8 Weeks and Counting...

I was sorely disappointed this week. I thought having tilapia at lunch and dinner, plus doing 50 minutes of cardio five times a week would definitely move my bodyfat -- not so much. I met with Jodi on Monday. She took a look at me in a bikini to see what she was working with and then we hit the scale and calipers. I lost 0.6 pounds and my bodyfat was pretty much flat (down 0.1%). It's hard to stay motivated when things aren't progressing.

Here are this week's changes:

Diet
- I have to eat breakfast before I workout. This is a huge change for me. I love breakfast; it's my favorite meal. Now I have to scarf my egg whites and oatmeal at 5am.
- My "morning snake" is now a shake + 3 strawberries after my workout, at around 7am. I have to say I'm soooo hungry by noon, with a five-hour span between meals.

Workout
- Between each set, I do 30 seconds of plyometrics
- Every day, I must do four sets of 15 reps of walking lunges and stiff-legged deadlifts
(This combo is awesome for perking up the butt.)
- Cardio is now 50 min. / 6x per week

To put things in perspective, I need to lose 10-12% bodyfat in 8 weeks. As Jodi says, now is "when the magic happens." I'm also beginning to start posing and practicing walking in my heels for 10-20 minutes each day. This is key to ensuring posing and walking are seamless on competition day. Last year, at the NPC show, I just had to do my poses and quarter turns. This time around, I must do what's called a "T-Walk." This involves walking to music and doing poses at different points. Needless to say, I need to figure out what music I want to use. Jodi recommends "whatever gets you pumped." I just need to make sure it doesn't make me dance, which most of my favorite music does.

As promised here is an update photo. I'm hitting the tanning salon this week, which always helps with looking leaner.

Motivation
 Lots of people ask how I stay motivated. Sometimes it's hard and I want to give in. But there are a few things I do:

• Posing practice -- helps to see how far I've gone and areas that still need improving
• New bikini -- checking out new bikinis always helps. I'm contemplating getting a new one.
• Old pics -- Looking at last year's photos helps remind me that I can do this and I can do better.

What keeps you motivated?