Pure Motivation...

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Some more Yummy Meal Ideas

I was getting pretty bored with my off-season diet. I've already eaten the recipes quite a few times. So I tried out some new stuff and these are the new ones that I really highly recommend to anyone needing a little diet help:

French Toast:

Make batter using 3 egg whites and one egg yoke, and 1/4 cup skim milk (or soy milk). Sprinkle some cinnamon in the batter. Dip Ezekiel cinnamon raisin bread slices in the batter and cook in skillet, turning after a couple minutes. Top with sugar free syrup.

Mocha Protein Shake:

1 banana
1 scoop chocolate whey protein
1/2 cup brewed coffee
1 cup skim milk
1 tbsp of peanut butter

Mix all in a blender with ice. Makes 2 servings. If you are watching the fat content, you should just omit the peanut butter. But that will cut down the protein content slightly.

Turkey Quesadilla:

3 oz turkey deli meat
1 oz fat free cheddar cheese, shredded
2 corn tortillas
1 oz reduced fat feta cheese
1/8 avocado
2 tbsp picante sauce

In a skillet start browning 1 tortilla. pile remaining ingredients and end with tortilla. Turn and cook some more. Enjoy!

Oatmeal with Cranberries and Walnuts:

1/3 cup oats
2 tbsp dried cranberries
1 tbsp flaxseed
2 tbsp chopped walnuts
1 package splenda
1 tsp cinnamon

Mix all ingredients, add 1 cup water and heat in microwave 2 minutes or until all water is absorbed. Yummy.

Friday, February 19, 2010

Hey!!! What did you do with my Arm Day???

This is what I said immediately after finding out that I didn't have an arm workout anymore...sounds crazy, right? I mean, even the day that I brought the workout home to Andy I showed him and he said the same thing. In fact, he said that if my coach told me not to worry about arms, that maybe I should think about getting rid of her. I mean, every competitor works arms, right? You see photos of them and they have these really toned, great looking arms!!! I LOVE working out my arms! They are so buff! My coach MUST be on crack, right???!!!!

WRONG.

Time for a lesson in Figure 101....

There are some very specific body parts you are judged on in Figure. Let's talk about those for a minute:

1. Shoulders
Shoulders need to be very round and have an obvious cap. Hence, one day a week needs to be dedicated to Shoulders. Front, side, back, traps...all around shoulders. (This is my favorite part to train by the way!)

2. Back
A buff back is majorly important in Figure. When you pose from the back, this is what the judges mainly look at. How toned your lats and rhomboids and middle back are. Super important. So, typically one day a week is dedicated to just the back.

3. Butt
You got to have a tight high rear in Figure. You put on the little bikini bottom and push your hinney out on the stage. When the judges are looking at you from the back, guaranteed they are also checking out your booty. I train butt one day a week with hams, but it gets trained a lot during cardio and other leg workouts. As competition time gets closer, it is really common to train this twice a week.

4. Quads
You have to have powerful legs in Figure. When you are posing from the front, you got to have your quads CUT. I mean showing all the sides and definitions. Which is why you train legs HARD. You do non stop lunges, jumps, running, stair climbing. Anything that can get you the buff big quads. You even pose specifically to enhance them.

5. Abs
The toughest of all in my opinion, is training your mid section. Most people end up doing some sort of abs every day of the week. I spend at least 3 days a week doing some sort of ab/core work. You have to wear a two piece suit after all in the contest, so you better be ready to show the suckers off. I get the most frustrated about results in this area....diet has a lot to do with this though.

So, let's just say that ALL body parts need to look toned. But it's not like you are going to dedicate an entire workout to the other areas. Arms are supposed to look toned, but the judges aren't looking for super huge buff arms. They are looking at the other top 5 areas more than anything. And buff arms don't create the classic Figure look onstage. Plus, you end up training your arms PLENTY when you are doing back and shoulder workouts. I mean, it's not like your biceps aren't working during pull ups!!!

So, I learned something new this week...Arms aren't THAT important in my training.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

New Workout - "GIANT SETS"

Where do I begin about this week?

It has had it's ups and downs. I heard from Amy about my photos and she said that my body fat is higher than what my scale tells me. That really hits hard. Feels like I just got set back. So, after I moped about it for a few hours, I told myself that I work really hard and I look good... heck people we are talking about trying to be 16% body fat to START a contest diet!!!! Look, if I don't make it to that, I'm still one fit lady!

So I moved on and I'm just as motivated as ever today. Next week I get to start a whole new workout, which I am really excited about. I already tried it out for shoulders and back, and it was fun. It is called "Giant Sets". Basically, you work out about 7 different excersises, focussing on one target area. You go through each exercise one time, for about 10-12 reps, lifting HEAVY. You don't rest, and move right to the next exercise on the list. Then when you get done, take a breat and a swig of water, and start all over. You do each GIANT set four times. It won't take long, only about 25-30 minutes because you are MOVING. I mean GETTING AFTER IT. Like I said, I tried it out, and it was fun!

One not so fun change is that I have to go to a spinning class once a week now. I have to give up my step class. :( Also, the spinning class is at night, and I'm not so gung ho about going BACK to the gym after I get home from work. BUT, one plus is that I don't have to work out in the morning on those days, I can just go to the gym in the evening for the spin class. I will miss my step class though.

So here is the new and IMPROVED program (and see if you can figure out what looks really odd about it):

Sunday - Hams/Glutes/Abs
Smith Machine Deadlift
Lying Leg Curl
Abs- Hanging leg raise
DB Dead Lift or Good Mornings
Seated Leg Curl
Abs - Fit Ball Crunches
Back Extension

Monday - Shoulders/Rear Delts/Calves
DB Lateral Raise on Fitball
Cable Rope Rear Delt Row
Standing Calf Raise
Standing DB Shoulder Press
1 Arm Cable Lateral Raise
DB Rear Delt Row on Fit Ball

Tuesday - Spin Class

Wednesday - Back/Calves
Lat Pulldowns
Cable Seated Lat Row
Seated Calf Raises
Straight Bar Cable Lat Pullovers
Cable Rope Bent Over Row
Pull-ups

Thursday - Quads/Abs
Smith Machine Squat - Feet Together
Transverse Lunge
Fitball Ab Rollouts
DB Plie Squats- Feet Far Apart
Cable Rope 1-Leg Lunge
Planks on Floor

Friday - Cardio Only

Saturday - Rest Day

Did you figure out what looks wierd? I immediately was like, hey where is my arm workout? More to come on that explanation....

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Sad, sad, sad....this is how I feel....

Ok, I'm a little depressed today, but I'm going to try not to be discouraged too bad. Below is a conversation on email that I had with Amy Peters about my contest date. She thinks pushing August might be too soon for me. :( So I guess I'm just going to have to start getting hardcore and push my training a little harder to reach that goal. We'll see I guess. But what also disappoints me, is apparently my scale is OFF. So all that excitement I had about body fat being below 20%? Yeah, it's probably not true at all. That blows. I mean seriously blows. So now I don't even know where I am at and need to get someone to take my body fat with calipers. ARGH.

My part of the conversation is in red (regular size text), and Amy's is in blue (all caps). Read it and weep:

The houston Pro/Am was what I wanted to do originally, and the date is up in the air right now because Jr Nationals are coming to Houston. So I have no idea when this show will be, but it was in August last year. There is also a Europa super show in Dallas in August and then a NPC show in San Antonio in September. WE WILL NEED TO WAIT ON THE DATE FOR THE HOUSTON PRO/AM NOT SURE WHEN IT WILL BE POSTED. I'M GOIN TO RECOMEND THE LATEST SHOW DATE FOR U, TO GIVE U AS MUCH TIME AS POSSIBLE. UR BODYFAT NEEDS TO BE AROUND 16% AT 16WKS OUT (FUNNY HOW THOSE #S WORK OUT TO BE THE SAME, LOL) HOWEVER/UNFORTUNATELY UR BODYFAT SCALE IS OFF. AND I CAN'T EXPLAIN HOW/WHY THEY ARE JUST OFF. I'M JUST USING IT NOW AS A JUDGE OF PROGRESS NOT LOOKING AT THE ACTUAL #. JUST WATCHIN TO SEE HOW ITS CHANGING (% LOST) BUT I CAN LOOK AT U AND SOMEWHAT GUESS AS TO WHAT UR ACTUAL BODYFAT IS. I figure that I should probably be on a pre-contest diet for 16 weeks? Is that too long? Anyway, if I did a show in mid August that would mean I should start pre-contest around the end of April. Does that seem to soon? That would give me two more months of off-season training and dieting. I THINK APRIL MIGHT BE TOO SOON FOR U TO START UR PRE-CONTEST DIET. BUT WE'LL SEE WHAT UR BODY DOES IN THE NEXT 2MONTHS. I COULD BE WRONG. I'M CONFIDENT IN U. I JUST KNOW THAT TOO MANY PEOPLE RUSH THEIR CONTEST DATES, END UP STARVING, DOING MORE CARDIO THEN NEEDED TO MAKE THE DATE, INSTEAD OF WAITIN FOR A CONTEST LATER IN THE YR. THEN POTENTIALLY REBOUND AFTER THE CONTEST, LOOK BACK OVER ALL OF IT, WITHOUT FEELING AS IF THEY ACCOMPLISHED THEIR GOAL, OR END UP BEING HAPPY WITH WHAT THEY'VE DONE.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

New Recipes

I have really enjoyed my recipes that Amy gave me, but I have to say, I'm starting to get bored eating them every week. I have been eating the same freaking lasagna every week because Andy will eat it too (it is really hard to figure out what Andy will eat for the week when I go shopping, let alone deal with my own weekly meals). Well, I was surfing around Monica Brant's website because I am so excited about going to her camp, and I came across some new recipes. So I'm going to try a couple out this week:

Tacos
4 oz chicken breast cooked in a skillet, then add 4-5 egg whites and scramble. Continue cooking while adding 1 tbsp flax seed. Heat corn tortillas, add egg/chicken mixture. Top with green Tabasco sauce and 1 oz avocado.

Pizza Snack
1 crumpet topped with 10-12 tofu peperoni slices, 1 slice tofu mozzarella cheese, and 1 slice tofu cheddar cheese. Melt in oven.

Rice Bowl
5-6 oz chicken breast
1/2 cup jasmine rice
1 oz cheese
1-2 oz tomato
1 oz avocado

Note: I already eat a rice bowl, only I've been using ground turkey with taco seasoning and a tbsp of pace picante sauce. I guess if I eat Monica's I will cut out a bunch of sodium.

Now I just have to figure out where the heck to find crumpets at. I was at HEB yesterday and you would have thought they see them. But I had no luck.

I broke the 20% mark!!!

I have started weighing myself in twice a week...This may seem kind of obsessive but I always weigh myself on Monday's because when I started the off-season diet I weighed in on the first Monday to get a good starting point. BUT, the problem is I always have a cheat meal on the weekend. So Monday is always a little skewed in a bad way because I haven't completely flushed my body of the junk I consumed on the cheat day. So, now I start weighing myself on Friday/Saturday BEFORE I cheat, so I can have a good idea of where I REALLY am on the scale.

So, yesterday was Andy and my Valentine's night. We cooked and drank wine. So I weighed myself in before I really ate anything, and had a couple beers in my system. I MIGHT have tricked my body only slightly because of the beer...because the scale said I was really hydrated (this commonly happens when I drink beer, I really don't know why). But basically, my stats looked like this:

Weight: 129.2 lbs
Body Fat: 19.1%
Water: 59.2%
Lean Body Mass: 99.2 lbs
Physique Rating: 9
BMR: 1409
Metabolic Age: 12
Visceral Fat: 1

This is the most successful weigh in I have ever had.
1. Because the lowest the metabolic age goes is 12. I can't get any better than that.
2. The physique rating of 9 means that you have lots of muscle and very little fat...which is an ATHLETE status. On my scale, this is hard to do if you have already told it that you are active.
3. The visceral fat is as low as it goes...I think. Can you have 0 for visceral fat ever? Maybe. I'll have to look into that. But basically I'm getting a ripped stomach finally so this is pretty awesome.
4. I am BELOW 20% body fat!!! This has been my goal for quite some time! I've been dying to see that number on my scale. I want to be about 17% before going on a pre-contest diet! I am starting to see that may be possible! YAY!

Of course I will weigh in on Monday and see what damage I did from the cheat night. At least I have today to flush my system some first and rehydrate and see if I can make it better for tomorrow. I'll get a good workout in tomorrow morning too. Even so, last Monday after cheating for super bowl, the scale said 20.8%, so hopefully I still have a chance of getting some decent numbers.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

LUNA bars are amazing

I usually don't like protein bars, but I have discovered Luna Bars. Actually I've known about them forever but I tried them like 10 years ago and wasn't impressed. Well, I guess they have come a long way since then, because they taste so freaking good. I mean, they have flavors like: Dulce de Leche, Cookies and Cream, peanut butter cookie....they are so tasty, they are my new 9:30 am meal. They have about 10 grams of protein, so that isn't too shabby. Obviously I'll have to quit eating them pre-contest....but there are a lot of things I'll have to quit pre contest!

He He....Yay for Luna Bars! I believe they are 2 for $5 if anyone wants to try them... kind of expensive, but very easy to pack (especially when you are making 6 meals a day), and well worth it in taste. Find them in the health food section of the grocery store.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

I'm going to F.E.M. Camp!!!!

I am super duper excited....

I had a previous post that said I would be going to the Ronnie Coleman Classic in April to see the figure competitors. Well, I just got an email from Monica Brant (who is like super amazing people in the Fitness world), and there is space for me in her camp. She is having it in Austin the same April weekend. So....I'm going to the camp!!! The camp is called F.E.M. camp...I can't really remember what that means right now. I think it is like Female something or other... this particular camp is letting in guys for the first time so it will be really interesting working out with the men. But, I am going to get some help on posing, makeup, nutrition, photos...everything I need to know about being in the competition world. So I am just totally stoked!!!

Yay Yay! If you want to see what all the hype is about...go to the website at www.femcamp.net. Check it out. Also, you can see Monica's website at www.monicabrant.com.

Note: Monica Brant is Amy Peters' (my nutritionist) hero. So that is how amazing she is. Exciting!!!! I will bring back her autograph!!!

Sunday, February 7, 2010

ANOTHER round of Progress Pics

Here are the latest pics that I sent out to Amy today:


Not going to lie, I am disappointed. Because I can't tell any difference from last time (Jan 22). I'm supposed to be taking these every 2 weeks and I just can't really see the difference. BUT, on the flip side, last time I could see the difference and the scale hadn't even moved. This time the scale has definitely moved. I am now 128 pounds and 20.6% body fat. I am going to be below that 20% just any day now, I just know it!!! So, I'm just waiting to hear what Amy has to say....