My Birthday!

Happy Day today! I have made myself my birthday promise to blog at least three times a week. This is like my bday resolution or something...

Anyway, yes today is my birthday and I am 31! It's hard to believe..that number sounds old. I don't feel old though-so it makes no difference to me-just a number! Life is good. I feel good physically, mentally and emotionally!

This weekend was great. It was one that Brendan and I have been looking forward to since we began our contest prep. journey, which was I believe nine weeks ago. Yup that's right nine weeks into dieting. It's very different from last prep. Its going smoothly so far. It actually really begins tomorrow. Thirteen weeks out-go time. There will be many ups and downs ahead I am sure, but I know together Brendan and I will get through it all. My gym days have been good, I think only two workouts so far have blown so that's not too bad. My diet has been very bearable so far. I have consistently lost one pound every week since we started nine weeks ago, so I am pleased. Doing the longer prep. is less cut throat. It's been a little less mentally nutty too.

Last night we had our one and only planned cheat meal. It wasn't even a cheat meal. We went to Flemmings Steakhouse/Wine Bar in Boston. It was delicious. We had salad, one piece of bread, petite sirloin and half baked potato plain with steamed green beans plain. Nice, clean and delicious. For dessert we had Berryline which is frozen yogurt-probably the healthiest yogurt out there. No artificial crap added. I had fresh blueberries for a topping and Brendan had fresh strawberries. It was a delightful little treat to top off a delicious meal.

The good thing is, I was completely satisfied and it didn't set off any cravings, which was what I was a little nervous about. The bonus to the evening was our waiter tipped us off on the restaurant week deal so we saved like $70.00! Flemmings is a tad pricey, but it was a special occasion!

I am interested to see how my body responds this week on the scale. Its def. kinda neat to see new veins coming in and feeling my body firm up. I love unwrapping the package!

This week I will get down to the nitty gritty of posing-nothing crazy but at least get started on it. I need to dust off the heels and make them an extension of my legs. Last year I looked like a five year old in her mother's heels the way I walked in them. This year I plan on bringing a more polished look to the stage, maybe some girly glam. Last year I was too busy being petrified on stage.

Enough about contest life! In addition to a wonderful dinner date, we saw the Hunger Games- It lived up to the hype. I loved it. I want to reread the books! The only down part was we had a little mishap with our timing and arrival to the theater. We were stuck in the second row. I do not recommend this seating arrangement-ever! It's a good thing we had our tickets bought already or else we would have been totally out of luck in the movie department. After settling down, I was able to enjoy myself. I was fuming at first and to top it off I dribbled salsa down my white camisole because I was eating my chicken and green beans in the dark! I never fail to spill  in the light, nevermind in the dark! Geesh. It was a great flick though! Brendan enjoyed it too!

This morning was my actual birthday. As always Brendan spoiled me. He's the best! Full of fun surprises-always! I am one happy bday girl! We went to visit my parents today too. We planned a movie date with them, since celebrating with food is out of the question at this time. With them we saw 21Jump Street. Wicked funny. It's not often we see a good movie in the theater-this weekend we saw two! Kudos to us!

I am so fortunate to have a wonderful husbad and family. Even the later mentioned bugs me at times, I'll keep them!
I am so not looking forward to Monday at all. The weather is night and day from last week. It's chilly and raw. Not a speck of sun to be seen in the sky. I am hoping for tomorrow to change a bit. I expect cold, but a little sun would be great for the mood. My fourth graders have MCAS testing which is easy on me, but at the same time makes for a loooong day and a lonnnng weeek!  I am trying to keep positive though...three weeks until April vacation.

The weekend coming we have zero planned, which is kinda nice. This week and weekend was super busy with zero down time. I am wiped out! The only thing on the agenda is getting my new NOOK from my parents. I am super pumped! Fingers crossed that this week is a little less crazy than last as far as having no down time!

Things to do this week:
Get serious- its go time! Time to pose it out and continue pushing hard at the gym!
Stay positive
BLOG!

Did I happen to mention I am the new owner of a Longchamps bag (Thanks to my best husband)I feel cool!

AND new Under Armour kicks---the sneaker obsession continues!

Monday here I come!

Time keeps on ticking....

Whoa! I could possibly be setting a new record for my blogging self! It's been three days since my last post. Perhaps I am gonna stick to my guns this time and BLOG!

Not too much has been happening in my world since my last post...however I figured why not! This week is going to be a crazy one that's for sure. It's parent teacher conference time at school, always a rough few days. Three long days to be exact.

I kinda like the craziness of it all, but I also have anxiety about the week too. First off, I am a major creature of habit and this week my schedule is anything but normal. Tomorrow is our first half day...I will be working out on a school day, right smack in the middle of the day..odd for sure. Then I will return to school for my first round of conferences. Thirteen in a row baby!
That means two showers/getting ready times-that detail I don't love. I am a very low maintenance type of gal, drying my hair nicely twice is not my cup of tea. Anyway, I guess it will be good for the body to mix it up a bit. Plus it's leg day - my fav. It's a quick hitter, but it's always brutal. The most rewarding body part in my opinion, to work out. You can feel the soreness take effect right away. Immediate satisfaction-I love this!

The rest of the week is also half days at school to allow for conferences. We will take our normal Thurs. off from lifting, but I will do my intervals after school per usual. It's another day that is going to throw me for a loop because of the off schedule. After intervals I have a massage scheduled (NO COMPLAINTS HERE ON THAT ONE) then I am off to my hometown of Haverhill , to hit up a Stella Dot Jewelry party. The fun of that will be determined I guess...Not loving the idea of go, go, go, but I haven't seen my high school friends in forever, so it will be good to show face.
After Wed. and Thurs, I am thinking I am probably going to crash Friday. I will however, be extra pumped for Friday. I only have one parent meeting scheduled that afternoon,so at least I can have some time to myself to prep for the weeks ahead. That also means I'll be evacuating the premises right at three that day!

This weekend is St. Patricks day-the day everyone is Irish right?! Not us, we  won't be partaking in anything crazy...not that we are huge socialites or drinkers anyway. Contest prep. of course limits our options. I think we have a movie planned. No matter what...we are following our NDT- NO DOWN TIME mantra. Can't leave anytime to think about food food food.

I have noticed we are to the point of our prep. where our energy is kinda low...we NEED coffee! To be expected. We are seven weeks into dieting. Not bad. A third of the way done. We have a big night planned for the 24th in celebration for my BDAY . This is very  is exciting and something we have been looking forward to. After that it's really go time as far as the show goes. We'll def. be in normal prep. range. As the time gets closer I get more nervous excitement, which helps to power me through. I need it too. This morning I was bushed when I woke up for my morning cardio, but once I got going my nervous energy got me through the time spent on the tredmill! I can't complain either. My cardio is minimal right now...I am happy.

In just a bit we are off to lift chest and back! It's super sunny and warm for March, enough to give me a little pep in my step!

Until next time...see ya!

Hello March!

It has been awhile since my last blog post. I have every good intention to get regular with my posting but can't seem to make it happen-YET! I will though. I enjoy blogging for sure, but I want to put value into my posts. I love the fact that it is a good outlet for me to chat it out in words. This is a good place to release!

I have been enjoying so many wonderful blogs lately. I feel inspired by all of you who blog on a daily basis. I love what you have to offer and share. Each blog I read, I feel like I take something of value away. Sometimes, it's just a good mood boost in the morning, or motivational push or a good book recommendation-I am digging it all.

I am looking forward to trying some of the many wonderful recipes I have come across... after my contest prep is over. The good, clean,  foods in the creative dishes sure give me a light at the end the prep tunnel. Must I say it again-this time around is going to be different. When I come off my prep diet, nothing but clean foods are going into my pie hole!

Contest Prep check in:

Things are moving right along. The weeks keep getting smaller which is nice. It's no longer a crazy number of weeks like 20! It's more on the side of a reg. prep time. I think we are coming on 15 weeks out. The scale continues to move slowly down- SLOW being the key word. This was the goal from the start to go slower this time to conserve muscle and preserve sanity in a sense! Each week I feel better. I still have days where I feel fat...but its in my head. I am having more options in the clothing department too,which makes getting ready for school in the morning not so annoying anymore.
I realize now, that the last two or three months leading up to this prep. I let myself go more than I wanted to. I think I had the mentality of not getting to eat anymore so  screw it! I know now, that wasn't right. Live and learn. This figure journey is all about learning from previous mistakes and boy have I learned a ton! I am excited that this time around my mind is in a good place and so is everything I put into my body. The last prep. we used a lot of artificial flavoring on our food. Let me tell you the huge difference of not using that is!! I feel awesome...never bloated or gassy. I think so far that has been my most important lesson along with my knew knowledge of coming off the diet properly. We were misguided in a major way last time because we didn't know any better. Again living and learning.

The key def. is to keep busy. We have been doing a great job at this the past couple of weekends. We have been tackling some home projects and keeping busy with errands and good prep. It is way better than sitting around looking at the clock waiting for the next meal.

My workouts in the gym have been satisfying too. I continue to get stronger. The extra motivation of the show helps but so does the idea of getting my body back! I am so excited that I feel better about the way I look. Major bonus!

My birthday is only a few weeks away. I am not so excited about another year older but I am excited to have a night of not eating out of tupperware. We have been looking forward to this since the start. IIt's our middle of the way cheat. We are going to a fancy restaurant having a good steak and potato dinner with salad! I can't wait! We are also going to see the Hunger Games! Working so hard over the past seven -ten weeks is going to make this night so much more rewarding. I cannot wait to get dressed up and have a date with my husband!t

Until then....I'll be training hard!

My Body Is Running On Good Stuff

I had written a beefy post this morning with all sorts of good thoughts, but somehow my connection was lost and poof..all my smarts are circulating in cyber space!

I am going to keep this short and sweet for two reasons: I can't recall all of the profound ideas from earlier and MTV Challenge/Battle of the Exes is on! Wednesday night is a good TV night-for sure!

Basically...the title of my post was my light bulb for today. The one thing I love about contest prep is : All the good/clean food that goes into my mouth. I love that what runs my body right now is nutritious fuel! It's not too far off the mark of how we eat normally either. Don't get me wrong I love pizza (Flatbreads Organic Style) and beer,but having all clean fuel in me is a satisfying thought. My only wish is to eat MORE of the good stuff-BIGGER portions of oats, potatoes and chicken-yummo!

Brendan and I were having a good talk after our workout today about how we are going to reverse diet better this time. No binging like our life depends on it. I am entirely confident we will be able to do it too. Last time we were misguided. This time around its going to be a whole diff. ball game. The time after prep is a very crucial rebuilding period. I will not go to the dark side of junk food and binges! I cannot wait to come off the diet and do things the right way this time around. No mental games either!

Tonight was legs. My all time favorite! I was STRONG! I am loving this week. My belly has been full due to late wake up times and I have been well rested. This = happy Stephanie & good work outs.

Today was a bonus too- My dear aunt flo came. I love when its unexpected...well not really. I have been an emotional basket case this week, but I thought for sure she was not going to appear until next week. I am happy. Although, I am not sure what that means for the scale this coming Saturday. I think I am due for a cut this week anyway. Time will tell. Until then, I will continue to enjoy my food.

We decided today to get certified in TRX. It will be a good opportunity and learning experience. I am seriously looking forward to it. April 1st! I am still looking in to getting my PT cert. too-excited for that as well. Hopefully its an opening to my future in fitness. How perfect would it be for me to teach and train-pretty perfect!

Tomorrow is a big day for me! I am heading down to CT for my visit. I have been looking forward to this all vacation!

This post was no where near my earlier post...however I am pooped. I'll make it up sometime this week~!

I'll be looking forward to a little bit of this kind of love come June 24th (Minus the pepperoni). Until then I am a clean eating machine!

Vacation Week!

I haven't been very good about blogging. Although this week it seems as though it should be easy for me to blog everyday. It's finally school vacation week, and I couldn't be more happy. Not that I have any huge plans, but time away from the kiddos is perfect for me. Its a long stretch from Christmas until now with no days off. Needless to say everyone was out of the building promptly at 3:00 pm.

This week I plan on catching up on some sleep and getting in some good workouts. Nothing beats going to the gym on fresh sleep and a full belly. Having vacation allows me this lovely pleasure. Also, on tap for this week is a visit to my BFF in CT who just had her second baby...a little girl. I am super excited. Mel is my college roommate and truly the nicest person I have ever met. She makes parenting look magical. I hope to be like her when I have children of my own someday.

On the contest prep front, things are moving along slowly but surely. Of course I would love to be cut up and shredded already,but I know it takes time. My workouts have been strong and the diet isn't too bad yet. Not to say I don't look forward to every meal time but so far so good. The feeling of bloat is gone, which is a major relief. My face looks thinner too. This week I had a sports massage and my lady told me my muscles feel less tight  so that meana my stretching goal is working too! My new kicks still make it fun for me to workout and a new play list is keeping me fresh too. It's getting close to the first big show of the year (April). That will for sure bring new motivation as well as fresh anxiety, but I look forward to seeing whats out there! Motivation ya know!

We have been mixing up our diet every two weeks, which has been lovely. It makes it feel like less of a diet. My last contest prep I ate the same exact thing for about fourteen weeks...looking back now I know that probably wasn't the best thing for my body nutrition wise. But hey, you live and learn right?! I am actually due for a change up starting Monday..we'll see what kind of cut I need to make and how I can't mix up my meals according to my cals.

Its a beautiful springlike day today in Boston. I got up and banged out my morning cardio...later today we have legs. My favorite! I feel its the most rewarding because you can feel right away how badly you killed it. After my leg session, I have a facial..I can chalk this day up to being fantastic!

Non food date night- Movie! The one with Reece Witherspoon, forgot the name. Looking forward to it! We were supposed to see it on Vday night but we had a car mishap and actually spent the evening waiting for a tow truck and viewing Bridge to Terabithia before I showed it to my class. It's all good though! I'll keep ya posted on the movie. Hope it's a good one! The last movie we saw was The Vow-AMAZING. A BEAUTIFUL LOVE STORY XOXOX

MY MANTRA FOR CONTEST PREP!!!

Week Three...what a week

Hi all!
What a quick weekend. It's already Sunday, I can't believe how quick time flys...well kinda. This week was a rough one in every way imaginable. I was riding high the first two weeks all fired up about the 2012 season... then bam! It only takes two sick days of the stomach bug sitting around, doing nothing to take the wind out of my sails.
Monday started off in regular fashion, or so I thought. I got up for my morning cardio per usual. Brendan actually came with me because he was starting later than usual so that was a bonus. When I got home I did my reg. morning routine, showered got ready etc. During breakfast I felt nauseous, but I thought it was from doing cardio on an empty stomach. Not the case. On the way to work, I had to stop for some Diet Ginger ale to settle my stomach. Needless to say it got worse as the day went on. By the afternoon I was sitting on any free desk available. I was out for Tues and Wed. All I did was lay around. That is like the worst thing possible for someone like me. I got all mental and it was downhill from there. I have yet to pull myself out of the mental rut. Sucks!
The weekend went by quick...I felt like I wasted it too. I was so lost in thought that it just slipped by me. I was grumpy about diet, I was grumpy about not seeing the changes I wanted to see, I was plain miserable. For no reason. It's early I shouldn't be this crazy. I am actually happy with what I can eat, its not low yet, I have lost a pound a week and my lifts are strong. I should be fine and I will be fine. For any competitor out there, they can relate to the mental mind fuck contest prep is.
This time around I promised myself it would be different and it will. The last time I had twelve weeks so I had to get shredded fast. I like the pace of this prep. although, its tough to think in long terms. That's what gets me. I was saying to Brendan I want the food because I can't have it, not because I really want to eat. The fact that it is extremely off limits is whats doing it to me. Honestly, if I could I wouldn't eat it in my normal life-I don't know its weird. Hard to explain without rambling.
I am turning this rut inside out as of tonight. Done...and moving on. I know contest prep is full of ups and downs and I will get through them. It won't control me, its all what I make of it!
On the up side of things we saw the VOW this weekend. Truly amazing. I am a sucker for a good love story. It makes me think of my own love story. It's was a good reality check!

Words to live by...xoxo

Week two down!

So even though it's only been two weeks, I feel like my old self again. Focused. It def. feels like prep. My metabolism eats up everything I put in my body, making me hungry every couple of hours. It's  good to feel my body start to tighten up. I had successful workouts all week too. I hit my cardio days and continue to push the iron around. It's back to sleeping like a rock every night. I don't feel as bad sleeping in on Saturday mornings with the winter. When I was prepping through the summer I wanted to be up at the crack of dawn to get the most of the summer day. It helps to sleep in as far as my meals go. The later the better!

The month of February will be a good one. The initial changes will be fun to watch. I hope I put on some decent muscle during the off season. I feel different so ...fingers crossed. The hype of the competition season is everywhere. This adds to the excitement of the prep. but also gets the nerves and crazy thoughts going as well. I am going to do my best to keep my brain focused on me and my progress.

I have two weeks until school vacation which I am excited for. No big plans for me, but a nice break from the kids is good enough. I'll get to workout during the day (dead time). and have my nights to do whatever. Brendan and I hit the gym right after school one day this week. It was great! Nobody was there and we were done early. It actually felt like we had an off day. Usually we get home kinda late, need to shower and eat our last meal then its off to bed to repeat the next day! On this particular early day our meals were scheduled differently and we got some down time to enjoy each other-I wish everyday could be like that! Unfortunately, his client schedule prevents us from this, but every now and then its a great treat!

We started new workouts this week. So far so good, I've liked them all. My back is still sore from two days ago-BONUS! I had to do HIT this morning,which was a bummer since we worked legs yesterday. However lucky for me I got a good reading on the scale (slow and steady progress) and  a nice little love note to power me through! I have a new surge of energy today. I have a good feeling of -YES! this is what I do and love! It's the best feeling to have on a Saturday! In all seriousness I love my passion for working out and eating clean. I wouldn't want to live any other lifestyle!

Happy Weekend!