Temptation Everywhere!!

WOW! Could I have seriously picked a harder time to train for a figure competition?!! I have the ultimate sweet tooth so the holidays are probably the hardest time for me to be training for this. But like my dad says, "You've always accomplished everything you've set on your mind and heart on!" Therefore...I will do this!

Round 1- Christmas party last week at our house: There was a plethora of goodies including cookies, pumpkin cream cheese roll, spiked eggnog and cider, lots and lots of wine, cheese, cupcakes etc... I must say...I was pretty darn good! I had a couple sips of the eggnog and cider to make sure I made it right and I also nibbled on a piece of cheese or two and some salami. Other than that, I was pretty good!

Round 2- Christmas Dinner with friends this Sunday: This one shouldn't be too bad as it is a small group of us and I'm sure there will be some healthy options. Plus, with my boyfriend's motivation, we will have a killer leg workout followed by some extra cardio on Christmas Eve as well as a run on the Convention Center stairs on Christmas Day!

Round 3- New Year's Eve: I plan on making the main dish for this potluck therefore I will be sure to get in my protein and veggies. However, it will be a little hard not drinking and managing to stay up until midnight! Ever  since I started this venture, my eyes don't stay open much past 9 or 10pm anymore. But you better betcha that I will ring in the New Year with a strawberry protein shake before bed!

I look at pictures of strong figure models every single day! They didn't invent the phrase, "Keep your eye on the prize!" for nothin'! My dad's words of encouragement, as well as weekly check ins, have pushed me harder. My boyfriend's enthusiastic encouragement, grocery store teammate, cooking helper, weekend gym partner (and late night weekday gym partner) have been nothing short of amazing! I am so thankful that he is so supportive of this lifestyle! The last thing a woman needs to hear from their significant other is, "You're getting too skinny! Muscles are gross on girls! Leave me alone at the gym! etc..." He could easily say these things but he doesn't...he loves it and that makes me feel special!

                                 
                                                     

Pushing Yourself

When training for a figure competition, there is no room for excuses! Do you know how many I could think of just in the last few days alone??

1.It's too cold, my muscles will cramp.
2.By the time I get done, it's going to be late and I'm not going to be able to fall asleep.
3.I was just at the gym less than 12 hours ago.
4.I'll go later (later turns into never).
5.I'll make up for it tomorrow.

And the list goes on and on and on... with the motivation that I have to be able to walk up on a stage confidently and strut my stuff, I have not used a single one of these! I bundle up in the morning, or in the evening, and walk my butt to the gym! Luckily, my gym is nicely heated! Once I start back at World's Gym in PB next week, I unfortunately can't say the same. However, looking at all the amazing bodies there will be enough to "warm me up"!

                                

Turkey Balls!

I came across this amazingly delicious recipe on my trainer's blog and altered it just a tad. It is a great alternative to chicken! I caught myself craving my next meal all day as I ate these for all three larger meals today!

-Package of Lean Turkey
-1 green pepper
-1 cup of onions
-3 egg whites
-Seasoning (salt, pepper, garlic powder, etc...)
*Mix all ingredients together. Place in muffin pan.
*Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes
*Makes exactly 12 turkey balls.
The best part is they are only 60 calories each! 12g protein, 4g carbs, .5g fat
Two balls is equivalent to the protein I need but increase if needed.

Everyday I have had at least one friend, if not more, tell me they are following my blog and and that is has motivated them. This feels so good and in turn, really motivates me!!

My update for week 5: I still have yet to shed any weight which can be truly disheartening. However, like I mentioned in my last post, I am seeing bodily changes and that feels good! Right now, I'm working on putting on muscle and I will eventually lean out more. This is proof that the scale is NOT your friend and it's really hard to judge your progress based on what the scale tells you. I can honestly say that I've never felt better internally and physically. I'm happy with my physique right now and I am still extremely anxious about more changes. So even though the scale isn't budging, my mindset and body are and THAT is motivating! So get off the scale and do what makes YOU feel good!

                               

Motivation

When I first started this blog, it was mostly for selfish reasons...my own diary I originally referred to it as. A way for me to track my progress. Over the last 4 weeks or so I have realized that it has become more than that. I have friends that have been telling me that they've been following my blog and that feels good! Today was a little different...a good friend of mine came up to me at the gym this morning and told me that she was hesitant to go to the gym this morning BUT she read my blog and watched a YouTube video (I'll share later) and it got her out of bed and to a 7am spin class!! I can't even express how good that felt to hear! When you feel like you are your only fan...look around!...yes, you are ultimately creating change for yourself, no one else matters, however, people are watching! If that's not motivating to kick butt each and every day...I don't know what is!

Here is the link to the YouTube video my friend shared with me this morning: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UizlkbS61mQ  It is extremely motivating!!

Below are two pictures. The first one is of my breakfast this morning which turned out delicious!!
Clean Pancakes:
1/2 cup Oats
5 Egg Whites + 1 Whole Egg
Cinnamon
1 Tbsp Brown Sugar Splenda
Topped with 1 Tbsp Real Peanut Butter
Sliced Banana (not shown)

The other pictures is dinner from last night:
4 oz Mahi topped with seasoning
4 oz Yams topped with cinnamon
Cauliflower

   

Jump Start the Week

Nothing like a trip to the grocery store to load up on protein at the end of a long weekend! Matt and I worked out together this morning for "legs day". WOW...we are both already feeling the soreness! I made sure to take two servings of glutamine today! It's great to workout with a trainer or just someone else sometimes because it REALLY pushes you!! On my third set of leg presses, I was able to press 180lbs 15 times!! Then on my fourth set I was only able to do about 10 at that weight and finish the last 5 at 135lbs. We wrapped up our crazy leg workout with 200 lunges. The number 200 doesn't seem that high when you think of it but just ask Matt...it was a lot!

We bought 5 cartons of eggs, a ton of chicken, peppers and asparagus and the crockpot will be locked and loaded come tomorrow morning.

I'm already seeing definition in my arms and abs and my legs and butt are starting to feel nice and tight. It's an amazing feel to watch yourself in the mirror as you lift and see a new line of definition. NOTHING is more rewarding than that!!

This week I WILL see more change! I WILL create the change!

                                      

Why Lie?!

So I was hesitant to get on the scale...especially after a week of having family in town and the most indulgent holiday of the year...Thanksgiving!! But I did this morning and to my dismay I put on the 2 lbs I had originally lost...gosh darn it &$^#*(@( I thought to myself! Now I have to text my trainer and tell her. Nothing like accountability gives you a kick in the ass! All she said was, "It's ok, just stay back on it...add 5 more min to cardio." Although that was encouraging and made me feel slightly better...you know what I wanted to do...get on that spin bike and ride...ride like heck through the weekend!! But I know that that is no easy fix and it will ultimately only put me back because I need to be careful about the cardio and amount of it that I'm doing. I've been back on track since our family left and I will continue to push hard and power through! I look at photos of girls in Figure everyday and it is so incredibly motivating to know that I will eventually look like that too!

                               

Coffee Protein!

Yes, you read that right!! A scoop of protein powder mixed with four cups of coffee is the ultimate pick-me-upper!! I really thought I was not going to be able to drink coffee due to the simple fact that I don't like the taste of coffee without cream...well look no further...toss in a scoop of vanilla protein powder and some ice and you got yourself quite the Iced Mocha!! (My trainer has all the tricks!) I bet you can only imagine what 32g of PRO and 4 cups of coffee in one sitting will do to ya....YAHOOOO! :D

Matt and I have had family in town since Thanksgiving and we all even left town for the weekend, so needless to say, my diet has not been on the straight and narrow. After a hearty breakfast this morning, I'll be back on track! It's gym time tonight and no more messing around!

This comic made me crack up because I felt like this when ordering a few times this past weekend..."I'll take that but no cheese, no mayo, no bun, no..., no..., no..." The server probably thought I was nuts!


                                   

"Abs are Made in the Kitchen"

Sunday, 11/20, made a week from when I started this journey. Since day 1, I have lost 2 lbs and definitely feel stronger (and sore...in a good way). I had taken about 1.5 months off from working out prior to starting this due to a surgery I had but my trainer, Kristi Romero, helped me "ease" into it. As of right now, the working out is the fun part! The food...everything other than breakfast has been somewhat of a challenge. I am trying out new recipes though so I'm hoping it helps. I'm sure I will go back and forth with which one is harder as my journey continues. As the workouts get more intense I will probably be praising the part of the day where I get to sit down and eat yet another meal of chicken, brown rice, and broccoli. They key to eating is definitely having all of the food already prepared in the kitchen. This makes it much easier to weigh, throw in a few tupperware containers, and go! I'm pretty sure my boyfriend has enjoyed having prepped food already in the house as well. I'm currently doing strength training about 4 days per week and cardio 5 days per week/20minutes a day. My cardio consists of walking on a treadmill, at an incline, which burns about 200 calories. I asked my trainer about ab and calf exercises at our last session and she informed me that in the competition, calves aren't necessarily judged and abs are just like any other exercise so 3x/wk at 15 reps/each. Sound crazy when you look at figure competitor's abs and see how shredded they are??...well, "they're mainly made in the kitchen".

                                             

Leg Workout

Super Set 1

-Leg sled, squat stance (feet shoulder width with toes slightly flared out). Set 1 20reps @ 80lbs. Set 2-4 120lbs @ 15reps.

-Seated leg curls. Set 1-4 @ 105lbs

*1-2min rest and stretch between super sets

Super Set 2

-Leg Press, feet together high on plate (focus is back of the legs). Set 1 @ 90lbs 20reps. Set 2-4 @ 135lbs @ 15reps.

-Hack Squat machine, feed shoulder width. Set 1-4 15reps no weight.

*1-2min rest and stretch between super sets

Finish with: 100 walking lunges

Day 1 With A Trainer

This morning was my first day training with my trainer...at World's Gym! At first, the gym can be extremely intimidating! Everyone in there seems to have huge muscles and really knows what they're doing. Kristi, my trainer, instantly puts me at ease with her huge smile as we head to take "Before" Pictures. She then informs me that it's not so much fat we will be trying to lose right now, it's more about putting on the muscle. No more high intensity spin classes that I love so much... it's 20 minutes on an inclined treadmill or on the stairs and that's it! Otherwise, I will be burning muscle. She then proceeds to tell me it's legs day! We go through a quick warm up on the treadmill, followed by 6 exercises, super setting two at a time, and ending with 100 lunges! My legs truly felt like jello at this point, yet so good at the same time! I ate a banana post workout and couldn't wait to get home and cook my 5 eggwhites plus one whole egg and mix them with avocado! Funny the foods you crave when your diet is limited. Next step, buy some Glutamine and BCAAs (branched chain amino acids) for muscle recovery and continue persevering!

No, these aren't my legs. Just another motivational pic :)

                                   

Protein Shakes Replace Coffee and Wine

Well, Matt and I hit up two grocery stores last night to get a majority of things needed for this diet of mine (on top of Thanksgiving necessities). I spent about an hour this morning preparing my breakfast, meals for the day, and a few things for the next couple days. I will probably need to make another grocery store run on Wednesday!! When you buy the food, it looks like SO much!! Once I started cooking, weighing, and portioning it out, I realized that I didn't get quite enough to even get me through a week!! I'm sure the process of shopping, cooking, and preparing will get easier with time. I'm not going to lie...I caught myself with a huge smile on my face, laughing to myself, while cutting up ALL this broccoli! I can't wait to see the transformation my body goes through from week to week! My coffee I usually have in the morning has now been replaced by a Whey Protein Shake, 6 Egg Whites, Oatmeal, AND an apple! The glass of wine I enjoy while sitting on the couch after a long day will be replaced by a protein shake at the end of the day and eventually...an extra cardio session...at the gym! Tomorrow will be my first day with my trainer at World's Gym in Pacific Beach at 8am! I'm ready!!

(What I thought was) A LOT of broccoli

Oats, flaxseed, natural PB

Day Before It All Begins

Today I enjoyed a couple last pleasures before the journey begins. Started off the morning with a great spin class at FIT and then indulged in some delicious cinnamon french toast accompanied by a mimosa. My boyfriend and I will be grocery shopping tonight for the necessities so I hope he's ready for a little change as well. Here is a little of what our grocery list looks like:

1. Oatmeal
2. Almond Butter
3. Flaxseed
4. Egg Whites
5. Almonds
6. Apples
7. Chicken
8. 99% Lean Turkey
9. Tilapia, Salmon, etc.
10. Brown Rice

Sounds delicious doesn't it?! I may be a little crazy, but I'm pretty excited! I've gone through this "lifestyle change" a couple times before and physically, I've never felt better! It's invigorating to see and feel the changes your body goes through when you only put fuel in your body!

                                            

The Beginning

A couple years ago was when I discovered my interested in the world of Figure Competing. I honestly don't remember what prompted the thought but nonetheless, I'm ready to work at it now! I knew this would be an interesting journey, and possibly an inspiring one, so I decided to start a blog, mostly for myself, to chronicle the thoughts, feelings, and other emotions that I experience through the process. This would be the FIT part of my blog. The FASHIONABLE part is because...well...it's me! It's another one of my passions and I want to demonstrate that you don't need to choose one or the other when it comes to sacrifice. Why work so hard on making your body better if you can't then accentuate your best assets? Furthermore, why spend the money or time on fashion when you don't feel 100% confident in your body? I'm ready for the challenge! It's always motivating to look at pictures of other women that are extremely fit so I'm SURE I will have a lot of photos throughout my blog.