kickin and pushin

who left their gym clothes at home yesterday? i could have kicked myself.  i was driving to work when i realized what i had done. guess where i went on lunch break:

i'll never have enough workout gear, so no biggie there!  no excuses...nothing will keep me from my workout date.

my colorful ensemble!

  i can feel my husband giving me a side-eye through the screen, but i could have gone to lululemon, sooo.... :-?

now shoes, on the other hand, those are deal breakers.  i would have just had to go back home for them. striking a pose before i went to kill it- upper body and cardio that night.

update:

currently @ 152 lbs and 18% body fat after two more weeks.

yeah i thought my body fat went down a lot more too by now, HMPH.  i'm losing weight for sure, but my trainer says i burned a little muscle too, bummer.  this means i need to make sure i am staying inside my fat burning zone during my cardio sessions.  it's honestly hard for me to stay there cause i just want to GO GO GO all the time and burn up everything.  i have to remind myself to stay focused and concentrate on burning fat.

been working on my posing and walking every chance i get. i hope it shows! these progress pics help me tremendously though- i see so many things i need to fix asap.

no cheat meal(s), no processed snacks, no white sugar nothin for 4 weeks straight now. wow is all i can say.  it's ALL God. i have never, ever, in my entire life gone this long without those things.  when i'm tempted, i start praying lol!!!! i'm so very serious though.  somehow i look up minutes later and the craving is gone and i've moved on to doing something else.  i was talking with Sonny the other day about just how much my/our lives revolved around food!  for any special occasion, milestone, celebration - WHATEVER - we go eat.  bored and nothin going on?  we go get fro-yo.  before Chiso was born, we would randomly wake up in the middle of the night and go get some fries or ice cream or something sweet.  gosh i miss being able to do that! with the way the weeks have been flying by though, it won't be long before i can enjoy those things again.  my mentor reminded me that 'the body always craves what the body can't have.' unfortunate truth. UGH.

i came to terms with having a thick waist and being shaped like a boy a few years ago.   i am happy to report that this couldn't be any further from the truth.

this is my first time wearing this dress since 2010 @ my mom's graduation.

matter fact, i almost sent it to Goodwill this past year.  it just wouldn't zip up anymore and i was tired of sucking it in.  i was sooooooo uncomfortable that day.  not only were my feet hurting, but i couldn't even breathe right cause the dress was so tight.  i was trying to be cute - you know how that goes :roll:

alright now!  it's pretty comfy these days as are my jeans and other bottoms.  found it in the back of my closet and wore it to church this past Sunday.  old dress turned new again!  competition or not, i love these results and i plan to commit to eating 85% clean after this is over with.  life is just too darn short not to indulge every now and then.  no food will ever be off-limits in my book.

kissy break during the 'photoshoot'- you know he was wasn't too far away:)

finally, i miss eating my fav foods these days for sure, but i miss cooking new things and meals just as much if not more.  i see TONS of inspiration and ideas on Instagram and Pinterest every single day and i have collected and created a nice log of cleaner and leaner recipes (breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, and dessert)  over the past few weeks that i add to daily.  i cannot wait to get back into my kitchen and get creative and test out these recipes...and most important, EAT them!!  september will be a great month. a really, great month..

i'd love to place in this upcoming competition...i think about the day of the show often.  overcoming the entire journey leading up to stepping on that stage is what i will be the most proud of, though.

le

biki...no

yesterday was the day. bikini day.  my trainer told me the previous week that i would need to bring one with me so we could check my progress so far.   all i could think about was 'somebody get me a razor' :lol:

i am officially 12 weeks out from the show.  a gigantic inspiration and fellow blogger friend of mine,  Nichola, opened my eyes to just how much time we have left! :shock: please read about her transformation from 170 lbs to competing in her first figure competition last month!!  AMAZING.  all this time i've been saying 'September' which makes the show sound light years away.

i was super anxious to hear my results.  see the chart below.  do you know where you fall??

body fat stats (%)

male

female

very lean

<11

<19

lean

11-14

19-22

healthy

15-17

23-27

average

18-22

28-35

unhealthy

>22

>36

don't know? well, whip out your caliper.  kidding, you can find it at home using a scale, measuring tape, and a calculator.  try it.

**2 week results**

5lbs and 2% body fat down, + several inches all over.  although my biceps are going the wrong way , booooo

161.5 lbs ----------to---------->156.5 lbs

21.9% bf----------to---------->19.8% bf

hips 39.5 ---------to---------->35.5

abs 31----------to---------->27.75

neck 12----------to---------->11.5

chest 35----------to---------->32.5

bicep 11----------to---------->10.5

forearm 9.5----------to---------->9.5

thigh 21 ----------to---------->20.5

calf 15----------to---------->14.25

i'm still 5'10''. see my before pics here.  and ignore my ghetto tan..i ran in the sun like 3 weeks ago and it still hasn't faded. currently:

give mommy a minute, Chiso, please

for real, i'm almost done, Chiso, really

OK, last one, gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!

clearly that baby was ready to nurse and we were playing around.

bikini pics before my workout.

my trainer says i need to hit my abs way harder and he's right.  will just keep working.

how do i feel?  i'm happy to report that my sugar cravings have pretty much subsided... almost completely.  i can't tell you how happy i am about that.  HOWEVER, i now feel like a typical preggo woman cause i'm craving fatty foods like pizza, fries, cheeseburgers, lasagna, and mac n cheese. and  i didn't crave a thing when i was preggo!

it's sunday so i'm in the kitchen prepping our meals for tomorrow and tuesday. i don't make them too far in advance cause 1) these things take up a crap load of space in the fridge, and 2) food poisoning is not cool and i can't afford to get sick at this stage in the game.  better safe than sorry!

heading out for some more family QT today- have a BLESSED rest of your day as we get ready for another week!

le