Believe in Yourself..and You Will Achieve Greatness

Hello Everyone!

Motivation in my kitchen :) I truly believe that I CAN DO IT!

 It has been another busy week! I have just completed week 4 in student teaching, and tomorrow marks 10 weeks out from showtime :)

I RSVPed to my graduation..May 19th at 2:00. All I have to do is order my tickets for my family and my cap/gown then just count down. I cannot believe it is almost here! It is so exciting that I will finally be graduating from college! I am very proud.

 I had a lot of fun celebrating Valentine's Day with the second graders. My valentine bag was exploding with the cutest little notes, cards, and pictures from my students.

Gluten free competitor friendly Valentine's Day present :))

 It was also Maps and Globes week in school so I got to teach my students about different continents and animals that live there. The kids LOVE all of the different hands on animal things I bring in and teach them about. My environmental education minor is really coming in handy!

This is where I spend the majority of my week :)

Being a fitness obsessed freak, it is hard to not take into consideration my students' lifestyle choices. Just the other day they were at a presentation and the speaker was holding up different foods and the students had to determine whether it was a healthy choice or not. I was amazed by the number of things the children thought were healthy (i.e. fruit by the foot, pop-tarts, crackers etc) and even the things the speaker were telling the children to eat. He held up a Kraft single (processed cheese) and said, "Now this is healthy!" I wanted to vomit. He also told the kids to drink fruit juice and eat apple sauce (holy sugar overload!!!!)....and people wonder why children are overweight these days or have the behavior problems that they do. My teacher knows my passion for fitness and being healthy and she is letting me do a week long integrated unit on this topic. I am so excited for this opportunity so I can instil my values in my students. Whew....okay just had to vent about that!

Training and Cardio is going well. I am still holding onto my strength and endurance. I go in the gym every day on a mission, and I do not leave until I am satisfied.  I have also noticed a significant difference with upping the weight from 50lbs to 75lbs when I do my 100 lunges every other day. I am drained by the time I am finished, but I am really proud of the way the booty is looking at this point :) I am noticing changes each week, and I am happy with the way contest prep is going.

Abs....10.5 weeks out

My diet is going well also.  I am still eating the same foods...tuna, organic gluten free rice cakes, egg whites, green beans, chicken, sweet potatoes, organic natural peanut butter, and almonds. After meeting with my good friend Docta Ryce, he did my bf% test on Monday to find that I was at 14% for 11 weeks out and I have put on 4 lbs of lean mass since December alone. Wowza! I was pretty proud of that. I have about 8-10lbs to lose to be at my goal for showtime. I am not worried at all. I am fortunate to be eating as much as I am right now compared to a normal competitor. Let's just say..life is good! We are going to check my body fat again in 2 weeks to see if I need to adjust anything. I am not going to eat less if I am not where I want to be. I told myself I cannot sacrifice energy or lack of brain power while student teaching. I will simply do more cardio if needed.

I am looking forward to this weekend. Tonight I am going to a hockey game with my good teacher friend Mizz Parris and tomorrow I am heading home for a posting clinic! I am getting up at 5:30am and heading home first so I can spend a few hours with my mom. We are going to enjoy our morning coffee and make some chicken n yam stirfry...Mmm Mmm!! I am excited for the posing clinic in the afternoon. My girls Diana and Cassandra will be there!! I am also looking forward to making new competitor friends. It will be a good time. Sunday I will be living at the library finishing up my big lesson for the week because I am getting observed by my supervisor on Wednesday. Fingers crossed it goes well!!!

Have a super weekend!!!!!!

<3 SJ