Excuses are Easy, Resolve is Rewarding

Today started off a bit on the unexpected side. Well, not totally unexpected, but not what I was hoping for. After waking up, getting dressed in my gym wear, downing my pre-workout NO Xplode shake (which, for the record, works well but tastes nasty in lemonade flavor), and being pumped to keep rolling with my "better habits" motivation....found a sick, super congested, coughing baby girl in her crib when I went to get her up. *sigh* My poor girl!! She has been battling off and on congestion for a few weeks. Without fail, 2 days a week she is snotty and fussy. We do the humidifier, saline spray, sucking the junk out, juice/fluids bit and then she is fine and back to normal. Only for it to return a week later. Well. Hmmmm? What to do? I can tell you what I did would have done in the past few weeks - use it as an excuse to not be able to get in my workout and laze around and boredom snack all day. Easy, peasy, right???


NO!!!! Well, yes. It would be easy. No, I would not have been happy and would have felt disappointed in myself for taking the easy way out. Now, now, now. Don't fret. I did not pack up my sick baby and head to the gym anyways to pass germs to other innocent children. I snuggled and played with my happy, albeit sick, sweetheart. Then, when she went down for her nap, I headed down to the basement and did some cardio. I pulled out an old Cathe DVD I haven't done in quite some time - IMAX 2. This workout totally and completely kicked my butt....and sent my heart racing. It's 10 step intervals with lots of plyometric drills. It was fun, effective, and passed by super fast. See a clip and description of the workout HERE.

After that, Makenzie & I had lunch and put on some music to dance around the living room. That girl loves to shake her booty. She quite likes the Black Eyed Peas song "Boom Boom Boom" (not sure if that's the right name). During her afternoon nap, I did a bit more reading, chatted online with a good friend, and did my daily devotional Bible reading. You would think the day would die down there, huh?

NOPE! Once hubs got home, I was off to the gym. That's right. My workout plan was to do legs and some cardio today. I am a determined lady right now and had to get my leg session in dagnabit. Can I just say how happy I am that I did? WOW! I killed, I mean killed, my legs. I got my squat weight back up. I was shaking at the end. And all with a much shorter and effective workout. After that, it was home to gobble up some dinner (steamed chicken spring rolls, sugar snap peas) and type this up while chilling on the couch. Another rewarding day, thanks to my resolve. Here's to day 3!

RECAP - DAY 3
Training = Legs
*warm up first*
1) BB Squat - 95# x15, 115# x10, 125# x8 x2sets, 135# (!!!!) x7, 135# x5
2) Bulgarian Split Squat - 20's x 12 x 2sets, 25's x 10, 30's x 8
3A) Walking Lunge w/ Pulses @ Bottom - 20's x 10/leg x 3sets
3B) Leg Extension - 85# x 10 x 3sets

Cardio = Cathe IMAX 2 DVD

Diet = Healthy, balanced, and delicious
Water = 4 Liters + a cup of decaf peppermint tea I'm about to enjoy

Time with God = Prayer time and Bible time. I can definitely tell a difference in my approach to situations, happiness, life in general with more focused time spent with God. I would like to extend this part of my challenge to others as well. Even just 15 minutes of time spent with God is amazing and refreshing. And if that's not in your beliefs, then meditation or something similar could work for you :) Do you take time for daily prayer or meditation? Does it make a difference for YOU?

Hoppin' on the Bandwagon

The holiday self-challenge bandwagon, that is. As I mentioned yesterday, I want to get back into my better habits since I have allowed many things to throw me a bit off track the past few weeks. I don't have very specific, measurable goals. Simply to make each day count. I consider my body to be my temple given to me by God and I know I need to honor my body. Heck, how can I not, when considering what all has been given to me so graciously by Him? So each day I want to eat well and be active. The holidays are a notorious time for over-indulgence and I will not deny that many, many times I have succumbed. I don't want to do that this year. Yes, I plan to enjoy, but I have to keep things in check. This is my Day 2 of my "Better Habits" self-challenge. And this is a challenge that will not end. It is not for X amount of weeks or until I reach X weight or something arbitrary like that. It is a continued desire to living a healthy and balanced lifestyle. 

Anyone care to hop on with me?? :)

Today was an atypical Sunday. Normally, a large part of our Sundays involves church. I lead group discussion for a Sunday school group called The Goodlife at 9:30 and we go to the sermon at 11:00. We didn't make it to church at all today because Makenzie was pretty under the weather this morning (this girl has a stuffy head that just won't quit!). Since we weren't having class due to the holiday, we decided it would be best to hang back and let the baby girl rest.

So, what was today like? Did I care for myself and fulfill my better habits? YEP! I started the day with a cardio session in our basement. Cathe's LowMax DVD fit the bill for that. It was a great way to start the day and a fabulous cardio session. Better habit #1...check! Normally, Sundays are also a day of rest for me, but since I took Wed-Fri off of workouts with the holidays I knew I could handle fitting something in today. Then, I ate a delicious breakfast of Kashi blueberry waffles with some sugar free syrup, strawberries, and a egg white omelet with peppers/onions/veggie sausage/lf cheese. Along with my breakfast, I spent some quality time with my all time favorite book - The Bible. It is amazing how no matter how many times you read through it, there is always something special to get out of it every single time. Better habit #2...check!!

The remainder of the day was low key. I spent a fair amount of time snuggling my sweetie pie - minus the trip to chasing her from the stairs, which she has figured out how to climb now. I also tutored the neighborhood kid and read some of my current book (An Isolated Incident by Susan Sloan - so good and one of my favorites that I am re-reading). Now, it is about time to cook up some dinner. I will be making some sauteed zucchini, squash, and onions to toss with some Italian turkey sausage, light tomato sauce, and a small serving of whole wheat pasta. So Better Habit #3 will be a check! Balanced, healthy meals have most certainly filled my belly today.

Check, check, check!! I like those days. Now, if only those checks could be deposited at the bank. ;)

Disappearing Act

Okay, okay. I know I disappeared for awhile there. Oops! I am going to get back into the swing of blogging because I like the mental outlet. I want to share my thoughts with friends & family without it having to be in a solely fitness realm. I am planning to focus more on using this as a place to discuss my life in general and not so much focus on the fitness aspect of it all. AKA live up to the title of getting more out of LIFE and not just a competition life. Obviously, since that part of my life I have fully decided no longer exists and will not exist again in the future. 

So, let's get started with that. I hope everyone here in the US had a fabulous Thanksgiving. Ours was nice. We had my parents, sister, and uncle over at our house for a Thanksgiving lunch. Then, we went to hubby's parents house for dinner and dessert. I was quite the stuffed one after that. I believe Makenzie has decided that Thanksgiving is her favorite holiday. She sampled all the delicious foods and definitely enjoyed her share. It was so funny - when we pulled up her shirt to look at and blow on her full little belly, she started patting it like a satisfied grandpa. LOL Although the diapers that followed on Friday morning were not quite that cute. Ewwww.....

In other news - my sister and I went to see New Moon yesterday. I loved it! I think it was done much better than Twilight and I really like how the movie follows the book well, besides a few very minor discrepancies. I am very excited for the 3rd and 4th in the series, as those books are by far my favorites. And, for the record, I am team Edward all the way. That devotion and intensity just can't be beat. Although, Jacob wins in the hot body department. Call me a teenage schoolgirl - I don't care! I love the books and the movies.

Today, I woke up and finally got a workout in. I haven't worked out since Tuesday. I've just been too busy with the holiday. Perhaps lazy too. I did a 1 hour kickbox DVD here at home. It felt wonderful to get moving again. I really, really need to get back into the habit of working out more regularly. Since the competition, I have worked out I think 6 times total. That is due to battling illness, Makenzie battling illness, going back too hard at first and being too sore to move for almost a week, and then busy with the holiday. I know that since this is the holiday season, I cannot allow myself to get out of the habits of taking care of myself. That is all too easy for me. I want to be healthy and happy. I want to honor the body and health I have been blessed with. I honored it with rest, but now I have to honor it with a healthy dose of regular activity. My body is my temple and I will take care of it here on out. Now, with that being said. I will close this post and go do my daily devotional reading - another thing I have to get back into better habits with. Geez, I have quite a bit of room for improvement these days, huh?

Show Recap

I want to start off by saying I feel super accomplished for having made it to the stage and finishing what I set out to do. Yesterday was a lot of fun, as well as exhausting. The girls were all sooooo nice and funny and it was an all around good time backstage. Everyone is so supportive of each other and it's great. I felt happy with how I looked and the progress I made and for being up there, even if I was super nervous the 1st round and literally shaking in my heels. I'm perfectly happy with the results. Now onto that...I got 4th place.....out of 4 girls.....


I'm not gonna lie. When my name was the first called out I was bummed and had a moment of griping when first getting to Peter and my family offstage. But I quickly recovered and remembered how strong and wonderful I felt earlier in the day and not because I thought I was going to win (I didn't) or anything like that. But because I felt like I did a good job, I was having fun, and I had made it. So I've decided to take that - the good - away from the show and be happy for it all and move on to the next part of my life. So onto a normal, balanced way of living again. Basically, on with LIFE.

Okay, moving on - treats!! I actually haven't even been in the mood for much of anything! Last night, I had one icing cookie, a handful of candy corn, and a few pieces of Halloween candy and was done. We went to dinner at Steak and Shake with my family bec they were all starving from the FOREVER long show...I got a burger and choked it down and didn't really eat any fries and no shake either.

Today - all I've had is a couple of cookies and a few more pieces of candy (nothing much at all) and had a Subway 6 inch. NO IHOP like planned. NO COLDSTONE like I wanted. Heck, I'm not even super thrilled for going to The Cheesecake Factory (my favorite favorite favorite restaurant) tonight. I'm excited to hang out with my friends but I'm not excited about the food at all. So strange. I'm seriously ready to get back in the gym lightly and just to normal tomorrow. I will probably still take tomorrow easy and off though to rest because I know I need it.

Now for some pictures....

Show Opening Shot

Suit Picture

Sportswear Picture

My Class

Placings from Left to Right = 4th/2nd/1st/3rd

One Day Out

Real quickly - a picture after one coat of tanner this morning (hands/feet will get a coat with the final 1-2 coats and face will of course be makeup tomorrow so please excuse that look).

Today will be busy packing things up, going to the store, tanning more, polygraph appointment for drug testing of the federation, and other errands just to prepare for tomorrow. I'm feeling good!

And the Glamour Begins

Today was super packed, as will tomorrow be. But it will mostly be filled with final touches and the more glam part of competition prep. Today I finished my last workout (!!!!!!!!!), then spent most of the early afternoon getting things done around the house to straighten up. Towards the end of the afternoon, I went to get my french mani/pedi done and it was so delectable to sit back and relax. Came home, helped get poor sick Makenzie into bed (yes, that's right - I have a sick 1 year old the last days of prep!), and then ventured into the shower with hubs for a 1 hour shaving session. Let me tell you what - having to shave everywhere is a true eye opener that you aren't as smooth and feminine as you might think. LOL Now it's relaxation time watching Grey's Anatomy in a few and reading some more Twilight. :)

Tomorrow. Ummm, where do I begin? I'll be coating on the tanner throughout the day with Peter's help. Needless to say he's thrilled I'll be strolling the house naked for extended periods of time tomorrow. Also, I'll be packing up Makenzie's stuff for her weekend stay with grandma and also packing up as much as I can of my show day bag. I'll have to go get tested for the federation to prove I am drug free. We'll have to go to the store to stock up on last minute needs and some goodies. And I think that's it. Oh! And getting in a nice short family walk. Hopefully we'll have time for it all! Oh, yea....we will....since I'll suddenly have a couple extra hours to my day ;)

I'll try to post up some one day out pics tomorrow.

Last Legs of the Race :)

Another day down and almost done. 'Twas a good one and was literally the "last leg" - leg training day, that is. I was super happy to be done with that one. And even though it was a much lighter load than a normal leg workout, I was struggling. Let me be clear. I loathe separate leg days. But, for prep, I did what I had to do and did an upper/lower split to be able to really focus on my upper more and keeping muscle there. So, today when I finished I was thinking how I don't have to do a solely leg workout again. EVER!


Enough about that silliness though. I had a wonderful day today. My sister came over to keep me company all day. We went to the mall and strolled around. I bought 2 pairs of jeans from Express (buy one get one 50% yea!!) that are very nice and I foresee them having no problems fitting post show because there is some spare room...in flippin' size 0s! What in the world?! I blame vanity sizing, but that's another tangent for another time. We also had lunch in the food court. Well, more like plopped ourselves at a foodcourt table and pulled out our tupperware containers of salad to eat. After getting home and putting miss Makenzie down for her nap, we even did some Turbo Kick together for a fun cardio workout to keep my energy and motivation up :) Now, I'm about to dig into some tuna sashimi and watch last night's The Biggest Loser since I chose to watch So You Think You Can Dance live last night.


The next couple of days will be extremely busy with lots of prep stuff. I'll try to update about it all each day. 2 more days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sugar High????

I promise I'm not on a sugar high, but good gracious I sure do feel like it! LOL I'm not complaining in the least bit, but where....oh WHERE am I getting this energy? Especially considering I am super hungry and my body is thoroughly telling me that I haven't really, fully, truly fed it in about 3 months. Also considering I got maybe 3 hours of sleep last night - because of waking up from the said hunger and not falling back asleep thanks to hubby's beautiful musical nose. And considering my precious daughter has been going through a rotten not quite as precious stage - where she is starting to throw temper tantrums when I won't let her beat our dog over the head with books and then she's refusing to take full naps even though she is very obviously tired.

But somehow, some way I have energy to spare! I have been coasting through my last workouts since I decided to drop the cardio a smidge and lower the intensity of my weight workouts to save energy and strength for show day and the unending posing. And it will only get easier from here. The biggest battle has been the midafternoon munchy monsters that try to throw me off track (notice I said TRY so all is still well). Distracting myself from the hunger is the toughest thing. I've been playing with Makenzie bunches, going on low key neighborhood walks, re-reading Twilight (love that book btw!), chatting online, anything and everything. But now I will have company the next 3 days. My sister will be hanging out with me all day tomorrow and then Peter (hubs) will be working from home to be with me on Thursday and Friday.

Basically - all is well in this neighborhood!

And here's a pic of my abs I took this afternoon. I am one of those unfortunate ones that no matter how lean/flat my stomach gets I don't get the popping 6-pack look. Boo. But I know it isn't the be all, end all so I'm not concerned.

One Week Out Pics

Not sure how I feel about how I look relative to what other competitors will bring, which I guess is normal for most everyone at this stage of prep. But still proud of how far I've come and having a blast the final bit of prep since it's almost over!