UPDATE!!!

Hi hi hi hi everyone! I know I said I was back, and I promise I am..as always, I've been busy as a bee working full time and hittin the gym and enjoying the last few weeks of my summer. But I'm still here! Tonight is my VERY LAST NIGHT of summer and I cannot believe how fast it went :( 4 more semesters of college and I am officially done. So excited. Training for my competition has made me more motivated than ever to share my knowledge as well as learn from others, and has made me super excited to begin my career and see where it takes me!

I am currently 8 weeks out for my competition and am feeling pretty good. I've been getting to the gym 5 days a week, doing weights mixed with cardio 4 days a week and an hour of cardio on the 5th day. I've been focusing on doing high reps and light weights to really burn fat and tone up. Yesterday I started my new supplements for my competition and I should be seeing and feeling some new results within the next few weeks!

Derek and I went to our first NPC competition last night and I LOVED it. All the competitors looked really great and it made me more excited than ever to get my butt on stage. October 20th couldn't come any quicker! I didn't get many great pictures, but this is one of the pictures of the two girls who competed in the physique division 

I wanted to share with you guys a (genius) idea that I came up with today while shopping. Like I said, I've recently started using my new supplements, and there is a LOT of them to take. I am taking some in the morning, afternoon and evening. Having so many pills, I needed something to keep them all together but needed a way to determine which ones to take AM, afternoon and PM. Most pill containers only have an AM and PM slot, which for me, won't do. Also, the slots are usually pretty tiny and can only hold a few pills at a time. So...while shopping, I found an ICE CUBE TRAY with a lid to separate all my supplements! I use one row for AM, one row for afternoon, and one row for PM. Because it has a lid, I can shove it into my book bag and take it with me to school and not worry about missing my afternoon vitamins. The tray was 3.99 (most vitamin holders start at $10.00) - so it was a STEAL for me! Derek loved the idea and is going out to buy his own tray tomorrow :) 

For tonight's post, I wanted to share with you guys a new recipe that I've recently become in LOVE with. My diet has been extremely strict the past few weeks and is only getting stricter. I've been craving so many things, peanut butter being one of them. To satisfy my craving, I made peanut butter protein cookies (inspired by a fellow instagramer) ..and they were delissshh!! The recipe is SO easy, only a few ingredients, and takes about 5 minutes total to make. YUM!

Ingredients:

2 tbs All natural Peanut Butter

1 tbs honey

1 scoop Protein Powder of your choice (I used chocolate optimum nutrition)

1 tbs Water

Mix the peanut butter and honey together and microwave until bubbly (about 45 seconds)

Add scoop of protein to the honey/PB mix, stir until dry and crumbly. 

Add 1 tbs of water (or as much as you need until mix becomes of dough-like consistancy)

Mix together, roll into balls and place onto tray

Flatten balls with a fork as you would PB cookies

Freeze 45 minutes and enjoy! 

 

 

Do any of you guys have INSTAGRAM? It's a lot easier for me to share things with people through instagram lately. You guys can follow me at fitfelicia24 if you do and see all my progress pictures and recipes ! 

So guys, that's the update for tonight. I have another delicious protein recipe to share with you guys for tomorrow's post, so make sure you check it out! I know that summer is coming to an end, but even though you're not going to be frolicking in shorts and bikinis any longer, keep at your workouts and clean eating! Don't wait until new year's to start working out again, save your resolution for something far more interesting and original :) I'll be posting new workouts and yummy recipes for you guys in the next few posts to keep everyone motivated! I hope everyone is going to enjoy the last few weeks of their summer :) 

xxxox Fitness Felicia

Well hello there gym rats and health nut enthusiasts! So sorry for neglecting you guys the past few weeks...my life has been SO crazy I have had no time to blog. But I'm back :) I've recently moved into a new apartment, gotten back into the gym after facing that horrible mono, and have been busy getting ready for my next semester at school. Like I said, life has been hectic!
I got back into the gym about a week and a half ago, and I feel great. I think actually getting back into the gym and into my old routine after being sick has helped me feel better, quicker.
My diet and training is stricter than ever, as I am just 10 weeks out from my first show!! I can't explain how excited and nervous I am to get up on that stage. I'm so proud of myself for sticking with things for so long and can't wait to see the changes in my body over the course of the next 10 weeks. It's definitely been a whirlwind of a journey.
My diet has changed significantly ...I'm focusing on losing about 1 pound a week, and so far, so good. I've cut my carb intake to about 75 grams a day (this will change the closer I get to competing), and am really watching my sodium to stay away from being bloated and holding water weight. I'm eating really lean, lots of eggs, turkey, chicken and fish. My diet has been pretty bland, but I'm definitely noticing changes and couldn't be more thrilled!

Here are my current stats...I'm weighing in at 128.5 and am at 20.5% body fat. By competition time I would like to be at 120 and around 18% body fat. So, I'm almost there! Eating clean and training mean!

I'll fill you guys in on some of the recipes I have been using the past couple weeks:

I've always loved Mcdonald's breakfast burritos - and decided since I can no longer eat their burritos, I would make my own, healthy version!

The recipe is pretty simple:

1 veggie torilla wrap

4 egg whites

chopped red bell pepper

chopped green bell pepper

chopped tomato

chopped onion

1 slice of weight watcher's american cheese

1 link of turkey sausage

Put all the ingredients together in the pan (veggies and sausage first to cook them through - then add the egg whites). After cooking all the ingredients, place them on the wrap, fold, and enjoy! I've been making this breakfast almost every day. It's about 150 calories, 36 grams of protein, 20 carbs and very, very low in fat and sodium. It's also very filling, so it gets me through until lunch with no trouble! 

Something that I've been eating for lunch quite often lately is a Jennie O turkey burger with 

half a slice of weight watcher's American cheese, two dippy eggs, and a veggie on the side.

I use my George Foreman "skilLite" to drain the fat from the burger (it gets a bit dry, but much healthier). It's a quick meal that takes about 15 minutes to make with virtually no carbs and very low in fat and high in protein. Jennie O, to me, makes the best turkey products out there, and if you haven't tried anything of hers, you are really missing out! 

For a low calorie, low fat, low carb dinner meal, try this awesome mixture that I actually made just tonight! It came out really, really good! 

I used:

20 oz lean, ground Jennie O turkey

1 red bell pepper

1 green bell pepper

sliced onion 

2 cups long grain organic brown rice

6 egg whites

Basically, same things as the breakfast burrito, cook everything together in a pan (veggies first to soften, then add the turkey, egg whites and rice go in last) - and wha la! You have yourself a delicious, low-cal meal to end your day with! I made a lot of this mixture so I can save it and take it as a lunch to work the rest of the week. Just heat it up for a filling and tasty treat. You don't even need any side dishes because this meal is so filling and has all your nutrients in the main course! 

Last night, I made a fish dish that I absolutely LOVED. I've always had a hard time with fish, never really liking it too much. I usually use some soy sauce, lemon and garlic on my fish, but last night I decided to try something new, and I am SO GLAD that I did. I get tired of my dishes pretty quickly, but this is one I definitely think I can handle for a while :) It was so easy and fast to make, too!

Preheat oven to 425

Coat fish with 1 tbs pure honey (I used tilapia and salmon), a few pinches of pure cane brown sugar, and some crushed pecans

Bake in oven for 15-17 minutes (until fish is cooked) - and that's it! 

I served long grain brown rice and green beans on the side, and this dish was amazing. It was sweet and crunchy, and a nice change from the rest of the meals I've been eating lately. 

Derek (who is the most picky eater) LOVED the fish as well, which is certainly a great sign :)

Out of all the recipes I've posted tonight, if you try any, this is certainly the one to try!! 

I also have a new ab exercise for you guys to try! 

This exercise should be preformed on a decline bench with a weight that you're comfortable with (I am using 10 lbs here, I believe)

Simply start lying down with arms extended all the way over your head (almost touching the ground)

Lift the weight up, keeping arms straight at all times

Finish 1 rep by touching your feet

I've been doing 3 sets of 25 reps - this exercise absolutely kills your abs! 

I think that gets me about all caught up with you guys for tonight! I promise I'll be getting more posts up now that things have settled some! 

Thank you, everyone, for all the feedback on my last post, and keep it coming! I love hearing what you guys think or if you've been trying anything! 

Do you guys have any progress pictures of yourselves? Send them to me - you can click on my "contact me" tab and get my email - I would love to do a post on a success story! 

Have an awesome night! 

One more day and its TGIF - hang in there, everyone!!!

xxxo Fitness Felicia 

 

New Milestone!

Hey guys! A few posts ago (Merp.) I was talking about how frustrated I was that I wasn't putting any weight one...but guess what?! I've put on THREE POUNDS in the last couple of days! That's HUGE for me :) I was so happy looking at the scale today. My hard work is definitely paying off and I feel more motivated than ever. I'm so excited to compete in the fall. Everyone that I've talked to who has competed before absolutely loves it, and I'm pretty confident that once I do my first competition, I'll be hooked. I'm also really loving my new workout (I think I said that yesterday). I feel such a good pump during it because of the supersets, and can feel the burn. I've been sore for days after working out each muscle group - I love that feeling.

Another big milestone for me is my personal training gig that I've got going on. I have been getting a bunch of new clients! I have an ad in the newspaper now and it looks like it's really working :) I'm so excited to start sharing my knowledge and teaching others how to exercise and lead a healthy lifestyle. Things are really looking good right now :)

I told you guys that I would post pictures of the "figure model workout," so today I had Derek take pictures of my back and triceps workout. I actually only had him take pictures of the back exercises, you can find pictures of all the triceps exercises in a previous post. I'm also not going to write out the whole workout again, you can look at it in a previous post as well.

What did you guys think about my post yesterday? No comments? I find that hard to believe, guys! You all need to liven up a bit out there and start letting me know what you think!!!

I'm thinking about doing a contest soon, to promote the blog and myself a little bit more - what do you guys think? I would have a couple of different things - the biggest one being a new workout outfit. Would anybody be interested in that? It wouldn't really entail anything major - it'd be more of a drawing of names, per-say. I would probably have 3 winners, 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. I'm going to post the contest tomorrow, and it will run for a few weeks, so make sure you guys are on the lookout! Also, let me know if that is something you as a reader would be interested in. I think free clothes is a pretty good motivating factor, no? I've seen other bloggers hold contests before and I think it really helps with reader-traffic.

Anyways, here are the pictures for the back exercises of the "figure model workout."

standing cable row 

reverse lat pull down

seated cable row

bent over dumbbell row

 reverse lat pull down

And those are the pictures to the back part of Day 2 for the "Figure Model Workout"

Have any of you guys out there been trying any part of the Figure Model Workout? If so, how do you like it? Have you made any modifications?? I'd love to hear :) 

I also made these pictures today, what do you guys think? I thought they came out pretty cool! 

I've seen stuff on pinterest like that and figured you probably don't need to be a professional model to do a little fitness poster thing like that, so I decided to give it a go with my own pictures! I quite like the way they turned out, how about you guys?!!! 

Turning it in for the night, everyone. Talk to you guys tomorrow.

Have a wonderful evening!

xxxooo Fitness Felicia 

Back From The Dead...

Well hello there everyone!! I'm so sorry that I have not been keeping up with my posts...this week has just been beyond crazzyy. But I'm back and ready to blog! Hope you guys didn't miss me too much ;)

I just got done an awesome bicep/trap workout and am feelin' really good. What did everyone do in the gym today? Anybody start my new workout? I am really LOVING this new workout I've made...the "figure model workout." It's been awhile since I've committed to a brand new workout routine and I'm really feeling good after my workouts with this new routine I've made. I've been pretty sore every day from my workouts - I love doing high intensity workouts it gives me such a good burn for the next day or two.

Oh, before I get you guys all caught up...has anyone read 50 Shades of Grey ? I just finished it today..it was really, realy good..I haven't been able to put it down the past 3 days (yes, it only took me 3 days to finish the 500-something paged book). If you have not read it yet, I definitely advice you read it. I got lost in the relationship between Christian and Anastasia and can't wait to find out how the next book is!

ANYWAYS....The last time I blogged was ...Sunday (wow, it really has been awhile, sorry :/ ).
Monday, Tuesday, Wed and today's challenges all consisted of my new workout...so I will fill you guys in on the workouts below. I know a reader had asked for pictures, and I will put them up ASAP. I was able to get pictures for today's workout, and will get caught up on the other workout pictures as soon as I can. I've been working out alone the past few days and haven't had anyone to take pics for me until tonight. So, I'll get on that as soon as I can!!

Okay, so..Day 2 of the workout is Back, Triceps and Abs

Felicia's Figure Model Workout: Day 2

Reverse Lat Pulldowns - 3 sets - 15-20 reps

superset with

Wide Grip Lat Pulldown - 3 sets - 15-20 reps 

Seated Cable Rows - 3 sets - 12-15 reps

superset with 

Barbell Bent-over Row - 3 sets - 12-15 reps 

Cable Bent-over Row - 3 sets - 15-20 reps

drop set the last set 

Triceps Pushdowns - 3 sets - 15-20 reps 

superset with

Overhead Cable Extension - 15-20 reps 

E-Z Bar Skullcrushers - 3 sets - 12-15 reps 

superset with

Overhead Dumbbell Extension 3 sets 12-15 reps

drop set last set of overhead dumb. ext

(you can find a bunch of pictures for these triceps exercises on one of my previous posts)

Finish the workout with 15 minutes of Ab exercises of your choosing :) 

Day 3: Lower Body and Cardio

Warm up with 12-15 minutes of cardio of your choice 

I did HIIT training for 15 minutes on the treadmill 

Barbell Squats - 3 sets - 12-15 reps 

superset with

Sumo Dumbbell Squats - 3 sets - 15-20 reps 

Romanian (Stiff Legged) Deadlifts - 3 sets - 15-20 reps

superset with

Sumo Deadlifts - 3 sets - 15-20 reps 

Single-Legged Dumbbell Squats - 3 sets - 15-20 reps 

superset with

Cable Kickbacks - 3 sets - 15-20 reps 

Seated Leg Extensions - 25

drop set last set 

Seated Calf Raises - 3 sets - 20-25

superset with  

Standing Dumbbell Calf Raises - 3 sets - 20-25

Seated Leg Curls - 25

drop set last set 

Complete Workout with 25-30 minutes of cardio

I did more HIIT training on the treadmill (that's my favorite)

(You can also find a lot of pictures for most of these exercises on one of my previous posts)

***I switched day 4 and day 5 up..it used to be:

Day 4: Traps and Biceps

Day 5: Cardio and Abs

I just switched them around to get an extra cardio day in there..so day 4 is Cardio now, day 5 is traps and bis***

Day 4: Cardio and Abs

45 minutes to 1 hour of cardio 

You can decide what type of cardio you want to do. 

I started with a fast-paced walk of 3.8 on the treadmill at an incline of 15.0

I did that for the first 30 minutes of my cardio workout

The last 30 minutes of my cardio I did sprint HIIT training

Sprint for 1 minute, jog for 2 

Conclude your workout with ab exercises of your choosing

I always switch up my ab routine, that's why I never really put ab exercise pictures on here, but if you guys would like to know some exercises and get some pics, let me know and I'd be happy to put some up :) 

Day 5: Biceps and Traps

Standing Dumbbell Curls - 3 sets - 15-20 reps 

Superset with 

Dumbbell Shurgs (I didn't get a picture of that one, sorry) 3 sets - 15-20 reps

standing dumbbell curls

Reverse E-Z Bar Curls - 3 sets - 15-20 reps 

superset with 

E-Z Bar Upright Rows - 3 sets - 15-20 reps 

Reverse EZ Bar Curls

EZ Bar Upright Rows

E-Z Bar Preacher Curls - 3 sets - 15-20 reps

superset with

Resistance Band Biceps Curls - 3 sets - 15-20 reps 

EZ Bar Preacher Curls

Resistance Band Bicep Curls

Concentration Curls - 3 sets - 15-20

drop set last set 

PHEW! Okay! So now we are alllllllll caught up, right?! I promise to add pictures for the rest of the workouts as soon as I can! I'll be going away this weekend, so keep your eye out for a new post in a couple of days. Until then, try this new workout plan out and let me know how you all feel! I've also been trying out a few new recipes that I'll put on here later on.. 

I hope everyone has been having a wonderful week so far! Mine has been hectic, but well. My new job is going pretty good - still getting used to a 45 hour work week, but I guess that wil take some time. I also got a new client that I start training next week which I am very excited about! 

Talk to you guys in a couple days :)

XXOOO

Fitness Felicia 

Merp.

Hi everyone, how's everyone doing tonight? I've had a semi-rough day. I've just been having a hard time getting motivated....about a bunch of different things. I've been getting really discouraged about a lot of things, and am kind of at a stand still, which I feel like always ends up happening once I feel like I'm starting to figure things out. It was a very frustrating day, and quite honestly, I was feeling very unconfident about a lot of things.

First off, I feel like nobody is reading my blog. I still really enjoy writing it regardless, but feedback is always nice. I know I'm new to blogging, but it's nice to know that you're interested in what I'm talking about, or if you have different opinions that I do, or any suggestions..just feedback in general is always a nice motivator. I wonder how long (if ever) it will take to get more than 4 followers (not that I don't appreciate my current four - love you guys thanks for following!). I look at some blogs and they have an overwhelming amount of comments about their posts...how do I get that to happen to my blog?!

Another thing I'm frustrated about is my little personal training "business" I have been trying to get off the ground. I haven't received any calls or emails from anyone interested in personal training, which is also really discouraging. I mean I know I'm doing it all by myself with just my little dinky flyers and this little blog...I guess I will just have to give it more time..
...the disinterest in my personal training is also making me discouraged about my future career. I know businesses are certainly difficult to get up and running and successful, and a lot fail, but I hope I get more of a response when I do start my own personal training/gym business. Of course I will have more professional marketing and blah blah blah. But oh, I don't know. Just a discouraging day.

I'm also getting discouraged about my workouts. No matter how much I eat in a day, no matter how much I try to change my diet or my workout plan, I cannot seem to gain weight! I've tried absolutely everything. My body is just not having it. I'm about to try a new approach and just cut, cut, cut and get lean and toned. But I'd really like to gain just a little weight :(

I'm rambling. Enough about my issues, this blog is supposed to be motivating and inspiring. But this is my "journey," so I guess you guys are just gonna have to follow me through the thick and thin, good and bad!

I had a very busy day yesterday and had no time for a post, so I'll be putting in yesterday and today's challenges in this post.

My challenge for yesterday was kind of dumb, or sad, however you want to look at it I guess, but I myself was very excited about it. ...my challenge was ... to finish a whole book!
I know it doesn't have anything to do with exercise, but I think reading is good for your health, so I'm counting it! I have not read a book (for pleasure) since probably my sophomore or junior year of high school. This book that I read, What Alice Forgot, was a little over 400 pages (which is a lot for me!), and was very challenging for me to stick with it and actually finish the entire book. So, yesterday, I finished my book, and loved it. I'm actually sad it's over. On to the next book I suppose. Sorry guys, I guess that was a really lame challenge :(

Today's challenge was a bit better: to devise a new triceps workout.
 Because I don't really have very many readers, I really embrace the readers that I DO have, and try to answer all their questions and comments that they leave me.
That said, today's challenge was for one of my readers,  "KayKay." She wanted to know exercises that she could do to target her triceps, because, like on many women, they are her trouble area.
KayKay, I hope you are reading this! Because this one is for you!!

Because I need to be doing something new that I've never done before, I made a new triceps workout that I have never done before. I dedicated this one to KayKay.

Because she said this was her trouble area, I'm assuming she is trying to tone it out a bit. So this will be a higher intensity triceps workout. In the alphabet, K is the 11th letter, A is the 1st and Y is 25th.
I was trying to be creative for this one, sorry if it's confusing, but just try to follow. Because A is the 1st letter, I added K and A to get 12 reps.
So, the first set is 12 reps. Y being the 25th letter, the second set is 25 reps. Because her name is KayKAY (two Kay's), do a third set of again, 12 reps, and a fourth set of 25. I wanted to make it a higher rep workout to increase the intensity, give you more of a burn in those triceps which will help them tone out a bit and lose some of that flab all of us women hate so very much!

KayKay, you asked me for some exercise ideas, so here are a few you can chose from: 

overhead dumbbell triceps extension

triceps kickbacks (get your elbow up a bit higher, this picture isn't that great)

overhead tricep extensions with cables

skull crushers 

tricep cable pulldowns 

Hope these exercises can give you a good burn, KayKay! also, Make sure you try out your  the 12,24,12,24 "KayKay" workout (I would do about three or four of these exercises with the 12,24,12,24 rep range), it does give a very good burn. 

This was a long post, sorry about all the rambeling. I don't think this post was all that great (due to lack of motivation), sorry about that as well.

I'll have a more uplifting and inspiring post tomorrow, promise!

Night gym rats!