There Is Food EVERYWHERE!

I thought that once I surpassed the two-week hump that life and temptations would be easy. Boy was I wrong. The commercials are increasing. I went to the movies for the first time this year and the smell of that popcorn kept running past my nose. (I snuck in a sugar free pudding to the theatre). I thought I was doing big things!!

I had a staff meeting that lasted for two days. The meetings are somewhat boring. So, to keep folks alert, there is a plethora of junk food. It starts in the morning with doughnuts, and then throughout the day there is your fix of candy bars, chocolate cookies etc.... Some of my co-workers go out to lunch so they'll bring back their food that I love oh so much. But all I could do was look as I pulled out my protein shake and carrots and green beans.

This was my first week injury free and I was able to complete all of the exercises. Due to meetings, I had to go to the gym at 7:00am this morning just to make sure I took full advantage of all the days.

I know that after the competition that I will try to maintain healthy eating, but I can already forsee some of the exciting meals that I will eat within that first week of being able to eat freely. As long as I look in the mirror and see the results (everyone says I look more tone) I continue on this mission!

Booty Be Gone

This workout plan has been no joke!  The past two weeks have been hard.  My neck injury was a major setback.  Although my chiro and regular doc have said I can workout, I still feel a great deal of pain each morning I wake up.  Food has been tempting.  I never knew how many food commercials there were on tv until I realized all of the foods that I haven't been eating.  All I can say when I see them are, "Mmmm. That's looks good!"  

I have noticed a change in my figure.  I appear more tone.  HOWEVER, I am also starting to lose some things that I have always treasured.  My big booty that has always made a name for itself is slowly starting to disappear.  I used to be "big butt and a smile" but soon I'll just be "smile".  I'm losing an important black woman's asset.  The other thing I'm losing is something which I never really had a lot of.... breasts.  My small breast are getting smaller, which I didn't even know was possible.  I guess since they are both composed of fat, they too would have to decrease for increased progress.  It's all in the name of fitness.

NOW THE GOOD NEWS!!  I had my first measurements since I started training.  It's been exactly two weeks.  I was nervous to see if I had made any progress.  I was esctatic at the numbers!  My trainer friend, Larry, will be the person that updates the numbers every two weeks and he too was surprised.  Leaving his and Charmayne's house let me know that I was on a positive road of accomplishing my goal.  Time shall always tell.

MEASUREMENTS:

Height:  5'3 1/2

Weight before: 117, now 114

                          Before             Feb. 13

Chest                 33                     31 1/8

Waist                27 3/4              26 3/8 (almost an inch baby!)

Hips                  37 7/8              35 1/2 (check that out! What!)

Right thigh      20 3/4              18 1/2

Left thigh        20 3/8              18 1/2

Right calf        13                       13

Left calf           13 1/8               13

Right arm       10                       10 1/4

Left arm          10                      10 1/4

SKIN FOLD:

                          Before            Feb. 13

Chest                5.8                   5.2

Midax.              8.4                   5.8

Bicep                                         3.2

Abdomen         12.6                 9.8

Supra...             6.5                   7

Thigh                17.4                 12.9

Calf                                            5.8

Subsc..              11.1                  9

Tricep               12.1                 9.5

Lower back                             13.3

BODY FAT 

                Before                 Feb. 13

                  16.4%                  13.84%  (WHOA BABY, WHOA!!!!)

Physical Setback

Well, although I'm just getting started, I've experienced my first set back.  Several years ago it was discovered that I had a reverse curve in my neck.  While everyone else's neck curves backwards, mine curves forward.  My chiropractor and I have become friends over the years and I go visit him every couple of weeks.  Before I started this plan, I consulted him about it and he said "Go For It!"

So last night I was at the gym doing delt exercises.  It was my first exercise.  I felt a slight pain in my neck.  No problem, I thought, I'll just go get readjusted tomorrow afternoon.  My neck continued to be a little sore during the workout but it was nothing major.  After working out, I even went to a Zumba (latin dance aerobics) class. My body and I were good and I was able to shake what my mamma gave me.

Once I got home, my neck started to stiffen up a bit.  I applied heat to each side and knew I'd call the chiro first thing in the morning.  Well, morning came earlier than expected.  Around 3:00am I woke up with sharp pains in my neck.  It hurt to roll over on any side and there was excruciating pain to sit up.  I almost felt as if my neck were paralized but I had full use of my body.  My neck would not move.  All sleep ended there.  

My chiro didn't open until 3:00pm today so I left a message with my doctor's office to see what to do.  I listened to the voicemail on my chiro's office and he left an emergency number.  I called him.  To me, this is an emergency.  He told me to meet him in 20 minutes.  When I got there, he popped me, popped me and popped me some more.  He said I pulled something good and it will take several days to heal.  He said that as we get older and we start working out harder this can sometimes happen.  (he didn't tell me to quit).  He suggested I not go into work, keep ice on my neck every hour and come back again this afternoon to get readjusted one more time.  I will be sore for a couple of days, but it will get better.  He also suggested I now sometimes put heat on my neck before working out.  Life is all about challenges and finding ways to solve them.  I can either sulk that I'm down for a minute or instead take pride in the fact that I can read John Grisham's latest book and get some much needed laundry done!

Temptation At Its Best

I was surprised because my supplements arrived yesterday.  I take 2 of a Lean Out pill before each meal, 2 Muscularity pills with each meal and 2 Ultra 40 pills with each meal.  WOW!  That's a lot of pill poppin. I also received my protein drink.  It's my favorite flavor, cookies-n-cream!  I felt it a treat the first time I drank it.  

Well, last night a friend of mine wanted to go out to eat at the Homemade Pie and Ice Cream Kitchen. This place has the BEST homemade desserts.  You salivate just looking at the selection!  I knew I couldn't eat what was there, so I brought my own dessert - fat free pudding.  Yum!  It actually wasn't too bad.  I looked at my friend's desserts in awe, but knew I had a much larger plan and goal I was trying to accomplish.  My will power must be stronger than one dessert - and it was.

Later last night I went out to two parties to take pictures for my website.  One was an "all white" attire party and the other was an "all black" attire party.  Man, what's a girl to do?  Do I change between parties?  Do I rock the boat and wear red?  Do I wear my stocking where one leg is black and the other white?  I ended up changing outfits between parties to support the causes.  While at one of the parties I met a guy, a nice guy.  In a club setting you can't really talk in depth because the music is so loud.  So, he asked if I were interested in going and getting some breakfast somewhere to talk more.  Breakfast?  Pancakes? Sausage? Hot maple syrup?  The visuals were killing me.  I told him about the competition and that I was on a set meal plan.  I'm not on a diet to lose weight, but I watching what I eat in order to gain weight, positive weight through muscle. He understood and we went to hang out somewhere that wasn't tempting with food.  However, the visuals of pancakes kept running through my head.  As the night wore on and I became sleepy I was good again.  I arrive home excited to wake up in the morning to go workout!  The gym is my friend!!