This is the end, my friend.

So much has been happening, but here it is past midnight AGAIN. I wanted to make sure I did a post before the big day. After 7 months of intense eating and training.....it's almost over! I still need to re-pack my bag tonight and research what to eat right before going on stage. I have what my trainers have said....I just want to verify it so I can feel good about it. Because what they have said goes against everything I have done these last few months. I get to eat carbs, sugar and fats a few hours before I go on stage. Anything easily digestable - no fiber or fibrous veggies. I'm thinking egg whites and sweet potatoes for breakfast - salmon for lunch and subway for my next meal but two hours before I hit stage. Then I have rice cakes, banana, peanut butter, almonds, granola bars and a protein shake while I'm there.

I went to the gym with my friend Melonnie and she video taped me posing and doing the T-walk. Here are some snapshots of that day.

 

I met with Nanette just the other day, which was super helpful. She made some necessary tweaks to my posing and it will look much better. Front pose especially. NOT liking the picture. The tweaked pose is much nicer looking. I was kinda stoked about my back - I never get to see it so I'm glad it's coming along.

 

I had my first 'salon coat' tan done yesterday night and my first 'competition tan' done tonight. I look dark. Note to self: I can't do dishes anymore. My tan comes off with water. Better watch how I pee. Ha ha.

 

It's funny how my nervousness is. I am nervous, but there's a little bit of a 'whatever' feeling because it is what it is at this point. I pushed myself so hard every workout. I can count on one hand how many workouts I missed in 7 months of training and I was stellar on my food. So it really is what it is. I also realize genetics play a HUGE role in it. I can defy my genetics - which I am doing by building. But some people just grow muscle like it's nothing.

 

I'm pretty bummed - John had to go out of town for work and will miss my competition. It's sad because obviously he's my husband and I want him there....but because he was my workout partner, he had to see first hand the sacrifices made, the achievements gained....etc. BUT on the flip side - I have been SO SO blown away at all the friends and family that are coming to support me in this. I'm amazed.

 

One of the top questions I've been asked is: "What is going to be the first thing you eat?" The first thing I am going to eat....will be cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory. What I am most looking forward to? - is waking up Saturday morning and eating a bowl of Fruit Loops. Okay, more like 3 bowls AND I am NOT going to measure it! ha ha.

 

It's been a busy week being a single mom and this week has had a ridiculous amount of events happen. So I am off to pack my bag and get some much needed sleep. These 4-5 hours a night are killing me.

All people hear is blah, blah, blah....

I think I am ready for this to be over already. I am tired of it being on my mind 24/7....I'm pretty sure my hubby and my friends are sick of it too. I'm not going to lie - it's been really cool to see the changes in my body, especially while cutting. Veins and muscles are popping out everywhere! BUT I sure miss the ignorant days of eating whatever I was in the mood for without KNOWING what was in them. There are some foods that I will never be able to look at the same again. ha ha. BUT I do love the satisfaction of knowing that I am giving my body what it needs and that I am eating real food so I'm healthy and doing it right - the way we should be doing it - before processed foods became the norm. Not to say I don't love me some pizza and cereal - but it's a treat when I have it.

I actually went to see Reid last Monday and I decided to cut even harder than I had intended to on my last post. He said when he cuts he goes down to 50g of carbs a day! Wow. So that's what I have been doing. I do 2 days of carb cutting and 1 day back to my 2300 calorie carb and protein packed diet. I have had 2 rotations of it already and holy crap I am leaning up FAST! Some days were ok and others were really hard. I've been trying a few different recipes like protein pancakes and these egg/spinach muffins. John called them Leprachaun poop. ha ha. They did look a little...interesting. I liked the pancakes and they only had 4g of carbs and 54g of protein! Then I put my no sugar syrup on them and it puts them at 11g of carbs. But they are really filling and I still stayed under 45g of carbs for the day.

 

This is my friend Naomi that helped me bling my suit. We did this over 3 days so the glue could dry and it's a bit time consuming adding hundreds - yes hundreds, of little crystals.

This is the end result. I LOVE it! It sparkles like no tomorrow. The pattern is perfect for me - it's just.... me!

 



I've been really bad about taking progress pictures. Here's one my daughter took on a whim. The lighting isn't great - but this was two and half weeks out.

Oh man! I hope I'm ready! I am really nervous....and I know this because I have already started packing my bag....and I'm a procrastinator!

This last week I took the poly graph test and passed - whew! ha ha. I got my NGA card and registered for the competition. I really only have one and a half weeks left because then the tanning starts and things start to happen! Two maybe three more sessions of carb cutting and then I will go back to my regular food until competition to help the glycogen storage in my muscles keep full. Ahhhh -

Death by Spring Break

As much as I don't like routine....I need it. I knew we were leaving out of town and I wouldn't be able to get my workouts in very well. I really wanted to lift early in the morning before we left - but that didn't happen.( Something to do with being up until 2:00am doing laundry.) When we were at my Dads house - I did 300 bench dips and hope that counted for a bit of a tricep workout. So - no workout on Tuesday, kind of a workout on Wed and John and I did a great leg workout on Thursday late at night after I got home and unpacked. Friday night we went to a friends house spontaneously for a movie night....so I did a quick shoulder workout. It was good but definitely not long enough - I was sore the next day which is good though. Then Saturday we went on a hike and did the preparation Easter thing and .....you guessed it. No workout. Tonight, needless to say, we hit it hard. I can type, but only if I move my fingers and no part of my arms. Haha ha. I have 4 weeks left! Ahhh! It's getting so close. I sat down today and planned my food out for my cutting phase. I feel like I did good the last 2 weeks - and got results which is good - but I think a few tweaks and I'll have even better progress. I'll cut dairy out on those days - so, no cottage cheese meal. Which I really like. But I'll substitute it out for tuna fish. For breakfast I'll have a starchy carb to relieve my body from it's fasting mode during the night with a protein shake of course. Then I'll have another starchy carb with my protein before my workout and another after my workout. Other than that - my carbs will be fibrous carbs combined with my protein on the other meals. I inputed what I would be eating and my ratios are AWESOME! I should lean up pretty quick.- I hope. I would rather be lean for a few weeks before I compete rather than wishing I had a few more weeks to get leaner. AND no matter what progress I make, I will always wish I had more time to get bigger muscles. Such is the name of the game for me.

Dropping

I have been doing my sprint workouts now for almost 2 weeks and in those 2 weeks I have done 3 low carb days. And by low carb I'm not talking about 20-40 grams that I hear a lot of competitors do. Oh no, low carb for me is like 180 grams. Crazy right? Well, actually the first low carb day I did was 88 grams. But my calories were way too low so we kicked them up a bit. With both things combined - it worked. I lost 1% body fat in 2 weeks. I still want more. I am low carbing it again today. It's actually not too hard to low carb it for me. It's (almost) easier. I think my body doesn't want to eat as much as I have been. I find it harder everyday to just keep eating. It's like a full time job making sure I am getting all my food in. So, low carbing it, is actually a break for me. Totally backwards for most competitors, I know. Regardless, it's a challenge for both types. Just different types of challenges. 

I found out today that all figure competitors (except the Pro) are competing on a different day than EVERYONE else. Pretty bummed about it. I want those people who are coming to see me compete be able to enjoy in all the fun. not just figure girl after figure girl. Not to mention all that estrogen in the back stage ALL competing for exactly the same thing with no one else to mix it up. Blah.

Figure suit is ALMOST done! It looks so stinkin' cute! I love it. We only have the back left. Which is a little challenging with the rouching it has, but we'll figure something out.

Oh, my aching shins

Today marked one week of cardio - I keep hearing, just watch your body and see how it responds. Problem is, I must not be that in tuned to the small changes. I just don't see changes happen really. For me, one day I'll be like "whoa, I've gotten bigger in this area of my shoulders or legs..." Or "dang, I'm starting to get cut." I don't think cardio is going to be the make or break in my process to getting ripped down. I think it'll all have to come from food. So today I started my cut down. I'll cut down for two days and then go back to my normal again. Then repeat and 'see' if I start seeing results. If not enough, I'll do it more frequently until it does happen. I ate just as much protein today as I always do on a 2300 calorie day - 197g protein, 34g of fat and 88g of carbs. It totalled only 1430 calories. My macros were 55% Proteins, 24% Carbs and 21% Fats I talked to Nan and she wants me to kick it up to be at least around 1700. So, tomorrow....more carbs. I did okay on it today - I definitely didn't feel charged like I usually do. A little sluggish. But I attribute that to early mornings and my body is beat from this week. I took today off of lifting. Mostly because it's been a CRAZY day and it was leg day and to tell you the truth, I just didn't think I had it in me to do an adequate leg workout. Plus, John wasn't home tonight to workout with me and that would have been the second time he's missed leg day. Well, we can't have that! ha ha. Tomorrow is our day off of sprints - ya-hoo! My shins are KILLING me. Can't even lift my toes up!

The 80's thong is BACK!

I think I'm sure I'm going to compete in the Novice this competition. I guess I figure it's the only time I will be able to do it - so why not?

I started my cardio on Saturday. We for sure slept in and so we didn't go until 10:00am - which was nice. My other friend Jen came with us. It was like old times when we were all training for Zeitgeist half marathon. I look back on pictures and I was s.k.i.n.n.y. Which in my book isn't a good thing. I was running so much then I couldn't keep any muscle. We only ran 3 miles - but it was enough. All those memories of the aches and pains of running came flooding back. But it still feels good.

 My girlfriend Naomi came over today to help me bling my suit (we couldn't wait until Tues - ha ha) It's nice to have her here and bounce ideas off of her and get a second opinion or reassurance about how it's all going down. I need more stones! I breezed through the 3 gross I got. I'm going to order another 2. I will post pictures when it's done. I did try on my bottoms...you know the ones that barely cover my crack!? I had Naomi take a picture and we sent it to Nanette to see if she thought it was 'normal'. I got a call back less than 10 min later! I instantly thought 'Oh, she's worried!" ha ha. But actually she said it looked normal to her. She told me to get the bikini bite and then we'd apply it and she'll see then (in person) if it'll be fine. Naomi laughed....she laughed and said "I would have so much anxiety over having to wear that" I said "me too! The nervousness factor just went up 10 notches!" Maybe with the bikini bite keeping it out of my crack, will make it better.
 Oh look! It's my suit! AND NO this is NOT me. Just thought I'd give you a visual of what my suit feels like it looks.

Thrown into the fiery brimstone....

Novice or Open? That is the question. Novice is for first time competitors or those who haven't placed before. Kind of an intro. I think it would be a ton less stressful to compete as a novice for my first show. Then if I make any mistakes, I'm not being judged against the 8th year seasoned competitor. BUT the downfall is that I won't get to truly see how I measure up against everyone else. I wish they would let you compete in Novice and then if you place, you can compete against the Open group. I guess they used to do it that way, but not anymore. Reid (my trainer) says if I compete in Novice he thinks I'd win it.... I'm thinking place. The more I think about it, the more I think I should compete in Novice for the experience and I always have the next competition to compete in the Open. Hmmmm. Decisions, decisions.