Meal prep mess mini-update

So yesterday was my first day of meal prep, as I started the countdown to competition today.

I went shopping on Saturday for all my food containers, groceries, etc. Yesterday I started meal prep at 2:30 in the afternoon. I finished meal prep about 5:30PM.

It wouldn't have taken me that long, except I ran out of containers and broccoli mid-prep so I had to run to Walmart in the middle of it all. Here's some pics of the mess I made in my boyfriend's apartment (sorry babe!).

A stunning reality and motivation to proceed

Yesterday I had my first meeting with my coaches. Ralph wanted to take a look at my body structure and muscle to get an idea if it was plausible for me to complete in the fall. We’re about 18 weeks out from the first show I want to do on October 10^th. Luckily… he said he can definitely get me lean and mean by then!

We went into the “posing” room at a local gym. It’s basically a small, black room with a bright light and mirrors almost 360 degrees around you. It mimics being on stage and also provides a good spot for competitors to truly see how their body will look when they’re on stage. Example of posing...

I have to say, I was so upset leaving. This is not how I want to look. I spent so much time and energy losing weight over the past three years, only to have some of it come back. I was disappointed with my body. The good news is that weight WILL come off when I go through this process. Ralph guaranteed me that if I do exactly what he says for the next 18 weeks, I WILL be in the best shape of my life. That’s exactly the motivated that I needed to hear. 

I’m going on vacation in June for a week, so we discussed how to proceed for that week. Basically, I will have a kitchen at our beach house in Outer Banks, NC. I’m to stay on plan. He is also letting me take down some of his dumbbells, and I will do a circuit every morning. The hardest part is going to be not drinking alcohol, especially when everyone else will be indulging. I’m not too worried about it, because I know what type of end result I want. Here's a pic of the Outer Banks to get ya'll jealous...

As far as I know, official meal plan begins Monday so meal prep and grocery shopping will take place this weekend. I will update then!

Blessings,

Candice 

*note: I do not own the rights to these photos, nor do I claim to. 

The Who, What, When, Where and Why

The Who

Let me introduce myself. My name is Candice. I'm a 27-year old single mom of a very spunky 4-year old girl. What you should first know about me is that I have ALWAYS struggled with weight, since about age 8. I fluctuated tremendously. In 2005, my senior year in high school, I was my lightest weighing somewhere between 115bs and 120lbs. Since then, my weight has just gone up. I had a baby in 2011, and about 9 months after I had her, in December 2011 I was my heaviest I had ever been at a whopping 178lbs. I am 4'11", so not only was this visibly unattractive, but very unhealthy.

I decided that January 1st, 2012 was going to be the day of change for me. I started Weight Watchers and joined the YMCA. I began doing Zumba about 3 days per week. By July 2012, I was down to about 135lbs. My gym motivation had ceased at that point, and I quit paying for Weight Watchers, but by controlling my portions and not eating when I wasn't hungry, I managed to lose another 15 lbs by January 1st, 2013. I re-joined the gym at the end of January, realizing that I was at a standstill, and if I wanted to "get lean," I would need to start working at it.

May 2013:

In February of 2014, I got down to the lowest weight I had ever been in my adult life- 111 lbs! With the help of a personal trainer, I felt awesome and was so proud of myself. 

However, personal trainers cost money. And when I'm a single mom and full-time student, money is one thing I did not have. I had to get rid of the personal trainer and again, my weight started to fluctuate. In August 2014, I began dating the most amazing man and I was (and am) in love. The funny thing about being in love, and being comfortable, is that it's really easy to gain weight.

Now, in May 2015, I am unfortunately back up to a weight of 133 lbs. I haven't been working out and I'm quite unhappy with how I look and feel.

 

 

 

 

The What

 

What am I doing... well, this blog is going to take you through the process of training for a bodybuilding competition. That's right, you heard me. I'm training to be a bikini competitor!

 

 

The When and Where

 

The show I will be doing is October 10th, 2015, here in Rochester, NY. This means I have about 18 weeks until show. 18 weeks of hard work, self-control, perseverance and mental strength.

 

 

The Why

 

One of the questions I've been getting is "Why are you doing this?"... Well, first of all, it's on my bucket list. Ever since I started losing weight, and I had my own transformation story, I wanted something more. This takes fitness and training to a whole other level.

 

Second, I want to be fit. Recently, I've been doing a lot of research on diabetes and heart disease. I know I'm not OLD, but I am getting OLDER, and more and more health conditions can become a concern. I want to know I'm in the best shape of my life and the healthiest in my life.

 

And lastly, but most importantly, I want to do something I never thought I could do. With God's grace, and His help, I want to overcome this challenge that I know some people think I can't overcome (even some family). I want to be able to look back on my life and never have any regrets about what I DIDN'T do, but rather embrace in all I DID do.

 

So I invite you all to join me through this journey... Stay turned for updates and pictures. I appreciate your love and support as I accomplish what I've set out to accomplish.