Starting on this journey of body building, I have definitely learned a thing or two about patience. Patience definitely pays off, and you will see results if you stick with something – this has been proven to me! That doesn’t mean that I too, can’t get impatient and frustrated with how slow or fast I’m making progress. My trainer reminded me yesterday of how far I’ve come since I started last October – after all, I’ve only been lifting for a little over six months, and only the past four months have I become really serious about this.  I constantly look at my idols and “heroes” in the business and can’t help but compare myself to them, although they have been weightlifting for years and years.  Looking like that fitness model in the magazines doesn’t happen over night, and these girls and guys don’t look like that by “accident”.  I laughed the other day as I was shaking up a cocktail at a party, wearing a sleeveless shirt, and one of the women said “wow, you get really great arms and biceps from bartending, don’t you?”. Uhmmm… I wish!

Right now I’m focusing on building more muscle, as I am still very “small” compared to a lot of other competitors. I was called “bony” by my online trainer the other day, don’t think I’ve ever heard that about my frame in my whole life, lol! But better than ‘fat’ by any mean,  in my opinion. That being said, I am trying to stay focused and patient, working out like a mad woman when I hit the gym to exhaust the muscles and perform 110% each and every time. What feels weird is that I can’t do too much cardio, because cardio eats away at the muscles, and I’m simply not that built yet where I can afford to give ‘away’ any of the little muscle tone I’ve built up. Right now I only go for one run a week, and do very little cardio on the days I lift (4 x a week), and then I rest 2 days. MUCH less cardio than before!  But what is curious is that I am actually losing weight just because I have cleaned up my diet, and also – lifting heavier! Muscles burn more fat for longer than doing cardio will, so I comfort myself with that thought when the desire to go crazy on the treadmill hits the hardest:)

Meanwhile I’m drinking protein shakes and supplementing with creatine during my work outs to give me strength so I can go that extra mile. I’m also in the middle of designing my own work outs and figuring out what works best for my body. Every person is different, and there is no cookie cutter program for everyone that will work the same way and get identical results.  A lot of trial and error, testing, failing, succeeding… but that’s what fun about this journey!

Here’s me from yesterday in my new shorts, it’s time to break out the summer workout gear! 🙂