Pre-Chewed Chicken

No, not the fake pressed chicken. I am talkin' real chicken. You know, the dry azz chicken that we all choke down.

Well, I think I have had a chicken epiphany!

I love my mini food chopper, I paid $10 for it at Walmart, it is actually my second one. My first one died after I was using it to grind raw chicken LOL! And if this one dies after 2 years I will go buy another one for $10 !!

My new found use for this beautiful little machine is actually for grinding up my COOKED chicken. I boil my chicken breast in a pot of water and have 'em in the fridge ready to go at all times. But you get sick and tired of chewin' those suckers, and the chicken in your teeth, and chewing and chewing and wondering what the heck happened to all your saliva hellooooo saliva glands work work work work.

But look at this:

THAT is cooked chicken chopped up so tiny it is finer than rice!! I boil it, then cut it into cubes that fit into the food processor, then chop those suckers up real fine. It takes no effort to chew, and is really moist with steamed broccoli!! It is like, PRE-CHEWED! LOL! I love tossing that in a bowl with some broccoli, some Mrs.Dash and a bit of vinaigrette dressing, YUM! My new favorite food item, and it goes down great. Gonna be eatin' a lot of that the next 11 weeks!

KaPloosh!

That is the sound of 5lbs

of PMS water weight

hitting my butt and belly !

So, much for my Sunday weigh in. Tony wants a phone call this week . . wonder how many times he has heard " I was making progress, I am doing everything you said, but I just got my period" GAH! frustrating!!

Oh and I am meeting 4 other figure gals today to do posing practice, Swimsuits? NOOOoooo no no no no nooo , uh yea, we all agreed before hand that this is just a walk thru and we will ALL be wearing tank tops and shorts LOL!

But if this doesn't end up being the first day of my period it sure as heck feels like it. How many times have the other girls heard " am I a little poofy today cuz I have my period" GAW! So sick of saying that!!

I had my period when I was on stage for my last competition, really!

I really need to get my weight under 130!! I want it there by next Sunday come hell or high water . . just not PMS water . .

Breaking Down Walls

I DID IT! I made it thru yesterday! Yesterday was one of those days where you have the defining moment of hitting the wall or breaking thru.

I have come to learn that those days when you hit the wall are the days when you have the potential to make the most progress, when you reach that next level of lean.

You can hit the wall, and give in and cheat, or eat a little off plan, just a few more carbs etc. which means you bounce back and then just hit that wall again, kinda like a furious little bumble bee hitting a sunny window.

bzzt! bzzt! bzzt! LOL!

OR , you can stay the course, push thru , dig deep into physical and mental energy and break thru!! Step out on the other side and reach new levels!

I stayed the course! I DID do my weights and I DID do my 40 min of cardio after and I DID do another 45 min of cardio while watching Grey's Anatomy . . . . . . . which was probably not the most healthy episode for me to watch.

When Dr.Hunt was explaining what death would look like to the Husband who was dealing with a terminally ill wife who wanted to commit Dr. assisted suicide . . he said there will be a moment when their face will relax and be calm and all their pain will be gone and for a brief moment you will feel relief, and you will know you made the right decision . .

OMG! that took me back to Jan . .watching my husband struggle with the decision to take his father off life support and me supporting him thru that. The final moments before Bernie died, his last breath a single tear slid down his cheek. That tear haunts me . . was he crying because we gave up??

Or was it a tear of contented joy, having all his estranged children with him, that they made peace with their alcoholic Father and were there by his bedside and he was regretting all the time he missed because of his choices and he could now feel the love and he was not dying alone . .. I prefer to think that . . but it was explained so well, the face and the body relaxing and you feel relief and feel you made the right decision . . for a brief moment . .then there is the turmoil of emotions after that . ..

I was kinda a bawling emotional wreck after that episode. But, *inhaaale, exhaaaale* deep breathe . . I am going to be ok. It is day 30 of my cycle so I would say I am a wee bit more emotional right now too.

Here is to another great day , focusing on the positive, being thankful for all the good in my life and breaking down walls!!

Cement Shoes

Gaw! I am tired today!!

My legs are dead, my feet feel soooOoooo heavy!

I was awake at 6:40am to do cardio . . delayed in bed too long . . . 7:15 I am finally downstairs to do my cardio . . . I am gonna be late getting the kids ready for school , "that's ok" I rationalize, "I will drive them today" . . . 5min in to my cardio I say ' "F" that stupid stepper I can NOT do this today' !!

I'll figure something else out. I still have a chest workout to do today and I will do some extra carido after that. Just maybe today won't be a DOUBLE cardio day . .

. . . who knows maybe while I watch Grey's Anatomy or Private Practice I can be distracted enuf to do a second session . Ya . That's probably what I will do.

Don't wanna be a quitter !

oh, just decided that if I make it thru my workout and my cardio I am gonna reward myself with a can of spray tan!!

My First Official Weigh In

Last Sunday I weighed 142.5lb this morning I weighed . . .








. . . . drumroll . . . . . . .


















(I love Animal!)







137.5lbs !!

I LOST 5LBS THIS WEEK


That is like Biggest Loser Awesome!


I sure musta been retaining a lot of water. Cuz, I seriously have been peeing like CRrrrraZY! like ridiculous amounts! But, drinking a gallon (4L) of water will do that I guess.

Today is my rest day and I actually got to sleep in 'til 8:30!! I am going to enjoy my day off, cuz It is back at'er tomorrow 6:40 am cardio! I would love to lose another 5lbs next week!

But, whatever the number may be I am gonna give it 100%!

Basic Update Stuff

I am feelin' top of the world today!!

Got up and did my morning cardio, yay! everyday this week so far! I have to say I am in a definite routine now and won't be missing any. It will be getting brighter and brighter and easier to get up everytime. Tho, I am looking forward to Sunday and getting to stay in bed past 6:40am!!

And sunday will be a weigh in day, getting excited about that!! Seriously feelin' good.

I switched my morning coffee for a mint green tea with a tad bit of splenda and almond milk. YUM! I am enjoying sipping on that so much more than my coffee lately.

I have been eating GREAT! I have some fish and chicken thawing out as I type. I will be doing some bulk cooking today. Loving my veggie fish cakes!! I will be eating a lot of those. I eat pretty much the same thing everyday, so no point in really posting what I eat. Besides my oatmeal and eggs for breakfast it is pretty much chicken and veggies, or fish cakes and veggies, maybe the odd avocado in there. Veggie of choice right now is asparagus.

I will be doing my first ab CRIT workout today, looking forward to the challenge.

Workings of My Brain

So, Sunday night I weighed 142.5 OMGAwsh I KNOW!! I had just got my Tony info that afternoon. I took my pics Monday morning.

It is kinda hard to weigh myself first thing in the morn when I am chugging coffee and dragging my butt down stairs. SO, just for torture sakes I got the urge to weigh myself in the afternoon yesterday, I was wearing a shirt, my husbands baggy hoodie, pants, and I had eaten and drank at least 2L of water, and I weighed 141lb!!

soooo by Sunday ,my complete rest day, I will be able to do a proper morning weigh in. ya know the drill as soon as I waked up, before breakfast and after empty bladder LOL! It should be a pretty good weigh in :) we'll see . . .

I will post pics along the way. I just don't really feel like posting my before pictures until I can post them with a new and improved progress shot . . . kinda like the principle of not having anything nice to say, so not saying anything LOL!

Got my flax seed oil like Mr. Trainer said. Put 1T in my oatmeal like Mr.Trainer said. 1st couple bites, took me some gettin used to . . but I think I can manage it. I just loved my oatmeal the way it was *pout* but honestly I think I won't even know it is there next time, and with the amount of carbs I get in a day I will be lookin' forward to that oatmeal no matter what !! Do whatcha gotta do!

I set my alarm for 5min earlier this morning 6:40am. I needed to make sure I got a full 45 min of cardio done and still have enuf time to squeak the kids out the door and onto the bus. Did it just BARELY . . let's just say they got their morning cardio in too LOL!

One thing I am thankful for is that my morning coffee can stay as is right now YAY! He even said I could use a little bit of half and half, but no thanks! I'll use the almond milk, good enuf for me!!

I have to say, as this progresses one of my major struggles as I get in shape is this: I start to fit all my cute jeans, no fat rolls, I feel pretty good in a swim suit, muscle are pretty darn obvious especially at the gym. I start to like the way I look, at that point and I get tired and think WHY?!! WHY?!!? do I need to torture myself and get on stage, just be happy with whatcha got right now.

BUT

I know that if I quit I will be mad that I didn't follow thru. and I feel like crying cuz it is so hard and I just wanna eat foooood! and this is so harrrrd. It takes a lot of mental focus to keep my head in the game and imagine the moments of sheer joy and success that I do this for.

But when my head gets like that I think well, if I just have a couple cookies right now, I can just absorb it (or whatever) and burn it off, my body needs it , it will help me regain my focus and carry on blah blah blah. But, THOSE are the little sabotages that prevent me from excelling, and really being my best!!

I want to win that struggle this time!!

So much of this is about personal victory for me. It has to be, cuz even if I give my all, my heart and soul, and look my best darn ever and know I did my 100% best I may not be what the judges are looking for that day. I would love a top 3 placing, but I have to remember the personal victories and have no regrets . .

. . . but I will still work my a$$ off with 1st place in my sights!

ME TOO! ME TOO!

I have decided I need a trainer. I need a coach. I need HELP! I need a rock to cling to and not let me waiver, a lighthouse in my storm yadda yadda :P

I was freaking out inside, feeling like I don't have enuf time, second guessing every choice I make, even tho I KNOW this stuff, I need an impartial voice of reason OUTSIDE my head. Oh, and accountability I need that too.

I have read so many positive things about Tony at DreamBodies in Tina's Blog and April's blog (hey notice that I learned how to do links properly?! yay me! ) And Stacey was working with Tony before as well.

I have SIGNED UP TOO! I will be working with Tony for my contest prep! So EXCITED! and he is much more affordable than other trainers I have had the opportunity to work with, and I think I will actually get MORE . I like the sounds of how he tackles the mental as much as the physical. Such an important factor!!

I don't have my full program yet, cuz I basically emailed on Saturday, screamed for help and said I wanna start Monday Pleeeeease! I have my diet plan, workouts will be coming. I was still so excited that I actually got my butt outta bed for pre breakfast cardio!!


GASP!



I KNOW!!

. . . wanna know how I did it?!??



Before I went to bed I put half a mug of cold coffee on my nightstand, and a little bowl with my 1/4 scoop of protein and glutamine, and a little spoon to stir.



6:45 alarm goes off, I mix and chug coffee/protein (at this point hubby rolls over and grunts something about whatheckareyadoin ..meh.. rolls back over, assuming I am doing crazy fitness stuff again best not to ask!)



I hit snooze, 3-5 min later I was ready!! I am gonna do that again tonight. Preparation is vital to success!

and now . . . Let's Do It For Real

So, back in December I was all excited about benching 135. But, that was on the smith machine. te he he he . . did I not mention that ?! . . oh . .

Well, as we all know that definitely does not translate into the free bar. So, I am off to conquer that next. Grrr!

Yesterday I managed 3 sets of 7-10 reps with 85lbs. I didn't have a spotter so I had to be carfeul. This will have to be slow, steady and safe progress.

I was surprised by my control and abiltity, so next week I will take a deep breath and put the 25lb plates on that bar for a total of 95lbs!

I remember a couple years ago when I thought I was the shizzle for benching 95lbs with the smith machine LOL!

Mini Meatloaf

(a quick shout out to my Tim Hortons homegirl! )

This is a great recipe to make at the beginning of the week and have a quick yummy source of protein to pack for your lunch. It tastes good cold too . . but then again I will eat just about anything cold when I am doing comp prep :P

Turkey OR Chicken Meatloaf
8 servings

2 lbs ground fat free chicken or turkey breast
1 cup chopped onions
4 egg whites
1 cup chunky salsa
1/2 cup uncooked oatmeal OR brown rice
1T low sodium Worcestershire sauce
pepper
garlic powder

Pre heat oven to 350F

Use hands and mix everything in a bowl

Place Mixture in loaf pan, cover and bake for 1 hr


Now, what I like to do with this recipe is make mini meatloaves that I know are all equal and portioned for me.

so I will take 4-6 oz of the ground meat
add in 1/4 - 1/2 cups of browns rice or oatmeal
1-2 egg whites
2T - 1/4 cup salsa
ms dash of any variety that you like

make several individual recipes like that, I have all the stuff out already, I just gotta mix it again.

stuff the portions into mini loaf pans or muffin tins. These take less time to cook than a big meatloaf. 30 - 40 min maybe, when they are firm to the touch they are done.

I Have Decided . . . I Think

I was chatting with friends the other day, and looking at FB pictures of last years comp season, and looking at the pics for the up coming comp season. I have a friend prepping for a show in May. Two others, who are a couple , both qualified for provincials in July, so they are prepping together . . . I think that is awesome! . . . could be interesting in their house tho LOL!

I know for sure I am going to PHAT Camp. I just sold a couple one peice suits on Diva Exchange for a heck of a deal $150ea !! But now I have $300 to go to Edmonton with, that should cover my portion of the hotel and gas. I am packing all my own food. So, I may even have some money to get some new workout clothes or something while I am there!! YAY!

My goal for PHAT Camp in 7 weeks is to be rockin' my cute lil' jeans as I call them :P

But, then I got lookin' at the calendar . . and thinkin' . . . and lookin' at pics like I said. The NC is just under 14 weeks away. I thought I had wasted wayyyy too much time. But last year during my comp prep I was sick for 2 weeks, and then I injured my left hand and it was in a cast. I had written off competing and I stuffed my face for a few weeks. Then at 6 weeks out I had recovered and was in the gym again and I tightened up the diet and added more cardio and I whipped my butt in shape enough to hit the stage and have my best package ever.

SOOoooo . . if I commit right now, stay the course, don't waiver I CAN DO THIS! And my hubby knows that I will only do it if I know I can better my performance from last year. He said "don't do it if you are not going to do it better", which is his loving supportive kick in the @ss

I have one good week in already. I lost 3lbs last week!

Usually when I commit I just suck it up and pay my BCABBA competitive membership and my contest entry fee . . . .

The only thing that could derail my plans would be bad news about my hubbys job, which has been delayed for another 2-3 torturous weeks!! But, it looks more and more like he is not going to be the one laid off. But ya never know.


So I have decided 100% in my heart . . . not so much financially.

Sunny Saturday!

I am feelin' great today! The sun is shining and I am happy.

I did my 45 min of cardio today! YAY!

I also ate according to plan today!

Taught the kids to play monopoly. They wanted to learn, I haven't played that game in YEEARRRS! I promised we would bring it out when they were on spring break. Today is day 1 of Spring Break, so we played monopoly . . ahh yesss . . so many life lessons learned while playing Monopoly.

I just made a quick late night trip to the grocery store cuz I was out of coffee, and I am NOT goin' to the store in the morning to get it. I made a new fresh ground bag of goodness: double chocolate fudge , hazelnut cream, espresso beans all ground up creating a heavenly aroma that filled the car as I drove home. I thought " I can't wait to go to bed so I can get up and have some coffee"

Foundation!

I will be speaking about many different kinds of foundations today . . cuz wholly hell my face looks like leprosy!! I don't need foundation, I need spackle!! no skip that a paper bag!!

. . . . or maybe two . .

But what actually got me thinking about foundations was the "END RESULT" motivational quote in the Mar/Apr issue of M&F Hers:



" Accentuating your strengths, downplaying your weaknesses - this is the art of a professional competitor. It's also the art of being a woman."


~ Meriza DeGuzman

So this week I have lost 3lbs!! My goal for the year was to NEVER AGAIN get over 130lbs. - 7.5 more lbs and I will be 130lb Yay!

I also wanted to lose at least 10lbs before PHAT Camp April 24th. - again 7.5 more lbs and I will be 130lb Yay! I am pushing for more, but I want at least 10lbs gone!

But, my BF% is still rated cheese ass, and pics are not flattering.

But, I need to be positive so I continue to move forward. This is the point where most women want to give up cuz they have worked SO HARD all week and done everything right but they don't see *poof* instant results. BUT I DID GET RESULTS, and if I build on these results I will get to where I want to be. This is the foundation.

You know when you are building your dream home and you can't wait to paint it pretty colours and accessorise with pretty furniture. But you are standing beside a pile of mud and cement that looks nothing like a house. That's where I am with my body.

I am building my foundation. The next 3lbs will be even better, and that provides the basis for an even better next 3lbs. It will come. I need to focus on what I did right, bask in my achievements for the week, and build on that.

. . if you build it they will come . . LOL! just popped into my head, not sure who is gonna come . . or if I wanna go any further with that euphemism cuz It is probably headed to the gutter LOL!

Roadblocks and Milestones

Well, from the moment I woke up I knew it was gonna be one of those days that are a challenge to get thru and keep on track.

Tired, groggy, headache, super hungry, lacking motivation, not wanting to go to the gym, which could lead to negative self pity and wanting to quit and then justifying a nasty eating day.

It is one of those days where you really need to focus and make a conscious effort to change your attitude and be positive. I had told myself that I was not feeling like going to the gym to do legs today. I'll just stay home and do cardio. I will do legs tomorrow.

Then I thought NO! get your a$$ outta the house and feel the victory in MAKING yourself do it. Do not sink into that funk!

School phones . . daughter is sick.

I knew when I woke up that it was gonna be one of those days.

I can still do cardio at home. I am still going to try to conquer this day. I will have to train legs this evening. I am gonna look at videos online for something to excite me a get me revved up to try.

Eating will be a battle of will today. It will be so easy to sit down and make a meal of 4 slices of toast and jam and a bowl of cheerios (yes, I have done that)

A bonus in my corner today: THE SUN IS SHINING !! my solar batteries are being charged as we speak.

I have 2 d@mn good days , perfect days, invested into my "new" resolve, not gonna go back now. There is always that wall that can be a barrier, a stopping point, OR it can become milestone that you overcome.

I wanna get over that hump . .. oh waddya know it IS hump day!

something that DID made me laugh today :

LOL! I am off to go put that as my facebook picture!!

Cuppycake

I got a wonderful surprise today while I was doing my cardio. I got a phone call from my 3 year old niece!! She is absolutely precious and jam packed with so much diva-tude and smarts that she can't help but make ya laugh, even when she is bein' bad LOL!

Her favorite reason why, for just about anything " because I am Cassidy"

We chatted for about 15 minutes. She had been listening to a music CD I had made for her, then she says to her mom " I love Aunty Sylvia, can I phone her?"

AWWwwwwww . . . .I just LOVE the little munchkin!! This was one of the songs I put on her CD that she loves :)

Here is my little diva wearing a tulle tutu, training panties, fairy wings, rain boots and her hair all did in a trial run for my sisters wedding last Aug this just says is all . . .

Spring Camping!

It is MARCH! I am thinking spring! I am also thinkin' . . .

8 weeks 'til PHAT Camp Edmonton!

This will be my third year doing camp. I love it and look forward to it so much! I wish I earned commission for every girl that I signed up for camp LOL! So many girls in fitness forums and many personal friends have given it a try and LOVE it!

Not only are Jen and her staff absolutely wonderful people, the women you meet at camp will inspire you. There are so many stories and laughs and tears and hugs! It is so much more than pushing yourself to another level physically, you reach another level mentally! I can't say enuf good stuff about PHAT Camp. My first experience at camp and meeting Jen was a major mental shift in my life.

8 weeks! BRING IT! New month, new week, new day, new ME! No more excuses, no more complaining, no more putting it off, less whining MORE TRAINING! I know I can do this!!