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!