Holy cow it's been awhile.
I'm not going to sugar coat it: I haven't been blogging because I have had absolutely no motivation to do so recently. I've been stressed to the max and to be quite honest, dealing with some sadness issues which I am overcoming by the hour.
Since my last post (over a month ago) many things have happened. My brother graduated high school for one. Oh and also...
THE BLACKHAWKS WON THE STANLEY CUP.
My family is a big Blackhawks family. My grandpa was a HUGE Blackhawks fan and died without ever seeing them win the Stanley Cup, and they won twice within four years? Insane. When they scored those last two goals within 17 seconds, we went crazy. Now that's some good hockey!
On another note, since this blog is really about fitness, I've reached a point where I'm just bored in the gym. I have been doing 'bodybuilding' style workouts for the past year and a half. So I did decide to switch things up a bit. As of now, I'm doing mostly compound lifts (squats, deadlifts, etc.) and doing more push/pull and a lot of metabolic resistance training (e.g. burpees, jump squats, jump lunges, Tabatas). I find this more enjoyable than doing three sets of ten to twelve reps for a given exercise. Yawn.
I will be uploading some progress pictures soon. The progress I have made in the past year is unbelievable. I've gained a good amount of (much needed) weight and I'm at a healthy weight for my height and age. My legs are no longer toothpicks but rather sturdy hunks of meat capable of doing some heavy lifting. My arms aren't sticks anymore either. In general, I feel more confident. Yes, sometimes I do feel that pressure to be 'skinny' because that's what is plastered everywhere these days: on billboards, commercials, magazines, etc. But in the end, I'm happier being more curvy than a stick who was tired of the comments about my stickliness.
I'm tired of seeing skinny girls claiming they're going to gain this amount of weight and get so shredded and then do figure competitions!!! Like what? I used to be like that, and yeah to be blatant I'm not interested in doing fitness competitions anymore... I know right. Crazy!!! Things change, and my mindset has changed. I find it ridiculous the amount of hardship bodybuilders must go through to get on stage... eating next to nothing, two cardio sessions per day and no social life? No thank you. If I ever do decide to compete, I won't be doing a ton of steady state cardio and surviving off of tilapia and asparagus. Yuck.
In general, I find that skinnier girls trying to put on mass want to do competitions because it gives them an excuse to put on weight, but still not be fat. I'm sorry but it's true. That's how I was. It's like "Oh, well everyone is telling me I need to put on weight... so I'll start building muscle and competing so at least I'll be heavier but I won't be fat!!!" That's not right. You need to EAT, just shut up and eat and it doesn't all have to be healthy. Go eat pizza, ice cream, fried Oreos double dunked in peanut butter, whatever it is just go and eat it. You won't gain weight if you're eating healthy all the time, and you won't put on the weight you need. And YES, some body fat is necessary to function! No one, ESPECIALLY women, walks around at 5% body fat all the time. That's dangerous and not necessary.
So that's my two cents...
But here's some other pictures from the past month so you all can get caught up :)
My brother and I then and now. We are growing up way too fast.
Some selfie action goin' on.
A trainer at my gym gave me this. It's a protein rice krispie treat... ohmahgawd it was to DIE for.
Aaaand this is a maple bacon shake that my co-worker and I made at work. SO GOOD!!!
Have a great day!
