BECOMING A BIKINI COMPETITOR {08.13.2015}

Over the last few months, I have really been thinking hard about my goals. Sure, I want to lose weight. Yes, I want to get down to a healthy weight. But, I still want more! I've been talking a lot about my real goals. After all, a goal without a plan is really just a wish. I don't want to just wish things, I want to make things really happen. Make huge changes and be a better me than ever before.

 

This lead me to Bikini Competitions. I have so many beautiful friends who are Bikini Competitors, and when I see their bodies, I am in awe. I am inspired. I think to myself, "that's what I want." So, why not go get it? Well, that's exactly what I'm going to do!

 

I researched for days on all the details of a Bikini Competitors Life and I'm ready for the challenge. I'm ready to succeed and make my goal more than just a wish. Will it be easy? Not at all! But I just know that I will feel so proud of myself at the end of the day. Ironically, my own father was, at one point in life, a Body Builder. He did the competitions, the strenuous workouts and eating plans, and even did the ridiculously dark tanning. I still remember seeing those videos and photos and thinking, "that will never be me." And while I will never try to become a woman Body Builder, I will work hard to become a Bikini Competitor. Though it does surprise me that I naturally, and just like my father, have made Bikini Competitions my dream, my goal.

 

Unfortunately, I am not prepared at this time to being the dieting and intensified workouts for the competition yet. Partly because I am in the middle of finishing up my strength training workouts, but also, I will be going on vacation in about 17 days. Even though I will be focusing completely on healthy eating options as well as continuing to exercise, I know that I would not be able to keep up with a Bikini Competitor workout and diet plan while on vacation. But that's not to say that my current workout isn't going to help me in the long run. Lord knows, between my current workout and meal plan, I am still losing weight in a healthy amount of time.

Check out this girl! In just six months, she was able to pull together and compete. I imagine this is what my body will look like. I also have about six months until the competition, so it definitely helps that I have already started eating healthy and working out regularly.

 

Currently, I have 33 weeks until the competition {March 2016}. Technically, I won't be starting the rigorous workout and dieting plan until I return from vacation. That means, when I return, I will only have 28 weeks to get it together. I know its possible. I've seen how hard work and eating right can change my body in so many ways. For example, E and I didn't start really working out and eating better until January 2015. By March, we had lost 25pounds each. After being stuck in my plateau for about two months, I can finally say that as of right now {August 13, 2015} I have lost a grand total of 40 pounds in just seven months.

 

Here's to my journey to becoming a Bikini Competitor.

May the odds be ever in my fat body's favor!

 

 

 

*stay tuned for my new workout and dieting plan*

 

 

WAIST TRAINING {06.17.2015}

I'm sure you've heard about waist training before from the likes of celebrities such as Kim Zociak, Kim Kardashian, Snooki, Jessica Alba, Khloe Kardashian, Lily James (Cinderella), JWoww, the list is endless.



(source)

Maybe you've thought about trying it out but just aren't sure. Well, I know how you feel. I finally gave in and decided to order my first waist trainer. I wanted to take part in the waist train society. Let me first start by giving you some benefits of waist training.

 

1. High compression helps to firm and tone your stomach, love handles, and lower belly fat
2. Increases blood circulation and stimulates perspiration on your abdominal area
3. Offers back support and aids back pain
4. Promotes healthy lifestyle and a healthy mind

(source)

Of course, you have to keep in mind that this is just a tool to assist you with toning and tightening. If you wear this all day and then continue to eat fast food, odds are, you won't see any difference. My plan is to continue working out seven days a week and eating with my healthy portion control system.

If you are interested in trying it but want to see results from someone else before trying it yourself, then you're in luck! I will be starting my waist training tomorrow and will give you a full review at the end of the seven days.

 

If you already have a waist trainer but need a partner, or maybe you just received it but aren't sure what to do, you can join me. Here is my waist training "plan."

 

First, I will only be wearing the waist trainer during the day. Majority of the information sites I've read on waist training suggest wearing the trainer for up to four hours when just starting out, then adjusting time to six to eight hours a day once comfortable and used to the fit of the waist trainer. In addition to wearing the trainer during the day, I will also be working out seven days a week but will not be wearing the waist trainer during cardio workouts, I will only wear the trainer during lower/upper body workout days. You can see my workout schedule and healthy eating portion control information here!

 

Stay Tuned as I will be posting some info-videos for those that are interested in learning more about waist training.

 

Oh, check it out! All new blog posts will feature "Wednesday Wonders" to give you insights on new items or products that you'll love!

 

 

Wednesday Wonders: As Father's Day approaches, if you are in need of a gift, why not get dad something he'll love? Visit: http://shaved.by/cvLPH for the Dollar Shave Club! Dad will love the monthly, high quality razors. No more standing at the grocery stores sorting through the expensive options or purchasing the cheap, low quality razors. While there, check out there full range of products that dad can use with his new razors!

(source)

 

*Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with the Dollar Shave Club and was not paid for this advertisment.*

 

14 DAY FIX - JOIN US {06.12.2015}

E and I were recently introduced to the 21 Day Fix while watching TV at our gym. I originally thought, "what a scam..," you know the normal thought most people have when they see things being sold on TV. But I started hearing more and more about it through friends and started researching. I found out that many people have really great success on this program, so after talking with E, we decided that we would "try it out." So we decided that we would start with a 14 Day Fix first. After all, 2 weeks doesn't seem that bad. Sure, you're probably thinking "what's one more week?," and your question is valid but we wanted to just dip our feet in the water before completely cannon-balling into something that we may hate. Want to join us? We will be starting this "fix" on Sunday, June 14!

 

So, for those that are interested, I wanted to divulge all the details to you! Let's get started. I'll take you step-by-step so you can easily follow along and understand the whole program to the best of your ability.

 

Before I begin, let me just explain the whole 21 Day Fix program. Basically, it is a program designed to help you lose up to 15 pounds in 21 days through simple fitness and simple eating - through its portion control eating system and seven day, 30-minute workouts each week. Pretty simple right? *please note that not everyone will lose 15 pounds, this is just an estimate. you may be able to lose more or you may not lose but 1 pound*

 

Now that we have the definition down, let's talk about how much you should be eating. First step, click here. That link will take you to a website where you can calculate the amount of calories you should be taking for a healthy weight loss. Once you are done calculating, take a look at this chart here and find your "Target Calorie."

 

Next, take a look at the container colors. From your column with the container #, write these down. For example, if your "Target Calorie" is 1550 then you would need (4) green, (3) purple, (4) red, (3) yellow, (1) blue, (1) orange, and (5) teaspoons. Below, you will find the measurements for each of this containers.

Now you need to plan! Figure out what you would like to eat during the day by using this menu.

Got your list of fav items? Alright, time to plan it out!!! Here is a sample below. The best way to do this would be to use an Excel sheet but you can always use pen and paper.

Let's start with the "meals" column. Yes, you will eat Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner but you will also need to eat three snacks throughout the day with the last snack being "dessert." Next column is the "menu," this is where you would type/write what you want to eat. The easiest way to do this is to use your menu and figure out what you would like to eat for each meal. It may help if as you plan the "menu," you also plan your "container count." You'll notice in the example that the person wrote "eggs (2)" for breakfast and marked (1) "x" in the red contain count, this is an exception as (2) eggs (egg-white portion only) are equivalent to 3/4 cup. Look further down at the lunch. Notice again that the person writes the menu for that meal and then plans it accordingly by marking the containers used with an "x." Make sure that you are paying attention to how many containers you should be getting. Revert to the first photo to find out how many containers you would get per your "target calorie." Again, it's really important that you are not forgetting to mark your "x's" so you are aware of what you are using throughout the day to know that you are not going over.

 

Final step, the workout plan! If you order the 21 Day Fix program, it comes with a DVD but I am not a DVD girl, and E isn't either, so I came up with a workout plan that will mirror the DVD's plan but allows me to enjoy the gym. Here is the plan that I will be following:

 

Mondays - Cardio

Tuesdays - Upper Body Strength

Wednesdays - Zumba (cardio)

Thursdays - Yoga

Fridays - Lower Body Strength

Saturdays - Cycling (another cardio)

Sundays - Full Body Strength (Upper & Lower)

 

Keep in mind that the point of the Cardio workouts is to raise your heart rate, make you sweat! The point of the Upper/Lower Body Strength days is to tone and tighten. You should only be working out for 30-minutes a day, so make it count! Please remember to push yourself but also be mindful of your bodies signals that you need to rest.

 

Most important, DRINK WATER! Water is soooo very important regardless of trying to lose weight or not, but it is especially important if you are working out because of how quickly you can dehydrate yourself. Try to drink at least (1) gallon of water a day and see if you can increase it to (2) gallons a day. Most body-builders and die-hard fitness people drink up to (3) or (4) gallons! I don't know if I could do that since that would require at least 50-100 bathroom breaks.

Lastly, take progress pictures daily! I know you probably hate the way you look in clothes and just the thought of taking daily photos in nothing but your underwear is terrifying, but, you need to see your progress. Too many times people get discouraged because they don't think they see results, until they start taking daily photos and see the results slowly starting to show. You don't need to show them to anyone, you don't even have to keep them forever but it's good to see yourself and see how much progress you're making. E and I will be taking the progress photos daily and will make a collage at the end of the 14 days. I will, of course, post mine (not E's), in the hopes that it will encourage those of you reading to take part and join us!!!

 

We will be trying to do a live event on the YouTube channel for those interested in finding out how to meal prep, where to begin and what to expect. Live Event will be posted at our channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/MeganErikRichards

 

Good luck and let's get fit together! WE CAN DO THIS!!!

*I am not affiliated with 21 Day Fitness or BeachBody in anyway. Just another person looking to improve my lifestyle, get fit, and get healthy!*

 

 

WHAT WE DID DIFFERENT YEAR 2 ROUND 1 THAT WORKED!!! {04.15.2015}

I wanted to share our "changes" that took place last cycle and helped us get pregnant so quickly. Let me just say that I have absolutely no idea which of these helped boost our chances, but I can tell you that God was the main source, the rest of the things were just a little "assistance," or so I like to say. It's so important to both E and I, to acknowledge God plays and played a HUGE part in our fertility journey. Do I think God wanted or planned for us to have miscarriages? ABSOLUTELY NOT! I believe God wants us to do as we are told, "go forth, be fruitful, and multiple," and that is why He continues to bless us with babies. So, without further ado, here is our TTC year 2 round 1 list of things we did to succeed.

1. I tracked everything!!! I'm so serious y'all. I tracked my temperature on two different fertility apps.
• a) Fertility Friend
• b) Ovia Fertility
2. I took daily OPKs starting on CD 8. I did use off-brand OPKs because I couldn't find the ClearBlue Digital sticks.
3. I attended weekly acupuncture appointments. I attended one appointment before starting Provera, one after Provera ended while still taking Clomid, one after Clomid ended near Ovulation, and one final appointment after Ovulation was registered.
4. I took prenatal vitamins. I have heard countless times that prenatal vitamins are sooo important, but I never really thought about it until after our first miscarriage in 2013. After taking the break during all of 2014, I decided that I would start taking prenatal vitamins at the start of my cycles. So for my year 2 round 2, I have decided to start taking those pills two days before the start of Provera (vitamins started on Monday, April 13).
5. Clomid was moved from CDs 3-7 to CDs 2-6. I don't really think this made a HUGE difference since I did get pregnant the first time taking Clomid on CDs 3-7. I will admit that I appreciate the change, I just seem to like the CD 2-6 better.
6. Pre-seed was used every time we BD. I've talked about it before, but pre-seed is amazing! Mostly because it is the ONLY sperm-friendly lubricant that I would trust.
7. I tracked my CM daily. Sure, it may not be the most amazing thing in the world, but I learned so much about my cycle just by paying attention to my body's signals.
8. We followed the SMEP, with a few adjustments to work with our schedules. Click to see the full SMEP!
9. Last but not least, I lost weight!!! I believe this was a real help in our TTC journey. I lost close to 30lbs at the start of the year and at my appointment on January 5, my doctor said that he was impressed and just knew that getting pregnant would be easier now...he was right!!! We got pregnant immediately! Obviously, I know this is not easy for everyone, but even just a weight adjustment of 5-10lbs can drastically increase chances of pregnancy.

My goal for this upcoming cycle is to follow the same pattern. I do want to try to eat Chia Seeds regularly throughout this upcoming cycle so that my body is healthy and for all of the health benefits. Click to read all about the health benefits of Chia Seeds. I have faith that we will have no problem getting pregnant this cycle, and with my doctor now considering us "high risk," I believe we will have a much better chance at keeping the next baby.

As always, thank you so much for reading and keeping up with our journey.

God Bless and Baby Dust!!!

NEW E & ME=BLOG FACELIFT {03.02.2015}

First of all, HAPPY MARCH beauties! Hard to believe we are flying through this year and not looking back for a second.

So recently, E and I suffered a miscarriage, you can read all about here. We made some decisions about what we wanted moving forward and part of that decision was moving on from our TTC Journey. 

In 2014, E and I went on a brand new journey called "lifestyle change." I will admit that once you get used to working out daily, it becomes a "need" and you want to workout. So by the title of our blog now (My Preppy Fitness Blog), one can come to the conclusion that we are back! We are back to the workout and fitness world. We started this morning actually. Day 1 was a thrill! Here's how it went...

3:45a - Alarm goes off

4:00a - Head to the gym

4:10a - Start workout: today was leg day for both of us

4:45a - E goes to the showers and I head for the sauna

5:00a - E heads to work and I head home to get ready for my day

So we ended up only doing about a 35 minute workout but we both managed to complete our leg day exercise routines. 

We feel really good! Confident! And ready to take on this workout journey. One of the things that I love is that we have a Costco within minutes of our home so it made Sunday Meal Prep so much easier. Speaking of meal prep, I will be posting more about that for those interested. I will also be posting our workout plan.

If you are wondering, E and I have set a so called "deadline" for ourselves. I needed to know my goal  date so I could see the goal and reach out. This goal date is June 1.

Throughout the next 12 weeks, we will push ourselves to be better, to make a huge lifestyle change, and even completely change our eating habits. Our blog will be dedicated to our journey throughout day-to-day life and fitness/workout/lifestyle change. 

I'm really looking forward to our first weigh-in which will be this Sunday, March 8! 

Want to join us on our 12 week challenge of intensity workouts and healthy meal planning? Check out our post tonight which will feature workout plans and meal prep plans. 

Enjoy!

Oh Snap, That Was Too Easy {11.16.2014}

So this weekend has been crazy busy! Friday night we partied a little too hard with some friends we've known for years. We met at the Houston Texans Grille around 7pm, we chatted for a few hours while enjoying some good drinks and good food. Then we all headed outside to play some pool {mind you, it was pretty cold in Houston: thank you Alaska...WE LOVE THE COLD for Winter!!!}, after pool a few of our friends decided to head home, but hubby and I wanted to keep the party going so we headed out to Brewski's Bar with our good friend Ryan and her hubby, Andrew. After a few rounds of darts for the guys, and hours of non-stop chatting between Ryan and I, we finally headed home around 1am and passed out! 

Saturday was a bit of a lazy-ish day, although if you asked Erik he'd say otherwise. We met with E's parents for a delicious breakfast at Los Cucos, then ran home so I could grab my camera and meet my client for their rescheduled photoshoot {they were absolutely amazing by-the-way!}, finally {and this is the best part} when I got home after the shoot, E had cleaned the entire house and it was stunning! He worked his butt off and I appreciate it so so so so much. 

Today, we woke up later than expected but neither of us were complaining. I started the morning off by making blueberry muffins and pancakes. I got regular pancakes and E got "gourmet" pancakes {my special recipe *winky face*}. After breakfast we hung out until TEXANS game time! Of course we watched the game at E's parents house but most of the time he and I stayed busy outside. Luckily his parents had the windows open and TV volume up so we could still hear the game. Before I show you what we were doing during the game, I have to say that I truly appreciate my hubby being my "saftey man" while I worked on these projects. He actually let me cut, screw, paint, and put together these pieces {of course we switched on and off, so overall it was 50-50 work}. 

So without further ado, here are just a few of the pieces that we were working on...

So this was made from pallets and this was my very first time EVER making anything from wood! I decided to paint it white and add our favorite lyric "Dont worry about the future, or worry but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gun." I tried to keep the colors similar to our livingroom. For my first time, not bad.

Second project was so much easier. I painted it brown, and then added white to make it have a rustic-like feel. I then used my glue-gun to add the "LOVE" banner, which I also made. And it was done! This will hang in our master bedroom.

And finally, {our most proud project of the day}, our crate! We literally made this from pallet boards and has absolutely no assistance from websites. This was measured, cut, screwed, and made by E and I. Mind you, we have NEVER buildt anything from scratch without some sort of guidelines to go off of. 

These were just a few, the rest will be posted upon completion. The main reason I made these was to practice for my big DIY project that I'm really looking forward to. I hope it works and looks as good as these did. I mean I'm not saying that these are by any means "spectacular" but for being first time DIY-ers projects, I feel like we did a pretty darn good job! 

After the hustle and bustle of the weekend, we stopped at the nearby mall, and grabbed some pre-workout. I'm really looking forward to using this and getting back into shape. Stay tuned because I will be going over my meal and workout plans, as well as what pre-workout I'm using. I will also do a review on this pre-workout! Let's workout together, eat healthier, and get into shape!

Other memorable things from this week...

I made the BEST stew!!! It was so darn good and I love it because I can just pop it in the crockpot before leaving for work and then let it cook throughout the day. When I get home, it's ready to go and dinner is served. 

Sad moment of the week, my bubble-necklace broke! I was just sitting at my desk and next thing I know it's broken. So sad!!!

Here's my necklace before breaking...*sigh*

I had to post this hilarious situation that went down with our fur-babies Chief & Brooks. I asked them to both take a picture, Chief ran off so I snapped a picture of Brooks...

But then Chief decided to photo-bomb...

So Brooks decided to bop him on the head...*giggles*

Oh finally, I'm so glad y'all can cooperate!

So that sums up our week and weekend. Thank you for reading!!!

Well wishes and God Bless