Frankie Says Relax

My apologies for being such a slacker. Turns out being a grown-up infringes on my blog-time. That and I have made some big decisions/changes!

1. I need time off

Camp Savage was amazing…for those who made it that way. If I was in my right mind, I would’ve only remembered the phenomenal and inspiring people I met, the supportive group of coaches who truly care, that I won the dance-off and 3 months of free training (woo-hoo!), that I can push my body beyond my mind limits (and I will be ok!), and that Mama Savage knows her sh*t.

Instead, I moped and cried when faced with the fact that I need to fix some things with my body, namely a possible thyroid condition.

My previous doctor diagnosed me with minor hypothyroidism and prescribed me a small dose of levox-o-something. I refused to take it knowing that I would be on it for life. I didn’t research the condition, I thought I could fix my weight issue with diet and exercise and everything would cure itself. Well, those of you who are smarter than me know that, generally, you can’t.

My coaches wanted me to have bloodwork done for all of the T’s and to report back before they move forward with prepping me for any show. I fell apart after that and, frankly, I’m embarrassed. I was ready to compete and make all of this craziness worth the effort, but I was shot down with no direction. In perspective, there are worse things in life than being told “check with your doctor”. Some of my teammates suffer from tragedies and cancer. They move forward with grace and good attitudes.

My bloodwork, thankfully, showed my thyroid levels in the normal range. All of my numbers (cholesterol, etc.) were good across the board in fact. I was thrilled. I also learned that I needed to stop. My mind was in too-fragile of a state to continue with contest prep. Is it off the table for the future? No, but I won’t keeping trying to push a square peg in to a round hole.

2. Having Sex Helps with Weight-Loss…Until You Get Pregnant

Hubs and I are working on getting pregnant! I’m excited about it, I’m not one of those people who try to keep it from everyone until the last minute. Hell, I’ll take advice! Positions, food, time, whatever! We’re having fun with it.

Knowing that I’ll probably gain 50 pounds once it DOES happen, I’m trying to lose excess what and detoxify my body as much as I can to provide a good place for a baby to hang-out for 9 months. I’m going organic as much as possible (thank you ALDI for your new organic selection!), drinking IsaLean nutrition shakes and working out. In fact, Hubs just put the finishing touches on our home gym: it’s fully-functional baby!

3. I Need to Live

I felt like I was constantly busy, yet accomplishing nothing. I spend 2 hours commuting every day. If I hit the gym I wouldn’t be home until 8pm. One night per week is spent teaching PiYo class. I was working late all of the time because I didn’t want to be “that guy” whose chair was spinning at 5pm. I missed time with Hubs and I know he missed time with me too. We just bought a new house and I was never home to enjoy (or clean!) it.

I resolved to spend more time at home (cue the home gym). I decided to quit teaching exercise classes for now. I also make a better effort to leave work on-time and spend my days more productively. I can sense a shift at home – I’m happier and less frazzled. I even did dishes on a weeknight! LOL

4. I Love Hot Yoga

I’m stressed. I rarely even had headaches up until a few months ago, and I’ve since had my first migraine…and then 2 more. I worried about everything from work to finances to parenthood to body image. While I can’t deny that I’m a worrier with a Type A personality, I can do my best to manage it. I took my first few hot yoga classes and I LOVE it! I don’t feel the need to go balls-to-the-wall like I normally do when teaching because I’m there to ‘be’, if that makes sense. I’m challenged and, for once, I can enjoy something that is my own. My usual self would want to become a yogi and share this with others, but why? Because I’m good at it? I’m good at a ton of things but I need to learn that I don’t need to prove it to anyone but myself. Self love and pride: that is something I’m working on. To just ‘be’ and practice non-reaction. To take things as they come and adapt.

So, as I move along in my journey to health and happiness I’ll try to remember to keep you posted, maybe my craziness will help someone else:)

XO

Re-Focus on Foxwoods

Hey y’all!  Happy Holidays!

It’s been a while…too long!  Here’s the short & sweet: I’ve gained almost 10 pounds, I never competed in the Fall, my workouts have been few & far-between and my diet has been pretty half-assed.  I hope you appreciate honesty!

What does this mean?  Well, my plans to get going with baby-making have been pushed until Springtime.  I’ve decided to focus on Foxwoods in April for my bikini competition.  That’s it people.  If I make it there, I’ll have no regrets.  If I don’t, then I’m going to focus on helping Hubs become a dad before the rest of his hair falls out.

The arrival of my gorgeous bikini a few weeks ago sparked something new.  It became personal, this physical object – something made for me to wear at the completion of my goal.  Crazy for such a tiny piece of fabric to have such an big effect on me.  I signed up for Camp Savage in January – there I’ll face Mama Savage and pray she thinks my body will have enough time – assuming, of course, that I get my shit together.

Coach Nikki wants me to enjoy the holidays, do as much cardio as I want (whatever makes me feel sane), and cleanse after its over.  That’s right: the 7-Day Detox will be coming back!  I think purchasing liquefied coconut oil and orange Want More Energy? powder to mix with my IsaPro shakes will be key to keeping myself from becoming depressed again – they were the worst part of the cleanse!  I purchased the stuff today to be ready.  Maybe I’ll get lucky and I’ll do much better this time – I’ve heard of one coach doing back-to-back cleanses – I’m going to ask her about that.  I’m never sure what’s healthy when it comes to cleanses.

I’ll try to post more often again.  For now, the holidays are crazy busy and I’m lucky to focus long enough to get anything done at work.  I wish adults got Winter Breaks like kids do…

XO

Turbo is a Contact Sport

If you know me, you remember that I’m somewhat of a Turbo Queen. Turbo Kick that is.  I’m Gold-certified to teach Turbo Kick, the gym version of the at-home TurboFire workouts.  Turbo Kick is the baby of kickboxing and dance…and it’s awesome!  I taught TK 3x per week when I was on my “be the best aerobics instructor ever” kick, and the peeps in my classes thought I was crazy-pants with my energy.  My body was used to it, and I was able to get through a plyometric Turbo section without gulping water or peeing myself (though I did have to wear black capris for a while…).

Due to my knee overuse injury (well, IT Band-it is or whatever it is) and me focusing on my competition training, I haven’t thrown a punch in months.  After a weekend of eating pizza for dinners and ice cream like it was a food group, I decided to get my ass back on track and act like I was 11 weeks and 30 pounds away from my first bikini competition.  I decided to make TurboFire my HIIT workout Sunday morning.

It was quite lovely.

I sweat like crazy in my roomy downstairs living area and didn’t scrape my knuckles on the ceiling once!  (Hubs positioned a mirror so that I could watch Chalene AND myself at the same time.  Yes, my name is Jayme and I enjoy looking at myself in the mirror.)  I love my new house.  It’s made for tall people like me!

Monday I felt sore: my shoulders and upper back were not happy with me, but it was because my Turbo-muscle-memory had gone away.  Monday night I taught PiYo Strength, which was very shoulder intensive.  After class I was scheduled to do my personal workout: Chest & Back.  I walked to my car after class, re-fueled with some veggies and an E+Shot, threw on my sneakers and headed back into the gym for Round 2.  It was tough and I pushed through the workout, but my shoulders were failing faster than my chest or back.  No personal bests were reached but I got ‘er done.

This is why it’s impossible to do workouts outside of my training regimen:  Today I sit here with a close-to-strained shoulder (not like before, thank goodness) and thankful that it’s leg day.

Here’s my workout schedule for the week:

Monday: PiYo, Chest & Back

Tuesday: Legs 1 (SS)

Wednesday: Shoulders 1 (H)

Thursday: Functional

Friday: Arms/Abs (H)

Saturday: Legs 2 (SS)

Sunday: Shoulders 2 (H)

I need to fit in 3 HIIT workouts (H), 2 steady-state workouts (SS) as well.  I remember wishing I had cardio equipment at home, but our gym isn’t as big as I thought once Hubs’ bench press set-up was in there.  I don’t think I want to deal with the maintenance on them either.  Besides, we just realized we’ll need a new washer and mattress (add them to the list!) and a cardio machine just isn’t a priority right now.  My back has been killing me in the morning and I think I need to replace my 8-year-old pillow top…

My diet has been good during the week – weekends suck but I think it has more to do with poor planning and drop-in visitors than anything else.  Now that we have a pool, we suddenly have a lot more visitors.  I’m already planning for this weekend: we’re having a housewarming party on Saturday!  The fair is also going to be just down the road, so we’ll probably go to that on Friday or Sunday.

How I’m planning to deal

Booze and tasty appetizers in my face on Saturday: Sip on Margarita-flavored Crystal Light and focus on eating venison.  I’m sure I’ll be busy hostessing as well.  I’ll probably make a small batch of my banana-oatmeal cookies (for myself – I’m hiding that ‘ish!) if it gets crazy.  That’ll be the hardest part of the weekend because food/wine will be in my face ALL.DAY.LONG.

Fair food in my face Sunday: Treat myself with my fave twist soft serve ice cream cone with rainbow sprinkles.  SMALL! Better than fried dough…I think?  Uggh, it feels like everything is shitty for you when you’re trying to eat clean.  Cheat meals seem that much more terrible for you!  Maybe I’ll just play it my ear and focus on getting in as many amusement park rides as possible.  Compare my planning to last year at the fair: I ate fried dough, fried Oreos, a fried haddock sandwich AND ice cream.  Gross/Yum.

I told you I don’t have an “Off” button!

XO

Owning the Gym

I hope you’re pretty comfortable working-out in the boy’s part of the gym. If not, don’t fret: I have some tips to get your booty out of Cardio Machine Land!

1. No one cares how fat you (think you) are! More guys have told me that, when they see a larger person lifting at the gym, they “give them mad props.” In English, that means they respect you for doing something about your weight. I’ll bet if you ask someone, they’ll point you to the right machine or exercise (and probably talk your ear off about their own lifting philosophy, so beware!).
2. Girls, the guys mostly aren’t checking you out. Now, if you’re prancing around in there with your boobs hanging out, then you kind of asked for it (heck, even I stare #flatchestedgirlproblems), but most of the time the guys are too focused on getting their lunk-on that they won’t even notice you.
3. If you’re grossed-out by dirty equipment, man-up and bring a gym towel. If you’re working hard enough, you’ll be sweaty-gross too. Shower afterwards and you’ll be fine. I’m sure the bacteria on your cell phone is worse than the bench after Hans & Frans are done PRing presses.
4. Don’t walk between someone and their mirror during a set. It’s just a courtesy. Sets only last a few seconds; you can wait to grab another dumbbell.
5. Always unload weights from the equipment when you’re through with it, and always allow someone to “work in” while you’re between sets. More on this with Circuit Training tips.
6. Stay focused: don’t hog a machine/bench/equipment while you’re texting or chatting. It’s obnoxious when people need to use a specific machine and need to wait for you to perfect your Pandora playlist.
7. Leave your cell in your locker. Seriously, calls can wait 45 minutes – you need to focus for both safety and mind-body connection. If you can’t disconnect, you’re too busy to be at the gym.
8. Hire a trainer if you don’t know what you’re doing! The best thing I ever did was hire a trainer for 10 sessions. I know how to lift, but I wasn’t familiar with the gym’s equipment. She gave me 10 routines and had me using equipment I otherwise would’ve overlooked. Once you are familiar with the territory and have a routine to focus on, you’ll be more comfortable lifting around the veterans.
9. Worry about yourself and no one else. Let people stare when you’re doing crab taps between benches: they’re mostly jealous.

My Savage routine generally is circuit-based. 3-4 circuits per body part. The circuits are supersets, trisets and giant sets, and they change monthly – it keeps me sore and sweaty. The trouble with circuit training however is potentially hogging machines. No one likes it if you’re hogging 3 pieces of gym equipment with a towel, water bottle and notebook. On the flip side, people could be using some of the equipment you need and mess up your “flow.” Here’s how I’ve tackled it:

1. Know alternatives. Reverse flye machine taken? Quick substitute with bent over rear delt flyes that set.
2. Over time, people know you and understand what you’re doing. You won’t be besties, but they’ll know you’re doing circuits and won’t straight-up steal a machine you need while doing a different exercise: they know you’ll be back and will work-in with you.
3. Make machines available but still claim them. Put a towel, water bottle, notebook or lifting straps by the machine, but not on it. People will know you’ll be back but they still have the freedom to hop-on while you’re away.
4. Hustle, don’t dilly-dally. It’s one thing to semi-claim 4 machines at once and work fast/hard like circuits intend, but it’s another to do it for a long stretch of time.
5. Doing weird moves? You may want to hide in the back corner of the gym while doing burpees but the walk to/from there could slow you down. Refer to #9. Personally, I’m embarrassed by my small range-of-motion during full-toe pushups but I do them out in the open anyway. Refer to #1: you get respect for trying.

Hope this will help bring you into the lunk section – you’ll feel at home with us in no time

XO

Schedules, Priorities and the Importance of Sleep

I’m pretty excited to be posting again. We’re finally moved in to our new house and I feel like I can get back in to my training again. Sadly though, I won’t be competing September 7th at the Superbody. After a discussion with my coach and reviewing my progress pictures, we realized that 8 weeks wouldn’t be enough time for me to feel comfortable on stage. I’m ok with that. I blame the moving activities which have disrupted my lifting schedule and the fact that my eating habits up to this point haven’t been the greatest. We’re aiming for October 5th in Boston, followed by November 9th in Syracuse. I feel some relief that I have more time, but I’m still sad to not compete with the Saratoga Girls I’ve made friends with. Oddly, my diet has been better: something clicked and I am not snacking at night, woop! If I do eat crappy, I almost immediately get a stomachache, thank goodness!

Prior to the past 3-4 weeks which have completely disrupted my schedule and sleep patterns, I was happily making 6am gym sessions and getting all of my workouts in. My diet sort of sucked (well, in terms of how an athlete should eat) but I felt strong. Since moving began, my fitness has taken a backseat when it still should’ve remained a priority.

My husband would become decidedly angry at me for taking time to hit the gym instead of packing/unpacking/cleaning/general moving. It’s not just the gym, it’s the downtime associated with it. I push so hard that I basically collapse when I get home and feel like jelly for the rest of the night. I don’t blame him: he’s working his cute little butt off while I’m having fun at the gym or napping. Gotta be fair!

My sleeping pattern has changed for a few reasons: I no longer teach 8am classes on weekends at the gym, so I sleep in. I go to bed later (like, midnight) because I’m unpacking/organizing/cleaning. The kitten still harasses me at night. The humidity makes me groggy 24/7 so I nap during the day on weekends. I haven’t woken up early enough to workout in weeks, so I end up lifting at night which keeps me up later: it’s a cycle I need to break. I’m constantly sleepy and I don’t want to have an accident during my hour-long commute to work! Fortunately I was able to get my booty up at 4:45am this morning – I was pretty pokey/zombie-like while getting prepped for the day and didn’t leave until 5:30am, but I’ll take it!

My coach has me doing an additional shoulder day again, and the bikini workout includes an extra leg day. Well, there are only so many days in a week so I’ll be doing splits to get it in:

Monday
AM: Slept-in. Again, gotta break this!
PM: Teach PiYo, Food Prep

Tuesday:
AM: Shoulders & Cardio (Stepmill)
PM: Legs

Wednesday:
AM: Spin Class & Abs
PM: Chest & Back, Cardio (Stepmill)

Thursday:
AM: Arms & Abs, HIIT Cardio
PM: Functional, Posing Practice

Friday:
Off/Make-up Day

Saturday:
Shoulders, Sprints

Sunday:
Legs

Here’s what my food looked like yesterday:
• Oatmeal, protein powder, blueberries, natty PB
• Isalean shake with spinach
• Grilled chicken salad (no dressing)
• Isalean Pro shake with spinach
• Tuna, celery
• Lean hamburger, grilled zucchini, steamed broccoli, EVOO

Here’s what my food looks like today:
• Pro workout: Oatmeal, IsaPro, strawberries, Want More Energy?
• Post Workout: Isalean Pro shake with spinach
• Lean hamburger, grilled zucchini, bell peppers, sesame oil
• Isalean Pro shake with spinach
• Grilled chicken, celery
• Turkey-zucchini burger, steamed spinach, EVOO

Fun book I just bought off Amazon: Eat Clean & Follow Your Dreams by Kelsey Byers. She had a pretty amazing transformation. I have to say, though, that it’s got to be a lot easier when your significant other has the same goal. I find this to be common with a lot of the transformations I find online…that and girls who just had babies in their before pictures.

And can I rant for a moment? Why, yes I can, it’s my blog 😛 I’m increasingly irritated by “Gluten Free” labels on items that are obviously gluten free. I saw it on a bottle of juice for goodness sake! Are people that dumb that they need to see these labels to know that there is no gluten in it? Or are marketers just cashing-in on the gluten-free lifestyle like it’s a fad diet? Same goes for the “Cholesterol Free” label on non-animal-products like PB – seriously?

Overall my mental state is pretty good and I’ll be chugging along for October!

XO

To Bling or Not to Bling…My Booty?

My crystals came in, yay!  I ordered a bunch of crystals from www.mjtrim.com to bling my sportswear bikini.  Wish me luck that I don’t glue myself to myself!    I’ll probably be super anal and pre-portion them out so I evenly space them across the suit – I’m not usually a “wing-it” kind of girl when it comes to artwork.  I’m not sure if I need to do the bottoms yet but we’ll see how it goes – I have a feeling that about 500 tiny stones may not go as far as you’d think they would.  The bottoms are currently string-sides so I bought connector pieces to get rid of the dangling strings.  Dangling stuff = attention to hips.  I’m excited to work on my suit – I become very focused with craft projects and hopefully it’ll keep my head in the game!

My diet changed this week a bit.  Fruits now are limited to berries.  1 less serving of starches and increased protein serving sizes.  I still feel “big” in my lower half but I I’m definitely getting more jacked in my upper body.  I still have “bingo arms” but they’re going down slowly.

This past weekend was a train wreck.  Saturday’s lemoncello-cocktail-and-dessert-table-fueled afternoon was followed by a long night playing flip-cup.  I’m not 20 anymore people!  I felt like hell in the morning and regretted drinking.  I read that alcohol can halt fat-burning for days afterward while your body works to get it out of your system.  Great.  This isn’t how an athlete is supposed to act (unless you’re Michael Phelps), especially when she wants to call herself a Savage Girl.  Lesson learned.

Yesterday I did sprints in the gym, specifically in the aerobics room.  I don’t do well on treadmills – I can never change the speed fast enough for intervals.  Instead I did suicides in the aerobics room.  This morning my legs were so sore!  I felt like I’d been hit by a truck.  I was due for a HIIT spin class this morning at 6am but there was no getting my arse out of bed.  Tonight I’ll lift and hit up the elliptical or stationary bike to flush some lactic acid out of my legs.  Two IsaLean/Pro shakes and tons of water should make me feel better in no time.

We close on our new house in less than 28 hours (who is counting?)!  I’m stoked.  We’re focused on cleaning and painting this weekend (arm/shoulder workout, woop!).  I want to paint the workout room a light steel-grey color and add some fun wall decals in black with white and (if I can get Hubs on-board) bright pink accents.  Google “fitness wall decals” and check out the images – there’s some cool ones out there!  I like the “Train like a beast, look like a beauty” and the “I don’t sweat, I sparkle” decals!  I wanted to rip-off the TurboFire volume bars along one wall but I’m not sure if I want to put the effort into painting the individual squares – decals just seem so much easier!  I eventually want to rip-out the (blue) carpet, paint the concrete floor, add color chips and seal with epoxy coating.  Carpet + sweat = stanky.  Big plans baby!

I’ve still had no luck finding a fitness equipment rental service in the area.  I figured that renting a treadmill for a few months would be perfect since I don’t want to maintain the thing.  Craigslist may just be the way to go – fingers crossed that I don’t buy a lemon.  Just be cheap and last me a few months – I’ll be thrilled!

XO

 

Wedding Cake or Ice Cream?

It’s another check-in Friday people!

I’m down a couple pounds since the beginning of the week.  I didn’t weigh-in this morning because A) my scale is packed away, and B) I slept-in this morning and skipped the gym.  Slacker, I know.  I’m blaming the cat who decided that my face was a punching bag and my fingers were chew toys at 4am.  Weigh in will go down tonight after I teach a barbell class and get my 40 minutes in on the stepmill.

Still feeling bloated, boo.  Might need to focus on my water intake more.  1 gallon per day is where I need to be.

Got all of my cardio in!  Woop woop!

Diet went well except for Wednesday.  A visit to the hippy store = bad news when I found Carrot Cake Granola, dried mangos, Almond Nut Thins (crackers) and NuGo Slim Raspberry Truffle bars.  Hippy stores are the devil because I eat too much “healthy” stuff.  No worries, moving on.

Overall I feel stronger.  Hubs can tell my upper body is tighter and my trainer-friend thinks my waist is smaller.  Damn lower body is killing me!  Sprints and functional training are on the schedule this weekend.  I’m thinking about doing some yoga on the boat too since I’ve been tight.  Yes, Hubs is taking me out on the boat Sunday – yay!  Don’t get excited, it’s not a yacht or anything; it’s a fishing boat chugging along in fishy-smelling marinas.  I’ll take it though!  Peeps might look funny at my downward dog while Hubs is fishing at the front of the boat, but it’s better than the usual stares I get.  You see, sometimes I tan topless in the boat to avoid tanlines – I’m at the bottom of the boat and no one can usually see me.  However, Tim fishes the more-populated docks and “forgets” I’m there when people are nearby.  He’s so considerate, LOL!

This weekend I have a wedding to go to.  I’m debating whether I want to splurge there or get ice cream with Hubs on Sunday.  I’m thinking the later but I may have to wait to make that decision until I see what kind of food is at the wedding.  Either way I need a game plan, and it’s probably in the form of an IsaLean bar in my clutch.  It’s easier to eat well in front of others than it is in front of my husband.  He knows my flaws but others, mostly, think I’m super motivated and rarely eat crap.  Gotta keep my game face on I guess!  That and I should probably rock a super tight dress than I need to stand-up-and-suck-in for.  Hard to eat standing up!  Oooh, maybe I’ll change into workout gear for hardcore dancing – it’ll make people laugh anyway 😛

Last night’s dinner was fast and awesome!  I need to look for more fast dinners.  I’m super boring with my lunches too because my Sunday meal prep is quicker when I make the same things.  This isn’t good and Coach Nikki scolded me for it, lol, so I need to plan for more variety.  Maybe a spaghetti-squash tuna casserole made with greek yogurt?  Hmm.  Anyway, here was last night’s meal:

Steak.  Yep, whatever cut looks good to you.  Coat in EVOO and sprinkle with Montreal Steak seasoning.  That stuff is da bomb!

Asparagus sauted in EVOO and minced garlic.  Drain on paper towels when done.

Mash up a ripe avocado and add garlic salt.  That’s my recipe for guac right there.  Everyone loves it and its so easy.  I use the guac as a topping on the steak.

High in good fats and protein.  So tasty and satisfying!  Last night I didn’t need it, but usually I need dessert.  I may have shared this one before but here it is, just in case:

1 (single) container greek yogurt (plain, Fage is super thick and my fav)

½ to 1 scoop chocolate peanut butter cup protein powder from Body Fortress (you can get it at Walmart)

Mix together and *BOOM* pudding

Have a great weekend!

XO

A Math Lesson at 12 Weeks Out

Have you noticed that 12 weeks (or 90 days) seems to be the magic amount of time required to transform your body?  Diet plans and exercise regimens all seem to have that timeframe.  It’s no different with bodybuilding: for most people, 12 weeks out is when you start getting super strict on your diet.  This is go-time – when you reveal the work you put in the off-season from underneath a layer (or two) of fat.  Off-season is a building season – you eat a little more and lift like a monster to build muscle.  Once 12 weeks-out hits, you diet-down and work to maintain that level of muscle.  You won’t avoid losing some, but that is why you work that much harder in the off-season.

I know I have the muscle – it’s there, I feel it, it’s been seasoned for a few years now.  It’s just under some fat.  I’d estimate about 30-40 pounds of fat.  “Jayme, you don’t have 40 pounds of fat to lose!”  Ugh, please.  My knees beg to differ.  200 pounds on a 5’11” (proportioned) girl looks good in clothes.  160 pounds on a 5’11” (athletic) girl looks good naked.

Is 12 weeks enough to drop that much body fat?  I doubt it, but I won’t dismiss the idea.  Let’s rationalize this:

Using an online BMR Calculator @ my current weight: BMR (calories burned at rest) = 1722

40 pounds / 12 weeks = 3.33 pounds lost per week

3.33 pounds x 3500 calories per pound = 11,667 calorie deficit required per week

11,667 calories / 7 days = 1,667 calorie deficit per day

1722 – 1667 = 58 calories remaining per day

Ok, if I just eat 58 calories per day, I’ll be good to go!  LOL

Let’s figure out how many calories I’m burning at the gym in a typical day, per MyFitnessPal:

45 minutes of lifting = 200 calories

35-40 minutes of cardio = 500 calories

Total burned per day = 700 calories

1667 calorie deficit required per day – 700 calories burned = 967 calories remaining to deficit from the day

1722 – 967 = 755 calories I can eat per day.  I’ll never be able to push hard at the gym at that level, not to mention my metabolism will slow down to nothing!

What’s the moral of my nerdy math skills?  Losing 40 pounds in 12 weeks is unrealistic and will probably result to losing more muscle than I want to lose.  The other moral is that I should’ve tightened my diet down at 16 or 20 weeks.

So what results am I looking at?  Say I consume 1500 calories per day: working backwards, I’ll be able to deficit 922 calories per day and lose a total of 22 pounds.  1200 calories per day will help me lose 29 pounds.   1200 calories is very low for someone my size but clean foods are naturally lower in calories so I need to focus on consuming them.

Regarding body fat: If I weigh 200 pounds, and I estimate my body fat to be around 30% by pictures, then my lean body mass should be around 140 pounds.  So, say 30 pounds of fat lost should drop it to 18% body fat (if I’m running the numbers right).  In my opinion, that is generally bikini competition appropriate.  I’m running things close – that’s how I roll – but it is possible.

Will it really work this way?  No way.  Life isn’t as clean and easy as math.  I may burn more or less calories at the gym, and math doesn’t account for cheat meals or muscle loss.  Math just shows me a baseline so I can stay positive and not set myself up for failure right from the start.  Funny how nerdy you can get when you’re really passionate about something:)

XO

DJ Tanner is my Doppelganger

Happy Friday!  You know what that means: check-in day!

Let me straight with y’all: I’m puffy.  I weighed myself (I know, I’m not supposed to!) yesterday and boom: 197.5#.  Grr.  The scale is the devil,  my mouth needs duct tape and my mind needs more frequent attitude adjustments.

I’m still going to check-in with my coach.  Despite not losing any weight, my pictures are looking better to her so I need to be happy about that, right?  I wish my clothes would get looser.  Not seeing results myself is depressing me and pushing me towards unhealthy food choices.

What’s your mantra Jayme?  Food is FUEL!

I’m mad at myself for taking-on so many classes the next 2 weeks: people needed subs and I wanted to justify my free gym membership to the boss.  Teaching 1 class per week seems weak to me (I’m used to 4!) but if my numbers are good and I’m available to sub once in a while then I’m sure she’ll be happy.  And I’ll be better balanced.  Breaking up my cardio and lifting into two sessions is crucial and teaching is making it harder – remember, they don’t count towards my training.

I’m sitting here eating a bowlful of randomness (spinach, strawberries, egg whites, chicken and balsamic vinegar) in an effort to come back to neutral after 3 mid-morning sleepy-cookie (the ones you eat when you’re too tired to make good decisions) and a hastily-purchased fast food lunch.  A girl just over 12 weeks out from competition can’t be so unprepared – I may have to diversify my supplementation to get me through what I need to do to drop some body fat.  The muscle is THERE and it’s been over 3 years in the making.  It just needs to be revealed.  I won’t be taking any fat burners or diuretics, but I’m going to look into drink-mix appetite suppressants.  I’ll be thrilled if there is something natural out there to sip on all day and solve my sweet-tooth issues.

This morning I busted-out 30 minutes on the step mill.  Full House was on the tube to keep me going, thank goodness!  DJ Tanner is my doppelganger.  Seriously, put together pics of me and her at 14 and your jaw will drop.  I need to stalk meet her one day lol!

Going to get myself pumped for a full-body workout tonight – my Isagenix delivery came in so I’m ready with E+ Shots and a clean dinner ready to re-heat post workout baby!  Have a great weekend!

XO

Spin Class Adventures

I took my first spin class today!  Balls-out too: it was the advanced class!  Woot woot!

Ok, it wasn’t technically my first class.  The first time I ever straddled the hard seat of a spin bike was almost 10 years ago.  Ten minutes into class I thought I would die, no matter how many times my instructor promised that there was cheesecake or Brad Pitt beckoning me at the top of the hill.  I never spinned (span? spun?) since then. 

Today I’m happy to say I’m much more conditioned – teaching a variety of high-impact/intensity classes combined with Savage functional workouts has definitely helped.  Class was, actually, enjoyable!  I was worried I’d be bored and that time would go slowly, however, the instructor (my boss at the gym) was positive, had a great voice and was a wonderful motivator/educator.  She was actually more mellow than I usually go for in a teacher and it was awesome!  If you’ve ever taken group classes before, you know how much the instructor’s voice affects your workout.  Personally, high-pitched voices and yelling do not work well for me – I usually need nice/peppy/fun/sing-songy to keep me going.  Anyway, she had us varying resistance and climbs (up/down) the entire class.  The timing was perfect too: the class is scheduled for 45 minutes but that includes warm-up and stretching.  My coaches don’t want me doing HIIT for more than 30 minutes so it’s the perfect sweatfest!  Armed with E+ Shots, this will be my Wednesday AM cardio during competition prep for sure.

Between this morning’s class and teaching Hustle last night, I think I sweat way more than ever.  Maybe it is because I push myself harder now than I did before, but I’m literally dripping all over the place anymore.  It’s gross:  I come home a human salt-lick with crusty hair, but I’m pretending I’m sweating fat lol!

Diet has been great this week!  Food prepping Sunday has been a life-saver; I need to make a point to do that every week.  I had 2 minor hiccups I’ll fess-up to: Monday night I finished-off the Marathon bread from the Wegman’s bakery (holy yum!  Can’t buy that anymore…), and at 1am this morning I woke up and felt the need to dive into a box of raisin bran.  Not terrible, I’m still pretty happy and positive my habits are getting better.

Last night I practiced posing after teaching.  I felt silly strutting in a heels but I got over it pretty fast.  I’m pretty confident about my posing/walk, it’ll just be tough to pose without a mirror.  Tonight is Shoulders & Abs.  I’m ready to bang it out and get home early enough to hang out with Hubs and the kitty.  Dinner is probably turkey tacos!  Corn shells for Hubs, lettuce wraps for me.  Healthy fat will be avocados, though I’m not sure if that’s considered a straight fat or not?  I’ll have to find out…

So, people are telling me that I look smaller!  One of my trainer friends said it looks like I lost 2 sizes and my Dad motioned that my hips look smaller.  The kicker?  My clothes fit the same.  WTH?  I’m so confused and I’m not stepping on the scale… 

XO