Hot yoga mama meets the weight room

My check in with Pete, my nutritionist went well last night. I am now at 10% body fat. Only one more to go - maybe two. We’ll see. This is my first contest, I don’t want to look too thin.

Next week - at 3 weeks out, my diet will change. He told me he will put me on a 2 day zero carb, then 3rd day carb cycle. I’ll get a modified cheat meal a couple times a week (he actually picks the treat), and we’ll see what I look like.

Since I only weight 95 pounds, my concern is looking flat. Like, will my muscles just deflate since I am still doing cardio? Pete told me to evaluate myself in the mirror and make sure I am keeping my muscle size. Since my body responds quickly to diet manipulation and workouts alike, I can probably cut back on my cardio. Wow, that would be nice.

He said I will most likely not have much energy to do cardio anyway since I won’t be eating much carbs.

Tonight I practice my posing after I am done teaching yoga. I need to put in a good 20 minutes every day if I can.

Saturday I have a posing class to attend so it will be great practice for me. I’m happy with what I see in the mirror so hopefully, I am doing it right!

Namaste.

Great news…I was down to 11% body fat as of Wednesday, September 3rd. I am elated. My nutritionist (who is a trainer as well - but I do not train with him) told me I am progressing very well. I need to take some pictures because I don’t see the difference that much.

He told me my homework for the week:

• Practice posing
• Hit my shoulders hard - as heavy as I can stand it
• Triceps need more work - they haven’t changed - so I have changed up my routine quite a bit
• Up the reps on my leg exercises - up to 30 if I can handle it
• Concentrate on ab work - I still carry some fat on them

Well - I don’t do much ab work because of all my yoga practice. Now it looks like I need to work on them a few times a week. My cardio has been fun - I started running some rolling hills in my neighborhood and my heart rate is about 170 - it’s right where I need it to be.

4 weeks to go - and ideally we want me to be at 9% body fat. Since this is my first competition, we don’t know what that will look like on me so I am curious.

I still have 3 cheat meals a week. One on Saturday and two on Sunday. I look forward to them and I thoroughly enjoy them! Last night I had a burger and fries and made sure I had ketchup and tartar…it was delicious.

Next week my diet will change - we’ll see if I need to cut much.

I also visited the seamstress to fix up my suits. I am so petite that the suits needed to be cut up quite a bit. I am nervous about it but I am excited as well.

I really need to post some pictures. I’ll make sure to do that this week!

I am still taking in 3 cheat meals - and I am 5 weeks out from my competition. I feel guilty for taking them but by the time Friday comes around - I am planning for them!

I went out for Chinese food with my family and tried not to load up on too many carbs. I did however enjoy some batter covered fried shrimp. I hit the dessert counter too but was pretty good about that. I mostly had jello.

On Sunday I had a hotdog and chips plus 2 chocolate chip cookies! Then in the evening I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It was so good. Now I am wondering if I should be cutting my cheat meals down to just one at this point. I see my nutritionist on Wednesday, so based on my progress we’ll see!

I saw my nutritionist last Monday, and I am now down to 13% bodyfat after one week of being on the diet he designed for me. This is very exciting. So exciting that he told me I should do a contest on October 4th, instead of the 18th. He told me I will be ready by then. At the lowest, I will only need to be either 8 or 9% bodyfat and about 93 pounds.

The eating is not a problem for me at all. I am very disciplined. Today I ate:

1/2 Cup oatmeal with 1 cup banana and 6 egg whites

whey protein w/ 1/4 c up raspberries and glutamine

4 ozs of grilled Tilapia loin w/ 4 ozs of yam and 1 C of broccoli

4 ozs of albacore tuna w/ 2 cups of spinach and balsamic vinegar

whey protein w/ glutamine

4 ozs of grilled sirloin w/ 4 ozs of yam and 1 C broccoli

5 egg whites cooked with 2 cups spinach topped with 2 Tablespoons of salsa

That’s 7 meals and about 2000 calories. I am drinking a gallon water a day. I do cardio for 30 minutes before I go to work, then get into the gym about mid day for an hour. I did chest and abs today.

I am excited to take posing lessons this Friday! I need to be practicing. I am pretty sure now I will do the sooner date of competition because it is a bigger event, so more exciting. I am sure the competition will be high but it will be a great first experience!

This is my first post so I thought I would just start with a small introduction.

I am 39 years old. I am married with 4 children ages 10, 9, 7, and 3 years old. I have been an avid yogini for 15 years. I obtained my yoga certification last year with the encouragement of my yoga instructor.

I work full time and teach bikram (hot) yoga 2-3 times a week.

Prior to my love of yoga, I have always been active. I think I was 18 years old the first time I ever joined a gym. It was called "Living Well Lady". It was an all women gym and I did some free weights, machines, and a couple aerobic classes as well. I have always been aware of the condition of my body.

So by the time I was 27 years old and pregnant with my first child, it was evident that my growing belly was not going to stop me from lifting weights, running, and doing yoga. 3 years ago I gave birth to my youngest, my weight always goes back down to my prepregnancy weight.

I don’t think it’s just good genes. I work hard and I eat right. And I care about taking care of myself.

I have been toying with the idea of figure competing since my mid 20’s. Then I had children and "life" happened so I have waited until I am now 39, and am committed to a local competition on October 18th.

I only have 9 weeks to prepare. Tomorrow I am already 8 weeks out.

I found a great nutritionist recommended by Tanji Johnson, who I had a consult with a couple weeks ago.

I am eating 7 meals a day. I don’t know how many calories I am consuming, but I am eating about every 2 1/2 hours. My first meal is at 5:45 a.m. and my last meal is at 9:00 p.m..

I meet with my nutritionist every Monday (starting this coming Monday) to monitor my progress.

This blog will serve as my journal and my progress.

The first week of my diet has been pretty good. I have never eaten so clean in my life. Most of my carbs are whole grain (oatmeal and brown rice) and fibrous (green veggies, and occasional yam or sweet potato). I eat chicken breast, ground turkey breast, white fish, and eye of round (just 2 times this week).

I’m also taking whey protein with fruit, and added supplements such as Nitrix, Glutamine, BCAA and vitamins C, E, mulivitamin, calcium and magnesium. Some days are harder than others in getting all the pills down but I trust it’s doing something good!

I lift 6 days a week and cardio every day (only 30 minutes). I am pretty lean to start out with and my metabolism is fast so it’s nice not to have to do cardio for so long on a daily basis.