Eight weeks out really sets the tone, pressure, expectation and time to really kick everything into gear! I'm not sure what or why it happens, but it's like your mental alarm clock begins to go off and is screaming at you to get serious. It's not that I have not been serious since the day after thanksgiving, but 8 weeks out is truly a turning point for me every time I compete. It's like realizing your wedding day is just weeks away and you want everything to be perfect, so you go into bridezilla mode. You begin to do everything you can so your special day is just how you imagined it would be. This is exactly how I envision stepping on the stage. It's the one day I get to show my confidence and be proud of the changes I had made from the previous competition and am so happy with my entire look.
This week was one of the most mentally challenging weeks for me professionally. Many times I wanted to go home and get into bed and pretend the day never happened, but I found the strength to put work aside so I could focus on my other passion. I actually had a few great days in the gym where I increased my strength, endurance and overall outlook.
One of my goals for the week was to challenge myself after heavy weight training to immediately go to the rower for a 2000m race & beat my time at least by 15 seconds. To my surprise I actually beat it by 68 seconds! I went from 9min and 21sec to 8min and 53sec. To me this was a HUGE accomplishment! First it meant my endurance was improving and second I was getting stronger by pulling harder and faster so I could beat my time. Each week I challenge myself to set fun small goals like this to keep me motivated and pushing hard...it's all about having some fun while competing against myself.
For the next 7 weeks I will share with you some of my stats, thoughts, experiences and challenges I faced during the week. Of course the one thing I always get asked is what are you eating? I will also share with you my diet for the week and the type of exercises I am doing. For those of you who really don't know me all that well, it may come as a surprise that I am a vegetarian (lacto-ovo) and a figure competitor. Many are skeptical of this type of diet and claim it is tough to be successful without eating meat, and I am here to prove them wrong! I feel better than I ever have before and physically ready for this challenge.
Stats:
Weight- 128.6lbs (from week 9 to 8 I lost 1.6lbs, .5% body fat and maintained my lean mass:)
Diet:
Meal 1: 1 low carb yogurt, 1 cup frozen strawberries, ½ c Silk light soy milk and ½ c fiber one cereal
Snack : Apple -100 calories
Meal 2: 4 cups spinach salad with 4 oz Fish and 6 spears of Asparagus /2 tbsp. light honey mustard Grapefruit
Meal 3: 1/4c c brown rice, tofu, 1/4c black beans, 1/4c lentils & 2 tbsp. salsa
Meal 4: 1 scoop protein powder, ½ c oatmeal, 1/3 c pumpkin
Snack : low carb wrap with 1 tuna packet and 2tbsp hummus – My favorite new find this contest prep (oasis jalapeno hommus 2tbs 33cal, 1gfat, 4g carb-0sugar, 95mg sodium from Whole Foods)
Meal 5: 1 egg, 1/2 c egg whites, 1 morning star sausage, ¼ c mushrooms, ¼ c onion and peppers & 1/8 c fat free cheese
1755 calories
Training:
Thursday- 20 min morning bike w/ 4x20 no weight squats, heavy all over body weight training PM, 2000m rowing 9min 21 sec 20 min and walking 3.5 speed with 1 min interval incline. Incline each min until max & then work back down all while SQUEEZING my glutes!
Friday- Off
Saturday- 60 min cardio- 5min warm up, 10- 1:1 sprint interval @ 8.5speed, during 1 min low intensity straddle belt with 20 deep squats for 30sec then rest 30sec . 10min of walking @ 7 incline 3.5 speed followed by 20 min recumbent bike level 4 avg. speed 80mile.
Sunday- Heavy all over body heavy weight training afternoon, 2000m rowing 8min53sec, 30 min Arc Trainer (incline 10 resistance 25)
Monday- 20 min morning bike w/ 4x20 no weight squats/ 45 min evening cardio-30 min 1:1 interval on stepper- 1 min level 6: 1 min level 8 (5min warm up/5min cool down) 15 min walking 8 incline 3.5speed-focus on squeezing glutes.
Tuesday- All over body heavy weight training- 40 min evening cardio-moderate intensity. Walking 20 min incline 8 speed 3.5, 20 min recumbent bike level 6 avg. speed 86mile
Wednesday- 60 min evening spinning
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