The BIG day happened!!! Finally, I step on stage!

Hello hello blog world!!!!

For the last couple weeks I haven't been posting much because I didn't want to post too much about my body's changes but also because I really didn't have a ton of extra energy lying around to write, post and update.  BUT the big day I had been training for was last Saturday, so I wanted to do a recap of the day and post some pics on my progress!!!  Here's the start to finish of the weekend!

THURSDAY:  Flying home
Thursday started off with my "last chance" workout with my coach.  Yep, I might of had a 7:15am flight but I did a 5:15am workout before I flew out!  I had two carry ons of important things:
1.  My food!  Yeah I had no idea how easy it is to take your own food on a flight.  Nobody even said anything or asked me any questions.  I had chicken, tilapia and asparagus in my lunch box along with all my vitamins.
2.  My suits and shoes!  I wanted to make sure that even IF the worst happened and they lost my luggage I would still be able to step on stage.  So I had my suit, themewear and heels for both in my bag.
Yes I ate on the plane, yes I hate eating pre-cooked food in public, yes people stare at me from time to time but I was going to do what I had to do in order to feel confident on that stage.
After we arrived we needed some last minute grocery shopping, I did some food prep at my in-laws house, did a last time run, walk, lunge cardio session on the treadmill and finished the day off resting and catching up with family.

FRIDAY:  Day before show
After my 20 min easy walk to warm up my day I spent time with my mom.  My mom had drove in to see the show and visit with family so I spent the morning running some errands with her.  I came home to rest and then I went to get my spray tan!  Now let me tell you about competition spray tans- they are annoying.  I swear even the littlest drop of water will create a mess!  And I am not good with those types of things!  So I definitely needed touch ups the next day.  Then it was time to go home and get dressed for the athletes meeting and packet pick up!  Now maybe I missed the memo about dressing up for the meeting but I thought with my cute dress and wedges I would look just fine but there were some athletes dressed like they were going to a club here in Vegas.  Glitzed heels, tight sexy dresses and hair and makeup done up.  Guess I'll know for next time (if there is a next time!)  We wrote out bios, got my number - 450!!!  I almost had a heart attack because they had me in the wrong category and then they couldn't find my original number and when they did my name wasn't the one on the packet so they had to make another packet and number.  Let's just say I almost thought of having a small little panic attack then I remembered stress makes me hold onto water weight so a few deep breaths later it was all solved!
    Then it was on to stay at my friend Jessica's house and just chill, chit chat and relax.  She's one of my best friends and I don't know if I would have survived college without her and a few of our friends.  I had a great night of doing what we do best when we are around each other, nothing but enjoying each others company!  Then it was on to sweet dreams while Jessica and her cake building partner Ashley worked on a delicious cake for after my show!  They were like cake elves!

SATURDAY:  Show Day
6 am wake up call!!!!  I was ready for the day and pretty nervous!  I wanted to get some breakfast in even though I had an excited tummy!  Then before I knew it 7am was there and it was time to get my hair going, 8am rolled around and it was time for makeup!!!  During this time Jessica and the girls doing my hair and makeup kept my mind busy with chatting and asking questions about my training and before I knew it I looked in the mirror and I did not recognize myself!!  That's when you know you've got an amazing team doing a fabulous job!

My make-up and hair done!  I look a lot
different without my gym attire and usual
ponytail :)

I was at the venue by 9:30 am and had already eaten two meals, nervously found a spot in the girls waiting room and put my legs up as much as possible.  The more I was off my legs the better so I don't hold on to any water weight in my legs.  My main goal backstage was to make sure that I realized how far I had come and not start to compare myself to other girls.  It's easy to do because there is a lot of hard work on display and it's easy to realize that your abs don't look like someone else's or that someone's suit is better than yours.  I knew how damaging thoughts like that can be to how I felt about myself on stage, so my goal was to worry about myself, celebrate that I have lost 43 pounds, and try not to trip on stage and remember my poses!  Before I stepped on stage I got to have some peanut butter and a little extra oatmeal!  I was a happy carbed up camper!  Here I am before lineup! 

Ready to do this!!  LOVE my suit!
Figure Suits by Jodi

Here's the beginning to end of my Journey!!!  165 pounds to 120 pounds!
I can't believe that I did it!!!

Then it was time for the break in between shows and I came back and it was time for themewear!  In the WBFF the division I competed in is called Fitness Model Diva and not only do competitors wear a bikini but also create a costumed theme wear for the stage!  Lots of people use wings or feathers of some sort but I wasn't into that so I chose a Matador Bull Fighter!  

I wore the cape as a skirt when I first came out
on stage and then BAM I took it off to use as a cape

Some things that surprised me about being on stage/competition day:

1.  The judges are a lot closer than you think, so basically you are walking on stage and looking straight down.  They are super close!  It kind of surprised me a little.  You can see every facial expression they are making at all times.  If I compete again this is one thing I will have to get better at, I made eye contact but I didn't do a great job of maintaining eye contact.  

2.  The amount of candy that people eat backstage.  The idea is that the candy keeps you energized and somehow helps with your muscle tone appearance.  Kind of strange but people start busting out the M&M's, candy corn, some cupcakes, hershey's bars, you name it!  I kept to PB and oatmeal and towards the last time I stepped on stage I ate my Quest bar.

3.  How nice some girls are and how not nice some girls can be.  I didn't have a lot of people be rude really but I had some not be as interested in talking to me.  But some of the girls I spent the most time with were really nice and it was great to talk to a group of girls who had been going through the same things I had.  Meal prep, relationship stuff, workouts, not being able to think straight during peak week, and tan touch ups.  

I wasn't entering this contest to win a pro card/win first place.  I knew some of the girls in my division had physiques that were going to take the top spots and they had been on stage before.  They didn't have callouts or move any of us around when we were on stage.  There were 7 girls total in my division.  They announced top 3 and after that I'm not sure how I ended up in the line up.  But here's what I know, I don't care because I accomplished my goal.  I trained, I changed, I got on stage and I know where I want balance in my life.  I'm not the same person who started this journey and that's a great thing, because I think I'm a better person because of this. 

 Here's some photos from that night celebrating :)  I had a burger, fries, and nachos to celebrate!!!  Oh and some hella awesome cake from the cake elves Jessica and Ashley!  

Just look at the red velvet yummy cake!!!

My friend Adriana came in for the show!!!  Another friend
from college that I have no idea where I would be without
her and Jessica!!!

Nachos were more amazing than I remember!

Me and the hubby!!!  He's put up with my grumpy
no carb, lots of exercise self! 

It was a fun weekend and now I'm enjoying tasting some sweet treats and working on getting back into a routine.  I enjoy health and fitness, I enjoy how I feel when I am in shape.  I'm not sure where this road will lead, but I will share what I find a long the way!  38 weeks of training and now it's up to me to build new balance into my life.  It feels exciting to find new ways to make food, new workouts to create, share and enjoy and I get to choose, I get to pick.  It's energizing to think of!  I started this journey because when my dad passed away I realized how amazing life is, how much more there is to do and how I can't keep waiting for greatness but I have to decide to go after it myself and make it happen.  My dad's smile captivated everyone he met and you could see the magic of dreams and hardwork when he smiled at you.  I want those stories, I want that life and I want to someday be able to share it all with my dad.  Find what inspires you, or who inspires you and don't set out to be perfect, set out to do something!  Don't let small set backs keep you down, use them as experience and keep it going forward!  Who knows what my next challenge will be ;)  

Cheers and lots of love,

Ash

29 Days till show time!

Well blog world it's getting closer to the actual day!!!  I'm resting with my feet up right now (after a morning cardio and workout ;) and it's 29 days till show time.  Which means I only have 28 more workout days and 27 days until I am on a plane!  You can break that down even further and realize that I work out one muscle group a day each week so I only have 4 leg workouts, 4 shoulder workouts, 4 chest workouts, 5 back workouts, and 4 bicep/tricep workouts.  Crazy to think about that.  I only have 12 more workouts with my trainer too!  There have been good changes happening, my training has made my muscles harder, my abs are coming in (of course slower than I would like ;) and cardio is releasing toxins, and is helping me with weight loss (a total of 41 pounds gone!)  I can see the potential and the light at the end of this tunnel!  I had a breakdown for a moment thinking I wouldn't make it but once I got that over with and started thinking more positive it started to become clear to me that I will make it and it's going to feel great!

I've switched out oatmeal for brown rice and have switched one fish meal for flank steak and another meal of 4 egg whites and asparagus to my diet also.  I'm seeing good changes from it and I've mixed up my cardio a bit.  Mornings are 4 mile runs with a small circuit to finish (I usually run outside then pick 4 different moves and sprints and do that for 3-5 rounds)  my evening cardios are a choice between stairmaster, sprint/lunge walk treadmill, and another 4 mile run finishing with the arc trainer.  Cardios last 45 minutes.

For the most part I am just trucking along with training, work, staying positive, having some fun, resting, planning my trip and enjoy the changes that are happening along the way!  I'll post again soon!

Cheers,
Ash

Progress

Hello there blogger world!

Wondering where I've been?  Training, eating and sleeping with some work days in there too :)  Seriously, I've stepped up my training game and my body is sore and tired.  I've added some glutemine and BCAA's to my routine in order to help my body repair faster.  Basically it helps my body's natural amnios not get depleted when I'm working out so hard.  I'm going to be lifting heavy and doing plenty of cardio which takes it's toll on your body.  My trainer has suggested that when I can or want to I should get massages in order to help work out any soreness and lactic acid in my muscles and quite frankly I couldn't agree with her more ;)  Well here is a progress pic of me yesterday after a couple of meals (I get SO hungry I forget to take a picture before I fill my belly with goodness :)

My back and shoulders are starting to really take form
and my abs are leaning out also (see dat oblique up there
on the top right!) Woo Hoo!!!

I've seen a lot of plans that require very little cardio.  I don't know how that happens but for me, I actually like cardio (please don't tell my trainer ;) I do 7 days of morning cardio and 5 days double cardio.  I train (lift heavy things) with my trainer 2 times a week and 3 days on my own.  I took two back to back days this week with no lifting and just did morning cardio so my body could repair......and thank the good Lord that I did.  Because when I wake up in the morning I barely want to move because I'm so sore.  All good things though and I have to really take care of myself.  I make sure I stretch after cardio, always warm up correctly, hot baths for my muscles and plenty of sleep!  I am probably getting about 8-9 hours of sleep or more a day :)  It's my body's time to repair and I've got to stay on my water game as well making sure I get in my full gallon or more a day.

I wanted to make sure I posted my progress pics!  On Saturday I will be at 9 weeks till show time!  Pretty exciting and nerve racking since we are already in the month of August!  This is the month that my suit sample gets mailed to me to try on!!!  SO excited to finalize everything!  But till showtime it's time to do some work!  Just taking it one day, one cardio, one set, one rep at a time till I'm there!  

Have a fabulous day wherever you are and thanks for reading! 

Cheers,

Ash

A whole new kind of pain.....

When I think back on my life I know that I've experienced pain before.  I lost loved ones, I've had a fight with a friend, I've stubbed my toe and I've been sick, I've lived through disappointments, I've lived through feeling like I'm a disappointment, I've made it through these moments in life and I know there will be future pain, because that's the beauty of life.  You get a life full of amazing moments, and I have had a great life, because even through the bad I'm thankful for life.  I've taken on this new challenge and it's a new kind of pain.  I've just come home from a workout where my trainer said these exact words  "It is going to take EVERYTHING you've got".  Now she didn't just mean the workout we were doing, she means these next 9 weeks.  The intensity in her eyes tells me that there is no room for error and that she's as serious as can be.  Today's workout tells me she means business.  She's equal parts love/compassion and get your ass in gear haha

So this has got my brain turning and thinking.  I'll be honest my first thought was "I'm scared/I don't know if I can do this" I wanted to stop myself from thinking this but I'd rather think it, release it and never bring it to another workout again.  Today's workout she pushed me and my back and arms are in a new kind of pain!  9 weeks.  That's the time I've got left.  I can see my limits, I can see where I've pushed myself before, almost like an island where you can see where the sand fades into the ocean.  I understand how some people can see this journey as vain because I'm pushing myself to "look a certain way" or "be a certain size" because they think that's what makes me happy.  And really it's not about that.  Having a great physique will be an added bonus, but I want to know that I can do more than I thought, push further than I think I can and be more disciplined than I've ever been before.  Can I choose a goal and dig deep to get to where I want to go.  That's what this is all about.  I'm in the process of building a better me.  That's all I can think about right now because it will get progressively harder.

So workouts by myself will have to increase the intensity.  This word was used several times during today's workout.  Bring more intensity, have more intensity.  Don't go half ass and don't think that I have to be perfect.  But I have to keep the intensity up to the standards with a Coach Candice workout.  I should feel like I'm struggling by the last few reps and still push it through even if I need to take a break.   It's not about hitting a certain rep # any more or a certain weight.  It's about working my muscles till I think they can't go any further and then doing 5 more reps on top of that.  I know that today's post wasn't a workout or food post but there are a lot of things that happen when you do something new or you have a new goal.  I hope that through my journey and by writing this blog I can see the moments where fear holds me back and break through it.  Life is too short for me not to see what I'm made of.  So thanks for reading (mostly because this took a long time for me to have enough strength come back to my arms so I could finish this post haha......I'm not kidding about that!)  Tomorrow is a picture progress post!  I'll post more then!!!  Till then I've still got a double cardio session and hopefully some nap time too so my muscles can rest a little :)

Perfect for today and the next 71 days :)

Cheers!
Ash

Dedication to the plan

Hello blog world!

As it gets closer and closer to the show date a million things are running through my head.  Practicing my walk/posing, buying my show shoes, travel plans, trying on my bikini next month, buying jewelry, getting my hair done, and the list goes on and on.  I'm taking care of things little by little and most of it is just stuff I have to wait for (I'm impatient sometimes.....  :)

But as much as I'm looking ahead to the finish, I also spent some time reflecting today.  I realized how much stronger I have been than I expected.  It's easy to think that I have my trainer and she's the one that has made everything happen but really that's not how its been.  Don't get me wrong my trainer is amazing and I wouldn't trade her for anything!  But she gave me the map, gave me the plan and everyday I made the choice to execute it.  I made it to the workouts, I chose to eat the right things, I divided up my weeks by muscle groups and I worked out by myself every day of the week but the one day with my trainer.  When I realize that everything I've built has been because of my effort, it feels amazing.  Sometimes we get into the grind of things and the day to day and before we know it we forget to reflect on where we started and take happiness in the journey so far.  It's been awesome, scary, intense, defeating at times and uplifting at times.  I've discovered more about myself from these challenges I've faced and I know I won't be the same person after this and it's all for the better.  And although it is about some of the physical changes but the real difference is sticking to a plan, being dedicated to something you can achieve with hard work and focus, and making a choice to do it everyday not just when you feel like it.

So how am I getting myself ready in these final weeks?   I've been focusing on meditation and taking some time to really slow down and focus my thoughts each day.  Block out the noise and really envision the end results from this journey.  I've been scouting other competitors and learning from youtube videos and such on ways to pose, what is expected from stage presence and outfits.  And I start my double cardio so I can kill this small layer of fat that is hiding some of my muscles!  Lean machine time!  :)

I just wanted to update on where my heads at, what I'm feeling while I sit only 10 weeks away from stage......can you believe this is the last double digit week!!!  Holy crap!!! :D  I'm excited and scared all at the same time!!!  Thanks for reading or following along and I'm sure I'll be focusing more of my nervous energy into the blog these upcoming weeks!

Cheers,
Ash

Heavy lifting, split workouts, and new diet

Hello blog world!!!

I've been busy putting in my gym time since my last post and doing new meal prep so I thought I would share!!!

WORKOUTS:
I am still awaiting my new cardio plans from my trainer, so for right now I am sticking to the previous cardio I have been doing.  6 days a week right now.  The only change that has happened is that I am doing fasted cardio now, so no eating before my sweat session!  My cardio is still 45 min long sessions. I do a lot more high intensity/low intensity phases to my cardio and I've been wearing my heart rate monitor too.

After my cardio I eat two meals before my second workout.  During my second workout my only focus is lifting, and lifting heavy.  I should only be able to get 8-10 reps done with the right amount of weight.  I'm focusing on shoulders at least two times a week, legs once a week with Coach Candice, abs at least 3 times a week, bicep/triceps once a week, back at least twice a week.  Sometimes I super-set my lifting depending on how I feel.  Either I will do two lifts back to back or put in a plyo of some sort in between sets (mountain climbers, an ab workout, burpees) which helps get my heart rate up in between my sets.

**eventually I will be doing two a day cardio sessions with my trainer and I will do the second one after training and eating the next two meals, or later in the day if my schedule needs it.


WORKOUT and MEALS

CARDIO

* 5 egg whites, 1/2 cup oatmeal with 1 tsp maca root powder, cinnamon/stevia and one tbl. nibs
* 30g protein powder (I use BSN whipped vanilla flavor), acai berry puree packet unsweetened, 1/2 cup raspberries, stevia and 1 tbl. unsweetened cocoa powder

LIFTING

* 4oz. Tuna, 1/2 cup celery, mustard and 2 plain rice cakes (I know it's weird but I seriously really like the rice cakes :)
*  4 oz.  chicken and 1 cup of broccoli

**When the time comes this will be my second cardio time or later in the day.  I'm thinking these sessions won't be as high intensity but will be longer (maybe 55 min-60 min) and I'll probably use my heart rate monitor in order to keep myself in the "fat burning" zone.  But that's just my best guess, I'll see what kind of torture, I mean cardio Coach Candice has in store for me :)


*  30g protein powder (I use BSN fresh cinnamon roll), ground chia seeds, 1 tbl. nibs
*  4 oz Orange Roughy fish (when I looked this fish up I was scared!!!  It's one crazy ass looking fish, but guess what.....it taste amazing!!!) and 3/4 cup green beans


No more cheat meals or extra anything, just this diet.  And if it needs to change based on how my body is doing then we can adjust from there.  My trainer warned me that I will start feeling hungry throughout the day.  My body is used to having more fats in my diet and taking them out will make me a little hungry.  But that's the point, if my proteins are leaner and my carbs are timed with my workouts so that they are absorbed and burned for fuel and I keep going through all 6 of my meals I should be well on my way to building the body I want!


Once I get my cardio list updated I will detail what I'm doing and how it's going.  I'll also post a pic this week of my progress!  Take care wherever you are and thanks for reading!!!

Cheers,
Ash

Happy Birthday, Happy Cheat Meal, Happy Day!

Hello blog world!

Yesterday was my last cheat meal and we had good friends with us to celebrate my husband's birthday and really enjoyed a brunch at a new spot that is amazing!!!  Here was my fabulous meal of choice:

Green chili, jalapeño bacon cheeseburger and sweet potato fries!! 

We lived in New Mexico for a few years and I was missing the New Mexican food flavor!!!  We found a bistro where the owner was from New Mexico and used Hatch chilies in some of his dishes!  So it was an amazing choice as a last meal to get me through this 11 weeks!  Well that and the cold stone ice cream I had afterwards too :)  I def made it count that's for sure!!!!  Again it's time to get down to business and wake up everyday to get my cardio in, get my heavy lifting in and enjoy my brown rice meal afterwards!  The only concern now for me is building up my shoulder muscles so I can get a good shape.  When we up the cardio in September I will of course lean out.

Here is my most recent progress pic:

Top row is current and bottom row is my day 1 start to this journey!  I'll post weekly pictures leading up to my contest day!!!

Thanks for reading and following my process!  I'm ready for this 11 week count down!  Here we go!!!

Cheers,

Ash