Salmon Patties & Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Currently 20 weeks out from my contest.
current weight: 135.5
Current Cardio: 50 min 4x's per week, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu 3x's per week & Kickboxing 1-2 times per week 1 hour each.
Favorite food at the moment: Salmon Patties from Trader Joes


Happy Tuesday everyone!! Im a couple weeks into 2010 & things are going well so far. Ive been working with Gina Aliotti for the past few months now in preparation for the 2010 California State Figure Championships in May. So far Im down 10lbs on the scale & at least 12-15lbs of fat. This year I hope to bring a fuller package to the stage with some added wheels.

This year I decided I wanted to change things up from the usual indoor cardio I do for my contest prep. Ive started taking some Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu classes as well as a few kickboxing classes at Technique inside World Gym of Indio. Im so excited to get off the stairs and on to the mat to burn some extra calories. As I type this my body is sore, Ive been downing XTR & Glutamine all day like its candy. Not only is it a great cardio workout, but I love learning the technique used to submit opponents. Its like playing Chess. After my BJJ class on Monday, we had an hour of conditioning with jump squats and some ab work. It was an amazing start to the week!

Gina has cut my regular cardio down to 4x's a week. 50 min, 25 of which are on the stepmill & the other are on the treadmill at an incline. Aside from that I am doing the BJJ 3x's per week plus a class or two of Kickboxing when I feel the extra Umph to get in there.

Food has been cycled as always. I have higher carb days & low carb days. It keeps my body guessing and constantly burning all day long I love it!

Ive been really challenging my cooking & taste buds this year so far. Im stepping out of the traditional chicken and rice. Gina has shown me that not only can we eat delicious food but we can get lean doing it!!! My new favorite new food item is something I found at Trader Joes. I love salmon but I can only eat it at one meal because its usually higher in fat. WELL NOT ANY MORE!!! I found Salmon Patties that have 1.5g of fat 3g of carbohydrates & 21g of protein!!!!!! THey are already packed in 4's and only cost $4.80 a package. Stop in the store today and grab some. I cannot wait to stock back up. They come in handy while Im in the store. I just grill a few packages on Sunday & they last me the whole week. REheat for 2min and Im ready for my meal!

This year Im really focusing on building more leg muscle as I stated earlier. I need to bring out my hamstrings, glutes & calves. Ive been doing legs 2-3xs a week and incorporating a lot of supersets & plyo type of training. The MMA conditioning is going to help me not only get tighter, but get just that little bit extra cut in some of the areas I need. I cannot wait to see how I develop of the next few months!! The contest is at the end of May so I only have 5 months to go.

I'll be posting progress pictures up very soon & Im going to be adding videos of MMA training as well as some weight training that I'll be doing.

Thanks for checking in. If you have any fitness questions you can email me @ maxinemuscle@gmail.com :)