Saturday marked 17 weeks until Contest.
I've now been on Nathan's plan for the last week and it is boring. Not bad on hunger, but just plain boring. Breakdown of my day is something like this:
3:30 wakeup
4:00 workout - cardio anywhere from 40-50 minutes (depends what day), weight training 4 days a week for 45 minutes to an hour
6:00 post workout shake - 1 scoop of whey and water
8:00 Meal 1: 6 egg whites, 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 grapefruit
10:00 Meal 2: 1 apple, 1 tbsp almond butter, 1 scoop whey
12:00 Meal 3: 1 cup grean beans, 3 oz chicken breast, 50 grams cooked quinoa
2:00 Meal 4: 1 cup grean beans, 1 cup asparagus, 3 oz chicken breast
4:00 Meal 5: 1 scoop whey, 1/2 grapefruit
6:00 Meal 6: 3 oz chicken breast, 2 cups grean beans
8:00 bedtime
As you can see it is pretty boring on food. The only variety you are allowed is the seasonings really. So in my oats I switch between cinamon, pumpkin pie spice, apple pie spice. And I only put pepper on the egg whites. For the grean beans and hot meals I mainly just spray it down with butter spray and try a variety of Mrs Dash seasonings. They help but it is still just green beans and chicken! Boring!!! I asked about swapping out meats and veggies but N8 wants me to stick to this plan for 2 weeks to see what happens. I can tell a major difference on my energy levels and overall mood. I'm not starving to death and I feel good. I just am a little bored with what I eat.
Today I'm sick so I slept until 11:30 and didn't even eat my breakfast until like 1:00. I am supposed to limit carbs in the evening, so I figured I will have that meal, Meal 2 at 3:00 and then skip to Meal 4 and Meal 6 for the last two meals so I don't have carbs this evening.
As for working out, I am pretty excited because I'm working out arms again! YAY! But, if you saw my workout plan, they are on the same day as shoulders. Shoulders I'm still working all heads of my delts and lifting heavy. But arms are lots of reps at a lower weight. Not trying to bulk them up. Then, I get two leg days now. Similar story there....LOTS of reps on quads and more heavy on hamstrings. So Monday I work out shoulders/arms, Tuesday legs, Thursday back, and Saturday legs again. I do abs 2-3 days of the week.
Cardio is now more than it has been. 5 days a week! But, what is different now, is there are two days where I'm just trying to burn fat so it isn't high intensity. These are the long steady days - 50 minutes on the treadmill walking on incline. Then I have one day of cycling (which is a leg day of course), one day of HIT (High interval Training) where you walk a minute, jog a minute, then sprint a minute. This is a 40 minute session. Then the last session is 40 minutes of interval training any way you want it (I swap machines so I don't get bored) but it is just one minute at a slower speed and one minute at more resistance/higher speed.
And if I haven't said it before....I HATE Cardio. I get so damn bored. So I'm not happy to have to do even more of it now. Let's hope my body is starting to lose fat easily so i can keep it to a minimum!
Oh, and I DO get a cheat meal. However, all alcohol is out of the diet. I'm on day 12 of no alcohol (since I cheated in Vegas). So the cheat meal has to be thought about and once it is over it is over. Yesterday I had one. I had to eat 4 oz chicken breast first, then I had a piece of cake and a cup of low fat ice cream. I put a reese's peanut butter cup in the ice cream and a little whip cream. This whole meal was about 750 calories. That is about right for cheat meal. All other meals have to be healthy. I was pretty sad when it was over because I'm so used to enjoying a whole day of cheating and not worrying about counting calories. The whole eating chicken breast before the good food and counting what you eat sure takes the fun out of it.
I will hopefully have updated progress pics this week. Jonathan flaked on me last week so I didn't get my body fat checked, so I really didn't see the point. Hopefully Friday I will have an update. It seems like I've been losing some weight but I can't really tell on the scales because they are still saying 123 pounds. It seems like I've floated between there and 125 pounds for 2 months or something ridiculous.
One other thing - Friday, I went to dinner with some girls and VPX (long story as I was helping VPX demo their products on Saturday, totally a waste of my time and pathetic)...but one of the girls is going to a posing practice on Wednesday with Mary who I've been trying to get to help me forever now! She invited me to come along. Since I already have the basic moves down, I can go and it is only costing me $25 for the hour of help! I am super excited. Only bad part is it is Wednesday at 6pm and the gym is in the Galleria area of Houston so I have got to book it from work on Wednesday to get there. I'm thinking I will leave work at 4:30 in hopes of getting there by the 6:00 appointment! Crazy evening it will be! Especially since I'm going to bed by 8pm now! So, will update everyone on how the posing practice is going.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Determination and Motivation will be Tested....NOW
I have my pre-contest diet. Granted I'm a little less than 18 weeks out...but we are starting now.
I went through a mix of emotions these last few days. I have been excited, depressed, doubtful, and anxious. Finally, today comes acceptance.
I knew this diet was going to suck.
It doesn't suck that hard, but it does kind of. It is just freaking boring. I'm not hungry, which is probably the most important. I mean if all else sucks....most of all you don't want to be starving your ass off. But I will say that I am now realizing how much "good" food I can not eat, and that is sinking in harder than I thought it would.
I am not going to bore you all with my diet. But, let's just say that I get a post workout shake now (good!) and some decent foods in the morning (again, good!)...but in the afternoon...carbs are being depleted and that totally sucks. I am sure my energy levels will sink. And like today I have to go to spin class and I will not have much to pull from for energy. Probably good for a fat burning situation but is going to wear me out.
Another important realization I have had these last few days is that I need more sleep. Like, desparately. I was not getting enough before and that is why I was so moody and grumpy and depressed, and just all around not normal misha-self. So, I am now committing to be in bed by 8 o'clock to get my 7 hours of sleep. If I have to go to bed at 9:00 that will be ok, but there is no more staying up until 10:00 and getting up at 3:15!!!! This is not ok!!! I'm hoping that restricting my carbs will help me get sleepier too.
Oh, and I asked Nathan (N8) if I can substitute any foods on my meal plan and he said not for these first couple weeks. Guess he wants to see how my body responds to the food the first couple weeks into it.
AND...I do get a reward meal...but I have to eat 4-5 oz of chicken breast with whatever I eat. So I'm going to be eating a piece of chocolate cake this weekend, but I will be eating it after downing chicken breast. Kind of takes the fun out of it. :(
Here we go....countdown now. Let's see if I can make it!
I went through a mix of emotions these last few days. I have been excited, depressed, doubtful, and anxious. Finally, today comes acceptance.
I knew this diet was going to suck.
It doesn't suck that hard, but it does kind of. It is just freaking boring. I'm not hungry, which is probably the most important. I mean if all else sucks....most of all you don't want to be starving your ass off. But I will say that I am now realizing how much "good" food I can not eat, and that is sinking in harder than I thought it would.
I am not going to bore you all with my diet. But, let's just say that I get a post workout shake now (good!) and some decent foods in the morning (again, good!)...but in the afternoon...carbs are being depleted and that totally sucks. I am sure my energy levels will sink. And like today I have to go to spin class and I will not have much to pull from for energy. Probably good for a fat burning situation but is going to wear me out.
Another important realization I have had these last few days is that I need more sleep. Like, desparately. I was not getting enough before and that is why I was so moody and grumpy and depressed, and just all around not normal misha-self. So, I am now committing to be in bed by 8 o'clock to get my 7 hours of sleep. If I have to go to bed at 9:00 that will be ok, but there is no more staying up until 10:00 and getting up at 3:15!!!! This is not ok!!! I'm hoping that restricting my carbs will help me get sleepier too.
Oh, and I asked Nathan (N8) if I can substitute any foods on my meal plan and he said not for these first couple weeks. Guess he wants to see how my body responds to the food the first couple weeks into it.
AND...I do get a reward meal...but I have to eat 4-5 oz of chicken breast with whatever I eat. So I'm going to be eating a piece of chocolate cake this weekend, but I will be eating it after downing chicken breast. Kind of takes the fun out of it. :(
Here we go....countdown now. Let's see if I can make it!
Friday, June 18, 2010
Back to Reality
I'm so glad to be home.
It is hard to travel and be in training.
I was a little lax in Vegas. Although I was supposed to quit drinking, I couldn't help myself. But I didn't go overboard. In fact, all day I carried around my silly little cooler and was ready at any moment for food. Each morning I stopped and got an iced coffee which I added protein powder to. And then I had snacks available. The lunch that was provided was ok. I could always eat salad without dressing, grilled veggies...the first day there was only meat soaked in sauce so I had to also have a protein shake. But the second day there was chicken so I was very happy. I so did not want to have to eat tuna out of a pouch although I was ready to do so.
Then in the evenings I pretty much did what I wanted and didn't worry about it. Which was cool because I stayed up way past my bed time and I could tell that my metabolism was cooking away because I was so hungry when it would be mid night...realizing I'm usually asleep then and my body was wanting to fuel itself more! It is good to know my metabolism is in such condition that is ok to cheat every now and then.
But, I am happy to be home. I hated having to have my cooler to rely on, although it did teach me that I can travel anywhere and make it work. I'm going to a party tomorrow night and I am prepared to bring food again with me.
Also, I am so over being a "freak" to other people. I have now gotten used to it and maybe that is not a good thing...but in Vegas I was questioned up and down about what the heck was going on with me. And just so we can be clear: I do not use drugs. I COULD if I wanted to, because my contest has no rules....but I don't. About the only controversial thing that I take is a testosterone booster (not replacement hormones people) and a fat burner (also at the end of the day I think this is just a lot of caffeine). There are some majorly ignorant people out there. But on the same token, I was kind of flattered that people were going on and on about how they never knew a body builder or they knew I was into competing when they saw me....I told these people "you will never believe it but I was 30 pounds heavier this time last year". I'm so used to being the chubby one that sometimes it is hard to get used to attention like that!
Anyway, I am also very excited to work with Nathan. So I'm going to do a special post on him soon...I'm waiting to get my payments and initial questioning sessions out of the way and then I will post about him and what is going on there.
It is hard to travel and be in training.
I was a little lax in Vegas. Although I was supposed to quit drinking, I couldn't help myself. But I didn't go overboard. In fact, all day I carried around my silly little cooler and was ready at any moment for food. Each morning I stopped and got an iced coffee which I added protein powder to. And then I had snacks available. The lunch that was provided was ok. I could always eat salad without dressing, grilled veggies...the first day there was only meat soaked in sauce so I had to also have a protein shake. But the second day there was chicken so I was very happy. I so did not want to have to eat tuna out of a pouch although I was ready to do so.
Then in the evenings I pretty much did what I wanted and didn't worry about it. Which was cool because I stayed up way past my bed time and I could tell that my metabolism was cooking away because I was so hungry when it would be mid night...realizing I'm usually asleep then and my body was wanting to fuel itself more! It is good to know my metabolism is in such condition that is ok to cheat every now and then.
But, I am happy to be home. I hated having to have my cooler to rely on, although it did teach me that I can travel anywhere and make it work. I'm going to a party tomorrow night and I am prepared to bring food again with me.
Also, I am so over being a "freak" to other people. I have now gotten used to it and maybe that is not a good thing...but in Vegas I was questioned up and down about what the heck was going on with me. And just so we can be clear: I do not use drugs. I COULD if I wanted to, because my contest has no rules....but I don't. About the only controversial thing that I take is a testosterone booster (not replacement hormones people) and a fat burner (also at the end of the day I think this is just a lot of caffeine). There are some majorly ignorant people out there. But on the same token, I was kind of flattered that people were going on and on about how they never knew a body builder or they knew I was into competing when they saw me....I told these people "you will never believe it but I was 30 pounds heavier this time last year". I'm so used to being the chubby one that sometimes it is hard to get used to attention like that!
Anyway, I am also very excited to work with Nathan. So I'm going to do a special post on him soon...I'm waiting to get my payments and initial questioning sessions out of the way and then I will post about him and what is going on there.
Monday, June 14, 2010
FEM CAMP DAY 3
Sunday was a very productive day.
I started off by going to the gym and doing some cardio for half an hour, then showered and ate in my room. I went down to get my makeup done at 10:00. This was probably not worth the money quite honestly. Except that I am pretty bad at knowing how much makeup to put on for a photo shoot. But the MAC counter can do a much better job than this girl that was there (we were told she was amazing but I really was not that impressed).
I then met with a girl name Sonya who makes competition suits. I'm happy to say that we got my measurements and looked at swatches of fabric and made some decisions about what I want to wear in the contest. I'm going with Aqua blue and then she is going to do a darker blue and some clear crystals throughout in a design. This will hopefully give it a 3D effect. I am pretty excited about finally getting this suit ordered. Not going to lie...this was EXPENSIVE. Much more than I thought I would end up paying. I had to pay half of the total up front for a deposit, but then I can pay her however much on whatever schedule leading up to the contest. As long as it is paid in full by the contest. Now here is the interesting part....obviously, I am not what I'm going to weigh or look like for contest. So how do they determine how to make the suit? Well, you have to decide on your contest weight. EEK. So, I know that based on my current body fat I have 102 pounds of lean muscle mass. So it is a safe bet I'm not going to weigh much less than 110 pounds. If I weigh 110 for contest and don't lose any muscle mass then I'm going to be like 7% body fat!!!! That won't happen. But, I probably will lose some muscle mass in the dieting down stages. So I told her to shoot for 110-115. I currently weigh 123, so this is really not going to be that hard people. I have 19 weeks to go, so that is less than a pound a week to lose! Not a big deal. I can totally do it. She said if I don't hit this weight within 5-7 pounds the suit won't fit...so I need to hit this weight!!! Also, she said there is nothing more motivating than when you get the little bottoms in the mail and have to look at them....that will make you want to lose the rest of the weight!
Ok after that I bought a cool couple photos of Monica and she signed them:
The second one is for my friend at work Doug who was too scared to talk to Monica at a show a couple years ago...she signed his perfectly to tease him. He will die when I get this to him.
Then, I met with Nathan one on one. He is now going to do my nutrition. Mainly because it was only going to cost me $100 more than Amy. And Amy is taking too long to respond to my emails for help. It is driving me crazy. So Nathan it is. I think we will work well together. More on this later.
Then I had a photo shoot. It was kind of cheesy and the photos are just on a CD completely un-finished. Nothing too professional. But they are kinda cute and it was just fun to play around and pretend it was a real photo shoot. I think it was totally sweet that Monica set this up for us. She helped us pose and was so nice the whole time. She really takes her job so seriously and it gives me so much respect for her. Here is a cute photo from the shoot. I will post more of these later as well.
And that was Camp! I had a great time!
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Last Bit on Day 2
I forgot to tell about the rest of day 2. I only talked about Nathan and then skipped to the evening.
After our nutrition 101, we headed back to Gold's Gym. We did a leg workout that was amazing. I can feel it right now. I learned a bunch of new cool moves. Oh and we worked abs. And of course, when we were with Nathan he wanted to punish us extra so he made us do burpies at one of the stations...I LOVE burpies and apparently most people can't do these??? Everyone else thought I was pshyco because I love them and I do them way better than everyone else. The other girls were like, that is so cool that you do them that way! So I guess Malia wasn't the only one that thought I did them like I'm a piece of paper.... Thanks Lia!
After that we went to lunch. Ate the same exact thing as yesterday. It was good, so hey who cares.
Then we had posing practice again. I had an easier time today!!! I was surprised. I have a difficult time posing for back. Guess because I can't see what I'm doing. But I'm getting really good at my quarter turns and I am good at the presentation poses. Need to work on everything else. As expected. One thing that was super cool is we pretended we were in the show. I had to walk like I was on stage, stop and pose, then walk forward to the judges and hit my three main poses. I did pretty good I think. I did my little wave at the end which everyone always makes fun of me for, but it was fun. Then we stood to the side and waited for call outs. We played like we were being called out for comparison and that was pretty fun. Had to pretend we were really in the show and smile big the whole time. Totally fun. I'm telling you again, the posing is really hard and wears you out. Your legs hurt, your back hurts, and your feet most definitely are killing you. You have to walk in 4 inch heels and they are squeezing my feet. Especially since I have the messed up toe that is squeezed into my right shoe. :) Guess most people don't have that problem.
After this I bought some cool gold's gym apparel and we went to the smoothie factory. They all kissed our asses at the smoothie place because I guess they had this talking to at shift change where they were all told that Monica Brant told us to go there and they had to give us discounts...anyway I had the "engineered food" which is basically a protein shake with Lean Body, fruit, and water. I used banana and strawberry. Very good. I also made sure that the Lean Body was low cal...it was 190 calories and I figured out that with the banana and strawberries this is still like a 400 calorie drink so it was a pretty large "snack". Don't worry, I managed to only eat 1790 calories today though. Usually on a Saturday I go crazy with food, so this is not really all that bad!
Anyway, I just forgot to tell about what I did for the rest of the day.
After our nutrition 101, we headed back to Gold's Gym. We did a leg workout that was amazing. I can feel it right now. I learned a bunch of new cool moves. Oh and we worked abs. And of course, when we were with Nathan he wanted to punish us extra so he made us do burpies at one of the stations...I LOVE burpies and apparently most people can't do these??? Everyone else thought I was pshyco because I love them and I do them way better than everyone else. The other girls were like, that is so cool that you do them that way! So I guess Malia wasn't the only one that thought I did them like I'm a piece of paper.... Thanks Lia!
After that we went to lunch. Ate the same exact thing as yesterday. It was good, so hey who cares.
Then we had posing practice again. I had an easier time today!!! I was surprised. I have a difficult time posing for back. Guess because I can't see what I'm doing. But I'm getting really good at my quarter turns and I am good at the presentation poses. Need to work on everything else. As expected. One thing that was super cool is we pretended we were in the show. I had to walk like I was on stage, stop and pose, then walk forward to the judges and hit my three main poses. I did pretty good I think. I did my little wave at the end which everyone always makes fun of me for, but it was fun. Then we stood to the side and waited for call outs. We played like we were being called out for comparison and that was pretty fun. Had to pretend we were really in the show and smile big the whole time. Totally fun. I'm telling you again, the posing is really hard and wears you out. Your legs hurt, your back hurts, and your feet most definitely are killing you. You have to walk in 4 inch heels and they are squeezing my feet. Especially since I have the messed up toe that is squeezed into my right shoe. :) Guess most people don't have that problem.
After this I bought some cool gold's gym apparel and we went to the smoothie factory. They all kissed our asses at the smoothie place because I guess they had this talking to at shift change where they were all told that Monica Brant told us to go there and they had to give us discounts...anyway I had the "engineered food" which is basically a protein shake with Lean Body, fruit, and water. I used banana and strawberry. Very good. I also made sure that the Lean Body was low cal...it was 190 calories and I figured out that with the banana and strawberries this is still like a 400 calorie drink so it was a pretty large "snack". Don't worry, I managed to only eat 1790 calories today though. Usually on a Saturday I go crazy with food, so this is not really all that bad!
Anyway, I just forgot to tell about what I did for the rest of the day.
FEM CAMP DAY 2 continued
Finishing up day 2. The evening seminar was so much different than I thought it was going to be.
First, Nathan talked about tanning. Geez this is more than I thought it would be. There were horror stories about bad tanning at contests. And there is way way way more to think about than I ever realized. For instance, you can't wear deodorant after you tan because it changes the ph of your skin and will turn your armpits green! And you can't shower after you tan because it will ruin your tan. So the day before your tan you spray tan and then you are done showering. And you have to watch what you sleep in so you don't get weird marks all over your body. And you have to bring your own sheets to sleep in at the hotel so you don't ruin theirs and have to pay for them. And you have to make sure you scrub your body for like a week before the tan so it goes on evenly. Holy Shit. I never ever thought there was so much in the tanning!!!!! AHHHHH.
After that mind blowing talk, we discussed contest suits. Supposedly I'm supposed to already be ordering my suit. Holy Shit another thing I am behind on. WTF. Thankfully this lady that talked to us will also be here tomorrow. She is going to talk to me about colors and send me some swatches so I can start deciding what I want to order. I think I have narrowed it down to baby blue, aqua blue, or else a coral color. Of course it will be covered in rhinestones. No idea what I will be spending yet though. Hopefully only $400???? This one girl here told me she spent $800. And the lady tonight showed us a suit that was $1200 and is going to be sold as pre-worn for $500. So who knows what this is going to cost me! Anyway, one more visit I need to make tomorrow morning to start getting a feel for what I need to do. Also, she told me that you need to pick what your contest weight will be so that you can order it in the right size. Well, my lean body mass is about 102 pounds. So I believe that will put me somewhere around 110 pounds for contest. Maybe 115. But she said that I need to get it within 5-7 pounds in order for the suit to fit. No stress, right?
Then we had this makeup artist talk to us about getting your hair and makeup done professionally at the show. Mainly because you need to match your face to your tan and that is hard to do and then you also want to have good stage makeup so everyone can see your face on stage. Not recommended doing it on your own. Well, I suck at makeup so this was already planned on in my book. Not a big deal.
Then we had a photographer that will be shooting us tomorrow talk to us a little bit about photo shoots. I am thinking about having a photo shoot done the day after my show, I'm just not sure who I want to book. No idea who does fitness modeling photos in the Houston area. I'll find one though. There is no way that I will look this awesome and not have good photos taken of it.
So finally after that, Monica did some photos to show us how a pro takes her photos. All I can say is this woman is so gorgeous. I can't hardly see myself having anything in common with her because she is larger than life. I had a photo with her taken...she is only 5'4" but she was wearing these super super tall heels so now she looks way larger than life in the photo with me:
Gosh she is so inspirational in how great her body looks. I was trying to figure out what size she is...I'm wearing size 2 jeans in the photo. She must be like a double 00. Look at how my arm just goes around her waist. She is super little. But buff as hell. BANGIN.
Tomorrow I have makeup at 10:00am, then 11:30 I am meeting with Nathan to talk about nutrition, and then at 12:30 I have my photo shoot. Should be headed home for Houston by about 1:30 or 2:00. Sad it is over but I have sure had a blast. Will be posting my photo shoot pictures in the next few days!
FEM CAMP DAY 2 - X Men of Society!
I'm on a break right now for day 2 of camp. I am soon to be going back downstairs for another 3 hours...just got in a healthy dinner and a nap and figured I'd post an update.
This morning kicked off at 9am talking to this guy here named Nathan. He is a nutritionist and used to compete himself. He also personal trains. But he was here to talk about nutrition. Man, was it good. He didn't tell us anything about specific diets to follow. But explained that when he helps people he looks at their blood stabilization. I'm going to explain this as best I can without a picture. But basically, when your glucose levels get too high then your body will start to hold onto fat. Conversely, if they get too low, that is when you get shaky and have cravings. So if you have low glucose, then you end up eating something sweet...well it sends the levels through the roof and then guess what you are not burning fat anymore. So it is really important to eat to where this balance is maintained. Similarly with stress and watching cortisol levels. I'm really fortunate that I don't eat when I'm stressed. Because I guess that is what most people do and it means that you have spiked the cortisol levels as well as the glucose levels.
Also, Nathan explained that many fad diets don't work because people never take the time to understand what they do after the diet is over. And the problem is your body lost weight really fast so it remembers more what you did before you were on the diet because that really wasn't that long ago. So it is sooooo easy to gain it all right back. The same is true for competitors. You have to be careful not to be done with the contest and then just binge because you will gain a ton of weight right away. And every time you cycle like this it gets harder and harder to loose the weight the next time. He told us some pretty scary stories. So that is a reason to try and stick to this lifestyle for good and not to go back to old habits!
Also, he said some really motivational things. That hit me close to home because I've definitely had times like he was describing:
1. No one should talk about "off-season". This is a bad term because it means you think you don't have to try as hard when you aren't getting ready for a contest.
2. No one should use the term "cheat" meal. It has a bad connotation as well. So you "cheat" and you feel like you did something wrong, and then you go to the gym as punishment when really the gym is something you have always loved to do. So instead, you should say "reward" meal.
3. Nathan explained that we are the "X-men" of society. Meaning, only 3 percentile of the population do what we do. Just take a trip to the mall (I've done this!) and watch people. You will realize that you are way better looking than the majority. And other people will also be looking at you because you look like, well, a freak. We don't look normal compared the majority of the US which is overweight. But with this territory comes a lot of difficulty and a major change in your lifestyle. He explained that you need to just shut the door on your previous life and tell yourself it's over and you are never going back. This is something that I feel like I've been really close to doing but needed someone to tell me. My friends keep talking about how I'll be back at all these parties and back to normal soon...and I've been thinking "no, not really, I like myself better now"....so I was glad to have someone tell me that I needed to "shut the door". I'm ready to do that.
I'm meeting one on one with Nathan tomorrow. I'm going to discuss my current nutrition plan with him and what I've been doing, and show him a picture from January and one from a couple weeks ago. I want his thoughts on what I'm doing and before I pay Amy $800 I want to see if I should consider going with someone like Nathan. After all, if I'm going to spend a ton of money, lets make sure the help is the best. Also because Amy is pretty liberal, and I sometimes think I could be doing better than I am but because she isn't that tough on me I get away with too much. She lets me eat some processed foods and isn't 100% clean...when I lost 20 pounds last year all on my own, it was because I ate 100% clean. So I'm a big fan of clean eating and a true believer in it.
Also, at posing today, Nathan had the opportunity to look at my poses closely in prep for our meeting tomorrow. He is looking for my strengths and weaknesses in body parts to see what I should change and where I need the most help. This is another thing I've never been able to do with Amy as we have never met one on one. What an opportunity to see if someone even thinks I have what it takes to compete in 19 weeks! I can not wait to see what he has to say!
Alright I will post about the remainder of the day later. I was extra excited about the nutrition portion so I knew it would take up a lot.
This morning kicked off at 9am talking to this guy here named Nathan. He is a nutritionist and used to compete himself. He also personal trains. But he was here to talk about nutrition. Man, was it good. He didn't tell us anything about specific diets to follow. But explained that when he helps people he looks at their blood stabilization. I'm going to explain this as best I can without a picture. But basically, when your glucose levels get too high then your body will start to hold onto fat. Conversely, if they get too low, that is when you get shaky and have cravings. So if you have low glucose, then you end up eating something sweet...well it sends the levels through the roof and then guess what you are not burning fat anymore. So it is really important to eat to where this balance is maintained. Similarly with stress and watching cortisol levels. I'm really fortunate that I don't eat when I'm stressed. Because I guess that is what most people do and it means that you have spiked the cortisol levels as well as the glucose levels.
Also, Nathan explained that many fad diets don't work because people never take the time to understand what they do after the diet is over. And the problem is your body lost weight really fast so it remembers more what you did before you were on the diet because that really wasn't that long ago. So it is sooooo easy to gain it all right back. The same is true for competitors. You have to be careful not to be done with the contest and then just binge because you will gain a ton of weight right away. And every time you cycle like this it gets harder and harder to loose the weight the next time. He told us some pretty scary stories. So that is a reason to try and stick to this lifestyle for good and not to go back to old habits!
Also, he said some really motivational things. That hit me close to home because I've definitely had times like he was describing:
1. No one should talk about "off-season". This is a bad term because it means you think you don't have to try as hard when you aren't getting ready for a contest.
2. No one should use the term "cheat" meal. It has a bad connotation as well. So you "cheat" and you feel like you did something wrong, and then you go to the gym as punishment when really the gym is something you have always loved to do. So instead, you should say "reward" meal.
3. Nathan explained that we are the "X-men" of society. Meaning, only 3 percentile of the population do what we do. Just take a trip to the mall (I've done this!) and watch people. You will realize that you are way better looking than the majority. And other people will also be looking at you because you look like, well, a freak. We don't look normal compared the majority of the US which is overweight. But with this territory comes a lot of difficulty and a major change in your lifestyle. He explained that you need to just shut the door on your previous life and tell yourself it's over and you are never going back. This is something that I feel like I've been really close to doing but needed someone to tell me. My friends keep talking about how I'll be back at all these parties and back to normal soon...and I've been thinking "no, not really, I like myself better now"....so I was glad to have someone tell me that I needed to "shut the door". I'm ready to do that.
I'm meeting one on one with Nathan tomorrow. I'm going to discuss my current nutrition plan with him and what I've been doing, and show him a picture from January and one from a couple weeks ago. I want his thoughts on what I'm doing and before I pay Amy $800 I want to see if I should consider going with someone like Nathan. After all, if I'm going to spend a ton of money, lets make sure the help is the best. Also because Amy is pretty liberal, and I sometimes think I could be doing better than I am but because she isn't that tough on me I get away with too much. She lets me eat some processed foods and isn't 100% clean...when I lost 20 pounds last year all on my own, it was because I ate 100% clean. So I'm a big fan of clean eating and a true believer in it.
Also, at posing today, Nathan had the opportunity to look at my poses closely in prep for our meeting tomorrow. He is looking for my strengths and weaknesses in body parts to see what I should change and where I need the most help. This is another thing I've never been able to do with Amy as we have never met one on one. What an opportunity to see if someone even thinks I have what it takes to compete in 19 weeks! I can not wait to see what he has to say!
Alright I will post about the remainder of the day later. I was extra excited about the nutrition portion so I knew it would take up a lot.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Wow! Long Day and Lots to Tell! FEM CAMP DAY 1
This was a super long day. This is going to be a long blog...
Started at 8:45 we had registration. This didn't take long, there are only 11 girls at camp. All look in pretty good shape, some better than others. I soon learned that there are only 3 of us trying to compete. All in different levels, groups.
But I need to pause right here to point out the most important thing of ALL day....MONICA BRANT. She is awe inspiring. When I saw here she looks larger than life. I don't even know how to explain her. She is the most fit person I have ever met and I could only dream of looking like her one day. She is absolutely amazing. Her skin is beautiful, her hair is beautiful...her body is the most amazing thing of all. I can not believe I am spending this weekend with her. She is absolutely a celebrity in the fitness world. It is truly amazing to be spending this time with her. (and I promise I will have a picture of her to post before this is over with!)
9:30 head to Gold's Gym. This is a nice gym. I love Austin. It is so much more fit than Houston. Even around the gym was healthy places to eat. My gym has a pizza joint next door at home. Like that's what you want to smell as you try to motivate yourself to work your ass off!!
So 10-11:30 we worked out upper body. Mainly chest, back, shoulders. Monica showed us everything up front and then we were turned loose. We did some really awesome moves that I have never done before. I had to take notes so I can remember when I get home. Nothing too difficult. We just split into groups and there were three different stations. Then at each station we did each exercise like a circuit and did about 12-15 reps of each exercise, and the circuit 2-3 times. There was a different trainer at each station and Monica then walked around to check us out. She would give us pointers and such. I believe my favorite part of this section was three main things:
1. I got to borrow Monica Brant's versa grips to do an unassisted chin up. And I was like one of the only girls that could do this without help. And I did 8 of them in a row...and then 10 of them in a row. It was awesome, and not nearly as hard as I thought it would be.
2. Monica's personal trainer was with us and he told me I looked really strong and therefore gave me more weight to use on some of the moves over the other girls in my group. Ha!
3. All the girls told me my traps are huge. I'm actually starting to think maybe they are too big...not sure about this yet, but in posing this caused a lot of problems for me.
11:30. We broke for lunch after the workout. Here is the great part: if you know me...you have not even seen your worst nightmare until you have multiplied me by 11. ALL of the people with me had coolers with food (including me) and we were always eating today. 7 of us went to lunch together and we all ate the same thing: the chicken plate which was a grilled chicken breast with steamed broccoli. I also got some fruit so I could have some carbs.
After this, about 12:30, we went to the gym again for posing practice. We put on our heels (which are not comfortable!!!!) and practiced walking. I have never felt bigger in my life having to strut my stuff with Monica Brant. This girl is amazing and I was not very motivated in my bathing suit and heels. After walking we practiced posing. This part started out rough, but I feel like I really really really learned a ton. Probably the most valuable part of my day. It is REALLY HARD to pose. I'm telling you I thought it was easier. NO. First of all, if you are doing the fun poses (or they look fun), you are turned in all kinds of a mess and trying to breathe is really hard since you can only do it from your chest (so your abs still look good). And then doing the back pose is really hard because my traps are so huge. I have to press my arms way way down so my traps don't flare up extra. And then you have to lift your chest, keep your legs straight, and make your hands look relaxed. We also practiced our quarter turns which I can do fast...but it is hard to hit the poses that fast!!!! I need to practice posing!!!! But I am so glad I got the help today. The best part of this section is that Monica said I have amazing dimples and that I need to work them on the stage!!! Pretty cool!!!! I felt cheesy smiling but I guess it is what you have to do! Maybe I can start going to the gym on Sundays to practice posing since there aren't any classes on those days....
2:00. Ok after this we changed back into workout clothes and headed for this place in Downtown Austin called Run Tex. We went to this indoor bootcamp called HEAT put on by this guy named Cody. This was not nearly as difficult as my crossfit class but at least I got some cardio in today. Also, the other girls were for the most part dying. I was good. But after this I was hungry and we were all eating our snacks again! It was too funny! I have never seen so many people just like me that happen to have whey powder on hand for a protein shake!!!
About 4:00 we had Q/A with Monica. I think I asked her the most questions because I'm one of the only competitors. She talked to us about how much she works out and her nutrition. The biggest thing I learned is she does not take time off. Ok, if you want a body like Mo then you can not take time off!!!! She works out even on vacation. Also, as far as her nutrition, she is consistent and she does not have cheat meals and for sure not cheat days! She just treats herself if she is really wanting something and it is just not often that she allows for it. This totally has motivated me to quit cheat days. Also, I'm glad I'm alcohol free now for the next 19 weeks. Totally was time. I'll never come close to having her body unless I stopped anyway.
Finally....and this is at about 4:30 now....we had a motivational speaker talk to us. She was a pretty normal looking girl. But then she showed me a picture of herself in the Figure contest she did last year! WOW. She lost 30 POUNDS in 8 WEEKS. Who does that!!!!????? She won first place!!!! At that point, I knew that even though I don't look like Monica....I can do this contest! I know that I can do it! I just have to get on my nutrition and stick with it and I will look that good!!!! (and practice posing as I learned today!)
So our day was over at 6:30. Back to the hotel and then to find dinner. I went to this place called My Fit Foods. This is a competitors dream! They had all healthy foods that are totally clean and you just have to pop them in the microwave. So I bought a dinner with 35 grams of protein and only 220 calories! I'm still kind of hungry so I might have to eat another rice cake... But I found out this place is in Houston! YaY! I will have to look it up! Also, they had me throw a dart and I hit the magic number, so I got my meal free. WTF...just something random.
Now I'm ready for tomorrow!!!! Super excited about the rest of the weekend!!!! Oh and if you think today looked like a long day...tomorrow is a 12 hour day!
Started at 8:45 we had registration. This didn't take long, there are only 11 girls at camp. All look in pretty good shape, some better than others. I soon learned that there are only 3 of us trying to compete. All in different levels, groups.
But I need to pause right here to point out the most important thing of ALL day....MONICA BRANT. She is awe inspiring. When I saw here she looks larger than life. I don't even know how to explain her. She is the most fit person I have ever met and I could only dream of looking like her one day. She is absolutely amazing. Her skin is beautiful, her hair is beautiful...her body is the most amazing thing of all. I can not believe I am spending this weekend with her. She is absolutely a celebrity in the fitness world. It is truly amazing to be spending this time with her. (and I promise I will have a picture of her to post before this is over with!)
9:30 head to Gold's Gym. This is a nice gym. I love Austin. It is so much more fit than Houston. Even around the gym was healthy places to eat. My gym has a pizza joint next door at home. Like that's what you want to smell as you try to motivate yourself to work your ass off!!
So 10-11:30 we worked out upper body. Mainly chest, back, shoulders. Monica showed us everything up front and then we were turned loose. We did some really awesome moves that I have never done before. I had to take notes so I can remember when I get home. Nothing too difficult. We just split into groups and there were three different stations. Then at each station we did each exercise like a circuit and did about 12-15 reps of each exercise, and the circuit 2-3 times. There was a different trainer at each station and Monica then walked around to check us out. She would give us pointers and such. I believe my favorite part of this section was three main things:
1. I got to borrow Monica Brant's versa grips to do an unassisted chin up. And I was like one of the only girls that could do this without help. And I did 8 of them in a row...and then 10 of them in a row. It was awesome, and not nearly as hard as I thought it would be.
2. Monica's personal trainer was with us and he told me I looked really strong and therefore gave me more weight to use on some of the moves over the other girls in my group. Ha!
3. All the girls told me my traps are huge. I'm actually starting to think maybe they are too big...not sure about this yet, but in posing this caused a lot of problems for me.
11:30. We broke for lunch after the workout. Here is the great part: if you know me...you have not even seen your worst nightmare until you have multiplied me by 11. ALL of the people with me had coolers with food (including me) and we were always eating today. 7 of us went to lunch together and we all ate the same thing: the chicken plate which was a grilled chicken breast with steamed broccoli. I also got some fruit so I could have some carbs.
After this, about 12:30, we went to the gym again for posing practice. We put on our heels (which are not comfortable!!!!) and practiced walking. I have never felt bigger in my life having to strut my stuff with Monica Brant. This girl is amazing and I was not very motivated in my bathing suit and heels. After walking we practiced posing. This part started out rough, but I feel like I really really really learned a ton. Probably the most valuable part of my day. It is REALLY HARD to pose. I'm telling you I thought it was easier. NO. First of all, if you are doing the fun poses (or they look fun), you are turned in all kinds of a mess and trying to breathe is really hard since you can only do it from your chest (so your abs still look good). And then doing the back pose is really hard because my traps are so huge. I have to press my arms way way down so my traps don't flare up extra. And then you have to lift your chest, keep your legs straight, and make your hands look relaxed. We also practiced our quarter turns which I can do fast...but it is hard to hit the poses that fast!!!! I need to practice posing!!!! But I am so glad I got the help today. The best part of this section is that Monica said I have amazing dimples and that I need to work them on the stage!!! Pretty cool!!!! I felt cheesy smiling but I guess it is what you have to do! Maybe I can start going to the gym on Sundays to practice posing since there aren't any classes on those days....
2:00. Ok after this we changed back into workout clothes and headed for this place in Downtown Austin called Run Tex. We went to this indoor bootcamp called HEAT put on by this guy named Cody. This was not nearly as difficult as my crossfit class but at least I got some cardio in today. Also, the other girls were for the most part dying. I was good. But after this I was hungry and we were all eating our snacks again! It was too funny! I have never seen so many people just like me that happen to have whey powder on hand for a protein shake!!!
About 4:00 we had Q/A with Monica. I think I asked her the most questions because I'm one of the only competitors. She talked to us about how much she works out and her nutrition. The biggest thing I learned is she does not take time off. Ok, if you want a body like Mo then you can not take time off!!!! She works out even on vacation. Also, as far as her nutrition, she is consistent and she does not have cheat meals and for sure not cheat days! She just treats herself if she is really wanting something and it is just not often that she allows for it. This totally has motivated me to quit cheat days. Also, I'm glad I'm alcohol free now for the next 19 weeks. Totally was time. I'll never come close to having her body unless I stopped anyway.
Finally....and this is at about 4:30 now....we had a motivational speaker talk to us. She was a pretty normal looking girl. But then she showed me a picture of herself in the Figure contest she did last year! WOW. She lost 30 POUNDS in 8 WEEKS. Who does that!!!!????? She won first place!!!! At that point, I knew that even though I don't look like Monica....I can do this contest! I know that I can do it! I just have to get on my nutrition and stick with it and I will look that good!!!! (and practice posing as I learned today!)
So our day was over at 6:30. Back to the hotel and then to find dinner. I went to this place called My Fit Foods. This is a competitors dream! They had all healthy foods that are totally clean and you just have to pop them in the microwave. So I bought a dinner with 35 grams of protein and only 220 calories! I'm still kind of hungry so I might have to eat another rice cake... But I found out this place is in Houston! YaY! I will have to look it up! Also, they had me throw a dart and I hit the magic number, so I got my meal free. WTF...just something random.
Now I'm ready for tomorrow!!!! Super excited about the rest of the weekend!!!! Oh and if you think today looked like a long day...tomorrow is a 12 hour day!
Thursday, June 10, 2010
F.E.M. Camp Has Arrived
I am leaving today for Austin to go to my long awaited F.E.M. (Fun, Educational, Motivational) Camp, put on by the one and only Monica Brant.
Will post updates later as I get there and find out more about what is going on. But here is a taste of what I know we are doing (because I had to pack all these items!!!):
3 workouts at the gym
1 boot camp outdoor workout
Posing Practice/Stage Presentation
Makeup Lessons
Photo Shoot
Nutritional Seminar
Seminar on Competition Suits
And who knows what else!!!??? As I said, I will be posting more info after I get there and probably after I get through tomorrow.
It has been crazy at my house because I've been trying to pack for this weekend and also get ready for Las Vegas, which is Monday. So I have to come home from Austin only to unpack and re-pack to leave for Vegas. And since I am traveling, I have to pack food for this weekend as well as all my supplements and snacks for Vegas too. With not much time to go shopping in between trips or even do laundry, it requires a TON of packing. Craziness.
Will post updates later as I get there and find out more about what is going on. But here is a taste of what I know we are doing (because I had to pack all these items!!!):
3 workouts at the gym
1 boot camp outdoor workout
Posing Practice/Stage Presentation
Makeup Lessons
Photo Shoot
Nutritional Seminar
Seminar on Competition Suits
And who knows what else!!!??? As I said, I will be posting more info after I get there and probably after I get through tomorrow.
It has been crazy at my house because I've been trying to pack for this weekend and also get ready for Las Vegas, which is Monday. So I have to come home from Austin only to unpack and re-pack to leave for Vegas. And since I am traveling, I have to pack food for this weekend as well as all my supplements and snacks for Vegas too. With not much time to go shopping in between trips or even do laundry, it requires a TON of packing. Craziness.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Latest Pics - 20 weeks out
Here are my photos 20 weeks out. Will be deciding this week if pre-contest will be 12 weeks or 16. I am 17.9% body fat so I'm fairly sure we will need the entire 16 weeks to get me down to 10%.
Also, no more alcohol from this point forward. It's only about 120 days. Never ever ever have I gone that long without alcohol but I'm actually really glad it will be out of my diet now. It just has a horrible effect on acheiving a six pack. LOL!
Also, no more alcohol from this point forward. It's only about 120 days. Never ever ever have I gone that long without alcohol but I'm actually really glad it will be out of my diet now. It just has a horrible effect on acheiving a six pack. LOL!
Mental Break Down
I had a total melt down last week.
This is what happened. I had the 4 day holiday weekend. I was so good and didn't cheat until Sunday, which was the designated cheat day. Monday was the holiday but for some reason, I was so good all day and then at the very end of the day wanted to drink some beer by the pool. So I did. And I ended up snacking a little extra. Nothing over the top though. But then I didn't get to bed until late and guess what? I didn't go work out on Tuesday morning. So I tried to go for a good 2 mile walk after work and that was ok but I wasn't really getting the cardio I normally would do. So the next morning I woke up like usual and went to the gym, but I was planning on going after work also to my Crossfit class to make up for Tuesday's missed workout. I had all my stuff to go. But then, as the day went on my job was so busy and stressful and there was just no way I was going to be able to leave by 4:30. Well this was frustrating because I was also counting on the crossfit class to get Jonathan to take my body fat. So now I've missed another workout and have no idea how fat I am. And my sister was coming in town for the weekend and I just knew that we were going to eat bad because it was going to be the last weekend of alcohol...so I'm totally pissed off and thinking how can I be this stressed out when I'm not even pre-contest yet? I don't even have to go to the gym twice a day until I'm pre-contest!!! So then thinking that way was making me more upset because I keep thinking how hard the pre-contest dieting must be and how hard it will be to go to the gym twice a day.
Long story short, my dad just called to say hello and I busted out into tears. Anyway, he reminded me that I really am doing this contest to see if I can even compete. All this other pressure is kind of ridiculous. I'm not really trying to win a trophy or anything. So when I thought about it that way, I realized that yeah, it's not like I can't go pre-contest today if I wanted to. So I cooled off and went to bed and was fine by the next day. But I'm telling you, I was so worked up. I think part of the problem is my testosterone kicks in pretty hard now and my hormones are all jacked up. It's just weird.
No offense to any other competitors out there....but it is really really really hard to try to do a contest and have a crazy job. I manage 7 technical people. And it would be one thing if all of them had the same "job role" but they don't. There in 4 different areas completely. And there have been a ton of changes going on at work. So, I'm loaded up at my job. I'm pretty sure most competitors don't have the type of job that I have. I would love to just have a regular 9-5 job with more time to sleep in the morning. Anyway, when this is all over with...if I can actually pull it off....I'm not going to have any compassion for any lady out there trying to bitch to me about how busy they freaking are or how hard it is for them to find time to do something. I have been only getting about 4.5 to 5 hours of sleep each night because of how busy this schedule is. And I haven't even begun to explain to anyone that I will only be at my house one night next week!!!
This is what happened. I had the 4 day holiday weekend. I was so good and didn't cheat until Sunday, which was the designated cheat day. Monday was the holiday but for some reason, I was so good all day and then at the very end of the day wanted to drink some beer by the pool. So I did. And I ended up snacking a little extra. Nothing over the top though. But then I didn't get to bed until late and guess what? I didn't go work out on Tuesday morning. So I tried to go for a good 2 mile walk after work and that was ok but I wasn't really getting the cardio I normally would do. So the next morning I woke up like usual and went to the gym, but I was planning on going after work also to my Crossfit class to make up for Tuesday's missed workout. I had all my stuff to go. But then, as the day went on my job was so busy and stressful and there was just no way I was going to be able to leave by 4:30. Well this was frustrating because I was also counting on the crossfit class to get Jonathan to take my body fat. So now I've missed another workout and have no idea how fat I am. And my sister was coming in town for the weekend and I just knew that we were going to eat bad because it was going to be the last weekend of alcohol...so I'm totally pissed off and thinking how can I be this stressed out when I'm not even pre-contest yet? I don't even have to go to the gym twice a day until I'm pre-contest!!! So then thinking that way was making me more upset because I keep thinking how hard the pre-contest dieting must be and how hard it will be to go to the gym twice a day.
Long story short, my dad just called to say hello and I busted out into tears. Anyway, he reminded me that I really am doing this contest to see if I can even compete. All this other pressure is kind of ridiculous. I'm not really trying to win a trophy or anything. So when I thought about it that way, I realized that yeah, it's not like I can't go pre-contest today if I wanted to. So I cooled off and went to bed and was fine by the next day. But I'm telling you, I was so worked up. I think part of the problem is my testosterone kicks in pretty hard now and my hormones are all jacked up. It's just weird.
No offense to any other competitors out there....but it is really really really hard to try to do a contest and have a crazy job. I manage 7 technical people. And it would be one thing if all of them had the same "job role" but they don't. There in 4 different areas completely. And there have been a ton of changes going on at work. So, I'm loaded up at my job. I'm pretty sure most competitors don't have the type of job that I have. I would love to just have a regular 9-5 job with more time to sleep in the morning. Anyway, when this is all over with...if I can actually pull it off....I'm not going to have any compassion for any lady out there trying to bitch to me about how busy they freaking are or how hard it is for them to find time to do something. I have been only getting about 4.5 to 5 hours of sleep each night because of how busy this schedule is. And I haven't even begun to explain to anyone that I will only be at my house one night next week!!!
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