Movin' in Slow Mo'

Welcome to another week of Black and Yellow's Excellent Adventure! We are now 7 weeks away from taking Chicago by storm! Can you believe it?!?!? 7 WEEKS!!!!

My "Oh hell naw" face

At my 8 week check in, The Boss made some changes to my diet and cardio schedule. While no competitor loves to add more cardio to the rotation, the amount of cardio I have been doing is relatively minimal so I didn't freak out about having to do more. What I did freak out about was the removal of green olives from my daily food selection! Now, my current diet doesn't really make me do my happy wiggle but there were pieces of my meals that helped me keep my diet sanity (see my Out of Whack Tastebuds post). Green olives were one of those pieces. I anticipated that I would have to say goodbye to them at some point but I thought it wasn't going to happen for another 2, possibly three weeks. With that said, The Boss did send a follow-up email saying I could have ONE serving of green olives and I almost wept like a baby ;)

One of the things I find myself over-thinking is posing. I feel relatively confident in most of my poses but my relaxed or "model" poses cause me to have a bit of heartburn. I am currently leaning toward a bent leg pose (see the 7 weeks pic above) but I have done the straight leg pose (see the 9 weeks pose above) in past shows. Hopefully, I'll pick one soon and practice it until it feels perfect!

My stress levels have decreased over the past couple of weeks and I have been sleeping a lot better. These are things I know affect me physically so I am happy to have them "under control" :) I, by no means, feel ready to step on stage but I feel like I'm moving in slow motion towards the finish line. I would rather be moving in slow motion than not at all!

photo credit

Before I go, I would like to wish a "Happy Peak Week" to Melissa, Kari, and any other ladies who will be stepping on stage next weekend! Wishing you ladies the best of luck!