Fitness Competitions Prep Update: 9 Weeks Out

I'm pleased to say that my meeting with Jodi this week went splendidly. I lost two pounds (now at 136.4 lbs) and lost 1% bodyfat (now at 20.1%). I will be so excited when I break that 20% mark!

She's happy with the progress, so the diet is staying the same. However, we do have a change to the workout:

• Cardio is 6x per week for 50 min.

I'm beginning to get bored with my daily 10-incline, 4.0 mph  treadmill walking. So I'm going to start doing my Insanity DVDs to jumpstart things. I just have to be careful with my heartrate. I still need to keep it at 130-135. The reason is because to get rid of those last stubborn pounds of fat, I'll have to break out the heavy cardio artillery -- HIIT -- high intensity interval training.

Next week's meeting will also be the first time Jodi sees me in a bikini. Yikes! She'll be able to gauge where I need to focus my efforts and whether I'll be competing in Bikini or Figure. I have my heart set on Figure since I think it's more competitive. But I'm going to leave the decision to the expert. It's all based on how muscular or soft I am. The other difference is posing. Bikini doesn't have any side poses, just front and back, shifting your butt to the side.

I was definitely more tired and hungry this week, which Jodi seemed please to hear. I've been downing kale chips, salad with balsamic and celery with salsa. I'm so thankful there are "free" foods I can eat.

My protein shakes are beginning to wear on me. They just taste nasty and I can't doctor them up with anything without adding calories or fat. I threw a scoop of decaf coffee in my evening shake. It was a tad bit better. I may just start adding coffee to everything -- at least I know it's calorie-free and flavorful.

This week's cheat meal involved trying out a new restaurant that just opened -- Smashburger. While I'm a die-hard Five Guys fan, this place definitely gave them a run for their money.

Cheat Meal

• The New Jersey Burger -- an amazing beef patty with bacon, blue cheese, fried onions, grilled onions, mayo, lettuce, tomato, ketchup and mustard. All I can say is oh...my...gah...
• Sweet Potato fries
• Haagen-Daz Oreo milkshake (split between myself, my hubby and two kids)
• Handful of Reese's pieces
• Dove dark chocolate mini eggs from Easter
• Sangria (impromptu Mom's night out)
• Chips, salsa, and guacamole

Needless to say, I was beyond ready to get back on track after eating all that. It's so interesting to me how the cheat meal keeps you focused.

I'm trying to practice in my heels 20 minutes each day. For some reason this evening was sheer torture. I think my toes were actually falling asleep from the pressure put on them. Should make for a very interesting competition...

Stay tuned as I get closer to June 30th...