Day 37 - Wow, I'm tired !

Today, I’ll be honest, I’m exhausted and moody. I’m starting to feel like “crap”, but I was told that it was going to get this way. It’s not going to get easier; it’ll probably get very hard during the last four weeks! Hard training, dieting, posing, frustrations, people, etc…some days, I might start feeling like I’m in over my head and want to start screaming. What keeps me going? Goals and support from my BFL Buddies/Friends/Family/Co-Workers, etc! The drive and desire to reach my goals and dreams! I can’t emphasize it enough, to ANYONE that wants to start a challenge (of any sort!), you MUST write down your goals…they are your guide to your success. Make them challenging but also make them achievable. In the beginning, it might be hard to write down goals because you are unsure of your true potential. For example, you might want to be able to run 2 miles under 16 minutes, but you barely can run 1 minute without having to stop and take a breather… Ok, well, still keep the 2 miles under 16 minutes goal, but write down smaller achievable goals along the way that will bring you to your ultimate true goal, which is to run those 2 miles! Small goals lead you to your bigger goals and give you motivation and self-confidence to reach your highest potential! Make sense? Look around you, take a good look at those that have reached and succeeded where a normal person wouldn’t and ask them what they have done to get where they are at…most of them will tell you, they had a road map, which consisted of GOALS!

Be consistent, don’t give up, and when you feel like giving up, reach REAL down inside of you and ask the question “What do you want the most?” …chocolate or chicken? Trust me, somedays, it would be so much more easier to reach for that chocolate..but I simply don’t! The next day, I pat myself on the back and say, “Job well done Carole for such a great day yesterday, now, try do the same today, if not better! You can do it!”

As Promised ! New Pictures!

First Month's Stats are in baby!!

Day 32 – Thursday August 25th.
It’s been exactly a month already since I started my pre-contest programs and here’s a brief summary of my stats:

7-25-05:
Weight: 139.5 lbs
Waist: 28”
Hips: 35”
BF%: 22.3%
Muscle Mass: 108.39 lbs
Body Fat: 31.1 lbs


8-25-05:
Weight: 130 lbs
Waist: 26.5”
Hips: 33”
BF%: 17.4%
Muscle Mass: 107.38 lbs
Body Fat: 22.62 lbs

Fat Lost: - 8.5 lbs
Muscle Mass: - 1.01 lbs

These stats are as accurate as the person taken the measurements (which would be myself!). I will be taking new pictures this weekend, be in the look out for those.

Wow - what a weekend!

QUICK SIDE NOTE: As of 8-22-05, a total of over $230.00 has been donated! A big Thank You goes out to all of my supporters! I still got 9 more weeks to go till my first competition, but only 4 weeks to go till I order my expensive suits ! Feel free to share my blogger link address to any of your Fitness Buddies to help me out ! I need all the support that I can get! I'll be posting New Pictures this weekend!


Well, had our friends visit and we had a blast! Friday, we dropped our daughter at daycare and we decided to go watch a movie in the afternoon (since that's the only time we were going to have available without the little one) - we watched "Skeleton Key"... overall, it was a great movie! Definitely not your typical movie, I loved the twisted ending! This is a must watch! In my opinion, I would wait till it came out in DVD to watch :-). We had not watch a movie at a theater in over 2 years!!!!! It was NICE to do!!!

As for Saturday, we went to local water park called "Wet N' Wild", my daughter was with us, she had a blast and I got a terrible sunburn on my shoulders! I didn't THINK about putting any sunscreen lotion on me, but I sure plastered it on my daughter! She looked like a clown by the time I got done with her! *lol*

As for my training and diet, well, I'll admit, it wasn't the best! I didn't "cheat" persay, but I did not follow my diet as planned on Saturday, it was a little off. However, no major damage done, just some cleaning up to do.

I also got someone interested in starting the Body-for-Life program this weekend! WAHOO!!!

Anyway, new stats (and perhaps new pics) will be coming this Thursday (or weekend), will keep you posted!

Official Weigh-In Day & Stef!

Challenging Weekend Ahead

We are having friends visiting us this weekend, this will be quite a challenge for me since I will need to stick with my diet and do it in a fairly diplomatic way – we may go White Water Rafting tomorrow and I have no idea if I can carry around a cooler or not. It’ll be quite interesting and I’ll have to post a report on Sunday.

Today “WAS” my official weigh-in day and I’m actually down to 130.5 lbs…ok, so that’s 1 lb lighter then last week. I’ve been steadily losing 1 lb a week, which is good! This should mean that I’ll be ready in about 8 weeks right? We will soon find out! I also took my measurements (AGAIN) at http://www.bblex.de/en/calc/navy.php and with my waistline at 26.5” and my hips being at 33”, this shows me at 17.4 % BF… what happened between yesterday and today?!? Well, I won’t be too descriptive BUT when you eat lot’s of protein, things tend to get a little “backed up” *LOL* and you tend to have a bigger waist line and are heavier on the scale! THAT’S WHY YOU SHOULD ONLY WEIGH YOURSELF ONCE A WEEK PEOPLE! The same day, in the morning, on an empty stomach and NAKED! Yeah, you heard me NAKED!

Talking about being butt naked, has anyone checked out Stef in her thong?!? WOWZERS!!! Hope she wins that trip, she surely deserves it! She worked her buns off (literally) – she looks GREAT! You can go and vote for her at http://www.qfm96.com/ , she’s “Diane” and wears a white tight tank top and white thong to go with it (high hell white shoes too), you can’t miss her, she’s the best looking one in there! You’ll have to register but, don’t worry, your email address will NOT be sold to anyone - just be sure to remember your login name and password, I hear there will be several rounds to this and you’ll have to visit on a weekly basis to vote. VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! It’s our duty to be supportive to our fellow Body-for-Life Buddies!

My bike is FIXED!

SIDE NOTE: Anybody that wants to be added to my blogger, please let me know, I'll add you to my list!

SIDE NOTE #2: There's another wonderful way of supporting me and that's from ordering Personalized Children's Books from my website! Please visit www.personalizeabook.com They are adorable and perfect for birthday gifts, Christmas (approaching really fast!), or just to say I LOVE YOU! I personally personalize them myself and provide very quick turn around on all my orders!

Today, I decided to weigh myself a day a head of time! As suspected, no movement on the scale – however, I’m definitely showing signs of “shrinkage” – my pants are fitting loser in the hips/thighs area. I measured my hips and waist line, and according to the “navy” bodyfat online calculator, I’m down to 18%...so even though the scale says I’m the same, I’m really NOT! I’m losing body fat and gaining muscle mass! I’m thrilled! Still got 6% to go! Feels like I’ll never get there! Trainer says to stick to the diet and be consistent, have faith and I’ll get there. I’m venturing into unknown territory and although I have faith, it’s hard to believe that I could accomplish that low of a body fat since I’ve never done it before. I can’t rely on the scale too much since I’m training so hard and my nutrition diet is consistent and on tract, it’s very possible for me to continue losing fat and gain muscle.

Well my bike is FIXED! It was a screw that wasn’t tight enough, that’s all it was! I’m very happy that it’s been taken care of and that it wasn’t a major problem. I was a little worried about it, I love it too way too much to give it up.

So, I’ll be doing my cardio from home again, I did Taebo on Monday and biked at the gym yesterday after my workout (which I wasn’t suppose to, I’m to separate my cardio and weight training). Got to be flexible right? Can’t stick to the schedule 100% of the time, it’s almost impossible! Doesn’t mean you can’t give your 100% when you’re training though.

Soon I’ll be starting to practice my posing and walking around in my high heel shoes at the gym! They have hard wood floors there and I will need to carry around my stripper shoes with me (as most of my body-for-life buddies call them haha!). Got to love those!

Well, got to get going…till next time!

Today is Day 23! :-) only 67 more to go!

Wow – I had a great back workout yesterday! I had so much energy when I got back home and ate; I did over 2 hours of cleaning! Laundry, folded clothes, cleaned the bathroom, etc. After all that, I was going to do 30 minutes of biking, but after 2 minutes on it, it started squeaking really LOUD! What an AWEFUL noise that was to my poor little ears! Well, no despair, I got TAEBO! I don’t consider it Cardio really, but it was better then doing nothing! Hopefully I’ll be able to get my husband to take a look at my bike tonight (he’s slow to fix stuff!), something is seriously wrong with it! Argggg! There’s NO way that I can tolerate that awful noise! I didn’t want to do my weights and cardio back-to-back, each sessions takes all my energy and I’d be soooooo exhausted by the time I’d get done with both, you’d have to carry me out of the gym! ALSO, I don’t want to take the risk of overtraining, I want to preserve my muscle mass. I drink my shake about 1 hour before I workout, eat again about ½ hour after, wait another hour and do my cardio. I generally try to get my cardio in at about 9:30 PM and then go to bed.

People are starting to see a difference at the gym; they say that I’m starting to be more defined. Yesterday while working out my back, a gentleman that has been casually talking to me since I started BFL back in the beginning of February commented on how I was starting to show signs of definition and muscle in my back! I was THRILLED! I’ve NEVER had anyone comment on my back before…my legs and arms always got the attention, but now my BACK!!! WAHOO! I guess my hard work is paying off!

I may soon need to add more cardio in my routine, or perhaps morning 2 mile walks, depends if I’ve hit a plateau or not, I have a feeling I have, won’t know for sure till Thursday!

Tomorrow is a New Week!

Well, tomorrow will be Day 22 – almost a month since I started my new challenge. Some days are good, some are harder. Today was a good day! Although I couldn’t quite fit in all of my meals (I woke up too late), I had great workouts! I went to the gym, did Chest/Tricep/Abs… I didn’t focus on my abs too much as they were still sore from the day before. I’ve had some interruptions in the middle of my workouts but that was partly my fault, a friend of mine showed up at the gym and I was in the mood to talk – his girlfriend just won a Fitness Competition and she’s now NPC qualified to go for her PRO Card. I’m always so focused and serious at the gym, and since its SUNDAY, I made myself relax a little bit. After my weight workout, I came home and ate. After about 1 hour, I decided to do my 30 minute cardio session. After 5 minutes, I was ready to get off the bike! My legs were burning and screaming! I didn’t want to quit so I worked through it. It’s always hard to do cardio the day after my intense leg workouts! I also went for a casual night walk with my daughter, dog, and husband…we walked may be 1.5 miles but by the time I got home, I was breaking a sweat! The humidity always gets me; it’s very humid here in NC. My husband kept complaining about how he gained so much weight lately. He’s never been above 200 lbs until last week! He eats way too many cookies; I ought to call him “COOKIE MONSTER!”.

Some of you are probably wondering what my personal battles are during this very interesting challenge of competing! Well, it’s not as easy as people think, this is more difficult then some of you may realize. Here’s my list of battles:

Having to cook two separate meals each night for me and for my husband. While I eat my chicken breast, sweet potato and green beans…I’m whipping him some pizza, cheeseburgers, home baked cookies, etc…he eats what he wants but I cook it! HARD!
My Day Time Job! I’m a Real Estate Coordinator that is prospecting to sell or lease our available outparcel/land to restaurants users such as Applebee’s , Ruby Tuesday’s, Starbucks, IHOP, etc. With this being said, I talk and think about FOOD all day long!!!! Talk about having to battle my evil twin each day! HA!
Missing my cheat day! Don’t get me wrong, I wont’ give in and binge, but what I will say is this, I will certainly learn to appreciate the freedom of eating what I want as long as it’s authorized! Being on strict diet that you cannot deviate from is hard! I might feel like eating one thing but I can’t have it, even if it’s BFL authorized. Do I miss my sweets such as chocolate, etc? Sure I do, but not as much as I miss my freedom to eat and cook what I want each night! *lol*

I had promised that I was going to write my weekly goals and here they are:

Stick to the program and do my four 30 minute cardio sessions! (NO, not three but FOUR!) *lol*
Eat 6 meals a day, even if it means waking up earlier on the weekends! HA!
Be Patient! Not weigh myself every other day, but only ONCE a week!
Be sure to spend quality time with my daughter, and make the effort to talk to her in FRENCH so she can talk to her grandmother someday :-). Most of you probably don’t know this but I’m Canadian French!
Go to bed by 10:00 PM each night….and with this being said, I’m 20 minutes late! Got to go to bed!!

Till next time!!!

Hugs,
Carole

Day 20 - Figure Suits of my Dreams!

Some of you have already seen this in my bfltracker.com profile, however, I thought I'd post them here so I could get some feedback on them.

These are the suits that I have been thinking about getting...what do you think? The 2 pc suit won't have the rhinestones strings on the bottom sides, although very cute, I feel like it's going to be uncomfortable for me.

My 2 pc suit will be in Red and my 1 pc suit will be in Dark Blue (or Black). Definitely want lots of sparkles! *lol* Depending on how much money I raise and save (again, thanks for all of you that have made donations!), I may get the suits decorated or not..if not, this means I will have to do them myself which will be time consuming. These suits have over 500 stones each! Yeah, doesn't seem like it but they do!

WOW - this is day 20 already! Can you believe it !?!?! Before you know it, I'll be on stage!! I'M SO EXCITED! I feel like "Tigger", BOUNCY BOUNCY BOUNCY! *lol* (Sorry, I've been watching Winnie The Pooh way too much with my 2 year old daughter!)

Be Flexible/Adapt for your Family!

Interesting topic isn’t it? Well, this is something that people neglect to think about sometime. When tackling a huge goal like “Competing”, a lot of time is invested in working out, cooking, planning, researching, practicing, etc. You have the determination of a tiger; however, your family members don’t have that same drive as you do. Understandably, there will be some confrontations and some explaining, which most of the time won’t always be understood. With this being said, you must be flexible and adapt! I read a quote a few days ago that goes like this: “"It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” Yesterday, I did my weight lifting and went home. Most of my weight lifting workouts now-a-days last anywhere between one hour to an hour and a half, on top of that, I also have to do 4 cardio sessions a week for 30 minutes each…along with working a full time job, cooking separate meals for my myself and my family, being a mother, etc. To some people, it’s a lot of time invested in working out, which I completely understand their point of view. Sometimes, there will be some demands and requests. Can you be flexible and adapt?? There’s always multiple solutions to a problem, write down your solutions and discuss them with your partner and see where it takes you from there. You’re probably asking: “Why all this talk Carole?”….Well, long story short, yesterday, my husband, after a long day at work, wanted some “alone” time and at the same time, “I” wanted to do my 30 minute cardio session, since, I only had one session this week and I’m due for 3 more by Sunday! With this being said, I had to sacrifice my cardio session so he could have his “alone” time. We discussed this situation this morning, I pressed the importance of my workout schedule and he expressed his “envy” of my invested time into working out (which is sometime I love doing) and that he wanted the opportunity to have time to do what he loved doing as well, which I agreed. Although I strongly feel that my time is better spent then his *lol* (he plays games a lot, which to me, it’s a waste of time….and for him, working out is just a chore! HA!), I’ve directed him to plug is gaming system upstairs in our bedroom so that me and Cassandra could have the downstairs to ourselves, so that she can watch her movies (Winnie the Pooh), WHILE I do my cardio sessions…this won’t be the case all the time HOWEVER, there will be times where I will plop in a movie for her to watch while I do my cardio, otherwise, Daddy watches her while I work out. Family members can be supportive but they all have their limits, please be considerate of their feelings and desires! Accomplishments, trophies, awards, etc are all short-term, however, family is forever!!!!!! I’m not saying that you need to give up on your dreams and/or goals, but what I’m saying is “Be Flexible and Adapt…. This should be an enjoyable experience and not a struggle! Hugs, Carole.

Day 19 – A New Record!

Yesterday was a great day! Ate clean, worked out hard and did my cardio! However, I still didn’t sleep well; my daughter has a cold and wakes up several times in the night with a terrible cough. Giving her medicine is not fun, she doesn’t want any part of it and says “Don’t want”…poor little thing, I really feel bad for her.

Anyway this morning, I woke up and weighed in at 131.5 lbs, the lowest I’ve ever been! My waist and hip measurements are moving down, but I’m pretty much the same everywhere else. My current bodyfat is approximately 18.8%, down from approximately 21.6%.

I’ll be revisiting my goals and re-write them into my blogger probably over the weekend. I have them written down but I need to revisit them as a lot of them have been accomplished.

Figure Competition
Challenge #2!

I will be competing in my first Figure Show in October 22, 2005 and my second November 5th, 2005. Only one major set back and that is the financial funds! As a good friend told me recently,
where there's a will, there's a way! Here's where I need your help and support!
Please help ME out by being a
sponsor for my upcoming 2005 competitive season! Just click on the PayPal
button below to place your donation, and become part of

“Team Carole Ingram Body-for-Life Fitness”.

Donate $10.00 or more and you will be honored with an 8" x10"
picture of my first Figure Show. You will have the opportunity to choose a picture!
Thanks for your support!

Day 16 – Awesome Kick Butt Workout! (literally!)

I had an awesome leg workout yesterday! My legs are now starting to feel stronger, leaner and tighter! I actually catch myself “feeling” them *LOL*…gosh, I don’t remember EVER doing that! When I did my standing calf raises, I took a glimpse at the mirrors and actually got to really see my calf muscles! It was so motivating and awesome! I worked out my legs for about 1.5 hours, each set getting more and more intense. Lot’s of people at the gym are starting to know about my upcoming competitions and are cheering me on! I also get the “jealous” look too, which I feel very uncomfortable about. No need to get into the subject of jealousy, most of you know how it goes… I don’t have a jealous bone in my body; it’s just very difficult for me to understand. I admire people, don’t envy them (well, unless it’s something I would really like, such as meeting Monica Brant, I envy Stephanie for that! *lol*)

I talked with Stephanie a little bit yesterday over the phone; we had a very nice conversation. She’s so sweet! She too will be competing on October 22nd! It’s pretty cool that hers will be on the same day as mine! We’ll probably end up calling asking each other how we placed, etc.

Sticking to my diet day in and day out, some days are harder then others, but I have a lot of different habits that help me stay accountable and much support from my Body-for-Life Buddies!

P.s. I had a Supreme Pizza in my freezer that I couldn't eat, I brought it to lunch at work and cooked it for my co-workers, had lots of happy campers! *lol* I got it OUT of my kitchen and didn't eat any of it! WAHOO!

Figure Competition
Challenge #2!

I will be competing in my first Figure Show in October 22, 2005 and my second November 5th, 2005.

Only one major set back and that is the financial funds! As a good friend told me recently,
where there's a will, there's a way! Here's where I need your help and support!

You can now help ME out by being a
sponsor for my upcoming 2005 competitive season! Just click on the PayPal
button below to place your donation, and become part of

“Team Carole Ingram Body-for-Life Fitness”.

Donate $10.00 or more and you will be honored with an 8" x10"
picture of my first Figure Show. You will have the opportunity to choose a picture!

Thanks for your support!

Calling for HELP!

Figure Competition

Challenge #2!

I will be competiting in my first Figure Show in October 22, 2005 and my second November 5th, 2005. I
only have one major set back and that is the financial funds! As a good friend told me recently, where there's a will, there's a way! Here's where I need your help and support...

You can now help ME out by being a
sponsor for my upcoming 2005 competitive season! Just click on the PayPal
button below to place your donation, and become part of Team Carole Ingram
Fitness. Donate $10.00 or more and you will be honored with a 8" x10"
picture of my first Figure Show.

You will have the opportunity to
choose a picture!

Thanks for your support!

Start Date: July 25, 2005

Projected End Date: Oct 22, 2005 (first show date!) & Nov 5th, 2005 (second show date)

8-7-05

Day 13 - New Pictures

Here are some new pictures of me, at day 13 of my Figure Competition Prep!

Day 12 - Daily Update

Yesterday was my heavy leg workout day. I’m definitely not as sore as I was the first week, I’m actually looking back now, and although I worked really hard, it’s time for me to increase my weights. My stamina is building up and my hamstrings are now handling my workouts a little better. I’m still having difficulty with my left leg (hamstring) but I always will due to a past injury, so, it’s a mute point. I have to start all of my single-leg exercises with my left leg since, it will ultimately give out much earlier then the right and to keep a good balance/symmetry, I always follow with the right with the same amounts of weights and reps.

I’m still following my diet as planned; however, I’m switching a few things around once in a while. I’ll switch some of my whey protein (1 scoop) to my breakfast meal, mix it with my oatmeal, which I absolutely love and trade it for my 4 oz ground turkey breast patty, which I will have at 10:00 am (instead of two scoop shake, it’s now a one scoop shake with my side turkey patty), nothing REAL exciting, just a small change of pace. With this being said, my nutrition stays the same throughout the day, I don’t add or take away, just a few changes here and there.

For those of you that are looking for shake ideas with Vanilla Whey Protein, mix the following together:

12 oz Tang Orange Sugar Free Juice (already pre-mixed, as recommended on package)
2 scoops of Vanilla Whey Protein
Ice Cubes (to your liking!)

This tastes like the Orange Ice Cream filled popsicles! It’s AWESOME!

Day 11 - August 4, 2005.

Yesterday was my first “off” day, didn’t do any cardio and no weights. Although it was very much needed, I still felt guilty about it this morning. Funny how that happens? You do your best, but yet, you always find a reason to beat yourself up and say “I could do better!”. I know that there will be more highly developed elite competitors on stage with me, and although I will admire their hard work and persistence, I will secretly be filling my head with negative thoughts. If I’m at my best physical shape (for that time being), my self confidence will surely be at its best as well. No matter what, I’m getting on that stage!!

Also, just as quick as my first Body-for-Life 12-weeks went by, this will surely go as fast! Heck, they are already selling Halloween Costumes in various retail stores in my area!!!! HA!

Here's one of my favorite Monica Brant's pictures (www.monicabrant.com):

Day 10 - Update

Today is Day 10 and I’m very proud of myself for sticking to my diet and exercise program without too much deviation. Some slight variations were necessary such as skipping calves/abs for couple of days due to soreness, etc. I also only did 3 cardio sessions last week, instead of my recommended four sessions. My legs are so beat, that even the cardio sessions are difficult at times. My quads are screaming for rest but I just work through it as much as I can, and if I need to slow my cycle down for a minute or two, I do, but I get right back to my high spinning cycle.

My bike is AWESOME but if I “up” the resistance, its start squeaking really badly, which is very annoying…I think it’s a defect in the bike. I checked Amazon (where I bought it from) and other people’s reviews, and they have the same exact problem and have a lot of difficult trying to fix the problem with the manufacturer. YUCK! Right now, I’m not really concerned about it since, I don’t use the resistance but for a minute at a time here and there, just to get my heart rate up.

Anyway, on Day 1 (July 25th) I weighed in at 139.5 lbs, today Day 10 (August 3rd) I weighed in at 133 lbs. That’s a drop of 6.5 lbs. I was retaining a lot of water :(, so this is not all FAT..there might be 2 lbs of fat in there. My bodyfat level is at about 19.5 %, I need to drop at about 12% by October 22nd. That’s a lot but, if I were able to drop from 32% down to 18.8% with BFL, I think I can do this! I’ll take me every bit of the remaining 11 weeks to get there. The lower your bodyfat, the harder it is to get it even lower. I may not be completely ready for the North Carolina Clash Show, but I feel confident that I will look the best that I can for the Elite Figure Show.