"progress"

Ok ok ok...so I'll admit it. I'm IMPATIENT. I know, I know...I'm only technically 2 weeks into my program, but I want results, damnit! I want my BIKINI BODY now!!!

Sigh...I have been following my Nutrition and Training program to a T...dutifully chomping on my flax seeds and sipping on my protein shakes while staring at all the morsels of chewy, sugary, cheesy, breaded, fried goodness longingly. I've been doing my walking lunges like a good little girl, practically living on that damn Stairmaster!! Not one cheat meal, not one missed day of training. My progress pics after the first full week of training were a bit discouraging, to say the least. As much as I scrutinized each little pixel of that photo, I could barely pick out any changes...I looked the SAME. And of course, D lost 10 freakin' pounds!! Ughhhhhhhhhhh!! Talk about frustration!

Now, I know real change "doesn't happen overnight," it's a "marathon, not a sprint," blah blah blah blah....but come ON...there has to be some kind of payback for the hours I spent prepping food and sweating out that cardio, right? I mean, I feel different. I feel tighter, more toned...I felt it but I couldn't see it.

So I gave it another week. I kept truckin' on through the workouts, the same meals day in and day out...my next meeting with Coach Oddo is still 2 weeks out, so I figured I could push myself and hopefully my hard work would show...whelp, last night, exactly 1 week after my first set of "progress" pics, I decided to bust out the good ol' digital camera and ask D to take a few pics. These were just for me, no official submission to Kimbo...just to see if there was any little glimmer of hope, some miniscule change to be noticed...

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!!!!!!! yes, I did a dance, jumped up and down, squealed like a 6 year old little girl on her birthday...PROGRESS!!! FINALLY!!! A little lift here, a little tighter there, smoother lines all over...YES!! ...aaand...I have a whole 'nother week to get my ish together and push even harder before my check-in with Coach Oddo!!! Now, that's the motivation I needed to help me re-focus and re-energize for the long haul, the 24-WEEK long haul. I know it's not going to get easier, but I'm just going to have to get better and train harder.

The moral of the story: change takes time. It's really easy to get down on yourself when you're not noticing any dramatic transformation after a few weeks of sacrifice, but I had to remember to trust the process. I hired the BEST coach in the biz to get me there, and I really have to put 100% faith in him and his expertise. He's brought countless girls into the spotlight and whipped them into shape--I'm not going to be any different! I just have to put in the work...my bikini body is already starting to take shape...I'm well on my way!!

Bikini Bound

So let's play a little catch up...

A few months ago, my eyes were opened to the wonderful world of Bikini. Now, like everyone else, I had the misconception that if a woman were to lift heavy, she'd bulk up like the She-Hulk and look super masculine...boy, was I wrong. The Bikini Division is overflowing with gorgeous women who are the exact opposite of what the general public would envision "female bodybuilders" to be. These women are lean and have curves in all the right places. They're fit and defined while still soft and sultry...everything I long to be, and WILL be soon enough ;)

I didn't always believe it was even remotely possible for me to get to that level...but then I learned about Tiffany Boydston, an IFBB Pro who is bound for Olympia 2012. Tiffany posted her before and afters on her fan page and all I could think was WOW...her body looked a lot like mine...and damn, look at her now!! Tiffany is an absolute inspiration to me and was sweet enough to respond with some great advice:

"I was 138 when I first started! I started doing the diet on my own after I learned about nutrition in school and had to clean things up because I have Hypoglycemia ( which has been fixed with foods and exercise). It was all going great losing the weight 12 lbs to be exact! I was doing Crossfit, kickboxing and training on my own. I wanted another goal because 125 was still a bit high for my little self and I couldn't lose the last 10 lbs. I was asking a friend who does shows I want to do one because I always loved her physique! Cute, little, around 110 lbs, full of curves, and yet toned! She said I should and I started doing my homework and then decided to contact my good friend/trainer/ Papa Kim Oddo! Best decision I EVER made! Not only does he do show competition diets but lifestyle ones as well to help you get down and if your wanting more after that and want to compete then he is phenomenal at being the BEST coach in shows!(Oddo's Angels)...... Patience is key girl! I struggled with it but to be honest didn't see in the mirror (because I'm mental and I know most agree with this) everyone else would comment and say I look great, but till about 6 weeks out from my goal date when I had been training for 3 months prior to that. It took me 18 weeks before my first show before I was ready. My advice is keep training hard! Jamie's program is perfect for what you are trying to achieve and be PATIENT, follow it to the T and the results will show!!!!!!! ;0) Hope that helped some girlie. :0)"

Well, that about told me everything I needed to know...Tiffany made me realize that it is possible for someone like me to get to that level, with the right training, hard work, will power and determination. That's what got me to where I am today, two weeks into my off-season program with Kim Oddo and dead-set on competing in the OC Muscle Classic in T-minus 165 days...

where to START...

Well, here I am at the beginning of what I anticipate to be one heck of a journey in my life...from pain ol' me to Bikini Competitor.

Now, I know this may seem like completely RANDOM goal, but hear me out...

Unfortunately, I was NOT blessed with the coveted metabolism of my little sister, who could eat every cupcake and cheeseburger that her little heart desired and not gain a fraction of a pound. Oh no, I grew up with the dreaded "thicky-thick" curse (you all know what I'm talking about)--just the SIGHT of a french fry would instantaneously add unsightly rolls along my waistline--yeah...not cute.

Now, just to clear things up, I didn't have an dangerously negative body image by any means. To be quite honest, I didn't really scrutinize my weight that often, and looking back, I'm sure that's what led to me putting on so much weight in college and ballooning up to my heaviest after graduation. I resigned myself to the belief that I just wasn't "built" that way, that I was always going to be a heavier girl. I "gracefully" accepted that. My justification? I was never obese, there were always girls who were bigger than me and I guess I took comfort in that fact...Sad, but true. I look back now at all the things I used to eat on a daily basis and it's no wonder I was as heavy as I was. Fast food for almost every meal, snacking constantly...and of course, that's the "norm" in college so it never dawned on me that I was making horribly unhealthy choices.

My weight fluctuated over the course of 6 years (college + post-grad) as I went through my "healthy" phases. I worked at Jenny Craig for a whopping 6 months and dropped down to about 135-140 for that length of time. For what it's worth, it did work for me while I was in college because it gave me "healthier" alternative for my meals and snacks, and gave me some sort of structure for my workouts, but it was nearly impossible to truly integrate into my lifestyle long-term without the ease of buying those pre-portioned entrees. I never did quite learn how to do it on my own and as soon as I got off the food, I ballooned right back up and stayed that way for a couple years. I was content that way until a boss of mine decided to issue a challenge to me and my co-worker and bff--first to lose 25 lbs. would win a gift certificate to the restaurant of her choice. The buddy system worked wonders for me. We'd eat our Lean Cuisines together at lunch, challenge each other not to snack during slow days at the office and share our gym routines on a daily basis. Accountability got me results. I'd managed to shed 35-40 lbs. and keep it off by just making simple changes--cardio 5-6 days a week, trading my Jack in the Box for Lean Cuisines at lunch, nothing too crazy.

But one day, the "progress" came to a screeching halt. I sentenced myself to months upon months of death-by-cardio, said NO to all the "bad-for-you," fried, breaded, sugary, rich, delicious foods and the scale refused to budge. I began to wonder if I would ever be able to have the body I wanted my whole life. I had this deep-seeded, desperate desire to finally break through my "plateau" and lose the last 10-15 pounds that I just hadn't been able to work off over the past 2 years.

I would spend hours longingly gawking over pictures of these stunning bikini competitors and fitness models, admiring their pristine physiques and envying their superior genetics. One day, while drowning my sorrows in more fitness pictures, I stumbled upon an album posted by (the incomparable) Jamie Eason entitled "Transformations" and was completely floored. All these brave souls posted their before and afters for the world to see...30, 40, 50 lb. weight-loss stories from people who started out way worse off then I ever was and ended up with these amazingly sculpted physiques. WOW...but HOW?!

This fascination motivated me to dig deeper, to read further into their stories, testimonials and uncover this "secret" that I had been oblivious to all these years. Had someone been holding out on me? I was determined to find out if this was actually real or, like everything else, too good to be true.

Well, turns out it's not a hoax, it's not a fad, it's not some myth or miracle pill being marketed to the masses...it is indeed, 100%, certifiably TRUE...and actually realistic and doable for "normal" people like me...EATING CLEAN.