Livingloca’s Hot Bodyblog

Chatting with a friend made me realize how much fun I’m having in my workouts.  I’m not talking about socializing… although I get that in at the gym too!  Completely focusing and working towards your goal can totally make the change you are looking for.

 I really challenged myself yesterday…. worked on my shoulders (MY FAVORITE!!) and felt the burn, felt the weakness too, but kept pushing harder and harder.  I had to stand in front of my bff, Strongforgood, interrupting her workout, making her take out her earplugs so she could see my accomplishment.  I stood straight, arms to the sides, and flexed… omg.  The cuts in my shoulders… that sweet shoulder cap that is looking better each week.  We died laughing that I had to tap her for her to see with her own eyes!! LOL!!!!  We are total nutheads.  Of course… she later came by and tapped me and showed me her vein popping from her shoulder as well… Love that we can entertain and amuse ourselves!!!! WE ARE FUN GALS!!!!!!!! lol.  We laughed and laughed and laughed some more until we cried!!!!!!!!  (we should see a doctor about our giggling spells… what are we?? 16? )lol. 

 Ok… so my shoulder workout was intense… No chitty chatt, I kept it going and could totally feel my shoulders tight and a little pain.  That’s good.  That’s hard work that will pay off!   Today I worked out triceps and chest.  I can tell you tomorrow… I may not be able to lift up my toothbrush.  ha ha.  But its all good and each day of a hard workout gets you closer to ……. ahhhhhhhhhhh  a better, fitter, tighter body! lol. 

 And did I mention cardio??  Doesn’t look like fun and sometimes it isn’t, until you hit that 20 min marker… then all of a sudden a great song pops up on my Ipod and VROOOOOOOOOM!!  Gotta sprint… gotta get moving!  Then from there… its just flying and coasting with it.  45 mins later… looking like a wet rat (yeah… women do sweat and we look good doing it! LOL) I’ve accomplished a babystep towards seeing the cuts in my abs a little better and getting those glutes a little tighter!

Keep it going and keep it strong! 

Keep training hard because its paying off!

Hello Summer… here we all come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ever had one of the best weeks…. Ever????  Well I did!  I have been busting my tail off the last several weeks and it is TOTALLY PAYING OFF!!!  I broke my plateau last week, dropping 2 pounds.  Continued with my enthusiasm and this week dropped 3 pounds.  WOW!!!! Incredible progress! My training has been phenomenal this week.  I have been completely focused, training intensely and have met goals!!!  And NOTHING has stood in my way! 

In the last two weeks I have on an average of 4 days a week, done a second session of cardio (usually running for 30-40 minutes) and have COMPLETELY eaten clean.  Heck, I was eating every 2-3 hours and at the end of those hours I was HUNGRY!!  I thought something crazy was up…. but speaking to the competition trainer of a friend of mine, he said that means I am leaning out.  I told him "GET OUT!!"  lol.  He asked what my diet was… I told him.  He said it was right on.   Then I showed him my bodyspace pics on my phone.  He looked at them and said "oh shit".  ha ha.  Then he said "let me see ‘em" which he was talking about me lifting my shirt and showing him my abs.   I showed him and yes, it was enough to shut him up

So… as I told my girlfriends, I am surprised I have limbs left, because as much as I have been eating, I have been hungry in between meals enough that I would have eaten my arms off!! lol.. 

I have 2 weeks till June arrives… I have a birthday coming up June 5th and will be on a sandy beach enjoying it in my tiny new green bikini I just bought.  I will be frolicking in the waves in a freshly, tight body.  Damn!  lol!!!

I will continue my strict clean eating (only because it feels sooooo good and well, because its what I’m used to).  Anything else would feel icky.  The cool thing about it is that clean eating doesn’t feel restrictive to me.  Probably does to most.  It is solid, nutritional eating that benefits my body.  I do LOVE my cheat meals (had one tonite!)  Most people who are not fit or do not watch their diet will think it is a fanatic thing.  "Ooooh you eat what??"  they may say.  Ok, whatever.  Go ahead and eat your pizza and pasta and have those Dr. Peppers with your meal.  Yes, enjoy the spinach artichoke dip swimming in mayonnaise or have that cheesey dip with your chips.  It’s all a choice.  Wanna eat that stuff and look like you do??? Or do you want to eat healthier, cleaner and be fit and tight???  It’s all a choice.  You have to decide.

Despite pitfalls in training that may come from week to week, you have to overcome them and focus.  Can’t get to a certain mileage mark in your running?  Don’t let it keep you from trying harder.  Want to run faster?  Longer?  Keep it in your mind that you CAN do it.   Do you want a six-pack?  Yes… it can be done.  But you have to WANT IT.  YOU HAVE TO WANT IT SO BAD YOU CAN TASTE IT.  That is what I can’t understand.  People that want to be fit but yet continue to eat garbage EVERY DAY.  They whine about not being able to lose it, but won’t make the changes to do it.

 Hit the pavement, get to running, lifting weights and get moving!!! LOL!!!  Maybe most don’t have the exhuberance or enthusiasm as I do.  ha ha.  I have friends that gawk at the fact that I get up at 4:45 am to go workout.  Well… it’s my choice and it works for me.  If you want to make a total change in your diet, body and workout routine, you have to make up your mind and dedicate yourself to it.  No wishy-washiness.  You say you’re gonna do it??? THEN DO IT.  No ifs, ands or buts allowed.  People show a weakness when they can’t follow thru when they say they’re going to do something.  That’s my theory, anyway….

Continue in your quest!  If you don’t start now, it will only prolong the time to get to your goal and what better time is better than now??? LOL!!!

Keep training hard and keep it fun!!!

:)

I’ve received numerous pm’s/requests on how to achieve some saaaaweet abs.  I can totally tell you that I did not expect to be able to have a nice mid-section.  I thought that only the few, genetically-gifted could get a six-pack.  I still have a way to go, but as I have told others, I worked on them while I still had lots of fluff in the middle but figured one day that fluff would vanish and those sweet babies would *shine*!  That is exactly what has occurred.  If you can clean up your eating, that layer of fat will diminish and those abs will pop out nicely.  (that means cardio too). Lol.

I have to give credit to Hacksquat though, with impeccable abs, who told me all he did was use a 25lb plate doing crunches.  Wow.  I started doing that and then added a few others.  The idea is, of course, like any other muscle that you want to build, you have to give it weight resistance, weight training.  Abs are muscles that if you want them to stand out, they, like any other muscle, need to grow.  They will pop nicely if that mid-section layer of fat is diminished!   

It is alot of work, not necessarily from a working out standpoint, but the eating/diet is crucial.  If you eat cheeseburgers and of course for many who work, those lunches can get in the way.  Making wise choices in your nutrition will give you those rock hard, (I call them dinner plate) abs.

The few exercises that I really devote time to are on my workout plan.

 Keep training hard….. because those dinner plate abs are waiting to come out this Summer

My saying… "It’s the delicious taste of progress to keep you striving for more!"  This is so true! 

Wow.  Incredibly awesome.  In the last few weeks of my pushing it hard at the gym and tweaking my meals, I have made some incredible changes.  My mid-section leaned out a bit more and yes, my new picture shows it.  I look at the pic and still am shocked it is me.  A friend asked if I really look like that (after seeing my pic).  I admit, the sun/lighting allows the cuts to look deeper, but yes, that’s me.    This is the goal I have been waiting for and it’s arrived at the right time — just before my Summer beach trips!

I’m just a few weeks away from the final stages of my goal — lean out the sides of my quads, get my mid-section a tiny bit tighter and of course, get those glutes firmer and higher.  I am totally happy with the progress and changes that have occurred.  I have achieved the strong, sculpted body I’ve wanted and it has taken 2 years.  No one said it would be easy.  But it is soooo much fun doing it!  ;)

Thanks for the pm’s you’ve sent and the sweet compliments and encouraging words! This gal isn’t done yet!

 ps.  For those that have asked… yes, diet is crucial at developing your abs.  Staying on top of your eating will allow those results to happen.  This is true in the last several weeks that I have really fine-tuned my eating and workout routine. 

 Keep training hard and keep it intense!
 

So…. the goal is to get a tighter and firmer bootie.  Deadlifts, Squats, Plie’ squats (w/dumbell), leg press, lunges, reverse lunges,  one-legged squats, donkey kicks with the stretch bands.  Whew!! What else can I possibly do?? LOL!  Oh, and cardio.  Yes, cardio is a must to shed the bf to get that bootie harder and higher!! My diet has been tweaked so that those results come sooner!

 A friend of mine told me to measure (my bum) …. do I really need to?? ha ha.  I could not figure out why my shorts were getting shorter. Not necessarily tighter (because the waist is getting loose) but they are shorter.  My sister asked the other day if I had my daughter’s shorts on (she’s 11).  Then it dawned on me… my derriere is standing on its own and its making my shorts shorter.  Yay!!! ha ha ha.   This is definitely called progress!  

Last week I had one of the best weeks training my legs.  I was sore every single day.  Although I worked them out twice during the week, my quads, hams and glutes felt tight, hard as a rock and sore!   I would run… I’d get sore.  I would walk on the treadmill, stressing and tightening my glutes as I walked… I got sore.   I then started wiggin’ thinking my quads were getting squatty-looking.  A friend of mine told me to chill, keep doing what I was doing and that it was probably just lactic acid buildup.  So, I am continuing the quest for the perfect bootie!  lol!

At the same time…swimsuit time is here.  My  favorite time of the year.  Beaches… ahhhhhhh.  Can you hear the waves crashing?  The smell of the salt in the air??  Can you see that intoxicating sunset?  I just love it.  The beauty of being at the beach and taking in all those senses, it is truly pleasurable.  I have a true passion for the beach.  Just something about it.

Ok… the countdown is on for the Summer…. I am going to be ready.  :)

 Keep training hard!

:)

Wow.  What a great weekend.  I went to Austin with fellow bbcom’r KLTexas to see the Texas Shredder BB and Figure Compeititon.   What a great competition.  BBcom’s CraigD34 was one of the competitors and boy, did he blow them out of the water!  He brought in two titles… Men’s Novice and Men’s Overall.  When Craig went out on the stage…. there was no question he had it; he was totally ripped and there was no comparison with his competitors.  He looked incredible as he did his posedown.  Way to go Craig!  (pics of The Shredder)

http://www.musculardevelopment.com/browse/index.php?mode=browse&id=15585&eventcode=1237&

Some don’t actually realize the hard work and dedication it takes into preparing for these competitions.  The diet… omg, the diet.  I am sure the last week is the hardest…. no carbs.  Keeping water to a minimum, espec the day of the competition.  Keeping that skin as thin as can be so that those muscles pop and the cuts really stand out.  I totally admire the competitors for the strictness of their diet.  Its hard work and not everyone can endure months of training and dedication like that.

So, not only was this a spectacular competition, but it also served a purpose.  KLTexas will be doing her first competition in August and she is intensely working on her preparations for that.  Not only is she intense and fit, seeing those gals on stage…. KLTexas is totally ready now.  She could have easily been on that stage to compete. 

Although I am not planning on competing, seeing the women in the figure competition really allowed me to see the potential of where I can actually take my training to.  Really fine-tuning my diet (love my present weight routine) could make real changes in the sculpting of my body.  I have had several friends tell me not to lose any more weight, that getting leaner will change my curvy body, but really, the change would only be a 3-5 lb change.  Just leaning up and slenderizing my legs and a little more abwork– I will be a happy puppy. 

So…. today is the day that I begin to really focus (although I have had great focus) and zone-in on my training.  I have a month until I spend 2 and a half weeks on the beaches of Costa Rica and I can easily make the changes that I want in that timeframe.  No question, no doubt about it.  It’s really just a matter of tweaking my diet because my workouts are already intense.

Keep training hard!

What is truly the ideal shape for a woman?  The sexy curves?  The hard, lean look? 

My goal has always been to just get lean, tight and look incredible in a little tiny bikini.  That’s it.  It seems once you train a certain bodypart, that change completes a segment. Then its time to move onto the next.  It has been so interesting to see the transformation.  Muscles developing and getting defined shows really how much work and dedication you have put into your workouts.

I always love using the term intensity.  Anyone can lift a dumbell.  But can you lift it with intensity?  Really feel the work you are doing?  Are you enjoying it?  The heaviness and the last few reps… possibly a little pain?  ha ha… not into pain, but its those last reps that leave you a little fatigued and it’s at that point that you have to push it harder for the next set.  And when you’re done??? Accomplishment.  Yes!  You finished and it’s onto the next exercise.  When you awake the next morning and are sore, gosh… that is the best feeling of working out.  You can feel how much you pushed yourself.  You didn’t wimp out… you made a change to your body and weeks of this…. pure and delicious progress!!  

I will never forget when I was in Costa Rica the summer of 2006 at a resort and even though I looked great (ok… I was an average size 8/10) and wearing a tankini… I was working out, felt good.  I then saw women older than me in bikinis.  That was such an eye opener that kicked me into gear and I never looked back.  That is when I found bbcom and it was such a motivator to keep me going… seeing others’ progress helped fuel my determination to continue to reach my goals.  I am now a size 2 and in the best shape of my life.  Being fit enhances every part and bit of your life.  Confidence, endurance, giddiness…shall I go on?? 

At the commencement of my training, I really wasn’t out to acquire ab definition.  Funny, I just enjoyed the weighted crunches and voila’!  As soon as I began to lean out more, they began to pop out.  Is that sexy?  hmmm…. guess it depends on a person’s opinion.  I asked a personal trainer friend of mine if I should stop working on my abs.  She said "absolutely not".  You see, I’m afraid of getting too cut, too hard.  Is that silly?  The thing is I want to be fit, tight and have strong abs but I want to have a sexy, soft curvy waist.  I don’t want to look too hard. I want to be lean and sleek.   

The present goal to hit my fancy:  glutes.  I have been working on tightening those glutes and all that hard work is paying off.  I wore a fitted black dress today that I had to keep pulling the bottom down because apparently those glutes have lifted and well, they are slightly lifting my dress! lol.  A friend at the gym asked several weeks ago if it was time to be in rap video (lol… the gals in the videos I guess have big booties??) ha ha.  No thank you… I don’t need a big bootie… just want to have a tight, hard one   lol.  Also… cannot get over the fact that I have gotten my quads to get rock hard… omg.  To stand, and have them look like I’m flexing, but not?!  sweet.

So… when you are doing your sets, push that intensity and make it burn. You will feel the progress you’ve made the next day….and in weeks…. you’ll begin to see great changes and hopefully, some sweet definition. 

Keep training hard

So I threw a party Saturday night.  Huge party.  Lots of laughter, drinking, eating and dancing.  It was a Fire and Ice party… and it was vowed that the party wouldn’t end until the ice melted   lol.  Everyone had such a great time and then the police showed up.  ha ha.  Apparently, I inadvertently forgot to invite neighbors behind me (which, even though I don’t know them, would have allowed us more LOUD music and dancing time). :)  We were given a warning, and a nice one at that, and we just had the noise level turned down a bit.  The dancing and drinking continued. 

 As guests arrived, they were greeted with a candlelit sidewalk up to the front door.  As they entered the two-story foyer, there were vignettes of candle displays everywhere.  They stepped through an archway that was draped in sheer white fabric and as they proceeded through to the dining area (which had an wide array of food and centerpieced by an icy-candle display surrounded by lots of candles on the table), they would encounter double french doors facing the dining room which were opened during the evening … where our side courtyard is with a Spanish fountain cascading and candles surrounding it and the cool breeze blowing in.  As they would walk into our living room (with no furniture, to make room for dancing), the ceiling was canopied in sheer white flowing fabric… it was pretty darn spectacular!  The DJ was playing tunes and then… boom!  You saw the tall ice sculpture that held several gallons of a Flirtini that would come down and with a nozzle, guests served themselves to delight.  On the kitchen island, another icy glass candle display with trays of fresh sushi and sashimi.  Yum!    The evening was gorgeous and everyone was outside in the patio next to the pool enjoying themselves.  A full bar was outside…. it was all spectacular! 

 Of course, the feedback I have received from several guests is that…the bar has been set higher now due to my soiree.  LOL! (it was a sweet compliment).  It was quite a production that I planned months in advance.  I have to say, practically everyone that was invited came (however, we had several MS150 bike riders who could not make it).  

So… the concensus is that I should throw this party annually (although lots of friends said I need to do it twice a year!).  It was a blast and well, sad to see the canopy put away along with all the wine, champagne and martini glasses… but only for a very short time… Summer will be here soon and this party girl will come up with another grand theme of a party….

And yes… I did get back to my training/cardio routine today.  I don’t miss a beat when it comes to my workout ….

Keep training hard!

Can you believe its the middle of April?  Wow.  Summer will be here before you know it! 

It has finally gotten warm here.  Ugh… just love it!  Its been cool enough in the evenings to go for a run.  Even in the warmth (and we are only at 80 degrees now),  plugging in the Ipod and hitting the pavement is so exhilirating.  I finally was smart enough to have an exclusive cardio playlist so I don’t have to skip around my music… duh!  My pace and the music send me on a high.  lol!  Sunday evenings I like to start the week with a nice long run.  I plug in and go and lose track of time… and just run.  I run around my entire neighborhood…encompass lots of footage in my release of energy.  The other evening I was running, although there was some wind I had to have my shades on (the sun was going down) to keep the cool, sharp wind out of my eyes.

I’m already thinking and gearing up for the Summer.  Intense training the last few weeks have allowed me to taste a little progress.  Those bikinis are coming out after a long spell of Winter… ha ha.  I was chatting with a fellow female bbcom member –  she is starting off her fitness quest.  I told her to simply focus on the goal… on the picture of what she wants to look like and the progress she wants to achieve.  Mine was wanting to lounge in a little bikini on the beach (ha ha.. without the rolls, without sucking it in!)   Getting to check that off my list was wonderful!  Pick the goal and work towards it without fail.  Intently working on getting what you want will deliver results.  The delicious taste of progress keeps you striving for more! 

Ok… I am sooo needing some new ab workouts.  I have tried to be creative and throw in some new ones… but I guess if the old exercises have done the job… stick with them??  Just love the cable pull.  On my knees and pulling the cable down, forcing tightness on your abs…wow.  I’m not wanting to get really cut, I just want to stay sleek and curvy … still want to look like a curvy girly! ;)  A little definition can go a long way~

Keep training hard!

So these next two weekends will be a test to my training.  I have made incredible progress this week.  OMG.  Incredible.  My mental focus has been outstanding to push myself and not to mention, I have been sore each and every day!!!  Yes!  Love tossing in bed, feeling the soreness…

I have two parties to attend to this weekend and a party next weekend.  Whew!  My partying escapades this weekend will have to be kept to a minimum.  I don’t want to lose the momentum that I’ve picked up in my training. 

Today, a friend of mine and I will sample 4 different champagnes to decide on the perfect one for a party that I am throwing next weekend… A fire and ice party.  That means 4 bottles!! Yikes! lol.  We will, of course, make sure we will have plenty to eat along with our sampling…. and all while we are labeling small bottles of the party favors for the party….. what is it??? Body/Massage Oil.  LOL!!!!  My husband told me people will refer to me after the party as the Madam.  ha ha ha.  Jokingly, I have informed a few girlfriends the leftover 1/2 gallon of body oil (oh my) should be used that evening for an adult slip and slide. (Girls… bring those bikinis!! LOL!!!)  :)  Not really.  Not that crazy… but I’m sure if anyone wants that big bottle of body oil… have at it!! 

The Fire and Ice party…  its just a fun theme.  But it will be a blast.  A towering 45" ice sculpture that will hold several gallons of a flirtini.  Nice!!   My home will transform….will be cool.  Me, the party girl that I am, have purchased over 150 candles.  Wow.  The fire dept will have to be put on alert for the candles…. and well, of course…. because of the HOTness this party will produce!  Ha!  Just hope no one starts jumping into the pool to cool off…

Keep training hard!