GROWTH PHASE PROGRESS

Helllllllooooo everyone!!! How have your past couple of weeks gone? Mine, I've got to say have been very productive....I've updated my website, finished all my reading for my first mid term (have some loose ends to study still) and planned my meals for the last week and this week, and had many many KICK ARSE workouts!!! You've gotta love EXTRA clean food when it gives you energy results in the gym!!

So here is my update!! If you ready my last post, you know that I'm re-starting my favourite program MI40X , and it's going WAY BETTER than it did the first time. This is a MUSCLE BUILDING program, but the first time around I was in a caloric deficit because I was slowly increasing my calories after my competition...THIS time I'm following the meal plan guidelines as well, in a caloric surplus and hoping for some lean mass gains over the next 40 days of HARD WORK!!!

Love Warming up with my girls!! Do you look fwd to seeing certain people at the gym?? That's what gets me there on days that I just "don't want to"

The first week I planned 2050 Calories daily with 40%p/20%c/40$f. This is a great breakdown for me right now, 1. Because I LOOOOVE fats
and            2. Because I feel that I have become somewhat insulin resistant (carbs react by making me                  feel bloated, sluggish and I lose mental focus.)
                  3. Because the addition of extra fats keeps me feeling more satiated throughout the whole     day, no energy slumps.

My program was 6 days/week. Body part type split, with extra shoulder sessions over other body parts. One the 7 day (my day off) I ate an additional 600 Calories in Carbohydrates...you can say a cheat meal, or treat, however I ALWAYS choose healthy low glycemic foods!

My diet was uploaded on my newly updated website OPERATIONLEAN for any of you to download and use yourselves. I have yet to upload my next meal plan, but I will be adding it soon!!! Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss any new diet updates!!! There's going to be LOTS of FREE meal plans and workouts added in the near future!! I just have to find some time to write them!!! For now, I'll just share mine :)

Here is one of my FAVORITE recipes for hitting my fat intake....this was added to my meal plan this week.

DECADENT CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER CUPS

It's made with coconut oil, PB2, cocoa and stevia to taste!!! SO EASY...if you need even MORE fats, you can use natural peanut butter instead of the PB2 :) Just finished a couple before I started writing this post!!! So delicious!

I was also doing warmups on the bike, and two higher intensity cardio sessions to keep the fat gain at bay and get the blood flowing.

Week 1 Results : Other than the fact that I felt great over my first week, I didn't gain any weight :( I WANT to be gaining a little bit of weight, sooooo

Changes for this week:
1. Increased my calories to 2200 with the same macro breakdown.
2. Kept my warmups daily, but eliminated my cardio sessions.
3. I have to do better with my water intake...it's starting to get chilly here in Calgary, so I'm not craving it like I normally do in the summer. This Hydrate Bottle is helping me get back on track!!!

Want your own Hydrate Water Bottle?? Be sure to check them out on Facebook!! HYDR-8 WATER BOTTLES

At this point I'm really happy with my diet. I don't have any cravings and I'm satisfied throughout the whole day! I always have a yummy meal to look fwd to, so I see no need to change much there. I do have to be expending fewer calories though, as I'm not seeing a weight gain. This is why I eliminated some cardio! I guess I have more time to study now ;)

Here are some things to keep in mind when working toward your own goals :
1. Make sure you have a way to track progress, so you know when to make changes.
2. EVERYONE is different, and there are NO COOKIE CUTTER ways to do things. It's about trial and error. If your results aren't what you want, something has to change
3. If you are wanting to gain, and you don't, you either have to BURN FEWER Calories, or EAT MORE Calories, it's as simple as that!!! The challenge comes from consistency. If you aren't consistent, you will have no idea what to change. AND patience. You may be lucky and hit the nail on the head the first week...you may continue to see progress for weeks (more common for people new to exercise and good nutrition) BUT
4. You will EVENTUALLY hit a plateau and need to use outcome based decision making to change things, and BUST THRU it!!

Good luck with your goals this week, and I will chat with you soon!!!

"you can't do what you've always done and expect a different outcome"

Week 5 of Adventures in Competing-How to select which show you want to do!!!

So here is my week 5 vlog on Youtube!!! This past week I had a LOT of trouble with energy and motivation! I think I threw too much at myself all at once! I chat about that a little in my vlog as well! To re-energize myself, I had a mega treat meal on Saturday! Myself, Husband and BABY went to AUCE Sushi and I TOTALLY refuelled! :) I was feeling much better when Monday came around and I'm ready to get back at it!!!!!

One of the other aspects that got me down this week were the progress pics I took on Friday! They were a month after my last pics, and I've been working my ARSE off since then! I've been eating in a calorie surplus and have been feeling great while doing my exercises. Looking at my quads while doing squats, I was SO IMPRESSED with the development I was seeing!! .....

This was until I saw my pics last week :( I don't see a change AT ALL and it really got me down :( I REALLY didn't want to share this pic with you all, but I figure, I shouldn't only be showing the successes...I should show the struggles too!!! So be kind ;)

ANYWAY, here is my vlog describing how I've decided so far which federations I wanted to compete with and why! I'm gonna keep on trucking....and I got some good advice from Erica Willick.....I have to pick a STRONG "WHY" for the reason I'm competing this time. It can't be to get my body back anymore because I've already surpassed that goal! I need a different motivation this time! Other than visiting with AMAZING friends in Ontario and wanting to look my best for that visit.....I'm not quite sure what my WHY is yet! I have to put my thinking cap on, HAHA

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!