I’ll share the details later…

but I competed! go me! And here’s my final transformation pictures!

I found the skinny me! the fat me didn't eat her after all!!

promise I’ll tell you the story tomorrow! Right now I’m wiped!

Where I’m at in my journey

Currently I’m just over 3 weeks out from my first show, the NPC Camellia championships. This also explains why I haven’t been around here as much. In addition to the working my ass off (literally), my brain is kinda fuzzy for the time being so..this leads to reduced blog posts, locking myself out of my car and staring blankly at my new washing machine trying like hell to remember how to turn the damn thing on.

look ma! I shrank!

So I’ve been riding the PMS train lately with it’s many stops at Sobtown, Bitchville and this whole long stretch filled with nothing but fog. Awesome enough though, NO CRAVINGS this time! This time last month was BRUTAL on me with all the cravings but I’m not really feeling those this time.

I HAVE been tripping on my weight. I ignored friend’s advice and let the scale screw with my head. My BF kept edging down but my weight was dancing up and down a pound every day. bah.

well this am I woke up at 129.5. And my bf dropped a bit again. Which is funny because I didn’t get to do my cardio last night. hubby called me in the middle of my workout freaking out and needing to go to the ER. They’re still adjusting his BP meds and they made him dizzy and when he used his wrist cuff to measure his BP for the 20th time yesterday I think he did it wrong. Either way by the time we got him to the Er it was normal. HOWEVER, he does have bronchitis. So that sucks balls. he was released around midnight and larned another valuable lesson. All meals with me at all times, NO MATTER WHAT. no joke the ONLY protein they had available at the hospital or the shoppette near it was muscle milk light. bleh. But it was better than nothing. I also let myself go back to sleep once the kids were off this am. an extra three horus of sleep helped a great deal. Except the dream I had last night where I showed up at my competition but had forgotten to tan. That was a pretty horrific dream and apparently shows how self concious I am about my lilly white skin. Scarlet O Hara’s mammy would have been proud as hell of my pale ass skin. Too bad it’s no longer the sign of being a lady and now just a sign of being a pasty ass who can’t tan. Makes halloween costumes easy. Just throw some glitter on me and BAM! Vampire. haha.

I think the biggest thing is that in the midst of all this, while stressing on everything, I finally said I cant do this on my own and Gave it all up to God. I really do feel sooo much better and i get hints now and then to keep pushing me. Like the quote I got from the gaspari texts the other am fits my life this week:

Success isn’t a matter of being the best and winning the race. Its a matter of handling the worst and finishing the race.

in conclusion, I can see my abs and that’s what counts. No really! You can see them!  So I think I’m gonna go work on them some more.  It’s plyometrics day so I’m ready to go jump like a cheerleader on crack until i vomit everywhere…lol.  Have a healthy day!

Some Diet tips

Diet is the HARDEST part of staying healthy and losing weight. Without a good foundation with peroper nutrition, you’re doomed to fail no matter how much effort you put into the gym. With that in mind, here are some tips to help you on your journey.

Now, I’m a mom of 6 so I understand life can get CRAZY and it can be hard to eat right when your spouses don’t want to do it, or you KNOW there’s a jar of cookies in the kitchen (my biggest complaint..lol). But you CAN do this!

1. the 5 P’s. Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance. Don’t just wing it through your day. Be Deliberate. Know what you’re going to eat and what times you’re going to eat. Having this firmly in your head can help derail grazing and skipping meals. If you need to, go the extra step and prep your food the night before. I cook my meals a week at a time and store them in ziplock baggies (quart size for each meal, all meals for the day in a gallon size. I just pull the days food out the night before and defrost). For those who HATE waste this is even more motivation.

2. Keep healthy snacks just in case. If for some reason I am out without my food (rarely since I carry a cooler with me) or my dog eats my meal while my back is turned (which HAS happened). have a back up plan. Keep healthy snacks on hand in case you need to fill in a meal. A meal replacement bar, some nuts and crackers, etc. I keep a bag of homemade trail mix in a ziplock container in my car just in case.

3. Know your portions. You dont’ have to weigh your food down to the gram unless you’ve got an anal retentive coach breathing down your neck. /cough. Calories in calories out is very hard to judge as each persons metabolism burns at different rates but you should still be mindful of your portion sizes. Each meal should contain each of the macronutrients. Lean proteins, (eggs, lean meats, etc), complex carbohydrates (from vegetables, whole grain, fruits, etc) and healthy fats (like nuts, avacados and flax and olive oils, salmon, etc). Each nutrient is vital and important and should not be skipped.

4. stay hydrated. If you workout hard, with cardio and strength training that goes over an hour a day combined, try to drink up to a gallon. I keep a gallon size jug of water and fill my water bottle each day. Take big gulps, not sips. Play around with temperature or add lemon slices, cucumbers etc. I can’t drink water cold, but room temperature goes down just fine. You’ll find this also helps curb your hunger as many times our bodies mistake thirst for hunger. In addition, proper water consumption helps your body to release excess water retention, flushes toxins out of your system and keeps your skin healthy and glowing. A good rule they taught us in army basic training: If your pee is clear, you’re good. The darker in color it is the more dehydrated you are. Drink more when you’re out in the hot weather as well. Carry a bottle with you at all times.

5. Get colorful. Iceberg lettuce and celery are almost nutritionally defunct and not really worth wasting your time on. Go for colorful foods like bell peppers, spinach, romaine, mushrooms, asparagus, etc. While low in calories these foods are PACKED with vitamins and nutrients and can fill you up well getting more bang for your buck. Did you know that a cup of cooked spinach has just as much calcium as a glass of milk?

6. And finally, get enough fiber. it’s a rather distasteful subject, but if you aren’t regular, chances are you’re not getting enough fiber. Painful infrequent stools are often a sign that you aren’t hydrated enough or getting enough fiber. They can cause you to feel tired, bloated, etc and make you feel crappy altogether (forgive the unintentional pun). In addition to helping maintain a healthy digestive tract, fiber is filling and keeps you full longer, cutting down on the chances that you’re gonna overeat.

let me off this freaking rollercoaster, I think I’m gonna be sick

I know it’s been like two weeks but believe me I have a really good excuse. the last two weeks have had some incredible highs and some really awful lows. But more than anything it’s reminded me just how fragile life is, and how important it is to follow your dreams before fate has the chance to stop you.

For the highs because I’m a good news before bad type of gal. I got my showdates. On may 28th I’ll be competing in Slidell at the NPC Camellia Championships. My coaches think I’ll be ready and I have faith in them so I have faith in me too. I don’t care if I place 1st or 16th, I just want to do it. Just step on that stage. I’m looking into suits, foudn a local NPC competitor to help with my posing since I can’t get to mama bombshell and have made some…heroic..attempts at learning stage makeup. I’ve been told to cake it on like a drag queen but unfortunately my former drag queen buddy lives in SLC so I’m winging it. Other highs included Jamie Eason putting my transformation pics in her inspiration folder and Muscle and Strength wanting to post my transformation story too. Talk about affirmation.

As for the lows…we lost a good friend in afghanistan. SSG Travis Tompkins was a very good friend as is his wife Candy. I know it’s a risk all soldiers take, but it still stings and stuns when it happens to someone you know. Someone with a family, someone who should have been able to come home. and raise his two daughters. I will warn you though, keep your hippy ass anti war shit to yourselves. I may delete it. I may track you down and kick your ass myself. There’s a time and place and this isn’t it. Trust me.

So if you don’t mind, take a moment to honor a soldier who sacrificed for you. If you’ve got time to read about my quest for fat loss, you’ve got a minute to honor him.

Reward meals and Bovine Bitchiness

I’m big on rewarding myself. it’s the way I’m made. Carrots are yummy, sticks suck, etc etc etc. Part of my reward for toughing out the diet plan is a reward meal once a week. Some weeks I get so excited it’s all i can think about. Some weeks it’s just yay! something different. When we were in San Antonio all I could think about was pasta. We saw a sign for the olive garden and it was ON! My imagination went into overdrive until I was pretty sure that some seafood alfredo would taste like manna from heaven. It did by the way. It was the first time I cried biting into a scallop in my life. I’m not sure it’s gonna be the last though.

The point is, saturdays I indulge in a reward meal with several intentions:

1. with dieting, there is also a slowing of the metabolism effect. The body senses starvation and tries to lower the amount of energy it needs to continue to function on a daily basis. This means you will be burning less calories just sitting there than if you hadn’t been dieting, which makes weight loss even harder.

When you shock your system with a high influx of calories at one time, the body’s metabolism will show an increase and you’ll kick start your ‘furnace’ into high gear once again.

This will help you body to get less accustomed to running on a lower caloric level and make getting lean easier.(via bodybuilding.com)

2. Allowing myself a reward meal on saturday nights gives me a chance to eat the foods that I crave and work hard for them, leaving me far less likely to nibble on forbiddens during the rest of the week. In addition, that cheat meal tastes pretty darn amazing and not just par for the course.

3. I get to spend time with family and friends enjoying a meal without hyperfocusing on the details. As a competitor it can be very taxing on my social life/family when hubby wants to go out on a dinner, or friends of ours want to go out together. When I constantly have to decline because of a diet and goals that very few understand or support, it can strain things, depress me as well and weaken my resolve for my goals.

4. As I diet and train consistantly and hard through the week, my muscle glycogen levels can become easily depleted, leaving me feeling tired and fatigued by the end of the week. A cheat meal allows me to replenish my glycogen stores and come monday, I’m raring to go again. The key is deliberation and moderation. A half a plate of pasta with a small slice of cake, or a steak house hamburger with a baked potato. Two slices of pizza and a cookie. Etc. Nobody is saying eat the whole pizza, gorge yourself into oblivion etc.

Now as I get closer to competition my cheat meals might be eliminated alltogether depending on how lean I already am and how close to my show I am. However for someone who is dieting down for personal satisfaction and/or health, a break one evening a week done correctly, will do wonders to further your resolve. And yet, yet there’s always that one jealous bitch who can’t do moderation and chooses to eliminate it altogether. Goody for her. I’m fine with that. Until she takes her jealousy and her anger out on me, the one with self control.

All this went down on one of the message boards I frequent and have developed some good friendships. We were discussing my reward meals and why I have them when this woman gets downright beligerant.

According to her, my trainer is an idiot and I lack drive and self discipline because I have cheat meals on saturdays. Even funnier she suggests that I eat fruit with fruit dip instead. because fruit dip is somehow healthier than a regular cheat meal. Whatever.

I admit I was pretty mad. I don’t see how someone who’s idea of a full body workout involves 20 minutes on the Wii fit before they collapse on the floor gasping for breath like a beached whale has any reason to call my self discipline into question. I also unfortunately said as much. I admit I have a bit of a temper and it can come out from time to time when provoked. I was nice the first time. The second time I let loose. Then I apologized to the rest of the board and felt madder at myself for letting someone elses issues and self image problems get to me like that.

I KNOW I’m on a good program. I KNOW my trainers with Team Bombshell are some of the best in the country. I KNOW I have research proven reasons for my trainer sanctioned cheat. And I KNOW it’s mean to pick on the metally disabled. So I may even apologize to her. Or i may post pictures of my awesome booty to make her hate herself more. We’ll see how bad she pokes me.

At the end of the day, the proof is in the pudding:

Current pic. March 11

Starting point, December 4

My glutes are on fire! No wait, that’s the icy hot!

So lets talk about pain management for a minute.  Not like I’ve got a serious back problem and require percocet three times a day pain management, but what do you do when you train so hard that standing requires a herculean effort that doesn’t always seem worth it?    We’re back from San Antonio so that means 100% on program, no excuses.  Which also means so many lunges I want to sob like a little bitch.  I hate lunges.  Like you have no idea how much I freaking hate lunges.  I hate lunges like I hate terrorists and Sarah Palin.  Like My neighbor Ryan hates texas.  yeah, it’s like that.

In spite of my hatred for lunges (or probably karma trying to teach me not to hate) they happen to be on my program.  Three days a week in the am they are involved in my cardio.  On leg days they’re there several times.  Plyo day?  lets do them in jumping form!  Reverse lunges, swing lunges, standard, stationary, deep, its lunge hell, population, me.  Why do so many lunges you ask?  Well beyond the obvious because my coach says so, lunges are untouchable for quad and glute development.  Which means after mondays three things hurt like you would not believe:  My Knees, My Glutes, and my Quads.

I take glucosamine for my knees.  I’m anal retentive about knee alignment and proper form too.  if you’re gonna lunge, it’s kind of necessary.  The glute and the quad pain I welcome.  it means I did good.  It might also mean a reprieve from laundry and a night on the couch since climbing stairs after a monday….it ain’t happening.  The kids could build a bonfire and try to burn the baby as a witch on the upper landing and my ass is NOT climbing those stairs.  One thing and one thing only will draw me through the haze of pain and up the stairs.  Epsom salt baths.

Yep, epsom salt baths have been my savior.  That will draw the pain out like nobodies business, not to mention how relaxing it is.  i throw in some lavendar foaming bath milk on top of it all and have myself ana amazing treat.  odds are I’m that tub till well after the prune stage and until only just before the water is cold as hell because it’s cooled off so much.  The second thing that saves me is Icy Hot.  I even carry it in a stick form in my purse.  However, this is key.  MAKE SURE IT”S NOT EXTRA STRENGTH!  I used hubbys cream last night as I wasn’t sure of my purses location and wasn’t up for tracking it down.  Didn’t realize until my legs were simultaniousy freezing and burning that it was extra strength.  Which again wouldn’t have been a problem, except I used quite a bit given the intensity of the soreness.

Big. Mistake.

Twenty minutes later my legs were numb.  not so much I think because the pain went away, i think my nerves were just so overloaded that they shut down and refused to relay anymore sensory information.  But screw it.

They didn’t hurt.  goal, achieved.

First week as a bombshell athlete

Its been hectic to say the least. Im blogging via iphone from hubbies bedside at brooke army medical center. Yesterday he had his spinal fusion and it went incredibly well. Hes recovering slowly but steadily. My mom has the kids so were good on that front.

I prepped all my food in advance and carted it here frozen in a big icechest and my hotel has a microwave and fridge. Actuallly its the fort sam houston distinguished visitor quarters meant for big wigs and the like, but im not complaining. The digs are sweet, more like a small apartment than a hotel. I just pack my food for the day in a cooler and cart it with me.
I use the gym on fort sam houston main for my workouts for now. Their cardio room is severly lacking but their locker rooms are epic. Keyless combo locks anyone? You program them when you use them and no need for gym locks. Pretty sweet.
It may seem awful to continue on program while hubby is in this place but he insisted and i agree. I pay a good amount for my coach and if fellow bombshell dinah al-sabbah can be in contest prep while jet setting, i can handle program while traveling.
Wish i coulx figure out how to post pics from this thing. My progress looks good. Belly is almost flat, shoulders coming in fantastic. V taper is building well too. Down to 140 lbs as of this am. Youd never think it thougj as im now a size six. Last time i was a size six was at 130 so that extra mus le shows. Didnt bring omron so unsure on the fat though.
All i know is that so far my program is working and im loving team bombshell. Cant wait to go to my first camp! And when my coaches think im ready, yes. I will compete. Thats my goal roght now, not even worried about placing. Just want to find the courage to do it and know i earned my pla e on stage as an npc figure athlete.
And because it must be said, watch the arnold via bodybuilding.com on friday and root for my teamates in the first ever bikini international. Nicole, jamie, nathalia, ali, jennifer, and jessica. And maybe justine, not sure. Also, vanessa will be covering it for fitness rx! and of course in addition to the many booths bombshells will be rocking, check out justine and nathalia as they rock the covers of m&f hers and fitness rx magazines respectivelly.
For now im gonna hang out with hubby and try to talk him into eating again. Pray for his swift recovery and have an awesome week everyone!