Thursday Things

Oh gloom--that's practically all I've seen when I look out the windows every morning this week. Thunderstorms every day. Don't get me wrong, there's some sun thrown in there at times, but I'm getting a little sick and tired of this inconsistent weather. Last summer was hot as the dickens, this summer is stormy and savage.

I've been a little lax in posting about my second competition prep (of three), and while there are some changes to training and nutrition, I am still settling into a new schedule. For those of you who don't know, I had a week off of work (mandatory--LOVE it!) last week, so I'm getting settled into a new semester. It definitely helps with motivation when you get in your sales results from Semester 1 and you see that you finished well above 100%! <--That was last night at 10:10pm for me, although I should have been in bed. I was too anxious!

Another reason I've been lax about posting (and mostly about progress pictures) is because I had gotten used to a certain look the last couple of weeks of my last prep. I'm mentally at a point now where I feel like I'm not physically where I want to be. I feel puffy still--although it's not necessarily because I am--and I want the abdominal definition I had less than 2 weeks ago!

By no means did I rebound last week, but I did enjoy several treats. I'm one of those picker-chooser types--when I want something unhealthy, I do not eat it in addition to a healthy meal. Rather, I'll eat healthy for most meals of the day, and replace one meal with the unhealthier choice. I did that a lot last week, especially with my beloved froyo. I can go for weeks without the softly frozen decadent goodness, but I cannot go a lifetime without it. So sue me.

Because of this disconnect between my mental and physical states, it's actually helped increase my motivation and the rate at which I'm working at the gym. Almost too much so, but that was also due to a misunderstanding I had with my new training regimin. Apparently "add in sprints in place of steady-state cardio" does NOT mean to do sprint/speed work every day. I learned this yesterday morning after the following sequence of events:

1. Skipped fasting cardio in favor of an extra hour of sleep since I had to be on the road early/be at an office early that is 2+ hours driving distance from my apartment.
2. Googling "best cardio for butt" while stopped red lights in response to my exhaustion and #1.
3. Texting my coach asking about "speed walking on an incline to target butt because I can't sprint every day."
4. Receiving a text back saying "With long strides... Sprints weren't meant to be every day..."

Duh! Silly me--I was opting for either speed work or hill sprints or stair mill intervals on the reg. Stair mill intervals, while brutal, are easy-peasy for me. But the response I got definitely mirrored what I was already thinking: "HOW am I supposed to sustain this level of energy at 5am every morning?!"Phew! I just want a better bootyyyyyy!

If any of you follow me on Instagram or Facebook then you know what I'm talking about. And you know that it's rare for me to post something non-fitness-related these days. Which is why you should check out one of my current posts, or the following mash-up of Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines and The Cosby Show intro:

Respect for the genius that pieced that together.

I think another reason for my disconnect is the couple stressors that I can't escape at the moment. In an effort to save money--like actually SAVE money...in a bank account or some other fashion--I have decided to leave my AMAZING downtown Charlottesville apartment in favor of moving in with one of my best friends in an apartment community less than 5 minutes down the road. While I'm excited for this change, and the new place has it's perks--such as a heavenly view of Carter's Mountain Orchard and a lakefront location--the move itself has me pulling myself in many directions. On the one hand, my current lease runs until the end of August, but on the other hand, I would like to be moved out of here by the end of July. I've contemplated doing a slow move, first taking the items I don't immediately need, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense to just get it over with.

I will miss this view next Spring

And with this move comes a change in gyms. For those of you who remember, I joined a second gym in February so I would have somewhere within walking distance to do my 5am cardio. Well, this move negates the perks of having that second gym membership. Not to mention the clubhouse for the new apartment has a FULLY-EQUIPPED gym--another way to cut costs and save money! But I've been having the unknown consequences of breaking my gym contract weighing on my shoulders, and I also don't want to fully cut ties until I fully move into the new place. You would think that all of this would light a fire under my butt, but with the aforementioned thunderstorms every afternoon, it's hard to get a dry chance to actually move stuff. And I need motivation to pack.

A Workday, Gym Sesh, and Some Packing Later...

Well apparently some of the worry and stress got to me and I moved a little bit more over to the new place. Remember those thunderstorms I was telling you about? Well, I managed to miss the ones that blew through this afternoon, and let's just say my kitchen is pretty bare right now. This happened to be somewhat in place of the gym for a few reasons:

1. When I got to the gym, I realized that aside from Round #2 cardio, abs was the only thing on my schedule today.
2. I got in 20 minutes on the treadclimber when I got a text about going for a run. See #1. (Although the run ended up not happening because I thought it was about to downpour and I needed to stop at Sam's Club...and start packing stuff.)
3. I am still feeling bloated like crazy!

That puffiness I mentioned earlier? Make that "bloat." When making the changes to my nutrition plan, my coach mentioned that the oats we were adding in (only 1/4 cup one time a day) may make me bloat. I've tried adding it in 2 of the past 4 days, and it seems like regardless, I get a puffy stomach. Add in frustration here. My coach thinks it's the greek yogurt. I'm skeptical and I think it's either the pickles I added back in or the whey protein that was also added in. Need to get to the bottom of this sooner rather than later!

Flat stomach, come back!

Hopefully in a few days, I will figure out the culprit and be able to provide you with something other than text to read (i.e., progress pics again). Until then, please weigh in on my bloat dilemma if you have any insight! Oh, and it doesn't help that my faux tan is unevenly coming off...I'm so pale!