11 Weeks to Go Until Contest Time

I had a slight monkey wrench thrown into this week. I went home early from work on Friday because I felt so sick. My head felt like it was in a fish bowl, and it was a struggle to keep my eyes open and focus. I was supposed to do my stairmaster intervals at lunch. I battled to stay on track with my diet and headed home to bed. I slept for two hours on top of sleeping 10 hours that night.

Guilt set in Sat. morning and I willed myself onto the treadmill to get my 5th cardio workout of the week. The rest of Saturday was mostly spent on the couch watching movies with the kids, dozing in and out most of the day.

I did get to meet up with Jodi on Sat. morning. Feeling like crap started messing with my mind and I was convinced I hadn't made any progress. I was pleasantly surprised to learn my bodyfat was down 0.7% to 19.7% and my weight was up to 137.4 lbs. Jodi was fine with the weight gain since my fat was down. Hopefully it's muscle given the ridiculous weight I've been lifting. The four sets to failure definitely makes a difference in terms of workout intensity.

Diet Changes
Jodi wants me taking a pre- and post-workout protein shake. I began taking half a scoop of Beverly International Muscle Builder before and after. This has really upset my stomach. Since it's fairly low in carbs (3g), I also have to add either 1/2 cup of blueberries or 3 strawberries to my post-workout drink. The sugar in the fruit will help get the protein to my muscles faster.

The other change in diet is taking out the peanut butter at breakfast and replacing it with 12 almonds.

As a reminder, here is what my diet currently looks like:

Breakfast -- 5 egg whites, 1/2 cup oatmeal, 12 almonds
AM snack -- 1 scoop protein powder
Lunch -- 4oz. chicken, 1/2 cup brown rice, 1 cup broccoli (or other green veggie)
PM snack -- 1 scoop protein powder
Dinner -- 4 oz. chicken, 2 1/2 cups veggies
Evening snack -- 1 scoop protein powder, 12 almonds

Workout
Weight training stays the same -- 4 exercises per bodyfat, 4 sets to failure as heavy as I can go.

Cardio is now 5x per week for 40min. with stairmaster intervals every other day.

Cheat Meal
I may feel like crap, but there was no way I was missing my cheat meal! I headed to Smashburger for the "New Jersey" (I highly recommend it -- fried onions, blue cheese, bacon), sweet potato fries and their Haagen-Daz Oreo milkshake. Then I chased it with some leftover ice cream cake from my daughter's birthday last weekend. It's been torture watching everyone eat it every night. It's a Baskin Robbins, chocolate cake on the bottom with vanilla ice cream on top. It was delish!

In three short weeks, Jodi will begin judging my diet and workout changes by looking at me in a bikini, which means I need to start tanning. I'm so pasty, it's not even funny. I'll try to get an updated pic next week when I'm feeling better. I'm almost completely back to normal -- thank goodness!!!

I bought a Groupon for Snap Fitness, which is open 24 hours a day. So I'm going to try and get over there to switch things up. Any insight into Snap? 

Until next week...

12 Weeks and Counting 'Til Fitness Competition Time

I met with Jodi yesterday and I'm down a little over half a percent (20.4%) and my weight is down 1.2 lbs (135.6). I'm happy that I'm still making progress.

The change in weight training (4 exercises per bodypart, 4 sets to failure) has made a huge difference in terms of intensity.

My motivation: pre-contest 6/30/12

This week's changes:

Diet
Evening snack is now 1 scoop of protein with 12 almonds (no more Greek yogurt)

I need to take my morning snack and divvy it into a pre- and post-workout snack. Since I need a combo of carbs and protein, I'm going to order Beverly International's Muscle Provider. It had more carbss and is more easily and quickly digestible than my Ultimate Muscle Provider, which I use as my daily protein source.

Workout
Weight training stays the same

Cardio is now 35 minutes, 5 times per week

Stairmill -- every other day with intervals -- 2 min. hard, 1 min. easy

I bought a Groupon for Snap Fitness and finally registered, so I'll really be able to go super-heavy in my training. Stay tuned for more details on how that goes.

I also talked to Jodi about another contest two weeks after April 13. Since I'm already contest ready, why not do two shows?! It sounds good in theory. We'll see how that pans out.

It's been a crazy month and tougher than every to stick with my diet and workouts. We've been having some family health issues with my father-in-law and my dad. All the more reason it's so important to eat clean and train dirty!

Cheat Meal
My cheat meal ended up being lunch on Sat. We were visiting my father-in-law at Jersey Shore Medical and stopped by one of our favorite restaurants -- 10th Avenue Burrito in Belmar, NJ, which was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives. Here's what I indulged in:

- Homemade tortilla chips and homemade guacamole (YUM!)
- Lobster quesadillas
- Chocolate flautas with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce

This wasn't half as bad as some past cheat meals. But boy did I feel like sh*t the rest of the day. We had lunch at 2pm and by 7pm, I could barely eat my evening snack. Blech. I was more than ready to go back to my clean eating plan.

I'd love to hear what you think about this diet and exercise program. Too restrictive, not restrictive enough? Any tips you'd like share.

Until next time...

13 Weeks Until Figure Contest

Drum roll, please...

I met with my trainer on Thursday, January 10th and the verdict is...I lost 2.2 lbs (136.8) and 2.1% bodyfat (21.0%). I'm soooooo happy, especially after having that Rice Krispie treat to cope with some unexpected family-related stress.

I'm really excited about the progress and I'm interested to see how this compares to training last year...

Last year at this time I had a plateau week. I was doing cardio 5x/week for 30 min. I was still eating bread, which isn't included at all this time around.


Jodi didn't change anything in the cardio/diet area. But she did change my weight training. She likes that I'm separating out my legs and butt training on two separate days. I have to do 4 exercises per bodypart, 4 sets, as heavy as I can go -- to failure. She doesn't care if I can only do 6 reps or 10 reps. This will be interesting...

No photos this week, but my next meeting is Sat., Jan. 19. This is also the 12-week mark -- how did that happen????

Bring On the New Year -- 14 Weeks Until Contest

Between Christmas and New Year's, I didn't really have a cheat meal (nor did I want one). I had a few Christmas cookies and a red velvet cupcake. Eating clean has seemed to stunted my hunger. I have to just about force myself to eat snacks and meals.

As I prep for my next competition, I'll be sure to provide weekly photo updates, measurements, diet changes and workouts. I know when I read articles or check out other blogs, these key metrics are incredibly helpful.

Here's a photo from today and one from last year (Feb. 2011) as I began my journey:

Jan. 2013

Feb. 2012

I do think my body came back slightly different, although now I know how to pose properly (that's according to my husband).

I met with Jodi on Wed., Jan. 2. My schedule has been off since the holidays. I'll hopefully go back to weekly check-ins this week. To start off, I lost 2% bodyfat and gained one pound. Woohoo! Off to a strong start, now let's see if we can keep the momentum.

Diet/workout changes this week:

• No banana during the morning snack.

• Cardio is now 35 min. 4x/week

I'll try to post my workouts. I'm going to try some workouts from Fighter Diet  to mix things up. If you haven't checked out Pauline Nordin, I highly recommend you see this shredded woman. She is beyond intense.

Let me know if you have questions about anything. Until next time, eat clean and train dirty! ;)