"You've got to get up every morning with determination if you're going to go to bed with satisfaction." -George Lorimer
Yes, again I am starting off the post, rather than ending it, with today's Quote of the Post....it's just that kind of day!
I got my suit in yesterday and while I LOVE IT!!! I have to tell you I do NOT love the way I look in it...YET! Which is why this quote fits so well....I am now getting up every morning with determination that I am going to do everything I can to get into that suit on June 5th and be satisfied knowing that I did everything I could possibly do to get me there.
First thing - stop the cheating....I have been a little lax in my diet knowing that this was my last month to 'cheat' (GASP!) but NO MORE! I am going hardcore - nothing extra, only what is on my written diet AND I am setting my timer to go off every 3 hours to eat...no matter where I am I will be eating every 3 hours - I really need a cute cooler to carry my food around, one that looks good but is still practical and not huge to carry around...it's so hard to find one on the island.
I know that eating on the schedule won't be hard as I really do look forward to each and every morsel that goes into my mouth these days....I am a little embarrassed to admit it but I have become a 'lick your plate clean' kind of gal. Seriously! I am so hungry that I don't want any portion of what I am allowed to eat to go to waste so there I am sliding my finger in the yogurt container till it is wiped clean - so clean it almost doesn't need to be rinsed to go into the recycling bin...I am slurping the last of my dressing out of the bowl at the bottom of my salad and I find myself actually licking my plate of the chicken, turkey or fish juices at the end of my meal! My thought - it's all fuel - I need it to keep going....I need it to finish leaning out....I need it to hold me over till my next meal.
I am 67 days away from the competition, I have 49 days of training left (2 days rest each week - Thursday's and Sunday's), I will eat 469 meals (I eat 7 times a day) and drink 134 gallons of water (2 gallons a day). I have 6% more body fat to lose and 8 pounds. Thankfully I have an amazing trainer who I believe in completely and have the confidence that she will have me exactly where I am supposed to be come show day....I have literally worked my arse off and know that even if I don't 'win a trophy' that day - I am still a winner....I mean just take a look back at my pictures....the transformation that my body had made is still unbelievable...I am happy that I documented it with pictures - and I can assure you looking at those pictures, I will once again keep that quote in my head...I am determined to not go back to that and I will be satisfied by knowing that I will be doing what I can to ensure that I won't ever be there again.
I hope that you are keeping up your hard work as well....bathing suit season is almost upon us and I know that you all are going to feel better in your suits if you've kept up your workout as it doesn't matter if you lost 5 pounds or 50 - it all makes a difference! So stand up tall, square those shoulders, puff out that chest (all that will even make you appear up to 5 pounds slimmer!) and be proud of what you have accomplished! You are amazing!
Hugs!
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Determination = Satisfaction
I hope that you are keeping up your hard work as well....bathing suit season is almost upon us and I know that you all are going to feel better in your suits if you've kept up your workout as it doesn't matter if you lost 5 pounds or 50 - it all makes a difference! So stand up tall, square those shoulders, puff out that chest (all that will even make you appear up to 5 pounds slimmer!) and be proud of what you have accomplished! You are amazing!
Hugs!
Sunday, March 27, 2011
10 weeks and I can see the light - literally and figuratively
YES - We are only 10 weeks away folks! YIKES!!! I am really (as if I wasn't before) Scared and excited! I have an amazing coach (Shelly does Rock!) and I have complete faith in her antics that she has me on....like this week no cardio! It was so nice not having to get up at 4:30 this morning to go to the 5:15 spin (although I do have to say I woke up in a slight panic at 5:00 thinking I was missing something this early Monday morning - then I remembered I could roll back over and go to sleep for another hour!) it was nice getting that extra bit of sleep! But, with me on the same diet this week and no cardio I am scared what Mr. Scale is going to tell me come Friday - I was up a pound last week (UUGGHH! I know - but I am chalking that up to the ever so wonderful monthly womanly thing that visits us) Maybe just maybe I'll maintain and if not I am going to work my darnedest on not freaking out Friday - just so long as the pinch is good I'll be good right! RIGHT!!
And I am pretty sure that the pinch will go down again - at least it better with the weight training I've been doing! I was 19 last pinch and I can't wait to have that lowered even more. It really is exciting to hear her tell me that I have lost mm on my leg. arm or torso (the three spots she pinches) and then to have them added up and the percentage figured out - motivational to get me to keep going! Which is about everything I need right now. Which is why I needed to take pictures at posing class on Friday - that and someone asked for them ;) and here is where I CAN SEE THE LIGHT! I am posing one from February that I took as well where I was happy with how things were going - till I compared them to what I just took Friday - Shelly told us we would see the light and wow...what a difference! What light am I talking about? Look at the amount of light that is now between my thighs! Yes ladies, we are supposed to have a space there! We are not supposed to have our thighs rubbing against each other....isn't it crazy!
And I am pretty sure that the pinch will go down again - at least it better with the weight training I've been doing! I was 19 last pinch and I can't wait to have that lowered even more. It really is exciting to hear her tell me that I have lost mm on my leg. arm or torso (the three spots she pinches) and then to have them added up and the percentage figured out - motivational to get me to keep going! Which is about everything I need right now. Which is why I needed to take pictures at posing class on Friday - that and someone asked for them ;) and here is where I CAN SEE THE LIGHT! I am posing one from February that I took as well where I was happy with how things were going - till I compared them to what I just took Friday - Shelly told us we would see the light and wow...what a difference! What light am I talking about? Look at the amount of light that is now between my thighs! Yes ladies, we are supposed to have a space there! We are not supposed to have our thighs rubbing against each other....isn't it crazy!
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| February Front Pose |
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| February Back Pose |
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| February Side Pose |
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| March Front Pose |
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| March Side Pose |
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| March Back Pose |
Seeing these differences side by side helps me to stay focused...thus the importance of your before and after pictures - I've told you all before to take them...and I hope that you have or will now The February photos were taken and the very beginning of the month and the March one's now at the end so it is just about 8 weeks difference again and while I knew there was a difference, I hadn't realized how much till I compared the photos! So I sit here writing this up - looking at magazines to give me more tips and trying to find just the right quote for today to get everyone jazzed....and I do believe that it has to be this one:
Today's Quote of the Post:
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” – Theodore RooseveltIt really is all about you - You are the only one who can take control of YOU, make YOU do what needs to be done to get YOU in shape. Make it about YOU - be selfish in this one part of your life and YOU will be able to thank yourself for it and fell better to be better in other parts of your life. Do what YOU can, with what YOU have - it's all inside of you if you take the risk...what's stopping you?
Hugs!
Oh I almost forgot! My suit is completed...I'm waiting for it to get here - but I am so excited!!! This is what it looks like!
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Contests & Pet Peeves
Now that's a title huh? But that's what today's post is about....cover contests and what is bothering me most these days :)
Thank you, Thank you Thank you!!! I finished out #9 in the Fitness Magazine Readers Choice this past week and that was just amazing! I really could not have gotten there without each of you and I am humbled by the support you all gave! Seeing everyone re-post the link and watching those votes grow was just surreal.....I really do have some amazing friends and family and being blessed this way makes me a winner no matter what! But, it really was a great experience and so when one of my fellow Oki Bombs suggested I enter the Venture Fitness Mom Cover contest I had that glimmer of hope raise once again. I gave myself a couple days to think about it and finally decided this afternoon - I was going to do it! So, I just finished by submission with before (gulp) and after pictures of me and my story. We'll see what happens this time around....I will be sure to let you know as soon as I do :)
So that then leads me to my pet peeves...it seems as though I am bothered by things a bit easier these days - I'm tired, I'm carb deprived, and yes it leaves me a little short fused (OK a lot short fused) - so much so that I had decided that I was going to give up yelling at my kids for lent - that hasn't quite worked out so I let up on myself a bit and decided that I will instead not curse at them....which has still been tough (damn it is my fav and used alot) I bite my tongue so often, I'm surprised I don't have permanant teeth marks in it! But really what is my biggest pet peeve right now - the gym parking lot! I mean seriously people! You are going to the gym for goodness sakes - is it really going to kill you NOT to park a few rows back?!
I hit the gym early on Monday and Wednesday mornings for spin class (5:15am) and it is a very busy time; everyone is trying to get their work out in before work I understand that. I normally try and avoid the busy times but I have to get cardio in first thing two days a week on an empty stomach and this is the only cardio class available....yes, I could do it at home but then I fall into that ADD rut...oh I forgot my water let me go into the kitchen and get it, oh who left these dishes in the sink last night, I'll quickly wash them. Oh let me start a load of laundry while I work out, go back and do work out....look down at floor ACK when was the last time I vacuumed? I'll quickly do that....oh man I gotta pee again, go to bathroom kids start to wake up, get them breakfast, clean up kitchen again....well, you get it I just can't focus on a good work out so I hit the gym. It drives me crazy that when I get to the gym though there are so many people driving around the parking lot looking for a space in the first and second row...you are at the gym right? You did come to work out right? Why not get a bit of your warm up walking from the back of the parking lot? Oh it's raining?! YOU ARE IN OKINAWA!!! IT RAINS ALL THE TIME!!! And as much as I like to think I'm made of sugar - I now am absolutely sure that I won't melt in the sprinkle coming down.
I'm at the gym the other morning, it's cold, I park my car in the third row (I now park in the third row normally as I was forgetting where I would park sometimes especially when I had already been to the gym earlier in the day) I get out of my car, lock it up, throw my bag over my shoulder and head to the door...I now of course have to go through the two rows of cars in front of me - I look before I cross as any one would do for safety...no cars, I'm good to go (now mind you 5:00 in the morning it is still dark so I would see headlights) I step out of the second row to get to the sidewalk in front of the first row and HOLY CRAP WHERE DID THAT CAR COME FROM?! The thing came flying around the corner not paying attention to me what so ever but intent on grabbing that space of the car that just pulled out of the first row...had I just ran/jumped out of the way, I would have been in trouble. Now, I'm all for getting my blood pumping that early in the morning but not from almost being ran over. Not a great way to start the morning...thank goodness it wasn't raining that morning and for my guardian angel as if I didn't have both of those going for me that day it would have turned out much differently.
But, it's not just Gunner's Gym at 5am, it is any time at any gym....why is it that everyone always wants to park so close to the front door? I know I said it already but if your coming to work out, it really won't kill you to walk the few extra steps - and you may save time from going around in circles looking for that close spot. We have really become a species of convenience and being closer makes it more convenient I guess. It really truly baffles me and irks me to no end!
Park a bit further, enjoy the fresh air and get that little bit of an extra workout...I promise it won't kill you!
And with that I will leave you with today's Quote of the Post:
Thank you, Thank you Thank you!!! I finished out #9 in the Fitness Magazine Readers Choice this past week and that was just amazing! I really could not have gotten there without each of you and I am humbled by the support you all gave! Seeing everyone re-post the link and watching those votes grow was just surreal.....I really do have some amazing friends and family and being blessed this way makes me a winner no matter what! But, it really was a great experience and so when one of my fellow Oki Bombs suggested I enter the Venture Fitness Mom Cover contest I had that glimmer of hope raise once again. I gave myself a couple days to think about it and finally decided this afternoon - I was going to do it! So, I just finished by submission with before (gulp) and after pictures of me and my story. We'll see what happens this time around....I will be sure to let you know as soon as I do :)
So that then leads me to my pet peeves...it seems as though I am bothered by things a bit easier these days - I'm tired, I'm carb deprived, and yes it leaves me a little short fused (OK a lot short fused) - so much so that I had decided that I was going to give up yelling at my kids for lent - that hasn't quite worked out so I let up on myself a bit and decided that I will instead not curse at them....which has still been tough (damn it is my fav and used alot) I bite my tongue so often, I'm surprised I don't have permanant teeth marks in it! But really what is my biggest pet peeve right now - the gym parking lot! I mean seriously people! You are going to the gym for goodness sakes - is it really going to kill you NOT to park a few rows back?!
I hit the gym early on Monday and Wednesday mornings for spin class (5:15am) and it is a very busy time; everyone is trying to get their work out in before work I understand that. I normally try and avoid the busy times but I have to get cardio in first thing two days a week on an empty stomach and this is the only cardio class available....yes, I could do it at home but then I fall into that ADD rut...oh I forgot my water let me go into the kitchen and get it, oh who left these dishes in the sink last night, I'll quickly wash them. Oh let me start a load of laundry while I work out, go back and do work out....look down at floor ACK when was the last time I vacuumed? I'll quickly do that....oh man I gotta pee again, go to bathroom kids start to wake up, get them breakfast, clean up kitchen again....well, you get it I just can't focus on a good work out so I hit the gym. It drives me crazy that when I get to the gym though there are so many people driving around the parking lot looking for a space in the first and second row...you are at the gym right? You did come to work out right? Why not get a bit of your warm up walking from the back of the parking lot? Oh it's raining?! YOU ARE IN OKINAWA!!! IT RAINS ALL THE TIME!!! And as much as I like to think I'm made of sugar - I now am absolutely sure that I won't melt in the sprinkle coming down.
I'm at the gym the other morning, it's cold, I park my car in the third row (I now park in the third row normally as I was forgetting where I would park sometimes especially when I had already been to the gym earlier in the day) I get out of my car, lock it up, throw my bag over my shoulder and head to the door...I now of course have to go through the two rows of cars in front of me - I look before I cross as any one would do for safety...no cars, I'm good to go (now mind you 5:00 in the morning it is still dark so I would see headlights) I step out of the second row to get to the sidewalk in front of the first row and HOLY CRAP WHERE DID THAT CAR COME FROM?! The thing came flying around the corner not paying attention to me what so ever but intent on grabbing that space of the car that just pulled out of the first row...had I just ran/jumped out of the way, I would have been in trouble. Now, I'm all for getting my blood pumping that early in the morning but not from almost being ran over. Not a great way to start the morning...thank goodness it wasn't raining that morning and for my guardian angel as if I didn't have both of those going for me that day it would have turned out much differently.
But, it's not just Gunner's Gym at 5am, it is any time at any gym....why is it that everyone always wants to park so close to the front door? I know I said it already but if your coming to work out, it really won't kill you to walk the few extra steps - and you may save time from going around in circles looking for that close spot. We have really become a species of convenience and being closer makes it more convenient I guess. It really truly baffles me and irks me to no end!
Park a bit further, enjoy the fresh air and get that little bit of an extra workout...I promise it won't kill you!
And with that I will leave you with today's Quote of the Post:
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Teens and Top 10...I needed a good week!
Hi all!
First and foremost...THANK YOU to each of you who have helped support me in my Face of Fitness Challenge....it's not over yet,voting continues till 3/20 at 11:59PM CT so please keep them coming in!
Now for my week...In the Magazine competition I started out at 36 and have moved to # 10 with the help of you of course! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! This is the first round of the reader's choice contest - if I win this it takes me into the next round of reader's choice which will once again be voting online April 27th - May 5th so I will let you know if I made that round :) This has been such an exciting week with this contest! Makes my time in the gym even more enjoyable - and that is good as I am in the middle of the training and getting over that hump has been a bit crazy...but I am there and now have 78 days till Show Day!!
This week in the gym paid off for me too, down 2 pounds and my body fat is in the teens!!! WOO!! HOO!! I rocked my diet hard this week and Shelly (my trainer) pushed me even harder with lots of drop sets - my arms are looking good, I'm happy with them but still working hard on my abs (uugghh!) and my thighs and buttocks - the dreaded saddle bags that we women seem to have the most difficult shedding. But I was excited when she pinched and I had lost 2mm off from last weeks pinch (she pinched me early last week since I had crashed hard on my diet :( but thankfully the weight and bf had not changed) So, each day that goes by brings me that much closer to the show and my anxiety goes up just that much more...anyone have some valium they can share with me for the day of the show ;)
So posing this week took me into my bikini that I have been using for the progression pics...because I made my final payment on my suit and we have been warned that once we get our suit in we are to be posing in it...YIKES! But I really guess that is good so that we can build our confidence right? SO, last night was interesting but fun to see how the muscles will actually look to the judges. Now, I just need to get a tan to cover some stretch marks and I am sure that I will feel even better :) Need to make an appointment to spray tan. Thank goodness there is a lady on island that does that. Get Tanfastic :)
Now it's Sunday and that means I have to cook for the week...prepping my food has been a priority lately as it seems that is where I am constantly spending my time (after of course the gym) Eating every 2 hours is time consuming but again seeing the results is crazy (especially - and I know I've said this before - I am eating more than ever!) Here is a great blog about food and prep for training ;) from Jen Fit she is another great place to find recipes on FB - Recipes for Gals in Figure
Hope you all are keeping up with your plan!
Today's quote of the post:
First and foremost...THANK YOU to each of you who have helped support me in my Face of Fitness Challenge....it's not over yet,voting continues till 3/20 at 11:59PM CT so please keep them coming in!
Now for my week...In the Magazine competition I started out at 36 and have moved to # 10 with the help of you of course! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! This is the first round of the reader's choice contest - if I win this it takes me into the next round of reader's choice which will once again be voting online April 27th - May 5th so I will let you know if I made that round :) This has been such an exciting week with this contest! Makes my time in the gym even more enjoyable - and that is good as I am in the middle of the training and getting over that hump has been a bit crazy...but I am there and now have 78 days till Show Day!!
This week in the gym paid off for me too, down 2 pounds and my body fat is in the teens!!! WOO!! HOO!! I rocked my diet hard this week and Shelly (my trainer) pushed me even harder with lots of drop sets - my arms are looking good, I'm happy with them but still working hard on my abs (uugghh!) and my thighs and buttocks - the dreaded saddle bags that we women seem to have the most difficult shedding. But I was excited when she pinched and I had lost 2mm off from last weeks pinch (she pinched me early last week since I had crashed hard on my diet :( but thankfully the weight and bf had not changed) So, each day that goes by brings me that much closer to the show and my anxiety goes up just that much more...anyone have some valium they can share with me for the day of the show ;)
So posing this week took me into my bikini that I have been using for the progression pics...because I made my final payment on my suit and we have been warned that once we get our suit in we are to be posing in it...YIKES! But I really guess that is good so that we can build our confidence right? SO, last night was interesting but fun to see how the muscles will actually look to the judges. Now, I just need to get a tan to cover some stretch marks and I am sure that I will feel even better :) Need to make an appointment to spray tan. Thank goodness there is a lady on island that does that. Get Tanfastic :)
Now it's Sunday and that means I have to cook for the week...prepping my food has been a priority lately as it seems that is where I am constantly spending my time (after of course the gym) Eating every 2 hours is time consuming but again seeing the results is crazy (especially - and I know I've said this before - I am eating more than ever!) Here is a great blog about food and prep for training ;) from Jen Fit she is another great place to find recipes on FB - Recipes for Gals in Figure
Hope you all are keeping up with your plan!
Today's quote of the post:
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
GREAT NEWS!!
Finally some great news for me - I have had a really tough last week or two dealing with the loss of my dog and other personal issues that I just am not ready to discuss/face/deal with till I can get some additional information and testing done....I really needed this boost and it made my morning! Please if you haven't already voted today go now and VOTE FOR ME! Wow, just even being able to say those words is inspirational and lightening my load :)
Click on this link below and vote everyday this week for me to be considered to be on the cover (yes the cover!) of Fitness magazine! WOW! me a potential cover girl - the Lord does know how to raise a girls spirits!
http://photos.fitnessmagazine.com/face-of-fitness-contest/11/2011/37
Quick update on my progress - my trainer is very happy with where I am at, I am once again down a couple pounds according to my scale ;) and my body fat is maintaining which is great being as with the news that I've had recently, I slipped on my hard core diet one day last week - but I turned that one day into just that one day and have stepped up hard this week so I am excited about my weigh in and pinching come Friday!
Keeping this short today I know - please vote, also take a look at this wonderful link as well about how strong is the new skinny! http://www.appforhealth.com/2011/03/strong-is-the-new-skinny/
And Today's Quote of the Post -
“You must begin to think of yourself as becoming the person you want to be.” -David Viscott
How true that is..when you can envision where you want to be you can achieve it!!
Hugs!
Click on this link below and vote everyday this week for me to be considered to be on the cover (yes the cover!) of Fitness magazine! WOW! me a potential cover girl - the Lord does know how to raise a girls spirits!
http://photos.fitnessmagazine.com/face-of-fitness-contest/11/2011/37
Quick update on my progress - my trainer is very happy with where I am at, I am once again down a couple pounds according to my scale ;) and my body fat is maintaining which is great being as with the news that I've had recently, I slipped on my hard core diet one day last week - but I turned that one day into just that one day and have stepped up hard this week so I am excited about my weigh in and pinching come Friday!
Keeping this short today I know - please vote, also take a look at this wonderful link as well about how strong is the new skinny! http://www.appforhealth.com/2011/03/strong-is-the-new-skinny/
And Today's Quote of the Post -
“You must begin to think of yourself as becoming the person you want to be.” -David Viscott
How true that is..when you can envision where you want to be you can achieve it!!
Hugs!
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Moods & apologies
'As taxing as it is mentally and physically, I know that it is so worth it for those few moments on stage!'
Jennifer DiDonato - Figure Competitor
When I originally read this I was unsure as to what could be mentally taxing - I mean I get the physical side but mentally? Really? This was a question I asked myself and today that question was answered...I hit the mental breaking point. Maybe it was the news that our dog died, (R.I.P Sergeant Pepper) We had 16 wonderful years with him and it had been really tough leaving him in NM with my Mother and Sister in law when we moved to Japan...but I knew that he just wouldn't make the trip and did not want to have him suffer that stress and possibly die en route - but that didn't make it any easier leaving him. He was our first child, having a pet before we decided to have children to ensure that we would be able to handle kids - and a kid is exactly what he became...our four legged one but our child just the same. Or maybe it was just that I was tired - yes, yesterday was a rest day but I had a hard training week the week before and had gotten up for Cardio at 4:30 this morning. Needless to say by the time I got to the gym to meet my trainer and the gals I work out with I was moody. No, that's an understatement. I was Mrs. BEOTCH - yes I am pretty sure it is all caps here. I tried not to be...really I did but it just wasn't my day to let things roll off my back. I was short with the girls, snapped at them when they said something and by the end of the session I was so done I barely said good-bye to them. All I wanted to do was get in the shower and head to my pedi appointment where I could close everything out and just not worry about anything - it was time to check out before I had to pick up the kids from school, get homework done and then prep for soccer practice. On top of those things, it's been rainy and ugly today, cold and dreary I know did not help my cause today.
But those are excuses - or so I am telling myself as I write this post...but I also wonder are they really excuses or is it something else. I am so dedicated to this competition now, the money invested has been more than what I originally thought and though I am not complaining about that because I am in the best shape of my life and only getting better...I mention it because I feel as that even though I am so committed to this, I am not sure that the gals I'm training with are and so I have to take that step back and remind myself that: Yes, I am training for a competition - the girls that are with me during my sessions with Shelly are not. They are not going to take it as seriously as I am, they are not on a strict diet, they are not doing much more than the hour we spend at the gym with Shelly...So don't hold it against them....but in the same turn, I don't want to have my money wasted; I want to get every moment of the limited hour I have with my trainer to push me further than I want to push myself - that's what I'm investing not only my money in but my time and my self. I look at my pictures and see how far I have come in the past weeks and it excites me....yet I realize too how far I still have yet to go to be able to actually look good next to all the other women that will be on stage with me come that first weekend in June - SO I will make that hour what I can and push myself on the days that I am not with Shelly just as hard...that is the commitment I am making to myself now. And then we'll see where it takes me for next month .
I am going to continue to work to the acheivement of this goal and though I may not place (or then again maybe I will) either way it's going to take all the rest of everything I have got and I am going to work harder not only in the gym to get my body in shape, but I am going to also work hard on Mrs. BEOTCH to ensure that I don't lose my friends along with all this fat. I will need them along with my family to cheer me on, keep my motivation up and most likely give me that pep talk when it comes time to don that suit and walk across that stage. (YIKES!)
So, moody, temperamental, bitchy...I may still be those but I am promising everyone now that I will try and keep it to a minimum and instead direct those feelings to my workout, taking it out on the weights and cardio machines as I continue in this training the last 90 days.
Whew - even just typing about it here has me feeling so much better. Thank you for allowing me to rant - I did warn you when I started this post that it would be about the good the bad and the ugly....this is part of it ;) In the words of Jennifer DiDonato I say to myself...it really will be worth it all for those few moments on stage!
And with that I give you this last quote of the post:
"Before you begin a thing remind yourself that difficulties and delays quite impossible to foresee are ahead...You can only see one thing clearly, and that is your goal. Form a mental vision of that and cling to it through thick and thin." - Unknown
I really do appreciate all the support and words of encouragement that you have given me - it is so uplifting as well to know that I am inspiring so many of you to get yourselves in shape too.
Hugs!
Jennifer DiDonato - Figure Competitor
When I originally read this I was unsure as to what could be mentally taxing - I mean I get the physical side but mentally? Really? This was a question I asked myself and today that question was answered...I hit the mental breaking point. Maybe it was the news that our dog died, (R.I.P Sergeant Pepper) We had 16 wonderful years with him and it had been really tough leaving him in NM with my Mother and Sister in law when we moved to Japan...but I knew that he just wouldn't make the trip and did not want to have him suffer that stress and possibly die en route - but that didn't make it any easier leaving him. He was our first child, having a pet before we decided to have children to ensure that we would be able to handle kids - and a kid is exactly what he became...our four legged one but our child just the same. Or maybe it was just that I was tired - yes, yesterday was a rest day but I had a hard training week the week before and had gotten up for Cardio at 4:30 this morning. Needless to say by the time I got to the gym to meet my trainer and the gals I work out with I was moody. No, that's an understatement. I was Mrs. BEOTCH - yes I am pretty sure it is all caps here. I tried not to be...really I did but it just wasn't my day to let things roll off my back. I was short with the girls, snapped at them when they said something and by the end of the session I was so done I barely said good-bye to them. All I wanted to do was get in the shower and head to my pedi appointment where I could close everything out and just not worry about anything - it was time to check out before I had to pick up the kids from school, get homework done and then prep for soccer practice. On top of those things, it's been rainy and ugly today, cold and dreary I know did not help my cause today.
But those are excuses - or so I am telling myself as I write this post...but I also wonder are they really excuses or is it something else. I am so dedicated to this competition now, the money invested has been more than what I originally thought and though I am not complaining about that because I am in the best shape of my life and only getting better...I mention it because I feel as that even though I am so committed to this, I am not sure that the gals I'm training with are and so I have to take that step back and remind myself that: Yes, I am training for a competition - the girls that are with me during my sessions with Shelly are not. They are not going to take it as seriously as I am, they are not on a strict diet, they are not doing much more than the hour we spend at the gym with Shelly...So don't hold it against them....but in the same turn, I don't want to have my money wasted; I want to get every moment of the limited hour I have with my trainer to push me further than I want to push myself - that's what I'm investing not only my money in but my time and my self. I look at my pictures and see how far I have come in the past weeks and it excites me....yet I realize too how far I still have yet to go to be able to actually look good next to all the other women that will be on stage with me come that first weekend in June - SO I will make that hour what I can and push myself on the days that I am not with Shelly just as hard...that is the commitment I am making to myself now. And then we'll see where it takes me for next month .
I am going to continue to work to the acheivement of this goal and though I may not place (or then again maybe I will) either way it's going to take all the rest of everything I have got and I am going to work harder not only in the gym to get my body in shape, but I am going to also work hard on Mrs. BEOTCH to ensure that I don't lose my friends along with all this fat. I will need them along with my family to cheer me on, keep my motivation up and most likely give me that pep talk when it comes time to don that suit and walk across that stage. (YIKES!)
So, moody, temperamental, bitchy...I may still be those but I am promising everyone now that I will try and keep it to a minimum and instead direct those feelings to my workout, taking it out on the weights and cardio machines as I continue in this training the last 90 days.
Whew - even just typing about it here has me feeling so much better. Thank you for allowing me to rant - I did warn you when I started this post that it would be about the good the bad and the ugly....this is part of it ;) In the words of Jennifer DiDonato I say to myself...it really will be worth it all for those few moments on stage!
And with that I give you this last quote of the post:
"Before you begin a thing remind yourself that difficulties and delays quite impossible to foresee are ahead...You can only see one thing clearly, and that is your goal. Form a mental vision of that and cling to it through thick and thin." - Unknown
I really do appreciate all the support and words of encouragement that you have given me - it is so uplifting as well to know that I am inspiring so many of you to get yourselves in shape too.
Hugs!
Quick fixes? Nope - just good 'ol persistance
So it's been said time and time again in different languages all across the world....Good food and exercise is the secret to success - no matter where you read what words they express it in it is always the same...if you eat right and get the exercise your body needs you will be healthy, happy and fit. Yet, we always like to shift the blame - move it to something else, why I'm fat, why I can't lose weight, why I can't get to the gym - there will always be an excuse not to go, not to eat what you should and where does that leave you? Unhappy, fat and well you get the idea.
A friend of mine posted this on her FB status a few days ago and I got a laugh at it - I'm sure you will too:
"I have to exercise in the morning before my brain figures out what I'm doing."
-Marsha Doble
Do what you have to to make your life change now! What are you waiting for?
A friend of mine posted this on her FB status a few days ago and I got a laugh at it - I'm sure you will too:
"I have to exercise in the morning before my brain figures out what I'm doing."
-Marsha Doble
Do what you have to to make your life change now! What are you waiting for?
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