Winners!

"Winning is not normal and those who constantly win follow an ‘abnormal’ path. The discipline, dedication and sacrifices are incomprehensible to those thousands standing outside, looking in, who are capable of joining the winning team, yet unwilling to pay the price of admission. Winners win in a fair effort, on a level playing field, because they deserve to win... they willingly pay their dues in full, time after time, after time." -unknown

A couple of people I really admire have recently been put 'down'. One woman is 54 years old and through 3 years of hard work, is now in the best shape of her life - her doctor agrees. She was told by an individual that "they liked the serious, conservative person she used to be better. She is no longer a positive role model for young women..." Excuse me?!

Much on the same note, one of the bloggers I read wrote about the use of the word 'real' in the media. She asks many of the same questions and has a great perspective on what is normal and abnormal in our sociaty. Check it out here.

Lifetime buys Northwest

Lifetime and Northwest are the two big competing gyms around here...
This is very exciting for me because my hubby was a mbr of Northwest
and my sister and I were joining Lifetime on Aug 15th. Now, my hubby
and I can work out together sometimes! We all went to the lifetime
near us in highland park and got all switched and everything last
night - soooo excited. They are buff and in-shape people there and
there aren't kids running around everywhere. And, the free weight
area is like heaven with so many more toys than I'm used to!!!

On other news, the new bulking program is great. some of my bloating has finally gone away and I feel good - which is nice to have again. I'm at about 2000-2100 calories a day which is fun. My weight is going back down - just a little bit but that is good!

feelin' great!

I'm feeling so much better - I feel like I've found myself again. My sister and I both had new workouts to do at the gym tonight. It was a blast - except she laughed at me a lot and ruined my ab workout. BRAT! :-) I'm hoping 16% bodyfat comes quickly - I'm ready!!!

It is really hot and muggy here but we finally got some rain. My grass is brown. I don't believe in wasting natural resources to water it.

My hubby and I plan to go camping on Aug 25-27. I'd like to stay somewhat close so we don't spend the whole time driving. Not sure where we'll go yet. Tosh is going to watch the pups. Excited for a weekend alone!

I'm BACK!

Ugh - I feel so much better now. I'm excited and ready to go!

I am 19.5% bodyfat - at least it is still in the teens! :-)
Gained 10lbs of fat since comp...oops...

Got my weight workouts and 2 days of cardio a week. We expect I will drop down in BF now that my diet will be cleaned up. Going to try to sit aroun 16%.

Off to my family's for the weekend! Can't wait to see everyone!

I'm a Mentor!

I became a mentor tonight! I am going to be a mentor with Bolder Options. My mentee is Frednesia. She is in the 8th grade and I am very excited to be working with her. We will be teamed together for 1 year. We must complete 3 5Ks by the end of November. We will be meeting 1-2 times a week to do homework and train. This will be a big commitment but I am looking forward to it.

We are headed to South Dakota for my Grandpa's 80th birthday party tomorrow. Should be fun - will be a very quick trip though. 6 hour drive. Leaving at 12 after my training session. Have to be home on Sunday by 2 so my sister, Tosha, can get to work. i don't mind the quick trips so much though. I like getting home early on Sunday to recover a little bit. This will be the first I've seen any of my family since competition. My parents never said anything really...I'm excited to show pics to my grandparents though. Hopefully, they will think it was cool and everyone will have a better idea of what we're doing and hopefully be supportive or at least tolerant.

I'm excited and nervous about my training tomorrow. Ready to just see where I am at and set goals!

Our neighbor gave us tickets to the Twins game last night. Was fun! took my chiro and his wife and one of their friends. They are really fun to hang out with. Neil and I lost our car for about 45 minutes after the game. I was tired and hungry and little did we know we were walking around the WRONG parking ramp...good lord...

Does the world have an eating disorder?

So my sister commented and pointed out where we were in life at this time last year. We were doing straight BFL and having hugh cheat DAYS every week. Crazy...

There are many fitness freaks that have issues with binging and would just much rather eat clean...I'm seeing this resounding theme throughout blogs and forums. This makes me wonder, does this lifestyle/sport tend to attract those who may have minor eating disorders in the first place? Many of us are perfectionists with very high expectations of ourselves. I personally know that I like to have complete control over things. I like to have goals and a plan in pretty much every aspect of my life.

Now, as I'm writing this, I'm thinking - most of the time you have to battle all of society to eat 'clean'. It is a constant issue that you don't eat 'normal'... like it or not, 'normal' in this society means you will end up obese - with heart disease, high cholesterol, etc. So maybe the whole world has an eating disorder...

"Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its troubles…it empties today of its strength." – Aunt Linda (sent by Jennifer Cribbs, SparkPeople community member)

I had a busy weekend! We went to the Zoo, the body worlds exhibit at the science museum, the global market, and a drag show at the Gay 90s. And that was only Thursday and Friday of last week! On Saturday we went to the lifetime fitness Triathlon because it is 3 blocks from my house. My trainer, David, and one of my coworkers competed. My coworker got 3rd in her age group!! considering this is a HUGE triathlon really good.

I couldn't find anything to wear Thursday night - no shorts, pants, or skirts would fit me. Granted I was somewhat bloated but it was quite the wake-up call. I need to stop the binging...a little cheat is fine but my cheats are never little. This needs to be a total lifestyle change - for good. Not just 6 days a week with a cheat day, not just 12 weeks of contest dieting, etc. That is not healthy for me mentally or emotionally and it just encourages a binge-type behaviour. I was much happier and content with my strict diet. I felt better, my skin was better, and on and on. Now I'm just working on the implementation.

I'm sooooo excited for my training session on Friday. I can't wait to have a goal! sorry to keep ranting about the same things in my blog...progress not perfection!

Thank You

Thank you all so much for visiting my blog. Today has been a very humbling and surreal day for me. It is weird to have people reading my blog and telling me I am inspiring.

I'll be honest - right now I'm having a hard time. It has been over a month since my competition and between vacations and schedules I still haven't met with my trainers. This is hard because I have no real estimate of my BF to know where I am at. I have no goals and no plan. I am realizing how important goals are. No matter what - it is the basics of BFL that seem to play the biggest part in success or failure - GOALS. I do really well in the mornings, it is in the afternoons I tend to faulter on the food. I have decided that it is not even the idea of gaining weight that bothers me - it is that I am disappointed in myself. Cheating isn't about weight, it is about respect and belief in yourself along with forgiving yourself. My sister said something to me today. She has a slight peanut butter problem and indulged a little a couple of nights last week. She said that she wasn't cheating this week because she was better than that. She was not that person. She was in control of herself and she deserved to be fit and have the body she wanted. You know what? she's right!

I just scheduled my session with my trainers next Friday at 8am. the light at the end of the tunnel of ambiguity. I'm looking forward to it.

Until then, I'm going to enjoy my free night and morning on Thursday and Friday - we're having a girls night. I'm going to do my best for the rest of the time but I am not going to feel bad about anything. I ate clean with no cheats whatsoever for 16 weeks - that is a long time, that is 4 months. 1 month of so-so is not the end of the world and I need to quit being ridiculous.

Thanks again to everyone for visiting. It is really helping me through this slump and the post-comp blues. This is a transition time for me and I lose sight of the fact that it is a short-term adjustment period.

Famous

First of all, OMG stef (go4steffie) read MY blog. Stef - I have lurked on your blog and been inspired by you for a long time! I lurked around the blends for quite a while religiously until I realized just how much time I was spending on the computer and made myself quit reading so much. I stopped reading just after Bev was done with Dancing with the Stars, you had gone on ski trips...now I HAVE to know how everyone is again. I'm blaming you for hte hours I will be sitting in front of this computer! :-)

On another note...I'm famous! I'm in the BFL newsletter:



Check it out!!

I'm the one in the middle, of the 'Congratulations' article!

Tosh and I ran a practice 5K on Saturday in 28:22. Would really like to get it down to 26 for the 5K in our hometown in SD in August...

Went to a horse show, Pirates movie, and hung out by the pool as well. Busy weekend! Went to ride horse tonight and see the 2 baby horses - one is 2 months old and the other is one month old. they are adorable!

Getting there

Well, I think I am getting back to normal little by little. I was single, stranded and carless all weekend because Neil was helping his brother shingle his house.
Didn't do much the 4th. Went to the 'Devil wears Prada' with Neil and Tosha. None of us were real impressed with it. Then I got all of the trees out of the lilacs which was a major accomplishment. Tosh came back over and we watched the movie about the guy that tries to fix the special olympics. It was a great movie. We went down by lake nokomis and watched fireworks. Was really neat because you could see the displays of all the different cities around us.

I've been eating really clean just a few extra carbs (fruit, rice cakes, and sugar free pudding) that I shouldn't be but that is fine with me for now. I am back to doing HIIT cardio - first 20 min was Tuesday morning and I did another 20 min this morning. Plan on running a practice 5K around Lake calhoun on Saturday at 10 am with Tosh and Lanae.