July 25th Progress Update!!

Hello to all of my readers!!!

Thank you so much for taking interest in my exciting journey to my next figure competition, the WBFF show August 27th, 2011! I'm thrilled to share this experience with all of you and see that so many of you are e-mailing me, facebooking me etc... with questions and feedback, it makes this whole thing that much more fun for me :D
Well, the last post on here was July 11th, where i must admit i was STUCK IN A RUT! that video i posted SUCKED, i was crazy bloated from my time of the month which i did not even think was going to come.. and, the suit selection was awful, on top of that i had been creeping on facebook at all the other ripped peoples' profiles and somehow i started to feel REALLY low and mad at myself for not being where i should be, i felt off track all of a sudden and without hope. Well here are some things that have changed over the past 2 weeks that have made a HUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE difference in my progress and have gotten me to where i want to be at this point and it seems that i'm right back on track!

1. I changed my diet! (i was carb cycling previously, which was working wonders but as we are all too familiar with, everything has its limitations... so a macro-nutrient ratio switch-up was highly necessary) I've added a LOT more carbs in, and reduced some portions, added some digestive supplements and tapered back on protein! This is working for my body type.
2. My time of the month FINALLY came.... its unbelievable just HOW much of an impact this has on the female body. For one reason or another, my hormones decided to co-operate and make my life easier and i got my period :) Each day this week I started to feel tighter/leaner and understood WHY i looked so shitty in my last posing video.. once i made sense of a few things, my mood picked up, i removed the mental barriers/negativity and kept moving forward!
3. I have a WORKOUT BUDDYYYYYYYY!!!! i NEVER wanted one before because i thought they would talk too much or go off-topic from the workout or try to entirely dictate the whole workout etc. etc... i'm REALLY stubborn and sometimes when it comes to socializing i'm very closed-minded.. THIS is one decision i do NOT regret... after going through my training partner's back workout on Tuesday it felt like my lats/rhomboids/whole entire back had been re-modeled like a clay structure LOL... I'm also more motivated because instead of staring at myself in the mirror the whole time and going from admiring to criticizing myself i have somebody else to stare at and stroke their ego and talk about vascularity with! :D haha so this was a WIN-WIN situation!
4. I changed my meal frequency!!! I am switching back from 5 larger meals a day (all different sizes) to 6-8 small meals a day... depending on the day of the week, activity level and what i am craving... i strongly believe that if you're craving something HEALTHY in abundance, your body is deficient in nutrients that this food possesses, so instead of listening to "hear-say" and other peoples advice, the news/magazines or WHATEVER the brainwash may be... GO WITH YOUR GUT!! Follow your instincts.. this has worked for me time and time again... i will NOT "Listen to the experts" if they "wont listen to me" and that's final! We are very intuitive beings and should not allow ourselves to be mislead:)
5. I took a FACEBOOK VACATION... not that i don't love you all and mind you i did miss interacting with all my friends/fans on a daily basis but i needed some time to think, and make very important decisions.. also, i needed to STOP making shrines of myself for a bit and posting them on FB blowing up people's notifications/news feeds LOL... 

Now, those are the main things that have changed in my training/diet that have made all the difference i find... For some reason, my whole attitude towards competing has changed. I want to be ripped/lean YEAR-ROUND and i find the only way to achieve this is to find a perfect balance between work, training, dieting, leisure activities/relaxation and mind control. THE BODY ACHIEVES WHAT THE MIND BELIEVES! as i always say, and am finally following; if you tell yourself that you suck, you will end up losing... if you tell yourself you WILL achieve, you will start to believe this and results will happen... take ANY SMALL result, and ANY small advance in the right direction and use it as a sign/prediction of what's to come... STAY POSITIVE!!!! I'm obviously really excited hence all the CAPITAL LETTERS!!!! LOLOL 

Anyhow, i've added some pics into the article for those of you that don't have me on facebook. Hope you are all having a wonderful summer and stay tuned for my next update :)
xo,

Alex L.