Motivation Monday- YOU HAVE LEGS!

Do you ever find yourself sitting on the couch DREADING going to the gym? This will help you get a different perspective not only in fitness, but in life. Learning to be appreciative in what seems to be the smallest things in life, truly helps in the long run. But think about it, is having a functional healthy body really a "small" thing to be thankful for? What if you were to lose it all today? You're paralyzed now. I bet you'd look back and think of all of the times you could have gone to the gym but took advantage of your beautiful, functioning body. Next time you're feeling lazy, remember, you GET to work out, not HAVE to.



Happy Monday!

3 Weeks Out From SF Championships and Progess Photos

Hey guys and girls! Long time! So I'm sitting here THREE WEEKS OUT from my next show, the San Francisco Championships. I'm very excited (of course) and it's been four weeks since the Tahoe Show. "Well, what happened at the Tahoe Show?!" you say, well I will tell you and you can watch it all in the video below! 

So for the Tahoe Show, I felt great. I try very hard to keep a critical eye on my body since I don't have a coach, and while my boyfriend is also a trainer, he sees me everyday he'll always say I look amazing. Especially coming from a prep and transforming so much, it's hard to tell someone they aren't ready or that they need to work on something when they've done so well so far. Well, I'm not about that for the most part, I try to stay critical while also staying positive in loving myself. So with that said, I should have come in leaner, tighter, and downsized my glutes and thighs (What the judges said as well, I spoke to all five of them). This has been my goal forever, my problem is in my butt, it's ridiculous. Coming from a body with a 42 inch "fat" butt (as in a big butt consisting mostly of fat, not muscle), and transforming it to a mostly muscle butt wiht little fat, is A LOT of work. It doesn't work the way people think, muscle doesn't "replace" fat and fat does not turn into muscle. While building muscle, you must also be losing fat. Which means heavy lifting AND cardio like crazy! I've come a very long way! I'd say my butt is now... 60% muscle? You can see definition clearly, you can see my tie in, you can see my round glute definition and I am SO happy about it, it's great! The transformation continues though, as it was not "enough" to win the Tahoe Show. I got 9th place out of 18 girls in my class. Of course I wanted higher, there's no doubt about that. Unfortunately, in this category and industry, they'd much rather prefer someone who is skinny without as much muscle vs someone who is most muscular with some fat. Which means I need to kill it, kick up the training even more, and come in leaner and leaner than expected. Of course this all comes with knowing your body and how it reacts to diet and regimens. So let's just say the Tahoe Show was a "trial" show this year, because it really put fire under me to fight even harder for that trophy.

 My initial plan before the Tahoe Show was to do a show four weeks later (last weekend). I decided after the show after seeing my photos and what I need to work on, that I would do a 7 week prep instead and another one 4 weeks after that. I figured not much can change in four weeks especially with how much fat I needed to lose in my glutes. Well, I don't know if it was because I was still in such a fat burning phase with my body, the increased cardio (from 30 minutes fasted 5 days week to an hour fasted 5 days a week), the on point diet, or all of it, but wow I look so much different than the Tahoe Show. In just four weeks I have managed to transform even more to a point I felt I would have been stage ready last weekend. Well imagine what three more weeks can do! I'm more motivated than ever and I'm determined to beat not only myself but those skinny girls that are always favored. As always, no offense, but there's definitely a look the amateur judges go for and I'm not it. They don't like "thick" even though I see plenty of pros with thighs for days! lol Anyway! I can't wait to see my package in three weeks and I can't wait to take home the trophy from San Francisco. Fingers crossed! 

So three weeks, San Francisco Championships. My birthday is THIS WEEKEND! But no celebration because I'll be two weeks out, which is fine, I don't need cake and junk food. The Sunday after my competition I'll celebrate my birthday with my wonderful boyfriend in the beautiful city that I love, San Francisco. It will be amazing and worth it and hopefully with a trophy by my side. I can't go too crazy though because four weeks after that is the... LAS VEGAS CLASSIC!!! Which I have heard is a HUGE show. Let's see! I hope to win first in my class at this show and maybe overall. Big dreams? Yes. I think I can do it, and I'm going to try very hard of course. This will top off my season and I will be done for the year!!! I'll come back next year for nationals and go for that pro card. I wish there were more national shows at the beginning of the year. It's so dumb that they're all in the summer. I want to go to Vegas pool parties, I always miss out! :(

 Anyway, so this second show is in Vegas which means I will be celebrating afterwards for either winning or for the season to be over lol. Or I'll be sad and celebrating that the season is over... but secretly planning another show in December or later in November lol. Probably not though. After my Vegas Shenanigans, I'll be reverse dieting to get myself to a healthy daily calorie intake of 2100+ calories. I've never eaten that much consistently in my life. I REALLY want to be healthy during off season and start next season way leaner than I did this year. Normally, I don't count meals, I just eat whenever I want (which is seriously 2-3 times a day), and never get enough calories, but still go to the gym and kill it. This time I want to be fueled and get over 2100 calories consistently. I know it sounds so silly to people who love eating and eat all the time. Most people try to eat less or try to fit what they want into 2100 calories. These are the goals! Also: next March my boyfriend and I will be going on a... EUROTRIP!!! Ah yeah! lol And I won't be tracking anything. :) 

Thanks so much for reading and you can find more videos from peak week and more on my YouTube channel. Like and subscribe if you enjoy them and I'll keep making them. If you have any questions feel free to comment below. 

P.S. This post is going live one week post SF Champ Show. Whoops! :) 

                                                   

What I look like now, Four weeks later! :)

2.5 Weeks out - Bikini Posing Practice

Here is my two and a half week out update! As I'm typing this, I am TEN DAYS OUT from the show. It's next freaking weekend! I can't believe it! I'm so happy, excited, an READY! It's going to be awesome and I can't even express how happy I am with my progress. I'm going to post another blog entry later of my progress and you guys will be shocked. It's ridiculous lol. In my defense, I didn't know I was competing again this year. But no excuses, I will NOT look like that at the end of my next off season lol. Anyway, here is my posing routine. I've changed my routine a million times these past months, but now I have one in stone that I have down to muscle memory. I hope you enjoy watching and it would help if you'd subscribe to my YouTube channel. I'm trying to update a lot! :)









Mel

Full Day of Eating: Low Carb Day

New VLOG up! My full day of low carb eating. I break down my macros, total calories, and all of the food I eat on these wonderful energy filled days. JK on the energy, but I definitely made sure I was full throughout the day, I didn't feel like I was "starving", and I ate good food! Yup, down there you see a turkey burger, bread, guacamole, and yes, those are tortilla chips. I use the If It Fits Your Macros approach in order to achieve my goals for this prep and I'm very happy with it. No, I don't try or claim to fit donuts and poptarts in, but I DO make sure I hit those specific macros in a clean way. See more macro fun in my refeed video on my YouTube channel. I do a 2500 calorie refeed day with the majority of the foods being clean (I fit a poptart and pancakes in :) )







If you guys enjoy my videos, please like and subscribe to my channel, it's greatly appreciated!



Mel

Loving The Process

Hey everyone! Things are going so great, I love it. I feel like I'm not even prepping for anything because it's become such a lifestyle. I don't even think twice when it comes to eating healthy food. Going to the gym isn't even a second though. The thought of skipping the gym is so far from my mind it's crazy! I can't even imagine a day without going tot he gym. My rest day last weekend consisted of practicing in my heels and googling fitness info. There are a lot of warnings and precautions about cheat day after the competition. It's so funny because I cannot even see myself not living this lifestyle. I love it!

So yesterday was back day and I made a video of me squatting 205 for three reps, yay yay! Watch, like, enjoy! Yesterday morning I also did 30 minutes of running when I woke up. I had a banana and a half a cup of coffee so it wasn't completely fasted cardio. I feel like my lungs are getting better and my stamina is increasing. I can run for longer without getting super tired which makes running more fun and doable. When I first woke up and did cardio I felt like shit all day, no joke. It was so tiring and just daunting on my whole day. Now I feel like I can conquer the world! lol So I will continue doing the morning cardio every other day, opposite of night kickboxing cardio. I'm hoping cardio will get rid of the fat in my lower back. My ass is so ridiculous it's going up my back lol. I know a lot of you will be like, what fat? It's there, I see it and know it's there! So I'm going to run it all off. Speaking of things I need to work on, my ass. Again, a lot of you will be like "whaaat? I love your ass!". Yeah it's great, but I'm disappointed. It still jiggles and it's annoying, it's just not where I want it to be at all. So commence "butt day" twice a week for the next five weeks. That should do it! Other than that, I'm very confident about my physique, I love my body, and cannot freaking wait for the competition.

A recent discovery: Egg whites are amazing! By themselves: blah, with other things as a main or secondary ingredient: amazing! Omg. I have been making egg whites and salsa for the past couple of days. That's it, no other ingredients! Try it, it tastes way too good :) I eat it as a brown rice replacement on low carb day.

Today I did three tricep super sets before my hour kickboxing class. 

Tricep and cardio Day 

1. Tricep cable push down (light weight)
35lbs x 10 reps x 4 sets

Tricep reverse grip cable push down
25lbs x 10 reps x 4 sets

2. Dumbbell overhead extension
30lbs x 10 reps x 4 sets

One arm overhead sideways tricep extension 
10lbs x 10 reps x 4 sets

3. Machine Tricep dips
50lbs x 12 reps x 4 sets

Body weight tricep dips
12 dips x 4 sets

1 hour cardio 

Thanks for reading guys! If you're not following me on Twitter yet, please do so, that would be awesome :)

Mel

Another Dead Day

OMG today was such a drag! Of course there are going to be days that are down, days that are hard to push through, days that make you feel like you can't go on, but always power through. I know yesterday I had the same situation, but today was worse. I was so excited though because of leg day. I'm so determined and motivated to mold these legs into what I want to see in myself. So nothing can hold me back, not even some stupid period pain. I have really bad and painful periods, like numbing pain in my stomach and back all the way down through my legs. No cramps, just ringing pain. So if I can get my ass off of the couch and lift some weights, you can definitely do it. Especially if you're a guy and you don't have to deal with this monthly crap.

Anyway, despite my day of sitting on the couch, eating every two hours, and drinking a gallon of water, I sat on Instagram all day searching hash tags, looking at physiques, workouts, getting motivated. I went through #fitfam on Twitter to get motivated. So it was a great motivating day and I never fell into the slump of "not wanting to work out". Of course I didn't feel like going, but not going was not an option.

Leg Day- Hamstrings and Inner Thighs

I started out with a 5 minute warm up incline on the elliptical. Then 25 reps of 45lb of Good Mornings to get the hamstrings warmed up.

Lunges
115lbs x 8 reps x 4 sets

Stiff Leg Deadlifts w/barbell
95lbs x 15 reps x 2 sets
115lbs x 10 reps x 2 sets

Super Sets
Wide Sumo Squats w/ dumbbell
35lbs between legs x 20 reps x 4 sets (My legs were way further apart than this video)

Dumbbell Stiff Leg Deadlift
Holding dumbbell the same way as sumo squat, bring legs closer together, bend down with dumbbell with back and legs straight.
35lbs x 8reps x 4 sets

Lying Down Leg Curl
40lbs x 15 reps x 4 sets

Adductor Machine
50lbs x 15 reps x 4 sets

Sitting Leg Curl
50lbs x 8 reps x 4 sets

Cable Kickbacks
40lbs x 12 reps x 4 sets on each leg

Hamstring Roll Ins w/foam roller
3 sets of 8

Something like this, but with a foam roller. GREAT hamstring workout. And great way to end your workout lying down lol. That's it! No HIIT today.

Now I'm going to eat my shrimp and chicken bowl and watch something on TV. I know my hamstrings and inner thighs are going to be sooooo sore tomorrow and even worse the day after. Cardio day is tomorrow so I'll be limping in there lol. Thanks for reading!

Mel

Dun Dun Dun...LEG DAAAAY!

Today was leg day and I have been looking forward to it all weekend. Finally, it has arrived! I know, I'm crazy lol I just really want to see results in my legs. My leg workouts are split in two days: day one is quads and glutes (and outer thighs). Day two is hamstrings and inner thighs (maybe calves depending on how I feel. I usually do calves with back day though since I took out biceps). Today was "day one" and it was a good one.

PEOPLE! Have you done the hip thrusters with a barbell at the gym? Seriously, DO IT. Who cares if it's awkward and if people look. It has to be the best butt workout. It just burns the entire time omg. Great!

Leg Day

Okay so I had a plan and it all went out the window (well not ALL) when I go to the gym. It was PACKED! No squat racks open, nothing open for me to work legs, and no machines. Except the hack squat which I don't usually do, but I did it today so here we go! Also, I did "low weight" high reps today to change it up a bit from the norm which is lifting super heavy starting with 10 reps and adding the weight and lowering reps.

Hack Squat
90lbs x 15 reps x 5 sets

Step Ups w/ dumbbells
Step up on high "stool", this stool went up to just below my bellybutton. My butt and quads were on fire! Do one leg consecutively then switch to other.
0lbs x 10 steps one leg then 10 steps on other leg x 4 (add 15lb dumbbells for sets 2-4)

Leg Extensions
25lbs x 12 reps x 4 sets

Lunges
50lbs (+whatever the smith machine bar is) x 8 reps on one leg then 8 on other x 4 sets

Hip Thrusters w/Smith Machine (DO THESE!!)
50lbs (+whatever SM bar weighs) x 10 reps
70lbs (+bar) x 10 reps x 3 sets

One Leg Leg Press
100 lbs per leg x 12 reps x 4 sets

Abductor Machine
60lbs x 15 x 4 sets

I ended with some functional body exercises. I always try to add a body weight exercise workout at the end whether it be push ups for chest day or dips for triceps. Today I did butt kicks and side leg raises. You're on all fours on the ground, kick one leg back with either leg straight or bent at the knee at a 90 degree angle. I did the bent knee. Do this for 25 reps. Go right into the side leg raises. In cheerleading we called these "dog peeing" because that's exactly what it looks like lol. On all fours still, bend leg o the side with knee bent at 90 degrees. Do this for 25 reps. Your butt will be burning, it should be the opposite leg you're swinging that is burning. You can do these at home any time! Even right before bed to get that butt nice and toned. Very effective!

That's it! Thanks for reading! BTW my abs are SOOOORE! :)

Mel