I'm Back With... Progress!

Hey guys! Long time no talk. I have a reason for this, so bear with me.

This week has been especially hectic with school and family priorities, so I apologize for my little blogging hiatus. Secondly, I feel like my posts were becoming less emotional for me. Each and every post that I write, I want the reader to literally feel the passion in my words, and lately I haven’t felt as if I have been putting too much emotion into my posts. Call me cliché or whatever it is, but I don’t want to type something just for the sake of getting a post up.

With that being said, I am going to make a cognizant effort to get more posts up on here, but I’ll be blatantly honest and say that when I genuinely am just not feeling a post and don’t post for 2-3 days, do not worry for I have not died. Just taking a breather and recharging; that’s all. 

I decided after my brief explanation, now would be a really good time to detail the progress I have made during these weeks since my last progress post. All I have to say is that I honestly feel like each and every time I hit the gym, I am getting better, stronger, and more confident. It’s an indescribable feeling and it’s the equivalent of being on cloud 9 for me.

Compared to where I was about a year ago, I have drastically changed. My arms are so much bigger now. I love it! 

Picture courtesy of my fantastic trainer A.K.A. second mother!

My legs have always been and will most likely always be my source of pain. I am not like most women where all that junk goes to that big ‘ol trunk. My legs are naturally super skinny and it takes a lot of butt kicking in the gym to get them to show any definition. However, they have changed immensely. Sometimes I’ll have people come up to me and ask me what that ‘lump’ hanging over my knee is. Well, that would be my quad muscle… thank you very much! To know that others are seeing the changes as well really brightens my day.

My partner in crime and I snapping pics in the gym. Love her. <3

On top of some serious development in my legs and my arms, I have made a lot of progress in other parts as well. Let’s be honest: I’ve never had big boobs and never will. Sorry guys. But after copious chest workouts and continuously piling on more weight, I have that awesome line down my chest. Some people say it may look ‘manly,’ but to me it just exemplifies all of my hard work. For a girl who started out barely being able to bench press 30 pounds, this is huge for me.

Also, my back has made some serious progress. I cannot look at my back in the mirror anymore without gawking at all the muscles that are starting to stick out like a sore thumb. It gives me a sense of pride and accomplishment. I feel so proud that this is MY body: I have molded it into my dream physique and I continue to do so. I love how Erin Stern compares her body to a canvas; she’s the artist and can sculpt it however way she wants. I completely agree.

Lastly, my abs… Well, I am proud to say that after a long time of neglecting them, I have finally made a noticeable effort in working on the core section of my body. I’ve been doing plenty of TRX exercises, yoga, pilates, and others to challenge my core and increase its strength. I am long and lean, so my ab structure is that direct six pack.

Although I really like the look of compact abs like the ones that shorter women have (A.K.A. my BEAST of a trainer), I’m proud of where my abs are and hopefully I may be able to have Andreia Brazier’s wonderful abs someday, since my ab structure is very similar to hers. One can only hope, right?

Andreia Brazier abs (source) vs. Ava Cowan abs (source)

With increasing my cardio, I’ve seen more ab definition and surprisingly less amounts of stress levels. I always thought that hitting the iron was great for my stress levels but I have found that doing some cardio and getting my heart rate elevated has done wonders. I was able to discover where my body was comfortable at in terms of cardio. I was getting too lean doing two HIIT sessions (20 minutes each) per week so I cut it down to one 20-minute HIIT session and one 20 minute steady state cardio session. I am still relatively lean but I am still able to build more muscle on this foundation.

I used to be obsessed with seeing my abs and muscles in the mirror, but now I can look in the mirror after getting out of the shower or whatnot and seeing my abs more defined than ever before. I feel as if this is because by eliminating the pressure to have these ‘perfect abs,’ my body is not always so wired and stressed and therefore I don’t bloat as much. Even after eating a huge meal, my abs are still there and I now know that as long as I keep working hard, they will always be there. I just have to trust the process and not be so engulfed in having them.

Finally, my diet has not really changed. I never get too into detail on the workings of my diet on here, but I’m still eating enough to fuel muscle growth but not gain weight too rapidly. I eat like a horse on leg days, but I am almost positive this is the same for everyone, and it’s good that I am getting extra nutrients on leg day to fuel the growth and improvement that I still want to see in them.

Phew, that was quite a post if I do say so myself. Well, I am back for the time being! 

Questions: Did you miss me? How is your own progress in whatever aspect of your life that is applicable coming along?

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