Oh. MY!

I came across an article about spicing up your tilapia.  Of course, the recipes were all crazy and for people that have nothing better to do with their money than buy a million things.  So, while heating up my fish, I decided to put some low moisture, part-skim mozzarella cheese on top.  It was AMAZING! 

I could seriously eat another filet right now just thinking about it.  I had a pretty good lunch:  Salad (Spring mix/Spinach), red bell pepper, avocado, Greek yogurt; and the filet w/ mozzarella. 

Today marks 70 days that I've been on this diet!  I've been eating clean for the most part.  The protein bars that I eat aren't really considered "clean eating," but I am still proud of the changes I've committed to in the past 70 days.  It really doesn't feel like it's been a long time.  I guess 70 days isn't really that long, but planning 6 meals a day for 70 days makes the effort seem like more.

I learned a new term in the bodybuilding commnity when looking up shoulder exercises the other day.  Apparently, you want "pumpkin shoulders."  I am definitely happy with the definition I'm seeing in my shoulders.  I added "Dumbell Lying One-Arm Rear Lateral Raises" into my routine yesterday.  I'll post more about that exercise later, but I really liked these.  The best part was seeing my shoulders work.

I had a good session in the gym last night and this morning.  I have weird thoughts about my chest routine.  I don't feel like I'm doing much while I'm doing it, but the next day, I feel soreness in my chest.  I really don't know what to think of it.  I keep telling myself that I'm going to reevaluate my routine, but haven't yet.  I don't have any plans for the rest of my day.  It's actually exciting.  I thought about driving out to a trail in Mahomet and running about 5 miles after my 3 PM meal.  I'll be running around 8 miles tomorrow though, so I'm not sure. 

We're officially down to the 5 week countdown!  OMG...my heart just dropped to the floor! 

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It's Never Good When Friday Feels Like A Monday!

I. AM. TIRED. AND. GRUMPY.

There, I said it.  Now all of my actions for the day will be covered under this statement.  I didn't even stay up late.  I left Cassidy's party around 8:30ish, ate my 9 PM meal, walked the dogs, and got ready for bed.  I think it has to do with having two days off of work and then coming back on a Friday.  That's never a good idea.  Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to take the day off.

The party was a lot of fun.  The thing I love about Cassidy's parties is that you can get away with being lazy over there.  She's a great host and doesn't care if you just come lay around--which is exactly what I did.  I played a couple games of bags, but other than that, I parked it in a camping chair for most of the night.  It was definitely hard not eating the food at the party--harder than I thought it was going to be.  Her husband smoked a pork shoulder and had two different varieties.  It smelled very, very good!

We ended up bringing pecan pie bars (an altered version of the recipe I posted a couple days ago), and cornbread jalapeno poppers.  I went to the grocery store on Tuesday night and bought 12 jalapenos.  When I went to check out, the clerk was like "Wow!  That's a lot of hot peppers."  Umm, ok...not that hot nor is 12 a lot.  Anyways, we made half of them with cream cheese and half of them without.  I'm not very good at taking pictures of food.  It's definitely an art, but we were pretty proud of our creation.

The house smelled soooo good when we were baking the peppers.  I am definitely making these again after the competition. 

Before I went to bed last night, I started looking up more shoulder exercises.  Today's workout was supposed to be legs, but since I took off a day for my bicep to heal, I'll be doing shoulders tonight when I get off work.  Oh god...please let this day go by fast. 

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Living Dangerously...

Quick Update:  I fought myself HARD in mid swoop of licking frosting off the knife. I caught myself just in time, but man!  Why is that such a natural action? LOL.

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As Official As a Whistle...

It's done!  Registration is in the mail and there's no turning back now!  I am absolutely STOKED for this competition!  I got up early this morning and went to stick it in the mailbox!  I'm almost down to  week out!  Shit's gettin' so real!

After my glorious photoshoot at the mailbox today, I decided to go on a long run.  The weather was beautiful, and got even hotter as I got further into my mileage.  I ran a little over 7 this morning.  Nothing beats a good run...seriously. 

In other news, I am so excited to share with you all that I got a message back from the winner of the figure category in 2009 at the same show I'm doing.  It was a whim of mine to find her on Facebook and send her a message.  She just found my message (since FB puts things in the "other" folder now), and replied back to me with so much advice!  I felt honored to receive a message from her.  She's actually going to be at my show for the award ceremony and wants to meet up! 

She's the tall girl in the middle.  Her name is Jenelle.  She told me that the best piece of advice she was given when she competed was to fake confidence.  After thinking about it, she's definitely right.  You don't want to walk on stage looking like a deer in headlights.  She also told me to start practicing holding my poses and increase the hold time minute by minute, because a lot of girls don't practice this and they end up shaking on stage when you're supposed to look flexed, but natural--not like you're clenching.

Oh, and my bicep is so much better with taking a day off!  I'm happy I did it.  It's back to the grind though!

Now, I'm off to bake things I cannot eat for a great party I'm attending...Happy 4th of July everyone!!

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I Love You, America!

If I had to pick a favorite holiday, the 4th of July would be my number one choice (followed by Halloween).  I love the politics behind the day.  Our nation, in spite of our political differences, still rallies behind the idea of independence as a whole.  But more importantly, I love that the holiday brings together people to celebrate the value of family, people, love, compassion, freedom, health, and happiness. 

I came across this article titled "Why I Love America:  Kid Edition" which asked 18 American kids what they loved most about the 4 of July, and they had some pretty cute quotes.

"I love America because it is the best city in the whole world because it just is!"- Gabs, age 6, Chicago

"Cuz we have the best soldiers ever."- Kall, age 8, Idaho

"Because it's awesome and it's peaceful and there's no kings. That's why I love it. Also, there's no fighting going on and almost everyone agrees."- Jack, age 7, San Francisco

"I like America because it has great and powerful food."- Kaia, age 5, Los Angeles

 

Too cute!  Well, I don't want to call it too early, but I may have pulled a muscle in my right bicep.  It's been tender since Saturday, but last night, it was throbbing.  Yesterday was leg day, so I don't use my biceps too much (a little, but nothing substantial).  I put some Tiger Balm on my bicep because my icy hot roller is at work for days that I feel sore.  It makes me smell like an old man, but I don't care.  I was planning on getting my shoulder exercises in, but I'm starting to think I probably shouldn't push it.  I'll probably stick with the usual schedule of ab day and drop part of my leg day on Friday to add my shoulder routine. 

 

I ran a mile this morning.  It was rainy, so Sheena and I decided to call it quits for the run.  The mile run in the rain wasn't very fun, but it wasn't terrible.  I'm going to go out for another run later on today since I have the whole day off.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do on my day off because I don't have too much planned.  I know I'm going to spend some time on figuring out which classes I can take at Parkland this Fall semester that will count towards my Dietetics degree. 

 

I also need to go to the grocery store...AGAIN!  But for now, I think cuddling with my warm puppy is first on my to-do list.  :)

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Hot Date!

I forgot to blog about a recipe that Sheena gave me for homemade pecan pie larabars.  I'm all about simple recipes.  I don't want to buy a ton of spices and things that I don't already have.  So, this recipe is perfect! 

Homemade Pecan Pie Larabar Recipe



The recipe calls for dates, pecans, and vanilla extract.  That's it!  This was my first experience with dates.  They seriously look like cockroaches or something you find in kitty litter.  BUT, they carry high nutritional values in potassium and iron.  They also reported to supply energy to the body and control food cravings.  I started reading an article about dates because I don't really know much about the fruit.  I found some interesting, and comical health benefits to dates:

 

"6.    Cures Intoxication:  Dates are referred to as an outstanding treatment for alcoholic intoxication. Dates offer fast comfort when it comes to alcoholic intoxication."

"10.  Strengthens Tooth Enamel:  Dates may also help avoid tooth decay due to its fluorine content, an important chemical element which slackens the growth of tooth decay simply by shutting out plaque as well as making the tooth enamel powerful."

"12.  Stops Night Blindness:  The American Cancer Society declares that usage of one date on a daily basis assists in maintaining healthy eyes for one’s life time. One date each day can prevent eyes blindness."

"14.  Sexual Weakness:  A sexual weakness may be covered up along with dates, simply because the fruit increases sexual endurance. A secret potion for sexual endurance will be a hand of drenched dates combined with goat’s milk throughout the night, with a few cardamom powder as well as honey."

 LOL!  I'm speechless.

I got a nice morning run in today with Sheena.  I really do like these morning runs.  I was a little worried when I looked at the weather this morning.  It looked like it was going to be cold and rainy, but it turned out to be just perfect. 

I can't wait for Wednesday.  I'm taking the day off of work, and hoping to just have a relaxing two days off before work gets crazy on Friday.  I have a 4th of July party to go to, so I'm super excited about that!  Cassidy's house is always a good time. 

Now to only get through this stupid Tuesday...


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Two New Pet Peeves

1.). Asian lady doing ONE MILLION sets:  Woman!  It's enough to do three...four? I guess you can. SIX? Now, you're just testing me. Who knows how many she did after that. 

2.). People who count out loud:  I don't want to listen to you count each crunch. I had two people do this next to me on the ab mat tonight. I usually take my headphones out while I do my ab set so I don't get tangled up. Tonight was the first time I put them back in my ears. 

That is all. :)

Oh, the gym is closed on the 4th of July, so I'm going to move my shoulder workout scheduled for Thursday to Wednesday. 

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Another Week Down...

I have so much to write about the past two days!  Well, I got my suit in the mail!  That is first and foremost in my recap of this weekend!  I was so excited to open the package.  I peel back the stupid packing tape, only to find that the color I was expecting was not in the package.  After confirming with the vendor, I must have ordered the wrong color.  The downside to this is that it is the EXACT same color suit that Sara wore!  I can just hear her comments now.  BUT, after talking about it with my friends, I realized that:

1. She's never going to see me or any pictures of me in the suit.
2. I will look better than she did.

So, teal it is!  I will bedazzle the shit out of it, so you can't even tell it's teal.  I tried it on when I got it, and it fits perfectly!  But, I am also terrified of the thing because it's very tiny.  I really liked how the top fit.  My boobs looked awesome (and I don't need those fake boob cutlets that Sara had to use). 

Next...I went to a fancy dinner party in Kankakee with a group of coworkers.  I received a lot of comments about my lunchbag for some reason.  Such as, "What am I going to do when I don't see you with your lunch bag anymore?"  Umm...I don't know.  I am pretty consistent with bringing my lunch to work, so you'll still see me with this pink bag.  Maybe it was just nonsense talk...I thought it was a weird comment.

So, I need to buy some bedazzling things (crystal, glitter, etc) and get to it!  OMG...This is getting so real! 

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