Figured somethings out

So, its been a few weeks from my last post. Here's what's been going on:

I successfully made a trip to New Jersey to visit my husbands family. I say successfully because I wasn't sure how I was going to be able to pack all my food for a weekend and take it with me on a plane. For the longest time (until this trip) I was under the impression that you weren't allowed to bring food with you in your carry on. Thank goodness I was wrong!! I was able to pack granola, nuts, tuna fish, beef jerky and rice cakes. I didn't know how well cottage cheese or yogurt would pass thru security, so I held off on those until I go to Jersey and was able to go to a grocery store. Next time I make a flight, I think I'm going to try and bring cooked meat. I found a trick online, you pack large freezer bags and when you cross over security you find an ice machine to fill it with and pack it in with your meat in a cooler. Will make traveling that much easier. I was also successful because I was able to stick to my planned diet the whole time I was in Jersey (except for 2 things: Eric's family owns a carvel and his sister is a baker, I might of had a bite of ice cream and 2 bites of cake.......). I was also able to get in one solid workout in the 3 days I was there.

Secondly, we are in the process of moving. Anybody who's known me the last 4 years knows that this will be our 4th move since college. Happily we are only moving 20 minutes down the road instead of our usual 5-7 hours away!!! I thought that moving would have an impact on my food preparation and planning, but I've neglected a good chunk of packing just so I can have the equipment to stay on track. I figure we're not moving far so I don't have to pack as quickly????? :/ Workouts have been consistent expect...................

Thirdly, I've had a cold for the last week. Limiting any cardio, due to a violent mucus' attacking cough when my heart rate reaches so high. Like you really wanted to know that part :). So I've been able to incorporate some higher intensity for shorter duration into my lifting workouts, which I like to do a lot of the time anyway.  However.......

I need to start doing quite a bit more cardio. Mostly HIIT training. My body fat has been pretty steady the last few weeks. In order for me to confidentially enter the figure competition I am really excited about doing I need to drop at least 5% body fat. Now based on what I've read on the internet they suggest at LEAST 10 weeks in order to do that. Well, how ironic, the competition I am hoping to be ready for is in 10 weeks. Time to get my sh*t together!!!!!!!!

Current stats: 136# (need to be around 130); 19.5% body fat (would like to be around 14 at least)

P.S. I started looking at competition suits, If anybody has ever seen one you'd know.......this is not something I'd want my grandmother to see me in :/

Trip home to Vermont

Tough Mudder went well, I survived at least. I went into it with tight hamstrings (apparently I lifted to heavy on legs the Tuesday before) but didn't start cramping up until about mile 9. For someone who has run a total of 5 miles at the very most in one time, I think the 11.5 miles went pretty well. Obstacles were easy, it was the stopping and going during the obstacles that made the running part difficult, many many people were wilted over the side of the course with cramping muscles. I believe the toughest part of the day was the .5 mile walk back to the car, everything was sore! I ended up with lots of large bruises, but for someone who bruises easily it wasn't surprising. It is definitely something I will do again, but may build up more of the running aspect for next time.

So I returned earlier this week from my weekend trip home to Vermont. I did a decent job sticking to my diet, I carried a cooler with me everywhere I went! I had my one higher carb, higher calorie "cheat day" while I was there. I have decided that it is a lot more difficult to recover from the "cheat day" (blood sugar gets to high and I have a hard time balancing it out afterwards) then it is worth. So I have decided to try and have one treat a few days per week that is included in my calories for the day. If I can do this then I might not feel the need for a "cheat day". As I've said before, I'm figuring out how to do this as I go so I can be successful!

I also did a good job keeping up with my workouts. It is convenient that I have a father, brother and grandmother who also enjoy working out on a regular basis. I was able to go to the Malone YMCA and spend several hours there with my father lifting weights, working on the heavy bag and doing some HIIT. I also went to a gym with my brother, not a fan of the particular gym but was thrilled just the same to workout beside him and show him a couple new things. Then maybe the greatest thing was going to the Racquets Edge with my grandmother, who takes her water aerobics class 3x a week and when I am visiting her I go into the weight room while she's in the water. However, last week she decided she wanted me to show her how to use some of the machines in the weight room! She is determined to stay strong and knows that there is benefit to using weights outside of the water as well! The only downfall was the one day I wasn't able to get into a gym to do my cardio I decided to run outside. Now for those of you familiar with Vermont, they do not pave the roads very well, they tend to slant down the sides. I ran on them anyway and developed a knee strain :( Between the uneven pavement and tight hamstrings (from running the tough mudder and not doing a great job stretching after my leg workout the day before) my knee did not like me and is now out of commission. This means leg days is discontinued for the time being, along with most cardio. I'm trying not to let this set me back at all, keeping my upper body lifts either high volume or high weight to keep my metabolism up. I don't want to push myself to making this injury any worse so I am being smart about it and staying off of it until it is ready to move again. I think once I have recovered from this I will incorporate more yoga and prehab type exercises into my routine to avoid any other injuries.