LOL... love this

I have read this a few times on a few different websites/blogs... and honestly EVERY time I die laughing because it is all SO TRUE! For those of you who compete you will get a kick out of it and for those who don't... welcome to my world ;)

25 ways to know your a figure competitor

1. For a few days each year your toilet seat is brown and this time it ins't the husbands fault.
2. You can honestly say you have spent more on a bathing suit than your wedding dress.
3. Five inch clear hooker heels are your footwear of choice in your own home (and not just in the bedroom).
4. Someone asks about the man in your life and you tell that Gym is fine!
5. You have two sections in your wardrobe. Contest-season and Off-season. And they aren't mix and match.
6. Your top three priorities on any given day:
A. Workout.
B. Eat Clean.
C. Check the fitness forum board.
Not necessarily in that order.
7. You can name any pro figure competitor by seeing her butt alone.
8. When someone wants to take your picture, you immediately spread your lats, tighten every muscle in your body, point your fingers and SMILE!
9. You take more pills daily than your 80 year old grandmother.
10. Your idea of dressing up is taking your hair out of the pony tail its been in for a week.
11. If you have had someone close to you, hide food from you in your own house.
12. An easy day is lifting and only 1 cardio session.
13. Instead of carrying a Gucci pursue you accessorize with a Coleman cooler.
14. Waking up so sore you can barely move puts a smile on your face.
15. You cant do any work because you are to busy counting down the seconds until your next meal.
16. The faint smell of Pro Tan gets your heart pumping faster than your man's cologne.
17. You leave a little trail of Splenda packets, tupperware, and empty water bottles everywhere you go.
18. Your hubby makes you pee in the guest bathroom because every meal includes asparagus.
19. You consider Beano an essential part of your supplement regimen.
20. Your jaws are sore because you can't stop chewing sugar free gum!
21. You spend at least 5 minutes grilling your server at a restaurant, and another five minutes re-writing the menu until you've got a meal that meets your diet's specifications, and then you devour it in less than 60 seconds flat!!
22. You consider a day when you only have to make ONE trip to the gym a luxury!
23. You think about having relaxed hands and sticking your butt out while standing in line at the grocery store.
24. You consider condiments and diet coke taboo!!!
25. And your neighbors start gossiping that you've had lipo cause there is no way a girl could get that fit in 12 weeks!

4-5 Weeks

WOW... time is flying... I am 4 weeks out from the LA show and 5 weeks out from Vegas. I still feel like I have soooo much work to do, running out of time and already TIRED but that is okay, I am giving it my all! No turning back for me, its all or nothing! The last week or so has been a bit... uh... rough??? I have been really emotional and sensitive and not too fun to be around, but hopefully I can snap out of it. I think it was just re adjusting to the summer routine, kids fighting, tattling, crying... you know how it goes. I feel like it is beginning to calm down and we are establishing a new routine so it is going to be okay!

I have tried a few new recipes this week, and have to share them because they were AWESOME. The first one I kindof just threw together. We will call them "these saved my butt muffins" because honestly... I have wanted nothing more than a big fat piece of cake and these did the trick for me.

Muffins

1 C oats
3 scoops vanilla protein powder
3 egg whites
3/4 C apple sauce, unsweetened
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 to 3/4 c baking splenda

I added 2 tsp of my sugar free cookie dough syrup as well but if you don't have that you could just throw some vanilla in. I also added about 1/2 C sugar free chocolate chips. :)

Mix everything together, fill muffin cups 3/4 way and bake on 350 for about 15-20 minutes. I was able to get about 12 muffins out of this! They were yummy warm but fell apart and were hard to eat. The next day after setting they came out of the muffin cups really easy and were even better!



I ordered a few of the Torani Sugar Free syrups. I got Chocolate Chip cookie dough, Peanut butter and Brown sugar and cinnamon. I have only opened the cookie dough and it is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! It smells just like a yummy cookie. I have been adding it to my morning Oatmeal protein pancakes. I will let you know as I open the others how they are. I have some ideas of how to use them but need a little more practice before I share my ideas!

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend. We are beach bound! :)

What I miss

My new favorite thing to eat....

This changes weekly... but this week I am obsessed with my version of PB & Chocolate oatmeal.... YUM!

1/3 C Quick Oats
1/2 C Water (approx)
1 scoop Chocolate protein powder
1 Tbsp Almond butter, I like chunky (or PB... whatever you prefer)
1 Packet Truvia (or Stevia)

Mix oats with water and heat in microwave for 1 minute. Stir in Almond Butter, add protein powder and truvia. You may need to add a little water or milk to get it to the right consistency for you. SOOOOO good!

This weekend has been busy and stressful, but so worth it. I had such a great time yesterday with Gina and the girls... and look forward to my next competition (and getting it over with so I can eat)... speaking of eating... I get asked a lot by people "what is the one thing you miss eating?". I have to say (and I am pretty sure that almost every single competitor will agree with me) that it is cereal. I miss the sweet, crunchy, milky... ahhhh... just cereal. I could live off it. I have never been a cereal eater, I was never even much of a breakfast person before I started competing. My weakness is Chocolate Chex. If you have never had it, DON'T... well DO... but DON'T. ha ha ha! It is the best cereal EVER, hands down. I crave it, so much in fact that I have to avoid Winco (the only store I can find it at here) just because I am not strong enough to pass it by!

I could list a million other things right now that I would not pass up, but that is by far what I can't wait to eat again. That and sandwiches... and cookies... :)

Posing

What an incredible day! I went to San Diego to meet up with Gina Aliotti (a figure PRO.. and incredible gal) along with a few friends and go over our posing and presentation. What an awesome experience. To have the one on one time with her was priceless. Worth every penny. I learned a lot, got some tips and am so amped for USA's.... watch out!!!! :)

Dark Cloud

Today has been rough. Been feeling really frustrated with things and comments people make. Maybe I am just over sensitive. Either way, it stinks. On the plus side, tomorrow I get to get together with some amazing ladies and work out and practice posing. I am hoping this dark cloud over my head lifts by then.

I have to give a shout out to a girl that I met on Facebook, her name is April and she has to be one of the most creative women I know. If you have a minute to check out her website do, she is inspiring and her recipes are INSANE. I asked her permission to write about some of the ones I am able to try. She said it was cool, so today I made her Protein pumpkin muffins... O.... M..... GOSH! AmAzInG! Here is the recipe...

1 scoop (30ml) Vanilla Protein powder
1 Tbsp pumpkin
3 Tbsp Egg whites
1/4 tsp baking powder

I added a little cinnamon, and next time I might add some pumpkin pie spice just for fun

In a microwavable mug, mix everything together and microwave 30-40 seconds. Use a good sized mug because it does "grow". Top it with Peanut butter, cool whip, yogurt, etc...

I had mine just now with a little sugar free cool whip on top... it was HEAVENLY... thanks for the great recipe April!

www.foodsofapril.com

6 ish weeks...

Wow... what a great week it has been! Busy but great. I have had some of the best workouts ever. Michelle and I are really killing it at the gym. I am TIRED everyday! My diet is getting more and more strict, which makes me more and more irritable but I am trying to focus on the reason why I am doing this. I have not had my body fat checked and I have not weighed myself in MONTHS so I am honestly going by how I feel. Sometimes I think that is so much easier. I do not handle numbers well. I get really STRESSED when I step on the scale and it tells me something I don't want to see. My new favorite thing to eat (besides me oatmeal pancakes) is sweet potatoes cut up and broiled until they are a little crispy. Thank you Michelle for that suggestion because now it is all I want to eat! :)

Saturday is going to be awesome! I am heading to San Diego with a few fellow competitors to have a 2 hour posing/presentation session with one of the most incredible pro's I know Gina Aliotti. I am really looking forward to getting with her and having her help, advice and suggestions for my upcoming competitions. I need that so much right now. It is so hard to know what to work on when it varies from show to show. I never feel like I really know what the judges are looking for. Hopefully after saturday I will have no doubts.

I will be trying out a few new recipes this week too, so I will post them and let you know how they turned out!

My progress... thus far!

So this is my progression video, I had to share because I was SHOCKED when I went back and looked at my back pose from my first show in comparison to my most recent show. I have worked soooooooo hard... I think it is finally paying off! Each pose has four shots, one from each show. Let me know your thoughts, suggestions, things I need to work on, love me some feedback :)

Chocolate Protein Brownies

I got this recipe from another site and doctored it up to my liking... turned out really good.

2 scoops Chocolate Protein powder
1 C Quick Oats (blend 1/2 C in blender until fine)
4 Packets your favorite sweetener (I used Truvia)
2 Eggs (I used 1 whole egg and 2 egg whites)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 C Applesauce
1/4 C Peanut Butter (melted in microwave)
1 tsp Vanilla
1/2 C chocolate Chips (optional, I used sugar free ones)


Mix all ingredients together until smooth, pour into 8x8 baking dish (sprayed with Pam) and bake on 350 for approx 12 minutes. They turned out really good to me. My kids didn't find them sweet enough but for those who are dieting it was perfect. I got about 9 brownies out of it.... I may have already eaten all 9. :)

Chicken Casserole

This is by far my favorite thing to eat. EVER.

3-4 chicken breasts, cubed and cooked
1 pkg Uncle Bens microwaveable brown rice, cooked
1 small jar salsa (any kind)

sliced avocado (optional)
Corn tortillas
Lettuce
Yogurt ranch dressing (or regular Ranch)

In small casserole dish, combine the chicken, rice and salsa. Bake for about 20 minutes on 350. In a pan over medium heat, heat up some corn tortillas (I like to spray mine with Pam so they are a little crispy).

Fill tortilla with chicken mixture, top with salad, avocado and yogurt ranch dressing. It is also SUPER good just to eat over the top of a salad with yogurt ranch dressing and omit the corn tortilla. YUM YUM YUM!

Mmmm.... oatmeal

Protein Oatmeal

1/3 C Quick Oats
2/3 C Water
1 Scoop whey protein powder (any flavor)

Cook oats and instead of using milk I add the protein powder. Makes it really creamy and yummy!

The post show Depression

The time in between competitions is probably the hardest part! Yes, for one day you are on a stage, your skin it tight, your muscles are full, and you are starving and thirsty... but dang you look good! No one talks about what happens after the show is over. I will tell you. Its called uncontrollable BINGE... we all do it, and then comes the "post show ten".... POUNDS.... yes... within a week most of us competitors gain at least 10 pounds. To go from the stage to ten pounds heavier is so mentally draining and traumatizing. Over the past year I think I have experienced every emotional roller coaster known to man. My poor husband has been along for the not so thrilling ride. Even my mom has had to see it (sorry mom). You can go from happy to I am going to kill someone mad in seconds. The post show depression is BRUTAL. I get in a "funk" for about a month, I don't want to see anyone, don't want to talk to anyone, just want to sit home and cry. In my pajamas (because they are the only thing that fits).

Your body goes through so much to get ready for a show. I don't think you can even begin to comprehend it until you have done one. Yet, I keep doing it. Its addicting. The feeling I get from being surrounded by all of those amazing women who work so hard, getting on that stage knowing that I pushed myself harder for this show than the last, getting recognized for all my hard work, accomplishing a goal, setting a good example for my children, all of these are why I keep on doing what I do. I absolutely LOVE the way I feel when I am leaning out and getting my body ready for the stage. I LOVE it! It makes all that awful stuff in between worth it!

8 WEEKS

Holy cow... 8 weeks is going to FLY by. I have so much work to do still! My main goals for this competition are to widen my back, round out my shoulders, fill out my stomach a bit more, tighten my glutes, and shred the heck out of my legs. All of that in only 8 weeks. The stress has hit. I am excited though.

So, Saturday afternoon my girlfriend Amanda sent me a text asking if I was interested in taking one of our other friends places in a 1/2 Marathon.... ON THE NEXT DAY. My initial thought was "YEAH THE HECK RIGHT"... anyone who knows me, or has worked out with me KNOWS how much I HATE cardio. It is NOT my favorite thing to do. I LOVE lifting weights... I love the feeling you get from it but cardio? RUNNING? SOOOOOOO not my thing. However, I need it. A lot of it. After initially telling her no I started thinking about it. I could use the cardio. I could burn A LOT of calories. I could push myself to do something I hate. I need to challenge myself. So I did it. That's right. Sunday morning... bright and early there I was standing in a SEA of people waiting for our chance to hit the starting line. To run. 13.1 miles. Thats right. Me, the one who hates cardio. The one who has bad knees and uses it to get away with not running. ME. I did it. In exactly 3 hours. Whooooo hoooooo! And I was in PAIN. The worst pain of my life. BUT I DID IT. And I kind of liked it (shhhhh)!

INSOMNIA

Well, it has hit! The point in my training where I am a nervous wreck and can't sleep. I haven't had it hit me this early since my first show. You would think I would have the routine down by now after having done so many. It feels like the first one all over again. So many people want to offer up new "tips", advice, diets, etc and I honestly feel overwhelmed. I have forgotten "what works" and am feeling like I don't know what I am doing. I am sure in a week I will feel completely different. I started my diet pretty hard core this week. Eliminating all sugar (including fruit) and dairy. HARD! I am eating 6 times a day, straight protein, veggies and good carbs (sweet potatoes and brown rice). I am sure I will have to start getting creative just so I don't get too bored with the diet.

I have to give a couple of shout outs. I am very fortunate to have a couple of sponsors. PERFECT TAN here in Temecula has given Michelle and I an awesome sponsorship to help out with our tanning for the shows and Xango has given me a small sponsorship to help me out with Nationals. If you don't know what Xango is you need to look into it. They have A-M-A-Z-I-N-G products. Their mangosteen juice and Eleviv supplements are something I use daily and swear by. If you want more information just ask!!

More to come...

Frozen Yogurt

1 C Plain Nonfat yogurt

1 scoop Chocolate protein powder

Mix well and freeze.

So good, top it with bananas and some sugar free chocolate syrup and enjoy!

Oatmeal Protein Pancakes

The only way to start my day :)

1/3 C Oatmeal (quick oats)

1/3 C + 1/6 C Water

Microwave for approx 1 minute (it will be thick)

Add 1 Egg white

1 scoop Vanilla Protein powder (any flavor is good)

dash cinnamon

Mix well and cook on skillet like you would a pancake. I eat them with sugar free syrup. Makes around 3 small pancakes

9 Weeks Out

I decided to blog about my journey to Nationals for a couple of reasons. Mostly because I think it is great to journal what I am doing, and how I am doing it so that I can refer back to it, and also because I think it might help keep me in check.

The last year has been a whirlwind of emotions. Both good and bad. I began training for my first show a year ago. I never imagined that I would come this far! I am very proud of myself for achieving some very big goals. One year later I am headed to Nationals in hopes of getting my Pro-card! Wish me luck!

I will be writing weekly updates, posting a few of my favorite recipes, and hopefully staying on track :)

Bring it on!!!!