I’m starting to see more muscle development, but I still have a long way to go to be stage ready. Even as my body is changing, my coach keeps reminding me that how I perform and display my hard-earned physique is even more important. So I started my posing practice and met with my posing coach for the first time on Thursday.

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I felt like I made a lot of progress in just 40 minutes and now I have an idea of how things will work on stage. There are so many things to think about all at the same time to make sure my body is aligned in the most flattering pose… shoulders forward, hips rotated, pelvis tilted, core tight, glutes flexed. It’s a little overwhelming to do it all at the same time! I didn’t realize how much work my back was doing at the time, but my back was SORE the next day! Now I at least know what/how I should be practicing so I can practice on my own until these poses become more natural.

Over the weekend, we had a wine tasting party with our friends and I tasted the wine, but that’s probably going to be my last taste of wine until after the competition. I planned ahead and brought my own food and munched on the veggie tray, but after several tastings, I caught myself dipping my veggies into bacon spinach dip (delicious, but definitely doesn’t have a place in my meal plan) and grazing on a bowl of popcorn.

So now is the time to really get serious!

With George going out of town for work next week, I decided to order some meals from Icon Meals to really stay on track since I’ll be on my own with the kids this week (plus some help from my parents). They arrived on Saturday and they all look SO good. And I hate wasting food so I’ll definitely be able to stay on plan with my food all pre-cooked, measured, and ready to go!

One afternoon last week, I got off of work, picked up the kids, and still had time to spare before I needed to get dinner started. To burn off some energy, we went to the playground before dinner. I packed up the baby in the jogging stroller and my older daughter rode her bike and then we took the long way home. When we were almost home, my daughter said she needed to stop and “take a rest” on a bench. But when I started doing a few park bench exercises from my Park Bench Workout, she forgot all about her rest and quickly jumped in doing the exercises with me. She’s grown up watching me exercise, either at home or at Fit4Mom stroller classes, and now she gets excited about exercise and wants to participate too! I love knowing that I’m setting a good example for her and that she’ll grow up with healthy habits already ingrained in her daily life!

Superbowl Sunday was just after the 9 weeks out mark, so I made this Healthy High Protein Buffalo Chicken Dip. It has so much flavor and a ton of protein that everyone was surprised that it’s actually healthy, high in protein, and low in fat and carbs!

Saturday was such a cold, gloomy day! I bundled up myself and kiddos and we went on a long walk in the jogging stroller in the morning. Later in the afternoon, Smart Barre, a local barre studio, debuted their first mom and baby barre class. I LOVE trying new boutique fitness classes and they offered the first class free, so we put on our matching leggings, I strapped Lauren into my Lillebaby carrier and gave it a try! I’ll be honest, I had very low expectations for a workout with my baby actually attached to me, but it was a pretty good workout! We wore the babies for first 20 minutes and then took them off for the rest of class and interacted with them while doing some exercises on the mat. Cuddles + playtime for baby + a booty burning workout for mom all at the same time!

Here are some progress pictures from 9 weeks out:

Bikini Training Program

Strength x 5 days (4-5 sets) Thank goodness! 6 days a week was tough!
Cardio x 4 days (20 minutes HIIT or 35 minutes steady state)
1 class per week (for fun if I want to)

Strength Training

Monday: PM Legs

Tuesday: AM Shoulders

Wednesday: PM Chest/Triceps/Abs with my trainer

Thursday: AM Back

Friday: AM Hamstrings/Biceps

Saturday: Mommy & Baby Barre class

Sunday: rest day, 15 yoga and stretching

Cardio

Monday: elliptical (AM fasted)

Tuesday: treadmill run (after strength)

Wednesday: elliptical (AM fasted)

Thursday: treadmill intervals (after strength)

Friday: none

Saturday: 3.5 mile walk with the jogging stroller

Sunday: none

Meal Plan

No changes to the meal plan this week (see week 10)

I’ve been loving my new Salted Caramel Milk Drunk protein powder! After I won a bag of the Mama Mocha flavor, I ordered their Salted Caramel flavor with fenugreek to help preserve my breast milk supply. I blend with iced coffee and a little unsweetened vanilla almond milk! I’ve been looking forward to it every day because it reminds me of a Starbucks caramel frappuccino! But with oat flour and other galactagogues, it does have more (healthy) carbs than other protein powders, so I swap out a piece of Ezekiel toast to fit it into my meal plan.