Ambers road to Figure Stardom!

[aheadric]

This is the beginning of my second contest prep. Now that I have one under my belt I feel much more prepared mentally and physically. I have spent the last few months building some muscle and trying to get my life to settle down. All of my family issues are resolved, my wedding is over and I am settled into my new job. Lastly I need to get my husband and son in my town but that shoudl be happening by the end of the month. My game plan is to go 4 weeks with no cheat and then reevaluate with the help of a co-worker who is an ex-figure competitor. I am doing cardio rangingin from walking on treadmill at an incline, to stairmill, to running outdoor and my favorite swimming. I am doing 2 a days of cardio and eating every 2 to 2 1/2 hours so 8 times a day. THis will be a little tough b/c of my training schedule with my clients but definitly doable. Stay tuned to track my progress and watch for updated pictures. Any feedback is greatly appreciated!!

[Whomper107]

Sounds like you're ready to do this. Good luck, I look forward to watching your progress.

[aheadric]

I am definitly ready!!! let me know what you think as I progress. Today went extremely well!!! 40 min of incline walking was great...leg workout was awesome!!! here it is

Squats 3x15 75 lbs
leg press close 3x15 110 lbs
leg press wide 3x15 110 lbs
oblique sit up with twist on bench 3x12 each side

leg ext 3x12 80 lbs
leg curls 3x15 55 lbs
plank circuit 4 positions 30 seconds each 3 times

Straight leg bent knee dead lift 3x15 40 lbs each hand
Glute kick back 3x15 22.5 lbs
lunges 3x22 on each side

Diet is good I was sooo full. It was difficult with my client load to get all of my food down. I'm not looking forward to squeezing in all my meals tommorrow i've got a booked schedule no open spaces and even taking clients when i'm not scheduled. I am looking forward to the stairmill and swimming tommorrow..i love doing laps so this will be fun. now I just have to make it home in enough time to get food preped for the next day.

[rich55]

Awesome! The Natural Northern is a good, competitive show. I also see that you live in Columbus as well. I am running posing classes at the downtown Metro Fitness running from late July through the fall shows and they are only $15. You are never too practiced with presentation.

I know you have your mind set on the qualifying for the Arnold, but you should also check out the Natural Buckeye Classic event that I promote here in Columbus on April 17. It is a WNBF pro-qualifier next year and will be brining out some very good figure talent. I will be following along. Train and diet hard!

[aheadric]

Thank you so much, that is the one thing I need the most work on is my posing. Send me some more information and I'll gladly be joining, can never have too much help. I've looked at that show actually, I almost did it this past year.

Today I weighed in at 131 down 3 pounds from yesterday. Cardios are going great I love swimming, and the stepmill!!! Diet is still good, except having a hard time getting all the asparagus down. hopefuly that wil get better. Today was an off lifting day but I feel good....i'm sure i'm going to feel like i got hit by a MAC truck tommorrow....i should have stretched and big suprise didn't. Trainers never practice what they preach...lol. stayed tune for more tommorrow

[rich55]

Cool, I will PM you the info tomorrow. And, yes practice what you preach. Take 5 minutes and stretch first while you visualize how awesome your training is going to be.

[aheadric]

Yes visualization is key...lol...but I did stretch a little today...LOL... Today went rough I was exhausted. I wound up sleeping in my car for 2 hours in the parking garage after my workout and before my PT meeting. Felt a little better and then did the rest of my cardio. I weighed in at 129 lbs this morning. I'm already seeing a difference especially in my shoulders and abs of course. My legs and butt will be the last to go, just like last time. Today was shoulders and biceps ,workout was great, learned a new ab workout from a member, I like it a lot..lol. But anyways, I probably won't be logging in until Saturday while I'm at work b/c i'm headed home to see my boys tommorrow night through friday and then back to work on saturday. THen i'm headed back home saturday through sunday. Do they make portable fridges I can plug into my car??? i'm hoping all my food makes the almost 2 hour drive home. I'm also very excited I just got back in touch with a photographer I did some photos for at the Arnold and he will be at the Lakewood competition so I am looking into getting some photos done...great way to market!!! but keep training and I'll see you all soon!!

[aheadric]

Today weighed in at 128.5 lbs. Super excited to see it still coming off. My abs are really flattening out and I'm already seeing a difference in my legs. I'm going to try and jump into a yoga class today since I have nobodyat work...but we'll see. I'm hoping to take some pics tommorrow and have them up soon. I'll also be posting new BF and inches as well....stay tuned and have a Happy 4Th of July!!

[aheadric]

I hope everyone had a great 4th. I wish I would have gotten more rest lol. but all well. Workouts are going great, cardios suck but great and diet is great. seeing really positive changes in shoulders and arms...yay!!! legs are still thinning down. I've been super busy because I live at my job and am looking for another. It's not condusive to having a family....or training if your working 13 hours a day.....but until then i'm sticking with it. check back in soon have a good night i'll be headed there after I chat with my son.

[rich55]

Sounds like your priorities are in order. Contest prep is not is not easy and cardio is not fun, BUT very necessary. Keep the progress coming! Posing class is officially on for 7/25.

[aheadric]

The running is starting to get easier....my knees just don't always like me after. The classes will be a definite once I switch jobs....I'm leaving personal training through a gym b/c i can't take the hours. I'm going to hopefully be getting hired at wells fargo and then do training on the side. much better for my situation and leaves me more time with family and for training.

[aheadric]

I am about 10 weeks out from my first competition of the season. I last competed in March of 09. Since then I moved, got married and started a new job. Needless to say during all of that I went from about 125 to 140. After saying thats enough I need to bust down and get ready for next season I'm at about 131. For about 7 weeks I did a more traditional in depth diet with all real food and no shakes, eating 7 times a day. that did not work at all for me!! I was gaining weight if anything. So I went back to the same diet I did last time I competed that worked great, except that I uped the chicken portion. My weekends have been crazy with driving back to where we are from for funerals so it has not been the most consistant thing, however I am not losing wieght like I did last time. Below is my diet. Last time within 2 weeks I had lost about 7 pounds, and this time I only lost about 3-4 over the past 2 weeks. PLEASE HELP!!!

Bfast
4 egg whites
1 egg
1 slice pepper jack cheese (60-80 cal)
1 small grapefruit

Snack
UMP vanilla shake 1 scoop
1 tbs peanut butter

Lunch
4 oz chicken
1/2 c broc or green beans

snack
UMP vanilla shake 1 scoop
1 tbs peanut butter

dinner
4 oz chicken
1/2 cup broc or veggies

1.5-2 gallons of water a day

I take vitamin e in the morning, 3 flaxseed oils a day with each meal, 1 milk thistle a day, and fiber.

I cannot seem to get past this 131 mark and have only 10 weeks and need to walk on stage at about 107. Any recommendations would be amazing!!

[aheadric]

Ok so here some pics....not thrilled in the least about how I'm looking. Shoulders are the only thing I"m happy with. Much bigger than ever before. And more definition