Food Prep!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday....ahh the day of food prep for the week. Today was a typical Sunday for me which means grocery shopping and prepping my meals for the week! I currently work with a coach who does my diet for me so all I have to do is follow it ;) Very simple :) Now many of you are probably thinking, "God how can you eat the same thing day after day...." Well honestly I am a person of structure, I don't get bored with the meals, I like to know what I'm eating every day. Yesterday is yesterday, why should it matter what I ate YESTERDAY? Today is a new day it doesn't matter what I did yesterday..what matters is TODAY! Anyways to answer the questions, i don't HAVE to eat the same foods everyday, I choose to....However I do like to switch it up sometimes, especially on the weekends. I use a food calculator that my coach has given me to make sure the foods match up calorie wise and macro wise. So yes I CAN eat different foods, but I need to stay within the plan that I'm given. I usually make my meals 3 and 4 for the week all on Sunday. Now my breakfast (Meal 1) I usually will either make the night before, the morning of, or sometimes I will make on Sundays. It just depends on the mood i'm in;) My post workout meal also varies. Supper which is meal 5 and before bed meal which is meal 6 I usually don't prep in advance b/c I'm home.  Once again I use alot of seasonings, salsa's, spices, ect. so things DON"T get boring! Planning for the week in one day does take some time to master, however, in the long run you will do nothing but succeed in doing so b/c everything is right there! No tempted trips to the vending machines, gas stations, ect. I carry a big enough cooler around so all my meals fit. Back to the original question, do I get bored eating the same things everyday? No, I know what I have to do to achieve the look I want to achieve and that takes one meal at a time and being compliant with what I'm suppose to do. You can't look back on yesterday, just b/c you do the same thing tomorrow doesn't mean you should get bored with it, it means you are going to take tomorrow and do what you need to do to get one step closer to your goal...and with that I say good night and here's to chicken breast and sweet potatoes! ;))))
9 weeks baby!

9 weeks out! First set of progression pics!

Ok so right now 9 weeks out here are current stats:
Weight: 102.2
Waist: 32
Buttox/hips: 34
Naval: 27.5
Chest: 31
Yup ....gunna display myself to all of you so here goes!
Below are first pics taken, I will usually take pics every couple weeks to see progression. Right now I have a LONG way to go before I'm stage ready. Carrying some extra junk in the hips,butt, and thighs;) However I know the process and it will come off with patience and consistency. I've spent alot of the off season developing some muscle and feel I definitely did. However with building muscle comes fat gain so now time to shed! Women lose fat from top down, so my neck will start to get skinny lol, then the chest will go away (not that I had any before but it will REALLY go away;) Right now my abs are slightly poking through, quad development is starting to come in.  I have 9 weeks to make alot of improvements but I'm not worried;) I'm very focused right now and with consistency and compliance things will fall into place;) Also  my posing still sucks so getting some help next week from a coach to work on things. As far as diet goes, i'm sure my coach will start to change things up a bit if my progress stalls, but as of now going fairly well. I still remain strong with my lifting but focus is fat loss at this point not strength. I'm currently lifting 4 days per week with 2 upperbody days and 2 lower body days. Currently do 2 days of cardio and 2 days of barbell complexes(usually on leg days) If you don't know what barbell complexes are look them up, they SUCK! Want to puke usually about every time I do them! lol short workouts but KILLER! Like I said right now I have a LONG way to go before I an where I need to be, but have no doubt I will kill it in the next 9 weeks! Don't forget to "Like" the Luv2Lift page on facebook if you haven't already for updates! Pics will be taken every few weeks like I said before, that is my biggest measure of progression. The scale can't always tell you progression and neither can measurements so I use pictures quite often. Well I'm off to start the weekend and remember... NO EXCUSES JUST WORK! 
Abby :))))))



I'm BAAACCCKK!!!

Hey Everyone!
I cannot believe that it has been almost a year since I embarked on a journey of competing in my first figure competition! Well get ready because I plan on showing you more than ever this year and have high hopes and goals for myself! Right now I am 10 weeks out from my first hopeful competition of the year which is the NPC Natural Ohio Open in Cleveland (Lakewood,OH). I have spent the last 8 months or so trying to put on some muscle and now it's time to shed some fat to see what I developed! I hope to bring a better physique to the stage and learned so much from my first competition that I will carry over to this year. I am definately going to spend alot more time with posing since I felt that it was one of my biggest downfalls last year. My first year competing i felt like i isolated myself from others but this year i am coming with a whole different attitude, im enjoying the process and dealing with one day at a time. I will post progress pics every couple of weeks for everyone to see how my body changes week to week. Get ready for an inside look at the next 10 weeks of workouts/dieting and I invite you into my life as a competitor and see exactly what it takes to do what I do. My goal with this is to bring a name to this sport and inform. I want to inspire others to follow their goals and realize anything is possible with hard work! Doing this helps me be consistent and gives me motivation. Even though I may be criticized by others for this lifestyle, there.
is NOTHING like the feeling of accomplishment knowing you worked your ass off to do something that many only talk about! Get ready for an insane ride!
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Planning for a Healthy Lifestyle

Why are so many people unfit,overweight,unhealthy,ect.ect.ect. Because they don't PLAN that's why!!!! Life is so much easier when you plan things! When you plan things out, you are less likely to go off the unpaved road..In this sense I am talking about food prep. When you have your food with you at all times, you are less likely to: Go to the vending machines, go through the drive-thru, order a pizza because it's "easier" and "quicker" b/c you had no plan for supper that night. "Oh but I don't have time to cook, blah blah blah" Seriously? You don't have an hour on a Sunday to prep meals for an entire week?? Come on people! Not buying it! Yes, I'm the one that carries a cooler around with me, and I have all my meals in it for the day so I am not tempted to eat anything else but what I brought with me. Here's a tip..Cook in bulk, and by that I mean cook a bunch of chicken, fish, whatever your protein source may be, all at one time, cut up different types of veggies, cook up a bunch of brown rice, and voila! You have yourself a healthy stir-fry to take for lunch with you the entire week! Seperate some chicken/veggies/brown rice into tupperware containers, add seasoning if you want...it's that simple!  these things keep for days in the fridge, trust me, I do it every week! You can portion out meals and freeze as well. Same goes for supper, take the protein source you have cooked in bulk and throw on a large salad at night, use hot sauces, salsa, and vinegar based dressings to save a ton of calories and to spice things up a bit. The key is planning...Once a week, plan out your meals and what your going to have each day, go to the grocery store and only buy the things you need and planned for. This way you are less likely to give in to impulse buying. This lifestyle is so simple and easy once you get the hang of it. So, do you know what you're eating tomorrow?? Because I do!!! When you plan for health, you live healthy:) Good night everyone!

Transition

It has now been three weeks since my competition, and the transition into the "real world" has been harder than I thought. I am now focusing on muscle building and putting about ten pounds of lean muscle back on. My husband and I took a much needed trip to Jamaica for a little relaxation and finally getting to spend some time together since the past few months we haven't got to do much of! I did not worry about my diet or eating on the trip, I knew that if I obsessed about it that I wouldn't be able to enjoy myself and probably do more harm to body than good. So I took full advantage to say the least! Lol....now I'm ready to get back to clean eating and getting on a routine again. Like I mentioned it has been hard to transition from training and hardcore dieting to the muscle building phase and being a little more relaxed with diet. Your mind plays tricks on you, you want to continue to look like the day you did on stage but know that you will slowly put weight back on and the six pack will fade. That comes with the package...one cannot diet like that forever, it's just not healthy. Many people don't understand that the way I looked that day is only temporary bc of the "peak week" that all competitors go through...we have strategies to look that way for only a minimal amount of time.... I have come to terms that putting healthy weight back on will involve putting some fat on as well, and I'm ok with that. Don't get me wrong I fully intend to look as fit as possible in this off season before and if I compete again and try to keep my lean mass in the process. It's hard not to be self conscience during this time, I'm always looking in the mirror thinking "do I look fat? Am I gaining too much weight?" In reality I know it's not the case, but our minds sometimes get the best of us. It has been nice not having to be so strict with diet and being able to enjoy more time with my husband,family, and friends, but I still have a drive in me that wants to continue competing, crazy as it sounds. I felt like the whole experience changed my life and had such a positive impact for me. Unless you experience being a competitor, you will not understand. 95% of you think the lifestyle is crazy,dumb,stupid,ect..and I know I had people criticize me..you know what I learned? You must surround yourself with positive people who believe in you and support you regardless. People that criticize others are often jealous and deep down are miserable in their own lives that they need to put others down to make themselves feel better. Knowing this experience made me a better person with a more positive outlook on everything in life made it all worth it. For those interested in following my blog, I will do my best to blog a few times per week with diet,nutrition,workout, healthy lifestyle tips, as well as my own personal experiences. So come back! Luv2lift.blogspot.com with website coming soon!!! Remember, you are the only one in control of your dreams!