Progress Update

7/11/09 * 8/27/09

7/11/09 * 8/27/09

I haven't done a before and after in a while. I don't see that many changes, but a few...it's happening. I am a little pink from the tanning bed...trying to get tan for my big brother's wedding in a few weeks. We'll see if I can get tan enough by then! I am seeing a difference in my quad sweep/size on the side shots and I'm seeing my shoulders pop more and my waist a bit trimmer in the front shots. I feel like I just can't get the fat off my middle and lower half!!! I can't wait to see the finished product months down the road. I will be amazed I'm sure and feel like I'm in someone else's body - or maybe I feel like, finally, this is the body I always thought I had! I wonder when the cellulite will disappear! Ugh...I have a ways to go!!! I'll just keep trucking along!

I'm finally down to 151....After bulking I got up as high as 167, so I'm down to 151. Haven't moved the scale too quickly but I have seen changes in the way my clothes fit and inches. The last month or so I've lost 2 inches on my butt and an inch on my waist....not too much but noticeable. I still feel really strong in the gym and feel like I'm gaining strength/mass, definitely maintaining my hard-earned muscle and I'm still losing fat on top of that! So, I'm getting the best of both worlds...and I'm rarely hungry.

My back is getting a little better. I'm feeling much better than I was a month ago so it's healing...takes time!!!! Let's hope that's it for sports injuries for a while!

Thanks so much for all of your support!! I'm really excited about getting even leaner and I can't wait to see a 6 pack!

Habits and Update

Today, August 23, 2009 about 8 p.m.

I have been lazy lately with blogging....I'm sorry!!! I took this photo an hour or so ago and thought I'd at least give you a bit of an update. I have been wondering lately if what I'm doing now is becoming a habit or if I'll be so sick of it next year after my comp that I'll rebel and go back to my old ways...say it ain't so! I really hope this is becoming a habit for me.

I can see me later in life with kids, packing up my lunch and snacks and packing up lunches and snacks for my toddler(s) to go out on the town for the day. We'll see. I hope that I don't make my kids crazy with all of my obsessions and preoccupations about weight. That's a topic for another day...moms who have any advice about this....please share!!!

Still truckin' along on my plan with cutting. I'm seeing changes, slowly but surely. Erik has me with no cheat meals for 2 weeks to try to see more results. I really think my cheats were affecting my results. I decided to change my mental theory on them. Rather than planning for them all week and really feeling like I deserved everything I'd craved ALL week in one sitting, I'm not planning a cheat at all, but rather waiting until I truly crave something and if on a training day (a day I can have carbs) and it's been at least a week....if I truly cannot live w/o it...I'll have a CONTROLLED cheat....really truly controlled!!! This is a work in progress for me! But, I'm doing better and as I always say...life is a journey!

Those of us who do this are crazy, yes, but motivated and we keep our routine day in day out, week in week out, month after month, some year after year. I think that exercise is a part of my life now that I could not live without...well, I should say lifting....I can probably live without cardio. Though I think I will get a bike during or after this comp and may enjoy road biking...we'll see. I hope that this diet will also be part of my life after this comp. It is quite easy to keep it up...maybe with a little bit more relaxation and some family dinners that aren't on my "plan."

MY BACK - It's getting better though it's not totally better yet. I had an xray and found out it's musculature, so glad to know there's nothing wrong with my spine or discs!!! But, as you all know, sports injuries take time to heal and I'm working on healing right now. It just takes time and Erik has been great about adjusting my workouts to do what doesn't hurt for the time being....don't get me wrong....my new workouts are kicking my BUTT!!! WOOHOO!!! LOVE IT!!!

Keep up your routines and make them habit!!!

For Caroline and her Mommy

http://www.last.fm/music/Jamie+O%27Neal/_/I+Love+My+Life

(That was the best video I could find, so I suggest clicking on the link above and listening to the recorded version. The sound quality is better.)

I LOVE this song! Since the first time I heard this song, it's made me happy! I used to listen to it during my last job when I was miserable and remember why I was working so hard....for my husband, our future, and our future "little blond haired" children.

Now that my BFF has had her first baby, Baby Caroline, I am in love with this kid and I haven't even met her yet. Now this song makes me teary...yes, me!...me who never cries!! I still see myself in the movie playing in my head, but instead I'm teary seeing Caroline as the "little blond haired" kid and my BFF and hubby as the two "dancing in the living room". So, I'm sure it'll make my BFF teary, since I'm hearing she's crying at Walmart commercials including mom & daughter.

For you, with love, Caroline and your mommy!!!
I know you hate country music, but get over it for 3 minutes!!! :)

"I Love My Life" (Jamie O'Neal)

Her little blond hair's blowin', she's swingin' while her daddy's mowin'
The grass, and the dog needs a bath
But he's chasing the cat up a tree
I'm lookin' out the window, happy just watching my world go round
And I think to myself, how lucky can a girl be

I've got everything, more than I ever dreamed
I love my life
I thank God for all I have
And that I love this man
Who loves his wife
I love my life
I love my life

Twenty kisses goodnight, turn the little butterfly night light on,
'til the monster is gone and she's finally fallen asleep
We tiptoe downstairs, cuddle up and we kiss in the big chair
and I smile and you whisper, now it's just you and me

I've got everything, more than I ever dreamed
I love my life
I thank God for all I have
And that I love this man
Who loves his wife
I love my life
I love my life

Blue and pink in the nursery
Gold and silver anniversaries
Dancing in the living room
Our little girl, and me and you

I've got everything, more than I ever dreamed
I love my life
I thank God for all I have
And that I love this man
Who loves his wife
I love my life
I love my life

Uncovered

I saw the author, Jordan Matter, on the news the other day promoting the release of his new book, "Uncovered" and the part of his interview that caught my attention was not that he was photographing naked, topless women in public, but rather what he was saying about how the women felt about their bodies.

Jordan Matter is a photographer and usually photographs models, who, as he said, are supposed to be the epitome of beauty in our society, right? We all, meaning women, look at these women and aspire to be like them? Or at least at some point in our lives we have done this. And, he said that it made an impact on him that these women, the epitome of beauty in our society, all hated parts of their body and asked him, the photographer, to not shoot the left side of their nose or their fat thighs. Fill in the blanks, they all have the same insecurities that you do!

I also thought it was interesting that most of the women didn't want to get dressed too quickly after being naked in the streets!!! :) One of my favorite photos that was previewed was that of his wife very pregnant and in her bathrobe....very cute! There are a few other pregnant women in this book.

There was also a controversial photo of a child playing in a pool that he put in the book only to pose the question, at what point do women need to start wearing shirts and covering up their chests?

Take a look at the link below, you can see a sneak peak of his book on his site...

http://www.jordanmatter.com/uncovered.asp