Cannot sleep

I woke up at 4am with a horrible stomach ache and burning in my throat. My throat has been scratchy the last few mornings, but usually gets better! I am hoping that after I write this post I can curl back up in bed and sleep for a few hours...if not, it might be the LONGEST Monday of my life.

Since I cannot sleep I figured I would come check out some fitness blogs and distract my mind from how I am feeling. After reading a few blogs I started thinking about the title of my own...Future Competitor: From Binging to Bikini...although it is an accurate title I decided to change it. Why look back at the girl I used to be when I can set goals for the girl I am striving to be? At work we have goal setting sessions and we are taught that the proper way to write goals is in the present tense as if they have already been accomplished. This explains the new title "I am a figure competitor by December 2011." I know I have been saying that I feel as if I am already a competitor, but I do have my moments where I think that I will not see the results in time....it is extremely hard to trust the process! However, if I keep repeating to myself "I am a figure competitor. I am a figure competitor. I am a figure competitor." it will be stuck in my brain and every decision will be based off that identity...or at least that is what I am hoping for.

I have a CRAZY week ahead of me. I have 4 more days left in my 8 day work stretch at my job! In addition to that I have 2 boot camp sessions I am scheduled to instruct, packing for a the bachelorette trip, errands to run before the trip, cooking and prepping more food, AND my workouts for this week. Thinking about my week I was looking forward to Napa thinking I would have some time to just relax with the girls, but we got our itinerary for the trip and it looks like it is nonstop wine tours! There is a little time for the pool, but I am not sure I even want to pack my swimsuit...I do not feel great about my body yet, and the girls I am going with are skinny lil' things. Do I really want to subject myself to those negative feelings about myself? In addition, I'm not sure how I am going to fit in my workouts and all my meals! :( And then it is straight back into work on Monday. Can't a girl just workout and sleep in the sun?

On that note, I better try and get a few more hours of sleep, otherwise I will NEVER make it through my workout today let alone my closing shift at work....wish me luck. :(

Oatmeal is amazing...

Oatmeal is my go to breakfast food! I woke up this morning and immediately started looking at http://eyeitryit.com/ for breakfast recipes...but I couldn't find anything that could be prepared quick enough to satisfy my hungry belly or satisfy my cravings. So instead, I hit the kitchen on my own and prepared a delicious breakfast!

1/2 c oats
1/2 c almond milk + a little water
1 banana
2 tbsp almond butter
1 scoop jay robb chocolate protein powder

SO DELICIOUS! I should have posted a picture, but I ate it so quickly there was no chance in snapping a photo! :)

I am feeling so positive about life right now. Work is AMAZING! Training is wonderful! And I am getting a hang of this diet...in fact, my trainer told me to eat MORE starchy carbs!?!?!? Isn't that wonderful!? I knew I loved her! I am a little sore from yesterday's workout and I am sure it will get worse as the day goes on...but it is a good sore! I love it when you feel your muscles and know you had a good workout the day before! Today is a yoga day. I am going to head out for a quick walk in the sunshine, hit the grocery store for some more healthy carbs (bring on those yams, rice, bread etc!), do a bit of yoga, then head down to work! It is going to be a great day! Hope you all make the best of your days too!

Hello Eating Clean!

Having your food prepped is the best thing ever. Hit the gym in the morning, eat a quick breakfast, hop in the shower, get ready for work, and then instead of having to think about what you are going to prepare for your meals that day you just grab those perfectly prepackaged meals in your fancy tupperware and hit the road! However, it is amazing how much food a figure competitor really eats....egg whites, chicken, turkey, veggies! No wonder I have seen so many praises about Costco on other competitor's blogs. I did my first shopping trip at Costco since really buckling down and bought myself egg whites, celery, and chicken in bulk! I am sure I will be making SEVERAL more trips as I get further into prep!

Tomorrow I have a killer workout planned. Jen told me to bring my tunes because I am going to be LOTS of reps...most of the exercises are aiming for 3 sets of 25-30 reps with no more than 45 seconds in between. I recruited a friend to do the workout with me, so I am hoping we can just bust it out back and forth within the allotted 45 seconds. If I didn't love the girl so much, I might end up turning into a drill sergeant yelling at her to push it harder and move faster so we can keep our rest periods down! :) But, she was kind enough to do cardio with me today and I don't want to scare her away. I will let you know how I feel after the workout, hopefully I don't look like this....
Ok, I highly doubt I will look like this, but I will probably be just as exhausted as this poor guy!

My new best friend....

I am starting to think and act like a figure competitor. I carry my gallon of water around with me and even refill it on some days to stay hydrated. I cooked up and prepackaged a bunch of food today...check it out! I have salmon, asparagus, sweet potatoes, chicken, mixed veggies, hummus (measured out!), and buffalo! I also whipped up some protein power pancakes for quick snacks! :) I think I need MORE tupperware! I told Jen about this today and she told me I should just start throwing tupperware parties...although she was joking, this might be a good idea!!!
I also picked up this snazzy lunch box to carry around with me! This royal blue beauty is going to be my new best friend! It's FAMILY size...does 1 person really need this big of a lunch box? Well, the answer is yes. My tupperware takes up a lot of room and I need to keep my metabolism movin' and groovin' by eating every 2-4 hours!
In the work out department I am getting my booty kicked...which is good! Keep bringing it Jen! ;) I had my second one-on-one session with her today... she was trying to get my legs burning, but due to the combo exercises my arms were burning too! Hello total body workout! Looking forward to that soreness tomorrow and knowing that I hit it hard! Off to meet my future roomies at a bar, where I will be drinking ice water...or possibly iced tea if they have it. I am going to a bachelorette party in Napa Valley in two weeks and Jen told me that each glass of wine I drink is an EXTRA 20 minutes of "not so nice" cardio. I think I will save the wine drinking for my brother's wedding and then AFTER the competition.

Blueberry Cheesecake.........

........oatmeal! I didn't actually eat blueberry cheesecake. My trainer, Jen, told me about the blog http://eyeitryit.com/ The author of the blog posts delicious and CLEAN recipes. For meal #2 today, I ate Blueberry Cinnamon Sugar Cheesecake Oatmeal. AMAZING! Go check out her blog.

I am starting to view myself as a competitor. I visualize myself up on stage and looking the way I want for the competition. Doing this helps me stay focused on what I need to do throughout the day to accomplish my goals. Do figure competitors eat chocolate and ice cream all day long? No, they eat clean. (Although, I bet some days they would like to) And that is exactly what Jen suggested I do for right now, eat clean. Simple as that...just eat clean.

As for working out. I struggled a bit with cardio this morning, but at least I got moving. I have been having some lower back tightness which I am working through. It is typically fine once I get started moving, but once I stop it tightens back up. I think it might be time for a massage!

Jen has a tough week of workouts lined up for me this week. I will keep you posted on how I do! Have a great Monday everyone.

Life is beautiful.

Morning everyone! Time to hit the gym for my endurance muscle circuits. I fueled myself up with 2 protein power pancakes topped with a little plain greek yogurt and strawberries, drank my metabolism drink (apple cider vinegar, water, unsweetened apple juice, cayenne pepper, and cinnamon), and put on my favorite workout gear. I am ready to get after it!

Yesterday I bought myself a food processor so I could make all sorts of yummy Eat Clean Recipes from Tosca Reno's book. So far I made bean dip for my veggies, but I put WAY to much onion in it! Woah! Today is a new day and I plan on trying more recipes and finding ways to plan and pack my meals for the week so I always have healthy options.

I am very excited for this journey and truly believe I will be successful. I am 100% happy with my life right now and because of that it is so much easier to stay on track. Even when I do slip up and eat chocolate covered caramels (yes Jen, I ate some yesterday) I take a deep breath and instead of falling into my old ways and giving up, I move forward and focus on the next healthy meal.

Time to head to the gym and keep climbing towards the top. Life is beautiful.

First one-on-one with Jen!

Today was amazing... and boy, did I sweat! I sweat a lot anyways, but I can never complain when sweat is dripping off my body during a workout! I know all you fitness ladies out there feel the same! So how did the workout go and what did she have me do!?

I met her at her house for the workout where she has tons of workout equipment (that I am extremely jealous of). We started by taking measurements, pictures, and my weight. I stepped on the scale backwards so only she knows the number and I can't obsess over it...which is a great idea for me! She also did a few tests so she could see my weaknesses and so we can evaluate performance in areas besides the scale. She tested single leg squats for form (looking for hip weakness...which I have), abdominal planks (I held for 2:50...woop woop!), and pull-ups (ZERO, but its only my starting point)! Then came the FUN stuff!

Disclaimer: I don't remember the exact order or even ALL of the exercises off the top of my head, but I am going to try!

Warm-up: 5 minutes on the elliptical
Spiderman lunges (she loves these...and I think I might just be in love too!)
Grasshoppers
Abdominal Twists (similar to wood chops) while kneeling on a stability ball (TOUGH!)
Box jumps
Side planks with shoulder horizontal abduction (Left side is SO much weaker than right...woah!)
Russian Twists on stability ball
Downward dog with hip extension into spiderman lunge (fun one to do!)
Bench jumps (lateral hops over the bench with hands on bench)
I, Y, T exercises for shoulders and back
Lunge jumps on step
Butt squeezes (pretty sure she had a more creative name, but essentially you are laying on the stability ball and squeeze your legs up and in to activate the glutes!)
Leg lowers (keeping low back flat on the ground)
Scorpions (lay prone on the ground with arms out to the side, bring opposite leg to opposite arm up behind you...this showed that my right hip flexor is MUCH tighter than my left!)

All in all it was a good workout. She brought her A game for sure and I am even more confident that I picked the right trainer! :) I was literally cracked out after my work out because I was so hyped up. I haven't been this excited about something in a really long time...it is going to be an amazing journey and I plan on enjoying every minute of it.

Tomorrow is 30 minutes of HIIT for cardio...either the elliptical or treadmill. Running is not my favorite, but I plan on hitting up the tread tomorrow and challenging myself. I'm off to get some shut eye now, but I will let you know how the cardio goes!

To the top!

I am LOVING my new trainer! After switching I have so much more confidence in myself and really believe I can do this! She lightened up the intensity of the plan a little so that I don't hit overtraining status and so my body won't fight as the competition approaches!

Here is what we have going on for diet... 6 meals a day.
Eat within 1 hour of waking up to refuel after the night.
Meals 2-6: eat every 2-4 hours
Every meal should consist of a complex carbohydrate and protein.
Veggies are unlimited! :)
Fruits: 2-4 servings per day.
Healthy fats: throughout the day
Fiber: 25-30 grams

Basically, I am just eating clean and avoiding processed foods and any beverages besides water and homemade protein shakes.

The workouts! I have my first one-on-one session with her on Tuesday! I better bring my A game! :) Jen emails me on a daily basis giving my workout and checking in to see how the previous day's workout and food intake went. Being in constant communication helps keep me accountable and so far I am doing GREAT!

Today is my rest day...wish I didn't have to be on my feet at work all day! Good thing I love my job and everyone I work with! Speaking of work, I better go prep my food for the day and get ready! If I don't post tomorrow I will definitely post Tuesday night after the workout! BRING IT ON JEN! ;)