I'm BACK!

Without going into too much detail, the last 10 months have been a little, okay... a LOT, crazy.  I got separated and then divorced, lost my grandmother, and lost my two furry girls (Maddie and Dixie).  Evan also left for Marine bootcamp in November.  So, I went from a full house to one that is just me and the three furry boys.  It has been an adjustment that's for sure, but I am definitely in a better place and happy again with life.

With that said, I never let my training down and probably amped it up a bit over those stressful months.  Now it's time for me to get my diet cleaned up a bit and get ready for the summer and new goals!

I've been really good about figuring out what makes me happy and have an ongoing list in my journal of new things to try! I'll post about that later:)

Kick 'em in the Face

I set a goal several months ago to do a pull-up with a 25 lb plate attached to a belt around my waist.  For some reason, this goal fell off my radar as I focused on wide grip pull-ups and pounding out sets of 10 close grip pull-ups. I failed to achieve my goal of benching 135lbs on Monday and was feeling a little frustrated about not meeting the goal when I remembered my pull-up goal.

I knew Tuesday was going to be the day to crush this one the minute I walked into the gym.  I had renewed energy and drive that has been lacking for a couple of weeks.  After warming up with lat pulldowns and wide grip pull-ups, I did one set with a 15lb ball between my knees and then moved up to the 25 lb plate.  I did 4 sets of 2 to 3 pull-ups with this weight.  Oh yeah!  Talk about feeling like a beast when you can actually put a belt around your waist and hang some weight from it:)

Holy Soreness

After a couple weeks of not really feeling it in the gym, I got my money's worth this week.  Monday was a back day, my favorite.  After doing 4 sets of 6 exercises I ended with wide-gripped pull-ups, close-grip chin ups and some other variations.  I tried to stick to 10 reps per set...which means I probably did 70 plus pull-ups of one version or another.  The result?  I was woken up with a lat cramp, not once but twice.  I'm used to getting cramps in my hamstrings, but my lat?  What the heck?  It was not fun, but it was a good sign that I worked as hard as possible!

Tuesday I was able to get in a good chest workout.  I did 7 sets of flat bench with 4 of those sets at 105 lbs (6,5,5,5).  Next week I'm going to try to put 135lbs up once...  that has always been my goal and I think I am close.  I haven't attempted it before, so we shall see!

In the meantime, today is a R-E-S-T day:)  I have a track meet this evening, so I'll be on my feet for 4 hours in the cold rain, joy oh joy!  This is the first year that I can remember having terrible weather.  It's usually a beautiful spring day and so much fun to watch the kids get out there and work hard.  booooo...

OH, and almost forgot to mention that I DESTROYED my obliques Monday morning with a 20 minute workout.  It is hard for me to get my abs sore, but right now I can barely touch my ribs, low back, or obliques without pain.  YES:)

Two New Recipes!

Alright, I'm back in action...I was busy in the kitchen this weekend and feel like I'm getting my motivation back.  The following recipes came completely out of the blue, well other than the fact that I knew I wanted to use protein in them.  I also learned a lesson....if you are making cookies and the cookie dough doesn't taste quite right, then don't even bother baking them!  This is what happened with the first batch of cookies that I tried to make.  I tasted the dough and when I couldn't "fix" it with additional ingredients I cut my losses and threw it out.  Luckily, the second batch was a home run.  :)

Promise that they don't taste burnt

Harvest Pancakes  (makes 8-10)

Ingredients:

• 2 bananas
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 2 scoops egg white protein powder
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• almonds and dried cranberries to taste (or whatever else you'd like!)

Directions:

• Either mash the bananas and mix with wet ingredients or be lazy like me and put the banana and eggs in the blender and mix them together.
• Add remaining ingredients and mix. 
• Pour onto hot griddle (375 degrees) and cook for 2-3 minutes per side. 

 Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Protein Cookies (makes 24)

Ingredients:

• 3 cups of old-fashioned oats
• 4 eggs
• 3 scoops of egg white protein powder
• 3 tbsp coconut oil (melted)
• 2 tbsp PB2 or natural peanut butter
• 1/4 cup brown sugar (sub a banana or apple sauce???) 
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees
• Mix all ingredients together.
• Shape into cookies and place on parchment paper covered cookie sheet
• Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes

SQUATS

Considering I could not squat with just the bar (45 lbs) in November, I'm pleased to announce that yesterday I squatted 175 lbs for 5.  OH YEAH:)  I think 200 lbs is going down in the next couple of weeks.  It is amazing how quickly the body responds to being pushed.  I love it!  My legs and booty are loving it too...seeing some definite progress.  Progress is what it is about, people.    

Apple Pie Protein Muffins

In order to making snacking a little easier, I baked 24 Apple Pie Protein Muffins on Sunday.  These babies have 10 grams of protein and 14 carbs:)  They are not very sweet, which is how I like them....and fill my belly!

Ingredients:

• 4 cups old fashioned oats
• 5 scoops Vitol egg protein, vanilla ice cream flavor
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 2 apples, diced (i used red delicious)
• 1 1/2 cup liquid egg whites
• 2 cups non-fat plain Greek yogurt
• 2 1/2 tsp apple pie spice
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp stevia

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Mix all ingredients in a large bowl until well mixed.
• Scoop into muffin tins (grease with coconut oil or baking spray)
• Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.
• Remove, cool, and then keep in refrigerator. 

Serving size: One Muffin = 112 calories, 10 g protein, 14 carbs, 3 g sugar

No Dice

I'm not going to  be ready for a competition in 5 weeks.  Regina and I posed on Saturday and although I could push it and try to be ready, I don't feel like I am.  I would rather go in feeling a lot  more comfortable about my progress, which means I get to regroup and pick another date...a lot further in the future.

I really feel like my upper body is good to go, abs are good, but legs need some serious work.  They have always really bothered me, but even more so when I was posing.  UGH.  They put me in a major funk for a couple of days, but I'm pulling myself out of it.  Negative self talk is not good! I've worked hard to get here and will continue to work hard to get to where I want to!  Progress is nothing to sneeze at....no need to beat myself up over the little things and neither should you!

So for now, EAT CLEAN and LIFT HEAVY~!