A New Adventure, A New Challenge!

So, I have debated back and forth if I should post this here. I have decided to go ahead and post it with the hopes that it will keep me accountable with my workouts/diet and hopefully encourage those of you wanting to get fitter and healthier!!

I have decided to start training for a figure competition!! (Click on it for a definition) EEK! There, I said it!! A couple of friends of mine have competed, or will be competing in shows in the coming months, and I thought "Hey! I could do that!" So here I am. After years of working out and 2 1/2 years of teaching group fitness, I am ready for a new challenge!! The show I am looking at is in April 2009, so I have plenty of time to prepare.

I wanted to start this whole journey out right, so I got a personal trainer at our gym for a few sessions. I wanted someone to help me get a plan together. So, we did the whole measurements, body fat testing, etc... In the next few months we are focusing on building lean muscle, which means pushing as much weight as possible in less reps. We started yesterday (Monday), and BOY AM I SORE!! I pushed a lot of weight yesterday, and yikes I am feelin' it today! This is gonna be good, I can tell! :)

Building muscle also means increasing my calorie intake, which is really hard to do-especially when I need to try and push my calories over 2000 a day! Really closer to 2500-3000, but we are starting out with just a small increase over my normal maintenance calories right now to see how my body responds to the new program. And we are not talking junk food, empty calories. Real, clean eating food. Luckly in this phase, I can still have a few cheat foods though. :)

So here is where I am right now:

-Weight training 3 days a week-different body parts each day. (I'll post my routine later)
-Cardio is weird, because I still am teaching 3 classes a week (which is probably more cardio than I need to do when trying to build muscle), on days I don't teach I am doing fat burn cardio, meaning keeping the heart rate low so I don't burn into muscle.
-Protein: at least 1 g. per pound of body weight
-Carbs: Minimum is 156 g. just for normal brain function, so above this to compensate for training.
-Calories: Eat more! hahaha
-Water: A gallon/day (128 oz)
-Suppliments: WheyBolic Extreme 60 protein shakes and a multivitamin. Adding creatine once I am done nursing Cooper!


So what do you think? Am I crazy???