I DID IT.

I reached my goal and I could not be more proud of myself!!!!

The two questions I have been getting asked the most are:

1.“So, how was it???

2. “Did you place??”

  

Well, I can easily answer question #2.

Nope. :)

As far as #1 goes, I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. So, if you’re up for it and if you have some time, read on. If you are just interested in the photos, that’s ok too. :)

The week started out with crazy amounts of cardio and even included a couple of cardio sessions wearing a garbage bag. 

Yes, I’m serious:

My best buddy Shana came to town on Thursday night which kicked off this insane weekend.

Friday, December 13^th:

The day before my competition started out with an 8:00 am tan. 

A very….very…VERY scary tan. (see below)

This was to be expected, so I was cool with it. After that, I raced home to bake sweet potatoes chips. This was a carb loading day, so I had to eat a bunch of carbs every 2 hours. And not just any carbs- complex carbs that I was positive wouldn’t bloat me. So, that meant sweet potatoes. They actually weren’t too bad. I just sliced them up, sprayed them with zero calorie olive oil spray, seasoned them with paprika, black pepper, cayenne pepper and chili powder and baked them at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. But, besides the baking, I was scrambling around trying to pack for the weekend. The plan was to get everything packed up, run to Target for a few last minute items and then get to Culver City to check in to our hotel. After a lot of running around, we hit the road. Target was interesting considering I looked unnaturally dark and I was in pajamas but I am sure hope they’ve all seen worse.

We got to Culver City, got checked in and I had a couple of hours to just relax before our athlete meeting at 6:30 pm.

When we got to the hotel where the meeting was to take place, the lobby was crawling with tanned, muscle-ey people. There were some serious characters. My favorites were the girls in the tight bodycon dresses and heels who were dressed like they were hittin’ the club later. I looked down at my workout tank, jeans and boots and wondered if I missed the memo where we were told to dress like we were trying to land a date.

Anyway, the whole process was very chaotic. There was no clear signage of where we were supposed to go or what we were supposed to do. It was all very messy and only added to my already unsettled nerves. I had my coach, my fellow Train Insane Bikini Girls and Shana with me and we all just felt very lost and annoyed. Finally, we got all the proper paperwork filled out, we got our heights measured (incorrectly….unless we have all shrunk) and paid all of our necessary fees. When we were done, I went up to my team’s hotel room for my next scary dark tan…minus my face.

Once my tanning was done, I went back to my hotel room, packed up my suitcase for the competition and went to bed.

Saturday, December 14^th aka COMPETITION DAY!!!!

The alarm went off at 3:30 am so that I could throw on some pajama pants and flip flops and head over to my team’s hotel room for makeup and tanning touchups at 4:00 am. As far as eating goes, our coach had us switch to simple carbs which entailed rice cakes with raspberry jam. YUMMMY!!! It was wonderful except for the fact that we had basically been cut off from drinking water since noon the day before. Sooo….we were pretty thirsty. We were only allowed to have a sip of water here and there.  

At 8:00 am we had to head to the venue for another meeting to get the rundown on what we’re supposed to do on stage. At that point, I felt like I was going to throw up. I was thinking, “I can’t believe I’m doing this.” That was also when I discovered that the stage was carpeted. I had been practicing on wood floors. Super.

We went back to the hotel to gather up everything we were going to need for the competition. Once we were all in our bikinis, we started taking some photos. :) My coach was happy with how I was leaning out and so was I!!!! I’m not kidding…I was looking in the mirror and couldn’t believe I had abs. So crazy!

We left for the competition at 10:00am. When we got there, we were not allowed to go back to the dressing rooms just yet. This was a VERY big show (400 competitors) and they didn’t have room for all the girls to be back there at once. The plan was to let the bikini girls back there once the figure girls had finished competing. We decided to just hang out in the audience. I found my Mommy and sister and of course, my amazing boyfriend. :) I was so happy to see all of them! My Mom and sister drove all the way out from Las Vegas that morning just to see me compete!

Once the auditorium started really filling up and it got more and more crowded, I got more and more anxious. I was starting to almost panic. It was just so overwhelming. There were people everywhere, I was second guessing my makeup, I was nervous and unsure about my poses because I had no time to practice, people were trying to talk to me, I was trying to make sure I was sticking to my carb loading schedule…..it was just too much all at once. Shana had gotten her tan and makeup done by someone else so she showed up later than I did. When she got there, she took one look at me and knew I was about to lose it. That’s when we grabbed our suitcases and went outside. We followed the building around to a parking lot and found a quiet area on a walkway where we could sit down and just relax. That saved me!

My fellow TI bikini girl Hannah came back there with us and our coach had us working on “pumping up”. We did lots of lunges and other butt/leg moves. We did some band work to pump up our arms. 

Once we had properly glued (and I do mean GLUE) our suit bottoms onto our bodies, we went backstage to wait our turn.

I can honestly say that I was absolutely terrified to go on stage. I was standing back there and all the girls seemed so excited. Not me. I knew I had to squash my fear because otherwise I was going to embarrass myself. So, when I heard them call my number, I took a deep breath and 100% faked that I was excited and confident. I did not sacrifice my social life for 5 ½ months just to choke on stage. I hit all my poses and made sure to hold each one so that I could get plenty of pictures. Then I took my place next to the other girls already on stage and just smiled away at the audience.

Once we got off of the stage, I felt a little better. I went out and found my Mom, Sister and Nate. I gave them all huge hugs and I even cried. They all told me how great I did and it felt good to have it behind me.

My coach and the other girls left to go have lunch. Shana, Nate and I decided to go back to our hotel room to regroup.  The thing is…this competition wasn’t over. That was just the pre-judging. The finals show was later on that night, so I was supposed to go back and do it all over again. Once in the room, I started crying. I didn’t want to go back. I was tired of being in my gross tan and stage makeup. I didn’t look like me and I was tired of feeling insecure and…well….just “not pretty”. All I wanted to do was take a shower, wash off all of my tan and makeup, put on a cute outfit and go out to dinner with my best friend and boyfriend. I even got to the point of calling my coach to tell him that I don’t want to go back.

Well, that wasn’t an option. He said, “You’ve got people coming to see you. You’ve gotta come back.” 

So that settled that.

I then continued to cry. That’s when Shana…my best friend…SAVED THE DAY. She busted out her train case and started working on my face. It’s not like it was bad. It just wasn’t me. She toned down my eyes a bit, gave me a bit of rosiness on my cheeks to help offset the orangey-ness, and we changed my lip color to something more muted. I finally felt like myself again….or at least a closer version of myself. I felt pretty and I was ready to try this whole thing again.

We staked our claim on a corner of the dressing room backstage, laid out a blanket, popped open some wine and started having a little bit of fun while we waited.

I hit the stage for the second time and I did my routine once more. I’m sure my posing wasn’t as spot on as the morning show, but I don’t care. I just wanted to finish it.

When I got off the stage, I felt like a huge weight had been lifted. I found Nate and gave him a huge hug. I just kept saying, “It’s over! It’s over!”

We didn’t get out of the venue until close to midnight. Shana and I changed into cute outfits and we were ready to go out! Unfortunately, Culver City doesn’t have much of a nightlife..sooo…we went to In-N-Out. We took our food back to the hotel where we indulged in burgers, fries and wine!

The next morning I took a look at my stomach to see if I had inflicted any damage. So far so good!

So…to answer the question, “How was it?”…I would say that I absolutely accomplished my goal. I am so proud of the body that I worked hard for. All the missed nights out, hours in the gym, the actual blood, sweat and tears…it was all completely worth it. I feel amazing!!!! The event itself was a bit of a nightmare and I’m not sure that I’m interested in doing another one. We’ll see. Never say “never” I guess.

And as far as the question about whether or not I placed? Well, honestly, I already knew going into this that I probably wouldn’t place. There are a lot of politics involved and to me, winning a trophy wasn’t the goal. My goal was to get myself in the best shape possible, get on a stage and get some amazing photos. So, I did exactly that and I couldn’t be happier about it. :)

This experience not only gave me a new body, it gave me a new outlook on life, food and fitness. I never want to be the old me again. I love being fit and toned and having muscles. I love getting dressed in the morning and holding my head up high. I have confidence that I didn’t have before and I have proven to myself that I can accomplish anything I set my mind to. This was the hardest challenge I have taken on and I did it. I proved to myself that I follow through with my promises and I have the drive to finish what I start. And along the way, I really hope that I have inspired others to do the same. I know it sounds cheesy, but ANYONE can do this! I don’t have magical powers that make me stronger than anyone else or have more willpower than anyone else. I made a decision to change my life and I did it.

Many more photos will come later. I only have a few for now. I’ll be receiving a disc in the mail with all of my images, so I’ll get some of those posted later.

I want to thank my coach, Geoff Etherson with Train Insane Gym for not only training me, but for making me believe that I could do this. I never pictured this for myself or believed that I could look like one of “those girls”. Geoff told me what to do and I did it. We may not have always agreed and I may have run crying to my boyfriend when I felt like Geoff didn’t have a soul LOL 

(I’m kidding….kinda) 

But he truly cares about me and the other bikini girls and worked SO hard to make sure we reached our goals!

I want to thank my fellow Train Insane Bikini Girls Natasha and Hannah! WE DID IT!!!! I loved our group texts where we would whine about our horrible lives and try to decipher whatever Geoff posted for us for the week. Haha  And thank you, Hannah, for signing up for this crazy circus. I never would have done it if you hadn’t gotten the ball rolling.  

(P.S. Don’t ever do this during the holidays again)

I want to thank Shana Dahan for not only saving me during the competition, but for helping me keep it together in general throughout the whole process. We always had the dream of looking so amazing that we would be able to run in bikinis. Well, Shana, I think we’re there. Although, I have no intention of actually running in my bikini. Lol

Most of all, I have to thank my love, Nate. I could do an entire post about how there’s no way I could have accomplished this without him. He was so patient with me during all of my breakdowns when I was hating the process. He sacrificed along with me and didn’t eat bad foods and didn’t drink. He measured and packed my food daily. He was my rock and my support 100% of the time and I know I am the luckiest girl in the world to have him. I love you so much, Nate. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. It’s finally over and now we can go on vacation!!!!!

Of course I want to thank every single one of you who reached out to me via email or Facebook or through my blog. Thank you for your support! It means so much! Competition training can feel very isolating and it helps to know that people are cheering you on.

I don’t know what’s next for me…but that’s okay. I just want to relax for a while! 

On that note, I’ll wrap this up. Thanks, everyone! I’ll post more pics as I get them!!! 

1 Week Out: Slooooowly Approaching the Finish Line!

And when I say "slowly"...I really mean it.

That's me....pulling a sled....with weight on it...in the rain. Haha...never a dull moment at Train Insane Gym!

This week I managed to accomplish two-a-day cardios. I didn't know how I was going to do it. But, after an emotional meltdown midweek, I made a decision to cut the whining and finish my work. 

My alarm would go off at 4 a.m. I would hop out of bed, change my clothes and get to the gym. After work, I would change again, get in my car and head back to the gym. I did that schedule three times this week and it was EXHAUSTING. And I'm just talking about my cardio. I still had plenty of other work to do on top of that (see above photo). 

This week really tested me on many levels. FYI..when you are carb cycling for as long as I have, your brain stops functioning normally. I misplaced or left things in various places so many times this week. I'm forgetful and clumsy. Ugh..I can't wait to be on a normal balanced diet again. 

But, here I am. It's now Sunday and I'm still alive.  This week is still going to be tough. Monday through Thursday I will be doing two-a-day cardios, as well as additional work to tighten things up. 

I'm hoping that the excitement of it being my last week will be enough to get me through! 

My last week...wow...can you believe it? It feels like forever ago that I started all of this! 

I started my training July 1st, but I didn't take photos. I have no idea why. But, just to give you some sort of comparison, I pulled up my photos from September 1st and compared them to my photos from this weekend. I am blown away with the progress in just three months!!!!!

I'm so excited and nervous to get on the stage next weekend. I'm excited for it to all be over, but I also just can't wait to see what my 5 1/2 months of hard work has produced! 

I will for sure have a huge blog post from my competition. Whether you like it or not, I will be wallpapering this page with photos. LOL

Until then, I hope you all have a great week! See ya on the other side! 

2 Weeks Out: Are We There Yet???

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

Here's how I spent mine.....

Yummmm...ground turkey and Sriracha! That's new! :-/

I'm just going to spare you my whiny rant about why I'm annoyed that I'm training for a bikini competition during all of my favorite holidays. 

I'll spare you that so I can move onto my whiny rant about all the cardio I have to do now! UGH!!!

I was already doing 5 days a week of 1 hour cardio sessions on top of my 4 days of lifting..etc. 

NOW...my coach has informed me that 3 of those cardio days need to be two-a-days.

Two times a day...I need to do a one hour cardio session. Oh..and I still need to do my normal workouts 4 days this week. Oh...and I still need to work my full time job, measure and pack all of my food ALL the time, and last but not least...I was told to make sure I'm getting 8 hours of sleep a night. 

Hi...umm...I don't know what calendar my coach is looking at but the last time I checked, there were only 24 hours in a day. 

I'm also pretty positive that he enjoys telling me how horrible each week is going to be. 

(Yes, Geoff...you know it's true. You LOVE seeing the look of horror on my face.)

*sigh*

I just need to remind myself that I only have 12 more days of this. 

12 more days...12 more days...12 more days...

In other news, I get to shave all of my arm hair off for the first time in my life this week. That should be interesting. And I booked the first of a few tanning sessions next week.

By the end of next week, I will be a dark, hairless redhead with an obscene amount of makeup wearing a shiny bikini and heels I would normally never be caught dead in. 

Who. Am. I.

Ok...time for progress photos!

I went to Vegas over the weekend for my hair appointment, so my sister had the task of taking my pics. It was 45 degrees outside and I'm fairly certain her neighbors were able to watch this play out. 

But really...let's be honest...I said goodbye to my modesty when I signed up for this whole competition thing.

I'm pretty happy with my progress so far and so is my coach, which is great!

That means all of this torture WILL pay off. 

Well, I'm off to bed! Have a great week, everyone!

3 Weeks Out: I Think I've Got This

Happy Saturday, everyone! I am sooooo happy that today's workout is over and tomorrow is my rest day! And as if that wasn't enough to rejoice about...today is my high carb day! 

I had a much better week this week and I'm feeling very positive. I'm finally feeling like I'm approaching the finish line and I'm so happy with my progress!!!!

As far as my workouts went, I had to do 5 days of 1 hour cardio sessions. One hour really feels like forever when you're glued to a row machine. Ugh. I also had to do all my usual lifting. My coach wants me focusing on my lower body and abs right now as my "extra" work beyond my lifting and cardio. My food is still the same. Still doing the carb cycling thing. It's fine. I'm used to that now. And as long as my body keeps changing, my coach isn't going to change my food. Hooray!

We took measurements today and all my measurements went down from last week. I'm also down another 2 pounds on the scale. All of this is great news and I'm right where I need to be for my 3 weeks out point. :)

Ok..time for progress pics! Here ya go!

I saw some significant progress in my back in just one week! Here's last week vs. this week:

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! Have a slice of pecan pie just for me! :)

4 Weeks Out: I'm supposed to wear what???

Yeah. I know. 

And in case you aren't sure what you're looking at it, that is the BACK of my bikini bottoms. LOL

All I can say is thank goodness I'll have adhesive to stick everything in place!

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a few weeks. It's not that I haven't had the time. 

I mean...it's true that I practically live at the gym, but I've had plenty of time on the weekends to do blog updates. The truth is, every time I sit down to write, all I want to say was how I'm so sick of this training. Who wants to read that? Whenever I read other bikini competitor blogs, it's all about how great they feel and how awesome their training is going and blah blah blah. Well, I'm sorry. I guess I'm just more of whiner. It sucked not being able to drink champagne at my sister Jenn's bachelorette party. I was so sad to not be able to go out to dinner with my love on our anniversary. And this weekend, I'm missing my nephew's birthday in Vegas because I can't afford to be away from my gym at this point. At least once a week I cry for one reason or another. I even cried in the bathroom at the gym this morning because I was having a hard time with one of my lifts. I've turned into this emotional basket case and I'm just so over it. 

Ok, that is the end of my rant. I will say that I do have my good days here and there. It's awesome to put on clothes that were too tight last year only to realize that they are way too big this year! I never wake up feeling bloated or gross or guilty about what I ate the night before. I feel like I walk with my head a little higher and that in itself is a great feeling. :)

I'm not posting the negative stuff for you to feel bad for me. I know that this is my choice and I am free to quit at anytime. I am posting the negative stuff because it's real and it's what's going on in my head. I think it's only fair to show a complete picture of this process. It's not all cute tanks, FB check-ins and yummy protein shakes. It's a constant emotional and mental battle and sometimes you just want to curl up in a ball and not leave your bed. 

So, moving on...I'm four weeks out and I can't even believe I'm getting close to the end. I feel like I've been training for this competition for a hundred years. When it's all said and done, I will have been doing this for about 6 months. Longest 6 months of my life! :)

I have pretty much nailed down all the details. Bikini has arrived, shoes have arrived, makeup and tanning scheduled, hotel booked...etc. I really just need to work on my posing. Poor A.B. having to watch me practice posing in my 4 inch heels in our dining room. For some reason, he seems to not mind. lol

Here are this week's photos. I took them VERY early this morning and realized later that maybe I should have at least smiled. Oh well, I'll smile next week. lol

One view I never post is my back...mainly because I don't know how I feel about plastering my butt on the internet. Anyway, I decided to crop my booty out for the time being. I'm sure my butt will make an appearance at some point. I'm just really proud of the progress I've made in my back! So, just to show you...here is a September picture versus this morning's picture. :) 

Thanks again to everyone who reads this and continues to encourage me. This is the hardest thing I have ever done and I soooooo appreciate the support. 

Have a great weekend, everybody!

7 Weeks Out: Dealing With Meanies

Why, hello!

I'm sorry it's been a couple of weeks since I've posted. Or maybe no one is really reading this and therefore I'm apologizing to myself. In any event, I will want to look back on this time in my life and see how this whole nutty experience went down. So for that, I need to make sure I keep up on this blog!

As far as my diet and workouts go, the calories have decreased and the workload has increased. 

So saying that training for a bikini competition is hard is probably the biggest understatement ever. 

It's a constant, 24/7 challenge. If I'm not physically prepping my food, I'm thinking about my next meal or my next day's numbers. If I'm not working out at the moment, I'm planning out what my next day's workout is going to be. There really isn't a moment in my day that does not revolve around planning food, prepping food or working out. The only time I'm really not doing any of those things is when I'm sleeping. I would say that I'm not doing those things while I'm at work...but since that's where I eat a bulk of my meals, I don't really get a break from it there either. 

As much as I'm complaining, I did know it would be like this and I did sign up for it. 

So... every day I put my big girl panties on, grab my packed lunch and gym bag and I push through.

What I didn't expect are the negative reactions I have gotten from some people. 

I want to be clear. For the most part, I have gotten nothing but overwhelming support from my friends, family and of course my amazing boyfriend. I especially love all of my fellow Train Insane gym peeps. They definitely help keep me going!

But what's funny is that there are some people who have gone the opposite way. 

Whether it's making fun of my food, making comments about how dumb this whole thing is, or making it a point to literally shove bad food in my face to taunt me with it....I'll never understand why they think that's okay. 

Jealousy? Insecurity? Maybe both, perhaps? 

All I know is that I have enough of my own challenges to face, so dealing with people like that is exhausting.

Anyhoo, that's my rant for the week. 

And for all of the positive people in my life, I just want to say how I much I appreciate you! All of the encouragement and support- you have no idea how much it helps! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!

Ok, enough talking. On to progress photos!

So, A.B. and I have had the most difficult time trying to get consistent lighting in our house. So today, I gave up and took some poorly lit, slightly blurry pics in my mirror. And since my first progress photos were taken this way, I thought it only fitting to compare the two. 

So, here they are- 15 Weeks Out versus my current picture at 7 Weeks Out. I'm happy that my waist is shrinking, stomach is flattening out and also happy that I'm building up my booty! Thank GOODness this is working.

That's all for now. I'll be ordering my bikini next week! Yikes! I can't believe we're almost into November and I'm starting to see the finish line. So crazy!

Bye for now! 

9 Weeks Out: Carb OBSESSED!

Hi folks! I'm back again with another progress report. I'm sorry I've been a little M.I.A. the past couple weeks. I was sick and then I was out of town..blah..blah..blah. 

But, I never slacked.... not even a little bit!

I was recently asked by a gym member, "So, how are things going? Is it getting easier?" 

It's weird. When I first started this process, I thought the food was the hardest part. I was sad on the weekends because I couldn't eat this or couldn't eat that. Boo-hoo...poor me! Haha! 

But now? Now I feel like the training is the hardest part! 

Our work has drastically increased and it is so hard for me to fit it all in on top of my full time job. 

So, I told her, "No...it's definitely getting harder."

And as far as my current diet goes, we have started the dreaded "carb cycling". So, Day #1 is no carbs, high protein, high fat. Day #2 is half of my normal carbs, high protein, high fat. Day #3 is high carbs, high protein, low fat....and I keep cycling that pattern for now. 

It's all more specific than that, but that's a general overview.

Let me tell you...not only are carbs fun to eat...they actually make you happy and make you feel better. My workouts feel so much harder lately. I am easily winded and I don't feel as strong. It sucks. And I find myself always thinking about the next carbs I get to eat. For example, yesterday was a no carb day and I told A.B. last night, "I can't wait to go to bed, because when I wake up, I get to have oatmeal!!!"

Yep...this is what I have been reduced to.

And what's even worse...this too will get harder. Pretty soon our calories will be cut down and my "no carb" days may increase as well. Oh..and if all that isn't enough to kill my spirit, I'm positive my workouts will increase. 

But..I have to constantly remind myself that I signed up for this. I knew it was going to be the hardest thing I've ever done, but it's also going to be SO worth it in the end!

So here are some progress photos. I decided to post some comparison shots. Aside from the fact that I desperately need a tan in order to see any sort of muscle tone, I'm pretty happy that I'm slimming down!!!

 It's important for me to see progress.  On a day to day basis, I just go, go, go..and I don't pay attention to how my body is looking, When I get to see that it's actually paying off, it really helps keep me motivated! :)

So that's it for now. I think I should be seeing more drastic results over the next few weeks now that our carb cycling has begun. I can't wait to see what version of hell my coach has in store for us. :)

Bye for now!

12 Weeks Out: The Secret to Great Abs- Better Lighting

Here I am...at the "12 Weeks Out" point. I can't believe it!

Luckily, my coach has not changed my food yet. I do, however, have a lot more work in the gym.

I'm finding that my days seem to be going by a lot faster...probably because my time in the gym has increased so much. I feel like I'm always on the go.

This is a good thing, because I seriously cannot wait to get on that stage...and then get off that stage for a glass of wine!

So, let's talk about my progress photos.

I work hard all week long and I actually get excited to wake up on Sunday morning to take my progress photos.

I usually wake up around 7 and start the coffee. I give A.B. a chance to wake up...which doesn't happen. So usually, I end up bursting into our room yelling, "Ready to take some pics??"

He loves it....probably.

So, in an effort to try to give me more consistent photos, A.B. pinned up some fabric on the wall of our guest bedroom and set up a tripod. I was very excited about this...until I saw this week's photos:

Don't get me wrong. I don't hate my photos.

It's just that I was SURE that I had more progress this week. I looked at these photos and I felt like I had accomplished nothing over the past 3 weeks.

So yeah, I was frustrated. I didn't even want to post them.

Then a funny thing happened. 

On Monday morning, I woke up for work, took my shower and when I looked in the mirror, I noticed something different.

Umm.... ABS???? Where did these come from???

I felt so much better! It's these little moments that make all of this worth it. It's the best reward and I can't wait to see what's going to happen next!

All in all, not a bad week. I learned a couple of things:

1. I need better lighting in my guest bedroom.

2. My body changes on a daily basis. I need to not get hung up on one photo.

So, that's it for now. I'm currently suffering from a bad cold and it's keeping me from my training. Not good. So, I'm going to pop some Nyquil and call it a night!

13 Weeks Out: This Calls For a Season Change

This last week seemed to fly by for once, which was nice! The temperature dropped a touch and it seemed like Southern California was flirting with the idea of Fall. 

Alas, that was short lived and we were back in the 90's by the weekend. Boooo... :(

I have found that the busier I am with activities that I love, the less of a chance I have to feel sad about missing out on food-filled summer activities. So, I thought about it and came up with a couple things that I love just as much as food and wine.

First- I love crafts and decorating.

Second- I LOVE Fall and I can't wait for it to get  here! 

Since Fall is the gateway to all sorts of fun holidays, these two loves of mine go hand in hand.

It's only September and we have at least another month of this warm weather nonsense; therefore, I did what any normal bikini competition girl who hasn't had bread/cheese/wine in over a month would do. 

I cranked up my A/C and spent my weekend decorating for Halloween. 

I even completed a Pinterest craft!

Check out my Halloween wreath that took FOREVER and made a huge mess. 

It's so cute though. The mess was totally worth it! I didn't think about yummy food once! If anyone is interested, here's the link to the Paper Plates Wreath Tutorial. 

I didn't stop there. I worked on our kitchen, dining room and living room as well. I had so much fun! Here's a peak at our dining room table.

As far as competition prep goes, my workouts have increased a bit more, but it hasn't been too bad. I'm getting used to it and I feel really good. 

Of course, next week starts the dreaded "12 Weeks Out" point and apparently that's when it gets REALLY hard. My calories will start being cut and my workload will increase. What a combo!

All I can do is stay focused and take one week at a time, right?

Here are this week's photos. Not much of a change, but that's ok. One thing I've learned is that it's not easy to see change from week to week. I'm thinking in two weeks, I'll post comparison photos to see my progress.

So, that's it for now! I'm hoping that I can find more Halloween projects to keep me busy over the next few weeks. If not, Christmas will be at my house in no time! :)

Have a great week!

14 Weeks Out

I survived yet another week thanks to Katy Perry's song "Roar" and my love of peanut butter!

If I think about the fact that I'm not competing until winter, while it's currently 100 degrees outside, it seems far too daunting. So, taking it one week at a time and setting small goals makes it feel much more attainable. 

This week I was assigned more work in the gym.....working on shoulders and biceps in addition to all of my normal stuff. Now that my workload has started to change/increase, I'm definitely feeling more focused. 

My coach reviewed my food this week...which made me NERVOUS. The good....no...FANTASTIC news is that I don't have to cut out my peanut butter!!! Typically when you love a food so much, it's usually bad for you. Luckily, my natural peanut butter (carefully measured out and within my plan) is healthy AND amazing!

The only thing he wanted me to change is to cut all dairy, which for me is just yogurt. No biggie. I only use it in my protein shake and I can easily swap it for unsweetened almond milk.

The other change I made this week is that I have finally surrendered to the idea that I will be working out 7 days a week for the next few months. 

*sigh*

It's okay though. I was cramming too much into my 4 lifting days and I feel like it was probably working against me. Now that I'm doing my extra cardio on my non lifting days, I feel much more energized!

On a non-gym related note, my curling wand AND microwave mysteriously broke this week. Both items decided to just stop heating up. Crazy, right? It's like they were conspiring against me. As if training for a competition isn't hard enough, I now have to deal with cold food and bad hair??

Well, the joke's on them because we had another microwave stored in our garage and I just had a new curling wand delivered via Amazon. Take that, universe!

So, as promised, here is another progress photo. I don't see a drastic change this week, but I also didn't cut dairy until Thursday. I'm hoping to see that pay off a little more over the next couple of weeks.

On that note, I'd better get changed to go for my 30 minute run! Then A.B. and I have a Disneyland date tonight! Yay! 

Have a great weekend everyone!