fitnessprincess’s BodyBlog

Am I psyched?  Yow! Yes!!! I came home and found a box from my new coach waiting for me.  I eagerly opened it up wondering WHAT was inside.  A brief but warm handwritten note welcoming me, a teeshirt, and two paperback books a book of nutritional information and a book by my new coach all about nutrition!  Now this is an approach I can get my head and heart around!!  There are no words for how I feel right now.

A resource I really like is Dr. Weil’s Recipe of the Day.  It is free to sign up and the recipes arrive by email each morning in my inbox.  The recipes are whole-food based, relatively simple both in terms of the ingredients used and the preparation involved.  At the bottom of each recipe the nutritional macros (calories, grams of fat, protein, carbs, fiber, cholesterol and sodium) are thoughtfully provided.  You can sign up for it on Dr. Weil’s website which has alot of useful information!  See URL:  http://www.drweil.com/

Day 5
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
weight 137.0 lb temp 96.5F
Breakfast 9 am
eggwhite omelet w veggies,  black coffee
oatmeal
1 whole egg hard boiled
14-oz coffee w skim milk

20-oz iced black coffee
About noon I headed off to the Farmer’s Market to get veggies for the week.  On my way I ran into a secretary I have known for 18 years.  She told me how "skinny" I looked and how much she admired me.  She asked me how much weight I had lost and told me that she thought I looked so much younger.  I felt embarassed and deeply shagrined.  Here I have been feeling so badly about myself for the last month or so - feeling fat and ugly since my competition and the reality is even though I may feel that way that is not how others perceive/see me.  It struck home that perhaps my competition had done more damage than I realized.  I have been obsessed with the fact that I regained all the weight I lost over the past year since I started dieting down for my competition and that’s the kicker folks.  Everyone tells you this but I just didn’t think that competing affected me that way.  I am at the same weight I was before I started so I am not "fat."  Somehow without even realizing it I deluded myself into believing that my competition weight was here to stay/the real me even though I knew it was transitory! and not reality.  Wow!  What a mind trip!

2 pm
vegan (organic) boca burger
1-c frozen spinach cooked
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
½ cup brown rice
½ tbsp olive oil
20-oz water

4:30 pm
stallone protein pudding
10-oz herbal tea (tulsi tea)

28-min elliptical
Workout #2 - Legs 1-h
leg extension 2 sets of 12 reps @ 50 lb, 20 rep @ 50 lb, 19 rep @ 50 and 6 rep @ 45 lb, 2 sets of 30 rep @ 40 lb
[smith machine squat 12 rep @ 65 lb, 12 rep @ 75 lb, 15 rep @ 75 lb, 15 rep @ 85 lb
leg press 12 rep @ 90 lb, 12 rep @ 90 lb, 2 sets of 15 rep @ 110 lb]
[standing leg curl 2 sets of 15 rep @25 lb, 12 rep @ 30 lb
step ups on box 3 sets of 10 rep @ 12 lb]
hack squat 20 rep @ 70 lb, 20 rep @ 50 and 20 rep @ 40 lb, 2 sets of 20 rep @ 20 lb
notes:
1) logistically virtually impossible to get both the smith machine and leg press
2) I could have gone heavier on DBs for step ups and weight on leg press

7:30 pm
0.75-c LightLifeTex Mex
114-g broccoli
32-oz Snapple tea
8-oz water

9 pm
******** pp

One of the things I had heard the most about before even considering competing was rebounding.  This is the regain of weight following competition that causes some to go into an emotional and physical tailspin as their egos have become intertwined with their temporary/artificial competition physique.  As someone who was formerly obese this was something I worried a great deal about when considering competing as I had no interest in becoming overweight ever again.  While this certainly at least mentally put me on alert, the information did not translate, as information often fails to, into action.  No sooner had I left the competition venue did I find myself waiting at the train station to go home and worshipping the vending machines to which I am ordinarily immune.  I cannot say how much money I spent but I ate quite a lot of junk food including jalapeno potato chips, pop tarts, peanut butter cups, an almond joy bar, diet soda (give me a break!) and peanut m&m’s(burp!).  As soon as I got home after showering (a desire to be clean was the only thing slowing me down), I walked across the street and bought two slices of pizza, a pint of ice cream, a bag of Pepperidge Farm cookies, more peanut m&m’s and gorged myself until I was replete.  Sunday was a repeat performance only this time I ate so much food I felt sick which was a good thing because this put me on notice mentally and helped me get back on track Monday and Tuesday.  I had been promised there was a backing out program but got no response to my emails.  I figured my coaches were busy with other girls’ prep and didn’t press as hard as I wish I had.  Unfortunately I got off course again. I didn’t let that slow me down I tried to eat well Thursday and Friday only to stumble again Saturday.  I suppose at this point I could have just throw up one’s hands and give up, right?   Sorry but no.  I just dusted myself off again and got right back on track.  I motored along back on track 4 days straight.  Fell off the bandwagon and climbed back on again.   I have been struggling the last few weeks to stay on track.   I am not sure what I am going to do at this point.  I am tired and frustrated and I have worked too hard to get where I am weight-wise.  Don’t worry I am too stubborn and have worked too hard to stay down.  I am just struggling to figure out how to stay on track.

If you have any advice, I would really love to hear from you!!  Many thanks in advance.

I competed in the NPC Ocean State Natural in Providence RI as a novice figure competitor last Saturday.  I had the time of my life.  Over the next couple days I would like to reflect on my experiences and share some insights I have gained.

First, I was truly blessed in that I met some absolutely amazing women with whom I shared the stage last Saturday.  I am so thankful that when I went to my competition I went focused on enjoying the competition rather than on "competing" per se.  All three of my new friends were novices, too, though one was brave enough that she had decided to compete in the Masters class rather than doing novice (you can’t do both at least at our competition).  One was two years older than me and a tall, poised, confident mom who had set up a Harley Davidson franchise.  Another was a personal trainer who had competed in novice here before.  The third had a similar history to me though she was much younger - she used to be overweight, lost the weight, discovered weight training and is now moving out of state to begin a new life and career in personal training - wow!   Truly inspiring! women!

Makeup - I used MAC NW45 foundation.  It was way too dark and didn’t match the JanTana On Stage.  I think I would have done better to have used the JanTana foundation I purchased.  I did 3 coats of the JanTana and I think that was about right in terms of how I looked on stage.
Make up - I am glad that I used stage makeup.  I think my makeup worked well on stage though I have to say I felt overdone off stage.  I used a very light color as a highlighter under my brows and it really lit up my eyes and face.

Suit - wise investment.  Lidia Conti’s suit would have looked cheap and horrid compared to the suits of the other ladies.  My suit a creation by Maggie Blanchard looked gorgeous, fit me perfectly and most importantly made me feel like a winner! and that’s what this should be about.  It wasn’t cheap but I am so glad I went with Maggie!

Pedicure - don’t waste the money unless you really want to have a pedicure; the judges can’t see your toes on stage and neither can anyone else.  Manicure on the other hand is essential - french tip looks great and you will feel great too!

Costume jewelry - essential as I found out everyone had the same basic stuff a ring, tennis bracelet and earrings.  Go to your local hooker store and get the jewelry there - it’s cheap and practical and they will have exactly what you need  My ring and bracelet stretch to fit and the whole look cost me $20.

Post competition eating - this has been my downfall and I will admit it upfront.  I was warned about this but I have to say head knowledge isn’t heart or in this case stomach knowledge.  When I left the competition venue last Saturday, I had every intention of eating clean and sticking to my program but I had to wait at the train station and I ended up devouring a ridiculous amount of junk food from the vending machines - honestly just about anything and everything and I am being quite honest when I say that.  When I got home after showering (I hadn’t bathed since Thursday night - pu!),  I had pizza and ice cream.   I haven’t eaten consistently well this past week but I am not going to cry about that.  I have been dieting hard since just before Xmas and I am LOL! very human.  I did workout last week.  I think the important thing is to get back on track and that’s what I did this morning.