Now the fun stuff starts!

I ordered and received my competition heels recently and I’m starting to look at competition suits. I’m meeting with my posing coach for the first time soon, and I have a few more training sessions under my belt.

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My daughter loves to play dress (what 3-year-old doesn’t?!), so when she saw a new shoe box sitting out, she quickly opened it up and tried them on. Then she (rather gracefully) walked into the kitchen to show me “her” new shoes. Haha maybe I need to take some lessons from her to figure out how to walk in the 5-inch heels!

The funny thing about these heels is that they’re also marketed towards strippers! My coach told me to buy them from a stripper shop, but good old Amazon came through for me and I found these at a great price with lots of good reviews. My first posing session with my posing coach is coming up this week so I’ll definitely need to practice wearing them around the house, while meal prepping, vacuuming, etc. just to get used to wearing them. At only 5’3″ I frequently wear heels when going out never this high!

I thought the nutrition part of this process would make me feel more deprived, but it honestly hasn’t been that bad. In the beginning, I definitely felt like I was missing out on wine and desserts at Christmas, but I’m so happy I had already committed to the training process otherwise I definitely would have gone overboard on sweets.

As I’ve gotten further along, my sweet cravings are nearly gone (and I had always had a major sweet tooth!) and I’m able to go to a birthday party and pass on a slice of cake without feeling a major test of my willpower.

What do I miss most? Wine! And the social part that goes along with it. My coach said I can have the occasional glass as long as I adjust my carbohydrates down appropriately, but I still feel just a little deprived. I suppose it hasn’t been that bad, and I really don’t mind just drinking water, but I love hanging out with all our friends on Sunday night eating dinner, drinking wine, and catching up after a busy week. Luckily, they’re all pretty interested and supportive of my goal which reinforces my choice to abstain from wine those evenings and keeps my willpower strong.

The workouts are tough but totally doable. They’re pretty much what I would have done before, just a little longer and 4-5 sets instead of 3. Although last week my strength training days increased from 5 to 6 which has been a little rough because there isn’t any wiggle room to reschedule when life gets in the way and still keep Sunday as my rest day. But I love having a training plan and knowing exactly what I need to accomplish each time I step into the gym, and it motivates me to stay strong and complete the last set even when I want to skip it.

The toughest part has been moving my training to the gym instead of at home. Mornings have always been my “me-time” for exercise, and I love accomplishing a workout by 5:30 am before work and knowing it’s done and out of the way. No matter how crazy and hectic work or home life gets, I’ve still done something positive and impactful for my health. But with mostly gym workouts required, I have to wake up earlier or move my training to the afternoons. Several times I’ve worked later than expected and stressed if I was going to be able to fit in my workout. Adding in more cardio has also been tough. I either do it in the morning of afternoon weight training days or tack it on after weights, which makes for a loooong gym session.

Two weeks ago I got sick so getting in all my workouts nearly didn’t happen. I felt fine to do weights, my energy was totally zapped for cardio. On Thursday, I was dragging from the minute I stepped into the gym. I struggled through my leg workout and then stepped onto the treadmill to run but just couldn’t do it. Instead of giving up and calling it quits, I decided to walk on an incline for 20 minutes, and even that was exhausting! To distract myself from the cardio, I tried to watch a video on my phone but it kept buffering. I think I glanced at the timer every minute wondering if my time was up! Sometimes I’m not sure what’s longer… a treadmill minute or a microwave minute!

The next day, I texted my coach to see if pushing myself through cardio was a bad idea. I was hoping he would say I could skip it, but instead, he said to do something less intense like a recumbent cycle. So on Friday after work I went to the gym at my country club and sat down on the last recumbent cycle available between two old men with their sweatbands and white Reeboks reading the newspaper! <– I hope that’s me when I’m 80 😉

I’ve been making these healthy Dark Chocolate and Blackberry Protein Pancakes the last 2 weeks and they are AMAZING! Pancakes used to always be our weekend tradition, but traditional pancakes don’t really fit into my meal plan. These healthy Dark Chocolate and Blackberry Protein Pancakes, however, do! They’re made with Vital Proteins Dark Chocolate and Blackberry collagen peptides and egg whites for protein and the blackberries and chocolate are the perfect pair with just a few mini chocolate chips melted in for a delectable treat.

Another 2 weeks down and more progress pictures. My coach wants me to take these first thing on Saturday morning after I wake up and use the restroom but before I eat or drink anything. I wake up around 6 am RAVENOUS! So it’s usually a mad dash to take measurements, get my camera set up on the tripod, take pictures under the horrible overhead lighting of my exercise room, and take selfie shots or a video because my husband is still sleeping. Right after I got a new iPhone, I was in such a rush trying to get it set up that I didn’t tighten it down enough, and I dropped and cracked the screen of my phone 🙁 So sorry for the poor quality of these, but my main goal is to get breakfast in my belly as quickly as I possibly can!

 Bikini Training Program

• Strength x 6 days (mostly 5 sets)
• Cardio x 4 days (15 minutes HIIT)
• 1 class per week (for fun if I want to)

 

Strength Training

Monday: PM Legs/Abs

Tuesday: AM Back/Biceps + 28-minute treadmill run

Wednesday: AM fasted 18-minute elliptical HIIT + PM Shoulders/Abs

Thursday: AM Hamstrings/Abs + 28-minute treadmill run

Friday: AM Chest/Triceps

Saturday: AM fasted 33-minute outdoor run + later morning Back/Glutes

Sunday: Rest, 15 minutes of yoga and 20 minutes foam rolling

 

Meal Plan

Here’s what a typical day of eating looks like for me (please keep in mind that this meal plan customized for MY specific dietary needs for my height, weight, workout intensity, AND my caloric needs for breastfeeding). This may not be appropriate for you.

Breakfast 4:30 am

Protein shake with half a banana and 1 cup spinach

1 slice Ezekiel toast with 1 Tbs almond butter

AM Snack 8:00 am

5 Egg whites, spinach, red onion + half small avocado

1/4 cup (dry oats) Oatmeal + ½ cup blueberries + ½ oz chopped walnuts

Lunch 11:30 am

4 oz. Ground turkey 

4 oz. Baked sweet potatoes

1 cup Steamed broccoli

PM Snack 3:00 pm

1/2 cup Plain Greek yogurt + ½ small apple (~45 grams) chopped + ½ oz chopped walnuts

Dinner 6:00 pm

4.5 oz Salmon

1/2 cup Brown rice

Salad with a small amount of dressing (~1 tsp)

Bedtime Snack 8:15

1/2 cup Cottage cheese + ¼ cup blueberries + 1 Tbs granola + cinnamon

Or Chocolate covered almonds 2 days a week as a treat

My coaches said I could still eat the chocolate covered almonds as an evening treat twice a week, but I found I was having a difficult time limiting them to an appropriate serving. Even if I counted out 10, I kept going back to the pantry, grabbing a few more, and popping them in my mouth before I could even think about what I was doing. Sweets are definitely my weakness, so I think I’ll be better off just eliminating them entirely instead of eating the small amount that’s more of a tease.

 

Journey to the Stage: Bikini Competition Series

If you missed any of my Journey to the Stage bikini competition prep posts, you can get all caught up here:

New Fitness Goal: Bikini Competition!

Bikini Competition Pre-Prep

12 Weeks Out

10 Weeks Out

8 Weeks Out

7 Weeks Out

6 Weeks Out

5 Weeks Out

4 Weeks Out

3 Weeks Out

2 Weeks Out

1 Week Out

Peak Week

Show Day!

Post-Show Update