First week in the books!

It's been far too long since my last post. So much for being consistent with my blogging. Oh well. Moving forward. I do intend to at least try to blog every few days or once a week. I really want this to be my written journey of the ups and downs of contest prep. I try to remember what last contest prep was like and it seems like a blur. So this time around I want to remember and log the details.
We killed the last weekend of freedom with the usual indulgences including Flatbreads pizza, Blueberry beer and ice cream and our last sub date until the summer. I was truly ready on Monday to move forward and get back to the real me who eats clean and loves it. Don't get me wrong, I love ice cream and Flatbreads but I got out of whack for a bit time. I truly lost my self control. Being restricted for so long and not knowing what my healthy balance was did  a number on me mentally. All is good now. The first week was a breeze, I hit all my numbers and felt fantastic about it. Slowly the bloat from the weekend festivities subsided and the tightness returned. I am by no means happy at how I look at this point, but I do feel like the garbage that was in my body is being wittled away to freshness again
I had renewed focus and drive at the gym...pushing through the toughest of sets to squeak out a last rep. I feel mentally strong which in this game is more than half the battle. I weighed in for the first time yesterday and was pleasantly surprised. I am not starting as far off as I thought I would be and this time my prep is longer so it's looking good. I plan on weighing in Wednesdays and Saturdays for now. Our meal approach is to swap it up every two weeks so we dont' feel restricted. We'll hit our numbers but try and varying our meals. Last prep I ate the same exact thing for twelve weeks straights-as you can imagine that sucked! Variety will be key.
The big happiness for me now is that there is no second guessing my decisions or being wishy washy about my choices-its go time. The guesswork is out...now its follow one path that's set.
In non competition happenings life is good. Looking forward to spring. The mild weather here in the Northeast has been nice. Although its throwing me for a loop as far as what month it is. The weather we are having matches that of the month of April, certainly not the end of January. School is going by fast and keeping me busy. I think I have fourteen teaching days until Feb. vacation, which is exciting.  No trips planned due to dieting, but time off none the less is good enough for me. 

Things I am loving:
My new Nike Airmax 2009 kicks-
New book- Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
Our new bowling competition we started for the prep season when we can't go out to eat for date night.
Patriots being in the Super Bowl, although I am feeling nervous about or match up against the Giants (fingers crossed...toes too!)

More to come...Get ready, Set GOOOOOOO- 2012 prep is officially on!

Happy 2012

Hola 2012! I welcome you with open arms! This is my first post in what I promise will be more consistent blogs from here on in. I hope the end of the year holidays brought much cheer and happiness. It's crazy how time flys by. I myself had a wonderful Christmas with  my husband and family. It's always a crazy time full of mixed emotions, but overall it was stellar. I can't wait to do it again next year....well not so fast. My vacation was nothing crazy, just a good time to rest up and relax. Although, those two are not my strong suits. I often get restless and bored when I don't have a full schedule of things to do.
It's hard to recap on the week and holiday, but take my word for it, it was wonderful. I ate out of character for myself and am paying for it now. I am looking like a stuffed sausage as of right now-full of bloat. However, my days of being able to eat anything are numbered (26 to be exact) before contest prep starts and the switch flips to all business. Until then I am going to enjoy the remainder of time. Nothing too crazy though, I am going to eat clean until next weekend when we go away and then I think two more cheat meals after. It is so bittersweet. I really want to lose this incubation I have been carrying around my muscles, but at the same time 20 wks. is a long time!
Enough diet talk...tonight will be a battle at the gym. I am looking forward to getting a good workout in. It makes me feel less puffy. Going forward I am going to detail my blog better. It will keep me accountable and organized and it might make for a better read too! As of right now, its full of random rants and raves.
Speaking of, I finished the Hunger Games series and it was amazing. Although now I am left with nothing to read. I had a real attachment going on. At least there is good TV returning as of this week. That's one thing I am not looking forward to is having nothing to do during dieting. Most everything revolves around going out to eat or spending money. Two of the things which we want to stay away from. Eating is a no no during contest prep and we are really going to buckle down and save money for a house! Once the Christmas bills are paid-dunzo no more. The only thing on my wish list is a Nook-which I am most definitely purchasing this weekend. At least I can read during those 20wks-that's allowed! I am looking forward to getting into another good series.
I have to get a new playlist going and get organized for tomorrow- first day back to school-sad times!
Alright, until tomorrow-See ya later!