Making_A_Change’s BodyBlog

…and nausea.

I got in two workouts, today. This morning, I did triceps and chest. This evening I was in the mood for a serious shoulder and bicep workout, instead of boring cardio. BOTH workouts felt really good. But my evening workout was intense, so much so that I almost got sick. I had 1/2 c. of oats pre-workout instead of 1/4 c. I don’t know if that made the difference, but I certainly wasn’t expecting to have the energy to work like I did. I poured some of my vanilla protein powder in my lemon Scivation. It was gross, but I needed something quickly and I was getting really shaky. I had a handful on protein cereal and began to feel much better. And, boy, my sweaty tan was sexy–well, to me anyways. LOL! I did posing practice and that went well. I feel like I am becoming more fluid in my movements. I am going to having dinner and go to sleep.

This morning I focused on abs followed by 15 minutes of running. Then, I went home for a shower and a thorough exfloliating becuase I was getting spray tanned today. I went to a small tanning salon in Alameda and met Derrick. It is sort of weird to meet someone for the first time knowing that you are going to show them your bare boobs. But, I though of it as a trip to the doctor’s office. Derrick was very nice and I immediately felt comfortable. I went into a small room that couldn’t have been more than six by six feet. In one corner was a small counter with towels and spray tanning supplies. Next to it was a large black tanning screen that resembled those folding poster boards that kids use for science fairs–exept it was about 6 feet tall. I was going to wear a bra, but though let’s just dive right in. I did keep on the thong, though. I figure I’ll do the butt naked tanning after the waxing and just prior to the competition. I had to do a series of poses: back to front, arms up, make tiger claws, thumbs up, thumbs down, legs out, etc. The result? My stretchmarks were significantly minimized and my skin is so even! I look creamy. It was rather relaxing and I enjoyed it. He did two coats and a coats of a ‘colorguide’. I can’t shower for another hour. After that, I can get my second workout in.

Your definition is really emphasized after a tan. I’ve read about it, but now I’m a believer.

Tonight, is 30 minutes of cardio; followed by shoulder and calves. My ankle is still swollen and has hindered posing practice, a bit. So, I am still icing it.

Have I been so involved that I have forgotten to shave my armpits? I have been cooking, preparing food, working out, balancing life in general, and have even remembered to exfoliate. Somehow, shaving has not crossed my mind. While doing lat pull downs tonight (and feeling mighty strong, I might add) I happen to look at see a ridiculous amount of armpit hair. Ack.

Tonight, I worked back and bicep and watched some dude’s ‘training’ together. Their LOUD 10 minute breaks, poor form, and cock-blocking the free weights were both annoying and strangely entertaining. Yes, the evening crowd continues to entertain. On lady was talking about how hot it was and how she could’t work out hard because of her asthma. I think it was the HUGE, thick sweatshirt she had on–but who am I.

 I am scheduled for my first spray tan on Saturday. I was planning on taking progress pictures, anyway. It will be neat to see if the tan makes a difference. After getting sprayed, I am going to MAC to choose my foundation. Why does it cost so much? Geez. My co-worker is going to start practicing on me over the next few weeks. We are going to try some various looks and color combinations. My one piece is purple and my two piece is teal, so we are thinking going bronze and gold with the eye shadows, with a nuetral lip. Talking make-up is hilarious. I wear make-up for several occasions–interviews, weddings, and funerals. That’s it. But this is fun. I’ll be taking pictures and video.

I was quite veiny, tonight which was super motivating. Off to bed, and to do it all again in 5 hours.

I am exhausted I did get my evening cardio and abs done last night.  I finished it out with over a hundred lunges across the studio floor. My quads were super pumped by the time I finished, and my butt is sore today–good stuff. I am due for some cardio tonight, but I missed my a.m. workout. I am struggling. I am adjusting to my previous scheduling–7:30 start, with the new ambition 4:30 workout, and a ew workload–grad school classes. It can be done, though. I have been adjusting and the key is getting to bed early–no later than 10:30. That’s been a challenge. But food has been good. My workouts vary, the other day my workout sucked. I didn’t feel strong and I know it had to do with the previous day’s eats–too high in processed carbs. I am going to try to get in a nap while the family is away and then hit the gym in a bit.

I start classes this week and it is the last week that we don’t have students at work. School starts next Tuesday. I had plans, BIG plans. I am bumping up workouts to 4:30 to accomodate my additional morning cardio. I defrosted 4 fresh tuna steaks for the Foreman grill–that takes 5 minutes. Yep, I had a plan–that doesn’t work when you have 20 minutes to get up and out to work. My alarm was supposed to go off at 4 a.m. My husband taps me–It’s 7 o’clock! What!?? It’s 6:50 a.m. and I am supposed to be out of the house by 7. Okay…okay….if I am out by 7:10 I can make it to work by 7:30. I skipped my shower–ew. At least I took one last night–but I like to be fresh. No time this morning. My lunch!!!!! Well I throw in bags of brocolli and canned tuna–eh. I threw together some Muscle Milk and was out the door. Today was an OFF day in terms of eating. I had two protein bars–I NEVER do that. Those were two of my meals. Half of my meals were decent. That cannot happen again. My water was off, too. I feel bloated and heavy. AND I missed a workout–now that’s a bummer.

I am off to prepare properly–ironing, a meal per plastic container, and lots of water. Tomorrow is another chance to try again.

My butt hurts–and this is a good thing. I means that yesterday’s butt day was a success! Today was a chest day followed by 30 minutes of running. Tonight will be 30 minutes of cardio followed by hamstrings and abs. I am going to follow my girl Chicana_Peach and just do two sessions of moderate cardio. It is doable AND by sticking to that consistently I will be able to say, for sure, if that worked for my body and used that information for the next competition. (Thanks, girl!)

Tomorrow, will be all abs and shoulders with lunges thrown in for fun! Today, will be a low, low carb day. My high day will be Wednesday. School starts for me tomnorrow and I am excited. I love learning and it’s especially exciting because my studies are directly related to my job.

…That’s what it feels like. According to my husband, I was gone for almost 3 hours. While away, I focused on legs and shoulders. I was creative and reee-ally got my glutes GOOD.  I did: leg press (varied food positions) supersetted with calf presses, shoulder press/calf raise on blocks, squats to one armed lat raises, one-armed front/side raises, rear delts, seated bb press, overhead lat raise to standing lat raise with bb, laying glute press (don’t know the name, but that’s what I’ll call it), glute press on assisted chin-up machine (ditto on the name), glute blaster–that’s the best I can do from memory.

The leg press was great, I think because everything is supported-I varied my foot positions and did 6 sets. When I put my feet together, my glutes were on fire–Yeah! I finished every off with 10 minutes of elliptical. I feel so good, right now.  I’m going to go clean something…

My 400th post! [Confettiti, poppers, and horns here.]

 It is amazing what happens to the body when a part is injured-no matter how small. I remember when it was a finger and how that effected back and bicep training because my grip was comprimised. I figured my upper body training wouldn’t be changed at all. I was wrong. I like standing bb rows for my back and I noticed that I was placing more weight on my weight foot, for example. Posing is compromised. My left foot looks like a snausage in my shoes. With the heel elavated, again, I can’t put my full weight on it. Also, my ranged of motion has decreased so I can’t stand and flext my quads the way that I need to. All of these are not complaints, merely observations. Today, I am going to have a leg day and focus on seated excercises, hamstring curls, leg extesion, and some ball work. I am hoping that everything will be back to normal by next week, so that I can really plow through that final six weeks.

In previous drafts I shared how I am not a sports fan. I have never had an interest in a sport, until now. I didn’t understand how an athlete could be injured, but want to get a cortisone shot and continue to play or train. Or play through pain. Now, I feel like I have a better understanding. I don’t just empathized–I can sympathize! If I could get a shot, right now, I would. I just want to play ‘my sport’ unhindered. I feel like this is a critical time for me and I am a bit frustrated.

By on the sunny side, I found someone who will spray tan me for free. His studio is in a back alley and he uses contraption made from a bicycle pump and waterhose. Seriously, I purchased Protan, the muscle gloss, and had the brushes and was going to paint myself. I had been researching tanning businesses in my area to schedule a session to get a base tan. In my inquiries, though, I asked if anyone had experience tanning bodybuilders or fitness competitors. Many did not get back to me, but a man in a neighboring city did. He has beeing dong spay tans for over 5 years and wants to get into painting athletes. He explained that a close friend of his does this sort of tanning and he would contact her for more information, in the meantime he gave me her link. I was pleasantly surprised to see: (1) several people I recognized from bodyspace, so I know the people are real and (2) she was the sponsored tanner of shows I was familiar with. We are scheduled to meet next week and do a trial run. We have been e-mailing back and forth and I even sent him a link to my bodyspace so that he could also see that I am legit, as well. And to allow him to see my skin tone and shade.

Since I am essentially a guinea pig he is spraying me for free–trial run and show tan. Risky, sure. But I have nothing to lose–it’s all a learning experience. I have been thinking the more risks I take now, the better I will be because: Mistaks are opertoonities to lurn.  I trust my instincts on this one and I’m going to go for it. It almost echoes how I met my trainer–maybe this guy could become ‘my tanner’.

Off to train–HARD.

My cankle and I decided to focus on abs this evening. I was going to do back and biceps, but my back was still surprisingly sore. So I did abs for an hour. It was fun. Now, I am going to elevate and ice the ankle and get some sleep. Tomorrow, back and biceps, for sure. Then, an evening of cardio.

My old car has been sitting in my school’s (work) parking lot for a couple of weeks. My husband and I have been trying to schedule a Pick N Pull tow for a while. There was alot of miscommunication and lack of communication about what was needed to accomplish this, but we finally got it done. While at the Pick N Pull office, we were filling out the last bit of paper work, again, something was missing but it was an easy fix. Long story short, the woman was extremely rude–beyond rude! I was infuriated. Not long ago I would have walked out fuming, but not today. I have become more confident and assertive–it’s new, came with the muscles. Halfway to the car I turn around to go back to the office. In a respectful way I told her what I thought of her and how she treated me and my husband. We stared at each other, and she replied with blank eyes-Whatever. In sitcom-daydream style, I could imagine grabbing her by both ears and slamming her head into the counter. My husband shook it off. He says "If I went back and approach every person that was rude to me in my line of work, I wouldn’t get anything done. Besides, she probably gets cussed out everyday and that is probably the way most transactions go down." To make matters worse, my exit was foiled as I tripped down the stairs and twisted my ankle. Now, I have a swollen left ankle. It’s the size of a golf ball and I’m limping. My first thought, and this is sad, was–how am I supposed to work my calves and do cardio! I’m icing it now, and I am going to work around it and not aggravate it–training still goes on. Man, this ‘new’ assertive woman is alot to handle.

I am not doing cardio tonight. Tomorrow morning is back, biceps, and abs. This morning, I worked chest and it went well. I am low carbing it, today. I just had my oats in my pre-workout oatmeal and my speciality whole wheat toast with egg whites afterwards. This bread is so good! I get it at my Grocery Outlet place for $2 when it’s $4-5 at your regular, chain store! It only has 15g of carbs and is primarily made of sprouts. It’s also sodium free. With all of that you’d think it would taste bad–but it has that flaky, nutty taste. And it’s really good toasted.

Tomorrow is a low, LOW carb day. Just carbs pre-workout and a bit post. Thursday, however, I FEAST on 1/2 cup of yams with cinnamon and my oats!