A little over a month into training for this competition and I’ve already hit a plateau.  I tried a little experiment two weeks ago by not doing any fat burning cardio and just did weight training 3 x a week with high intensity cardio 2x a week.  My thought process was how fat burning cardio is not as ideal for losing fat as much as weight training.  It was also sparked from this article http://jillfit.com/2012/10/18/how-much-cardio/.  Plus I was just plain bored with doing my steady state cardio 4 x a week.

And the results?  Maintenance.  Didn’t lose a pound.   137.4lbs exactly on Halloween, which was my scheduled weigh-in for myself.

So I think we can assume that didn’t work for me.    So back to plan A:  Eating as best as I can prepare for, steady state cardio 3 x a week, boxing 2 x a week and weight training 3-4 days a week.  Period.

As for diet, I’m starting to implement the Fighter Diet from trainer Pauline Nordin.  You can get it here for a decent price at http://www.fighterdiet.com/.  I can’t recall how I found Pauline’s website but I do like her very blunt approach to fitness and health.  She’s also a badass.  I mean, look at her!  She’s a BEAST!

She did do a figure competition but now she does her own thing by writing ebooks for people to download to use for their fitness goals.    She actually suggests instead of competing, women should just train hard and schedule a photo shoot to show off their new bods.  I can’t help but think this might be my Plan B if competing doesn’t pan out.

And, don’t laugh, but I even found a really cool website on Facebook that one of my FB friends “Liked” and I think it’s an amazing idea.  (Credit to FB for actually doing something right here). It’s called Cleveland Boudoir.  Looks like they are a boudoir and pinup photography studio. http://clevelandboudoir.com/  The premise is that you can get all dolled up in some sexy clothes and do a photo shoot, just for fun or for a Valentines Day gift, anniversary, etc.  Cute!

Back to Fighter Diet:  I just started her workout plan last week and will begin her nutrition plan this week.  The only reason I didn’t start both at the same time like you SHOULD is that I wanted to wait until I had a bit more funds to get some of the foods that are called for, like psyllium husk and Nutrafiber flakes.

And unfortunately, one of the staples of the plan is…the dreaded….Oatmeal.

Ever since I can remember, I have never liked oatmeal.  I actually never tasted it because I based my disgust on just the looks of it.  It’s so…mushy and ….beige.  I mean beige?? Really?  Such a boring ass color.

I tried it over a year ago for the first time and wasn’t completely disgusted.  I did eat it for a week or two.  Somehow I stomached it and yes it made me feel full for hours but the entire process of getting the courage to actually eat it was so time-consuming.  I think it literally took me an hour to finally eat a bowl of it.

To be fair, Pauline suggests Oat Bran, not oatmeal, which is different.  And please don’t ask me the differences because just talking about oats is so boring it might put me to sleep.  The point is, I gotta eat some stuff I’m not too crazy about.  However, I can substitute foods.

This week should hopefully get back on track after quite a bustle of activity so far this month (I realized it just started):

1. My ipod, money and a very nice Ohio State jacket getting STOLEN from my car that was PARKED IN MY DRIVEWAY.  I know I locked it…the perps (I watch so much Law and Order) somehow got the driver’s side window down far enough to then unlock the door.  I was stupid enough to leave my iPod in there.  Dumb mistake.  But it does bring a smile to my face to think that the idiot that has it now can’t turn it on because the On/Off switch hasn’t worked for months.  This was due to me drinking a protein shake one morning and spilling it near the ipod while it was in my car.  The price of “drinking” healthy!  It caused the button to stick so much that the only way to turn it on is to connect it to a power source.  Good luck selling a broken ipod buddy!!  And I hope you enjoy a mix of Skrillex, Tori Amos and ABBA!!

2. I had two days in a row (this weekend specifically) of not the greatest eating.  Dining out is always the biggest challenge.  I had one alcoholic drink on Friday and half of one on Saturday.  I’m not about to cry about having two drinks, one night will not undo all the progress I’ve made.  The food choices could have been better though; Did I really need those sweet potato fries and two quesadillas??  Ehh…

3.  I went to a Boxing Fight last night called Battle in the Ballroom.  There were 13 bouts (fights) and it was all really amazing and entertaining to watch!  What was so great is that it was quite motivating for me to see these guys duke it out.  You could tell who had trained really hard and who was experienced and who was not quite as prepared.   It was also a little wake up call for me as far as my goals and how far I have to go.  Take away the actual fighting aspect of it…I don’t want to be that” unprepared fighter.”  The one who goes down after 1 round.  The one who staggers and falls and as much as he thought he was ready, he wasn’t.  His opponent dominated the fight and won.  It might not be the best comparison but I refuse to be that competitor who is NOT prepared.  It’s obvious after just a few seconds in a boxing match who is going to win.  It’s probably just as obvious for figure/bodybuilding competitions;  obvious winners and perhaps some people who should have re-thought the idea of getting on stage.

Which reminds me:

 

This is a “mantra” I have in my head alot while I’m working out and doing something particularly difficult.  I just think of all the other women out there training for a competition, specifically my competition.  I refuse to let them get ahead of me.

 

And with that, let’s have a good week peeps!  All 3 of you who are reading this. Ha! 🙂

 

Random song on iTunes (thank goodness those thieves didn’t get my laptop):  “Footloose” by Kenny Loggins.

 

Random Tweet of the day courtesy of our lovely Cleveland Browns: