150 days out

Well, let's see, what can I write about that I haven't already. Nothing substantial has changed all that much, I'm increasing my time with Jed to two weekly sessions for awhile...pretty much until I get the hang of things/see improvements that others can see too/etc.

Eating has been easier, still not making the gains I want to. It's really hard to bulk, as it turns out, when your body was used to 2 meals a day and a bunch of junk food!

Anyway, let's see. I've done a lot better about eating clean, whole, non-GMO foods and that makes me feel amazing (both mind and body). It's rather inconvenient that there's only one Whole Foods Market on this island, but there are plenty of farmers' markets and one local butcher shop my friend has suggested I check out. Everything they sell is local, grass-fed, pasture raised, wild caught. All things that are music to my ears! Food prep day was intense, and I didn't even get around to prepping the fish -- this week I think I'm just going to double up on my chicken intake until I get better recipes for white fish, haha.

A friend of mine, from way back in college is also starting her training for a figure competition in May. I think it's so awesome! More people getting into this lifestyle, whether it's for the sake of competition or just health, or even aesthetics...it doesn't matter! This is a healthy lifestyle that takes dedication and will-power. It's slowly starting to come to me...I think the more minor changes I see in my body the easier it is for me to motivate myself to continue on and push harder. It will also be cool to see her transformation as well!

I never thought eating would be so hard

So far I'm almost done with my third week of training. There's been a more than expected amount of slacking off, especially in the diet department. The weekends are the toughest because I'm usually out and about and even if I do have my food with me (which has been rare) I usually can't find a way to heat it up (microwaves are ever more rare on the beaches...). Admittedly I also haven't really been trying when I do go out to eat to order things that are pretty in line with my diet, so it's all out cheating, not even just a little bit.

When I do follow my diet, it's not strict. Some meals I only eat the protein, most breakfasts I skip the egg; by far the hardest meal to fulfill has been the post workout meal -- protein shake, karbolyn, protein, AND vegetables. It's the most daunting thing ever, and Jed keeps telling me it gets easier but to be honest it seems to be getting harder. I've dropped 3 lbs since starting training, my waist is coming through, but my body fat percentage is still about the same. I know I need to start eating better to get the best results but honestly, it's so freakin' HARD! I always thought I was a good eater...now I feel like I'm failing :(

On the plus side this week has been really good for training. My friend Ross has decided to accompany me to the gym most days, so I have an accountability buddy. If I know someone else is counting on me to go to the gym it's harder for me to come up with reasons why I should "put it off". I know, I know...I shouldn't have any reason since 1. I have a goal to compete and 2. I'm paying someone to help me get to that goal but it's almost like college was for me...haha. I paid my tuition and went to class about 60% of the time...

Starting next week or the week after I'm going to probably do two sessions a week with Jed. It's a lot easier, more fun, and I can get the feedback I feel I need when he's there watching me. I might wait until after the holidays to do that though because it's going to be a lot of money. I definitely have to start budgeting this stuff or I'm going to be in big trouble before the competition even gets close.

Anyway, I'm off to finish my steak...ugggghhhh!

A bit of progress maybe

Well, it's been what...two weeks since I started training. I'll freely admit I haven't been the best at keeping up with the diet or the training. I'm really bad about routine, especially with changing work schedules, but I'll get the hang of it. My new schedule allows me time to go to the gym either before or after work...or perhaps both!

Either way, with the diet (when I stick to it) I feel pretty good. It's still REALLY hard to eat so much food so often, but I do find that when I don't eat consistently I'm starving after 3 hours or so. I have turned into that geek with the lunch box! I might invest in a 6 pack bag, mostly for aesthetics but they seem so handy! My current lunch box holds maybe 3 meals but usually two is about all it can handle, and probably wouldn't be able to fit in a third if I actually used cold packs to keep things cool. Though usually there's a fridge available for use...that's always good.

Training has been really good. So far I've only met with Jed once for a training session but it was incredibly informative. He told me which muscles each exercise he had planned for me was targeting and the best form to use in order to isolate those muscles. With the competition the goal isn't just to get "big" it's to look like I'm not actually muscular but proportionate and still feminine.

Oh yeah, I went to see the Paradise Cup this past weekend. It opened my eyes to a lot of things. A couple of those being: my stomach doesn't need as much work as I thought (second pic shows how it usually looks, that's even after eating my post workout meal); lots of those girls had flat butts so as long as I keep working on mine I think I shouldn't have to worry about that part; and posing is probably going to be the hardest thing for me. It was good to see that and know that some of the girls who were competing in the Paradise Cup will most likely reappear in the Stingrey. There were a lot of them! I don't know how many for sure but they were all up on stage at once during prejudging and there were at least 35 girls. I'm nervous but not if that makes sense. I'm mostly doing this for me so whatever the outcome I know that I tried and it will be a fun experience. I'd definitely like to excel at this but just getting started right now is good enough for me.

Anyway, a few progress pictures here and I'll leave it at that. I'm starting to get definition in my arms/shoulders. No pics of the legs because, well honestly I'm not sure how to pose and take a picture of my legs so they don't just look like regular old legs, haha! Once I figure that out I'll post some of those progress pics up. Until then gonna keep hitting up the gym and choking down oatmeal!