Breaking Down the Mental Wall

My competition preparation began 3 weeks ago.  I have experienced so much physical and mental exhaustion.  The physical from the obvious workouts.  The mental is from working to establish consistancy in my workouts and diet.  My mind tells me me all kinds of funny things that make me want to give up:

• I don't have time to prepare my meals in advance.
• I worked out enough today.  I don't need to do that extra set. 
• What about just one french fry?
• My food needs some salt. A little can't hurt.
• It's a perfect morning for a Mocha from Petes. 
• I know you don't think I'm really going to do all those one armed pullups. 
• Working out abs stinks!

These little things my mind says all day progressively builds until there's this huge mental wall.  It usually is when I'm face to face with the wall that I just want to quit.  The f*!@s  begin and I have large order of Curly Fries from Jack in the Box.  Drive through only because you know I'm not walking.  This time I just climbed over that mental wall and kept moving towards my goal.  Everyday I start the day thinking about how important my goal is.  I envision myself having achieved that goal.  Then I accept that it is going to be challenging, but I am committed to making this work.  Throughout the day I give myself little pats on the back for any small victories.  I share how I am feeling with friends.  In the evening, I reflect on how my workouts and diet were for the day.  Then I go to bed hoping that my efforts will start to show the next day.

My perseverance paid off.  After 3 weeks of the scale not moving, a transition happened.  All of a sudden I dropped 3 pounds and lost 1% body fat. I couldn't belive it.  I was expecting to lose 1-2 pounds per week but seeing some weight loss each week.  When that didn't happen, I started to hope my weight would all of a sudden just drop.  Thank goodness it did.  It also reminded me that true weightloss is not an overnight success and I'm not 21 anymore!  Back in the day I could lose 3 pounds in a week!  Wow, has my metabolism changed at 31.

BTW, I found this great salt free seasoning that tastes delicious on Flank Steak.  When you're eating clean, there is no added salt in your diet. :(  Try the Mexican Salt Free Seasoning from The Spice Finder.  I found it at Whole Foods. 

As of today, seven more weeks to go!

Attend Parties While Dieting and Survive with Gusto!!

Parties have always been torturous for me when I'm dieting.  I love salty snacks, especially the kind that you'll find at most parties.  I'm ready to party when I see popcorn, chips, crackers, and cheese all festively laid out on a table it ready to be devoured.  I have my plate in hand and excited to have a little bit of everything.  Fortunately, I already know this about myself and I can make decisions that will help me avoid these slippery situations.  What if you're the one throwing the party?!  You want your guests to be able to indulge (afterall they are not dieting) and at the same time you have to expose yourself to lots of temptation.  Well, I got a nice sample of that last night.

A good friend and I threw a Zumba Samba party. While assisting with set up, I was asked to empty the bag of tortilla chips into a bowl.  Harmless, right? Well, chips are like my favorite salty snack food.  As I poured the chips into the bowl, I could smell the aroma of toasted corn and salt.  Suddenly all my senses were on alert and my nose was working overtime.  Oh my God, it smelled so good!  That very smell not only made me really want to put a chip in my mouth, but also reminded me of the sense of comfort I had when I ate chips.  Fortunately, I get to walk away.  Which I did only to get slammed in the face with a Costco cake.  I'm more of a pie eater than cake, but in general I don't really have much of a sweet tooth.  However, I rarely turn down cake at parties especially if it's from Costco.  I mean isn't it rude to the host if you don't eat their cake?  I'm so kidding.  Remember that the host is too busy hosting and doesn't care whether you have cake or not.  I had to give myself permission to pass on the cake.  I was not hungry for it and I did not need it.  Plus, it's just not part of my diet right now.  Although there was still much help to be needed setting up the refreshments table, I found a different way to be useful and started setting up other things.  A change in scenary and a new distraction helped save me. 

I did have a good plan set up before going to the party which I truly also believe helped me make it through. 

• I drank a chocolate protein shake before I left my house.  Not only did this make sure that I would not be hungry at the party, but I also got to have something chocolately and sweet.  It felt like a treat and so I didn't need any of the treats at the party. 
• I asked to have a veggie tray.  When we did have a break and I got a little craving to snack, I had a few sugar snap peas.  I like crunchy things and so again that felt like a treat. 
• I planned to have a nice dinner when I got home.  I enjoyed steak, veggies, and salad much more than I would have those chips.  I knew I had this to look forward to and so that was another incentive for me not to cheat. 
• I got social and stayed busy.  I focused on outfits.  What should I change into next that will add to the experience of the party (it was a Zumba party)?  As opposed to focusing on how many more chips were left in the bowl (which is what I would normally do). I took pictures, talked to people, and made new friends.  I think this focus on people rather than food really empowered me to have a great time. 
• When in doubt, pack your own food.  I brought some protein powder in case I got hungry.  

Now that the night is over, I feel successful.  I stuck to my diet and had a great time at the party.  Reflecting back, I am amused by all the rationales that crossed my mind earlier when I was around the party food.  It's okay to eat these corn chips because:

• "They have flax seeds and so that makes them healthy, right?"
• "Aren't corn chips better for you than potato chips?  So they're healthy, right?"
• "I've taught 3 classes today and about to dance for another 2 hours.  What's a few chips?" (I hardly ever eat a few chips, but I can eat a whole bag. Although I can burn enough calories for a few chips, trying to burn up the calories from a whole bag would leave me strapped to a treadmil.  Not a place I want to be)

My friends call me the Queen of Justification.  I have to admit that it's true.  I have an angel on one shoulder telling me to eat sugar snap peas and then a Joker sneaking in whispers of justification for those salty chips.  As I sit here writing out these justifications, they all sound so silly.  I totally know that they are not true.  I'm glad I didn't react right away by listening to that Joker.  Now I can reflect on just how silly my justifications were and therefore hopefully recognize when I'm justifying again in the future.    

Going to a party when dieting requires mental and physical preparation.  Luckily, there are plenty of distractions.  Afterall, it is a party?!  I had a blast last night without any chips or cake in my belly.  Instead, I walked away with my new friends, wonderful memories, and stronger will power.

Please! Not any bikini photos.....yet....

As of today, there are only 8 weeks left until the NPC Amateur Grand Prix Bikini Competition.  It's already been 2 weeks since I've started my training.  I learned from former fitness competitors that training for competition is one of the most grueling experiences ever!  However, it was always the results that made it so worth while.  A new sense of confidence, stronger body, healthier skin, and tighter physique are all results that I can have too.  That is when I made the decision to enter my first bikini competition. 

I know that I can't do this alone.  I enlisted the help of a competition expert and a fitness trainer.  The first step was to take pictures of myself in a bikini!  I weigh less now than I ever have, but I still feel like covering up something when I'm in a bikini.  For that reason, I'm not posting them on here just yet!  Let's give it a few more weeks. 

On top of the 13 classes that I already teach per week, I need to add 4 days of weight training.  I train 2 days a week at Gym Box in Brentwood with a personal trainer.  Yes, personal trainers can have personal trainers.  I train the other 2 days at Golds Gym Venice with my friend Bebe.  Having a trainer and/or a friend to work out with reinforces the commitment factor.  I highly recommend having this kind of support. 

Now I'll bring up the sore subject of diet.  It really is 90% of acheiving the results we want for our bodies.  The competition expert set up a diet for me to follow.  In addition, I was told to drink a gallon of water a day.  I carry my gallon of water with me everywhere.  Some students have even shared with me that they've started to drink more water ever since they saw me with my gallon water bottle.  Drinking more water alone has made such a difference to my skin. 

My diet the first week basically consisted of oats, egg whites, banana, chicken breast, sweet potato, kale, fish, and protein powder.  I ate the same thing everyday.  If it wasn't for the sweet potato, I think I would have cheated.  However, the sweet potato was a perfect treat to my carb loving cravings.  This week I start a new meal plan consisting of oats, egg whites, berries, yogurt, apples, chicken breast, green salad, green vegetable, protein shake, and steak.  The yogurt and apple combination is my favorite treat this week.  I use plain greek yogurt because it is higher in protein than regular yogurt.  I sprinkle some cinnamon and stir it into the yogurt for some flavor.  I slice the apples and then dip them into the cinnamon yogurt.  Yummy and so good for you.  I also found a great Protein Powder supplement.  Isopure is 100% isolated whey protein, low carb, and low fat.  So far the Dutch Chocolate flavor is the best.  I can't stand the taste of the pineapple banana.  The smell alone is like stale vomit. 

I'm finding the diet to not be as hard as I thought.  I just have to avoid being around food.  Well, specifically being around food that is not on my plan.  I'm choosing not to go out to any social events where food or drink are part of the entertainment.  I'm choosing to prepare my own food and not go out to eat.  I tackle every craving one at a time.  I know that cravings will pass and they eventually do.  Last night, all my cravings manifested in a strange way.  I was driving home late and noticed bright lights on the sidewalk off in the distance.  The first thought that came to my mind is that there is a taco truck now a block away from my house.  Oh no!  What am I going to do?!  I love tacos from taco trucks and now there is going to be one only a few feet away from my house.  Well, the lights were no taco truck.  I literally saw a taco truck mirage.  Oh boy. Crazy, here I come!

I've been following a clean diet and training with weights for two weeks now and have not lost a pound.  Can anyone relate?  That's usually the point at which I say "F*$& this.  I'm going to go have some nachos!"  My natural tendency is to get frustrated when I don't see fast results.  Instead of practicing my normal "F*$% this" behavior, I decided to continue to just stick with it.  Continue to work hard and push through.  I have faith that as long as I continue to do the work, that the results will evenutally come. 

Follow my blog as I continue to post my experience and share valuable information about nutrition and fitness.  Also feel free to leave comments if you have any competition suggestions.  I would love to hear any stories you may also have about what made you motivated to get in shape.