4 Weeks Down....8 Weeks to Go!

Another week down. I am 1/3 of the way there. I soared passed my goal of 15.9% and came in at 15.5%. Just as I thought, I lost in my arms and legs. No difference in my abs. Well, that's not exactly true. I can tell I lost in the upper section of my stomach, just not where measurements are taken. I am excited. This is just the motivation I needed to keep going. I started at just over 20% 4 weeks ago. Now I get rewarded with a cheat meal this weekend. Yippee! Mexican food it is.
  I have an amazing trainer who does my body fat and teaches me tons of stuff I didn't know. Today he explained to my why I may not want to do a whole lot of my High Intensity training with really high reps. I have always been told, high reps will tone. Not true. He said going extremely high reps, like I have been doing occasionally, will actually shrink the size of my muscles. That's not what you want for competition. And since one of my critiques was to come in a bit more tone in my shoulders, I will make note of this and stay heavy with 8-10reps and at least 45 seconds rest between sets. I may throw in a day here and there just to break up the monotony of training, but certainly won't make it a part of my typical workout.
  Since going back to heavy weight lifting this week, I am not as hungry so things are a bit easier for me at the moment. Gotta push thru.

  What is the deal? I am having the hardest time my diet this time. I almost had a breakdown. I figured out that part of the problem is my schedule this year. Last year I worked in the evenings and by the time I got home, my husband had supper prepared.. This year, I am home after picking the boys up at 1pm and do all the cooking. This has gotten old quick. I think dinner tasted "different" when someone else fixed it. Sounds crazy, but it's true. Jeffrey fixed talapia and chicken tonight and I didn't feel deprived. It was really good and I actually enjoyed it. So now my plan is for my husband to prepare a couple of nights meals to help with this. I am hoping this will work.
  My workout this week is strictly hard core weight lifting? Last week was higher intensity style training. I definitely can tell the difference in my appetite. Last week I felt hungry all the time. These last two days, I haven't struggled with hunger, just not wanting to eat what I am allowed. I am anxious to see on Thursday what progress I made. I am worried it won't be what I want. I need to meet my goal each week so I don't get discouraged and say well "screw it", I am just going to eat.

Easter Sunday! I had Bison today, but did have some chocolate too. I hope that doesn't impact my loss this week. My husband did my body fat and I am down but, I am not sure if I will be down to 15.9% by Thursday. I can tell I have lost at my waist line, but that's about it. There is no reason to post my pictures this week because I think I look exactly the same. Very frustrating! It is what it is. Guess I'll know on Thursday.

Competing: A Spiritual Journey

I haven't posted since Tuesday, and it's not because I went off the deep end. I did not give in and have a beer and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Thanks in part to a dear friend who read my post, then sent me a very encouraging text message. Since then, I have still been very hungry, but it has been manageable.
  After receiving the text message, I got to thinking about how this journey is a spiritual one too. For example, when I was training for my first figure show in 2008, I would keep my bible open and on the counter in my kitchen. Every time I would venture to the kitchen for something to eat, I would instead read a verse. I started to realize that I actually had made food my idol. I mean, while I was eating one meal, I would be thinking about my next meal. I thought about food a lot. I wasn't overweight, but I thought the same way someone who was, would.
  Last year that changed and I no longer had a problem with that. I am positive God used that training time to reveal that to me and had everything to do with me conquering that way of thinking. As God will do, if you let him, he guided me thru another self battle during last year's training. I almost quit competing all together after only completing two shows. I battled in my mind how this could possibly glorify God. I felt somewhat guilty. Maybe this is too vain. Maybe there's nothing good that could come out of this. I was torn up by this. I really love to compete. It doesn't really matter what I'm doing, I want to do the best I can and get better each time. After spending much time in prayer and relying on caring advice from my husband, I realized something.....let me rephrase that; I started believing something I already knew. God cares about the "little" things too. He knows where my heart is in all of this and I started to have peace with my decision to compete. My prayer then was and is the same now. Lord, if this is not your will, then take the desire away. Whatever way you have to do that, I am open. Knowing me, and he does, a win or a top five finish would only encourage me to keep on. LOL. So that's that. he will let me know when I am done. Until then, I give 100% and prepare to win.

I am HUNGRY!

Good grief! I think I may be starving. LOL I have not done well so far. I have eaten two tater tots, and two crackers with peanut butter. Yes, peanut butter. It doesn't get worse than that. I know some of you are thinking, it's only tater tots and crackers. But understand me when I say....that is where it starts. If I allow myself to say it's OK, then I will push it farther. Here we go, the mental part of this game. I will be taken over with guilt before the night is over. My husband usually is the barrier between me, the stress of the kids not wanting to go to bed, and food. Unfortunately, he's not here tonight. He will even get up in the middle of the night if one of the boys is hungry, just so I won't be tempted to cheat. I may end up having a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a beer. Sounds gross, but I mean it. If I am still hungry after I have my last approved snack, then I just might do it. My workout was so intense today. That has to be the reason I am so hungry.

  This week is going to be tough. I am mixing up my workouts and doing a little more high intensity. The last time I did this I was tired and hungry that week. Today is no exception. I have been hungry and tired. I did a little ballet today. I have not been doing it like I had planned. I practiced in my heels. Everyday I have to do something for the show. It's just time to get focused.
  I met with someone today to have custom extensions made. Wow, hair is expensive. On average, $80 a package and I will need at least two packages of hair. Donna Granberry is making them for me as a favor. It will just cost me the price of the hair. I am so thankful for her generosity. I can't wait to get them. I will revisit this again next month. For now it just helps to have a plan in place.
  I have not heard from the lady who is making my suit. She was supposed to send me some fabric color samples but I have not heard from her. This is just one more thing I have to take care of this week. I like to check things off my list and I can't do that yet.
  It's 10pm and off to bed I go.

My First Cheat Day!

  Cheat day has arrived. I have not really craved much till today. I woke up and had to fix breakfast for my Sunday school class then head out of town to work. 2 hours one way. This was going to be a long day for sure. I packed up my food and started my day. My first little cheat was just a small amount of my breakfast casserole. Doesn't really matter how small the portion size because it was loaded with fat. I should know, I made it. I managed to stay on my diet, but I didn't eat all I was supposed to. By the time I got into town, around 5pm, I was pretty hungry. I was craving a greasy burger, so I made a stop to Juicy's. I then headed to Whataburger to get a small chocolate malt. So all in all, I had some cheese nachos as an appetizer, a burger, (actually a half a burger) I couldn't eat more than that and my malt. I may have some chocolate before the night is over. But all is good. Back on it tomorrow.
  I should have taken some pictures this morning, but I was running behind. Tomorrow I will probably be bloated like a whale, but I will get some up this week for sure.
  I know there are some of you who want to know what my diet looks like. To be honest, you will probably be disappointed. It's not rocket science, it's just CLEAN.
  This is what I have been eating for the past two weeks.
Breakfast: 1 egg 2 egg whites and grits Snack: protein shake and banana Lunch: Chicken (or Fish) rice, and veges, Snack: protein shake, cottage cheese and yogurt, Dinner: Same as lunch, Bedtime Snack: 1 egg 2 egg whites.


  That's it.....see....no miracle involved, just clean eating. The key is to stay full. Don't allow yourself to get hungry. Try it and let me know what you think.

Today was weight and body fat day. I am down to 118.5 from 121 and 17.9% body fat from 20.2%. I gained a pound of muscle and lost 3 lbs of fat (almost). So that is very good news considering I have really been on the diet for 1 1/2 weeks and not a full two. Good news always motivates me. That's why I think it's so important to go to a trainer while you are training for a show or just have a goal you are trying to attain. I only meet with him every two weeks, but he holds me accountable. Yes, my husband has learned to measure my body fat, but it's just not the same.

So what now?  Basically, I was told to keep doing what I am doing. We discussed my diet and how many calories I am actually taking in. While I have always taken in 1600 calories a day in the past during this diet, this time it's more realistic to say I am taking in 1500. Difference is, I am not feeling hungry. So we just keep it like it is. No sense in changing something that is working.

I will be changing my workouts a little next week. I like to switch things up a lot. I find my body responds better to frequent changes. I will be doing more reps on my weight training for 3 days and high intensity weight training for 2 days....AND NO, I am not doing cardio at this time.

I am due for a cheat meal this weekend, and today I am not craving anything. If this continues to be the case, then I will just cheat when my body is ready. I am almost positive cravings WILL hit me.

OK, so there was no Bison left, but I did find a small 2.7 oz round eye (eye of the round) piece of meat. Can you tell I really don't know meat? I picked it out based on the fat content. So it may be a bit higher in fat, but I didn't have a whole lot. I also had a small red potato with a small amount of hot sauce, asparagus, and a small salad with Walden Farms Raspberry dressing and I added a few blackberries. I usually have fresh asparagus but chose canned for tonight. It's loaded in sodium so I rinsed them before heating them. My belly is full and I am happy.

Struggling today! I am so hungry, but I do not want to eat chicken or fish. I am also very tired. I am craving FAT! I have not caved and I won't. Weigh in is tomorrow and I don't want to feel bad in the morning. What to do, what to do.....Bison. That's it. I have some left over Bison from Sunday night. A 3.5 oz filet or whatever you call it is only 3gms of fat and less sodium than frozen chicken tenders. Oh I hope my husband didn't eat it this week.

Today was a bit different than the rest so far. I was actuallly hungry today. I think it was because of what I had for breakfast. Instead of my 1 egg and 2 egg whites with my grits, I had my protein shake with my grits. I was hungry the rest of the day all day. I was able to have a little sushi which was nice. I am counting the days till my cheat meal...will it be Mexican?
Got a great workout in and did my Ballet today. Looking for a good place to do some rollerblading. My back porch just ain't workin.
Got in my heels tonight and I am just trying to get used to the 5 inch heels. My shoes are so uncomfortable. I hate to go spend more money on other shoes, but surely there is a shoe that won't make my feet cry.
Something I want to talk about in one of my future blogs is the cardio debate. How much are you supposed to do when training for a show? How much do I do? I'll share that later.

Week one is done. I stuck to my diet quite easily even when I was away from home this weekend. I just prepared my meals in plastic containers and took my cooler with me. The biggest surprise this week was my lack of appetite. I am not sure if it was really the fact of how busy I was or what, but I will need to watch this. A plateau is inevitable if I continue to skip meals. This week should be about the same. The fact that I know I get a cheat meal this weekend will make my focus a little easier....something to look forward to.

  I have posted my pictures for this week. Not much change from the front, but I do see a change in my backside just a bit. Typically I do not see much change within the first week, so I am not really discouraged. I will continue to weight lift this week and Thursday I will have my body fat done again.

  Today was a weird day. I was not very hungry at all. I was doing some work and at 4pm I realized I had not had my 2nd half of breakfast (grits), my lunch, or my afternoon snack. Up to that point of the day I had only eaten 1 egg and 2 egg whites, a banana and my protein shake. I knew what was coming. Hunger pains!
 I quickly ate my grits and my dinner later at 6pm. By the time 8:30pm rolled around I was starving. I was short on calories, carbs, and fat and my body was letting me know. So tonight I went off my regular routine of egg whites at night and instead had 1 cup special K cereal with a huge strawberry and 2% milk. I usually try not to drink milk when dieting so 2% was my only choice...skim would have been better. I also had two egg whites scrambled with just a hint of grape jelly. Hope that holds me thru the night.
  My workouts are going great. My legs hurt so bad and I tried to focus mainly on my quads on Tuesday because Friday will be hamstrings. Didn't matter, my hamstrings still hurt. I did 20 minutes of rollerblading too. I should have done another day of ballet, but I was too busy with work and kids. Weekend is coming up. No temptations yet, that's pretty good for the first week.

I have just about made it thru day 3. I woke up this morning at 3:30am starving. I finally got up and had two saltine crackers and went back to sleep. The rest of the day went pretty smoothly. It is almost 10pm and I am short a protein shake and 2 egg whites. We had a late night at church and I am off my eating schedule just a bit. I actually had to plan for this a bit. I stuck my yogurt and cottage cheese in a container and carried it with me to church. I made it thru the day without a nap, but I am exhausted. I will finish my meals and head off to bed. It is key to get all my calories in. In fact, it is probably more important at this stage of the game.

  I feel it coming on. Sugar withdrawals! Today was easy again, but day three is upon me and that tends to be one of the hardest days I will encounter during this 12 week period. I think it's because I am withdrawing from everything at once....sugar (carbs) as well as fat. I have been very moody today and so tired that I almost can't function. Instead of eating, I took a nap. It helps for a short time, then the cravings come on me like a tidal wave. Usually things get better on day 5 and 6.
  My workout was once again intense. Quads with back. That is a tough combo, but invigorating at the same time. Tomorrow is Chest and Abs. I am trying to be careful not to build my obliques too much this time. I am square shaped (not hour glass) and that can be a bad thing in the NPC where they are looking for that sexy figure with a tiny waist and wider hips. I have the tiny waist, but you can't really tell because I have no hips.
  Once again I am feeling hungry here at 9pm. I will do another spinach omelet and head off to bed.

Today marked the first day of this long 12 week diet. It really was not hard today at all despite the fact I had a lot going against me...my period, husband out of town (corraling kids by myself), tough workout, along with a new diet. I was extremely tired all day and even had to take a nap. I did manage to complete my ballet workout today as well. Now I am getting ready to have my last meal of the night. Spinach omelet with onions and a little hot sauce. I may skip the one yolk and instead do 3 egg whites and add a hint of reduced fat cheese, that is, as long as it stays within my requirements. After that, I am off to bed at 9:30pm.

Oh Goodness! Not the before Pics.

As much as I hate to do this, I felt I really needed to post my before pictures. I wish I would have taken these a couple of weeks ago before I started binging. Nonetheless, here they are. Abs are definitely going to come in nicely. Lots of fat to shed. I have done it before, I can do it again.

Get Ready, Get Set, DIET!

It's finally here; Time to start the 12 week diet for the show. I have done pretty good this off season. That is, until the last two weeks. A trainer told me I have Pre-anticipatory anxiety. Sounds pretty bad, but that probably explains why not only have I been binging on food, but I have been doing it with foods I never typically eat. An example is a donut. I don't eat donuts, so why am I craving it? I think just the mere thought of knowing I couldn't have something even if I wanted it, is driving me to binging. On the positive side, I only did it for 2 wks prior to taking on the diet. Last year I binged for a solid month. SEE, I have made progress. LOL
  I had my body fat done yesterday and I am disappointed by being at 20%. I did it to myself. That does tell me that I was maintaining at around 18% and that is a major change from where my body wanted to stay last year; 21%. I have to get in the zone. I think I am ready. I will post pictures this week and at least every two weeks from here on out. I will also make regular posts, no matter how little I may have to say that day.
  I have already met with the lady who will be making my new suit, I have raised more than half the money so far and am currently working on connections for booking a hotel. Now I need to sit down and write out my workouts for the next week. No "winging" it. I go in knowing exactly what I need to do. This keeps me from robbing myself of a good workout.  Diet is the same way. It will be printed out and the food will be prepared on Sunday. Planning ahead is the only way to prevent yourself from cheating. Oh, and speaking of that, I can have a cheat meal after two weeks. Check back in after Monday, until then, I'm gonna EAT!