Post-Contest Blues?

Alright, I mean I had heard and read of the post-contest blues before. And I fully prepared myself that it would probably happen with me.

I started into my first week fully on plan. Fully expecting the blues to come.

But they didn't come. More like post-contest bliss.

Day after contest, Patrick and I took the dogs for a hike. :) Zeke was in like 7th heaven! Check out that long tongue! (He only does that when he's really really happy)

The belly bloat came and stayed, and I recognized when I should stop and didn't. Its easy to tell yourself that you're going to have a clean eating day, doing it yourself is much harder when you don't HAVE TO! But seriously, the belly bloat... I'm sure many of you have experienced holding water... but hopefully not like I did. Within 6 days of post-contest, I had gained 10lbs of WATER. Literally, and it looked like I was holding that much water (to me it looked like 30lbs). And unfortunately on a little person like me, with a history of high blood pressure, holding that much water makes my blood pressure go up and is really bad for my heart. Luckily with prescription diuretics, I've been able to drop about 6lbs of the water, and still have 2 more days on this script. Bliss back on!

And in my post-contest bliss, I'm already phasing into some good food choices... Check out my new finds!

Calorie Free jam by Walden Farms. Picked these up on Netrition.com in both Blueberry & Raspberry (they're sweetened with Splenda) for $3.79 a jar.

Zevia soda! This diet soda is made with Stevia, also from Netrition.com, and I bought it in Mountain Zevia (like Mountain Dew sort of? It tastes more like Sprite to me), Creme Soda, Cola, & Cherry Cola.. Although it comes in different flavors! They're about $5 for a 6-pack, but if you don't drink much soda anyway, its worth it to me.

If you're not sure what would make Zevia different than any diet soda, it is lower on the Glycemic Index as far as how much it would raise your blood sugar levels after drinking it, and therefore less likely to gain fat while drinking it.

Arrowroot. This shit rocks! I purchased this to replace Cornstarch in my diet, and actually just trying to reduce the amount of corn in my diet. We come from the northwest where gravy should be its own food group. But I'm trying to reduce the amount of total sugars and this crap works just like any flour or thickener! Also picked up on Netrition.com for only $5.59 for 20oz.

Coconut Milk French Vanilla Creamer. OMG... this may have just saved my life! Being close to dairy free is going to be MUCH easier with options like this! The coconut milk creamer is much thicker than any other dairy free creamer. :) Only $2.49

And so I'm out to prove that I'm better even that I think I am. We all know about post-show blues and bloat. And while I am still somewhat bloated, I'm out to prove that I can recover post-show and ease into normal living. I can do this. Okay, and seriously... I had so much fun on stage that I'm really itching to plan my next shows. My 10K training starts today, and my total cardio is starting to decline today.. WOOT! I genuinely missed heavy and challenging lifting. Challenging, meaning: having enough carbs in my muscles to push my strength to the max, prep is a whole other type of challenging. LOL!

I've got some posts comin round the bend, but if there is anything anyone is interested in reading about... Let me know! :) Have a great week everyone!