Toss, Turn, Repeat & a Lil' Bit of the Shore

I don't know what it is, but lately I have not been able to fall asleep. I get in bed, absolutely exhausted and tired as anything, and I lie there for 15-20 minutes. At some point, I just get frustrated and take to my laptop, looking up something or other regarding figure competitions and fitness in general. That being said, it's not that I have a lot on my mind and I'm unable to let go of thoughts and stresses before I hit the hay, but I just have no idea what it is! Lucky for me though, I have found some excellent resources for my journey to the stage. Anyone have any thoughts about my inability to fall asleep? I'm kind of wondering if it has anything to do with my training (I usually get to the gym about 8, stay til 10). Sigh, oh well.

So pretty & AWESOME! They're a little purply-blue.

It's been a few days since I've posted, and I promise I've had every intention of doing so because it's been an amazing week at the gym and with nutrition. Even though I still have those pesky 2 pounds to go that I gained on vacation, I feel like I've progressed even further in my training, and I know I'm pushing myself harder. For instance, Monday was my leg day, and I'll be damned if I didn't nail every movement! Not to mention, I superset squats with lunges and sumo squats. F**k yeah! Pardon my language. That's just how I felt at the moment. It may have something to do with the new kicks I've been sporting--thanks, Mom! In addition to my Fivefingers, I now have a new pair of Nike trainers. Let me tell you something--if people suggest cross trainers over running shoes or any other type of footwear for lifting, it's for a reason! I felt the most stable I've ever felt doing squats, and because of that, I was able to sink my weight back on my heels like I'm supposed to and get lower every time. I love the feeling of doing something right!

The rest of the week has had the same trend--busting out some kick-ass workouts. Sometimes I feel like abs fall by the wayside when I'm training, so Monday I made a point to get in some planks between cardio & stretching and my training time. I was feeling those the next day. But not as much as after Tuesday, when Kevin made my training friend, Megan, and I do 6 sets of 20 hanging knee raises with a 20 pound dumbbell between our feet. Intense! We unsuccessfully tried to convince him that a solid 5 sets was just as good, but as he said "Would you rather have $120 or $100?" My smartass answer: I'd rather have $100 if I didn't know there was an option for $120. Not that that statement makes perfect sense, but hey, it was late and it was all I could retaliate with. So am I glad we went for 120 rather than 100? Definitely. I've got that good kinda tension going on in my core, and I'm proud of it!

Part of today's 1st meal: goldfish-shaped sandwich thin :)

So I briefly mentioned nutrition--what of it? Well, Kevin and I finally sat down and found some good websites for nutrition plans. I had kind of been at a loss of where to look, but now I know why. I had been googling search terms such as "figure competition nutrition" and "figure competition diet" when I probably should have been looking up "bodybuilding nutrition." So what took me a few weeks to kinda-sorta find took him, oh, probably about 10 minutes, if that. Fail on my part. Pretty much, protein is key. Good thing I like chicken and fish and ground turkey. We're starting off having me eat only carbs in the morning (but let's be honest, there's no protein bar that doesn't contain carbs, so in that regard I cheat an hour before my workout) for this first week. From there, we will tweak it and see where I end up. He also suggested grapefruits as a morning snack because they are supposed to help burn fat(?). My response: I hate grapefruits! Or so I thought. I bought one the other night and just got around to eating it and I have to admit I really enjoyed it it's not that bad as I made it out to be. Funny how taste buds change over the years.

Currently, I'm procrastinating doing schoolwork before my class cooking some protein for the rest of this week--ground turkey and boiled chicken. I decided to experiment with the ground turkey and do something a little different. First of all, let me say I'm a minimalist when it comes to cooking--I just throw a spice on and it's done, ready to go. So today was no different, except that I added a little bit of an odd ingredient to the ground turkey--apple pie spice. This spice pretty much consists of cinnamon, nutmeg, and some other ingredient along those lines. I was well aware that this would either turn out pretty good or absolutely terrible. So which was it? Pretty good! It sort of tasted like a breakfast food. But that just shows what difference a simple spice can make.

Cheers! ...Though no booze for me.

Anyway, I'm excited to get back to the gym tonight, though I have to make sure I get a good cardio workout in, because I've been slacking just a tad bit on those. And hopefully, I'll be able to get a good night's rest, aka fall asleep quickly and painlessly tonight! Also, a few gym buddies and I are instituting Jersey Shore (haha) style family dinners, and it's my turn to cook next. So if you have any somewhat simple recipe ideas, please send them my way! I found a recipe for this Sweet Potato Chili, but I'm open to suggestions.