Celia

I appreciate everyone’s comments and compliments about the way I look but please do not ask me what kind of diet I am to look like this. Obviously I am getting ready for a competition so I am cutting. If you are not competing my "kind of diet" is not adviced. Focuse on clean eating and exercise. There are no shortcuts. There is no magic pill. There is something called busting your ass your ass in the gym, eating right, and most all, DEDICATION and CONSISTENCY. How bad do you want it? Most people want my results but they are not willing to put the work into it. They want to wake up and *poof* you look GOOD! It’s not going to happen! Everything I have achieved over the last 5 months have been nothing more than endless hours of sweat and pain. While everyone at work was eating cake, chips and dip, pizza, all kinds of fattening meats I would bring my meals in to work every single day and I would sit at the same table and eat them. While they would all crack jokes about my "vegetables, or plain chicken" they wondered why they couldn’t see the results I was seeing. But was anyone giving up on those unhealthy lunches? Was anyone waking up at 4 am to go the gym before work?

So when I say it does not happen over night or there are no shortcuts, believe me. I was overweight for 6 years and tried (unsuccesfully) many shortcuts. It wasn’t until last year that I learned the right way to do it. Eating right and exercising every day. Don’t think just because you workout you can eat all you want. All the hard work you put in the gym will be out the window. I thought I could eat all I wanted because I had lost 50 lbs and was in the gym everyday. Well, I ended up with 30 of those 50 lbs the beginning of this year as you can see in my pictures.

For everyone out there asking me for advice, I wish I had the time to reply to everyone. I am no subject matter expert, but I must be doing something right. I want to help everyone, I was there, and I know exactly what it feels like. I will do my best to  give out tips and encouragement to all. But if you are really serious about making a change, I hope what you are reading, if you even made it this far, touched you in some way.

Remember, there are no shortcuts! And the biggest one, BABY STEPS! You may not be seeing results as fast as I am, or someone else is, but as long as you are making progress, it is all that matters. It’s all about being a healthier, better you! You don’t have to lose 10 lbs in a week, but if you lose 10 lbs in 3 months, you are doing something right.

Stay with it, be consistent, be dedicated. Good things come to those who work hard. If you need any personal advice feel free to email me. I will do my best to reply.

How bad do YOU want it?

Celia

I put this diet plan together for someone at work who wanted to make lifestyle changes and just eat healthier and look better. I have a lot of people ask me about my diet. This is not the diet I follow at the moment but if you eat crappy all the time making this change will be great and you will lose weight. Of course you have to add some exercise to the equation here. Diet or exercise alone won’t do the trick. I personally don’t count calories. I focus on eating healthy and getting the right amount of foods throughout the day and at the right times. If you feel like you need a healthy change for a lifetime here you go:

Breakfast

1. Oatmeal (1 serving) ½ cup oats with water or fat free milk sprinkled with cinnamon powder and ½ a banana.

2. 4 egg whites scramble with veggies ( green/red peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, garlic, broccoli).

Mid-morning Snack

(pick one of each)

1. Go-Lean Kashi Bar, Clif Luna Bar, or Powerbar Harvest Bar (you can have any protein bar or cereal/protein bar of your choice here as long as it’s healthy)

2. Pear, ½ cup blueberries, or 1 cup strawberries or some kind of healthy fruit.

Lunch

Salad topped with backed chicken breast, balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

(other meat options: grilled or baked salmon, tilapia, shrimp, or tuna)

Salad with lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, almonds or sunflower seeds, avocado, 1 boiled egg cut into pieces.

Mid-afternoon snack

1. Apple

2. Handful of nuts (raw/unsalted almonds, cashews, peanuts.. or trailmix)

Dinner

Steamed veggies (green beans, broccoli, cauliflower…) with grilled or baked chicken.

(other meat options: grilled or baked salmon, tilapia, any fish baked or grilled)

2-hours before bed snack

½ cup cottage cheese with 10 almonds.

*I absolutely always have a protein shake every time I am done working out, whether it’s just cardio or lifting weights. I workout twice a day so I will have at least 2 protein shakes one after each workout. That’s just my preference.

Important tips!!!!

1. Eat every 2 1/2 -3 hours!!!!
2. Do 30 minutes of cardio 4-5 days a week if possible and also weight training.
3. Drink lots of water!!
4. If need to cheat stick to serving size of whatever cheat meal/snack you are having.
5. Take a daily multi-vitamin.
6. Take a fish-oil or flax-oil supplement.
7. Take branched amino-acids. (BCAA’s).
8. Do not skip any meals!
9. Only allow yourself one cheat meal a week. For      example, be good all week, then on Saturday or Sunday make a dinner of      your choice and have with the family or friends. Look at it as a reward for being good all week, that way you can still stick to your “diet” all week. But still be conscious about what’s      on your plate. Even if you go out to eat, be conscious about what you      order.

So far my diet wasn’t what I expected. I have been good and bad at the same time. But I have been in the gym religiously and I have also been running every morning. Going back to the old gym I used to go to back home felt great. Everyone has given me compliments on the way I look and how I have changed since the last time they saw me a year ago. Some even said they almost didn’t recognized me.

The hardest thing for me being here is what my family keeps around the house. At home I don’t keep anything bad so I am not tempted to eat it. So that has been my biggest issue. Plus I have not have Cuban food in a year so that hasn’t helped either. But I have tried to be concious about what I eat and I have kept my cardio up.

I have also been going to a new gym with an old highschool girlfriend. I have seen a  lot of familiar faces and I can tell they look at me like I look familiar but they don’t know who I am. All throughout highschool I was overweight. I am now a completely different person to everyone.

Last night I was at this new gym and I had at least 4 different people come to me for advice on diet, form, how did I get my abs and legs to look the way they do. It felt so great! I feel like my hard work is paying off and people are noticing more and more every day.
The next step for me is to get my personal training certification. I need to start charging for all this free advice I’m giving out. haha!

So I go back to hell tomorrow. (Ugh!) It’s going to be a long drive back but I’m bringing my meals for the trip. Instead of doing the detox down here I’m going to do it Saturday once I’m back. I will still have 9 weeks to get ready for the show. I feel like my body responds well to dieting. And I still have high hopes that I can compete this June. At least I’m going to try my hardest still.

I will keep you guys updated.

Love,

Celia

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So I am somewhat going through the motions of getting ready for the competition June 13th. I won’t be dieting the full 12 weeks. I think I will diet strictly for 10 weeks. Mainly because when I found out about it I was a couple of days short of having the full 12 weeks and I haven’t been the best with my diet the past few days even though I can’t say I have been eating bad. So next Friday April 3rd I go to Miami to visit my family for a week, and I have to have at least one day to cheat. I loooooove my mom’s Cuban food and I haven’t been home in exactly a year. So I cannot go through the torture of being there for a week and not having at least a good meal one day. So the plan is on Friday when I get there have her cook my favorite meal and that will be my last cheat meal before competition. I will have exactly 10 weeks as of April 4th until the day of competition. So I think that workouts pretty well.

Does anyone know where I can find a good cutting diet though? I found one a while ago and I have been somewhat following it and that’s how I leaned out again since January but I’m not necesarily a fan of it. If anyone has any websites they know of feel free to tell me.

=)