Kiki's Figure Competition Journey (aka No More Excuses!)

[KikiD22]

After lurking for a while on here, I decided to finally start one of these for myself, partly as motivation and to have a lot of like-minded people to help hold me accountable and to have a record for myself of my progress.

A little more about myself first... I am 34-years-old, a mom of a 7-year-old competitive cheerleader (meaning I spend the same if not more hours in the cheer gym with her as I do in the gym myself), engaged to be remarried, and am training for my first figure competition on June 2. I am still debating if I am going to have enough time to be prepared for this, but I am seeing good results so far.

I was a competitive athlete all through high school and college, but always BIG. At my heaviest, 2000-2001 I weighed 230 lbs. In 2002, I decided to get my life and health in check, and trained myself to a muscular 150 pounds. In early 2003, right after I got married to my now ex-husband, I started training for a figure competition, and a serious medical issue with my arm requiring major surgery derailed those plans (no lifting for almost a year). I have kept active for all these years, running, playing softball, and lifting again when I could, but not to the level I needed to for competition. After getting divorced in late 2010, I started taking inventory of my life and deciding the areas where I had been neglecting myself. One big area was unfulfilled goals, and near the top of the list of goals I put on the back burner due to a very unsupportive spouse, was training for a figure competition. So, here we are.

I am starting out with a good base of muscle and don't need to build too much, but I'm not going to lie and say that I don't have some work to do in the weight room. My lifts are pretty low for me right now. I do build muscle relatively easily compared to most women though, so I have that working for me. Mostly I need to get lean and lose the layer of fat though, mainly in my legs. Here are my starting stats:

Height: 5'10"
Starting weight: 164 (1/1/12)
Current weight: 158 (2/22/12)
Goal competition weight: 140

Right now I'm in the gym 6 days a week. M/W/F are 30 minutes of moderate cardio with weights in a push/legs/pull split. T/Th/S are cardio only days for 30-45 minutes and ab work following. My legs & my back are my strongest areas, with the exception of my left knee which has some pretty serious arthritis due to an old ACL injury. My weakest area is by far my shoulders. I have to work hard to build those and am slow to see results.

Yesterday was my push day (delayed a day due to illness), and this is where I'm at currently:

Incline bench DB press: 3X8 25's
DB Military Press: 3X8 15's
Machine Fly: 3X8 65lbs.
Lateral DB Shoulder Raises: 3X8 10's
Front DB Shoulder Raises: 3X8 10's
Machine Chest Press: 3X8 50lbs.
Triceps Rope Pushdown: 3X8 35lbs.

My diet got off to a rocky start, mostly because I realized I wasn't taking in enough calories. I had started out at 1300 (not net, total). I am now trying to increase that to 1500, based on the formulas in the "Nutrition" thread, but it's been a struggle. I'm getting better and packing food to have on hand with me throughout the day, but evenings are a struggle in taking in enough food because I'm focused on getting my daughter where she needs to be. I was also very sick most of last week and am still recovering, so my food intake has been on the low side, as has my energy level in the gym.

So, for food, this is my daily goal (tracked using MyFitnessPal): 1509cal, 151c/25f/170p

A typical day looks like this:

Post-workout: 1 scoop whey protein, 1/2c skim milk, 1 banana shake
Breakfast (3 hours after workout): 3/4c egg whites, 2T salsa
Lunch: 4 oz. lean protein (today it's chicken), 1c green veggies
Afternoon snack: Greek yogurt & 1/2c blueberries, lean protein (I love tuna for my afternoon snack)
Dinner: 4 oz. lean protein (Tilapia tonight), 1c green veggies or 1/2c healthy carbs (quinoa tonight)

I'm still trying to figure out where to add another 200 cal into this.

Supplements:
AM/Pre-workout - Multi, 1000mg Vit C, L-Carnitine 500mg, Creatine Monohydrate 1.5g (just added this a few days ago, will increase over the next few weeks)
PM (afternoon) - L-Carnitine 500mg, Glucosamine

So, that's where I'm at. Hopefully I won't bore people too much with this journal. I have a bit of a quirky and sometimes very naughty sense of humor, so I'm sure that'll come out eventually. Any input/advice/support is greatly appreciated. Thanks and wish me luck!!

[Ivey_Itch]

After lurking for a while on here, I decided to finally start one of these for myself, partly as motivation and to have a lot of like-minded people to help hold me accountable and to have a record for myself of my progress.

A little more about myself first... I am 34-years-old, a mom of a 7-year-old competitive cheerleader (meaning I spend the same if not more hours in the cheer gym with her as I do in the gym myself), engaged to be remarried, and am training for my first figure competition on June 2. I am still debating if I am going to have enough time to be prepared for this, but I am seeing good results so far.

I was a competitive athlete all through high school and college, but always BIG. At my heaviest, 2000-2001 I weighed 230 lbs. In 2002, I decided to get my life and health in check, and trained myself to a muscular 150 pounds. In early 2003, right after I got married to my now ex-husband, I started training for a figure competition, and a serious medical issue with my arm requiring major surgery derailed those plans (no lifting for almost a year). I have kept active for all these years, running, playing softball, and lifting again when I could, but not to the level I needed to for competition. After getting divorced in late 2010, I started taking inventory of my life and deciding the areas where I had been neglecting myself. One big area was unfulfilled goals, and near the top of the list of goals I put on the back burner due to a very unsupportive spouse, was training for a figure competition. So, here we are.

I am starting out with a good base of muscle and don't need to build too much, but I'm not going to lie and say that I don't have some work to do in the weight room. My lifts are pretty low for me right now. I do build muscle relatively easily compared to most women though, so I have that working for me. Mostly I need to get lean and lose the layer of fat though, mainly in my legs. Here are my starting stats:

Height: 5'10"
Starting weight: 164 (1/1/12)
Current weight: 158 (2/22/12)
Goal competition weight: 140

Right now I'm in the gym 6 days a week. M/W/F are 30 minutes of moderate cardio with weights in a push/legs/pull split. T/Th/S are cardio only days for 30-45 minutes and ab work following. My legs & my back are my strongest areas, with the exception of my left knee which has some pretty serious arthritis due to an old ACL injury. My weakest area is by far my shoulders. I have to work hard to build those and am slow to see results.

Yesterday was my push day (delayed a day due to illness), and this is where I'm at currently:

Incline bench DB press: 3X8 25's
DB Military Press: 3X8 15's
Machine Fly: 3X8 65lbs.
Lateral DB Shoulder Raises: 3X8 10's
Front DB Shoulder Raises: 3X8 10's
Machine Chest Press: 3X8 50lbs.
Triceps Rope Pushdown: 3X8 35lbs.

My diet got off to a rocky start, mostly because I realized I wasn't taking in enough calories. I had started out at 1300 (not net, total). I am now trying to increase that to 1500, based on the formulas in the "Nutrition" thread, but it's been a struggle. I'm getting better and packing food to have on hand with me throughout the day, but evenings are a struggle in taking in enough food because I'm focused on getting my daughter where she needs to be. I was also very sick most of last week and am still recovering, so my food intake has been on the low side, as has my energy level in the gym.

So, for food, this is my daily goal (tracked using MyFitnessPal): 1509cal, 151c/25f/170p

A typical day looks like this:

Post-workout: 1 scoop whey protein, 1/2c skim milk, 1 banana shake
Breakfast (3 hours after workout): 3/4c egg whites, 2T salsa
Lunch: 4 oz. lean protein (today it's chicken), 1c green veggies
Afternoon snack: Greek yogurt & 1/2c blueberries, lean protein (I love tuna for my afternoon snack)
Dinner: 4 oz. lean protein (Tilapia tonight), 1c green veggies or 1/2c healthy carbs (quinoa tonight)

I'm still trying to figure out where to add another 200 cal into this.

Supplements:
AM/Pre-workout - Multi, 1000mg Vit C, L-Carnitine 500mg, Creatine Monohydrate 1.5g (just added this a few days ago, will increase over the next few weeks)
PM (afternoon) - L-Carnitine 500mg, Glucosamine

So, that's where I'm at. Hopefully I won't bore people too much with this journal. I have a bit of a quirky and sometimes very naughty sense of humor, so I'm sure that'll come out eventually. Any input/advice/support is greatly appreciated. Thanks and wish me luck!!

Good luck! I've always wanted to compete. Maybe one day! As for the extra 200 calories, what about some healthy fats?

[KikiD22]

Good luck! I've always wanted to compete. Maybe one day! As for the extra 200 calories, what about some healthy fats?

Healthy fats were what I was thinking too. I have had a slight obsession with the natural almonds from Aldi. I ran out the other day, and I think I need to add those back in. I was thinking some avocado too. Yummy! My goal has been 25g of fat each day, which I'm thinking is on the low end, but even at that number, I'm coming in low.

[KikiD22]

Leg day today!! I actually love leg day and had a really good day in the gym today. Upped my weights on almost everything today. Starting to think the introduction of creatine was a good thing because I definitely noticed a reduction in muscle fatigue while I was there, even with increased weight.

Today's workout:

Squats (Smith Machine): 3X8 105 lbs.
Single Leg Extension: 3X8 25 lbs.
Seated Hamstring Curl: 3X8 70 lbs.
Leg Press: 3X8 120 lbs.
Seated Calf Raises: 3X8 45 lbs. (This is the plate weight. I don't know the starting weight of the equipment.)
20 min. cardio (plain, old, boring jogging today)

Next week, I plan on incorporating some deadlifts and reverse lunges into this routine. I've held off on the lunges until I got my left leg caught up to my right. When I first started this, my left leg was significantly smaller/weaker than my right due to my knee problems, and lunges were next to impossible until I built up some of the supporting muscle around the knee. I feel like it's reached a point that I can start adding lunges with light-ish weight to begin with.

Diet has been staying on track. I "cheated" a little bit last night during my daughter's cheer practice by having 3 cups of light popcorn. This time of the day is most definitely my biggest struggle because I'm sitting there for 3 hours with not much to do and snacking is a temptation. This will eventually become the time of my second cardio session when the weather gets warmer here. Anyways, I was still well under my 1500 calorie goal, and it still fell within my macros, so I guess it wasn't really cheating per se. I just don't view popcorn as a clean food, which is why I felt a little bad afterwards.

Getting a little worried about an upcoming trip with my daughter and how the diet is going to work out. I'm doing as much advanced planning as possible, but two weeks from tomorrow we are leaving for her last cheer competition of the season, at Disney World. I am going to do my best to stick with healthy choices while I'm there, but I am not going to stress about exactly meeting my macros. We're only there for 4 days, so any damage done shouldn't be huge, and like I said, I'm still going to stick with healthy eating as much as possible, which I did successfully the last time we travelled for cheer (in early January). Plus, we'll be getting in a few miles of walking each day. I just want to enjoy the weekend with her, seeing how it's going to be her first time on a plane, her first time at Disney, and her team has a good chance of taking home a national title.

[nichole412]

Have you tried making your own popcorn, its delicious. I use a large pan on the stove top with just a bit of olive oil (whatever amount fits into your macros) and then fresh cracked pepper after cooking. Just keep moving the pan until all kernals pop to prevent burning. Yummy!

[KikiD22]

Have you tried making your own popcorn, its delicious. I use a large pan on the stove top with just a bit of olive oil (whatever amount fits into your macros) and then fresh cracked pepper after cooking. Just keep moving the pan until all kernals pop to prevent burning. Yummy!

I may give that a try. It is definitely a treat food for me, so at least making it at home from scratch I have a little more control over what I'm putting in my body.

[KikiD22]

It snowed here last night. A lot. It's days like today that I'm very happy to have an elliptical machine and treadmill at home. So on a cardio-only day that I wake up at 5:00AM to 9 inches of snow, I can just drag my butt to the basement instead of having to drive to the gym.

As I said, today was cardio only. 30 minutes of run/walk intervals on the treadmill and then went outside and shovelled "heart attack" snow, the really heavy, wet stuff, for another 20 minutes. So, all in all, I think I did okay on the workout today.

The scale finally returned to where I was used to seeing it as well, 157.6 today, now that TOM is over. I need to stop weighing myself at that time because I freak out over the water weight I gain. I saw numbers as high 164 in the past week, and while I know it's bloating and water weight, I can't help but get a little disappointed.

Already getting excited about my cheat meal tomorrow night. I have date night planned with my fiance, and I took advantage of one of those Livingsocial half price deals for a sushi place near our house. I scoped out the menu ahead of time and they have a sashimi meal calling my name. We try to plan a night out, just the two of us, at least once a month. He's been really good about making sure that we go places that will accomodate my diet, and I'm thankful that he's been supportive.

[KikiD22]

Oh jeez... And how could I forget? I received the email that my competition posing suit is ready to be shipped out! Paid the remaining balance this morning. There is officially no turning back now. Eek!

[KikiD22]

Great morning at the gym today. Starting to see real gains in strength. And, as superficial as this might sound, I was actually confident enough to work out in my sports bra and yoga pants. No t-shirt. This is huge for me (and I was burning up in there today). Today was pull day, since my schedule was thrown off by being sick earlier in the week.

DB Bicep Curls: 3X8 20s
Wide-grip Lat Pulldown: 3X8 70lbs.
Back Extension: 3X8 holding 25lb plate
Seated Cable Rows: 3X8 60 lbs.
Rear Delt Machine Fly: 3X8 50lbs.
Cable E-Z Bar Biceps Curl: 3X10 40lbs.
20 min. elliptical machine (with the elevation and resistance high today)

Upped my Creatine to 3g today. Not sure if that is making a difference in my lifts or not, but I'm starting to see clear results.

Weekend plans got thrown all out of whack due to my daughter's dad not coming this weekend for his visitation, so sushi date night is cancelled. Instead, cooking up one of my favorite clean recipes for dinner tonight, Balsamic Chicken. Super easy, and really tasty. I'll post the recipe later today.

Going to spend a girls day out with my daughter for today instead and get some last minute shopping done for our Disney trip. The kid got really tall over the winter, and pretty much has outgrown all her summer clothes from last year. Doesn't work well going from 30 degree Chicago weather to 80 degree Orlando weather, so we need to pick up a few things for her. I might treat myself to a new bikini for the trip too, and show up some of those crazy cheer moms.

[Ivey_Itch]

ohhh, the suit shipped! Exciting! What's it look like?

[KikiD22]

ohhh, the suit shipped! Exciting! What's it look like?

It is pink shattered glass spandex, with clear rhinestones all over. Not completely covered in rhinestones like some pro suits I've seen. I didn't have a huge budget to spend on a suit, but I think I got a good deal for what I got. I'll post a photo as soon as it gets here.

[BananaOats]

It is pink shattered glass spandex, with clear rhinestones all over. Not completely covered in rhinestones like some pro suits I've seen. I didn't have a huge budget to spend on a suit, but I think I got a good deal for what I got. I'll post a photo as soon as it gets here.

Oooh, nice! Yes, picture please

[KikiD22]

Grr... So upset with myself today. Today was supposed to be lifting and cardio, and then, stupid me, I forgot to change the time on my alarm clock back to my weekday wake-up time, so I overslept by an hour. I ended up still getting a decent cardio workout in on the treadmill at home, but I'm kicking myself for the alarm error. Just going to swap my days for the rest of the week. T/Th/Sat will become lifting days, and M/W/F cardio only.

My 7-year-old daughter asked me on Saturday if I had a 6-pack yet. She probably only knows what a 6-pack is because she trains at a cheerleading gym that has athletes all the way up to age 18, and she is quite often scooped up by the older girls and hangs around with them. Anyways, she proceeds to lift up my shirt and says, "Nope, just a 4-pack so far. Just two more to go." I LOL'd at that one. I'm happy with any "pack" at this point, but I guess that means muscle definition is starting to show. Guess I need to post some new progress photos soon.

[Ivey_Itch]

whoo hoo for the 4 pack! if I lean and twist in a certain direction I have the "appearance" of a pack, but it's just an illusion...damn it! Good work! New pics - yes please! Oh and the suit sounds cute!

[KikiD22]

Literally dragged myself to the gym this morning. I had zero motivation to get there, but once I did, I felt a lot better. I just a very stressful, late night last night between some issues at home and my lovely daughter getting herself kicked out of cheer practice last night for acting silly. Basically, she got in trouble for something really incredibly ridiculous, but it was her 4th offense, so she was done for the night. Also, we got the preliminary comptition schedule for her competition at Disney next weekend, and I am sooo not happy on so many things. Normally, the young kids compete early, between 8:00 - 10:00AM at most competitions. So what would posess the event promoter to schedule 6, 7, and 8-year-olds for 4:00PM at Disney World, I have no idea. We can't really do the park pre-competition because they will get worn out. Swimming prior to competing is a big no-no too. Not sure how I'm going to rearrange the schedule at this point...

Back to relevant stuff. Today was "push" day at the gym.

Incline DB Bench Press: 3X10 20s
Military Press: 3X10 15s
Machine Flyes: 3X8 70lbs.
Side DB Straight-Arm Shoulder Raises: 3X8 10s
Front DB Straight-Arm Shoulder Raises: 3X8 10s
Triceps Rope Pushdown: 3X8 40lbs.
20 min. cardio (run/walk intervals)

[KikiD22]

So, I took out all my stress from yesterday on the eliptical machine at the gym this morning. I did 20 minutes on there, but I cranked the resistance up to 80% and upped the incline too. I just went hard for the whole 20 minutes on there, and it felt really good to sweat the stress away. Followed that up with my ab workout, which I know I'm going to be feeling tomorrow. Focused extra on my obliques today, since I need to tighten those up a little more.

After stalling for a few weeks, I am definitely starting to see the changes in my body pick back up again. I'm starting to see more size in my arms, especially my shoulders, which is very hard for me. And while I've only seen about 2 pounds of movement on the scale in the last few weeks, my size 6 pants are starting to get loose. So, I think the increase to 1500 calories (from 1300) actually did help restart my weight loss because I was at way too much of a deficit.

Last but not least, according to the shipping tracker, my competition suit should be arriving today!! I'm almost a little worried now. It's like when it's in my possession, this all becomes very "real." Scary to think about... My heels are getting ordered next week, just because I signed up for a pole dancing class in a few weeks for fun, and I want to bust out the clear heels for that. I'm going full out stripper fantasy for this one, LOL!

[Ivey_Itch]

Good work on getting to the gym the other day and kicking it out today on the cardio It's always great to de-stress! Did the suit come in?!?!

[KikiD22]

Good work on getting to the gym the other day and kicking it out today on the cardio It's always great to de-stress! Did the suit come in?!?!

The suit came in, but I don't have the ability to post pictures on here yet.

Today became my impromtu rest day due to a very sick child this morning. Between taking her to the pediatrician and cleaning up puke, I haven't gotten a workout in yet. I think I will just readjust the schedule for this week and hit the gym on Sunday, which would normally be my rest day. Legs will be moved to tomorrow and Pulls on Saturday. It's life, it happens, and I'll just adjust to make it work.

[Ivey_Itch]

Hope your daughter feels better soon! I can't tell you how many times I've "readjusted" the schedule with kids, it's inevitable!

[discdoggie]

Welcome to the journals!

I also was toying around with doing my first stage competition in May or June, but I am re-thinking that plan.


Let me ask you: how current is your avi? At I'm sure you know, it's too late in the game to be adding more mass---your focus for the next 16 ( more? Less?) weeks is stripping fat.

Anyway, ill be looking in on you! Keep the training intense and the nutrition tight.

[KikiD22]

So, unfortunately I haven't been able to update this in a few days, but here goes. Pretty much my diet went to hell for a few days. My daughter's case of strep blew up into severe dehydration and a trip to the ER, so I was focused on that and really didn't track my diet at all. I shouldn't say it was that bad, since I still tried to make healthy decisions, but I don't really know how many calories or what my macros were for a few days.

I was able to make it in to the gym on Saturday and got in my cardio and pull workout. I also met with a trainer there to get more ideas for hamstring and glute exercises. The unfortunate thing is that she flat out told me, with the fact that I am training for competition, that she really doesn't know what to do with me. She said she's used to training people that are out of shape and didn't know the advanced skills that I needed. Umm...

However, the good news is that she is good friends with a local competitor/coach from my area, and she is going to contact her for me about working out a deal on cost. For what she has listed on her website, it is way out of my budget, but if the cost comes down a bit, who knows. I'd prefer to work with a coach, because I'm aware that my chances for success are much higher if I do. However, financially, I'm not sure it's something I can do.

So, after my diet and exercise being slightly derailed for the past 5 days, I'm getting back on the horse today and back on track. I'm throwing in a quick cardio workout today at home after I pick her up from school and before she has cheer practice (she's recovered fully now from being sick). Then it's back to 5:30AM workouts for the rest of the week. Going to try and cram all my weight workouts in on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, but we'll see how that goes.

[KikiD22]

Welcome to the journals!

I also was toying around with doing my first stage competition in May or June, but I am re-thinking that plan.


Let me ask you: how current is your avi? At I'm sure you know, it's too late in the game to be adding more mass---your focus for the next 16 ( more? Less?) weeks is stripping fat.

Anyway, ill be looking in on you! Keep the training intense and the nutrition tight.

My current avi is about 1 month old at this point. I am seriously considering postponing my first competition at this point. I want to try and see where I'm at around 8 weeks out and that's when I'll make the final call. I have made some significant process since that photo was taken, but I'm still not sure I'm on track in terms of where I need to be to compete in June. I refuse to be one of those people that goes on stage not feeling 100% competition ready, but I'm giving myself some more time before I make the final call.

The main focus is definitely stripping fat and maybe working on a few specific spots. I need to build up my glutes, and I need to improve the symmetry in my quads. My left leg is still slightly smaller than my right because of my knee issues. A lot of my leg workout going forward is going to be single-leg based. I'm still going to leave in my squats and leg press, but I need to focus more on lunges and other exercises that don't allow me to favor one leg over the other.

[KikiD22]

Had an excellent day at the gym today!! I'm definitely starting to see consistant increases in strength, as well as seeing the bodyfat start to come off. Today was Push day:

Incline DB Bench Press: 3X8 25s
Flat bench press (barbell): 3X8 50 lbs.
Military Press: 3X10 15s (increasing this one next week)
Side DB Straight-Arm Shoulder Raises: 3X8 10s
Front DB Straight-Arm Shoulder Raises: 3X8 10s (still struggling with these last two)
Machine Flyes: 3X8 65 lbs.
Tricep Rope Pushdown: 3X8 40 lbs.
20 Min. HIIT on the treadmill (4.3 mph walking/9.0 mph sprints)

I'm still struggling on the diet to take in as many calories as I need to. For some reason, I'm struggling to get over 1300 cal. Maybe it's because I'm used to eating that way, but I just cannot seem to hit 1500. I am constantly on the go too, so I need to start packing an extra snack for each day to try and hit 1500. The thing is, I don't feel like I'm deprived at 1300. Maybe it's because I'm eating super clean and taking in a lot of food volume-wise. I'm not sure...

Okay, last but not least, there's something else that's been on my mind since yesterday, and maybe those that read this can chime in. Does anyone else think that the Arnold Classic rewarded a softer, and maybe slightly smaller, look for the pro figure girls this year? I may just be hyper-aware since I'm training myself, but I was surprised at what I saw in the photos of the top 6. NPC News Online had a great breakdown of the top 6, with photos, and judges critiques of each. Quite honestly, seeing what the pros looked like at what I think is a prestigious competition and what the judges rewarded, has definitely renewed my confidence that I'll be ready for an amateur show in June. Whatever it takes to motivate, right? LOL! Honestly though, what is everyone's thoughts on this?

[Miranda]

Quite honestly, seeing what the pros looked like at what I think is a prestigious competition and what the judges rewarded, has definitely renewed my confidence that I'll be ready for an amateur show in June. Whatever it takes to motivate, right? LOL! Honestly though, what is everyone's thoughts on this?

hard to say without pics, but i'm with DD that you can't build mass in 12 weeks when you should be losing fat for a competition. depending on how much fat you carry, 12 weeks is nothing.

if you feel you need more mass, then perhaps you're not ready for a comp.

[KikiD22]

hard to say without pics, but i'm with DD that you can't build mass in 12 weeks when you should be losing fat for a competition. depending on how much fat you carry, 12 weeks is nothing.

if you feel you need more mass, then perhaps you're not ready for a comp.

This week is a little crazy for me, but I will definitely post updated pics in the next couple of days. I can see where my current avi is throwing people off because looking at it now, I am much leaner than that photo.

[KikiD22]

Another successful day at the gym, for the most part. Today was leg day, and I got about 90% of my workout in, and then my bloodsugar dropped off. Ugh... Hate when that happens. It's my own fault for eating really early last night for dinner and not having anything for about 12 hours before heading to the gym. So, I have no one to blame but myself for that.

Legs went well today though. Now that fat is starting to disappear, I can see that the size of my legs is pretty good. I just need to focus on maintaining that now, dropping more fat, and possibly continue to try and even out the size of my quads. Less fat means that the muscle size difference is more obvious now. I can even see it through my dress pants at work. Anyways, I got everything except for calf raises in today, but I added reverse lunges for the first time.

Smith Machine Squats 3X10 105 lbs.
Single Leg Extension 3X8 30 lbs.
Seated Hamstring Curl 3X8 70 lbs.
Leg Press 3X10 120 lbs.
Reverse Lunges 3X8 holding 15s (I took it easy on this today to see how my left knee held up first. Lunges scare the crap out of me for some reason.)
25 minutes walking 4.5 MPH

Tomorrow is going to be my pull day with about 20 minutes of cardio, and then I'll probably disappear from here for a few days. We fly out early Friday morning for my daughter's cheerleading competition at Disney World, so my cardio is going to come from escorting a 7-year-old on her first trip to Disney. Oh, and I'm team mom for her team, so the amount of chaos and running around I typically do at a competition will probably be multiplied X10 at the "Happiest Place on Earth," LOL!

[KikiD22]

I finally took updated progess pics today. I have to say, while I'm not as muscular as I'd like to be, the fat is definitely starting to drop now off of my upper body. The progress is slower in my lower body, but I expected that, since that was my weight loss pattern before.

Started getting a cold last night, of course, right before I leave for Orlando, but I think I tried to blast that out of my system doing cardio today. Decided to really push myself to my limits on cardio today, and it helped to have the fact that I have to wear a bikini tomorrow as motivation. I was literally dripping with sweat today after my running workout, and it felt great!!

And, what did I do last night? I packed my running shoes, LOL!. I originally didn't plan on doing anything workout-wise at Disney World, but then I found out our hotel has a running trail. I couldn't pass up the chance to go out for a run on Disney property. Call me crazy, but there's something that makes running easier when you do it in a pretty place.

[Miranda]

I finally took updated progess pics today. I have to say, while I'm not as muscular as I'd like to be, the fat is definitely starting to drop now off of my upper body. The progress is slower in my lower body, but I expected that, since that was my weight loss pattern before.

based on your pics, i don't think you could be ready by june.
two things that jump out are that 1/ you still carry a lot of fat in your legs and 2/ it doesn't look like you have appreciable muscle mass.

which isn't to say that you cannot make good progress in 12 weeks and look a lot leaner by june. looking lean and looking competition-ready are two different things, though.

just my 2 cents.

[nichole412]

Look at your abs! Great improvement in such a short time

[KikiD22]

based on your pics, i don't think you could be ready by june.
two things that jump out are that 1/ you still carry a lot of fat in your legs and 2/ it doesn't look like you have appreciable muscle mass.

which isn't to say that you cannot make good progress in 12 weeks and look a lot leaner by june. looking lean and looking competition-ready are two different things, though.

just my 2 cents.

I agree, I am definitely going to be on the small side, especially being as tall as I am. I'm going to decide on the official yes or no 8 weeks out, but as of right now, I'm thinking that I'm going to wait until a show in early November. That will give me time to build some more muscle, now that I'm seeing what's underneath the layer of fat I was carrying.