Goodbye Peak Week, Hello NPC SoCal

The sun beams so brightly today, leaves green and birds chirping their songs, all communicating that June Gloom is gone and summer is here. I sit in my cube wishing I was there or anywhere but here. I don’t dread my job but I am antsy with anticipate for the 2012 NPC Southern California Championships. This is my first experience with an extreme “Peak Week.” For those unfamiliar, peak week involves manipulating your calories, carbohydrates, sodium and water levels to increase the appearance of muscle density and fullness while offering maximum vascularity.

I am filled with excitement from head to toe, muscle and bones. I’ve had 16 weeks of endless training to prepare myself for one single day. Dedication to healthy diet, rigorous training, and a new found lifestyle have given me a greater appreciation for hard work and the rewards created from accomplishing a goal. Usually I am an individual that experiences great anxiety and nervousness in front of people and the days leading to, but I feel like I have climbed and conquered such a great mountain that no emotion or action will stop me now. I’m invincible!

And now for the fun…pedi and mani this evening, shopping for a new wardrobe at My Sister’s Closet, tan, tanning, more tanning and a few other prep secrets.

Stay tuned for peak day details and competition results!

2012 BSN Hyper Shred - How I Transformed

 How I Accomplished My Goal:
I had everything a young girl could ever want: loving parents, solid roof over my head, friends, but today I look back and would define the old me as a troubled youth. I got caught up in some of the wrongs of the world simply to find failure when searching for success and acceptance. Three things changed my life and saved me from my own doom: God, loved ones, and dedication to a healthy lifestyle: my transformation. Fitness became a way of life. It kept me sober and strong choosing workouts and healthy eats instead of other substances and unhealthy drinks.

I have struggled with varies eating issues throughout my 20’s. I knew I needed a change. I couldn’t keep running to harmful old ways to mask the pain of reality. I needed to put my focus on and dedicate myself to something healthy. I began researching 12-week programs to help me get back on track and on bodybuilding.com I found the BSN Transformation Challenge. I’ve been an advocate for their products from the start and I’ve always held tightly onto the dream of being a spokes model one day to promote them. I jumped at the opportunity to commit to a lifetime of change. My goal was to change my mental thinking about food consumption and to be confident in my own skin. My measurable goal: Compete in the 2012 NPC Southern California Championships.

Before Statistics:
   Weight: 116lbs
   Body Fat: 18.7%
After Statistics:
   Weight: 109.5 lbs
   Body Fat: 10.9%


Lauren Allen's Competitor Profile


My Training Schedule:
The first 6 weeks of the challenge I began on my own with the help of Jamie Eason’s LiveFit Program. I followed it religiously, even giving up my beloved cardio sessions. I knew that if I want to succeed I needed direction from someone else who has had success. I focused on maintaining caloric intake and building muscle mass. I completed heavy sets with low repetition. The last 6 weeks I have focused on building definition and detail in each muscle group through exercise pairing in supersets with little breaks to have a cardiovascular effect. Sets ranged from 4-10 with reps of 20-50. Slowly, I added light cardio 20-30 minutes. To begin cutting my workouts increased to twice a day: weights in the morning from 5:00am to 6:30am and cardio at lunch or in the evening for a minimum of 40 minutes. My cardio varies between gym machines and HIIT training.

Example of weekly workout:
Day 1: Legs and Cardio Machine
Day 2: Back and Biceps and HIIT
Day 3: Plyometrics and Cardio Machine
Day 4: Shoulders and Triceps and HIIT
Day 5: Glutes and Cardio Machine
Day 6: HIIT
Day 7: Off

Example of a final day Back/Bicep workout:
Morning: Weight Training
5 X 20 Lat Pull Downs
Superset 5 X 20 Reverse Grip Pull Downs
Superset 5 X 50 Bent Over Barbell Row

4 X 10 Bent-Over Dumbbell Rows
Superset 4 X 15 Dumbbell Pullovers

2 X 50 Barbell Bicep Curls

5 X 15 Incline Hammer Curls
Superset 5 X 15 Preacher Curls

Evening: Cardio/ HIIT
Jump rope 2 minutes
Treadmill incline 5 at 5.0 run for 4 minutes
Jump rope 1 minute
Walk incline 15 at 3.5 for 4 minutes
Jump rope 1 minute
Treadmill incline 5 at run 5.0 for 4 minutes
Walk incline 15 at 3.5 for 4 minutes
Jump rope 2 minutes
Treadmill incline 6 at 5.0 run for 3 minutes
Walk incline 15 at 3.5 for 5 minutes
Jump rope 2 minutes
Stepmill Level 4 for 3 minutes
Stepmill level 6 for 3 minutes
Stepmill level 8 for 2 minutes
Treadmill incline 3 at 5.0 run for 2 minutes
Walk incline 12 at 3.5 for minute
Cool down no incline 3.0 for 5 minutes.


My Diet Regimen:
Being confident and comfortable in my own skin has been my biggest struggle through life. This stronghold resulted in limited food consumption. My body was unhealthy because it wasn’t getting the nutrients it needed. My priority through this transformation was to change my way of thinking about myself and about food. The first 4 weeks I dedicated to muscle grow which at first was a scary thought and getting my metabolism back on track by eating consistently every 3 hours. I consumed around 1800 calories a day including lean proteins, healthy carbs/starches and fruits and vegetables. Beginning week 4 I slowly change my macro-nutrients substituting vegetable carbs for the previous starches I was consuming until starches were only consumed up until lunch time. The remaining time I cut calories to assist in weight loss for my cutting phase of the process.

Example of My Daily Diet:
Meal 1: 5 egg whites, ½ cup of oatmeal, ½ cup of blueberries
Meal 2: 4oz orange roughy/tilapia, 12 asparagus spears
Meal 3: 4oz chicken, 3oz yam, 1½ cup spinach, 1 tsp olive oil, 1 tbsp balsamic
Meal 4: 4oz chicken, 1 rice cake, 8 asparagus spears, 1 tsp flax oil
Meal 5: 2oz lean beef, 3oz chicken, 1oz tomato, 4oz cucumber, 2 cups romaine, 1 tsp olive oil, 1 tbsp balsamic
Meal 6: 1.5 scoops Myofusion
(Depending where my workout landed, I’d substitute a scoop of BSN Syntha-6 for an after workout meal.)


Supplementation:
Morning w/Meal:
Multi-vitamin, Glucosamine plus chondroitin, Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, Glutamine Powder, Dim +
Pre-Workout:
BSN Hyper Fx (Before weight training), L-Carnitine (Before Cardio), OxyElite Pro (Before cardio and again before weight training)
During Workout:
BSN Amino X
Post-Workout:
BSN Syntha-6, Flax Seed Oil
Before Bed:
Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, Magnesium, Zinc + Calcium Vitamin, Glutamine Powder, Dim +, Gaspari Nutrition Myofusion


How I Stayed Motivated:
Motivation was a key component in fighting through this transformation challenge. There were many great days that I felt pumped and alive but equally there were days that I stumbled and had to picked myself up to continue forward. I depended on my participating peers as we communicated in the HyperShred BodyGroup, people I now call friends. I developed relationships. We encouraged each other, motivated each other, and reached out to one another when needing advice or an extra push to continue pursuing our goal. At the beginning of this challenge, I was the first female weekly winner. To me this represented progression that not only myself but also others of our community saw as well.

Through bodybuilding.com, a friend introduced me to my competition coach, Alissa Parker. She has motivated me to give 100% in every aspect of fitness to achieve competition success. She pushes me to new levels and has introduced me to new strategies to continually challenge my mind and body.

The people surrounding my life are my greatest influences: my trainer, my friends and my family. Each of my loved ones has supported and encouraged me to succeed in reaching my goals and my dreams of living and loving my new healthy life.

Conclusion:
Dedication to the HyperShred challenge has kept me strong choosing a fit life rather than worldly ways of immediate gratification. I found a new appreciation for working hard to achieve personal goals and helping others to do the same. When I signed up for this, I told myself not much would change in my life. Yes, I would be committed to consistency in workouts and diet, which would create physical change, but I didn’t realize the affect it would have on my life and those surrounding me. It’s a unique feeling to hear others confirm that I have helped motivate them and change them by hearing my story and watching my progress. It drives me. It motivates me. I proceed to my next great goal while never quitting the new lifestyle that has aided in changing my life.

A little story: Months ago I confided in a friend of my struggles with various eating issues. I can’t ever say they were severe to the point of completely depleting my body but it was a constant mind battle that left me rarely enjoying anything I consumed. This past weekend we met again and she brought to my attention that not once has this problem occurred since. I’ve been so focused on eating consistent healthy meals to fuel my intense workouts to achieve my idea of success in both competitions and in my life that I feel like I have been freed from the imprisonment of eating disorders. For once, the chains of consuming thoughts of being too fat or too skinny do not bind me, but now I can live each day knowing that I am healthy and love my life.

…Seeing results and feeling the change…in my life.

…Seeing results and feeling the change…in my life.

When I signed up for HyperShred I told myself not much would change in my life. Yes, I would be committed to consistency in workouts and diet which would create physical change but I didn’t realize the affect it would have on my life and those surrounding me. It’s a unique feeling to me to hear others confirm that I have helped motivate them and change them by listening to my story and watching my progress. It drives me. It motivates me. Today marks 7 weeks complete, 5 weeks till HyperShred comes to a conclusion, 7.5 weeks until 2012 NPC SoCal commence and I proceed to my next great goal while never quitting the new lifestyle that’s aided in changing my life.

Earlier on and in my introduction I lightly touched on the struggles of my teenage years and the obstacles I have been trying to overcome. This dedication to something healthy, changing my body and my life and my mentality has just been the short list of beneficial changes I’ve experienced in less than two months. A little story: Months ago I confided in a friend of my struggles with various eating issues. I can’t ever say they were severe to the point of completely depleting my body but it was a constant mind battle that left me rarely enjoying anything I consumed. This past weekend we met again and she brought to my attention that not once has this problem occurred since. I’ve been so focused on eating consistent healthy meals to fuel my intense workouts to achieve my idea of success in both competitions and in my life that I feel like I have been freed from the imprisonment of eating disorders. I couldn’t respond because I was in awe of the freedom my new lifestyle had created. For once, I’m not bound by the chains of consuming thoughts of being too fat or too skinny but I can live each day knowing that I am healthy and love my life. To this I thank my God and my new found life style of living fit.

Just a Bump in the Road

SICK!!! Are you kidding me? A catch a cold maybe once year but rarely does it stop me from getting my workouts in unless it's this particular head cold causing difficulty breathing and an inability to stand up for long periods of time due to dizziness...Can you say discouraging?

I took the opprotunity to give my body a chance to rest for two days in hopes it would be gone over night. NEGATIVE! During this time I did thorough research on nutrition and meals for the next phase of my plan. I don't know how I will every be able to eat 30 oz of lean protein a day. Recently, I've been directing all my energy to bulking and building muscle mass, not a single day of cardio in a month. The biggest difficulty I have had is consuming enough calories, that and recent negativity from others.

I really have to define my reasons for pursuing this lifestyle and embarking on this journey to my first every NPC competition. As much encouragement as I have received, I have also received an equal amount of discouragement from those surrounding my life. "Don't be grandma, you can stay out late." "I like women who are more petite and don't have so much muscle." "If you're sick you shouldn't be working out." "Stick to bikini, you don't want to become a She-Man." "Let me watch you. That's too much weight for a little girl." It motivates me to want to prove those Debbie Downers wrong..."You don't think I can do it. Watch me!" People ask me all the time what motivates each day to wake up and not give up. I am motivated by the people who've told me I can't. My life has been about showing people I can.

On another note, I tried a sample of ON's AmiN.O.s. Too sweet for my liking but hopefully it produces good results. As usual, I'll make sure to post a review. In addition, I made Jamie Eason's  Orange Almond Biscotti. Can you say DELISH!?! With only 31 calories, 4 grams of fat and 4 grams of carbs per serving, these are a great treat. See below:

Ingredients:

2 cups Oat Flour

1 cup Splenda, Truvia, or Ideal

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 tbsp Orange Extract

tsp Salt
tbsp Almond Extract

4 Egg Whites

4oz baby food Applesauce

Directions:

1.     Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix
dry ingredients (oat flour, baking powder, salt) together in a large bowl.

3. Mix
wet ingredients (egg whites, Splenda, Truvia, or Ideal, almond extract, orange
extract, baby food applesauce) together in a medium bowl.

4. Add
wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix together.

5. Spray
baking sheet with a non stick butter spray and spread mixture on sheet.

6. Bake
for 20 min on middle rack.

7. Remove
biscotti from oven and let cool for 10-15 minutes.

8. Cut
dough down the middle and cut into about 13 slices.

9. Bake
in oven for another 15-20 minutes.

Makes about 26 cookie

A Week of Firsts

Burning we excitement and determination would describe my week of firsts. Things are different. I always say ill eat clean and train hard but when no ones looking ill cheat myself. What's one candy bar going to hurt? Well what if promise to hit it harder next time? I made a commitment to stay true to myself and to give it my all to transform my life. Ive stuck to the plan. Ive eaten the right stuff. Ive hit the weights harder than ever. I'm determined!

This week marked another personal best. This 114 pound girl benches pressed 110 pounds! Four more pounds to go and I can bench myself. I set goals for myself. The must be measurable goals however. If I don't have define.ed boundaries and expectations then I fall. But when I am able to obtain or achieve something measurable its like a surge or energy and motivation to push it to a whole new level. I love it!
I was also recognized as this week hyper shred weekly winner. Not only do I feel confident that I'm giving my all at the gym and with my diet but I feel recognized for trying to motivate others through the forum and independently through messaging to reach their own goals.

I talked with a few close loved ones this week about my ambitions of being a stage bikini competitior. To. E honest I wasn't sure I would have their support but they were almost as excited about it as I am. It feels great to have a parents approval.this week I watched a few competitions and am beginning to practice the poses. Got some great advice from many here.

I just purchased an order of hyperFX and I will be reviewing it to post for all. I eat, drink, breathe BSN products so I am quite excited about their latest. Ill make sure to keep you posted.

Is My Plate Too Full?

Written March 4th, 2012

I'm reaching the end of week 1 of the Hyper Shred Transformation. Its been a real kick in the ace. Between emotion stress from life, working the 8am-5am, and remember what I can and cannot eat, my chaoticness has reached a strong point. I took this weekend as an opprotunity to check myself and stamp out my priorities and figure out a way to get organize.

First, I stocked up on supplements. A Multi, L-Carnatine, Hyper Fx, and Gold Standard's Whey - Check, check and check.

Then, I did shopping for the week: egg whites - check, - chicken breast - check, cottage cheese - check,  and turkey for Jamie Eason's Turkey Meat Muffins. -Check!

Finally, I felt like I had structure again. I hit the gym on a legs day and killed. From Sumo Squats to Stiff-Legged Deadlifts, I killed it all. I avoided 1RM max as this time I am trying to achieve something different, bulk then definition. To top that, I am training my best friend and we owned the stairs at the beach for an hour. I'm feeling it today but also feeling like my head is back in the game.

I never thought I could eat five eggs in a morning but today I managed to do so and am feeling pump for my shoulders day but first, I can't avoid an upper 70 degree day in March. I'm getting my tan on! To the beach!!! Anyone wanna join

Until next time...keep pumping.

Three Things That Saved My Life.

A bit about me:

I had everything a young girl could ever want: loving parents, solid roof over my head, friends friends and more friends, but today I look back and would define my past self as a troubled youth. I got caught up in all the wrongs of the world simply to find failure when searching for success and acceptance. Three things changed my life and saved me from my own doom: God, loved ones, and dedication to the gym. Fitness became a way of life. It kept me sober and strong choosing workouts and healthy eats instead of other substances and unhealthy drinks. This is my story, how fitness change my life and how again I will depend on it to help me through life's obstacles. Join me these twelve weeks as I enter the journey to transformation.

 Life's been a breeze since I married my husband but recently its thrown some curve balls our way creating stress that most individuals experience: Job stress, finances, uncertainties of life, can we afford a house in this market? I don't have some crazy story like some, I already lived mine, but I needed something to focus on, something to be dedicated to, something to motivate me so that my stress wouldn't own me and fall back in to my self-destructive ways...Then came The Hyper Shred Challenge...

 My goal...to change my life and to touch another's.

Before pics...ugh...guess that's why I am here, reaching out to each of you for tips and tricks, committed to a challenge that will change my life, the way I eat, the way I live.

Stay tuned for more. Thanks for reading