Making_A_Change’s BodyBlog

I had to talk myself into doing legs this morning. I started off with narrow-stance leg presses and supersetted with stiff-legged calf-presses and db deadlifts. I did 5 sets of 15-20 reps. Then I head over and worked my glutes on the cables–standing kickbacks and abductions. I finished up with standing hamstring curls. I wanted to do cardio and some lunges, but ran out of time. Tonight, I am going to go back for 45 minutes of cardio and the lunges that I wanted to do this afternoon. I am probably going to do some incline walking. That always gets me super tired and wanting to quit. And it really focuses on my glutes and hamstrings. My hamstrings are continuing to improve. My glutes look worse, which is actually progress.

As I anticpated, my abs are shot from Friday’s session with Billy. I’ve committed to working them three times per week and I envision stepping on stage with ‘blocks’ in October. I am working on the mind/muscle connection alot more. I am finding that my music sometimes fades to the background and it is just me and the burn. I was able to make this happen several times when I was doing the kickbacks. I got into a rythmn and really squeezed. By the fifth set, I was beat.Can salmon be ‘creamy’. The salmon that I got at my parent’s grocery store is so good. I grilled in on my Foreman Grill and the skin came out crispy, like a chip, and the inside was flaky and ‘creamy’. It melted in my mouth. Or maybe my palette is just so sick of chicken that it is reading the fat content in the salmon differently. Either way, it was such a pleasure to eat. It’s still early so I am going to get things ready for the week: defrost meat, fill my pill case, schedule my workouts, iron, etc.

We spent a nice afternoon with the grandparents. It is always a treat to watch how excited the little one get about gardening. I would be great if I could give her her own little space to plant things. We are both wearing out new glass. She is so excited and kept saying–everything is so clear! It’s so clear! I was saying the same thing! I am a little tired tonight, but I am going to get a workout it. I guess I had what could be considered a ‘free meal’. I had a cup of my dad’s chili. It’s so good and spicy and it had hamhocks in it. So, I am going to have some Vasocharge and little salmon and get busy. It was one of those days that I just couldn’t eat chicken.

Overall, prep is going really well. At around 4 weeks out I am going to bump the cardio to two sessions one 30 in the morning and 45-1 hour in the evening. For now, I am doing around 4 sessions in the evening of 30 minutes. My calories are still around 1800. I have had to eat a 1/4 cup of granola at around midnight and 1 a.m. a couple of times this week. But that was a case of bad planning on my part–I didn’t space my meals correctly.

It felt so good to sleep this morning. I try to take Thursday and Friday mornings off. So far, my new rotation is working. I had my high carb day yesterday, just under 100 grams. it is 11:30 and I am so hungry. I have about 3 oz. of chicken left and I am going to eat that with a little mustard. I got to choose the part htat I wanted to obliterate tonight-I chose abs. Why did I do that? Seriously, it was so challenging. We did abs using the ankle cuffs and the cables. I know I am going to feel it tomorrow. I love a challenge, though. I have to work on those weak areas.

Speaking of tomorrow, I am going to take a few pictures outside. My daughter has graciously volunteered to do the oiling. I got a few sports bras and shorts at Sports Authority to wear. They  have a warranty on shoes–I didn’t know that. For an additional $5 you can get your shoes replaced if their rip or get holes, or anything. AND you don’t get a Sports Authority gift card, you just get a check to spend as you choose. This is really good for kid’s shoes.

The trip to the gynocologist was successful. The IUD is out. However, it may be my fibroids that are causing the additional cycles. So, I am back on the pill. We will see how it goes. I pick up my prescription, tomorrow.

I can’t believe it’s midnight and I am still awake…I need to get to sleep.

Today was an off/recovery day. I had no problem taking it off, today. I am not going to workout in the morning. I’ll be meeting Billy tomorrow evening. I am thinking that we are going to do chest and biceps. I want to do abs, too. Also, tomorrow is the ‘big day’. I get my IUD removed and I am going back to the pill. I think it will be such a relief to navigate one cycle. And I’ll be able to control it when I compete. I can feel myself ovulating as I write this. I am actually going to go to sleep early tonight and I may have something to share tomorrow.

Today, was a high carb day. Tomorrow, I go back to low. I am just taking this prep one day at a a time. One meal at a time. One workout at a time.

PINCH ME!

I had recieved some congratulations about being Member of the Month. I was so happy to share what thelast two years have been like. I like being able to share some strategies to make fitness work as a mom, a student, working full-time, etc. When it posted, I was ecstatic. But what I saw this morning was even more exciting!

And this definitely made my morning:

I am thrilled, elated, and overjoyed. I never thought that keeping a journal would lead to people being interested in what I had to say or being downloadable. I am just a mom who made a decision. I tried something new. I am just a woman who discovered her inner athlete. The woman in that picture is not the same woman who signed on two years ago. She is different, somehow. I’ve changed. This has been such a motivating thing for me today.  I am just ecstatic!

This morning was an abbreciated leg workout. 5 sets of 15 reps, with the final set being drop sets. Instead of doing cardio at the end, I did walking lunges and focused on pushing through my heels.

I am burning through my food! I eat on time–every 2 1/2 to 3 hours. No more than 10 minutes after I eat, I feel hungry–ravenous!  I am determined, however, to ride the next few weeks out. I want to know what my limits are, because I believe that I have yet to see what I am capable of. Preparing for this show is not so much about the dieting and training, as it is about my mental state. I want to know how far I can push myself. Tonight, I did abs. I went after work, the worst time to go to any gym. My supersets were constantly interrupted and there were just alot of people standing around, blocking machines, and watching basketball on the televisions. I did managed to get a respectable ab workout in. Tomorrow morning I have to get up bright and early for legs. If I don’t, I won’t get through the full session. I am going to have to do squats. I have to admit, they are not my favorite thing to do. But you can’t deny that they change your legs and glutes. I got my Bodybuilding Encyclopedias and strength training anatomy book in the mail today! I am so eager to start reading them. I am especially interested in the history behind bodybuilding. I think it gives me a better appreciation of figure, too.

After I did abs I took out my stopwatch for posing practice. I am not only focusing on how the poses look, but how long I can hold a pose. I am trying to build up my posing endurance, if you will. I have a long way to go. My goal was to hold each pose, from top to bottom, for one minute. That seemed easy enough. I discovered that I hold my pose, well, for an average of 30 seconds. One minutes feels like an eternity especially when everything is tensed and lifted. But it was a good excercise. By the end of my session I was sweating! I’ll continue to do that, it can do nothing but help.

I had Boston Market last night. I ate the cornbread. Yep, I ate it and it was delicious. I am sure that it was one of the factors in a very productive shoulder workout this morning. I am almost up to 100% in stength, at least for bb benchpresses. Too bad, I’ll be cutting, again, in a few weeks. I had nice definition from head to toe today. My delts were striated, I had really nice vascularity, my obliques were visible, and my quad were separated. I definitely looked leaner. I just need to grow, which is the challenge. It appears that my body would like a leaner look, rather than full muscles. Interesting. I did supersets:

• lat raises (starting behind glutes/bent wrists)/unilateral
• bent over delt raises
• lat raises
• push-ups
• front raises with 25# plate

I am sure that there were other moves. Whatever I did, I made sure it burned!

I am low carbing until Thursday–50 grams or less. That pretty much comes out to my morning oats and the rest of my carbs coming from veggies.

I am in the process of weighing out and packing up my chicken and veggies for the day. We are going to an Oakland A’s game and there is very little competition-friendly food there. I have my grilled chicken, sauteed zuchinni. I just had a protein shake and almond butter. Tonight, I go back to the gym for cardio and posing. I’ll be doing 40 minutes on the stairmill. If I can fit in some abs, I’ll do a few sets.

I am feeling really energetic, but it is an off day. I am going to put that energy into cleaning and organizing some cabinets. I find the more organized that I am, the ‘easier’ contest prep can be. I got the pill organizer as my ‘free gift’ with my last bb.com order. I have already set myself up for the week. I typically take my cocktail (liquid mulitvitamin and liquid creatine) in them morning. I follow that with: B12, glucosamine, and Seasamin for fats. My calories for the day are going to be a little lower that I’d like because I did’t wake up until 8 a.m. I LOVED the extra sleep I got today. I feel so refreshed. I am going to make a few carrot loaves for the week. I’ve missed those. I am going to replace the raisins with craberries. That should taste really good.

I told Billy about getting BodySpace Member of the Month. He was thrilled and told me and wrote back: