TGIF!! I'm sure most of you are looking forward to a long weekend! It has been a long week for me, that is for sure. I went to the dermatologist's Wednesday to get some broken capillaries lasered from my face and legs. . .little did I know that I would be severely bruised from this for at least a week. It is so bad that I am bruised black in someplaces and bright purple everywhere else. It is all superficial, so I know it will heal, but I am really anxious about how long it will take. It has actually got me pretty depressed this week. I haven't left the house, not even to get the mail. I am not overreacting either- it is horrible!!! I did some research and have heard that in a week I should look "normal" with makeup. I have had to cancel some obligations and have not set foot in the gym. Anyway, thank goodness we have exercise equipment here at home. I did my HIIT today and some back exercises and will do more later. I am also thankful that I stocked up on healthy food on Tuesday, so that has been on track. I don't want to be ugly AND fat!!!! LOL. Okay, enough of my pity party, I just wanted to check in. BTW, the Comcast guy was here yesterday (I hid and had Koree deal with him!!) and he said that he couldn't really fix anything; however, it has been working ever since. I don't know if that is a fluke, or if it because it is a little cooler outside. Whatever the reason, I am very glad. I am getting caught up on school, etc. . .Enjoy the weekend!

Another quick note while we actually have an internet connection!!! I have been and will be working out at home this week. I went shopping yesterday and got all of my food and related stuff for the next couple of weeks. It always feels good to have lots of healthy food around. I started school and am waiting for my book to arrive via UPS. When that gets here, I will be really busy; but, until then, I am very bored. I feel like most of the day I do nothing but think about all of the bad food that I cannot have. I really need to get out of the house and get a part-time job or something. I have been keeping my eye out for something. Well, I have a couple of other internet-related things to do while I have the chance. Take care!

Hi there. I just have a quick minute, but wanted to touch base. We have been having more internet problems over the last few days and we hardly ever have a connection anymore. It is getting really annoying, especially since I started school again yesterday.
Eric and Lisa brought Nathan over yesterday, and he and Brennen had fun swimming in the pool.
I am waiting for my new plan from Tonia. I didn't make it to the gym yesterday. I had horrible cramps and felt crummy all day long. I felt like I was 16 again!! I guess everything changes when you have a baby (body-wise, I mean!). I will hit the gym later today. We hope to have this computer problem fixed for good very soon. We will switch providers if that is what it takes! This is where I need my devil smiley!!! Have a great day!

XOXO

This post is pasted from Sunday. . .Our computer went down once again (should I say "thanks Comcast, or are they getting enough flack right now?), so I saved it to Word:
What a beautiful, hot day!!!! A lot has happened since yesterday's entry!! I ended up getting a massage yesterday. Randy decided that he wanted to go grocery shopping, so he told me to go! It was nice and relaxing, but not too relaxing; so, I went and worked out afterwards. I worked my shoulders, calves, and abs. When I went to leave, I couldn't find my keys anywhere!!! I only have one set of keys for my car (dumb, I know) and so I am usually super careful that I have them each and every time I lock the doors. Well, the massage must have gotten to me!!!! I tore up the entire gym looking for them and even looked through the car windows, but couldn't see or find them! Of course, it would also be the day that I loaned Koree my cell phone, so he had a phone to take down to Hoopfest!!! So, I used the club's phone to call Randy. . . no answer anywhere!!! By the time I got a hold of him and he picked me up, I had waited outside the club for over an hour!!! It was past Brennen's bedtime and he was hot and crabby, so we left my car and went home. So, this morning, I call the club and still no keys. Randy used to have AAA, but not anymore. I remembered that our neighbors have it and bless their hearts, they let me use it to get a locksmith on a Sunday!!!! The locksmith got there really fast and was really nice. He tried unlocking my doors first and sure enough, there were my keys: wedged between my seat and the console!!!!! So, since I was already there, I went in and did my Sunday ss cardio and glutes!!!! Wow, what a 24 hours! I am so thankful that my car didn't get broken into or stolen. Jason, the guy at the front desk at 24 Hour Fitness, said that they had 2 cars broken into yesterday!!!!!!
So, I'm off to enjoy some downtime. More tomorrow. . .

It's a beautiful day here today!!! We have been out in the yard a bit; Randy has been cleaning the pool, I have been tending to the flowers, Brennen has been "supervising", and Koree is at Hoopfest watching some friends.
I had my 9 a.m. appt. at the gym today and it went well. I am still at 11% bodyfat and he took it twice again just to make sure that we got an accurate reading. That was great to hear and a relief that things are staying steady. Both Aaron (the trainer at 24 Hour Fitness here in Spokane) and Tonia (my actual figure comp. trainer-who lives in Nebraska) said that I don't want to go much below this for now, or I could risk losing muscle. So, I will get the new phase of my plan Monday or Tuesday and am looking forward to that.
I usually stay at the gym and workout after the bf appt., but I was too tired today. Brennen couldn't sleep last night, and we were both up from 3:30 a.m. until 5:30 a.m.. So, I got Randy two massages for his birthday and we were supposed to go together; however, it seems pointless to get a sitter for and hour, so I cancelled my appt. and will let Randy go (the last one was his first and he liked it!) . At some point today, I will hit the gym for my shoulders, calves, and abs.

That's about all that is going on here. I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful weekend!

Friday, already? I guess we better live each day to the fullest because they sure go quickly!!! Or is it me?! Another beautiful day today. I was telling a friend of mine the other day how much I have come to love summer. Fall used to be my favorite season, but I think I have changed my mind! Now if we could just get out and use that pool some more. . .

I realized today that I have been kind of a slacker in reporting my workouts. So, to update: Wednesday was lower body day. I was doing back barbell squats first thing, but the trainer here in Spokane, after seeing my form, thought that I needed to build up my glutes first. See, when your quads are stronger than the glutes, they just naturally take over while doing squats. This is not what we want to happen, so I am taking a break from squats and doing leg presses and hip abductors instead. On the leg press, I warmed up and did 15 reps. Then I did 3 sets of 12. My highest weight was 330 lbs. I did these with the traditional feet placement. Then I did 3 sets of 12 with my feet close together with the same weight amounts. Unfortunately, both hip abductor machines are down, so I skipped that and headed over to do barbell deadlifts. I did a warm-up set of 15 and 3 sets of 12. I'm not lifting a lot of weight on these, just trying to get my form down. I think my highest was 80 lbs. plus the 45 lb. bar. Next was the lying leg curl, and I also did 3 sets of 12. I really need to get better at these because at 55 lbs. I am struggling with form. Then I grabbed the tall step-up and did 3 sets of db step-ups at 12 reps on each leg per set! I got up to 20 lb. db's in each hand, and this also is an aerobic workout!! Finally, I did standing calf-raises, same sets and reps, my highest weight being 165 lbs. Then my normal ab work. Boy, I hope I didn't bore you too much! It will be fun for me to look at later though and to track my progress!!!!

Yesterday was HIIT and I actually went to the gym to do it to get out of the house. Today I believe is chest and triceps. Just when I've got it down, I get a new plan this weekend!!!! Oh well, the change will be good for me and my muscles!
I think Brennen and I will head to Randy's softball game tonight. We have only been to one of the 8 or so this season. It is a lot of work chasing after him (Brennen, not Randy!!!) and watching out for foul balls, etc. . .Plus, it keeps him up past his bedtime and he gets filthy!!!! However, he does have fun and Randy probably wants to show him off!! Well, I hope everyone has a great day. I will check in tomorrow and hopefully I'll have decent news to share with my bodyfat. I'm getting it tested at 9 a.m.!!! This keeps me honest!!!

XOXO

Hello! I'm late getting on here today. Picked Koree up from Driver's Ed at 10 a.m. and hit the gym after that. Got home, showered, and left again to meet Kristin at the mall. We had fun chatting, drinking coffee, and just walking around. She is due with her second child on August 7th and was having pretty bad Braxton-Hicks contractions though. I hope she doesn't have that baby too soon! Not too much going on other than that. It's already 5 p.m., so the rest of the day will be mellow and home-bound. Randy is golfing with his work buddies tonight, so Brennen and I will just play. More tomorrow. . .

I hope that everyone is having a great Wednesday! The days sure fly by anymore. Not much to report today. Brennen is down for a nap and we will head to the gym when he wakes. We ended up taking a walk yesterday. We (sadly) left Odee at home and walked to Yoke's. I didn't want the responsibility of the dog and baby on a busier street!! It worked out well though, as I had to get some ground turkey breast and asparagus. Brennen hit the lady at the bakery up for a cookie, and we chatted with my friend Kailein who works there. Pretty sad social life, huh?! I was actually really tired after this walk. Pushing Brennen up that hill on the way home wore me out; however, I was really proud of myself for still getting on the treadmill and doing HIIT last night. Well, I'm off to take advantage of a little "me" time while B sleeps. Make it a great day!

XOXO

10 questions to ask yourself..are you ready???
If you've thought about competing first consider this list and tell yourself HONESTLY if you are ready.Are you ready:

1. To eat your food absolutely anywhere- when it's feeding time, you have to eat. I eat in cars (a LOT), business meetings, airports, conferences, restaurants (meaning, pull out your own tupperware in a restaurant!)

2. To eat for nutrition only- can you stomach room temperature chicken breast and egg whites?3. To answer the same inevitable questions over and over- What kind of contest? Like a beauty pageant? What are you eating? What IS that?

4. To be made a spectacle- WOW! You sure do drink a lot of water, don't you? Oh, no, she doesn't want any, she doesn't eat. WHAT IS THAT you're drinking?

5. To be physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted- with no reprieve until it's over. Oh yea, and hungry. YOU WILL BE HUNGRY.

6. To say no and miss out- on parties, dinners, get togethers, trips, vacations, holidays, celebrations.

7. To faulter in other parts of your life- your family, friends, work, other hobbies WILL all suffer to some degree.

8. To have almost no one understand. Be prepared to feel very alone, no matter how many internet friends or real life people you know preparing for a competition. You will still feel alone.

9. To be unhealthy. Don't fool yourself into thinking this is a healthy lifestyle. You will put your body through truly unhealthy measures to achieve. Be prepared for the emotional hurdle after a competition of going from 8% bodyfat (unhealthy) to a healthy, maintainable 12-14%. It's tough.

10. To feel the most amazing sense of accomplishment and pride. To know that you wanted it worse than everyone else, and you took it. To achieve what most people won't because they don't have the drive, determination and real desire to get there, but YOU DO!

list courtesy of fellow competitor, Amy Leavitt....It is right on!

I got this off the Oxygen forum. From time to time I will post some things like this that really hit home for me. At another time I will post an article about what to expect post-comp. I have to admit, it does have me a little worried. It can be an emotional time. I really do think that it will be worth it though. I am happiest when I have a goal and am working towards it. Thanks for reading!

Good morning! I can say that I will be taking a nap with Brennen today! I woke up at 2:30 a.m. and couldn't go back to sleep until 5:00 a.m.!!! Of course, we realized last night that the monitor is broken, so I didn't want to go too far. Needless to say, I just laid in bed thinking of all the things I could/should be doing!! Oh well. . .

Yesterday went well. I wish that everyday for the next 13 weeks would go as smoothly as the last few have! I have had no problems with my diet and of course, I love the working out part. I have a feeling that if I start carb-cycling next week that it will be a whole different story!

Since I have a trainer, I'm not sure how much of my workout and eating I am supposed to divulge, but I will say that we are trying to build up my shoulders and back. Yesterday was back and biceps day and I worked both hard!!! For my back I did: assisted pullups, wide-grip pulldowns, seated rows, and back hyperextensions. For biceps I did: barbell bicep curls and seated incline db bicep curls. For all of those I did several sets of ALOT of reps at very challenging weights! Then I hit my abs, which I do 3 times a week: roman chair leg raises, bench crunches, and twist crunches! When I got home from this workout I was sooo tired!!! It is so important to get adequate rest when working out like this. I can say that I normally do, so it's all good!

Well, today is going to be a low-key day. I do HIIT (high-intensity interval training) today and usually I just stay home and do it on the treadmill. It is a beautiful day though, so I might also take Brennen and Odee for a walk (Macy is at the lake, lucky dog!). Well, I hope that it is a strong, productive day!!!!! Make it one!

Good Monday morning! Thanks to all of you who have checked in on me. I hope that everyone had a good weekend and Father's Day. Randy played golf in the morning and AJ and Koree came over for the remainder of the day. We just barbecued and hung out and Randy enjoys it when he has all of his boys home.
I made it to the gym last night for my ss (slow and steady) cardio. We are really trying to hit my glutes, so I jumped on the treadmill and did 40 min. at various speeds and inclines. This is just an extra session meant to burn a little fat, but not to over-do it and burn off any muscle that I'm trying so hard to build. After that, I worked my glutes on the standing hip extension and did 3 sets of 15 reps at various weights.

I stayed on track 100% with my eating yesterday and feel great today. I won't bore you with the details, but it was a down 200 calorie day and I was very satisfied all day long. It's amazing when you don't fill your diet with empty calories, eat sufficient protein, and healthy fats (and of course good carb choices), that you are never starving, but never stuffed either. On the days where I don't eat so well, I feel horrible for that day and usually the next. I hope that someday I will learn from that and quit doing it! For now, if I get a craving, I will have to add it to my "post-comp food list." I think most competitors have one of these, lol!!!!

Well, time to get Brennen cleaned up for the day. Make it a good one!!!

XOXO

Happy Father's Day to all of you dads. I thought that today would be a good day to start this blog and let all of you know what I am embarking on. Some of you may know that I am currently training for my first figure competition. If you don't know what a figure competition is, the easiest way to find out would probably be to google it, or pick up a copy of Oxygen magazine. No, I will not be getting all muscular like a bodybuilder (not that there is anything wrong with that, just not the route I want to go), but there is a lot of muscle building and fat loss involved.

I never thought that having a baby would lead me to do this. . .I have always enjoyed working out and those of you who knew me in high school remember me taking conditioning and having fun working out with weights!!! After I had Brennen, I really needed to get into shape and started doing Body-for-Life, a workout and eating program (and so much more. . .) designed by Bill Phillips. Through this, I met some wonderful people online at the site where I keep my fitness journal (www.bflnebraska.com- then go to forum). Tonia Goodman, the wife of Jim, who started the forum, began doing figure comps a little over a year ago, and really got my interest up.

So, to try and make a long story short, I thought that I would take my fitness journey to the next level and give this a try. My first comp. is September 16th in Kansas City. I chose to make this my first comp because Tonia, who is also my trainer, is also doing it, along with some online friends, Jen and Jenni.

I officially started Tonia's training program May 31st and we honestly weren't sure if I could be ready in time. My bodyfat at the time was 17% and I have/had a lot of muscle to build; however, after 2 weeks on her program designed for me, it was down to 11% on June 10th. Obviously, this seems like a lot of fat loss for 2 weeks. I made the trainer at the gym here in town take it twice (he is the one who always does it for consistency) and it came out the same both times. We figured that it came in high at 17% for some reason. I still expect to have it taken again next weekend and it being way higher!!!! Oh well, whatever it is, at least it is going down. The reading can vary by 3% in either direction. So, after seeing my pics (which just by looking she guessed me at 11% or 12%), Tonia says that I will definitely be ready comp. September 16th.

So, I write all of this just to make it public. I am going to need some major support and encouragement over the next few months. This is not going to be easy at all, but I guess nothing worth it ever is. I will start carb-cycling in a week or so, and this can also cause major emotions and forgetfullness (more than normal!), so please bare with me! I also need accountability which by doing this, I am putting myself out there and want to be held to my word. There are times that I think "I am okay the way I am and look how far I've come", but I realize that if I want to make this goal a reality that I can't think like that anymore.

So, I will try and post here as much as possible and feel free to comment with any questions, etc. . .Thanks in advance for all of your love and support!

Jerianne