Making_A_Change’s BodyBlog

I woke up not feeling the greatest, so that means I will be staying home. The little one has her kindergarten orientation and I’m excited. We’ll meet her teachers, tour her classroom, etc. School begins for her on Tuesday. This weekend will be devoted to getting all systems ready: grocery shopping, lunch menus, purchasing school approved supplies, completing her uniform, and getting hair accessories to go with said uniform.

I am experience bloat anda little sluggishness. It could be PMS and it could just be the milk (of which I am not drinking as of today–switched to almond). Morning weight was 135, probably PMS. I incorporated more carbs into the diet this week and I feel like I look better. I even had to switch my ring to the middle finger to make it fit. I am not going to be able to meet with Billy tonight, because I will be at the orientation, so I will workout out on my own.

Saturday marks 10 weeks out and time to re-avluate the plan. I am going to stay in maintenance mode and increase my cardio, now. I am really looking to be tight this next time. And I still have to consider that  won’t be able to drop calories as low as I did, so it may be beneificial to start earlier than planned, to be on the safe side. I am still doing abs and every workout and I am feeling a difference! A few days ago, before the bloating, my midsection felt ‘heavy’. It did not feel like I was full, but it had a tightness that I hadn’t felt before. I’ve been alternating weighted and non-weighted days. If I am especially sore, I’ll do ab work with my body weight.  I was doing a few session devoted to abs per weeks, but it seems like this is effective. I don’t want just ‘flat abs’, I want some with some depth and dimension. I am excited to find out what type I have!

I’ve put in my new supplement order and I can’t wait to stock up, again.  

I am going to run errands until it’s time for the orientation! I’ll log my workout, tonight!

I was tired this morning and definitely feeling a little weaker than usual. But it is about that time and I’m not suprised. I did: leg presses/calf presses, leg extensions/leg curls; iron crosses/squat to a single shouler press. My hip flexors are tight, too. I need to stretch, big time, today. I have had a strange craving for milk. It’s odd because I haven’t had milk in a while, much less a craving! And while there are some minor… ‘back drafts, I am not experiencing the severe systems of intolerance that I’ve had previously. At 11 grams of protein, it can’t hurt. I’ve read in Muscular Development that many bodybuilders still include it in their diets. I think I am going to keep it in until the end of the week, I’ll be 10 weeks out, then. The additional calories have been good. 

Tomorrow, I have chest, shoulders, and triceps planned.

Yesterday, my 5 year old squeezed my chest (and laughed!) several times. I told her not to do that because she is not a baby and doesn’t breastfeed, anymore. She sighs and replies, "Yeah. Those were good times".

I am going to try SuperPump for a while. I took 1/2 a scoop last night, instead of the full scoop–that’s what I usually do when introducing or reintroducting supplements. And I felt good last night. I was going a little heavier than I had in a while. I was feeling so froggie that I tweaked something is my lower back doing db rows with 50’s. I have felt this before, a day or two of not aggravating it is what I need. That was stupid–I know better. Even though I felt fantastic, I knew that I was prepping and I need to lift to avoid injury. I knew I should have used the 40’s.

While running yesterday, Monica pointed out that a  Max Muscle opened up just a few minutes from me! I can go there and buy my liquid egg whites–anytime. I have powdered whites, but I am NOT feeling those, at all! I have got to find something to do them. I’m open to ideas. I don’t like to waste food.

I had planned to wake up late, but my body said–Get up! I’m hungry! I was up at 5 a.m. and had my morning oats. Then I went back to bed. Hmm. It’s already time to eat–5 egg whites it is! I have been making them ‘crepe style’. I put them in my Magic Bullet with cinnamon. I learned about this on another message board. Initially, I thought that that had to be the most disgusting thing that you could do with eggs. I mean, I can do savory tastes with eggs–salsas, BBQ sauce, peppers, etc. But, sweet? I wasn’t so sure about. But, I had to do what I remind my daughter to do, try it and see if you like it. If you don’t like it–try it one more time to be sure. I blended the whites and the cinnamon in The Bullet and poured a think layer of the mixture in the skillet. I sprinkled a few walnut pieces on the egg and let it cook until the top was ‘dry’. When I flipped it over, I was so surprised at how ‘bread-like’ the eggs were. It was fluffy. Yesterday, I sprinkled cinnamon on one side, added a few slices of banana, drizzled a little honey over the banana, and rolled it up. It was delicious. Today, I warmed up blueberries and poured some berries and the juice on top of rolled egg whites. It was good, but not as good as the banana. The fillings are endless, just treat the eggs as you would pancakes or crepes.

A few days ago I wrote about meeting another competitor at the gym. We exchanged contact information and planned to run and do stairs the following week. Today was the day. We ran around the lake (the short way and did 3×5 rounds on the steps). Even better than just having the company and talking shop. But, mentally it was good for me to see a live example of how our bodies change during prep and during contest. The thing I noticed about her was her phsyique at the gym-muscular and strong. She had just started to diet. Now, we are going to train and I’ll get to see someone else’s body change and just provide me with some perspective. Mentally, I know that I am going to put one some weight this year, and there are the questions and wonderings– How will I feel? What can I expect? The other great thing was to learn how someone else prepped. She is really instinctual and will drop calories depending on how she looks. She doesn’t really weigh or measure. And she really enjoys a variety of foods off season. It was nice to have another voice say–"Wow, your off season calories are low. You need to eat more.’ It really has me excited about ‘off season’ and pushing my limits even further. There will be some workouts where I could actually get a spot, learn new routines, etc. Now, I even have a road dog for out of town competitions!

Funny how things happen. The push to eat and train hard comes at such a great time, especially since I want to try bodybuilding in May 2010. I will be looking very different. This who sport is a-physical and mental challenge. And I love that push to try new things, as it’s the only way to progress. And once you see what your challenges or mental blocks are–you have to take that leap. So, I’ve raised my calories a bit and I am training harder/heavier for another 3 weeks. Then, start double cardio shortly, thereafter. Let’s see what happens. I need a Top 5 finish to qualify for the USAs next summer, my first national figure show.

Fitness brings with it all sorts of opportunities. I suppose it was a little of a shock when people began to ask "What do you do? What do you eat?" and take an interest. I am just training, do what I love to do, and trying to get better at it. Harper (AirHarp) took notice and introduced me to Tamishia Harris. Tamishia works full-time as a producer and is also a figure competitor. She decided to create a magazine that addressed the specific needs of figure athletes and those who train like one:

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After perusing some of my blogs here. I was asked to contribute a few writings about my experience preparing for my next show. Needless to say, I was was excited to do so and said–yes! The blog that I keep on EdgeHers will provide a different perspective than the one that I keep here–I won’t cut and paste.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Edge-Hers-Magazine/90532966876

 I took yesterday off and had a homeade chocolate chip cookie fest with my daughter. I don’t even recall that last time I had homemade chocolate chip cookies! It was great and only allowable becuase I am this far out and can categorize it as a ‘cheat’. I guess that is a ‘true cheat’ instead of my ‘extra oatmeal’ cheat. My daughter, however, said that she didn’t like the ‘bread part’ of the cookies, just the chips. If that was teh case I could have given her a bag of chips! But, I guess it was process that was fun for her. The family ate the chicken I made yesterday and they are normally picky. I must say, it was good. I used this grilling seasoning and a little olive oil and the pieces were nice and tender.

Now, I’ve  decided to go ahead and put my PT plans into action. I’ve been reading all sorts of guerrilla marketing books and, studying for the exam. It has gotten to the point that things are just coming into place and I would like to be in a position to recieve them. I am helping two friends get ready for a wedding (one was interested in tweaking her diet and the other wants to start working out, again), another friend and her 12-year old daughter wanted to start changing their diet, my pastor asked for a nutritional guidance. Of course these people know, I hold no credential. I simply enjoy what I do, read alot, and have used myself as an experiment, of sorts. I like the idea of sustainable changes and not just the ones that will drop 20 pounds in a month. I like to focus on the habits.

This morning, I forgot to eat my pre-workout meal. How did I do that? I was reading marketing books. I didn’t relaize it until I got to the gym and was warming-up. I had my protein shake and took a sip of that and figured this workout would be semi-fasted. I focused on opposing muscle groups, today. I did biceps and triceps, and tried to vary the grips, weights, and reps: narrow grip bb curls, one-armed db curls, bent over curls (to work against gravity), overhead bb tricep extensions, cable curls/tricep extensions, etc. I just kept moving. The weights weren’t as heavy as I had planned on going, but I got a great workout, anyway. I also woke up later than I planned, which made my rests shorter. It all worked itself out.

Tomorrow, I am doing cardio with the competitor from the gym–running then stairs. I am so excited!

I slept in and got to the gym at around 8 a.m. I did abs and cardio. I’ve been reading The Encyclopedia of bodybuilding and they say that because posing is an isometric hold, there are some strength benefits. And it can refine your physique. So, that is my evening workout, since I’m not doing double cardio, yet. Plus, I can just do it at home. I did: seated cable crunches, obliques (on ball and back extension), toe touches, bicycles, reverse crunches. I finished everything off with 3×10 of hanging knee raises. I really like these, but I do get frustrated because my grip gives out way before my abs do. I’ll just continue to practice, practice, practice. Now, to go and cook up a bunch of chicken. I’ve been eating fish and turkey for the passed few days. Chicken is best, but it isn’t appetizing, right now. I suppose I need to suck it up just as I do in the gym, right?

I followed up Ab Day with 30 minutes on the stairmill. The first 20 minutes were tough, but I trudge through it. The last 10 minutes, for some reason were tough. It got to the point where I was thinking-maybe I’ll finish the last 10 minutes on the treadmill. That was the body talking. That’s when my brain took over and said–No, finish it. FINISH IT! This is when it counts. I put on Lil’ Wayne, turned up the volume, and dug in. It felt good to stick it out.

I just got the best compliment from my 5-year old.

"I didn’t know we had 4 shoulders." She said.

"We have only two." Then, I counted hers. "1,2. See?"

"You have four. 1,2…", she said putting her hands on my delts. "And…3,4", she said putting her hands on my traps.

I was surprised to see that my morning weight (even after my second carb meal) was 129.6. My ‘ab flap’ is in full effect, so my bodyfat may be going down, again.

I woke up early, ate my oats, had my pre-workout drink before I realized that I wasn’t scheduled to workout. I had my sessions with Billy tonight. We focused on legs, more specifically, glutes and hamstrings. I typically increase my carbs and calories on leg days for recovery. We know that my quads are going to respond, so the emphasis is going to be on bringing up my weakest links. Weight was moderate and the reps were high, 15-20: leg extesions/leg curls; leg presses; shoulder presses; step-ups. I’m going to be so sore. I’m going to do cardio tomorrow to alleviate some of the soreness and abs. I am staying on them. I may slip some calves in, too. I noticed some stretchmarks on my calves, today. At one time, that would have bothered me. Now, I see it as a sign of growth. I think they look bigger, but that is evidence! This is another part that I have to work a little harder than others.

I am finding that I need some friends who compete. I know I’m a loner, at heart. But, I would like for someone to be able to relate to what is happening in my head, for someone to understand why my patience wears thin, why I take it so seriously, why I don’t like to plan things that will interfere with my gym time during contest prep. I am in that space where I am ’dialed in’.  If you were to ask me what would I rather do–a night out or go to the gym. I’d really, REALLY  have to think about it. It could be "Prep Kassandre" talking. But I have all of these numbers, calculations, and prep ideas in my head, and no one wants to hear all that.

I have also been thinking about my figure/bodybuilding goals. I am still going for the bodybuilding debut in May 2010.

The San Jose show was a national qualifier. How can I even think about leaving figure without doing a national level show and seeing how I fare?

I have decided to add to my ‘Fitness Bucket List’, so to speak:

• I will do the Arnold Amateur, March 2010. It’s an invitational and I believe the applications are available in January. I am going to apply. And if I get ‘the letter’ I am going to do it. That is 8 months from this writing.
• I will earn an overall win at the amateur level.
• I will earn a class win at the national level.
• I will earn an overall win at the national level.
• I will compete at the USA’s in Vegas in , July 2010.

All of these are going to be benchmarks as I work towards my ultimate goal. Any mass that I put on for bodybuilding, will still help me in figure. So, those are the thoughts that I had as I was doing leg presses. Now, to budget for all of this.

This morning, I had to pick up the husband from the mechanics and give him my car for a few hours. On the way back home He and Little One stopped by one of their doughnut spots. I sat on the stool as they ordered their favorite. It just reminded me of when I ate doughnuts. No so long ago, I worked at a private school that was blocks from a neighborhood doughnut spot. It was one of those spots where older people hng out and drank on the same cup of coffee for hours, played chess, and talked about whatever was passing by the picture window at the time. The smell of a doughnuts shop is so distinct. There is the sweet smell of the pastries and the contrasting deep, smokey smell of the coffee. I used to order 4-6 doughnuts several times per week. Sometimes I would ’spread it out’ so that it ‘wouldn’t be so bad for me’ (I’m smiling as I write this. Was I serious?) Or sometimes, I would throw caution to the wind and go on consecutive days. I’d order 2-3 twists and 2-3 plains and a large milk–2%. I would take my greasy bag to work, sit on a bench, supervise recess, and eat all of them. If a co-worker happened to sit next to me, I’d share one. But, for the most part, they were all mine.

I went into a doughnut shop this morning. I can appreciate the smells, the beautiful arrangement of doughnuts, the rich smell of coffee. I find it hilarious that people can’t eat a doughnut without smiling or doing the ‘doughnut dance’. My doughnut days seem like a world away, but they’re not. I do not know why I ate doughnuts like that, other than the taste. I don’t recall feeling ‘empty’ or ‘lonely’. I just didn’t think about it. I had an impulse and I fulfilled it. I ate the doughnuts because I could. Eventually, I did stop. I gained a significant amount of weight and had to wear my denim suspenders a couple of times a week because nothing else fit. I worked with 1st graders at the time, so my ’stylish’ suspenders were functional and great for messy kids. And I guess I can count it as luck that they were halfway ‘in’ at the time’–it was the 90’s. If ’90’s Kassandre’ met ‘Kassandre 4.0′ I think she’d say, "Thanks."

I was doing lat-pull down and I saw her. If I had a thought bubble over my head it would have read: She is about 5′6", Class C, dense muscle, capped delts, muscular glutes, great tie-in. Yep, this woman competes. Watched her workout and she was all business, high reps, supersets, in and out. I managed to catch her during a transition, and I surprised myself, with my boldness. "People don’t just have delts like that. Do you do figure?" I asked. Her face lit up and so did mine and we held hands danced in circles in slow motion. Okay, well not really. Actually, we had competed at the same show last year. She said she was checking me out, too. We laughed. It was really cool moment–of comraderie, sport, and appreciation. We introduced ourselves, then proceed to finish our workouts. At the end of hers, she comes over with her contact information. She runs stairs at the college where the show is held and invited me to do them or cardio. "If now, I’ll see you at the show!" Well, I e-mailed her. And we are setting up our cardio dates. She was was Fitness Amateur of the Week, but I can’t find the date. But I do know she is about 10 years younger than I am–another thing that I am excited about. She has a pretty extensive sports background, so I know I’d have to work extremely hard to keep up.

As for the workout, I feel like I am getting stronger. I did lat pull downs (horseshoe attachment)/rear delt flyes; t-bar (25#)/db rows (30#); bench pull overs (50 reps)/bicep curls (30#, run the rack, need to increase reps), cable crunches/bicycles/toe-touches/reverse crunch. I did set sets of 15-20. I am going to be a 5 sets by next week. I’ll need a bit more time. I am thinking about getting some cardio in, tonight–just 30 minutes on the stairmill.

I got feedback from the NPC’s judge from the SJ show:

Good afternoon Kassandra hope u r doing well. Well i was very happy to see u came in the show in much better condition. U have a beautiful symmetry and i believe if u keep doing and stay with ur training and dieting u will be very happy with the results. The areas i would focus in on is tighter glutes and hams. We r not talking much maybe couple of pounds. Please let me know if u have any other questions or concerns. Take care john tumanIt was everything that I expected–glutes and hams. I also got the show’s DVD in the mail. The little one and I looked at those. I was pleased, overall. I am going to continue to work on my posing. And of course–I will be squatting and lunging and split squatting, and leg pressing my legs and glutes to a pulp.

Tomorrow, I am going to hit back, biceps, an abs. I’ll also be adding some squats at the end. I wrote more earlier, and I don’t know where the blog went!

Prep is going well. I have increased my carbs (lo) to aroudn 50 grams and I think I’ll keep them there. My high days are going to be at around 80 grams. My hope is that I can continue to building my lower half and get it a little leaner. Husband has to get to work early tomorrow, so no sleeping in if I want to get that full morning workout in!