Fitness Competition Prep Update: Day 20 & TRX Review

I'm just about at the three week mark, which seems to have flown by! I was diligent about my diet and workouts all week. Needless to say I was very excited to meet up with Jodi to get weighed and measured. Before we met up, I tried something new...

Saturday Treat: TRX Class
On Saturday, I was pumped to join my fellow Fit Mom, Janine, to take a TRX class at Premier Fitness in Nanuet, NY (where she also introduced me to my trainer, Jodi). She forewarned me that this class was not for the weak of heart and the instructor would have no problems getting in your face to push you. (In a sadistic way, this made me even more excited to attend! LOL!) You may remember last year I wrote about wanting desperately to see what TRX classes were all about in my April 2011 post What is a TRX Suspension Trainer?

Here's a great video with 25 of the best TRX exercises so you can see exactly how it works:


The class had about 20 people, a mix of men and women of various ages. I was shocked to even see a woman about six months pregnant. The class paired up so one half of the class did one exercise, while the other half did something else. You were cued to change exercises by the music, when a whistle would sound every 2-3 minutes.

Here were some of the grueling exercises that had me drenched in sweat and trying to catch my breath:

• Jump squats
• Chest presses using the TRX straps and your own bodyweight
• Lat pulls with the TRX
• Decline push-ups
• Planks
• Burpees
• Jump lunges with TRX

The preggers gals was instructed to do modified exercises to ensure her heart rate didn't skyrocket. On Sunday morning, I was sore in very odd places -- armpits and lats, sides and backs of knees and abs. I was convinced my legs would be mush. But I really think the BCAAs are a huge help.

Saturday Weigh & Measure Results

Drum roll please...my weight and bodyfat stayed the same <insert deflating balloon noise here>. UGH! All that hard work to not move either way. I tried really hard no to get down. But as you can imagine, it was hugely disappointing. However, I'm trying to take that down-and-out energy and get fired up to work harder. I'm only at the start and have a long road to go. 

Here are some of the changes Jodi had me make for this coming week, in an effort to drop some fat and keep building muscle:

• Cardio: moves up to 5x/week for 30 min. Heart rate should be at 135 (no intervals or HIITs)
• My fat-free Greek yogurt evening snack is now one scoop of protein powder with water for a shake

Fingers crossed this works! I'm scared to think what 2-3 weeks out will look like. Something tells me I'll be doing closer to 2 hours of cardio. EEK!!

Happy St. Patty's Day Cheat Meal

I'm going to start posting my cheat meals to ensure I'm having a cheat meal and not a binge-fest. I was tickled pink that St. Patty's Day landed on Saturday -- the coveted cheat meal dinner. Woohoo!! I thoroughly enjoyed my husband's corned beef, cabbage and potatoes dinner. I made sure to grab fresh Irish Soda Bread, which I had with butter. A few glasses of wine and some Thin Mints, courtesy of the Girl Scouts, topped off the meal. We also had a fire in our outdoor fireplace in the evening (the weather was crazy-beautiful this weekend), which means one roasted marsh mellow was also on the dessert menu. ;)

Stay tuned for next week's update. I'll also try to get a new bikini shot *gulp* so you can tell me if it looks like I'm making any progress.