The Kitty Gato’s BodyBlog

I thought it would be helpful to wright down a list of things that help me each day that keep me motivated, basically everything eventually becomes a habit if you keep it up..so you gotta start somewhere and stick to it.!

1. Clean - yes clean, clean everything out of your house that is unhealthy or that will tempt you. I know this is hard for people with family and kids, but if you can..then get rid of it! If it’s not there then you won’t eat it. If this isn’t possible then have your own cupboard devoted just to your food.

2. Grocery shop - when grocery shopping don’t go down the isles that will tempt you. I mentally have to tell myself not to go down the cereal section (it’s my weakness). If your weakness is the candy or chip isle..don’t even bother!! Make a list and DO NOT go hungry!! Get everything that is on that list and get out of there. Check out my grocery list in my previous blog.

3. Cook - prepare everything and cook ahead. I cook all my food on Sundays and Wednesdays in bulk so I know it will be ready for the days ahead. MAKE TIME I work two jobs and fit in 2 hrs of training on top of it, so I don’t care..make time! There are nights when I am cooking my food at midnight. There are ways to cut time. Cook your chicken in a crockpot and let it cook overnight, cook your sweet potatoes in steam bags, or microwave your eggs..get creative. Buy a crockpot and magic bullet (great inventions).

4. Prepare - After cooking all your meals measure them all out and put them in containers in your fridge ready to go. After all my food is cooked I measure it all out with my kitchen scale and put them in ziploc bags or tupperware containers. The night before I always pack my food for the day. Everything is already measured out so I just throw it in my mini cooler so it is ready to go in the morning. That way you aren’t tempted to eat out or eat something bad at work or wherever.

5. Gallon Jug - I have been doing this ever since I was preparing for my first competition. I buy a new gallon jug each week and take it EVERYWHERE with me. People laugh but oh well, at least I get my 1.5-2 gallons of water in each day. I drink a gallon at work and then refill it with the water cooler and drink another .5-1 gallon for the rest of the day. I am constantly just sipping on it. Ocassionally I will mix a container of crystal light in the gallon and drink it through out the day..but honestly I like just plain water.

6. Condiments - try to get rid of condiments or lean towards a more healthy aproach so you don’t add more calories each day to your diet. Look at the labels and make sure they aren’t chuck full of sugars, carbs and calories. Instead of creamy unhealthy dressings go with balsamic vinegar and a little olive oil. Instead of real ketchup try the no salt or reduced sugar or even better try salsa. Instead of Mayo go for smart balance mayo or light miracle whip. Instead of butter try smart balance butter or spray butter (I live off spray butter mmm). As far as spices and sugar opt for Mrs. Dash to season and splenda to sweeten foods. Many brands make sugar free and fat free condiments so look for those instead of the real thing. If you must have something sweet try sugar free cool whip on sugar free Jello.

7. Get Creative - dieting really isn’t that hard, and once you start dieting..all your healthy food will start tasting amazing (trust me!). I read up alot on the forums and many different websites for recipes and how to spice up your foods. For example oats can get boring so I started adding things to make it intersting. I own every flavor of extract out there from Almond to Orange to Root Beer..I like adding a teaspoon of what ever flavor I am feeling like and two packets of splenda. On my yams I add cinnamon and splenda and spray butter..sooo good! On my brown rice I add splenda, cinnamon, sugar free hazelnut poweder creamer and spray butter (reminds me of rice pudding). In my cottage cheese I blend it in my magic bullet with cocoa powder, little water and splenda (tastes like choc mousse). Or better yet one of my faves cottage cheese with vanilla syntha 6, little water and a packet or True Lime (found in the splenda, baking sugar section) mmmm tastes like key lime pie. You learn to get creative when you diet I also love taking my sweet potatoes and cutting them into fries and baking them and top them off with sea salt or Mrs Dash..dipped in low sugar ketchup mmmmmm. One of my new favorites egg white pancake (you might think I am gross but I love it) I take 3 egg whites, 1/2 scoop of choc or vanilla protein, a little almond, vanilla or coconut extract and cook it into a pancake..topped off with spray butter and sugar free syrup.

8. Journal - write everything down. It helps to trach your day to day diet and workouts. I have an excel spreadsheet and every morning I right down everything from my weight to my workouts to my diet.

9. Motivation - find things that will motivated you. For me it is fitness magazines and motivational quotes. I cut out the pictures in the magazines and post them in random places to remind me that, that’s what I want to look like. I have random quotes posted all over my desk and I read them each day as a constant reminder. For some of you it may be that bikini or skinny jeans you want to fit into, and if so, then place that bikini or jeans somewhere where you will see it everyday and remind you to work harder or eat cleaner.

10. Goals - have goals and write them down. It may be to lose 5-10 lbs or it may be more extreme like enter a figure competition. Whatever it is, write it down and have a plan on how you will get there and a date that you want to reach that goal by.

Basically that is the list that helps me each day achieve what I want. I am not where I want to be but I am definately closer than I was yesterday. I once heard that it takes two weeks to make something a habit and I truly beleive that. If you just eat clean and workout for two weeks it will get easier!!!!

Wow 18 weeks later and March 28th finally came..I still probably should have started a little earlier than 18 weeks but I am still very proud of my physique the day of the comp. I placed 3rd out of 12 girls in the figure short class and I was ecstatic!!

This show definately made me feel like a real figure competitor, where as my first show I felt was more of a learning experience. I trained my little heart out till I could not train anymore (literally) and dieted for those 18 weeks without even cheating. The diet really was never that hard but the hardest part was when I started increasing my cardio and doing am and pm cardio, it really started to drain me. It was all worth it in the end because each week I leaned out like crazy!! I was losing .5-1% a week. I started off at 23% and the week of the show I was in the high 10%..which was phenomenal, I never knew my body had that capability.

The week leading up to the show was pretty rough, carb depleting almost killed me (or so I thought because I am such a whimp). I took that week off work and basically laid on my couch, and only moved to eat or use the bathroom…I finally started feeling better when I started to carb load..but then I had to drop my water..so if it’s not one thing it’s another.

The day of the show went on without a hitch..well they decided to do figure at the very end. Pre judging started at 8:30 and I didn’t get done till noon. So while I waiting I sat in the back with my legs elevated and ate my sweet potatoes and rice cakes..oh they were so hard to choke down without being able to drink water..that is all I wanted ALL day was water! Finally it was our turn for pre judging, I had so much confidence and knew what I was doing this time..I felt like I owned that stage. I nailed all my poses but by the end I was feeling a little light headed and dizzy, being 12 girls up there we were doing quarter turns FOREVER!! The judges placed me right dead center and kept moving girls next to me for comparison..I was loving it!!! As soon as I got off stage I went in the back and laid down because I was so dizzy..a little bit of honey, a rice cake and sip of water made me feel like a million bucks.

After pre judging I went home and took a nap..ooh it felt so good. When I woke up my makeup and hair still looked great..so i went back to the show and just played the waiting game..waiting for the figure girls to go out..yes dead last!! Finally 9pm rolls around and it’s time to go out…i was sooo excited and so confident to get out on that stage and show all my family and friends my hard work. I was a bit nervous but not too much. Once again I nailed all my poses and then it was time for the to call the top 5 out..YES they called #55 I was freaking out…and had the biggest smile on my face…they gave me that 3rd place trophy and I felt so proud..all that hard work paid off.

As soon as I got off stage I took the biggest gulp of water..that is all I wanted…mmm amazing (never take water for grantid) after that big gulp of water..I had a cookie..wow..what I had been missing for the last 18 weeks..it was delicious, but I can truly live without it.

After the show hung out with my family for a bit in the feuer, since it was my birthday and all that day they gave me all my presents and flowers and cards..what a great birthday. Then to top it off went out for sushi after…mmmmmm