1 Week Out: Home Stretch

It's almost here! It's almost here!! I can almost taste the piiiizzzzaaaa!

 In just one week, I'll be getting on stage in this BEAUTIFUL bikini!!!

I can't believe I'm in the home stretch. It actually kinda sneaked up on me!

Not a whole lot has changed in the last couple of weeks. My coach switched my protein sources, so now I'm just eating tilapia, eggs and protein powder. No more turkey. :(

I'm also on a new 3 day carb cycle of No Carb, No Carb, High Carb. I hate it and I feel exhausted almost all of the time. 

Other than that, still plugging away with my 50 minutes of cardio 5 days a week. In case you're wondering what that feels like, it feels like this...

But then I take shameless gym selfies to feel better. :)

 Yeah, I can honestly say that the cardio is the worst part for me right now. It just takes FOREVER. But...it works when trying to lean out at the end, so it's a necessary evil. 

I spent this morning reflecting on this process over the last few months and how much I accomplished in a relatively short amount of time. I grabbed some photos from Jan 24th when I was 15 weeks out and compared them to the photos I took this morning. Wow....I can't believe the difference!

So on that note, I'm going to rest up and get focused, because next week is going to be ca-raaazy. Can't wait to suck all the water out of my body and slap a tan on it! Let's get this show on the road!

3 Weeks Out: Yep...Now it's Real.

Hey everyone! I'm back again! I'm officially the worst blogger ever. I can talk and talk and talk, but the second I sit down to write a blog post, it's nothing but crickets in my brain!

So here we are....THREE WEEKS OUT from the NPC Atlantis Competition. I'm nervous and excited all at the same time! I can't believe it's almost here. 

As far as my diet and training go, I've started the dreaded carb cycling. 

(insert tears)

It hasn't been quite as bad as last time because I'm working with 1,850 calories. At least I'm not hungry!
(UPDATE: I actually JUST moved to 1,600 calories...so I will probably start to be hungry. lol)

It still depletes my energy, but I'm hangin' in there!

My cardio was just recently bumped to 5 days at 50 minutes. Holy moly....that's a lot. That's 5 days of cardio on top of my 4 lifting days that include their own metabolic conditioning and supplemental work. All of this work while constantly planning, measuring and packing my food while maintaining a full time job......I'M EXHAUSTED. 

But...I have my good days....

And I have my bad days....

The key is to just focus on one day at a time and one success at a time. And it helps to get myself excited about the very few fun parts of the process. For example, my bikini!!!!!!!

My best friend/bikini partner/therapist/fashion guru Shana and I went to our first bikini fitting!!! AAAAHHHHH!!!! 

I'm in LOVE with the fabric I chose and I can't wait to wear it on stage! We are working with Jeri Di Competition Suits and we couldn't be happier! 

She really took her time to make sure that she was fitting the bikinis to our bodies in order to really showcase the hard work we've put into it.

These are not the bottoms I'll be wearing. These are just serving the purpose of a pattern so she knows exactly how to cut the fabric for my "real" bottoms. 

We'll have another fitting next week where we'll be able to see our bikinis more put together. 

So I guess I will move onto progress photos. I'm posting a comparison of this week's photos vs. my photos I posted last- which were my "7 weeks out" photos.

That's pretty much it for now. I am focused/nervous/anxious/excited all at the same time. But, I definitely feel a lot better this time around. Shana and I are soooo excited to get on that stage....but more importantly... get OFF that stage to dive face first into some bread and wine! hahaha

Have a great week, everyone!!!!

7 Weeks Out: Still Going!

Hi! I'm still here! 

I was just thinking the other day, "I haven't blogged in a while. I think it''s been a couple weeks." Then I logged on and realized it's been a month!!!! I'm so sorry!

So...to catch you up to speed, I'm still measuring and prepping my food and working out every single day. 

The end.

Haha! There's more to it than that, but I seriously feel like a robot every day repeating the same thing over and over and over again. It can get old really fast. 

The most recent development has been that I have started carb cycling. I have a 3 day cycle of no carb day, low carb day and high carb day. I cycle that over and over again and it turns my body into a fat burning machine. It's pretty cool, but it does run me down a bit, so it's not a long term solution for your average person.

Ok, here are this week's progress photos:

Other than being tired, I've been feeling pretty happy. I'm happy with my progress and I'm getting excited for my show. Next week I have an appointment to get measured for my bikini! YIKES! 

It's getting REEEEAL!

Ok, it's a Sunday and I'm done with my cardio, so I'm going to relax and hang with my puppy! See you all next week! 

11 Weeks Out- Road Trip

In a matter of two days, I managed to drive to Anaheim, grab a workout, get a body scan, have my computer looked at, go to Disneyland and California Adventure, do my cardio, attend a posing class and drive back to Las Vegas. What a weekend! 

             

I have to say….if you are in the middle of bikini training and you want a weekend getaway, I HIGHLY recommend visiting a fellow bikini competitor. It makes things so much easier and so much more fun!

She won’t look at you weird when you roll up to her house with all this:

She will drink clean cocktails with you at a bar! (It’s just soda water and cucumber….no alcohol)

And of course….she’ll be your workout buddy.

I had so much fun this weekend and although I still stayed on point with my food and workouts, it felt like a much needed break. 

On to progress pictures. I lost 2.2 pounds this week which was awesome. I also found out that my body fat % has gone down since January. I went from 20.9% to 19.4%! And I believe I’m starting to see a glimpse of abs. It’s woooooooorking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And on that note...I will leave you with this little gem...

12 Weeks Out: Stupid Scale

The scale and I have gone way back. Sad times, happy times and plenty of angry times.

We've been together through thick and thin....literally.

You always hear people say that the scale doesn't matter and how you feel is what's important...blah blah blah. Yeah, okay.Tell that to my driver's license. IT doesn't ask me how I feel. It only asks how much I weigh.

I spent years glued to the scale. Watching that number and waiting for it to tell me I'm "skinny". 

It wasn't until I truly learned about health and fitness that I realized a couple of things. 

1. I don't want to be "skinny".

2. The the scale isn't everything. 

I mean sure...if you eat cookies and pizza every day and the scale keeps going up....it's probably not muscle. But, if you are strength training and eating clean and the scale isn't saying what you want it to say, chances are you are probably still doing something right. And that is when you need to step off the scale and actually take a look at yourself. How do your clothes fit? How do you actually FEEL?

I had to re-learn this lesson myself over the past few months. When I started this bikini process in October, the goal was for me to lose some fat but to also put on muscle. 

So I stepped on the scale and took some "before photos". Boy was I not happy.

But, I needed to document my weight so that I had a starting point. It is what it is.

Since October, I have fallen into the same trap I have fallen into before and that many people fall into all the time. I was following my coaches rules with my eating and working out, but the scale wasn't really moving. Some weeks I would lose a pound or two, other weeks I would gain it back and some weeks no change at all. 

It was frustrating. When you are passing on restaurants and happy hours, you want the pounds to immediately fly off the scale! 

Unfortunately, it doesn't work like that. 

So let's fast forward to this last weekend. I did my weekly weigh-in and I was discouraged. Slightly heavier than last week. Ugh. 

I sent my progress photos to my coach and to my absolute DELIGHT, he told me that I am "right on schedule" and to "keep it up". What a relief!

So, I decided to pull up my photos from October to compare them to my photos now to see if there's a change. Keep in mind, I currently weigh 2 pounds more than I did in October....but see for yourself why that doesn't matter.

Am I "stage ready"? Absolutely not. I definitely have a ways to go. 

But my point is that I have significantly changed in appearance even though that stupid scale was telling me something else.

I'm not here to tell you to throw out your scale. It can be a useful tool to aid in your weight loss goals. But I am telling you to also take photos, measurements or even get a body scan periodically to see where your body fat percentage is. You need to give yourself the whole picture before you go determining your worth based on a silly number. 

Ok, that's all I have for now! I hope you all had a fabulous Valentine's Day weekend filled with lots of heart shaped things!

13 Weeks Out: Eating is My Favorite

This pretty much sums up how I feel every few hours.

Is it time to eat yet?!?!?

And I am legitimately sad when my meal is over!

When you've been doing this bikini thing a while, your life tends to revolve around food. 

Whenever I'm invited to do something, my very first thoughts are "Can I take my food?" Or "How long will I be there?" Or "Can I eat right before and then hurry home to my food?" 

It can definitely make things difficult and I would be lying if I said it didn't affect my desire to go out. I mean really....sometimes it's just easier to stay home where your food is. 

Anyhoo....how about some progress pics? 

No big changes yet...but just wait! SO excited for the next couple of months!

On that note...it's time for me to eat again. See ya next week!

14 Weeks Out: Light Switch

When people see me toting my food around or turning down treats, I am often inclined to explain that I am training for a muscle competition and that I need to prepare/measure/weigh all of my food. What's funny is that probably about 95% of the time the reaction is, "Oh, wow. I could never do that. I don't have the discipline or the willpower." They say this is as if I have been gifted something that they have not.

Here's the thing though. I don't possess more willpower than the next person. I am not free of cravings. I mean...I REALLY love food. I love pizza, wine and yummy desserts. See example below:

The only difference between me and the person saying "I can't" is just that. It's those words..."I can't". As soon as you know that you want something and you are willing to put in the work, nothing will stop you- not even a slice of cake. 

It took me a long time to learn this. And I think part of the reason why I'm actually enjoying myself this time around is because I have flipped that switch in my head. It's the switch that says "Time to do work." It no longer phases me to be around people eating my favorite things or drinking wine. You know why? Because those things will all still be there in a few months. And I will have to learn how to enjoy those things in moderation when this is all over.

 But right now I have work to do and I have a body to build. 

Sorry to get all motivational speaker-y on you! :)

My point is that anyone can do this! 

It all comes down to a flip of a switch- the decision to not let yourself down. 

And with that...let's post this week's progress pics (taken VERY early on Saturday). 

I will post weekly photos even though they will probably all look the same for a while. This really is just for my own benefit to see where I was at various stages. So feel free to skip the photos if you want. 

Feel VERY free. haha

Have a great week!

Bikini Competition- Take Two!

Well....as you can guess by the title, I have actually decided to give this whole bikini competition thing another shot! 

May 9th is the date...and I know.... I'm obviously nuts.

There are a few reasons why I wanted to do another one. 

I think the obvious one is....umm....yeah, I'd like to look like this again:

But beyond that, I'm excited about making this a better experience! 

Last time around,  I isolated myself. I didn't go to events. I avoided parties and happy hours. I was lonely. Feeling lonely on top of the mental and physical exhaustion that goes along with bikini training, it made me miserable. I didn't "enjoy the process" like so many bikini competitors say. 

This time around, I've been forcing myself to go to events. I went to my company holiday party knowing I couldn't drink or eat. The weirdest thing happened. I actually still had fun! Who knew???

Also, I'm excited to say that Shana, my bikini partner in crime, is going to be competing with me again!!!!! 

We are already having SO much fun planning our celebration that night, discussing bikini colors and we are even meeting weekly to work on booty exercises! (Can't work the booty ENOUGH!)

My previous coach, Geoff from Train Insane Gym, agreed to train me long distance.....which is AMAZING! I'm so excited to be doing this with him again. And it has also opened up the door to new friends! 

These beauties are training also! Traci and Liz will be competing at Muscle Beach in May. I met them through this process and they are really making it so much more fun! We whine about food and workouts and all things bikini. They crack me up on a daily basis and I'm SO grateful for them!

So I officially started "training" in October to build muscle. I have to say that my coaches at Decibel Crossfit have been so awesome with helping me. They are so supportive and I don't think there are many Crossfit gyms that would be ok with me doing extra work assigned by an outside coach. They truly just want to help me reach my goal and I think that's pretty cool. :) 

Since October, I have put on 3.9 pounds of muscle, lost 3.7 pounds of fat and went down 2.7% in body fat! 

Pretty soon the best part will begin- the "leaning out" process! That's when I'll get to burn off the layer of fat to see what muscles are hiding in there!

Ok...no delaying it any longer. Here is the first of my weekly progress photos.

Ok....wish me luck on this crazy journey! I'll need it!!!!!!