I get on the scale this morning and my weight is up 2lbs., but I think I look smaller. What is going on? I am not quite sure. I did have some Mexican food this week ( I only ate half of what was on my plate), so could I be retaining fluid or putting on muscle? Both could be a possibility. The only way to really know is to do my body fat. Knowing my history, fluid retention is the culprit and I need to drink more water to get it off. My workouts this week were very intense and I plan on doing similiar workouts this week. If my weight does not go down or continues to go up, then I will be forced to rethink my workout. My body plateaus quickly when it thinks I am doing too much cardio. Sounds weird, I know. This will be a great topic to blog about. Cardio vs. Weight training. This is always a great debate topic between trainers and one I will enjoy writing about. Check back for this one.

The Financial Cost of Competing

It’s about that time again. Time to plan for the show. The biggest part of this is budgeting for the contest. I thought I would share this with my readers just in case any of you were curious. Here is a list of estimates for one show. I consider training to be for 12 weeks for these estimates.

1.  NPC card (required every year)                                           $90

2.  Registration (I compete in open and masters)                     $160 (shows differ)

3.  Spray tan ($120 at the show, I have my own machine)         $120

4.  Hotel (usually a two night stay at average $80/night)          $160 + taxes

5.  Training (I have someone check my body fat)                     $60     

6.  Suit (can vary, my goal is to stay below this)                      $150

7.  Hair (highlights etc.)                                                        $120

8.  Hair (if you were to pay someone to do it day of show)       $60

9.  Makeup (I do my own, but do purchase stage colors)          $50

10.Gas to get there (don’t forget this)(my show 880miles)      $135

11. Protein Powder (this is an average for me for 12 weeks)   $125

12. Food (eating healthy costs more)

13. Manicure/Pedicure (This is important)                              $60

14. High Heel shoes (I already have them)

15. Accessories (Earrings and bracelets)                                 $50

16. Admission for my spouse                                                 $50

17. Food for spouse and me after show                                  $75

18. Clothes (few new outfits…much smaller size)                  already have

As you can see, the cost is close to $1400 a show. I just asked myself, why am I doing this? This first show I have decided to get sponsors or raise the money. I plan on selling

 t-shirts like of friend of mine did. She was pretty successful taking this approach. I also have a couple of things in the works to help offset the cost.

So what now? Well, I am going to finalize the design of my suit and start working on the t-shirts I want to sell. As my show date gets closer, I will see about getting some sponsors. I will continue to train and sculpt my body the best I can.

It's been a while since my last blog. Illness and bad weather around here has really impeded my progress. I feel as if I have not been consistent at all the last couple of weeks. I did have a birthday, #37, and did celebrate. I haven't given up my meal plan, just not been perfect on it. My goal was to lose 6lbs in 6 weeks. Not surprisingly, I am off by a week and a half. I will push thru another week, then take pictures and do my body fat. I think I am at a good starting point for dieting for a show, if I can stay here.

Bring on the Guilt

I don't imagine that anyone ever starts a diet thinking that your cheat days will become a "guilty pleasure". I am here to tell you, they do. It's a little different for a competitor. Throughout the 12 weeks of dieting for a show we never feel any guilt for taking our cheat meal. But outside of dieting for a show, guilt can consume us. Take for instance this past week. I did good all week and then Friday came along. My kids each were very deserving of a little trip to Chucky Cheese. In my mind however, I had decided not to take a cheat day till my two weeks was up, which was today. I struggled with do I eat with them or wait....eat or wait....eat or wait. For crying out loud, I am not dieting for my show yet so why am I doing this to myself? Yep! Guilt was raising it's head up and I was allowing it to take the attention away from celebrating my children and making it about the food. I have to take back the power. I feel that I did. I decided to have fun, eat with my kids, and not to worry about it. Two out of three is not bad. I did think about it, but that was about the extent of it. I even had pizza again this afternoon when we went to the water park.....And why not? I made my goal of losing another pound so I am right on track.

What a busy week it has been. I have managed to stay on track despite the stress I am feeling. I started a new job and of course there are learning curves with that. I have probably had too many animal crackers thus far, but, hey, it could be worse. I bought a new breakfast sandwich that I had first tried at my brother n law's house. It is the Jimmy Dean's D Lite. They have a couple of different options, but I chose the one with less fat. The taste is nothing to write home about, but for those mornings where grits or oatmeal just won't cut it, this works pretty well. I actually ate half of it for breakfast and half as my mid-morning snack. While I have tried to eat healthy this week, I am not sure how my body will respond to not being completely strict. I have not focused on sodium and I think it shows. I am bloated and feeling yucky. Not sure if the scales will show my progress like it should. I am not a big fluid drinker, therefore, I retain water like you cannot believe. Add some sodium on top of that and what a visual mess.
Workouts: I took one day off for a "me" day and today I skipped because my 4 year old needed a "mommy" day. That shouldn't make that big of a difference if my intake was right. I did start a ballet home video today. Now, I go into this knowing I am not flexible, but I did not realize the workout this is. My goal is to make my muscles look long, lean and more conditioned. How hard could this be? Oh my! I am going to love this. I felt it everywhere. I would highly recommend giving this a try. The weekend is upon us and I am close to that 2 week mark. Only 4 more weeks to go, then I can reassess and see where I am in regards to my competition goal.

Stressed Out

Weigh in was good. I lost 1.5 lbs. this week. However, gave in to stress and didn't do so well with my meal plan. Not so much with my meals, just with snacking. I found myself eating potato chips and french onion dip (a definite no no). My kids were giving me fits and I sometimes don't know how to handle the chaos, so I eat or drink. Oh, I did that too. In fact I am drinking an appletini right now. I am not swimming in guilt right now, but I bet in the morning I will. Think about it. What kind of eater are you? Happy eater, sad eater, angry eater, etc? We need to find a way to change this. Why is it when I am within 12 wks of a show I can refrain, but not now? Grrrrrrr!

This week went pretty good. Of course I had two friends with birthdays this week....the first week of my meal plan. (I don't like to use the word diet) and what is always the focus of any celebration? That's right, FOOD. Thursday we went to Cheddars. Cheddars does not release their nutritional information which makes it very difficult to make a healthy choice. I passed on the spinach and artichoke dip and margaritas. I went with instead, blackened catfish, green beans, and a dry baked potato. I ate only one piece of fish and finished off the green beans and potato. I know I took in enough sodium for a week and who knows what else. The green beans were delicious, so my guess is they have something like butter on them. Oh well, I tried. Unfortunately, when I get close to competition date there will be know guessing. If I don't know exactly what I am eating then I don't eat it. Last night was another birthday celebration. This time I ate a small portion of whole wheat pasta with turkey spaghetti sauce, a tiny piece of bread, and a salad with Walden Farms dressing. I did great. I Passed on the alcohol then gave in to cake and ice cream. Not feeling too guilty today. All in all I am pretty pleased with how this week went. Not too worried about this weekend because I will be home.
New Snack Finds: I went grocery shopping this week and was starving by the time I got home. I picked up Great Value's Lean Cafe Chicken Club Panini. With only 330 cal 9g fat 20g protein and 4g fiber it was a better choice in one of those I need something quick moments. You know the one where you are about to take in any and all food you see. I wouldn't necessarily make this a normal part of my diet. It is processed and I couldn't pronounce half the ingredients. But, it can work for you occasionally.
  I also made a delicious sandwich using 1) English muffin 2.) 1tbsp miracle whip light mixed with Walden Farms 1 tsp of thousand island dressing. I loaded it with turkey, cucumbers, onions, banana peppers. It was really good and allowed me to stay on my meal plan. Weigh in tomorrow.