WOW! I can’t believe how far I’ve come, and yet how far away the big day really is. I was starting to think the finish line was just around the corner, but on Sunday, I realized 20 days is a really long time!
Sunday morning I did my normal 60 minutes of cardio as soon as the gym opened. I came home and enjoyed my standard breakfast… grapefruit, wait an hour, egg whites and oatmeal. You know, a few weeks ago I hated the oatmeal. It was the worst part of my day but now I love it! I really look forward to it because it’s my biggest serving of carbs and gives me a good surge of energy to get through the day.
After a few hours of rest, I met up with Marcia and we went to the MAC counter to pick out some new make-up for the big competition. I was going for a golden, sun-kissed look. I wanted to look like I was really enjoying a day at the beach. We met the beautiful Yasmine who stated that her goal was to make us look like Victoria’s Secret Angels…. Um, ok sure! I’ll take that. She was so sweet and so much fun. We decided not to buy every piece available at the MAC counter… it would be more cost efficient to just “rent” Yasmine’s expert service. So, we hired her to do our make-up the morning of the competition.
Here's an example of Yasmine's work.... what do you think? Anything need to be added, changed, or adjusted? I think it'll look a lot different with a good tan. I also think I need a little something more to get the golden look I want.
Make-up play time was fun, but it was time to get to business… we headed back to the gym and finished out the training exercise of our current program. After we finished our cardio, we met Johnny and went over the new exercise program. This one was going to be a lot different, way more challenging! We were now switching over to circuit training. We had three different programs… legs, chest and shoulders, and arms. We’re going to do each circuit three times with short rests in between.
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were beautiful spring days here in Atlanta…. It’s hard to be in a bad mood when it’s so pretty all around. I really enjoyed the new circuit workouts because they only take 20-35 minutes…. It’s crazy what life is like when you actually have time to enjoy your evenings again. Although I enjoy being home and having some normal time in my life, it is difficult because the longer I’m awake, the more I crave normal foods…. I need to force myself to go to bed early and try to ignore the hunger and cravings. The food deprivation and lack of variety are the hardest parts of this whole program. I focus on food 24/7 and can’t get it out of my head. I dream of all the things that I’ll eat once this whole thing is over. There are way too many options out there…. And I can’t wait to dig into them all J
The crazy thing is that I'm not craving fatty, unhealthy, junk foods. I want yogurt, fruit, peanut butter, a turkey sandwich, a bowl of cereal, a cup of coffee, oh yeah, and Girl Scout cookies but basically I just want normal food again.
Here’s the downside of this week… apparently I goofed up pretty bad after my cheat meal Saturday evening. I ate a Sugar Free Pudding Snack Pack for dessert…. Well guess what. That isn’t allowed anymore. So based on the extra 60 calories that I consumed that night, I was awarded 15 extra minutes of cardio in each morning and evening. Can you believe that!!! I mean seriously, can it really be that bad? So now I’m getting up at 5:30 and starting cardio by 6:05… it may not seem like much, but loosing 15 minutes of sleep is really difficult. I’ve been absolutely exhausted and struggling to keep my eyes open by 9:00pm.
Thursday was going to be a little bit rough… I was not looking forward to Thursday. The alarm went off at 5:30… I went through my normal morning: cardio, protein, work, grapefruit, eggs, oatmeal…. I was only working Thursday morning. I took the afternoon off so that I could take Sean to the airport. He’s leaving for India and Nepal today and will be gone for 39 days. Great, another countdown to begin. I’m getting pretty accustomed to these now. After our goodbye at the South Terminal of the Atlanta airport, I headed to the tanning bed for some relaxation. I know how bad it is, but the tanning bed is like a lovely warm cozy cocoon. It’s perfect for taking ten or fifteen minutes to breathe slowly and deeply and organize your thoughts. After that I went to the gym, met with Marcia, and went through our leg circuits. This is our longest of the three programs and it only takes about 30 minutes!
After my workout I had a new voicemail from an unknown number…. Guess who didn’t make it on the flight to India? Yep… it’s kinda a long crazy story, but Sean’s trip is now postponed and redirected. Looks like he’s now leaving on Saturday afternoon.
Friday started out as usual, morning cardio, then work, then workout again. I was excited because tonight was going to be our quick workout. At lunch Friday, I went to Michael’s craft store to check out my options to “bling” out my bikini. I was looking for some crystals or rhinestones or something to make the suit stand out a little bit on stage. I had no idea what I really wanted but I was a little bummed out that nothing really spoke to me. Oh well…. Maybe I’ll try again next week. Friday evening Marcia invited me to her house for dinner. She and her husband just got a new grill and wanted to grill some steaks. So we had some delicious fillets fresh off the grill and Marcia made fresh green beans with garlic. I really enjoyed sharing a “diet” dinner like it was a normal Friday night.
Saturday was a yucky, cold, rainy day but a busy day…luckily it kept my mind off of being hungry and saying goodbye to Sean again. Saturday morning I got up early to do cardio. After that I had to go to an alterations shop to get my bikini bottoms altered a little bit. Basically, they cover too much cheek. I had to get about two inches taken in from each cheek. Totally not what I would normally wear, but it’s for the competition. After that I went to the tanning bed for some fake sun and a minute to breathe… I needed to relax and clear my thoughts. I felt like there was so much to do and I needed to prioritize tasks and make a plan. When you have a lot of things to do in one day, it’s hard to work around a diet with a strict eating schedule. I had to plan to do things in short segments so that I could be home within two and half hours so I could eat my next meal. After the tanning bed I came home breakfast, showered, and practiced how I wanted to do my hair for the competition. I researched a lot of youtube videos and found a look that I think I can replicate on the big day. It was already 2:00pm and I had to get Sean to the airport before 3:00pm. So I hurried down to his house, loaded the car and headed to the airport. I haven’t heard from him so I’m assuming that’s good news and he made it on the flight and to his destination. So after I dropped him off I headed back home and got ready for my cheat meal dinner with Marcia. Her husband was out of town so she had planned a fantastic cheat meal for the two of us. What I thought was going to be a simple spaghetti and meatballs dinner ended up being a carb loaded feast! Here’s what we had: shrimp cocktail, salmon stuffed mushrooms, bruchetta, tomato, artichoke, and arugula salad, zucchini, bowtie pasta with peas, mushrooms, garlic, and chicken, two different types of ravioli, two types of French bread, and spaghetti with meat sauce. HOLY COW! We don't get to have a cheat meal next Saturday so we decided we had to make this one count for two weeks worth of dieting and training. We both ate until we made ourselves sick. It was so delicious I didn’t even care how bad I felt. All I know is I slept like a little baby Saturday night.
Cheat meal extravaganza:
Here’s the worst part about Saturday. I do my usual weekly weigh ins on Saturday morning…. This Saturday was devastating. I only lost 0.2lb! This is terrible. I should be loosing at least one pound a week. To hit a plateau like this so close to the competition is terrible. Drastic times call for drastic measures. The top half of my body is looking great, arms, back and abs. But the bottom half, legs and calves really need to trim down. Starting Sunday I’m completely cutting out carbs. I don’t eat a lot of carbs right now anyway but I’m cutting out my half cup of oatmeal with breakfast and also the ¼ cup of sweet potato at lunch. I’m not gonna lie… I’m pretty scared about this. I’ve only heard horror stories about zero carb diets. I’m going to try as hard as possible to not be mean and bitchy to every one in my life for the next thirteen days. If I am, please know that I don’t mean it and that the normal smiling happy Katie will be back in just a few days.
Eyes on the prize… I’m 100% determined to win my division of this competition and I’m not going to let a few little carbs stand in my way!
Week 9 updates... here are some pictures to show my progress, or lack there of, from this week.
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