EaStEr== 2 weeks 5 days OUT

YAY! Happy easter everyone! As you probably remember from previous birthday posts, and every other holiday post I have ever posted, I LOVE the holidays and the fun little traditions my family and I have made. Each holiday is a new experience and viewing it through the eyes of my four and two year old-- is just magical to me. I have been up since 5 am, with anticipation and excitement of my kids waking up and finding easter baskets and easter eggs before we go to church. Today at church I am teaching a lesson to my sunbeams, 4 year olds, about how Heavenly Father made birds and insects for us on the 5th day of the creation. We are making the cutest little parrot puppets, having a lesson, and I bought these (totally processed) little butterfly cakes for each of them to eat. I am anxious, I know they will be excited and love their time with me today!

I am also up early with excitement today, because Jon granted me a silent wish of eating Easter dinner with my family today. I was actually internally dreading the day because I knew I would be eating salmon with green beans (AGAIN!) while everyone else was feasting on ham, potatoes and candy. I knew I would be just fine getting through the day because let's face it-- I have been dieting for like-- ever, and I only have 3 weeks left so it wouldn't have been the end of the world, but the day would have probably dragged on a little bit.

So after posing Thursday night he said I could eat easter dinner, and have 2 reeses eggs! My all time favorite! I can not wait! And, this will be the 4th time since January 1 I have had any sugar, so as you can imagine, I am way excited. Sugar makes my veins pop out of my arms when I am this lean, and I happen to LOVE veins and the look of vascularity so I can't wait to see them. I am totally taking a picture to show you, don't worry.

My meal plan changed a week and a half ago, and this will be my last cheat for the next 20 days. I am ready. I can not even fathom that the show is all ready here. I have had to remind myself several times when I have been exhausted and sick (still and again) that during these hard moments the time is going by so slow, but in retrospect I will realize this really isn't that hard and it really went by so fast. Re reading some of my old posts from after I quit prepping before stepping on stage in October last year has been a great motivator too, as I remember so distinctly how sad and depressed I felt. Nothing tastes good enough to feel that way again.

10 days ago I stopped carb cycling and got put on low carb, high protein diet. My calories have been drastically cut and I have been exhausted, my workouts are getting very weak, and my stomach is flattening out as best as it can (yay) I feel like my arms look really great, my legs look really good, my booty is pretty rockin and that stomach is just saggy. But, I can't fix those marks of warrior hood--called motherhood, so I am learning and trying to embrace them as much as I can. My beautiful children are worth every scar on my body. My cardio is still about 1 hr and a half every day split into two sessions and my weight training is between an hour and 90 minutes. So training is about 3 hours a day. Morning cardio is fasted so it is not intense and is done half the time on my moms treadmill she loaned me, and half the time at one of the gyms on the stair climber. 30 minutes after weight training is always on stair climber unless someone has beaten me to MY machine and then I settle for more hill climbing, annoyed, on the treadmill.

The past two weeks people are really noticing changes in me. My dad says I haven't been this tiny since junior high, and I had to correct him that I was much much bigger in junior high. Ha, I was so chunky then. I have had several random people come up to me at the gym and ask my if I am training for a purpose. One man even said and I quote "you work harder than anyone else in here, and your training is very specialized-- what are you up to?" That was the  day I felt like death and was dragging my butt around the gym like a lazy girl so I appreciated his comment so very much, and was thankful people notice my work ethic. It has been a long time, years actually, of training very hard in the gym-- it has just been in the last year that I have gotten my nutrition in check so that my intense training is actually SHOWING on my body.

Over the next less than 3 weeks I have lots of excitement to make the time go by fast.
This week, I have 2 weight lifting sessions per body part and on Friday I am getting my hair colored and cut for the first time since, like January!? YAY! So excited for a new look!
2 new clients, and my old clients to train

Next week
clients to train
2 weight sessions per body part
probably some nutrition changes
posing in my suit, which is almost done!

Following Week
clients to train
toes and nails done (first time in FOREVER!!! yay for pretty nails!!)
photo shoot with my husband for advertising for my web page that will get done, soon!
peak week nutrition changes
2 weight sessions per body part
lots of posing in my suit
spray tanning appointment
THE SHOW!!!

I am thinking over and over in my head how the show is going to go, how I will look on stage, how I am going to rock my poses, how I am going to feel so proud at the end! I am also thinking about food for after the show and I just can't settle on any ONE thing I really miss so much. I am actually pleased with that because it tells me that my body has made some good lifestyle changes which means that going into maintenance isn't going to be super hard for me. I have new goals to set and new challenges to meet and I am anxious for it all!

Stick with me the next few weeks for more updates!