Alight3’s BodyBlog

I am getting ready for the North American Championships in a few weeks, and I have been feeling so burnt out and just exhausted.  I was watching the Olympics over the weekend, and I was so inspired!  They are such amazing athletes who dedicate their lives to their sport.  It was great motivation for me to push through.  I feel like I have been refreshed!  The Olympics couldn’t have come at a better time

Ok, so I had my few days off, and now I am right back to the good old contest diet.  I have been struggeling a bit this week.  I am just really tired and weak. Only 4 weeks left ’till this next show.  I can’t wait!!!

The next contest is the North American Championships in Cleveland, Ohio.  Unfortunatley for me, there is no easy way to fly there from So Cal.  It is so expensive and there are no non-stop flights.  They all arrive at wierd times, and it is just a huge pain.  I am also one of those people who retain water when they fly.  Not good!

I am a bit frusterated with this whole flight issue because Competing is so expensive!!!! I probably spend at least $5,000 per contest!  between suits, food, vitamins and shakes, tanning, travel expenses, training, buying make-up, hair,  nails and not to mention my chiropractor that I have to see once a week to fix me up, I am just spending like it’s going out of style!!!! 

Just had to vent a bit.   

So, I just competed in 2 shows back to back.  The last 2 contests were national qualifiers, so I am going to do the North Americans at the end of august.  Since I was dieting like crazy for the last 12 weeks, I am actually getting to eat Normal for a few days.  I definetly needed it.  I was just dragging and I could barely function!  So, I have been enjoying food I would not normally eat in order to re-fuel for another 5 weeks of dieting.  It has been pretty nice, but it’s so funny how you forget how to eat!  I either end up eating super healthy or totally overeating, and then feeling totally guilty!!!  I am starting to feel a little better, but I am kind of looking forward to the diet again.  It’s almost easier, If you give me an inch I’ll take a mile.  I can’t just splurge a little bit, it’s either all or nothing!  I plan on going out to dinner tonight and I am going to have some friends over for a BBQ this weekend.  Then it’s back to it next week! 

I just got back into town after competing in two shows back to back.  I did San Jose and LA.  Both NPC national qualifiers.  I won my class at both shows!  It was a great experience.  I talked to the judges after the show to see what I could improve on.  To my suprise they said I don’t need to get any bigger.  For a national show I just need to be a little leaner, and I should try to round out my shoulders a bit more and work on my lower lats to improve my taper.  I was very suprised to hear that I do not need to get my legs any bigger, since that was my toughest area to improve this last time around.  I plan to compete in the North American championships next month to get my feet wet at the national level. 

OK, so I feel like I have been slacking on the journaling and recording of my work-outs, but I have not been slacking on the dieting and the training.  I am doing a carb cycling diet, and I love the loading days, but the low carb days are rough.  I have been sooo tired by the time I get to the loading day that I can barely function!!!  I feel like I have made tons of progress since last year, so I am happy with that.  I did a test run of my water last week.  I did 7 days distilled water and no sodium, then I depleted water on monday night to see how i looked on tuesday.  I was pretty happy with the results.  I am doing a test run of my carb load this week.  tues and wed loading, then see where I am at on thursday.  I am really enjoying the carbs!!! I will start the distilled water and no sodium and no carbs ( for the carb depletion) on saturday.  NO FUN!  this is going to be the toughest part.  I am not looking forward to it.  I just have to get through it, and try to be nice ; ) 

I am now 4 weeks out till the first of 2 back to back contests.  I am getting pretty excited!  I have been so busy, so the dieting feels like it has been going really quick.  I haven’t lost much weight, but my bodyfat has gone down.  I was last measured at 13.8% i would like to come in at around 10 if I can.  I have not been as starving as I was, but I think I am just to tired to be hungry.  I am feeling pretty good right now, but yesterday was rough!  My daughter was sick last week, so I am just hoping I don’t get it.  I had a carb load on Sunday so I should not have been as tired as I was yesterday.  I am taking all my vitamins of course so hopefully I will fight off whatever she had.  I have upped the cardio to 1 hour 5 days, and may increase it again after today.  I am getting my bodyfat tested again this afternoon.  I have also started using the stairmaster in conjunction with my spinning bike, just to change things up. 

I am less than 6 weeks out from my contest.  I am so freakin’ hungry!!! I did not lose any weight last week.  I am not sure if I need to cut calories again.  I did cardio everyday last week too.  I am going to talk to my trainer about it today.  This is like torture!!! I eat a meal and when I am finished I am still totally starving!  The first two weeks I was ok, I was losing quickly and I was comfortable with the food I was eating.  Since I am carb cycling, most days I am eating mostly protein and veggies, If I cut my calories I will be sacraficing my protein intake.  Last contest I was a bit stringy, and I am trying to avoid that this time around.  I have been eating a bit of almond butter and i have steak at dinner, so I have enough fats already.  Not sure what to do.  Any advice? 

So, I am a little less than 7 weeks out.  I have lost 12 lbs.  so far.  I am feeling so much better.  The first week of dieting was really tough.  I was so weak, tired, and sore.  I have adjusted and now feel normal.  I am still doing the carb cycling diet ( i like it) and i am eating every two and a half hours or so.  I get pretty grouchy if I go any longer. For my supplements I am still taking Black China Labs am/pm and straight jacked.   They are working well for me right now.  I love that i can take a fat burner at night! I am also using dymatize elite protein powder in fudge brownie.  the flavor is pretty good and i make it in a variety of ways to help with my sweet cravings.  the last few nights for my last meal i have been mixing one scoop with eggwhites and a little water and making like a pancake.  I feel like i am eating a cookie for dessert.  It’s a bit of a stretch, but when your dieting almost anything tastes good! My work-outs are the same as well, for now.   

I am on day 4 of my diet, so far it’s going well.  I am trying out carb cycling this time around.  I have 3 low carb days then one load day.  today is my carb load day and i am looking forward to it.  Since cutting carbs I have been so sore and I do feel a bit weak.  I am interested to see how the load goes.  I have lost about 6 lbs.  in the last three days (i am sure all water).  I have kept my cardio and training the same at this point. 

So, I start my contest diet in about a week and a half.  I have started cleaning up my diet a bit already.  I am eating every 2 hours.  My meals look like this:  breakfast protein powder and oatmeal, post work out meal - same, then each meal after that is either chicken or steak with sweet potatoes and a cup of veggies.  I have been snacking on grapes which i will cut out later, and I am not super strict about cheat meals, on the weekend i will eat like a normal person.  for my work-outs I have been doing cardio 4 days per week and weight training as heavy as I can 4 days also.  I am weighing in at 140lbs.  right now I hope to be about 125ish at the show.  I am going to do 2 shows.  the first is July 12th and the second is the following week July 19th.  I will use the first show to test my peak so I can make sure I look as perfect as I can at the second one which is a bigger show.   I am pretty excited because I have two girlfriends that will be competing with me this time.  It should be fun to have some partners in crime. 

Some of the things I am trying to figure out right now before I officially start my diet are carb cycling and doing a pre-contest cleanse.  At my last show I was too stringy so I may incorperate a carb cycling diet plan in order to keep some fullness.  If I do I will probably start that 8 weeks out.