Challenges

I know it’s been a long time since my last blog. Things have been pretty crazy and I just haven’t had much spare time.  My mom has been in and out of the hospital since the beginning of March. As of yesterday out, and god willing will stay out for good! I’ve been juggling that with training my clients and my own training, which has been more intense than ever. And to top it off, my boyfriend is having surgery in less than 2 weeks. The start of this year has proven to be physically and emotionally challenging.  I’ve been quite stressed to say the least. However, despite everything going on, training for this show has been my one source of sanity. Although getting ready for a competition is very stressful in itself, it’s giving me a goal to work on and helping me take my mind off of everything that’s going on. Some people have suggested maybe I shouldn’t do the show. No way! This is giving me something to strive for and has been a great outlet for my stress. Overcoming these hurdles is just making me a stronger person.

Life will always be full of challenges. Some harder than others. You can’t just turn around and run away whenever you’re faced with one.  It’s how you take on and overcome those challenges that make a true champion.

So here’s an update on my progress.  I’ve had to make a big change in my diet. Since my last entry, I’ve dropped my carbs down and added a 6^th day of cardio. One week into that, I made my first significant drop in body fat. However, I quickly hit a plateau and had to make another change. I’m doing a ton of work in the gym, even doing double cardio days to make sure I get everything in.  It’s my diet not my training that’s the problem.  So as per the advice of my friend/boss/competition mentor (thanks Mark!!), I dropped my carbs down even more…a lot more. In fact when I hit that plateau, I re-evaluated everything that I was consuming and realized that there were a lot of things I haven’t been accounting for in my carb intake. Such as fruit, broccoli and my pre workout drink. It all added up to a lot. Therefore I was taking in more carbs than I should have been. When you compete, every single thing you consume must be accounted for. Everything! This way you know that you’re staying within your numbers. It’s a lot of work, I know...but so worth it. I made my most recent diet change on Monday and am already seeing a big difference. I had my first posing practice session today and am really happy with what I see. I have about 4 weeks left and my body will continue to change quite a bit. I have a new found confidence that I’m going to come into this show my best ever.

I can’t wait!

More updates to come…

Plan of Action

I’m 7 weeks out and am more driven than ever. It seems that last weekends moment of weakness has pushed me to another level.  Although it wasn’t wise, I think that maybe I needed that to bump things up a notch (or two). It’s not like I wasn’t motivated before. But because I slipped up, I’m more determined than ever to do whatever I have to,  to  make sure I’m ready by June 25^th. Yesterday, I went to my grandmothers house for Mother’s Day. I was surrounded by amazing Cuban food (yum!). But I had none of it. I brought my plain Jane, pre-packaged, weighed out meals with me and stuck to my plan. The night before I went to a party. There were all types of munchies and people drinking all over the place. And there I was, sipping on my water.  The more situations like that I experience without caving, the stronger it makes me.  I have decided to cut out all cheat meals until after my show. Last year I had 1-2 cheat meals/week until 4 week out.

So here’s my plan of action for the next few weeks:

I’m lifting 5 days a week, doing cardio 5 days and off one day. I’ll do mainly 35-40min of low intensity cardio. This means I’m keeping my heart rate between 60-70% of my max heart rate.  And 1-2 times a week, I’ll do high intensity interval training, where my heart rate is at 60-70%, I spike it to 85% then bring it back down, for 20 min. Last year I only did low intensity cardio and want to try some HIIT this time and see how it works for me. The important thing with cutting down is to make sure I drop body fat without losing muscle in the process.

My current split is:

Day 1- Glutes & Hams/Cardio

Day 2- Chest & Bi’s/Cardio

Day 3- Cardio

Day 4- Back & Tri’s/Cardio

Day 5- Quads

Day 6- Shoulders & Calves/Cardio

Day 7- Off

I will likely add a 6^th day of cardio, and my training split will be changing in the coming weeks.

Good thing I work at a gym. I give anyone who works a 9-5 and competes so much credit. This sport is time consuming and alot of work, but so rewarding!

For the next 7 weeks, I’m going to eat, sleep and breathe the gym.

I’ll keep you posted on my progress!

Hurdles

Last week I posted my first entry. I thought it was a pretty motivational and inspirational blog. Ironically though, I had quite a lame week immediately following that post. For whatever reason, I had such a hard time getting motivated to work out. I kept procrastinating, and taking unusually long breaks between sets. To make matters worse, yesterday was a terrible day food-wise. It started out good, but then quickly went down hill. My will power seemed to be non-existent. I went to a family gathering with my boyfriend where there was what seemed like endless amounts of naughty treats. Oh…and then came desert, showcasing all of my favorite sweets. Cup cakes, brownies and ice cream cake just to name a few. Now last year, being around all of that would make my mouth water and drive me crazy. I’ve changed a lot since then. I’ve developed a strong will power. The strongest I’ve ever had in my life.  You can put anything in my face and I'll just shrug it off. You should see my apartment. I’ve got a bowl full of an assortment of amazing chocolate delights, ice cream, donuts, and more. All lying around in plain sight (don’t ask me why I have all this stuff -and- I DO NOT recommend this to anyone!!).  None of that fazes me anymore, until yesterday that is.  I really don’t know what came over me. What can I say, I’m only human. So I can either harp on it and beat myself up over it, or move on and make sure it doesn’t happen again. I’m 8 weeks out and if I slip up again, I might as well kiss the show goodbye. Today’s a new day. I had an amazing workout, ate clean all day and I feel great. I created more work for myself because of one bad day, but I’m ready to face the consequences and do what I have to do (yes, believe it or not, one bad day can cause damage).  There are always hurdles, and obstacles along the way. This week was a big one and instead of jumping over the hurdle, I ran right into it.  No more, I’m ready to get back on track.

Until next time….