Last Chance Cheats!

So today is the big day before the big day. Today is the last day that I get to eat what I want when I want it for basically the next four months (and maybe longer). So what did I have for breakfast? A delicious Bavarian cream doughnut. Yes, it was amazing, but soon the taste of sugar will be far, far from my memory. I am excited!! My dad walked into the room and yelled "CHEATER!" at me. He then proceeded to say "Who is this new kid? She looks like Nina, she talks like Nina, she clears her throat like Nina... but she's eating carbs" Oh, my parents are well aware that for the next week I am at home (before I move back to campus) there will be no bad foods allowed to be brought into the house. This will be moderately difficult for them since my CA brother is arriving in town for his birthday on Wednesday.

With the future in mind, and a vision of a totally shredded figure body, I am leaving behind all temptations tomorrow. It's going to be a long journey, but Kim's story of her journey is great. I love her recent article on Strong Girl Fitness, dedicated to us figure girls, so check it out.

Have a Happy New Year!!

Blessed & Inspired

It's Wednesday, which means the diet I've been anticipating for the past four months is creeping near. I haven't been this excited about something since I was a kid waiting for Christmas morning. Seriously, it is a little scary ;)

Since the New Year is upon us, I am going to take the next couple of days to reflect on the past year and the multitude of changes, good and bad, have happened in my life.

One of the biggest things that I have taken away from this past year is the power of inspiration. I remember the first time I saw the amazing physique of a figure competitor... it was just last Fall and I was working out in the university gym. There I saw her for the first time: focused, intense, totally shredded, and absolutely beautiful... pumping out the reps on some side delt raises. I was amazed and immediately knew that's what I wanted. But I had no idea how to get it... so I waited, and I watched... observed and researched. I decided to become a personal trainer to learn how to make myself into the person I wanted to be. Little did I know that I would become that person not only physically, but mentally. I was a skinny little 110 pound weakling who certainly didn't understand anything about figure competitions or fat loss. All I had was an image in my mind of what I could accomplish if I just waited and worked hard. So I purchased training for myself, and began to get adept at movements as I quickly gained strength.

Then summer hit and I was a Teaching Assistant Counselor (TAC) at North Carolina's Governor's School West. My schedule was hectic and my normal trainer couldn't work me in. That's when I met Kim and my whole world changed. I can vividly recall our first session when she put me on the T-bar row and all the pain and soreness I felt afterwards. I loved it and wanted more. Kim gave me more, and more, and more. We quickly developed a friendship based on our mutual love of intensity, independence, and lifting heavy things. I can't say there are too many other people I admire as much as Kim and she inspires me every day to be a better person inside and outside of the gym. At such a young age, I am blessed to have the inspiration, support, and motivation of so many strong women in my life. With this incredible example, I hope that I can be a role model to the young women I interact with over my lifespan. The woman I saw in the gym that Fall was Jill Coleman, who I has influenced my life from afar (without even knowing it). So, to all you competitors, trainers, coaches, teachers, preachers, and friends please keep doing what you do, because you never know what young women you might inspire by just being yourself!

If you are looking for a little extra inspiration this coming New Year, just look around you and you'll be surprised what you see.

Nutty about the Treadmill

I think it's because I hate running so much that I always feel 10x better after doing a treadmill workout. There's just something about treadmills that are intimidating... so when I complete a breathless, burning, wanna-throw-up, rest-inducing set of intervals on the treadmill I just wanna give myself a big high five and tell myself that I rock. I am really glad that I bought the MGT level three for myself this holiday because it is so relieving not to have to think through anything or write anything down. I am completely capable of this, but I don't need to unless I want to, because everything is laid out so simply in my MGT. I awaken, stumble downstairs, drink copious amounts of water, grab my bag and my MGT and head for the gym. 25-35 minutes later BAM! I'm done. Love it.

I'm trying to do the whole "wake up and immeadiately exercise thing" this week because I don't have any work afterwards, so I don't have to worry about getting breakfast inbetween the gym and work, or whatever. I just do ma' thang and then come home where I make my daily egg white concotion (right now I am using dandelion greens & egg whites, it's interesting).

I've also been trying out Justin's Natural Butters squeeze packs that my Aunt gave me to try out. I think this is an incredible idea because it keeps me from over eating (or being tempted to overeat) on PB or Almond Butter. When I look into the jar filled with lovely creamy joy it's hard to stick to the scoop I've just made with my TBSP spoon. But, with the squeeze pack I have a perfect little portion and I can't overdo it. There are different flavors like "chocolate peanut butter," and "honey almond butter" which might make for a good post-work out snack. Loving it!!! I am hoping that they sell them around my area at the Whole Foods, but if they don't there's always the internet ;)

ME Outdoor

So this month of December the folks at ME are offering free Outdoor ME workouts. I secretly believe it is because it is freezing cold outside. Before exams got out I attended one of these free sessions over at the University in 25 degree weather. Somehow I still got overheated (ME will do that, it's amazing). There also happened to be a photographer at that session and I'm sure he got a few shots of the snot dripping down my face as I gasped for air doing sprints. That's right folks, snot. Deal with it.

Anyway, this morning was not quite that cold, and as I've mentioned, I'm not allowed to use weights, so I really pushed it in sprints and focused on flexing my muscles in the other movements. It definitely wasn't as fun without weights, but I was amazed at what a great workout it was nonetheless. The sprints always get me, but in the best way possible. Today I was not gasping for air quite as much because I decided use an inhaler before working out. Yesterday I was not breathing well at all after exercising and my Mom made me take the inhaler. I felt better soon after... so I guess I get asthma in the winter (lame).


Exactly a week left until full competition commences (aka all hell breaks loose)! I am excited and scared (but mostly excited). Lately I've been scouting for my bathing suit and studying posing, which I will need to start practicing soon. All in all I am feeling really positive and plan to perpetuate that feeling for the next four months :D

Habits & Health

So probably the biggest component of being fit and getting the body you want (whatever it is that you want) is to be consistent. The easiest way to be consistent is to be a creature of habit. I, my friends, am an incredibly habitual person. I like my routines to the point that a little disruption can throw me off. I'd like to say that in most areas of life I'm a pretty flexible person, but when it comes to places where I know I'm weak (like eating clean or getting to the gym) I know that I need my habits to keep me on the straight and narrow... and that's why I'm so intense about them.

This is why I really miss working out at the university gym. I know its hours, I know the facility, I know when I'm going to be there. But this morning I get up early (as per usual) to get over to Gold's and lo and behold, they don't even open until 10am. Boy did I feel stupid. Now I have to re-motivate myself to go at 10 and find something to do in the meantime.

Today is one of the days that ME is being offered at Gold's so I'm thinking about hitting that up. I need to be careful with the weights, of course, because I'm not supposed to be lifting. But I figure grabbing a light enough weight will give me the cardio benefit without messing with my rest period.

Boxing Day

So today was my first day back at the gym after all the holiday food and I have to say that it was pretty rough. First, I am carrying all this water weight from my lack of drinking my usual 1-2 gallons of water a day (water helps you shed water), and I am all bloated up from the nasty (yet delicious) food I've been eating for the past few days. I never thought I'd hear myself say this... but I'm tired of the delicious food and I'm glad to be back to my egg whites and broccoli.

Also rough is that I seem to be having some asthma problems. I had really bad asthma when I was a kid, but it completely cleared up by the time I was in High School. However, it seems that the cold, dry air has been getting to my lungs and my sinuses lately. Today on the treadmill I had to stop several times in an asthmatic weeze. I hope that this clears up quickly, I'd prefer not to have to get an inhaler or anything. My dad assures me that he only gets asthma in this type of weather, so I am hoping for the best.

You might recall me saying that my usual gym is closed this week, so I had to find somewhere else to go. Right now I'm at a Gold's Gym in close proximity to my house. It's definitely a lot different from the university gym - it's huge and I can't imagine what a zoo it must be like in there at peak hours! I'm hoping that there won't be too many early risers (they open at 5am on weekdays!). There are also two ME classes being offered next week, and I am going to try and catch at least one.

So my goals for this, my last week before full competition preparation & diet commence is to get in my morning intervals quite early, attend at least one ME class, do incline walking MWF, eat clean, and get in 2 gallons of H20 a day to flush out all the bad-stuff.

Wish me luck in the upcoming week. I'm excited and scared :D

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

So, the catch phrase for this blog is "always the truth. no compromises". So here's the truth - last night I had the realization that I've been the grinchiest, scroogiest person the last few days to my family. It's not even competition time, it's the holidays and even though the fitness crowd is crying out how this is not a time to "slack off," I have to step back and see how my actions are affecting others. I want to be a clean eater, but when so much about family activities and love (at least for my family) involves making and eating the holiday goodies, being this way can seem heartless and cruel. As such, I'm taking a break today and tomorrow, letting myself love my family and not be so selfish. After all, there's only a week until full competition diet starts and it's time to take a chill pill. I've been good to myself, but now it's time to be good to the people I love.

Merry Christmas.

I Love Intervals

I've mentioned intervals a couple of times before on the blog, but it just occurred to me that some may not be familar with what intervals are. I'll tell you what they are: awesome. I've never been a "cardio" person. Watching the monotonous drone of joggers on treadmills or lolly-gaggers on elliptical scares me. No wonder people so easily give up on their exercise resolutions... what people usually consider as "exercise" is absolutely mind-melting bland! Most of my girl friends who casually mention their extra tire or the inch they can pinch always talk about needing to "hit the elliptical" or "do some crunches". I think that most people should know by now that this is going to have little to no effect on body composition, especially not that little layer of fat on the tummy.

This is because 1. steady-state cardio alone cannot re-shape your body and 2. crunches will help you build muscle (which does help your resting metabollic rate) but will not magically make that tummy twinkie disappear. If you'd like to know more of the science of why low-intensity cardio is not the yellow brick road to fat loss, check out this post on the ME Blog.

Intervals are a whole different ball park (a field of dreams - haha). I'm going to give you a quote from the My Gym Trainer book:

"The most powerful results-oriented cardiovascular exercise is interval training... Studies show that interval training - also known as High Intensity Interval Training or HIIT, is superior to steady-state cardio exercise for burning fat. Intervals are characterized by alternating "working" and "resting" segments within the same workout. Interval programs focus on improving body composition (adding muscle, decreasing fat) while also increasing performance."

This means that during the "working" section of the interval you need to be BUSTING IT OUT - pushing yourself until you can't push anymore. That's why there are "rest" segments - because you simply need them. It's an "all or nothing" idea. Push 'til you can't go, rest until you can. This is very important to know, since many people think they are doing HIIT, but are really just doing a more active version of steady-state. Unless you are sweating, out of breath, and needing that rest section... you're just not pushing hard enough. It's OK to take rests and lots of them, but only if you've earned them by pushing yourself all the way.

After a good interval workout you'll feel awesome, invigorated and ready for a great day! I'm loving the ones in MGT, and highly recommend them to everyone!

A Pack a Day (Of Gum)

When I am eating good and clean my conscious is clear, my body feels amazing, but I still have those moments when I just want to eat something. This is usually when the little nomable treats around the house start looking so tasty - because I want a snack. This isn't because I'm hungry, I'm not sure what it is that makes me want to snack (boredom perhaps). However, when I get the urge, or when I am needing something to tide me over to that next meal, I whip out the sugarfree gum. I've been known to go through a pack a day sometimes, so I'm really trying to cut back, but it's a real crutch. My favorite flavor, "Sweet Mint," comes from Orbit.

One of the reasons I should probably cut back on my gum chewage is that sugar free gum is sweetened with Aspartame, and apparently aspartame is one of those sugar alternatives that is questionable, just read this post on the ME Blog. I'm not especially worried, but it's probably a good idea to chill a little on the gum.

There are only three days left 'til Christmas, which means only one more day of work at the library until January 4th. I am semi-excited and somewhat ill-at-ease because I don't cherish the idea of being cooped up in the house for a week. I've been looking around town for a gym with a week-long pass, and I think I've got something to work with, but I'll keep you updated about that ;)

Time for some MGT!

After my little indiscretion with some cookies on Saturday, I'm officially back on track for the week. It's monday morning, which means one glorious thing: the gym is open. I'm going to head over there around 7 to try out some intervals in my new My Gym Trainer :D The book looks really great and it's written by one of my role models, Jill Coleman. Many of my friends/contacts are raving about how great it is, so I decided it was about time for me to get on the bandwagon! I love the intervals that Jill posts on her personal blog and the Metabollic Effect blog, but there are even more to love in the advanced version of MGT. And with all the craziness with the snow and being stuck inside I have a lot of pent up energy and stress to work out in the gym today. There's nothing like being out of breath in the first 5 minutes of a workout - it means the next 20-25 are going to mess you up in the best way possible! Here's to hoping I burn it out today and feel great afterwards ;)

Publish Post

Dandelion Greens & The New Week

I always like to think of Sunday as the beginning of the new week, so today I am turning my back on the delicious delicacies in the house and becoming strong again for the week ahead. I should be grateful, after all, to get to have another cheat day coming up on Friday (Christmas). Until then, however, I must be a very good girl so as to open the gift of self-satisfaction on Christmas morning.

This morning I was finally able to get in a semblance of workout. I drove over to campus and did lunges and stairwell sprints in one of the academic buildings. I also did squat jumps, body-weight squats, dips & pushups to failure. It didn't take much to get my heart rate up and pounding - just reminding me of how hard it's going to be to get back into the intensity of working out with Kim once full competition prep starts. Eek! I also got to go grocery shopping this morning to stock up on much needed green leafy vegetables and lean protein. Looks like it's going to be mostly ground turkey and cabbage this week, but I'm looking forward to experimenting with all the herbs my mom has in her cabinet. Last night I made myself a really delicious ground chicken crumble with a little bit of chopped onion and saltless curry powder. I have some left over for today which I am also looking forward to ;)

This week is going to be interesting. I'm at work all day from Monday - Wednesday, which means those will be the easiest days to get in my workouts and make sure I eat clean. Then there's Christmas Eve, which I'm sure will be a land of temptation, and then it's the big day itself. Looming after Christmas is a week off work... and the gym will be closed. I need to figure out, and soon, exactly what I'll be doing that week. I know I'll be chilling with the weights, but I need to make sure I'm getting in some good cardio. As such, I'm looking around for a place to go for just that week... we'll see how that pans out, wish me luck!

Stuck in the Snow

So yesterday an all-out snow/ice storm hit my area of NC. Since I'm living at home (not on campus) for the moment, I have to rely on the car to get back and forth from campus and work. But yesterday we were having car issues- my sister and I both had doctor's appointments, the school system was letting our younger siblings out early from school and we needed to get the breaks fixed on the van. As such, I had to miss work and working out so that thing could work out with the family cars. Then the snow happened, and baking happened, and way too much good food happened. I've got to admit, even I have my limits on sanity and food, and I reached it this weekend with my family and food. As such I pigged out a little too much on some really good food - it was all worth it, but it also reminded me that life is so much easier when I am on campus and can control what's around me. Also, life is much easier when I am at work and not stuck at home surrounded by food and trapped in my house. It's torture and I'm counting down the days until I'm back at wake and free from this intense temptation... not that I don't love my family, I just have limitations.

Day of the Cheat

Today is the much anticipated day of the cheat meal! Around 6:00pm I will commence being able to enjoy a delicious meal of my choosing, and I am very excited. My co-worker, Heather, baked me some cookies for Christmas. She says its a weight watchers recipe so it's already a little more healthy than the generic run-of-the mill cookies, but you know me - a cookie is a cookie. My other co-worker Mary also baked me cookies for Christmas so I have those to devour as well. Today is going to be quite the cookie day! Recently my mom's been up to no good in the kitchen, baking all sorts of little muffins and fruit breads and other delicious and forbidden goodies. There is a lot to be enjoyed if I so choose to!

This reminds me of a great website that I was referred to by a friend "1000 Awesome Things". Apparently #935 is Eating cookies like Cookie Monster. I thought the post was hilarious and it reminds me of something I firmly believe in - that food can be a doorway to the emotions. I think this is what often keeps people from living the life they want and having the relationship they need to have with food. In this post, the author talks about food being a "freedom" - and I agree. Food is the freedom to make healthy choices... and then once in a while, to be a little naughty!

Injury Update

So a few months ago I injured my deep inner thigh muscle on my left leg and have been going to physical therapy twice a week for a while now. My sports chiropractor is really excellent and yesterday he told me that we were making good progress. I injured my leg by sprinting and so now I am supposed to start sprinting at the same level/frequency I was two months ago... but I'm finding it really difficult to get to that point mentally. Something about sprinting really pyschs me out. I usually put the treadmill up to a 10 incline and then bust it out for about 10 minutes around 10-10.5. 10 minutes is usually all I can handle before I've fried my legs. Then I cool it down with a walk to the stairwell and do 2-4 rounds of stairwell sprints up 6 flights of stairs. Recently I've been down at the 2 mark and still seen my legs shaking afterwards.

Since my cold last weekend I've been taking it a little easier with the cardio as well, but I know that when January 4th hits, I'm going to need to be ready to face the grueling facts and step up my game again. But, for now, I am going to stay with my sprints 2x a week and breathe easy.

I haven't "ran" for a long time either (I don't consider sprinting "running" because running sucks and sprinting is fun). However, Jill posted this interval a while ago and I wasn't able to try it due to the injury, so this is what I'm going to do today:

Begin:

0-5 min - speed 6.5, incline 0
5-10 min - speed 7.0, incline 0

Then, bring incline up to 15.0 and alternate the following:

30 sec at 8.0
45 sec at 2.0

Complete 12 intervals

Walk on flat/cool-down until you reach 30 minutes

Just so everyone is clear, I really suck at running. My time is bad, I don't have great technique and I am usually huffing and puffing within a few minutes. Luckily you don't have to be a good runner to build muscle and compete!! Here is a picture of me running a 5k in October - there's not too much muscular definition to be seen, but a lot has changed - Training for a 5k isn't exactly conducive to muscle building ;)

fitLibrary & more fitHelpers

fitLibrary:

So my job at the library has been very work-intensive these last few days. During the first half of the day I work in Reference, where I have to admit, I have it pretty easy. After doing a few projects here and there for my supervisors, I basically get to sit at the desk and read or work on something. I've been working on a personal essay these last few days. Yesterday I got so into it that I almost forgot to eat one of my meals! Luckily my shift change came right around my meal, so I didn't entirely miss it.

My second half of the day is a little more intense (although it usually isn't). I work in Circulation/Stacks where we deal with checking in and out books and shelving them. Well, the week after exam there is a TON of books to be checked in, sorted, and shelved. Monday we had basically finished just checking them in and getting them onto sorting shelves. After the books are on the shelves we have to sort them onto book trucks and then put them away on the shelves. This is very time consuming, and as you might imagine, downright dull. The shelving part isn't so bad because I can listen to my jams on my ipod, but the other part is a lot of standing up, bending over, standing up, sitting on the floor. If you have just fried your hamstrings and/or quads... this can be absolute torture. I had a great deal of difficulty even staying up until 8pm last night and even then I slept all the way 'til 6am this morning. Whew, I was tired! Luckily we made a lot of progress yesterday so hopefully we'll be able to relax a little today.


(More) fitHelpers

Today I thought I'd share one of my favorite websites with you. I love this site because I am a super visual person (art major!) and it allows me to appreciate from a safe distance. FoodPornDaily is a repository of pictures of all things delicious. I'd highly recommend going there and following their advice of "click, drool, repeat." Trust me, it's amazing.

Since I mentioned chocolate in my last post I thought I'd mention a great find by Kim: Godiva sugarfree chocolate which I've learned from the Godiva website are "no longer available." Luckily our local Fresh Market still sells them. If you get the chance, try them out because they're mighty tasty and mostly sugar alchohol which means less glucose impact carbs - yay to that!

fitMusings & fitHelpers

So it's about 6:00am, but I've been up since 5, which for me is sleeping in. During the semester I was on a hardcore "wake up at 4 and get everything done" kick. Of course, I was also going to be supremely early. Well, last night I went to bed at 8pm, much to the chagrin of my younger high school sister with whom I share a room. My poor family doesn't know what to do with me. Yesterday when I was preparing for the day I tried to be as quiet as humanly possible, but at the bottom of the stairs is a one of those baby-proof gates that my mom set up to keep our demonic (yet adorable) dachshund from leaping up the stairs. Of course I made an excessive amount of noise as I tried to stealthily maneuver it. And then, when making my kale egg white omelet in the kitchen, I open the refrigerator door to have half the contents come crashing down on me. Needless to say, the parents were not pleased. To further irritate the situation we got a phone call from the school system letting us know that my high school siblings had a 2 hour delay... due to the fog? This was proceeded by a phone call from my CA brother who apparently didn't know my cell phone number. All this before 7am.

Yesterday at dinner it was more sighing around the table as I walked in late from the grocery store, 3 pounds of broccoli in hand. They had sat down at our gargantuan table to eat plain white angel-hair pasta with bacon and Parmesan cheese. There was no temptation there, but I could tell the look of distrust from my 5 family members (currently residing the the house) as I munched into my crispy, uncooked broccoli. My mom said "can't you at least... steam that or something... so it's not so loud?" Uhm... I could? She then offers me some canned peas saying "you should eat these, they're a good starchy vegetable." I reply matter-of-factly "no thanks, I don't eat starch... and this broccoli is filling," my Dad looks over and says "so what exactly CAN you eat?"

These types of discussions have been going on for weeks. Last night my mom tells me that "I made muffins for breakfast, make sure you get some in the morning." She's so loving and sweet, but she should know by now that all I need is my protein and my leafy green fiber.

Working at the library is a saving grace. It's structured and my co-workers have become very supportive over the last 4 months to me whipping out some tupperware to have a meal. In fact, I should start a tally of each time my boss Travis says "bless her heart" each time I bring out the broccoli. What's so hard about broccoli anyway - I swear, it is filling!

Today, my friends, is a "no carb" day for me. I try to eat (non-veggie) carbs only on MWF as part of my carb cycling. Even then I limit it to sweet potatoes only, since I seem to have a bit of digestive difficulty with grains. It can be a real pain in the butt to avoid carbs though... but I've developed some personal methods to get me through those rough days. First, knowing that tomorrow is sweet potato day makes me feel better about the lack of carbs today. Second, if I am craving some carbs I often have a glass of Saphara's Green Gen Mai Cha tea, which because of the toasted brown rice it has a carb-like flavor without the carbs. If I don't have this tea on hand and I'm at the library (where we have a starbucks), I often get a venti china green tips tea. The heartier tasting the green tea, the more it tastes like a carb.

Some people deal with their cravings by having nuts or nut butter - some might say "ooh that's a carb," but it's really more of a fat than a carb, and it's used a bit differently in the body (or so I've been told). I, however, cannot TOUCH a nut butter without having the overwhelming desire to eat the entire jar. Kim recommended that I eat raw almonds because "you can't OD" on them. Lies. I can and have over-eaten on raw almonds. As such, I try to avoid nuts and nut-butters, but if there are some shelled nuts around that require me to use a nut cracker I can usually contain myself due to the sheer amount of physical effort it takes to get to that nut ;) It's also a little stress relieving!

Another great way to deal with the cravings is with chocolate. I mean raw, dark, 100% raw cocoa (not a mr. goodbar). My favorite kind of cocoa is the Hershey's dutch processed cocoa, which is a slightly different flavor and I think more palatable. It's probably better to go for an organic cocoa or something fair trade, but I'm on a college budget and that's my excuse ;)
I mix about two tbps of raw cocoa with a little bit of cold water until I've made a paste and then I pour hot water over and stir. I'll often add a little cayenne pepper (I'm addicted to it), and a touch of stevia. I often do not get enough of a craving to go for the cocoa, but when I am in a state of emotional stress (like exam week), I often turn to the cocoa as my replacement "comfort food". Just make sure to limit it to about 2 cups a day.

Also delicious and good for you is chocolate you can buy in the candy aisle (not mr. goodbar). I really like Lindt's 85% cocoa bar. I do not eat any chocolate less than 82% cocoa, and I even enjoy the 90% and 99% varieties. Trust me, you get used to it and it's a HUGE treat. I find I don't even like "normal" chocolate when I get to have it.

fitPlaylist of the Day

So recently I asked a group of supportive friends to "Give me Some Groove" and create playlists/mix-cds for me to listen to as I did cardio and intervals, which are by far the most difficult and boring part of working out for me. Today I am going to do some intervals during my lunch break at work and my friend Cortney was sweet enough to burn me a meaningful mix before she left on x-mas vacay. I really love this mix because it's so personal, Cortney and I listened to many of these songs on the way into work at night shifts (some of them are inside jokes). Also, some of them are about self-empowerment and moving on - love it, thanks Cortney!

Here is the track listing:

1. Bedrock - Young Money
2. Say Aah - Trey Songz
3. Echo - R. Kelly
4. Love Comes Down - Dirty Money
5. Obsessed - Mariah Carey ft. Gucci Mane
6. Hush Hush - Pussycat Dolls
7. Hurricane - 30 Seconds to Mars
8. Crawl - Chris Brown
9. Transform Ya - Chris Brown

fitBreak & Surviving Family Food

So I just finished my pen-ultimate exam week of my college career. I’ve moved back home for the next month or so and I’ve got to say that I know the adjustment is going to be a little tough. First of all, my family is still somewhat suspicious of this whole “figure competition thing”. Also, one of the things that made eating clean easy in my dorm room is that I could control everything that was in there. However, my family situation is quite different. In fact, most of the food here consists of fluff carbs, fat, and fruit. Granted, there is a good amount of clean protein, but vegetables are few and far between. On top of this there is literally not a free inch in the fridge to store any vegetables that I will buy. I am not sure how this is going to work out, but I am going to have to finagle myself some greens. I’ve been thinking that I could just buy a bunch of broccoli and keep it in the fridge at work, since that’s primarily where I’ll be doing most of my eating this break.

My work schedule is 9-5 at the library, with an hour break from 12-1 during which I’ll try to get in a little extra cardio. I’m sure I’ll be going in a little early to train some clients at the nearby gym. However, starting next Friday (the 18th) I take an “active rest period” from weight lifting, in which I’ll stop lifting until January 4th (day one of full competition preparation!). In the meantime I’ll be getting my groove on with some interval cardio, incline walking and whatever I feel. I’m looking forward to the break even though I feel a little unnerved by it. However, my trainer assures me this is the best course of action.

Right now my cheat meal dates are 12/18/09, 12/25/09 and 1/1/09. I’ll keep you updated with my reflections during this time of dietary difficulty (there are so many temptations!). I’m planning on posting a few personal essays over the next month as well, so keep an eye out for them!