YIKES! Getting behind!

Not in my workouts or anything, don't you fear. I've just written 3 blogs while at work the past few days that I haven't had a chance to type up. Will try to do it after the gym this morning............................

Wrapping it up

So this past week has been pretty awesome, I have to say. My basic goal for my meals is to hit them @ 80%. This past week I did about 85% with 5 days @ 100% w00t! This is pretty great..... for now. While I didn't go balls to the wall with my workouts, I certainly busted plenty of tail. I always have a tendency to overdo it the first week of the month (when I get a new program) and wind up beyond sore *see cramping* which obviously isn't a desired response. This week I was pleasantly sore, but not so much that I cramped whenever I engaged a specific muscle.

Just thinking about that happening hurts my soul.

This week, I have to focus on making sure to hit my functional workouts, which I often neglect. I'd also like to work on my weekends. This weekend coming up should be decent because I'll be working two 12 hours shifts, so my only options are the food that I bring, and the crap food at my job. I just hope nobody makes those fantastic cranberry/white chocolate cookies that I adore. mmmmmmmm. *cough* Next week, I'll have to go 7 days without a cheat meal.... because I've never gone 7 days without a cheat meal. Every time that I ever thought that I didn't NEED to indulge in something naughty, I've done it anyway because "I deserve it".

This week I felt relaxed and energized, and I'm proud to say that it was week 3 without coffee and I haven't even noticed. I'm checked in for the week and looking into choosing a show date. There's one in PA in January which may be a good one for me to do, but the fact that it's sooner than the tentative Spring idea is a little terrifying, but no worries. One day at a time....

Catching up: a day late

Sep 1 was a pretty great day with great accomplishment. I woke up at 6am and hopped out of bed. While I did NOT turn my swag on, I did make my way to the kitchen to pour my morning cup of tea. I turned on my new favorite Music Choice channel ("classic alterrnative") and then my phone rang. It was my little sister with an urgent need of my presence.

While I DID expect this call, I didn't think it would happen so early in the morning, certainly not before I had made it to the gym. I told her I'd get dressed and be on my way. Two terrifying things popped into my head as being potential for SABOTAGE:

1) If I don't get to the gym soon, I probably won't feel like doing it later. Then I'll have to deal with the potential self dialogue of wahy I should go, even though I don't want to. A positive win in this situation is about 50/50.

2) What the hell am I gonna do about food? I hadn't yet prepped my breakfasts for the week, and I didn't have the time to cook.

This was a big deal situation as I have easily just said "forget it" or promised myself that I'd get it done (with no real plan to carry this out). Surprisingly, my situation ended up being quite simple and 100% effective. Remembering that I would end up at my mother's house, I decided to swap my breakfast with my am snack. Surely mom has eggs, veggies, and oatmeal. I shook up and chugged down a protein shake, and grabbed a banana and was out the door. Once I picked up my sis, I found out that I was in luck! My mom had gone grocery shopping the day before. This was great news because now I didn't have to worry about her getting mad at me for eating half a dozen eggs....... She had TWO DOZEN!

The best part of this story comes when I remembered that my mom's building has a gym! Mom saves the day!!! Here I thought things were about to get all out of whack and my day didn't skip a beat. My meals and workout were 100% on Sep 1, and I was SOOOO proud of myself for making sure to get it done. What an excellent way to start the month.

Now I'm sure you're thinking "there are a million other ways you could have stayed on track." For those people *cough* control freaks *cough* that can be totally derailed when things don't go according to my *er THEIR meticulous plan, there usually is no other way. Those that know me well have heard me discuss my list making "issue" we'll call it...... I'd rather make a new list than rearrange an existing one.

Jenn

Late, but still on time

So here it is September 2009 and I have yet to reach a huge personal goal that I've given many half-assed attempts in the past 2 years. This is all about to change. My journey began nearly 2 years ago when I joined Cathy Savage Fitness. For those of you that don't know, Cathy Savage is the tip top coach for competitive figure and fitness athletes and if you don't know what that is, google it.

Through the Spring of 08, I gave about 80% consistently, and made some serious progress until I sprained my knee in June. Considering that I am NOT the type of person that can sit still for more than 5 minutes, being on crutches and having my mobility so drastically limited wasn't easy to deal with. Even after I was "healed" and able to walk independently, I still had some serious issues with my knee for many months later that continued to limit what I was able to do as far as fitness goes. No surprise, but all of my hard work went down the tubes. Over the next many months I stayed active and still went to the gym but the stress of nursing school  wouldn't allow me to totally commit to anything. I'm sure I also failed to commit out of fear, and I'm not talking about just one. Nonetheless, I'm pressing forward. Over the past year or so I've really paid attention to the things that would stand in my way even when I stayed on track. Things like missing my usual gym time and not having a backup plan, or if one meal was off, my whole day was shot. Or not checking in with my coaches to notify them of my progress. etc.

SELF-DEFEATIST ROADBLOCKS BE GONE!!!!

I've spent the past couple of weeks trying some things out. I've loosened up my diet so that it isn't so rigid and allows room for variety in its cleanliness. I've also added "back up treats" to help with with cravings, which I'll discuss later because some of them are sooooo clever! I've practiced my 'back up plan' should something stand in the way of my meals or my workouts, and I have to say I was so pleased at my success. I purchased a weight bench so I'm no longer limited in the moves that I can perform at home (save for heavy benching, squats, and pullups, but I'm purchasing a push-pull cage the help with that). I signed up for a Hip-Hop dance class with a friend of mine to add some variety in activity, I'm getting back into yoga twice a week, and spin once a week. I've got my "Savage Programming" for the month of September and I'm rip roaring and ready to go. I'm soooo on top of my junk this month, it isn't even funny.

So for the rest of 2009 my main goals are to decrease my bodyfat by 10-12% while losing as little muscle as possible, and to really make some significant gains in core strength, thought I don't know how I will make it measurable yet. I'll spend January, February, and possibly March (depending on when I find a show) on working towards my first show! Along the way I'll be sharing recipes that I stumble upon in my attempt to cram as many nutrients into as little calories as possible without sacrificing taste. I'll probably also be posting pictures of my favorite competitors for my own motivation. I plan to use this blog as another avenue to keep myself accountable, and honest, so the more people that read it, the better!

I hope everyone has a great day and I'll be back tonight to give a late recap of 'day 1' of my counted days, and today as well.

Jenn

Here Goes!

This is my first post and it is solely for the purpose of having ANYTHING up on this blog. I'll be sure to write a proper first post later.