Put the Camera Down!!

Yesterday Tom and I had an early morning gym date before I went to work. We had decided earlier in the week to hit up shoulders (gimme those Dwight Howard boulder shoulders baby!) and I knew he was going to try and break kill hurt help me get closer to my goals.

The workout consisted of various superserts and while we didn't do a lot of difference exercises, we did a ridiculous amount of volume. One superset consisted of shoulder presses on the HumanSport machine and cable upright rows. I think we were on set 5 when I looked over at Tom and signaled that I was done. He gave me his "Shut the hell up and lift" look and of course, I knocked out another two sets.

At one point, towards the end of our workout, Tom pulled out his phone and started snapping pictures of me. Now, I  admit I can be found snapping photos of myself in the gym mirrors but it makes me feel really weird when Tom pulls out his phone and starts taking pictures. Don't question it. I'm weird, I know! Anyway, he tells me to hold my rep and I want to claw his face off. I'm tired, my muscles are aching, and I feel like people are staring at me. Tom doesn't care and keeps snapping away.

Later in the day, I get an email from him with several attachments and when I open the attachments, all I could do was stare at them. I'm not going to post all of them but want to share a couple of my favorites wiht you.

I was pleasantly surprised to see what I am going to call my "baby Ninja Turtle" back. I have definitely made some changes in my back over the last couple of years and Operation Build-a-Back will continue to be a top priority!

Even though I could barely lift my arms to put on my mascara this morning, training is one of the best things in my life. It makes me want to be stronger, better, more badass! I want to use this "time off" wisely. I want to make serious changes to my physique so that I can wow them the next time I step on stage.

Baby steps, Tenecia....baby steps.... :)

Marvelous Monday...

Happy Monday, everyone! I had quite the week last week and like I said in my last post, I'm ready for a new month and new start....is it February yet!?!?

At the end of last year, I told myself that I wanted to work on being more social and less of a homebody. I have gone out with my friends (I might be getting too old to stay up so late!) and it's been fun just reconnecting with my partners-in-crime.

Shenanigans in Forever 21!

My friend Lo and I were both off from work this past Friday so we met up for lunch, shopping, and accidentally on purpose "wrap-up" drinks" at her favorite bar. I spent wwwaaaayyy too much money, laughed a ridiculous amount, and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Apparently I smelled a fart before Tom snapped the picture... :)

When Tom came home from work on Sunday, we all had breakfast together and then I headed to the gym to get my fitness on. I'm still on a mission (I'm on several missions, if you haven't already noticed...lol!) for that Carmelita Jeter, sprinter, high & tight booty so that's what the focus of the workout was.

from my instagram

I love love love that my gym (Desert Sports & Fitness! #TeamDSF) got new StarTrac StairMills! These things are so beautiful, fancy, and still manage to make you want to die :) In addition to spending time on the StairMonster, I hit up the TRX for a few sets of "sweet baby jesus, how much more??".

Boo for suits not fitting...but yay for trophies & tiaras...lol!

I haven't consistently been taking progress pictures but last Saturday I did put on my suit for a round of quarter turns. I'm not posting any of them here, not because I'm unhappy with them, but because I didn't save them (doh!!). So, I'm sharing a picture below that I took this morning after I came home from the gym.

Am I show lean? Nope! Do I have abs? Uhh....not even close.... Am I happy with my body? If I'm being truthful, most days I am bbbuuuttt there are the days when I want to go on a liquid diet so I can wear a size 2 ;)

Enough about me! What's going on with you guys?? Fill me in....

Let's Wrap This Up!

What a month January is proving to be!! Unfortunately, 2014 isn't off to an amazing-wonderful-positive start but you know what, I'm still standing & breathing so I'll take it!!! Speaking of breathing, I caught cooties from some place and was down for the count for a couple of weeks. Tom finally convinced me to go to the Minute Clinic and they gave me some antibiotics. I'm feeling much better and of course Tom is gloating because he was right about me being sicker than I thought. Men! :)

I have still been getting questions about if I'm currently in prep and/or what shows I'm doing this year. As of right this second (lol!), I'm not in prep and have not decided on any 2014 competitions. Am I still feeling the same way I was in my Sorting Things Out post? Yes and no....I'm taking things slowly....listening to my body...listening to my heart. With all of that said, I have cleaned up my diet a bit (bye bye, weekday breakfast burritos and mint M&Ms...womp womp) in the event that I have to start prep almost immediately. I have still been going to the gym and while I can tell that I'm not quite back to 100% (damn you cooties!!), I feel happy and strong during my workouts.

While I'm ready for this month to wrap up and a new one to start, I keep thinking about the fortune I received (pictured above). What is this pleasant experience?? Could it be Girl Scout cookie season?!?! Could it be applying to and being accepted to a new graduate program?? Could it be winning the lottery?? I guess I'll have to wait and see :)

New Release Tuesday

Y'all might remember that I shared a song 

from this artist a few months back. Since that

time, I've had his music on repeat!

If you've been watching the NFL over the past few weeks,

then I KNOW you will recognize this song from 

one of the commercials that has been frequently played.

It's an awesome song and it makes

me feel like a badass!

You should know that when I sing this song, I say

"It's time to do what must be done,

Be a QUEEN when kingdom comes" :)

Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!

Hilarious pic I found on my phone - not sure where it's from!

We all know that I want shoulders. Scratch that. We all know that I am crazy mildly obsessed with building boulder shoulders.

Remember the video I posted in my I Wanna Be Like Dwight post? Side note - can we just talk about how much I miss my mohawk? I'm seriously thinking about going back to it! Can I also mention that my body looks so different to me in that training video?? I haven't watched it in awhile and am realizing that I really have made some serious changes to my physique since we shot that.

I also talked about my ever-growing desire to have shoulders like Dwight and Candice Keene as well as sharing a couple different shoulder workouts in my The Obsession Continues and Mixin' Things Up posts. Since those posts were a few months ago, I thought I would share some of the more recent workouts I've been doing.

I recently learned how how to do clean and press and I have to tell you, I kinda love it :) I've been incorporating it into at least one of my weekly shoulder workouts.

Workout A

Cable Upright Row

80 x 20 (2 sets)  100 x 15 (2 sets)  120 x 12 (2 sets)

Standing Lateral Raises

20/20 x 12 (2 sets)  25/25 x 12 (2 sets)  30/30 x 10

Shoulder Press

barbell x 10 (4 sets)

superset with

Bent-over Lateral Raises

15 x 12  20 x 12  25 x 12  30 x 10

Incline Press (with dumbbells)

20 x 10 (5 sets)

superset with

Push-ups

10 (5 sets)

From my Instagram - I was very excited about my polka dots & baby boulders! :)

Workout B
Single Arm Military Press (with dumbbells)
20 x 12 (5 sets)

Quarter Lateral Raises
15 x 20 (3 sets)  20 x 15 (3 sets)

StarTrac Rear Delt Machine
60 x 10 (3 sets)  75 x 10 (3 sets)
Clean and Press
30/30 x 8  35/35 x 8  40/40 x 8  45/45 x 6 (2 sets)

Ignore the booze & focus on the cute bow in my hair & the appearance of my right shoulder...lol!

I'm excited about the developments that appear to be taking place!! Do I have Dwight Howard shoulders? No, I'm not quite there yet. But like I've said before, I want boulders so bad I can taste them!

Gimme...gimme...gimme!!!

New Release Tuesday

I heard this song the other morning while I was getting ready 

for work and I had VH1 playing in the background.

*sigh*

I'm on a mission to find out more about this 

eye & ear candy Russell Taylor!

Sorting Things Out

Welcome to 2014!

Wait....2014!?!?! When the f@*k did that happen?!?!!?

The last few months of 2013, honestly, went by in a blur. I began my "off-season", transferred to a new branch, made a huge decision to start working with a new trainer, and then boom....a new year is starting....

Now, this is not going to be a "2013 in review" blog post. This is also not going to be a post where I talk about my resolutions for 2014 or competition plans.

That's right - I'm not going to talk about what my competition plans for this year are.

Here's what I will say - people have been asking me what I'm going to do this year in terms of competing. Am I going to do an AZ show? Am I going to step on the national stage again? A couple of weeks ago, I could have given you an enthusiastic, positive answer about what my plans were.

 I can't do that right now.

All I can say is that if I step on stage this year, it might be my last year doing so. I'm 33 years old. I walk into shows and I'm standing on stage with babies...ok....they're not babies....more like 20 year olds...but they make me feel like an old bag of bones! Prep & competing take up a lot of time and I feel little a guilty about giving that time away to something other than my family. I'm training with someone new and every time I walk away from our sessions thinking "Damn! I still have so much work to do!" and that's not always a great feeling (just being honest here).

While I feel like this might be a good time for me to hang up my 5 inch clear heels, it's not because I hate the sport or I'm bitter or angry. It's because I know I might have gone as far as I could. I feel like there's nothing wrong with walking away from something if you've gotten out of it all that you could.

I haven't made any firm decisions yet. I keep going back and forth. I love figure. I love trophies (who doesn't?!!?). I love showcasing all of my hard work, even if it's in the smallest bedazzled bikini known to man. I love this sport.

2014.

The year of ____ ???