There once was a man from Nantucket...

A Monterey girl there once was

Who went on a diet because,

They thought she was crazy

Low carbs made her lazy

And the baked ziti made her head buzz!

This girl took a two hour nap

Her energy level was tapped,

It made her feel rested

But that night she was tested

And ended up sleeping like crap!

So today was a very tough day

Three classes she taught for pay,

She felt like sleep walking

Why can't she stop talking?

Caffeine in a bottle, I say!

It works like a miracle drug

5 Hour Energy should be pushed by thugs,

No need to save face

She'll buy by the case

And before every class she will chug!

Anyone for apple pie?

I had great workouts today! This morning I did a HIIT session on the bike in Spin class (same as last night....sweaty both times!) I had amazing energy for my morning class which is relatively unusual. I'm sure my class thought I was "on something". When I got home I had a sugar free pancake with MM and sugar free syrup. After about 20 minutes, I was still feeling light headed and a bit shaky. I know my body and this means low blood sugar. So I had half a bagel (minus a chunk that I ate on some previous day) with a little BNPB and a little pumpkin butter and within 10 minutes felt better. Lesson?... THIS BODY NEEDS SUGAR!! I've been saying it all along! :-)

Then posing with Lisa. Still improving but it's still amazing that my butt still looks so HUGE after losing 10 pounds! Today she video taped my routine and I was totally grossed out by the jiggling that was going on from the back view! Talk about motivation to stay strict to the diet! UGH! Seriously? I feel skinny and awesome and it's still not enough! I need some miracle cellulite cream! (I have some actually. I friend gave me some to try.... come on Arbonne! Don't let me down!) I'm pretty sure that I'll be bathing in it! But then the question will be... was it the cream? or the diet? "Is it real or is it Memorex" Remember that commercial? SHINY NICKEL!!

Then I subbed for MPF class so I took advantage of that and did my lower body workout in class and got paid! YEAH! Can you say..."Best job ever?" So in-between each set, we did abs and I think the class was dying! They were dropping off like flies... *evil laugh* I might even feel this ab workout tomorrow! So I walked out, a little wobbly legged, wondering if my family had the left over BBQ chicken sandwich stuff and apple pie put away before I would get home. Yes, apple pie! My neighbor brought one over as a "thank you" for watching their dog. More like "I hate you...here is some evil temptation!" But I'll forgive... And of course, only my loving husband had a piece cuz the kids don't really care for apple pie... so 'lucky for me' the pie will be in the fridge all week until Billy gets off his "no sugar Lent fast" and comes over and eats the rest next weekend. If anyone wants some yummy apple pie please come over and help yourself! But my family was awesome in having everything put away before I got home. Of course, Hunter wanted more... so I had to get it out, warm it up, smell it, have it under my nose, and watch him eat it.... ugh! Torture! "Just remember the video!".... to the Jell-o tune... "Watch it wiggle... Watch it jiggle"... Yeah, I got this!

Oh... and also.... 5 Hour Energy makes me crazy! I'm so going to pop some of that about 20 minutes before KB tomorrow! WOOHOO!! Bring it on!!!

The lesson for today?? Sodium....

It's finally Sunday....aaahhhh.... resting the weary butt muscles! I've had a really great week this week. All of my workouts were strong and productive and I didn't cheat on my diet. I do have one thing to tell you and it is an important lesson. Last night, I consciously decided to swap out my last meal for what I made for dinner. After reading all the labels I cut myself a SMALL piece of barbeque chicken calzone. The pizza crust was about the same but 10 extra carbs than I would have normally eaten and the chicken was fine, there was no cheese on my little piece and the BBQ sauce had a about 4 grams more sugar than the A1 sauce that I would have put on my rice. Overall, I thought it was a pretty good swap for the extra joy it gave me to eat something different, albeit a very small portion. I felt no guilt over this at all. Later, I decided to update my recipe book because I have all sorts of internet print outs, and magazine pages, etc that are just stuffed into my book, so I was writing out the ones that I have made in the last couple of weeks (family enjoyed them all and said they were keepers). When I got to the BBQ chicken calzones, and was writing out the nutritional value (all very reasonable) EXCEPT ....can you guess what I missed in my substitution calculation? ..... I'm sure that Lisa and Jason already know and were shaking their heads at about the second sentence. That's right... sodium. Per serving about 765 mg! Even tho I had less than a serving, I was sitting there with my mouth hanging open, color drained from my face as if I had just eaten rat poisoning and had about 2 days to live. (OK... perhaps that is a slight exaggeration) But after my great week of no cheating and looking down the barrel of another 2 pounds of weight loss, I think I just screwed myself. That's what I get for trying to make "logical" substitutions. Not to worry Lisa, no more label reading. It's just the menu. And lo and behold, this morning I was exactly 1 pound heavier than I weighed yesterday morning. Stupid water retention. At this stage of the game, although, we still haven't talked about sodium restriction, IT'S A HUGE DEAL!!!

So endith the lesson....

In other news, I finished my routine, and 'performed' it in front of Jason and Mossy yesterday at Lisa's. It was totally nerve wracking! I was more nervous than I expected myself to be. I trust and respect "Team Brightman", consider them friends and know that they would not laugh behind my back or judge me negatively..... yet ... still nervous. I've always had some issues with performance anxiety (during my singing days in HS/college) but I thought that my experience of teaching aerobics would help that...I don't have to sing, after all! I got through it and, thanks to my darker tan, they may not have noticed my deep blushing. It was great experience to practice and front of others. So... Monterey friends, be prepared to be my practice audience!

Again, no dietary changes for me this week but changes in the workouts. I told Lisa that I can get away with staying off the bike for spin, and I have arranged with Marcelo (the other gym manager) to teach a beginner kickboxing segment for the next 4 weeks on Wednesdays. That will mean less jumping around for me, more teaching, partner drills, etc. So I have 2 HIIT sessions a week, 2 posing practices (1 hour each), 2 workouts with Lisa and 2 workouts on my own. Sounds fun right? Well I think so!

One week has passed after my first spray tan last weekend. The "fake" color is gone from my face but I think I'm hanging on to some color everywhere else still. But I have been enjoying the sun the last couple of days and probably picking up some color with that. I plan to hang out on my trampoline today again. Looks like it will be another beautiful day! Enjoy it friends!!

Nothing much....

I've had a great week this week. Other than Wednesday when I was super tired, I've been up in mood and attitude. I've worked hard and I have not cheated on my diet. I've been trying not to eat after 6pm as that will be my rule next month. It's going ok. I long to snack but I'm not starving.... yet. :-)

Thanks to my workout partners, Kate, Madelyn and of course Lisa. I don't do very well working out by myself. It's easy for me to be unmotivated to push the heavy weight when I'm alone.

I think I have my 90 second routine worked out. I'll finally show it to Lisa tomorrow (I hope).

As of Wednesday morning I weighed 127 (that's 1.4 pounds less than Monday) I'm beginning to see my own weight loss. I'm excited to see what the scale officially says on Monday morning.

Sorry I don't have any funny stories for you. It's been a busy but boring week, I just wanted to say "Hi" :-)

STOP THE CHEATS!!!

Today I worked out with Kate, chest and tri. I love working out with Kate. She said, "What do you want me to do?" And I said, "Just push me"..."OK". Off we go... 50 push ups to warm up, bench press bar plus 3 sets heavy, flat flys and incline bench negatives. Then tri pull downs with the rope, dips with 25 pounds, and finally tricep pushups. The first time I worked chest with Lisa she made me do 50 pushups at the end of the workout. So I, in all my wisdom, thought that I would do that again except combine it with triceps and do 50 tricep pushups. I tell Kate we are going to do 50. Off we go.... After 20 I said, "How about we just do 3 sets of 10". Kate says, "Hell NO! We're doing 50". I called her a bad name and told her she was mean. So we kept pushing them out. The last 5 of the last 2 sets of 10 were ridiculous! There was much crying and name calling. When we were done we both rolled over relieved that it was over! It was funny because at the end, we both went to wash our hands and after about 3 rubs of the soap, we both dropped our hands to the sink and moaned... at the exact same time!! Now that is a hell of a chest/tri workout!

After that, Kate said that she would help be pose practice because I've been kind of slacking on that and need someone to be accountable to. It's like any workout at home. We all have the best intentions some times but life gets in the way and before you know it, it's past your bed time and you promise yourself that you will do it tomorrow... only to fail again. Right? Haven't we all done that at some place in our lives? And then we face reality and admit that if we are to get a consistent workout, we have to join a gym? Well, maybe it's just me.

So I showed her the poses and she timed me. My legs were totally failing! Shaking like a Chihuahua on a cold winter day. It was horrible and a real wake up call that I better get my butt practicing or I will be sucking it on competition day!

Then HIIT with Lisa. Sprints on the treadmill. Still feeling that pull on my right quad and feel frustrated that I could do better if I could just extend my stride without pain. But I got through that and abs after.

Then Spin which I had my class do 5 pushups in between each song = 50 pushups... Why did I do that on chest/tri workout day?? I'm retarded! It wasn't that hard... only 5 at a time... But still only about 40% of my class did them all with me. And I'll do the same workout tomorrow with my morning class. Hope I'm not too stiff to do it all again. Then more abs.

Tomorrow Lisa is cutting my calories again. I'm nervous about that and let me tell you why. You know how I've confessed my cheats? (you know... the Triscits and whatnot) Well, it's getting easier and easier to snitch little cheats. A bite of family dinner here... a spoon of TJ's BNPB there... it's the dinner thing that is really getting me the last couple days. One bite...2 bites.... 3 bites... guilt. So LISA LISTEN UP!... you need to tell me to stop the cheating! Tell me why I have to stop the cheats and scold me for it. If you don't, and it continues to be "no big deal", then I'm afraid the cheats will add up to 100 calories a day and then what will be the point of decreasing my calories? I totally understand the cheating mentality. If you cheat once, and don't get in trouble, then cheating becomes easier and easier.

STOP THE CHEATS!!!

I think that will do for today. Tomorrow is spin, legs and posing with Lisa. I don't have a partner tomorrow *sad face*, but I'll put my big girl pants on and do my best.

ps.... As Kate and I were walking out of the gym today, I mentioned to her that I should stop by the NEX to get another MetRex shaker bottle for Mike, because he has taken a liking mine and uses it for his chocolate protein shakes. The problem is that the chocolate leaves chunks that won't rinse out easy, so I have to scrub the thing before I make my own shakes. That said, I did not have time to stop before coming home to eat before my HIIT so I said I'd just do it later. Sweet Kate came by my house while I was at my HIIT with a new shaker for me. What a great friend and workout partner! Luvs and hugs to Kate for being so awesome!

I'm not a black woman but I play one on TV....

I got my first spray tan today. Hmmmm.... I don't even know where to start. Interesting experience... First of all, I have to say that God places me in situations that prepare me for future events. For example, when I started the massage program, I was VERY nervous about disrobing and getting naked on a table with about 20 students on the room. Even covered, this was scary for me and took me quite awhile to relax with it. I'm just a conservative ND girl... Next I decided to do the competition. I'm picturing myself on stage looking thin and awesome, rocking the bikini. OK, Rachelle wasn't thinking about the "in-between" stages. So I have NOT rocked the bikini but still have had to put it on and pose practice in front of Lisa, and the camera (which brought me to tears the first time). The second camera session was easier on my fragile ego because I was more prepared for what I would see from the back side and I did see some small improvements. I'm getting more used to the bikini wearing (not that I plan to sport around town in it).Which brings me to today's tanning session. So there I was naked as a Jay bird, in the middle of my kitchen with a complete stranger. (You know, all good stories start with "so there I was", right?) She gives me the directions... "Don't put your arms down... stand with your feet apart... turn to the side...." all the while misting me with what feels like arctic snow, so everything is standing at attention (goose pimples, of course!) "Ok now face the back.... other side... back to the front.... expose the inner thigh... Ok, now put your arms straight up in the air..." etc... I'm thinking that arms straight up, with your feet apart is about as vulnerable as I will have to be right?... wrong!.... "last, let me get the 'smile'... turn to the back and bend over"... Are ya kidding!? I'm thinking...'It's just like gynecologists... you've seen one, you've seen 'em all'. Here goes nothing!.... whew! Cold mist to the ass, and we are done. I said, "Boy, you really have to trust a person!" Then I had to stand there while she 'dried' me off. (With warm air...thank goodness!)

In the end, I do like the color, but it's pretty dark right now. The tan solution has a bronzer in it so that she can see what she is doing. The bronzer rinses right off but you don't want to rinse the tan for at least 8 hours. So I'm hiding out in my house looking like a white woman who

is dreaming of being black. My family got a good giggle on my behalf and I have decided to let you all giggle too. I'm posting my first picture to my blog. Have fun!

Confessions of a Triscuit

Quotes for the week....

Me to Mike "I cheated on my diet for the first time since mid January". Mike, "What did you eat?"

Me, "3 Triscuits." Mike, "Oooooo....."

Me to Lisa "I cheated on my diet last night". Lisa, "What did you eat?" "3 Triscuits" "Is that all?" (me in my thoughts.."I should have had 6")

Me to Mike "I bought Thomas's Whole Wheat bagels for you and the kids instead of the usual white. They are SO good... so soft and full of flavor! I could eat them dry and plain." (and I have). Mike, "Boy, your tastes have really changed in the last couple of months!"

Lisa to me while lifting my last rep of bench press, "Don't shake your head 'no' at me...push it up!"

Conversation between me, Lisa and Mossy after our HIIT on Thursday, "I ordered my suit last night." "Me too! Did you get padding in your top?" "No I want my pecs to show. Besides I have tits and muscle, that's all I need" "Tater tots" "Chick-lets" "Hey Jason, how are you enjoying this conversation?" Jason, "Can we go back to talking about your daughter's period?"

Me to my oldest daughter this morning, "What do I get to eat today?...EGGS!" Kaelyn, "You say that every day and every day you say... EGGS!"

Jane to me after my massage last night, " I feel like there is less of you."

I drank a 20 ounce MetRex shake on my way to Lisa's for posing practice. Lisa (repeatedly), "Pull your abs in." Me (repeatedly) "Damn shake..." Me to Lisa after posing practice, "At the competition, if I need to pull my abs in, just yell, 'SHAKE'.. and I'll know what to do." :-)

Dutchess (my dog) to Flexie (Lisa's dog), "Don't French me in front of my mom, I'll get grounded!"

Madelyn (one of my workout partners) on Thursday "Dude, my abs are STILL stiff!" Me, "From Saturday?? " "yes"... "Sweeeeettt"... hehehehe

Mike, "How'd you sleep last night" Me, "I think I woke myself up several times with my groaning every time I rolled over".. "Mac truck?" "Yep"

Kate to me, "How's the pooping going" "Guaranteed every Wednesday at 10:30 thanks to Kashi Go Lean"

Mike (repeatedly) "Put those guns away" Me (repeatedly) --rolling the eyes....

Me, "Trampoline meet my posing suit.... posing suit, trampoline... bring the tan!"

Hello Motrin! It's been awhile... Did you miss me?

I lost 1.4 pounds this week... yeah...

Today's workout, quads/back, HIIT and Spin... booo... (I mean.. yeah!)

I lifted this morning with Pam, wondering how my HIIT was going to go after lifting quads.

I was even more afraid when Lisa said to meet her on the track since it's such a nice day. I loved being outside! But running outside is by far harder than running on the treadmill. So I warmed up with 2 laps around the track and we started out our first sprint. I guess it was too much too soon because within the first 5 steps I felt that my quads were not ready! Both pulled immediately.. especially the right side. So I hobble/ jogged..(would that be "jobbled"?) to the end and tried to shake it off on the way back to the start, but I know my body pretty well. This was going to be a problem. After a little stretch, I tried again but slower... still pain. So we did a couple laps of butt kickers to warm and stretch the quads and things started to loosen up a little bit. Then a couple more sprints but I couldn't really get a good stride and felt like I was limping along. Then some side steps and jogging backwards to the start again. You know the feeling when you have a tight muscle that might be on the verge of a charlie horse if you aren't careful? yep.. that's me.. both quads. So I'm sitting here with ice packs wrapped around both legs and the Motrin sitting handy. I will be playing games in Spin tonight because I suspect that my quads will not love me if I try to push them on the bike. There you have that...

On a funny note... On the way home from the gym today, I saw a man walking in a charcoal gray suit with high-water pants, light brown ankle boots and long gray hair sporting a shiny bald spot (reminded me of Michael Bolten hair... 80's wannabe rocker.. not working!) Anyway, I had to giggle at the many fashion blunders on this one man. It's the little things sometimes! hehehehe.

rockin' the corduroys!

I usually don't post on Sunday's but I have to tell you that I was feeling better about not getting to eat steak last night when I put these brown cords on that my mom gave me at Christmas time. I haven't worn them because they were pretty hoochie mama at the time...stretched to the limit! Today I put them on they felt like a HUG! :-) Aaaahhhh..... who needs steak anyway?

Where did that truck come from???

What a week! I feel like I've been hit by a Mac Truck today! That HIIT session really did a number on my quads! And the rest of me is stiff all over! It's all good though.

I ran a few errands after my workout today and I only got to eat half of my after workout snack. Let me tell you!... I do NOT need to let myself get that hungry! By the time I got home from my errands I was so hungry, I was shaking and light headed...not to mention, short tempered! It would be easy to throw a Detour bar in my purse for such occasions but then I have to rethink the rest of my meals for the day. Detour bars only hold me over for an hour or so before I'm hungry again, so if I subbed one for something else I might suffer later. Anyway, I'm catching up on my calories finally (3 hours later). I'll be going out to run errands again shortly because my family is eating steaks for dinner and I don't want to smell it, or see it, or think about it. Usually I eat my meal while my family eats theirs but not on steak night. They shouldn't have to deny their favorite stuff on my behalf. It's bad enough that we haven't eaten out as a family in 3 months! Frankly I don't think this is so bad considering the money we have saved... not to mention the excess of calories and fat that you consume from eating out. But the steak will be too hard for me. There are few meals that rank higher for me than steaks on the grill. Nights like this are where the diet REALLY gets hard.

HIIT me with your best shot

Today was my first HIIT training session with Lisa. I was as nervous as the "early worm". As it turned out, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. After a 5 minute warm up on the tread mill (and my third pee break in 15 minutes) we got started with 15 minutes of 20 second sprints at 8.0/4% incline with 40 second rest. We worked up to 9.5 speed and 5.0 incline. After 15 minutes we ran at 6.0 flat decreasing speed by .1 every minute for 10 minutes, then calves. In my foolish honesty, I told Lisa that it wasn't that hard. Don't get me wrong, I worked up a sweat... but at no point did I think I was going to die... or go catapulting off the back of the treadmill. So now I have a baseline to start my HIIT sessions, and I will probably feel much differently next time. I'll let you know. I'm sure that I'll be sorry for flapping my stupid jaws about that.

I feel great this week. Everything hurts and that's just how I like it. Plus... no more cardio for the rest of the week :-) YEAH!!

ps... AND... Lisa gave me a sample of watermelon flavored BCAAs and I just have one thing to say about that.... YUMMY!!

pss... AND.... I went shopping today (fun shopping, not chore shopping) and what girl doesn't enjoy that???

To veg?.. or not to veg? That is the question

Here is my week in retrospect... Monday, about 20 minutes worth of side lunges. Monday night, 4 straight minutes of isometric squats on the bike with no hands (during the 45 minute class). Tuesday morning, ditto Monday night. Tuesday mid morning quad workout. Tuesday night massage....aaaaahhhhh. Wednesday ditto Monday mornings lunges, followed by a very low energy kickboxing class. Wednesday night spin...I'll rate it a 7 out of ten on my awesomeness workout scale. (I'm tellin' ya, Better N Peanut Butter!... magic!) So I sit before you tonight with pretty toasted legs but I'm ready and stoked (and scared...) about tomorrow's HIIT session with Lisa. (High Intensity Interval Training, for those of you who might not know... aka.."Rachelle's about to get her ass kicked")

Overall, I'm having a good week. I feel good, rested, and fed... all relatively speaking. I'm going to chalk up last weeks long term bad mood to hormones and call it a day.

As I'm typing, I'm enjoying my last meal of the day, turkey breast (4oz) and a 6 oz sweet potato. I put cinnamon on my potato and it's so delicious! I wish I could eat more. But I'm not done yet so I will continue to enjoy every bite. I was so happy on Tuesday to get the OK to eat some vegetables with some of my weekly meals. I'd been getting really bored with eggs in particular and I asked (well, begged actually) Lisa to allow me to have some chopped up veggies in my eggs to make them more tolerable and interesting. Lisa explained to me why veggies are not on my diet and I'm going to share that information with you.

Last night and again today, I have had 2 different friends express concerns about my current diet. I can understand and appreciate their concern for my health. Sometimes a friend has to speak out and say, "Rachelle it's probably not safe for you to jump off that cliff without a shoot of come kind" (even tho I might be holding a perfectly good umbrella). So this part of my blog is for those friends and anyone else who might just be wondering why I can't eat fruits and vegetables! How ridiculous is that? What about all the vitamins/minerals and fiber that you get from them? And the calories are really not substantial, so what's the harm?

So here's the deal with the fruit. This is easy to understand... all fruits have sugar and the body processes sugar the same whether from God's creation or from a bag. Most fruits are mostly water and do not contribute much to the vitamin pool that some seem to be so concerned about. Your better fruits to eat are berries for fiber, bananas for potassium and oranges for vitC...all of which I can eat outside of the 8 weeks of "contest prep" diet. Again...sugar = no no. So fruits are out. Do I miss them? YES! Can I live without them for 8 weeks? YES! Will I get scurvy? NO! Do I take a good multivitamin? YES! OK?.. is everyone OK so far? Not so difficult to understand.

Moving on to vegetables. Here's the basics. If I'm hungry, I need to put food in my body that will fuel my muscles and help me to reach my goals. I would have to eat 6 cups of lettuce to get the same calories as 1 sweet potato. The potato will be more satisfying, and will give me the calories that I need then and there versus munching all day on a bag of lettuce. The exceptions are more dense veggies like broccoli, peppers, sprouts, but still not as good as the awesomeness of the sweet potato - God's perfect carbohydrate, just like eggs are God's perfect protein. If I'm so desperate for something crunchy, I can certainly munch on a piece of celery, (after all..even anorexics eat celery) but then move on! I don't need to eat 5 pounds of vegetables to satisfy a craving! (although I probably COULD at this point....I don't need to) So what about the fiber? I get the fiber I need thru the whole wheats that I eat. WW sandwich thins, WW bagels, oats, and Kashi Go Lean cereal (which, I might add, does almost too good of job...with the "cleansing"... you know...) And if you think that you can't lose fat without fruits and veggies then you really do not have a good grasp of how a human loses weight. Don't you watch Biggest Loser?... Calories in vs Calories out! Jillian says it all the time! It's the basic component of weight loss. You do not need fruits and veggies to lose weight.

So how are we doin' with all this? Here is the bottom line for me. I'm doing this thing. It's 8 weeks of extreme dieting, yes, but I'm not going to die... or lose my teeth... or get sick. So please don't harsh my dreams mellow, ok? If you can't encourage me, please just trust that Lisa will not steer me down a path to scurvy. This is how it works, and that's why more people choose NOT to do it. It's hard! It's the hardest thing I've ever done! But I'm OK, friends. Thank you for loving me enough to give a shit, but please stop with the downward pull or you will find me pulling away. I'm jumping with my umbrella and you can't stop me. But you can be waiting for me at the bottom of the cliff with a big pizza, a bag of frosted animal crackers and some cheetos ("Baked" please...cuz they are healthier :-)

I love you all!!

Battleflag

I'm proud and disappointed at the same time. I did not lose any weight again this week, which really freaks me out. I trust that I'll get to where I need to be but I'm afraid of what Lisa is going to make me do! I'm sure she is going to break me! It's going to hurt bad and I'm scared!

I'm proud because I have kept a good attitude today and plan to keep it up all week. I subbed a power flex class at Garden this morning and worked hard (although not too much cardio except for 3 sets of 30 jump squats... insert a little heavy breathing and a couple of sweat beads) Then I had a great lift with Pam, back and bi's. I didn't have any wrist pain with the exercises (thank you Lisa!)

At 5:30 I told my spin class that I didn't lose any weight this week so I'm going to take it out on them. They were scared, like I would be scared of Lisa if she said that to me! (insert evil laughter.... all you trainers out there can relate to this wicked happiness) I felt great during spin and I worked extra hard! It felt great~! However, every time I have to go up the stairs I get winded and my legs get all tingly and burn-y. Stupid lactic acid..... I hope I can get the same burst of energy in Spin tomorrow morning ... (then CPR class from 8-12) then work quads. At least the workout will be short with just the one muscle group. (I hope... cuz tomorrow is a back to back day and I have between 12 and 1:15 to drive from Garden, to home, super quick snack, drive to NPS to work quads with Pam and then home to bring Tianna to an Ortho apt, then home to meet with Lisa...etc...etc... )

As for the food.... it's going ok I guess. I cheated on Sunday night with a serving of sugar free jello (about 3/4 cup) and a bite of banana. I took out one of my 2 boca burgers to make up the difference. Denial is getting harder and harder. I dream about food all the time. I'll be asking Lisa about some food changes tomorrow, so I can have a little variety to keep my temptations at bay. I'm thinking about a freakin' piece of celery to munch on! Mmmm .. a little crunch! That's what I need! I just need to put something in my mouth!

ps... I already tried gum, but it's not really satisfactory....

pss... I changed my choice for my posing routine song today and actually put together about 45 seconds of it. I'm going to show Lisa tomorrow. I hope she likes it. It's still sketchy and not too smooth but the foundation is coming together... BTW--the new song choice is "Battleflag" by Lo Fidelity Allstars... it totally rocks my life.

no more funk....

I've been a downer all week. I don't know how you can stand reading my blog sometimes. I glanced back a few days to see what I've been up to because my memory is already fading :-) I've been in a real funk lately. But today I feel much better. I don't know if I've lost any weight this week because I'm staying diligent about not stepping on the scale until Monday. I've been very temped but I think I'm a little scared frankly. I almost don't want to know. I can tell you that I put my massage lab 'uniform' pants on this morning and they were ridiculously loose. I can't really tell that much in my jeans but these pants were definitely too big for me now. After giving 2 good massages, I enjoyed my snack and had a good workout with Pam. The gym manager called me over and asked if I was personal training. HA! I wish!... I don't think he believed me even tho if I was personal training, I wouldn't be working out, and I wouldn't be giving all my "clients" a body building workout. Whatever... he likes me because I introduced him to powdered peanut butter and I pick it up for him at the commissary. (Thanks again to Kate for introducing ME to powdered peanut butter...even tho I can't eat it until after May. It was good while it lasted)

Tomorrow is leg day and I think I have Madelyn to work out with. This is my second leg workout this week and I'm not dreading is since I don't have to do walking lunges! YEAH! Next week I have legs twice and back twice, and the week after that I will have some interesting changes that will probably make for some good blogging. :-)

I'll check in with you on Monday to let you know my weight progress. Enjoy your weekend!

Just because....

Did I tell you that I lost almost 8 inches off my body?

Also, I'm pretty sure that Trader Joe's Better-N-Peanut Butter has magical fairy energy dust in it because I had some on my rice cakes before spin class tonight (which I was half dreading as on most Wednesday nights) and let me tell you, I didn't even get warm until the 3rd song and I had energy for days! The class said that it was a great class and I 'tried to kill them' and I didn't even cheat like I usually have to (on Wednesdays). I barely even felt tired! WEIRD! But I enjoyed that feeling!... just like old times, back when I was eating 60% carbs! :-)

Do NOT try this at home!

I have some very important advice for you today. Please read carefully and take this advice to heart. Oh.. and if you have an eversion to swearing, I would suggest you sit this one out.

Yesterday I told you that I had to wax/shave my entire body for the competition and I should start now so that my skin doesn't suprise me with any adverse reactions right before the competition. I need to explain this story to you...it's for your own good.

I waxed my arms once about 12 years ago and liked the way it felt afterward but didn't really feel the need to continue to do it. Perhaps, like having babies, you forget pain over time, and that's why women have multiple kids. I am here to remind you and myself that this is an unnecessary pain that should be avoided. So... I am armed with my supplies, alone in the house, away we go. 1,2,3... RIP... SSSSSSS....aaaaaaa.... yeah, that smarts. But I've already started, and it only hurts for a second.... just like ripping off a band aide. I finish that up, both arms, and I'm feeling pretty good about it. My arms are a little red but a little soothing oil and they feel ok. I'm feeling pretty confident right now... like I'm obviously a damn tough chick to have just done that so lets go the next mile. Now I have to tell you that me and shaving the bikini area have never been good bedfellows. I get itchy... and it's just not fun. However, waxing?... no bumps no itch... I'm feeling tough... you know where this is going? I apply the wax, feeling a little nervous but it's too late to turn back. "Just close your eyes and do it girl"... 1,2,3..RIP.... FFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKK!.... SSSSHHHHIIITTTTTTTT... EFFING HELL!....... DAMN IT!......OH MY GOD!!! (there was more but my mom might read this... sorry mom) The wax must have been too warm or something because only a small amount of wax came off on the cloth and the rest stayed on me! It just pulled apart like trying to pull freshly chewed gum out of a child's hair, but at high speed! This particular wax does not come off with warm water (I know this from waxing my legs since forever) so I have to do it again. I am not so tough any more! A new cloth goes down and I'm praying for mercy.... 1,2,3... RIP..... (insert previous sailor talk here).... Only about half the wax came off and there is no way in Hell I'm going a third time. So the oil comes out by the handful... "please God let this sooth my pain. I'm sorry I just cussed like a sailor, please have mercy"...

People! Do NOT try this at home! Just spend the money and go to the salon! That hurts like a bitch too but not like what I just went through! I had tender viddles for HOURS yesterday!

(Was that too much information for you?) Well, I'm not forcing you to read my blog!

Today was a "Training with Lisa" day, so you know there will be a story. There should be a TV show called "Training with Lisa" with soft, tinkling chimes in the background to make you feel safe and happy... like Sesame Street! I'm sure her other clients have plenty of stories! Anyway, the gist of the day went like this... worked the biceps and triceps -- all good, the normal push to failure, I love it. Then a look at the diet. A little cut back on calories but not too bad, I maybe lost about 200 calories for the week. I can totally handle that. Then I wanted her to check my lat spread poses from the front and back, as those are the ones that I struggle with the most. So I "strike the pose" and she says.."Ohhh... they're so cute!" in her best "talk to her puppy" voice. Really Lisa? "Cute"? How about.. "Damn girl!.. looking hot!".. or "Wow! They are really coming along!" or... "Hey! I can tell you have been practicing!" ... but NO.. they are 'cute'. **sigh** ... darn... I guess I better keep hitting the lats cuz they aren't "Damn".. only, "Cute".

Actually, we had a good laugh over that. Especially after I told her the waxing the tenders story. I'm probably a better story 'teller' than story 'writer'. In either case, we both got a good laugh out of it.

After all... humor is just tragedy with time!

Wooly Mammoth????

So today is the start of a new week. I only lost about 1/2 a pound this week, but I'm not letting it bother me. I trust that Lisa will get me where I need to be (no pressure Lisa...but if I don't get there, I will be scarred for life and probably end up on 20 years of therapy that will burden my family financially and emotionally forever.... but again... no pressure). But don't worry, my kids are great food police! Last night, Mike make jumbalia and gumbo for dinner and it smelled sooo good! I was only going to lick the spoon (there was nothing in the spoon, I swear!) and Kaelyn snatched that spoon out of my hand and said, "NO MOM! It's not on the list!" **sad face** So not to worry.. there is no cheating going on in this house! I can't even lick the darn spoon!

I feel good and rested today and had a good leg workout. I have a new partner for Mondays, Pam. She is going to be a great partner. Thanks Pam! I wish I could bring her to spin with me to tell me to "push out that last standing sprint!" But I'm on my own for that.

My next chore for today (other than 15 minutes of posing practice) is to "de-wool" myself. So last week, I asked Lisa if she shaves or waxes the arm hair. I figured that the arm hair would have to go... no big deal. I'll just wax it and be done with it. I've been waxing my legs for years and I'm used to the "1,2,3..rriiiipp". So she goes on to explain that I should start shaving now to make sure that I don't get razor bumps before the competition. OK.. makes sense. BUT WAIT.. there's more.... :-) I have to shave... EVERYTHING! Tummy, chest, back, shoulders, butt..... (privates of course). What?? The paint will bead on the tiny hairs on your body so even the invisible peach fuzz has to go. How many more surprises like this are in store for me, I wonder? My first concern was that the hair would grow back as stubble and I'd be stuck having to have my husband shave my back for the rest of my life!! Pretty sexy, right? Honey, will you shave my back? Eeeewwww.... (but it doesn't, thank goodness!) So Mike now has the job of shaving me AND painting me! How lucky for him!