6 weeks out - update

no morning run today.  i slept in and do NOT feel bad about it!  i was up late last night prepping meals for the week and needed the extra sleep.

  i worked out with my trainer saturday,

shoulders, legs, and stairmaster = sweaty mess.

i actually don't mind the cardio at all- even when i don't have my ipod.  i'm up to 7 hours of it a week, which is just an hour a day. (weight training and ab work is not included in that though).  after i get nice and warm (at least 10 min into it) i don't feel a thing.  i do try to keep it exciting and use several machines.  20 min here, 20 there, 20 somewhere else, and i only start counting again when my heart rate reaches my fat burning zone.  no cheating on my diet OR workouts!!

*update*

after 3 successful rounds of carb cycling and two more weeks out the window:

146lbs  (lost 4.7)

2.7 % body fat lost, which brings me down to 13%.

i always kept a light sweater with me at all times cause i get cold easily.  however, 68 degrees for our home temp is now unbearable.  Sonny is convinced that the house must be this cold in order for him to sleep. *side-eye*  i've been going to bed in thermals recently- long sleeve tops AND bottoms in the middle of a Houston Summer!!! however it makes sense- less body fat and weight, less insulation.

i missed Chiso's stank butt so much this weekend! i surprised Sonny with a short and sweet getaway for his birthday (post coming), and Chi spent some good times with his grandparents :)

what can i say.. this has been the toughest week yet and it's only gonna get tougher.  after 3 rounds of carb cycling, i'm in the middle of my fourth.  per my trainer, no changes to my meal plan this week since my body is responding so great to the carb cycling.  i just keep thinking over and over again how little time i have left. i'm 100% dedicated to reaching my goal, i can do this, and it will all be over soon.  in that order. lol.  at this point i'm craving things i don't even normally eat- frito pie, doritos... churros...   and my obsession with food network is about to ruin my life.  if i'm not watching it on TV, i'm on food blogs all day long.  food is SUCH a huge part of my life. i'm a FOODIE.  makes me wonder if i'll do another show after this one to be completely honest. the urge to binge only comes around full force when i'm watching Paula Deen put 42 sticks of butter into her upside down apple cake.  outta sight outta mind really works best for me at this point.

anyway, i have these guys (thick cut sirloin steaks) marinating in some Braggs liquid aminos, green onion, cilantro, and montreal steak seasoning, and will throw them on the grill tonight when i get home.

on a lighter note, i must express how much i LOOOOOVE the Instagram community, WOW!!! if you aren't following some of these crazy inspirational, motivational,  health and fitness role models, then just looking through their pics is still worth every second of your time.  they are REAL, hard-working moms and dads doing the healthy thing, sharing recipes, fitness tips,  and reaching their goals one day at a time.  after this show i cannot wait to get crackin' on some of these recipes!! look'em up:

fitfoodiele :lol:

fitfoods

livefiteatclean

powercakes

onefitfoodie

c_fitnessjourney

eatclean_behappy

fit4aprincess

MyFitnessLife24

kristfitj1210

fitandsexy_fe

healthygirll

instagramfitness

mattyb2126

myhealthydish_

there are waaaaaaaaaaaaay too many more, but take a peek at these guys and girls.

enjoy the rest of this blessed day!

le

natural high

morning! i usually post at night after Chiso goes to bed, so this is new.

feeling good cause monday morning cardio is done, and it's high carb day :)

i was literally running for my b-fast!!  thought about making and devouring my eggs and oatmeal the entire time.

right after a 50 min run in my fat burning zone as the sun came up.

which means, i can get in and out of the gym tonight and only have to focus on weights.  i'm on other body building sites and blogs for inspiration and ideas all the time, and AM cardio/PM weights seems to work for a lot of competitors.  whatever lets me spend more time with my family @ home, i'm all for it.

some of my fav sites to visit:

******************************************************************

Figure Girl World

The Bikini Competitor

Female Transformations (via bodybuilding.com)

GetInShapeGirl (even if outdated, still tons of info to soak up)

******************************************************************

hope you are able to get SOME work done today :lol:. SO addicting and inspiring, huh!

looking forward to devouring all this lovely, juicy fruit today.

enjoy the rest of your POSITIVE & PRODUCTIVE Monday!

le

almost doesn't count

Saturday morning started with a much-needed posing session!  i met with my coach, Christine, and she took video of me this time which reeeeeeally helps me see what the judges will see.  still working.  so grateful for that and for her!

we had a sweet sunday and visited my parent's church this morning.  we did the family thang in our green :mrgreen:

after an active rest day yesterday, i had a ton of energy and was ready to kill it in the gym for leg day.  i so wanted to get up super early and go do my cardio outside before church so i could devote my gym time later to legs only, but it just didn't happen that way!  had to do both in one trip, no biggie.

heeeeeeey :P

normally i'm in the gym for 1 hour, tops.

i was on the stairmaster, pumped, and well on my way to burning 1K cals when suddenly i heard over the loud speaker:

'leah, you are needed in the child center, leah, you are needed in the child center.'

CRAP!!! i was soooooooooo close!!

i try not to always think of the worst thing possible when something like that happens, but as i scurried off of that thing and ran downstairs i prayed whatever happened was minor.  i flew open the door to the child center and was greeted by 6 employees standing around staring at me.  it was quiet as a mouse.   i looked past them and in the distance for Chiso and asked 'is everything ok??'

employee # 1 said, 'oh yeah, everything's fine.'  employee #2 turns to employee #3 and with his fists clenched and arms in the air exclaims, 'no more kids, we can go home now!!' employee #1 turns to me and calmly states, 'we closed at 4, ma'am.'

clearly it was 4:15 :oops: .  i missed the warning messages that the center was closing AND the 3 subsequent calls for me after 4pm. i told yall i was GETTIN' IT today!!!

afterwards, we hit up HEB to get some stuff for the week.  the usual- more brown rice, fresh fruit, frozen veggies, and meat.

i wandered past the bulk spice isle and i'll revisit it again soon.  i have way too many of those McCormick bottles at home to be buying any more seasoning right now!

i did pick this up though- loooove this stuff on my turnip greens instead of regular white vinegar!  Bragg's raw, unfiltered, organic apple cider vinegar, good stuff.

welp, monday is here again. already.  let's do this- full speed ahead!

le

the saga continues

so dramatic.

my expectations for carb cycling are pretty darn high, and i was honestly expecting a huge change in my body, instantly.  we always want things when we want them!!  i really have noticed a few changes after almost two cycles, but i figure i'll just wait until my next progress update (1 more week) to see the full effect it will have on my body. deal?

oh, and btw- thursday, my 1st high carb day, was pretty darn fab.  i purposely took about 45 minutes per meal to eat. NICE AND SLOW. lol.  i enjoyed my fruit, and i hit it hard in the gym that evening and worked on my shoulders and a little back.

but now it's back to another fruit-less three days.

i came across an old Academy Sports and Outdoors ad i did about 3 years ago.  yes, my expression looks as if someone just cut the cheese.   i don't know what the heck their selection process is with their pictures, but i was just grateful for the opportunity :lol: . anyway, i brought this up because those were my abs before giving birth.

and these are my abs now.

i admit, i thought my body would change for WORSE after giving birth... i didn't think it would ever be the same again.  women were designed and made for childbirth!  treat your body right and it will show you just how AMAZING it can be.   even after Chiso has plenty of siblings, i know that i can get right back to where i am with a little hard work and commitment and so can you.

getting there, week by week. did i mention i have 7 weeks left?!

le

give me CARBS. now.

i put my grill pan to work today.  this morning's breakfast was slow cooked oats over grilled bananas and dusted with cinnamon.  putting heat to a banana always helps it release more of its natural sugars.  i might not ever use brown sugar again! it was so good!  course i had my eggs too with fresh cilantro and some dijon mustard.

 i woke up feeling very loose in my mid-section...definitely not as tight all over as last week.

not being funny or insensitive at all.   as you know, i started carb cycling monday and i'm going to bed tonight like a kid at Christmas cause tomorrow is my HIGH CARB DAAAAAY!!!!! this explains my bloated/loose feeling and why when i used to skip meals in order to fit in a dress (long, long time ago when i didn't know any better), it never really worked for me.  ever.     when your body doesn't know the next time it'll get some food after an extended period of time, it begins to store whatever is left in there as fat.  thus, reversing the very thing you are trying to do!  restricting meals creates slowed metabolism, cravings, and ultimately, weight gain.  just a bad, bad domino effect.  so, when i did finally eat, i was SO HUNGRY and always ended up eating way too much. well, by then my metabolism had crashed and it couldn't work fast enough to burn all the food i just straight stuffed my face with which just makes everything worse. again, sad situation.  don't do that!  OK?

i hit it hard with my trainer this morning with chest and back supersets, then i headed to the gym this evening for some cardio on the elliptical.  this is another reason i love my Polar FT7 so much:

off by more than 100 cals!  my hr watch never tells me such lies, hmph!

per my trainer, by tomorrow, (after adding a higher amount of carbs back into my diet and after my weight workout of course)  my muscles should be popping out and waving HELLO, and i'll appear 'bigger' and more defined.  well we'll just have to see then, won't we.  will post my after pic then to see if we can spot the differences.

i hit up Sams on the way home for some sirloin and they only had the really thick cuts,  so i went with that.  got my grill pan out again for dinner tonight and put the burner on as high as it would go.  meanwhile,

my steaks were marinating in more liquid aminos, green onion, fresh cilantro, and black pepper. i trimmed the fat beforehand.

sprayed my grill pan (found at Walmart for 17 bucks) with Pam first, and cooked it for 7 min on one side,

and 6 mins after flipping.  far from dry!!! are you kidding me?? so much flavor and tenderness just after a few minutes.  key things- HIGH heat, and marinate it for at least 30 min first and you won't go wrong.

Instagram sirloin collage:)

i did some mid-week prepping after dinner tonight and cooked up a vat of brown rice and mixed it with some fresh chopped cilantro and lime juice.

i also baked some chicken breasts with those McCormick seasonings (smokehouse maple, lemon pepper, garlic and herb, and montreal chicken), and some dried parsley.

in conclusion, i should really stop complaining cause my low-carb days could be NO-carb days :lol:  about those- no-carb diets are often associated with lack of focus, low metabolism, uncontrollable cravings, and low energy levels.  carbs are so NOT the enemy when it comes to weight-loss, so bump what you heard!!!  ever wonder WHY you don't have the energy to workout and feel terrible when you try to cut carbs completely?  cause you NEED them. so don't do that either!

heading to bed to dream about CARBS.

le