25 days to go!

Kind of like counting down to Christmas...

Emotions are high, patience is short, body is tired, and belly is hungry.

But we are almost there!

After having one of my many mental breakdowns the other day,

I showed up to work to find this sweet lil surprise:

My sweet lil mother always knows how to help me feel better. :)

You know what else help me feel better??

CHEAT MEAL!!!!!!

We went went with Subway sandwiches this week!

SO YUMMY!

I even got Baked Lays too;)

Probably only 2 more cheat meals left!!!

Dear Beefy Crunch Burrito...

You were just as delicious as you looked.

After weeks of craving you, I finally got to enjoy!

I am glad we could share cheat meal together. 

Sincerely,

Janessa

P.S.

Last nights dream:

Sweet dreams...

Surprise, Surprise! I had another food dream last night! 

And it was about this glorious treat:

But somehow it was sugar free! I had one of these for one of my very first cheat meals and it was worth every little sugary bite.

I have such a bad sweet tooth. Thats been one of the harder things to deal with on this diet. Before the diet  I would always have some kind of candy or treat in my purse. Now I just have a huge bag of sugar free gum with 6 or 7 different flavors. 

Sometimes the gum doesn't quite cut it and I have to find other ways to curb my sweet tooth. One of my new favorite things is my morning coffee. Since I have to drink it black, we have been trying new flavors of beans and adding sugar free syrup to it. This weeks flavor is cinnamon bun with vanilla syrup. So tasty!

And the chain falls!

At the very beginning of our contest diet, Phil and I, and our inner child, decided it would be fun to make a count down chain till the show. You know the chains you would make out of construction paper to count down till Christmas?? Yup, exactly like that. It is the coolest count down chain EVER! We put a lot of thought into it. We even made special chains for each holiday. Christmas, New years, Valentines, even Martin Luther King day! lol We strung it up around Phil's room:

Each time we get to the top of a loop and the chain falls, we get so excited. And it fell today! :)

We are already down to the green! We aren't the best at remembering to take one off every day and since its so high up we usually have to get a stool to take them off. But it has been so fun to watch it shrink!

13 weeks down, 5 weeks to go!

I can't believe how fast this contest prep is going by! There have been days that it has dragged, but we are at the tail end! It has been very physically, emotionally, and mentally challenging. I kinda have it good though because I have an amazing boyfriend (who has done this before) that helps me through everything, and knows the tricks of the trade and helps me to stay motivated. Not to mention I have an amazing trainer, Shane Heugly (who is an absolute genius!) and his wife Tiffany. Don't know what I would do with out them!

The progress I have made is incredible and I feel amazing! I have been discouraged against posting any progress pics yet, so I will be posting some right after the show. I am down about 20 lbs and getting so lean! I already look better than I ever have before, besides maybe in high school and I have a six pack!

 I got my suit that I will be wearing for the show this week!! Most expensive swimsuit

 I have ever purchased... but its so pretty! They even gave me a free upgrade on my bling!

Not to mention I get to wear it with these bad boys:

5 inches baby!

The suit was a little intimidating the first time I put it on because well... it doesn't cover very much!

But after wearing it around a little bit more and the more toned I get, the more comfortable I will feel! But I may still tell my mom not to come to the show... lol.

My diet and exercise regimen is really strict. I can't give details but I eat ALOT of protein and veggies, and I eat the same thing EVERYDAY. It was especially hard since I started the week of Thanksgiving. The holidays were killer!

 After a few weeks of eating the same thing every day, you can start going a little crazy, so that's when you gotta get a little creative! Phil and I found this brand of condiments at Harmons that is zero calorie, gluten free, sugar free, and has NO carbs! The brand is Walden Farms. We are obsessed! They make everything! They make all kinds of salad dressings, bbq sauce, pasta sauce, jams, peanut butter spread, and even chocolate, caramel, and marshmallow dips, and they are all pretty tasty! I seriously would probably have died without them. One of my favorite concoctions is my bbq ranch chicken salad:

So huggin delicious!!

Once a week I get to have a cheat meal, which is an extra few hundred calories of whatever I want! This is the most exciting day of the week. Of course we try to squeeze in as much as we can into that calorie allotment to make the most out of it. One week we found a pint of ice cream that is only 150 calories for the whole pint (we found that at Harmons too) and ate it with a pile of cookies! The ice cream wasn't the greatest but it was nice to be able to eat a whole pint:)

My favorite cheat meal so far was the week we made homemade McGriddles. The most delicious thing ever!! We used whole wheat Eggo waffles, egg whites, our Walden Farms zero calories syrup, turkey sausage and a single piece of kraft cheese. And it was only like 350 calories for the whole thing! We also had lil mini blueberry muffins and Sunrise Orange Crystal Light to go along with it :)

McDonalds can suck it!
One top of the entire Walden Farms line a few other things that have got me through are butter spray:

and sugar free gum for my sweet tooth:

not to mention lots and lots of diet soda!

We have already been planning what we are going to eat after the show. I seriously feel like such a fat kid on this diet. I literally have dreams about food almost every night. Last nights food dream was of french toast... lol. When I think about being able to eat regular food again I feel like I just want to gorge and eat everything in sight! But now its been so long since I have been able to eat regular food, I am terrified of gaining all the weight back that I lost and all my hard work going to waste. Its such a bittersweet feeling. I have definitely learned so much on this contest prep that will change the way I will live my life even after the show. I can't wait to see what the next 5 weeks will bring me!

Life as of now.

Just to get updated on life, this is what has been going on with me!

Since graduating esthetic school almost a year ago, I am working as a lash artist at Got Lashes? 

(soon to be Cherry Lash Lounge)

I have never loved a job more!

I don't know what I would do without my lashes!!

I am currently prepping to compete in the NPC Bikini Competition in March!

I am a person that always needs a goal to be working towards and after finishing school last year I was getting the itch to find something else to accomplish. 

Since I will be turning 25 in May(:S) and there WAS talk of having babies..(not anymore..) I wanted to do something that would help me get in the best shape of my life. 

I have always been involved with fitness and find it to be one of my passions

(although not always the best at it;) ), 

I was deciding between running a marathon or doing a bikini competition. 

After doing some research and talking to lots of people that have done both I decided to go for the bikini competition. Besides I don't like running that much.. lol

I only have 5 more weeks to go and have already been prepping for 13 weeks!

The transformation has been incredible! 

I have dropped almost 20 lbs!

While doing my research for the bikini competition and asking around I came back in contact with an old friend from high school who had competed before. He hooked me up with his trainer and was really helpful with showing me around the gym and answering all my questions about the sport. 

Things progressed and we started hanging out a lot and now he is my darling lil boyfriend!! :)

He treats me like a queen and is such a gentleman. 

I am so lucky and blessed to have him in my life.
We have been dating for 3 months this last Monday!

Love you my Philly cheese cake ;) lol

With all the change that was going on in my life,

 I decided it was time to do a little upgrading too :)

So I sold this lil diddy:

and upgraded to this sweet thing:

Isn't she pretty??

New cars are so much fun!

With my new life starting, 

I finally did something that I have been wanting to do for a long time!

I got my first tattoo!!

 I don't think I would have gotten the courage to do it without my cute Gentri friend talking me into it :)

I am so glad she did because it has so much meaning to me.

It says beautiful. powerful. passionate.

My mantra :)

And now its always there so that I never forget it!

That's my life in a nut shell for now!

Work, gym, eat and sleep.

But life couldn't be any better :)

New Beginnings

After a far too long blogging hiatus, its time to start it back up again!! Life has been quite crazy for the last few months, but its finally starting to calm down and become "normal" again (although I'm not really sure what that is anymore ;) ). Having gone through a divorce recently I have been given the chance to start over fresh. As scary as it can be, it has been quite invigorating. I have finally let go of expectations other people may have had on me and am finally living for myself! It has felt so freeing to not worry about what other people will think of me all the time. I have had made a lot of mistakes in my past and I am just trying to move on and be a better person. I have learned so much about myself and the people around me. I have learned who my true friends are and what unconditional love really is. I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family that have stuck behind me through everything and am so grateful to those who can see who I truly am. My heart aches for those that I have hurt in the past and I wish to bring only happiness, love and positivity to those around me. So here is to a fresh start, new beginnings and a second chance at life! :)