Week 9 down and 23 more weeks to go!!

Hello all!

I had my training session today and rocked out legs and shoulders with my trainer!  My muscles are pretty tired but I still have work today so no resting!  At least I didn't have cardio!!!  I've decided on my suit color too!  (I'll post a picture of the swatch of fabric!  I'll keep the final design as a surprise! :)  Here is my progress pic for week 9!  I did a little more of a collage in order to see more muscle groups.  I had already eaten half of my protein pancakes before I realized I did not take pictures :)  Guess I was a little excited to eat!

The only editing I did was collage the pictures, there isn't any "filters" or change of lighting.  I wanted to start monitoring my shoulders, biceps and triceps as well as my ab changes!  I am still really excited about this journey and I have some milestones up ahead!  Friends are visiting, family will be here the end of May, our anniversary is in June and I'll soon be placing the order for my bikini, buying my dress and trying to get my theme wear ready.  Then in July I'm planning to start doing 2 days a week with my trainer and maybe in September I'll bump it up to 3!  Every time I think about my game plan I get so excited!  Here's to another week down!!!  Good changes are happening even if they are slow changes!  :)

Cheers,

Ash

Prep, sleep, eat, cardio, lift, drink water, work, repeat. How do I keep motivated through it all!

Hello!

I know that normally there is a lot to fit into a regular day.  Work, cleaning, cooking, spending time with family and then to add on the meal prep and gym time I have to do you can imagine that every moment I can set my self up to be successful will keep me consistent.  Consistency= changes.  If I change something just once it's not going to make a difference.  This journey is for the long haul so I have to make the same changes for the long haul.  It's really a lot to balance and being almost 9 weeks into this journey I wanted to share what is inspiring me and keeping me motivated during the "tough" times right now.  I'm sure that some motivations will change but these have been pretty consistent and I'll also talk about some tips I've been doing in order to keep me ready for everything from gym to work to food!

MOTIVATION:

• Um, that bikini I'm going to be in! Have you seen what competitors wear on stage?  The point is for judges to be able to see and judge the body so let's just say that they keep it classy, but it's going to show if you didn't put in ALL the effort!  Who wants to get to the finish line but not really have the body to show for it?  Not this girl!  I'm willing to follow whatever my coach says to get to my goal (and she only gives me healthy changes or advice, I'm not willing to go back on my morals or endanger my body for anything) but I'm also not willing to give in and have a cupcake just because!  
• The support of friends and family.  Because I'll be competing in my home state I have a lot of friends and family that are all willing to come out and support me that day!!!  I get excited just thinking that people who are the foundation to who I am and such influences in my life and would want to be there to hold posters and cheer me on!  What a moment it will be when I'm on stage and my name is announced and I hear them in the crowd!  That moment really does get me through that last set and that last rep!
• My husband.  I know it's a trend on post for me to thank my husband but there's a reason.  He's seen me through a lot of stages in my life.  I've known my husband since 8th grade and we've dated since our sophomore year of high school.  I've been lots of sizes and had lots of things change in my life and through it all he's been right there loving me.  But I've also made a lot of silly fitness choices before this journey started.  Just like we've all done, I've thrown away money and had gym memberships and didn't go, gone back and forth on what I eat.  So I understood why at the beginning of this journey my husband was encouraging but still a little cautious.  It took a while for him to believe my dedication, but now that he does it's amazing.  He's 100% on board and wants to help and support me in any way he can.  What more can I ask of my partner in life?
• My coach.   All week I put in the hard work and eat the right things and measure everything out because when I meet with with my trainer nothing makes me happier than for her to be impressed with my changes.  I show her my progress pics, we talk about life, work, how I feel, my meal plans, any challenges I'm having and I trust her feed back and the path we are on.  I've never gotten to this point on my own and I couldn't do it without her!  Even when I think I can't get 1 more rep out somehow she pushes me to get 5 more!  That's someone I trust with my progress and I'm happy to have on my team!  
• Following fit people.  I follow people I admire on instagram and facebook.  I like to read the info that they give out and I soak in all the information they have about prep, planning, workouts and nutrition.  Some are well known and others are also doing their first competition or their first few.  I see them sporting the body I want to have and I like knowing that I'm following the same steps they are to have that body one day!  I like to see them be "real" and show when they don't feel like going to the gym but they go anyways or that they enjoy normal food every now and again.  Seeing them have that success physically and still fight the same cravings or moods that I do is refreshing.  When I need a "pick me up" it's nice to see what fitness gems they've posted for me to find!  Here are some favorites:  Kelsey Byers, Erin David Davis, Nicole Wilkins, Erin Stern, Jamie Eason, Courtney Prather, Cecille Canary, Ashley Horner, and Rachel Nicole just to name a few! :)
• Feedback.  It takes a lot to make these changes in my life and it made me nervous at first to talk about or share them.  But through sharing this journey I've gotten some positive feedback from family, friends, co-workers and even strangers and it is all really motivating.  It's amazing the things we do in life and never really know who's paying attention to our actions until they remind us.  So for anyone that said I inspire them, first off- that's just awesome!  secondly- thank you for your encouragement to keep this journey up!  I always get a really cheesy grin when I read a positive feedback :D
• Love and life.  I've lost some important people in my life, most recently my father in November, and I think about them daily.  I think about what I'm giving myself that they can't have anymore, life.  I'm taking care of my body, I'm testing my limits and pushing through them and I'm doing it with their memory in mind.  From my grandparents I never met, to my grandfather and grandmother, my step father, and my mom's late husband, and my father they are all with me.  They all give me strength and I picture what they would be telling me right now if they could see me.  They always keep me going through anything and really living this life and giving it all I have for them is my goal.  

TIPS

• Prep!  It takes a lot of effort (and tupperware ;) to make sure my days off are spent in the kitchen and that I've done grocery shopping and weighed/measured all my food out.  But it keeps me on time to work and ready to go and stress free!  I can pack my lunch box each morning in less than 1 minute! 
• Organization!   I lay out my workout clothes for the next day ahead of time, I pack my evening workout bag and put it downstairs by the door so I don't forget it.  I keep an organization box in my car to keep my workout stuff (cardio plans, iphone band, headphones, locker lock and chargers) and my work badges all together.  If I move that stuff around too much I will end up with a lot of days I don't have my daily things I need to be set up for a good work day and gym day.  It's important that each item I use everyday have a "home" where I can find it.  On days I have to be at work by 8am I'm up by 4:30am and at the gym doing cardio by 5am.  I have to fit it all in and to fit it in consistently I enjoy getting up early to do my cardio.  I've done more by the time I get to work than most people do by lunch!  If I don't have to be to work till 11am or 1pm then I do both my cardio and lifting in the morning before breakfast. My week is mapped out for me so I know what muscle group I'm working on what day and what days include cardio.  Failing to plan is planning to fail.  
• Sleep.  Now that I'm on a more routine (even with retail hours) I sleep so much better and I try to get between 6-8 hours of sleep each night.  It's important for my body to rest and I wake up more eager to start my day when my body has had enough time to be at rest.  
• Find a way to cook food the way you like!  I could very easily use frozen packaged fish for my meals but I don't like it and in the long run it might cost a little more to go to Whole Foods butcher counter for my fish and ground bison but I like the freshness of the food and I'll keep up this plan long term if the quality of the meat is good!  I found my favorite Mrs. Dash seasonings I like, and marinades for my fish.  I go to other grocery stores to get my in bulk vegetables, egg whites, and spinach because the quality is good for these foods and the price is right too!  I'd rather save a little on my veggies and use my resources towards fresh meat.  But to each their own!  Once you find what you like stick withit until you need to mix it up again!  Now I have almost a rhythm to my prep cooking!  But find spices or seasonings that fit in with your goals (low sodium, carb or sugars...whatever your perimeters are) to add something new to your food!  Food doesn't have to be boring to be good! 

I find it good to pin point what keeps you going because when those tough moments happen or when you are questioning yourself, having those true North motivations will keep you on your path.  Whether it's people, a memory, or a future goal we all have something/someone driving us forward to move on.  I hope that maybe some of my tips/motivation helps and that you find your clear path and go fearlessly into it!  

Cheers,

Ash

Vision, motivation, and drive

Hello!

So my trainer told me last week to put together a vision board.  However I wanted to put that together and whatever motivated me or was apart of my vision for myself.  Now the arts and crafts part of me could get really crazy when assigned such a task but I didn't want it to get too crazy!  Here's a picture of the poster I made and I'll kind of walk through thoughts behind sections of the poster:

• LIVE-  I put this on there because I've had a few important people pass away, the most recent being my father in November.  I think about this every day, living.  My dad was an amazing man and so important to me and I continuously think about taking the rest of my life and really living it.  Not letting things or people hold me back from what I want to do or accomplish, I want my life to be filled with stories to tell my children someday.  **That's a pic of me and my dad on a horse**
• Be yourself-  there are a lot of phrases that I cut out about loving myself, trusting myself and leading myself.  I enjoy my personality, even the flawed parts of it.  Not being scared to show people who I am and be accepted is a big part of what I believe life is all about.  
• Love-  I put something on my board that came to my mind, "Be the starting point to love in your life" meaning just that.  Don't wait on someone else's love to be what you judge yourself by, love yourself first.  When you do that you invite positive and good things/people into your life and then the love you have for yourself grows into the love you have for the life you've built.
• Being a great partner-  My husband is my rock, my best friend, and my dance partner.  I want to be just as wonderful for him as he is to me.  I wake up early with him some mornings to spend time together before work/workouts take us into our day.  I know a lot of things are focused on me on this journey but I do my best to make sure that my focus is also on my husband.  I like to be a good wife who takes care of the house and takes some stress off my husband by being able to cook meals or plan ahead when he's going to have a long day.  I enjoy taking care of people in my life and making sure my husband knows just how amazing I think our marriage is.  
• Expect amazing- a lot of times I underestimate myself.  I know that I can usually try to be realistic but lets be honest if I took away any fear to get things wrong and just put my concentration on the plan and the energy it takes to achieve something then I possibly could amaze myself with what I can accomplish.  Put in the heart and the effort and get ready to surprise yourself!
• Struggle-  I've had a lot of struggle through my life, as I'm sure everyone has.  It's made me who I am today and I still reflect on how it's shaped my life.  Without the tough parts of life we would all coast through it, sure it sounds better but it's the gritty part of life that molds you.  I can't stand when people aren't willing to just roll up their sleeves and put in the hard work and overcoming things in life is no different.  We all hurt, we all have loss, we all have pain but we don't have to live everyday with it.  We can all be better from the hard stuff life throws our way, you just gotta be ready to dig a little deeper to get there.  
• Fitness- I also included some fitness photos of people I found to have a physique that I liked and aspire to look like.  Keeps me motivated on the workout part of my life!  I've started to see my body change and sometimes I seriously have to do a double take in the mirror because what I expect to see and what I see are becoming more and more different.  I no longer see the girl trying to be an athlete, I see an athlete.  I see strong rounded shoulders that are becoming more defined, strong legs, leaner mid section and my same lil' freckled face with a much bigger smile than I used to have.  I am surprising myself, and it feels great! 

Maybe some of my motivation meets up with yours or maybe something different motivates you to accomplish your goals!  Wishing you motivated and happy days!

Cheers,

Ash

Cheat meal Saturday!!

Hola!!!

So Saturday was my cheat meal and I spent some time deciding what I should have.  I've already had burger/fries and pizza for previous cheat meals and when I started wondering what would satisfy my food cravings I did not have to look to far!  My tummy was hankerin' for some Mexican food!  I can't believe it wasn't my first choice because I freakin' love me some mexican food!  The chips, salsa, tortillas, the seasonings on the meat, guacamole, the queso!!  I mean seriously I could go on!  So I knew I had picked the right food and the right place (thanks to a recommendation from a friend!) and I spent all day Saturday hanging out with my husband, eating my meals, running errands and trying to pass the time until our 7pm reservation!  I must have looked at that menu 10 times before we were even at the restaurant!  My coach had recommended eating some red meat so I was settled on getting some steak fajitas!  She said that the red meat should be good for my body and I should maybe see some changes, which I'm interested to see also!  But without further ado here are some photos of my cheat meal day!

 

I got a new dress and was excited to actually have the day off
and spend it with my husband!!!  Date night and cheat meal!!

Chips (I forgot how amazing they taste!!!) salsa,
and refried beans!!  All so warm and yummy!

I had to have some freshly made guacamole!

Um, tortilla and Queso Fundido with Chorizo!
I couldn't say no to this goodness!  

And finally after snacking so much the food arrived!  Steak
fajitas!!  I loved the meat and the veggies which might not
seem like a cheat but they aren't on the menu right now so
I enjoyed every guacamole, rice, bean, and chip filled bite!

And this is me on a normal basis :)  Either
gym clothes or a hoodie on!  Once I ate and felt
like a lil' piggy I was ready for some comfortable
clothes and some NBA playoff games!

And I'm still on my peanut butter, eziekel
tortilla, banana and honey roll kick for dessert!

It was a fabulous day that I really wasn't expecting.  I wasn't sure that I was going to have a cheat meal or when the next one would be but I was super happy to have this one and was surprised my trainer wanted me to have another cheat meal last week!  I will be meeting with my trainer on Thursday this week so maybe I'll learn about the next cheat meal!  I felt better after this cheat day although I felt SO sluggish in the morning and had to go to work, I still set my alarm for 7am and was doing my cardio and workout routine and putting that cheat meal to good use!!  After that I felt refreshed and awake and not as poochy as I do sometimes after my cheat meal.  I've been trying to down the water to in order to flush out my system and get me back to square one.  My meals have been prepped and I have today and tomorrow off work so I have some time to get things organized and cleaned before my week starts back up and busy!  I hope that everything is going fabulous in your day and your life!

Cheers,

Ash

My work out week!

Hello!

I wanted to post a quick pic of how I keep track of my workout week!  I love to draw so instead of it being a typed out list I did a little day by day tracker.  Sometimes I adjust what body part I lift based on if Coach Candice and I worked something or not.  If we did lots of upper body I will sub in legs for shoulder days so that way my body is getting all worked out.  But every cardio session is 45 min and I don't have any time restrictions for lifting, as long as I can get in a good lift I'm happy!   About 30-40 minutes is average depending on how crazy busy the gym is.

Here's my week plan:

Yeah I know, it's bright :)  I keep it on my fridge next to my food menu!  I also keep a copy in my car so if I go to the gym right after work I'll be able to keep on track with what I'm working out.  The main changes from my journey has been from my diet.  The ability to stick to the plan has led to some really positive changes.  My skin looks better, I have a lot of energy, I sleep much better and through the night, I naturally wake up early and ready to do my workouts.  It's kind of crazy but my discipline in my whole life has changed.  I used to slack a little with cleaning or work around the house, and now I take the free opportunities I have to clean and cook and prep meals.  I like to make sure that my husband also has his meals ready when I have to work late.  It helps me balance more of my life to have it all planned out.  My workouts are important so they are scheduled into my week just like anything else!  It's my time to take care of myself and make sure I am putting in the work for this commitment!  So if you find yourself just going through the motions and just playing it by ear on when you'll work out maybe writing a realistic schedule to work out will help!  If you can only make it to the gym or do cardio 2-3 times a week then that's 2-3 times per week you will be consistent with it!!  Don't feel like you have to jump in to 6 days a week two times per day.  Be realistic when setting your schedule and you'll be able to carry it on much longer than a schedule that is booked to the max and overwhelming!   I hope your days and weeks are balanced and you are able to fit in taking care of you!  Because whether that's relaxing time, cleaning, working out, eating healthy, or watching a movie with your family it all takes care of you!  And that's most important! :)

Cheers!
Ash

8 weeks completed and 24 weeks till show time!

Hello hello!

So I've done something pretty exciting!!!  I paid for and registered for the WBFF show I am competing in!!!  My name is officially on the list and my hat is in the ring!!! (Figuratively speaking about the hat/ring :)  I've been on this journey as though I was already signed up but it feels good to finally register for the event!!!  I can't wait to get my packet with info about the show!!! **I'm smiling like a crazy person!!**  Now I need to do all the hard work and get to make some fun decisions too, like my suit and theme wear and evening gown!!!  I'll keep the blog posted on those decisions as they are decided too!  For now I'm pretty sure the suit color I'm going with is purple :)  Every time I envision myself on stage I'm rockin' a purple suit!

I also have reached the 8 week mark on my journey and I only have 23 weeks till showtime!!!!  So as usual here are my progress pics!!  I'm posting a collage one with the first week on the top and week 8 on the bottom!  Sometimes you don't always see the big change from week to week but when you take it back to the beginning you can see all the hard work has done its job so far!  So here it goes:

Crazy the changes so far!  I've had two cheat meals since starting this journey and I get another cheat meal tonight!!!!  I'll post pics of the yummy goodness I promise!!  This time I'll take pics BEFORE I eat everything :)  

I know I still have lots of weeks to go but the energy I feel and the motivation I feel is on a pretty high level right now!  Work is going pretty good, and managing my time, I'm making positive changes at work (with MANY more to go believe me) My trainer has me doing adding some cardio variations this week which I will update on!  I always get excited with new changes in my routine!  I've gotten enough sleep and have had the energy to get up early for cardio, plan for any evening lifting, prep my food and spend time with my husband.  Again I can't thank my husband enough for his help along this journey, every time I haven't had enough time he has been my saving grace to help me achieve my goal.  I would be feeling overwhelmed if I didn't have him by my side.  I hope that everyone is lucky enough to have someone who helps them out when they can't accomplish it all on their own.  Hope that you are all having a great healthy and happy weekend!

Cheers,

Ash

Cheat meal and the mental game

Hello!

So I've been at this training thing for 7 going on 8 weeks and I've only had two cheat meals and really I'm perfectly ok with that.  I'm always a little worried about the mental part of "cheat" meals.  You would think that by the time I sit down I would be hella hungry and ready to attack all my food but I am more timid.  It's strange to have to pick my food out from all the choices or eat something different.  I always like to start with a salad just because I want to make sure I don't go too crazy!  I don't mind an appetizer or anything as long as its not too greasy and fried because I want the bulk of my cheat to come just from the main course.  I usually don't have a drink but this time I had a glass of red wine to celebrate my friend being in town to visit.  We went to a pizza/italian place that we had heard about.  You build your own pizza and choose which oven you would like it cooked in!  Each one gives a different crust option.  I forgot to take pictures of my cheat meal :(  But I'll give you the gist of what I ate and the thoughts about cheat meal.
Here's what my meal consisted of:

• Red wine (don't remember what kind because my husband picked it out but it was delicious) 
• A chefs platter appetizer:  Warm bread, prosciutto, roasted red peppers, black olives, artichokes, parmesan, and other types of cheeses.  
• Spinach salad with pecans dried cranberries, ricotta salata and a vinergrette (when you haven't tasted cheese in forever it taste so amazing!)
• A thick crust pizza with Buffala mozzarella, sausage, bacon and piquillo peppers (the table shared both pizzas)
• A thin crust pizza with prosciutto, bufala mozzarella, dates, roasted mushrooms, and fresh parsley

Both pizzas were great and I had one slice of each.  For dessert I had this little gem!:

• Ezekiel bread tortilla 
• White Chocolate Peanut Butter spread on the tortilla (got this at whole foods!)
• A Reese's peanut butter egg I have been saving since Easter!  (I smushed it into the peanut butter :)
• A banana 
• And drizzled honey on top!  Rolled it up and ate it in all it's yumminess!!  

It was a delicious!  The day after I always feel like such a puff ball from eating something different than my regular diet.  I almost want to not have cheat meals but I know that they are beneficial to my training and to my sanity :)  Mentally it's hard for me to have the discipline that I do for my meal program on a daily basis and then use one meal that I can have whatever I want.  I'm getting used to it and sometimes it's hard to make a decision on what I want to eat!!!  I don't want to have an unhealthy relationship with food, so I'm trying to stay positive with my cheat meal.  Although I do look forward to cardio and downing a ton of water the next day!  I just want to make sure I have the right amount of balance in my life, because I won't live like this forever.  Someday I won't have a restrictive diet but I want to eat healthy, plan my meals and have meals out with my husband every one or two weeks.  But I also want to keep some of the results I've been seeing!  I enjoy myself in this body.  I want some more definition in my muscles but it will get there.  It's just nice to get dressed in the morning and put on whatever I want knowing that I won't be uncomfortable.  Turns out I was buying cute clothes and hanging on to them for so long waiting to "fit into them again" and now I can easily!  Nothing is too tight or doesn't fit right and I've never felt that way before.  I'm looking forward to what lies ahead on this journey!!

Cheers,

Ash

Everyone eats food from their purse....right?

Hello friends!

I had some friends visiting for the weekend and we went to the Rihanna concert, which was awesome!!!  I picked my friend up from the airport on Thursday and we spent time running errands, prepping food and going to the gym.  I packed all my food up for the day and ALL my water!  Which was a workout in itself!  I was dragging my food and water through the hotel where my friends were staying and taking my food with me when we would be gone out and about a long time.  Lots of places that we went had restrictions on what you could bring in (i.e. no food or water) so we found ourselves having to make time to go to the hotel room and warm up our tupperware.  Which we had to get pretty inventive since we didn't have a microwave in the room but luckily the hotel had really hot water so we would fill up the sink and let our tupperware warm up in the water.  Sometimes you just gotta make it work and as long as I wasn't eating cold tilapia I was happy!  The moment I could say my dedication was definitely showing was when we went to the Rihanna concert!  First off the concert was AMAZING!!!  We were close enough to see her very well and we were going crazy for every song!  The thing is we had plans to go out after the concert and I still needed to eat my last meal.  So I would either have to not eat my meal and be really hungry (and cranky since those go hand in hand) or I would need to bring my meal in ziploc bags with me.  Well you can hopefully guess what happened but I'll tell you anyway.  Between the first act and Rihanna I ate my meal :)  But here was my view of the concert:

She was amazing and I loved EVERY
outfit! 

Just entertaining the crowd!

It was a struggle to continue to fit in normal daily life that sets me up for success like grocery shopping, cardio, weights, and prepping/packing my meals and making time to hang out with my friends and go out!  I didn't have any drinks this weekend except for a glass of wine with my cheat meal.  Which I'll talk about on my next post.  I "partied" without drinking, and everyone really understood when I had to turn down drinks or food that was offered.  I had a plan to stick to and I did everything I could to stick to it and I even did some prepping for my buddy!  She has a different diet and workout routine than I do and she got to adjust her menu for weekends so I made her meals for the weekend too!  Again I enjoy cooking, prepping and organizing and I didn't want her going without her meals she needed!  Right now its back to normal and although I miss hanging out with my friend like crazy I'm glad to get all the tupperware washed, grocery shop, clean out the fridge, and start getting back to drinking all of my water I need to and my regular sleep schedule.  My first day back to work was a little rough so I'm glad I can get back to my morning cardio routine, I feel more energized at work when I wake up earlier and get so much accomplished before the sun comes up :)  I have to say that I did NOT do this completely alone though, my husband was fabulous and such a great help.  He helped me pack my meals, and while I was at work he cleaned SO much of the house!  It was nice to start my day off with a clean and ready house.  I am lucky to have such a supportive person by my side and telling me how proud he is of my dedication.  I hope that everyone has someone in their lives that can be supportive of the things they do and take the chances to be that supportive person to others!  No matter how strong the person is, everyone needs to know they are believed in!

Cheers,

Ash

P.S.  The most funny moment of the weekend was when we went to a club to go dancing.  I had packed a ziplock baggy with my Cinnamon Roll powder for a just in case emergency meal.  I knew I could always get a bottle of water, drink part of it and then mix in the protein powder if we were out late and I got hungry.  But I didn't realize how it would look until the door guy asked for me to open my purse and of course being the happy go lucky me that I am I said "Sure! No problem!" and then I realized the look on his face when he asked "What's this?"  Now I am naive but I do realize that some people travel with things they shouldn't be to clubs so explaining that I am training for a competition and I need to eat every three hours and this was my emergency meal was kind of humorous.  I had to tell him to smell the powder so he would realize its flavored Cinnamon Roll powder.  I let him know he could throw it away if he wanted although I really wanted to keep it with me in case I was hungry!  But alas he had to toss away one perfectly good scoop of protein powder.....*sigh*  But I got a good laugh out of it all :)

7 weeks and 25 till show time!

Hello!

I know I'm late getting my updates onto the blog!!  Sorry about that, but my sista from another mista was visiting!!!!  She's one of my best friends and I swear we have almost the exact same mind!!  We are constantly saying or thinking the same things!  We don't live close to each other anymore and that sucks but I'm always really excited to see each other!!   She is also training for a show so we can really relate to each other on the diet and exercise and we keep each other motivated through text and messages all the time.  But on Thursday was my 7th week of diet/exercise planning and 25 weeks until I step on stage and you know what that means!  Accountability pics with me standing on my bathtub and brushing my teeth early in the morning!  I'm a multi-tasker if I ever saw one!  haha

Front and side view

Here's a sleepy close up from that morning!

This is a comparison from TWO WEEKS AGO-LEFT and
LAST WEEK- RIGHT.  I kept everything the same but I can
see the difference that a week makes!  

Although this weekend was challenging (I'll go a little more into that on the next post) logistically, it was a lot of fun and I kept to the plan everyday!!  It was nice to have another friend prepping meals and eating out of tupperware too!  :)  We made gym trips together and helped each other prep!  I hope that everyone had a fabulous week/weekend!!!  I'll be posting and updating a lot today so on the the next one!!!

Cheers,

Ash

Just a look at all my meals!

Hello

I just wanted to post pictures of all my meals I'm currently eating.  These meals are the same each day and I actually like having my menu be the same each day!  

Here's everything you need to make sweet potato pancakes!
Egg whites, stevia, cinnamon, BSN Desserts Cinnamon roll
protein powder, cacao nibs, and mashed sweet potatoes.

The cooking process!  I can barely make one without eating
it right away!!!

Here's the next one up!  Acai berry smoothie, unsweetened
cocoa, strawberries, chocolate fudge protein powder,
Stevia and blend!

Sometimes I eat it like pudding!

Or drink it up!
Boomer Sooner!

Prepping Salmon and Tilapia!!! 

Yummy marinated salmon!

I got this marinade and it's amazing!  Low
sodium, sugars and carbs!

Finished product!

Brussel sprouts cut in half.  I used a basting brush to brush
on oil and cook in the oven!  About 15 min but I
turn them every 5 minutes.

Okra that goes with Tilapia, I get it at Whole Foods!

This is how excited I am to be prepping SO many brussel
sprouts!!  :)  Even though I really like eating brussel sprouts!

**Don't have a picture of Greek yogurt and pineapple!**

AND

**I don't have a picture of my final meal- I'll take a pic and update tomorrow or Saturday!**

I love that I don't really have to think about my meals and I enjoy the ease of prepping my food.  Everything is personal preference but I enjoy fresh salmon, tilapia, strawberries, pineapple and brussel sprouts and I'm willing to put in the time to chop and prep it all just because I prefer it.  I know it all depends on how much time people have to prep and what fits into their life.  If frozen veggies save time then maybe that's the route to go!  I only do my meal prep about two times a week so that way I have enough meals to last the entire week.  I guess I could cook more meals and freeze them but I don't really want to freeze my food for long term.  Again it's all about making the time, I enjoy doing cardio on an empty stomach so on my early morning work days I'm willing to wake up earlier in order to fit it in.  I pack my gym bag the night before and I pick out my morning workout clothes the night before.  I understand  that this can be a tiring routine eventually I'm sure but if I try and take care of my body I'll be able to continue to be healthy and keep up my routine.  I hope that no matter what commitment you are making to yourself I hope that all the planning and effort you put into things gives you great rewards!

Cheers!

Ash

Now that's how I prep a fridge!

Hello!

I've been really trying to get ahead on prepping enough food and meals so that way I'm not behind.  I've been packing my lunch box each night before work and keeping it in the fridge.  Here are the break down of my meals:

• Sweet potato pancakes- I always eat these at home (never pre-made!  I love breakfast so I decide to wake up with enough time to make fresh breakfast and enjoy it!)
• Chocolate protein shake (I make this the night before when I have to work early in the morning)
• Salmon and brussel sprouts
• Tilapia and okra
• Greek yogurt and Pineapple
• Ground bison, egg whites and salad with colorful raw veggies and spinach
• Optional last meal:  Protein shake

And here's how my fridge looks with all this prepped and stored! 

Each shelf has a different purpose (prepped fruit on top,
sweet potatoes and yogurt, lunch box and salmon/tilapia
meals, next shelf prepped veggies and cooked meat like
bison bottom shelf salad and spinach and other food for
my husband)

This does take a lot of work :)  but I love cooking and being in the kitchen and if I am more prepared to be successful by prepping like this then I am happy to do it!  I cook everything, weigh it and place it in tupperware!  Can you tell how giant my lunch box is!!!  I use a lot of freezer packs so I don't have to keep my lunch box in the work fridge.  Here's what an average food day looks like for my lunchbox:

I eat plenty of food, I'm not starving myself by any means!  I mean it's a pretty Forrest Gump approach. When I'm hungry, I eat.  Pretty simple.  I'm keeping my meal plans the same and I get a cheat day next weekend because one of my fabulous friends who's like a sista is coming to visit and I am so excited!!! She's training for a show in July so we will be doing some meal prep for her, doing some lifting and working out together and having some fun!!!  I can't wait and plus we are both DREAMING about our cheat day!  I will post plenty of pictures!!!  

I hope your day is all prepped and ready to be awesome!  

Cheers,

Ashley 

6 weeks going strong and 26 weeks till showtime!!!

Hello world!

So as usual I took pics this morning although I'm not sure how accurate they are because I ate my dinner around 9:00pm and I drank a lot of water before bed and this picture was taken at 4:30am so not a lot of time had passed since my last meal.  But here goes nothing!  Don't mind my sleepy face in these pics haha:

Side view

A little more definition in my
mid-section

I've definitely added more upper body muscle.
Yay!

The early mornings feel a little difficult to start but once I get going and out to the gym I feel ready to take on the day!!  I made it to work on time with everything I needed and to my evening lifting workout.  For the most part my evening lifting routine is divided up each day of the week to work on a different body part.  Tonight was Abs/Biceps/Triceps and it takes me about 40 minutes to get through the routine.  I don't like to waste time at night because after work I'm ready to get it done and head home!  I don't waste time during sets or take long rests and I'm able to lift heavier weights!  Gotta build that muscle!!!

I hope that everyone is having a fabulous day wherever you are in the world!  

Cheers,

Ash

This is what a glute workout is supposed to be like!

Hello!

Today I had a training session with Coach Candice and as usual we were focused on glutes.  Now I say glutes because it's not a leg workout.  I'm not focusing on my quads I'm focusing on building up for lack of a better term my backside.  I'm trying to lift, form, and tighten it all up!  I've been having a tough time engaging my glutes during the work out and not my quads for a couple of weeks.  It makes me realize that I might not have been lifting as accurately as I thought before.  I'm having to learn how to position my body and weight in order to get the right muscles firing. Well today was that day where things clicked like crazy!   We did a lot of supersets and by the end of the leg portion of my workout I didn't think I could walk!  Consider that a glutes engaged workout!  Here's a little bit of what my workout was:
I went through about 4-5 sets with 15-20 reps in each set (sometimes more depending on how Coach Candice is feeling :)  this is only a few of the workouts because others are just too much to explain on here!

Wide leg smith machine squats, feet wide apart and really sitting into the squat.
This was superset with a Good Morning move and holding a weight and pushing it out as a shoulder workout combo.

Lunges (lots of lunges!) but all the focus was on driving through my heel and making sure my weight wasn't too far forward.

Leg presses, lots of leg presses!  Starting with the consecutive sets of single leg presses (which is more like pulsing and squeezing the glute muscle) starting with my foot center, wide and then on the very edge.  I did all three positions on one leg and then just switched legs.  NO breaks and by the end of it my legs were on FIRE!  That was just with 50 lbs. on the press and then we upped it to 85 lbs. and did both feet for the press starting with shoulder width and then wide and full range of motion.  We did two sets back to back.

I did a little bit of shoulder workout after too and we did some supersetting.  All in all it was a great workout and I'm sure I am going to feel it tomorrow!  And that's an awesome thing!  The entire time all I focused on was building the right muscles and doing the right motions so that when I step on stage I am confident in all my prep work!

When I was talking with Coach during my work out (which was when I had enough breath!) I was talking with her about my new job and how it's going.  I told her about bringing in my water jug to work and feeling strange having to explain it and she put it perfectly.  She said "just tell them you're an athlete and you have to drink that much water".  Did you hear that?  That one word in that sentence?  Athlete.  I'm an athlete.  Do you know how long it's been since I've felt like an athlete?  Not since I was playing high school basketball!  I know I am athletic but it's been a long time since I've felt like I'm training myself as an athlete.  I think that's what I like the most out of this whole process.  I like identifying myself as an athlete.  It's an empowering feeling and I've missed feeling like this.  In high school you get to become an athlete and be built into an athlete and then you graduate.  If you're not amazing at sports so you can continue in college then you go from life revolving around sports to not being apart of it anymore.  It can leave you feeling a little empty and it feels great to have that part of my life back!  Here's to the athlete and possibilities in all of us!

Cheers!
Ash

How do you view yourself?

Hola!

I had a realization today about myself and I wanted to post on what I've learned.  While talking with my coach today I described myself in passing as a "lazy ass", I meant it as reference to who I was before.  But let's face it when you have a bad image of yourself, whether who you used to be or who you are now, it can affect how you view yourself in the present.  I tend to be very hard on myself.  Instead of seeing all the good things I've done or accomplished I can tend to focus on all the things I still need to accomplish.  I can do a ton of stuff around the house and still see what I missed.  I can get a B on a test and see all the times I could have studied in order to get a better grade.  I tend to get offended if someone points out anything that I feel I haven't accomplished or that I'm not good at because I'm self conscious about it.  Then I can express myself in a sort of rude way when I feel like someone is seeing or pointing out all the things I'm self conscious about.  The thing is, I know this about myself.  I am trying to improve on how I react to others and also trying to improve the way I view myself.  I personally am too hard on myself.  I keep a running tally in my head of all the things I fall short on and the truth is I shouldn't.  I should let those things go because all that does is tie me to a negative view point of myself that isn't accurate.  So even though I called myself a "lazy ass" in passing the truth is that maybe in some way I am still holding on to that image of myself and I shouldn't be.   My coach immediately made sure that I stopped describing myself in that way.  Her words to me were "you don't seem like a lazy person".  And that's the truth, I'm not.  I've done the cardio and training like I'm supposed to, I've prepped my little tail off cooking in the kitchen for hours on end!  I've been planning my life so I can fit in all the things I need to do like working out, work, taking care of the house, spending time with my husband and making time to hang with friends and have fun!  I don't want to anchor myself with the negative, no one is perfect, and although I always want to push myself, I need to also understand when I fall short and just learn from it. It doesn't define who I am and it doesn't erase all the good qualities I do have.  I shouldn't focus on all the things I could do better and feeling like there's a scoreboard to my life where I'm down by a 1,000 points and never going to catch up.  I need to realize life isn't a long run of all the things you weren't able to make happen, it's all the things you did make happen.  I hope that by changing the way I see myself it will continue to have a positive impact on my health, myself and ultimately the relationships I build with people.  I have wonderful people in my life that love me and see all the goods things in me and accept all the flawed things because they know that in the end the only thing I'm trying to be is the best version of myself and a good person.

I understand that this isn't a fitness based post but I do believe that our emotional and mental state deserves just as much effort to make healthy as our physical.  There are plenty of things in life that are guided by our feelings of self worth.  I hope your day is happy, healthy and that you are learning to accept who you are entirely!

Cheers,
Ash

My first full day of work and workouts!

Hello Blogger world!!!

Today was my first full day of work and I planned, prepped and packed everything I could need last night for today!  Although I wasn't so sure where I was supposed to be when I arrived at work today and had to wander around.  Even though I showed up on time, not knowing where I was supposed to be put me behind which I was not too happy about.  But it wasn't that big a deal and I just went along with my day!  I enjoyed the people I work with and I think I am really going to like my role.  Basically I'm a retail manager for a women's fashion retailer.  The thing about retail life is that management gives too much of themselves at times.  The days can get so busy that before you know it you don't realize how much time has passed and that you've forgotten to take breaks.  I'm going to be more regular about taking my breaks so I can fit in all my meals.  A lot of managers give up their breaks in order to fit more in their day but I'm not sure that makes for a healthy balance.  I did get some looks from my gallon of water jug and my suitcase lunchbox that I carried in :)  I had to explain to a couple of people why I had so much water.  For the most part I can see that many people aren't super health conscious or enjoy working out at the gym because they looked at me like I might be crazy :)  But for the most part everyone I worked with was very nice and welcoming and I tried not to talk too much about this part of my life on my first day.  There's more to me than just working out and I wanted to make a positive impression on who I am.

Here's how my first day went and how I planned to fit it all in on these early days when my work start time is 8:00am.

I was at the gym and on the stairmaster by 5:05am (my alarm clock going off at 4:30am came pretty early but I was excited for my first day so it wasn't too hard to get out of bed) The gym was nice and empty and I loved it!  I found great parking, it wasn't loud and I wasn't crowded.  It felt really nice to have the early gym life!  After my 45 min of cardio I had the scrumptious sweet potato pancakes and got ready and out the door by 7:30am!  I was happy to have all the cardio done in the morning and it really got me ready and energized for my day too.

Meals at work went well.  I took more time between my 2nd and 3rd meal today than I wanted to and I ate my 4th meal after I clocked out and before I went to the gym.  I knew I would be HUNGRY if I went to the gym without my next meal!  Then after the gym I ate up my next meal.  I'm getting to that stage again where I've adjusted to the amount of food I'm getting and I'm starting to get hungry sooner than I expect.  Which is a good thing!

I didn't know how drinking my gallon of water would go because I wouldn't have my water bottle around with me all the time.  My plan was during my breaks to drink as much water as I could and maybe it's because I was awake very early but I did get most of my water done which is a relief!  By the time I post this blog I'll be all finished!

I look forward to the day when going to work is normal and my routine is normal!  I have a lot to balance with all the things I am planning, taking to work and gym-ing it after work!  Between headphones, shoes, food, water, lock for work, work manager card, cell phone, gallon of water, water bottle, notebook for workouts, vitamins/supplements, the list goes on and on!  Thank goodness for my amazing husband who helped me line up and prepare the last details I needed to have a successful day at work!  He even prepped my sweet potato pancake batter and had my tea ready to go when I got back from cardio this morning!

I hope that great things are going your way today and that your plans for the day are successful!!!  I'll post pictures about my lunchbox and gym packing for my day and also my routine now that my routine has changed and also how my fridge is prepped/organized!!  I will also continue to post accountability weekly photos.  Okay, I'm going to stop typing now and prep for tomorrow!  Goodnight and fabulous dreams!

Cheers,
Ash