Mikaela's bikini body blog: April

On February 28, Bermuda Sun online reporter and NewsBite host Mikaela Pearman embarked on a quest to get fit and lose 20lbs … just in time for the start of summer on May 24.

MONDAY, APRIL 30: I woke up at 6:45 this morning to work out because I thought it would be a great idea. Then I did my training with Don Peden at The Olympic Club at 2:15pm thinking that would be a great idea.

Now, I sit at my desk completely exhausted and barely keeping my eyes open.

And this is all to look amazing for the summer!

I kid, I kid. I am tired but I’m not particularly exhausted. It feels good to be able to put in two workouts in one day.

This morning, I did my Turbo Jam 20 minute kickboxing DVD. As I turned to do an upper cut, I pulled a muscle in my back. I was in pain but only had three minutes left so I figured I could handle it.

After my workout, I got a hot shower to loosen the muscle and popped some Advil. It was still nagging me through the day but I figure I can handle it.

When I got to the gym this afternoon to train, Don had a big smirk on his face. I knew that meant I was going to die. And die I almost did.

We did a sequence of exercises four times through. Since Don decided to do shorter, more intense training sessions, it’s been quick bursts but killer nonetheless.

He had me doing jumping jacks, jumping up onto a bench press bar, hopping across the bar, jump squats, clean and press, burpies and bicycle crunches. At the end of each sequence I felt like I couldn’t do anymore but I persevered.

Then I downed a cup of pumpkin soup from Café Ten!

Though the session was hard, it felt amazing to be able to do things that I couldn’t do when I started. I never thought I would be doing 40lbs plus the bar in a clean and press. In fact on Friday, I could barely lift the 30 pounds Don insisted I do.

So yes, I am tired, but I still feel amazing.

Stay tuned…

FRIDAY, APRIL 27: I’m so hungry!

I seem to say that all day long thanks to my new eating plan. My trainer Don Peden has me on a plan that consists of only vegetables and protein.

Yes, I said just vegetables and protein.

With three and a half weeks until May 24, I have to be even more focused and determined to look fantastic for the start of bikini season.

At first I thought Don was crazy because there was no way I could eat just vegetables and protein, but I’m doing OK so far.

Breakfast consists of oatmeal with agave, soymilk and cinnamon or a vegetable and turkey scramble. As far as snacks go, so far all I’m eating is carrot sticks or a small salad. I need to figure out something else or I’m going to get bored quickly.

Lunch so far has been grilled chicken and grilled vegetables with mixed greens. For dinner, I’m doing roasted vegetables and chicken or fish.

I’m determined to find the discipline within me to stick this out until May 24. It’s by far the hardest eating plan I’ve been on, especially because I can’t have any fruit. But it will be worth it in the end.

As far as my workouts go, Zumba was killer this week. I don’t know what happened, but my energy level was at a 10 during the whole workout and I was drenched afterwards. It felt amazing!

I trained with Don on Wednesday and I wanted to smack him… He had me running up and down the steps at Bulls Head and each go had to be less time than the previous one. It was not fun to say the least but I had a good workout.

Today, we have training again. I’m really hoping we do weights because I feel stressed and need to pump some iron.

I’m hosting a birthday brunch for my mom on Sunday and my menu has tons more than vegetables and protein so I need to make sure I stick to what I’m supposed to eat.

Stay tuned…

MONDAY, APRIL 23: I am dead tired right now!

Today, I did Don’s boot camp at Olympic Club. I don’t usually feel so wounded after a workout but I think it had to do with the fact that I hadn’t eaten before and my blood sugar level was low. Regardless, it was a great workout and I needed to be pushed.

I do apologise for the lack of blogs last week. I was sick on Wednesday and missed two training sessions and boot camp because work got super hectic. I still managed to get in five workouts but I was very upset to have missed the training sessions.

This week, I will make sure I fit them all in.

I’ve got four weeks left to go and, to be honest, it terrifies me. I feel like I’ve been working really hard but I don’t see any results. I’ve stopped weighing myself as I fluctuate so much. I am just putting my head down and grinding.

For the last month, I’ve decided to be more focused with the clean eating. I’ve cheated here and there, especially when I bake or cook for my family. But I have to stop it because it isn’t helping me.

Don wants me to cut out fruit, bread and dairy for the last month as well but we have to sit and talk to come up with an eating plan.

Throughout the process, I’ve seriously come to envy people who are thin no matter what they eat because it is so hard to be thin.

And it’s even harder to get a flat belly. The people who keep telling me to do more sit-ups really need to keep quiet. Flat tummies come from eating healthy, not just doing sit-ups.

And having had a child makes it that much harder for my tummy not to have a pooch but I’m determined to have the flattest stomach I possibly can. If that means it’s not as flat as someone who doesn’t have a child, so be it.

I know that I work hard and just want to see amazing results.

Stay tuned…

MONDAY, APRIL 16: I am so sore today!

On Friday, I went to my trainer Don Peden’s boot camp class at the Olympic Club.

He had us do a ton of squats, weights, sprints and jump rope.

I felt fine afterwards but wasn’t prepared for how I would feel later.

That evening, I went to out with my friend Kelly for her birthday.

We ended up at Shine’s for a soca party.

From the minute I started dancing, my thighs were burning.

Not to mention, I had on four-inch heels.

But I pressed on, jumping up and down like the soca junkie that I am.

It felt really good to be out having fun since I haven’t done it in awhile.

The most interesting part of the night were the people who came up to me to tell me they read this blog.

The words of encouragement amazed me and keeps me going when I feel like quitting.

I never expected to get this much support from people and feel overwhelmed every time someone applauds me for my hard work.

I took Saturday off since I worked out six days last week.

Yesterday, I did a little kickboxing, Turbo Jam style.

I used to do the 45-minute DVD and be dead by the end.

Surprisingly enough, I felt amazing when I was finished.

I felt like I had worked hard but I wasn’t wounded.

So that means I am a million times fitter than when I started out.

Today, Don killed me in the gym.

We’ve returned to circuit training and he had me doing a whole heap of boot-camp style exercises.

We did jumping jacks, burpies, bicycles, jump rope, speed skaters and something else that I can’t remember.

Oh, I’m finally seeing the results.

I actually took a picture of my progress and posted it on my Facebook page.

I feel like I have a ways to go but I feel good knowing that if I put on a bikini right now, I would look damn good.

Five more weeks to go.

FRIDAY, APRIL 13: So I’m at the halfway point.

I’ve been training with Don Peden at The Olympic Club for the past six weeks and I feel amazing. I’ve been putting in five to six workouts a week and am so much stronger and fitter than when I started.

I’ve been eating healthy for the most part but have cheated. I am human and cheating on diets unfortunately does exist.

But, I am focused.

I’m not weighing myself because my weight is fluctuating due to the fact that I’m doing a good bit of weight lifting.

But the good news is I’ve definitely lost inches and my waist is smaller.

I’ve worn pants and shorts that haven’t fit me since last summer when they were tight so that is definitely encouraging. Also, my jeans are loose in the waist straight out of the dryer so I’m happy.

But I still need to step it up a little bit to make sure that come May 24 I am bikini ready.

So I’m cleansing this week. I’m doing the Coronary Heart Improvement Programme (CHIP) seven-day vegan cleanse.

On Monday and yesterday, all I ate was Kashi Go Lean Crunch and Silk Vanilla with an apple for breakfast, black beans, brown rice and an apple for lunch and cereal and soy milk again for dinner.

Today and the rest of the week I am allowed vegetables so I start the day with cereal, soy milk and fruit then lunch is a baked potato, large salad and whole grain bread.

Dinner is a vegetable stew.  I am not allowed to have salt, sugar, dairy or meat. I am feeling a bit cleaner so I’m focused enough to stay on it.

As far as the exercise goes, Don killed me on Monday. We decided to change my workouts to 30 minutes of really intense training. On Monday we did 45 minutes and I nearly died.

But it was good for me and I felt great afterwards.

Last night was Zumba at Magnum Power Force Gym to loosen me up a bit. I know I say this all the time, but Jasmine is an amazing teacher and the class is the best in my opinion.

So stay tuned and keep the encouragement coming.

I made fishcakes for my family and really struggled not to eat any. I grilled two fishcakes for myself and the flavour was there but the crunch of a fishcake was certainly missing. But it tasted good on a bun with ketchup, lettuce and olive oil mayonnaise.

Yes, I did have hot cross buns but I ordered whole wheat without icing from Mutigua Bakery in St Georges’. They were amazing as usual.

As far as mini eggs go, I did have a few and had to throw the bag away or I would’ve eaten the entire thing.

But I did manage to get my workouts in.

I did my Turbo Jam DVDs, which I love. I’m not big on running even though it was a good weather this weekend so I popped in my DVDs and managed to get pretty good workouts.

To say the weekend was easy would be lying - it truly was hard for me to stay away from the things that I love so much.

This week, I’m cleansing. I’m doing the Coronary Heart Improvement Project (CHIP) cleanse for seven days. It was founded in the Seventh-Day Adventist Church.

My mom did the programme last year and had great results in terms of weight loss and feeling so much healthier.

The first two days I can only have fruit and whole grains then I can introduce vegetables on the third day.

So I’ve started and I’m feeling good so far. I’ve had Kashi Go Lean Crunch with soymilk for breakfast and an apple. For lunch, I had brown rice, black beans and an apple.

It’s going to be hard but it will be fine because I’m focused.

Stay tuned…

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4: I’m very excited about the holiday weekend, except the fact that I won’t be having any hot cross buns.

Last week, I had a little conversation about Good Friday with my trainer at Olympic Club, Don Peden.

It went something like this:

Me: So Good Friday is next week.

Don: Yeah

Me: Can I have hot cross buns and fishcakes?

Don: Sure, if you wanna be fat!

I instantly started to pout and got upset.

Don says I can have fishcakes as long as I don’t fry them. I figure I will make them and cook them on my grill.

They will be a little different but I don’t think I will lose any flavour.

As for the buns, my mom has ordered a dozen whole-wheat buns so I figure I can have one as long and I don’t eat the icing on it.

So it will be a little different kind of Easter for me, but I think it will be worth it.

I’m a bit devastated over the fact that I won’t be inhaling mini eggs and crème eggs but oh well. There’s always next year I guess.

As far as exercise goes, Don killed me on Monday.

Like I said in my last post, we’ve upped the intensity and the workout was really rough and reminiscent of boot camp. But I survived as usual.

I did Zumba last night and loved it. I’d had a really rough day and need to just dance it off to clear my head.

The class was awesome as usual and I burned hundreds of calories.

I will be training with Don tomorrow and going running on Friday morning before I head off to fly kites.

Crossing fingers I stick to the diet.

And guess what - I did well.

I love brunch and have fond memories of going to Castle Harbour on Sundays as a child and stuffing my face. This time around, I knew I wouldn’t be stuffing my face, but would still manage to have a great breakfast.

My first plate was less than a child’s portion of codfish and potato with red sauce. It was very good but just enough that I didn’t need more.

My second plate involved half an omelet with spinach, mushrooms and onion, some watermelon and rye bread. I also ordered some turkey bacon for the table.

I went back once more for cantalope and a very little bit of cheese.

As for my beverages, I drank earl grey tea and water, which I always start my day with.

So all in all, I think I did very well. I didn’t even look at the bread pudding or the croissants.

I think my trainer Don Peden would be proud.

But let’s recap on the exercise.

Don has decided to up the intensity of our sessions and only do 30 minutes per workout. When we met on Thursday, it was killer. He made me push harder than I ever have. Even though it was painful, I felt amazing after.

My wonderful mother interrupted our session and encouraged Don to push me even harder. I bet you she can’t do a quarter of what I do!

On Friday, I did Don’s boot camp class. I was a bit intimidated initially because of my first experience there but I’m proud to say I kept up and enjoyed the workouts.

Now that I’ve got the workouts down, I need to look the part. I need new gym clothes and a gym bag that don’t cost a fortune. So far I’ve been bringing my clothes in my beach bag and wearing gym stuff I’ve had for at least three years.

So I need to do my research and find some gym clothes that I like and can afford.

All in all, I’m very focused on the workouts, but still am struggling on the diet end. Hopefully, I can move past that and focus completely…

• Read my May blog entries
  
• Read my March blog entries
• Read about the beginning of my summer shapeup