It's been so long since I've written that I thought I'd start with a question and answer post to respond to the inquiries I've been receiving over the past months. So here goes.....
Are you still working out?! What's up?
Yes. Lanell is working me out three days a week at Fitness Together and I do a full body work out alone once a week. The good news is...I'm finally at the lean out stage of my program which means....heavy cardio to reduce the body fat. YES!!! I didn't realize how much I depended on cardio until it was taken away. Well....she didn't really take it away, but it was so low it might as well have been in my world.
How are you dealing with the temptations? It seemed to be your biggest challenge during the first few months?
Well, the sugar monkey is definitely on my back. Lol! Although I remain on a clean and low carb diet most of the time, when I go off.....It isn't pretty. (clean = unprocessed foods)
I remember in February when I was feeling confident about the low carb diet. My cravings had disappeared and I no longer talked to donuts or other pastry. Lol! Lanell warned me..
"Don't get too comfortable. If you have sugar, you'll be Jonesin."
Whatever. I knew what I was doing. After all, I had taken my kids to the donut shop, watched them eat and had absolutely no interest.
Well needless to say....at my son's birthday party, I decided to have a bite of my husband's cake. My motives were purely professional. Lol! I just wanted to make sure it was good. If it wasn't, what would I have done you may ask? Nothin'. But that's beside the point. Lol!
OMG!! The rest of the day was a torrid love affair with any and all sugar that I could get my hands on. I even made my husband stop at the drugstore on the way home under the pretense of purchasing Atkins bars. Under the bars I hid a mega size good and plenty.
"Come to Mama!"
Jonesin was and understatement. I ate and ate and ate and ate. It was absolutely terrible. But oh so good. Lol!
So what were the ramifications of that binge? Of course I felt ill. But what surprised me was the swelling!!!! My entire body was swollen so badly that my ring which was coming off in the shower due to my weight loss had become a tourniquet, cutting off all circulation to my finger!! Then my eyes began to swell. Normally my eyes swell during allergy season or when I've been around too much dust. It was absolutely awful.
Do you think I learned my lesson? Nope. Got back on track and then did it again about a month later!!! But the next time was a complete accident. I had cut my Quaker oatmeal out of my diet but needed a little extra pick me up one morning before the gym and it spiked my blood sugar causing massive cravings. I was Jonesin again!! Geez!!
So, what's the moral? Don't know. It must be balance. Too few carbs in the body for a long period of time doesn't work for me. I had to increase my carbs from under net 50 to around net 100 per day. (net carbs = carb - fiber.) The cravings are back, but I'm in touch enough to know it's not worth it. Well...most of the time. :)
What figure competition are going to and when?
I had planned to compete in a competition in April, but didn't for three reasons.
- My body was far from ready. Figure competitions are nothing like pageant swimsuit competitions. Mrs. Pageant Swimsuit, allows for a larger bottom panel which can be used to hold up excess booty if needed using butt glue, masking tape or by whatever means necessary. :) The figure costumes are merely pieces of material covering my 'business'. Far from functional in my opinion. It's not completely useless for the breasts as you can pad and add support. But for us pear shaped women....No mercy. :)
- The competition in April was not a natural competition. Which means that steroids and other chemicals can be used by competitors which increases muscle size etc...
- I've learned that I need to focus on being a bikini competitor rather than a figure competitor. Bikini is more of a swimsuit model body. lean, tone symmetrical rather than cut and vascular.
So to sum it all up...I just wasn't ready. :) I'm looking at a local natural figure competition with bikini on June 12 but again...I don't know if I'll be ready enough aka.... no jiggle. I'm constantly reminding myself that beyond just a personal goal, this entire process was to prepare for my pageant. Mrs. California America is July 10 and 11. Will I be ready 30 days in advance? I hope so, but just don't know.
We shall see. I have until the end of May to register. Two weeks. We shall see.
How's your body? What happened to update photos?
Well, my body...hmmmmmmm. I have serious muscle. The challenge? I need to get the fat off. When I say fat off...I don't mean...reduce the fat...I mean REMOVE the fat! I now understand why my pageant coaches tried to sway me from lower body weight lifting. I'm already pear shaped and now my behind is sticking out like you would not believe!! My hips have gone in tremendously but when I turn to the side.....WHOA NELLIE!!!
No lie...you could put a tablecloth on my behind and set for a romantic dinner for two. Lol!
Contrary to popular belief, it is not something that I have always had. It has gradually taken shape over the years as I've trained for pageants, but now it arrives 2-3 minutes AFTER I enter a room. Lol! It is absolutely insane!!! So to sum it up...I'm now in the 140's having dropped over 10 lbs and added Lord only knows how much muscle, but I don't know what to do with this new behind for a pageant. The only thing I do know is that I don't want to hit the judges in the face with it when I turn to leave.
To summarize...body shape...pending. I have no idea what the final outcome will be. All I know is that there's no turning back now....literally. :)
What happened to your new photos and update?
Why are you in my business? Oh right...I'm blogging.
Well...I don't know where the pictures are. I haven't seen them yet. We may need to reshoot. Either way, we'll do another assessment at the end of May. I hope to have pictures by then. If not, I'll just use my camera and make it work.
Well that's all for now folks. I'm in the editing stages of my book and traveling like a maniac in support of Domestic Violence awareness. I don't know how frequently I will post, but I do know that they will not be as long. :) I'm normally an all or nothing can kind of gal and that must change.
Stay tuned. :)
