Day 2

I woke up today extremely sore. The new work out program has officially kicked my butt. I think it was the reverse pull-ups that did me in. My upper abs, lats, triceps, and biceps, you name it, and it hurts. I was going to do chest and triceps today but I think I will change it to legs. I don't want to work my arms if they are still sore from 2 days ago. My trainer will be happy that I am sore. She looks forward to that.

For my diet, I plan on having my green juice for breakfast again. I plan on doing a month of this juice and at least 60% raw food a day. Raw food consists of anything that is not cooked above 118 degrees F. I will consume a pomegranate for snack, homemade mushroom and kale soup or turkey lettuce wraps, and a salad with smoked salmon for dinner. I realize that if I plan my meals out exactly what I eat for the day, I can stick with it better. I planned yesterday and did not waiver. Even though I ate only raw food, I still consumed over 1700 calories. The almond butter itself was 900 calories. That is the only issue I find with raw food, trying to keep calories low. There is a lot of calories and fat in nuts, however they are a major source of protein for raw foodist. But I didn't hit my protein intake. Protein was only 40g, however it was pure protein that was easily absorbable. The first few days of tracking calories and protein with mostly raw food will point me in the direction that I need to follow. This will also guide me how how many protein shakes I need to drink. I did have a chocolate one yesterday. While seaching the net, I found a company that makes raw protein powder. Its a little more than I want to pay but in the long run it will be beneficial. I will finish the chiro blend powder I have now before I switch. If I go 90% raw consistently, I will change over to the new powder. Onward to day 2.

Changed up My Weight Routine

It has been about a week since I hit the gym last. I continued to do cardio at home but missed the weights due to the holiday. I met with my trainer yesterday. We worked on back and triceps. I was confused. She put me on a 4 day weight training program. Back and triceps, chest and biceps, legs, and shoulders with abs 2 or 3 times a week. I gazed at her with a blank look. Since I have been lifting for 3 months, it was time to change my program. By hitting back with triceps, I would still be using my biceps to pull with back exercises therefore hitting my biceps twice in a week. Same as for chest and triceps to hit my triceps twice a week. It is time to continue to grow in my body building. I have been increasing my weights consistently, but I was ready for a change. I was starting to get bored with my routine.

This work out started with dead lifts. She threw 45 on each side. Gulp. I don't usually start that high but I do end up that high. I can do this! Wrapping the bar with the straps, bent knees, butt down, shoulder blades down and back, and head up, LIFT. Push away from the floor Stand up and back down. Reposition -butt down, head up, shoulders back, lift. stand up, and back down. 2.  Three more were like this. Then it was rest time. Another set followed with the same weight and then 10 pounds were tacked on for 2 more sets. I was exhausted. Next, she had me do reverse chin ups. I have never done that before. Today, my arms and back are really sore. It was a great work out. Looking forward to tomorrow for chest and biceps.

Take 2 or is It 3

The holidays have been crazy. Just like most people, I slipped, again and again. I have been horrible on my diet. But now is to start a new day, again. I feel like I keep writing the same thing. I was in a loop without any ending. I was on a spiral downward and couldn't get out. I was defeated diet wise. So what did I do, eat more. Fortunately, I continued to exercise so that my weight didn't spiral out of control. I'm not sure what was going on. But I am determine to bounce back. I moved my competition up to July. So, I only have 7 months to get the weight off and build the muscle.

Now today is a new day. I watched "May I Be Frank" which is about a lifestyle change to rawfood and detoxing as well as positive affirmations. I started to research again how to be raw food while be a body builder. I finally found someone on Facebook that was a raw body builder. I was encouraged to know that it is possible. I know in my heart it is but listening to trainers say it's not is discouraging. Yes, its true that I need 100g of protein and will not be able to consume that quantity of nuts and seeds. However, the protein in the raw food becomes readily absorbable and utilized compared to cooked meat.

I am looking forward to the next few days. I will start to notice more energy and a better mood and out look on life. Being home with the kids is stressful at times with no break. When I went raw in the past, I became clear headed. I was happy all the time with tremendous energy. I can not wait to get that back. I'm sure my kids will be grateful to get me back as well.

Today, I had a perfect day. I started out with a green juice of kale, spinach, apple, carrot, ginger, beet, and cayenne. I ate clementines for snack and raw Pad Thai for lunch followed by a handful of almonds for snack. I will have a protein shake soon and raw enchiladas for dinner. It smells really good while its dehydrating. Scott always love when we go raw. He usually doesn't have a lot of choice when I make his dinner. But he is very receptive to trying anything.

It is a new day and I am ready again. If I fail, I will keep trying. I will live one day at a time and not be discouraged if I get off course. I will persevere and accomplish my goal. I WILL PREVAIL AND NEVER GIVE UP.

Vacation and Holiday Weight Gain

It has been a while since my last blog. I was on vacation for 2 weeks. During that time, I continued to lift weights. I needed to exercise to counteract the food and alcohol. I think the workout only helped with  one drink. Since returning, I have continued working out but have been having a hard time getting my eating under control. I gained 3 pounds on vacation and another 2 since. I have been struggling with parties and the cheese and crackers, seaford newburg, stuffed mushrooms, etc. I have not had much desserts, but its the great tasting food that I struggle with. If its in front of me, I want it. Even if I am full, I still want it. Of course, I feel sick after. This doesn't count the alcoholic drinks that I have been consuming. Orange creamsicles, toasted almonds, lemon drops. Tonight is another party, where I will be eating and drinking again. This week has been much better with eating than it has the last month. I have lost 2 pounds already, but today is not going to help.

I have been lifting heavy as directed by my trainer. I can now bench 95 pounds. I am very happy with that. I have started working out at home as well when the baby lets me. For one week, I walked everyday on the treadmill at an incline. By doing this, it helps to lift and define the gluts. That lasted a week. Then the baby decided to change her nap schedule which made working out impossible. So then I changed my cardio to the Insanity workout and exercised while the baby was playing. It made it a little easier. I wanted to up my cardio to help with the weight loss, even though my trainer doesn't want me to. She wants me to lift heavy all the time and keep cardio to a minimal so as not to lose muscle. And start losing weight in March to diet down for the competition.

So today, I will be doing my Insanity program to counteract some of the damage I will do tonight. Once the holidays are over, the temptations will be minimal. It will be easier to stay on my diet.

I had a great workout today. I focused on back with the trainer. Unfortunately, I have been doing dead lifts wrong this whole time. When I perform it, I didn't place the bar on  the ground. She had me bend much lower than I have been going.This made the exercise much harder. The bar was heavy trying to pick it off the floor. She said that I could do it, and I did. Concentrating on arching my back and keeping my shoulder blades down and in while standing up was difficult. As I lifted, I had to concentrate on pushing away from the floor. This helped to focus on the movement.  I started with 115 pounds and she bumped me up to 135 for 6 reps. I felt like a heavy weight lifter squatting in this position with my butt down and shoulders back. It is not the most comfortable position.

She also wants me to start doing pull-ups and push-ups everyday at home. This will help with increasing my grip strength and for back strength. I also was told to separate shoulders from back which will help give me another day of body building.

After talking with her about the body building competition I went to, we spoke about another competition. This one is in July. I was curious. Could I actually be ready for this competition? Do I have it in me?  I asked her if I would be ready for competition in July. She seems to think that I can do it. If I wasn't ready, then it's easy enough to do the competition in October instead.

 I would have to start dieting down in April for the July comp. If I did the competition in October, I wouldn't diet down until July. But, I want to look good in a bikini next year, so the July comp. would get me nearer to my goal, sooner. I liked that idea. I want to look good for the summer at the beach. I can not wait to get the rest of this weight off. It is driving me crazy. The trainer says not to worry about it and concentrate on lifting but I can't get my head wrapped around it. I continue to ask her in multiple ways about cardio exercise and weight lose, and she keeps answering the same. I keep asking her the same questions in a different way until I get the answer that I want. So far she is sticking to her guns and not answering the way I want her to. I need to go light on cardio and build, build, build. I can do more cardio during the diet down faze. I am not looking forward to eating extremely strict without any alcohol. That will be the hardest part. The weight lifting is the easy part. But I am very excited to see this muscle grow and the fat to melt off.

Scott's only concern about the dieting is if it will interfere with vacations. Fortunately, her program is for a four month diet down, in cases of sickness or vacation. It is not a 6 week "starvation' diet. The slower I lose it, the longer it will stay off. I am looking forward to that. However, if I compete in July, then the Danskin triathlon will be out the window. I will not be able to diet and train for the triathlon at the same time. The tri takes too much energy and will deplete my mass that I am trying to build. For now I will stick to body building and cross the triathlon rode when it is time.

6 Week Checkup

Yesterday was my 6 week re-evaluation. I knew that my weight didn't decrease since my first visit.  However, I hoped that my measurements decreased. 6 weeks ago, I was 29.7% body fat and BMI of 25.5 . I still hovered around the over weight category. But I knew that I made great strides since April ,so I wasn't too upset. Moving on to today, the trainer proceeded to hand me the body fat machine. I held it out with arms straight and waited. It was a long 10 seconds. Then the numbers appeared. I looked at them and then down at the paper and back again. What I saw was not right. My numbers remained the exact same as 6 weeks ago. I did not lose any body fat. I was not too happy. But it is what it is. I have been lifting weights for 6 weeks, 3-4 times a week with light cardio on off days, and I lost no body fat. After receiving that blow, he continued to measure my waist, hips, thigh, biceps, and thighs. Holding the tape measure on my belly button, I proceed to turn to wrap the tape measure around me. He was very careful to observe boundaries. He repeated this for the hips. I was not expecting much since everything else remained the same. However, I lost a half inch in my waist and 1.5 inches in my hips. I smiled in enjoyment. I couldn't believe that I lost inches. I also lost inches in biceps and thighs. My weight training was working. I am starting to slim down and gain more muscle. I can see the muscles on me becoming more defined. I can see the door at the end of the road. But I still have a long way to go to reach my goal.

Granite Sate Open

The Granite State Open Figure and Bodybuilding Competition was yesterday at Dover High School. It amazed me to see everyone in perfect shape. When we entered the building we sighted a few competitors. They were so tan that they were unrecognizable. The darker they are, the less shadows and the better the muscle pops out. Most were unnaturally dark.

The Figure Competition entered the stage first. About 20 very fit and tanned women in high heels grazed the stage. Some had a hard time walking, the heels were so high. They were called to some poses and had to hold them for at least 30 seconds each pose. They had to flex their muscles and stand with shoulders back, butt and chest out, head high, and all muscles flexed. Standing under those lights must have been very hot because they were sweating their tan away. Then they had to walk the runway, like models and strike their best pose. Most did really well. It must have been very intimidating to stand up there in a little bikini with everyone staring at you. Plus, with the amount that they had to contract theirs muscles, it look exhausting. I was exhausted watching them tighten up.

After the Figure, the body building started. These women and men were bigger than the figure. The women didn't have to wear high heels or shiny bikini. The had to strike more poses. Flexing the back, chest, triceps, biceps, abdominals, legs, and serratus. They were sweating like crazy. Some were flexing so hard, that they were shaking.

The competitors were ripped. Every striation of muscle was enhance. During the month before the competition, they diet down to almost no body fat so that the muscles becomes more defined. My friend and I decided that we want to look like them. But the dieting down is not for me. It will be interesting if I can get my body to look like that, hard and sculptured. Scott has no problem with me looking that that. He encourages and supports me to follow my dream.