5 Weeks out from UFE Halloween Mayhem

I gotta say, this prep has been a lot harder than my first and I'm trying to pinpoint the reasons why?? I've come up with a few ideas....

1. The first one had a lot of excitement and uncertainty behind it. I didn't have any idea what to expect, I didn't have any expectations of myself other than to get on stage and I was just excited that I had FINALLY followed thru with one of my bucket list items!!! Now that that initial excitement is out of the way, I'm finding that I'm a lot tougher on myself. I don't have that EXCUSE, that its just my first time. I expect myself to do well which isn't the way I should go into it. I should still be viewing it as wanting to do better than my last time competing...NOT competing with others. It's when I start to feel competitive that all the fun is taken out of the event!

2. When I started prepping for my first competition I had a LOT of room for improvement! I had just recovered from a C-Section and had a lot of weight to lose!! I found my motivation was fuelled by seeing so much change week to week! The more weight you have to lose to begin with the more changes you'll see! So now, I only gained 5Lbs back after my last competition (hopefully a couple of those is lean mass after all this work!) and it's been REALLY hard to see the changes! When you only have 5 lbs-10Lbs to lose instead of 30-40, it just doesn't seem like you're making any progress and that makes it hard to stay motivated!

This being said, I'm really excited/and worried about doing my first OUT OF TOWN competition. Getting everything organized (tan/makeup/food prep/travel/accomodations/etc) is a lot more stressful! I'm so glad that I will have local friends there to spend the weekend with! It's going to be so much fun, and that's is what is keeping me going on the rough days!

This week I'm starting a carb/calorie cycle. I started tuesday with a low day, today was med, thurs and fri are going to be low, and Saturday high....I will decide from there what to do based on results. I woke up this morning with a nice defined six pack after my low day....which really fuelled my workout today! I just love to see how much change a day can make, and to see my abs come in is my ABsolute favourite! ;) I don't usually do the cycling, so hopefully it will shock my system into doing something amazing!! HAHA

I promise I will get more pictures up soon. I have a horrible replacement phone since my last one died...it takes blurry pictures so my social media has been suffering :( I also have a new MAC so I don't have the programs that I used to use for my collages, but I'm working on it! I want to see if there has been changes over the past month, so I HAVE to get organized here soon! If you have any suggestions on programs that I can make collages with AND add text that would be awesome! (You can post here or on my facebook page) I can't seem to find anything that will do both.

It's been a few weeks since I have done a blog, so I will insert my last few vlogs here too just in case you missed them!

WEEK 6 (Diet and Supplements)

WEEK 7 (Training, Fridge and Freezer)

WEEK 8 (Competing Lifestyle)

One MAJOR motivation I've had this past week was meeting with Melissa Leigh Morrisson (WBFF Pro) for help with my posing! I left with blisters and made many more from practicing throughout the week, but I feel so much better and she left me feeling excited and motivated for my time on stage again! :) I highly recommend investing in some help when it comes to stage presence. I didn't the first time, and really didn't feel confident on stage. I'm sure I'll feel like a shaking leaf again this time, but I do feel better prepared! Now I just have to make the extra time to practice, practice, practice!

Hopefully this week will bring great progress that I can share with you next week!!


Steph :)

FINAL WEEK!!

Well, this final week ha FINALLY arrived!!!! I CAN'T WAIT to get on stage....

This past week, I have been on track with diet, water, weights and cardio....I was dragging my arse a couple of the days, but for the most part, I was super motivated, and keeping my mind on the final goal. I even had two REALLY good cheat meals throughout the week so I haven't felt too deprived!!! I'm looking forward to nixing the fish....don't care to ever see it again...but other than that I'm enjoying everything! :) As I had posted on my page, I used my cheat meals this week to see how my body would react to a load up on carbs, and the results were super cool! Before the meal, I looked flat and average...30 minutes after, I could see my six pack no problem! It's really interesting to REALLY see how food affects you at this point! :) Since this is my first competition, I obviously won't be able to judge exactly how much and over how many meals would be best, but I know what I did made me look better, so that's a start!

Even though I'm happy with my progress, and I'm not having much trouble sticking to the EXTREMELY clean diet, I have definitely been cranky. I feel sorry for my husband, and I'm sure he'll be happy when I can get back to the way I was eating a month ago. Am I going to go back to eating like crap....HECK NO!!! At least we will be able to go out for dinner once in a while though. I know he really misses that.

Posing is going great....My Bikini T-Walk is looking much more energetic, and my lats are showing ALMOST every time for my fitness model posing! HAHA. I'm hoping for the best this week, and that by at least Wednesday they show up EVERYTIME!!!

This week is going to be super busy, hair needs to be dyed, extensions tightened, manicure and pedicure, the all important shaving/waxing...haha. Get my bag packed (dark clothing, sewing kit, dixiecups, bikinibite, muscle sheen, dreamtan, a pillow or something to sit on, towel, bikini, shoes and extra shoes, pastic gloves, clothes for afterwards, business cards if they are ready on time, ipod and headphones, camera, phone and charger, photoshoot clothing for the afternoon, FOOD!!....hmmm, that's all I can think of right now ;) All my appointments have been confirmed so that's ready to go!!!

The plan with diet and exercise this week isn't going to be too drastic. A little manipulation of water and carb levels, no hocus pocus!!! Monday and Tuesday will be the same diet as usual, Wednesday High Carb, Thursday Low carb, then I'll decide from there based on how I'm looking! :) Water will stay the same till the day before I think?? Ahhh, not too sure what to do really! LOL I'm happy with how I'm looking, so I don't think I'll change much. No point in coming in looking worse :) I'll be working out hard till Thursday and taking Friday and Saturday off to rest up....and as to not ruin my tan with sweat! Probably sit in the house on Saturday with the AC pumping since this warmer weather is bloating me! Me and heat DON'T MIX!!!

Here are the pics for this week!

2 Weeks Out

Hmmmm, I'm trying to think of what I have to say about this past week!!! Everything is still going to plan...I'm still getting leaner, the diet is still working, so I'm sticking with it!

Am I confident that I will be where I need to be in two weeks??? NOT AT ALL!!! What I do know, is that I've been doing everything in my power to bring my best package, I've stuck to my plan 100% (whether my plan was the best it could be I have no idea) and I think this week was the calm before the storm! I can also tell you, that I CAN'T WAIT to get fish OUT OF MY DIET for a while! Last week, I determined that my body doesn't like rice, so my carbs have only been oatmeal and sweet potatoes. My fats, avocado and coconut oil. Other than that, lots of spinach, cucumber and asparagus, which I think I mentioned last week. AND of course, 6 litres of water a day like usual...of course, I'm starting to get my daughters cold....any praying I catch it before it puts me out of commission! ARGH

This week, I spent some time getting in contact with tanning, hair and makeup etc, to confirm appointments....I also finally bit the bullet and paid for the crossover fee to FITNESS MODEL Category! I know my body isn't where it needs to be for this, but while I'm there, why not get more experience right??? Who know's what the future will bring and whether I'll get up there again! I may as well enjoy it while I'm there!

I got my 5 cardio sessions in, bootcamp style. I couldn't be more bored with regular cardio! I can't wait to get back to building phases so I don't have to do it anymore! HAHA

I've been practicing posing a lot, and my bikini T-Walk and posing are going great! I JUST recently started practicing Fitness Model Posing and was having a hard time finding my lats....but as of Monday, surprise surprise, they decided to show up!!! Now its a matter of getting them to appear EVERYTIME, so I don't end up on stage with nothing to show....for some reason, when they ARE flexed, and when I THINK they are flexed, feels the same?? I really think that stage presence and posing is the hardest part of this whole journey! I told my husband he should come early and get a seat right behind the judges, and bring with him our full length mirror so I can see myself! HAHAHAHAHA I've come a long way, because when I first put on these shoes I was in so much pain I thought there was NO WAY I'd be able to go through with it. Now I'm completely comfortable in them, and I THINK, looking pretty good! :)

As for next week, I'm going to be doing the same as this week...don't want to change anything too much at this point! Diet will be the same, workouts will be weights 4x/week and 5x/45 min Cardio sessions....This will be the plan for the beginning of the week anyway, and we'll see how it goes! Along with this, I will be doing lots of posing practice!!!

Next week, I'm also going to start putting a post competition plan on paper. I've been reading lots about reverse dieting, adding more carbs back to the diet slowly, and tapering off on cardio weekly as well. I'm going to be REALLY careful not to have a huge rebound. I don't think this will be too much of a problem since I'm still not craving anything unhealthy....but who knows! It's always good to have a plan on paper as to not leave anything to chance!

Up till now, I'm not stressing too much! I've done all I could, I'm proud of myself, and I'm excited to get up there! We'll see how this attitude changes as the big day gets nearer! :) I've been feeling kinda tired, and just dragged myself to the gym today....BUT I left with a whole bunch of motivation because I was pretty darned happy with how I looked :) once again, pics really suck...I'm excited to show you how I look all tanned up and in my show bikini. It's all coming together!.....

P.S Make sure you enter the MostFit Giveaway by visiting the post previous to this one!!! Who wouldn't want to be able to take their workouts ANYWHERE, ANYTIME!!!! :)

3 Weeks Out!

Last week went REALLY well. I still don't notice the changes in pictures, but I definitely see changes in the mirror. I weigh in on Monday, and by Friday I had already lost 1.6Lbs. The my diet was 6 meals a day..a small amount of carbs in my first three meals (I workout in the morning) and only veggies with my protein for my last three meals. One evening meal had avacado added, and my morning oatmeal had a TBSP of coconut oil. Veggies consisted of cucumber, asparagus and spinach. I replaced chicken with white fish and flank steak. My calories have also been increased to 1750/day. By Friday, I had lost enough.  I've also been in a deficit for a LONG LONG time, so I had a great cheat meal Saturday night! :) Hubby, baby and I went to our favorite all you can eat sushi restaurant for dinner. My husband was pretty happy about this. He's SUPER supportive of my goals, but it has sucked for him that I won't go out to eat as frequently :) We used to do that ALL THE TIME!! In addition to all of these changes, I started adding cardio to my regime, and my knees are actually feeling OK!!! I did three bootcamps, and 2 Steady state cardio sessions for the week. It's nice to sweat again, even though I HATE cardio. LOL

I've been working hard on posing. My Bikini T-Walk posing is looking good, but I have to work on ENERGY!! I think it will be better with music, so I'm trying to track down what songs they are going to be using....no response yet. For fun, and extra experience on stage, I've been debating all along to enter the fitness model category as well. I'm having a lot of trouble learning how to flex and do their manadory poses though!! Just last night, I FINALLY figured out how to get my lats to flex....but now I have to do it without a mirror. To me, it doesn't feel any different, so I may be on stage, not flexed at all, and not even know it! HAHA....This entry is still up in the air.

I DID pick up my suit this week! It looks great in my opinion, still a little snug. I can get alterations at anytime though, which is the great part about hiring a local suit maker. All I had asked her was that my abnormally long bum crack be covered, and that my c-section scar be covered. I was a little worried that it may look funny but the bottoms are perfect and everything is covered! Maybe at the beginning of PEAK WEEK, I'll give you a sneak peak ;) It's nothing crazy! Simple and feminine. I may bling it up myself for my next competition.

As for next week, it's simple! I'm sticking to the plan! :) Here are my pics from this week!

4 Weeks Out!! It's ON!!

This past week, I kept the same plan as last week. Low Carb all week 40/20/40 with a high carb day near the end of the week 20/75/5. I added a couple hundred calories more than my carb up day last week (I took a pic pre and post carb, but really didn't see much of a change) Hmmmm, not sure what to do about this??? I was drinking about a gallon and a half a day of water, and still exercising with weights 5 days/week. I've been doing minimal reps, as HEAVY as I can, trying to preserve as much muscle as possible. I completed a couple of days of steady state cardio for 30 minutes, with no knee problems so it may be time to step this up!!! Results this week are............................

I practiced posing three times this week, for about 25-30 minutes, and it's coming together. I still think I look funny, but it's coming together. I've found a little posing help at a local private gym. I had a 30 minute session on Saturday with a few other girls. It was a little scattered since we were all competing in different federations and categories, but it was still nice just to get up in the bathing suit in front of a few other people!! I better get used to it, because in 4 weeks, I'm going to be in front of 500 people!!! (the tickets are almost sold out!) Strangers I'm ok with, but it's the friends and family that make me nervous ;)

Speaking of posing!! I saw my suit today!!! WOHOO!! It's pretty! Looks very ICY ;) (that's the hint for now) I think she was hoping to send it home with me today, but the bottoms are HUGE, so I'm going to pick it up on Thursday :) I'm a little concerned....I asked for her to be SURE to cover my abnormally long bumb crack.(hahaha, yeah, long bumb crack, it's really weird! I feel like it's half way up my back! LOL)..and to have enough coverage in the front to cover my c-section scar. Well....it's REALLY close..if I cover my crack, I can see my scar...if I cover my scar, I can see my crack...haha. We'll see when it fits properly, but she may have more work on her hands!! I REALLY hope I look better with a tan! ;)

If you follow my facebook page, I wasn't feeling to confident at the beginning of this past week! Time is going SO FAST, and I wasn't feeling as if there was any chance I'd be ready on time. After meeting with the posing coach this weekend I feel a lot more confident! She gave me a good pep talk and it was just what I needed. I'm still thinking about maybe doing bikini model AND fitness model categories just for more experience on stage (EVEN though at the beginning of this week I was feeling so down I had decided against it...lol) I'll see how I lean out over the next couple of weeks. It's one thing to get more time on stage, and it's another to completely embarrass myself right?? I'm definitely going back and forth on this decision on a daily basis. Thank goodness I can leave that second registration till last minute!!

ANYWAY, these past few weeks, these pics have been more of accountability pics rather than progress pics! I'm not much change if anything at all, but I'm keeping at it!!! This week, I'm going to be adding in cardio to see if things speed up a bit!! I have a bootcamp planned for Monday and Saturday, and hopefully I'll be able to make it to a couple spin classes in between. (easier on my knees) Adding the little cardio I have recently, has made me feel a lot better (I like getting a little sweat on) But I also don't want to be in toooo much of a deficit, so I'm going to add back a little in my diet. I'm addition to a few more carbs, I'm also adding some fish to change it up a bit!!

Here are the progress pics for this week...I'm debating this being the last pictures I post till the end so I can really concentrate on my training and diet,....and hopefully have a REALLY good progress pic to show after a few week ;) and in my suit!!! I'm still deciding on that too!

 

8 Weeks Out

A week ago, I tried to incorporate cardio into my regime, and it didn't go well!! My knees were in agony after very simple steady state cardio :( So this week, I only managed to get two 15 minute cardio sessions in! To keep the downward trend going, I figured I had no choice but to lower my calories more which I didn't originally want to do!! The plan was to stick with this till I feel contest ready...hopefully early, and then just maintain till May. So this week I was eating 1200 calories (which is the absolute minimum I will go to) and low carb. I was doing a little bit of a carb cycle you could say! I'm had two high carb days, one for leg day, and one for back day. (These days I basically just added oatmeal in the morning and removed a serving of fat later on to compensate for it) You know you are eating clean when having a bowl of your once upon a time, everyday oatmeal is the best taste you could imagine for your tastebuds!! HAHA

I was originally planning on having a cheat meal or day, but I think I'm just going to put that off till after my photoshoot in a couple of weeks! The monday after my shoot I'll have a good cheat day, I PROMISE! LOL I thought the week was going well, but I'm really not happy with my pics as compared to the last few weeks :(

TOTALLY out of the blue I'm starting to see that my quads and abs have started to show.  I'm SUPER happy to see this happening FINALLY!!!! (this didn't seem to show up in my pics this week? I just look skinnier) My energy level has still be REALLY good considering the cut of calories!

I've REALLY started to focus on posing....10-15 minutes everyday...if I don't get my body where I want it to be, I will at least be ready for stage presence...I HOPE! As far as my body goes, I'm pretty sure I'll have no problem getting lean enough. My worry is, in order to get more defined I'll start to look too skinny because I didn't build enough muscle before starting the lean out process! :( I'm already excited for off season!! I can't wait to start building some beautiful muscles! ;)

I've had a little fun this week putting all my outfits aside for the photoshoot in Toronto. I want to have lots of options to choose from depending on how things go!! :)

Here are my progress pics for the week! Despite the big cut in calories, I didn't really lose anything. Not being able to add any cardio isn't helping any!!! To me, the pics appear to look better last week
 :( Makes me want to RUN back to what I was doing before!!! At least I know there has been a consistent trend of that working. I'm thinking I will stick with what I was doing before, until I'm not seeing any progress anymore. I will experiment with cutting calories and carb cycling after the photoshoot! I don't want to look flat for the pictures ;)

Until Next week my fit friends!

10 Weeks Out and NPAA Workshop

This past week went REALLY well!! I replaced my post workout banana with 2 rice cakes for less sugar...and I also replaced my sweet potatoes with veggies. My macro breakdown was 40p/30c/30f again and was eating 1600 calories. I still wasn't doing any cardio and stuck with my 5 days of weights with active rests. One thing I worked REALLY hard on was more water. Most days I ended up with 2 gallons of water...a couple days I only made it to 1.5....but always more than I've been used to. I also cut out coffee and replaced with tea.(not for diet reasons. It was something that was suggested to me at my iridology appt. My body is very acidic, and coffee doesn't help that matter) Here is the link if you would like to read more about my iridology appt! :) http://operationcompetitionlean.blogspot.ca/2013/03/IridologyExperience.html

 

Sunday, I KINDA had a cheat day which was recommended. I'm a sugar ADDICT, so I didn't want to go too crazy. I've finally cut the cravings, so why would I want to revisit that right!? I ended up upping my calories to maintenance and allowing myself the few things that I already cut from my diet that I miss. (Banana, Sweet Potato...and my treat was Airpopped Popcorn with a bit too much Kernels Popcorn Spice! LOL)

 

My bodyfat and weight is still on a slow downward trend which is awesome. Technically I don't really have to change things at all since I'm still seeing progress, but I'm actually CRAVING some cardio! So, here are my progress pics for this week, followed by my goals for next week :)

 

 

 

 

This week, I'm keeping my calories at 1600, and sticking to the lower sugar intake I was doing last week! I'm also trying to intake 2 gallons of water/day. I'm still going to do the 5 day split with active rests....but I'm going to add three days of steady state cardio, just for 15 minutes. We'll see how my knees hadle that!!

 

This past Saturday, I went to the workshop for the NPAA. www.npaa.ca Organization!! It was a huge turnout!! So big, that they are doing another workshop later this month because there wasn't room for everyone!There are going to be a lot more competitors than I was expecting, which is kinda scary. I'm lucky I'm starting in Novice ;)  I learnt a lot about posing, but now I have to put it to practice! I want this to be second nature when my brain blanks out on stage, because we all know that's a huge possibility! HAHA I'm already having nightmares about it! LOL I have to work on my style, and being myself so that I don't have to think about it much, just go out there and have FUN!!!

Looking around the room, I certainly don't think I'm the best, but I think I'll be competitive. It's hard to know which category to go in?? There were a lot of girls practicing for fitness, who looked to have less muscle than me?? I may enter both categories, just to get more experience on stage and see where the judges place me (if at all) so I will know for next time. I KNOW that in a bigger event I would be in bikini. You can't help but compare yourself with others at these things...and it looks like my upper body is ok....but my lowerbody needs LOTS of help!!! Here are a couple pics from my phone.

 

 

 

In other words, the non diet goals this week, is lots of lower body work, a little cardio should help (I'll probably do some climbing on the excalator) AND last but no least, get those shoes out and practice for REAL, now that I know what is expected!!

 

After the workshop, I also got my tan booked (no need to stress about doing it myself for the first competition) and booked a meeting with a local suit maker (tooooo exciting) Hair and Make-Up is also booked :) WOHOO, things are coming together!

 

 

 

 

 

 

11 Weeks Out/ 4 Weeks till FEM Camp

Here are my progress pics for this week!! This past week I was eating 1600 Calories/day with a 30%Pro/40%Carb/30%Fat Macro Split. I did Week 8 of the James Wilson Body Earned Program, which is circuit training. Like Usual, no cardio! I'm saving the cardio for a last resort! Just like the previous week, I lost another LB and a tiny bit of Bodyfat, which is awesome! I'm glad that the losses are happening, but at a super slow pace! I do feel weaker since lowering my calories a few weeks ago, so I want this weight loss to be as slow as possible! I'm hoping to maintain as much muscle as I can through this process!

For this week, the plan is pretty similar! No need to cut anymore calories since I'm still seeing a downward trend! YAY. I will be making a few changes though. I'm doing week 9 of the Body Earned program, and from next week on, I think I'll go back to lifting as heavy as I can, one body part/day. I had a great chat with a friend who used to compete, and she suggested I start replacing my post breakfast carbs with more veggies. I WILL keep my sanity by having my Favorite meal of the day....OATMEAL, but after breakfast, i'll be replacing complex carbs with vegetables. Along with that, I'm going to TRY to get my water intake even higher! I've been drinking a gallon/day, but I'm going to try and add a litre extra for a few days...then add another hopefully!! Bring on the bathroom breaks! HAHA I'm increasing my protein a little, and decreasing my carbs...fat will stay the same. (40/30/30)

I'm toying with the idea of a cheat day...my friend suggested just trying a cheat meal since it's scaring the crap out of me! HAHA...guess there's no hurt in trying it for a couple of weeks just to see what happens! Not sure if I'll follow thru with that or not....I have been craving popcorn like nobodies business(no butter)...that's a farely safe cheat no?? HAHA

Anyway, here are my progress/accountability pics for this week!! Until Next Monday my fitness Friends!!....Well, I may actually post about my iridology experience tomorrow!! :) I can't wait!!

12 Weeks out/5 Weeks till Photo Shoot

Well, this past week, I had my calorie intake at 1700 Cals/day, and my P,C,F Macronutrient Breakdown was 30/40/30. Once again, just under a LB lost, and VERY little BF....not even worth mentioning.. sooooo, not too sure what I should do this week!!! I'm thinking my diet's going to be at a calorie intake of 1600 and same macronutrient breakdown. I'm going back to the James Wilson Body Earned program which has active rests to keep my heart rate a little higher. I'm going to start at week 8, because that's the point where I found it got pretty challenging last time. I'm currently at 121.6 Lbs...for as long as I can remember, this has always been the point my body doesn't want to pass!!! It just wants to STAY PUT when I get to the 120 range. This is going to be a mind over matter period, and it's going to be really challenging! I'm am determined to see this through!!! :)

Since it's only 5 weeks till my photoshoot at F.E.M Camp in Toronto, I've decided to do a "Trial" lean out period. The next two weeks are going to be pretty similar gym wise, but for the last three weeks, I'm planning on adding three HITT Cardio workouts/week as well (we'll see how my knees do after nine months off cardio! HAHA) I will probably do some manipulation on complex carb intake and fat intake as well, but I still have to do a little more research on this aspect first!!! I have a lot of reading to do in the next couple of weeks!! I've had company from out of town here for the past two weeks, so as of tomorrow night, I'll have a lot more time for that kinda stuff :) I love having visitors, but it's nice to get back in the groove too!!!

I think F.E.M Camp is coming at the perfect time...I will be able to do a little trial and error on leaning out...if it works well, I'll be ready in plenty of time for my competition, and if it doesn't I'll still have a month to try something else!!! I'm hoping for the former, but I'm sure there will be tweaking required regardless!!

Anyway, here are my accountability pics for this week!!! I really hope to see some leaning out soon!! 12 Weeks!!! It's getting REAL now!!

13 Weeks Out

Well, this was a weird week!! Two weeks ago I was at 2000 calories/day and losing....really slowly, but I was losing! The following week I lowered my intake to 1900/day and was still losing....This past week I was at 1800 calories/week. I'm basically trying to get myself to a point where I'm losing a pound/week consistently. When I weighed myself in today I was all of a sudden up 2lbs, and 3mm's in my belly caliper measurement!! Not sure exactly where that came from!!??

So, the plan this week is going to change up the macros a little. I WAS doing 40/40/30 (P,C,F). This week I'm going to change that to 30/40/30. I have already determined I don't do great with High Carbs, so I'm going to try Higher Fat and see what happens!! I haven't decided as of yet whether I'm going to drop to 1700 Calories or remain at 1800??

On a brighter note, my workouts have been DA BOMB...and I'm happy with how my hamstrings are looking!!! I can see the definition a little in my abs again, my suit gets looser and looser every week, and I still have energy to spare! Even though I've hit a little setback, I know I have lots I can do...I have a lot more calories I can cut (just don't want to do it too fast, for fear of losing VERY HARD EARNED muscle) and I'm saving the cardio that I can add at some point. It's been 9 months now that I haven't done any cardio. The proof is right there that proper diet is 80% of the game. I just have to figure out the little tweaks in my diet needed to keep things running smoothly!! :)

I'm still doing a 5day split workout from Fitness RX Magazine. I still can't sit down after the leg workouts...and it's the third week!

Until Next week,
I hope I have some good news to share after some extra yummy fat this week ;)

Keep up the good work everyone and thanks for helping motivate me!!~Steph

14 Weeks out!!!

I missed progress pics last week since I was so sick and didn't work out. I'm was feeling MUCH better this week, and I was working REALLY hard at the gym!! I'm noticing that I have to focus a lot more on my triceps. My diet this past week was 1900 Calories and a 40/40/20 Macro Split. I've noticed just looking in the mirror at the gym that I'm looking better, but these pics don't really reflect that?? I seem to have lost all definition in my abs (could be as simple as what I ate yesterday I guess) And I had to take the pics by myself this morning because my photographer is out of town ;) Did a lot of running back and forth from the camera to my spot trying to get the positioning as close to the last pics as possible!!

I spent a lot of time this week emailing Hair/MakeUp for quotes, and shopping around for tanning! I think I've settled on using Cherry Dolls for my Tan (they seem to be the most hassle free) and I'm pretty sure I've pick my hair and makeup professional as well :) I was originally planning on doing all this stuff myself, but I see myself being SO NERVOUS that I want to have as little to worry about as possible.  For future competitions (if there's a future competition) I will be more comfortable trying to do these things on my own!

I haven't been practicing posing, but I HAVE been walking all over the place in my heels just getting used to them!! They are slowly but surely getting more comfortable! THANK GOODNESS!!! HAHA I have a couple of workshops coming up, and hopefully I'll get tips there to REALLY start practicing my posing routine!

I have to get even MORE focused on the food intake this week. I'm going to do 1800 Cals a day and stick with my 40/40/20. I just realized that I do have a photoshoot the first week of April, so I should be counting that as my focus for now!!! This means, I have half the time I thought I did!! HAHA I want to look a little more "Natural" for the photoshoot though, so it should be good timing!!

Until Next week's Progress Pics!!! Have a great Week!!!

Week 23, 16 Weeks to Go!!!

This past week, I changed up my program a bit, just to spice things up a little. It was a 5 day split from Fitness RX Magazine. There weren't any active rests so my total caloric burn for the week was less than normal....the only day I got a CRAZY burn was the lowerbody circuit on Saturday!! I burned double what I normally do, and felt for the first time in a long time, that I had to barf! HAHA It's now Monday and I still can't sit down without pain! LOL

As for pics and weigh in today I gained a bit :( Which means, I'm gonna change my diet again this week. 100 calories less per day. So my plan this week will be to eat 2000 calories a day and stick with this 5 day split for another week. We will see what happens next Monday and work from there!! I'm not crazy concerned that things aren't going in a downward trend just yet. I will get really focused on that 10-12 weeks out! I'm sure you are getting sick of collage after collage of pics that look pretty much exactly the same, but I'm going to keep posting for accountability!! LOL

I'm going to be playing a bit of catch up too, as I'm REALLY feeling under the weather today, so I stayed home from the gym today. My daughter had the flu shot on Friday, and has a runny nose and such, so I'm assuming I'm getting something from her :(

Happy Workouts and Clean Eating Everyone!!! Keep up the hard work!!!

Happy Birthday to Me!

 

I was SO spoiled this year for my big 32!!! Usually I keep quiet and hope that everyone around me just forgets and lets it pass!!! Bah humbug, I don't like celebrating getting older:) I still didn't want a big celebration as I'm not keen on being centre of attention, but this year was the best I've ever felt! I have so much to be thankful for. I'm in the best shape of my life (despite having just had my daughter and being sleep deprived), my family is happy and healthy, I have an awesome support system of friends, we are paying the bills, planning for the future, and I've found such a great group of people online through my blog, facebook, twitter, pinterest, and instagram!!! (YAY #mompowerteam) The opportunities for 2013 are endless. Not to mention I'm on my way to completing my goal of competing in May....something I've wanted to do since my early 20's but never followed through with! I've never been so focused on my goals!!!

 

I ALWAYS say I don't want anything for my birthday....I'd rather spend the money doing something with my husband and daughter, like going on a family trip, etc. For the most part my husband listens to me, but this year he outdid himself!! He remembered me complimenting someone on their ring over xmas, (more than once) and he got me one similar with my daughter's birthstone in it. Such a thoughtful gift and this picture doesn't give it justice~!! I just got home from picking it up from being sized :)

 

 

Not only this, but he also insists that I go to the Monica Brant F.E.M Camp that I've been wanting to go to. (Either Kelowna or Toronto, we have to figure out childcare) This isn't necessarily my bday gift, as we will both be paying for it, but it makes me feel really special that he thinks I deserve it and wants to make it happen for me! He's in a band that has a big concert all weekend during the Kelowna Camp and he was willing to cancel just so I could go! (which I obviously won't let him do, but we will figure something out) I can't WAIT for this Camp, I think it will be the experience of a lifetime, I'll meet some awesome ladies and learn so much!!!

 

Immediately after I decided to go to this, Erica at sisinshape.com was contacted by THE Monica Brant and given a spot at the F.E.M Camp to #mompowerteam to giveaway!!! I'd LOVE IT if one of you won, and I could spend the weekend getting to know someone I've met through social media! It really is amazing!!! 

 

See Below for Details

 

 

 

 

Fit Power Moms have teamed up to giveaway the fitness experience of a lifetime…entry to one of Monica Brant’s 3-day F.E.M. Camp™ in 2013 ($650 value)!! Get social with us to enter...

Visit
http://www.sisinshape.com/#!power-mom-fem-camp-giveaway-2013/c1df0 for details about the camp, or to enter

You can also enter by going to my facebook page
www.facebook.com/operationcompetitionlean.com and clicking on the giveaway icon!!!

Good luck everyone, it would be AWESOME to see you there!!!!!!!!