Skip to main content

Bikini Contest Prep // 4 Weeks Out

We're in the final stretch now, and I'm really starting to look forward to the end.  This last two weeks I had to kick it into high gear to try to lose more weight and body fat.  I did it by upping the intensity of my cardio and staying as strict as possible on my diet.  As of today, I weighed 106 (at the gym, 103-4 at home) and am at 17% body fat (down from 109 gym pounds and 19% body fat two weeks ago).  I started this journey at 25% body fat and 110 pounds (at home).  Go here to see my pics at 15 weeks out.

For cardio, I'm doing 45 minutes, 5 days a week and it's usually on the treadmill at a 15 incline and a speed of 2.7-3.0.  If I need a break, I lower the incline for a couple minutes, then ramp it back up.  I'm also doing more ab exercises (at the end of each workout).  I use my iPod and iPhone to pass the time and also met a woman who also does cardio at the same time so we'll chat.  For abs, I typically do 2 ab exercises 4 times and 20 reps.  I'm working with my trainer about 4 days a week.

I'm still amazed at the level of physical effort all this training takes.  It's exhausting.  I realize now how intense you have to train and diet to get in the kind of shape for a NPC bikini competition.  I do love the results and how my clothes fit (down to a size 24 jean - was a 26).  

I still need to lose a few more pounds in the next four weeks.  Last recap, I wrote about how much mahi mahi I was eating, but I got concerned about the mercury levels, so now I'm incorporating grilled chicken salads with fat-free dressing for a couple meals and eat fish for one meal.

Lately, I have been craving all kinds of food and thinking more about when this is done, how nice it will be to not be SO strict with my food.  I ate a pint of Gelato on Saturday (while watching Orange Is The New Black Season 2 marathon- are y'all hooked?!) and really enjoyed it.  Don't tell my trainer!  

The black striped bikini was taken at 5 weeks out.


The aqua bikini pic was taken at 4 weeks out. 


I go for my bikini fitting tomorrow!   p.s. These bikinis are from Victoria's Secret. ;) 


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

40 Day Fat Loss Challenge

At the beginning of last year (2014), I challenged myself to get in shape for my first ever NPC bikini contest and reached that goal after 5 months of training (July 2014).  Since then, I'd been pretty much slacking on the diet and workouts, but by October 2014, I was not liking how I felt physically when I had gotten used to being in great shape.  My weight was creeping back up and my muscle was turning into fat.  In November, I started back with my trainer and by December had started embracing my bikini meal plan again, but not nearly as strictly and not without lots of "cheats".  It was the holidays after all.  And I like to eat as much as the next person. Read more »

Healthy Meal Prep | Grilled Chicken Salad

Today (Thursday) marks Day 7 of our 40-day Fat Loss Challenge.  I measured in on Day 1 at 24% (calipers) and today was at 22%!  Woo-hoo!  A 2% difference in 1 week is a big deal!  I'll show you some progress pics soon so you can see what it looks like.  I'm also using my heart-rate monitor (twice) and have been surprised at how little amount of calories it says I'm burning during my workouts.  I'll get into more detail on that in another post soon too. Today, I'm sharing one of the meals I've been eating- a Grilled Chicken Salad and I always make multiples at a time so I can just pull the assembled salad out of the fridge and I don't have to spend time reprepping.   Step 1 is to always have grilled chicken on hand or prepare enough for several salads.  If I'm just cooking 4-8 chicken breasts at a time, I use a grill pan.  Spray that pan with cooking spray, and heat to medium-high heat.  I pound my chicken breasts a little so they are thinner and cook eve

40-Day Fat Loss Challenge (Day 14 Update)

It's time to check in and update my progress for the 40-Day Fat Loss Challenge I entered at my gym.  For my body fat percentage, I'll use my trainer's caliper measure since I won't have access to the machine until the 40 days is up.  The machine measured about the same as my trainer anyway.  My goal is to lose at least 1% body fat each week so that at the end of the 40 days (nearly 6 weeks), I'll have gone from 24% down to 17%.  I'm on track for that now, but would love to get closer to 15%.   PROGRESS Day 1:  24% body fat (112.4 pounds) Day 7:  22.4% body fat (110 pounds)  Day 14: 21% body fat (109.4 pounds)  (These numbers reflect what I weigh when I weigh-in at the gym mid-morning.  My weight below I take first thing in the morning when I wake up, so it's slightly lower.)  Below is a picture of where I'm at as of Day 13.  I didn't take a good "Day 1" picture, so the "start" is from December, but it's a good representation o