Making_A_Change’s BodyBlog

I attended the Olympia this past weekend and I have been so distracted that I failed to plan to the best of my ability. How did this play out? I bought tickets for Friday’s prejudging instead of Saturday’s finals. So, I show up at the arena, ready to witness history, only to be told that my tickets were for the previous day. Yes, there was a brief moment that I wanted to cry. I just went back to my room, sulked a bit, and got a bunch of papers graded. But on a more positive note, I had a great time at the Expo! If I weren’t just two weeks away from my show, believe me, I would have tried everything and I would have gone back for more. It’s on for The Arnold. I will be there for all three days, I will have extra bags for all of my loot. And I will be at both shows! I am going to do it ‘real big’!

But, I had a great time. The best part was getting to hang out is Laura (Jumper 11) and Harps (AirHarps). I learned so much from her. Her cooler was soo-oo impressive. Being at the Olympia was as inspiring as being at The Arnold. Even though I missed finals, I was still in awe of of the sheer motivation and discipline that it takes to get to that stage. It was a reminder of how much I want to compete. And how no matter how much I want it–I need to really wait to compete until next summer. I don’t want to treat the next show as a ‘do over’, I want to know what it feels like to go into a show with a hard tangible goal, and to have done everything that I needed to do. And that will come with time.

Prep has been ‘going’. That is the best way to describe it. I try not to overthink it and just ‘do’. I have dropped my carbs because I know that will drop the weight. My suit doesn not quite fit the way that it should.  The top and bottoms feel big. I will be taking my last set of progress pictures this weekend. I am actually hungry, right now. I have a stack of sweet potato pancakes waiting for me for my first meal in the morning. I’ll also be having tuna, tomorrow. I have developed an affinity for the stuff. I like it with with dijon mustard and a little fat free mayonnaise.

Now, to go to sleep and ‘beat the hunger’.  

I feel like I have finally found my stride. Cardio is getting done twice per day, lifting in the morning. I like to run, do the stairmill-basically anyting that makes my butt burns. I haven’t had peanut butter in a while, until yesterday. I had an emergency yesterday–I somehow forget my lunch on the kitchen counter. Everything was laid out–chicken, brocolli, tuna with peppers, etc. Luckily, I keep peanut butter in my purse for such occasions. It bought me sometime until my husband brought it to me. My weight is down, I am beginning to feel the smile lines in my face, my wedding ring dropped off of my hand and I had no idea (one my students returned it to me), so something is happening. My weights are down, but that is to be expected. And I have hand minimal protein powders, instead opting for real food. (Thanks, Laura!) Now, we wait and see.

I am so excited to be going to the Olympia. After attending the Arnold I KNEW I would be there. However, I have been so busy I haven’t even had a chance to really enjoy the build up of getting there. Speaking of the Arnold, my absense request at work has been approved, I will be reserving my hotel, soon. Can you believe the host hotel is already full?

Two more weeks to go and then I will do national shoes thereafter. I almost feel like I am graduating.

Mentally, this prep has been tiring. There have been alot of ups and downs from figuring out what to eat, to unexpected physical and hormonal  changes. This whole, time I have felt that I am and just treading water instead of swimming in the right direction. My trainer has a trainer and we went on a field trip to San Francisco. Frank is a marathoner, powerlifter, and bodybuilder. He has a small studio in a very busy part of the city and he has been known to ‘pick the winners’. He was an interesting person. He doesn’t buy into the ‘guru’ phenomenon where you tell someone what to do and they do it because you said to. I have to admit, with this prep, that is exactly where I am. Someone just tell me what to do!! He has a background in the biolocigical sciences so alot of what he does is scienticially based. The good news is that he does prepare people for bodybuilding and figure shows. And he was willing to take a look at me during these final weeks and offer some help. I told him about my diet and the changes that have happened over the past several weeks. That is three weeks gone. I can only keep going with what I have. He took my body fat and I am at around 15%, not a number that I am thrilled with but it is what it is. He said with if I up my cardio to 6 times to week, HIIT and race-paced cardio I should be able to drop close to 1% bodyfat over the next few weeks. He is not a proponent of super low carbs because one needs something to work with. I can agree with that. And with my job, there is no way I could teach, be lucid, and be on very low carbs. My husband said I looked ’strung out’ during the last prep when I decided to try very low carbs and low calories–glassy eyed, slow, and I moved only if I had to. If I do everything  just right, I may come in at 12%. Another thing that he emphasized was to use this as a learning time and not fret too much. And I know that’s right. I  have written it myself, but it is hard to believe sometimes. As for the numbers, I was surprised when the calipers revealed that my biceps are extrememly lean and my triceps are meaty my comparison. My abs, predictably, are my most stubborn feature. But overall, he said my shape was really good–developed back, great v-taper, small hips, and strong quads. Otherwise some ‘good genetics to compete and the higher levels’. This is what I would like to do in the future.

So, the great part is that he will be willing to provide some guidance and get me ready for next year’s nationals. But I think it may be sooner. I am going to submit my application for the Arnold Amateur. It’s an invitational so only time will reveal if I get to do it. But, I am going to train like I am. My goal over the next year is to put on at leanst 5-8 pounds of lean muscle. It will be challenging, but I have to keep moving forward.

My workouts have been great. I will be doing alot of high reps and sets with the goal of losing as much bodyfat as I can–that is the only goal. I am a week from my ‘phantom period’ and taking the placebos. For my last set of placebos I ended up on my period for 14 days. It finally tapered off a few days ago. Hopefully, this month, I can skip my cycle without incident.

I am off for chest, abs, and 30 minutes of HIIT. Unfortunately, I missed my meeting with Mo for our run and stairs. I found myself dreaming about cardio and overslept. We have both had our competitor moments.

I am sitting here…sore and happy. This morning’s leg session went very, very well. Billy has me doing crazy sets to start to pre-exhaust a certain set of muscles and then those muscles are beat up. Last night, we started with a punching bag warm-up–which I loved. I didn’t think I would be ‘aggressive’ enough to do what he showed me, but it was great! I really got arush kicking and hitting that thing! I also did some ab work laying under the bag–kicking and hitting it simultaneously. Next, on to 10 sets of chest presses and push-ups. I thought what I was hearing was a mistake, but it was ten! Even though it was rough, I finished only to be punished with dips and chest flyes and set after set of tricep extension variations. My chest, traps, and triceps were so tight that I had to keep readjusting my tanktop.

This morning, I got in the car and realized that my MP3 player wasn’t charged. I thought about allowing it to charge for a few minutes, but that would have messed up my eating/training timing. So, I set out to have a great workout anyway and because of last night, I decided to do legs. I did 10 sets of squats supersetted with abs with the cables. I increased my weights on the squats every few sets. I coupled good mornings and hamcurls. On the good mornings, I was doing sets as high as 30, because I was getting such a great burn that I just kept going. I treated my hamstring curls like biceps curls and squeezed at the top. I also did drop sets on those. I am also down two pounds. For my next leg day, I’ll focus on my quads and calves.

Tonight, I walked on the treadmill at a 4% incline for an hour. I was going to do the stepmill, but I’m pretty sore all over and I’m doing cardio and stairs with Monica tomorrow morning. I take progress pictures tomorrow. We’ll see if the changes that I feel are visible.

So far, so good. I have had the energy to complete my evening cardio, my weights have increased, and i can definitely now see where I have a bit more mass (and fat!). I won’t lie. There are times when I just wish that I could rewind time and put myself at 12 weeks out with all that I know, now. It is definitely true that it is mistakes and trial that trigger learning. I was coasting comfortable and BAM! my body, without my permission, said ‘Enough of that. Let’s do something else’. But when I look at what is happening, I can’t deny how much better I feel. I just had my session with Billy and, of course, it was challenging. However, I was able to dig deeper and push harder than before. When I pose I can see the increase in the size of my lats. While walking past the mirror the other day, I say a cut in my glutes that I hadn’t seen. I remember in a earlier blog, writing that there is no ‘after’. And there isn’t. I actually feel like I did when I first signed on. What do I do? Will this work? What do you do? What is going on? I am going to heed my own advice. At the advice of a friend (This is a shout out to Paula!) I am going to remember the journey. And I am going to appreciate the body that has been built and that continues to be built. Now, I can’t make any promises about not venting, but I certainly need to put all of this into perspective. Gina Aliotti didn’t start out as GINA ALIOTTI. And speaking of inspirational physiques–I LOVE Kathryn Ramirez’. Beatiful lines and a gorgeous presentation!     

What an incredible week. The incredibleness of the week is more than physical. It marks my second week as a Language Arts teacher. I can’t believe how much I love it! I love the energy, the lesson planning, the thinking, the strategizing, the stickers–everything. Working with middle schooler is the best. They are at the age where they want their independence, but you still see the child. One of my girls tries to act grown with her skinny jeans, cropped sweatshirt and bangs gelled to the side. I like to put stickers on their planner when they enter and complete their assignments. It encourages them to use it and keeps me on top of their progress. Well, I guess I hadn’t gotten to the sticker part of our morning fast enough when she says non-chalantly:

"Umm. Ms. Harper-Cotton. I don’t know if you are doing the ’sticker thing’….but…my planner is here if you wanna put one on there."

I have actually been spending the mornings writing lesson plans, instead of blogging.

Bu things have been going well. And I believe that things are going to be going even better because I have asked for help. I am not good at that. As soon as we begin working together I will definitely be noting the changes. After two years of eating the way that I do, I need something different. My Fitness Buddy has noticed the changes in my upper body. I am just happy to be feeling strong, again. My ’skip my period’ experiment didn’t work. But, it could be because it’s the first time.

Tonight, I am going to do about 45-1 hour of cardio and some abs after the little one goes to bed–another date with the stairmill.