Journey to Nationals – Miami 2016 #2

Although I am very excited for the show, this past week and a half has been getting pretty hard. For starters, I have been more anxious lately. Anxious about the show, my body, travel, and just plain life. I am currently packing right now to move apartments. Bad timing, yes. Is that life, yes. On top of that I decided to go with my heart and adopt another rescue dog. Maybe not the wisest decision with all that is on my plate right now but I feel really good about giving a dog that was about to be euthanized another chance in life. Travel is always stressful for me and flying is not my favorite thing to do. I finally bought my plane tickets but I am still stressed about packing and figuring out what to eat and how to pack my food during travel is harder than it seems.

My body is slowly becoming weaker and if you have ever done prep or have done a low carb diet and know what carb brain is, then you understand where I am coming from. Carb depletion and manipulation might be the most effective way to drop weight but it leaves you mentally and physically exhausted. Last week I converted to a low carb diet to ensure that I cut down to my desired weight. About four days in my body started reacting pretty poorly to it. My only carbs (besides tons of veggies) are centered before and after my workouts which fuels my body and helps replenish glycogen but leaves me exhausted during the rest of the day. I have started to experience knee pain from the added cardio I incorporated into my workout regimen. I have to say that added cardio is my LEAST favorite thing about prep life. I miss my normal strength training regimen so much.

I do not mean to make competing sound so horrible but I want to stay transparent through the process. I find it easier t work through things when you know that you are not alone. Prepping does cause a few negative effects in daily life for a few weeks right before a serious competition. Our bodies are not build to run on low carbs and fats for prolonged amounts of time. That is why dieting can cause harmful effects to people if they are not done correctly.

 As of this moment I am at 12% BF and I have not had a period since July. MY body is tired and I am so ready so have a break to become healthy again through a nutritious reverse diet. I feel that my low energy will quickly turn around and I will start feeling like my normal, energetic self in no time.

On the other hand, competing in my eyes is the proudest accomplishment I have completed in my life. Competing has challenged me a pushed me to lengths I once though were impossible. I remember a few years back talking about competing and thinking to myself that I could NEVER do such a thing. Those athletes have to be crazy and I would never have the sort of discipline or control in my life to do something like that.

Over time those thoughts started to eat away at me. Not the competing aspect, but the I couldn’t do it so why even try outlook in life. The more I thought about it, the more it ate away at me. If this is how I view life and my capabilities, then what will I accomplish in life, what will I do during my life that I will be proud of? I finally grew tired of the defeated, made of excuses person I slowly became and decided that I needed to make changes in my life to become happy and fulfilled.

This lead to my idea of competing. I have always love the fitness industry. My passion to help and teach others how to become a healthier and happier version of their self always made me happy. When you can find something in life that doesn’t feel like work but more like a necessity to be happy, do not ignore it. People tell me that I am lucky to have found something I am so passionate about but they do not realize that it did not just happen overnight. I had an idea and with time and lots of effort I slowly shaped it into the life that I am trying to lead as of right now. I have so many more goals to accomplish and this national show is hopefully just the beginning to a long and successful journey.

I do doubt myself and sometimes I feel like accomplishing my goals might be impossible. These negative thoughts are the ones I try my hardest to get rid of and rebuild. When I have a negative idea cross my mind I immediately find a way to rebuild it. If I can’t, then that’s when find a friend/ coach comes into play. Having a supportive friend/family group is more important than you think. Whether we like to admit it or not, we all love words of encouragement and praise from the people we love. However small the compliment, it helps and reshapes the way you think. A main reason why flushing out negative friends and people in your life is extremely important. I hate saying that because that person might not be wrong, mean, or anything of the sort, but in your situation might be a negative and unhelpful influence.

WOW. *pulling myself from my soapbox currently* I digress my friends.

I am still playing off the schedule from my last few weeks of workouts. I am trying to squeeze in a few more minutes of cardio here and there into my week but I am not stressing about it. If all goes according to plan I will have finished 125-150 minutes of cardio this week. I have luckily found a new and more exciting way to split up my cardio since 5 – 30 minute sessions have been becoming extremely boring. I have found that splitting the time up between sprints, interval, steady state, and plyos make me feel like dying a little less than normal. The sprints and plyos are not an easier option but help the time go by quicker as well as give me a little extra time to work on my specific body group for the day. The bosu ball has been a go-to piece of equipment to me the last couple weeks as well as the row machine. A girl can only walk stairs for so many minutes before wanting to trip off of it and break a leg.

I am keeping my reps between 10 – 20 depending on the exercise and sets of 3 – 5. All has been well and my strength has remained the same over the past month. Some days are a challenge but if bikini prepping was easy we would all be pros… right?

My approach on eating a plain, exact diet has gone alright. I haven’t strictly followed my plans each day but had just been utilizing IIFYM. Mainly this applies to the meats and fats I have been consuming. Some days I eat foods that aren’t “bikini prep foods” but I would rather listen to my body than make myself suffer. I find this problem of deciding what is right or wrong to eat for every meal mentally exhausting. I enjoy eating way too much to sacrifice what I love for so long just to lean out quicker. On the other hand, I do not want to lose a competition or ruin my chances of creating the physique I want due to the fact that I can’t give up cheese for a month. The struggle has become real friends and low carbs intensifies it. #help

It is almost that time again to start cutting out certain foods and supplements. At 10 days out I will no longer take my creatine. This will result in a decent loss in water retention and will help me dry out. No more artificial sweeteners aka EVERYTHING. Black coffee from now on. No more protein powders to indulge on or cook with. No more bcaas for recovery and daily energy. Not that I have been eating protein bars but no more of those, and my least favorite of them all, no more gum and mints.

I have been super obsessed with using spaghetti squash lately! Not only can you make so many different meals with it (my favs chicken parm, hash), but it is so low-cal and amazing. Finding your favorite veggies and using them all day makes dieting so much easier. I also have been making kale chips and freshly made veggie soup for many of my snacks and mini meals!

Things I got done:

• I got my suit altered. The bikini bottoms I had taken in since my small was not the correct size after I lost weight. As for my top, I need to get a little padding added in there. (Shh)
• Finally bought my plane tickets. As of today, all of my travel fees and plans are paid and set!

Things to get done:

• Buy  pads for bra.
• Write out itinerary for the week.
• Make a grocery/travel checklist.
• Stop freaking out and get rest!

I have had a few requests about posting a grocery haul checklist for a normal week of food! It is up now so go check it out! Next time you hear from me I will be full swing into my peak week and possibly on my way to Miami! I can feel the sun on my face already!