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.

My suit....(or lack thereof)....IS ready for pickup!

I picked up my suit and of course tried it on.....I LOVE it! But it's soooo tiny! A few things. I obviously had to have padding in it and when I tried them all out, I found the one I liked. When I got home and put the suit on again (because it all seems a bit surreal) I noticed the pads were upside down. Ha ha - not upside down. I tried them on upside down! I still like the way it fits though...lucky lucky. I have a feeling bikini bite is going to be my best friend. I'm going to glue those puppies in. As for the bottoms of the suit....Oh man! The back covers my crack - that's it! I texted my posing coach and I'm having her measure the widest part on her suit just to make sure it's really suppose to be THAT little. I decided that I am most definitely going to cut some body fat for this competition. There was a little debate on if I should considering I'm pretty lean already and figure doesn't want to see muscle striations - and my shoulders which tend to be the leanest....show striations easily. But, for butts sake, I'm cutting.
I also got my stones from Nicol (the lady who made my suit) from NGearWear and I picked up the glue today and Tuesday my girlfriend Naomi is going to help me 'bling' this thing! My suit from start to finish has cost me $150. Not too shabby considering they average around $400 or more and can go up to over a thousand!

Back to cutting....I met with my trainer - I have two, Reid Merrill, who I ask about nutrition and training tips and Nanette Talbot who is my posing coach but has helped me with training and nutrition as well as the ins and outs of the competition and what to expect. Reid and I went over what I am going to do to start cutting. He was a little shocked that I consume 2300 calories a day and I'm as lean as I am and he was happy that my average protein intake is 180-200 grams a day. I love that I get to do this competition the healthy way and not have to put my body under so much stress with the extreme dieting a lot of contestants do. He says that I have a lot of room to play with to cut body fat. We're taking the easiest no brainer approach and adding cardio in but keeping my calories the same. He wants me to do this for 2 weeks and see where we are at. I get to run again....I think that's a good thing. I honestly didn't know when I was going to add that in, but it looks like Naomi and maybe my husband will go with me at 6:30am. It only needs to be about a half hour cardio - so this should work out great. Just in time to come home and get the kids up and ready for school.