Abtastic

Wow, I've been slacking on my posts but I've been a busy bee! And yes I'm still sticking to my diet and workout plan religiously. Between posing practices and all the other things going on right now, I feel like the days are just flying by and I will be on stage before I know it!

Before I go into the explanation for the title of this post, I will just make it clear those are NOT my abs in case anyone was wondering :) Someday maybe . . . .I have always wanted a six pack (abs, not beer, had plenty of those in my college days . . and twenties . . ) Anyone else ever heard the saying "abs are made in the kitchen"? I must say I completely agree with this! After weeks of dieting and avoiding some of my favorites cheats (dark chocolate and pizza!) I am starting to construct a six pack. The first time Andy said "Woah, check out that six pack!" I asked him what he was talking about because I didn't see any beer around! I also happened to be standing in weird lighting in our basement which created the perfect shadow effect on my abs. Then when my coach pointed them out and called another girl in and said "Hey, check our her abs! I actually kind of hate her right now", I knew I was on my way to achieving my dream of a solid, washboard stomach. 

The funny thing is that I still don't see what everyone else is seeing. Probably because I see my abs all the time so I don't notice the change as much. And no, I don't check them out after doing a set of crunches like many guys in the gym who think they will magically appear after one set of crunches! I am excited to see what will happen over the next 9.5 weeks! 

I am upping my cardio this week and we made some small tweaks in my diet so hopefully I will start to see the changes for myself. Luckily my weekly measurements have been going well - body fat % has gone down every week for the last three weeks. Maybe not quite as much as I hoped but I know I need to be patient and keep doing what I'm doing. 

I better finish my weekly food prep before I get ready for another round of posing in my fancy plastic hooker heels!

Hibernation Mode

Ugh - another not very good week when it came time to measurement time. My body has officially decided to cling to every ounce of fat it possibly can. I was down 2 pounds from last week but since I didn't drop any fat my body fat % went up slightly. So NOT what should be happening right now.

Yet again, I've followed my diet religiously and got all my workouts done - some of them were a little rushed and creative (damn snow!!!) And I've still been trying to kick this sinus infection. It's amazing how exhausted I am at the end of the day. I almost skipped dinner to go to bed at 5:00 one night. I forced myself to eat and then made it to 7:00 (wow, late night, I know!) My taste buds are completely off so everything tastes funny but I've managed to shovel down my food when I need to.

Apparently I'm part bear because my body has gone into hibernation mode with all this snow - it thinks I should lay in a big snuggly nest of blankets all day and sleep while clinging onto all my fat. Great. I'm determined to overcome my bearness (I think I just made up a new word!) and keep doing what I need to do.

Originally we weren't going to change my diet for now and see if a non-snow, not-so-snot filled week would lead to any progress but I got a text later in the day yesterday letting me know that a new meal plan would be waiting in my inbox. I got a special surprise when I got home - lowering carbs and upping the fat. I will gladly give up my blueberries and post-workout gatorade powder for some almonds and nut butter!

My morning cardio is done and I've had my new, improved breakfast (LOVE scrambled eggs/egg white mixture!) I'm determined that next Saturday's measurements will NOT make me frustrated - I would prefer to do a little happy dance!

How Bad Do You Want It?

I don't think I have ever been this congested in my entire life. My head is throbbing, my ears are plugged and I had to stock up on kleenex at Costco. But have I let this snotty disease stop my workouts? Heck no!

Sure, I could use being sick an a perfectly good excuse to NOT workout but it's really not going to make me feel better any faster - it would probably just make me grouchy on top of being sick. I am following the rule of "if it's above the head, it's okay to workout" or something like that. I'm not even sure who said that or where I read that but it sounds good to me! I'm just making sure to suck down extra water while I'm working out and then taking a well deserved nap aftewards :)

Speaking of excuses . . .this snow is not making me happy! I'm pretty sure I couldn't even get my car out of the driveway if I wanted to and did I mention that I live at the top of a giant hill? I would probably be safer ice skating down the hill than driving my little jetta down the hill. And I'm accident prone so the thought of me on ice skates is just scary! So I'm stuck without a way to get to the gym. I was downright mad at first but then I came up with a few backup plans . . .

First, I thought I remembered Andy saying there was a barbell somewhere in our messy garage so I waded through the mess this morning and managed to get it out without getting buried in the mess. After dusting off the cobwebs I went back in to find the weights. I also cleaned up a HUGE and I mean HUGE pile of Andy's clothes out of the office/workout room. I managed to match up about 46 random pairs of socks and fold all the clothes and put them away. It's amazing what cabin fever will force you to do. I now have room to get in a decent delts workout tonight followed by 20 more minutes of cardio on my trusty treadmill (with kleenex nearby of course!)

I have thought of every possible leg workout I can do at home and have decided nothing will compare to what I can do in the gym so I'm just going to force myself to take the dreaded "lunch" and venture down to the gym at work (preferably during non-peak hours) and get in a leg workout and a quick elliptical session. I even remembered to pack some flip flops so I don't have to go barefoot in the icky gym showers - I figured my co-workers would appreciate me NOT returning to my desk all sweaty!

So there it is folks - the snow and snot will NOT stop me from doing what I need to do! I WANT to get on stage looking my best (no fat rolls please!)

Oh and I almost forgot to mention - my bodyfat % is finally going down and I'm pretty much right where I need to be 13.5 weeks out. That makes me pretty darn happy!

Crinkly Fat

Crinkly fat? I know, weird title and I'll explain later . . . I've had two frustrating weeks. And I mean downright wanting to scream, cry or maybe a weird combo of both. Temper tantrum anyone?? 

I've been following my diet/workout plan 100%. Prior to my Dad visiting I even figured out where we (mostly I!) could eat out to make sure I could eat something clean with the right about of protein and carbs. Outback and Applebees had some very good choices. Red Robin even has a nice, clean chicken salad if you can do without the nasty dressing. I didn't indulge in any holiday food binges and I didn't miss a single workout. So why oh why is by body being so darn stubborn??? 

Last Saturday when I had measurements done, I was up 1% bodyfat from my measurements 4 weeks prior. Ummm, in 4 weeks in should have dropped at least 2%. I figured that cutting out the weekly cheat meal might solve that problem. We also eliminated some of the "fluff" from my diet AKA greek yogurt and brought down the carbs and fat slightly while adding another 5 minutes to my morning cardio. 

I felt WAY better heading into this morning's measurement session. Not only had my diet been tweaked, but I actually slept normally all week and things were functioning normally (TMI moment: I was about ready to eat a bag of prunes by the end of last week!) Sadly, my bodyfat % only dropped by about half a percent and my weight was up 2 pounds (probably the 2 bottles of water and half a pot of coffee I sucked down in the 2 hours before my appointment!). At least it was down but not by as much as I was hoping. 

The good news was that my amazing coach Julie told me that my fat was getting crinkly. Huh???? This sounds funny but it really is a good thing! She explained that you can tell you are about to drop some more fat if it gets crinkly. I'm not sure exactly what that looks like but I'm expecting some better results next week in my area of crinkles - yes I have some junk in my trunk. Okay, I have a lot of junk in my trunk! 

Is it bad that I have been daydreaming about crinkly fries since this morning??

Don't worry, I won't actually eat any of these! At least not for another 15 weeks :)

So the plan for this week is to up my post strength training cardio by another 5 minutes and keep the diet the same as last week. Hopefully I'll see some good results so I don't lose anything else from my diet that I love!

Good Bye 2011, Helloooooo 2012!

Happy New Year!!!

I thought I would take a few minutes to reflect on my accomplishments in 2011 and think about what I want to accomplish in 2012. My brain is a little foggy from my last cheat meal last night and I feel like I'm in a sugar coma and have a giant food baby in my belly so I'll make this quick . . .

Some of the highlights from 2011:

• Winning the 3 month paleo challenge at CrossFit - this is when I realized I really could stick to a diet longer than a week or two. I finally flipped the willpower switch!!
• Deciding to do a figure competition and I mean REALLY deciding this time to just do it. I thought about it for years but never did a darn thing about it. Now I'm making it happen!
• Passing the Series 7 test. That test almost killed me. I cried, I was a mean grouchy person, I broke out in hives, and was just plain miserable the week before but I passed that darn thing on the first attempt! Must have been the lucky monkey socks my mom bought me to wear on test day :)
• Went through with the surgery that I had been considering for awhile and glad I did it! 

Okay, I really feel like I'm forgetting some major things but maybe they will come to me later when my brain is less foggy . . .

Now onto 2012:

• Stick to my training/food plan 100% on the road to Emerald Cup. Ain't nothing to it but to do it!
• Finally get Andy to clean out the garage and guest bedroom (AKA the room that looks like a hoarder took over!)
• Go on vacation and I mean a REAL vacation. Not a staycation, not a weekend in Idaho . . .Hawaii? Cruise? 
• Finish the bathroom remodel. 
• Take a walk/real lunch break at least once a week at work and motivate others to do the same.

Okay, I think I need a nap before I pack up all the Christmas decorations . . .

Staying Motivated

99.9999% of us have trouble staying motivated to stay on track with our diet and to get to the gym during the holidays. This morning as I was on a walk to get coffee with one of my friends she told me it was the first time she had done anything active in awhile and that she just feels like a big, lazy blob right now. It IS hard to stay motivated when surrounded with holiday deliciousness and the weather is ugly - makes you just want to curl up with a big blanket in front of the fireplace with a plate of peppermint brownies. Soooooo I thought I would make a list of things that keep me motivated to stay on track:

• Knowing that I will be up on stage in very little clothing in less than 18 weeks with a zillion people staring at me under bright lights. Can anything possibly be any more motivating???? Actually I am leaning towards competing in Vancouver at the end of March also which means it is really less than 15 weeks. Ummmm yikes!!!!
• The little green thing on my wrist - just reminds me to stay on track for list item #1!
• Reading other people's amazing body transformation stories. Bodybuilding.com has a lot of good ones. 
• Surrounding myself with other people who support me, especially others with similar goals. Unfortunately there are a lot of people who still poo poo the whole competition thing but I just try to ignore those Snarky Doodle Doos (yes that group of people has a new fancy name!) 
• Wearing my muffin top pants. Oh yea, I have a pair of awesome stretchy workout pants from Lucy that I bought years ago. No matter how many inches I lose off my waist or how much my body fat decreases, these pants never fail to give me a cute little muffin top. Actually, I am wearing them right now with an awesome WaMu CAN t-shirt and some pink polka dot socks. Yes, it is laundry day. And no, I will not take a picture to post. These pants motivate me because I'm determined that someday there will be no muffin top. 
• Thinking about my next cheat meal. I have now proven to myself that I can go a significant stretch of time without a single cheat (8 weeks - holy cow!) but I do look forward to them! I discovered an amazing salad mix at Costco - Broccoli salad. I know, weird that I would LOVE broccoli salad :) This is what it looks like: 

It has broccoli/broccoli slaw, bacon pieces, walnuts, dried cranberries and this amazingly sinful dressing. The dressing packet is HUGE so I didn't even need to use all of it or it would have been swimming! This will now be a core part of my next two cheat meals (last two before April!)

• Visualizing what I will look like in April - I imagine myself looking like I could be on the cover of Oxygen magazine. Maybe not super realistic but hey, we can all dream :)
• My morning cardio followed by a strong cup of coffee (or even better my "Christmas coffee" AKA SF peppermint americano) As crazy as it may sound, I get totally energized by that 40 minute sweat session. I can't imagine NOT doing cardio first thing in the morning now - it would be like not drinking coffee! I just realized yesterday that since I started doing morning cardio, I haven't hit my snooze button at all when my alarm goes off! 

A Little Inspiration Goes a Long Way

You might be asking yourself "what is that green thing on your wrist???" It's the special little piece of inspiration that arrived in the mail today in a green envelope. But what is it? It's the fancy wristband that all registered 2012 Emerald Cup competitors receive to help keep them motivated while preparing to step on stage. It might seem a little silly but it will be there as a constant reminder in a moment of weakness if I feel like skipping a workout (oh please, like I would do that!) or feel like diving into Andy's hidden bag of tortilla chips (that sounds a little more likely!) I can look down and see this little band of green which will remind me of my goal.

I felt like a little kid on Christmas morning as I dashed out to the mailbox just knowing that today would be the day I would receive my EC competitor packet in the mail. I only knew this since I received an email yesterday that it would be arriving in the mail. I actually ran back in the house, gently tore open the envelope (gotta save it as a souvenir of my first show!) and proudly put on my wristband. Then I went to the gym and when I felt like skipping my last rep or two because I was sore and tired, I looked down at the green and went for it! I even upped my weight on a few things. 

This couldn't have come at a better time . .  .I had my 4-week check in this morning on my progress and was pleased and disappointed all at the same time. I have been feeling rather bloated the past two weeks so I wasn't really sure what the numbers would look like. The good news was that my body fat % dropped another 2% but of course I like to set unrealistic expectations and was wanting it to drop another 4% like the last time I had my measurements done. I mentally beat myself up for a few minutes and thought "what did I do wrong?". I realized the answer is NOTHING!!! I did everything exactly as I was supposed to - I stuck to my diet 100% (except for my 1x week cheat but those are planned and prescribed!) and didn't miss a single workout no matter how tired or crappy I felt. So for now my diet and strength training will stay the same and my cardio will slightly increase with an added 5 minutes to my morning session and 15 minutes post strength training 4 nights a week. Very manageable! 

I'm excited to see what my progress will be over the next 19 weeks and 6 days before I step on stage. Now I think it's time to do a little posing practice in my snazzy clear, plastic shoes before tonight's cheat meal. I'm not doing anything crazy this time - just a yummy homemade taco salad and some chips and salsa followed by some lowfat peppermint ice cream.