bars.  The last 4 weeks I will be adding a interesting mix to take it to the next level of fat loss. Each weight routine will be followed by at least 30 minutes of low intensity cardio….however this might change as time progresses depending on results.

One really awesome piece of news I just got, the Golds Gym I attend will now be open 24 hours starting Jan 2nd….no more excuses for closed gym time!