Welcome to the Miss Colorado USA Training Plan!
These are the fitness motivators, game-changers, jedi-mind tricks, and the pitfalls I go through when I'm training. It's a lot of things I wish I'd known years ago; like STOP over-training, START resting, and feel FREE to have a cupcake. I don't know it all, and I certainly don't have all the answers, but I know what took me from Christmas to the cabana in 50 workouts flat.
I haven't arrived in Miss Colorado USA competition condition (far from it!), but I've made some serious progress. As of Friday, I'm rockin the daisy dukes again...and that's a hot pink win!
Grab some black coffee and some faith, and let's talk training...
EAT CLEAN.
I eat fruit, veggies, and lean protein. I only keep fruits, veggies, protein shakes, and lean protein in the house. I eat carbs...once a day Monday through Friday. That's the hardest part. On the weekends, I loosen it up a little. I go out with friends, I also don't get crazy and undo the week's progress. We work too hard sweating it out all week to let it go. Amen? It takes forever to get anywhere with two steps forward and one step back.
I fall off and get taken down by cupcakes, cheese fries, and ice cream (plain vanilla with pink sprinkles, pretty please!). We will have weak moments all the time, but we can't turn back. You will fail, and it's ok. Just keep going. I fail like once a day. Seriously, it's ok. I just ate a cookie (or three). There are guidelines I try to stick to, but there is margin.
Fitness is not an all-or-nothing game. For an all-or-nothing girl, that's absolutely been the hardest part. We can have some fun and still win.
Big picture, the closer we get to vegan (no animal products) the faster we will lose weight. To be clear, I'm not "vegan." I love eating animals, and cheese is my fav. Plus, I need eggs and butter to make cake, so vegan is out for this girl.
Fitness is 70% diet. You can run like someone is chasing you, but if you're not bringing the nutrition up with it you won't see the results you working so hard for.
TRAIN HARD.
My workout routine is simple:
CARDIO: 40 minutes of killing it on the shredmill or a dirt trail, Monday through Friday. No exceptions.
If I can change the song, I'm not running fast enough.
WEIGHTS: Push-ups and abs twice a week. Lunges, squats, and wall sits once a week.
That's it.
You can get this done in 6 hours of gym time per week. Abs are made in the kitchen not the gym, and that's good news.
Let's deal with the "I don't have time to workout" myth. This little phrase is like the training plague. Every time I start flirting with the idea of skipping my workout, I tell myself this:
"Someone busier than you, is running right now."
Somewhere, she is out there...(and you better pray she's not on the Miss Colorado USA stage with you in October).
Please abandon this and other false narratives that are holding you back. You always, always have time to workout. This post by Scott Dinsmore has a great explaination of why there is always time. To quote Scott,
How do I get more energy? Work out.
How do I get more confidence? Work out.
How do I keep from getting sick? Work out.
How do I find more time? Work out.
How do I stay focused? Work out.
Also, you don't need to be in shape to go to the gym. That's like getting a tan to go to the beach.
SUPPLEMENTS
Here are the supplements that are difference-makers for me:
*First thing in the morning, and/or pre-workout.
*Almost everything you need in convenient to-go packs? Yes, please.
*If I had to pick one, it would be these.
4. Vitamin A & D-3
Couldn't find these available online, you make have to waltz into the store.
I know supplements are expensive, but there's no better investment than the one you make in your health. In my opinion, GNC supplements are the best. They work and when I run out, I can feel the difference.
***For those of you in Trader Joe's markets, their supplements don't work. I love Joe's, just not their vitamin line.
THIS IS HARD.
This is intense, but it's what has to happen if we want to rock a pair of daisy dukes and a bathing suit with the best of 'em.
We will not see results immediately. Results don't materialize for six weeks...at least. It felt ridiculous waking up at 4:30 am for six weeks straight, and not seeing any progress. I've been in the training zone since January 3rd, and I still only lost about a pound a week. Don't be disappointed if this is your reality, too.
The fact is, it takes time to do this right. Just keep going and don't turn back.
If your social calendar is a stumbling block, cancel it. I just spent January and February at home and at the gym. It burned. But two months later, 12 pounds, and a pants size behind me...I'm glad I did.
My biggest piece of advice is make a plan for when and how you're going to eat and train, write it down, and do it. If you don't launch a plan, and just see how the day goes...I can tell you how it's going to go, and it won't be parallel to your goals. If you'd like a planner to keep your training organized, and you accountable, I created one you can print here.
SIX WEEKS
6-8-12
It takes 6 weeks for you to notice changes.
It takes 8 weeks for your friends to notice.
It takes 12 weeks for the rest of the world to notice.
It takes six weeks to see results. SIX. Before you start, commit that you WILL NOT QUIT before the end of week seven. For some reason, it's week seven that's always a tipping point for me. That's when things really start moving. If you're losing 10 pounds in two months, you're killing it. Don't tell yourself you're not going hard enough, because your body is recomposing itself, and muscle weighs more than fat.
This isn't a get skinny quick plan. This is a hard work pays plan. There are no shortcuts here, but when summer is upon us...we'll be ready! And in the interim, we'll be training like it's an Indian summer in the middle of winter.
We'll need to keep going through bad days, fat days, tired days...it's not going to happen any other way. There is no other way. There are no pills, powders, or potions that will save us. And that's the point.
There is nothing like a person who has put in the time to get there. Awesome people don't just happen. That's what's inspiring. Patience, confidence, perseverance, and a Spirit that will not be stopped.
Remember it's...
ONE.
POUND.
AT.
A.
TIME.
You can do this, I'm right there with you. Since January 3rd, I've lost 12 pounds. I still have 20 to go but it's one. pound. at. a. time. That's 12 pounds in slightly over two months. It's painfully slow, especially until I picked up some momentum mid-February. It's one sacrifice at a time.
Don't think you have to eat perfect and workout like crazy to see results. You just need consistency to see results. You can start with 15 minutes at the gym a day, and replace one meal with a salad. Just start.
If you eat "perfect" and train like there's no tomorrow, eventually you will stop seeing results. Your body will get hip to your game, and you will stop losing weight no matter how hard you train, or how clean you eat. Trust me, that is the most frustrating experience. It's also the road to an epic training burnout. For me, that training burn out lasted three years. I'm just now coming out of it.
When you feel yourself burning out, go out and eat. Yes, eat food. Eat cake, have a glass of wine, eat ice cream, whatever...it's ok. This past weekend I pretty much ate my way through Denver. There were cheese fries, pizza, a pink milkshake, ice cream, and three rounds of cake over the course of the week. And you know what? It didn't slow me down. I did not gain an ounce. True story.
Why? Because I was still killing it at the gym and my body needed the fuel. I could feel my body sighing sweet relief with each cheese fry. Take a weekend off once a month. But...
DON'T PLAN TO FAIL.
I do not recommend planning "cheat days" or "free meals." This does not work for me. Amazingly, cupcakes find their way to me, without me planning to find my way to them.
Isn't it always someone's birthday? Or a holiday? Or there's a dinner date in our planners? Choose your social outtings carefully. You can't be everywhere and still be training. You just can't. Unless you show up, skip the food, and still manage to slip into bed early...which IS feasible.
Training hard takes being in bed early, getting up early, and skipping the margaritas. It's a sacrifice but eventually it stops feeling like one, because you feel so much better you won't even miss what you give up.
The Rules
Do not reward yourself with food, you are not a dog.
Do not eat to celebrate.
Do not eat when you feel lonely, or down.
Do eat when you're hungry.
Do not go all-or-nothing...
TAKE A SABBATH.
Once a week, do nothing. Rest. This is so easy, so simple, and so clutch.
Do not even consider going to the gym. Sleep in, lay in bed, paint your nails, create something, get to that project you haven't let yourself make time for, take care of yourself. This is a gamechanger.
You can be supergirl, but you have to rest to be her. And if you want to rest and eat a hot pink donut, just eat one. Welcome to my Sunday ; ). Otherwise, you'll be thinking about it until you do. Plus in the time you spent thinking about eating the fatty donut, you could have eaten it, and sweated it off at the gym.
Do not deprive yourself. Training is not punishment for being fat. Training is giving yourself the very best, so can give life your very best.
DRINK WATER.
You've heard this one before, drink 8 glass of water a day. Don't do it because you're supposed to...do it because you will have so much more energy. Whenever my energy starts to lull, it's usually one of three senarios: 1) I'm not drinking enough water, 2) I'm not working out frequently enough or with enough intensity, 3) I'm eating too many carbs, 4) I'm not eating enough. Most of the time, it's a water issue.
I drink three smartwater bottles a day, because it equals 9 glasses of water and it's easier to count to three than it is to nine. (I refill them with distilled water).
Sidenote: If at all possible, don't eat after six Monday through Thursday.
DON'T WAIT.
Promise me you won't wait? Don't wait until you're good enough, you never will be "good enough." You will also never be "strong enough," because you already are. I repeat, YOU ARE GOOD ENOUGH. YOU ARE ENOUGH. Ok?
Don't wait for permission.
Don't wait for the perfect time.
Don't wait for the perfect conditions.
Don't wait for better weather, or for a day when you have enough energy for it, or when you have more time. Those days will never arrive.
Today is your day, this is your week, right now...this is your moment.
Training will always, always be hard. There will always be a potluck at work. Obstacles will come, be prepared for them. Temptation will present itself. Be ready to tell it "I will not be stopped."
Here is what the desk next to me looked like the day I started training for Miss Colorado:
I thought I was hallucinating. I felt like I was on the Biggest Loser right when they say goodbye to food.
Please just tell that fatty donut, cupcake, pizza slice to "get thee behind me." It works. You will not be stopped.
The next week, I walked into the gym and every treadmill had this sign on it...
...for two weeks. Somehow every treadmill broke on the same day...really? It was also 10 degrees out every morning. I'm a runner. If you're a runner, you know the elliptical just doesn't cut it. There's nothing (nothing!) like runner's high. I went outside and ran, and froze my tail off. It hurt it was so cold, but I wasn't stopped.
Seriously, start today and don't stop for six weeks. Once you get to week seven, you'll feel so great nothing will be able to stop you. You won't be able to sit still. I run everywhere. I can't stop. I have excess energy, especially on Sabbath days when I don't workout.
SET A GOAL. MAKE A PLAN.
If you don't have a goal, you'll get there someday, but someday may be the day after never.
On January 3rd, I decided to lose 33.5 pounds by May 18th.
There are few things in this life more humbling than getting out of shape. It's pretty clear we're not whole on the inside when it shows on the outside. What we eat in private, shows in public. This girl had to lose 30 lbs...wow. I'm a California beach girl, when did this happen?! That's a slice of humble pie. But now it's 20 pounds, and next month it will be 10. I'm so grateful I started January 3rd.
WE CAN DO THIS
Lastly, here's what doesn't work for me:
1) Eating more than 1400 calories a day, more than twice a week,
2) Working out less than five times a week, and my fav...
3) getting frustrated when it's not easier.
Fitness isn't just a lifestyle, it's a sport. It helps me to treat the gym like a game I need to win every single day.
Looking good has its sacrifices, but we can have it all...just not all at once. You can have cake, a beach body, and a social life...but we have to earn it.
I promise this is doable. It's overwhelming (I know), but you can do this. No one likes cake more than this girl. Seriously, no one. Wanna see my pinterest board dedicated to cake? Behold, Caketastic. Yum, right?! But you know what? The cupcakes will be there when there are 33.5 pounds less of me. Or 21.5 now... ; )
In eight months, I'll be standing on a stage in Colorado in a swimsuit in front of thousands of people scared out of my mind. If I can do this, you can do this. I'm not special. It's not easy for me, but I believe I can do this...and I believe you can, too.
I believe in you.
We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Phil 4:13).
Life is waiting,
Lisamarie
***For resources with very specific workout and meal plans, no one does it like Tone It Up.
