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My Fitness and Weight Loss Journal *August 2012 - The new site is officially up! Yay! http://recipeforfitness.com **All "journal" entries are now made on my blog - please visit me at http://blog.recipeforfitness.com/
The posts that are on this page (and other journal pages) will stay... it's just easier to post my blog over there :-) Plus it's better organized. Please, please, please visit my blog :-) and as always, feel free to contact me anytime! chelle @ RecipeForFitness.com
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Previous Posts...
Friday 6/3/2011:
Before we did my leg workout, today was Measure/Picture day. 4-Week Progress Report. After last week's awesome weight/bodyfat drop (3 lbs and 2%), this week was miniscule. Ounces lost, and .2 body fat% lost. Tab assures me that's ok this far out. To stay in a healthy mind-place, I'll trust her :-) Here are the measurements...
Tab was emphatic that the visual changes are much more drastic than the measurement/weight changes. Particularly in regard to my body fat. Because one of the measurements used to calculate body fat is in the belly, my number will always be higher - at least until I have that tummy tuck. That's where my loose skin and excess fatty deposits left over from my obese-life are, and it skews my results. To be honest, I never imagined I'd get my belly area as flat as it is right now... so the show aside, I'm really happy with that. I have 12 weeks left until I cross the stage, and Tab reminded me that I still have two major weapons in my arsenal that we haven't used yet... double cardio days and the killer diet change (the uber-sucky one where my calories are REALLY low and my carbs all but disappear). We'll probably pull those out at 6 weeks or so. Additionally, we can continue to change up my workouts/schedule. She's happy with my diet where it's at (with the added fat and reduced protein we instituted last week). So... enough stalling. Here's the pictures. [deep breath, just keep breathing, Chelle]. Oh... and be kind... this was 6:30 in the morning - pre-hair & makeup, LOL. And yes, my toenails are painted neon green :-)
Here's a side by side comparison to 4 weeks ago...
Moving on (before I lose my nerve and delete the pics)... Here's today's food...
Contents:
Today's Numbers (click on the fitday icon above to view all the info): 1439 calories; 41% protein, 35% carb, 24% fat. 33.8 g fiber.
Thursday 6/2/2011:
12:30pm... Awesome Product Alert! :-) A short time ago, I
shared with you a company I couldn't wait to order from... Sweet
Pure Honey. They kindly sent me samples, and let me tell you... I'm
placing my order! I love it!
Now, let me first say that the company did not know I was a blogger when they offered to send me samples. It was simply their amazing customer service. So
let's start with the clear lip balm. I tend to shy away from lip
balms. They're usually either nasty tasting or so full of chemicals
that I end up with chapped lips, from the lip balm. Go figure. This
balm is so smooth! No nasty taste, and it lasted through my 40+
minute Next.. the soap. Now, ya'll might remember that I'm kind of anti-soap, lol. I use my sugar scrub, and that's it. No soap. It dries me out, it leaves gross residue. All around blek. So it was with great trepidation that I chose a soap chip and hopped in the shower. OMG. Heavenly! The scent (my favorite is the LOVE, though the spearmint is pretty darn nice, too) was glorious, it was smooth and soft - no residue, and when I got out of the shower, I didn't need to use a moisturizer... !! Seriously. Several hours later, my skin still feels soft. Excellent. Lastly, the mineral lip balm. Delicately tinted, it feels just as good as the clear balm. I am loving it! My daughter, Bethany, tried it and I had to keep the fish eye on her all the way to Cheer practice this morning to be sure she didn't take it with her. She begged me to order her one. I am. I love finding great products, and wanted to share with you that these turned out to be just as advertised... wonderful!! :-) http://www.sweetpurehoney.ca
8:30am... Yesterday after work I hit the gym for Tab's Ab Class (ow!) then did
my 20 minutes of HIIT plus 10 of steady state. I used the
elliptical, and cranked the resistance to 14 (incline stayed at 9
throughout) for my HIIT, and it was like running through mud - mud
that was nearly concrete. Brutal. Had to shower before I could get
ready for the bowling alley. Lol. Once at the alley, I hauled out my
cooler for dinner.
My tea-jello experiment turned out well! I used 2 cups of flavored tea to make the jello, and while it's not sweet (duh, lol) it tastes like the tea - which was what I was going for :-) If you're looking for a no-impact treat, and you like jello, give the recipe a try. I have a feeling I'll be eating a lot of tea-and glutamine jello's this summer :-) I put the recipes up, if you'd like them. Click Here. This
morning I hit the gym bright and early for my steady-state cardio.
Stairmaster this time, for 40 minutes plus cool-down. That done, it
was back home to ready for the day. Here's my cooler today... I updated my Music lists today... so if you're interested, head over to my Workout music page :-) I've got a new list for cardio, and another for weights. Competition update... Found out I don't get to pick my own posing music for the evening show (boo). All competitors (except bodybuilding) use house music. As I am rhythmically impaired, I am hoping whatever they play will be something I can walk to, lol. It's just another challenge, and not worth worrying about. I also learned that though I qualify for 3 classes, I can only choose 2. Don't know why, maybe that's how they keep one person from dominating? I dunno. So now Tab and I have to decide which two to put me in (Novice, Open, and Masters 35+). I can't remember if I mentioned it or not, but they also added a Bikini division, so we moved Ariel into my show so we could compete together as we'd originally wanted. We're 12.5 weeks out. Wednesday 6/1/2011: Welcome to June! Can you believe it?! Wasn't it just Christmas? Yeesh! Yesterday's food is all updated, and today's is right on track (see Cooler Page). It's Wednesday, so after work, I'll hit the gym for my 15 minute Abs class, then do my HIIT & steady cardio, then clean up and head over to the bowling alley (they tend to appreciate the cleaning up portion of my routine, lol). I've got dinner packed in my cooler and ready to go. I've got some Green Leaf Lettuce leaves I'll be dousing in mustard and wrapping my pork tenderloin in, plus some raw sliced peppers and almonds. I'm particularly hungry today. I got home from my weight session and grabbed a baby-banana for the quick sugar hit for my muscles, and a protein bite (a failed experiment, but I needed the protein, and it was clean and handy). That got me through until breakfast (barely - I mean by the skin of the teeth-barely). Now I'm just past snack 1 and am still very, very hungry. Because of the banana & protein bite this morning, I don't have my pre-bed shake/ice cream, so dinner will be it for me. Unless I'm desperate enough to grab a cucumber. We'll see how it goes.
Here's today's cooler contents: (click on the pic to go to the
cooler page) Post
Workout (not pictured)-
1 small banana & 1 protein bite (3g protein) My workouts are going well. I'm so very sore right now! Tab and I did Chest/Triceps on Monday and I really feel that bullets would bounce off my pecs. I am so, so, so very sore. The glutamine supplement I take (as a during/post workout drink) helps reduce muscle soreness, so I can only image how bad I'd be hurting if I wasn't sucking that stuff down! LOL! Speaking of competition prep, I was asked a question today and wanted to share it here... "How are you doing in the prep for your show?? Do you ever get the "I want to just give up" feelings, or are you consistently strong?" Folks... I'm just me. A regular gal. Do I ever get the "I want to just give up" feelings? Only EVERY DAY. Preparing to compete is hard, and I'm just as lazy as anyone else. Absolutely there are days I'd rather stay snuggled warm in my bed instead of heading out to the gym for an early morning workout... there's evenings when all I want to do is drive straight home and relax with a glass of wine and my family instead of driving back to the gym for more work. And the food... I really, really want food. :-) I whine, I cry (especially during that stint when I wasn't seeing any progress... many tears with that). And I hurt. I'm sore, a lot. The glutamine helps take the edge off, but for instance, right now? My chest is so sore it hurts, really hurts to put on my seatbelt. It hurts to lift my purse to my shoulder. Preparing to compete is also scary. I am beyond terrified. If I stop and think about it, I get sick to my stomach-gonna-hurl-scared. I am not a "stage" person. I'm a hide in the back-wings person. The mere thought of being on stage (clothed or in that tiny suit, doesn't matter), can paralyze me. But this is what it takes to get to the next level. And there's a lot of positives in the process, too. I'm learning a deeper level of commitment and discipline. I'm learning I can be stronger. I'm watching my body change, when I thought I'd never see further change without surgery. I'm watching my body change because of my commitment and discipline. I'm growing and evolving. And I'm doing it in spite of my fear. And all of that... it feeds my desire to be more. I'm still becoming "me". I haven't grown up yet. This journey to the stage is teaching me about myself. While I'm reaching for that goal, my focus is on the right now. I'm not allowing myself to worry about the next 20 steps... just the one that comes next. When the alarm goes off at 5am, the next step is to roll out of bed and get moving. When the workday is done, the next step is to drive back to the gym. When I arrive home, the next step is to feed my family (with food I've prepped on Sunday) and fuel myself. When the alarm goes off again the next morning... I just take that next step. Each moment, each meal, each workout... it's just one step. I'm also trying to have fun with the diet... to experiment and try to find foods I can enjoy. Sure I could drink a shake like every other competitor out there, but it's a lot more fun to make it into ice cream! By going out of the box, I can enjoy the process more and I'm learning to be creative in the kitchen :-) That makes it fun. Plus, my BFF is my coach! How cool is that? Someone to not only guide me in my journey, but who's been there themselves, and is truly, 100% beside me, for each and every step. That's empowering. So is the support I'm getting from my husband, kids and loved ones. Seeing their belief in me, helps me believe in myself. And your support... those of you who post comments and/or email me... I can't begin to tell you how much your words mean. There have been days when, honestly, it was one of those posts or emails that enabled me to take the necessary next step... times when that was exactly what I needed to get myself back on track or my head back in the game. I thank you. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you. So... am I consistently strong? No. I'm consistently weak. But I don't let it stop me. Tuesday 5/31/2011: What a fabulous weekend! I will be updating shortly, but until then, my Cooler Page is fully current. I'll be back!! I'm back! :-) I had a fabulous time with my Sibs! Wish Stacey could have been here, too, but so very grateful Jamie and Sylvia made the trip. We had so much fun, just hanging out and chatting. I miss my family! So to do a weekend recap...
Friday morning I worked out with Tab and she kicked my ass (big
surprise). After, I cleaned up and us Sibs plus Shiloh & Bethany
(Ariel had to work) headed out to Arizona Mills. It's a bit of a
drive, so when we go, we plan to be there awhile.
Back home, we chilled, then bbq'd, and chilled some more. They (Jamie & Syl) headed back to Sacramento the next morning :-( But it was a fabulous visit!!
Saturday, I did a Zumba class with Tab. It was nowhere near as
traumatic as the others I've attended, lol, I didn't cry once!
Sunday was food prep. I hit Whole Foods, Frys and Sprouts.
Bill and I enjoyed Saturday so much that we made a promise to each other to do the same thing on Monday (Memorial Day). So Monday morning, I hit the gym for 40 minutes of steady state cardio, followed by an upper body workout with Tab (ouch!). That done, I came home, fueled up, changed into a bikini (yikes!) and hit the pool. Ahhhhh. A gorgeous day. Once the sun set, I decided to try my hand at some figure-competition-culinary-genius'ness. I So very yummy! Ahhh. I ran out at lunchtime to pick up some flavored tea bags (peach, blueberry, etc) to try my hand at some other flavors of jello. I have to be honest... that little half cup bowl of pink stuff makes me pretty darn happy. Happy enough that my second experiment failing miserably didn't even cause me to frown... because I have jello. Here's the recipe:
1
packet unflavored gelatin Mix the glutamine in the water, until dissolved. Add 1/2 cup of the mixture to a bowl. Bring the other 1.5 cups to a boil (watch it, if it boils over you'll have a mess on your hands).
Sprinkle the gelatin over the half cup liquid Each half cup serving has 30 calories, 7 g protein. That's it. Awesome!! Click on the image to the right to learn about the Glutamine supplement I take.
I'll let you know how the tea versions come out :-) So... that brings us up to today. I started my day with yoga (love it!!) and will end it with cardio. In between I've been working like a mad-woman, lol. Competition prep update... well, this coming Friday is picture & measure day. I'm actually looking forward to this one! I have been seeing some pretty major changes in my body, and I'm hoping they'll translate onto camera. For one, my pants are all too big, lol. I started dropping weight, too. In one week (last week), I dropped 3.2 lbs and 2.3% body fat! YES!! Finally! Cue the HUGE sigh of relief! Plus, I am visually recognizing differences... and the hubby is really seeing change (and liking it - always a bonus! LOL). My food is all on track. We've made some minor tweaks to my ratios, but the foods themselves are all the same. I'm really having fun playing with my recipes to find fun and tasty treats I can enjoy without going off-diet. My protein ice-creams are awesome and leave me feeling "treated", and the new jello is simply fantabulous! :-) My workouts are brutal. I'm so very thankful for Tab and all she's doing to get me to my goal. Food this week... Sunday food prep got all my chicken and veggies ready to go, along with my oatmeal baggies. Food for the family this week is:
Monday: London Broil with steamed asparagus My food of course is a whole lotta chicken and steamed veggies :-) Starchy carbs at lunchtime this week are either baked sweet potato or black beans. Veggies for steaming are: asparagus, broccoli/cauliflower, zucchini, and green beans. Fruits for my morning carb are: apples, blackberries, raspberries, banana (only after weights). Morning complex starchy carb is my oatmeal. Fats this week include avocado, olive oil, coconut oil, coconut butter and peanut butter (only in my protein ice cream when my numbers allow). And there you have it! Up-to-date! :-) This is Week 13 pre-competition. Thursday 5/26/2011: It's Done! I can hardly believe it, my girls have graduated, and my baby is a sophomore. I feel ancient. Lol. Graduation was great, the girls looked beautiful. The next day (Wednesday) was the grad party, and my sis & bro drove in from Sacramento. Awesome!!! So good to see them!!! My folks and other sister weren't able to make the trip, so I'm super grateful that Jamie and Sylvia did :-) Here's some pics...
Food... Hmmm. Well. The good news is I haven't cheated. All my food is clean and my ratios are on track. But... I got a little distracted yesterday and missed some food. :-( My bad. Seriously. Came in at only 1,000 calories for the day. And it was a weight lifting day (killer leg session with Tab that morning!). Dagnabbit. That was a major mistake on my part. :-( Not good. Today is better. I'm back on track. I started my day with a 40 minute steady-state cardio session on the stair-master, packed my cooler and have been on track ever since. I'm working today, then tomorrow I'm hanging with my Sibs :-) after my 6:30 am torture session with Tabitha the Terminator :-) Awesome!! I've been calling Tab the WGT (World's Greatest Trainer) for years... now that I'm back training with her, I am more convinced than ever, she IS the WGT. No Doubt. :-) Food for today is up on the Cooler page. You can view the pics and stuff there :-) Dinner this evening for me is my usual chicken & veggies, but I've got a Enchilasagna for the family :-) (see recipe page). Can't wait to go home and hang with the family! :-) Isn't the day over yet? LOL!! Happy Thursday! Tuesday 5/24/2011: It's Graduation Day!! Shiloh & Ariel graduate high school this evening. Wow, time flies! I've got a short work-day today, and then I'm off to get cardio done, then all the mad-errands for tonight and tomorrow. Lots to do!! :-)
Last
night after work, I hit the gym for my cardio - did 40 minutes, plus
5 min cool-down, on the elliptical - steady state. Headed home for
dinner Salmon lettuce wraps (if I have my Dreamsicle Protein Ice Cream
1 scoop
vanilla protein powder Blend together, then pour into a sandwich size ziploc & seal. In a gallon size ziploc, add ice and half cup of salt. Place small baggie in the big baggie, seal and shake about 5 minutes.
Calories: 182; protein: 21 g; carbs: 7g; fat: 7g; sodium: 350 mg;
sugars 2g; fiber 2g. This morning, I had yoga at 6:30 am. It was a great class (as usual) and really helped... I'm super sore from yesterday's workout, lol , my chest feels like it's going to explode. After work, like I mentioned, it's cardio time and then errands. We've got family in town from Northern California... and my siblings arrive tomorrow for the party. Can't wait to see them! :-) Here's my food for today... the cooler only has breakfast through lunch in it, as I'll be heading out then, and eating the rest of my food at home.
Breakfast
-
Oatmeal w/protein powder, ground flax, cinnamon.
Today's Numbers (click on the fitday icon above to view all the info): 1413 calories; 51% protein, 30% carb, 19% fat. 42 g fiber. Sodium: 685 mg
Monday 5/23/2011: Lots to catch up on! First, here are the pics I promised... From Ariel's 19th Birthday... Me and Shiloh, then Me & Bethany Me and Joey... as you can see, my son is astonished that my phone
can take "self portraits" with a simple mode-change The Cupcakes... Ariel's dessert - Mint chocolate chip ice cream and cupcakes...
she couldn't finish! LOL! But she tried!!
This is my dinner, while everyone was gnoshing on bbq chicken and
cupcakes... Friday night, Bill and I ran some errands, then hit up Chipotle
for dinner. Here's the pic I promised... Saturday night, Bill and I attended a Scandalesque show. It was fun to dress up and get out of the house. Then Sunday was my usual Food Prep and Counter of Chaos™. And Chaos it was! With Graduation on Tuesday, and the party on Wednesday, there was a ton of extra food & stuff that came home with me... and I have to go back on Wednesday for more! Yikes! I am absolutely loving the protein ice cream recipe! I've tweaked and messed with it, and no matter how I do it, it's awesome! :-) Here's the recipe for my current favorite.
Here's the menu for the week... Here's today's food... click on the picture to view all the images & nutrition info.
Breakfast - Oatmeal w/protein powder, ground flax, cinnamon. Snack: 4 oz grilled cod with mustard in green leaf lettuce plus 4 small strawberries & a small kiwi Lunch - 4 oz grilled chicken breast, 2 cups steamed broccoli & cauliflower, 1/2 cup of black beans. Snack - 4 oz roasted pork tenderloin & 2 cups steamed zucchini/yellow squash. Dinner - 5 oz grilled chicken breast, 2 cups steamed green beans 1/2 tbsp garlic infused olive oil & sea-salt Pre-bed Snack - (not pictured) Shake - 1-scoop protein powder mixed with water and decaf coffee. Today's Numbers (click on the fitday icon above to view all the info): 1433 calories; 51% protein, 29% carb, 21% fat. 46 g fiber. Sodium: 830 mg My workout this morning was a KILLER. It was Chest, Triceps, Shoulders. I am already feeling tight and sore! Wooohooo! I have an option of either doing my cardio or attending Tab's Total Body Conditioning class... I'm kinda thinking cardio. Lol. We'll see how I feel in a bit. Speaking of cardio... I am now officially at 45 minute cardio sessions (was doing 30 min). And I am 14 weeks out from show. Happy Monday!! Sunday 5/22/2011:
Shout With Me... "I'm ALIVE!!!!"
Friday
5/20/2011:
Go
Since my computer at home died, I'm unable to post until Bill gets
home with his laptop (and then I take command, lol). Thursday 5/19/2011: Got everything done yesterday that I needed to, including my Abs Class and Cardio. Dinner was my standard chicken breast and 2 cups of raw peppers. They're so used to me and my cooler now at the bowling alley, that no one even looks at me funny anymore. Lol! I had a bowl of sliced cucumbers, but didn't end up needing it, so it's in today's cooler, just in case :-) This morning, Ariel received her first birthday treat - a large Godiva chocolate bar from me :-) and then she headed to Pt-101 where Tab kicked her ass while making her wear a birthday crown, LOL!! :-) While Ariel was sweating blood, I was at the gym doing my morning cardio. HIIT today, on the stairmaster. I do two HIIT sessions and 3 steady-state cardio sessions each week. For now, lol. So today was 20 minutes of my killer intervals, then 10 minutes of steady-state. My glutes screamed Tab's name with each and every step I took, lol. I'm fabulously sore from yesterday. Love it! The cardio was tough, HIIT always is, and I had to resort to my muscle chant to keep going... each step I muttered "Quad, hammy, glute. Quad, hammy, glute". Every step counts, and the way I'm feeling right now... each one did. For sure! Food today is all per my usual. Dinner tonight will also be my normal chicken & veggies, though the rest of the family will be enjoying bbq in celebration of Ariel's 19th birthday. After work (that cardio this morning was all I had to do today, so I don't have to head back to the gym) I'll be whipping up those cupcakes. Can't wait to smell them! LOL! Bill is in charge of the grill and will be cooking the chicken & veggies, while I head up the rest of the food. Hopefully I'll have everything ready before folks show up. So this morning we had a moment. It was a bit of a Despicable Me, The little boy and Gru scene. Remember when the little boy, right at the beginning of the film drops his ice cream and Gru makes him a balloon toy? The little boy is so happy at this unexpected gift! Wow! How cool! And then the moment. Gru pulls out a pin and POP goes the balloon toy. Yes. It was like that. Here's what happened.
I forgot to weigh myself yesterday, so I hopped on the scale this morning. Weight exactly the same, fine, no problem. Body Fat... WHAT??? It's dropped, again! ?? huh? Really? I mean, Yay, but... Really? Is this for real? Could I actually be seeing progress in this area? Finally?? Really? (yes, this is my lovely balloon toy). I step out and say to Bill, "I just weighed, [you men reading this know that this is the exact moment Bill stopped listening and went into damage control mode] and it says my weight is the same but my body fat is at 23.9%!" "Honey, don't worry about it. You know the scale doesn't tell the whole story." POP!!!
There went my balloon. Remember,
that's about 4% lower than it was 2 weeks ago. That said... here's today's food... click on the photo to view all pics & nutritional info.
Contents: Breakfast - Oatmeal w/protein powder, ground flax, cinnamon. Snack: 4 oz grilled chicken breast & 1/4 cup raspberries, 1/4 cup blackberries. Lunch - 4 oz grilled chicken breast, 2 cups steamed broccoli & cauliflower, 1/2 cup of black beans. Snack - 5 oz grilled chicken breast & 1.5 cup steamed green beans. Dinner - 4 oz grilled chicken breast, 2 cups steamed zucchini/yellow squash, 1/2 tbsp garlic infused olive oil. Pre-bed Snack - (not pictured) Shake - 1-scoop protein powder mixed with water and decaf coffee. Today's Numbers (click on the fitday icon above to view all the info): 1346 calories; 50% protein, 31% carb, 20% fat. 46 g fiber. Sodium: 904 mg And HERE you can see yesterday's food in photos :-)
Wednesday 5/18/2011: Let the beatings begin. YES!! Today was my first workout with Tab at Pt-101. I LOVED IT!! Apart from the time-with-the-bff-factor, Tab truly is The World's Greatest Trainer and it's awesome to have her skill & experience focused on getting me to my goal. Plus, all my weights got increased! Yay! Leg Press, Smith Squat, Deadlifts. Plus we did calf-raises, lunges with weights (onto a step), supermans, and water-pumps (one knee on bench, hold on to the bench, raise the other leg - toes pointed, and resist while she tries to push the leg to the ground, then pop the leg back up and do it again). Today was Legs, and they're a'wobblin'! I just took some Aleve, and I'll definitely have to ice the knees when I get home tonight. After work, I've got abs class, then 30 minutes of steady-state cardio on the elliptical. Next I'll clean up and head to the grocery store for Ariel's birthday dinner (tomorrow night) supplies, then to the bowling alley.
"Hungry" [haha, 10-points if you know who that is] Once I make it to my first snack I level back out but pre-breakfast and on through that snack, I am one hungry girl. And no amount of green-tea can fill that void, lol. So about Ariel's birthday... she's turning 19 tomorrow! One of my deals with the family is that I don't mess with their birthday dinners. I don't require those meals to be "clean". It's a treat, and I let them have what they want. Usually it's not too bad, and I can always clean up recipes as I go. So when I asked Ariel what she wanted for her birthday dinner, with the understanding that for her it's an even more special treat (competition diet), she chose...
LOL! Think maybe she's been craving some carbs & chocolate? Interestingly, the two cupcake recipes she is wanting are both out of Elana Amsterdam's new Cupcake book (which is a serious must-have!) and they're incredible (and clean, FYI)! I'll be baking those on Thursday for our family dinner. My only regret is that I can't enjoy a cupcake, but it's a pretty minor regret. Sure I'd love to have a treat... and Elana's cupcakes are seriously amazing, but... I'm on track. No cheats or treats for me. Period. I can bake these for the family, and I can appreciate they're appreciation. That works for me. If I absolutely have to have something, I'll pop open a diet pepsi. Yeah, I know, not clean. Don't judge. Lol. It's all I've got. Ok... moving on to today's food... Click on the photo of my cooler to view all the pictures and nutritional information.
Contents: Breakfast - Oatmeal w/protein powder, ground flax, cinnamon. Snack: 4 oz grilled chicken breast & 1/4 cup raspberries, 1/4 cup blackberries. Lunch - 4 oz grilled chicken breast, 2 cups steamed broccoli & cauliflower, 1/2 cup of black beans. Snack - 4 oz grilled chicken breast & 1.5 cup steamed green beans. Dinner - (bowling alley) 5 oz grilled chicken breast, 2 cups raw peppers, 1/2 tbsp garlic infused olive oil. Pre-bed Snack - (not pictured) Shake - 1-scoop protein powder mixed with water and decaf coffee. Today's Numbers (click on the fitday icon above to view all the info): 1403 calories; 49% protein, 31% carb, 20% fat. 46.3 g fiber. Sodium: 916 mg
You can view yesterday's food in photos HERE.
o after some blog reading over the last few weeks, I thought I'd share a few of the similarities and differences between my Clean Eating lifestyle and my Figure Competition Diet.
SAME: Purse Chicken. Oh yeah, I carry baggies with 4 ounces of grilled chicken in my purse. And I'm not afraid to eat Purse Chicken in public... in the mall, the grocery store, the bookstore, the high school office, on the road... anywhere. This is to the great dismay of my children. Along that vein... apples, almonds, and other fruit/snacks also make their way into my purse. When it's time to eat, it's time to eat. It's a little ironic though, that the same girls who are humiliated by my Purse Chicken, know exactly where to look for a snack when they're hungry and we're away from home. Hmmmm.
DIFFERENT: Back to the Purse Chicken. When on Competition Diet, my choices are drastically limited... no almonds or granola in my purse with that chicken. Now it's (maybe) an apple, (more likely) sliced raw peppers, along with my Beverly LeanOut and my Apple Cider Vinegar pills. Oh, and my packets of instant coffee (real & decaf). When my competition is over, my girls will once again find "the good stuff" in my bag. They can't wait.
SAME: Packing a Daily Cooler. My cooler is my friend. It goes with me everywhere, and has for a few years now. Fast food is no longer a part of my life (and I don't miss it at all!). From breakfast through my 4th meal (snack 2) and sometimes 5th (dinner) - all my food is in my cooler. Whether I'm eating for a contest, or eating for "real-life", that cooler is what keeps me on track.
DIFFERENT: Back to the Daily Cooler. The variety of food has changed. When I'm eating for "real-life", my food is diverse... different fruits, veggies, grains, legumes, proteins... I go for a rainbow of color on my plate. On Competition Diet, I have to be very aware of glycemic impact, so sweeter fruits are out - tart is in, I also have to be uber-careful of my carbs - hence I only get fruit once a day, and a starchy carb twice (oatmeal at breakfast and beans or lentils or brown rice or quinoa at lunch). Dairy is also temporarily cut until after the show, which means none of my favorite snack: greek yogurt with granola & berries. So while I still carry my cooler (everywhere), the contents have changed. But they'll change again after the show to a more well-rounded diet (btw, that's why I'm taking so many vitamins/minerals - to make up for what I've lost in my diet).
DIFFERENT: Back to the Sugar deal... My protein powder has a tiny bit of Splenda in it (but due to the high quality & flavor of the protein powder, I choose to ignore the splenda), and one of my rare treats is Diet Pepsi - those are the only sources of "fake" in my lifestyle. In my competition diet, Zero is pushed... meaning zero calories, zero carbs... I have a list of "acceptable foods"... splenda is on it, diet soda, sugar-free gum, sugar free jello, and a gazillion other sugar free (meaning sweetened with chemicals) things. My food is so limited that the "free" foods become a focus, to a certain extent. So far I'm holding out. I am drinking more Diet Pepsi than I have in the last year, lol, and I go through a whole lot more protein powder than in my "real life", but I'm holding to my position on the no fake stuff other than those two things. It's hard, though. And it's difficult to be in a position where I'm forced to consider compromising my lifestyle, for my goal pursuit. In the meantime, I'm eating a lot of cucumbers :-D he he he.
SAME: Ordering in a restaurant. It's not quite "When Harry Met Sally", but it's close. Whether I'm eating clean for my lifestyle or my competition diet, the meal ordering process is identical. Sauces either held or on the side. No cheese. Extra steamed veggies. No butter, oil, etc. No bread or pasta. No creamy anything.
DIFFERENT: Treat meals - in my regular life, I can enjoy a treat meal. For me, that typically means mexican food - chips & bean dip and salsa, a mojito or margarita or beer or a glass of wine, and a meal that might include some cheese, lol. On competition diet, there are no treats (hence the Diet Pepsi).
How about something outside of my food....
SAME: Body Dysmorphia. It took me nearly two years after
hitting goal weight to stop seeing the fat-me in the mirror, but
there are still times I struggle to see what's really there. It's
one of the things that isn't talked about often enough - you can
lose the weight, but you are still the same person, and if you had
body issues before, you'll still have those issues after. I've come
a long way in my journey, but I am still traveling.
Competing has brought this issue back into the light for me. I'm
discovering that more often than not, my dysmorphia isn't allowing
me to see what's really there. I have to rely on those around me to
be my mirror. It's a bit like being color-blind, I guess. It's not
that I want to see a distorted image, it's simply that I do. But I
am determined to win this battle. I don't know how, but I will. In
the meantime, I continue to trust the process, and trust those I've
chosen to be my mirror - Bill and Tab, in particular. I'm so
grateful for them!
Here's a few more things that are the same whether I'm competing or not...
Bottom line... I'm putting in more effort in the gym, I'm on a stricter diet, but I'm still me... still growing, still learning, still moving forward. Can't wait to find out what I'm going to be when I grow up :-)
Ya know, the more I look at that picture (top), the more I think I'm going to have to find me one of those chicken purses. LOL! :-) And I'm suddenly in the mood to watch When Harry Met Sally... Hmmmm.
Tuesday
5/17/2011:
Quick Q & A... "Chelle, what's
your HIIT on the Stair-master look like?" ~ via email.
Ahhh, the stair-monster! I love it! It's so... insane! :-) My heart-rate tends to SOAR on it, so doing steady state cardio is the challenge, rather than the HIIT, lol. I've done my HIIT the same way on the stair-master for a couple years, and when I first told Tab about it, she gave me this look, like, "That's not HIIT, my friend". So I drug her butt onto the stair-master one day to do it with me. Ha. Who won? I won. That, my friends was HIIT. And let's be honest, any time I can wear Tab out in the gym is a huge triumph for me :-) And maybe a little revenge. LOL! Here's the routine...
Min 1-3: Warmup - level
6 When you're done, your butt will be burning. If you can make the full minute for each of the intervals, increase the speed. Your heart-rate should be racing and completing each minute of the intervals should be difficult.That's my Stair-Monster HIIT workout. :-) Try it and let me know what you think! _______ So after yesterday's whining, my big news is that we have a Coach!!!! Woootwooot! The World's Greatest Trainer is now officially The World's Greatest Coach! Well, she was already that, but now she's ours! :-) Tabitha is taking over. Damn Skippy! We got the schedule all worked out and while I'm sure it will flex at various times, just knowing that it's set has taken a HUGE burden from me! I will be training with Tab on Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 6:30 am. Ariel will be training with her Tuesday, Thursday at 6 am. Thanks to John at PT101 for allowing us to train there! The end of my weight loss journey, and into maintenance, PT101 is where I worked out, so it's a little like coming home to go back for my competition training. After work yesterday, I headed to the gym for Total Body Conditioning. Ariel joined me (mwaha-hahaha!). It was (as usual) a great class and a fantastic workout. We were using the resistance tubes at one point, doing 21's - you stand on the center of the tube, then do the curls. Well, my tube was so lax that I had to keep scooting my feet farther and farther apart trying to get resistance... Tab came over and swapped me resistance tubes... hers was the exact opposite! OMG! I'm shaking trying to pull this thing up, lol. Good set! :-) Once home, dinner for the family was the Crustless Spinach Quiche which looked and smelled amazing, and they tell me tasted the same. I had grilled chicken breast with mustard (What protein did you have for dinner, Chelle? Mustard. Um, ok, you had mustard with your protein... what was the protein? Dunno. Mustard.) and steamed asparagus. Just before bed I had my protein shake (1.5 scoops today, woohoo!). My whole day's food in pictures is here (with the exception of my last shake, I keep forgetting to take a picture of that). This morning, while Ariel got her ass kicked by Tab (hehehe), I did Yoga. Have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE Abbie's yoga class? Because I do. Big time! :-) She always gives me a great workout, a fantastic stretch, and something to think about. Today it was about accepting all the little parts of yourself... to not just focus on transforming yourself, but to truly accept, and respect, all of you - even the parts you're working to change. Gee, that didn't hit me where I'm at. Lol. After work today I have a steady-state cardio session (30 minutes), then tomorrow morning is my first workout with Tab. Woooohoooo! Let the ass-kicking begin! Here's today's food...
Contents: Breakfast - Oatmeal w/protein powder, ground flax, cinnamon. Snack: 4 oz grilled cod & 1/4 cup raspberries, 1/4 cup blackberries. Lunch - 4 oz grilled chicken breast, 2 cups steamed broccoli & cauliflower, 1/2 cup of black beans. Snack - 4 oz grilled chicken breast & 1.5 cup steamed green beans. Dinner - 5 oz grilled chicken breast, 2 cups steamed zucchini & yellow squash. Pre-bed Snack - Shake - 1-scoop protein powder mixed with water and decaf coffee.
Today's Numbers (click
HERE to view all the info and
photos): By the way... You know your diet is strict when you find yourself searching through all the steamer bags of veggies for the one that has the most in it. LOL!
It's Tuesday, and I'm doing my best to stay on-track, not
tied-to-the track. :-) Monday 5/16/2011: Had some technical difficulties over the weekend. The power port on my mini laptop died :-( Which meant no posting. :-( So, here's the catchup... Friday was busy... Tab's ASU grad was awesome (summa cum laude!!), then lunch at Hard Rock Cafe where she showed me how to order and still stay on diet. Turns out it's really no different from eating clean while dining out. Huh. Lol. The rest of my day was spent shuttling kids back and forth to various things, then I headed over to Bill's dad's to view the SplashGround (link coming soon, because it's so freakin' cool I just have to show you!), and then we hit up Safeway for some red meat :-) We picked up some gorgeous New York Strips then headed home to grill them up on my Foreman Grill. (view the cooler page for all my eating info). Saturday was errands, errands and more errands. Though I did nail my leg workout plus a HIIT workout on the stair-master. My rear is still feeling it! Wootwoot! Sunday... Sunday Food Prep and The Counter of Chaos ™ !! I love Sundays :-) I started my day at Whole Foods (FYI, the one on Scottsdale/101 now carries Tammie Coe in the Bakery!!! OMG! I'm so having a sugar cookie when this show is done!!! Best sugar cookies EVER!), then hit WalMart, Safeway, Sprouts, then home.
Here's
my kitchen after unloading:
Here's
the meat to be prepped -the pork ribs are for the weekend when I'll
toss 'em in the crockpot or on the grill and bbq with corn on the
cob for the family -I'll be eating my usual chicken & steamed
veggies. The chicken and fish all got grilled up on my foreman.
Marinating meat... the fish was drizzled with Blood Orange infused
Olive Oil and sprinkled with white pepper. The chicken was drizzled
with garlic infused olive oil and sprinkled with Mrs Dash Tomato,
Garlic & Basil flavor.
And
here's the veggies...
And I
made the usual batch of granola (recipe
here)
And my
oatmeal packets (half cup dry oatmeal, 1 scoop protein powder, 2
Tbsp ground flax seed, and 1/2 tsp cinnamon in a baggie). The
baggies go in a bin in the fridge, and I grab one each morning on my
way out the door. At work I just mix it with water and microwave.
Dinner for the family last night was the Crispy Chicken Bites from the Eat Clean Diet for Family's & Kids Cookbook (super yummy, it's a family favorite) - I had grilled salmon & steamed broccoli & cauliflower. Here's the "breading"... I mix it all up ahead of time and store it in the fridge for when we have this recipe.
And of
course, Sunday Food Prep would not be complete without a batch of
hard boiled eggs :-) I actually do these first off, so that
they have plenty of time to cool while I'm doing other things. After
they're cooled, I shell them, then put them in ziplocs in a bowl.
They're a great grab-n-go snack for everyone.
3 of
the chicken breasts I grilled were destined for lunch meat... I
slice it thin then store in a gallon-size ziploc. Here's the family menu for the week...
Sunday: Crispy Chicken Bites with Sweet Potato Fries (grilled
salmon & steamed broccoli/cauliflower for me) Once prep and dinner were done, I got to chill for a bit before my last protein shake and then I crashed. Out like a light :-) This morning, got my first cardio of the week done - steady state on the stair-master for 30 minutes plus 5 minute cool-down. Now Tab and I are trying to work out my workout schedule... hopefully that'll be nailed down pretty quick. I have to be honest, I'm really struggling. Not with the diet, but with my body. I'm trying not to, but I am really stressing over the lack of progress in my belly and lower body... further, I'm hoping that it's the sodium adjustment (please, god!), but my abdominal area is larger. Larger! My weight is the same as last week, 124. According to the Terrible-Tanita, my body fat % has actually dropped nearly 4%... in a week. Hmmm. Doesn't sound right. It's had me at 28% for several weeks, but the last two times I've weighed (Wed and yesterday), it was 24.4% ... yet my abdominal area is larger. I don't know what's going on. It's stressing me, it's weighing on me. I feel lost. I need direction. And, lordy I hate how whiney that sounds! I'm trying to push forward and stay positive. I'll keep trying. On the flip side of that neurotic mess is that I'm seeing changes in myself internally... I hold myself differently, I feel more... stable, I guess, is the word I'm looking for. Stronger, emotionally and physically. More mature (though not grown up, lol, NEVER grown up!). I feel like I'm growing more into myself. When I'm not wigging out over "progress", I feel really good about my decision to compete. I'm strong in the diet and I think my lifestyle change (to Clean Eating) has given me the very best foundation for how I'm eating now. I chose to compete to achieve a new level of growth, to gain poise, and aside from my whining and crying, I know I'm on the right path. I am confident of that. Ok, moving on. Here's today's food (go here to view all the photos and nutrition data)...
Contents: Today's Numbers (click on the picture above to view all the info): 1427 calories; 52% protein, 31% carb, 17% fat. 31.1 g fiber. Sodium: 675 mg (I will boost my sodium with sea-salt throughout the day) Friday 5/13/2011: View Thursday's food in pictures here. Today was graduation for Tab, wootwoot! Awesome!! She and her hubby are off for a well deserved weekend now.
Thursday 5/12/2011: I have some Competition Prep updates today, but first let's cover food. Here's yesterday's food in pictures...
And today's cooler is right on track...
Contents: Today's Numbers (click here to view all the info): 1436 calories; 50% protein, 31% carb, 19% fat. 45.4 g fiber. Sodium: 447.7 mg And now for my competition preparation updates. You know how frustrated I was with my photos & measurements last week at my 4-week followup. Yes, there were some changes. I did lose in my hips - needed. good. yay. I gained in my chest (lost boobage but gained pec) - needed. good. yay (well, not the lost boobs part, but you know what I mean). Gained in thigh, lost in waist, lost in arm. All good. But nowhere near what I was expecting - realistically expecting, and then you toss in the gain in body fat. Tough pill to swallow. All that on top of hitting that wall so hard, then taking a couple mental health days, and I started this week a little shaky in the confidence department. Dovetailing on my mental health break, my thoughts lead to finding what's broken and fixing it. I know that competing, preparing to compete, is really just a science experiment (and a lot of hard work and clean eating). Yes there are formulas that work for nearly everyone, but then there are tweaks in and out of those formulas that take a competitor from just being stage ready to being competition ready. It's time to tweak the formula. Tab and I had an opportunity to really hash out some of this yesterday. One of my strengths is also one of my weaknesses... I'm literal. Seriously literal. If you tell me to eat X amount of calories with X-ratio, I will turn myself inside out to hit that mark. If you tell me to do this, when I'm already doing that, I will just do it... I won't say, but what about ____. I'm a suck it up and just do it kinda girl. Oh wow that came out so wrong. Moving on... so there's a few things that needed changing, and attention, and a few things that needed me to not be quite so literal and relax a bit. Here's the rundown... Problem: Training. I was overtraining, hence the burnout. I was going from cardio to weights to classes to yoga, and repeating, day after day for seven weeks. I wasn't allowing recovery time. I know better! But here's that literal thing... if I'm told to do something, I do it, without thinking, "ok Chelle, if we do that [yes, I call myself "we" - don't you? lol], is it supposed to be in addition to or in place of? Let's find out before we jump in with both feet and burn out, shall we?"Solution: RELAX. THINK FIRST, JUMP SECOND. Knowing that I wouldn't take several rest days in a row, Tabitha wisely rearranged my work for this week. I did not do my planned workout last night, instead (ha, there's that word! Instead! It's a new one for me!) I took her Total Body Conditioning Class (which included a 15 min. segment of just abs). Thursday's workout is postponed (legs) until Saturday, Friday's workout (back/biceps/triceps/delts) is cancelled altogether. I was assigned to do 30 min. cardio sessions today and tomorrow. I did today's (30 minutes steady state on elliptical), and felt very weird about not repacking my gym bag for tonight.Next on training, Tab will be taking point starting next week. Because of her school schedule (she graduates summa cum laude on friday! Wohoo!) and work, she's been "overseeing" me, rather than directly coaching me. Now that school is out, she can take a more active role (read: beat the crap out of me several times a week). This will not only increase the intensity of my workouts (you never push yourself as hard as someone else can push you, it's just a fact), but it will also shake things up... I've been doing the same workouts too long. Yay! This relieves my mind in ways I am incapable of articulating. While I have had Tab's input and advice, I've been doing this for 7 weeks (in the 8th week now) on my own... following a plan (to the letter), but frankly, afraid I wasn't doing enough, good enough. When I hit that stage, it's not just me I'm representing, it's Tab, too. It's her reputation as a trainer/coach, and I've been fearful of letting her down. I've been floundering, though valiantly, lol. Now, I feel like a burden has been removed from my shoulders. Hopefully by tomorrow, we'll have our game plan in place. Right now we're looking at her training me 3x/week, with me doing assigned work on my own. Problem: Diet. I'm 100% on track, so why did I not see results showing that? Digging in, I took a closer look at my fitday reports (now I'm really glad I kept up with those!) and may have stumbled on the root... my sodium intake. If you've spent anytime going through my website, you know that I am huge on reducing sodium. Replace table salt with sea-salt, reduce your use of salt altogether, season with spices, buy meats that are not injected with salt solutions, etc, etc. I practice what I preach. I always know when a treat is loaded with sodium because my fingers and feet swell up almost immediately - I've become really sensitive to sodium.In researching further, I've discovered that when the body has less than the required sodium, it wakes up a hormone called aldosterone that tells the kidneys to conserve sodium, and retain water. The out-take on this lovely hormone is that when sodium is increased, you swell up like Water-Balloon-Woman. Awesome right? Not. In addition, I've been noticing a lot of light headedness lately, and a few other things... my research (thank you Dr. Google, lol) again took me to deficient sodium intake. I average below 500 mg of sodium a day because the sodium I get is all naturally occurring (meaning not added, it's the natural sodium content of my produce, meat, etc), with the exception of the wee bit of sea-salt I sprinkle on my cucumbers. Could this be what's wrong? For everyday living, I think my sodium intake is just fine, but then you add in my increased training (sweat), and my increased water (1-1.5 gallon/day), and I feel fuggy and am not seeing the results I should. Solution: I can't believe I'm saying this, but I will be increasing my sodium intake. Weird. Back to the science-experiment aspect of competition prep, we're bumping me up to 1500 mg / day. I don't know how I'm going to do that yet, I'm researching today (you do know that I am the research queen, yes? lol). I'm anticipating a few days of water-balloon-lady, but then should feel results fairly quickly if this is the solution. If it's not, we'll try something else. Welcome to the laboratory!So... Those are my updates. Right now, apart from sodium, my diet doesn't change. I'm 100% on track with the diet. Everything else will come in line. I have to trust the process. My girls graduate H.S. in a couple weeks, we have entertaining, celebrating, and so on happening, and then Bethany has major Cheer obligations (and financial ones for us). As soon as we're a little clear, I'll be buying the Julie Lohre DVD's for Ariel and I to help us with posing and such. I have a couple people in mind to ask for walking-coaching. And again once graduation is done, it's time to look at competition suits and heels. Science experiment or not, I'm moving forward as if I will hit my mark - without a doubt. Regardless of my doubts. Wednesday 5/11/2011: It's already noon! This day has been packed so far, and only promises to get more so! To catch up... after work I hit the gym for my Back/Delts/Biceps. Got it done. I increased all my weights, and reduced some of my reps, and killed my calves. The last three reps of each set of calf raises on the machine may or may not have been a full 3-count. I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'. Failure, in the best possible way. Here's the workout (grouped together according to my supersets, little to no rest between):
Seated Cable Rows 3 x
12 (70 lbs)
Cable Curl 3 x 12 (50
lbs)
Incline Dumbbell Curl 3
x 8 (15 lbs)
Total time including warmup: 56 min.
After dinner, I iced my knee, did a quick mask (I hate doing that when everyone is home, but oy! Yes, my face is fill-in-the-blank color. So what.), had my pre-bed protein shake then crashed. This morning, I hit the gym for my cardio. HIIT - I did 20 minutes of HIIT on the stair-master followed by 10 minutes steady-state, then a 5 min cool-down. Food today is all on track. My cooler includes everything except my last shake. After work, I hit the gym for Chest/Triceps/Abs, then clean up and head to the bowling alley. My dinner tonight is a 5 oz piece of chicken breast and 2 cups of sliced raw peppers... easily portable food. Here's my cooler (click on the photo to view all pics and nutrition info)
Contents: Today's Numbers (click on the picture above to view all the info): 1437 calories; 51% protein, 32% carb, 17% fat. 45.7 g fiber.
Tuesday 5/10/2011: I love, love love companies with products that are sustainable, responsible, green, affordable, and practical. I love even more companies that are all those things and
family run. Intro Sweet Pure Honey. While reading one of my
favorite forums this morning, a post from
Wendy Morley (Eat
Clean Diet staff-person
extraordinaire) led me to Sweet
Pure Honey. I'm
in love! While I can't enjoy honey myself (comp diet) my family does
indulge... daily! Plus, look at all the awesome products they offer!
I can't wait to place my first order! I want 3 of everything! Ok,
maybe 4. LOL!
And... more about food :-) Here's snack 1: 4 oz pork tenderloin with a small kiwi and 3 strawberries.
Lunch: 4 oz grilled chicken breast, 2 cups steamed asparagus, 1/2
cup lentils and salsa. Here's snack 2: 4 oz grilled Cod with 2 cups steamed green beans and salsa.
Remember earlier when I was talking about my free foods? If I make a
whole meal out of my free foods, does that defeat the purpose?
Hehehehe.
No, I didn't really eat everything in the pic. I just ran to the store during a break to pick up some 'shrooms and chilies in case I need a boost in the p.m. When I need something, but don't have a meal in the near future, I can fill a mushroom cap with diced green chilies and salsa, then steam it. A 3 oz Portobello cap (a biggie) is only 22 calories, 4.3 g carbs, 2.1g protein, .17 g fat and a whole bunch of nutritional goodness :-) Because it's a water-veggie, it boosts my water intake, too! Nice! (same with cucumbers and chilies, by the way).
Then, here's a quick peek in my desk drawer... I am nothing if not prepared (I might not be organized or neat, but I am prepared!). What you see here is an abundance of teas, coffee (decaf and full throttle), packets of tuna, NoGii snack basr, NoGii meal bar, Sriracha sauce, Taco Sauce, Honey (though I can't have that now), sea-salt, Mrs Dash Garlic & Herb, plain oatmeal packets, Ziploc steamer bags, a variety of bowls and utensils, and a packet of trash bags. Lol.
8:45 am... After work yesterday I hit the gym for my leg workout. I got it done and my hamstrings cried all the way home. My knee bothered me :-( But I will continue to work on stretching it and getting more range out of it. It's a constant battle. Back home, Taco Salad on the table in 10 minutes (love my Sunday food prep!). Mine was just a bowl of greens (kale, spinach, cabbage) and 5 oz of the beef topped with taco sauce. A few hours later I had my 1-scoop protein shake and crashed.Woke this morning starving. Not a good sign. Yoga at 6:30 am (I'm keeping Abbie's class for as long as I can), and after my hamstrings were really, really weeping, LOL. Finally got to my breakfast (oatmeal, protein powder, ground flax & cinnamon), and started sucking down green tea. I'm still hungry. I've got cucumber in my cooler (soaking in rice vinegar, cracked pepper and a pinch of sea-salt), and had planned on using that later to help me bridge snack 1 to lunch, but I might have to break it out sooner. I've been reading a lot of blogs lately... blogs of gals who are either seasoned competitors or first-timers like me. It's been eye opening to follow their journeys. One in particular had a post that really reached out and grabbed me about negative thoughts... if you have a few moments, give her a read: http://www.bikiniorbust.com/2011/05/09/i-am-doing-this/ What other blogs am I following?
http://melissacunninghamifpapro.blogspot.com/ On to Today's food...
Contents: Today's Numbers (click on the cooler picture above to view all the pics & info): 1396 calories; 52% protein, 31% carb, 17% fat. 45.1 g fiber. After work, I'll be heading back to the gym for my Back/Delts/Biceps workout. I may or may not do cardio today (plan to do Mon/Wed/Thurs/Fri/Sat, but might swap one of those for today). Then, home for dinner... chicken sandwiches (grilled) for the family, plain grilled chicken & veggies for me. And lots of cucumbers, Lol! Ooh, and I might grill a portabello... those are free on my diet, too! Maybe a portabello with green chili (also free)... ah geeze, I'm hungry! LOL! half hour until snack... where'd I put that cucumber? Monday 5/9/2011: Ok, recap of the weekend. Friday was pics & measures. After, I ran my errands, got my workout done and headed to the mall to meet with my Hair God, Daniel. I have an arrangement with Daniel. I allow him to have his way with me. :-) Seriously, I don't tell him what to do... he's the expert and I trust him. That trust was tested on Friday when I heard the words, "Halle Berry" come out of his mouth. Wait, WHICH Halle Berry? While Tab snickered (we had tandem appointments), Daniel ordered me into the chair. Though it was difficult :-) I trusted Daniel to work his magic. And I LOVE it! :-) It's very me-with-confidence, lol. So I have to pretend I'm confident enough to wear this cut :-)
For our anniversary, Bill and I went to Culinary Dropout in Downtown Scottsdale (Waterfront). YUM! The salted caramel flan is simply to-die-for. Uber Yum! It was really nice. I ordered the Ahi salad (which is really good), Bill got the Prime Rib Dip, and we shared an order of (real) cheese fries. I didn't feel even a little guilty. Afterward, we walked along the Waterfront for awhile. Nope, no guilt. Lol. As a matter of fact. The whole "no progress" thing messed with my head so much that I had to call a time-out. I've been doing this since March 15... hard core. I've clearly hit a wall, and I needed a break. So I took a two-day mental health break. While I still ate clean (apart from anniversary dinner), I didn't worry about food. Or supplements. Or anything. I just breathed. If I was hungry, I ate. And today, my head is in a better place, I feel more sane, lol, and I'm ready to rock the next 16 weeks. During my break, I realized I was out of whack on my exercise, too... I've been doing my cardio, my weight workouts, my classes, my yoga (fyi, that's 5 weight sessions, 4 classes, and 3 cardio)... no wonder I hit a wall! I'm spread way too thin. So I'm pulling it back in. I am doing 5 cardio sessions per week, 2 of them HIIT. I am doing 5 weight sessions per week. I might do one yoga class per week. I am not doing any other classes. I'm going to thrive through this process but I can't do that if I'm running myself into the ground. I'm going to eat clean, train hard, and see what happens.
Prom was Saturday night, and Shiloh looked gorgeous :-)
Mother's Day saw my usual Sunday Food Prep. The kids had some great gifts and cards for me :-) and Ariel had given me some Dove Dark Chocolate. And yes, I ate it. Chocolate is part of a mental health break :-) Week 16 (starts today) is all or nothing. From here on out, there are no cheats, no treats. So I enjoyed my dark chocolate. My food prep included the usual chicken breast, a pork tenderloin, tilapia, cod, salmon, hard boiled eggs and lean ground beef. Veggies: green beans, broccoli/cauliflower, asparagus, portabello mushrooms, artichokes (on sale!), and zucchini & yellow squash. Additionally I have kale, iceberg, green-leaf lettuce, colored peppers, and cucumbers. Fruit is strawberries, bananas, apples, grapefruit, oranges (the citrus was free), and blackberries. Instead of my usual brown rice, I did lentils this week (green). More fiber, more protein, for the same calories & carbs as rice. Maybe boosting my fiber will help me get past this hump. I cooked them in low-sodium (70 mg per cup) chicken broth with Spicy mexican seasonings. I also baked up a batch of granola. Here's the menu for family dinners:
Sunday: Spaghetti - homemade sauce with ground beef & veggies over
quinoa pasta with baked potatoes & garlic cheese bread. **I had
grilled salmon with mustard, a baked potato with salsa on it, and a
salad (kale, spinach, cabbage).
Today's Food... (click on photo to view all pics and
nutritional information) Contents: Breakfast - Oatmeal w/protein powder, ground flax, cinnamon. Snack: 4 oz grilled pork tenderloin breast & 3 strawberries & a sliced small kiwi (skin on). Lunch - 4 oz grilled chicken breast, 2 cups steamed asparagus, 1/2 cup of green lentils. Snack - 4 oz grilled tilapia & 1.5 cup steamed green beans. Post-workout/Dinner - 5 oz lean ground beef on bed of spinach, kale & cabbage. Pre-bed Snack - Shake - 1-scoop protein powder mixed with water and decaf coffee. I'm at 1428 calories; 52% protein, 27% carb, and 21% fat. Fiber: 36.2 g Note: Coolers for Bill: Sandwich (Whole grain bread, Tillamook medium cheddar, honey mustard, lettuce, tomato, sliced grilled chicken breast from Sunday's prep), 2 hard boiled eggs, string cheese, strawberries, and a serving of granola, 2 scoops of protein & a shaker bottle, plus a NoGii snack bar and a NoGii full size bar to stick in his desk for "emergency". I did my cardio this morning... 30 minutes of steady-state on the elliptical. Tonight, I'm heading back to the gym for my Leg Workout. And that brings me to current :-) Hope your weekend was fabulous!
Friday 5/6/2011: Friday's Phobia... Measurements & Progress PicsToday was the day... four week progress mark. Weight, measurements, and pictures. Same bathing suit, different day, lol. First thing Tab and I both noticed was that my bikini top was a'saggin. Dagnabbit! Didn't think I could lose anymore there! ROFL! Poor Bill. However, that said, my chest measurement was up half an inch (thank you, pecs!). There wasn't a whole lot of progress seen in the numbers. My body fat actually went up a scoshe... how the heck did that happen??? I know that measurements and the scale can be valuable tools to judge progress, but sometimes they don't tell the whole story. My photos showed more progress than then numbers, for sure. Here are the numbers to compare: 4 weeks ago: Today: Chest: 34.75" Chest: 35.25" Thigh: 20.5" Thigh: 21" Hips: 35" Hips: 34.75" Waist: 27.5" Waist: 27.25" Arm: 11.75" Arm: 11.5" Calf: 13.5" Calf: 13.5" Weight: 123 lb Weight: 124 lb So I've gained pec muscle, thigh muscle, lost a bit in the hips, waist and arms, and my calves have remained the same. According to the WGT (World's Greatest Trainer), this is all good. She's not worried about any of it, after all, I'm 17 weeks out. She told me I look better than I ever have, and if I get hung up on the numbers she'll pull me right now from competition. Scary WGT would do it, too. So I'm determined to keep my head in the right place, and despite my phobia of photos, I am relying on them to show me that I am changing. Mostly the only place I see it is in my rear end. On that note, here we go... Four weeks ago is left, Today is right (and yes, technical difficulties equal fuzzy pics. Next time I'm using one of the kids' cameras):         Frustrating to not see a BIG difference in four weeks, but it is what it is. I know that these pictures don't show the details, the muscle I've gained in my back, the definition I'm beginning to see in my abs, the continued definition in my arms. I can see it, I just have to hold on to it. So now, I'm out the door... I've got to pick up a boutteiniere for Shiloh's prom date, do my workout, clean up , get my hair done (Tab's getting hers at the same time - Girl fun time!), then meet Bill for a late anniversary lunch/early dinner. I'm off and running! Happy Friday!
Thursday
5/5/2011:
I. Hit. The. Wall. I am exhausted. It hurts to walk.
I headed to the alley, where the guys bowling went late... didn't get home until almost 9:30. I really should have made a shake, but honestly didn't have the energy to shake the shake! All I wanted to do was go crawl into bed, but I drug myself to the kitchen and put together the guys' lunches, sipped some decaf coffee, then crashed. Hard. Overslept this morning and debated rushing to make it to yoga for about 30 seconds then laid back down. The only give in my schedule is Thursday morning yoga, and this morning it gave. I just couldn't do it. I slept until 6, then began my day. Exhausted. Hurting. My hip-flexors are viciously sore. I made my way back to the kitchen to pack my cooler and discovered that Bill had forgotten to take the lunches. I very nearly sank to the floor and cried. How ridiculous is that? Worse... I've been beating myself up all morning over skipping yoga. I have photos and measurements tomorrow, and I'm wigging over missing a yoga session. Like one session is going to make up for anything I did or didn't do in the last four weeks. Stupid. I'll be really glad when school is out and Tab and I can put our heads together over my path. I'm feeling lost. I have a plan, but the plan keeps changing, and I know it's because we haven't been able to really sit down and give it 100% focus. I started prep early - way early - and I know that factors in, but I have more work to do than the women I'll be competing against. I'm rambling. Ugh. I'm tired. My allergies have me completely stuffy, and my asthma is acting up. Had another attack during the night (wth?). Out of nowhere. Gonna quit whining now. Moving on...
Food today. With everything, including an end of day shake, I'll be at 1487 calories, 48% protein, 32% carb, 20% fat. (click here to view all pics and nutrition data)
Contents: http://www.snack-girl.com/snack/super-natural-every-day-heidi-swanson/ I'm definitely spending some time exploring on her site today! :-) Workout ... This evening I'll be hitting Legs.. my last leg-day of the week. Here's the workout:
Romanian deadlifts 3 sets 10-15 reps
Leg Curl 3 sets 6-8 reps Weighted single leg raises 3 sets 12 reps each leg Dumbbell Squat 3 sets 12 reps (holding 15 # dumbbells) Calf Raises 6 sets 15 reps holding weights Tomorrow plans to be a busy day. I've got measurements & pics, a long workout, a hair appt, and my anniversary. I know I'll be on the go, so I've already tossed a NoGii protein bar in my purse (2 actually), so that I'm not caught without food, though I hope to be able to hit all my meals with actual meals. I'll be having my treat meal for our anniversary, though we're not sure, scheduling wise, when that will be. I'm working on a new playlist for my workout tonight... need a boost. Music usually does that for me.
Speaking of music... Posing Music... The debate rages on! We had it down to 3 songs, then added more, LOL! Decisions, Decisions! Here's what we've got... and of course, I'm still taking suggestions (hint hint!)
1. The Afters - Never Going Back to OK Wednesday 5/4/2011: I saw a woman today at the gym. I was finishing up my cardio warm-up on the elliptical and she was finishing up a session with a personal trainer. Her face was flushed, she was dripping with sweat, she was heavy, and she was ready to give up. I could see it in her eyes. She'd lost hope, and the only reason she was in that gym at that moment was because she'd paid that trainer. It was clear. As I watched her, she looked away from the trainer, across the room, and for just a moment her eyes locked with mine. She looked at me, up and down, then this expression I can only label "disgusted" crossed her face, and she turned back to the trainer, finished her last set and with her shoulders drooping, walked away. I wanted to chase her down! I wanted to beg her to not judge me, or judge herself by me. I wanted to tell her I used to be fat! Fatter than her, actually, and that YES, the journey is hard, but it's so very worth it! Please don't give up! Don't think about how far you have to go, just take this next step, then the next. You'll get there! Please, don't give up. While part of me really resented the "look" she gave me, I remember being guilty of handing those out myself. I have been maintaining my weight loss for 2 1/2 years, during that time, I've continued to sculpt my body and build muscle. I bitch about hard workouts, and lack of treats, but I am thriving. I do not, have not, will never forget what it was like to be fat. I will never go back. And sometimes I have a nearly irresistible urge to chase someone down in the gym and explain that. But I don't. At least I haven't yet. It wouldn't be appropriate. So I will use this space here to say it... Don't Give Up! Please, Don't Give Up! You Are Worth This Journey! 10am ... It's 10am and I'm pooped! :-) Last night after work, I hit the gym for Back/Delts/Biceps. I finally managed to do my one-arm rows without hitting my boob every time, lol. Coordinated, I am not. Here's the workout (grouped together according to my supersets, little to no rest between):
Seated Cable Rows 3 x 12 (60 lbs)
Cable Curl 3 x 12 (40 lbs)
Incline Dumbbell Curl 3 x 8 (15 lbs)
Total time including warmup: 1:02
Bill went with me to the gym. He did his own thing, while I did mine, then he joined me as I finished up. I asked him to spot my form on the one-arm rows - since I'm trying to use heavier weight, but not mash my boobs (lol) I wanted him to help me make sure that while I'm focused on not hurting myself, I'm still doing the exercise correctly. Form is King. Well, I had supersetted the rows with incline curls (hate those), and when I finished up the last set, I turned to Bill and asked if my form was ok... he hadn't said anything, and I was in my zone anyway, so now that I was done, I was like, oh wait - was my form good? He gave me this funny smile. ?? Ummm, hello? how was my form? "Excellent". ?? what's with the funny grin? "I like watching you do those. Your ass looks great when you bend over like that." Really?
REALLY?? Ok, well, thanks, but... REALLY??? Did you even watch my form? My EXERCISE form, I mean? ROFL. "Oh, yeah, that looked good, too."
Men. :-) After my workout, I headed home for FOOD! Lol! We had the pecan crusted chicken and steamed zucchini & yellow squash. This morning, I was back in the gym at 6:30 doing Chest/Triceps/Abs (grouped according to supersets, little to no rest between).
Incline Dumbbell Press (20 lbs) - 3 sets
of 10
Pec Deck (I did
Cable Crossovers instead - 25 lbs) - 3 sets of 12
Lying Tricep Extensions (skull crushers) with 30 lb barbell - 3
sets of 12 Time to complete (including 5 min
warm-up on elliptical): 50 minutes After, I chugged a protein shake and downed a banana, then was off and running. Got to the office and readied my oatmeal (with protein powder and ground flax), sat down to eat and realized I was exhausted! LOL! Barely 9:30 am and I was beat! And righteously sore :-) After work, I'm headed back to the gym for my Abs class & Cardio session, then I'll clean up and head to the bowling alley to cheer on my boys, and eat my dinner (chicken wrap). Here's today's food (calories are a tad higher than yesterday, but it's what I need). Remember you can click on the picture to view all the pics and the nutrition info.
Contents: Total numbers for the day: 1574 calories. 50% protein, 32% carb, 18% fat. 42 g fiber. Note: Coolers for the boys (hubby Bill & his dad): Sandwich (Whole grain bread, Tillamook medium cheddar, honey mustard, lettuce, tomato, sliced grilled chicken breast from Sunday's prep), 2 hard boiled eggs, string cheese, strawberries, and a serving of granola. Note 2: Ariel's food today: Breakfast: Oatmeal w/protein powder, ground flax, cinnamon; Snack 1: 4 oz grilled chicken, apple, 24 almonds; Lunch: 4 oz grilled chicken, 2 slices whole grain bread, 1 slice Tillamook Medium Cheddar & spinach; Snack 2: 1 cup cottage cheese & 1/2 cup blackberries. Dinner: Beef & bean burrito (clean) with salad. Snack 3: protein shake. Approx 1700 cal.
Tuesday 5/3/2011: Is it Friday yet? Please? Major teen-drama in our house last night. Sleep was NOT restful. I keep hearing my mom say, "This too shall pass." It better. Class last night was awesome. Tab kicked my rear, and my abs, and my shoulders... you get the idea. I'm deliciously sore today (yes, I am twisted). Yoga was at 6:30, and while I did not want to roll out of bed, I did it anyway. I'm glad I did. There are some days where it's really hard to drag my butt to the gym, but I have never done it for one of Abbie's classes and regretted it. On the contrary, I always leave her classes feeling refreshed, energized, challenged, empowered and strengthened. Thank you, Abbie! Tonight after work, I have my back/biceps/delts workout, then it's home for dinner. Hopefully dinner will be sans-tension/drama. Hey, dreams are free. Today's food is... drumroll please... just like yesterday! LOL :-)
Contents: I ncluding everything, I'm at 1476 calories for the day, 50% protein, 32% carb, 18% fat. Damn skippy - you'd think I meant to hit those numbers, lol!Note: Coolers for the boys (hubby Bill & his dad): Sandwich (Whole grain bread, Tillamook medium cheddar, honey mustard, lettuce, tomato, sliced grilled chicken breast from Sunday's prep), 2 hard boiled eggs, string cheese, strawberries, and a serving of granola. And now... it is lunchtime. Excuse me while I go inhale my fuel.:-D
Monday 5/2/2011: Happy Monday!
Yesterday
I chopped all the veggies... broccoli & cauliflower, asparagus, green beans, and put them all (in portion size) in steamer bags w/ Mrs Dash Garlic and Herb. I also have Zucchini & Yellow squash, and sweet potatoes for additional veggies throughout the week. I chopped and froze excess strawberries (I might have gone a little overboard last week). I chopped cantaloupe and stuck it in a big Ziploc in the fridge for the kids to munch on. I mixed up the oatmeal/flax/protein powder/cinnamon baggies. I readied my baggies with 1.5 scoops of chocolate protein powder for shakes.
I made the
granola.
The brown rice is bagged in half-cup servings.
The chicken is weighed, bagged and labeled in 4 and 5 oz servings,
plus 3 chicken breasts were sliced thin for lunch/sandwich meat. Oh, and the laundry got done :-) One more... of course I made the Chocolate mousse pie :-) Menu for the week... it's a crazy week. Bill and I celebrate our anniversary on Friday, which is also the first day of Bethany's Cheer/Tumbling coaching and Saturday is Senior Prom. We also have the usual bowling night on Wednesday.
Sunday: (clean) hot dogs, chili & pop-chips (Tuna lettuce wraps & grilled
eggplant for me) This morning I hit the gym at 6:30 for Leg Day. When I was done, I stretched, then foam rolled, then jumped up to put away all my stuff (I hate when people leave mats & such just laying around.. put it away!)... and walking back to my notebook I realized... I wasn't limping! Look Ma, No Limp!!! Woohoo! I always limp a bit after a leg workout (and cardio). But today... No pain! I got home, dumped my bag and ran up the stairs for coffee (yes, the coffee pot is in my bedroom, lol) and NO PAIN going up the stairs! Not even a twinge! I'm 19 weeks out of knee-surgery and I finished a workout without limping, and ran up the stairs without pain! AWESOME!!!! Here's the workout I did (little to no rest between):
Alternate x 3:
Alternate x 3:
Alternate: Stretch & foam roller knee.
Calories burned: 327 Tonight is Total Body Conditioning Class. I was sore all last week after last Monday's class :-) We'll see what Tab has in store for me tonight! Food Today is much the same as it has been, lol. The repetition does not bore me. Frankly, I eat my meals at my desk, and so am not really "experiencing" my food anyway. It's just fuel. Now... my anniversary lunch at the end of the week is a whole 'nother story! :-) Here's my eats:
Contents: Coolers for the boys (hubby Bill & his dad): Sandwich (Whole grain bread, Tillamook medium cheddar, honey mustard, lettuce, tomato, sliced grilled chicken breast from Sunday's prep), 2 hard boiled eggs, string cheese, strawberries, and a serving of granola.
Sunday 5/1/2011:
Waffle - Syrup Side Up
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We
made it about halfway through when Bethany suddenly realized /
remembered she had Cheer practice! YIKES! We had just a bit of time,
so we hit the food court where everyone ordered, and I pulled out my
purse-chicken, lol. I had packed a chicken wrap and almonds which I
enjoyed while everyone had their meals. We raced back to Scottsdale,
to home so Bethy could change, then over to the studio, then (more
calmly) headed to the big Whole Foods at Scottsdale & 101 fwy. I
love showing off that store :-) We picked up veggie hot-dogs for my
bro, and a Tiramisu Cake for dessert - it got rave reviews from the
family. 
Well,
not that anyone saw anyway. :-) I had more fun than frustration, so
that's a mark in the plus column. After that, I talked Bill into
taking some down-time and we hopped in the pool for the first time
this year. It was glorious! The kids were all this way and that, so
it was just us. Very relaxing day. And it ended with my latest
protein ice cream creation... chocolate peanut butter. O.M.G. Truly
amazing. Truly. Even Bill loved it! I needed some fat in my diet,
and had room for the calories, so I added a Tblsp of peanut butter
to my protein powder & almond milk, blended, then froze (ziploc
style). Yummy! 
Sprouts
had the 100% clean chicken breast tenders on sale for $1.99/lb.
Score! They also had the better deal on peppers, zucchini and
broccoli, as well as raw almonds for $3.99/lb. I ate in the
car, between stores - a protein shake (vanilla protein powder, a
couple shakes of cinnamon and mixed with water) along with an apple
and steamed potato (4 oz). When I got home it was to discover that
the Beverly International Fairy had delivered my supplements :-)
Wooohoo! Protein Powder! Yay! 
crave jello. Seriously crave jello. While I know that the wiggly-jiggly-yumminess
is not for everyone, I absolutely love jello. And I figured out how
to make it. I can't use fruit juice & I'm doing my darndest to avoid
artificial sweeteners... So what does that leave me? Glutamine.
That's right. Glutamine Select (with BCAA's) from Beverly
International, to be exact. This delightful (and naturally flavored)
powder mixes with water - you sip it before, during, after
workout/cardio, or during the day to help with cravings. It's black
cherry flavored. And it makes yummy jello :-) 
Chelle's
Glutamine Gelatin
I've
settled into the calories (1400/day) but the mornings are a
challenge for me. Specifically
breakfast to snack 1 time period. You know that trick Jesus did with
the loaves & fishes? Can anyone do that to my oatmeal? PLEASE???
Yesterday's
food was all on track. I made the Warm Brussels Sprout Salad out of
the Eat Clean Cookbook 2 - I pulled out a cup of it for myself
before I added the walnuts. The consensus was - excellent salad, too
lemony. It called for the juice of one lemon, so next time I'll
reduce that to just half. It really was tasty, though :-) 
After,
it was dinner time... I made grilled chicken sandwiches and
sweet potato fries for the family. I had prepped the fries on
Sunday, so all I had to do was dump 'em on a tray and bake (love
it!), and the chicken was already grilled (hello Sunday), so I just
sliced it, brushed with garlic olive oil and grilled on the Foreman
long enough to warm it up, then layered it onto their buns. I sliced
the chicken lengthwise instead of widthwise... so it went bun (bagel
thin, whole wheat), honey mustard, lettuce, chicken, cheddar (half
oz slice), chicken, pepper jack (half oz slice), chicken, honey
mustard, bun. They loved them, and they certainly looked tasty. I
enjoyed my 4 oz grilled chicken breast dipped in mustard and my 2
cups of steamed broccoli & cauliflower. Shiloh may or may not have
enjoyed poking fun at me during dinner. You be the judge.
My
hip flexors scream with every step. After Abs class yesterday, in
which they seized up at the end and I had to stop, I realized that
in 3 days I'd hit my abs hard 4 times. Not being one to stop and
actually think for a moment, I moved on to my cardio... 20 minutes
of HIIT on the stair-master followed by 10 more minutes of
steady-state. By the time I was done, I was wasted. I had to shower
at the gym before I could put in an appearance at the bowling alley.
As I chatted with Tab while we each gathered our stuff in the locker
room, I had to drop to the bench and sit. I was DONE.
.jpg)
My
husband is a genius.
And my dinner... 6 ounces grilled burger smothered in mustard and
wrapped in a LOT of lettuce with onion & tomato, my corn on the cob,
and zucchini.
all
my marks yesterday - 1 gallon water, check; abs class, check; HIIT
cardio on the stairmonster, check; clean-eating while at the bowling
alley, check. :-) After getting home, I had a protein shake (1.5
scoop protein powder mixed with decaf coffee & water), then hit the
hay. 
last night... Shiloh joined me for my 30 minutes of uber-boring
steady-state, lol, so it wasn't as boring :-) Followed that up with
a super yummy taco salad made with 2 cups of kale/spinach/cabbage,
onion, green chilies, salsa, 1/4 avocado and 6 oz of lean ground
beef. The family made tacos or used tortilla chips (clean - Tostitos
Natural Yellow Corn Tortilla Chips). Later, I had a cup of
decaf coffee before bed and stirred a tablespoon of chocolate
protein powder into it - tasty, but when the water is hot, the
protein powder cooks. Oops :-) Forgot about that.
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So... There you have it. Standing in that locker room (which was
like an icebox, btw!), wearing that bikini while people came in and
out, watching us take measurements and pics (and generally wonder
why the crazy lady was wearing a bikini in the gym locker room)...
it was really hard. Hard to be that exposed. But I survived, I even
put it out of my head for brief moments. I know I'll become more at
ease. I know that because I'm going to keep pushing forward, I'm
going to continue to grow.
I have 20 weeks to take my body fat percentage from 27 to 12, and my
weight from 123 to around 110-115. Tab spent some time analyzing my
body, and believes that my shoulders, arms and back look good and
will lean out well. My posterior is a bit of a pancake, lol, so
we're working on building that up. Stripping body fat will make the
biggest difference, as I have good mature muscle (it's just a bit
hidden, ha ha).
Monday begins the next phase. My calories remain at 1400, but my
ratios change pretty dramatically. I'll be at 50% of my caloric
intake from protein, 30% from carbs, 20% from fat. My diet will stay
here until I'm 6 weeks out from competition. We'll decide at that
point if I need to do the hardcore diet from there, or if I can wait
two more weeks. Additionally, my workout routine will also morph.
Currently I do weights 3x/week, 1 total body conditioning class, 2
yoga, and 3 cardio. I'm moving to 5 days of weights, 4 cardio, and
2 yoga. I'll maintain that for 2 weeks, and then we'll adjust the
number of sets I do each day. 2 more weeks and we'll adjust again.
For the time being, Ariel remains right where she's at... weights
3x/week, yoga 2, total body conditioning class 1x/week, and no
cardio. Her diet also remains the same (around 1700 calories, 40%
fat, 35% carb, 25% fat).
So... that's the plan!
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go pretend I did not just
post those photos.
:-)
Thursday 4/7/2011: Today's cooler is more on track. I'm at 1466 calories (including dinner) and 40% protein, 37% carb, and 24% fat. I got several questions yesterday regarding how I hit so tight on my goal numbers... Fitday.com my friends! That resource is a life-saver for me! Here's how it usually goes... I pack my cooler then head to the office. I take my pics of the contents, then plug it all into Fitday. The program totals me up, and I can see right away if I need to tweak anything. The most common tweak I'm making now is to my portion sizes. Having gone from 1800-1900 cal/day down to 1400, I need 3-4 ounces of lean protein instead of 5-6. The Fitday program allows you tot make adjustments up and down, and recalculates everything. Yes, it takes time, but to me, it's worth every second. It's a free resource, too. :-) And I like free. I like it alot.
Here's my cooler and data (click on the picture to go to the Cooler Page with the other pics and nutrition info).
Contents: Breakfast - Oatmeal w/protein powder, ground flax, cinnamon, and 1/2 grapefruit. Snack 1 - 1 cup 2% Chobani Greek Yogurt (plain) with 1/4 cup of granola. Lunch - 4 oz grilled chicken breast, 1 cup steamed broccoli/cauliflower, 1/2 cup of brown rice and the other half of my grapefruit. Snack 2 - 3 ounces grilled chicken breast, 2 string cheese and an apple Dinner - (not pictured) 4 ounces Grilled chicken breast & 2 cups steamed asparagus.
Nutritional Info: 1466 calories: 40% protein, 37% carb, 24% fat. 30.7 g of fiber.My training is on track. Last night I hit the gym for cardio... I did the stair-master!! Woohoo! 25 minutes! Yeah, my knees hurt afterwards, and still a bit this morning, but nothing like before. I'm being careful, listening to my body, but it felt good to be back to my favorite form of calorie-burning cardio :-)
My shoulders are still screaming sore from Tuesday's workout, and yoga this morning included a lot of poses with weight on the shoulders - felt a little wobbly, but nothing bad. It was a more playful class this morning, and we tried some new poses - some of which Ariel muttered, "ah, hell no!" when she saw them demonstrated. LOL! But it was fun. I feel like I'm getting more out of yoga now. I'm holding the poses stronger, activating more of my muscle control, and I'm sore from the classes, so I'm happy, lol!
Me and the water bottle had a come-to-Jesus chat yesterday. With the amount of fiber in my diet, with the goals I have, half-assing it doesn't work in my water intake. I have to get serious about hitting my minimum 64 oz/day goal of water. So far today, I am on track. Thank goodness for lemon slices! (And a bathroom nearby my office! LOL!)
Ariel is heading out of town to attend Country Thunder. She leaves tonight, so we've spent some time going over the food she has to take with her. I've also sent her with a workout sheet and a resistance tube. I'm confident she'll stay on track.
Ariel went to Build-A-Bear yesterday and made me a bear that plays the Star Wars theme. AWESOME!! LOL! It came with a birth certificate (his name is Darth, of course), and a note from her thanking me for all I'm doing to help her reach her goals. How cool is that? And really, she had me at the Star Wars theme. :-)
Technology upgrade...
I'm wired! And I'm not talking about coffee. Though, yes, I've had a few cups. :-)
After
months of watching my phone and camera slowly call it quits
on me, I finally went to the Sprint store and got an
upgrade. I decided to drag my butt, kicking and screaming,
into the new technology world... and I am no longer
a troglodyte. My new Samsung Epic Shift is Droid, has a
camera, a video recorder, a facebook app, twitter app, a
million other apps I don't yet know how to use, both a
screen & real keyboard, and best of all... it stays on. It
does not randomly shut off. I can blog from it... once I
figure out how. I can really read email on it (not like the
tiny little interface I had before). And when I get lost,
because you know I will, I have TWO (count them, TWO!!) gps
apps. :-)
It's pretty cool, I'm pretty stoked. And my husband is
pretty jealous. :-) Ok, yeah, that's really the best part.
:-)
Wednesday 4/6/2011: This is why I use fitday...
Overshot the runway today. My cooler
food (breakfast through dinner) added up to 350 calories MORE than
my goal. I wouldn't have known that, had I not plugged in my food
first thing this morning. It's easy to underestimate what we ingest.
Since all my food is clean, I didn't think anything of it when my
cooler seemed a little full this morning. Run the numbers, and there
you have it - off-track. An easy fix, when I see it right away, I
reduced the amounts of some of my foods for today (brown rice,
chicken, beef, string cheese). My ratios were all correct, but the
portion size was wrong. I guess my brain is still stuck in the 1800
cal/day zone, lol.
I have everything in line now, and my totals for the day will be
1459 calories with 41% from protein, 34% from carbs, and 26% from
fat. (Goal is 1400 cal; 40% protein, 35% carb, 25% fat).
[click on the photo to go to the Cooler Page with all the pics and
nutrition info]
Contents: Breakfast - Oatmeal w/protein powder, ground flax, cinnamon, and 1/2 grapefruit. Snack 1 -1 cup 0% Chobani Greek Yogurt (plain) with 1/4 cup of granola & 1/2 cup blackberries Lunch - 3 oz grilled chicken breast, 1 cup steamed broccoli/cauliflower, a tiny bit (about a tablespoon) of brown rice and the other half of my grapefruit. Snack 2 - 3 ounces grilled chicken breast, 1 string cheese and an apple Dinner - 5 oz grilled london broil in a wrap with spinach, cabbage, peppers and feta.
Yesterday's workout & a whine-fest
I saw this today and immediately thought of Tab's Total Body
Conditioning class :-)
Yesterday wasn't a class, it was my Chest/Triceps/Shoulders
day. We've made a modification to my normal routine,
swapping out the shoulder exercises. I have limited range of
motion in my shoulders - yoga has helped immensely with
that, but it's still limited. There's also something wrong
in there, and certain motions trigger pain - the kind that
either instantly brings tears to the eyes, or brings tears
to the eyes and makes me drop the weight. Hence,
modification.
So, yesterday's modification was to do reverse flyes instead
of my regular lat raises. Well, evidently I still have some
work to do in the mindset area... I KNOW modifying is not
weakness, I KNOW modifying is smart, but it pissed me off
when I had trouble getting through my sets. PISSED. My third
set (was supposed to do four) I had to stop 3 times before I
could get through it. PISSED. And I was using light weights.
PISSED. By the time I was done, I was hurting and angry. It
also didn't help that I worked out in a different gym, where
I had to find what I needed for each set (or not find), and
discovered that unlike in my regular gym, there are people
who have no problem staring at others who are working out,
or jumping in and using the 2nd arm of the Universal machine
I'm on, while I'm on it, when there's a 2nd Universal
machine 3 feet away - that no one is using. Really??? Who
does that???
I dragged myself into Tab's office and whined. Those of you
who know Tabitha, can guess where that got me. LOL! First I
got the smack in the head I needed. Modifying is not a show
of weakness. Modifying means working smarter. Shoulders are
small muscles, and using small weights is not a sign of
weakness. (do you see a theme here?). And next, yep, I got a
modification to the modification. Lol. We're working on
building up my rear delts, in the hopes (not only of
improving my physique) of reducing strain on my shoulders,
and reducing that bite I feel when I raise laterally. I may
need more modifications, and now that my head is on straight
again, I'm good with that.
My shoulders are sore today, but more, my upper back is sore
- because I pushed through when I should have stopped and
assessed, I allowed my back to carry the weight load instead
of my shoulders. <sigh> I knew better, dagnabbit. But...
it's ok. It was one exercise, in one workout, and next time
I'll be smarter.
I'm excited to introduce you to another one of my healthy heroes. You might remember a while back I shared my yoga instructor with you, Abbie Chapman.
She's such an amazing person, and I cherish each yoga class with her. Today, I'm sharing with you the incredible instructor who taught the Burlesque fitness class I took awhile back. Julianna Curtis (aka Lady Fontayne of Scandalesque) inspired me, challenged me, and ultimately knocked my scared butt out of the nest so I could fly. Please take a few moments to read her interview with me and get to know her. View Healthy Heroes.Total Body Conditioning class last night was awesome :-) Tonight I'll be doing my chest, triceps, shoulders workout, followed by cardio. Tab and I will be doing my photos & measurements on Friday, so hopefully Saturday I can get those up on the site. (Yikes!).
Here's today's food (click on the photo to go to the cooler page with all the info including the fitday nutrition breakdown):
Contents: Breakfast - Oatmeal w/protein powder, ground flax, cinnamon, and 1/2 grapefruit. Snack 1 - 1 cup 0% Chobani Greek Yogurt (plain) with 1/4 cup of granola & 1/2 cup blackberries Lunch - 4 oz grilled chicken breast, 1 cup steamed broccoli/cauliflower, 1/4 avocado and the other half of my grapefruit (there's a half cup of brown rice in the picture, but after running my fitday numbers, the rice got nixed from my food for the day). Snack 2 - 2 hard boiled eggs and an apple Dinner - 5 oz chicken breast with 2 cups steamed asparagus.
It's Monday!
Bill's birthday dinner went well. We ended up with 10 people at the table, lol. Good thing I made the big batch of Enchilasagna!
Today is day 1 of my initial lean out phase, in preparation for my first Figure Competition. I've dropped my calorie intake from 1800-1900/day down to 1400/day, and begun taking Beverly's Lean Out (2 pills with meals 1, 3 and 5). I'm 21 weeks out from competition. I will get my pics and stats up this week, and Ariel's, too. I'm still with the goal of 40% protein, 35% carb, 25% fat. That may change soon, but for now, we're keeping it. Apart from the Lean Out, the only other supplements I take are the protein powder (Beverly's UMP), Beverly's Joint complex (Glucosamine/Chondroitin/MSM), calcium, Hyaluronic Acid, and Fish Oil.
Food Prep for the week...
Family menu is as follows:
Sunday
- Enchilasagna with salad & banana splits (mine no-dairy) for Bill's
Birthday dinner
Monday - Mini Grilled Cheese & black bean sandwiches with Tomato
Soup (I'm having chicken breast & steamed veggies)
Tuesday - Baked Manicotti with Chicken (from the Clean Eating
magazine -march 2011)
Wednesday - Leftovers - wrap for me (bowling night after
Muscle class)
Thursday - Chicken with Tomatillo sauce & Steamed veggies
Friday - Buffalo Chicken Nachos/Salad
Saturday - Crispy Chicken bites (from EC for Families book), steamed
veggies & baked sweet potatoes
Sunday - Sloppy Janes (Clean Eating Quick & Easy book) with salad
My daytime/cooler food (and Ariel's): Grilled Chicken breast, roasted pork tenderloin, grilled london broil, hard boiled eggs, greek yogurt (2%), cottage cheese (4%), oatmeal with protein powder/ground flax, brown rice, avocado, steamer bag veggies: broccoli/cauliflower, zucchini, asparagus; fruit: bananas, apples, grapefruit, grapes, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries. Plus today I have ahi tuna :-) Schweet!
Today's cooler, including dinner (which is not pictured) hits right at goal: 1392 calories (43% protein, 34% carb, 22% fat).
Contents: Breakfast - Oatmeal w/protein powder, ground flax, cinnamon, and 1/2 grapefruit. Snack 1 -1 cup 0% Chobani Greek Yogurt (plain) with 1/4 cup of granola & 1/2 cup blackberries Lunch - 5 oz Ahi Tuna on an Earthgrains thinbun with green leaf lettuce, tomato and wasabi, with a cucumber (mini) and the other half of my grapefruit Snack 2 - 2 hard boiled eggs and an apple Dinner - 5 oz chicken breast with steamed cauliflower/broccoli.
What's that you see? Is that BREAD? Yep! Today I'm having bread. I know. Hell called and thanked me for the snow-cones :-) Seriously though, I do enjoy bread, just not much. Today's sandwich is on an Earthgrains Multi-Grain sandwich thin. It just seemed to go with the Ahi (which I couldn't resist at the store... I've been craving it, so I gave in). I do have the avocado pictured, but it's not in my fitday numbers because I'm not sure if I'll use it or not. If I do, it'll bring my stats up to near perfect (I'm a little low on fat today) - a 1/4 avocado would take me to 1461 cal, and my ratios to 41% protein, 34% carb, 25% fat.
Sunday 4/3/2011:
Bike Week Pics
While I did
find an awesome bandanna, I couldn't find it with any
designs on it, so I didn't get a new one.They had these
great super-stretchy ones that would have been perfect for
the gym, but none of them had any bling :-( Bummer. But....
my awesome husband bought me a new pair of jeans! L.A. Idol
is the brand, and they're stretchy through the thigh, and
snug in the waist! Perfect! Being a (haha) real woman, jeans
are a tough deal for me. I don't have the skinny legs my
girls do, but I want "cool" jeans. Getting a good fit,
usually means spending more money than I want in a store
like Buckle. These jeans just became my new favorites!
They're blinged out (woohoo! My inner magpie rejoices!),
they fit like a dream (bootcut for my short legs!), and they
were only $56!!
Woohoo!
Then, he got me these...
Bill and Ron
It was a tad windy, lol!
I can totally see how this would keep your face warm when riding. :-)
Saturday 4/2/2011:
Ahhhh Saturday!
While Bill and I went to high school together (and two homecomings), we were never "together" back then, so it's only in the last 11 years that we've been a couple. I'm grateful for every moment, every day, every year I share his life. I'm looking forward to reaching the birthday when I can say I've shared more of his life than I've missed. :-)
It's also my baby sister's birthday - Happy Birthday, Sylly Sylvia!!! I love you!!
Today will be low-key... Coffee on the patio while I finished up the questionnaire then sent it off, followed by polishing up my grocery list for tomorrow's food prep. Now we're chilling (and yes, I'm still drinking coffee, lol) and later tonight we'll head over to Westworld for AZ Bike Week. I'm hoping to get a pic of Bill and I... I picked up a pretty black top for the evening, it's got one sleeve, lol, and I really like it. I'm gonna do some shoulder work today, too, so hopefully my arms will pop nicely :-) Ah, vanity.
One of my favorite aspects of Bike Week is searching the vendor booths for new bandannas. I'm a bandanna queen, lol. I have lots of different ones, and wear them to the gym (particularly for those early morning appearances where my short hair is going in a million different directions, often with bed-head on one side, and electrocution-style on the other. My yoga instructor actually doesn't recognize me without my bandanna, lol (or makeup for that matter).
We're not riding this year (bummer), but hopefully next year we will. We haven't ridden in awhile... a long while, actually. I miss it. The bike we have is a Honda VTX 1800, but it's n
Friday 4/1/2011:
A Teenager, A Dog, and a Damn Tasty Sugar Scrub...
I make a sugar scrub. It's incredible. It's replaced soap,
exfoliators, and shaving cream in our house. Everyone loves it. It
cleans the skin, sloughs off dry cells, and leaves you moisturized
all day. It's helped clear acne, it reduces razor burn, it makes
skin glow. It's truly fabulous. It's also not cheap. A key
ingredient is Emu oil. I swear by Emu oil... it has amazing healing
properties, plus it's anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, and uber-moisturizing.
We've seen it work miracles. Emu oil is pricey. It's around $120 for
a pint. Yes, it lasts a long time, but... not cheap. Other
ingredients are Sucanat, Coconut Oil, Cocounut Butter, and
Grapefruit extract. It smells wonderful, and feels fantastic. The
scrub is amazing. did I mention it's not cheap?
So what's all this got to do with a teenager and a dog? Well...
turns out, the combo of the coconut oil & butter and the sucanat is
quite tasty. We all joke about loving to wash our faces with the
scrub because it tastes good. It also tastes good to the dog. The
dog who will nose her way into the bathroom, sniff over to the bowl
which the teenager, who after running out of her own bowl of scrub,
snuck in and removed Bill & I's bowl from our bathroom shower and
took into hers then left open on the edge of the tub, which is where
said dog proceeded to eat the whole bowl of scrub. This dog then
took the now licked clean bowl downstairs and left it in the center
of the living room floor... apparently her way of saying, "Hey,
we're out of sugar scrub! Time to make more!".
No wonder the dog has such a shiny coat.
Leg Day
Ariel and I hit the gym with Tab, and worked our way through a fresh routine. Ariel's form is improved greatly, and I'm not ashamed to admit to a little bit of joy when I see the effort/pain on her face during the last 2-3 reps of a particularly grueling exercise. :-) It's a mother's privilege. She's also joined the gym-rat world by beginning to name exercises herself... the hip adductor and abductor machine exercises are now duly dubbed "The Sluts". ROFL!
My continued post-surgery journey saw more gains today... I upped my weight on the leg press, and I did seated leg curls! Yay! I'm now pressing 100 lbs on the leg press... I don't get discouraged by this, because I know how far I've had to come to get to that... it's going to take time to rebuild that leg to tolerate the weights I once pushed. I will get there. I will return to 100% and from there I will continue to progress. I can always get better, can always reach a new goal.
Here's the routine we did today:
Leg Press
Squats (for me holding 15 lb dumbbells, Ariel's were with no weight)
Alternate for 3 sets
Lunges (for Ariel, walking lunges, for me - forward and back, no walking)
Seated Leg Curl
Alternate for 3 sets (I also added high side knee tucks while I waited my turn on the machine)
Hip Adductor
Hip Abductor
Alternate for 3 sets
Stretch
After, Ariel gathered her food for the day and went on to school... I ate my oatmeal/protein (yay!!! my Beverly came in! Good tasting protein powder, woohoo!), drank my coffee, made my menu plan and grocery list for next week, and planned out a few future workouts.
I have a collection of 3 years worth of Oxygen magazines, and I combed through those looking for exercises to freshen up my upper body routines, plus I spent some time looking at all the Figure contest coverage,examining winning physiques and reading writer's critiques & praises of the competitors' bodies. While I've always read the contest coverage in Oxygen, I'm looking at it with fresh eyes now since I'm headed toward the stage myself. Though my husband has lamented my pack-rat collection of magazines, I'm really glad I hung onto them :-) I also have a collection of Muscle & Fitness Hers, Fitness RX, and a few others. Bill calls it a sickness. I call it having a ready supply of inspiration and resources. :-)
Since I still have them all (currently spread across my dining room table), I guess I win. Mwah-ha-ha-ha-ha!
Planning a birthday...
Tomorrow is a birthday in our family - two actually. Bill is turning 41. My baby sister is turning 31. Bill and Sylvia share a birthday, one of the fun quirks in our family. While I can't be there to celebrate with her, I hope she's doing something spectacularly fun. Sylvia is such a bright, shining woman... she's an incredible Mom, and I often envy her creativity in parenting. The 13th birthday party she just threw for her son (my awesome nephew) was a fabulous crazy-scientist themed affair. So cool! How does she manage to combine serious fun with education? Again, I envy her.
For Bill's birthday, we're heading over to Scottsdale's AZ Bike Week event. We'll spend some time exploring the vendor booths, then enjoy Buckcherry in the evening. We love attending bike week :-) We're meeting friends there, and have arranged a teenage slave, I mean one of our daughters, to provide our transportation, so we are free to enjoy ourselves without the worry of driving afterwards. Food will be a challenge for me, as it's typical "fair-food"... hot dogs, fries, burgers, etc. I don't want to waste a treat meal on a hot dog, but might enjoy the fries. Maybe. I'll have a protein bar in my purse (haha, no chicken this time) so I'll have a backup if I can't find anything relatively clean to enjoy.
I've been trying to schedule a family dinner to celebrate his birthday, but everyone's going in opposite directions. Tonight, Shiloh & Bethany have the final night of the school play (they're tech) and then tear down - they won't be home until around 2am. Saturday night, Bill and I are at Bike Week. Sunday night, Joey and Bill's dad are driving to Las Vegas to do a job (rubberized safety surfacing and turf installation), and they won't be back for a few days.
Bill say's it's no big deal, but dagnabbit, it's a birthday and we celebrate those! I've already prepped the Enchilasagna (see recipes), and planned out the banana splits he requested in lieu of cake (I can't tolerate ice cream anymore, so I'll have a soy alternative). Not sure yet when we will celebrate, but celebrate we will! 'Cuz I said so, darnit!
:-)
Recent Topics...
Clean Eating vs
Competition Diet ...
view
journal entry 5/18/11
HIIT on the Stair-Master...
view
journal entry 5/17/11
Addressing Emotional
Eating...
view
journal entry 4/19/11
20-weeks from Show, Day 1
of Phase 1 prep (workout and food)...
view
journal entry 4/11/11
21-weeks from Show,
Initial contest prep...
view journal entry 4/4/11
Older topics
Click to View January through
March 2011.
Topics listed below:
I have an announcement...
journal entry
3/15/11
Travel Food - Eating clean
on the road
journal entry
3/10/11
Arnold Recap Pt. 2
journal
entry 3/9/11
Arnold Recap Pt. 1
journal
entry 3/8/11
The power of music to keep
me from cardio-boredom
journal
entry 2/24/11
Arnold Prep
journal entry
2/23/11
Reflections on the Scale
journal entry 2/2/11
My 4-pronged Lifestyle
journal entry 2/1/11
I'm Going to The Arnold,
and I'll be in the Eat Clean Diet Booth!!
journal entry 1/27/11
My friend's book is out!!
And I'm in it! Wow!
journal
entry 1/21/11
Wednesday: It's a day of
the week, not a special occasion...
journal
entry 1/20/11
Sneaky Sodium & Label
Reading
journal
entry 1/17/11
4-week Post-knee surgery
update
journal
entry 1/13/11
My Favorite Beauty
Products
journal
entry 1/12/11
Will You Succeed or Fail
in 2011?
journal
entry 1/3/11
2010 posts
Click to View July through
December 2010.
Topics listed below:
Chelle's 2011 Goals...
view journal entry 12/31/10
Photos, knee post surgery
(not gross, I promise)...
view journal entry 12/31/10
Chelle's Breakfast
Burritos...
view journal entry 12/21/10
Burlesque...
view journal entry 12/02/10
Holiday Eating...
view journal entry 11/23/10
Knee update...
view journal entry 11/17/10
Dangerous Soy products...
view journal entry 11/11/10
Eulogy to The Perfect Pair
of Jeans...
view journal entry 11/08/10
Changing Life
view journal entry 11/01/10
Dining Out tips
view journal entry 10/28/10
1st day of physical
therapy for the knees...
view journal entry 10/27/10
2-Years of Weight
Maintenance!
view journal entry 10/25/10
My Hero, John Cossman on
CNN
view journal entry 10/20/10
Published!
view journal entry 10/13/10
Pain & Denial
view journal entry 10/7/10
My first Zumba class
view journal entry 9/27/10
Changing it up
view journal entry 9/20/10
Healthy Heroes
view journal entry 9/16/10
What?? Lil' Ol' Me?
view journal entry 9/16/10
Finding The Ease in the
Pose
view journal entry 9/7/10
Sentinels of Freedom -
Tech drive for Soldiers
view journal entry 8/31/10
Struggling with the Clean
Eating Lifestyle
view journal entry 8/17/10
School Lunches?
view journal entry 8/5/10
I Have a Hater! LOL!!
view journal entry 8/2/10
Epic Fail - Confession
view journal entry 7/19/10
Dealing with limitations
view journal entry 7/14/10
Part II: The Great Yoga
Debacle...
view journal entry 7/4/10
Book Review! Cookbook...
view journal entry 7/1/10
Older topics
Click to View June back through
April 2010.
Topics listed below:
The Great Yoga Debacle...
Book Review! Jackie Warner...
Dealing with Rejection...
Vote! Are you interested in...
Is Rihanna Right About Body Image?
What are you afraid of?
Calorie counting... good or bad?
How do your rivals describe you?
Older topics
Click to View March back through
January 2010.
Topics listed below:
Updated total weight lost! I've lost a total of 71 lbs!!
Coconut Oil Challenge - The Beginning...
Lipo-Dissolve... there ARE NO SHORTCUTS...
About starting over...
New Food Plan Info and Cooler Photos!
Topics from 2009 Journal
Entries...
Click
here to read
Fun with the Bosu!
Why I should ALWAYS have a goal...
More Women's Health Mag. News!!!
Birthday & New photos
What I've learned this
year.
Day one as a non-smoker
What I learned from my burlesque show
Show Time
Epiphany
Failure and Compromise
Facing my fears
Coming Clean Emotionally.
Get out of your comfort zone.
New Book for Men.
Switching up the routine.
Don't let injury derail
you.
Easter Treats and holiday survival
New books & tools
Newsworthy Newsletters
The Biggest Loser - Food as a game.
Podcast Interview
I had the opportunity to be part of Arlene Pellicane's podcast for her website Losing Weight After Baby! View journal entry
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