Holiday Weekend

Today I woke up not feeling 100% and I didn't sleep well but thanks to a gentle nudge from Tim I was off to the gym @ 5:30am. I had a headache and was sleepy but turned out a killer leg workout and even got in 10 min. in the tanning bed. I've been crabby most of the day and am slowly pulling out of it. I'm HUNGRY and haven't grocery shopped this week so had to be careful and resourceful today. The cravings have been bad the last few days but I'm getting through (to go along with the headache and crabbyness-hint hint) lol

I'm wearing a heart monitor while I'm working out a lot just to be more aware of where I am cardiovascularly during different exercises. So for you cardio queens out there who think that cardio is the way to go to lose weight, think again. My heart rate during exercises while lifting was between 140-165 bpm and at rest was at 125ish. This is KEY fat burning heart rate. So not only was I increasing my lean body mass but lifting weights and therefore increasing my metabolism; I was also a fat burning machine. :)

In about an hour I am headed to my parents' lake house for the Memorial Day weekend. I'm very excited to relax with some of my favorite people. But again, like yesterday's post, it poses challenges being around a holiday celebration with all of it's yummy, unhealthy food and alcohol. Life hits us with these situations all of the time. But again, I'm prepared. Tim and I are bringing our fantastic bands, there is a set of dumbells up there as well as bikes and hills, and of course running shoes. So I've got my workouts covered (tomorrow is Chest and Back, Sunday is abs) cardio both days. I may even brave the cold water to ski-I'm anxious for water sports! Tim also went to the grocery store for me while I worked today and loaded up on healthy food: chicken, shrimp, lean turkey burgers, sweet potatoes to make sweet potato fries, veggies and fruits and bottled water. Kendra is stopping at Trader Joes (there isn't one near me) because they have these awesome baked, soy & flax chips that are a little bit spicy and HEALTHY! I prefere them over any other chip. I can actually eat them on my diet! So that just goes to show that there is a healthy alternative to anything out there you just have to look and ask. My supplements are packed too so all I need is clothes!

I'll let you know how the holidy weekend works out with training.

Happy Memorial Day!

Adjusting Training to LIFE

So today, Thursday; normally I would wake up and do my cardio at home before going to train my client at the gym and I would lift tonight. My body responds better to cardio in the morning and I tend to have more energy in the evening for lifting-probably due to the glycogen stores in my muscles built up through the day. But Tim flies in tonight so I switched it up and lifted shoulders and arms this morning at 5:30 to make sure I didn't miss my workout. I can do cardio at home tonight. That has to be the hardest thing about sticking to a training schedule. You have to be adaptive. If we miss one day because something comes up, it seems to make it easier to miss the next day-and then it snowballs into 2 weeks making it harder to get on track. So planning ahead is an absolute MUST. Sometimes it's a sacrifice because it means losing a little bit of sleep. I went to bed at 11:00pm last night and woke up at 4:30 this morning. But I would rather do that than get through my day today and be disappointed in my lack of dedication by not planning ahead.

I always remind myself that there is ALWAYS something going on in life. A birthday party, visitors, holidays, business trips; whatever it is, there is always something that throws off the routine. It can be easy to give in but it is ultimately more fulfilling to stick to my guns. Not that I don't fall off sometimes-last week is proof of that. But if I can have foresight about what I will be thinking and feeling in hindsight after-the-fact; it can guide me to make the right choices like I did today. "If you fail to plan, plan to fail." So now, I feel great that I did that and I'm powering through.

Ok, my training so far today: I increase my carbs on shoulder days and need to get 25 grams in before and after my workout with my protein. So that offers a challenge getting up early enough to EAT before working out. I should have had almost no fat but I put almond butter on my toast (yes toast, this amazing Women's Bread I get from Whole Foods-check it out) For whatever reason my shoulders felt WEAK when normally they are strong. But I powered through. So many competitors say that their motivation is that-someone out there is training harder, doing one more rep, eating a little bit cleaner and I can't let them, I have to be that person-and it's true, it works, I used it this morning when I didn't want to do another rep. The first competition is about getting up there, after that, it's about improving and placing better than I did the last time. Needless to say my shoulders and arms afterward were DEAD. I love that feeling because for a while after the workout you have a constant reminder of how hard you worked and it provides extra motivation to stay on track.

So as difficult as this morning was today is already a great day for me. Getting through the hardest days always turn out to be the best days. One of the plaques Tim got for me that happens to be right in front of me now says:

"PERSEVERANCE: The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it."

So I feel glorious today! :)

Travel and Training

So last week I didn't post at all because I was on a work trip to Washington D.C. and along with that my boyfriend came home from Iraq!!!!!! With him home I kind of threw caution to the wind and just indulged in him being home. He came with me on the trip and let's just say that I fell off the wagon a bit. He was on a binge of course after being at war for 6 months and well, I went along for the ride. But let me tell you what happens when you are eating clean and taking care of yourself and then the food devil appears-it feels like A**! I was extra tired, bloated, unmotivated-just felt YUCKY! And of course disappointed that I fell off the wagon so soon in the program-but better sooner than later so that there's time to make up ground.

I still got most of my workouts in. Tim bought an awesome set of bands that we brought with and they were terrific because the hotel gym had several cardio machines but only a set of dumbells and a bench. Which can work great but doesn't allow for a lot of variation when you need several exercises for a specific body part. I can't remember where the bands were from but I've never seen anything like them. I'll post that when I remember. We did do a ton of extra walking around D.C. and some heavy lifting for the trade show we were exhibiting at but nowhere near what we're both used to for workouts.

As soon as we got back I got back on track because I felt so disgusting. Now I'm feeling fantastic. Workouts are going great. My knees are really stiff but I haven't been taking my glucosamine either. I started today so we'll see if that helps. I also need to be aware that both of my knees were damaged in the car accident so the scar tissue could be causing that as well. I probably need to schedule a massage. I lost almost all of the weight I gained binging with Tim last week. Thank God it's coming off fast and I should be able to catch up to where I need to be by this weekend or early next week. The interval training I've been given is rough but I have to admit that cardiovascularly I'm deconditioned. My leg strength is almost back to where it was before the accident which is phenomenal. I'll definitely not only be leaner the next time I get on stage but stronger. Knowing that is SO motivating.

For Mother's Day Tim got me training clothes and little motivational plaques to put in my office and at home to remind me of my strength. It is so fantastic to have a partner that is so supportive of this process because it is a very demanding one not only on me, but on family and friends.

I'm so excited to compete again!

Day #3 of contest prep

So far all is going well. I'm hitting my macro targets for the most part. If anything I'm coming in under because I'm being overly cautious. My coach has given me a pretty flexible diet as far as what I can eat, and you'd think that is a blessing. However, when you have to do the math with all of the nutrient timing-when you're eating what percentage of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats-it gets tricky. It changes day to day depending on when I'm working out AND there are 2 carb up days so the totals change on those days. These first few weeks will be experimental and my guess is I'll find something that works and stick with it to save time which saves sanity.

The really difficult part is getting all of the supplements down. Burping up vitamins gets old.

Monday I did Power Upper Body workout, today I did Power Lower Body.
Upper Body was:
Rack Chins
Seat Cable Row
Flat DB Press
Cable Chest Fly
DB Military Press
Single arm DB side lateral
Straight bar biceps curl
Rope pulldowns
Running Intervals 25 min.

Lower:
Squats
Let extension
Stiffy
Standing calf raise
Seated Calf raise
Low intensity Cardio 20 min.

The workout I was given was scaled back from the intensity that I'm used to. I realize that I may have to adjust to that. I like lifting heavy and how quickly I can gain strength and put on muscle so I have a bit of a mental block about backing off even though I know it might be necessary to mold my body into a "figure body".

All in All: I feel awesome and I'm SO motivated!

And so it begins...

On Sunday I begin my 18 week contest prep for the NPC Continental Bodybuilding & Figure Competition on September 5th in St. Charles, IL. This will be my 2nd contest and this time around I decided to hire a coach. A few weeks ago I hired Layne Norton and am now part of Team Norton! His athletes have looked the best at many of the shows I've been to and the support and philosophy behind the training programs comes from the same school of that as my own training.

I got my program last week and I'm planning my training schedule today. I'll head to the grocery store this weekend and be ready to work.

If I'm going to compete, I'm going to compete to win. This sport is too hard and takes too much dedication to do it just to say you did it. It can consume your life. Eating on target while at family functions, parties, weddings, and just get togethers with friends is not an easy task. So if you see me out, don't offer me any food or drinks-I promise, I've got it covered. I won't avoid social functions, I'll just come armed with my protein shaker, some chicken, raw veggies and a gallon of water. If you want to join me for a workout I'd LOVE it!

This preparation can be a bit of an emotional rollercoaster as well as inspiring and empowering. So feel free to join me on this journey.