Lift it, bench it, blog it!

Okay, so I’m a little behind this week…

I’m working a conference right now and finding it hard to focus on my "personal agenda" seeing how I have so little personal time.  However, after a VERY long day I still managed to drag my butt to the hotel gym last night at 9pm to workout (I was awake at 4:30am this morning too!) … now that’s dedication!  Also, I packed a JUMBO cooler FULL of competition diet food and made sure there was a refrigerator in my room. <— don’t give me excuses!

Workout: I’m still using the rotation from last week.  It seems to be working.  I’ll change it up a bit next week to "keep the body guessing."

Diet: Okay, so even though I’m pretty strict about my diet I don’t think I’ve been strict enough.  So, starting tomorrow (ha! isn’t that what everyone says … "tomorrow") I’m going to become the diet nazy.  It’s ONLY 4 weeks … ! I can totally do this.  Most of the competitors diet HARD for 4 or more MONTHS!  I need to shed some BF and most of its because of my diet.

Misc: I had a GREAT, AWESOME, WONDERFUL and HARD workout Saturday with Amber (Ambrosia) and Livi (musclesPhD). We kicked ass girls! I think some of the guys were even intimidated! Ha! I can’t wait to do it again! We even had time to pose at the end.  I REALLY need to practice … especially my transition. 

My husband and I are looking into opening a gym in our small town soon. It’s very exciting and a little stressful. Hopefully we can get everything worked out and open December 2008.

The date for my personal training test is scheduled: November 22nd.  Ugh!  More stress!!!

Okay, back to work …

Workout: I changed my workout again this week.  Hoping (praying) to see some changes in my quads soon. This "patiently waiting" game is killing me!  I decided to throw in cardio for the new few weeks to see if I can shed some BF.  This is the plan for the next few weeks: MWFS - heavy lifting; TTHS - cardio

Diet: I decided to start my carb cycling. So far, so good. Heavy lifting days = moderate carb days; Cardio days = very low carb days. Simple enough.  Today is carb day which makes me VERY happy

Misc: I worked out with musclesPhD this past Saturday. She kicked my ass on shoulders but I made up for it on abs Next Saturday I’m working out with Ambrosia.  Again, I’m fully prepared she may show me up … but it’s okay!  I really enjoy working out with these ladies because they push me to be the competitor I want to be.  Plus, I get to learn some new moves

5 weeks from tomorrow I will be gracing the stage at Lackland … Excitement is finally setting in!

Until next week,

Lift it & Bench it … I’ll keep blogging it!

This week has been pretty hectic … with working out, home life, work and studying for my ACE certification there hasn’t been much downtime.  Usually it doesn’t affect me as I’m generally a pretty “peppy” person.  However, this week I’m running low on fumes … I know what you’re thinking “you need more sleep … recovery time … blah.”  The funny thing is I’ve been hitting the sack about 9 or 9:30pm most nights and waking up at 5am.  I can’t bring myself to sleep in and miss a workout … I’m 6 weeks out until my next competition.  I guess in the meantime I’m just going to have to prioritize a little better.  Being a natural planner, I don’t think it will be a problem.

Did I mention how glad I am that it’s FRIDAY?!  I don’t have Austin City Limit tickets this weekend *pout* BUT I do have a rather RELAXING weekend ahead of me.  Saturday I’m heading down to San Marcos to workout with MusclePhD … very excited!  We are both competing at Lackland … different classes   There is no doubt she’s going to show me a thing or two …

Workouts:
So, 6 weeks out tomorrow.  I’m not as “pumped” as I was for the first competition.  I need to get myself together if I plan on placing.  I can’t believe I set the bar so high on my first comp! What was I thinking?! Ha!  My workouts have been consistent.  I’m starting to add HIIT to my cardio and still lifting heavy.  I think a change is needed next week.  I’m looking into more advanced training.

Diet:
The diet is back on track.  However, Monday was horrible.  I consumed WAY too many calories and carbs … I signed up for sparkpeople.com so I can track my nutrition.  It’s easier than trying to calculate it yourself … Plus, it remembers the food you add so you don’t have to enter in the nutritional values every time.  Very cool!  You need to try it out if your monitoring a strict diet.  Since I’ve signed up for SO many social networks (maybe this is why I don’t have time for anything) I decided to make my SparkPeople account hidden …  You can track your workout and measurements too … That part is still not as good as BodySpace

Misc:
I started training one of my friends last week.  It is so awesome! I love it!  I can’t wait to make a career out of it.  I’m STILL reading my ACE textbook and making flash cards.  I’m going to have SO many cards to study once I’m done … ha!  I forgot how time consuming studying is.  Maybe that’s why I didn’t go to grad school.  I set a goal to take the test before Thanksgiving.

That’s all for now!

Keep lifting it & benching it … !

I decided to take the week off from counting calories, carbs, protein, fat, etc. and just enjoy food again.  Suprisingly, I haven’t gone crazy … I’m still eating the same things I did before.  I guess my compititon food is more of a habit now.  I still feel like I’m eating a lot more than I should so after Friday I have to go back to counting my intake until my last competiton is over, November 8th.  7 weeks from this Saturday!  New progress pics to come!

New Goals:  Rip quads, 4 OR 6-pack of abs, lose 3% BF, finish my personal training book and take the test before Thanksgiving (2 chapters per week)

Until next time … Lift it, bench it, and I’ll blog it!

I’m proud to say I placed 3^rd in my first figure competition this past weekend in Plano, Texas.  It was such a great experience. Check out my photos! 

The Good: 
~I was on time

~I came prepared

~I asked a ton of questions

~I met a lot of nice people

~I learned a lot about the logistics on the competitions

~I received a 1^st call out on my two-piece

~I nailed my poses

~The announcer pronounced my last name correctly

The Bad:
~My tan wasn’t dark enough (even with 8 coats of Jan Tana)

~My transitions could have been better

~My makeup needed to be darker (I still think it was dark enough!)

~I forgot my suits to the pre-meeting on Friday and had to sprint back to the hotel room

~The competition was tough

~I need to build a little more muscle (rip my quads and build a little more upper body)

The Ugly:
~The hotel room was a dive … no microwave, full bed, the toilet was clogged more times than it flushed, and the power and alarm went on and off all night.  We learned our lesson … book outside the block … terrible, I know!

The story of my life:  so much to do with so little time.  As most of you know, my peak-week is just around the corner.  After reading countless carb loading/depleting articles and sodium/water intake restrictions, I’ve decided to go with the most obvious solution:  not to do anything drastic.  What I’ve been doing seems to work well for me, so why change it now.  I may regret this decision on September 13^th, but for now I’m sticking to it.

Much to my surprise I’m actually pretty calm.  Maybe it just hasn’t hit me yet … or maybe I’m not letting it sink in.  Either way, I’m ready! Bring it on!  We drive to Plano next Friday and pre-judging starts Saturday at 7am.  Wish me luck!

Wow! I can’t believe the progress I’ve made in just 12 weeks.  It’s amazing!  Take a look at my progress photos to see the 12 week transformation.  My bathing suit is actually BIG on me … I didn’t think that was possible.  Side note: I haven’t worn that bathing suit since I took photos 12 weeks ago.

THREE weeks until my 1^st Figure competition!!!  I’m getting really nervous and excited … I’ve already started the usual “Do I look okay?” … “Do I need to do more sets? More reps? More ANYTHING & EVERYTHING!?”  Ha!  I can’t wait!

On a lighter note: This weekend I visited my family.  They’re not very supportive of my competing.  I finally got tired of their rude comments and decided to stick up for myself.  I think the message got through, but it still hurts.  It’s already hard enough.  My husband tried to explain that it’s all psychological and my family is afraid of losing me.  I think this is really stupid and makes NO sense but here is the reasoning … I’m on a very strict diet now so sometimes I bring my own food OR I cook something different.  I never have dessert but do the dishes instead just to get away from it.  My family sees this as me “pulling away” and/or them being self-conscious of their own eating habits and weight.  When I decided to compete, I didn’t want it to affect anyone else.  I guess I was wrong.  It seems to be affecting people all around me. I just thank God every day for my husband.  Without his support I don’t think I could get through this.  He seems to be the only one who knows what I’m going through and is always there for me when I need him. 

Okay, I have TWO vacations coming up!!!  It’s going to be hard to stay on track.  I’ve already planned my meals and wrote down my workout schedule.  I just really need to stay focused and get through them being competition ready.  I leave for the first one Saturday and the next one is the weekend before competition!  Thank goodness there is a gym at each location!!! 

Until next time …

Lift it & Bench it while I Blog it!

BodyBlog update! 

Last week was great!  My workouts were solid.  I ended up lifting HEAVY and incorporating cardio between sets and doing a circuit rotation on arm days.  My body was pretty tired and sore, so I took Saturday and Sunday off to recuperate. 

My diet is still going strong.  There were a couple of days last week that I was unprepared and ate a protein bar or had a meal replacement shake.  Other than that, I am sticking to it.  I’m trying to find recipes to help with the “dullness.”  If you know where I can find some, please email me.

Saturday I had a photo shoot with an old friend from high school.  He mainly does fashion and glamour, but I challenged him to do fitness.  He did such an amazing job!  Out of 650 photos I had to narrow it down to 5!  I couldn’t pick … it was just too hard.  So, I ended up with 6.  One is posted already and the others are still to come.   

I slipped and tumbled HARD down some wet wooden stairs after the shoot (luckily AFTER) and hurt my back … not to mention I’m sporting a few bruises in a few undisclosed areas of my body.  I’m actually sitting on a heating pad at the moment trying to heal my back so I can lift this week.  I’ll be wearing a lovely weight belt my husband gave me, in case you want to know.  Anyone know why they call them “shower shoes” if you can’t realistically wear them in the shower for fear of killing yourself?  Yeah, me either.

This is the last week of my 12-week challenge.  I’m going to give it my all without injuring myself further.  I need to be in shape for my upcoming competition.  Yes, it is going to happen this time.  I booked my hotel room and paid my entry fee SO IT BETTER!

I finally cracked the book for personal training.  My newest goal is to read a chapter a night while taking notes, learn the human anatomy by studying charts, and read up on nutritional concepts.  I plan to have my certification by November and start training after my last competition for the year, November 8^th.  If it all goes well, I should be able to be a full-time in-home personal trainer by the New Year. 

Until next time …

Lift it & bench it

Friday night I found out my competition was cancelled.  My diet and workout plan flashed before my eyes.  I couldn’t help but cry over all the meals I gave up, and all the pain I put myself through in the gym just to find out it was all for nothing.  Okay, maybe it wasn’t all for nothing … none the less, I was still sad. 

Saturday, I attended the Capital of Texas Roundup.  It was just the motivation I needed to pull myself together and work towards a new goal.  This Saturday I have a photo shoot for my portfolio and I found another figure competition to compete in.  I will prevail!

In the words of Matthew Wilder, “Ain’t nothin’ gonna to break my stride; Nobody’s gonna slow me down, oh-no; I got to keep on movin’; Ain’t nothin’ gonna break my stride; I’m running and I won’t touch ground; Oh-no, I got to keep on movin’”

I overslept this morning and missed my workout :-(  I remember waking up to my husbands alarm clock at 4:45am but rolled over and went back to sleep.  I guess I turned mine off because I finally woke up at 6am.  It’s so unlike me to oversleep …  Damn … I guess it was my body’s way of saying it needed time to rest.  I WILL be in the gym tomorrow, bright and early!