Hello! week 2 of the new diet plan and its going good but I do have to say that I've been so hungry this week making it the hardest week! I eat and about 30 min later I feel as though I haven't ate in hours! I actually take my time eating, before I us to gobble it all up quick. That being said, last week I posted my progress pics and I received an overwhelming amount of comments, questions and support from friends and family. I wanted to take this time and address those questions because lets face it, I remember being so confused with what to eat, exercise, what to do what not to do and so on, so, I want to help out as much as I can and share my knowledge with you and what has worked for me. This is a long post and I know many of you have your daily todos, so I have listed my questions by colour below, you can just scroll down and see the answer to your question(s).
- Stretch marks and lose skin
-VITAMIN E serum and VITAMIN E tablets
-Avalon Organics CoQ10
-What do I apply first?
-How much vitamin E to apply?
- How do you get muscles?
- Do you use a supplements to help you build muscles?
- How do you know what protein is good for you?
- How much time will it take to see results?
- What do you do for training?
- What made you want to do a bikini competition?
- Where do you get your motivation from?
- What advice would you give someone who is starting their weight loss journey?
Stretch marks and lose skin, this is the question my family and friends are intrigued to know about. As you know I us to weigh 180 lbs. When I started to lose weight I didn't think about the stretch marks or lose skin I was just happy that I was getting healthy and active. But when I decided to compete, all of a sudden it became an issue that I had to fix! I think its something all woman and possibly men freak over because we don't want these things getting in the way of how we feel and how we see ourselves. What I've learned is, when you shed the weight, its important to make the muscle strong underneath. If the muscle underneath the skin is weak then not only will your core be weak but your skin will remain lose. Weight training has truly helped me with this issue, as the muscle grows its stretches the skin filling in those "us to be fat pockets". The abdomen is one of the hardest areas of the body to firm up, as I always tell my family and friends, when wanting to lose the belly, nutrition is key, doing 100 crunches a day won't help if your eating is all over the place. So, now that I have the nutrition in place and I'm eating cleaner than I was before, I have noticed a huge difference in my mid section. I did notice more stretch marks and lose skin in the beginning but now its become less noticeable. I wanted to share with you some products I use to assist me in getting a firm looking midsection along with minimal stretch marks. I will say, no product will ever completely remove stretch marks or lose skin but what I can attest to is that there are products that diminish the look of these two things and just that, makes me happy. Just so you, this is what I do, it works for me, please ask your doctor for the necessary in-take of Vitamins and minerals.
VITAMIN E serum and VITAMIN E tablets- I apply vitamin E serum with baby oil just because the serum does not spread smoothly over the skin, the baby oil allows me to spread it and massage it into the skin much easier. I also take a vitamin E supplement to repair the skin from the inside. I apply the serum twice a day. When taking a vitamin E supplement it's recommended to take 15mg/day.
Avalon Organics CoQ10- This product is a firming body lotion. I bought this at Village health food. I've been using this lotion for 2 weeks and I can already see a more firm skin appearance. I apply it when I wake up, coming back from work and after a shower.
With both products I make sure I really incorporate it into the skin, really massaging it in until the skin becomes smooth. With the vitamin E and baby oil just make sure its not oily, you don't need a lot of the baby oil just a dime size.
What do I apply first? I apply the lotion before the vitamin E serum, because the lotion absorbs much quicker into the skin than the vitamin E.
How much vitamin E to apply? With vitamin E they come in different IU's, some are 10,000IU others are 25,000IU. I use the 28,000IU because that's what I found at Shopper drug mart. Depending on what areas your applying it to, I use about a toonie size for big areas such as outer and inner thighs, buttocks, back and abdomen.
Before After
03.29.2013 04.05.2013
1 week and you can notice the saggy lines look diminished, the lower abdomen also looks more tight.
Another thing I look for is products that say "Paraben free" this is a preservative found in most cosmetics and lotions. It mimics estrogen and increases DNA damage. I know there's not much research done on parabens but I do stay away, as we all know, preservatives are not good for the body. I know that now a days its harder to get our hands on all natural products but I also believe that minimizing these chemicals as much as possible is beneficial.
Where I get my info.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/289662-stretch-marks-vitamin-e/?utm_source=livestrong_opar&utm_medium=1
http://www.davidsuzuki.org/issues/health/science/toxics/what-you-need-to-know-about-toxics-in-your-cosmetic-products/?gclid=CNKbl9KcqrYCFY9DMgod9EYAew
http://davidsuzuki.org/issues/health/science/toxics/chemicals-in-your-cosmetics---parabens/
How do you get muscles? At this point in my journey I'm beginning to realize that losing weight was the easiest part. For losing the weight, all I had to do was portion control and eliminate junk food and eat more nutritious food. I didn't really think about how much of what I was eating because I knew that what I was eating was the opposite of what I was eating before so, I knew that the weight would come off. Once you decrease your caloric intake your bound to see results when losing weight.
Building muscle is a science. Having the right nutrition at the right time is key. How much you eat and how balanced your meals are will result in muscle growth. The more weight you lift the more muscles will grow. Muscles only grow if you lift heavy and tear the muscles in order for them to repair, your nutrition will determine how fast they repair and how lean you will get. I include protein, carbs and fats in all my 5 meals a day. Here's an example of what I eat on a typical day. Remember I'm doing a bikini competition so this diet is pretty strict with dairy, sugars, salts and fats.
Meal 1- 250g egg whites, 1/2 cup oats
Meal 2- Tuna can, 3/4 cup Quinoa, 1 tsp Udo's oil
Meal 3- 1 1/2 scoop of protein, 2 rice cakes (plain)
Meal 4- 3.5 oz chicken breast, 1/2 cup broccoli, 1/2 cup brown rice or Quinoa
Meal 5- 250g egg whites, 1/2 cup yams
This is what a typical day of eating is for me. I eat every 2-4 hours. I'm not saying to follow this diet, I just want you to get an idea of what you should be including and eliminating from your diet to see results, you also want to keep your metabolism burning and the only way to do that is to eat! I use Mrs. Dash, it has no salt, I use mustard and black pepper for taste.
Building muscle is not easy but its not impossible. I recommend starting with resistance bands to learn proper form before starting with heavy weights. I cannot stress how important it is to watch your form when wanting to lean out or build muscle. you can lift all you want but if your not contracting the right muscles group your training, you won't see the results you want.
Do you use a supplements to help you build muscles? I use BCAA to support muscle stimulation, this won't bulk you up, it will assist your muscle during and after training so that your muscle does not break down. Soon enough you'll realize, the hard work you put into weight lifting, you definitely do not want to be losing muscle mass, so, use a protein or BCAA to help your muscles and also know that you didn't just waste your time lifting. The product to the left is the protein I'm using.
How do you know what protein is good for you? Always ask questions when buying a protein, there are soooooo many out there! I like a whey protein powder because it has no sugar, it has enough protein to assist my muscles
and they normally have 1g carbs. Before starting a protein I consult my friend Manny from Global sports nutrition, he is very knowledgeable in guiding me to the results I need and want. DO research, it doesn't hurt and will save you time and money, finding out what people have to say about the product you choose, will give you an idea of what it may do to you. I always look at how many are positive and how many are negative and go by that. If its equal I will give it a try but if there are too many of the same issues I will move onto another product even if they include positive comments.
How much time will it take to see results? If you apply all the above, I started to see results within the first 1-2 weeks.
What do you do for training? I've learned so much since beginning my competition training, you will also learn alot about what your body responds to and what it doesn't respond to. Before I was doing kickboxing, which I LOVE but my body got us to the movements and soon enough I was just maintaining my weight and physique, but with the competition I knew I had to rev it up. I began to do INSANITY. I tried INSANITY last year and didn't like it, it was not what I needed at the time because now I LOVE IT! I soon realized that HIIT (high intense interval training) was something that was going to work for me especially because I'm training 2x a day 6 days a week. With HIIT, I train 20-30min and I build an excellent sweat! I began to see fat melting off and more muscle definition. Here's an example of what I do HIIT:
30 or 40 sec interval, 15-30sec rest between exercises
- High knees
- Squat jumping jacks
- push-up over chair
- ab crunch (on ball)
- 1/2 burpee
I do these 5 exercises as fast as I can, in the allotted time frame and rest 15-30sec. I do this 3x a week and run 2x a week. I've learned that when wanting to get muscle definition you do not need to do hours of cardio 20-30 min is sufficient.
Weight training. I do weight training 6x/week. Here's an example of what I do:
Mon- LEGS/GLUTES
Tues- BACK/CHEST
Wed-BICEPS/TRICEPS
Thurs- ABS/GLUTES
Fri-LEGS
Sat- FULL BODY PLATE TRAINING
Sun- REST
I hit glutes and legs 2x/week because these are areas that I need to work on for my competition but you can hit them 1x/week and rest 2x/week and take it easy on ab days focus more on core exercise to strengthen the core muscles, so you know how to work the abs properly. I learned to do a proper crunch not too long ago and I'm beginning to see major results!! just like resistance bands before lifting heavy, same goes with core work outs, focus on form to see firm abs!
My training will differ from yours, especially because most of you are not competing but this is for you to get an idea of what you could be doing to see the results you want and need. You definitely do not need to be working out 2x/day like I am but you should be training 3-4x/week. When I'm not in competition season I will be returning to my regular scheduled training which is 3-5x/week training but only hitting the gym 1x/day.
Over training without proper nutrition will affect your mood and your sleep. I've learned this first hand. When doing strenuous training, if you do not take proper care of yourself you will see negative affects on your daily routines, like, going to work, taking care of family and so on. I cannot stress how important it is to never go from zero to hero! I keep this in mind all the time! Give your body and mind time to adjust to your new routine, never push yourself to the point where you get discouraged later on. The worse thing that can happen is, you do excellent and give it your all one day and then 2-3 days or a week later you have no interest in training or worse you get injured. Take it one day at a time.
What made you want to do a bikini competition? When I reached my goal of losing weight I took a break and enjoyed my summer at the beach, got to wear a bikini for the first time and I felt the confidence I never had before. I love myself and respect myself more than I ever have and everyday I give myself reasons to continue and not stop with just being satisfied. As you all may or may not know, my ultimate favorite magazine is OXYGEN. I began to follow them on Facebook and soon I heard the name Tosca Reno from my good friend Shari. It intrigued me to know who this person was and soon I realized that she is a contributor to OXYGEN magazine (now CEO) after her husband; Robert Kennedy past. She wanted to do one more bikini competition in honour of her late husband. I followed her journey all the way to the stage even going to the Steven and Chris show to see her (3X). Tosca inspired me, I told myself I need to do this for myself. I want to do this bikini competition because I owe it to myself to be healthy, fit and inspire others to do the same. I had a fire inside that if I could physically give it to my family and friends to just feel what I feel I would give it away. I feel that without even knowing I had people watching and all I did was continue to share because caring about yourself first will allow you to care for others around you, and I feel I have and continue doing just that.
Where do you get your motivation from? My motivation comes from the feeling I get just from training and eating clean. Its an effort every single day, seeing the results is motivational all on its own. My support system is a huge contributor to staying motivated. I have a couple ladies I'm helping out and they keep me motivated every single day! All my family and friends tell me I'm doing an excellent job and how far I've come are reasons for me to continue because we all look for someone to inspire us and why not pass that on. Being around positive, constructive people will also move you to think the same. The one thing I did do when I started my journey was, I got rid of everything and anything negative.
What advice would you give someone who is starting their weight loss journey? DON'T OVER PLAN! I've said so many times and I will continue to say it, small goals need to be set. Setting goals, I would say is more important than anything you will do because these small goals will get you very far! When you want to lose weight you have a bunch of ads, commercials and diet plans surrounding you, there's so much out there. I learned if you want to succeed you need to follow a plan that will fit into your lifestyle. I didn't go to any clinic or took a magic pill. I tailored my diet to my lifestyle. I substituted the bad foods for foods and we all know what the bad ones are. I knew I had to start eating because I wasn't eating enough and when I was eating I always reached for junk food. I first set a small goal which was to eat 1 healthy meal a day for a week. After the week I set a second goal; work out for 15-20min 3X/week, still eating 1 healthy meal a day. Third week, eat 2 healthy meals a day, still keeping my work outs. I began to see results for the first time in my life, just by doing small baby steps, I wasn't stressing or in any rush. Those small goals have brought me to the place I am today, and doing my bikini competition is my first long term goal. I started to change my diet and work outs in January 2013 and I've been improving and learning every single month and I will continue to learn so much in the following months. Remember, if you rush your weight loss the chances of you keeping the weight off are slim. Slow is good, get to know what your body responds to, listen to your body, and above all set small goals to make a lifestyle change not a temporary change.
We don't just become healthy from one day to another, it really takes commitment, motivation and time, like they say "Rome wasn't built in a day" so, first understand that you need to change the way you think and never, ever, say " I'm going to do this and this and that" Why? because we set our self up to fail. Instead say " I'm going to do this first" TAKE IT ONE DAY AT A TIME. Set small, short goals and I guarantee, you will see the results you want and need.
Stay positive my friends! Another week, a week to start the beginning of the rest of a healthy life.
