AGH! IT'S REALLY HAPPENING!

Hi Kerrianne,

Thanks so much for getting back to me, that is amazing that you can make it in. I did get your message last week, very glad to hear training is going well.
So we will be shooting on July 12th, 2011 at Paul Buceta's studio, I will send you directions and other details in a emails closer to the date.
Your call time will be 8:30 am to come get hair and makeup done. Please be sure to come with a clean face, no product in your hair, fingers and toes no wacky colour polish, clear or light pink is fine. Also, most importantly you come in your shape. We really want you to look amazing for our shoot.
If you can bring nude underwear (thong) and a pair heels with you, as well as your favourite pair of jeans that would be amazing. We would like to get all types of different shots so if you have any of your clothes from when you were heavier bring them along as well as any inspirational items that helped you get to your goal.

From here what I need from you is your full name as it appears on your passport and your date of birth. Also what airport is best for you to leave from. Once I get your travel info set up I will email it over to you. We will have you flying in on the 11th and flying back out on the 12th in the evening.

I will also need for you to send me your sizes, including shoes so I can send them along to our stylist. If it is possible you think your sizes will be smaller by the time you come in please give me a range and we'll be sure to get a whole bunch of stuff.
So as I mentioned before if you have any other questions please let me know.

Thanks so much and talk to you soon,
Erin
Erin Smith
Assistant Art Director,
Oxygen Magazine
Art Director, Special Issue

.:GOO BALLS & KB'S SPICY CHICKEN BURGERS:.

I've been super strict with my diet, but I get SO bored with the monotony. The tricky part is that I'm required to eat various ratios of carbs:protein:fat each day of my carb cycle- on the positive, it becomes less about "what do i FEEL like eating?" and more "what do I NEED to eat?" I gauge my training to the amount of carbs I take in. For example, high carb day- I hit my hardest lifts of the week (Legs, back) b/c they require the most quick energy. Medium day I do bi's & tri's or I'll "cocktail" smaller muscle groups that aren't sore(shoulders/calves) I leave my low carb days for cardio & abs only. I may be sick in the head b/c it's like a little puzzle & I love making it all fit together (helloooo OCD, nice to see you again.)

Today is low carb & I couldn't bear the thought of plain egg whites & veggies again. So I get creative (this terrifies Monty.) I started with the foods I typically eat on low carb day, baked chicken, egg whites, olive oil, natural peanut butter, casein/isolate, spinach & mushrooms and start to think of ways I can combine/season them for variety. This is what I came up w/:

KB'S SPICY CHICKEN BURGERS

Ingredients:
2 T Cholula garlic hot sauce (I'm a spicy kinda girl)
1/2 t ground cumin
1/2 t dried thyme, crushed
2 t dry yellow mustard
2 t black pepper
1 T Mrs. Dash Tomato Basil
1 t salt
2 T garlic (I use the minced refrigerated kind)
1 chopped onion
2 c baby spinach (chopped in food processor)
8 large mushrooms (chopped in food processor)
3 egg whites
16 oz chicken (I bake all mine for the week so I ground the cooked chicken in a food processor)
1st Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Directions:
On medium, heat 6 T oil in large skillet.
In a large bowl, combine spices, onions, spinach, mushrooms, and hot sauce. Mix until well combined. Next add the ground chicken and egg whites and mix with your hands until evenly distributed. Using 1/4 c portions, shape into thick patties (keep them small to avoid them falling apart and place in the oil) Cook until golden crust hast formed (about 2 min) and flip. Use a thin metal spatula(they broke easily using plastic)

Yields about 18
Nutrition: 1 muffin
85 calories
2 g fat
4 g carbs
12 g protein

Servings are 2 for women and 4 for men.

.:GOO BALLS:.

I heard Beverly International has a similar recipe that's delicious, so I came up with my own version :o)

Ingredients:
2 scoops Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Whey Protein: Double Rich Chocolate
2 scoops Optimum Nutrition Casein Protein Vanilla Ice Cream
4 T natural Peanut Butter
4 T honey
6 T water

Directions:
Combine ingredients in large bowl until evenly distributed. Using 1 T portions, roll into balls (it helps if your hands are slightly wet handling the protein. Chill on plate covered with wax paper. Enjoy 2-3 as a pre/post gym treat.

Yields 22
Nutrition: 1 ball
Calories: 50
Carbs: 3
Fat: 2
Protein: 6

Enjoy & let me know if you have any questions- Thanks for following. Happy training!

.:OXYGEN UPDATE:.

Hi Kerrianne,
How are you doing? So I have gone over our schedules and am hoping you are available to come in for a shoot on July 12th instead of June. It works better for us and gives you a little more time to prepare. If you can let me know if that works then I can get everything set up.
Thanks so much and talk to you soon,
Erin

Erin Smith
Assistant Art Director,
Oxygen Magazine
Art Director, Special Issues

3 WEEKS EXTRA PREP? HELL YEA!

A few have asked how I'm prepping for the Oxygen article. To be completely honest, I freaked out. Hell, I've NEVER done a single shoot, let alone for the largest fitness production in the world that sees single digit body fat on the world's top competitors, on a daily basis (THAT's not intimidating @ ALL.) So, being the Knowledge Nazi- I began researching comp/shoot prep & here's what I'm changing:

The diet: NOT MUCH. Mont said since my body is responding so well to carb cycling it's best not to mess w/ it- unless, I want to go on comp diet early (broccoli & fish) No thanks, I'm good. I am drinking 2gal h20/day and lots of green tea to stimulate my metabolism. I'm stricter w/ weighing & journaling my food b/c I'd started to fart around. I began an 8 week fat burner cycle & chose to stack Beverly International 7-Keto Musclean & Lean Out. I've been on it a week & -4 lbs!

Cardio: Changing it frequently. H.I.I.T. training is a highly effective fat burning technique. It stands for "high intensity interval training" and the concept is to perform a burst of explosive intensity followed by a rest period. Then repeat 10-15 times. I do a 30 sec. "HIIT" and 1min. rest (incline sprints/elliptical.) If I'm doing the right intensity- by the 7th HIIT, I should want to puke. I alternate that with flat rate days (walking the treadmill @ incline 15 @ 3.5mph) I also take Zumba for a different pace 1-2x/wk.

Weights: HITTING IT HARD 5x/wk. Usually 2 full leg days. I started incorporating negative reps focusing on the opposing motion (the period of the motion that actually breaks the muscle down.) Some days I'll go SUPER heavy/lower reps and others I'll superset higher rep/lower weight movements keeping my rest periods low. Muscle confusion is important to avoid plateaus.

Abs: 4-5 days/wk. This is an area I need help with b/c I will admit it is my weakest point. I have been unsure how to train them so my answer was to avoid them- great. I've started stability/medicine ball work,

Bruce Lee's

hanging leg raises

planks

*Taking suggestions for INTENSE moves!!*

Carey was coloring my hair this week & she suggested I write my suit designer/Under Armor/ Nike to see if they will donate suits/clothes for the shoot. She is SUCH a godsend b/c I would've NEVER thought of that! I am so thankful for people like her!

Thank you all for being such great cheerleaders through everything. My mind is still spinning, but now I have 3 extra weeks to hit it hard & try to do Centerville, OH proud! Happy training!

i LOVE congressman turner!

Dear Ms. Browne:

We are in receipt of your recent email to Congressman Turner requesting assistance with obtaining an expedite of your passport. Please contact the Dayton office by calling 937-225-2843 so that we can obtain from you the information we need in order to provide you with a letter to include with your passport application.

Sincerely,

Kim Holmes
Caseworker for Michael R. Turner
Member of Congress
120 W. Third Street, Suite 305
Dayton, OH 45402
937-225-2843
937-225-2752 (fax)

.:MORNING GLORY GRANOLA RECIPE:.

WARNING: anyone who tries this said it's like crack cocaine!

Ingredients:

4 cups rolled oats
1 cup wheat germ
1 cup chopped walnuts/slivered almonds
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup water
1 (6-ounce) package craisins-blueberry flavor is awesome(other dried fruits like cherries, raisins, pineapple are good too)

Instructions:

Heat the oven to 300º. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the oats, wheat germ, nuts, sesame seeds, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the oil, honey, and water. Toss the mixture until the ingredients are well combined, then spread it evenly on a cookie sheet.

Bake the granola for 40 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring every 10 minutes to keep the mixture from sticking. Let it cool completely, then stir in the cranberries or dried fruit. Makes about 7 cups.

Great on Greek yogurt w/ fresh berries or in oatmeal for a sweet crunch!

HOLY.SHIT. 1 email just changed my life!

JUST opened this email- copied & pasted it:

Hello Kerrianne,
How are you? Diane Hart forwarded me your information and I wanted to touch base with you about our upcoming Off the Couch special. Not sure if you are familiar with this special but it is all about transformations and motivation. I have seen the pictures that you sent over to Diane about your transformation and they are great. Congratulations on your recent weight loss! So we wanted to see if you would be able to come up to Toronto and do a photo shoot with us that we could use in our upcoming special. We'd love to have you in some time in late June. So if you can let me know if you think this would be doable and what your schedule is like hopefully we can get things set up.

Also I would love to see anymore of the befores that you have. Feel free to send them over whenever you like.

Hope to talk to you soon,
Erin

Erin Smith
Assistant Art Director,
Oxygen Magazine
Art Director, Special Issues

I am absolutely dumbfounded. Praise the Lord.

6 MONTHS OUT! progress photos!

Great HEAVY lifts this week- watched "PUMPING IRON" for inspiration :o) focusing on ARNOLD'S philosophy that the last 3/4 reps are what makes the muscle grow so I lift 'til I don't think I can get another rep- then I dig deeper and bust out 4 more. Lots of super-setting, drop sets, muscle failure, concentration curls- really squeezing the muscle I'm working. PR'd squats @ 155 and tripled my weight on leg extensions. Got a little discouraged this week, then Mont sent me the pics from the first week we trained (Jan 21) WOW. LOTS of changes, it's been so gradual I just haven't noticed them. So here they are...

mmm belly fat- yum!

the back fat was creepin' around to the front.

YIKES!
Plugging away @ carb cycling. Not too bad now that I'm used to it (but today is a high carb day, ask me again in 2 days haha) Thank you again for the continued support and following- I do appreciate it! Happy training <3

.:25 WEEKS OUT!:.

hello, little baby muscles! come out & play!

REALLY encouraging gains this week! 1st posing class Sun went better than I expected-long road ahead but I have a strong walk & 36" legs so I'm excited to see what develops.

Down to the nitty gritty dirty business, let's talk numbers! At my heaviest, I was 217 (roughly 41% body fat). When I began training, I weighed 194 (26%) I actually wouldn't let Mont take a caliper assessment for a month b/c I was so disgusted w/ my body so it was probably a little higher! As of this week I am 165 (21%) and will compete @ 10-12% weighing around 150. Lots of work to do!
Measurements:
-52 lbs. of fat
-3" in chest (bye boobs, I will miss you girls!)
-3" in arms
-2" in hips
-6" in waist (aww sheee-uht!)
-3" in thighs

I have committed to a 2nd comp. Either the Northern Kentucky or the Arnold next year, since they are so close I may try both.

My body has begun changing drastically and I cannot wait to see what level this could go. God-willing, a pro card is in my future. The more I train, the greater peace I feel about this being the right path for my life. Who knew God could bless someone running around in a bikini & stripper heels? He works in mysterious ways. I am overwhelmed by how He has provided such encouraging friends/family, incredible networking contacts & resources. This may sound lame, but I cried last night on the way home from lifting legs b/c I'm just so thankful for the opportunity to change and encouraged by the progress I'm seeing. I cannot remember the last time I was this genuinely happy. Thank you for following my blog & the constant encouragement! It means so much more than you know!

Happy Training <3