90 Days 'Til Showtime

I am on pace to be losing 1% body fat a week.  Lost 1% last week.

My workouts just changed up.  I now do 40 REPS of various exercises. So, I lift with the purpose of failing around 15, immediately drop the weight and keep at it until 40 reps are done.  This is an exhausting way to lift and yet I kind of like it.  It's nice to mix it up.  Also, I feel the definition that is happening each day mixed with the leaning down is CRAZY!  My shoulders and arms are getting way more defined.

I have 4 different workouts all with different exercises included.  I do my weight circuit 5 times a week and cardio 5 times as well.  Most days I do not have the time to do a second workout, so I add a fast 2 mile run to the end of my first workout.  That is torture.  I'm exhausted by the time I get on the treadmill.  Oh to be a fly on the wall of my mind during those two miles.

Food is pretty cool:

Breakfast: 3 eggs, 1/2 cup oatmeal, 1/2 cup berries  NOM NOM NOMMMM!
Snack: Double ViSalus Shake in water and ice
Lunch: 3 eggs & 1/2 cup rice
Snack: See snack above.  Yes.  The same thing.
Dinner: 4 oz turkey/chicken/white fish and 1-2 cups green vegetables

I get very hungry so when I'm starving I usually drink a Neuro with a Vi Trim to curb the hunger.  That plus dedicatedly drinking a gallon of water a day is usually enough volume to keep hunger controllable.

I love eating clean because all my stomach problems go completely away and I feel really even tempered.  My clothes fit better which causes me to feel better about myself and I know that I look fit, regardless of where I am with my stage goal which allows me to feel comfortable and confident.  I feel well.  Fit.  Healthy. Content.  Prep on!

To Cleanse or Not To Cleanse?

3 Day Juice Cleanse

I've never done a "cleanse" before.  I'm not sure how much I believe in them.  But I found myself needing a real reset button dietetically and thought it might not be a bad thing to try out. 

I ate what I wanted through the last few days leading up to Christmas. And I've never felt worse!  Lots of restaurant food, lots of carbs, lots of sugars, and just things I don't regularly eat in general.  I felt sickly, my stomach felt on the verge of upset, I was moody and I felt FAT.  Bluh.

I'm embarking on a four and a half month contest prep (the initial phase is just a general lean down prior to the real leaning phase). 

I researched cleanses online.  There are all kinds of them.  I don't really feel like drinking a peppered lemonade wonder juice as that doesn't seem quite right.  I settled on a juice cleanse.  One laden with fruit/vegetable juices.  This is the guideline I am using, which explains a lot about cleansing. 

http://naturalhc.com/docs/juicecleanseoutline.pdf


To find juices, I'm using the book "Total Juicing" by Elaine LaLanne.  I selected five juices to get me through each of my five meals for three days.  My selections:

The Green Drink
2 green apples, 4 stalks celery, 8 stalks bok choy, 1/4 pound spinach, 1 bunch parsley

Sunrise
2 sweet apples, 4 large carrots, 1 red bell pepper, 4 jicama spears

Broccoli Bush
4 medium carrots, 1/2 medium green pepper, 2 stalks broccoli

The Pepper-Upper
1 green pepper, 1 red pepper, 1 sweet apple, 2 large carrots

Carrot-Fruit Juice
4 large carrots, 2 sweet apples


Notes from Day 1 -

I decided to juice in my Ninja blender and consume the pulp too.  It's been said that you lose nutrients by not
ingesting the pulp.  But what that does is make a very large, very filling juice.  So my Sunrise I ended up
splitting over 3 cups.  The Green Drink ended up fitting perfectly into a tall glass.  I had to add water to all
of them to create a juicy consistency.  I was surprised how much I liked the Green Drink. 

I didn't have enough energy to get through my 3rd weight training circuit without feeling very low energy. 
But I made it.  I stayed pretty satisfied until about 3:00.  Then hunger started to creep in.  About 5:00, a dull
headache set in and it's been there ever since.  Rounding out day 1 feeling de-bloated, happy to feel hungry
and interested to see how I feel at the end of day 3.

Week 1 Diet

Food is one of life's joys.  I'm rediscovering that.

This is my meal plan this week.  I am thoroughly enjoying it.  I do get a smidge hungry at night right before bed, but it makes breakfast all that more delicious in the morning.

Breakfast:
3 eggs
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup berries

Snack:
Vi Shake
Apple

Lunch:
4 oz salmon
2 cups mixed vegetables

Snack:
Vi Shake
15 baby carrots

Dinner:
4 oz chicken breast
2 cups broccoli

Every day looks the same and my plan will change in a week.  I am in love with this meal plan.  I like everything on it and I don't feel hungry .  I have energy and my sensitive stomach feels perfect and happy on this plan. 

It's roughly 1500 calories with a 40/30/30 split of Protein/Carbs/Fat.

A Good Old Fashioned Rest Break

For those of you that have followed my journey from 7 Feathers Competition last year to today, then we are probably Facebook friends.  If we are not, please connect with me at
www.facebook.com/themelissamcgarvey

I'm resorting back to my trusty blog because there is a lot more story to tell and my hope is that through my struggles and knowledge gained, I will be able to help someone else out there that is trying to find their way in fitness. 

My most recent journey toward contest prep did not go as planned.  And what I've heard a million times but never really understood what it meant was "you don't know what you don't know".  All I knew is I was heading down a bad road.  My diet kept decreasing, my exercise kept increasing and my body was not responding.  I was starting to feel very unhealthy and recognizing that I wasn't even to the "hard part" of prep and was miserable.  And not getting results.  I ended up pulling myself out of competition to pursue a good, old fashioned rest break.  In the fitness world, often times there tends to be a supplement for everything.  Walk into GNC or a similar store sometime and blurt out an ailment or frustration with your body.  My guess is they have a pill or powder for that.  It's easy to get lost in that world. 

Not to say all supplementation is bad.  After all, I attribute my whole lifestyle change and results to Body by Vi.  So, what am I saying?  I'm saying, everything in moderation.  I could've pilled and powdered my way to stage.  Maybe.  But I would've been band-aiding the real issue, one that could have long term effects on my health. My metabolism wasn't onboard with my plan. 

I'm in love with the fitness world and competition.  Let's face it, I'm not headed to the Olympia any time soon.  But thats doesn't mean I can't enjoy the heck out of this sport at an amateur level.  I want to be healthy because of my association with fitness though.  I am not willing to sacrifice health for a moment on stage. 

Stress can have a lot to do with that.  When the simple science of diet and exercise isn't working, there has to be another explanation.  Hormones.  And that can mean any hormone.  For me, I just came off of the most stressful year of my life, went through another stressful situation in selling my business and recreating my career/life, and was already deep into contest prep when all of that subsided.  Regardless of whether the stress is good or bad, the body at it's most basic level, can't tell the difference.  Stress is stress.  So, my poor body has been through the ringer and I just needed to take a step back and give it a break. 

I took a couple weeks off from the gym and a strict diet.  I missed the gym like crazy, but my body was so exhausted.  I slept like I've never slept before.  Probably a mixture of exhaustion and mild depression about not competing, I wrapped in a blanket most days and did my work from my living room.  It was nice mentally to be able to eat what I wanted, but my body felt horrible from the reintroduction of processed food.  I really do feel my best when I'm eating clean and active at the gym.  The break helped me reset my body and mind and rekindled a joy about my lifestyle once again. 

By missing this competition window, I have to wait until the Spring to compete again locally.  I'm going to do a focused off-season, where I am not abandoning being on a food plan and deliberate exercise plan.  I need to build more in my shoulders, legs and lats to compete well in figure.  My food plan will be strict in the sense it is very clean eating still, but I get a few more carbs and feel very good and energetic on this current plan.

A good off-season weight is about 10 pounds over what my stage weight should be.  I'm told my stage weight should be 120-125, so if that holds true, I'm shooting for 130-135.  Which means I definitely have some weight to lose.  I fluctuate between 145-150 most of the time and was down to 141 in this recent prep but could never seem to bust into the 130's. 

My food and exercise plans will change often right now to keep my body guessing.  By loving on my metabolism this way, my body should be ready to go for another contest prep when it's time.

I will be tracking my workouts, food and results as I journey my way back onto stage, this time as a figure competitor.  Thank you everybody for the kind words, support, high fives and hugs along the way.  It really did help me keep going when i wasn't sure if I could.  xoxo

Vi-Pumpkin Protein Bars

Vi-Pumpkin Protein Bars:

1/2 C xylitol brown sugar blend
1 4-oz. jar baby food applesauce
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground clove
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 large egg whites
1 15 oz can raw pumpkin
Mix ingredients well in a bowl and add
2 c oat flour
2 scoops Vi Shape shake mix
1/2 cup almond milk
(optional) 1/2 c chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350
Spray 9x13 pan with non-stickk spray
spread batter into dish and bake for 30 min
Makes 24 squares

Each square has 63 calories, 2.3 g fat, 8g carbs, 4g protein (with walnuts)
47 calories, .7 g fat, 8 g carbs, 3.7 g protein (without walnuts)

Crossfit Review

Crossfit is a major fitness buzzword right now.  What I knew about Crossfit is that it's popular, it's hardcore (ie rope climbing, pull ups, etc.), it's done in a big gym/garage/box setting, people love it, and I wanted to try it. 

I did an internet search for Crossfit's in Salem and there are a couple.  I went to Crossfit Salem's website http://www.crossfitsalem.net/ and saw they have free classes on the weekends and that those classes are best for newbies because they go over basic movements, etc.   Perfect.

I showed up and the group was already warming up...by doing burpees.  Burpees as a warm-up?  Hello.  The group stood in a big circle, each person said their name and then a burpee would ensue.  15 people in the class.  15 burpees.  The fitness level of the group at first glance seemed to really range as some people were already struggling with the warm-up.  I was surprised that my burpees went very easily as I haven't done them in a month or so.

Andy, the Owner and group leader for today informed us there would be two workouts.  We would pair up in teams of two and complete the following WOD (Workout of the Day):

8 minutes of taking turns going down the length of the gym and back doing:
1.  bear crawl (on hands and feet)
2.  Lunges
3.  Squat Jumps

Sounds straightforward enough until he throws in there "and by the way, when you come 'back' you are moving backwards".  What?!  Just as I suspected, the human body is not designed to move so agilely backwards.  Weird.  And hard. 

At the end of the 8 minutes, each team went to the white board and put how many times we went through this circuit.  The environment is gently competitive, but also very supportive, with random people cheering you on by name. 

The second half of the workout was also done in teams of 2, but we had to partner up with a new person.  I hate that.  I always flash back to picking teams in gym class, and because I'm not very aggressive at claiming somebody, often times, I end up in a musical chairs scenario and end up with the last person who is roaming the area like a lost puppy looking for a partner.  Same happened today.  But my partners were extremely nice and supportive and I don't know what the heck I'm doing here so I didn't really care.  The workouts we are doing turn out to not depend on your teammates abilities only except for where your total time completing the workout is concerned.  Because during this workout, we will workout until the last team finishes.

Second circuit:
Sprint 200 meters (outside in the parking lot) with a medicine ball - my partner brought a 15 pounder.  Each person does this three times. 
100 ground-to-overheads which is a squat with a medicine ball in your hand and then you "clean and press" the medicine ball overhead.  100 has to be completed between the two teammates, so we can split it up however we want.  My partner and I hand off every 10, but I'm going much faster than her so we split the last 15 to allow her to rest a smidge longer. 
Then we run to rowing machines and row 200 meters 3 times each person.  Oh, but by the way, you only get to use one hand to row.  Awkward and hard! 
After that, we grab jumpropes and do "double unders" as fast and as many as we can until the last team is done.  I cannot do double unders.  Need to practice.  So I jump singly hard and fast til we are done.  My teammate states that lots of people can't and you divide the number of single jumps by 4 to get the equivalent in double-unders.  Good to know.  For next time, since I didn't bother counting.

The workout was tough, no doubt about it.  I don't know why but I barreled through that workout.  The training I have done with my trainer at Platinum in Keizer has definitely more than prepared me for Crossfit.  As I was sprinting along with my medicine ball, passing people left and right, I was thinking "medicine ball, schmedicine ball.  Try running stairs with a 20 pound vest on with dumbbells in your hands AFTER a leg workout, people!" 

I was informed that the weekend workouts are not as rigorous as the weekday ones.  So I will come back and try the weekday one as well, just to get a true taste of Crossfit.  What I will say is I will definitely be back for a weekend workout there.  It's more than I would've done to myself on a Saturday morning, and that is the whole point, isn't it?

Steak Marinade Recipe

3 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
2 Tbsp Reduced-Sodium Soy Sauce
2 Tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice
4 tsp Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
2 Garlic Cloves, minced
1 tsp dried Oregano
1 tsp dried Basil
1/4 tsp dried Thyme
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper

Put all ingredients in a large ziploc bag and put steak in, covering completely in marinade.  Let marinate overnight.