Time to clean it up

I’ve had four days to eat anything I have wanted. No counting. No logging. Just living. So, living is what I have done for the past four days. And I ended it the way I usually start it – a cupcake.

If you know me, then you know I usually take a cupcake with me to my competitions. A cupcake is the first thing I eat when I come off stage, slide off my heels and replace them with flip flops. This competition was a little different. I decided I wouldn’t take the cupcake on a three hour drive to the beach. Instead enjoy it after I got back. Well, I had a Dairy Queen Blizzard on the drive home and didn’t feel like coming into downtown to get my well deserved treat. But have no fear, I ended my free-for-all eats with one.

Clean it up

Now that I have had a number of things I have only thought about for the past few months, it is time to clean it up. It’s time to introduce my reverse diet into my routine and get back to logging with MyFitnessPal. It worked after the NPC Upstate Classic and I know it can work again.

What will my reverse look like? I am not completely positive on the amount, but carbs are back. Carbohydrates were cut from my meal plan for the last two weeks. I was a white fish and vegetable girl for most of my meals.

My meal plan will start with two carbohydrates a day for the remainder of this week. I see my coach on Monday and will see if we are going to start with two a day or three.

This morning it was Ezekiel bread French toast, egg whites and Applegate chicken sausage.

My other carbohydrate meal will be ground turkey meatballs, baked sweet potatoes and green beans.

I know it’s nothing exciting. I just know my body and I like to keep to a schedule. Call me crazy but I have done daily meal prepping since I got home from Myrtle Beach. Yes, I went to the grocery store after taking a nap on Sunday to ensure that I wouldn’t blow away all my hard work. Also for the simple fact is that I can’t imagine going all day only eating three times a day.

Fall in love with the process

There is no secret. Forget looking for a magic formula or short cut. You have to put in the time, fall in love with the process and do the work.

Hello protein. Chicken, salmon, ground turkey and eggs are my staples again.

Call me crazy but I don’t mind the process. Let me be clear, I have moments where I would rather shove a whole pizza in my face or sit on the sofa with a pint of ice cream and hot fudge sauce watching Netflix. Who doesn’t love to indulge?

The process means different things to me. It is an opportunity to:

• Learn more about my body
• Improve my physique
• Try new recipes
• Incorporate new workouts

The 2017 NPC Stewart Fitness Championship helped me really see how far I have come with the process – mentally and physically. The process really serves a purpose for growth and balance.

I am hoping to help others fall in love with the process too. Their goals might be different than mine, but the process is necessary for change.

What are things you are working on and cleaning up in your life?