Ad for Gastric ByPass Surgery

I recently viewed a television advertisement for gastric bypass surgery! I don't have anything against gastric bypass surgery. Actually, I am lying, I generally don't like any type of surgery unless it's absolutely necessary! I think that gastric bypass may sometimes be necessary. But do we really have to advertise gastric bypass surgery on TV? I would think that someone would know or their doctor would know if they needed the surgery and no advertising would be necessary! I really don't like any type of drug promotions on television. I would think that if my doctor diagnosed me with let's say "acid reflux", then they would recommend medication and if there were several then I can make a choice. I would think that I would not have to go to my doctor and tell them that I want the "purple fill" or gastric bypass because I saw the ad on TV.

Post Competition

Well my competition is over and I placed 6th place out of 12 women. I was disappointed that I didn't place higher but I was happy with my presentation and I saw improvements from my last competition. This was most important for me. I have not worked out all week since I've been ill. I caught a cold and I figured I should rest and get better. I've worked out consistently for the past 8 months so I do deserve to rest.

Well, it on to my next goal. My goal is to put on about 10 pounds of lean muscle mass. I've got some eating to do, clean eating of course. My husband and I joined a new gym and we are really excited. Everything is brand new and it's open 24 hours so I can go to the gym anytime I want. I really, really, really want to get started but I need to get better first.

Attached is a pic from my competition.

Free Your Mind...the rest will follow

Well I am down to 8 days until the big day. I had a difficult time last week and I wasn't in a positive place, I just wasn't happy with the way I looked and I didn't feel motivated to practice my posing. I am so happy that I am no longer at that place and Tony was a tremendous help. I think I drove him crazy. Tony is the best!

I am going to have to step it up for the next 8 days and work my butt off. I have been waking up in the mornings to do cardio this past week and I am getting used to it. I am still not a morning person and will not continue to wake up early unless I have to but I think after a while you just get in the habit of doing something and you can just continue. I have been so tired after working out and meal preparation and everything else that it's been so difficult to post. I have also been busy at work so I am unable to at work as well. Tomorrow is another day!

Conditioning the mind is so important. Where the mind goes the body follows

For me the most difficult part of competing is not the clean eating, not the hard workouts but waking up earlier to workout.

I found the following quote "Conditioning the mind is so important. Where the mind goes the body follows". I really needed it and I found it just in time for my workout. You see, I spoke to Tony yesterday and he gave me a gruelling workout. I have 17 days left and I have to step it up and really focus for the next 17 days. I am attempting to workout in the morning, and when I can't, I do it during my lunch hour. To me conditioning of the mind is believing that you can do it. All throughout my workout I keep on thinking "conditioning the mind, conditioning the mind" and this helped me get through my workout. I find that I have to do "self talk" all day long, particularly now when my workouts are more difficult and I have to be 100% clean with my diet.

Last weekend my in-laws invited us over to dinner and guess what my father-in-law made for dinner? Fried fish, he knows I don't eat fried foods so he told me that he had crab cakes for me (extremely nice of him, but I can't eat that either). My in-laws do not eat anything unless it's fried (I may be exaggerating but only slightly). For dessert they had 3 different desserts, german chocolate cake, a pineapple coconut cake and some type of cream pie (thank God I am not a dessert person). My mother-in-law offers me cake. It drives me crazy because for the 7 years they have known me, I have don't think I have ever said yes to dessert when she offers, yet she will ask me if I want dessert or onion rings or any other greasy food that they eat. So on Saturday, after she offers, and I say know, she says, I don't know why I ask you if you want because you always say no. My response was, I am not sure why you continue to ask either? I don't get it and she really doesn't get it either because even though she has diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, liver problems (just to name a few of the things that are wrong with her, since there are many more), she refuses to clean up her diet or do any type of exercises (even walk) that my help her. She actually checks her blood sugar level and if it is okay, it means that it is okay to have more cake? I know I am going off on a tangent but but they are the exact opposite of my parents and the way I was raised. Growing up we didn't my mother didn't buy cookies, or made us pancakes, we didn't eat McDonalds and ate desserts like cakes on special occasions. We didn't have those things in my house and I thought it was normal. The first time I had McDonalds, I was a teenager. My parents gave us grapes for dessert and every now and then on a really hot day we went to Dairy Queen as a treat. Now I am told that this was not normal but now I am certainly not complaining and as a child I did not feel deprived. It's funny because when my mother visited, my in-laws offered her all types of junk as well and her response was no, I don't eat this or I don't eat that. Then my father-in-laws says, you know your daughter always eat healthy. Duh! See knows that, who do you think I learned from?

Happy Training!

Always have a Plan "B"!

My competition is only 22 days away and Tony has asked me to do more cardio. Not a big surprise, but he recommended that I do it in the morning! You know what is worst than doing more cardio? Doing more cardio in the morning. My first thought when Tony and I spoke was, I know if is going to be difficult, but I will try. I am going to have to go to bed earlier so that I can wake up earlier. I also asked about other options, like doing cardio at lunch time. Luckily, Tony was okay with that, as long as I had enough time between my weightlifting.

So it's been 4 days since I've started implementing extra cardio. I know I have never been a morning person, I don't function early. I've always known this but what I've discovered this week is the following:
I cannot fall asleep earlier even when I go to bed earlier, I've tried many, many times before now, and I just cannot seem to fall asleep early. I once tried an Ambien sleeping pill that knocks my husband out and it didn't do anything to me? I also found out that I need at least 30 minutes after waking up to actually wakeup. When I wakeup in the morning, I am so out of it that I do things that I don't remember doing. It's like I am sleep walking. Needless to say, the cardio in the morning is not working out. So far I've been able to get up and do cardio 1 morning so far.

I knew I had to have a Plan B. My plan B is to workout doing my lunch hour instead. I am still working on going to bed earlier so that I can wake up earlier in order to have enough time do cardio in the morning, but until then, I am going to have to go with Plan B. I have to be at my best for my competition and if Plan A fails, always have a Plan B!

I may not be there yet, but I'm closer than I was yesterday

Thirty days until my competition, everyday I am closer to the big day. I am slowly getting leaner. I have a friend who competes and when asked what motivates her to eat clean and not cheat, her response was “not wanting to have a fat butt on stage”. Now that’s motivation! I am going to post more frequently but I am so busy, my workouts are longer since I’ve been doing more cardio.

Today my motivator was my husband. He saw that I was procrastinating so he came to the gym with me and spotted me for my squats. I was able to squat 145lbs for six reps which was nice. It's really nice to have his support and even if we don't workout together whenever he is at the gym at the same time with me it is nice to know that he is there with me.


Tomorrow I am going to send my check to OCB for my competition fees. I am going to compete in novice and over 35. Sending my check will be another motivator because once I send my check, there is no turning back. I must train harder and eat clean for the next 30 days so that I look great on stage. I am also looking forward to eating pizza after my competition. I've already decided that I want pizza. I have not eaten pizza since last year. Wow!

The Importance of Positive Thinking

I try to be positive as much as I can but, every now and then a negative thought crosses my mind. When that happens I try to get rid of the negative thought immediately and replace it with a positive thought.

I have been training with Tony since April and preparing for this competition next month. It's exactly 40 days away. I have been positive all this time and suddenly, as it's getting closer I am having these weird negative thoughts. I've spoken to a few competitors who say that it's natural to start doubting, but why? Is it just human nature?

My goal of course is to improve from my last competition and to put on more muscle mass. I definitely do not want to look skinny. On Friday I was not pleased with the way I looked and I felt that I really, really needed to practice my poses because they did not look right. I didn't give up and continued to practice. On Saturday, I continued to practice and took pictures. I definitely felt better and thought that I looked better. I know that I still need to practice everyday but what a difference a day makes!

On Friday, I could have just given up, but I knew that giving up was not an option and would not help.

Yesterday I went to the track in the morning to do my cardio, that I love so much and later in the day I trained my biceps and triceps. It was a grueling workout and lifting my arm was difficult after that workout. Somehow, I like when I have those types of workouts because I feel a sense of accomplishment.

Tony took away the berries from my meal plan. I just love fruit and I take advantage of the fresh fruit during the summer and eat all that I am allowed to eat. I have been eating fresh blueberries with my oatmeal in the morning, and breakfast will not be the same without my blueberries. I guess I have to get excited about something else on my meal plan. It will have to be the cherry tomatoes! I know that may be strange to some, but appreciating the little things (like blueberries and cherry tomatoes) helps me get through my strict competition diet!

Happy Training!

When you learn how to cultivate and harness your FOCUS, you unleash a powerful force within your body and mind that literally propels you to succeed.

The above was an excerpt from an email Tony sent and those words jumped out at me. This brought to mind how important it is to focus.

Staying focused is not an easy task. There are so many distractions that can cause us to lose focus on your tasks or goals. I remember running track in high school and my gym teacher told me to focus on running and reaching the finish line, and do not look ever glace over my should to look at the person running next to me. You know it actually works! I believe I won every time I did this!

Life is full of changes, and at times it may be difficult to stay focused. But when we get these distractions it is so important get back that focus. I think that is why it is so important to write down your goals. Writing down your goals gives life to your goals, it's there for you to look at, for others to look at, you see it everyday, you stay focused because you internalize it and nothing can stop you to success.

There are a number of things I do to help me keep focused. These can apply to almost every goal but since right now my focus is my upcoming competition I have to "keep my eyes on the prize"!

1. Writing down your goals. We all know how important it is. Not only writing them down but having reminders such as pictures of your goal.
2. Removing distractions as best as possible. I usually make sure that I don't have any food that I am not suppose to eat in the house.
3. Planning ahead. I make sure that my meals are planned and are ready to eat so that I do not get cravings.
4. Communication your goals. Enlisting your family and friends for help. Stay away and avoid people who are not supportive.You do not want to be around negative people who are not supportive.
5. Tracking your progress. You definitely want to know how you are doing so it's important to track your progress.

I am sure there are more things but right now I can't think of anything else and it's time for me to workout, so I got to go and Stay Focused!

Don't Give Up, Perfection Lies Within!

This image of a kitten lifting weights, not only is it the cutest picture, but the caption
"Don't give up...perfection lies within" made me think, mmm!
One of the definitions of perfection in the dictionary is "the act or fact of perfecting". I think most of us are continously striving to become better. Within us is the need to become better individuals. We all have an idea of what perfection means to us. We may admire someone we perceive to have a "perfect" or ideal body. This is often different for everyone. To be perfect is within all of us and allows to be improve and better ourselves. Some believe that perfection does not exist. Maybe this is a way of allowing us to continuously strive to improve and better ourselves.
Because "your perfection lies within your imperfection".
As I prepare for my next competition, I have to continue to train hard and eat clean so that I can be the best I can be. I have to stop comparing myself to others and instead focus! Focus on each rep when I lift, focus on eating the right foods and focus on practicing my poses. If I focus on other competitors and compare myself to them, then I will start doubting that I can look as good and be as good. Now every time I lift I am going to picture the image of the kitten and the caption "Don't give up...Perfection Lies Within".

In Dreams and in Life, Nothing is Impossible!

Many may know that I already have a Blog "Healthynfitforlife", but when Tony spoke to be about blogging on Dreamdiva's I was thrilled! I found Tony's Dreambodies website one day by chance. I had been looking for a trainer for months, maybe at least a year and stopped looking. One day I just happened to be on the Oxygen forum and one of Tony's dream divas (I really don't remember who) had a post and a link to Tony's website. I believe everything in life happens when it is suppose to happen and I guess it was the right time to find Tony.

I truly believe that dreams can become realities if you really focus and put your mind to it. At times, the dream may not come when you want it, but it will happen when it is suppose to happen. I am sure almost everyone has some dream that became real, something that they thought was not possible. It may not be anything miraculous, but something they thought was difficult, but somehow they accomplished. I can think of many things that I accomplished, and thinking back I believed deep down I really knew I could do it.

Some words you will never hear coming from my mouth are "that looks too hard or difficult". Instead, I always believe that I can do it? If someone can do it, why can't I? I like a challenge, bring it on! Just think of all the things in life that you learned that at some point you were not able to do...whether it was just learning to ride a bike, or your first full-body pull-up. After you learned to do "whatever" it didn't seem so hard afterall. You see, in dreams and in life, nothing is impossible!