2 weeks of change.....

Here are my latest pix. These were today, 2 weeks afterthe pix below. I'm happy with my progress, especially without spraytan, cuz we all know that helps! HOLY CRAP I HAVE 12 WEEKS!!!!!! YEAHHHHH. Don't stop--git it, git it! :) HAPPY SATURDAY! GO K-STATE!!!!!!!!!!!

Motivation

Love this stuff!

Progress

From Yop-corn 2 Salad

HEYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!

Gosh this thing is not getting updated enough. I will work on that! I love looking back and seeing my progress.

So we used to consume a TON of popcorn (nicknamed Yopcorn) in this household. Well, since 2010, my popcorn bowls have turned into my salad bowls. Yep--I'm eating 1/2 my weight in salad. :) :) Okay, maybe not THAT much but yes, I'm stuffin the gut with all sorts of wonderfulness that is veggies!!! I'm learning to love more veggies than ever! My mom would be soo proud! :) My husband tells me my tastebuds are still developing! I may have to agreee!

Alright, life in the world of a biz owner and contest prepper is going swimmingly! :) I love it. I know I can do more, and WILL!!!!!!!!!!!! Tomorrow Nicole & I are headin to the studio for a 6am workout. I may post it tomrw. It's a modified Turbulence Training blog post from a couple years ago. It's killla!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lastly........I'm gonna post a progress pix. Like heather bear said, theres are reason they're called "BEFORE" pictures.......so.....here ya go:

Obtaining the Title

In trusting this journey I am on.....for the third time.....I really feel that everything is going as planned. I WILL GET LEAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YA YA YAAAA

I am almost 3 weeks into my prep and I'm finally feeling on track. I have been nailing the workouts, getting about 80% of total cardio I shoot for, but now I feel like my body is responding!! :) No panic.......nooooo panic here.......... :) :) *laughs nervously* :)

I take progress pix this weekend. last night my hubs told me I am TOTALLY ahead of the game. Especially compared to the last 2 preps. Not that you can compare one prep to another, but I do agree I'm on a better track!

Today I've done some bike intervals and will lift this afternoon! Tonight we're heading to the casino (actually, the casino where my show will be) for a Scottish Dinner... ??? Don't really know what all that entails, but there will be bagpipes, and kilts.......and me passing on dinner.... :)

Tomorrow I'm heading to Z.U.M.B.A. instead of bootcamp so I can sleep in a little!!

Have yourself a fab friday afternoon and restful weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Possible posting of pix this weekend.....we shall see!

LOVE~
EM :)

PRETTY GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!

HEY GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hope you're having a wonderful week thus far!
Just to update---I didn't end up needing assistance moving my arms after mondays workout! :) I felt pretty good thanks to some super stretching and a HOT epsom salt bath. YAY for homecare!! I say you have no choice to complain if you haven't done everything in your power to do home-preventative care (i.e.: foam rolling, tennis ball work, yoga/stretching, hot bathes, contrast hot/cold treatments, biofreeeze)

So, today I have glutes & triceps (random I know..) and cardi-yo

I'm off for a powernap right now--then I'm gonna go bust out some jams, open the sun roof and prepare myself for a killa workout! :) :)

Love love~
EM :)

Stay tuned tmrw for a recap of yet ANOTHER 6am workout starring Em & Nicole! :)

NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS.....

Holy cow, I need a personal assistant to assist me in ANY over the head motion. Particularly brushing my hair! My lats are soooooooo stinkin sore I can't even lift my dang arms!! PLUS, this morning Nicole & I lifted heavy shoulders (plus abs & cardio) soooo, my arms don't have a chance!!
It felt amazing to get the workout done at 6am this morning! I'm LOVING getting up at 5-5:515!!! My body has honestly adjusted to it-who knew!!! :)

Tonight I had 11 in my bootcamp (Nicole included!!) and had them doing some serious stations! IT's so much fun they totally motivate me! I wanna jump in and train with them!!!

I'm 3 days into week three and I'm rockin and rolling! I'm applying that "EXTRA DEGREE" everyday. Family, Work, Business, FITNESS. That's my life and I'm absolutely blessed!!!

I hope you're all rockin thru the week already! Stay determinded and treat your body well!!

Lots of love~
EM :)

WEEK RECAP!

Whoa, didn't realize i forgot to hop on & update!! (good thing i'm tracking elsewhere too)
Soooo, I left with tuesday bomb.com workout bright in the morning. That afternoon I mustered another 40 mins. of cardio between the elliptical & stairstepper. Anyone who talked crap about a stairstepper (as opposed to the stair "MILL") needs to use it without holding on and basically "running" on the dang thing! It shoots my heartrate up REAL quick!!! :)
Wednesday was an off day (CrAzY busy day, in a good way) and thurs we did another workout bright & early *6am* hitting a lil legs again. I did more cardio yesterday afternoon, too! YAY!!
Today was HITT in the morning on the tready. Crazy enough, this morning I woke up at 504 with NO alarm........so, instead of laying back down until 530, I fought HARD against that little demon and GOT UP!!! I headed straight downstairs and got to work. It felt really good!

Tomorrow is ACES BOOTCAMP (agility.core.endurance.strength) held by my collegue Marissa. She no doubt with hand me an ass kickin! :) :) In true prep mode, Nicole and I are meeting to get 20 mins. of cardio done prior. Actually, I'm thinking its gonna help get me sufficiently warmed up for the brutality! :) Still contemplating ZUUUMMMBA right after.....we shall see!!

i hope you all wrapped your week up nicely and are ready for a fabulous weekend! I KNOW I AM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, and me & my hubbies "HOT DATE" tonight was the grocery store. We're so romantic! :)

LOVE YA'LL~
EM :)

The best news @ 615 AM!!!

What was that new?!?!? Welll.....................


My seester called on her way to work to let me know that She, my b-i-l, and MY MOM & DAD are coming to my Competition!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOLY CRAP I'm soooooooooooooo pumped! I cannot wait to see them!!! The countdown isn't just for the show, it's to see my favorite people, too! :) :) :) After they see the show they're gonna think, what the hell?!! just kiddin...



So after that FABULOUS news on the phone, we started out Leg workout. (SIDE NOTE: anytime I refer to "WE" I'm talking about Nicole & I. She my permanant workout buddy & I couldn't be happier. She's an ex-athlete, a multi-marathoner, MA in Exercise Physiology...basically she knows what the hell shes talking about!!! I definetly push myself harder when I workout with her! We're doing 2 workouts + 1 bootcamp per week. The workouts are spaced so that I maintain my motivation the whole week!!!!!!!!!!! YAY FOR TEAMMATES!!! :)
Okay, so we sufficiently ripped up the hammies and the glutes! It felt awesome, lemme tell ya! I cuddled with the foam roller for 15 mins. after! :) :)

Tomorrow is upper body work and 45-60 min. cardio. Yeahhh!



Hope you're all making it a fabulous Week! It's in your hands to make a day positive!!!! SO DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!! :) :)



Love love~
EM :)

That Which You Hate....

IS THAT WHICH YOU SHOULD DO.

That's the tough love I tell my clients regarding particular exercises they really don't like. For the most part, I believe the reason we don't love an exercise is because we're not good at it/haven't mastered it--Therefore, if you hate it, do it more, master it, and you will no longer hate it.................Insert the beloved BURPEE.
Many variations to this beast of an exercise. Is it strength? Is it Endurance? I can't decide if my lungs are gonna blow up before my quads give out. The variation we did in bootcamp yesterday morning was chest flat on the ground, and explode up into a jump. Think the 'worm' dancemove, because that's what it ended up looking like! :)

Okay, enough on my tangent about burpees. My point is that, yes, I really hate them, but thats because it seems like an un-master-able (new word) exercise!!!!! :) :) But, they sure made for a hell of a bootcamp!
After bootcamp Nicole & I went to ZUMMMMBBAAA!!!!!!!! Fun times! The rest of the day consisted of a nap and our 1st puppy kindergarden class! :) The pups did awesome!!

Today I have already done 1 hour of treadmill walking and will head to Power Yoga this afternoon. Boy does my body need it!

Hope you're all having a great weekend!!!!!!!!!!

love~
EM

CAR-DEE-YOOOOOOO

HEY GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!
This week is winding down quite nicely! It's been a successful 1st week of prep if I do say so myself!!!!!! :) So happy!
My workout with Nicole yesterday morn (at 6:30, A.M.) was once again tough, tough, tough. My poor body better get whipped into shape REAL quick with the intensity I've been at!! Think lots of plyos and an occasional Clean & Jerk or Snatch with the olympic bar. Ohhh my!!
Today has been busy with trainings, cardio (car-dee-yo) and business marketing stuff! :)

My cardio will consist of one of my favorites

I hope ya'll have a FANTASTIC weekend!! I'm heading to bootcamp in the morning followed by ZUMMMMMMBBAAAAA!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for the nice comments, ladies, I really appreciate it! :) :)

LOVE!
EM :)

4 Days down!!!!!!

GOOOOD MORNING!!

We have a beautiful sunny day here and it puts me in such a good mood! I've been driving with my sunroof open and the heater cranked! :)

After our crazy leg workout Monday, I recovered very well! Yesterday morning I did HITT on the treadmill followed by some incline walking. No weights.

Today I will do FULL upperbody workout: Back/Chest/Shoulders/Bis/Tris. I'm looking forward to it! I got a new punching bag @ the studio so I will use that for a circuit. SUCH a good workout!!

Then tonight before my last training, I'm thinking about doing a trekking workout on the treadmill. That one kicks my butt everytime!!!!!!!!!! LOVE IT!!

Food has been ON ON ON. I'm feeling great and unlike the other two preps, I actually have no desire to "stray" because lets be honest, that hurts no one but myself!! I'm in this 100%!!!



Make it a fabulous day! SOAK UP SOME SUN if you can!!!!!!!!!!!!



love love~
EM

SHE'S GOT LEGzzzz

GOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING! Hows everyone? Hope the weekend treated you well and you've started off 2010 with a bang!
I sure started my week of right with a Leg workout at 7am. Nicole & I met at the studio for some mega leg damage. I mean really, we didn't punish them enough saturday morning?? Glutton for some Glutes :) :) :)
Anyway, the workout was crazy good. She's emailing me exactly what we did so I will post it. Lemme tell ya, it was brutal, but in a good way! So, with that out of the way, I have a busy day ahead of me! Lots of business stuff to finalize, 4 more trainings, I'm running a 6pm bootcamp and coming home for PM cardio in Schwetty's with my hubz. I'm thinking 20 min. quick run, 20 incline walk.

Yesterday I was sooooo productive getting tons of food prepped for the week. I also did 2 massages and we walked B2 (bella & blitz) so all in all it was a great day. (And yes, I did end with an epsom salt hot bath with truly helps!!)

That's it for now! I tell ya, I'm on a roll. I'm really feelin it and can't wait for the results to start showing! :)

Lots of love~
EM

oh BTW; is anyone else truly BAFFLED by the new commercials for the Taco Bell Drive Thru Diet? Are they SERIOUS?!?!? Yikes....

LAML

Laugh At Me Legs
That's what bootcamp at 8am produces. Legs sooooo stinkin sore that you laugh at yourself as you do anything. Walk, sit down, stand up, tie your shoes.....all the above. No joke!
Bootcamp this morning was crazy challenging for me. We did a little bit of everything. Burpees, squat press w/ pushups, Squats, split lunge jumps, lots of abs, turkish get ups.......ey yi yi!!!! It was awesome! Then, Nicole & I went to coffee and discussed our plan of attack!!!!!!!! I'm sooooooooooo thrilled I have someone going thru prep with me! It will make it so much more fun!!! Yeahhhhh!

On the docket for tomorrow is AM cardio and YOGA! I'm thinking foam rolling and an epsom salf bath will occur as well!

Ohhh, Cynthia---:) Nope, that pix below is from a week out from my 1st show. However, I do plan on getting there again, and leave time for refining my physique even more! YAY!! CAN'T WAIT!!!

We're taking progress pix tmrw, and goodNESS I'm so due for this prep!!!

Hasta Manana~
LOVE~
EM

Bootcamp

Hello again! I had to blog real quick and record that I'M GOING TO 8am BOOTCAMP TOMORROW!!!!!! (last week I was suppose to go, and, well, that didn't happen...)

So, I will report back tomorrow about how I survived! I have been doing cardio lately, but the lifting has been very sporatic, so tomorrow will be good for me! My collegue is running the class and it's an athletic based hour long bootcamp class. My two other figure/bikini competitors are coming as well, and after we're gonna grab a coffee to finalize the game plan. Take the Stage 2010 has commenced! :) TIME TO GET LEAAAAANNNNN!!!

Love~
EM

HERE WE GO AGAIN!!!

HEY THERE!!

Well, this marks my THIRD contest prep. I can say that this will be my best of all. I understand my body much more and am healthier than I've ever been.

I have 16 weeks until my show. Sooooooooo, once again the purpose of the blog is to hold myself accountable and track my progress. Wish me luck and I hope that I can inspire YOU as I make this journey!

Lots of love~
EM