Compete against yourself, not others, for that is truly your best competition

·        "The most important thing is to love your sport. Never do it to please someone else - it has to be yours. Compete against yourself, not others, for that is truly your best competition." ♥ Olympic Figure Skater Peggy Fleming

I like this quote from Peggy Fleming.  I think it applies to life as well.  The most important thing is to love your life.  Love who you are.   Love what you’re doing with your life and ask yourself is it pleasing to who you are.  This is your competition.

I have grown is so many ways over the years and still have a way to go but I’m really learning to embrace where I’m at and who I am as I continue to move forward and gain more knowledge.  I’m not here to please other people with the choices I make.  I’m here to please myself and God.  This is my competition and journey.  I’m on my road working my way at becoming the Best I can Be, the Best at what God wants me to be. 

I’ve always been a person excepting of each person’s unique differences.  We’re not all put on this planet to like the same things, be the same.  My brothers are different and blessed in many ways.  I admire them for their own strengths and I’m like that with my friends as well.  If you look at my friends over the years they’re all so very different in so many ways.  I admire them for who they are and their own journeys as they live and grow. 

 I learned a lot about myself when I competed in my first figure competition.  It was another time in my life of growth. It was at this time that I learned that I can’t please everyone and that the most important thing I could do was to please myself.  I'd been a pleaser my whole life and so this was a huge lesson for me.

We need to have passion and love for what we’re doing and who we are.  If we don’t have it then it will be hard to give ourselves fully to anyone.

I like discipline, I like feeling strong, I like where both of these choices take me.  It makes me happy to challenge myself with both.

I will cherish some cards that I received from my children after my competitions.  I have actually done three now.  (I’m done as far as competitions go with other people.  As stated in Peggy’s statement….the BEST competition you have is with yourself and I’ll continue to challenge myself without getting on stage.) 

The notes Read:

You Did It! From start to finish, from then to now, from dream to reality~

Mom, Congrats on your competition!  I am so proud of you.  You are such an encouragement to me and everyone else.  It is amazing what persistence and determination will do.  This is an awesome defeat.  I love you and am so happy for you.  Love Jessica.

After this last competition both my daughters gave me this card:

You Made It Happen ~Congratulations to incredible you~

Mom,  You look incredible!  You’re a winner because you’re doing what you Love.  We love you and are proud of you.  Love Janine and Kody

Mom, You are one hot mama and grandma.  We are so proud of you.  You are amazing.  Love Always Jessica, Dave and Kyle.

I post these notes because to me they have such Huge meaning and value to me.  When I begin this quest for change within myself I had many guilty feelings that I was doing too much for myself.    I think us women/mothers/wives are torn with that a lot.  We don’t feel we are worthy to take care of ourselves or pursue what makes us happy.  We think that we need to take care of everyone else first.  Well if I would have listened to that negative and worried I would never have pushed forward and have been where I’m at today and my daughters would have missed a great lesson as well. 

As Janine stated so well~ You Are a Winner because you’re doing what you Love!

I Love that Line!!  It means alot to me that I have support and encouragement.

My hope and prayer for my friends and family is for them to be healthy, happy and doing what they Love! To be Winners!  Life is short~ Make the Best of Each Day!!  Be the Best that you can Be!!

Sculpting a Body with Definition~

Sculpting a Body with Definition~

I had this crazy metaphor last year.

If you take a body and assume it's like a piece of clay and you want to sculpt it how would you do it?

First you would need to add some clay to the body( Muscle ) and then use your water and tool (cardio ) to shed the unwanted areas around the clay you've added so that you can see the curves that you desire.

The mistake I see people making......1st of the year.......they get into the gym and think cardio cardio cardio!!

That's like taking your body and throwing water, water, water on it and what you end up with is a thinner version of what you started with..........no definition, no muscle tone and wondering why you can't reach the goals that you want. 

The Great thing about Michelle's Hormonal Timing is that it is a program that really sculpts you and turns you into a fat burning machine.  You don't need tons of cardio to make it happen. 

You focus for two weeks on Building (Boosting) adding muscle.  How do you add muscle?  By Challenging yourself and focusing on increasing your strength with the weights you pick up each time. Getting enough rest in between, Eating meals and enough calories so that you FEED those muscles and get proper sleep at night.

Then right when you're done with that and ready to shed some extra clay(fat) you begin to work on leaning out (Buffing....add the water)for two weeks and adding that extra cardio in, the challenging weight workouts (clay tools) that you move a little quicker through your program, cutting out some extra carbs  and calories(no more adding clay, just maintain it).

When you do this with your Cycle and work with your hormones you will see how it truly makes sense!!
If you stick with it you will end up that nice sculpture that you were looking for.

I say put yourself on the Wheel and get to work!!  

Today I am BOOSTING

Here is my workout and eats for the day~

So today was LEGS again
Went like this
10 min warmup every other step on the stepmill
BB Squats
20@just the bar for a warm up
10@95
8@145
6@165
4@185
10@115
BB Walking Lunges
16 STEPS@90# X 2
16 STEPS@100# pb pb pb
The only way this could happen is for Lori and I to both be there because we help each other get that BB on our shoulders and then we exchange the bar shoulder to shoulder.
Leg Press Legs Narrower than normal
12@180
10@270
8@360
6@450
10@270
Leg Extensions
10@100
8@110
6@120
10@100
Leg Curls One Legged
8@40
6@50x2
Then we did 20 Intervals on the Spin bike.......Legs were screaming!!  Made sure we stretched

Eats:
1) Good Belly, 1/2 C oatmeal, 1/4 Pumpkin, Almonds, raisins, 5 egg whites on the side
worked out
2) 1 c unsweetened almond milk, vanilla pp, spinach, 1 TBSP Lemon Zest Fish Oil, 1/2 banana and then 1/2 an apple on the side
3) 10 almonds
4)  Ex Lean Ground Beef patty made with egg, spinach, oats, and onions, ketchup, brocolli, 1/2 apple
5) Vanilla PP, with PB2 Choc, 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
6)  Crock pot chicken with carrots, onions, celery, over brown rice
Before Bed: Egg whites or cottage cheese

Sleep............Awww it Feels so GOOD!!

  It worked........  My workout kicked my butt yesterday and I slept like a BABY!!
It felt so Good!!
Sleep is just so Important!  Here is a snipet from the LanceArmstrong Website on Sleep and the importance of good sleep and weightloss. 

The human body requires fuel in order to function correctly. Just as a machine would malfunction if you take away an essential part, the body fails to operate in a competent manner if you remove an essential component. Sleep is a crucial element to retain energy and stamina throughout the day. In addition, sleep supports the maintenance of balancing in hormone levels, which significantly affects body weight and body fat. A good night's sleep allows the body to restore the physical and mental stresses of the day and provides the body with the vital means to function correctly.

The Link Between Sleep and Weight

Although researchers are still in the initial stages of finding the comprehensive medical correlations between sleep and weight loss, studies show that people who get an adequate amount of sleep each night (6 to 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep) generally weigh less. It makes sense that sleep supports weight loss; the amount of sleep you are able to get significantly affects two of the hormones in the human body that influence the appetite. Grehlin is a hormone in the body that enhances appetite and can lead to weight gain. Leptin is a hormone in the body that represses appetite and can support weight loss. A lack of sleep disturbs the hormonal balance and the body suffers; the result of insufficient sleep leads to an increase in Grehlin and a decrease in Leptin levels, which inevitably leads to weight gain.


Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/74796-sleep-important-weight-loss/#ixzz1ArjFAN00


So everyone get Good Sleep!! 

I am so SORE from Leg Day yesterday!!

So today was Chest, Tris and Intervals on the Stepmill

Warm up on the Stepmill 10 min

BB Chest Press
Warm up with Bar 20ct
10@95
8@105
5@115
10@95
Incline BB Chest Press
10@65
8@75
6@85
10@65
Incline DB Chest Flys
9@30's
8@30's
6@30's
Unassisted Dips
10x3
Tricep Pushdowns on the outside bar/Tricep Pull outs drop weight
30#@10 20@10x3
20 min Stepmill Intervals
Low speed 12
High Speed 12,14,16,18,18,18,18.........I try and run through those 18 speeds
Nice sweaty mess!
Eats:
1) 1/2 C oats, Frozen blueberries, smidge of almonds, and 4 egg whites on the side
workout
2) Barleans Lemon Zest Fish Oil, Vanilla PP, Spinach, 1/4 banana, unsweetned almond milk
3) Tuna, Olive Oil Mayo, 3 brown Quaker rice cakes (21Grams carbs)
4) Chocolate PP and PB2 with unsweetned almond milk (Yummy....taste like a dessert)
5) Chicken, Brown Rice, Green Beans

I have a feeling that I sleep well tonight too!  I'm tired!
I figure we'll Boost until Saturday~



.

Jamaica Challenge Continues~

I totally feel off the wagon last night : (  Stress got the best of me and I went for food which I haven't done in a while.
Weight as a result 131.5 this morning : (  I had PMS casserole (canned soup, chicken, mixed frozen veggies, cheese, and pasta) cause my dh forgot to take it yesterday morning to his moms and then after a talk with my youngest DD about her goal to move didn't go so well I ate that and  I dipped into chocolate covered pretzels and I ate my 2 Dove chocs from Christmas.  NOT GOOD CHOICES AND NOT GETTING ME TO MY GOAL.  So what do I do now?  I get back on my horse and KNOW that my choice to do that last night didn't fix a thing and just derailed me a bit.
So sleep again............not so good.  Slept hard until 3:30 again and then was wide awake.  Thinking too much about both DD and MIL.  Both are struggling right now for different reasons and I just pray for both of them that they can find happiness.  Life can be so hard. It is throughout the hard times though that we learn so much.  Today a friend sent me an email with a book selection he thought his friends would be interested in....Let Go and Let God.  I think I need to read it.
Yesterday I just did 30 min fat burning cardio at home and 20 min of Yoga which I needed badly.  I'm just SO not flexible and my body is so tight.  I'm trying to get that arch back into my back.  I had plans to do chest and tris as well and was out too long with other DD at the mall and then we went and visited my parents with Kyle and got home too late. 
Today I had a Great Workout!  I put those bad choices from last night to work!!  Between that and some NoXplode I felt Great! I had a POA on my walking lunges of 16 count @ 80#BB 8 count@ 80# and then 8ct @ 90#.......our goal is to get to 110#.  I think we can do it fairly fast!
This is how the workout went:

BB Squats
Warm up with bar
95@10
145@8
165@6
185@4
145@20

Then we did the Walking lunges

Leg Press Feet High and shoulder length
180@20
270@10
360@8
450@6
180@20

SLDL

95@10
135@10
145@10

Leg Extensions
Didn't keep good track on the weights

One Legged Ham Curls
40@10
40@10
50@6

I made sure I stretched for several minutes after and then between sets

Later when I got home from meeting Janine for lunch I did

5 min jumping rope
30 min Elliptical

I am FEELING my BOOTAY and LEGS now.........got them GOOD!



 Tonight I pray I sleep better

Eats today have been:

1) 1/2 oats, frozen blueberries, tish of sliced almonds, and 4 egg whites on the side
Worked out
2) Vanilla PPowder, Spinach, Fish Oil, 1C Almond Milk and a 1/2 banana
3) 1/2 apple and 2 walnuts
4) 4 oz chicken, Brown Rice Tortilla, Smidge of Olive Oil Mayo
5) Almond Milk and Vanilla PP
6) Lean Ground Beef patty and broccoli
7) 4 Egg Whites before bed

The Jamaica Challenge is ON!!

These pictures were taken in November at the Buffmother Event before the Holiday Season.  Since then I've added some bodyfat with choices I made through the Holidays.  The plan now is to get rid of the fat before I need to wear a suit in Jamaica.  Why do I push myself so hard, why do I care what I look like when I'm there?  I guess I'm an OA~Over Achiever as my brother would say.  I know I'll feel my best when I'm at my desired weight.  I want to feel my best when I'm on vacation. I don't want to have to think about the 5lbs I know I'll regain while I'm enjoying myself there.  I went to Hawaii a couple of years ago without loosing the weight first and it really bothered me and so I know the difference. 

It's for Me.

So how do I plan on getting to my Goal of 123/124~

My POA (Plan of Action for 30 Days)

You have to have a PLAN

Monday 1/10-  Chest, Tris, Abs, and 30 min Fat Burning Cardio~Boost

Tuesday 1/11-  Legs, Abs, 30 Min Cardio~ Boost

Wednes 1/12-  Back, Shoulders, Biceps, 20 min Intervals on Stepmill~ Boost

Thursday 1/13-  Off or something at home.  Listen to my body

Friday 1/14-  Legs, Abs, 30 min Cardio~ Boost

Saturday 1/15-  Chest, Tri's, Abs, 20 min Intervals on the spin bike~ Boost

Sunday 1/16- OFF Church

Monday 1/17-  Chest, Tris, Abs and 20 min Intervals on the Stepmill~Buffing

Tuesday 1/18-  Legs, Abs, 30 min Fatburning on the Recumbant Bike~Buffing

Wednes 1/19-  Back, Shoulders, Biceps, 20 min Intervals on the Stepmill~Buffing

Thursday 1/20-  Off or something at home.  Listen to my body~Buffing

Friday 1/21- Legs, Abs, 40 min Fat burning cardio~Buffing

Saturday 1/22- Something at home~ Buffing

Sunday 1/23- Church OFF

Monday 1/24- 20 min Fat Burning on elliptical, Superset Chest, Tris, Abs and 30 min cardio~Buffing

Tuesday 1/25- Plyo Ham and Bootay focus Legs, Abs, 30 min cardio~Buffing

Wednes 1/26- 20 min fat burning cardio elliptical, SS Back, Bis, Abs, 20 min Intervals on the Stepmill

Thursday 1/27- Off or something at home~Listen to body

Friday 1/28- SS Shoulders, Legs, 30 min fat burning cardio~Buffing

Saturday 1/29- SS Chest, tris, Abs, Sprints~ Buffing

Sunday 1/30- Church OFF~  Planned Cheat

Monday 1/31-  30 min Fatburning Cardio and 30 Min Boot Camp at home~ Buffing

Tuesday 2/1- Plyo Legs Ham and Bootay Focus, Abs, 30 min cardio~ Buffing

Wednesday 2/2- 20 min cardio, Back, Shoulders, Biceps, 20 min Interval cardio~ Buffing

Thursday 2/3- OFF Listen to Body~Buffing

Friday 2/4- 10 min cardio, SS Legs, Abs, 30 min Fatburning Cardio~Buffing

Saturday 2/5- 20 min cardio, SS Chest, Tris, Abs, ~Buffing

Sunday 2/6- OFF Church and Packing

Monday 2/7~ 30 min Fatburning Cardio, Full Body workout~

Tuesday 2/8 ~~~~~~~Jamaica!!

So 80% of my success will be in my eating.  Boosting I'll be taking in the 1500-1700 calories and Buffing I'll be shooting for 1100-1300 range.  I'll be cycling my carbs the last three weeks.  Sundays and Thursdays will be my higher Carb days. 

So there it is............My Plan!  Now all I need to do is follow it.

Today weight up to 129.5 and sleep not as good as the rest of the week.  I do Believe that I'm going into Boosting.  It's hard to know when you're in Menopause.  Watching your weight, Sleep Patterns, Brain Focus, skin help to know where you are through the month. 

Tomorrow I'll be Back!!  My goal for this 2011 year is to be better at Blogging, Get Organized here at home, Get back to Church, Read 30 min a day and be better about relationships and run a half marathon in April in Napa Boothe State Park.  The Beyond is here.........

Christmas Flew Bye and Now 2011 is here!

What a crazy time that was.  I managed to keep up with my workouts through most of the Holidays and I also managed to enjoy lots of social times and treats!  As a result I've packed on some Cookies or should I say fat.  My goal now is to work hard and leave all them cookies on the gym floor before we take off for Jamaica.  I need to get my body ready for a bikini! 

So before I get into my POA of how to shed some pounds I thought I'd share some pictures from the Holidays.

 Here is a picture of my kids and their SO...Kody, Janine, Joshua, Jessica and David

 My brother Steve and his wife Carol.  They spent a week with us and boy did we have fun.  Lots of Wine drinking, Scrabble playing, Cookie eating........well at least for me.  Carol did really well on her diet as she still managed to loose some pounds while out here.  I think she may have given them to me : -/ haha!!

 This is our house and all the kids.  My nieces and their kids, my kids and grandchild, their so's...we had 28 here on Christmas Eve.

 Kyle is very fasinated with the tree.  I don't have pictures now but he's been helping me the last couple of days to remove some ornaments.

 I love this picture.  He's little butt flap says Kyle's second Merry Christmas : )

 This is my mom.  She's looking quite beautiful this Holiday Season!

In this picture again.......my family.  My mother in law, Gene and I. 

So that was Christmas.  Then we had New Year's!  Gene and I went to a party.  I'll add pictures tomorrow and also share some of what I hope to accomplish in 2011!

So back to the Plan~
I am doing a Cleanse right now.  It's a good way for me to jump start clean eating and get my liver all happy again.  I'm just using the mild GNC one.  Nothing crazy or anything.  I'm on day 2!

Yesterday I was 132 on the scale.  That should go down fairy quickly.  My goal is to reach between 123 and 125 by Feb 8th when we depart.  I will take measurements in the morning. 

POA for this week:

Monday- I took off.  I needed a day of rest. 
Today Tuesday- Stepmill 20 min Intervals....Level 12 Low end and Highest end was 17.  Chest, Tris and then I did 20 min of Stepmill fat burning.
Wednesday-  Legs, Abs and 30 min Spin Bike Fat Burning
Thursday- Cardio at home and abs.....not sure what yet.
Friday- Lats and 20 Min Intervals on the Stepmill
Saturday-  Sprints outside if it's not raining and abs.
Sunday- Legs and Cardio

I'm back to logging on Fitday.com.  It helps me to stay focused when I do that.  My goal right now is around 120+ grams of Protein, 120 grams of Carbs, 300 to 360 calories of Fat, Lots of Greens
I am Boosting!!!

Happy Birthday Kyle!! One Year Old Now~ Time Flys

 The camera face!!  He does this now when the light to the camera comes on~As you can see 4 teeth now : )

So much Fun!!  This has been my job the past year.  Babysitting Kyle!  I'm Loving it!!

He's sure starting to get around and keep this grandma BUSY!  Gone are the days where he sleeps alot.  He's on the move with so much to do and so much to learn.  He's saying Mama, Dada, Thank You and lots of other geberish.  He just learned to clap his hands the other day and so that's the latest.  He barks like a dog when you ask him what a doggie says.  He has a fixation on feet and hair.  Loves doggies,kittys, books and balls!!  He's into throwing them now.  Reminding me all to well of what boys are about and what the future holds.  I wouldn't have it any other way.  I love that he's with me and that were able to afford for me to be home taking on the responsibility.  He really is a Blessing as are all children~

Happy Birthday Kyle!  May you have Many More Years of Happiness and Growth! 12-16-10