2008 NPC Bill Grant Figure Classic

4 weeks down, 4 to go… if I keep going hardcore, I will look the best I have for any show. I’m superhappy about results already - better results than I’ve gotten after 8 weeks of dieting in previous shows. Feel close to hitting the "wall" but I still won’t quit and we m ight try carb cycling to help that. My life might feel like a giant car wreck with all these different problems continually popping up and almost knocking down my positivity, but I am not letting JACK SH*T get in the way of the 20th My car is a mess of food, water bottles and gym clothes…. my room is messy and my fridge is filled with uncooked food… but damnit I’m still going at it 110% in work/friends/training and my boyfriend, so it can’t be THAT bad.

Most importantly - let me say how THANKFUL I am to have such a wonderful guy in my life. He helps me see the forest through the trees and relax and reminds me that I don’t need to conquer 1,000 different things in the same hour. He reminds me that improvement is a PROCESS, not overnight occurrence. He keeps me positive and grounded and sane when I am teetering on the edge of psycho-stressy-emotional chick. And that isn’t easy. I love my boyfriend, we butt heads like everyone else, but he brings peace and faith and perseverance to my personality. So much of things in him I lack because I am so hyper and anal and conrol-freaky (yeah, I do like knowing what’s what… so?) and he just helps me chill out and not make mountains out of mole hills. When I think the world is ending, he calms me down and shows me otherwise. THANK YOU I am very, very lucky to be a part of his life. I LOVE YOU!!!

I don’t know if you can overtrain in 2 weeks superhardcore or not. But I do know I’m hella tired and hungry. Like clockwork, an hour after each meal I am ready for the next.. when a few weeks ago I was superfull. And my body’s just tired lol. My workouts are definitely getting a bit weaker, I don’t know if it’s the nonstop-ness or lots of double cardios and plyo and sprints or what… maybe all?… I should just "whatever," it’s very obviously working - like really obviously (damn no pics to show)… which is fantastic at uh, 53 days?… but this girl just wants to sit down for a day or at least do some easy cardio and maybe have some toast.

It’s funny because when I haul into the gym at 10pm to do the 2nd cardio, it’s rough… but the next morning BAM I look in the mirror and can’t wait to get at it 110% again that day. Funny, no? I guess that’s how it is, the renewing of the drive to push so freaking hard is cyclic, not continuous. Either way I still think I’m gonna ask my nutritionist for an "easy day," as in lifting but maybe a long easier cardio session and a cheat meal… ha, I don’t even want traditional junk… honestly I just crave a bigger portion of what I’m already eating on the diet…. and maybe a nice med-rare hamburger patty yum

Bi’s and tri’s tonight. I don’t like doing multiple-arm muscles together; the pump annoys me (go figure) and my forearms cramp if I superset. Cable incline skullcrushers w/ez bar, dips, DB tricep extensions, barbell curls, and incline DB hammer curls. Tomorow is chest, shoulders, and abs… tonight’s PM cardio was only 10min of jogging - just tired, AM cardio plyo interval runs kill my hips - so I’ll do sprints in the AM and a PM to make up for tonight. Ugh, I have to wait until Friday instead of Thursday to ask for a day off. One day isn’t a LONG time, but it still is, ya know? And duh, nobody is holding a big stick over my head, threatening to club me if I take it easy for a day, but… my nutritionist is the one who measures me.. and we all know how important that is… and I don’t wanna risk f-ing anything up by relaxing it a bit beore I see her. No way jose.

The vending machine coffee is actually pretty good at my work.

I’m a little spacey right now so this mostlikely didn’t make sense; you all have a good night, fall is coming, happy lifting and eat lots for me!!!

THAT, ladies and gentlemen, was my attempt at "OOhh headline." Fell flat but I laughed at the dorkiness Here’s the diet and cardio plan from 8 - 6 weeks out, I’m really shocked how freaking well it has worked in only 1.5 weeks (drastic difference in my body). Maybe this can be of interest to someone!

Diet:

1. (post-am cardio/weights) 1/4C oats + 1C egg subst. or 6 whites
2. 1C egg subst/whites or 6oz tuna + 1C fibrous carbs (I like broccoli or green beans) + 2 fish oil tabs
3. 4oz chick/turk/fish + 1/4C starch + salad w/2T light dressing (Kraft Light 3-cheese ranch! yummy!)
4. 1/4C oats + 1scoop Protein or 1C egg subst
5. 4oz chick/turk/fish + salad w/ 1T olive oil + 1T light dressing
6. (Optional but she wants it mandatory now:) 1/2C 8th Continent light soymilk + 1C water + 1 scoop Protein

Cardio:

• Day 1: AM:None, PM: 40min
• Day 2: AM: 20min pre-meal 1, PM: 30min
• Day 3: AM: 20min pre-meal 1, PM: 30min
• Day 4: AM: None, PM: 40min
• Day 5: AM: 20min pre-meal 1, PM: 30min
• Day 6: AM: None, PM: 40min
• Day 7: AM: 20min pre-meal 1, PM: 30min

For the AM cardio, it’s sprinting on the treadmill for 20 minutes w/ intervals of 2min at 60% pace, 2min 90% pace, with 5 minutes afterwards of jogging at 50-60% pace. 2 of these AM cardios just changed to intervals of 2min 60% pace then 1min of plyometrics (tuck/box jumps, jumping jacks, etc), for the same 20 mins of intervals then 5 min cooldown jog. THAT is rough! The PM cardios are supposed to be done before Meal 5, but I work 2nd and don’t get to the gym before 10pm most nights so I do the 2nd cardio then eat the salad. I think I’d barf to eat a salad before cardio. Ideally all the cardios are supposed to be running, but my legs are exhausted so all the AM cardio’s are treadmill and I split half of the evening cardio’s between the treadmill and the cybex arctrainer / elliptical / stairmaster, depending on how tired I am. This really exhausts me; thank goodness for VPX Redline or I would be a slug on the couch all day.

As for strength training, I like lifting 5-6 days a week. Legs get worked 2x, shoulders 3x, and abs 6x a week. I like to do dips, bent-over barbell rows, lat pulldowns on days when I’m working other bodyparts. My reps are a little higher now between 12-15, I will probably throw in a week of super-heavy (6-8 reps) to mess with my body a bit. I have to say, I prefer the 6-8 rep range over 15-20 —- no good reason, I just get bored!

Ok, so the base of my ab workouts is absolutely centered on movements that bring my lower to my upper body - ones that will focus mostly on the lower abs below the navel. Hanging leg raises with(out) DB’s, hanging bent leg raises with a medicine ball (almost like a mid-air reverse crunch), reverse crunches on a decline bench with medicine balls for weight, lying leg lifts with(out) weights on a decline bench… the list goes on…. and STILL they are the least developed ab portion, and they are still invisible under my bodyfat. At least my top 4 and sides are apparent, just wondering when the hell the last 2 will be there.

Got the pharmaceutical chemist job! Yay! Start that next Monday; for the first month of training it will be 8-5 then my shift will start of 3:30-11pm. Not bad at all. I will have to toy with my 2nd cardio sessions to see where they best fit in, and may have to start waking at night to get in meals. But this is a much needed blessing… financially and to get away from my ex.

Today was a slacker day, just did biceps, no abs since my obliques were still raw from yesterday, and 30min cardio w/8min HIIT thrown in. I like running, sometimes I just feel like I am going to trip on the treadmill. Going back tonight for either a cycle class (60min) or just 30 on the cybex arctrainer. My suit should arrive tomorrow!! Hopefully I won’t need major adjustments, I’dr ather it be bigger than smaller. My body has stopped responding to the diet, I remain the same regardless, so I am antsy to see my diet chick next week. My energy levels just SLAM stopped in the afternoon, I am looking for suggestions for good fat burners / energy enhancers?? I need to get off RedLine. Body got used to it. I don’t really believe in fat burners either - I just like the kick I get from them.

I am excited for tomorrow’s leg day. I learned from Jamie Eason’s video on BB.com how to do sumo deadlifts and they look fun! I think it is time to increase reps to about 10, maybe 12 for a few, and to add in plyo between sets. Certain bodyparts just don’t get sore anymre no matter what I do. Ha, if my clients had that "problem" where they don’t get sore the next day, they would loooove it! I guess we are "weird" in the sense that we chase it madly. But it’s a sign of progress!

Have a good evening… I’ll try to get some pics up soon, figured out the camera… now I just need to find someone to take them!

Yesterday was to be 2nd shoulders & abs and double cardio, only managed 10 cardio plus the lifting - had to prepare last minute for my interview (slacker!). It was 3 hours long… I met with each supervisor in "my" department for over an hour. The good thing is that by the end of the 2nd hour, I was no longer nervous - I think I had run out of adrenaline. Good thing is I will hear back between mon and wed… it will cramp my prep schedule for the next 4 weeks but it will be worth it.

Today was 2nd legs, did it with my client - she wants to do the september show with me! She is going to mike davies for her nutrition, I can’t wait to see what he writes for her. She is completely capable, nervous of course, but she has the body and drive and work ethic. I can’t wait to see it when she suprises herself at how well she will do. Oh also threw in 10min HIIT on the stepmill then just a mile run.

I’ve decided to skip my cheat this week. I think I cheated anyway yesterday, due to the 6 hours or so I spent between driving, interviewing, and driving back, I only got to eat egg whites, chicken and salad. So i just ate about a 1/4C of thsi 1g carb soy nut peanutbutter. Not good but it still put me under for my macros for the day. My cardio needs to increase to at least 40-45min AM, pm will still stay at 30min. I need to sit my butt down and figure out my camera. Typically I will just push buttons till something pops off or works…

Yesterday was to be 2nd shoulders & abs and double cardio, only managed 10 cardio plus the lifting - had to prepare last minute for my interview (slacker!). It was 3 hours long… I met with each supervisor in "my" department for over an hour. The good thing is that by the end of the 2nd hour, I was no longer nervous - I think I had run out of adrenaline. Good thing is I will hear back between mon and wed… it will cramp my prep schedule for the next 4 weeks but it will be worth it.

Today was 2nd legs, did it with my client - she wants to do the september show with me! She is going to mike davies for her nutrition, I can’t wait to see what he writes for her. She is completely capable, nervous of course, but she has the body and drive and work ethic. I can’t wait to see it when she suprises herself at how well she will do. Oh also threw in 10min HIIT on the stepmill then just a mile run.

I’ve decided to skip my cheat this week. I think I cheated anyway yesterday, due to the 6 hours or so I spent between driving, interviewing, and driving back, I only got to eat egg whites, chicken and salad. So i just ate about a 1/4C of thsi 1g carb soy nut peanutbutter. Not good but it still put me under for my macros for the day. My cardio needs to increase to at least 40-45min AM, pm will still stay at 30min. I need to sit my butt down and figure out my camera. Typically I will just push buttons till something pops off or works…

I won’t be seeing the girl who’s doing my diet until the week of the 9th. Not long to wait but you know when you feel that your body’s stopped responding to something, and you’re impatient and want to change something? Yep that was me yesterday. Plus I was carrying around a "food baby" from the Raisin Bran (mm) I ate the night before. Damn hunger.

Anywho, I decided to try low-carbing it for 2-3 days, then resuming the diet. Nothing scientific or measure-y about it at all, just high protein, moderate fat, very low carb. My all-knowing brain (haha) figures a few days of this will confuse my body when I resume my prior diet. It looked like this:

• Postworkout: 1.5C steamed broccoli, 6 egg whites
• 1: palm-sized extra-lean beef patty grilled
• 2: almost 2 cans tuna w/ 2T. low-fat mayo, 1/2 extra lean beef patty
• 3: 1 extra-lean beef patty grilled with 1T ketchup (the beef was grossing me out alone)
• 4: 1 can tuna w/ 4C lettuce and 2T low-fat dressing
• 5: 2T soy peanut butter unsweetened, total 1 carb here!

For the whole day it was approx. 18g carbs. On top of  a workout and 30min treadmill interval session…. I felt it bad. But I wasn’t starving in the middle of the night, thank God, so maybe when I see her (diet girl) again I should mention that I can function on really low carbs but feel best with more fats. Who knows! I’m not the expert, she is. Maybe I’ll ask about MCT oil too, I’ve heard a lot about them and fatloss.

Chest and biceps was weak yesterday. I just didn’t want to be there. I’ll probably have to switch off of the RedLine soon, I think they recommend every 8 weeks or so to take some time off. Today it’s shoulders and abs, I don’t have a lot of time so maybe I"ll just lift some odds-and-ends, my interview is at 2pm and I have to get prepared.

Everybody have a great day, eat well, lift hard, relax because you made it to Friday again!!!

Yay! My digital camera is here! I can’t wait to figure out how to use it…

5:45am 60min cycle class, then an hour break plus protein shake, then leg day plus another 10 of cardio. MISTAKE! I don’t think it affected the weight but it definitely took more energy to complete. Angled hack squat, smith squat supersetted with 15 box jumps, deadlifts, leg extensions with toes out, in, middle, donkey calf and standing calf, glute machine, then threw in some decline (or is it incline?) lying leg lifts w/ pelvic lift. Whew. Redline has stopped being as effective so I’ll have to find a new energy supplement for a while Still need to get appetite supressants today, I was absolutely ravenous last night and ate some train mix - yeah it’s dried fruit and nuts but it’s carbs that I don’t need at all.

Thank god my tax check finally arrived in the mail. Especially when it’s time to buy suits and heels…. can’t wait for the suit to get here asap. Hopefully it won’t need tailored.

Saw the oddest thing in the gym today - some big dude walked over to the military press at the intersection of two big mirrors, and proceeded to stand there for almost 20 minutes (the end of my leg workout plus my 10 of cardio)… he stood where the spotter stands, and kept making weird faces and moving his calves and pulling on the safety bars with his arms. Flexing?!?!? Uhm? It was quite comical. I don’t know if he was psyching himself up or not…. musn’t have been too into it if it took THAT long…. but it was very peculiar. I’ve seen people straight-up flex in the mirror more than lift…. but this wasn’t flexing….strange.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful hump day!!!

Sorry, I accidentally lied. It’s 9 weeks… a little less now. I was having trouble getting an affordable 1-piece suit for the show, most were in the range of $200+ (yikes!) but I looked at the forums here and found one woman who recommended divaexchange.com. There are a LOT of beautiful suits on there, marked down from the original price.. although a lot still seem pricey, I’m sure they are cheaper than buying for the first time. I found a pretty wet-look black one, velvet, with crystals and something around the bustline that is shimmery. Only $99, really good. It should be here in about 10 days, where hopefully my camera will arrive too (cough).

I may as well put up what my diet has and will look like for the next 2 weeks - 10 days. It’s worked thus far, but it will have to change soon (I think…).

1 (preworkout): 1/4C oatmeal + 1/2 scoop protein powder, Redline + Superpump250 1 scoop

2 (postworkout): 1/2C oatmeal + 5-6 egg whites + 2 fish oil caps

3: 1/2C beans/peas/corn/brown rice + large green salad + 4oz protein + 2T light dressing

4: 1C green beans/brocc/cauliflower + 3oz chicken/turkey/fish + 2 fish oil caps

5: Large salad + 1T EVOO + 1T light dressing + 4oz fish

6: 3oz protein + 1C green veg or salad

Pre-bed (if hungry): 1 scoop protein powder + 1/2C 8th continent light soymilk + remaining liquid water

Sometimes I take a 2nd dose of Redline in the PM, and if I am starving or crave something really badly, I have sugar-free jello on hand at all times. I think this is working for me as I have gotten much leaner in the past 3 weeks, but my weight has remained fairly the same around 130lbs. I think I will be onstage pretty heavy for figure. If I had to *guess*, my  bodyfat is somewhere between 13 and 14%, due to my abs and upper body… but my damn stubborn quads are not changing as fast.

Driving back from work this morning, I heard how Hulk Hogan’s son Nick was DUI and got into a car crash that is leaving his best friend in a coma for the rest of his life. And how his parents are *blaming the best friend* for what happened - saying how God must be punishing him for something terribly bad that he had done. WHAT!?!?!?! How does one child’s irresponsible behavior - that ruined another’s life - somehow "carry out the will of God"? You know what I mean. So are we saying drunk drivers that kill other people, murderers, and all other criminals (that know very well what they are doing), are some sort of karmic retribution to another? What crap. I’d like to smack all 3 of them for shifting responsibility.

First, thank you so much for your responses to my last post. I do feel like a weenie for that one - but I can’t say enough how grateful I am for your time, kindness, and responses.

My cheat meal Saturday wasn’t all that grand.. which maybe is a good thing! 3 cookies, a hamburger patty with cheese, a spoonful of peanut butter, and a mich ultra. My last drink for a while. Next week I think I’ll just stick to increasing proteins and fats, and staying away from cookie junk.

I started looking at competition suits… WOW… I didn’t realize how good I had it with NABBA! They only require a 2-piece, which I purchased from jagware for maybe $60 total. The cheapest 1-piece I could find was over $100! The NPC is definitely a different "level" from what I’ve seen in its competitors, and probably will require a step-up of the girly part of competing - hair, nails, makeup, jewelry, and the suits.

Today was shoulders and heavy abs, Db presses, lateral raises, front raises, rear delt flyes, skullcrushers (I wanted to do triceps too but felt pretty dizzy), cable side bends, some double-crunch-ish ab machine, weighted hanging leg raises, and 20min HIIT. Whew! I felt weak today. I feel like lowering my reps to 8 for everything has improved fullness. I’m hoping the gym will still have its 5:30pm cycle class even though it’s Memorial day. MMM grilled food!

Everyone have a safe, happy, chicken and beef filled Memorial Day. Enjoy the day off!