Cheat meals do a body good?

Well, first full week is under way and into my second week.

So here is my report from week 1. I lost almost 4 pounds. I def am not nearly as puffy as I was, my clothes are fitting me better again, I don't feel quite so self-conscious.

Workouts were great! Def intense, especially legs and Shoulders, Chest and Tris day. I def was sore and I'm loving it. I have stuck by my meal plan to a T, which I'm proud of myself for. This was only able to be done because of my meal prep. I set myself up for success. A good part of Sunday was spent boiling my chicken, boiling and mashing sweet potatoes, cooking quinoa and measuring everything out including my veggies and counting out 7 almonds into baggies for my meals.

My meals have been good, I've been adding things like cayenne pepper, braggs liquid aminos, cumin, mrs. dash and other spices to give my food more flavor. For my sweet potatoes this week I mashed them with just a tad of almond milk, cinnamon and a little stevia. Talk about yummy! I've been eating this last in my meal along with my almonds as a kind of dessert. YUMMY!!!!

For my last meal of the day I've been having Protein Fluff! I highly recommend it! It is delicious! You have to have casein for it to work. I got the recipe off of Proteinfluff.com, but all you do is take a scoop of casein (I have the blueberries and cream flavor, Optimum Nutrition) and 1/2 cup cold almond milk, crush some ice in my blender and then beat it for about 5-10 min with the hand mixer until it gets super light and fluffy and yummy! almost like a cool whip texture! so good!

I also had my first cheat meal this last weekend. I was kind of nervous about it. Part of me was afraid that if I let myself have something that wasn't on my plan I would just not be able to stop or that it would cause a binge later on that night or whatever. Well as far as cheat meals go, I get one every Friday night, or if I want can change it to Saturday, just have to switch my workouts around a little. But this week we ended up going to some friends house and they made french dip sandwiches and I brought along a veggie tray with some yummy healthy veggie dip (fat free cream cheese, greek yogurt, hidden valley ranch dressing mix) along with a yummy Herbalife butterscotch pie in a granola pie crust topped with some fat free cool whip.

But it came time for the meal and I ate a little over half the sandwich, lots of veggies and dip and a little piece of the pie. And then I stopped and I was satisfied. I have never done cheat meals in the past because I have been afraid of them, but in the past I also often found myself having night binges or such things that were completely off plan in amounts that were outrageous. Maybe cheat meals work like they say they do. They give you that taste, that cheat so you don't feel so deprived. It's amazing to me. I was satisfied and got right back on plan the next morning. And didn't feel one bit guilty.

This weekend I plan on taking progress pics. It will have been 2 weeks and I'm excited to see the difference. A fellow gym-goer who has helped me with form and different tips asked me yesterday how much I had lost because he was seeing a lot more definition across my shoulders and back! Yay! Love that it is noticeable that I'm dropping this darn fat I gained from bulking.

one, two, three.... GO!!!!!

So I started my new program my trainer gave me as of Monday and I was SO incredibly happy to get started. Sunday I did all my meal prep, boiled chicken, boiled sweet potatoes, cooked brown rice, cooked my green beans and broccoli. Went to the store for more chicken and boiled some more as well as got some more tupperware containers since I didn't have enough. I counted out 7 almonds and put them in baggies. I weighed and separated and labeled meals for my entire week. I was gonna be prepared!!!!

So Monday and Tuesday were power workouts, Monday upper body, Tuesday lower body, and today was my first day of the cardio and abs. Nothing too crazy 5 min warmup, abs, 5 min warmup, 10 min of intervals, 10 min of moderate intensity and 5 min cool down, followed by some foam rolling and stretching.

Now diet, I have done very well on the diet so far I feel like. No cheats, no substitutions. Have been drinking a cup of Good Earth Sweet and Spicy tea in the evenings after dinner when I find myself still hungry.

Now, I know I probably should be staying off the scale. Monday, I had to weigh in to send my starting weight to my trainer.... Eeek! I weighed in and was actually surprised because honestly I thought I had gained more during this bulking phase. It was 6 weeks long and I was just feeling so huge and so bloated and my clothes were getting tight. So I stepped on the scale, before bulking my weight was 140 even. Monday morning it was 151.1. (sigh, somewhat of relief, somewhat of omg, I can't believe I'm at that weight!). So weighed in yesterday morning and was shocked and excited to see that it had gone from 151.1 to 148.2! wow! almost 3 pounds. Now granted, I know that it was probably mostly water weight, but nonetheless, mentally it was a great relief, made me feel a little bit better. This morning, guess what, down to 147.8. Slowly but surely, I'll get back to my starting weight and get so much leaner. My goal is within 3 weeks to be back to 140, but I'm hoping at the rate I'm going I'll get there sooner!

I'm so excited to see this transformation. Once I see some progress I def will be posting pics!

And so it begins....

So tomorrow is the big day. I spent quite a chunk of time today doing food prep for the week. Weighing out my chicken and my sweet potatoes and brown rice, measuring out my green beans and broccoli. I will weigh in first thing in the morning and begin my new program, complete meal plan and workouts. Never have I been so ready to start! Seriously, today I had Justin take pictures of me for the starting point - the end of my bulking phase and before starting with my trainer. I have to say, I felt so discouraged by looking at those pictures. It made me feel disgusting, inferior, negative thought, you name it. I wanted to cry. But after texting my friend Talia and telling her how I was feeling I realized that this negative thinking was going to do me no good. There was a purpose for this bulking and I need to use these negative thoughts to fuel my fire, to push myself that much harder. I know that it's going to be a challenge in the months ahead. But I have 8 months to get contest ready. I'm going to be leaning out for the next 4 months and then the next 4 months will be the cutting. I have plenty of time to get in the absolute best shape of my life. And I need to enjoy the ride. My husband asked me today, when will you be happy with yourself. And I told him, I honestly don't know. I know that it's not just about my physical fitness and health, it's really about my emotional and psychological health. That is so much harder than the working out and eating healthy. So much more. So that is going to be my goal for this year. Not only will I amaze myself with what I can do and how I can transform myself, I'm also going to really working on loving myself for who I am. Not for what I see on the outside. And accepting myself. I am determined to grow as a person through this whole experience.
My goals for this week: Stay completely on-point with my meal plan, no extra bites. Another goal is with my thoughts. If I have to, I'm going to avoid mirrors as much as possible. But I will not criticize my body, I will not make myself feel inferior. I am strong and I am determined!
Let's see what changes I can make in the next couple of weeks! I cannot wait to see the transformation. I'm hoping to post progress pictures once a month, so after a month I will post my before pic and my current picture!
Now, LETS DO THIS!!!!!

A whole new dimension

                                                    

I picked this picture because I love Dana Linn Bailey! She is my motivation! She has muscle, she is hot, yet she is beautifully feminine! I wanna look like that!

I talked with Justin about how I have been feeling. Like I don't know what I'm doing, how I feel like I'm walking blindly, how this whole bulking thing is really causing me some anxiety. And guess what, he agreed that I should start with my new trainer now!!!!

Groundbreaker! So excited!!!!!! I'm so ready to get started! So motivated! This is what I have been waiting for! now I know that I will be able to make my dreams come true, not have to worry about second guessing myself and have a program tailored to me!

On another note. Justin. Wow, what a change. A few months ago he was eating McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's or some kind of fast food twice a day, taking naps, basically just living an unhealthy lifestyle. What a contrast to the man he is now! It makes me so excited! Now he's no longer eating fast food. He's lost over 40 pounds and he is in the gym. Last night he told me he LOVED the gym! He loved how it makes him feel, he is even interested in getting involved in some powerlifting. Amazing the change in dimension of our relationship as well. No longer to I have to skirt the issue of health and fitness with him. I can tell him how I'm feeling about stuff, what my dreams and such are without the feeling that I'm going to be put down for having those dreams!

Super pumped to see what the near future is going to bring! Hoping to start this next week head first with my new trainer!

BRING IT!!!!!