Show number 2

Well, I did it. I got out there and competed in my first show on August 22nd. It was a thrill and a great experience for me. I had the the strength and courage to walk out there and do the best I could do. Oh yes, there is a lot for me to work on to grow as a competitor and I have started late however I think I can do a few more before I chuck it in. I am competing again in 9 days at OCB on Sept. 5th. It is a little different format and I hope the experience will help me as I have plans to go to Nationals in Las Vegas in November. The plane tickets and hotel room is purchased and I will see what happens.

I was contacted to do a shoot for a new health magazine and they want me to be the December cover, so I am very excited. My husband has been a tremendous support and I could not have done any of this without him.

On a different note I am back teaching at school and loving it. Next semester I will take on many classes as a colleague will be taking her maternity leave and I will fill in with her classes. I know it will be daunting to have that many however I can deal for one semester. Obviously I don't have plans at this time to compete, but I will leave my options open to see how I feel.

Well off to bed as I have to get up early and hit the gym!

Goodnight.

Last Week before Show

I have been negligent the last few days in keeping up with this blog. Once again the saying "when it rains it pours" has come to visit me BIG time. I am in the process of getting my classes ready that I will be teaching online and on campus at MCC and SCC, keeping up with the kids, auditions, memorizing scripts and all the work of the competition. I am tanning, working out most times 2X/day and dieting like a fiend. I work very hard to get to sleep at a decent time most nights by 9 p.m. I try to calm things down and have a cup of tea to encourage restful sleep. I can tell you that there is NO substitute for sleep, you cannot make it up later. Sleep is needed for at least 8 hours/night. Many clients and students say "Oh I only get 5 hours and that is enough for me" I tell you NO! It has been proven scientifically that we as humans require at least 8 hours for optimum performance. Hormones, etc. are regulated by the sleep cycle. So, for people like myself who need to keep the muscle and build more muscle sleep is a key factor for the release of GH. Also, alcohol kills GH and TEST production!

Well this is it the final push. Saturday is the big day! I am very excited and ready for it to be here. That being said I will take these next few days and try to tighten up the ABS. I really am happy with how my body is responding (especially at 45 :) !!) However my one trouble area is the abs and I am taking the CHO's to 100 gms and all from veggies! We will see how it works and of course how it feels. I already warned the family of my potential freakouts!

I think if I just keep myself busy everything should be great. There is a lot going on this week. Tuesday an audition, tanning, nails, workouts and department meeting at MCC. Wednesday I have a video to shoot, workouts and posing class and so it goes all week. I am happy to have so much new potential work coming from acting and voice as the summer is always a tough time in Phoenix. Also it keeps me going and less time to remember how hungry I am! Well it is past nine o'clock I had better hit the hay.

Good night.

Today is Sunday and as usual I spent the whole day in the kitchen preparing meals for the week. Meals for me and meals for the family. It is just part of my routine so it is not a big deal anymore. I am trying to find and learn new recipes. The magazine Clean Eating is one of my favorites although I do check in with other fitness ladies and get their recipes. Jamie Eason has a great website and good recipes with videos to help you make them correctly. She is awesome. Her carrot protein bars are my favorite.

Tough day

Wow today was busy and tough. I started early out the door and heading to Sun Sounds to read the Arizona Republic. I love volunteering there and the people are wonderful. After my show I headed to the gym to get in my workout and as I drove I threw down 5 egg whites and an apple. I am not used to doing this much cardio (every day for 60 min) and I am feeling it. I made it through and hurried to make my protein shake while sitting in the lockerroom. Feeling better I headed to my car, covered in sweat and drove home still feeling very hungry. I had a very nice lunch of chicken, sweet pot and green beans and then jumped into the shower and zoomed over to the Orthodontist so my son Chris could get his braces on, after that it was directly to meet the teacher and then shopping for school supplies! I drank another shake in the car and finally got home to sit down for a minute.

I immediately found my taped So You Think You Can Dance finale! I love that show and wish I could dance some of the dances actually made me cry. Everyone is coming home one by one and requesting food. I thought by 8:30 p.m. my family had eaten but now they require more food! That is what you get with a house full of men, even my dog is looking at me for a treat!

My husband and I are now arguing with the E TV channel as to the order of sexiest covergirls. We don't agree that Angeline Jolie should be rated higher than Adriannia Lima! Angelina is a beautiful woman and very talented but come on Andriannia Lima is SUPER HOT.

Okay off to bed tomorrow is another big day! Good night.

Got the nails on!

Today I tried out the spray tanning and also had my nails put on and they look very nice. I like the tan I just hate the smell! Tomorrow is posing class so I wanted to have Tiffani see me with a tan to tell me what she thinks and if I should be darker or is this a good color? We will see what she thinks tomorrow.

I also worked on theme wear today. As part of the Bikini division you must also come out in a themed costume something that shows more about you. I am doing baseball. I went to American Apparel today and got red booty shorts and a white half top tshirt. I plan on putting rhinestones on the shirt to give it some "pop". American Apparel has some very cute things and I also bought a very cute tank dress. I rationalized that as helping the economy and for all my hard work!!

After that I went to a sports wear shop and bought stirrups and sanitaries for socks to wear with my heels. So I think I am in a good place and add to that my red wrist bands and bat/hat I should be good to go. Just 18 days out now so I must have everything wrapped up.

The exercise is getting intense as I am up to 60 minutes a day cardio plus weight lifting. I am keeping up and I plan on staying strong to the end. I just had my second cup of tea to help fill my stomach and relieve the hunger cravings. Tonight is not so bad and soon I will turn in and look forward to a nice breakfast tomorrow.

Off to bed!

Back Home!

We made it safely back from CA today. The trip was wonderful and the boys on the baseball team had a great time swimming and running around the hotel in and out of each other's rooms. My son is exhausted and I am sure we will all sleep well tonight. My husband didn't put sunscreen on the top of his head so he is suffering from sun burn and Justin is also burned on his legs. Chris and I managed to stay covered in sunscreen and we are feeling great.

I did get a workout in this morning before I left the beautiful weather. Wow the temp was 73 degrees and made running the trails effortless. It was very hard to leave. Tomorrow back to Gold's Gym and my workout regime continues. The day is quickly approaching to get on stage and see if all the work will pay off. The battle is just showing up and walking out there on that stage and for me that is my "win".

I must get to bed myself soon as I have to hit the gym early tomorrow as now the cardio is 60 minutes 6 days/week so I need to keep the body rested. Also I don't have the foods I need in the fridge so shopping is on the agenda for tomorrow as well. I managed to defrost some salmon for tonights dinner with green beans and green tea for dessert. So far so good.

Okay off to bed tomorrow is a busy day.

3 Weeks Out!

Well it is getting closer! The day when I will get up on stage in front of everyone in a very tiny bikini. Tonight is 3 weeks away and the dieting and workouts are kicked up a notch. Sometimes I can't believe at age 45 I decided to jump into the competition arena. I am scheduled to be in the bikini and figure divisions so on top of everything else I am doing 2 divisions and learning 2 different ways to pose. Well no guts no glory! Oh and recently it has been non stop traveling which only makes the nutrition end harder. I am happy to report that I have not been sidelined by the airports and hotels and with some scouring of the local areas and careful packing I have kept to the diet. This week I am in Whittier CA and I found a great gym just around the corner from the Radission hotel called Uptown Gym. I was able to get a weeks pass for $15 (versus $15/day and $10/day that some bigger gyms were charging LA Fitness and 24 Hour Fitness) which allowed me to stay on track and I also found great hills to run around the college. Also as I was running I found a wonderful little organic restaurant called Fenix 5-4. There I got a shot of wheatgrass and amazing vegetarian chili with a mixed green and cucumber salad. My husband even loved it and stole 1/2 my chili!. I am going to drop by there tomorrow to grab a different salad for the drive home right after my workout. Today we were at Hermosa Beach with my son's baseball team and I found a great restaurant called Scotty's who made a spinach salad with salmon on top. I was thrilled with my find and of course the beautiful ocean.

I must admit I am happy with the progress so far and also I know that it is going to get harder these final weeks. However I know I am up for the challenge and I am looking forward to the experience which is now 21 days away. Now it is off to bed so I can get up early and hit the gym before I have to drive back to Phoenix.