Ch-ch-ch-changes! 2/9/10

Changes can be Oh so good!!! In this case, most definately! Jim changes my diet at the beginning of last week, lowering my protein and my carbs, but keeping my fat the same. As of this last Sunday 2/7/10 I was down 3 pounds for that week!!! I took my body fat and I’m now at 14% approx. I always say approx. because body fat measurement is not exact. But considering 2 weeks ago I was at 16-17% i’d say whoooooooohooooooo!!!

Today i spoke on mine and Jim’s forums about progress not perfection. It’s amazing how many people are all or nothing and what everything to be perfect before they can allow themselves to succeed in reaching their goals. The major problem with this is things are NEVER perfect, and the time is NEVER right, or convienient or even ideal. Reason being is LIFE is severely unpredictable and stuff happens! Now when we start into our health and fitness endeavor it helps to keep “progress not perfection” in mind , because perfection is a ridiculous fantasy in our imperfect and very real world! In keeping this thinking in mind you can work toward you goals, and not letting the perfection thing paralyze you.If you do you will never be one step closer to reaching your goals, you’ll just be spending another day right where you do not want to be. That’s another thing to keep in mind, think of every choice you make on working out and eating, as “Is this going to take me closer or further away from my goal?” I don’t know about you, but i’d much rather see my goals come to fruition sooner  rather than later!!! Can i get an AMEN!!??

So I just say that to encourage those of you reading along to be encouraged and  to know i’m not perfect either, i’ve just gotten very determined and have learned how to work with what i have to the best of my ability! An example would be I should have trained yesterday after my GED class, but I was hardly able to keep my eyes open, I opted to rest an extra day and hit it hard today. No worries, as i’ll re-arrange my planned days and get all my workouts in. Being that i’m prepping I have much less lee-way, but when there’s a will ther IS a way!!

Now as for my workouts, I hit things so hard last week, and because of that and my lower cals, my body was in a bit of shock, and i didn’t keep my blog updated, I often times was too tired to even type and Sunday and Monday i was barely able to keep my eyes open! LOL!!

I will go ahead and update here!

On prep news, Jim and I have 2 girls we are working with on posing and we got to meet with one on Saturday evening. She has great muscularity and is already quite lean, even to the point of vascularity! I felt like a fatty next to her, no joke!! LOL!! I am really excited for her as i think she will do terrific! She’s planning on NPC shows so posing instruction was a little different. I was able to practice my posing as well and seem to have FINALLY after all this time refined and NAILED my side pose. This has been a huge struggle for me and i’m sooooo stoked!! Now i’m working on my back pose to keep my arms closer to my body while keeping my lats spread wide. I got the spread, just gotta keep those arms down. my friend Terri is helping me online as is Jim in person, and we are getting there!

Diet is dead on, body is adjusting and i’m excited to see the changes that are taking place right now. I’m working, working, working!!!

To all my friends out there reading, who keep offering words of encouragement and support as well as just cheering me on and believing in me, THANK-YOU, sincerely, and from the bottom of my heart…Your timely words are strength to me, so much so i’ve written many into my workout/diet log to refer to when i’m feeling the diet, or am discouarged or tired!! You are all a HUGE blessing to me!! KNOW that!!

Here Are My Latest Workouts………

Tuesday Feb.2nd,2010
Shoulder Press- Smith
45 x  15
65 x 14
75 x 14
80 x 10
85 x 6 + 1 assisted

Lateral Raises-
15’s  x 13
15’s x 12
15’s x  8
15’s x  8

SS Front BB Raises/Wide Upright Rows
20 x 8/20 x 12
20 x 8/20 x 12
20 x 6/20 x 12

Rear Delt DB Flyes on Incline Bench
15’s x 12 x 3…pushed out 13 reps on last set

Macros-106/86/22/977

***************************************************************************************************************

Thursday 2/5/10
Back/Bi’s

Pull-Ups-

9

WideGrip Overhand BB Rows
65 x 12 x 3

SS Reverse Grip Smith Press/Underhand Rev. Grip BB Rows
115 x 12/65 x 12
115 x 12/65 x 12
115 x 12/65 x 12

BB Curls
30 x 12
30 x 10
30 x 10

DB Curls-Alt
12’s x 12
12’s x 12
12’s x 12

Rope Curl-Not standard-special technique
15 x 15
15 x 15
20 x 11
20 x 9

Macros-
123/117/22/1,210- Went over on protein

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Saturday Feb. 6th, 2010

Chest/tri’s

Incline HS Chest-
50 x 12
70 x 10
80 x  8
80 x  6

HS Wide Chest
90 x 10
90 x 10
90 x 10

DB Flyes-Incline
20’s x 12
20’s x 12
20’s x 10

D-Ring Tri P/D
20 x 15 x 3 Each

Overhead Tri Rope P/D
40 x 10 x 3

Bench Dips
12 BW
25 x 12-weight plate on lap
25 x 10-”

Other Happenings-

A  NEW Laptop and then a Car for me!
I’ve been hobbling along on Jim’s old laptops, that keep dying and finally the last one available died, and he had others he needed to send back, so this necessated me getting my very first, very own laptop!!! I was sooooo excited and still am!! We looked at every place around town to find the best option and deal. We were initially just going to get me a netbook because of cost(We wanted to get rid of some debt with our tax money and not blow it on” Stuff”!) We finally acme across laptops for a great price, 1 in particular was just a spectacular deal and is now my new laptop!!

Then I have been without a car for quite some time and Jim has been having to drive me around much of the time. Unbeknownst to me Jim had been looking for a car for me and found one he was drawn to. We had a very limited budget on what we could spend on a used car, and this one was too much by$400. He called on it anyway only to be told its sold. Then Saturday while we were at the Lady Huskers BB Game he gets a text that the deal fell through and he was giving the interested buyers who had inquired about it first dibs before he put it back on craig’s list. Our Sunday posing appointment fell through and that allowed us time to go look at the car. We loved it and the guy selling it was willing to take an offer and for bottom line lowest amount he stated what happened to be our budgeted amount!! We bought it! The gentlemen and his wife even delivered it to my house yesterday after cashing our check and it’s now mine!!! I’m so excited to have a car…

Oh yes and we did pay off some major debts, which feels GREAT!!! Still have a couple more, but just even having the ones we had gone is just HUGE!!! God is good and does work things out!!!

Here she is…1994 Buick Park Avenue…

Click to view larger……….

I was also privelaged to be interviewed for a new blog promoting women in fitness..Check it out, there are MANY great and inspirational interviews!

You will have to scroll down a ways to find me, as new interviews are added daily as well as columns… Pictures are included(old ones!)

http://www.promotingwomen.blogspot.com/

12 Weeks Out off and Running!!! 2/2/10

It has been a BUSY few days!

Jim and i had our weekly date night Friday and enjoyed a nice dinner and then went to see the movie, “The Edge of Darkness”. It’s the one with Mel Gibson and was a great movie, very intense and action packed! We really enjoyed it a lot and it even made us jump a few times!

The date nights WILL continue on through my prep, just have to be super careful and clean about my ordering, this lasy time I got away with an asian chicken salad at Granite City, but now i’ll have to just order chicken breast with no butter or oil and then a nice garden salad and bring my own pomegranite balsamic vinegar to use on it. It CAN be done! Right now Friday’s are a low carb day, so that makes the ordering pretty simple for sure!

Saturday we did a LOT of runnig around. We were shopping around for a Netbook, or laptop for me and really wanted to price compare, see what all of our options were, before we made a choice. I was originally just looking to get a netbook, because it would be so easy to travel with and tote around, but we just weren’t sure i’d be happy with one, so started leaning more toward a laptop, We finally found the one I’m now using, that was on sale for a GREAT price, had lots to offer and i’m so far very happy with! I have never actually had my own laptop, I’ve been going from Jim’s old laptops, that were on deaths door and were limping along until it’d give out and i’d go to another. Finally all I had was his secondary work laptop, and he NEEDED that one back and to send his other back, sooooooooo we HAD to find me one stat! It was out one fun tax purchase, the rest has gone toward debt elimination! I can’t wait to be out of  debt!! SERIOUSLY!!! Anyway we also got other errands run and really had a fun day together!!

Another bit of news is I put in my 2 weeks at my job. It’s a long story, but it was an absolutely miserable place to be, and I was working harder than i ever had, I mean seriously physically demanding and not much for money and being done dirty, not just me, all of us who worked the dining room. There are just some things in life that are so wrong that when you combine those things with the fact you paychecks are microscopic and not even really contributing to the family’s well being, well it’s time to re-gain one’s self respect and stand up and make a change! I am not entirely sure how to explain it but i was slowly losing my self respect, and HAVE to make a change!
I’ve been struggling with this final leg of my GED, the MATH! It’s like this enormous weight hovering on my back and the last thing i need to get that all important slip of paper! I am hammering away for this, i’ve arranged my workout schedule to be sure i’m at the classes, I’ve checked out some books from the library to help me complete this final leg. I’ve started sending out resume’s looking for receptionist type jobs and even for a Fitness Coach for curves, hopefully just the right job decides to take a chance on me, picks me and gives me a shot at somthing better. It’s a long shot if you see my resume, but i’ve been known to be the underdog and the long shot girl, soooooooo I also have shown the long shot, the underdog can over come and experience success, so i have no reason not to trust the right thing at the right time will come, meanwhile, i hammer away for this math test, keep knocking and keep looking. Then if the Lord wills i’ll get some classes and make a REAL change! I’m actually now looking into physical therapy assitant or radiology for my future continuing education…These seem MORE suited to me! I just want to be sure, that what i do, i enjoy!

As for Contest Prep, let’s just say i am VERY happy I started it early!! I did not realize how lax I had been with my eating during my off season until i took my 12 weeks out pics! I never took 17 week out pics, but KNOW i’ve lost. My clothes have gotten noticably looser as have my shoes and rings, so that’s all great!! The scale has moved a few pounds although not where i wish it was right now, but i’m keeping the faith and the hard work and focus. I’m not discouarged by my 12 week pics, but am majorly driven by them!! LOL!! From the front and back, i don;t think they look so bad, but from the side, OUCH!!! Not happy about that one! LOL!! I’m not going to post the ones Jim took, just yet, i’ll save that for in 2-4 weeks when I have something to compare it to, but here are a couple i shot of my front with my cell phone….

Abs

So that’s that, i have a ways to go in just under 12 weeks, but am focused and mentally in the game, so we’ll get there!! Eye of the Tiger, baby!! Eye of the Tiger!!!

HERE ARE THIS WEEKS WORKOUTS………..

Thusday 1/28/10
LEGS-

Leg Press-
190 x 25
280 x 15
370 x 15
460 x 12
550 x 10

Smith Machine Bulgarian’s-
65 x 12/12
95 x 10/10-HIGHEST weight I have EVER done with these!!!!
95 x 10/10

Leg Extensions-
90 x 10
90 x 10 + 1/2’s and forced reps, several to failure
90 x 8 + 1/2’s and forced reps, not many, LOL!

Lying Hamstring Curls- special technique ;0)
25 x 12
30 x 10
35 x  8 + 1/2’s and forced
40 x  4 slow forced final negative-OUCH!

Standing Calf Raise-
135 x 15
135 x 15
135 x 13
135 x 12

Decline crunch-
12/1310/10/6

Ouch ribs/abs felt bruised the next day! LOL!!

Bicycles-Abs
20/20/20

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

SUNDAY 1/31/10
Back/Chest

Pull-Ups-
9/8

BB Rows Wide Overhand
75 x 10
75 x 10
75 x 10

BB Rows Reverse Grip-narrow
75 x 10
75 x 10
75 x 10

HS High Row
90 x 12
90 x 11
90 x 10

Low Pull-Up on Smith/feet on bench
12/10/6

HS INCLINE Chest
50 x 12
70 x 10
90 x  7

HS Wide Chest
70 x 12
80 x 10
80 x  9

Pec Dec
57 x 10
57 x  8
57 x  6

MEALS-
1) 3/4 Scoop Max Pro
    1/2 C oats
   1 T Naturally more PB
mixed into the Pr-Oat-ein mixture in the bowl

2) 3/4 c egg beaters
     1 ww/lc tortilla
    1 slice ezekial bread

3)Pure protein bar

4) 1 can tuna
     1 slice ezekial bread

5) 2/3 scoop Max pro
    1 rice cake

TOTALS- 120/105/22  1, 069

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MONDAY 2/1/10
Legs-

Smith Squats-
115 x 20
135 x 15
155 x 11

Leg Press-
280 x 15
370 x 12
460 x 10
550 x 10

Hack Squat-
90 x 12
90 x 12
90 x 12

Leg Exte.
90 x 10
90 x 10
90 x  8

Lying Ham Curls-
30 x 12
35 x 10
40 x 7
40 x  5

Standing calf Raise-
135 x 12 -in
135 x 12-out
135 x 12-in
135 x 12-out

Meals-
1)3/4 c egg beaters
   1 ww/lc tortilla
   1 slice Ezekial bread

2)1/2 Can tuna
    1/2 C oats

3)1 Rice Cake-plain
     1 T Natty PB

4)3/4 Scoop Max pro
    1 slice Ezekial Bread

5) 1/2 Can Tuna

6)1/2 C cottage cheese
    1 light n fit yogurt
    1 plain rice cake
    1 T Naturally more PB

Totals- 104/119/23/1,068 

Now for a funny story……..

I was talking to someone about how you can do cardio in your living room by dancing and it doesn’t require any equipment or braving the cold and how it’s my favorite form of cardio. He goes , “So you do jazzercise?” LOL!! I said, “No as in dance like you study dance and it’s the art, LOL!! It was sooooo funny, made my day. Seriously though if anyone is lacking cardio ideas it’s a GREAT one, they even have all kinds of dance workout videos especially for using for cardio now…. C’mon, ya’ll get your grooove on!!! Hee,hee!!!!

Have a great Tuesday all, and thanks for reading!!

12 Weeks To Go as of Tomorrow!!!

Good Thursday Morning!!!

I wanted to work on this yesterday but was sooooo exhausted, I flopped on the couch and watched a movie, where I barely succeeded in keeping my eyes open! LOL! We saw that movie, “Whip It” and I liked it OK, didn’t LOVE it , but it was a fun one!

I took a huge step and put in my 2 weeks notice at my job. I am hardly making anything, so it’s not a significant contributor to our family(nor a significant loss), I’m not even making enough to really kick any bills! I’m working Extremly hard for nothing and due to the way things have been changed to run around there, my place of employment, i feel is taking advantage of us, and don’t at all have our backs, sooooo since it’s not worth it and i’m just painfully exhausted by the time i’m out of there and we’re talking just from a 3-4 hour shift. I’m done. It’s not worth the stress, and Jim has been trying to talk me into just leaving for a while. It’s also having a negative effect on me personally.

I’m beginning to pound away at my final GED test, The math. I’m seriously having such a mental thing with this, but i’m going to have to figure out somthing to get aggressive with this and nail it!! I sent in a few resumes already, knowing I don’t have my GED yet and knowing i’m a longshot and that even getting my foot in the door for somthing I don’t even have experience in, is going to be WORK and difficult! I seem to specialize in being a longshot, so hey it’s all good. All I can do is try and pray!
There has been so much happening and Jim and I are really ready for some pretty significant changes, things are churning and i’m hoping to see some of these manifest themselves and for the better! Lord knows we’re ready!!!

Comp prep is coming along REALLY nice!!!! This week has been the week of seeing changes! The scale has had some movement but more than anything my clothes are getting looser and we can SEE changes!! It’s so motivating!! I’m as excited as i can be!!!

My diet has been perfect and no cheating either, right now it’s not even a temptation, i’m just that focused! I hope it stays that way!! LOL!! Workouts have been awesome!! Jim has been more hands on helping me change some things to help with specific weaknesses in my physique and I’ll tell you what, I’m seeing amazing strength gains and getting pretty sore and loving it!!! He was having me do alot of posing through my workout the other night and said he sees some changes already and thinks i’ll come in with definate improvements this time!! I hope he’s right!!!!

I’m going to post my Shoulder/Arms workout here…..

TUESDAY JANUARY 26th,2010-

SMITH MACHINE MILITARY PRESS-
45 x 15
65 x 15
75 x 12
80 x  9
80 x 11

DB LATERAL RAISES-
12’s x 12
12’s x 12
15’s x  9 First 4 on my own last reps assisted
15’s x10 last 6 assisted
15’s x 10 last 4 assisted

Kept getting disgusted looks from a couple girls working out together very near by, LOL!!

BB FRONT RAISES-
20 x 10
20 x 10
20 x 10
20 x  8

REAR DELT FLYE On INCLINE
15’s x 12
15’s x 12
12’s x 12

BB CURLS-
30 x 12
30 x 15
30 x 10 + Partial top reps, went till i almost puked! My stomach actually made  an audible “Blurp” and turned and I thought I was gonna lose it!

DROP SET-
Alternating DB Curls( Mind you my bi’s were already super fried! LOL!
10’s,8’s and 5’s each until i seized up(LOL!) and did this 3 times!

Tricep Rope Pull-Downs-
? x 15-17
? x 10-weight added
? x 12
? x 12

BENCH DIPS-
12….Jim decided i had too much “Ommph” left sooooooooo………

DB TRICEP KICKBACKS-
8’s x 12 each side x 3

Now i was Fried!! LOL!!!

IT’s Thursday and i’m still sore today!

Meals for that day………..

1) 3/4 C Egg Beaters
    1 lc Tortilla
  

2) 1/2 C cottage cheese
    1 light n fit yogurt
  1/8 C Bear Naked Fit Granola

3) Muscle Milk light (never again as it tore up my tummy!)

4) Reg Rice Cake
     1 T naturally more PB

5)3 oz chicken breast
   1/4 cup ww fettucine(don’t typically consume this during prep, but Jim thought it necessary after that grueling workout)

6)1 scoop Max pro PP

So today is an off day from a.m cardio since i have legs this evening, and have to work on my feet walking a lot. It’s also my high carb day and my tummy is happy, happy!!! I’ll post more after my leg session!!

January 24th,2010-13 & 15 weeks Out!

It’s Sunday and I have so much to catch up on here! I have been super busy and not posting like I’d like too, but Hope to get everyone up to speed today!

First off I’m 13 weeks from the Southern States Classic  in Liberty Mo, which reminds me i’ll need to get my registration in pretty soon! I’m also 15 weeks from The NutriSport show in Des Moines Iowa! I’ll be doing figure and bodybuilding in both shows, soooo i stil have a LOT of work ahead of me as far as posing and routine practice goes! I’ll be doing my “FIGHTER” by Christina Aquilara routine again, but with some changes and improvements…But i gotta find what i did with my CD Jim had made me from last time, the mix he did was awesome!! I eventually want to do a routine to Brittany Spears song, Circus, I think that could be a LOT of fun!!

We have been working on my figure poses between sets, but are going to have to start having actual practice sessions asap. I’ll have a couple friends joining me as my friend Denise will be joining me in this prep for the Liberty show and then another girl who’ll I’ll just be getting to meet will be joining us as we teach her to pose for her first Figure show! Soooooo exciting!!!!

Progress is happening, although it seems slow right now, LOL! I’m not currently sure my actual poundage dropped just yet as I had dropped 6-7lbs, then went on an antibiotic for a sinus infection, that caused my weight to go up, got done with the antibiotic and weight was coming back down and then got my monthly bloat…soooo being patient for this to pass and see what happens! I DO know my first sign on bodyfat loss was my shoes getting lose, followed by my rings and then finally my work clothes got loose! My shirt especially so! It’s a button down oxford that has been pretty tight across the chest and back and usually pulls, but now it’s actually hanging a bit!!! The waist of my pants are also looser, I can actaully pull them out from my waist a good inch in a half or two! Not falling down loose yet, and I can’t really see the difference thus far nor is it all that noticable but those little signs are encouraging!! I did also notice when combing my hair the other day that it was slightly leaner looking arouns my bicep and maybe tightening up some!
I’m hoping to be able to see more of a change once this bloat subsides!

Workouts have been GREAT!!! I’m contest dieting and making strength gains some of which have been quite substantial and Jim is really helping me with much of my training, posing and doing my diet again!

Here’s are the most recent workouts………

WEDNESDAY JAN.20th,2010

BACK/CHEST
PULL-UPS

9/9 Last rep assisted and slow neg

BB ROWS WIDE then NARROW
65 x10/65 x 10 x 3

HS Chest-Incline
50 x 15
70 x 11
80 x  8
90 x  4

REVERSE BENCH-Smith
115 x 10
115 x  8
115 x 10

HS HIGH ROW-dif.grip
45’s x 12
45’s x 10
45’s x 10

SMITH LOW PULL-UP-Feet on bench
9/9/6

LOW BACK MACHINE
165 x 12 x 3

PEC DEC
35 x 12
52 x 12
57 x 10
57 x  6

DECLINE CRUNCH
Sets until i reach 50 reps

MEALS-
1) 3/4 C Eg Beaters
Low Carb Wheat Tortilla
1 slice Ezekial bread(cinnamon/raisen)

2) 3/4 Scoop Max Pro Choc Whey
1/2 C soy milk SF/FF
2 1/2 oz Banana

3) NuGo Protein bar

4) 3oz Chicken breast
Orange
Salad

5)1/2 C Cottage Cheese
Light N Lit Yogurt
Stevia

6) 1 T Naturally More PB

Cardio 30 mins first thing in the a.m

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

TUESDAY 1/19/10 MEALS-
1) 3/4 C Egg Beaters
1/2 C oats

2) 1 Can Tuna
1/2 C Brown rice

3) 3/4 Scoop Max Pro-Choc
1/4 C oats
1 T Naturally More PB

4)3 oz Chicken Breast
orange

5) 2/3 Scoop Max Pro
Choc Rice Cake
1 T Naturally More PB

Cardio-30 mins empty stomach first thing a.m

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Monday January 18th, 2010

LEGS!

LEG PRESS
190 x 20
280 x 15
280 x 15
370 x 12
460 x 10
550 x  8
550 x 10
640 x  5

HACK SQUAT
90 x 12
90 x 12
90 x 12
90 x 10

REVERSE HACK
90 x 10
90 x  8

LEG EXT
75 x 12
75 x 10
75 x 10
75 x 10

LEG CURLS-SEATED
90 x 10
90 x 10
90 x  8
90 x  6

CABLE Ham Curls
? x 12/12
? x 10/10
? x 10/10

OK so that pretty much catches you up on the major stuff.

There’s a LOT Rattling around in my mind right now, but since this post is pretty long, I’ll share a bit later…

Kicked off a new facebook page

For those who would prefer to follow Alive and Fit on Facebook now you can

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Alive-and-Fit/251659201125?ref=ts

The Facebook page will have different content for the most part especially in terms of sharing videos, news stories, updates, etc. It is great for quick interaction!

I know not everyone is thrilled with Facebook and won’t sign-up there so the best of the content and our journals will always end up here.

So if you can, stop in a help us get the message out

Tips for ordering of the menu

This has been a pretty good day overall. Got some work done for some folks who are appreciative of what I have to offer – it surprises me how many aren’t.

I just got back from dinner at Bob Evans, I ordered off menu.

Going out to dinner is not the end of the world if you really know what you want to eat. I had there Egg Lite omelet with a variety of veggies added, especially spinach which oddly enough has more nutritional value when slightly cooked, much like tomatoes do. Some diced ham and just a sprinkle of cheese. You need to pay attention though because servers and cooks really don’t think about the fact you are ordering low-fat or from the health conscious menu.

The extra money often paid for an Egg Beater or Egg Lite omelet is many times wasted by the fact they sauté the veggies in a buttery oil and cook the omelet itself in oil. In my case tonight the omelet on the nutrition info claimed 2g of fat (without the cheese and ham), of course it wasn’t even close to that low. I had forgotten to instruct my server to not have them cooked in any oil, but hey it was the healthy conscious item they should have known, right? LOL – yeah in a perfect world. I know Applebee’s with their Weight Watcher’s agreement had to prepare the menu items a certain way, but most places don’t.

The lesson is really quite simple, make your instructions clear to your server. Because a particular item isn’t on the menu most places will honor your wishes in having foods prepared a certain way if you let them know you aren’t anal, you just have some dietary needs that have to be accommodated.

Some classic ways cooks negate health benefits of food:

• adding butter spray or a seasoned oil to veggies – ask for no sprays or oils
• over cooking veggies – ask for lightly steamed or grilled on a dry grill
• loads of high sodium seasonings – marinated meats you can’t do much about but certainly ask for no extra seasonings
• adding garnishes, condiments, sauces or dressings directly to the food – always ask for on the side then you can add as little or as much as you like.

Other considerations:

• Large portions: don’t be afraid to ask for a half size serving at half the price, surprisingly many places will do that if they are known for large portions
• If getting a side salad always ask for extra of the colorful veggies and hold the bacon bits, cheese, croutons (a few are ok), eggs. Some places I have been you can really load up by getting a garden fresh salad, over loaded with veggies at no additional cost then order a chicken breast cut up for a little up charge.

These are just some tips I personally use all the time. It seems like a pain, but the surest way to avoid temptation is not to even look at the menu. Don’t be embarrassed either, the restaurant wants your business and unless it is a trade marked item, they will accommodate your wishes 9 times out of 10.

New year, new effort and cheat meals!

I still can’t get over 2009 disappearing as it did, went by way too fast. Ramping up the new forums at http://aliveandfit.com – just put up a few new posts and trying to get that organized a bit better. It’ll be awhile before it gains the momentum we had with bflnebraska.com, but it’ll come.

I think I am spurred on by a few things:

1) several people around me are having metabolic health problems and asking me for help.
2) a renewed desire to just get back to basics and the things that really brought me joy, helping people.

My own personal goals are off and running. The chiefest is getting back to a feel good weight, we all have one where we just feel good. Getting there isn’t so tough if you want to – getting beyond that, well that’s a different story

Since Jan 1 – I am down 6 lbs and that is with having my cheat meals. The key to having cheat meals is planning for them – I have gotten really intuitive about when the best times for me are. Sometimes we stress over results that we forget we do more to hinder our goals by suffering and deprivation. You act smart and responsible then cheats become no big deal, I have them and I enjoy them.

Wednesday Jan.5th,2010

Good afternoon!

We are getting pounded with snow once again and school was called off last night for today. It was nice not having to get up early, but my girls have been arguing a lot! LOL!! The snow just really keeps coming down and high winds are supposed to kick in later, making for blizzard conditions especially combined with extreme cold! Now as it goes it’s going to get the worst just in time for me to go to work tomorrow, it figures! I’m continuing to be stretched! LOL!!

Here are a couple pics i took with my cell phone which does not do justice to the prettiness of the snow fall, hopefully I can figure out how to get pics from my camera onto this computer, Jim showed me but i have zero recollection, Ha!!

So, with all this talk of  a snow day and a friend of mine talking about not understanding why there was one today, it caused me to reminesce about when I was akid living in Anchorage Alaska and was probably about 9 years old. There just were not snow days there unless it was super bad. One morning i remember my little brothers and I having to walk to school in a beginning of a blizzard. All the way there we are fighting against the wind which keeps blowing us back and sideways and we cannot see, because the snow is just coming down so hard, and blowing into our eyes. It was white out conditins so we could only see ahead just enough to keep going. We finally get to school, only to see teachers and staff turning cars away because they were closing school. We were soooo bummmed we had to walk  all the way back home in that weather again, so we decided to walk through the woods were we came across a Moose. It was cool and scary because Moose have been known to charge people, we high tailed it out of there without incident and finally made it safely home! Winters in Alaska were sooooo beautiful and there was always so much to do! We were alwats smart because we dressed SO warm, long johns, snow suits, ski masks, scarves and snow mobile boots! Those were the days!!!  They even had all kinds of outdoor ice skating rinks and everything would be so ice covered we wou;ld skate to the rink. I remember one time getting stuck in a dip on the road and kept sliding back and a car was coming, and being really scared, but my dad rushing out there to rescue me. Nostalgia!

Now back to present day…Hee,hee!!!

I have been having so much fun brutalising myse;lf in the gym that I’m horribly sore today! I kept waking through the night last night because the soreness was so bad and today my legs are way worse than yesterday! Now i have the back and bicep soreness kicking in along with my shoulders! I took a nap on the couch and like to never got up! Yesterday Sarah(my oldest daughter) said aw, you poor thing, because I could not bend, and I laughed, and said, poor thing my foot i did this to myself!! I didn’t even pay anyone to do it, that’s sick!! LMTO!!!

Now i’m not even on a low carb day today but am soooo hungry, and I was making coffee this morning and opened the cabinet. There are english muffins in there and out of the corner of my eye I read it’s blurb about it having “nooks and crannies” as “Kills the crankies” The funny thing is I wasn’t even cranky! But yeah, too funny..my carbs aren’t even that low yet!! Forshadowing!!! NO!! I hope not to bad, I’m trusting God to help me with that!

So with that here’s last nights Workout……..

BACK/BI’S

PULL-UPS
8/4

WIDE GRIP BB ROWS
65 x 10
65 x 10
65 x 10

REVERSE GRIP BB ROWS
65 x 10
65 x 10
65 x 10

BB Curl
30 x 12

INCLINE SEATED CURLS
15’s x 6 or 7
15’s x 6
15’s x 6

CABLE CONCENTRATION CURLS
20 x 8-too heavy
15 x 10
15 x 10

DB ROWS-One Arm
30 x 12
35 x 10
40 x  9

Hammer Strength Seated ISO ROW
45 on each side x 10
x   8
x    6

SEATED REAR DELT RAISE
15’s x 10 x 3

DB 21’s- Couldn’t do, arms FRIED! =0)

Took BCAA’s then 30 min. cardio Power walk in T-Mill

Macros…

139/99/24/ 1,117

15 weeks out from Southern States Classic

Happy Tuesday to all reading this! My New Year was off to a ROUGH start, so I found my self not feeling much like celebrating and thus slept through the ringing in of the New Year.Apparently Jim tried to wake me, although i have no recollection of it and i even slept threw all kinds of fireworks going off, even by my own family!  Do I regret it? No. Under the circumstances it is what it is, and I got through and my whole 2010 is not defined by a few days or a rough start. Somtimes life threatens to tear you to shreds, it’s working through it and over coming that counts. I also don’t feel there’s anything magical about a new year other than it is a fresh New Year and continuing hopes and dreams. I also don’t make resolutins, but set goals and work toward them…I guess some years just mesh into the others seemlessly as I continue toward my goals and dreams. This girl still has ‘em, and I’m digging in and working hard!

This weekend and week have been great! Jim and I have date nights every Friday unless he’s out of town or something else is happening, then we re-scedule, but don’t miss them. Last Friday was a great date night and we had a great wekend together as well, which is just bliss!

We here in Lincoln have just been getting pounded with snow after snow, after snow, it won’t let up. Between snow storms we have at least had flurries and snow showers every day! It’s pretty but it’s super cold, and we cannot break out of this cold snap at all, we are talking -15- -20 temps! Tomorrow it’s really expected to take a bad turn for another snow storm with winds at blizzard conditions. The projected high is below 0 and that’s not inclusding windchills! If that ends up being the case i sincerely hope they cancel school!

Contest prep is off to a great start. I’ve only seens movement on the scale between 3-4 pounds in the 2 weeks i’ve been at it,but my pants and tops are looser which is great!!

All my meals have been on and workouts are finally coming along. We had a bad week last week and most of that weeks training took a back seat. This week it’s time to tear it up and have fun doing so!!

Here are my last 2 workouts………

Monday December 28th,2009

Pull-Ups
6/3 Yeah I was heavier, lol!!

Lat Pulldowns-Cable
60 x 14
75 x 10
80 x  8
90 x 5

Barbell curls
30 x 13-14
30 x 10-11
40 x 6- with 3-4 slow negs

Lying cable curls
30 x 6
21’s 1/2 way through-Bi’s were fried bad due to a brand new technique from the bb curls!

Reverse grip bb row-new technique
65×10
65 x 10
65 x 10

Wide grip Barbell row
65 x 10
65 x 10
65 x 10
Doesn’t seem like much weight but the technique we did with these was new to me and a total killer!

Low back machine

155 x 12 x4

Macros Total-143/83/27 1,214

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Monday Jan.4th 2010

Legs/Shoulders-following 2 low carb days in a row

Leg press
280 x 15
280 x 15
370 x 12
460 x  8
550 x  5
550 x 5

Squat-Low
115 x 12
135 x 10
135 x 10

Hack squat
50 x 12
70 x 10
70 x 12

Stiff Leg deads
95 x 10
95 x 10
95 x 10

Leg Ext
80 x 10
80 x  9

Seated Leg curl
75 x 12
80 x 10
80 x 7

DB Shoulder press
20’s x 12
25’s x 10
25’s x  6
25’s x 4

Cable side Raises
15 x 10
15x  10
15 x  8

Cardio- 20 min.Power Incline Walk on T-mill

Macro Totals-148/157/25 1,442

Todays Plan is Back and Bi’s before the storm hits because I can always do Chest and Tri’s here at home if need be and to enjoy the day!

Thanks for reading!!!

Christmas,Miracles, and Beginning Comp Prep……..

I hope everyone out there had a GREAT Christmas!!! I know we did!! We managed to have a white Christmas and then some, LOL!! We managed to break the December snowfall record with 24.1″ of snow this month alone and ended up snowed in on Christmas. It was good and bad. We did miss seeing all the family, but it was nice to be snowed in with not being able to go anywhere. We all played games, mainly Taboo, watched movies and baked sugar cookies. We shared lots of laughs and no one killed anyone!

Click on pics to see them larger……

MIRACLES!!!!!!!

Now after all the merriment and some thawing of the roads, my oldest daughter wanted to take my youngest daughter out to shop with some gift cards they recieved. This was yesterday December 28th. I get a call  from Sarah right as i’m preparing to leave for work that they are stuck in a snow drift and will need to be towed but they are fine…GREAT!!! I’m thrilled they are fine, and extremly relieved, but we had NO money at all , we were tapped out until pay day…meaning we have NO money for a tow. We(Jim and I) head to their location quite a ways out, and find the scene of the accident and find there is a van with a very nice older couple waiting with the girls who saw the accident and made sure everyone was OK…Well the news of an accident became a more developed story as we spoke with the older couple and our two daughters….Turns out they were in this HUGE/DEEP snow drift facing the opposite way of which they had been traveling. The old man told us, they spun several times and ended up in the oncoming traffic just missing getting hit/slidding into an SUV by maybe an inch at the MOST, and that he has NO idea how they missed hitting(I KNOW!!!!) also looking at their posiition atop this large/deep snow drift, they also and the old man agreed missed rolling the car by about 1/2-1″ as well..NO JOKE!!!, They had actually slid into this drift backwards, and happened to have the tired land precisely the the deepest part and stopped at the perfect spot….Some reading this may think it a coincedence, But i KNOW in my heart God had His angels around my girls..I know with every ounce of my being. In talking with my youngest daughter, Amanda, it turns out the SUV was headed right at her on her part of the car and she knows if they’d hit she’d have been hurt badly, if not worse. She’s shook up as is Sarah…even today.

Now for getting her out, well God sent an in person angel, so to speak…a man about Jim’s age, with a small 4 wheel drive truck, stopped and said he could get her out, to which Jim said, “Really?” This kind man proceeds to assist Jim is digging the back of this car out, which was no small task, and it’s bitter cold too, then happened to have a towing strap in his truck, hooks it up and after 2 attempt and more digging, manages to pull it out!!! His truck was moving while doing this and he managed to get it, with Jim working the gears and whatever else a guy does during such a situation as this! We were unbelievably thankful and sooooo wishing we had somthing to give him, but we had nothing. My prayer is and I hope those reading this will join me in praying for God to bless this man, some how some way, to really bless him and i know God will!!!!

So yes, God does work miracles still and is Oh so good!!

COMP PREP!!

It’s on!!! I’m 17 weeks out from The Southern States Classic in Liberty, Mo!!!

This is me currently. My eating had been pretty relaxed and my body fat is hovering around 16-17% approx. A bit higher than i would have liked, but it could be worse for sure.

My comp diet began yesterday and i’m already seeing scale movement. I went from 110lbs to now about 106-107lbs..so a good start for my first couple days, no doubt water as my eating has been worse since Thanksgiving through Christmas.

I am feeling really great about my prep and have a renewed vigor due to reasons I won’t get into, but God truly is my strength!!! I have NO doubt!!! I’m pursuing this prep with keeping my priorties in order as i spoke of last prep and as God honored and putting forth changes and trusting God for ones I can’t do myself to make this comp prep more balanced than ever. Competing is somthing I love doing, but it is NOT WHO I am,it is not my be all end all, but it is somthing I believe i have purpose in and if i’m to do this as God has allowed it’s going to be HIS way or not at all. May God continue to strengthen and speak to me through this prep and may i fully rely on Him! Does this mean i can take it easy…NO WAY!!!!! This woman is gonna give it my ALL, but doing so with balance!

Please follow along with me in this continuing journey! I believe this year will be a big one!!

So far diet and workouts are ON and I’m seriously stoked to the max for this prep and to compete again!!! What a fun privelage!!!

My current macros are 156 Protein
then cycling carbs          229 High carb day
                                               114 Med. carb day
                                                83 Low carb day
                                                25 fat

And with that, i want to say…Eye of the Tiger Baby!!!

AND>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Happy New Year to ALLL!!!!! Xoxoxoxo!

Feel free to leave me a note hear, i’d love to hear from you and let me know how your Christmas was!