My Journey To My First Figure Competition: 11 Weeks Out

Stats: 140.8 lbs; Body Fat: 13.85%….holding steady, with a slight drop from 13.9% last week.

Calorie intake:Most days are 2300-2500; NO refeed this week, but did have an extra 1/2 cup of oats and 1 cup of egg whites one night (with my trainer’s permission!) to fight a sugar craving.  Ate it….and still went to bed hungry!  Metabolism’s roaring!!

Cardio: 4 days on the tread; 2 at 45 minutes each at 70% max HR (roughly 140 bpm) and 2 doing 45 minutes of HIIT with 2 minutes walking at 70% HRM and 50 seconds sprinting at 10mph.

Lifting: Lifted all body parts this week with a past line up.  I did a 5-day split of: legs, shoulders, chest/tri, back/bi, legs day 2

I just got my line up for next week and it’s ALL changing…which means this bod will be guessing and trying to keep up!

Rest Day: I had a wonderful day of rest with lots of water, the usual diet, and 8 hours of sleep on either side of it.

This week I decided to change up the suit AND the lighting for my weekly pics.  The green suit I was wearing that I borrowed from Jackie does not flatter me because it’s too small.  My trainer Jackie and I see differences and more muscle reveal this week, so I’m so excited that the plan is working!  I had posing practice with Laura Marenco Fitness yesterday, so the top left pose is the popular “model pose” that I’ll be hitting on stage when we’re standing on the sidelines.

Later this week I head to meet with my suit designer Suits By Amy in Muncie to get measured for my suit!!  I’m aiming to choose one like this…..I’m a black and white (and blingy!) kind of girl!  Suits can range from $250 up to $1500, but for my first show it’s wise to stay in the lower end.  Not sure of my fabric and design, but I like black because of the contrast with my hair and I feel that black actually stands out in a sea of bright colors!

This week was great in the gym and the only complaint I had was that I really had to  stay the course through my lifting to squeeze in my 45-minute cardios, too.  I have 2 hours in the child watch area for my kids, so there’s little time left over to mess around, chat, and stretch, too.  I used every bit of that 120 minutes and maybe a few minutes over!  This shot was on leg day!

We went out to eat for my Mom’s birthday at a local yummy Italian restaurant that she loves.  From this point on I’m VERY territorial over what goes in this body!  What I mean by that is that I need to fix my own food because it’s just too risky to leave it in the hands of someone else’s kitchen.  In all reality, there are SO MANY hidden ingredients in the foods we eat, especially the ones prepared in a restaurant.  My strategy was to pack my food, eat it in the van on the way over to lunch, and go in full.  Well, I ate it and was still hungry and ended up ordering a side of green beans, too.  This time I got a little feisty with the server and said, “I want the green beans plain jane.  Nothing on them, no butter, salt, nothing.  And if you send it out with something on it, I’ll have to send it back!”  Watch out, I’m not messing around!

My mindset this week is great.  Now 11 weeks and counting, I’m getting nervous, but really excited for not only the day of, but the transformation that’s coming in.  I promote EVERYONE go for what scares them.  Do something that makes you uncomfortable, that you never thought you could do.  Make a plan, stay the course, and see what happens.  I am full of energy mentally and physically and feel so blessed and thankful for the ability to push and challenge the healthy body I’ve been given!

Just a reminder of where I started in October 2009…….