Heat Advisory

Whoa. It’s H-O-T and it’s only 6am!

Yesterday

I didn’t end up going to Title Boxing because I wanted to get to the hospital and check on my StepMom.  I brought her some flowers and food for snacks.  She’s not feeling the heavy hospital meals they are brining her, so I brought some deli turkey and a cucumber/tomato/onion/broccoli salad for her lunch.  I also grabbed some donuts, cookies, peanut butter crackers and Chex mix for her to snack on.  She is more of a snacker then a big meal eater, so she’s more likely to eat that stuff then what they are serving from the cafeteria.

I started my day off with oats, protein and a peach!

Next up was an egg white/canadian bacon omelet on a gluten free english muffin.

At the hospital, I made myself a turkey sandwich and then over the four hours I was there ate a couple of donuts, some chex mix and some cookies.

It’s amazing how exhausted I was after hanging out at the hospital all day.  I was trying to talk myself out of Taco Bell AGAIN, but it didn’t work yesterday.  I ate tacos.

Today

Gotta get my running shoes on and try to beat the real heat that is settling over us.  There’s a heat advisory for today! Yikes!

I also plan to hit the weights and then run back up to the hospital.  We have a little grocery shopping that needs to be done as well.  I’m in need of yogurt and almond milk!  That is practically an emergency!

Busy, Busy

Good Morning! What day is it?

I woke up bright and early and feeling great, but I had to lay there and figure out what day it was!  Was it Saturday? One of the weekdays?  Then I started moving and oh, yeah, I’m sore from Title Boxing and that was Monday, yesterday was my StepMom’s surgery so that was Tuesday.. Wednesday, today is Wednesday!  Nothing like a little puzzle to figure out at 5:20am!

A Busy Day
Yesterday started at 4:15am.  I hopped out of bed ready to get the day going. I’m sure I was so raring to go because I was a little nervous for my StepMom.  (She had her surgery yesterday)  I drank some coffee, updated my blog, got sucked into my computer for too long which made me have to hustle to the hospital.  I hadn’t packed any meals for the day.

Fail.

So I grabbed some granola for the road.

I visited with my sisters, dad and one of my brothers for an hour or so after she went into surgery and then I had to get going.  I had a wax (I’m hooked on the brazilian now) and a facial to get to.

I ate more granola on the way home. Half the bag is gone now.

All the physical changes I have been putting my body through over the past month (or two) is now coming out in my FACE!  About two weeks after the competition I started breaking out.  Not just a couple of pimples here and there….and full bumpy face.  Like I was going through puberty again or something.   I lost my period for the last two months of prep and finally got it back this month.  So, my hormones have been trying to adjust.  I definitely sent my body into crisis mode there at the end of prep.   On top of that, all the makeup and spray tan my face isn’t used to…I bought a different cleanser to try….I’ve been eating too much sugar.  So many changes that my body is trying to deal with and it’s all coming out through my face! ugh.

I grabbed a quick bite at home before heading to the salon (yogurt bowl-yogurt, Godwin bars, banana)

My facial yesterday was wonderful!  My skin already looks clearer this morning.  After my facial and wax, I ran home to let the girls out and then headed to get my hair cut.

I was s-t-a-r-v-i-n-g by the time I got done, so I did the only thing a person not in competition prep can do, CHIPOTLE!

Rice, beans, the whole shabang. I ate the whole thing in about 5 seconds.

Justin was just getting home from playing golf with his dad, so we had a few minutes to catch each other up on our days, before I headed back up to the hospital.

I spent another 3 hours or so up there visiting with the fam and making sure those nurses were taking good care of my Stepmom. ;)

I was pretty hungry when I left and talked myself out of stopping at Taco Bell a hundred times before I got home.

It worked and I ate a left over burger with BBQ sauce and some NutThins instead.

I also enjoyed a Coconut Bliss bar!

Today is going to be a beautiful summer day!  Enjoy!

Wind Damage & Wine

I am up bright and early this  morning (4:15am to be exact)!  My StepMom is having hip replacement surgery this morning, so I am heading up to the hospital in a bit to hang out with her before she goes in.  I think my Dad is more nervous than my StepMom!  My sisters are heading up as well.  Maybe we can be a good distraction while she waits.

Monday Madness

Yesterday started with realizing that one of our Bradford Pears had been damaged by high winds . 

I comforted myself with my super delicious breakfast: oats, vanilla ice cream protein powder and a peach.  It was like eating peach cobbler for breakfast!

Then it was time for Title Boxing and boy, could I tell I hadn’t been in a couple of weeks.  It kicked my butt!  I am sooooore this morning! Love it.

Meal #2 was an egg white sandwich.

We met Justin’s Dad and Stepmom for lunch.  I had the Walnut Blue Salad with chicken and forgot to take a picture.  It was exactly how it sounds….delicious!  Along with the walnuts, blue cheese and chicken, it also had spinach, romaine and strawberries.

After lunch, we hit up the grocery store and then it was time for some Yogurtini!  I really just go for the candy!

See how I’m slowly converting Justin?  He chose chocolate and red velvet cake yogurts and topped them with chocolate sauce!!  He’ll be piling on the candy before you know it! bwaahahahaha!

I decided to try making the Quinoa Granola recipe from Clean Eating Chelsey.

FAIL!

I will still eat it.

It actually still had good flavor, but it will be so much better when I make it again and don’t burn it!

For dinner, we had left over burgers, of which I did not take a picture!  With my burger, I ate some raw broccoli and cucumbers with Newman’s Own Oil/Vinegar dressing.

Dessert was a Coconut Bliss bar. (Evidently, I was in the mood for some ice cream yesterday!)

And some wine out in the screened in porch.  It was a beautiful night last night.  We had to get out there and enjoy it!

And so did Katy, Piper and Brutis!

We finished off the bottle of wine inside so we could watch Master Chef.  We are so into it!

Blog Reader

My Sunday started with a run.  It was pretty humid here yesterday, so I got a good sweat rollin’!  I came back and took the girls for their walk.  After being gone quite a bit over the past couple of weeks and not taking them for their walks, they were thrilled to be out and about.

I came home and ate a yogurt bowl (Chobani Vanilla, 1 peach, and crumbled Godwin bars)

Meal #2 was an egg white sandwich with a little Miracle Whip:

I spent most of my day getting caught up on reading everyone’s blogs.  I was getting way behind!

Meal #3: Chicken breast, brown rice with peas, carrots and a couple splashes of tamari, Kale chips.

I snacked on a Twizzler or two or five and had some left over cinnamon roll here and there.  I figured I better actually fix myself a snack before I found myself elbow deep in a bag of chips.

Brown rice cakes with almond butter and jelly did the trick.

I worked on getting my transformation story out to Diana along with bodybuilding.com and World Physique Magazine.  Diana is going to submit it to Oxygen for me as well.  I’m going to milk this experience for as long as I can!  It also gives me a chance to use all those pictures I had taken. Fun stuff!

For dinner, I cooked up some burgers using lean ground beef.  Topped them with candy onions, tomato and spinach.  Roasted green beans on the side.

Then it was time for True Blood!

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend.  I am ready to get this week started.  This morning started off with being woke up at 3:45am with Brutis (our cat) yelling at us from an unidentified location.  Justin checked the outside doors to see if he had gotten outside. I checked the office, where the girls sleep, which woke them up and then they had to go outside and go potty.  Come to find out, Brutis was trapped in our closet, in our bedroom, the whole time. It was a very confusing time. I thought we were all going to be up for all day, but I put the girls back to their bed and Justin and I eventually fell back asleep. Surprisingly, I awoke at 6am ready to get moving! Have a great Monday!

Farmer’s Market

I started yesterday off with a trip to the Farmer’s Market.

Peaches (the rest are in the bag), candy onions, tomatoes, honey and kale. I also bought two huge cucumbers but I must have put those in the fridge before I took the picture!

Everyone in our house at these cinnamon rolls (also purchased at the Farmer’s Market) for breakfast.  I stuck to a yogurt bowl (Chobani Vanilla, banana and Godwin bars).

I put some running clothes on and waited for the rain to stop.  By the time it did, I was over it.  Don’t you hate when that happens?  I thought about getting on the elliptical, but that didn’t sound good either.  Do you think wearing workout clothes all day makes you burn more calories?  I’m hoping so!

Next on the food train was an egg white sandwich. (there’s a thin smear of Miracle Whip on each side of that toasted, Gluten free bread.)

I crocheted a little while snacking on skittles. Played Tetris and Angry Birds, blah, blah, pretty boring (I loved it.) day. Took a nap and woke up hungry!

Meal #3 was a chicken breast with mustard, kale chips and a broccoli/cucumber/tomato salad with Newman’s Own Oil and Vinegar salad dressing.

I snacked on some almonds and then figured I should probably fix a meal instead of mowing through the whole bag of almonds. Meal #4 was a chicken breast with Gates BBQ sauce and roasted green beans.

I was fighting a pretty strong Yogurtini craving, so I made some protein ice cream.  I was out of bananas, so it wasn’t as creamy, but it did the trick.

Protein ice cream:

• almond milk
• almond butter
• Chobani vanilla yogurt
• cocoa powder
• vanilla ice cream protein powder
• ice

I chased Justin away from the TV settled in for the night and watched So You Think You Can Dance that I had recorded from Wednesday.  I LOVE that show!  Those dancers are so powerful and strong. It’s so fun to watch.

Hope you all have a lovely Sunday!

P.S. Is it normal that I’m still saying the extra fluff around my mid-section is post competition bloat? (It’s been a month) Good. I thought so.

Home Again

We drove home last night and got in late.  We had planned to stay one more night in Iowa and drive back this morning, but once the funeral was over and we had visited with family, we were ready to get home.  It was nice to sleep in our bed.

Justin was a pallbearer along with his sister and the rest of their cousins.  (He’s playing a little Angry Birds in the hotel before we had to leave for the funeral.)

Funerals are always filled with mixed emotions.  Everyone is sad about their loss, but the WHOLE family always shows up, so everyone is happy to see each other.  The past couple of days were no different.  There was lots of laughing and lots of crying.  We are both exhausted. After the funeral, we met up over at Justin’s cousin’s house to unwind, eat and have a couple drinks.

I really enjoyed hearing Justin’s family share their favorite memories of their Grandmother and each other growing up.  I wish I would have taken more pictures!  It was one of those occasions, when it’s the perfect time to get pictures because everyone is there, but then it seems awkward because of the occasion for which we are all there.  I know a couple of the other cousins got some pictures, so I’m going to get my hands on those.

I got in a 30 minute run before we left on Thursday and then Friday morning I got in a 20 minute run.  Just enough to get the sweat moving and wake my mind and body up.

I am ready to get back on a schedule today with food and exercise.  I didn’t even know what day it was when I woke up this morning!

Happy Saturday!

Road Trip

Yesterday started with a bowl of oats with protein powder.

And a 4 mile run.  It felt great to run after two days of feeling like a lump.  I came home and Justin and I took the girls for a walk. It was a beautiful day.  A little cool front has moved in and I’m not complaining about it!

We had a couple of errands to run, but first lunch.  Justin wanted sushi, but they were not open yet, so we settled on Houlihan’s.  I got the chipotle chicken enchiladas with beans and rice and a house salad.  It was surprisingly good.  The enchiladas were small and not smothered in cheese.  Nothing was greasy.

After running our errands, I ate a chicken breast and some brussel sprouts.

While at the grocery store, these ended up in my cart.

It says LOW FAT!    By the way, how do you eat your skittles?  I pick out one of each color and eat them all at one time!  Fruit explosion!

And I kiss my Twizzlers before I eat them! (not.)

I figured I better get something substantial in my belly before I ended up in a sugar coma.  So, I had a chicken breast and spinach with Newman’s Own Olive Oil and Vinegar.

While purchasing some almonds in the bulk aisle and some almond butter (I have a vitamix, so it is totally ridiculous that I buy that, but I was being lazy), a man decided to talk to Justin and I.  First, he overheard me tell Justin I was grabbing some almond butter so he told me about a store that has a machine that you can make your own almond butter on the spot.  I was like…awesome. thanks. quit talking to me.  Then, since he wasn’t getting enough attention from me, he decided to chat it up with Justin. He told him about a tasty little treat which made Justin high tail it over to the frozen section and purchase these

Now I am hoping we run into this man every time we go to the store so he can give us more tips on treats.  These were delicious!  You all need to run to the store immediately, buy a box and don’t tell anyone else in your house about them.

We are headed out on a road trip this morning to Iowa.  Justin’s Grandmother has passed away and we are headed up to be with the family and celebrate her life.  She was a beautiful, funny, smart, caring, loving woman and will be dearly missed.  We will hold the memories and her love in our hearts forever.

I am packing a cooler with plenty of food, so we are not dependent on convenience store or fast food while on the road and in the hotel.

Starting on the left: Godwin bars, raw broccoli, almonds, chicken breast, beef jerky (per Justin’ request), cucumbers, almond butter, rice cakes, two different kinds of Nut Thins and Fiber One bars (also per Justin’s request)  We should be set!

I better get moving.  I want to get a run in before we head out on the road!