Archive for ambition

How I’ve Been Staying on Track

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Hey people!

Are you pumped for the weekend? If not, it’s time to GET pumped!

Can you tell I have a lot of energy today? Weeeeee.

Anyways, I’ve recently started dieting again. (I hate that word. It seems to make people think you’re starving yourself or being unhealthy. What I mean by dieting is that I’m making a concerted effort to lean out. My goal is to drop some body fat while keeping as much muscle as possible.) If you’ve been a reader for a while, you’ll know I’ve tried and failed at this many times in the past few years, but I don’t give up and I’m back at it again. (more on that below)

The difference this time is my mindset. I’ve taken away all of the excuses, I’ve found my real reason…my “why”, and I’m focused. I’m doing everything I can to stay in this mindset too. It’s really the key to being successful. Being “dialed in”.

On another note, I thought I’d give you a glimpse into some of the things I’ve been eating lately. I’ve been trying some new things and getting creative, so I thought you draculalespectacle like to see it. I’m also eating a whole lot more fat now than ever before, which is kind of fun! This is definitely not all that I’m eating, but just some of the tastier meals.

Here are some of the foods on my menu lately:

-Eggs, egg whites, and cheese WITH coconut oil (don’t knock it til ya try it!)

-Chicken and potatoes with BUTTER (heavenly butter)

-Shrimp & avocado with lemon juice squeezed on top! (I cheat and buy 100% pure lemon juice)

-Protein pancakes with Almond Butter

-Greek Yogurt with fruit

My post-workout carbs are anything from sour gummy worms to low-fat ice cream. Sometimes I’m boring and just have fruit and kombucha, but those are 2 of my favorite things, so I’m perfectly happy with them!

How I’ve Been Staying on Track

Staying on track is hard, and it doesn’t come from being compliant (well, it does but hear me out)….it comes from getting in the right mindset first. Being compliant is EASY when your head is in the right place. When you truly WANT to achieve your goals more than you want anything else. In fact, if you don’t want them badly enough, you’re likely to not ever accomplish them. It’s why many of us (myself included) start and stop so many things. Sometimes our goals change, and that’s perfectly okay. Sometimes the goals we choose aren’t REALLY what we want….and we realize that as we start to get into them. But sometimes, we just aren’t set up to succeed. We haven’t prepared ourselves to take on what is necessary to achieve our goals. Sometimes it takes a few set backs to find out what it is that you need to succeed.

So here are some of the things I’ve been doing differently this time around….

-I’m telling everyone around me that I’m dieting. Accountability!

-I’m prepping and planning my food so it’s always ready for me (and I don’t grab the fastest thing I can find)

-I’m drinking lots of water and adding pure lemon juice to it (it gives it a sour kick and I drink more)

-I’m sticking to my rest days even though it’s really hard! I actually have 3 rest days per week right now. It’s totally weird. I’m used to having 1-2. 3 is a lot for me!

-I’m watching videos and reading other blogs to stay motivated

-I’m chatting with friends to help keep me motivated and on track and using the Fit Lizzio Fitness Private FB group (we have a really awesome group there….email me: [email protected] if you want to join us!!)

-I’m not allowing excuses to happen. I have a goal in mind and I know how to get there. I’m not getting in my own way anymore, which I’ve been guilty of in the past.

-But the biggest difference? My mind is in the right place for this. I truly WANT it.

The bottom line is that I’m setting myself up for success. I’m PRE-ensuring that I have my bases covered. I’m NOT being lazy and forgetting/neglecting to prep and plan my food. I’m noticing what outside forces try to derail me and finding ways to combat them. I’m keeping my head IN THE GAME. I’m staying on my path. I know it sounds so simple (and in reality it actually is), but as I said earlier, mindset is everything. If your mind is “in it”, all you have to do is execute. Simple as that.

I also want to point out that failing is not a reason to stop trying. I’ve failed A MILLION times. In many endeavors in life, but especially in sticking to my goals. It can be embarrassing and the more you fail, the harder it is to believe in yourself. People around you also start to doubt you. But what I’m realizing is that failure is normal. It is part of us. We were meant to fail. In fact, I believe it is CRUCIAL to our successes. You MUST fail. Sometimes once or twice…and sometimes 30 times! You know what else we were meant to do? Pick ourselves up and SUCCEED. We were meant to persevere. In fact, our failures build our strengths, so long as you don’t let them ground you.

So that’s exactly what I’m doing. I’m picking myself up. And I’m going to crush my goals like never before.

Who’s with me?

 

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Long one, but worth the read I think…

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Hola!! Yes, i’m alive!!

Hope everyone had a great new years! I had a pretty good time, but have spent the day trying to catch up on sleep. I got to bed around 330 am, and woke up at 830 this morning. I took a nap for a few hours this afternoon though. I have been l-azy today and it feels so good. I don’t typically just do nothing all day. Great way to bring in the new year right? 😉

Everybody is making sure that “today is the start of something new”, but the new year for me is just a time to reflect and decide what I want for the upcoming year. I have goals for 2010, but not really “resolutions.” I made a year long plan this morning. I broke up the year into mostly 10 week increments of what I am going to focus on. It looks to be a pretty good year.

Workouts this week

This week was a really great week for my workouts.

Monday, my hamstrings and back got dominated. My hammies were sore up until yesterday.  I also did running intervals on the treadmill and incline walking to work up a good sweat.

Tuesday, i almost threw up from boxing. It was the first time in a long time that I actually felt like I might puke from the workouts. We sparred and did 2 minute rounds with no breaks. We alternated between  2 minutes of quickness and then 2 minutes of hard AND quickness. I think the fact that one of the people I was sparring seemed to like to circle the entire two minutes may have been a huge reason why I wanted to puke(from being dizzy) but the workout was hard as hell. Afterwards, I gave my biceps and triceps a run for their money. I ellipticyclecized for 20-30 minutes afterwards as well.

Wednesday, I put my shoulders through a good one. Shoulders are one area that I struggle to get sore. I work them really hard, but only a handful of times do I feel it the day or two after. This was one of those times. I believe it was the blue band shoulder presses that did it. Those always get me. For cardio, I did running intervals on the treadmill and some elliptical.

Thursday was boxing again. A conditioning day. It was a really tough one, though. Myself and one other person have been the only ones there the past week, and he refers to us as the “freaks” and doesn’t really let us rest. He always says “i consider it a good day when i make michelle and lizzy sweat.” The hardest combo of the day was: 7 crosses, move, move twice through (i think in technical boxing terms the moves are ducks..i really don’t know haha) 5 up downs, bear crawl to the wall, 10 jump squats, and bear crawl back. 5 sets of that really got me.

When I got to the gym after boxing and realized I had to do legs, i was SOOO not in the mood for it. I did it anyways and ended up getting a good workout, but mentally it was one of the hardest workouts. i was seriously NOT wanting to do it. I did low box squats superset with squat jumps, DB walking lunges with 2o lb DB’s superset with jumping lunges, Smith machine tempo squats super set with box jumps and finally single leg leg presses.

Friday is today and I am resting. Tomorrow is boot camp and Sunday is probably another bleacher workout(depending what time my friends go) otherwise a nice long run is in order. I spent today with my dad and eating wasn’t exactly stellar. I kinda planned it like this though, because after today I’m realy going to stay true to myself and work on (finally) getting rid of this excess fat i’m carrying. I don’t feel comfortable even in clothes right now. I’m not bitching about it anymore though, i know what i need to do, i’m just not doing it. Last weigh in was at 146. 21 pounds up from contest weight. 130 is a really good weight for me. I look really good at 130, but am not insanely lean. I have also put on a little muscle im pretty sure, so 133 might be a better weight to maintain before a contest lean out. I have to see. Whether it’s mental or not, i seem to get my a-game going every january. i’m not sure what it is, but it’s when i start to get really serious and i lose weight every year between january and april.

don’t get me wrong, these last few weeks i have been eating really well. I can see minor differences, but christmas day and today(new years day) haven’t been great eating-wise. Now that there are no more excuses holidays, i’ll step it up.

In other news….

I have to reflect on the year, just for my own sake. This blog is public, but sometimes i just like to use it to get things out because i have to say it is really cool to be able to look back to march of last year and see what i was doing. That’s probably my favorite thing about blogging. So here are some up and downs of my year.

-I ran a 1/2 marathon in January(i like being able to say i ran from one city to another. :))

-I started eating clean and losing weight in January, and was seeing results each month. even more so, i realized how good i felt while eating clean.

-I turned 21 and went to Vegas with friends. SUCH  a blast.

-I wakeboarded almost every week for 3 months straight. Talk about spoiled 🙂

-I learned how to jump on a wakeboard, but still haven’t cleared the wake. I get about half way across. You better believe that is a 2010 goal!

-in april, i found out my little brother was a drug addict, and took him to detox twice and rehab. he’s still not sober, and it’s a struggle every day. he was one of my best friends and now i don’t really speak to him.

-i emotionally separated myself (as best i could)from my mom, for my own sake. i don’t regret it. i still love her, but in a distant way.

-more positives! i competed in my first competition and took 2nd place!! it was by FAR the greatest day of my life. I almost dropped out in the weeks leading up to it. i didn’t feel lean enough, i didn’t think i could do it, i was SCARED. i remember waking up the morning of the competition. my skin was black, my hair was a mess, and i looked in the mirror at my body. I have never had a prouder moment than that in my life. I was 100% happy with my physique that day, and my confidence definitely carried me to a 2nd place prize at the show. i’ve never been so proud of myself, felt more in control of myself, felt like my hard work REALLY paid off. I wish i could sell that feeling in a pill, because it was absolutely EXHILARATING. I know that I can do really well in this industry if i work for it, but there is NOTHING like a first competition. Everything is SOOO unknown, there are no expectations, and you literally have NO IDEA what you got yourself into. I smile just thinking about that day.

-i got to do my first photo shoot with a professional photographer. Along with other progress pictures along the way, i now know i had a serious case of body dismorphia(probably still do…) because I felt fat in many of the pictures. I look at them now and think i was completely nuts. i looked good in them. oh well 🙂

-i started letting what everyone else thought get to me. after my 2nd competition, i let myself go as far as healthy eating. my trainer and one of my posing coaches told me i needed to put on muscle and that i would have to put on some fat to do that. i think i took that a little too much to heart, and also didn’t go with MY gut instinct. Like i said, i was HAPPY with my physique…so why did I let other people tell me what I should look like? Lesson learned. I know myself best. Yes, other people’s advice is good, but i need to listen to myself a little bit more.

-more family shifts, more feeling sorry for myself and letting it get in the way of my own goals.

-i became even more independent than ever. i’ve always been really independent, but even more so now. if i want something, there is nobody else in the world that can get it for me. i knew that before, but didn’t realize just how much i would have to rely on myself in certain times.

-this year i also found my “inner hippie.” I began using more natural products, and eating only natural products.(these last few months, my clean eating hit the fan, and i don’t even know who that girl was. I learned a lot about myself from it though and am starting to feel like myself again. mentaly, at least. the physical part will come.) I began finding nature as a  healer. Hiking is one of the best therapies i’ve ever found. I don’t have problems when i’m standing on top of a mountain looking out at the city. this is why i make sure to hike at least once a week.

-i was brought up jewish, but ever since my bat mitzvah, had pretty much considered myself as someone without a religion. This year, i found that the Kabbalah appealed to me. Not everything about it, but basically I believe in God, i believe in karma, and i believe in being positive and keeping negativity out of my life. If you surround yourself with positivity, positive things will happen. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, that is just mine.

To wrap it up, this year had some of the BEST times of my life along with literally the WORST. It sounds weird, but i appreciate bad things. If bad things didn’t happen, i wouldn’t be so thankful for the good things. The good things wouldn’t feel so euphoric. So instead of cursing the bad things in your life, be thankful for them. They will show you just how great it feels to have good things in your life. You also learn things about yourself in the bad times. I don’t think i would have ever competed if i hadn’t gone through what i did in 2008. that year was not very kind to me, but i turned it around in 2009 and for at least the first half of the year, was probably the happiest ive been in my life. Good things do not just fall into your lap, though. You have to work for them. Happiness is not a gift, it is a reward. Happiness is also not a destination. It is a journey. Part of happiness, means having bad things happen to you. Look at the downsides of things as tests and challenges. You have the opportunity to grow when things don’t go your way. If you hit a roadblock in your journey, it is a sign to step things up and push harder. No obstacle is too big, unless you think it is. If you believe in yourself, you would be AMAZED at what you are capable of. One year ago, competing was a thought in my mind. I always tell people that training has changed my life. They think I am just a meat head for saying that, but here’s the thing:

Fitness and weight loss are two things that you CAN NOT have someone else do for you. You can hire people to do almost anything for you and take credit for it. No matter how many trainers, nutritionists, or dieticians you hire, YOU STILL HAVE TO DO THE WORK. Training shows you your true character. You can’t get stronger by sitting around doing nothing. You can’t get in better shape by paying a trainer to write your workouts. You actually have to do them, and that is why when you see results, you KNOW that you have done this ON YOUR OWN. There is nobody else that can take credit for that. The self-fulfillment you get from breaking through barriers and becoming what you never thought possible is simply amazing. It is a feeling that I can’t even describe, but it has made me appreciate life in such a different way. I no longer sweat the small stuff, and I completely appreciate the little things in life.

I’ve rambled long enough, but I have grown a LOT in a year. I absolutely love my life. Sure, there are things i would like to change and there are things that get me down, and for good reason, but whatever hand your dealt with is what you have to deal with. So you can either feel sorry for yourself, or you can work with what you have and make it the BEST ever.

Here’s to makin 2010 everything I want it to be!

What is the biggest lesson you have learned about yourself while going through a hard time this year?

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10 Weeks Out

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Lizzy compete 6-2

Okay, so officially Friday is 10 weeks out, but we are going to pretend 🙂

I have some goals for this contest prep. Let me brief you about my past contest prep real quick. It started back in December 2008. I wanted to lose weight and doing a show was my goal. I didn’t really know how to do a lean-out, so I just did what I knew. I ate clean foods. I counted calories, but they would range anywhere from 1800-2500 calories per day.(Sometimes even 2800 a day) I didn’t have any “free” days until about April of 2009. I had lost the pudge that I made up in my head was carrying, and was ready to try to lean it out for the July show. I didn’t have a “plan” per say, I was still just doing what I knew worked. Not being too strict and having a cheat day about every two weeks. These cheat days were full out binges, by the way. It obviously slowed my progress, and it is why I came in just right for the July show.(I say that because had I been on a strict contest prep diet from December to July, I would have looked like I was just shipped over from a deserted island that didn’t have any food.)

Fast forward to now. I have eaten enough crap to feed a third world country my fair amount of junk these past few weeks during my “mini bulk”. Whether I bulked up my muscle or just a bunch of fat, I’m really not sure. What I DO know is that I have gained strength, pretty sure I have gained a fair amount of muscle, very sure I have put on some fat. Don’t worry guys, I am OKAY with it. A year ago, I would have been sitting under the table crying because I was destined to become obese, but these days, I KNOW what I need to do to lose weight, and KNOW that I have done it before and feel CONFIDENT in myself that I can do it. I’m about 10 pounds up right now. Which actually works out perfectly because I have 10 weeks until my competition.

This is a BIG competition and it has been my goal since I bought my plane ticket a few weeks ago that I will bring my BEST PACKAGE to the stage. That means that from 10 weeks out until the day of the show, I will put in 100%. Not 99.9%, I will be standing on stage knowing there was NOTHING more I could have done.

Now that I have written Chapters 1-6 of my novel, I will lay out my goals for this contest prep. i am going to go into this prep with a PLAN, not just going to wing it like I did before.

  • Calories will be 1800 per day. Macros on most days are: Protein: 168 grams Carbs: 161 grams Fat: 53 grams (this comes out to 1793 calories)
  • Days that I am insatiable, I will up the carbs or fat and lower the protein a little bit.(Fats like nuts and carbs like oats help fill me up pretty well) Calories will stay the same.
  • If I am finding myself TOO hungry, I will go up to 2000 calories per day, but will have to assess that as time goes on. With my lowered cardio, 1800 should be okay.(i’m 5’7, so i easily lose weight on 1800 a day)
  • I will be taking measurements and posting progress pictures every two weeks. I am not going to start them on day 1, because I am superstitious and feel like it will jinx me(call me crazy, no really, i don’t mind :)) So look for them two weeks from Friday!
  • I am going to enjoy myself for this 10 weeks. I will enjoy the process of leaning out and seeing the changes in my body.

I’m really excited. I have never done a contest prep where I followed it exactly, and REALLY am excited for this challenge! I love myself a good challenge and KNOW how happy I’ll be on show day if when I do this.

(By the way, the strike out feature is 99% of the reason I switched to word press…and yes, i’m serious haha)

Anyways, I hope you all enjoy watching me transform these next 10 weeks. Your thoughts and comments are always welcome and SERIOUSLY helpful. 🙂

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Day 98 – Ambition

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Ambition has always been one of my best qualities. I want something? I go for it. No questions asked. It might be a little naive of me, or too much confidence, or a combination, but there are no obstacles that seem “too big” for me. If I told myself I wanted to be president, in my head, I would actually believe that I could. Even though that is seriously SO far fetched(and i really have no desire to be president) it is just how I am.

Well today my ambition paid off. I don’t want to reveal too much until everything is finalized, but I promise you will get a full re-cap once it is.(Most likely Friday evening.)
Anyways, today has been another great day! My mood has been stellar, which always makes this a whole lot easier.
The workout:

Steve(my awesome boxing instructor) was out of town last week=no boxing =sad Lizzy 🙁

He is back this week though and that is how I started off my day!!
After the sweat-fest, it was time for back and biceps. Tuesdays and Thursdays can be daunting to me mentally. I wake up and realize i have an hour of boxing, another hour of strength training and at least 30 minutes of cardio ..all in a row. The best way to get through it is to focus on one thing at a time. If i am boxing, i focus on that, and if my mind starts to think about cardio or strength training, i ZAP those thoughts. Focus on the moment.

So my back and biceps workout today was KILLER. I could feel my lats like crazy today with every movement. I went way heavy today and did some drop sets. My favorite!! Here’s the workout

4 sets of jumping pull ups(jump up, do a negative down)-wide grip and close grip
Close grip lat pulldowns with low cable rows
Straight arm pulldowns with cable hammer curls
One arm rows with EZ bar curls
I was going to do bicep curls with DB’s as well, but my biceps were absolutely dead. Close grip really gets the bi’s and i was doing big drop sets with the EZ bar, which brought my little guns to failure.

I finished that workout and headed over to the cardio room and just did 30 minutes on the Arc Trainer. I had it at level 10 so still a good workout, but for me, the elliptical and arc trainer are more of a “relaxed” cardio session. I don’t mean that it is easy, cuz it definitely gets my heart rate going and has me sweatin!… but compared to a HIIT or incline walking or stair stepper it is.

Afterwards I STRETCHED..yay for 100 day challenge!!

I am also going to do another half hour of cardio with my friend tonight because she is really wanting to get back in shape and I have nothing better to do 🙂 I’m keeping it light though. Might throw in some abs as well..
Eats for today:
M1: 1 egg, 1c. egg whites, 2TBSP AB(i will most likely be cutting out the AB in the morning, i just don’t like how i feel during my workouts with all that fat..im sure it will find itself in me later in the day though :))
M2: 5 oz. chicken, 1/4 avocado, asparagus, 1 red bell pepper
M3: Salad made with mixed greens, a can of no salt added tuna, 1/2 roma tomato, and 1/2 TBSP coconut oil and 2 TBSP AB
M4: 5 oz. chicken, broccoli and cauliflower, 1TBSP AB
M5: 1c. spinach, 1 c. egg whites, 1 red bell pepper, 2 TBSP fresh salsa, 125 g. blueberries, a few strawberries

I added in that fruit at the last minute because I knew I would be burning it off at the gym tonight and also because I had a taste for it. I am working on going with what I want, while sticking to a contest diet. It seems to keep me less insane. I have gotten a lot of e-mails about my fat intake, and I just have recently found out how much better I do with less carbs and more fats. I am still experimenting, but it has been doing wonders so far.
^^^^See what i mean about staying organized?? LOL I just have to go with the flow. It’s how I do everything in life and it works for me. Having a plan works for me, but straying from it is kind of in the plan, I guess.

Well I think that is it. I will be back tomorrow!
Posted in ambition, back, biceps