Read My Mind!

work pants aren’t fitting anymore. none of my belts fit. skirts from ‘07 (the smallest size i’ve ever been) are now too loose. looks like i’m a size 8 now.

people at work are complimenting me in the halls, people in the gym are curious about my goals. a friend brought something to my attention. since i started the hydroxycut challenge, i have lost 18 pounds. i wasn’t even paying attention because i have been focusing ahead taking one day at a time. diet is the hardest and the most powerful.

 i shouldn’t be up right now. body needs to recover by sleeping. but had such a great workout tonight at the gym, kettlebell n cardio. cardio included a new machine at the gym called jacob’s ladder. boy that works the legs n abs! i go 5 minutes, do something else, come back to it another 5 minutes. sweat just drippin!

i looked in the mirror before i put my clothes on. wow, i could see the surface of my abs on one side!!! i am excited to take pics of that this weekend. for now, here’s a pic of my legs from last night at the gym….the pic doesn’t show the arm definition i have now too!

Saturday morning - I hit 158! I’m now in the 50’s, YEA BABY!

 I have to admit when I fall just as easily. Sunday night I kinda went crazy on the pantry - I hit up some cheese-it mix and rice krispie treats. But I learned from it and I have to remember that I will always suffer from the chance of relapsing. So I must have a backup plan for when I get in those moods. Seeing the changes in my body are the biggest motivator to keep me away from that stuff usually. There are donuts here at work and I don’t even desire them.

Monday - Thursday..chicken, protein shakes, and egg whites YUM!

Kettlebell night….never know what you’re gonna get.

TGIF!!!

 To finish off this crazy week I tried on my jeans I haven’t worn in 12 years. They were my favorite CK Jeans. So I just decided to wear them to work!

 Today is a good day - IT’S CARB LOADING DAY!!!! MMMMMM

I’m in a great mood today. But the other day, not so much. I was thinking about how I said to someone, "I’m not in the best of moods, I’m on a carb cycling diet so I’m a lil grumpy". The person said, "no excuses, you are CHOOSING to be on that diet." I responded, "yea but would you say that to a smoker who is grumpy from quitting cold turkey?". LOL

 It’s true though, I have to not think about how the lower calories and carbs can drain you. I have to do everything possible to keep my body fueled and rested for the training I’m doing to it (breakdown/recovery) and the shock I’m doing to the metabolism.

I can’t stop looking in the mirror to check for more definition, flatter tummy, and how my clothes fit. It’s more rewarding everyday. Today is Day 8 of the carb-cycling - and I have to stay on it til June 9th. phew!

 I can’t wait to kiss the muscles when I flex

Today I’m thinking it may be theraputic to get through each day of these next 5 1/2 months journaling on my blog. Whatever I feel like talking about will just come out. I’m not one to hold back so who knows what will pop out of these typing fingers. Today I think I need to vent about my diet, in a good way.

 I started my carb-cycling diet finally, thanks to the inspiration of nquinn922. I started last Thursday and since then have dropped 3 pounds. I hit my milestone after anticipating that number for 2 years so I’m thrilled that the day has ultimately come. I am now 50 pounds lighter since my journey started in November 05 and look forward to the 20 more pounds off to hit my 140 goal. Then, I’ll take 2 weeks of eating normal, then start my contest prep diet for my October competition. I said I’d do it in 2009 and I find it crazy and brave to go through with it, despite the tummy tuck I have not been able to get yet.

I have been faithful to my diet. It’s 4 days extremely low carb, 3 days carb loading. Thursday/Friday I did the low carb, then did carb loading Saturday/Sunday, went back to Mon-Thurs low carb, Fri-Sun carb loading. So just one more day to get through this week of low carb then I can’t wait to have some oatmeal with cinnamon and splenda mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm lol

I had to overcome a virus this week so I missed one day of gym (kettlebell) but I got in today for some chest/core/zumba so all is on track. Besides, I think it’s good for me to take a day off every 2-3 weeks from the gym. I’ve never been at the point where I need to go everyday or else…until now. It’s my new drug. I love seeing a change every time I look in the mirror.

 NONE of my belts or pants fit…..even the new ones I’ve bought this year….go figure. I don’t even know my true clothes size right now. My gym bras are too big also. Hope I don’t lose ALL the goods.

 Started off my morning all bad, then everything turned around for the good. I am glad I got to listen to some inspiring words today at work. I really need the strength to get through these next couple days though so I’ll say my prayers tonight.

 Goodnight.

I’ve been looking forward to this for 2 years and finally the setbacks are in the past and I am moving forward!

TODAY IS THE OFFICIAL DAY I AM 50 POUNDS LIGHTER!!!!

 I started my journey in November ‘05 and I suppose my strong desire to be a hottie again took charge. Now I am at my most motivated condition and am looking forward to seeing some DRASTIC transformation changes in these last 20 pounds by June.

ok….for some reason I got a burst of energy to write about what I do at the gym. My body does not reflect the amount of strength and endurance I have! I have an incredible muscular body under this fat! LOL…. I don’t pay attention what others are doing or looking at around me - I stay focused with my music and every rep.

Everyday at the gym is different for me since I changed it up BIG time a couple months ago when I started seeing my trainer again. I told her I was going to Jen Hendershott’s Phatcamp again and I needed to get through the camp days without struggling as much as I did in 2007. At the same time, I was already on my diet for the Hydroxycut challenge so my energy was through the roof and my muscles were ready for a change that they were about to encounter.

Here are the variety of exercises that I mix and mingle. I still have targeted area days with the weights, but my core training is always mixed and also intertwines with my weight training. I don’t rest between workouts.

Warmup

10 minute warm-up on bike

Weight Days mixed with Core Training, 4 days

1. Chest - dumbell presses, flies, situps, mountain climbers…..all one quadruple set 3 times, pushups & crunches supersets, chest cable machines (higher, lower, flies) triple sets
2. Arms - dumbell curls & tricep overhead supersets, barbell curls & bent over tris supersets, curls & presses on cables supersets, crunches, pushups, ab machine
3. Back - Assisted pullups & mountain climbers supersets, 2 different cable rows, cable pull downs, cable pull backs, supermans, abwork throwing a weighted ball, pushups, bearcrawls, walking lunges, hyperextensions
4. Shoulders - Bearcrawls, barbell raises 2 kinds supersets, dumbell overhead presses, pushups, i think called power partials, mountain climbers, reverse flies, rotator cuff exercises (physical therapy)

Core Training Days, 2 days

Pushups with feet on ball, crunches on bench, mountain climbers, bearcrawls, lunges, duckwalks, supermans, abwork with weighted ball, abwork with knees on sliding machine, popsquats, burpees.

Cardio Days, 7 days

1 hour always

Zumba day - 10 minute warmup on bike, 20 minutes afterward

Any other day - mixture of minutes that add up to 1 hour: stair climber, stairmaster, running at least 30 minutes with 2-3 minute walking intervals, some skating simulator, eliptical, jumprope, bike. Some of of machines I stand backwards on and do it.

Stretching, 7 days

My flexibility and range of motion (and my injury) have improved tremendously when I made sure to get in my stretching time. Sometimes I do it before and after, sometimes just after. I listen to my body and have awareness of what it’s ready for.

Soon I will be starting kettlebell. This will be a whole new ballgame!