Pep Talk

I was giving myself a little pep talk in the shower this morning. I'll tell you why...

(FYI - this could be a long post)

Yesterday I started carb cycling again. I've been consistently weight training and carbing up to build as much muscle mass as possible for the past two months and now it's time to lean out. Summer isn't that far out, if I start now, I should get there.

I've noticed a gain in weight, and my arms are NOTICEABLY more muscular. I don't see it in my legs, but theory tells me that if I built it in my arms, I also did so in my legs. Problem is, the fat layer on top is preventing me from seeing my progress.

The only way for me to lose fat is going to be to cycle carbs. That's it. No magic to it. Just plain and simple. I have done this before and I definitely feel leaner after doing it. The problem is I've never been able to last more than 2 or 3 cycles. Because it's hard. DAMN HARD!!

I need to cycle 3 days low carbs (nothing starchy like bread or pasta) then up 1 day. Then back to the 3 low days, and so on. This is done for a period of 12 weeks. I can actually call this a "diet" because it's not a way of life, just a temporary solution.

After this leaning out process, I can go back to a normal baseline of healthy eating, carbs and all. See, maintaining is the easy part. It's getting there that's hard. But I can do it. It's a sacrifice, yes, but it's only temporary. I can sacrifice eating bread on most days because my end goal is more important than bread. If I ask myself, would I rather eat what I love; bread, oatmeal, cheerios, rice (oooooh sushi), OR would I rather have my goal body by summer? I would say HELL YEAH I would rather have my goal body! It's THAT important to me.

Remember, it's only temporary. I can do temporary.

Remember those billboards that used to say something like, "Screw your diet, I want my cheese!"? I loved them because I can relate. It's how I feel some days. I freakin' LOVE cheese! But what do I love more? The insane bliss I get for 5 minutes while I indulge in the cheese, or the insane bliss I get ALL THE TIME from being fit and lean and able to walk down the beach in a bikini KNOWING I look smokin' hot? Um....DUH!!! No brainer!

How can I get there? My body, right now, is happy with it's current weight and body fat percentage. How do I know this? It hasn't budged in months!!! Maybe even longer! Sure, the scale may fluctuate 3-5 pounds now and then due to many things, but I don't count that. I've plateaued. And restricting calories is not the answer because I simply cannot function when I'm running on empty. I just don't have the energy it takes to raise 3 kids and take care of the duties I have as a house wife on a restricted calorie diet. I'm impatient the way it is, throw in a diet that's seriously depriving me of calories and you don't want to know me!!

So what is the solution? It would seem as though I'm stuck the way I am. Wrong. I can shock my body with carb cycling. It's the ONLY way I will be able to lose FAT while retaining precious muscle. And it ain't easy partner! But everything in life worth having, is worth working for! And I'm ready to DO WORK CREW!!

When I told my husband this morning that I was carb cycling again he just kind of laughed and said "I thought you were fasting?". He was referring to IF. And it's true, I was. He said, "How do you know if any of this stuff you try is going to work if you don't stick with it longer than a week?". And he is absolutely right. But I also absolutely KNOW that carb cycling works.

If you have not already, I suggest you read Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle by Tom Venuto. This man, simply put, is a genius. He is (in my opinion) one of the smartest, most honest people you will find in the fitness industry. He tells it like it is - and he doesn't promote bars or shakes or whatever it is on the market that everyone and their brother is trying to get you to buy. Because you don't need it. He gives you all the information and he doesn't sugar coat it. He says, hey, it's hard work. You gotta DO THE WORK. There will be some sacrifice.

And if you aren't willing to sacrifice a little, you don't want it bad enough.

And I tell you what, if Tom Venuto is going to suggest that to bust through a fat loss plateau, you have to carb cycle, than you bet your sweet ass that's what I'm gonna do! He's smart, people. VERY smart. You read him, and you'll find that out for yourself. It will probably change your life.

Everyone has different goals. My goals are written on index cards and placed strategically around the house, where I am sure to see them multiple times a day. I am keeping my goal in front of my eyes at all times. I think, eat, sleep, breathe my goal. Eventually, I will internalize it. It will be ingrained in my subconscious like breathing and blinking. And just try to stop me from achieving my goal then!

Some people will try and tell me that what I want is unattainable. "You're already fit" "You're skinny enough" "Girls can't build muscle" and my all-time favorite "Just relax, you're working yourself too hard" .....B.S.....ALL of it! Sure, I'm fit. But I want more, and it sure as hell isn't unattainable. You gotta want it, you gotta work for it. I may be skinny enough, but I want to be LEAN and MUSCULAR. And yes, girls can build muscle. Not like a man, but we CAN build muscle. I certainly don't think that moving my body is working too hard. That is absurd.

People like this are dream squashers. They lack the ability to reach their own goals. They don't have the drive or determination to get what they want so they will try and stop you from being a success. Because that will only make their own failures that much clearer to them.

I'm on another one of those Monday morning motivation surges, can you tell? That's good. Motivation is like a roller coaster. Sometimes it's up and sometimes it's down. That's life, isn't it? I'll take my high motivation days, I need them! This is going to be tough. I'm going to be faced with temptation. I'm going to have pity parties. I'm going to question how important my goal really is to me. That's what makes it tough. But I'm tough, baby, and I can do this!

Am I ready to do the work? "HELL YEAH! DO WORK!"

Am I ready to sacrifice? "I am. It's going to be HARD, but sooo worth it."

Is this forever? "Carb cycling is only temporary."

Is it going to be easy? "NO WAY! But maintaining at the end of the journey is!"

Tom Venuto also says that you should see progress EVERY week. So if I'm not seeing the results I want, I need to tweak what I'm doing. I need to ask myself, did I cheat? Did I eat too much? Did I slack on the cardio? Did I miss workouts? And if I'm doing everything I know I'm supposed to do, I will see results every week.

Oh, and I worked out today too. I'll post that later :)