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

The Importance of Looking Good

Hey everyone! Sorry it's been a few days, spent the weekend at the beach (so nice to get away!), and when I returned home to blog I found that our internet was down. But I'm back! Has anyone been doing the figure model workout? I started a new cycle today and it felt GREAT.
No matter how stressed I am, hitting the gym after a long day always immediately clears my mind and helps me to de-stress.

My new "thing" for today was starting a new pre-workout. I used n-zero extreme. I loved it. I felt such a good pump during my workout and felt a lot less fatigued during my sets.

Pre-workouts are great to get your mind and body set to workout, and do help provide focus and pump to your workout. However, pre-workouts are often quite pricey. You can obtain basically the same effects of a pre-workout by drinking an energy drink (such as monster) or caffeine (like coffee) about half and hour before your workout. They work as much cheaper stimulants if you're looking to try out a pre-workout supplement.

There's something that I wanted to write about today..I wanted to talk about why (I feel) it is important to look good when you workout. Just a note: I am absolutely not knocking anybody who hits the gym without makeup or wears an old, baggy t-shirt..I just wanted to give my POV and see if anyone felt the same way. 

I've gotten so many nasty, rude comments while at the gym about the outfits that I wear (always from other girls). If you cannot tell by my workout pictures, I like to wear compression shorts and tight tank tops. I usually wear lots of bright colors and most always have my shirt, sports bra, socks and shorts matching each other. I also always wear makeup when I'm heading to the gym. 

Now I know that I may be going a little bit above and beyond with the whole matchy-matchy thing...but it suits me, and for a good reason, too. 

I don't know about you women out there, but when I try clothes on in a store, if I don't have makeup on or have my hair looking nice, I feel like the clothes don't look as good when I'm trying them on. You need to know exactly what you're going to look like when you wear those clothes, you know what I mean? So it's hard to tell what you're going to look like if you don't have makeup on or your hair done. Maybe that's just me? Not sure.

But anyways, it's the same thing for me when I workout. I like to see the way my body looks at it's best - which is in nice clothes, with my hair and makeup done as well. I like to wear my compression shorts and tank tops because I like to actually see my muscles working. I also like to see what areas I need to improve on. 

Seeing my muscles working as I'm lifting weights is such a confidence booster. It's nice seeing your body transform into something you are proud of! 

I know a lot people like to get into the gym and get out, and don't put much time or effort into what they look like when they're headed to the gym, because they're going to get all sweaty and tired and smelly...and that is 100% fine! I'm not knocking that at all. But I feel that seeing yourself look your best while in the gym can actually be a big motivating factor in your workout. If you look at yourself in the mirror and think "yah, I look like crap, I just want to get this workout over with," how good of a workout are you really going to have? Compared to you looking in the mirror and thinking "yah, I look pretty good!" You're going to want to keep looking good and push even harder in the gym! Guaranteed! 

I had a discussion with my father about this topic, and he disagreed with me completely. For fathers day, however, I bought him his very own (colorful) compression workout shirts, and I bet you after he wears them and sees the way he looks in them, he's going to change his mind about all this. (I'll keep you guys posted on that one!) 

I've heard comments like "wow, who does she think she is?" and "does she think this is a fashion show?" and lots of other rude remarks about me while I've been in the gym. But I have a method to my madness, I swear.

 I think that everyone should look their best in the gym, for me, it is absolutely one of my biggest motivating factors and confidence boosters. Seeing yourself progress feels absolutely amazing. 

Everyone should be proud of the way they look, big or small. If you're in the gym, you're obviously trying to work on your body and health, so don't be ashamed of the way you look and cover up.

I think everyone should at least try  and see my point of view on this. If you disagree, that is quite fine, but let me know why. If you agree, let me know about that, too! Because sometimes I feel like a downright crazy person walking into the gym all frills and spills. Recently, though, I've gotten to the point where I just do not care. 

Gimmie some feedback, guys! Last post's feedback was W-E-A-K! Let me know that you're out there reading this and I'm not just rambling to a wall! SPEAK UP! 

Kill it today, everyone!! 

Love,
Fitness Felicia 

Having Trouble Sleeping?

Hey guys. I got some responses to the poll that I have listed on my page (about what you'd like to see me write about), and 2 (out of the overwhelming 4 people that voted) wanted to see more posts about supplementation. So, today's your day, supplement voters! In today's post I will be talking about the benefits of two supplements: Valerian Root and Melatonin

I have had difficulty sleeping for as long as I can recall, it is often difficult for me to fall asleep at night, or to stay asleep. According to the Sleep Wellness Institute, over 100 MILLION Americans suffer from some sort of sleeping disorder...that's about 1/3 of Americans.

That's why I decided to write about these two supplements, I figured that a lot of people could relate to this post.
First of all, what is Valerian Root, and what in the heck is Melatonin?

Valerian Root: 

Valerian is actually a plant native to Europe and Asia, and its roots are used medicinally. 

Valerian is an herb that is used to treat few different things: stress/anxiety, aids in helping one fall asleep quicker and stay asleep throughout the night, and it also aids as a muscle relaxer. The good thing about valerian is that once you wake up from your night's sleep, you do not feel drowsy as you would on a plethora of other sleep aids. (I take 500 milligrams of valerian root)

Melatonin:

Melatonin is not an herb, but a hormone that is found in your body, plants and animals. Melatonin levels vary throughout the day, and help promote a normal sleep cycle. Light affects how much melatonin your body produces. During the winter months, when it gets darker quicker, melatonin levels may be higher in individuals. Taking a melatonin supplement (I take 20 milligrams) simply aids in how much melatonin your body is getting. Melatonin levels are different in all individuals, so if you are having trouble sleeping or staying asleep, your melatonin levels may not be very high. 

I take both melatonin and valerian root about 45 minutes before I am ready for bed, and they really help aid in allowing me to fall asleep faster. I feel absolutely no drowsiness when I wake up the next morning, and often am able to sleep right through the night (which was a very rare occurrence a few months ago).

I like taking these supplements because I know that they are natural and safe. There are a lot of negative side affects to a lot of sleep medication out there. Taking melatonin is just like taking and iron supplement. Some people's iron levels are lower than others, thus they take an iron supplement. This is exactly the same thing - people who have trouble falling asleep may have low melatonin levels, thus they should try taking a melatonin supplement.
A supplement is just what the word means, it AIDING your body in what it is not producing itself.

I used to take the melatonin by itself, but I found that I get a more restful sleep and feel more awake when I mix it with the valerian root.

I would also recommend taking the valerian root with fish oil. All herbs are fat soluble, so the fish oil will help aid in the absorption rate.

Sorry if this was a boring post, but hopefully it was informative for some of you! I know this isn't technically a "challenge," but I did teach myself something new today..I read a lot of info and articles to help me understand more what valerian and melatonin are..so I think that counts as doing something new! Those who know me know I am not a book worm, so reading up on those things was a challenge in itself ;)

If you're having trouble sleeping, I definitely recommend trying out these supplements before turning to any type of prescribed medication. Let me know what you think! Are you taking these already? How do you like it?

Talk to you guys tomorrow!
Xxxxoooo
Fitness Felicia



PS If this is super boring to you, make sure you take the poll I have listed on my blog so you can let me know what YOU want me to talk about on here! I LOVE FEEDBACK! :)