Operation: Frozen Nutty Goodness!

I have a love affair with a certain nut butter. That's why I had to implement Operation: Frozen Nutty Goodness! O:FNG was created to stop me from being tempted to dip a spoon in my jar of almond butter several times at the end of my work day ... the time when I'm most vulnerable.
On my contest prep meal plan, I get to have 1 tablespoon of almond butter with my first meal ... which is totally awesome! So I plop my 1 tablespoon of buttery heaven on the 1 rice cake I'm allowed. It's like cake with icing! And I'm pretty much satisfied with that.



But a few times I would come home from work/gym famished and the easiest thing to grab before eating my real meal was the jar of almondy goodness. All it took was a little spoonful of the beautiful butter and I was good. But then I would find myself dipping more and more.



I knew it had to stop. It almost got to the point where I was going to ask trainer N8 to remove it from my meal plan so I wouldn't be so tempted to cheat. And then I had my "Aha" moment and created Operation: Frozen Nutty Goodness.



Here's the plan I devised: After I savour my 1 tablespoon of pure nutty buttery joy in the morning, I put the jar in the freezer. By the time I get home from work/gym it's frozen. Not so easy to get at now hey?! Then before I go to bed, I take it out of the freezer and it is defrosted by the time I'm up in the morning. No dipping and diving! No cheating! O:FNG works like a charm!!
Except for that one morning when I forgot to take it out of the freezer the night before for breakfast the next day.



Yeah. Well. I now know how long it takes to defrost a full jar of almond butter in the microwave oven. (Btw, Auto defrost. 5 minutes).

Where do you find the energy?

When I'm fortunate enough to meet some of my Twitter or Facebook friends who follow my ramblings, many of them are inspired, motivated, impressed, and sometimes confused at my dedication to training for figure competitions. Now, I can add on top of that, my new "part time job" as a group fitness instructor. One of my class participants asked me after I had just worked them out "Where do you find the energy?" Good question. Of course much of the energy comes from the good clean food I eat. Nutrition is so important.

However I think there's more to it. You see, I'm up at an ungodly hour for work (3:00am) and usually go non-stop until my head hits the pillow (I shoot for between 8:00pm to 9:00pm). So my energy is definitely not coming from good rest.

This is where I think much of my "energy" is coming from:

1) Knowing how great I will feel after I've had a good hard workout.
2) Seeing how far my fitness level has come since I started training with N8 as he guides me to DOMIN8 THE STAGE!

3) Watching participants in my class "digging in" for those last few reps (and thanking me later for making them sore the next day)
4) My music! From Hip Hop to Top 40 to Trance to Old School ... It keeps me going!
5) Seeing my full muscles as I lean out for a competition.
6) Most importantly, my special peeps who are cheering me on even though we can't do lunch, dinner, or drink wine together for a few months. Thanks! L.O.V.E.!

As challenging as it can be (especially the strict dieting), the rewards are awesome. I L.O.V.E. this fit and healthy lifestyle. Because without good health, you really have nothing. (By the way, I really should get more sleep ... working on that. And when competition dieting is over I will allow myself treats and cheats, now and then. After all, a woman needs her dark chocolate and red wine!)