Monthly Archives: July 2019
Highs and Lows
L to R: June 28 v. July 25. More Work to Do!
At the beginning of my competition prep journey, I promised to to be candid about the good and the not-so-good parts of the process. So on this Transformation Tuesday, I offer a short and sweet account my first truly difficult week to date as I attempt to put my best self forward at the NPC Brooklyn Grand Prix.
I think it was Thursday when I hit the wall. That day’s workout and the remaining ones for the week tested me beyond the norm of getting near the end of a set and asking myself “Can I really bang out two more reps?” My breathing was more labored simply walking up and down the stairs in the gym; cardio sessions seemed interminable and from the moment I woke up each morning, I struggled to get psyched up to walk one block to the gym.
Then peanut butter became my kryptonite. The good news is my metabolism seems to be fired up, as I am basically hungry all the time. (Basically, I’m hungry one hour after a meal.) The bad news is when those hunger pangs hit an hour after my last meal for the day, I found myself grabbing a spoon (and no, I don’t mean a measuring spoon) and hitting the peanut butter jar. Let’s just say I didn’t stop at one spoonful and this didn’t happen just once.
Finally, after a much needed Sunday rest day at the beach, I found myself filled with fear and self-doubt. I traveled back to the city questioning whether I could make it through another nine weeks on this schedule, especially since I know my training will remain intense while my nutrition plans will become more restrictive. (I’m pretty positive nighttime peanut butter feedings won’t be part of the program.) I also thought about how much I miss sipping a glass of wine at the end of the day, going out with friends and taking kickboxing classes.
Then after hearing some loving, reassuring words from James and getting a good night’s sleep (something else that eluded me several times last week), I woke up Monday with a new mindset. I realized it’s a new week and time to forget the “sins” of the past and remember this is something I’ve wanted to do for myself for more than a decade. The bottom line is challenges, by definition, aren’t supposed to be easy. With help from my coach and the abundant supply of love and patience from family and friends, I’ll keep pushing on. As a fitness friend reminded me, there’s a reason they call it a grind. Sacrifice and perseverance are part of the process, so I have to keep telling myself one wine-free summer will all be worth it in the end.
I’d like to close this week’s post by thanking everyone who’s been supporting me along this journey on social media. The likes and comments on my musings and photos are another source of encouragement and inspire me to keep going. Here’s to tackling whatever goals we have this week with extra gusto and seizing advantage of every opportunity to have fun, be fit an feel fabulous!
So Many Choices…So Little Material!
One of Sheri’s Creations
Now that I’ve crossed the threshold of the 10-week mark until the NPC Brooklyn Grand Prix, I thought I’d share a super fun part of the journey. There’s no heavy lifting or food portion measuring required. It’s all about color, style and a little or a lot of bling. I’m talking about shopping for the perfect bikini.
During the past week, I took a trip out to New Jersey to visit Sheri Frazier, an amazingly talented seamstress and co-founder of PaShe Suits. I met Sheri when I attended the OCB Garden State Championships back in April. She had a dazzling display of glittery bikinis, shiny jewelry and other accessories, and she was so patient answering my many, many questions about how you go about picking out the right suit. Last week, I got to sift through boxes and boxes of beautiful fabrics in a rainbow of colors, looking for just the right one to match my style and personality. It’s amazing how many brilliant colors, subtle and not-so-subtle patterns and textures exist to create something that will probably be made out of the smallest amount of fabric I’ll ever wear in public!
Leaning Toward One of These…
Sheri sent me home with a bunch of swatches in teals and blues, and I’ll make a decision by the end of August. That’s when Sheri will take my actual measurements. At that point, I’ll be one month away from show time. As everyone who’s done this before keeps telling me, my body will transform a bit between now and then. (Well, at least that’s the goal of all this meal prep and time in the gym!) I’m beyond excited to see the changes in my body composition and to make my bikini fabric selection. I’ll also get to choose the amount of bling I want Sheri to add to the chosen fabric for the top and bottom bikini pieces. I’ll also pick the rhinestone connectors to be used as straps around my hips, chest and neck. Finally, I’ll choose some other accessories including earrings, bracelets and maybe a ring. I’d say this process is a lot like buying a wedding dress and all that comes with it. (Again, with a lot less material!)
So stay tuned for the big reveal of Sheri’s creation closer to September 28th. In the meantime, I know I’ll have plenty more to write about including changes to my meal plans and weight training program and yes, the ongoing challenge to get more comfortable posing in my platform heels. Here’s to all of us making this a summer to remember by crushing our goals and all our plans to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
Abs ARE Made in the Kitchen!
Getting a Handle on Meal Prep
Time seems to be flying by faster than ever this summer. I imagine it’s a combination of being on a more rigid schedule than the past few summers and the fact that each Saturday, I see the numbers dwindle to how may weeks remain until the NPC Brooklyn Grand Prix. At 11 weeks and counting, I thought I’d answer the most common question people have asked me so far: “Laura, what are you eating?”
The truth is I’m eating more real food than I have in several years. I’ve come to realize before this prep began, I was relying on shakes and protein bars to get through the day. Now, I aim to eat five meals a day and I space them out every three to four hours. I attacked the nutrition part of the prep process like any other deadline or production timeline for other projects in my life. Give me an itinerary, schedule or instructions and I’ll follow them to the letter. So I asked my coach to offer some meal plans, and Jen gave me several easy-to-follow options. By the way, kudos to all of you who add up your macronutrients for the day (commonly referred to as “macros” in today’s nutrition lingo) and hit to the right number before bedtime.
Here’s a look at what the different days of the week look like for me based on my workout demands:
Leg Day
Breakfast:
- 3/4 egg whites
- 1/2 cup oats
- 1 tbsp. organic peanut butter
- Sprinkle of cinnamon
Meal #2:
- 4oz 99% lean ground turkey
- 1 cup greens (broccoli; spinach; arugula; asparagus)
- 2 oz avocado
- 1 cup brown rice
Meal #3:
- 4 oz 99% fat-free chicken breast
- 5 oz sweet potato
- 1 cup greens
Meal #4:
- 4 oz 99% lean turkey
- 1/2 cup brown rice
- 1 cup greens
Meal #5:
- 4 oz tilapia
- 1/2 cup quinoa or brown rice
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup greens
Upper Body Day
Breakfast is the same. The only difference is a slightly lower number of carbs for the day. So for my second meal, I’ll have a half-cup of brown rice instead of a whole one. Everything else is pretty much the same.
Active Recovery / Rest Day
Again, breakfast is the same. (Luckily, it’s my favorite meal of the day!) If I’m too rushed to make breakfast, the smoothie I still love as an alternative includes:
- 1 cup Amazing Greens Super Greens
- 1 scoop Vega Sport Chocolate Protein powder
- 1/2 cup oats
- 1 tbsp organic peanut butter
- Ice, 16 oz water.
Always Ready to Eat on the Go…
For the rest of the day, the protein portions remain the same; but for my second and third meal, I’ll prepare a half-cup of brown rice. For the fourth meal, I get to enjoy three ounces of a sweet potato and finally, for the last meal of the day, it’s just protein, greens and a tablespoon of olive oil. (Sometimes I swap out the oil for 20 raw almonds.)
Needless to say, the most important tools in my kitchen are my food scale, measuring cups and measuring spoons. I realize I am fortunate to have time to prepare meals ahead of time, sometimes for an entire day. I also try to get a day ahead if I know I’ll be out for an entire day, such as the glorious rest day I spent at Jones Beach.
Jen has warned me as crunch time winds down, my portion sizes will change. In the meantime, the workouts, the posing practice and the overall nervous excitement continue. Here’s to what’s next on all our journeys to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
Crunch Time!
My last “cheat” day…lasted a little longer than planned
Another holiday weekend filled with 4th-of-July fun has come and gone. Suddenly, I find myself amidst the most crucial prep time in my journey to the NPC Brooklyn Grand Prix. I’ve now officially entered the 12-week mark from the competition on September 28. All the pros out there know this is the time when the physical and mental challenges hit a new level. I’m excited and nervous to see what’s in store for the rest of the summer.
I can tell you the holiday weekend was tougher than I expected. I planned on the holiday being my last real “cheat day” before the competition. However, on Friday and Saturday, I had some wine and even indulged in some chocolate chip cookies and more than a couple of servings of honey mustard pretzels. I realize these “slips” aren’t major, but I can tell you this: when you eat “clean” for weeks at a time, throwing a bunch of extra sugar and sodium into your diet can make you feel sluggish, fatigued and downright lousy. Aside from wanting to keep my weight in check, I simply don’t want to feel like that in the weeks ahead – especially when I need good fuel for my workout regimen.
The other slip in my schedule was not making time to practice posing. As I mentioned in my past posts, it’s the scariest part of the competition. I think many of us shy away from what we’re afraid of, but having a deadline to take action can also serve as the motivating factor needed to conquer that fear. As crunch time winds down, I’ll get back in my shoes and let the mirror be my guide to what I hope will be a more graceful presentation on stage. We’ve all heard that old saying about how we’re not defined by how many times we stumble or fall. It’s how we pick ourselves up move forward that makes all the difference.
Stairs: The New Enemy
As far as my workouts go, yesterday marked the start of week five on my coach’s program. Three things have changed in the past two weeks:
- An increase in the number of sets for certain exercises: For example, during week one, I was doing three sets of hip thrusts at 15 reps. I’m now up to five sets.
- An increase in what I’m lifting: As I continue to re-discover my groove with weight training, I’ve kept the increases between five to 10 pounds from week to week. One example: at my first attempt at dumbbell step ups during week one, I held five pound weights in each hand. Yesterday, I used 15-pound dumbbells.
- Where I can’t add weight, I add speed. Since my legs and glutes continue to scream during and after every lower body workout, I have decreased my rest time between sets when upping the weight just isn’t an option. One final note about those dreaded leg days, the stairs at my gym are also becoming extra painful. (The “bonus:” there are two sets of stairs between the locker room and the check-in desk.)
Pre-Workout Meal: 4 oz 99% fat free turkey; 2 oz avocado; 1 cup broccoli; 1/2 cup brown rice
So on this Transformation Tuesday, I’d say my mental focus has undergone the biggest change within the past week. I look forward to using this sharper mindset to continue making my meals, hitting the gym and getting quality sleep. Thanks for all the support so far! It’s amazing how a little encouragement can go a long, long way when it comes to tackling our goals to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
Practice Makes Perfect…I Hope!
13 weeks out….
Wow! We made it to July! I seriously can’t believe we’re past the halfway mark of 2019. Perhaps even more unbelievable is in four days, I’ll be just 12 weeks away from stepping on stage for the NPC Brooklyn Grand Prix!
During this past week my coach, Jen, was kind enough to meet with me before a well-deserved vacation to start teaching me the ropes in what I consider the most terrifying part of this entire process: posing. Let’s just say I need all the help I can get!
This is completely different from maintaining poise and composure in front of a camera even in the sweltering heat or bone-chilling cold during my TV reporter days. This is about mastering a routine that includes four poses in a blur of 10 to 12 seconds. That’s the amount of solo time I’ll have in front of the judges. The poses themselves are totally foreign to me, and then there’s the added challenge of executing those moves wearing four-and-a-half inch platform heels and transitioning between each move as gracefully as possible. (Oh, and of course, I need to do it all with a smile!) Needless to say, I was a little overwhelmed during that first hour of practice. However, Jen encouraged me to simply practice, practice and practice some more. If you want a good laugh on this first Tuesday of the new month, click the play button on this video to see how I did.
Who says you can’t eat healthy at the beach?
All you pros out there know I have a lot of work ahead of me! However, I hope sharing this not-so-perfect video serves as a gentle reminder that anytime you try something new, you can’t expect to be perfect right out of the gate. Whether it’s a new job, maybe even a totally different career; a new fitness or nutrition program or a new hobby, we can put so much pressure on ourselves to be perfect. We’re usually the first to beat ourselves up when we slip and fall. So, I’m going to try and remind myself to do what my coach and so many other people who’ve been through this competition prep have told me: trust the process. So, I may stumble and fall – literally! – practicing my posing routine, but I’ll get up and try again. I’ll keep the faith that with some serious effort on my part and the ongoing support from my family, friends, my coach and the fitfam universe, I can make this happen!
I close with a wish for everyone to have a safe and Happy 4th of July! (Click here for a reminder on how to get through what could be a long weekend of food-filled fun without totally falling off the healthy lifestyle wagon.) As for me, the holiday will be my last real “cheat” day before crunch time begins. That doesn’t mean I’ll go totally crazy with the food and drink. I’ll get to the gym super early, eat a couple of my prepared meals before heading to the annual pool party my family and I look forward to every year and I’ll choose my “cheat” foods with care. (I do see a cheeseburger and one or two cocktails in my holiday future…) I’ll also be sure to drink my gallon of water or more throughout the day.
Here’s to celebrating America’s birthday, a fitastic July and all the opportunities ahead to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!
lauralovesfitness 
