Hello again friends! Week three has started and so have my cravings. Only 9 more weeks….! I got this! I am still finding it a little stressful getting all of my meals prepared and eaten on time between work and life. I know that I need to start waking up earlier as well. These 11 am mornings are not working for me and do not give me enough time to consume all of my macros in a timely manner. This week has been more of a challenge, I think after a couple weeks that I am finally starting to crave some foods and feel less energy on and off. Certain nights I have been eating my last meal really late due to work which is not ideal. I am a bartender as well, so late nights mean late mornings and balancing a changing schedule is tuff. Thank God for my Six Pack Ab meal prep bag . It lets me transport all of my meals and drinks so easily!
My Thoughts on My Journey So Far
I am going to hop on my soap box real quick and let ya’ll know where I am mentally. In one of my Instagram post I briefly talked about how I was feeling slightly discouraged and nervous that I am not doing enough to be where I need to be in 9 weeks. So this next part I want to go more into detail about why I am feeling that way and my thoughts around it.
First and foremost, I do not want to put my health at risk. That is my main concern while prepping. I do not want to mess up my metabolism or my relationship with food so I decided that staying positive and increasing my knowledge on the subject matter is the best I can do to fix this. Secondly, I need to remind myself that I am at the lowest weight I have been in 5 years. Still, I am over here nit picking my body in ways that I normally don’t. I am asking myself, “will this process work? Am I doing it right? Will I be where I need to be in 9 weeks?”.
Writing has been sort of therapeutic in a way by letting me reflect upon my thoughts. I know that I find inspiration in others every day. I want to replicate that feeling for other people so they can feel the same inspiration and motivation that I do. That thinking is definitely helping me through this process.
An old friend commented on one of my posts and she said that it is inspiring to see that you can come from any background but as long as you are willing to put in the effort and work to follow your passion things will fall together and work out. I found this response very inspiring and it fueled me with even more energy to get this prep rolling. I have the knowledge. I just need to buckle down, stay focused, and put forth the effort needed! Thanks guys for helping me out too:)
I really wish that I would have found my passion earlier in life. I don’t regret the decisions I made in my past years because I learned a lot and also created some amazing memories with some amazing people. For me it is just hard to think that I could have been doing this for longer, helping more people, and furthering my career. I don’t want to make this a negative thought but sometimes it is hard not to. I lived behind my fear of failure to follow my passion and I think everyone does in a certain aspect of their life regardless of how big or small it might be. Over coming it is what matters and once you can see the light at the end of the tunnel it will help tremendously. Success comes from not fearing failure or the fear of letting people down. Success comes from believing that you can and will make it. Success comes from tackling one goal at a time. Sorry I am so sappy this week… thank you prep!
The Diet
Once again I am going to stick with slowly decreasing my overall calories and recalculate my weeks macros. I decided for this week to chop off some calories so my total intake will be 1,750 calories a day. I am slowly cutting my carbs down while keeping my fat where it is and increasing my protein slightly. Depending on how this week goes for me I am planning on just sticking with this slow carb cut for the next few weeks! A few food obsessions for me in the last week have been un-sweet tea, turkey bacon, and sugar-free starbursts gum. When you can’t enjoy the foods you love you just need to find alternatives! Since I am following IIFYM(if it fits your marcos) I still have room to fit in my favorite foods. The only problem is that if you don’t plan what you are going to eat for the day and you eat something too extreme like 2 slices of pizza, you literally threw away over half of your calorie expenditure for the day. Next week I am going to post a example of my normal day of eating so stay tuned!
Macro Count – Week 10
Calories: 1,750
- Protein: 160g or 640 cal (37%)
- Fat: 48g or 450 or cal (25%)
- Carbs: 166g or 665 cal (38%)
Measurements: 7.18.16
- Height: 5’3
- Weight: 122.6 (-3 lbs)
- Arm(biceps): 9.25 in
- Chest: 31.5 in
- Bust: 32 in
- Waist: 25 in
- Hips: 29.5 in
- Booty: 33 in
- Thighs: 19.75 in
- Calves: 13 in
Exercise Regimen
I just realized that in my last couple posts I haven’t talked about my workouts! Ooops! That being said I am just going to explain a little about my workout plan so far.The last couple weeks I have been dropping weight at the pace I wanted so I decided to keep my cardio minimal while I can. I teach two cardio strength styled workout classes and I have been adding one 25-30 minute HITT styled workout that equals to about 160 calories.
I am still lifting heavy because I LOVE to lift heavy and I am not going to stop. I want to keep as much strength as I can through this process. I have huge quads so some of my goals are to lean out my legs but also grow my glutes and hammies! On leg day I have been squatting heavy with high reps and let me tell you that it is no joke. You can check out my last leg workout under “Killer Leg Workout”. I have been splitting up my workouts with two lower body (glutes/hammies and legs), and 2-3 upper body (back, bis/tris, and shoulders). Since I am 2 months out from my show I have been staying in the 12-15 rep range mainly. I will venture into the 10-12 rep range when I want to focus on a main heavy compound movement such as dead-lifts or squats.
Goals of the Week:
- Find and pick out posing classes to attend.
- Walk in heels everyday and practice pivoting.
- Buy a competition suit.
- Look into buying a NPC card and filling out the competition application.
I am so excited to where I will be at the end of this week and I can’t wait to see what results from all of this hard work! Talk to you next week friends!
