Baby Bang on the Way!

Turns out that the next stage I will be stepping on won't be a bikini stage, it will be the parenting stage!!

I am due probably somewhere around the end of April/beginning of May. Okay, admittedly, last time I had my cycle, it started on a random day that wasn't planned, and I forgot to chart it. :) This baby was a surprise, clearly, but a completely welcome and wanted and wonderful one!

In my last blog I posted:

{It's not about how many times you get knocked down, it's about how many times you get knocked down and continue to get up.}

Turns out I just got knocked up instead. Hahahahaha! Sorry, married and pregnant humor. Might not be totally appropriate, but I think the term knocked up is hilarious. Way better than preggo.

Luckily, I have so many sisters that they have collectively been through this 6 times, and by the time I give birth, 7 times. I get to inherit tons of books, maternity clothes, bits of wisdom, and the experience of being pregnant as the same time as my older sister! 

And as with any of life's surprises, the plan must change. We learn to be flexible to fit in our goals, but my goals also have to change! My health is no longer about me, it's about growing a healthy baby! Mr. Bang, of course, wants a son... I just want healthy.

My mother-in-law's reaction. ;) I should have gotten MY mom's! I can't believe I didn't!

So... Of course my next project is going to be documenting my goal of staying healthy and active during my ENTIRE pregnancy. I am elated to be pregnant, and in love, and ready to focus on being a healthy mom.

In monitoring my last couple of weeks, here's what I've got going on: :)

Squishy and growing.

Week: 6-7. For most, this would seem like too early to share the news.. But I know I am perfectly healthy and have a very strong sense that I will carry my little one to term.

Weight Gain: None yet, feel squishy though.

Sleep: Not bad, aside from my dogs who are going crazy about the howling coyotes at night. They whine outside our bedroom, but we are trying to be diligent about not giving in! If they go out one night, they'll want to go out every night. I've also been good about doing some yoga before bed, which helps me get some good, deep sleep.

Miss Anything? Wine. A bit. I will admit that it was the FIRST thing I wanted when I read the results of the test! It was like, "Oh man. I can't even process this without a nice red right now." Haha, I had NO idea what to do with myself!

Symptoms: I am feeling it, definitely. I want to be really honest about this, and you all know that I am pretty honest about my experiences... It feels like intensified PMS right now. Pressure on my uterus (Bye, male followers... Sorry...), my boobs are crazy tender. I have suddenly been crying at baby ANYTHING. Holy crap, and hello maternal instinct. Nice to meet you. Also some nausea, but not bad some days.

Mood: Elated. I can only compare my mood to the moment when my husband proposed, or when he made me his wife. It's incredible. 90% of my worry was that my husband would be scared, and he hasn't been for a moment. I also had a meltdown about not being sure I was ready. For a very long time, we were unsure and undecided about children. We were both concerned with our goals, and I didn't want to have one until I was sure. Turns out, when it was a surprise, it was perfect. After I got over my initial fears, which lasted a whole 10 minutes, I was over the moon. A lot of women have difficulties with fertility, and I'm thankful that I wasn't one of them. Should it have turned out that I wanted a baby on my own terms, and it was hard to get there, I don't know that I would have had the emotional fortitude to bear through it.

Cravings: Spicy food... Pepperoncicis have been my favorite snack. Definitely chocolate, but also a lot of fruit & cottage cheese. Mineral & sparkling waters have also become a regular habit.. sooo good with some coconut pineapple Dasani drops. But I will tell you, the hunger is insatiable. It's like prep amplified by 10.

Diet: Have mostly kept my diet the same, but have allowed myself to become a little bit more liberal with fruits, healthy fats.. avocado, fruit, cottage cheese, and yogurts where those weren't really in my regular diet. Allowing myself coconut water everyday, a healthy carb at night every night. I still keep with our protein crepes every night. :) They taste even more amazing right now!

Still working out! I didn't workout at all last week, I was battling some nausea but it's subsided the last few days so I plan to still do yoga a few times a week, and cardio with light weight workouts a few times a week. I feel good right now, and feel like working out will help me get through some of the pregnancy symptoms.. My logic is, if I can sweat some of the water weight out I won't feel so squishy? Perhaps.

Pregnancy Obedience: Okay, there is a LOT of information out there that tells you what and what not to eat. Mostly what not to eat... And it genuinely feels like everything right now. Seafood, deli meats, eggs, pineapple, milk, unpasteurized cheese like feta and goat cheese, medicines, ibuprofen... So, I'm taking it in stride and using my best judgement. I had seafood buffet on Friday, which was amazing, but I listened to myself and stopped when it didn't taste right. The clams had some residual shell.. not ideal if you have some texture issues. I also had some canned tuna the other night. Whatevs. It was delicious and got some good nutrition from it. Isn't seafood high in iron? Baby does need more of that! I am on the prenatal vitamins, so that's one point for me!

Personal Goals this Week (or two): 
1. Continue concentrating on my meal plan. I seriously get hungry an hour after I eat an entire plate of pasta or burger & fries. Being as small as I am, my RMR as a pregnant woman is only 1600 calories, so I'm giving myself more around 2000 calories being active. And what I really want to do is give myself plenty of nutrition, instead of reaching for any random craving. We all know that we can control what we give ourselves.
2. Focus on lots of water. Again, the hunger is nutso, trying to get in more water to make sure its not just dehydration before I reach for my next meal 2 hours too early.. :)
3. Start cleaning out the office. Our home is two bedrooms right now, in which we currently use it as an office. Aaaand storage. We also have a utility room, which is packed full of stuff. I really need to organize, go to the dump, and take some stuff to the GoodWill in the back room... Specifically so II can really get some stuff out of the office, and organized into the backroom before I'm too uncomfortable to do stuff like that. We do have some plans to remodel the house this winter, so that will help once that is done.

We won't find out the sex of the baby until probably Thanksgiving or Christmas, but we definitely want to know. Our first sonogram is on Thursday, September 19th, so that should be enlightening.

Welcome to my fit-pregnancy journal! I completely understand if the subject matter isn't for everyone, but eventually I hope for this to become my journal back to fitbody post-baby! :) 

The Struggle to Be More

I have been close yet distant, and vague yet detailed about my life. It’s so easy to show the best sides of one’s life, but not quite as easy to show the other sides. I think that I always feel that “everyone else is struggling, why would anyone want to listen to my struggle or hear me complain?” But I find myself in a more problematic predicament, that there is no way around. There is no way to change it, or sit around and hope that one day my schedule clears up so I can have my workout or blog time back.

Have you heard of the Facebook Depression? I was reading that its basically when you get depressed because you see all of the highlights of someone else’s life on their Facebook. Ha! Its true. I can’t tell you how many Stay at Home Mom’s Facebooks I stalk and Sigh at. Or see cute pictures of friends having a wonderful time with their cute kids, on the daily.

So, I’m just here to reiterate that my life isn’t always swell, and in fact, I struggle, I work and I know that most of you know where I’m at: Overstressed and injured with no time. And thus comes the struggle to be more.

We Support Each Other’s Dreams
There was a period of time where I could focus on my dreams completely, and then there was a period of time where I even had help achieving my dream. But right now, I’m in a period in life, where my husband needs my talents in order to achieve his dreams which is provide for our family and make us to be more than we currently are… but the journey is a lot longer than contest prep. It cannot be condensed into 12, 16 or even 20 weeks. In fact, this is now my life indefinitely.

When last year I anticipated that I would be busy, I did not stop to even consider the long term. I now work a 50 hour work week at my hospital job, and if I’m lucky, I only spend an extra 20 hours doing Administrative support for Bang’s Lawn Care. And I don’t earn a dime for this. And sometimes he needs help with jobs, which I also don’t get a cent for.

What I’m earning is a new life, a better life than what we have now. Supporting my husband’s dream has been even more challenging than trying for my own. This has meant endless meetings in order to learn accounting, learning all about owning a business, having employees and getting into radio advertising. I have become increasingly interested in Branding and Marketing, all to make this dream come true. Not to mention, just being a normal person and making time for anyone in my life is a huge struggle. One in which almost no one understands, and I get flack about it almost weekly – And I respond kindly, without excuses, even though that is not my first reaction.

But I’m Not Done!
And yet, when you spend all your time simply trying to make a living and support someone else’s dream… It’s not like yours goes anywhere. It’s still there. Inside my heart.Waiting for the time.

So this is the struggle. My heart feels the need to work toward my goals, even though I have almost no time to do so and have body limitations that are beyond my training knowledge. It’s depressing to look at workout plans and practically dissect them to weed out all of the exercises that are contraindicated for my conditions. Can’t squat. Can’t deadlift. Can’t machine hack squat. Can’t do some plyos. Can’t lunge. Can’t do any direct glute or hip work.

And don’t get me started on how long this has been. This has, by far, been the longest recovery period of my life. 6 months of hip healing, that has been incredibly painful both physically and mentally. I often feel lost.

In my lostness, there is a righteous anger. I’m fed up with hurting. Being in constant pain, makes me angry enough to work harder than I have in the past. I’m trying to work smarter and be in control of my plans… My plans that will be enacted the moment I have free time.

Upward and Onward

I’ve decided to no longer hide my struggles or hide my life. This blog IS about hard work isn’t it?? I'm weeding out the negatives in my life, and have decided to no longer spend my time "holding on". Because that is what it has seemed like. Holding on until the next moment where I can breathe and do what I want. But just like worry, there is no sense in being miserable if I don't have to be. And I definitely don't!

This now has to be what I want. In order for our business to become all that it can, and in order for me to achieve my own dreams, I have to want everything I have to do within each and every single day. I want to work. I want to do invoicing. And I NEED my workout time. I don't have time, I make time.

The Struggle to Be More
The interesting thing about life, is sometimes it requires you to become a better person. I never realized how incredibly selfish I was until my personal time was challenged, along with my patience, ego, commitment, and honor as a wife.

I'm struggling to be more of everything. Everything that life is requiring of me right now. Its almost like prep, you trust the plan that it will yield results. I rely solely on the hope that if I work hard and struggle long enough to be more... I will just be more.

Where do you struggle to be more than you are? How do you make yourself happy when committing your time to others??

One Lesson To Learn

I often find myself enthralled with T Nation. If you've ever been on the website, it is NOT geared towards women. LOL! Its a funny thing to admit that it is genuinely the only fitness website that I subscribe to weekly emails. However, the men that write for T Nation really know their shizz, and even though they are mostly talking about extreme male body building, the lifting techniques discussed are applicable even to this 100 lb bikini babe (BIKINI BEAST!). I came across the following article in their weekly email yesterday, and it really spoke to my heart. (Please disregard any obscenities, for they are not mine haha)

Learn 1 Lesson in 2013 by Nate Miyaki
"My favorite T Nation series was the "X" Things I Learned in "Y" Year articles, in which top coaches gave us insights into the most valuable lessons learned each year.
These weren't bullshit health blurbs for entertainment purposes – a diversion that's become all too common in our industry today – these were raw and authentic lessons from legends; an accumulation of real-life knowledge chiseled down into some straightforward, practical tips. How can you beat that?
As 2012 came to a close, I thought I'd take a shot at constructing a similar piece.
Technically, my task should've been to give you the top 10 lessons I learned researching different nutrition approaches, writing educational material, speaking at companies, or working with private clients. And I have some pretty damn good lessons to share, if I do say so myself.
But as I started to put my pudgy fingers to keyboard, something began weighing on my conscience. I knew in my heart that all of these tips, while valuable, would really be useless until we solved an underlying problem much higher up the food chain.
Do you, at this moment, have a true purpose for executing any of the tips I was about to recommend, or any plan constructed by our elite coaches? Or would you just be going through the motions and wasting everyone's time?
Making my living as an author and consultant, I should be telling you that my nutrition approach is the one and only true "secret," the mythical key you've been waiting for to achieve all of your success in this upcoming year.
But I'd be lying.
The most valuable lesson I've learned in 2012 – and really over the last 15 years as a coach – has nothing to do with the nuts and bolts of training or diet. The true key, the secret to your success in physique transformation, strength sports, or any other sport, and maybe even in life, is this:

You gotta know what you're fighting for.

I could give you 9 more lessons I learned, but they'd really just divert attention away from the foundational one that's really going to make a difference.
Until you find what you're truly fighting for, all training programs and diets (even the best ones), will be relatively meaningless.

The Lost Generation

I'm going to sound like an old-timer here, but for the most part, our generation has become a bunch of whiney, lazy, entitled pussies.
People have lost their warrior spirit, their dedication, and their willingness to strive.
We've become highly skilled at acquiring facts and information, analyzing, and sounding intelligent, but we are doing less and less. We know distraction well, but discipline has become a foreign language.
We've gotten great at throwing forum and social media posts like right and left hooks, but run like cowards from any real life fights.
How do we change that?
Some modern guru is going to tell you it's all about drinking some magical tea and floating through space in a lotus pose. They'll spice it up with some mysticism and cultish codependency as well.
None of that is really necessary because, believe it or not, the answer is a lot more simple and straightforward.

Learn from Cinderella Man

If you haven't seen the movie, Cinderella Man, you should. But for our purposes now, here's the Cliff Notes synopsis:
It's based on the "true story" of James Braddock, a former up and coming boxer who retires due to injury. He works as a day laborer to support his family (wife and three kids) during the Great Depression. Having lost all his possessions and savings and unable to pay the bills, he gets an opportunity to return to the ring in a last-chance effort to save his family. Cinderella Man tells his comeback story.
As a side note, I give it a 4 Nutsack rating.
Some quotes from the movie show us the spirit of the movie. During his comeback, Braddock is pitted against a fighter that had beaten him earlier in his career. In the middle of this rematch, Braddock is winning, which initiates the following exchange between Braddock's opponent and his trainer in-between rounds:
Trainer: What are you doing? You beat this guy easy last time.
Fighter: He ain't the same guy.
Braddock had watched his family starve and suffer. Fueled by more than personal ego, vanity, or even mere competition, Braddock becomes a different animal in the ring, fighting for survival. He somehow finds a way to beat younger, stronger, heavier, and more skilled boxers. When asked by a reporter how the impossible became possible, he gives a simple answer:

"This time around, I know what I'm fighting for."

Finding Your Fight

I don't know what that is for you my friends. And I don't think any life coach or guru can give you some magical formula to figure it out.
More than giving you any awesome diet or training plan, it would be my greatest pleasure in the world to be able to provide that answer for you. Unfortunately, I can't. I don't think even the great Ray Lewis could beat it out of you.
Ultimately, you're going to have to take some personal accountability, look at your life, look inside yourself, and come to your own conclusions.
As a matter of fact, part of finding your fighting spirit is realizing that you can't always rely on someone else, or wait for a savior to solve all of your problems. You have to solve them for yourself.
What I can do is tell you what has motivated others over my career. Maybe that will give you some ideas.
For some, it really was about survival. They had a health problem they had to fix, and their life, or quality of life, was suddenly on the line.
For some, their sport was how they made their living, and food on the table was dependent upon victories.
For some, it was to give them a competitive edge in a career outside of sports. Working out and eating right gave them better energy, cognitive function, and focus behind the desk, allowing them to push harder than the competition, and ultimately crush it.
For some, it was about being picked on as kids, and if the world wasn't going to give them respect, they were going to build themselves up and take it.
For some, it was just like what martial arts can be to others – a way to channel negative energy into positive, to learn lessons that translate to life, to find some kind of deeper meaning through physical challenges. Some used nunchucks; others used dumbbells. No matter, either served to fulfill their purpose.
For others, it was about getting to be a dick. By flexing their literal muscles in the gym and figurative muscles online, they take great pleasure in making themselves feel important, or making others feel bad about themselves. Although I don't necessarily agree with that approach, whatever works, man.
But don't let that hate fester in your heart like a bad, covered-wagon fart. It could become toxic and lead to your own undoing.
I can tell you some of the things I'm fighting for. I know you don't really give a shit about me personally, but it's just to give you ideas.
It's because I come from a family that's struggled with addiction, and linking my identity to athletic pursuits has given me a better obsession.
It's because I think we're all searching for the same three things in life: a passion, a sense of purpose, and peace of mind. We just go about it in different ways. It just so happens that I've been lucky enough to find all three in this game, and don't think I could find it anywhere else.
It's because I'm kind of a hippie, and I don't want to get a haircut and a real job. If I can make it through life and provide for my wife without ever having to "clock in," well I'll know I've accomplished something I set out to do, as meaningless as that might be to anyone else.

How Do You Know, So You Know

I might not be able to tell you how to find your fight. But I can certainly tell you how you'll know when you've found it.
There will be no more beginnings or getting back on track. There will be no defined ends as some 90-Day programs promise. There will only be putting one foot in front of the other, in the next step of a never-ending journey.
Days will run into months, months will run into years without ever having to start over. You'll just keep moving forward.
You won't complain of the struggles. You'll embrace them, because you'll know that your ability to push through is what will ultimately separate you from the rest of the pack.
There will be no more New Year's resolutions, only daily ones. And sticking to them will not be an option. It will be a necessity.
You will not find excuses. You'll find ways.
You'll stop looking for short cuts and quick fixes, because you'll know that a worthwhile mission lasts a lifetime.
You'll stop training for gym or virtual high-fives, but rather for personal satisfaction and accomplishment.
You won't have a sport or a hobby. You'll have a way of life
All of a sudden those 20 different diet and training programs that didn't work in the past, will all work.
I'm not saying it's going to make the road any easier. Excellence is never easy – that's the point. There will be ups and downs, adversity, and setbacks. There will be days where you will absolutely want to quit.
But when you know what you're fighting for, you will find a way to persevere.
This is life, man, not the movies I keep quoting. The obstacles are never-ending. That's why it's imperative that you find a true reason to keep going, not some make-believe, self-induced, bubble gum fitness one.

Wrap Up  

The path to success lies in the purpose, not the person. We're all capable of great things.

Ordinary men that had a purpose have achieved great things. Extraordinarily gifted men with no mission have chronically underachieved. Society provides plenty of examples of both.
Rule #1 – Find what you're fighting for.
Rule #2 – First learn rule #1. Everything else is just details."

Do I even need to expand on why this is so awesome?? :)
Love. Love. Love.

10 Weeks Out: All Things Prep

LOL! Sooo.... I started this post TWO weeks ago. I can't believe I haven't posted since 13 weeks out!!! And I also can't believe I'm 10 weeks out! Holy shit... that freaks me out a little. lol I have a lot to say since I haven't talked to y'all... But I have to apologize and confess, I used to blog at work (I know, I know) however since being so busy, I haven't had time but then we have been without Internet at home, so there really hasn't been any opportune times to blog. Super lame.

I CAN'T!
Naw its just hard. I notice I'll be full in and hard on cardio, and my mind chimes in "I.... CAN'T!"
We struggle. That's life. We all have struggles, things we recognize that probably need changing whether we want to or not, or maybe that we desperately want to change. Prep gives off a different kind of struggle, and its different for everyone. My new mantra:

Work the plan. Live the plan. BE the plan.

1st ONLY Prep Sickness.

I got sick last week. And I think most of you remember how terribly I struggled with getting sick last prep, total of 5 separate times over 14 weeks. Yeah, it straight BLEW. Anyway, since I had pneumonia I worked REALLY hard not to get sick again. They say that after you have pneumonia, you're much more susceptible to getting it, so I wasn't really willing to go there.

Anyway, I got a sinus infection starting on Thursday. Sadly, I have been beyond swamped at work so I HAD to go in. I left early both Thursday and Friday and by Monday was feeling tons better. I was healthy for 4 straight months, and honestly was just so happy about that I hardly minded being sick.

Doesn't blowing your nose rock? As a little kid, my mom never really pushed us that when your nose is plugged, you blow it. In her defense, she was a single mom of 3 for a while. It took me until 27 years old to learn this lesson. BUT! Its awesome! I'm blowing my nose constantly, and since I've been sick I've been that gross sweaty chick who is blowing their nose on the treadmill and everyone around is going "EW! Why is she working out?! She should be home and not spreading her sick!" I'm not sick, I'm congested. Plus I wipe down my equipment well. Calm down, you crazy people.

Diet: I'm effing loving this.

Yeah, you read that right. I'm still being allowed some higher sugar veggies like squash and red pepper. I'm almost certain these will be cut in the next couple weeks. But how awesome! I'm getting all the way down to 10 weeks out and still loving on things I love?! Yes please.

I'm having absolutely no issues with getting the food down now, its really ALL being eaten within a matter of minutes.

Cardio: Beef. It's what's for Afternoon Snack.

Cardio has been awesome. I couldn't even say with more joy that I am still only on 45 minutes a DAY of cardio! Do you guys remember what my cardio was last time? Double that. All the way through.

However, here's my beef with running. I've been working on my athleticism and different goals within prep. Prep is a really good time to get better at any one thing (aside from strength lol) physically. You're dropping body fat, so your body can withstand your own weight more easily, you're hydrated, you're nourished, your body is operating completely clean. Anyway, I'm not a natural runner, but I want to be a better runner. I run every day, even threw out a 30 minute run on Thursday when I hadn't run that long since last prep. So, the first part of my beef is really just associated with having had pneumonia. My lungs still do not absorb as much oxygen as they used to, so maintaining a more intense pace and keeping my heart rate steady is difficult, I'm just going to have to BULK up my lungs. :) And by "bulk" I mean, run my ass off until I can't breathe and/or puke. Rinse and repeat.

The second part of my beef is mostly about my running technique. My girl Lisa gave me some good tips and I'm gonna make my way out to Fleet Feet, hopefully this weekend, so they can analyze my technique. I feel like my calves are working really hard. I had started feeling what I thought were shin splints right before prep, so I bought new shoes. However, it didn't go away. I think my foot is striking the ground in the wrong spot or I'm overstriding... Not sure yet, but I'll be excited to see the video that Fleet Feet takes!

Yeah. Running, we have a beef you and I. And it's gonna change this week, just a head's up.

Weights & Weight.
My weight sessions are rocking. I noticed only a slight decrease in strength, which I'm sure will only get worse in the next 10 weeks. :) However I'm incredibly sore EVERYWHERE. My legs are pretty much ready to secede from the union. I did hamstrings Tuesday, they were still sore Thursday when I hammered out that long run, and Friday they really wanted to kick me in the face when I pumped out some hard cardio and quads. No mercy on those babies. I'm seeing some definite changes in the areas I set out to work on in my short off-season, particularly in the abs. I can see the line down the middle, which I have NEVER had.

So, I am down to 113 lbs, which puts me at around 13% body fat. I've dropped 5 lbs in prep, and based on taking my measurements, I've lost an inch in my waist, a full inch off each of my thighs, and a HALF inch off my calves (big progress for me!). Which also means I have 10 more weeks to drop 7lbs. Sa-WEET! There is no room for fear when you're positive you're doing everything possible to obtain the impossible. And without further ado:


I seriously need to try to take pictures in better lighting. Also expecting my suit in a few more weeks, canNOT wait to be wearing that one!! :)

 I promise it won't be so long between blog posts. ;) I miss talking to all of you! Make sure you say hi to me on Twitter or Facebook! I'm ALWAYS on Twitter. Haha!

Have a great week CHAMPIONS! Don't sell yourself short of what you know you're capable of this week! Believe you're the best and workout accordingly! :)

The BodyBuilding.com Spokesmodel Search

For a long time, I really and truly did not like being the person who asked for help. And now I find that it is the only way to learn: learn who my real friends & supporters are and learn who I am in how I respond to learning a thing.

And now I am asking for your help. :) I am not going to be the person who continually pesters you for help or asks you EVERY. SINGLE. DAY to vote for me, because I believe that the people who vote should be the ones that want to because they want you to succeed. Although I may mention it on my weekly posts :) And any help in spreading the word for me would be very much appreciated!

I applied for the BodyBuilding.com Spokesmodel search and I would both love and appreciate your votes!

You are allowed to vote for one female and one male entrant every day in November. I genuinely want to see where this could take me :) Because, why not? Why not me? So many bikini competitors were offered fantastic opportunities even when not winning the Spokes Model search! Maybe it will land me a sponsorship!

Please vote for me here:
 http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/2012-bodyspace-spokesmodel-search-voting.html

I really appreciate all of you. I realize that reading my words cannot convey the amount of appreciation and support I feel from all of you that comment and read regularly, but you all truly and honestly give me my greatest motivation to achieve my goals. And I love being the person who both inspires and supports all of your goals and actions, although that is something I need to work on! Thank you so much for your votes and love! I hope to make you all proud this next year!

On the 4th Week of Fitmas..

Donloree tried to kill me... With some crazy thing called Crossfit in which I have no idea why people would want to do this often! It is INSANE.

On Monday, I was due for some Hams & Glutes work... but felt like I needed to give it another day. So, I decided to give Crossfit the ole college try.

I decided on the Run Your Butt Off:
5 rounds for time:
Run 200m
20 pushups
Run 200m
20 pullups
Run 200m
20 situps
Run 200m
20 squats
I finished this in 50:46 and 5 gallons of sweat! OOF!

So, I'm on one more week of building and then into my next phase which is just focused more on leaning out... I'll be back on cardio in the morning, but not much... I don't think I'll need much to get my metabolism going again. I'm excited to move back into high intensity workouts. Building is hard... My booty and abs are always sore.

Building Stories.
Oof building is hard. I miss my definition. I have one week left to my build, and then I plan on mucho MUCHO high intensity workouts... Might even try to beat my time on the CrossFit adventure above! I can't wait to play with some combat classes, TRX training, and cone drills... All the stuff I love to hate to love! Cone drills BLOW and SUCK when you're doing them... but there is nothing like them.
And I'm excited to have a reason to eat really clean again. My body feels fat. I didn't say I was fat, but I just don't feel tight anymore. Le sigh. And even though I feel this way, I still remain at 112.5 lbs and definitely plan on progress pics at the end of next week. I can see some changes, but the changes will be more prominent at the end of November.
10 weeks to prep!

Prep Related Stories.
I'm not sure how I feel about my pink suit. LOL! I am doing my best to embrace my faults, and one of them is indecision... I'm just rolling with it and working on a new decision. Haha!
My pink suit originally looked like a dark coral online... NOT BARBIE PINK! I mean, this thing is NEON!

Your thoughts? Ooh maybe I should get a poll going!

I'm kind of liking these colors:

What would you all vote to see me in? :) Mind you, my hair will probably be somewhat blonder by April.

Have a great Halloween weekend everyone! Patrick and I are dressing up as Joe and Jill Dirt! I have been practicing my Jamie Pressley accent "A HEMI?! Balls to the wall!" Hehehe!

My 1st, 2nd, & 3rd Week of Fitmas

Once upon a time, I got pneumonia. Yeah, that was a month ago. Last two weeks, I've eased back into the gym. Getting my build workout schedule down, re figuring out appropriate weights since coming off contest prep... I committed myself to Fitmas but couldn't hold my own in some serious cardio. I reallllly wanted to commit to the Sweaty Betty's 50 Burpees for 50 Days Challenge. Admittedly, I have Workout ADHD... This is not news... And to not reinforce how flakey I feel like I'm NOT, I won't bring up my Hundred Pushups Challenge or P90x...

Stories.
I got talked to about my time off from work. I know it is a BAD deal to talk negatively about your work especially thru social media, but I'm straight pissed off. And kinda hoping my rant will get me excused from working ... The anger does not stem from getting talked to about my time off, the anger is based around what my work thinks is the REAL problem. Apparently, if you're really really healthy and still getting sick... You get pegged as too extreme. Serious! I said to them, "I eat healthy, I drink tons of water, I take all my vitamins, and I get plenty of exercise. You tell me what I'm doing wrong, because I would LOVE to take my vacation instead of sick time."  (my work just has Paid Time Off, not designated vacation vs sick pay) Okay, and SERIOUSLY.... if any one of my coworkers gets sick... it absolutely needs to be blamed on their lack of exercise, water, and terrible diet if pneumonia (which is a bacterial lung infection, btw) is being blamed on my very healthy lifestyle. And I am NOT just saying. ;)

Is it weird that I kinda miss contest prep? Yeah? Okay. LOL! I do kinda miss contest prep.
Reason No. 1: Because now, I have to find reasons not to eat crappy at work luncheons etc. Last Monday, we took our Boss out to lunch for Boss' Day to a cute bistro close to the hospital. Something I'm trying for during my off-season, is to continue thru the Gluten-Free & dairy free diet (except cream in my coffee) and saving any gluten or dairy laden foods for cheats, and out of choice! This bistro had a good gluten free menu so I went with a GF Chicken Gyro. And my boss goes, "I would hate to have to be gluten free..." I exclaimed, "Really?! My stomach and body feels so much better without it!" As I was driving with my coworker back to the office, whose husband has Celiac's Disease, she said to me, "You know, just tell people you have a gluten intolerance. Even if you just don't mentally want to tolerate it!" And she is so right! And why should someone's choice to eat healthy be any less respected than an allergy?!

I am gluten intolerant! I just don't WANT to tolerate it! :)

Reason No. 2: I miss my skin being really clear. Loads of water all day long and then sweating hard 2x a day... Yeah. Fitmas helped this, however.

Contest Prep Flash Back: My hot flashes are back. Why? I generally like to believe that the hot flashes are an indicator of my metabolism; seemed like whenever I was losing fat my hot flashes were way up. And I am SWEATING thru the night lately. And since I really haven't gained any a whole lot of weight since contest prep, and believe me... I am NOT trying to NOT gain weight... In fact, I am trying to gain some muscle. I just think my body just really doesn't want to be big again so it is working extra hard to make sure...? Alright, that was really just a hopeful explanation. Does anyone else get crazy hot flashes when dropping weight?

New Goals.

So, I've been having issues with switching my brain off of contest prep... In almost everything. I feel guilty when I don't go do cardio in the AM, or eat something that isn't in my meal plan and wasn't a scheduled cheat. In order to not go crazy I've made a few goals, albeit STRANGE goals:

1. SKIP a workout during the week. Yeah, you read that right. I really don't need to go crazy on my schedule right now. Its time for mental relaxation as well as some physical. Its easy to feel like a slave to your workout schedule. I am still hitting every body part every week and legs/abs still 2x a week.

2. Change lifts to the morning. I want more time at home in the afternoon now that winter is coming around... I love seeing day light in my house! Although, I don't typically like to lift in the morning as I feel kinda shakey... I mean, I don't have a full day's worth of nutrition, water, & supplements to back my lifting. This is just a trial thing. BUT! I did find that I love oatmeal w/chocolate protein powder & almond butter before a good lift. :)

... So basically all my goals are surrounding the need for a mental break. :)

Okay back to FITMAS!

So MY goal for fitmas is just to fit in one of these workouts a week, considering I do have other things I am working on like my abs/arse build... hopefully we will see a difference in pics here soon! :) But I did have to pack all 3 weeks into a few days to catch up!



Where do I purchase this??

On MY First day of Fitmas, Donloree gave to me... A Shredmill for HIIT...

Here is what my shredmill looked like... Can I just say my face was as red as a cherry tomato afterward?!

5 min @ 6 mph (also my recovery pace)

1 set of 60 sec on @ 7mph / 60 sec @ 6mph

2 sets of 45 sec @ 7.5 mph / 60 sec @ 6mph

2 sets of 30 sec @ 8 mph / 60 sec @ 6mph

1 set of 60 sec @ 9 mph / 60 sec @ 6mph

1 set of 60 sec @ 10 mph / 60 sec @ 6mph

2 sets of 45 sec @ 7.5 mph / 60 sec @ 6mph

2 sets of 30 sec @ 7 mph / 60 sec @ 6mph

5 mins @ 6 mph

(Total of 29 mins and 3 gallons of sweating)

I felt SO proud of myself for this! I am serious, I walked around with my head high and trash talked to Patrick later on about how awesome I am; I bet him he couldn't do that run. We'll see if he holds up his end of the bet on doing this with me sometime ;) I just felt so proud that I ran for a complete HIIT. I have always just walked really fast on the recovery periods as I am not a pro on controlling my heart rate/breathing with running.

On My second day of Fitmas, Donloree gave to me... Two Tabatas!

Warm up 5 min @ 6mph (I really love Treadmill HIITs, btw!)

Incline    Speed    ‘Reps’    Work    Rest

0              7.0           1         2:00       :30 (Rest rate was pure rest)

5              7.0           1         1:30       :30

5              7.5           1         1:00       :30

5              8.0           4          :45        :20

1              10.0         4          :30        :15

0             11.0          4          :15        :05

0             6.0            1           7:00 (2 min + 5 min cool down)

Total Time: 28 mins of pure craziness and sweat.

On My third day of Fitmas, Donloree gave to me... Three Kettlebells...

I did a Kettlebell Circuit one day for this, and I can say that I will be definitely doing this again! I had never used Kettlebells before and I was SO sore! My triceps have NEVER been that sore!

3 Shoulders & Arms Circuits:

Kettlebell Rear Delt Row: 3@ 7lbs x 10 reps

KB Kickback: 3@ 7lbs x 10 reps

KB Curl: 3@ 15x10

KB Upright Row: 25x10, 2@ 35x10

KB Overhead Press: 2@ 15x10, 25x10

KB French Press: 15x10, 15x15, 25x10

(I think this took me about 40 mins with rests in between, I also did everything unilaterally)

Wasn't sure how much weight I could handle on these, so this was kind of a trial thing, but I was VERY sore all over my triceps after this... Also my biceps were very sore right at the origin & insertion of my muscles. :) Such a crazy feeling when you are used to being sore right in the belly of the muscle!*

*If you are weight lifting and don't know much about the science of your muscles, it definitely benefits knowing how the muscle works if you have time to look into it. :) I always started with the muscles I wanted to work on first (okay, that and I took Anatomy & Physiology in college so I had some prior knowledge) to help me learn how to develop it.... REALLY helpful for lats, abs & booty!

I will admit... I am a tad scrrrrrd for the Fourth Week of Fitmas which is Crossfit! I am either going to do the Filthy 50 or the Run Your Butt Off. Either way, I think I am going to have to notify gym staff of my lofty endeavors so someone can jump start my heart when I fall off the treadmill/platform because it couldn't take the amount of stress I put it under. LOL!

Ooh, so since I don't have a really cool/witty way of ending this post, I'll just let everyone know what you can expect from me soon! I have so many posts started that I need to finish... Where is twitter when I need it #notflakey

-A post on my most recent iTunes binge.

-Posts on part of my off-season project: The Gluten Free Project - Dedicated to finding gluten free ways of making everything I love. Might try to go for healthy and/or dairy free as well... Just because something lacks wheat doesn't always mean its good for you!

-An Emotional/Girly/Heartwarming/Puke-tastic post on Prep.

-Progress pics somewhere around November 5th... That is kinda scary...

Have a lovely last week of October everyone!! :)

Sick on Contest Prep

Indeed I felt it long before the symptoms pushed their way into full on sickness. But since I've been a very active and healthy person, my levels of sickness have gone way down. I almost never get sick anymore. Not like I used to. I used to get sick what seemed like monthly and be out for a week.

This time had to be different.

I felt the symptoms last week, but fought it. Kept at the gym, kept at my diet. The second I let my guard down, seems like my immune system did too. Which was Sunday and Monday.

But better at 12 weeks, than at 8, or 4. Or 1 week out.

Have I mentioned that I have the most impossibly incredible and supportive man that I could possibly have? Yes? Well, he is and there is nothing that can keep me from mentioning how awesome he is.

Tuesday night, at the peak of fever, cold sweats, head gunk, chest gunk and coughing... He goes out of his way to buy gluten-free, low-carb, high-protein chicken vegetable soup for me... knowing my diet restrictions. Knowing how much competing means to me. AND! Last night he went out of his way to grill turkey, steam broccoli, and even portion and weigh it out correctly for me. *Sigh.* He gave me my supplements, constantly filled up my water, and rubbed my back.

I can barely imagine supporting him in a goal like this, and somehow he amazes me. Part of my contest prep this time around, is being very aware of my attitude toward Handsome and keeping calm when I get stressed. Contest Prep definitely puts stress on your loved ones, and I want to make this as easy for him as possible.

So, what does a competitor do while sick and on contest prep?

I don't know if any of you remember that I'm doing my own suit. GULP! Yes, its true. I felt a tad insecure about it at first, but the more I work on it... the more confident I feel about it. And being sick was the best opportunity to sit down with some green tea, watch some Glee, and iron on some rhinestones to my suit.


This side of the top is now mostly done, just need to finish the other side. I have the straps mostly done... and then I still need to do the bottoms. Handsome always tries to calm my sense of urgency, "Babe, you have plenty of time." Well, if I only have time to work on it on Sundays... That is a total of only 11 days. lol
But I spent a good 5 hours on it yesterday and am really pleased with my progress.



Had to go outside to really show the colors

 I'm getting back in the gym today for some legs and cardio. Diet has only barely strayed during being sick. Never over my calories or macros, but did stray from being gluten-free with a piece of toast.

Special shout out to Kari Keenan over at Figure Girl World who will be competing at Team Universe over this weekend in New Jersey going for her Pro-Card! Get on over to her blog at http://www.figuregirlworld.com/ or find her on Twitter @babytatten and give her some love!

Reaching For Help

-Making this clear for my family: This is in regards to my fitness goals.

Donloree inspires me. And her posts seem to never come at a better time, with one today that brought me to tears.

I could go on and on explaining it away, but really it comes down to what I do with that information. To recap, I have been alone. And I feel alone. I'm stressed, I'm tired, and I over-analyze everything in effort to feel better. But what I have focused on are really the symptoms, and not the sickness.

"I am firmly on the wagon of clean eating, working out, positive thinking, and a disciplined life; but I am all alone on the wagon and its my fault. Somewhere on the journey I decided that I was strong enough to get the wagon out of all the potholes that are in the road of life and that I don’t need any help." -Donloree Hoffman -Figure Competitor

Something I have realized in this small area of Washington state, is that figure competing is relatively unknown. I have one friend who is very interested in fitness and loads of friends who just think I'm body obsessive. I realized a month or two ago, that I haven't been a very good friend - and actually, a selfish friend. I've worked on trying to reach out to my friends who do support me... but I need them to reach back.

What I'm trying to say is: I need YOU as much as you need me.

Hello. My name is Lacey Davis. I am a figure competitor and I struggle with:

• Self-doubt & self-loathing. I almost never feel good enough. For anyone or anything.
• Stress. I sometimes OFTEN feel like I have nothing to look forward to in life because stress weighs me down so heavily.
• Not blaming problems on my Handsome. Poor guy, he takes the brunt of a lot of my frustration. Not to make excuses, this is probably a bi-product of everything else.
• Following through Goals. See #1.
• Independence. I see myself as a burden to others, so I try to do everything myself.
• Friends. I would love deep female relationships, but I somehow see myself as a burden.
• Coping with change. I won't apologize, I miss my cat... he was my baby and I miss him immensely.
• Depression. This is due to all of the above... adding up.

I'm putting myself out there. I want to change and need to change. Things cannot stay the same; I need to progress. I may not know how others can help me right now, if you think you can I'd love your help. Meanwhile, I want you all to consider me your friend... because I think I can be a great one.

Please reach out to me if you've been feeling the same, struggle with any of those issues, or really just need someone to talk to. Even if we can't figure out our issues, at least let me be your friend and give you support in figuring it out.

We can all work to point each other towards success or failure. Let me help you towards success. :) Email me at any time at andawayshegoes@yahoo.com. I look forward to talking with you!

30 Day Yoga Challenge

If anyone can recall, one of my goals in 2011 was to complete a 30 day yoga challenge. And I'm doing the Bikram style yoga so it is always the same: 90 minutes of the same sequence of 26 yoga postures in a room at 105 degrees & 40% humidity. If you've never experienced a session of Bikram...

It freaking rocks.

What The???

I recommend it to anyone (which is why I'm going to be a teacher full-time [someday]). In May, I will complete 30 days straight of yoga. And actually, I'm starting a week from today, April 27th, so I end May 26th. It occurred to me that Memorial Day is coming and we'll probably head out of town; I think Handsome will appreciate that I decided to plan my fitness goals around our personal life for once, instead of the other way around. :)

Why Am I Doing This?!

• I want to levitate. Not literally, emotionally. I'd like to balance myself and work out my insecurities before going into contest prep mid-July (see below). Yoga got me through a divorce, I'm positive it can strengthen my heart during this season of my life.
• I plan on becoming a yoga teacher in the fall, and one must complete at least a 30 day challenge beforehand. PS-Teacher training includes 60 days of straight yoga and most days are 2 classes a day. :)
• May is the only time I can fit it in before competing in October and beginning teacher training around the same time.

What is my plan of action regarding competing?????

• Yes, I did make the decision to compete! :) I have decided on an October show as my first.
• I plan to continue lifting in the mornings (M-F yoga classes will always be at 4, and Sat-Sun will always be at 930am), I plan to continue on creatine on my lifting days, and I plan on adjusting my diet slightly to intake some more protein so as to pro-actively ensure I do not lose any muscle mass during this time.

Am I afraid of anything regarding this???

• Although I have been afraid in the past, I am making the decision to not be afraid and just do it.
• I will, however, admit that I am afraid concerned on how this will affect my muscles. I've been working really hard for my muscle size and am concerned this may bring a stringy-lengthy look to my muscles. (If any figure competitor out there has any suggestions on what I can do to prevent this, please PLEASE tell me! :)

Where am I doing this at?

• Yarrow Yoga Hot Yoga & Wellness Studio in Spokane. Check out their website if you like!

PS: I'd love friends to join me during this 30 days! If you've ever wanted to try it, please let me know so we can make plans to hot yoga it up during May!

Here's to strength, vitality, and beauty! Bring it on, yoga.

Half is Mental, So is the Other Half

I'm working on re-training my mind. I think part of my over training, was mentally overtraining. I've spent months over analyzing my situation instead of just trusting the plan that works.

At one point, I was eating truthfully by the food pyramid on appropriate calories and it was absolutely working for me. I was losing a steady 1-2 lbs of fat per week and for some unknown cause... I changed my diet. Well, I know why... I was trying to narrow down certain macros to help me continue to lose. Which did not work as planned. But, I do not regret it, as taking in tons of protein really helped me gain a bunch of muscle. But now, I need to go back to basics. Very basic food principles.

Basic principles seem to help your body go the farthest, no?

I'm in this strange place with my fitness. Where it takes my body quite a bit more effort to get any the same results. And rightfully so: when I was 50 lbs overweight 60 mins of low intensity on the elliptical would make me sweat viciously! Now, it would take me 60 mins of serious conditioning to cultivate those same feelings in my muscles... So this is what I'm doing. I feel the best when I am training 2x a day (am cardio & pm lift/conditioning), so I am allowing myself to do this BUT only if I am taking in at least 1500 cals.

I have been considering upcoming competitions. I would be am 16 weeks out from the Washington State Natural or 25 weeks out from the Night of Champions (classic). My sane mental status is telling me to wait and do the Night of Champions... But the competitor in me keeps saying to go for the WS Natural. Or both? I'm not concerned about being weeks out, just more about whether or not I will be truly ready to compete on a state level or even for a pro-card. I'm concerned about getting my delts to peak, body fat to continue dropping, lats fill out, and quads peaking.

I've noticed a pattern in my thought processes as I consider competitions, it will be a long elated feeling of exact confidence, perfection, strength, pride, power, desirous, triumphant, and self-love. Which is almost immediately followed by the exact opposite of previous feelings: mis-trust, inferiority, weakness, shame, incapability, defeat, and self-hate. Somewhere along the way in the path of my life, someone or something told me I wasn't ever good enough. I've always struggled with all of those emotions and honestly, I am doing all of this because I want to give MYSELF something to be proud of.

In the last couple of weeks, I have felt conflicted in my yoga practice versus my lifting/conditioning schedule. I had planned on a 30 Day Challenge in May... but the more I convince myself I need to compete - the more the idea of a 30 day challenge gets pushed back. However, this is a conversation I have with others. There is always the possibility of the 30 day in May with morning lifting. I worry about it causing my muscles to appear deflated after May as June and July will be back to hypertrophy. Much to plan for, and much to act on.

If half of this is mental, so is the other half.

I'm looking to Ava for inspiration today. Ava is a Class A competitor, and while I not only admire her because she's a shorty... I admire her because she is currently in her rookie year as a pro and took 3rd at the Arnold... I had a feeling she wouldn't win... but 3rd place in the Figure International is a huge feat for a rook.

Ava Cowan

Birthday

Best of both worlds...



How lovely is this?



Yesterday was my birthday and I'll take one of each, please. Please disregard the food porn. :)




Monday I got in:
Some am yoga in the steam room
20 jump squats
Wide grip pyramid (at home so I used our pullup bar with a foot on a chair as I'm not yet unassisted, but I'm totally sore today): 36 pullups, 72 pushups, and 108 situps.
15 mins of BodyRock.tv's Just Can't Get Enough Challenge (towards the end I only was doing a jump after every 2 reps)
2 miles running the dogs in the rain with my honey

Diet: 1438 Calories, 101g Protein, 173g Carb, 40g Fat with 96 oz water.

Birthday workout was:
1 mile running (My knees/ankles/shins are still hurting pretty good... Ortho/Sports Med appointment next Monday... again, issues will be explained after the appt)
21 mins of BodyRock.tv's Gaga for Poker Face (ps... I caught this at the last second before posting but I almost wrote "Porker" face. haha!)... I gave myself a 1 min break between sets. :)

Totally didn't count my calories past 1pm... But honey picked up my favorite burger & sweet potato fries (it comes with an incredible chipotle sauce which totally makes the meal)... It was big fat bacon cheeseburger with extra pickles from a pub kinda close to us. So, the dragon didn't get ahold of me that much! No cake! I did well on that! We'll see how this weekend goes though, family coming over Friday AND Saturday.

I definitely don't want to sound ungrateful for everything my wonderful honey and my family did for me on my birthday, but I was really hoping someone *ahemPatrickahem* would purchase me some yoga sessions... but since he didn't, I plan on buying myself one. Yep, just one. Its all I can afford right now. I'm trying to budget in going once a week in April and then a 30 day challenge in May. :) Wow, that just really made me realize that if I am indeed going to compete this year then I have very little time to finish my pre-contest-prep-prep :) I think the October competition is probably the better choice but something in me keeps telling me July is my month.

To the girls out there that have competed, for someone who will be competing for the first time, how long would you give someone to prep in weeks? I've heard some athletes giving themselves anywhere from 8 weeks to 20! I'm not sure where my body fat will be at that time, but I'm hoping to have taken off enough body fat to only have about 7% to shed. I'm working towards my off-season goal of 15-16% body fat at 115-116 lbs, which would give me about 7-8 lbs to shed. Anyway! Just trying to see what other girls out there do. I love a good set of advice from girls who have been there!

No Longer Overtraining

Wow. My overall energy has completely improved and my workouts no longer feel stale. And after doing research on Overtraining Syndrome, it is a wonder it took me so long to realize it. After all, it really is about balance so performance never plateaus.

Another awesome blogger at DreamingOfArnold just posted about her own possible over training (I am borrowing the post idea, just don't want to take credit!), and I thought it would be a good time to attest that same statement as an athlete who is feeling my body come out of it. We all mentally lose desire in our physical activities at times, and if you feel the following symptoms coming on it may be time to consider overtraining.
Common Warning Signs and Symptoms of Overtraining Syndrome (found at sportsmedicine.about.com)

• Washed-out feeling, tired, drained, lack of energy
• Mild leg soreness, general aches and pains
• Pain in muscles and joints
• Sudden drop in performance
• Insomnia
• Headaches
• Decreased immunity (increased number of colds, and sore throats)
• Decrease in training capacity / intensity
• Moodiness and irritability
• Depression
• Loss of enthusiasm for the sport
• Decreased appetite
• Increased incidence of injuries.
• A compulsive need to exercise

The compulsive need to exercise and depression is how I knew I was overtraining, amongst having almost every other symptom. I even admitted to Handsome just last week that I was feeling depressed and couldn't figure out why!  I've booted my fasted morning cardio for now, so I can focus all my training abilities to my afternoon. Down to only 2 days of lifting, and back to more cardio & conditioning-which I know I've already mentioned.

And no joke, changing my diet has done everything! Why did I ever really think I should eat very little carbs all the time?! Especially when eating fruit, yogurt, and double fiber english muffins were working for me months ago?! (Is my excitement being conveyed adequately???) AND! I'm no longer forcing myself into activities I hate... *ahem.cycling.ahem*   The diet really has changed everything. Almost no desire to cheat and I no longer feel bad when I only get in 3 miles of running. HELLO?! I couldn't even RUN a year ago!!

Today my workout was:
3 miles running around our property with the dogs. Little Zekey was able to keep up for the mile I ran him. Molly, however, about pulled my arm off. Especially when she saw horses for the first time! That was a shoulder workout in and of itself! That girl is better than a treadmill, she MAKES me run faster.
Along 18 mins BodyRock.tv's Only Girl In the World Challenge.

Diet: 1513 Calories, 111g Protein, 183g Carbs, 40g Fat along with 120 oz water.

All Forgetsy

Today I'm all forgetsy. I forgot all my supplements. I forgot my phone. I forgot my workout bag. I forgot my workout journal. (Unfortunate by product of TOM)

Anyway, I had a very up and down weekend, TOM was on his way and is now residing in my home... So, that whole emotional preparedness was going on. My eats were good one day, not so good the next. I get bad bad urges, I call her "Helpless Housewife" because she knows not what she does. She's the emotional eater inside of me that craves home food... Like cookies. And she made cookies this week, oh did she ever make cookies. Made both chocolate chip & peacan and white chocolate chip & macadamia nut.

The only workouts I did this weekend were:
Cleaning out the shed (this counts for something! It was A LOT of work! And we live on property so any time you're cleaning out and want to move something to another place, it requires carrying things a long way... I did a few farmers walks).
And my pushup challenge.
This pushup challenge is literally amazing. Every time you up your total pushups and up your max. On Friday, I totaled 103 pushups and maxxed at 28 pushups. Yesterday, I totaled 128 pushups and I maxxed 35 pushups with Handsome cheering me on! It was awesome having him to count them out. :)

This week is going to be a different pace for me. And I'm excited about it. I'm really missing yoga, btw. I can't wait until our financial situation mellows out a little so I can get my booty back to class!
This week, I'm doing all cardio in the morning and only doing BodyRock.tv at night. I'm getting burnt out from the gym... I'm an Aries and have a short attention span! Plus! I just love so many different things!
Boo-yah!

Hot Topic: BOOBS

When I went was out of almost every supplement I take, I went to GNC and met the owner of all of the local GNC stores in Spokane, Paul. We talked about my supplementation and the local classic in April that I was going to be in. He told me I looked lean and I should still go for it! Me drooling over lean compliments admitted I'm still at 23% bf and working on it.

After he tried to reel me into the other area classic in October, we discussed implants. I admitted to him that I haven't been sure how far I will be able to take myself in the figure world because I'm not willing to get implants. Sometimes I want them, but most of the time I don't like the idea of surgery on myself for something other than what is medically necessary. Something I learned: in Spokane area figure competitions, breast size is NO LONGER a factor in overall win! It may be something nationally that is still being considered, but not in our area... More about muscularity and poise with beauty... But to them, beauty is not defined by breast size! HALLELUJAH! Because what was once a C cup, has become an A cup after 60 lbs of fat loss and it honestly was such a downer to think that my breast size would have anything to do with retaining my femininity with the athletic physique, especially when I have issues feeling pretty and girly on a daily basis.

What is your take on breast enhancements? Get em or not? ... This is NOT me asking if you think I should get them. :)



Workout for Tuesday was:
10 mins treadmill
10 mins pushup training for my 100 Pushup Challenge, which was a set of 5: 14, 18, 14, 14, and exhaustion: 22 (it needed to be at least 20)... Total of 82 pushups yesterday!
30 mins treadmill

Diet: 1626 Calories, 134g Protein, 63g Carb, 95g Fat along with 136 oz water. :)
Diet worked out well yesterday, today I'm transitioning into a higher carb diet and have gone off creatine to go into the conditioning and endurance phase of my training! Definitely excited!

And I promise I'll post progress pictures after my birthday! :)

100 Pushups Challenge

I started the 100 Push-Ups Training Program. Its something I've been wanting to do and could no longer find a reason to not do it. Its seriously only 3 times a week. So easy to add in to what I've already got going on athletically.

I did my exhaustion test on Sunday and to my surprise scored with 37 pushups, I guessed I'd get in 30. And honestly, when I got up, I thought to myself, "I bet I could have pumped out a few more."

So, this weekend ended up with Friday's workout:
20 mins of treadmill:
5 min @ 5.5mph
10 min HIIT @ 6-10 mph
5 min @ 5.5mph (I was kind of proud of all of this, I'm not a great runner and is something I'm working on as part of my birthday goals, which is rapidly approaching)
And my pyramid, for some reason I was just not handling so well all the weight. I did my first two at 60 and the rest of the 11 at 70 lbs assisted in reverse grip.
So: 36 reverse grip pullups, 72 pushups, and 108 bicycle situps.

Saturday was a rest day but I think cleaning all day counts for something!

Sunday I only did my first exhaustion test, which apparently you do this on every training day. Excited! :D

Weekend Warrior

Well, I took my own advice and hired a trainer. First appointment is today, which I've met with him before just to take body fat so at least our sit-down time will be minimal... I really need a "make me puke" workout. For my sanity! Okay, maybe I won't go crazy because I haven't had an exceedingly hard workout in a while... but I might go crazy because my willpower is dwindling and I need it back! Its true: I'm a workout junkie and need my fix.

Had a really laxed weekend so I fit in a few home workouts to get me by until I could find my keys and make it to the gym this morning!

On friday I did BodyRock's Survivor Workout:
Interval: 50 sec sprint, 10 sec rest
Backward Lunge Kick Up (L leg)
Backward Lunge Kick Up (R leg)
1 Arm Pres Up (alt arms)
2 kick ups & Breakdance Pushup
Pike Jump& Squat Jump
--------------------------
5 mins of 1 leg squat & jump tuck (alt legs)
--------------------------
Repeat part 1, took me a total of 16 mins.

Saturday's workout:
45 mins of P90x Plyo video & Ab Ripper

Sunday I repeated BodyRock's Marine Corps workout:
(20 sec sprint, 10 sec rest)
Sandbag sqt (R shoulder)
Plank jump pushup
Sandbag sqt (L shoulder)
Plank jump pushup
-Repeat-
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10 pendulums
roll over
Walking pushup
10 Elbow plank jumps
-Reverse Back-
Repeat 5x
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Sandbag Mini Sqt (R Shoulder)
Supergirl Pushups
Sandbag Mini Sqt (L Shoulder)
Supergirl Pushups
(Repeat all 1x)

Since I am a person who thinks it is important to be truthful about where I'm at, not just for honesty sake but also because you can more accurately watch your body (yes, I need to justify it in my mind because I want it to be better...), my body fat was at 23.5% and my body weight at 125.0 lbs. I gained some fat, yes, but I also gained a 0.5 lb of muscle in the last weeks.

Starting today, I'm moving onto a 4 day split with also moving into a 5 day a week pyramid to hopefully explode my strength. Also moving into some different conditioning with working with my new trainer. The month of March is basically going to be Athletic Training to drop some body fat and refocus on my strength and endurance.

Here's to a new month and being an athlete! :)