6 weeks to Peak Week!

We are a mere month and a half from peak week: the week that matters the most; where every minute in the gym counts and every calorie and drink of water makes all the difference. We are continually working through the trials and triumphs of the diet and workouts day in and day out. I have learned a lot about myself and my eating habits through this process and I am hoping that realizing my little quirks will help me to continue to reach my goals.

A common mistake many athletes and people in general make is binge eating. I am no exception to this problem. After eating the same things every single day I am continuously fighting my mind not to give in to every temptation. My biggest fear through doing this competition is developing poor eating behaviors. After struggling with the diet every day, I am all too aware that I could go completely overboard once the show is over. With this fear aside, I have learned to listen to my body and learned when I need to eat foods that are outside of my diet.

We usually allow ourselves one cheat day a week, where we eat foods that have more fat and carbs. My cheat of choice is a cheeseburger. I usually end up having my cheat meal at the end of the week when my body feels like its starting to shut down. I chose to have my cheat day today as I was feeling very light headed for most of the day, a sign that my body needed some fat and carbs. I usually feel ten times better after this meal, however, I am still struggling to keep the cheat meal to just one food item. For instance, today I found some chocolates in our house and have had a hard time eating just one (or 5).

I refuse to feel guilty about any extra cheats I may have had because I will still be working out for 2 hours tonight (weights/cardio) and because tomorrow is a new day!

I have to eat that again??

As most seasoned bodybuilders know, eating can be one of the most depressing parts of this sport; you eat the same things day after day. I am finding this out first hand and go through phases of not even wanting to eat (even though I'm hungry often) because the food is the same and the supplements are the same and they are eaten/taken at the same time EVERYDAY.

So, I have taken it upon myself to try some different cooking methods. Tonight I am going to make baked sweet potato fries with just a splash of olive oil and Johny's seasoning (see recipe link below). I'm not much of a cook so let's hope this turns out ok! I am hoping that this will make it easier to eat sweet potatoes when I'm busy or on the run. The sad part is, I won't even get to try them until tomorrow as I have just finished my final meal for the day and am out of extra calories (another depressing fact).

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Baked-Sweet-Potato-Sticks-2/Detail.aspx

In other news, after meeting with our posing coach this weekend and not only going through our poses but our body fat as well, we decided that for me to look my best I should be at 8% body fat and around 103 pounds. This will be a huge challenge for me. After adjusting my calories to lose about 2 pounds this week to get on track with this goal, I am at a mere 1400 calories while still working out twice a day (lifting weights/ 50 minutes of cardio). We'll see where I end up on Saturday morning!

Falling Off the Diet Wagon

After my previous post of claiming to stop messing things up in my diet, I totally fell off the wagon, or more like dove head first. The day started off with my weigh-in. The number I wanted to see did not appear on the scale and I became discouraged. This was my first mistake.

I ate my oatmeal as usual and completed my strength workout and had my supplements. I then went to visit my folks where I lost self-control. My parents have all sorts of goodies at their house; cheeze-its, tasty cereal, chocolates, cookies, and pop-tarts, all of which I later ate. I started off good with a nice big salad with ground beef on top. Then proceeded to have 1 chocolate (just one can't hurt, right?) 1 turned into 3 then a cookie here and there then a handful of crackers then a pop-tart. I totally lost track of my goal and my mind was constantly on food.

After leaving my parent's house, I thought about the bland food I was going to have to make for dinner and stopped at McDonald's for a McChicken and small french fries! AHHHHHHH! I totally blew it for the day BUT, tomorrow is a new day and knowing that I don't have any food at my house that I can cheat will make it much easier to stay the course.

Lesson Learned for the day: Don't let the number on the scale discourage you. As my husband reminded me, the number will continually fluctuate with differences in water intake, various foods, timing of eating and monthly cycles. Remember what you are striving for when faced with adversity and trust the process. Stick with it, get back on course, and don't beat yourself up when you fall.

KEEP THE FAITH!

2 Weeks into Dieting; 10 weeks until Show Time!

Entry forms are going off in the mail this weekend... it's official now. I am entering into the Women's OPEN bodybuilding class in the Light weight division (under 114.5 lbs). I could enter into the Novice division but  entering into open class gives me the motivation to work harder and stick to my diet.

I'm not going to lie, I have cheated on my diet a few times ( 5 frozen chicken nuggets here and there and a few saltine crackers after some nauseating workouts). I have been blessed with a high metabolism and have generally been able to get away with eating most things while maintaining a healthy weight. This has been the WRONG mentality for me going into this diet, therefor this post is my final straw against thinking this way! So, how do I combat my cravings for crackers and chicken nuggets? I've come up with a game plan. Thus far my diet has been lacking variety which has set me up for failure. So I've done some research and come up with some new meals that will keep me on track. I've added more vegetables into my diet and have recently added Rosarita non-fat Salsa refried beans (delicious).

Currently, my new favorite meal is 4oz refried beans mixed with 2-3oz brown rice and 4oz ground turkey. I try to eat this around lunch time because of the higher carb content, but it is delicious!

My goal weight this week (weigh-in on Sunday) is 116lbs; 1 pound less than last week. I am currently hovering around 116.6 so I have adjusted my calorie intake and no more crackers this week! Today is a cardio day, so I plan on running to burn more calories. My body fat percentage is roughly 16.9% and I am shooting to get down between 11 and 12% by show time. If I get too low, however, I run the risk of amenorrhea (loss of menstrual cycle) which could reduce my chances of pregnancy in the future. I want to be lean for the show but it is more important for me to be able to have babies in the next year or so!

Well, that's all for today. I'll be back on Sunday to share my latest stats with you :)

The Supplement List Grows!

As you can see, our pantry has more supplements than food. Each one has a very special purpose and is taken consistently on a daily basis. We get everything from GNC in Woodinville (ask for Jake.)
Heres the list:

Arsenal: promotes energy, increased metabolism, and better mood. Taken before breakfast and before workouts
Omega Cuts: contains essential oils and promotes muscle definition. Taken before breakfast and before workouts
GNC womens active vitamin: taken with breakfast or after
Pump Fuel: pre-workout supplement
After Glow: post-workout supplement for muscle recovery
Amplifiy Vanilla Flex protein with Flax seed: for muscle recovery taken after workouts and sometimes with breakfast

All of this has cost us 200-300 dollars every 8 weeks or so. Ouch!

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Diet at 10 Weeks

I started dieting a week ago today and have lost 3 lbs (mostly water weight). I drink A GALLON of water a day. This is a must! If I do not drink all my water 1) I will retain more water, 2) I will get muscle cramps at night, 3) my muscles will not recover properly. Also, I try to eat every 2 to 3 hours to keep my metabolism up (also a must).

Here is my diet at 10 weeks out from the show! At this point I can still afford to add brown sugar to my oatmeal and throw in a light yogurt during the day; however, once my weight plateaus the sugar and yogurt are the first to go! (tears). I need to work on adding more greens such as broccoli and salad but am having a hard time finding the strength to shove another 4 ounces of blandness in my mouth. It's a work in progress!

8 AM

½ cup oats with 1tbsp brwn sgr

1Scoop shake

10 AM

3 egg whites/ 1 whole egg (I used to gag on all these eggs but after 1 week they taste like heaven)

4 oz brown rice

Siracha hot sauce for flavor

12 PM- 1 PM

4 oz 99% lean ground turkey (I use ground turkey because in my opinion it has more flavor than chicken and it's easy to get down)

4 oz yams or sweet potatoes

2 PM - 3 PM

4 oz 99% lean ground turkey

4 oz yams or sweet potatoes

PRE-WORKOUT

4 oz Activia light yogurt

1 medium banana

1 scoop Pump Fuel

POST WORKOUT

1 scoop AfterGlow

2 scoops Amplify protein

All of this comes out to about 1757 calories compared to the 2300 calories I was at 2 weeks ago. I go to bed hungry every night but I constantly remind myself that this is what it will take to be comfortable on stage... practically naked. YIPES!

The 12 Week Diet Begins

Or the end of my freedom as we know it. Last night I went through all of our cupboards and got rid of every temptation including chips, sweets, pasta and even cereal. Im not going to lie, the next 3 months are going to suck but I'm excited to start leaning out and being able to notice the definition of my muscle.

As I mentioned in a previous diet post, the method behind the dieting madness is to lose as much fat as possible without losing muscle. My calories have been cut back from about 2200 to about 1700 to lose about 1 pound per week. If i can maintain most of my muscle I will compete in the women's lightweight class (under 115lbs). However, if I lose too much I will enter into the figure division. My heart is set on bodybuilding so I'm going to work as hard as I can.

Besides the change in diet, our workouts will change as well. But I'll save that post for another day:)
P.S. I discovered a Blogger app for my phone and am using it now! When I get into my 60 min cardio sessions this app/blog will be my lifesaver. So excited!

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It's All About Force Feeding

This is probably my husband's favorite thing to say to me because he has said it continuously through our bulking phase. In the next 4 weeks I will be trying to consume as much calories as possible.

My calories are double what I usually eat and for the next month all bets are off. I will be consuming whatever food comes my way. We're talking burgers, tacos, cake, you name it. I'm going to try and eat more red meat and more fats because the next phase we won't get any extra fat! This couldn't come at a better time (right around the holidays). I'm excited to eat whatever I want but at the same time it means more weight on the scale and even tighter fitting clothes! We will do measurements this week and again at the 4 week mark to see our muscle gains!

Revenge of the Burrito

After finishing a tough leg workout last weekend, it was time to get plenty of nutrients to help my muscles recover. So, I downed a protein shake with my special powdered carbs supplement (X-Plode) and followed it up with a delicious "cherry bomb" post workout supplement (After Glow). If you have ever taken multiple supplements such as protein powder or pre and post-workout supplements, you have probably noticed the uncomfortable side effects such as bloating, belching, and passing gas. Not the most lady-like combination, I know. My little bro warned me that this was probably over doing it on the supplementation. He turned out  to be right, although I won't own up to that.

This is where the burrito comes in. My husband and I went to our nieces birthday party where we had burritos, salad, and cake (a seemingly good idea at first). Bad move. I slept like a baby that night; probably because I was in a carb-coma. But the next morning I was in rough shape.

The deal with protein supplementation is that whatever your body doesn't use will be excreted. So after all of the supplements I drank AND the high protein content of the burrito, I had a lot of unused protein in my body to be excreted. You do the math. I ran to the bathroom that morning and just stayed there for awhile. This brought a whole new meaning to "Cherry Bomb." More like Cherry GUT-Bomb!

Lesson learned: don't over do it with the supplements and NEVER mix burritos and cake. Woof

8 Essential Foods for Muscle Mass

After writing about my typical day of eating just recently, I realized how much variety and important nutrients I was missing out on. So I did a little research on my favorite site, www.bodybuilding.com, and discovered this article. Here are the 8 essential foods for building lean muscle without the added fat. I think these foods are essential for anyone, not just body builders. I am building a diet plan around these foods as we speak!

1. Egg whites
2. Chicken/ Turkey
3. Fish
4. Beans and Legumes
5. Lean Red Meat
6. Slow-burning Carbs: brown rice, oatmeal, sweet potatoes
7. Water
8. Whey protein

The "D" Word: Diets

Here is the part you have all been waiting for. The diets! I hope you're excited because I am not!
This is the part of training that I have been struggling the most with. No, it's not because it's strict, it's because I can't gain weight. I know, it's usually the last thing a woman wants to happen, but for the first 3 months of training weight gain is crucial. And here's why: Due to the intensity and strictness of the diet in the last 3 months of training, you need to have enough weight, and even muscle, to lose. In my case, I will probably only be losing about 10 pounds (just a guess). If I do not gain enough weight in these next few months (at least 5 lbs), all the muscle that I have worked so hard to put on will be gone and I will look skinny and flat come show-time in April (not a winning combination). So, what have I been eating? Take a look!

My diet consists mainly of high protein, complex carbohydrates, and fat (yes fat). I try to eat as clean as possible, meaning foods that are natural and not processed. However, I get 2 cheat meals a week in which I usually go all out (dare I say a McDonald's mini meal?). According to my height, weight, and activity level, I try to consume about 1,800 calories and 100-150 grams of protein. Which is a lot harder then you would think.

Keys to the diet:
-eat every 2-3 hours to keep metabolism revved
-MEASURE EVERYTHING
-use The Daily Plate food tracking tool to track my calories
-schedule meals (yes, sometimes that means waking up to eat)
-cook the next day of meals the night before
-don't forget to take your food with you where ever you go!
-try to drink a gallon of water a day (also very difficult)

Meal 1 (5:30 am)
1/3 cup oatmeal
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 serving EAS Advantedge protein shake (bought from Fred Meyer, so tasty)

Meal 2 (8:00 am)
2 slices whole wheat bread
2 Tbsp natural peanut butter (Adam's)
1 Tbsp strawberry preserves

Meal 3 (11:00 am)
4 oz Activia Light
4 ounces Brown Rice
4 ounces Chicken breast with Mrs. Dash sodium free seasoning
16 ounces Special K2O protein water mix

Meal 4 (2:00 pm)
1 serving Special K Strawberry Cereal
1 cup non-fat milk

Meal 5 (pre-workout) (5:00 pm)
2 slices whole wheat bread
2 Tbsp Adam's Peanut Butter
1 Tbsp Honey

Meal 6 (post workout) (8:00 pm)
1 Sargento's Light string cheese
2 scoops 100% whey protein

Although this is not an ideal day of eating (should of had more chicken, rice, and vegetables), I reached my goal of 1,800 calories and 145 grams of protein.

Cheat Meals
My favorite cheat meal so far has been a Starbucks, Tall non-fat Pumpkin Spice latte with a Starbuck's Spinach, egg white, and feta wrap. Yum! Next in line is the McDonald's McChicken mini meal with diet coke. I feel really disgusting after eating this, but it has helped me to at least maintain my weight.

Future Additions and Goals
I want to eat cleaner than the day of eating shown above (i.e. less peanut butter), so I plan on adding some variety (because chicken gets old very fast.) I'm going to start adding in white fish such as Tilapia and salmon every once in awhile for the healthy fats. The more protein I can get from animal sources the better, so I'll try to add in some pork and probably even some steak.

Check back soon to see what our shopping list will look like. Eating clean for 2 can get very expensive!