Bikini Comp Round 2

     As many of you know, I did a bikini competition around this same time last year. I placed in the top 10 back then and was generally happy with how I did for my first time. It was a tough experience but definitely worth it. Since then I had that fire under my butt pushing me to do another one. My main goals were to gain more upper body muscle and a little bit bigger booty :) and of course actually place this time around! 
     Well I just competed for the second time 2 weeks ago and was pretty happy with how I did. I placed 5th in my class which definitely was an improvement from last year! However, I felt that this prep was SOOOOO much harder than the first one. I went into this one thinking it would be easy because I had done it before but boy was I wrong. I had a lot longer of a time to prepare for this one so I felt like I had all the time in the world compared to my last show. This kind of led me to bing a little more lax on my diet for a while which was a bad idea probably! 
     The beginning phases of my prep was what's called 'bulking' (I hate that word btw). For those of you unfamiliar with the term 'bulking' it really just means that you eat more than normal and lift a lot to essentially gain more muscle hence the other bodybuilding term 'gains'. Bulking was hard for me, I in turn gained weight, and although I knew it was necessary to build the kind of muscle I wanted to but I still felt like crap because I had never weighed that much before. 

     In the end it was worth it though don't worry.  I got my cardio on mixed with a much stricter diet and I eventually shed down the fat while keeping on the muscle I had gained, woo hoo! In all honesty though, I didn't give 100% effort during this prep. I had cheat meals more often than I should have, I skipped workouts every once in a while, etc. It was really tough mentally to get through the last month. I definitely have a lot to work on mentally and physically if I want to do another show, but for now I don't have any plans for future shows. We shall see! Anyways.. here's a few pics of the day!

          

     

 

Fish Taco Salad

As of yesterday I started my competition prep for my bikini competition in October. I've got just about 15 weeks to be prepared. My diet is going to be a lot more strict now where as I am going to be gradually leaning out. Finally all the hard work I've been putting into the gym will show once I get my body fat down a little. I've gained a lot of muscle since my last competition in October 2013 and I can't wait to see all the changes I will have made in a years time. Anyways... back to the food. I have a set meal plan and my goal this time around is to not get bored of it. That's why I made up this quick and easy little recipe.  As of right now, I can basically have unlimited veggies, so I am going to try and incorporate as much as I can into the staples of my diet (Fish, Chicken, Rice, etc). Here is what I used for this recipe, Ingredients: *Tilapia *Ezekiel Tortillas *Brussel Sprouts *1/4 Red Onion *Lime *Cajun Seasoning *Olive Oil *Garlic Salt *Avocado I turned the Ezekiel tortillas into chips by heating them on a pan until they were crispy. I usually don't like any kind of tortillas, especially super healthy ones, but these were delicious once I turned them into 'chips'. I marinated the fish in a little lime juice, olive oil, and cajun seasoning, and while the fish was grilling I made the brussel sprout mixture. I think I would have normally used cabbage instead of brussel sprouts but I didn't have any cabbage and I figured that they were basically the same, and it ended up tasting awesome! I just sliced the brussel sprouts, diced the onion, and squeezed some lime juice on top of it, then added a little garlic salt to taste. Mix it all together and you've got a delicious, competition friendly meal! Or just a delicious meal, I know most people actually reading this aren't crazies like me and like to walk around in high heels and a sparkly bikini :) Either way, ENJOY!  p.s, you might want to use some kind of dressing on this, I just used lime juice and it tasted great but I think a little something extra, even just some salsa would make it even better! 

Bikini, Bikini, Bikini.

   Did any of you do the last workout that I posted? It was a good one huh?
Here's the second workout! I seriously loved these, and again it takes less than 20 minutes, you've got this!
    Some of you probably saw on my Instagram that I decided that I am going to compete in the NPC bikini show that is in October. AHHH. I'm crazy for doing it again I know, but it's addicting! I've been working really hard since November to build some muscle and I'm really happy with my progress so far.
    My main goal is to have awesome shoulders :) Since I was little I've had bad shoulders because of gymnastics which meant I did everything I could to incorporate skills that didn't use my shoulders as much, this also inevitably meant that I almost never did any strength exercises that used my shoulders. End rant. To sum it up I've never had defined shoulders so I'm going to get them now, ok cool. Anyways, here are a few pictures of where I am at now:

   I've come a long way with my muscle growth and I'm pretty happy about it! I can actually see some shoulder muscles now! I'm definitely not as lean as I would like to be at the moment, but sometimes you have to make some sacrifices in order to put on some muscle. I love competing and being motivated to be a better version of myself, and for me at this point means I'm going to compete in bikini competitions :) Hope you all have a good weekend!

Trust the Process

Hello everyone! It's been a while since I have blogged, I partially blame it on the fitness competition taking all of my mental power... anyways, I've been getting a lot of questions about how I did the bikini competition, what I ate, what I did for workouts, etc. and I hope I can answer many of those questions, but first off, what I did to get there is probably a completely different journey for somebody else. I had an awesome trainer that I paid every month and he made up my meal plans and workouts specifically for me and my body type. So just keep that in mind ;) I didn't have just one diet the whole time either, it changed almost every 2 weeks, including my workouts. I started training July 9th, and my competition was this last weekend on October 19th, so all together I had about 15-16 weeks to get to my goal. My husband Phil also did the competition with me which made things a lot easier, he is a saint. Here's some before and after pics of us both from start to finish.

 It was a lot of hard work, but definitely worth it. I haven't decided yet if or when I want to do another one but for now I'm just going to continue to eat healthy and workout.

So you want to know what I ate these last 16 weeks?
Here's a list:

Proteins:
Chicken breast
Ground turkey
Top sirloin
Bison
Tuna
Tilapia, tilapia, tilapia
Egg whites

Carbs:
Rice (brown and white)
Sweet potatoe
Oatmeal
Ezekiel bread

Veggies:
Green beans
Spinach
Zucchini
Yellow squash
Celery

Fruits:
Banana
Strawberries
Raspberries
Blueberries
Grapefruit

And that's it folks. I had a cheat meal once a week up until the last two weeks before the show. An let me tell ya, there is no way I could've survived those 16 weeks without those. Did you know that cheat meals once a week are actually good for you? Read about it here: cheat meal link. My favorite treat to have and that I always craved was ice cream :) yummmy!

Something that made this whole experience a million times easier is that my sweet husband did it with me! We were with each other every step of the way. Having a support system if you're going to do something like this is so important. It definitely gives you that extra push to succeed.
It's so nice to be able to share this passion for fitness with him. We always have something to do together even if it is going to the gym for date night ;) Anyways, here are some more pics for those of you who have asked! I will be posting more about the entire process and what I'm doing now in posts to come!

  

The Skinny on the Bikini Competition

As some of you know, I am currently in the process of preparing for a fitness (bikini) competition. Why? Because now that gymnastics is over for me, I felt like I needed something to keep me motivated; something to keep me pushing my physical limits and striving to attain goals. I'm seven weeks into my prep and have about 7 weeks to go. It's crazy how much your body can change if you just put in the effort and are consistent with your program. Here's a few pictures of my progress from one week into it versus 7 weeks into my program. Oh and please disregard my sleepy/ugly faces in the pictures :)It was really early.

These are my results from consistency in my eating and in my workouts. I don't know my exact body fat percentage in either of the pictures but I can definitely tell I have gotten leaner within this last month. My diet and work out plan change about every 2 weeks according to what my trainer thinks will be best for me. I'll be periodically posting some of my contest prep progress pictures throughout these next 7 weeks! I can't wait to see my body start changing more and more. The below picture is my motivation and inspiration to keep going!

This spring I worked out at a gym for 3 weeks with my sister. I won a free trial thing so I decided to try it out! This was one of the exercises we did and it kicked my butt! It only takes about 20 minutes max, and anyone can do something for 20 minutes right? Give it a try! It's easy to do at home as no equipment is required. And it'll get your heart rate up and burn fat for sure! I described a few of the exercises so you know how to do it! Time yourself and let me know how fast you do it! If you have any questions feel free to email me! Good luck :)

1. 100 burpees

2. 90 x over jacks (jumping jacks bringing your hand down to your opposite foot in between each jack)

3. 80 high knee touches

4. 70 air squats

5. 60 jumping jacks

6. 50 mountain climbers (100 total) (running in plank position)

7. 40 superman squeezes (lay on your stomach and bring feet and arms out and down)

8. 30 jump squats

9. 20 Spider-Man kicks (like mt climbers but bring your knees out to the side)

10. 10 push-ups