Week 8

Sunday was another great day.  I got up early and went to the gym at 8:00am when it opened. I did my normal morning cardio work out and I felt great.  I was energized and had a major boost of energy after my major pig out session the night before….. sponsored by Maggiano’s.  Wouldn’t that be nice if I could be sponsored for pig out meals? After my workout I went grocery shopping.  I was excited to see what was in store for me at the Cobb International Farmer’s Market.  It was pretty awesome.  I was very impressed with this place.  I had been intimidated by the name and the unknown for almost two years now.  But that was soon washed away.  They had a whole lot of new and crazy things that I had never seen before…. Not to mention great prices, too.  So take that Walmart!   Going through this place really inspired me to learn to cook a lot of new things as soon as this competition is over.  This store had so many things that I didn’t even know existed, well…. I guess I never took the time to look for them either.  That’s beside the point.  Point is, I’m really looking forward to branching out and expanding my, now minimal, culinary skills.  After the grocery store extravaganza I went home and had breakfast, a little nap, then lunch, and back to the gym.  After my second workout I went to babysit my new friend Evie for a little while.  I took her to her friend’s birthday party at Chuck E Cheese.  We had a lot of fun there playing all the games and then counting all the tickets.  Chuck E Cheese has definitely changed a lot since I was a kid.  Did you know they served beer there?  That makes me a little nervous, just sayin’.  Could you imagine if a bunch of rambunctious seven year olds got their hands on some “Mommy Juice” then went along heaving those SkeeBall balls around the place? Danger.  That’s all I have to say about that.

Monday was Presidents’ Day…. Gotta love a bunch of dead famous old white dudes.  I took advantage of the opportunity to sleep in again.  I didn’t set my alarm but still woke up at 7:00am and went to the gym for my morning cardio.  I spent the rest of Monday bumming around the house and enjoying the time off.  Nap here, 90210 reruns there… what’s not to love about three day weekends.  I felt great when I went back to the gym later Monday afternoon.  Marcia and I cruised through the leg work out and then joined the last 45 minutes of Johnny’s spin class

Looks like my good luck from unclogging the drain last Thursday was still coming.  Tuesday was a fantastic day.  I felt great all day.  I was energized, focused at work, and felt like I was way more productive.  I breezed through my day at work and then training at the gym…. This was a great day.  However, I did have a little headache that got a lot worse as the evening went on.  I barely made it though dinner and then crashed at 9:30pm.   I guess I slept too much the past three days that my body was shocked by a normal full day again. 

The extra sleep Tuesday night must have been desperately needed because I felt great again on Wednesday.  I’m starting to think that the reason I’ve been feeling so great is the new green tea that I started drinking on Sunday.  It’s Arizona Green Tea with ginseng and honey.  It is really yummy and the ginseng must be the secret to all my newfound energy.  It’s also great to have something new to drink after only having water for the past seven weeks.  Oh yeah, we’ve also been cleared to dink Powerade Zero now too.  It’s still not perfect, but it’s an improvement over just water.

Thursday was another great day…. I can’t believe how close this thing is to actually being here!  This week seems to have flown by, especially compared to how terribly awful last week was.  I’m beginning to look forward to my cheat meal Saturday night.  I’m planning to go to dinner with Marcia and Johnny at a Korean BBQ place.  I’m not exactly sure what Korean BBQ is, but it better be damn good!  UGH!!!  I still wish I could have some sweets and desserts.  I would love a red velvet cupcake or maybe even strawberry cheesecake, but that will come in due time…. A little over three weeks away!!!  To make matters worse and more tempting, I had several boxes of Girl Scout cookies delivered this week.  I just keep telling myself that they aren’t ripe yet.  They need three weeks in the freeze to gain optimal flavor and aroma.  Right?

Friday started off on a bad note and ended on another bad note.  I woke up Friday morning feeling relaxed and well rested…. I looked out the window and noticed the sun was up.  Then I looked at my watch and it was 7:09am. SHIT!  I looked at my BlackBerry and it said 12:54am.  Somehow my phone froze up in the middle of the night so my 5:45am alarm never went off.  I frantically got dressed and ran out the door.  I ended up just doing my morning cardio by walking around my condo complex.  I rushed through my shower and morning rituals…. I’ll take this moment to now apologize to all my coworkers.  There is no excuse for the rat’s nest mess on the top of my head Friday.  I’ll do my best to never allow this to happen again.  After a busy and productive day at work I headed to the gym for my last training session of the week.  I was so tired and ready for the week to be over.  I was leaving the gym about 8:15pm when I noticed my car looked a little lop-sided… WTF!  Yep, you guessed it, another flat tire!!! This is the exact same tire that I bought new three weeks ago. So I went back inside the gym and one of the employees, Brandon, helped me put the spare on.  And by help, I mean, he changed the tire and I offered comedic relief.  So I cautiously drove home and cried myself to sleep…..

Saturday started off like a usual Saturday.  I got up early, did my cardio work out, and then sat at Kaufman Tires for over two hours…. Yep, that’s starting to be pretty  normal for me. There was no way to repair the tire so I had to buy a new one.  Luckily it was under some type of warranty and I only had to pay $20 instead of $100.  I asked why this happened and the guy there couldn’t tell me…. It’s not like I’ve hit anything, driven like a madwoman, or been through hand grenade shrapnel.   He said these things just happen… But here’s the interesting part…. He did ask me if I have any enemies…. Maybe someone at work, in my condo complex, or at the gym hates me and is poking holes in my tire.  Geeze, I certainly hope not!  After the new tire adventure part deux , I came home for breakfast then got back on the road and headed to The Big Peach to check out some new running kicks.  I know I can’t run for another three weeks but I just wanted to try them on and check out what’s available.  Next step for my Saturday…. Continue Bikini Competition prep… that means tanning bed.  OK, OK, OK…. I know all the risks and potential damage.  As a reminder, I am Smart Sun certified after my extended stint of tanning salon work in college…. And by extended I do mean two months J Brenda, you may be asking yourself why I didn’t put this on my resume when applying to CLC… guess it just slipped my mind. I got a membership for one month just so I can build a base tan before the competition.

Now, the moment we’ve all, or maybe just me, been waiting for.  It was time for my big cheat meal of the week.  I had waited patiently all day for this.  I was excited to try something new and different.  At this point we can only have a few certain things for our cheat meal.  It basically has to be very lean, low fat, and pretty healthy in general, but we can eat however much we want of it.  I’ve been told we can have pasta dishes, Thai food, pretty much anything really spicy, and Korean BBQ.  Well guess what folks…. Tonight, it’s Korean BBQ.  First time for everything. If you’ve ever drive I-75 North, somewhere between Windy Hill Rd and Canton Highway, you may have seen the billboard that advertises Korean BBQ and Karaoke… well, much to my surprise, that’s where I was headed. I met Johnny and his wife Michelle at Tofu Village in Marietta. Another great surprise was the fact that Sean was able to meet us there for this amazing dinner as well.  He’s quite the culinary adventurer also so I was surprised when he told me he had never had Korean BBQ before.  Boy, were we in for a treat!  We started off with some appetizers:  seafood pancakes and fried dumplings.  The seafood pancakes looked a lot like a medium size pizza.  It was cut into little triangle slices and the waiter served up a slice for everyone.  Unfortunately I don’t know all that was in it, but it was really good.  It’s hard to describe because I had never had anything similar to this before.  The fried dumplings were also good, but not too much to write home about.  They were little fried triangles stuffed with ground beef.  I think next time I’ll just get my fill with the seafood pancakes.  Moving on to the main course…. First, let me set the scene…  We have a normal table for four, but there’s a whole in the middle.  This is where they place the hot coals…. For the appetizers, there was a metal top over the coals to keep everything warm and then for the main course, they replaced that top with a grill.  They brought out all the raw meat and left it on a side table.  The waiter placed each selection on the grill one by one through out the meal.  We started with beef tongue (Sean’s selection of course) and as the waiter places it on the grill several unique and delicious side dishes (spinach, bean sprouts, kim chee), hot sauces and other toppings/sauces are brought out.  Once the tongue is done the waiter serves it up and offers a few preparation and serving suggestions.  Next up- chicken, followed by steak, and then we finished with spicy pork.  Along the way we continued to try different prep combinations like lettuce and rice wraps with all the various chili sauces and condiments.  The whole time, all I could think was “Wow, this is amazing!”  “This food is so good.”  “Why haven’t I tried this earlier?”  I could not have been any happier, or stuffer any more full when this was over.  All and all this dinner took almost three hours to enjoy.  It was great to enjoy each selection individually and really get a sense of appreciation for all the offerings and selections.  The best part about it was that it was all really lean meat… which is obviously why Johnny told us to eat there for our cheat meal.  You can stuff your face for three hours and not have a major set back on all your training and hard work from the week before.

My end of the week recap…. On Saturday morning I weighted 107.4, which is a 1.1 lbs weight loss form last week.  Total eight-week weight loss is now 12.2 lbs.

Here’s an update picture… again, they all look the same to me, but hopefully there are some improvements being made.

I'm almost there.... only three short weeks to go.  Thanks to everyone who has continued to support me along the way.  I hope I can continue to make you proud and inspire others to make their personal health and fitness a top priority in their lives.

Week 7

This was the hardest week so far… I can’t even begin to think how many times  the words “quit, give up, surrender” crossed my mind this week.

Sunday, what happened?  Was Saturday just too awesome that any other day could never live up to  its greatness.  Sunday started out as a pretty good day.  I slept in and felt really great… well rested, rejuvenated for the week that lies ahead.  I went to the gym for my morning cardio then met with Marcia to start shopping for competition bikinis.  This should have been a lot of fun…. It should have been cool to try on bikinis and feel great about all our hard work.  Well…. It was not!  I was almost in tears when I tried on these suits.  I have worked so hard for six weeks and my excitement was crushed when I tried on the bikinis.  I got a serious reality check and realized how much hard work lies ahead for the remaining five weeks.  It was also impossible to find a good “competition” bikini.  I don’t really know what I’m looking for, but I’m sure I haven’t found it yet.  I think I just want something bright and maybe a little bit sparkly J

Monday was Valentine’s Day…. One of the toughest days of my diet so far.  When I got to work in the morning, there was a left over birthday cake on the kitchen counter.  Then my friend Tammy made her deliciously famous cookies…. Heart shaped sugar cookies with pink icing!  Amazing.  It continues to get worse from there…. Cupcakes were brought to my 2:00 meeting and the grand finale was the ice cream party that my office had at 3:00.  I have never had so many scrumptious sugary yummy temptations in one day!

Tuesday was a little bit better, less tempting treats.  However, I did have to sit through a meeting while everyone around me ate sandwiches, chips, and cookies that we had brought in.  You know, I really didn’t like potato chips seven weeks ago… but now that they’re so off limits, I was dying to taste just one chip.  By the end of the day Tuesday I was getting really tired…. Almost exhausted.  My training was definitely sluggish that night.  Tuesday afternoon, while cleaning the kitchen after lunch, I realized my kitchen sink was clogged up.  I didn’t think much of it, just bought some Draino on the way home.

Wednesday was another slow, sluggish, tiring day.  I had a very important meeting at work Wednesday morning.  We had been preparing and planning for several weeks.  Long meetings in the conference room make for difficult workdays.  It’s hard for me to sit still in one chair for several hours.  It’s also difficult when you’re thinking about all the other work that needs to be done.    I feel like I can’t ever catch up or get ahead of the game at work.  I really hope this calms down in the next  few weeks.  When I came home for lunch Wednesday I realized the Draino didn’t quite work out.  Actually, I don’t think it did anything at all.  Queue Freak Out  session sans tears this time….  How am I supposed to fix a clogged sink?  I started calling some plumbers for estimates.   Prices ranged from $178-$250.  Holy cow!  I can’t afford that… I’ve been saving some money to help pay for the competition and now I’d have to spend it all on a new tire and plumber to unclog my kitchen sink.  This is where the tears kicked in.... I knew if I had to pay a plumber the whole competition was out the window.  Combine plumber's fees with my new tire and all my competition budget was down the drain. Yes, pun intended on that one.  I went back to the office and started asking around for tips and advice.  I was determined to fix this on my own and not pay all that money!  Wednesday night was another terrible work out… I just couldn’t think positive and get in the right mood for training.  Wednesday was probably the hardest day to stay positive and continue with the training.  I wanted to quit so bad… I just wanted it all to be over.  I was exhausted, hungry, and beyond stressed out.   I decided to email my boss and tell him that I was taking half a personal day on Thursday. 

Thursday morning I slept in a little bit, went to Home Depot and got some supplies, and went to work on that damn drain.  Well, the first attempt of pouring the unclogging formula down the drain didn’t work…. I had to be patient and try again.  This time I let it sit in there a little longer.  And you know what, it still didn’t work.  Now, here comes the magic.  I tried using a plunger and plunging the goo out.  First four attempts were busts.  But then, like magic, on the fifth try the most beautiful spiral of draining water appeared before my eyes!  I had done it!!!  I had really done an at-home, fix-it-yourself project.  I couldn’t believe it!  I felt like a million bucks!!!  Today was my official turn for the better…. This terrible week had finally started looking up. Once I got that all cleared up I went in to work and everything was so much better.  I felt like I was twice as productive because I was in a better mood and filled with positive thinking.  This made my workout go so much better… felt like the training was easier and less stressful. 

My good luck from Thursday was so over flowing that it carried over to Friday.  I felt great, energized, and rejuvenated on Friday morning when I got up for my morning work out.  When I got to the office I was surprised with some great news…. We were closing the office early at 3:00 that afternoon because it was a holiday weekend.  We have Monday off for Presidents’ Day also.  I was so excited!  That meant I could come home and take a little nap before my workout tonight.  Also, at work Friday I had my annual performance appraisal and review with my boss.  I was a little nervous and not quite sure what he would have to say, but that turned out to be a piece of cake.   Mmmmm… cake!  Soon enough.  Anyway, my review went well.  I still can’t believe I’ve been at CLC for four years.  After work I took a little catnap then ran to the mall just for fun…. I’m pretty much an impulse buyer and it hit me again today.  I think I’ve got my competition suit!  I love the color, the fit is perfect, and I feel like a million bucks when I wear it.  I’m still not 100% that this is the one and that’s ok because if it’s not, I still have an amazing bikini for this summer.  After the mall I went to the gym to meet with Marcia and Johnny to start practicing our stage walk and poses.  This was very intimidating.  It was our first time walking in a bikini and high heels.  To make matters worse, we didn’t really have a private room in the gym where we could practice.  People could see us through the glass door and could walk in and out as they were going up or down the stairs.  But in the end, this only helped because in four weeks we’re going to be on stage in front of a huge crowd and table of judges.  So it was scary at first, but in the end, it was actually a lot of fun.  It’s kinda like acting.  You can go out there and show off some sass and be confident in yourself.  After the dreadful week that I had it was really fun to act like someone else and flaunt the benefits of all my hard work.  This is really starting to pay off for me!  I feel fantastic.  Johnny and another trainer watched us walk and pose and both said that I did great.  It was also fun to talk about hair, make-up, jewelry and other girlie things that will make us look absolutely beautiful on the day of the competition.  I’m so excited… I feel like we’re getting so close.  This competition is just around the corner.

Saturday was a fantastic day!  It was finally Emily’s birthday celebration J I got up early and went to the gym as soon as they opened at 8:00am.  I did my morning cardio, weighed in, ate my breakfast and then met up with the girls at Lenox Mall.  The only thing that could have made this day better would have been a Caramel Macchiato from Starbucks but I know that will come soon enough.  I settled for a hot tea and continued my fantastic day.  Macy’s had tons of great Presidents’ Day sales.  I don’t know why, but the shopping bug just didn’t bite me today.  I didn’t see much that caught my eye in Macy’s but to make it even worse, I only tried on one dress at Ann Taylor Loft and walked out empty handed!  THAT has never happened before.  I blame it on this store’s limited selection of Petite clothes.  Maybe short girls just don’t shop at Lenox?  I don’t know.  We had lunch at the mall and that was quite the challenge for me.  I told the waiter about my specific diet and ordered bare-naked grilled chicken breast and plain, no seasoning, broccoli.  Well the chicken came out with a sweet teriyaki glaze.  I had to send it back and order the fish.  It was ok, kinda bland… but I didn’t care because I knew we were just a few hours away from Maggiano’s!  After lunch we all treated ourselves to manicures and pedicures then continued our shopping extravaganza at Nordstrom Rack, DSW, and TJ Maxx.  I decided to look for some new dresses since I am very uncomfortable in my clothes at work now.   I ended up getting two very cute dresses!  The great prices at Nordstrom Rack also make it a lot easier to get in the shopping mood. 

After we called it quits with the shopping marathon, we got all dolled up and went to dinner at Maggiano’s.  There were five of us for dinner so we decided to get the “Family Style” dinner.  We got two large salads, two appetizers, and two pastas for dinner.  The best part about this is that everything is bottomless.  I’m not sure this impressed the other girls as much as it impressed me.  I had already warned them that I planned to eat like a garbage compactor at dinner.  I had my fill of cheese ravioli, gnocchi and tomato sauce, and another chicken & truffle pasta dish.  I think I also probably ate an entire loaf of bread.  I stuffed myself until I felt a little ill…. Then I took a break and came back for more.  It was all very very delicious and well worth the wait all week.  After dinner we went out for a few cocktails… I was driving since I can’t drink but I didn’t mind.  We went to two places and realized that the rest of Atlanta was lame and just not cool enough for girls like us.  We ended up going to Kroger to buy beer and then headed back to my friend’s apartment for some chill girl time.

That wraps up week seven of training.  I’m ready for all the action in the next four weeks.  It’s starting to feel real.  This competition is right around the corner! 

I can't remember if I posted my weight loss last week or not, but I lost 2.5 pounds and was down to 109.7 at the end of week six.  This week I weighed 108.5 so I was down another 1.2 pounds.  My total weight loss is now 11.1 pounds.

Here is an update picture from Friday evening and a clip of the walking/posing practice.  The picture is a little bit different than what I've been posting in the past.  This is more realistic of what I'll be looking like on stage in front of the judges.  This is a casual, more natural pose.  I won't really be able to use the side view, toe pop, to make my legs look skinnier.  I still need to keep working on the walking and posing but this is a raw view of my first attempt.  Just keepin' it real, ya know?

Week 6

Sunday was a great day….  I got up early-ish, about 9:00am I guess.  Went to the gym for morning cardio.  While I was there I left a nice little note to the House Keeping Fairy to see if she could come by to clean my kitchen and start the laundry.  Well, you know what? she didn’t come.  So after my workout I had to clean my house I little bit.  After that I took a nap for a few hours and then it was back to the gym again for weight training and more cardio.  This is when all the drama started.  While on the way to the gym I drove through a construction zone.  Something in the road must have nicked my tire.  I heard something weird, but my car kept driving just fine so I didn’t think about it.  I got to the gym and noticed the air was low in one of my back tires.  No big deal.  Just go to the BP and put more air in it, right?  Wrong.  After my work out I went to BP to put air in it and found that the air was blowing right out of the side of my tire as fast as I was pumping it in.  I have never had a flat tire before so I didn’t know what to do.  I tried to drive home… after about 30 seconds I called my dad crying my eyes out.  I mean, really? What was he going to do to help me when he’s 3 ½ hours away?  I didn’t think that there would be anyone able to come help me change the tire because the Super Bowl was on.  All my friends were at parties… enjoying ice-cold adult beverages I’m sure.  Eventually I called AAA got my tired changed and made it home safe and sound.  Great adventure, but $100 later at Kaufman Tires, I’m glad it’s over.

The training has become a lot more tolerable this week.  I honestly love being in the gym.  I love working hard to see great progression and amazing results.  It continues to amaze me how my body has transformed.  It’s been a little over a month and I have a completely different body than I did January 1^st.  When you think about it, that’s really not that long ago.  It just goes to show, even without a Figure Competition, anyone out there can set their mind to accomplish something, work hard, and stay focused and anything can be possible. 

Wednesday was the halfway point for our training program!  It’s all down hill from here!!!!  It feels so close… like it could be right around the corner.  I really hope the next few weeks continue to move as quickly as this one did.  As a celebratory award I bought myself a brand new pair of absolutely fabulous cutiful high heel pumps on Wednesday! 

This week really seemed to fly by for me.  I guess it’s because the training program is more enjoyable now and work has kept me so busy.  I don’t really have time to think about my diet and training during the day anymore.  So I breezed through Sunday – Wednesday with no problems.  Then the end of the week hurdle hit me… BAM!  hard like a brick!  Thursday was a rough day for me….. It’s difficult to explain because when I’m in gym clothes or something casual, I have the confidence to look at myself and say “Yeah, I look healthy and strong” but when I’m getting ready for work and trying to find dresses to wear I get really down on myself.  Everything is too big and frumpy.  I know it's because I have a completely different body now, but it’s still difficult to feel and emit confidence at work every day.  I know this sounds weird, but I think I’ve lost weight in my feet too because all my shoes seem to be slipping off my feet.  I have a tough enough time walking without running into walls as it is, but now this is just another challenge.   Also, on Thursday, in the gym, I got really down on myself.  I didn’t feel like my arms were getting any stronger.  I just cannot seem to increase any weights on my bicep exercises.  It’s beyond frustrating…. And here’s the worse part... when I’m curling, I can see veins popping out on my shoulders.  Maybe some people are working to get these veins, but this is not what I want.  One more thing… I’m starting to see where my ribs are showing through my chest and I've always hated seeing this on other girls.  So now I’m starting to feel like this was a bad decision…. I should stop now.  This is not pretty and this is not what my body is supposed to look like.  I hated myself for several hours Thursday night.  I think this was just the perfect storm combination of diet restrictions, lack of sleep and rest, feelings of being inadequate, and work stress.  I just had to eat dinner, get some sleep, and wake up with a new outlook for Friday.

Friday was a new day…  and even better, one more day closer to my cheat meal.  At work Friday I got several great compliments and words of encouragement.  This really helped a lot after my struggles the night before.  I don’t think I can stress the importance of having a strong support system.  When you’re down, the unexpected kind words from friends and family can boost your spirit more than you would ever guess.  Friday was another busy day in the office.  Before I knew it the clock read 1:00pm…. I had to run out of the office to get lunch and by time I got back the workday was so close to being over.  Now, I just had to get through a two-hour work out and the weekend would officially begin.  I was very excited to go home and get some sleep!

Saturday will go down in history as one of the best days of my life.  It was simple, fun, low stress, and all around amazing.  In the morning I went out to Sweetwater Park to cheer on my friend Sean as he ran a half marathon trail race.  He ran a great race and finished 5^th on a very difficult hilly course.  After that I came home and chilled out for a while.  In the afternoon I drove to Chattanooga to meet my parents for a special cheat meal.  We ate at Tony’s Pasta downtown by the river.  It was sooooo good…… and I’m not just saying this because it was my only real opportunity to eat in a week.  We had read great reviews and heard a lot of good stuff about this place.  Luckily we got there early and didn’t have to wait for a table.  Here’s another great part about this cheat meal, because I had done so well this and lost a few pounds, I was able to indulge just a little bit more tonight at dinner.  It may sound crazy, but I was so excited to be able to have Splenda in my unsweet tea.  And for the biggest, greatest, best news of all…. I was able to eat a small bag of pretzel M&Ms for dessert!!!  I swear, could this day get any better?!?! You may so no, but it did.  I also got some gas money and blackberry car charger!  :) Haha gotta love parents for that.  So for my complete cheat meal I had unsweet tea with splenda, water with lime, a loaf and a half of bread with olive oil and cheese,  vegetable lasagna, pretzel M&Ms, sugar free chocolate pudding snack pack, and hot green tea.  Absolutely amazing…. All while enjoying to company of my loving parents.  This was definitely worth the 1 ½ hour drive.  This is exactly what I was working for all week long.  Next time the alarm sounds at 5:30am I’ll be thinking about another great cheat meal like this.  I'll gladly grunt through the last set of bicep curls in anticipation of another cheat meal like this... That exhausting last five minutes of cardio will be nothing when I know I’ll have another meal like this right around the corner. 

I know next week will be just as great because I’ll be hanging out with some great friends celebrating Emily’s birthday… shopping all day, hanging with the girls, and enjoying a good meal with friends.  Lots to look forward to this week!!!

So here’s the week six update pic.  Only five weeks to go….

Week 5

Saturday was my last cheat day…. From now on it’s limited to just one cheat meal on Saturdays.  So I knew I had to make the best of this one.  I started the morning at a French bakery with Marcia.  We had been dreaming of this breakfast for the past two days.  I knew exactly what I wanted.  A croissant with jam, a nutella crepe and bacon.  Oh yeah, can’t forget coffee with milk and sugar too.  So I started with that.  Then decided I needed some protein so I got an omelet with green onions and goat cheese.  This was heavenly!  For lunch I went to Willy’s and got a burrito in a bowl with chips, cheese dip, and salsa.  I really wanted a burger and fries for dinner but due to a slight change in plans I ended up with a chicken philly sub from Jersey Mike’s.  Still amazingly delicious but just not what I wanted.  Here's another kicker with the cheat day... we have to cut back on the sugar and sweets.... which are obviously my favorite part about eating.  I had already had the nutella in the morning so I really shouldn't have anymore sweets today.  I was having a huge internal struggle – to eat the pretzel M&Ms or not.  If I ate them, that would mean I would have to do 30 extra minutes of cardio Sunday and Monday morning.  Ugh!  I love my sleep but I also love M&Ms too!  So I ended up not eating them…. Mostly because I didn’t have them in the house.  If they were within reach, I would have gobbled them up.

My friend Sean was running a marathon in Calloway Gardens Sunday morning so we went down Saturday night so he wouldn’t have to make the 2 hour drive at 5 am before the race.  I didn’t really know what the plan was for Sunday so I had to pack all my food with me…. I had my egg whites, oatmeal, protein drinks, almonds, and a spinach and tuna salad packed up for the day. 

While he ran Sunday morning,  I was able to do my morning cardio (60 minutes walking) around the race course.  It was really nice to be able to change up the typical gym work out that has always been treadmill, elliptical, or arc trainer.  Fighting the urge to run was extremely difficult.  I’m out there on my own, no one around…. open road.  Who would know if I ran a mile or two?  I really wanted to test it out, but I also knew that it wouldn’t be the best thing for my end goal, so I held back and just kept walking.  After my walk I went back to the hotel and had my normal egg whites and oatmeal breakfast.  After the race Sean stopped at a little BBQ shack and got a bacon burger, real potato chips with ketchup, and cole slaw.  Then he proceeded to eat it all in the car right next to me.  I was so jealous… beyond jealous. That stuff smelled soooo good!  I mean, I can still smell good food can't I?  There are no calories or carbs in smells.... so it's all good.

Once we got back to Atlanta I went to the gym.  Marcia was going to work out early so I was on my own tonight.  Also, I planned to meet with Johnny to discuss some updates and changes to our program.  Now that we’ve completed four weeks we’re ready to change it up.  We got four new weight lifting plans.  This means no more push-ups and pull-ups.  Yaaaaaay!  We also discussed changing up our competition categories.  For the first few weeks we were planning to do the figure competition, but now, we have the option of the bikini category.  This category is less focused on muscle definition…  this is more like the beach-body look.  I think.  I’m actually not sure of the specific differences.  So we have a week to think about which category we want to do.  Personally, I think I’m leaning toward the bikini category because I don’t know that I really want my body to look like some of the figure competitors that I’ve seen.  I think that may be too much muscle on me. 

Monday was the start of our new workout program.  We focused on back today.  The whole workout went by so much faster than the old program.  We were finished in about 35-40 minutes and then went to Johnny’s spin class for some cardio.  We were so freaking excited to be back in spin class!  I have really missed the group exercise classes and now we can do one spin class a week.  It’ll probably always be on Monday nights.   After that, we finished with about 20 more minutes of cardio on the machines upstairs.  To top it all off, we spent a few minutes in the steam room to relax and stretch out a bit.  All and all…. Monday was a great day despite the terribly nasty rainy weather we had!  Oh yeah…. And then my best friend got engaged!  So freaking happy for her and her fiancé.  Congratulations Amanda and Walker!  Love you guys!

Tuesday was much the same as before.  The new work out focused on arms tonight.  This one also went by really quick so I was able to do weights and cardio and get home about 8:30pm.   The workouts and time in the gym are not bothering me at all.  So far, my biggest struggle has been food cravings 24/7.  I am constantly thinking about food, candy, sugar, sweets, bread, pasta, cheese…. Ughh!  The afternoons are the worst.  Somewhere between 2-5pm I just hit a wall.  I feel like I need a boost.  Some sugar or caffeine…. Something to get me through the day.  I’ve started drinking hot tea in the afternoons.  I think that gives me just the kick I need to get to the gym after work.  Once I’m there, I’m great.  I just gotta get there.  Any suggestions on how to beat the mid-afternoon slump???

Wednesday was a pretty tough day for me emotionally.  I guess by now most of ya’ll have read my “Mid-Week Thoughts” post. That pretty much sums up what’s been on my mind this week.  There’s no need to dwell on that any longer.  The great news is all the AMAZING support and encouragement that I received from the people that really matter in my life.  I was 100% overwhelmed by the kind words, love and support that came my way the rest of the week.  It’s the people like this who make the 5:45am alarm clock a little more tolerable.

Thursday I woke up so sore… I could barely move my legs when I first stepped foot on the floor that morning.  Wednesday night’s leg workout was killer!  Even though I stretched and stayed well hydrated, my muscles were aching.  I usually wear heels to work everyday…. Thursday was no different until about lunchtime.  By noon I had to come home and change into flats.  Other than the muscle soreness I felt great…. Filled with energy and positivity!  I was fueled by the feedback from my latest blog entry. 

Friday was a bit different.  I was still sore from Wednesday night and now Thursday’s workout was also kicking in.  I was also very tired…. By the end of the week the few hours of sleep and strict diet really start to catch up with me.  Work was beginning to become overwhelming and the horrible cold nasty rain all week wasn’t helping my outlook.  So needless to say Friday was pretty rough.  Tired, hungry, frustrated, stressed…. It wasn’t pretty.  I was thinking that I really regretted skipping those Pretzel M&Ms last Saturday... That was my last chance at sugar and sweets and I let it pass by. As soon as our workout was over I wanted to curl up and get in bed.  I was really excited to get to sleep in on Saturday morning.

Saturday was a busy day for me.  Luckily I was too busy to think about missing out on a cheat day.  I slept in until about 8:30 or 9ish…. Wow that was amazing!  Even though I woke up at 5:45am I was able to force myself to go back to sleep for a few hours.  So I got up and went to the gym… I did my normal 60 minutes of cardio and then weighed in.  YES!  I lost 1.3 pounds since last Saturday.  That meant that I can feast on a double cheeseburger and fries for dinner.  After my workout I went to the memorial service for my friend’s father.  Not a highlight of my day, but an inspiration to continue living life to the fullest.  Never take any moment or anyone for granted.  Tell your friends and family that you love them everyday… even more than once I day.  No one gets tired of hearing “I love you”.  My heart breaks for Cathy and her family.  I know this time is very painful but it’s the love of God and the ones still here that will help you heal as the time passes.  It amazes me to see how our group of friends banned together to help someone we love when they need us the most.  I’m blessed to have an incredible group of friends who truly love each other and without a second thought would do whatever is necessary to lend a hand and heal a broken heart.  We love you Cathy, Kyle, and baby B!

Later that afternoon I went to my friends', Chris and Jenn, house.  Jenn, her mother, son Avan, and I were going to see my friend Shannon’s daughter, Mary Scott, as Lucy in “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown”.  Jenn was so thoughtful to pick up Five Guys burgers and fries for dinner before the play.  When I got to her house I had a huge double stack cheeseburger and bag of French fries with my name on it!  I’ve always loved cheat meals, but this one was even better because I got to share it with friends.  I also snacked on a few pretzel sticks during the show.  Once I got home later that night I treated myself to another special treat (Johnny said this was my only exception to the no sugar/sweets rule) .. Sugar Free Chocolate Pudding Snack Pac!    “I thought I was your snack pack!!!!”  Anyone?  J  Ok maybe not, but even though it was late and freezing cold, I had to stop at Kroger and get my Snack Packs!  Now it’s time to call it a night…. I hope I can sleep in late again Sunday morning.  I need to catch up on sleep…. But then again, I really need to clean my house.  I looks like a disaster!

Here's the Week 5 update picture... starting to feel like this is really paying off.  I wish there was better lighting in the locker room but we're doing to best we can.  Five weeks down, only six to go.  Oh yeah, and to answer the question posed last Sunday, I've decided to change my competition category to bikini.  Marcia did too.... So we're no longer aiming for the Figure competition.  The only change right now will be the diet.  Basically it will be less restrictive than the Figure competition diet.  I think we'll get to enjoy our carbs a little longer.  Next steps will be to buy our suits and start practicing our poses.  This is all starting to come together :) 

More to come next week!!!  Oh yeah, I'm already focusing on next Saturday's cheat meal.  My parents are treating me to dinner.... I think I'm wanting something Italian.... pasta and bread!  YUMMY!!!!! Only six more days.

Mid week thoughts

 Ok so I’m going on a soapbox here…. Something has been really bugging me the past few days.  More so for my own therapy than your reading pleasure… I’m going to let my feelings out here.  I really really appreciate everyone who has supported me through the first few weeks of my training (Emily, Amanda, Natalie, my mom… Thank you!).  It is difficult for most people to understand what I’m doing, heck I don’t really understand all the specifics of a Figure competition.  It’s also difficult for most people to understand why I’m doing this. 

So here’s my chance to tell you why:

•         I’m looking for a challenge. 
•        I’m looking for an achievable goal. 
•        I want to feel proud of an accomplishment. 
•        I want to learn how to maintain a healthy lifestyle. 
•        I want to do something that will truly put me in the best physical shape of my life. 
•        I want to push my body to be as healthy and strong as it can be. 
•        Vainly, I want to look hot as hell in a swimsuit.  I think if I put in all the hard work then I deserve to reap the aesthetic benefits and feel good about my body. 

These are NOT reasons why I’m doing the training program:  (hahaha that kinda just reminded me of Borat.  Your suit is NOT black)

• for a guy in my life
• to loose weight
• to look like a body builder
• to make this my full time job

So recently I’ve heard comments from people who don’t support what I’m doing.  And this is my rebuttal to them and to the ones who don’t have the courage to say it to my face.  Everyday I feel like I hear women complaining about their bodies… I hate my thighs, I want a flat stomach, look at these wings flapping when I wave my arm.   Well guess what ladies…. This didn’t happen over night.  This happened because you did not take care of your bodies the way should have been for quite sometime.  I feel that it is fair for me to say this because I was that same lady a year and a half ago.  I didn’t take the time or put forth the effort to care for my body.  And now I’m doing that and I feel fantastic.  I’m loving the shape and body transformation that I’m seeing.  Sure, it is really hard work, and maybe not all of it is completely necessary to make some changes for your own body.  But a little bit of hard work will go a long way.  Take some time for yourself.  Appreciate yourself. Respect your body.  Just make a commitment to do something for you everyday.  Be a little selfish.  You don’t have to put family, friends, and work ahead of your well being all the time.  Adding a little bit of exercise or making wiser food choices will exponentially increase your self-confidence.  I promise if you make a few small, healthy changes in your daily life, your smile will be brighter, you’ll have more good hair days, you’ll get a youthful pep back in your step.   It happened for me so I know that it can happen for anyone else out there.  All you need is a commitment to treat yourself to a happier lifestyle.  Who wouldn’t want to be happier?

Also,  I know we look at magazines, tv shows and movies… we gawk at celebrities and models… how did she get that body?  She must never eat… Well maybe she just has good genes…. Well you know what the answer is… she cares about her body.  She doesn’t eat fast food 3, 5, or 7 times a week.  She doesn’t watch 5 hours of TV a day while lying on the couch eating potato chips or pretzels dipped in nutella (yum!)  She doesn’t cringe at the thought of hard work.  Yeah, sure maybe it’s her job to stay in shape.  But maybe that should be everyone’s part time job.  I was in that same seat just a few months ago.  I decided that I wanted a fantastically fit and healthy body.  So I made a plan… decided to set a goal, set a strict diet, and intense workout plan.  Now I’m about a month into my plan and I’m seeing amazing results.  Maybe I don’t realize it everyday, but hearing comments and compliments from others truly reinforces my drive to succeed.  Here’s the problem… I don’t always get good comments.  Recently I’ve heard that I shouldn’t be doing this… that I’m too skinny, that bones are starting to pop out of my body.  You know what… I’ll probably never crochet a blanket or knit a scarf.  But I’m not gonna hate on my friends that do.  At first, these comments crushed me…. This made me want to quit because I didn’t want to be judged by others.  But now it has fired me up.  It has given me the fuel I need to keep fighting.  I hate to say this, because I don’t know the true thoughts in others’ heads….. but I think that the people who aren’t supporting me are jealous of the fact that I can set a difficult, almost impossible goal for myself and fight tooth and nail everyday to become one step closer to that goal.  These people must know deep down in their hearts that they don’t have the strength, desire, and dedication to do something like this.  Each negative comment I hear will become one more rep in the weight room, one hundred more calories burned, one more tasty temptation defeated. 

I’m proud of my accomplishments so far in my training.  I’m keeping my eyes on the prize.  I’m ready to get out there on the day of my competition and dominate. 

Here’s the bottom line… if you’re unhappy with me look in the mirror and see if you’re happy with yourself.  If you aren’t then do something about it…. If I can make the changes that I have in the past eighteen months, then I know anyone can do it.  I’m no superhero…. But I’ve decided to do this for myself, no one else.  I’m doing this to build my self-confidence.   I encourage you to do the same and maybe next time you look in the mirror you’ll say “Damn, I look good”.

Week 4

Saturday Saturday Saturday…. Since I woke up early I decided I might as well get a quick cardio workout behind me and jump-start my day.  So I went to the gym at 8:00am and did my normal morning 60 minute cardio workout.  I hurried home and let the feasting begin.  First things first… COFFEE!  It was delicious! Then I made some waffles… and by some I mean eight.  I was so excited… I added some honey and syrup and went to town on those bad boys!  I mean, seriously… couldn’t have been more excited.  Unfortunately my eyes were bigger than my stomach and I only ate five or six out of the eight.  I just couldn’t eat fast enough and they got cold and soggy… not so yum.  After a few hours of vegging out on the couch and watching TV I decided to trek over to Buford Highway and get some good food.  I went to Quoc Huong and ordered a bowl of Pho soup and a Bahn Mi sandwich…. I have no clue what I ate exactly, but it was spicy and delicious.  While in the neighborhood I also stopped at El Taco Veloz.  I ordered two beef tacos and an order of chips and salsa.  When I got home I ate about half the pho, the whole sandwich, one taco, and about five chips with salsa.  Even though I didn’t eat as much as I wanted (or at least what I thought I wanted), I was excited to just get a taste of it all.  Later Saturday night I babysat so we got pizza for the kids.  I had a few slices of pizza and then a few scoops of ice cream for dessert!  As if that wasn’t enough for one Saturday, I went to my friend Kara’s housewarming party and enjoyed some late night party food…. Cheetos, cookies, and some fruit.  This is when the whole "No alcohol" rule comes into play.  Oh man, how I miss some good red wine or an ice cold beer.  Ughhh!! Not fair.  So at 11:50pm I decided I need to go home and get some sleep because this perfect day would soon be over and it would be back to business in a matter of hours.

Sunday was just another day in the “office”.  I got up went to the gym, then came home and slept for a few hours.  I actually had to set my alarm for 12:30pm so I that I would wake up to eat lunch.  I ate quickly and went back to my napping.  I reset my alarm for 3:00pm so that I could meet Marcia at the gym for our afternoon workout at 3:30pm.  After our workout I did some quick grocery shopping and came home for dinner, laundry, and packing for the next day.  It still amazes me how much prep work goes in to the training program.  Every night I have to pack my workout out clothes, morning and evening, work clothes, morning snack, breakfast, and afternoon snack. 

Sunday during our cardio session, Marcia and I were able to talk to Johnny and get a glimpse into the next few weeks of our training program.  This upcoming week will be the same as we’ve had the past three weeks.  BUT….. Saturday will be our last cheat day!  Damn, I better make this a good one.  Lots to think about here…   Don’t get me wrong, we’re still going to have cheats, but it will be limited to one cheat meal on Saturday instead of a 24-hour gluttonous feast.  After that, we’re going to start cutting our carbs and calories during the week.  So first things first, no more protein shakes.  I think I can live without that… they were starting to get old anyway.  Now I’m drinking these “protein shots”.  They are about 3 oz. and have 26g of protein, 110 calories, and only 1g of carbs.  They aren’t great but also not terrible. 

Monday at work I was really exhausted.  I haven’t felt this worn out since week one.  I had a terrible headache and just wanted to run home and curl up in my bed at 5:30pm.  I think the fear of the new diet changes really got me down today.  I’m beginning to freak out that I’m going to be hungry for the next 8 weeks of my life.  Going to the gym for two and half hours sounded almost as exciting as a root canal…. or even worse tonsillectomy!  I managed to make it through the worst workout of the three and then breeze through my hour of cardio.  The cardio isn’t bad at all… I’ve actually grown to love it because I can read good books.  I’m about half way through The Girl Who Played With Fire and it’s amazing how easily the time passes when I’m reading.

Tuesday was a cold, nasty, rainy day.  Much like Monday…. I did not want to spend my evening in the gym.  I was very thankful to have this blog, and have people with whom I can share my story on Tuesday.  I needed this accountability factor.  I didn’t want to embarrass myself when I had to write that I was too lazy to go to the gym Tuesday.  So Tuesday night was just like any other workout… nothing out of the ordinary.  We went through the weight training exercises like we always do and then finished up with more cardio.  I was home shortly after 8:00pm.  Sometime around 9:30 or so I realized I had the most excruciating pain on the right side of my chest.  No it wasn’t a heart attack.  It was obvious that I had pulled my pec muscle.  It hurt to sit still, it hurt to move, it hurt to laugh, it hurt to breath.  On a scale of one to ten, with ten being the worse, it was about a nine.  Honestly, just sitting still doing nothing made me want to cry.  I had the hardest time with simple things like brushing my teeth and even pulling the covers over myself when I went to sleep. Oh great…. How much is this going to set me back in my training?  I began to worry that this was all going to be called off.  I can’t let myself quit… but if I’m really injured then there’s no way I can push through the pain and risk further injury.

I still managed to get up and go to the gym Wednesday morning for cardio.  The alarm went off at 5:40am.... winners don't get up at 7:00.  I used my left arm to hold my right arm in place as I walked around and maneuvered through my normal routine.  I don’t think I could have held anything more than two or three pounds in my right arm.  I couldn’t move it left and right…. Couldn’t stretch it out to reach for something…. I was really worried that this could end my training.  If a bruise showed up or if it had been swollen then I knew that would be several weeks of no exercise and all my goals and dreams would be shattered.

Throughout the day Wednesday it actually heeled almost 75%.  I didn’t notice the pain at all when I was sitting still.  I also didn’t feel as bad when lifting certain things.  I had gotten most of my motion back to normal.  I also did two rounds of ice/heat contrast therapy and took some Advil.  Wednesday night I was supposed to work my shoulders but I was really worried about how it would feel on my chest…. to my surprise the shoulder workouts were not affected by the chest pain.  I was able to do normal weights on all my exercises except shoulder press – I dropped that one down a notch. 

Thursday was a tough day for me mentally.  I absolutely hate the fact that I think about food every minute of the day.   I miss so many simple things: coffee, peanut butter, cereal, fruit, and sandwiches… mostly the things that most people would consider normal and basic foods.  Another thing that is really starting to bother me is the fact that most of my clothes don’t fit anymore.  I know, I know…. 90% of the women in American want to kill me, but it's true.  I want to be able to get dressed every morning and feel confident in the way I look.  Not to mention I also want to look professional at work.  I used to love my clothes.…  but now I feel like a little kid playing dress up or a little girl wearing her big sister’s hand me downs.  I’m certainly not going to go out and buy more clothes because I know I won’t be like this forever.  I love my food way too much to keep this up J Guess it’s time to get creative and piece together some new outfits. Honestly, I hate feeling so self-conscience about the way I look.  It’s really sucks being a girl because you always feel like people are looking at you or judging you for the way you look.   I don’t know if guys feel like that or not, but I would doubt it. 

I truly believe that this competition training is about 50/50 between mental and physical strength.  Sure, most people can workout every day… but can you really force yourself to stick to such a strict diet…. Can you force yourself to maintain your normal life, balance work responsibilities and social fun, while only getting six hours of sleep a night, can you spend three hours a day in the gym without going crazy?  This week I really started thinking that I was going crazy!  What had I gotten myself in to?  Is it really worth it?  What do I really want to get out of all this?  Damn it!  I better win something!!!!  If I don't win a trophy, then I'm just gonna go buy myself one.

Friday was a little better for me because I knew the weekend was so close.  I knew I could catch up on sleep and rest and enjoy my last cheat day.  Friday morning I could still feel some pain in my pec.  It wasn’t a consistent pain like it had been Tuesday night and some of Wednesday.  I was only feeling sharp pain when I reached to grab something and lifted anything too heavy (like my crazy huge purse).  I took a few Advil after lunch Friday because it was starting to hurt and bother me a little more than usual.  I was worried because Friday night would be able to do my chest workout.  I guess this is where I would see how much damage had really been done.  Would I be able to do anything or would it just hurt way too much to do any weight training?   Again, I was really surprised that I didn’t feel much pain when I started my workouts.  I maintained the same weights for most of my exercises.  However, I decrease weight on my chest press and fly reps because I assumed it was either of these two that caused the strain to begin with.  Marcia and I managed to make it through the entire workout and then headed upstairs for our cardio.  Just 60 more minutes and we’re done with week four.  It was tough… we both felt weak and exhausted.  But we were able to make it through by dreaming of our cheat day.  We decided to meet for breakfast on Saturday at a local French bakery.  Mmmmm….. I realized how much I missed Paris… the baguettes and cheese, the croissants and café, the nutella crepes….. so needless to say I was beyond excited to get a little reminder of the best three weeks of my life and my Natalie. 

This is an update picture from Friday evening after our workout…. To me, it still looks like I haven’t changed that much.  This is a bit frustrating when I think of all the daily struggles and internal battles that I’ve had.  Especially this week!  UGH what a bummer!  It’s kinda hard to be consistent with my weekly updates.  I try to take the pictures on Friday nights because Marcia is at the gym with me and then I try weighed in Saturday mornings….  Mainly because you’re lighter in the morning on an empty stomach and it give a good synopsis of the previous six days of training.  So this picture is from Friday evening, January 28.  On Saturday morning, January 29, I weighed 113.5.  I lost 2.1 lbs… lucky me!  Johnny said that my diet would have to be changed up if I didn’t loose at least one pound.  Boo-yeah!  I did it!!

Can you see the exhaustion in my eyes???  Guess I should touch up some make up before I take pics next week... haha! Still waiting to see some definition in my legs.  I think the arc-trainer and elliptical can help this... also gotta keep bumping up the weights on my squats.

Four weeks down-  seven to go!

Week 3

Saturday morning my parents and I woke up early, about 6am, and headed to Savannah to spend some time with our family.  To my surprise my mom suggested stopping at Startbucks before we got on the road.  Yippeee!  Great way to start a cheat day!  I had a tall skinny caramel macchiato and a yogurt, fruit, granola parfait!  Oh man, I forgot how good the yogurt parfait was!  That will definitely return as a daily staple in my post competition diet.  I’m pretty sure that thing disappeared before we even made it to 75S.  We also stopped in Macon to meet my parents’ friends and drop off some wine from Nashville.  Since we had to stop anyway, might as well stop at Chick Fil A.  Being the red blooded American that I am, I had to have one of the new Spicy Chicken Biscuits…. And I’m proud to say I fulfilled my patriotic obligation, but I won’t be ordering another one.  I like the original biscuits, they’re ok, but I would really just prefer to have a plain biscuit with honey.  Also, keep in mind, I don’t like fried chicken…. So I didn’t like how the spicy chicken was so crunchy.  Now, if Chic Fil A ever launches a spicy chargrilled chicken sandwich I may have to take a vacation day from work and camp out at the nearest restaurant.  Please Mr. Cathy, I know you can do it!  You’ve been toying with my emotions for far too long now.  Spicy Chargrilled wrap, Spicy Chicken Sandwich, Spicy Chicken Biscuit….. what’s a girl gotta do to get a Spicy Chargrilled Chicken Sandwich!!! 

Forgive me, I digress…. So we cruise on down to my aunt’s house and meet my mom’s side of the family for lunch…. nothing too special, just a simple lunch with sandwiches and chips and all.  I ate two and a half sandwiches on white bread, loads of pasta salad and a few handfuls of BBQ chips.  You think that’s enough….  No way!  My glutton self attempts to put away a piece of double chocolate cake.  If I would I have known there was chocolate cake, I would have skipped the sandwiches.  After only three bites of cake my stomach was telling me that it had had enough.  See here’s the problem with cheat days…. My mind knows I need to eat the carbs, my taste buds long for a short return to normal food, but my stomach is like “whoa… WTF?” So I had to take a break from eating and lay on the couch for about 30 minutes.   So we leave my aunt’s house and head to my grandparents’ new place.  They recently moved in to a retirement community after 60 plus years in the house they build on my grandfather’s GI bill…. Anyway… quite the transition for anyone, but an even bigger deal when you’re 95 and 90 years old.  So I was very excited to see their new house.  Unfortunately my grandfather was in a rush to get to his  Quarterback Club dinner party with my dad and brother so I saw him for about five minutes before they rushed off.  On a side note, they were about an hour early, obviously no need to be in that much of a hurry… but that’s a whole different story.  My mom, Kristin (future sister-in-law), and I visited with my grandmother and heard all about the new place.  I think they’ll really like it.  I know I would!  I have to wonder if they have a minimum age requirement…. Who wouldn’t want to have three meals a day, laundry services, and a shuttle to take you around town to run errands… oh yeah and countless activities and social events.  Where do I sign up?  Why don’t they have these for young single people…. Oh wait, that was the sorority house….

So the ladies enjoyed a nice dinner out at Spanky’s in Savannah.  My grandmother likes this restaurant but my grandfather doesn’t so we decided to take her there.  I’ve always gotten the same thing every time so why break tradition now….. I got the Hot Chicken and Cheese Pita.  It’s grilled chicken, cheese, onions, green peppers, and jalapenos in a pita and it comes with the house spuds.  Spanky's also has this amazing honey dip stuff for the spuds... it's sweet but has a tangy litltle kick at the end.  Not sure what' it is, but I love it!  De-Lish! I was very happy!!!

Sunday morning the fun was over…. We left Savannah really early and headed back to Atlanta.  We stopped for breakfast in Macon again.  This time we were at Cracker Barrel and it was back to the diet.  Six egg whites and half a cup of oatmeal.  Wanna talk about a rip off… let’s see how much Cracker Barrel charges for one scrambled egg white…. $1.15.  They do know that a dozen of eggs is only $1.35-$1.50.  I’m no math wiz, but that’s a bigger mark up than a beer at a Braves game!  The egg whites are still good to me, but the oatmeal is getting difficult.  It’s just so plain and blah…  I’m not sure I’ll eat much oatmeal after March 19^th.  As soon as I got back to Atlanta is was time to hit the gym for morning cardio.  I decided that after my week 2 weight gain that I'm going to increase my cardio to 60 minutes each time instead of just 45.  Not sure it'll make a huge difference, but I'll try it and see what happens.  Then I went to Publix for my weekly grocery shopping.  The good news is it doesn’t take long to shop when you can only buy chicken, steak, eggs, oatmeal, spinach, and asparagus.  I came back to my house and cleaned up a bit and washed clothes.  I feel like I don’t have enough socks and work out clothes, but I guess that’s what 12 work-outs a week will do to you.  Four o’clock rolls around and it’s time for my afternoon weight training and cardio session with Marcia.  Thank goodness I have such a fantastic work out partner.  She ensures I have the proper form and continuously pushes me to add weight, push through the pain and finish strong!  I hope I can be as supportive and motivating to her, but right now I think I’m just helping her learn to count.  If I wasn’t there she’d be doing 5 or 6 sets instead of just 4… she just gets so into it that she forgets to count and doesn’t stop.  Sunday night was a quick work out but we still make it worth every minute.  We worked legs and shoulders and I’m still surprised at how much definition I can see in my shoulders already.  Still not impressed with my legs, but I know if I keep pushing the weights and dieting right then I’ll get the results I need.  It may take nine more weeks but I’ll keep at it.

Monday I was off work for MLK day so of course I slept in and enjoyed my time off.  But, time off from work doesn’t mean time of from the gym.  So I did my morning cardio, came home, ate, took a nap, and went back to the gym.  Tonight was the dreaded bicep workout.  UGH!  Just plain terrible.  I was able to bump up my weight (or decrease assistance) with the pull-ups and I’d like to take that as a huge improvement…. Despite all the cuss words that could be heard- I was happy with what I did.  Also, I found that I was able to increase weights on preacher curls and finish my concentrated curls without assistance…. Guess that means we’re bumping those suckers up on Thursday J

Tuesday was a true test to the temptation of food.  We had a special lunch at work today where everyone was supposed to bring in a cover dish lunch…..I truly believe my office has some of the best cooks in Atlanta.  Oh no…. I just realized that I may still be on this damn diet when we have the Spring Picnic…. If that’s the case I just need to take a vacation day now because I know I won’t be able to resist temptation that day.  Today kinda sprung up on me, but I know there will be no way to hide from the Spring Picnic.  Anyway, I escape the office lunch and come home to eat like usual.  I’m really lucky to live two and a half miles from work so that I have time to come home and eat a good lunch.  I don’t know what it was, but my lunch was actually really good today!  It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary… chicken, sweet potato and broccoli.  I’m not complaining one bit… but I think this whole program is starting to brain wash me.  Marcia had to teach a spin class tonight so I was left on my own in the weight room.  I put on my iPod and got down to business.  I felt absolutely amazing tonight.  I felt energized and really excited about where I was headed.  My only real difficulty tonight was chest press but it was the first full day at a higher weight. 

Three days til my cheat meal… its about time to start thinking about what I’ll feast on this Saturday.  Mexican maybe… maybe Vietnamese pho and banh mi?  I love this cause I never really know exactly what I’m eating… that’s one of the simple adventures in life that I enjoy the most.  Adventurous eating…. Perhaps my next blog will be a worldwide adventure exploring unique cuisine.  I could be Andrew Zimmern’s sidekick.  I’m sure he would love that!

Let’s see… here we are at Wednesday, hump day.  Today was a really good day.  I had two girl scouts selling cookies in the office today…. I didn’t hesitate at all when I ordered a total of 5 boxes.  Not one ounce of guilt crossed my mind.  Everyone knows you can freeze those suckers!  Once delivered, they'll be safely stored in my freezer.  All and all I felt great and was thinking that this wasn’t that bad after all…. I had energy all day.  I was in a good mood.  I was looking forward to my work out.  Not much to complain about.  Wednesday evening I got home and texted Johnny, the training expert, to tell him how great I felt, how excited I was and that I was actually feeling confident that I could have a positive showing at the competition in March.  His great, inspirational, coaching response -  “Hehe, just wait!”  I mean seriously!  How could he say that?  I was so pumped and then my hopes and dreams came crashing down.   I guess I did need a little dose of reality.  He told me that the diet was going to get tougher in the next two weeks.  At the start of week five I was going to have to cut out all carbs.  I have never done a no-carb diet so this was going to be true test.  Carbs make me happy.   Well actually all food makes me happy…. That’s why I’ve started living each day just to make it to Saturday.

Thursday was just another day in paradise.  I was really busy at work Wednesday and Thursday so I didn’t have much time to think about being hungry or tired.  I have noticed that it makes the workdays much longer when I’m constantly watching the clock.  Get to work at 8:30ish…. Eat my eggs and oatmeal around 9:45, go home and eat lunch at 12:30, then keep watching the clock until 3:30 when I have my protein shake and almonds.  After that its down hill from there.  Today I was dreading my workout because it was the toughest one: biceps and abs.  Another huge disappointment Thursday was the fact that my awesome group of girlfriends all went out to dinner at Noche and enjoyed margaritas, yummy tapas, and chips and cheese dip.  This has been the first time I’ve really had to turn down something fun with the people I love because of this training.  I can deal with missing lunch outings with work friends, but I was really sad to miss dinner with my girls.  I’m just going to keep working hard and stay focused on my goals.  I know we’ll have plenty more GNOs to come after March 19.  Luckily Marcia and I could work out together tonight.  Tuesday and Wednesday she was teaching classes.  Even though tonight was our longest and toughest workout, we managed to get through it and kept our spirits up.  I swear I couldn’t get through this without Marcia by my side.  She pushes me to do more than I ever thought I could do.  It’s really surprising and rewarding to look back and see where I was three weeks ago.  For some exercises I’ve increased my weights about 20 pounds and it’s just going to keep getting better for 8 more weeks.

Finally, we’ve made it to Friday.  TGIF has a whole new meaning to me.  After five days of long hard work, I know I just have a few more hours until I can rest (and eat).  Tonight was a relatively “easy” and short workout.  Marcia and I were lucky enough to have two special guests join our workout tonight.  Somehow she managed to convince Ryan and Tyler to do our weight-training program with us.  I guess I have to explain a little background information.  You may think I’m crazy but we’re really lucky to have a great little gym family at Midtown.  There is a core group of people, maybe 10-12 of us, who pretty much follow the same group exercise classes every week.  So we see each other every day and love to pick on the one who’s slacking or maybe not sweating enough.  It's all in good fun and we push each other to reach of max potential.  If you have the strength to move after Boot Camp on Wednesday nights then you obviously wasted the previous 60 minutes.  So we’ve all gotten to be really good friends through the gym.  Also, I’ve worked with Ryan and Tyler for the past four years. So anyway, it’s been a little weird not being able to go to class with these people the past three weeks.  Marcia and I were excited to have our special guests tonight.  We breeze through our tricep, chest, and oblique workout and actually had fun doing it.  So if anyone’s interest, feel free to join the pumping iron party anytime!  I really wish the cheat day really began Friday night.  I was dying to eat something good after our workout.  When I went to sleep Friday night I knew I would dream about food…. And I really did, not sure what this dream meant but I was at a restaurant by myself and they only served me these tiny little donut things with honey…. Not so bad, but I couldn’t get a menu and real food.  Also, they kept sending over yummy cocktails and I was mad because I can’t drink them.  Haha I just remembered in my dream, I took a sip of rum and coke and felt terrible guilt about cheating on my diet.  Seriously?  Who does that?  Who has dreams of food and alcohol?  Only me…. And maybe everyone else in the middle of training.

Here’s my week three update…. Another reason I'm thankful to have Marcia workout with me... I'm not the only one taking in the gym taking pictures in a bathing suit.  I’m still not seeing the changes and improvements that I expected.  But I’m not getting worse either so I’ll take that at a positive.  I am happy that the extra cardio this week seemed to help drop a little weight.  I lost a pound or so.... weighed in at 115.6 Saturday morning.  Hopefully when I start practicing my real competition poses the pictures will turn out better. 

Thanks for following my blog and keeping up with  my daily struggles!  I'm less than two months away from the big day.... so I know there will be many more ups and downs and I hope you'll be reading along to see how I get through it.  I hope I get through it all... eyes on the prize.  Gotta stay motivated and focused on the goal.