apriltrainer

Stopped at Dollar Tree in my neighboorhood here in Chicago, to get toilet paper and spotted boxes of westsoy soymilk for $1.00. So I bought a dozen. also there were bags of strawberries, berries that are usually really expensive at my regular grocery store. Everything $1.00. Bags of frozen veggies for $1.00. Sure I could get fresh but sometimes I end up throwing things away if they go bad. A waste. I mainly do fresh but having a few frozen bags of veggies does not hurt.

While I was resting out of heels and my bathing suit during my fitness comp.

2nd comp- Did figure instead of bikini. 1st place in short class... 1st place overall. 2nd runner up was good competition...and while she isn't a vegan...she is vegetarian!

Well, next time is this weekend. I loved the experience so much...I am entering another comp this , instead of the fitness model category I will be doing figure. Don't think I will place at all but using is as practice for an Npc show in Nov. I am definately hooked now!

Sure I'll post pics. I got 4th and all I kept hearing all night was "how come you aren't doing figure?" (I was doing bikini fitness. I got 4th place which isn't bad, especially since I was the only competitor that was older than 20 something in the division I was in. I was also the MOST muscular. (And I don't eat meat!!!) SInce this is my first time competing I wasn't sure of the categories within the comp- bodybuilding, figure, bikini, etc. And now I wish I didn't doubt my diet and did figure. Oh well. Good experience.I learned that I need to get darker(no worries, I shall get a spray tan) because I was the palest one there. And my cut abs may have actually placed me lower in the category I was competing in! I really should do my hair instead of wash and go , and do makeup. And I learned that the girls glue their swimsuits on. Yeah...it made a difference. Still -I enjoyed it.

So I am here @ the hotel and anticipating my first contest. Nervous. I just talked to two girls who talked about eating nothing but chicken breasts... Actually I am bigger than they are! Lol. They are competing in figure and I am competing in fitness model because I doubted my physique was muscular enough for figure. I was wrong! Next time...I will not doubt myself or my dietary habits. Oh well. I will still have fun experiencing my first competition. A little worried because all these women are tlaking about how much their swimsuits cost...(I am such a newbie..I didn't know competitors specifically got swimsuits just to pose in!) I bought mine for $15.00 at old navy. The others ...the next cheapest one someone bought was $150(and you can't even swim in it!) My shoes- $20.00 . the others- $140!!! Eeek...I think I am out of my league. At least wardrobe wise.

so bad at updating this! anyways on 7/31 I did - 1min run on treadmill @ 5.5 10 one arm kettlebell swings(both r and L) 1 min run on treadmill @ 6.0 10 one arm KB snatches (r& L) 1 min run on treadmill @ 6.5 10 one arm high pulls (R &L) 1 min run on treadmill @ 7.0 10 two arm kb swings Repeat till 10 minutes is up and then... 1 min jumprope 3 pullups 1 min jumprope 4 chinups 1 min jumprope Repeat till 10 min is up. finish with 2 sets of 12 bicycles... out in 25 minutes. 320 calories per polar heart rate monitor. TAKE THAT TREADMILL!!!!!!!!!!!! Who says vegans aren't hardcore?

Been so busy I haven't updated. but been working out religiously, cycled through the above workouts. yesterday only had 30 minutes, extremely high intensity, limited rest...so I did 1 min jumprope 6 pullups 1 min jumprope 6 chinups (30 second break) 1 min burpees 8 bicep curls(right hand) with towel and weight plate to work on grip strength at same time 1 min burpees 8 bicep curls (same as above but with L hand) repeat above until 25 minutes was up Last 25-30 minutes was 5 minutes of ab work. DONE. per polar heart rate - 350 calories burned. 30% from fat Today just finished a Tacfit workout....wow...highly recommend tacfit! front lunge step x 8 plank push knee x8 sit thru knee x8 basic pushup x8 spinal rock basic x8 tripod overhead x 8 all done tabata style with 20/10intervals..

Just bought 5 bags of lentils!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And started soaking my beans while I was at the store.

Was doing great until my run today. Came home and out of tofu. My beans hadn't been soaked- still in the bag and I ended up running to the corner store by my house and buying a carton of eggs and proceeded to eat 2 of them. I feel horrible and a fake. I almost feel like giving up after this misstep. I am going to try and try. I asked my boyfriend to help me. He isn't vegan but his brother is a vegan activist in Canada. He told me all about him, and I asked if he could ask his brother for advice for me. then I realized I have this wonderful board to ask. Did you guys go straight to veganism and never falter? I am planning in being in this fitness competition in Aug and i want to prove that someone who eats no meat can do it. I don't feel deprived at all....it was just a moment of laziness and that actually makes me feel worse. Wasn't even a craving.

Sat the 3rd I had my off day. Still walked about 3 miles with my dog, but really casual. The 4th I repeatd my jump rope circuit. Today I did a 2mile run followed by some ab work. off to get coffee now!

I definately agree. Worry about aesthetics later. I still looked pregnant a year after I gave birth...and honey, for just giving birth you look fabulous. The thing that helped me lose weight wasn't doing two things at once. First, I was breastfeeding ( I breastfed for 3 years, 1 yr exclusively. I was a nurse at the time,so it wasn't a sit down job but it was highly stressful)so I wasn't going to put myself on a diet. I needed energy for my patients and for my son. What I did after I took that godawful look in the mirror and saw that I weighed more after baby than before was increase my activity.Without changing diet ...I went from 180 to 130. (Ok,,,i did cut out my late night dessert and stopped drinking soda...but dietwise that was it! I kept everything the same) It took me a year. A year may seem long to you...but trust me, it's not. AFter that I trained to run chicago marathon 2006. I was upset that I didn't lose any weight but I didn't gain either.... What I didn't see was that the endurance I got from marathon training grew exponentially even without weight loss which benefitted me in the months and yes...years.. ahead. My legs were strong and this helped with my after marathon weight loss when I finally combined my cardio with strength training. I get alot of comments on my legs and butt now, actually almost daily!...lol(Rare for a half filipina girl to get compliments on the derriere! The stereotype is asian women(even us halfers, don't have one. Definately wrong!) I am always asked what I do for that. I can give them the spiel on my exercises, but a part of me knows that a few years ago...the training for the marathon in which I thought I gained nothing ,had a big part in the physique I have today. So don't beat yourself up if you don't see the scale move down. You are building a foundation that can last you years, even if you don't see the results quickly. (I'm guessing you are in your 20's?) I'm in my uh.....my 30's and I love people thinking I am still rocking my 20's. So build that foundation without hurting yourself and your new baby with nutrition deficients. Learn to love the legumes! Just don't give up. Think about walking down the beach with your son/daughter when he's 5 and people asking you if you are the nanny..because you look too darn young to be the mommy..! I love it! It's one thing to rock a bikini sans kid. Quite another to rock a bikini post c-section with your 5 yr old in tow. Take your time, don't obsess about the weight, especially if you don't see changes immediately. Remember your hormones, even months afte birth, are still trying to even out. Your body will bounce back. Think of your body as a bank account. You might put in a few dollars every day and still think you are poor...but in a year with that interest growing you will see changes. Just take your time. Like I said above, marathon training for months did nothing(or so I thought) then a month or two AFTER the race my body went into overdrive metabolically! Surprised the crap out of me! So don't give up. This mommy is rooting for you.

Thursday -repeat of Tuesday but with some 3 sets of bicep curls, and 3 sets of rows thrown in at gym. Fri - repeat of Wed's workout plus a 20 mile unplanned bike ride. Took the train to visit my son who is staying with his dad this summer. When I went to get back on the train...the conductor wouldn't let me take my bike back on because of taste of Chicago taking place downtown. I had no alternative but to bike... So I guess eating my cheat meal was actually needed that day! I probably burned it off by not just biking but dodging suburban suv's who aren't used to seeing a bike on the road and yelling at people.... I definately had the bike equivalent of road rage yesterday evening. To top it off...someone stole my frakkin light from my bike....so yes,,I tried to bike fast during the night. Lots o calories burned!

Cheat day. Yeah! Had a yummy tofu barbecue sandwich(all 600 calories!) with a vegan cupcake. Really high calories but I don't care. IT WAS so good.

I trained and ran a whole marathon to lose weight. I went from 180 and when I was about down to your weight( I think I was 136 when I trained to run the Chicago Marathon) I didn't gain, but didn't lose and didn't see my abs and I thought for sure I was busting my butt. For me...when I was able to do a pullup(not assisted!) is when I finally saw my abs come in. I read an article not long ago..and I truly do believe a pullup is a great indicator of bodyfat. When my bodyfat starts to rise, my pullup performance starts to suffer and my abs start to disappear. That's my warning sign to clean up my diet and tweak my training. When my pullups are on target..my abs are tight and defined and everything is wonderful with the world. Anyways, just a tip so that you can see your abs and get immediate feedback on your bodyfat level. The pullup!

Yesterday,I had the tofu shirataki noodles with black beans and spaghetti sauce. Also had a spinach salad with lentils and drizzled with a lil vinagrette dressing and a yummy apple.

It's hard. I had to put my German shephard to sleep. She had bladder cancer. I remember the day before,I was to take her to the vet to have her euthanized I got some peanut butter (her favorite and allowed her to eat the whole thing) she just looked at it and turned away. THat whole week before being put to sleep she wouldn't eat but a bite here or there. I then took her to the beach and although she had no energy to play like she used to, we just sat near Lake Erie watching the waves come in. I had to carry her back to the car. The next morning I said bye. Crap..I'm crying again and it's been over a few years! Anyways, you did the right thing. I still think of my dog princess and how she was suffering. I took her to the vet and I think she knew. I think in a way she knew she wouldn't suffer anymore.

You just had a baby? Actually if that's your after baby pic...I'm jealous! Just think..it took 9 months to put on weight to carry your baby. Don't rush things! It took me a year and 4 months to take off my baby weight plus weight I gained after baby! And I'm ......30 something and had a C-section. But I look better now than I did before baby. Word of advice from one who has been there. Don't rush it. Take your time. Enjoy your baby. Enjoy your body. Yes. Enjoy it even now.(I sure do miss my old bra size..lol!) I did it slow and now don't have to fight with my weight, don't have the dreaded skin sag and no stretch marks. I have friends who had kids, rushed to take off the pounds...got frustrated and are still yo-yoing with weight years after baby. So many of my friends ask how I am keeping it off. All I can say is- one day at a time. I started with little goals that were acheivable. Also, are you breastfeeding? I am actually surprised not one person yet has said anything about it, especially since you just stated it's been 2 weeks since having a baby? If so, then I would not advise going on any kind of diet. Just eat healthy and keep moving.

5 bar dips (not assisted) 10 pushups 10 elevated 10 plyometric pushups 12 jump squats on bench 6 one legged squats hanging leg raise x3 afterwards finished with 2 mile run followed by a few yoga poses and stretching.

There is a park 1 mile from house so.... Easy 1 mile jog to park with dog. And then- 6 pullups 5 split jump lunges 6 chinups 5 split jump lunges 3 widearm pullups 10 walking lunges plank - 1 min hold I repeated 2 more times with no rest. The only changes I made were to the planks. 2nd set I did a r side plank and 3rd set I did a L side plank. Ran back 1 mile tabata style. 20 sec hard/10 sec easy jog. per polar- 285 cal burned

today 6/28 Polar kept telling me I was dead. That is- it kept telling me my heart rate was 0! So it would come in and out. Polar says I only burned 231 calories but since it wasn't able to keep track of my heart rate my entire workout, i am sure it was actually more. the 231 cals is just for cardio. For abs, I took off my polar because i got so frustrated with it! Anyways, here was my workout- 10 min run outside 10 min row (last 500 meters I did one legged rowing, switching from r to l leg) 10 min run abs- ball crunches ball toe touches ball obliques ball russian twists

Even though I am a pt I tend to fall in a rut with my own training programs. I spend so much time designing programs for others I don't spend enough time on mine and tend to do the same things over and over. Not a good thing since I have a comp coming up. So here's what I did today. Sun 6/27 - Jump rope circuit 2:00 min jump rope 5 pullups 10 pushups 15 squats 12 hanging leg raises repeated till 30 min is up then finished with a 20 min easy run Per my polar heart rate monitor - 678 calories burnt

Neither. I love being outside! Although most times when I am outside, home is close by.I think it might be the fact of having been in the Army and me being shown fitness in an outdoor setting. I work in a gym and even on my breaks, there are some days I will take my workout outside. I love it! I've even taken some of my clients outdoors. They love the change of pace. We will still get a weight workout in by benches, bike racks ( makes a great intro pullup bar) swings(just like the ab roller!) slides,( I also had one of my clients practice her pullups by lying on the slide while holding onto the handles and pulling herself up...she can now do them without the slide!) etc. In fact going to run to the park now for my jump rope/pullup/pushup/squat circuit workout.

I used to be that way about the scale as well. Back before the Army I was 110. I went into the military and got in really good shape and came out 120. So did I weigh more? Yes. Did I look better. Oh yeah. After the military though I actually lost wt. Went down to 104. I looked horrific. I left all my military training and forgot about all those bodywt exercises like pushups, squats and pullups and just became cardio queen. I look at my pics and I seem to have no muscle whatsoever. Then I had baby and got to almost 180. I really became obsessed with the scale then. I eventually got to 110 and became too obsessed with getting back to my prebaby wt of 104. Eventually I got a personal trainer who made my self do pullups and made me stop getting on that scale and obsessing about the numbers. He wanted me to focus on my bodyfat composition instead. As a 104 lb person...I couldn't do a pullup. not even a negative. I had a flat stomach then...but not those lines..sigh. I'm 20 lbs more now and am in the best shape I have ever been in. Including when I was in the Army. I can knock out pullups like no one's business. My abs are now sharp. Do I fluctuate with weight every now and then? Yeah...depending on the time of the month. but I don't beat myself up about it. I have two friends who are also trainers that measure my bodyfat at least once a month. Much more important than wt and alot more accurate than those scales that can be very off when telling you your bf composition. I'd rather be 124 lbs and be able to do pullups than 104 lbs and lift purple 5 lbs wts. Even so...I sometimes feel that pressure to be even lighter....I have to remember that being strong is so much better than weight. Once you are strong your physique will follow!

Whoever this is...I love her body. http://i47.tinypic.com/166ey5c.jpg