2 weeks Bikini Competition

Almost there!!! This past week work was killer. I has to miss a couple workouts because of it but, hey, it pays the bills! My weight dropped a bit more to 117 mid week and I'm still getting a bit smaller and muscles are starting to show. Besides being tired I'm feeling good. Here it is:

I am writing this entry from bed. It's the weirdest thing but I have been waking up every night at 3 am on the dot, eyes WIDE open. I'm not 100% sure why but I think it has to do with my eating schedule. My last meal of the day is usually by 7 pm so by 3 am my body probably wants more?? I'll have to look into that.

I have started on the most exciting part of this whole journey, cosmetics! I am no pro but I have been looking at a lot of photos of previous competitors and I have seen some not so flattering tan jobs. I figured the darker I am naturally the better it will look on stage with the rub on tan, so I've started tanning. I thought about not using the rub on tan at all but that could have a negative effect on your score and we don't want that! My coach suggested Jan Tana which i ordered online. Guess we will see how it turns out.




Stage lights wash you out so rubbing on a dark tan enhances your skin tone and physique. Some other things I have seen that I am trying to avoid:

Face tan not matching your body tone.
Splotchy, uneven, color
Looking un natural while posing - I have three posing sessions this weekend with different people to get even more comfortable with my posing.
Bad makeup.


It would be terrible to have to have something that you do in minutes take away from that beautiful physique on stage that you have spent so much time and energy perfecting.

This week is the last hard week for me as far as workouts go. Diet won't be changing too much. Last week to kick it in gear! Ill be traveling next weekend for Easter so I will have to do sprints and plyo for workouts because there isn't a gym. No excuses!

God is Good, Always

Jess xo


Facebook.com/jessdoitforyou

Burning fat and Heart Rate

I have been promising a blog about heart rate and working out at different cardio levels.

Just a bit about the heart. The average resting heart rate is 60-80 beats per min (bpm). The lower your resting heart rate the more efficient your heart is, and the higher your heart rate vice versa. After starting my training I have gotten my resting heart rate in the 30's...... living well!!

You can get a great workout in with or without a heart rate monitor, however, it is much easier to push yourself during your entire cardio session if you know how hard you are working (without having to grab onto the metal handles on the cardio machine, or you can do cardio in other places like run outside!).

There are two energy sources your body utilizes, fat and sugar. The point at which your body starts utilizing mainly sugar is above what is called your anaerobic threshold (AT). The average calculation for this if you have a heart rate monitor is 180-age. If you consider yourself fit, add ten to that number.

So, I am 26 this would be my calculation:

180-26+10= 164 beats per minute

When you reach AT you feel the burn in your workout, jaw dropped, breathing to the point that if you were to talk you can't say more than two words without having to take a breath. For burning fat you want to keep just below this point.

While doing fat burning cardio I usually try to stay within 20 bpm of my AT (145-170 bpm).

You can get a decent heart rate monitor for $40-$70. The one I have straps to my chest:

Some exercises will increase your heart rate more than others, which is why you shouldn't always do the same form of cardio. If you run one mile everyday, after a few months your body will adapt and you will not get the same results (plateau). Move it to the stairs, cycle, elliptical, or add speed/incline. LOTS of ways to add variation.

If I look down and the watch is reading 100 bpm.. I know I need to push harder!

Thats motivation for me!

Hope this was helpful... back to it. Get ready for 2 week update and then COMPETITION TIME.


<3

Jess

facebook.com/jessdoitforyou

3 weeks- Bikini Competition & ABS!

Hey there!

Sorry its been a while since i have been able to post.. Life is SO busy right now with work alone, add training to that, well, you can imagine :)

So recap of the last couple weeks

Week 4: We took out some carbs in the AM. Not a ton, but it make a HUGE difference in the way I felt. This was the first week I actually felt hungry. By hungry I mean STARVING. This is the part where competition prep is different than maintaining a healthy lifestyle. It would not be ideal to do this year round. I may be sweet but I'm competitive and stubborn as hell which pushes me where a lot of people might give up! I love the fact that its tough because it makes me feel like im accomplishing something. I can't say it enough, if this were easy everyone would be doing it. TOUGH workouts last week and this week. Starting off shoulders on Monday with 30 burpies between each exercise and plyo between each set (squat jumps). Just to give you an idea.

I take my progression pics at 6 am so excuse the hair lol

3 weeks out:

I have started getting my posing down. Basically what you see above, turn to the back, and once more to the front, with a bit of attitude, my favorite part :)
Diet still includes mainly fish, veggies, egg whites, oats, sweet potato, and some good fat (almonds).
Heavy on this fish this week (keeping it lean!)

ABS!
So I was changing in the locker room the other day and I had a girl ask me, what do you do for abs?!

The funny part about it, I haven't really done a ton of ab exercises until about a week or two ago. I am not sure if you have heard this before but I stand by the saying, "Abs are made in the kitchen." You can do crunches and sit ups all day long but if they are covered by a layer of fat then you will never see them. Doing abdominal exercises will not cause you to lose belly fat, eating right and being active will!

Getting rid of body fat in this journey so far has been a mixture of diet, weights, and cardio. One thing that I have learned that my body has reacted to well is the way I do cardio. I do not just spend an hour a day on the elliptical. I do 20-30 mins of HIIT- Sprints! before I lift in the morning. I go back after work and get 45 mins in at night three times a week. My cardio at night is spent in a lower heart rate zone (aerobic). I use my heart rate monitor for this but its usually at the point where you are working hard enough that you cant say more than two words without having to take a breath.

Look out for my next blog for heart rate and cardio.

After all of that is said.. I FEEL AMAZING! I was able to eat sushi on Saturday night (limited) but it was SO good. This morning I had an awesome workout so I am starting week three out strongly.

It's amazing to me that not even 6 months ago I was wearing a size 8! I went shopping the other day and the retail worker said.. umm you are SMALL might need to try a 0!

Hard work pays off:

If you havent already, please 'like' my facebook page! facebook.com/jessdoitforyou

More to come soon. God Bless!

xoxo Jess

"Dont forget to smile, you never know who could be looking!"

5 Weeks- Bikini Competition & Basic Tips for Weight Loss

Hi!!

Hope life is treating you well... It's been SO good to me!

Here we are, 5 weeks out!

I decided to put it up next to where I started just to show the progression a bit better.

I got a new suit!! I love it! I have been learning so much from my amazing coach. She suggested the colors that will stand out on stage and look good on my physique.

Weight is at 121. Although weight is not something I use as guage my progression (I've lost around 10 lbs total) it's always a good thing to use to push yourself and push the limits further. Some weeks I lose 3 lbs, some i dont lose any, some i've gained a lb or two. Its all in the mixture of the process of burning fat and building muscle.

I do a total of about 9 workouts a week. So I am still working out twice a day at least three times a week. I haven't posted diets or workouts because those are given to me by a coach. The breakdown looks like this:

Monday: Shoulders/Cardio
Tuesday: Legs/Cardio
Wednesday: 1 hour cardio
Thursday: Back/Core/Cardio
Friday: 1 hour cardio
Saturday: Arms
Sunday: 1 hour cardio, or rest.. depending on how my body feels

LOTS of work! Remember, I am training for a competition. This would be a tough to do year round.

I have had a lot of people asking me for tips. It depends on what your goals are (you must define your goals so you have a reference point to work towards). For non-competitors looking for weight loss here are just a few to get you started:

•  NUTRITION - This is a BIG part of losing weight. Watch what you put in your mouth! Try eating five meals a day. In each meal include a good protein source, vegetables, and a small amount of complex carbs (wheat bread/crackers/wrap, oats, sweet potato, brown rice). The amounts of these will vary depending on your weight and activity level. A good site that i used to use back in my personal training days was myfitnesspal.com. You can enter your information and your goals and it will give you a good idea of what your intake should be. You can also track your food here. Stay away from sugar, sugar increases the storage of fat. It also messes with your blood sugar levels which makes you crave more of it and also makes you want to eat more in general.

• BE ACTIVE! Mix it up. Some days do aerobic cardio (below your anaerobic threshold). i will be writing more about this soon, but this is your fat burning state. In this state you shouldn't be able to say two words without taking a breath (hard but not extremely hard). Other days do HIIT intervals which is a higher intensity cardio (sprints). Here is an example:

Treadmill-

Jog 1 min
Sprint 1 min
Jog 2 min
Sprint 1 min
Jog 2 min
Sprint 1 min
Walk 1 min
Sprint 1 min

Repeat 2 times(30 minutes total)

           Do not forget resistance training! Do not be afraid to lift heavy weights! About 12 reps per exercise (3 sets). Increasing muscle = increase metabolism. Who doesnt want their body burning calories when they arent working out?!

• Never forget that this is a lifestyle. There is no such thing as a diet. A diet assumes that you will be following a specific regime until you reach your goals, and then what?? As soon as you stop dieting and you go back to your pre diet life you will get right back to where you were! Don't waste your time on 'dieting'. Choose to live a better life and commit!! Welcome, its a beautiful feeling.

• Make changes. If you stop seeing results its because you need to revaulate your goals. My diet and workouts change every week based on my physique and weight. If you continue to do the same thing you will hit a wall which can be extremely frustrating.

This is a great start. Feel free to come to me with questions! Im LOVING all of the support!


MY goals for week 5-

Get weight in the teens!
This week my diet has had a couple changes, mostly more fish (leaner protein source) and the addition of salmon to one of my meals to get a good fat source mmmm..

Also, I've got to work on my lower back. LOTS of back extensions.

Have a blessed week!!! Keep living well!