I's Gettin' Skooled!

So much to learn, soooo little time!  I am so grateful for the opportunity to participate in the Recipe For Fitness Case Study.  I had no idea when I applied that I was going to grow so much emotionally as well as physically!  What an amazing process.  What a painful process, what a healthy process.  WHAT A NECESSARY PROCESS!  I's really gettin' skooled! 

Here's the deal:  being a former carbohydrate addict is not the only skeleton I have in my closet.  I am also a perfectionist and I'm not recovered from that... yet.    Perfectionism effects pretty much everything I do.  It also "slows down" (actually, I should say, I allow it to slow down) everything I do.  I discovered on Tuesday that I am allowing it to slow down my progress on the Case Study!  This is how I allowed perfectionism a foothold in my work: one of the things that the girls have stressed to us thru the program is how imperative it is to maintain good form on our exercises.  You know, to prevent injury, so that we work the area the exercise is supposed to work etc.  In a nutshell, what we were told was that if we could no longer complete a rep with good form, we were done with that set.  Guess what, folks!  There is a BIG difference between PERFECT form and what the last repetition of a set should look like!  The last rep is not supposed to look as good as the first!  It can be slow, it can be shaky, most times you probably won't be able to complete it.  I took their direction to mean that when my reps started to "look yucky" I was to stop.  DUH!!!  They were just trying to keep me from killing myself by telling me that if I was starting to cheat on the rep, swing the weight, use other muscle groups to help me, I was to be finished with that exercise!  See how I let that perfectionism creep in there?  I let myself think that because my last reps weren't as pretty as my first I should quit.  Ugh!  So while I was working hard and THOUGHT I was doing as much as I THOUGHT I could, I was slowing down my progress by not allowing myself to experience true, POSITIVE failure!  It just wasn't clicking in this "perfect" little brain of mine.  SO, Carlene one... Perfectionism zero!

Here's the second way I almost allowed perfectionism to have control over my life:  in a previous post I announced that I plan to do two figure competitions this year.  I also said that I was going into the first competition with the attitude that I would "just do it for the experience and to learn" but that I would "win" the second competition I did.  Talk about trying to protect myself from failure again!  I was so afraid that I would feel like a fool at my first show that I was just going to show up with the attitude that I was just "doing it for fun"!  But that isn't what's in my heart and if I continue to have that attitude I'm going to seriously cheat myself out of some of the best and worst nuances of competition.  Considering the fact that deep, deep inside I really would like to go PRO (I'm totally serious about this, its been a hidden dream of mine since high school.  I used to have posters of Mia Finnegan and Monica Brant all over my walls!), that's pretty damn stupid!  Why would I do that to myself?  BECAUSE I'M NOT GIVING MYSELF THE RESPECT I DESERVE!  I am limiting my opportunities and life experiences with my fear of failure!  NOT ANYMORE!  I'm all done with that now.  So, look out anybody doing those two shows here in Michigan, cause I might just win 'em both!

I may not know what my future holds,
but I'm jumping in with both feet!

I owe Tab and Chelle a great big "thank you" for their honesty and concern for me during our Skype session Tuesday night.  It was a major wake up call. Tab, your blog post today drove it home.  I took everything you said to heart and am a better, stronger person because of it.   

Happy Thursday, dear reader!

HELLLPPP! I HAVE TO TRAVEL!

Ok, here's the deal:  I get to go out of state for a few days to visit with my husband's family and I'm excited to see them but I'm FREAKED out as to how to do it successfully.  I have NO experience traveling and I CAN NOT let my work on the case study slide while I'm gone. Actually, it's a great set up because I will have access to a YMCA, there's a workout facility (with very basic equipment, I think) where we are staying and I will have a kitchen to use where we are staying too!  What I don't know is:

• How much food can I take on the plane?
• How do I pack it so they (the inspector people) won't touch it!?!
• What do I need to consider that I might not be aware of for traveling and staying on my food plan?

I'm great while I'm actually at my destination!  What I need to do is figure out how to get back and forth without faltering!  HELP!  Any and all advice is welcome!  Thanks!

Happy Thursday, dear reader! 

Fitness Case Study - Week One Recap

I MADE IT! I DID IT!  I ATE IT!  I SWEAT IT!     

THIS HAS BEEN ONE HECK OF A WEEK!  It's been a week I'll never forget.  I am so proud to say that I completed week one of the Recipe for Fitness Case Study!   It was no easy task.  These girls aren't messing around!  What I am participating in is no joke and I gave it 150% dedication and effort.  It's a beautiful thing to be handed such a challenge and know that you did your absolute best.  I feel like this:

I had a very rough start to my week as Chelle and Tab decided that energy drinks and thermogenics were not suitable to take during this phase of my lifestyle change.  So away they went and down, down, down I went.  It was sheer willpower that drove me to complete each workout and fix each meal.  What I really wanted to do was sleep!  I hurt all over, too.  EVERYTHING was sore, it was sort of like trying to do a heavy workout while having the flu.  In a nutshell, IT SUCKED!  I had to keep telling myself (please really listen to this because it's super important) that the reason I felt so badly was because of the things I had done to myself PRIOR to beginning my journey on the program.  The energy drinks, the thermogenics, my body had become addicted!  So I had the fatigue and withdrawl symptoms fighting me as I started the case study.  By Friday, the stimulants were out of my system and I was feeling great!  

One of the things I'm doing for myself while on the program is to keep track of EVERYTHING.  I was supplied really great food and exercise logs by the girls at RFF (Recipe for Fitness) and I am saving each and every log to put in a sort of journal so I can always look back on my experience.  I'm also going to put pictures in here as I progress, journal entries and words of encouragement from the Transformation Support page.  

One of the biggest challenges I face is the organization of it all.  In fact, that might be the biggest lifestyle change for me.  I am working toward a dedicated work out time each day so that it becomes routine and I am doing the one day food prep so that my food is ready at a moments notice.  My husband was an enormous help to me thru week one as he did tons of dishes, took care of the kids, cleaned house and allowed me to nap!  (Thank you, Michael!  I LOVE YOU!!!)  I should be much more productive this week as I am not only feeling better but also have my meals ready to go.

It's snack time now.  That word has become such a JOKE to me!  I don't "snack" anymore since I started the program!  Snacks are little bites here and there, right?  For one of my "snacks" yesterday, I had tilapia, salad, 1/2 an orange and 1/4 of an avacado!!!!  That sound like a snack to you?  Me neither!  But I'll tell ya what, the last few days, I've actually been looking forward to my next meal / "snack"!  I'm ready to eat when it's time to eat.  So, with that I'll bid you ado.  Until next time...

Happy Monday, dear reader!

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF MY LIFE!!! :)

Some of you may remember my post regarding my disappointment about not being selected to participate in a fitness case study.  If you didn't catch that post, take a look here:http://figure-ativelyspeakingeastofeden.blogspot.com/2011/11/can-you-help.html. 

Let me tell you, I am disappointed no more!  Unfortunately, one of the eight selected participants had to drop out.  Unbeknownst to me, I was NUMBER NINE on the list!  Holy Toledo, Batman!  Number NINE out of NINETY applicants!  That bumped me up and I get to play too!  What an honor to be able to participate in such an exciting study!  The gals at Recipe For Fitness are out to change the world and are experimenting on me!!  You can read my bio on the Recipe for Fitness Transformation page here:http://www.recipeforfitness.com/transformation/carleneH.html  I know that it sounds crazy to be so enthusiastic about being someone's victim but you see, I have had this amazing dream for a really long time.  I want to be in the best shape of my life!  Only, I was at a stand still and I needed help.  Now, I have that help!  Tab and Chelle are coaching me, pushing me, teaching me and with their expertise I am going to meet my fitness goals!  I was never sure if I even had what it takes to be really strong and muscular but Chelle and Tab have assured me that I do!  So that's where I'm going... to the top! 
You can follow my journey, and the other seven participants as well, by going to www.recipeforfitness.com and clicking on 12 week case study.  Like I said on the day I discovered I wasn't selected, you won't want to miss this.   

Happy Tuesday, dear reader!  

Can you help???

Well, I'm speaking thru huge amounts of disappointment today.  For the last few weeks, I have been awaiting word on whether I was accepted as a member of a case study that a fellow blogger is doing.  She is pursuing her dreams of changing the world full force and is taking eight VERY LUCKY people with her!  Unfortunately, I will not be one of those eight people.  But I will be supporting the chosen few, and learning from the experiences they have.  You can too at:  www.recipeforfitness.com.  This is sure to be a motivating journey and one we don't want to miss.


But-- its ONWARDS AND UPWARDS for me now!  Time to figure out my next step in my fitness journey.  Here's what I want:

I WANT TO LOOK LIKE AVA COWAN!!!

Now, my diet is pretty dialed in.  I've pretty much got that figured out, I think.  It's the training I'm trying to figure out.  I have a lot of equipment at the ready and I'm willing to work for it.  My natural tendency is to get skinny.  Well, in case you didn't notice, the woman in that picture is NOT skinny!  She is round and buff and strong!  My problem is not cardio.  I'm NOT a cardio queen, in fact, I do very little cardio.  So what's up?  How do I build a body like that???


I'd like to enlist the help of my readers, I know you're out there!  :)  There are a lot of you reading this blog (thank you so much, by the way) and I need your help, please.  Have any of you been thru this problem?  What did you do?  What worked, what didn't work?  I really need your advice and ideas, please.  I'll be waiting for your comments!

Happy Wednesday, dear reader!