Good (and Bad) News Bears

Hi friends! How youuuu doin'? ;)

Hope everyone is enjoying their last week in October! I can't flippin' believe N-O-V-E-M-B-E-R will be upon us come Monday. It's just crazy how fast time goes...especially when you only have 3 weeks left to lose 10lbs so you can stand up on stage in "floss" essentially HA! I kid, I kid (...er, sorta) I've accepted that whatever my weight is the day of the show, and even if I don't get up on stage as lean as I want to be, it's all good because this has been a trial and error process since I started this prep. I don't know any athlete that would say their first race or competition was the "best they've ever done". That would mean all their races or competitions afterward would not be as good as their first and, therefore, no progress would be made. You always hear how much further they've come since their first competition. That is how I hope to be in Spring:)

Aside from reading blogs and asking other competitors a zillion trillion questions, I'm really figuring this out on my own. I'm paying close attention to how my body responds to food and how I feel throughout the day based on what I eat and how much I eat. For instance, I broke down and ate a Pure Protein bar before bed (naughty, naughty girl!!!) cuz I was starvin' like marvin. However, this morning I woke up feeling soooo bloated and my tummy aches and I can't...um, "go". Not cool! I told Hubbs to take the rest of the bars to work with him because it's just too easy (or I'm too weak) to eat one when I'm hungry and don't feel like fixing yet another plate of chicken and veggies. An alcoholic shouldn't have booze in the house and I guess I shouldn't have Pure Protein bars in the house. Hmm, perhaps I should get a sponsor?

Anyway, after the show I'll begin "maintenance" and adjust my training and menus to allow for greater recovery, flexibility, sanity and fun and I'll be able to evaluate what worked and what didn't during this competition prep. I think it will be TONS easier the next time around, because I won't be starting 17 lbs heavier like I did back in July when I started this blog....Dang, I hadn't even thought about how far I've come in just a few short months! And, I didn't even really start the strictest part of the diet until around mid-August. I hope to keep my "off season" weight within a 5-7 lbs window and really do think it's doable. (Ask me again a month after my show...we'll see how that goes HA!) All in all, I deserve to pat myself on the back. Actually, scratch that. I think I'll schedule a massage and let someone else pat me on the back. Yeah, that sounds much nicer... ;)

So, like I said, this is the last week of October which means Halloweenie is this weekend. I'm sure a lot of you have either a costume party to go to or are taking the kiddos trick-or-treating (and then rummaging through their their big, plastic pumpkins whilst their asleep to eat all the good stuff! Hehe:) Hubbs and I have (once again) procrastinated getting costumes, but we didn't know what we'd be doing until just a few days ago. Without having Halloween plans, I wasn't in the mood to try on costumes and drop the $$$ when we didn't have anywhere to go. Now we have somewhere to go, but no costumes. Sigh. I already knew what I'd most likely be for Halloween, so it shouldn't be too hard to scrounge up a decent costume, but I better get on it before Saturday night! DOH!

I'll leave with you with the GOOD and BAD as I see it today:

GOOD- 5am Cardio calorie blast finished!


BAD- Stomach is all out of whack and up a lb (but, I know it's that darn Pure Protein bar with those darn sugar alcohols)

GOOD- I'm getting may hair done today and changing the red tone! Right now I'm my hair is more of an auburn color, but I want more of a ginger tone! The only thing I'm a liiiiitle worried about is that it could clash with my Jantana on the day of the show. DOH! I'm going to talk to my stylist today and see what she thinks. I'm also going to bring in my bikini top so she can see the color and we can look at different reds against it. If it looks weird or "Oompa, Loompa-ish", then I'll just go gingery next time since we'll be coming up on winter and the Lord knows I'm fair-skinned enough to pull it off then HA!

Now -------------------------More Gingery--------

Two fun facts:
1) I am about 17 lbs lighter now than I was when that pic (above) was taken. it really shows in my face now:)
2) The color of Marcia Crosses' dress is the color of my bikini

BAD- My knee has been feeling achy and a bit inflamed the past few days *and* I did something to my elbow. I've been icing both, but really not happy about this because it definitely impedes my workouts (especially triceps today). This is so frustrating! I need to let it heal, but I don't have time to take off from weights....

GOOD- I've ordered my backstage "gear" to wear during the show and can't wait to get it in the mail and "model" it for you:)

BAD- Mufasa is snarling. Time to eat!

QUESTION

1) What is a good thing that has happened for you this week?

2) How many hair colors have you rocked? I feel like I've been every color imaginable. I've been dark chocolate brown, chestnut, all shades of blonde, jet black and several shades of red, but not ginger. This will be a first! I LOVE changing my hair color and so does my Hubbs. He gets the best of both worlds and it's fun to change it up! After all, it's only hair! :)