Wed. April 29, 2009

Yesterday my main mid-morning work-out really sucked because Zak wasn't asleep so I got 10 minutes warm-up cardio, and only half of my leg/butt weight workout in (with cardio bursts instead of rests). I was really bummed as I knew I wouldn't have time to get much more of a workout in. But by late last night I felt totally worked-out... how did this happen? Well, I did something I've never really believed in, but I guess now this is the way I should do things! You know how people say every little bit counts - do squats while you're waiting for something to cook, take the stairs instead of the elevator, etc. and it all adds up at the end of the day. I've usually been of the mentality that I need to be sweating it out consistently in the gym for an hour and a half or so to feel I really got a useful workout that will make a difference. With a baby this can sometimes be quite challenging and I find myself going down to the gym 2 or 3 times a day sometimes to get enough of a workout. Yesterday there was no time for a few visits to the gym and I had no option but to try to do little things throughout the day to make up for my shortened workout and it really did work! My body felt more exhausted last night than it does on days when I get to the gym for a full workout! So, after my gym time, I tried to do leg exercises anywhere I was standing - squats with Zak for weight while waiting for the laundry, leg extensions waiting for the elevator, squat jumps anytime, plus I ran with the jog stroller to the studio (30 minutes), taught my 3 classes, then ran home after (25 minutes)! I think even if I get my full workout in I'll just keep doing stuff throughout the day like this to add to my training! You just have to be willing to be a sweaty mess all day!

On another note, I feel I've hit a bit of a weight plateau... I've been hovering around 159/160 lbs for about 2 weeks now and it hasn't budged this week yet. I'm hoping I'll weigh myself today and will have lost 3 pounds magically, but I doubt it! I guess I have to really tighten up my diet a bit more! No more peanut butter or honey (my only clean eating guilty pleasures) and up my cardio!

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Some updates first... I ate really super-clean all week and weekend, until Sunday when I decided to have a cheat meal. I wasn't too bad having multigrain nachos with guacamole and salsa, but then I returned to old habits and felt I needed sweets! I had some cake, but that didn't seem to do do it for me, so I had some fudge, that wasn't hitting the spot either, I had a cookie - nope, and I think after all this bad sweet stuff I see I'm not so crazy about sweets anymore (which is crazy if you know me!) My tummy felt sick the rest of the night and all of Monday after eating so badly, but it was worth it because I learned something valuable about myself and I can stop dreaming about sweets as they aren't so good once I allow myself to have them!

Yesterday I finally implemented my early-morning run strategy to get more cardio in. Got up at 4:30am (before my baby) and ran for 45 minutes. It was so easy without pushing the jog stroller, it felt like flying! Then I did my second workout of 30 more minutes of cardio and shoulders with cardio spurts between sets instead of rests. Me and my girls who are doing the competition with me got together at the studio and worked on our quarter turns and posing. We videotaped it to check out what we had to work on. My main problems are my shoulder inbalance and my whole lower body! I feel my upper body is looking muscular and starting to lean out, but everything from the bellybutton down is being really stubborn! Hopefully my special butt and ab blasting weight workouts and my extra cardio will help out with this! I can't believe I only have 2 months until my first competition and I'm this far from my goal! I'm also getting a little concerned about my fitness routine... I haven't worked on it for a while and last night I went over it a bit and I can't do any of the hard moves in it yet - must commit to working a little bit on it every day from now on!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

So, my baby has had a cold for the past 3 days and it has been quite challenging to keep up with my usual workouts, as well as adding extra cardio (which was my plan for this week to kick my fat-burning up a notch!), but I think I've been doing pretty good considering the circumstances (crazy crying sad baby that doesn't want to eat or sleep much!) I've gotten about an hour of cardio total each day this week, plus intense weight workouts with cardio blasts instead of rests between sets! I've had to go down to the gym when someone else is here with the baby (usually later in the day) which is weird for me cause lately I've been used to going down with the baby and working out really early. I think I will try to get down to the gym early (4am?) before he gets up once he's through this cold (cuz he's up all night lately)to do my extra cardio. I went to an IDFA Figure workshop this past Saturday and it was really inspiration and useful (especially since I've never competed with this particular association or in the figure category yet) I learned a lot of personal tips on my posing and have been practising what I learned every day since! I've been practising my walking in heels and posing a bit over the past few months, but not enough. You think the prep for a competition is all about working out and getting your appearance ready, but posing is a whole new skill to learn! I have reached my goal for last week (160lbs) yesterday so that was good (better late then never)! I still have about 25 lbs to lose by June 26th!!! That will be hard, but I will do it!

Thursday, April 2, 2009

OK, so I've made the decision... I will compete in the earlier competition - Ms Fitness in Ottawa on June 27th! Saturday will be my official 12-weeks to go mark! I'm so excited and pumped about doing this competition. Also, a little terrified as I have tons of weight to lose and lots of firming up in the lower body to do, plus my fitness routine!!!! Yes, my fitness routine WILL be totally choreographed by April 11 (that gives me a week!) I really need to get moving on that as that's so challenging for me and I don't want it to be lame!

Yesterday I took photos of me in a bikini and compared them to the bikini shots I took 3 months ago at the start of this journey and wow, what a motivator that was!!! I can't believe how fat I was in the starting point pics, AND how far I've come! No, I'm definitely not in fitness competitor shape yet, but I'm worlds away from how I looked just 3 months ago! That's crazy to me that there can be such dramatic improvements in so little time! I measure myself monthly so I know the inches have been coming off fast, but I think a picture is worth a million words (or numbers in this case!) I highly recommend people take photos of themselves in a bikini to see what's what with their body and monitor progress!

Recently someone was asking how I deal with negativity from others, and although I'm not faced with too much negativity (I try to surround myself with positive people and usually my students are a pretty vibrant, positive bunch!), but I have had some negative vibes thrown my way at times (about my goals, fitness competitions, and of course bellydance!) I've just been thinking a lot about what it all means and how to cope with it... People don't always respond well to the unknown - and I think the world of fitness competitions is quite unknown and mysterious to most... Or people have the wrong idea about what it really is... Kinda like bellydance (when people think you're an exotic dancer, or that you're going to steal their husband after the show)! I also think people sometimes see us going for our dreams and working towards a big goal and get jealous that they aren't doing that themselves (whatever their goal might be). Too many people don't "feel the fear and do it anyway" (one of my mottos), they stay in their safe (easy) place in life. People often set low boundaries in life for themselves and then project them onto others thinking if they can't (or won't try) to do something, no one else can. I wish people would ask more of themselves so they wouldn't have to project their own feelings of inadequacy and regret onto others and we could all be happy, feeling positive, and reaching all of our goals together! I strive everyday to show people crazy goals that no one thought were possible are possible if you set your mind to it! Even the simple things, like after I had gained over 70 extra pounds while pregnant, everyone telling me that it would take at least a year to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight if I ever did... Well, I've already proved them wrong, I'm at my pre-pregnancy weight at 7 months out (4 of which I wasn't even working at it)and now I'm going to get even more fit and compete in June! I tend to tell people all about all my successes and achievements no matter how small, not because I like to brag (well, maybe that too a little - ha ha!), but because I want others to see how possible everything is if you decide to go for your goals!!! I can't wait to go public with my before, mid-point, and after pics because anyone who has any weight they wantt o lose will see how possible it is with healthy eating and regular exercise!