17 days and counting

17 days.  Yup.  For real.  So close, yet so far away.  Let me rephrase, the comp feels close, my post comp food seems so far away.  I was just told to stop looking at food porn.  I wasn't trying to!  Honestly!!  Last night while I pinned "Chocolate M&M Cake Mix Cookies", I was clearly seeking it out.  Not intentional today while I browsed through my Instagram feed of mostly fit bods and inspirational quotes.  Darn you Stella & Dot and your doughnut cake!  *sigh* I have to remind myself that doughnut cakes will only make me look like a doughnut.  I don't want to be doughy anymore.

My competition prep is nothing extreme in my opinion.  I get a lot of food, my calories aren't crazy low.  The difference is, I've been working out hard and doing cardio 5 days/week.  I was probably MORE tired and run-down feeling before I started this comp.  I was eating crap whatever I wanted 14 weeks ago and rarely working out.  That being said, I don't feel like it's a diet I could sustain.  Trust me, "bulk" season is much more enjoyable.  Cheat meals are fun and even though I'll feel a little "fluffy", I know what my end result is...more muscle!  I'll be looking to my coach for guidance, but I'll be interested in following the theory of "If It Fits Your Macros", commonly hashtagged as #iifym  It's legit.  A lot of my fit friends follow it with great success and never feel deprived.

I'm someone who likes to start packing for something really early.  Like say, 2-3 weeks away...hehe!  My bag is set out and as I think of things that I'll need, I toss it in the bag.  Last time, I had a rolling luggage bag of cookies, candy, and other nonsense crap.  Need I remind you that my last comp was in Dallas...??  Ha!  I learned my lesson.  I literally ate 2 or 3 cookies and one snack size candy bar.  Done.  I told my mom tonight that I may come back 15lbs heavier since we have a whole road trip home.  Whataburger or Sonic, maybe some Taco Bell (yes, I know it's not real meat, but it's delicious).  I'll probably make Shane find our way through West to grab some kolaches at the Czech Stop...what else.  Oh wait, we were talking about packing.  Suit, heels, hair spray, black robe, cute post comp clothes, comfy driving clothes, my new makeup that will work with my ridic comp tan, 3D Fiber Lashes (because I'm beyond obsessed...to be blogged about later), toothbrush.  Done.  Boom.

I'll check y'all later, I have some Pinteresting to do...

4 weeks and counting!

Man, I didn't realize it's been over a week since my last post!  My bad!!

I'm now 4 weeks away from the stage and couldn't be more excited.  Food and sleep have become critical.  I'm not trying to really make any gains, but will continue to push myself in the gym.  I had a great upper body workout today.  The weather was amazing, which only helped push me.  Do you know how hard it was to wake up when it was still dark and it was under 20 degrees outside??  Brutal.  When the sun is shining, windows down, Katy Perry-Dark Horse blaring on my radio, and sipping my Evogen EVP Plus...workouts are the highlight of my day!!  I can tell I pushed myself.  As I type this, my forearms are exceptionally heavy.  Good arm day.

My poor husband is getting to see the other side of me...the hangry side.  The carb deprived, tired, worn out, not so pretty side of me.  It's not as bad as when I was 100 months pregnant and the sound of him breathing irritated me, but it's close.  Thankfully, he's patient.  Very patient.  Plus, he gets to look at my smokin' hot bod while I dance around in my underwear...consolulation...right??  I'm going to tell myself that.

I was talking to a girl at LifeTime Fitness today about competing and how I still have those days of complete and utter doubt.  I think that's only natural.  As women, we doubt ourselves constantly.  Why would it be any different when you add the pressure (self-inflicted, I know) of stepping on the stage in a teeny bikini and giant heels??  That's where my coach comes in.  His weekly check-ins have been crucial to my mindset.  I have to remind myself that it's a process as well!  I'm down 20+lbs and have put on a bunch of muscle.  That happened really quick because of my radical change in diet and workouts, but it still didn't happen overnight!

Today is National Wine Day.  That sucks.  I kinda wish I even had the option of enjoying a glass or six.  Instead I'll drink my protein shake.  Maybe I could put it in a wine glass?  Nah.  I'll just go on Pinterest tonight and pin a bunch of delicious looking things and inspirational gym quotes.  They totes go together.  Yup, totes.

I'm starting a monthly "What's in Your Gym Bag".  This month will start with me, I was thankfully available on such short notice.

Gym Bag:  Stella & Dot Getaway Bag

Inside:

Pouf #1: holds all my gum: Extra Dessert Gum in Lemon Squares, Mint Chocolate Chip, and Rootbeer Float.  My iPod shuffle and Coby Mini AM/FM Radio so I can listen to the TVs at the gym.  Ear buds.

Pouf #2: Various lip gloss (I have a bunch, but LOVE EOS), Aveda lotion, YL Thieves hand sanitizer.  I have a lot of lipgloss and this little Pouf goes from bag to bag, I just needed to keep them contained!

Floating around the rest of the bag:

Shaker cup with my BCAAs...major necessity.  They keep me from being super sore.  I can function after leg days because of them.

Lush Buffy - I LOVE this little soapy scrubby bar.  Comes in a little tin and is so yummy.  I don't feel like I need lotion after my shower.  Soft, smooth skin.

I also keep a sample pot of Lush Big Shampoo - This stuff is amazeballs.  It's super gentle and smells delish.  I only wash my hair about 2-3x per week with shampoo.  I typically scrub and rinse the product out of my hair.  It does much better when it's a little dirty. ;)

My bag also has an extra pair of socks and panties at all times.  I'm not sure why I do this.  Typically, I have my clothes to change into after I shower (LTF has great shower facilities).  Following that, I have my cheap rubber flip flops for said shower facilities.

What are your gym bag necessities??

Food Prep Made Fun!

My coach, Jeff, had a pretty kicka$$ bootcamp on Saturday.  There's a trainer, Josh, that's been helping him with his team and had posted about a leg workout for Saturday.  I decided that I would blast my upper body on Friday night since I knew I probably wouldn't be able to walk after the leg workout on Saturday.  Great plan, right?  Well, it would have been had my workout been with Josh.  It wasn't.  I walked in almost 10 minutes late to the bootcamp because I got caught behind a funeral procession.  I could have let it annoy me, but instead I reminded myself to be thankful that I wasn't one of the cars in that line.  Anyway, I walked in and P says to me "you missed push-ups till you drop as our warm-up!".  Jeff took that as a great idea and had us start off our circuit with push-ups...till I dropped.  I surprised myself (remember that upper body workout about 18 hours prior?) and busted out 30 "big girl" push-ups.  *pats back*

Right now, if you were to look inside my pantry, you'd see almost every single Mrs. Dash that is made.  There's a Southwest version that's not too shabby.  However, what I've been jonesing for are tacos.  I love Tex-Mex and there's not a lot (other than fajita meat) that goes along with my bikini prep meal plan.  Go figure. ;)  With me slowly saying bye-bye to starchy carbs, I need to find ways to keep my brain and taste buds satisfied.  Enter "Homemade {Salt-Free} Taco Seasoning" from the blog Olives n Wine.  I loved the idea of homemade and salt-free.  This way I know exactly what is going into my food.  Her recipe: click here calls for sugar, but I omitted that.  I also tweaked it adding 1 tsp of Chipotle Chili Powder in with the regular Chili Powder (still a total of 8 tsp). 

I followed the rest of what her recipes called for and the decided to add in 1 tsp of Cilantro at the end, just because I'm a rebel like that.  It turned out SO GOOD!!!  Flavor explosion of spicy with each bite.  If you want it less spicy, cut back on the Cayenne.  I added 2 Tbsp of the mix (that is being stored in that little Gladware container) to my pound of lean ground turkey.  De-lish.  It looked like taco meat and smelled like taco meat, so I was very happy when it tasted like taco meat.  I ate it solo with my green veggies and sweet potato, but plan to put it on top of greens for a taco-like salad.  

Try it and let me know your thoughts and what you do to make it "yours"!  

  

 

It's tiiiime!

Shane starts back with classes tomorrow, all my teacher friends have their students back tomorrow, and as I sit here tonight thinking about what to write about, I can't help but feel like tomorrow is MY first day of school. I start back up with contest prep tomorrow for my next show and haven't been in the gym in what feels like forever. I have butterflies! Mostly because I have gotten to know a lot of people at the gym being there everyday. It's only been about 10 days, but feels more like 30! Crazy how a little time off can really mess with you.

To get more stage-time and practice, Jeff suggested I compete in the Texas State show in October. After taking this past week off completely, I'm ready to get back into the groove. Jeff sent me my plan which included my food and revised workouts. In order to put more muscle on, I need to increase volume. This means more reps and more weight. Shane and I totaled up my leg workout...it's insane. It's around 450 reps total. My legs get tired just thinking about that. Thank goodness for Jack3d and glutamine!!

I know that it will all pay off, but leg workouts are not my fave. They're tiring. I just have to think about how awesome my booty is going to look...legging all fall/winter!! Haha!! This next show will be fun since I already know what I'm in for. It won't be as big as Europa...and supposedly not as political. I think with the amount of time I have before the show, I will be able to put on some good muscle and have a little better look. It will all be in prep for my first NATIONAL show next summer-possibly in Chicago! Who wants to come with??

Thinking about it all gets me excited. The workouts may be rough, but I know I can do them. I just need to make a good play list and get mentally prepared for the next 8 weeks. I need to remind myself to just take it one day, one workout, one meal at a time. Luckily, I get a cheat meal for the moment on the weekends. We have one more reservation for restaurant week that I didn't really want to miss! Haha! Well, it's time for bed. Gotta rest up for my busy day tomorrow!

Food Bender

Lunch today marked the end of my weekend...almost week long...bender. I knew things were getting bad when after feeling like crap all day from food the day before, I decided to eat Wendy's for dinner. It really didn't even taste good, but I kept eating it. What was wrong with me?! When Zoe made her sign for "want" and pointed to my french fries (yah, I got a combo) I quickly hid them. Why was it ok for me to eat it, but not her? Everything I had eaten for months prior, I was happy to share...except for the end when I needed and wanted every little ounce of food that was on my plate.

I met with my coach, Jeff, today to talk and plan my next show. Despite how hard it seemed sometimes, I really enjoyed the whole process. I want to do more. I want to compete in at least one national show. Just to see where it could go. Most national shows are out of state and it would be a fun reason to jet off for the weekend. Jeff asked me some different questions about how I was feeling and what I thought of the show. I shrugged at how I was feeling. "I'm ready to be back on a plan. I didn't know what to do when I didn't have to follow a certain routine." He laughed at me saying that I didn't know what to eat for breakfast on Monday morning. Shane had told me, "whatever you want babe." I just knew I didn't want egg whites.

Jeff said the hardest part for competitors is the post-show time. Transition is hard for just about everyone, no matter what they're transitioning to or from. Add food to that, and you're setting yourself up for one crazy ride. I'm still recovering from my bender. Stomachache, headache, lack of energy...the list goes on. I just can't help but think, "did I always feel like this?" I don't think I did, but I definitely didn't feel as good as I did when I was eating clean. I'm ready to get back into the gym (haven't set foot in it since Thursday) and get back into my food groove. I have some muscle to put on in the next two months and am ready to kick some butt!!

My next comp is going to be either Texas State or a show in Oklahoma...or both! I will know that for this next one, A candy bar or A cookie will suffice for my post-show "binge". No need for entire packages...my stomach and body will thank me. :) Now it's time for lunch: mixed greens salad with water packed tuna and basalmic dressing. Yum!