Holy crap... What a summer

As I begin to wrap my mind around going back to work Monday, I can't help but think about how fast the summer went and how crazy it ended up being. I have the Dallas Europa next weekend already!its been a month since I broke my hand, a month since the untimely passing of my cousin, I've come a long way and I'm happier than ever- I have an amazing new boyfriend who treats me like we all should expect, but that still shocks us when it's real...I'm ... Happy. I'm on day 7 of whole30, and I'm still computer less so I'm updating from my mini iPad. I'm looking forward to the journey next weekend and ill keep you updated. I'm finishing the left side of my Red Sonja breastplate today, and moving into my classroom. Hopefully I will get this breastplate done by the weekend and film. Stay tuned, hope you've ad an amazing summer! *stay fit*

WHY?!

Why is that whenever I have a really good plan... life happens. I'm in the middle of moving and it is killing my drive to eat clean... and then I think I'll be good and go over to Ben and James' and just eat some steak and veggies... and I ruin 11 days of good eating. It's not their fault, but I definitely caved and I think the stress of all of this is doing it. I hammered out a really good plan, but with my house in chaos... my brain is in chaos. So here I am pre-cheat meal... we'll see how it looks in the morning. If it's not bad... maybe I will just keep going for another 4 days and then call it a "whole30".... if its not pretty I'm back to basics and instead of counting down the days on my hand... I'm going to try counting up the days I've been without a cheat successfully. This is what I want... and I need to get focused. I have a job interview at 10am in Waco tomorrow, hopefully it is the puzzle piece that will fit my ordered brain back together- this unknown is killing me mentally and physically. I'm so exhausted. *stay fit*

A Good Starting Point

I'm ready... As much as my heart wants to share my life with someone else... I have a few months to focus on my goals, to evaluate what I want and why. I emailed a promoter about an NPC show in San Antonio- which means I have 23 weeks to get my act together and get on stage. that gives me 6 weeks of whole45, and then another 12 weeks of MY from Ashley Horner... and I can still have 5 weeks of actual time to practice with a trainer and coach. I will go to the Adela Garcia on June 22 to see what I'm getting myself into. As much as this seems like a vanity journey... it is about being the best me that I can be... I've been on my own since April 23, that was the official "single" date... but I've really been left alone since December... finding my own path, but the motivation is different this time. I love this, but not all omnivores or omnomnomivores are like this! It's called CLEAN EATING people!! OK, I have my meals all planned for 2 weeks, I have my workout logs printed off... I'm ready. Let's DO THIS! *stay fit*

Got it Hammered Out... Days 1-7

So here is what I did during some "down time" today at work, I hammered out the specifics of my first week back on the Whole45. In order for me to commit, I have to have my own DREAM and want to make it a reality. I will be using recipes from http://chowstalker.com/whole30/ and (again) http://www.thefoodee.com/tag/whole30/... you can search for them on these sites if you see something on my agenda that looks interesting. I have a few recipes I made up or that are exactly how they look... but JUNE 1... You joining me?? *stay fit*

Finding a Plan

As much as I love Ashley Horner, and as much as I would love to commit to her Magnify You program... I'm going to go with a different approach to start, especially with June being CRAZY. I'm going to focus on establishing habits and getting 6 weeks of ME time in during craziness... I cannot commit to the time MY will need while I'm moving and being off work... I know it's a lame excuse, but now that I've tried the first 2 weeks- being without a kitchen is going to make it very difficult to prep the meals for MY... so I will do Whole45 and lift differently, and after that when I am in my parent's house and all moved- I will be able to meal prep and commit. So above is Andrea Brazier (WFBB Physique Diva)... the costume is her on stage competing, but everything else is her fitness modeling- and I always love to see what these women look like after they compete... how "normal" they look... she is beautiful, and I'm going to give her lifting routine 6 weeks to make some difference in my life. I found an article (http://www.simplyshredded.com/andreia-brazier.html) where she outlined a plan, not sure if it is really what she does, but it looks good to me! I love a program that focuses on LEGS! The biggest problem I have had lately, with dating, is actually my need to find men who do LEG day as well! You can totally tell when guys don't squat and it sucks. IS THIS SO MUCH TO ASK?!? I'd sub protein shake for eating ACTUAL MEAT though... I've given myself back some recovery protein shakes, but I prefer to eat real food. That's what I got today- I did the stairmaster yesterday, I have this poor creature at my house since my dad has viral bronchitis... Poor Roll fractured his leg, the only place that would do surgery is in Round Rock, TX... so I volunteered to go get him last night so my dad can rest... but he has to be confined, so he's in my master bathroom sleeping today while I work. I'm worried about it, need to go visit him at my lunch! I'll keep you update with progress pics... Whole45 and this new plan starting June 1! I'll post pics :) This was me the other night... I love my butt.. always... because I SQUAT... that's my vain moment :) *stay fit*

Off the Wagon... On the Wagon

So, I've been trying to get back to good this week after my weekend of splurging at my parents and regionals. I got up this morning and did 25min on the Stair Master after doing "Nutts" at CF last night (10 HSPU, 15 DL @155#, 25 BJ @ 24", 50 Pullups, 100 WB @ 14#, 200 DU, 400m run with a 25# plate)... 20:59 was my time, craziness- I hate WB. And after regionals, I know what it is I need to do- but I need to get focused and on track first- so my first step... another Whole30. Starting June 1, I know I've said it before and I've been trying to decide why I'm having a hard time restarting. Before, I was so excited for a certain man to see the changes I had made that it kept me motivated,and when he wasn't impressed and he didn't even care.. I stopped caring ultimately. I need to do this for me. I thought this was a great idea, just perm marker at the beginning of the day but a reminder that you can keep going. I'm committing. I'm going to do my whole 45, June 1-July 15. On July 15 I will restart MY and really kick my own ass. Even if I do not get on a stage until November, I will do a figure show this fall- I want to show that I can do both. I love Ashley Horner because of her versatility. Bikini, Figure, Crossfit, Triathlete... that's what I want- everything. I want to go to regionals next year, and I want to look awesome doing it. I want to be capable of so much, and I want to be just like Ashley and Miranda (Oldroyd)... *hero worship* Ok, I'm going to get back on track... I will do this.

Phase 2 Day 3

Day 3... not on the plan, had steak, 3/4 of a banana, and some grapes... trying to get back on the plan... had a snack of my homemade protein bars I mixed in dark chocolate covered almonds... delicious. and now I deal with this puppy issue... I found her this morning on my way to work... and I couldn't resist stopping as she darted into traffic. I adore her, but I will not take her to the shelter unless I HAVE to because she is a pitbull, she stands a much better chance of finding her home or a home with me than taking her to the shelter... I don't trust people here to not adopt her to fight her, I've seen it happen before in Nebraska... I don't doubt it could happen in Tx. She is way too innocent for that, I guess she's 4 months old. I'll have to take a better look at her this afternoon when I get her home. Right now she is in my school's "garden" area that is fenced, I am so fortunate to work at a school that understands my softie-heart. From this point in the post on... life got crazy... and I really lost track of time... and forgot to eat dinner... so I ended up eating one more of Ashley's protein bars and calling it a night! I know it's not the best, but I didn't workout so I figured lower calories were okay *stay fit*

Phase 2 Day 2

As I write this, I realize I over did it today! I woke up to this ... not very motivating to get up and get out of bed! But I got up, went to the gym and started my workout by 4:15, and was out and completely finished by 5:30... I was surprised. I noted things I need to go up on weight for next time, but felt good despite a sore shoulder from Monday's CF. I got home, burned a batch of oatmeal... that was a first... and redid it. Did my oatmeal with protein powder and almond butter, delicious. Got to work- figured out a new timing schedule for my meals. I ate my snack at lunch time, I not will eat my "lunch" as my kiddos dismiss, then my snack at other people's dinner time... and dinner after my evening workout. Snack #1 was 1/2 a chicken breast with a small apple, it said hard boiled eggs... I still don't do those type of eggs. I finished my day, ate my salad during my meeting Went home, and did a snack before I went to CF Not on the plan, but I improvised- got my butt kicked at CF... made it a last night, waiting to cook dinner until I was home- but it sure turned out pretty (yes, entirely on the plan!) Took a shower, went to bed- successful day 2!

Phase 2 Day 1

Epic Fail... I got up, all ready to beast mode this morning... got to the gym by 4:00, all ready to start... forgot all my printouts in my notebook... at home. So I did 20min of the stair climber this morning- holy workout... I had no idea, I have this big old legs that have ZERO ability to do that kind of work- good thing I know it and can work on it now. I'd be in big trouble in zombie apocalypse if I had to outrun someone on stairs. I was telling my friend Amber yesterday, I want to be able to learn new skills constantly and be at least decent at them. So... I made a choice this Thursday I will hopefully try BJJ... turmoil at the gym has that as an iffy thing- but I do want to at least try things once to say that I have. So here I am, it's 5:45am and I'm making my eggwhite/oatmeal pancakes from the meal plan, I used my "bullet" to blend the oatmeal, trying something new this morning and I added vanilla and cinnamon since I'm still not 100% sold on this egg thing. Now I'm contemplating how I am going to work both gym times tonight... and trying not to let my mind reminisce about my amazing weekend. (dangerously good ;) ) I really need to focus this summer on my lifting for CF but I don't want to give this up either- I'm seeing such huge gains. I thought for the longest time that I had an "ideal" look that I wanted to go along with my performance... but let's talk legs/ass. Considering I am already pretty "thick" in my legs... this is beautiful, and ideal. I don't think my ass will ever be this "narrow" but... one can dream. My mom told me that my legs were starting to look manly, but in my mini-dress yesterday I felt like they were finally coming around. Here's my one I'm super proud of... I'm going to try to be 100% on plan this week- no substitutions besides this whole cottage cheese thing and salmon... still can't do it. I might have to switch the order of my snacks due to work- but I'll keep you posted. Hopefully I'll film my week 1 recap this afternoon and then I will do a review of the Neutrogena Micro Mist Self-tanning spray... it wasn't too bad but I wish it had a color guard :( So these were delicious, but this was only half! I was soo full I ate them in two doses! There was soo much drama at work today, but thankfully before it started I had my snack! For lunch I had my chicken salad wrap, but I would love to know if I was supposed to eat all of the salad from her recipe... I filled a wrap and was sooo full! I made it through work thanks to a vent-session from a very good looking man... in time to come home and eat another snack It just said chicken tenders, I seasoned mine with custom taco seasoning to go with my salsa and almonds. I will not get to do Day 1 of Phase 2 tonight- I am helping a friend and going to their new CF gym at 7pm- but its ok, I just will move my active rest day to today and move on with my day without being upset with myself! *stay fit*