MissWhiplash’s BodyBlog

Quick life update- I got a new (better) job, still training hard in spite of a screwed up knee (pulled or strained stringy thing), and practicing like my life depends on it (we are playing the champions in a week- it kinda does).

Once a month our league hosts the local junior derby league, little baby derby girls ages 6-16.  This morning was our host practice and as usual we did lots of basic skills and endurance drills.  We had a short lesson on hip checking (swooping in and taking an opposing player out with your butt, basically) and because of my injury I had to practice with the wall instead of a moving person- coach’s orders.  As I’m beating the hell out of the safety wall at the rink, one of the littlest gals came up to me and asked if she could feel my dreadlocks.  Of course, I didn’t care and reached up to take off my helmet.  Then she squeezed my bicep. OMG!  She got a big smile and said, "you must really work out".  Then she went to town on my hair.  We did a few quick wall hits and she went back to her spot on the sidelines apparently with a hurt ankle.  When practice was all over she said she would see me at the bout and asked if we had Carnevil t-shirts in her size.

I quickly said, "I’m sure we do" and had to turn away so she didn’t see her big tough derby hero with teary eyes.   Lifted extra hard this afternoon and the only thing that hurts is my face from smiling the whole time.

Practice was great despite my setback yesterday. We bouted for 30 minutes straight and it didn’t phase my endurance.  I did tweak my knee ( big thanks to Betty Ford Galaxy for that one…) but I borrowed a team mate’s brace and it helped me finish the bout.  R.I.C.E.-ing the knee today because another bouting opportunity comes on Monday night and I want to be 100%!  I acquired an awesome black lump on my butt cheek too… I might just take a  picture of that when it gets all nice and gross looking.  HEY- girl scouts have badges, bowlers have trophies, derby chicks have bruises!
All this ass kicking was possible because I ate a bowl of brown rice after my FAIL incident yesterday.  I felt better within an hour.  I’m really sore today though- not like injury sore (except my knee and butt) but "ache" sore. I’m wondering if that has something to do with the fail?  Has anyone had this experience after "hitting the wall" hard before?

Still doing my leg workout today but no one-leg squats on the right side! My ab routine is getting easier (P90X ab ripper) and I’m wondering if anyone has any suggestions of making it harder besides adding more reps?  Can I put a flat weight on my tummy or would that tweak my back? Just thinking out loud… in type…

Learned a new lesson about 45 minutes ago: eat. often.

I have been trying to adhere to the 6 little meals a day, 3-4 oz. protein, few carbs, lots of veggies program.  The last few days have been hectic and we have been broke.  My only food sources at this point are peanut butter and boiled eggs. Not bad… but not good, either.  I have whole wheat bread and brown rice so I figured I was okay in the clean carb department. I didn’t eat as often as I should have I guess, because my muscles just failed me doing some curls.  Mid lift, pushing for that last rep, and they completely failed to work.  It was total body failure- arms, legs, back. I hit the floor with the weights and felt dizzy and weak.  I can only remember eating 3 little meals yesterday and two today. Smart? no.  I think I need to schedule my meals with specific times so I can have enough energy to work out and up my carbs a bit on practice nights.  I’m not planning as well as I should.
Luckily my legs are bruised to hell from derby anyway.  Luckily I wasn’t doing bench presses!  Luckily my hubby gets paid tomorrow and I can go buy some protein shakes and tofu.  Lesson learned.

Yesterday I reassessed my workout plan and discovered that it was a bit on the heavy side.  I’m not losing motivation, by any means, but unfortunately time is a factor. I had to trim it a bit.

K.gluten advised me that while P90X is a fine program, it will not give me the hulkish badass physique that I’m looking for in my upper body.  So I substituted a dumbbell workout that should give me speedier results in that area.  I’m still utilizing some of the exercises from that workout though and using my pull-up bar in addition to the weights.  I want to be able to hang upside down in gravity boots like Kevin Mattson! DUDE! That guy is a rock star! Back to my program… I’m keeping the P90X plyometrics, kenpo, and leg workouts though. They gave me immediate performance results on the track as far as strength and endurance. I ain’t losin’ that! Of course is the Ab Ripper is working well… Natalie (our uniform taylor)  was surprised by the amount she had to take in on my skirt and top! heh heh!

I worked through Aunt Flo’s visit just fine.  I did have to scale back a bit on my workouts at home so I could have the energy to expend at practice.  I ate another serving of complex carbs to help out with that too.  Dramamine kept me from spewing when I was working hard and the iron supplement was genius! Thank you there, Mr. Gluten, for that little bit of advice. Roger thanks you too. He claims I was less… how do I say… "emotional". heh heh I think he meant BITCHY.   I cannot take Advil or pain meds of any kind, prescription or otherwise, except Tylenol.  After torn ligaments, tendons, muscles, broken bones, surgeries, hits, falls, everything derby dishes out… I can take those injuries with flying colors and Tylenol.  BUT after 21 years of having cramps every month? Nope. Still can’t deal with those. LOL

So all in all, a very productive few days and I feel fantastic.  I can’t wait to step on the scale tomorrow!

Okay ladies… I went to the forum and once again got a ton of conflicting information.  What to do about old Aunt Flo?  I am one of those women who get the cramps and bloat, yada yada yada- but I also get nauseated and feverish.  It’s difficult if not impossible to work through.  I have a 7-day a week plan, so do I just do something light, like yoga? Does anyone happen to have a magic cure until my body fat gets low enough so this inconvenience doesn’t occur anymore??!!

I have derby practice tonight and it’s going to be intense.  Our season opener is in a little over two weeks and tensions are getting high on the track.  This is the time of year when the most injuries happen- everyone has pent up aggression from being off for the holidays and they are amped about the upcoming bouts, so they aren’t "practicing" at practices.  They can’t control their hits and keep it at the mandated 70% max force.  They hit to kill!  Each team has at least 3 new girls and they are the most vulnerable as are peeps like me- sick and weak, trying to keep up. argh. I’ll bring my little barf bucket and hope for the best.

On an AWESOME note, my husband’s boss is loaning us his dumbbell set that he never uses. I packed it up the stairs this morning and that was a workout in itself!  I can now incorporate the higher weights I need into my P90X program! YAY! Also AWESOME- I jammed at practice yesterday for the first time in forever and made it through the pack clean.  I actually had the energy to hit the blocker keeping me back and still burn through! It felt really good to play another position and be successful at it.  I’m amazed at how just a little bit more effort can have the biggest payoffs.

My goals tonight are #1- not to vomit on the track, #2- keep pace with Torture, the fastest girl on our team ( I did it yesterday!), #3- take out Re-Animater, the other team’s MVP jammer and hardest hitter.

Jet City Rollergirls had our first practice back from our "off season" last night.

The term "off season" is a serious misnomer.  We had lots of team workouts and we were expected to return in better shape than we left.  I was actually worried… I heard rumors of other teams’ workouts, how hardcore they were being, how brutal their personal trainers were.

WHATEVER!!!!

My team PWNED last night!  The league coach warned us at the start of practice that we were back for real and we would be hurting when he was done.

WHATEVER!

Practice started with our usual warmups: skating while doing elbow-to-knee, heel-to-palm, windmills, continuous lunges with knees ON THE FLOOR, power squats, sticky feet (self-propulsion while keeping all 8 wheels on the floor at all times).  We moved into the 20/20/20 drill : 20 speed laps, 20 push ups, 20 more speed laps, 20 crunches, 20 more speed laps- no breaks.  You slide into your push ups and then get your ass up and racing when you are done.  Then we got a one minute water break, and into various agility/endurance drills for an hour, then some blocking drills, and a hip-check drill that was really fun: two lines of skaters, moving in a pace line, the two girls in back race forward and hit each other with hip checks between each row of two girls all the way up to the front (we have about 60 skaters…. that’s roughly 30 hits) then get back in line and skate with people hitting each other in front of us until we get to the back of the line again.

Lots of girls dropped out of the drills, out of breath or too sore to continue.  Not only did I not drop out, I RULED! My endurance is way better than it was at the end of the season.  I didn’t fall during any of the hip checks (and my opponent was Jell-Ho Jess…. not a lightweight hitter) and really didn’t get very tired during the endurance drills so I could focus on my agility work more.  I only bailed once during the blocking drill when my partner tried to booty block me and tripped me instead. LOL But I bounced right back up and was back at her heels.  All this after a major session at Barb’s the night before, and doing the Ab Ripper workout a few hours before.  It’s working!

We are getting the final fittings of our new season uniforms this Sunday. I’ve lost 7 pounds and a few inches since I was measured!  That’s awesome, but also worrisome - I’m trying to gain muscle. I’m afraid I’m losing weight too fast and that I’m losing muscle in the process?  My coach assured me that if I’m eating the right number of calories, and still losing weight that quickly, that I’m probably losing fat and water.  He asked me to keep a careful calorie count to make sure that I’m getting enough.  The P90X plan and a few other calorie calculators estimated my caloric intake should be around 2300 calories.  I’ve been sneaking wine and bar-b-q sauce on the side though so I think I’ve actually been getting more. It’s funny to be worried about having to eat MORE because I’m losing weight too fast eating a ton of calories every day. LOL Who knew?

New inspiration phrase my co-captain: "Pain is temporary. Quitting is forever."

I’ve never read the words "protein" and "rep" so much in my life.

Hours of sifting through articles, forums, and websites dedicated to bodybuilding has convinced me that I am completely ignorant and have no clue what I’m doing.

Here’s what I have learned:

big weight + less reps = bigger muscles.

Protein is insanely important.  Get as much as possible. Carbs are important too but don’t eat too many and definitely don’t eat too little.  Fat is horrendous and a necessary evil. Eat as little as possible.
Muscles grow during sleep.

So… there you have it.  My brain fried when people started talking about hormone levels and ketones. Way above my head right now. I’ve been assured that this stuff will become second nature in time so I’m going to have faith in the knowledge of people who are where I’d like to be.

In the mean time, my friend loaned me copies of the P90X system and nutrition plan. It seems sound and logical.  I’m going to adhere to the nutrition plan (the portion one) and use the DVD’s as prescribed in addition to my current plan to be sure I’m covering the bases.  Perhaps after the 90 day "transformation" period i will have emassed enough knowledge to complete the process on my own.

Before I get to the emergency… and it’s an awesome one…. I gotta say that my workout tonight was stellar.  I was with Barb and Suzi, two gals on the league. Barb is on our arch enemy team, The Pink Pistols, and Suzi is a Carnie like myself.  We busted our butts and then hit the sauna and hot tub.  I had been really good all day as far as nutrition goes until we busted out a bottle of blackberry wine in the hot tub and it all went to hell. LOL  I only had a glass but I’m quite sure that is not what the term "recovery drink" means.

Now my emergency.  On February 14, I am scheduled to jello wrestle Eryn Blockabitch at a fundraiser for Seatown Sisters of Slant.  Eryn founded the Sisters of Slant/Brothers of Banked league and needs to raise money to build the banked track, so she has organized an "Anti-Valentine" show with great bands (Hearseburner and also The Dead Vampires), rollergirl burlesque and our Jello wrestling match is the main event! DUDE! No pressure or anything, it’s only at the hottest club on the hill! LOL So I find myself with 6 weeks to look good half naked in an inflatable pool full of jello in front of hundreds. umm…. I wonder if this is addressed on the forum? :p

Actions taken:

Cutting down on carbs NOW. No more wine Barb! From what I understand, this is arguably a good way to lose fat quickly? How much is too much? My protein sources all have carbs in them except eggs, so perhaps cutting out bread and rice? Hell. Much article reading ahead.I’m afraid of stuff I don’t know now after getting blindsided ealier!
Altered my workout schedule to be 7 days a week, with added cardio and a "rest" day on Sunday with only an open recreational skate and then team practice (we practice pack skating, hitting technique and positional blocking… not too terribly intense).

Canceled a few clubbing engagements to ensure adequate sleep. I usually make a few appearances at the local goth/industrial clubs a few times a month to keep myself in the papers. So sue me, I’m vain and like to pad my fragile ego, okay? Don’t judge. LOL this is a big step! This will also ensure I don’t give in to a dirty martini.

I’m going to bed and hitting the forums tomorrow for emergency advice. Any you might have would be very appreciated as well.

I’m going to be half naked and covered in jello in front of hundreds. Please. I’d help you.

I have discovered two obstacles through my feverish reading the last few days.  They can be overcome, for sure, but they may impede my progress rate.

1. Money.

This is expensive!  My gym at the community center is apparently inadequate.  There are no in-house trainers, no barbells, limited dumbells and a modest bench.  It has a ton of machines but I was unaware they aren’t very effective.  My only supplements are multi-vitamin drink mixes that are $10 a box.  My training shoes are duct-taped Chucks (high top, of course). I’m poor! I can’t afford shoes that aren’t sold at Payless and I definitely cannot afford to enroll in a $50 a month gym.  My husband has suggested that I haunt all the pawn and second hand shops to purchase a set of weights myself then use the community center for the cardio machines. This makes sense, because the machines are low impact and thus reduce the need for spendy shoes. I do most of my plyometric exercises barefoot anyway. Then we have supplements, which apparently I desperately need for protein because….

2. I’m a vegetarian.

I have been for 19 years and it ain’t gonna change.  I have always detested the texture, taste, and concept of eating flesh so this isn’t hard for me. I keep hearing the phrase "eat clean" so while doing research to figure out what that meant I discovered that vegetarians aren’t exactly regarded highly in the forums here.  I have read so many positive articles about vegetarian nutrition and building muscle mass, seen lots of great role models that have amazing bodies; I find it hard to believe that building huge muscles without meat is impossible.  So perhaps I won’t look like Ah-nold in a year as I had hoped, but it isn’t worth gagging down meat to expedite the process.  I’ll purchase the protein supplements and eat lots of tofu. In the mean time, I still haven’t figured out how to eat clean. I’m guessing it’s cutting out garbage (sugar, saturated fats, extra salt, phony food) and concentrating on whole foods in specific combinations.
SO…  since I’m not looking to enter a bodybuilding competition (I am not getting a tan, either!) I guess that I can make some adjustments to meet my strength training goals without becoming homeless. I am not discouraged, but I am surprised by these things that I didn’t expect.  One thing I have learned, "Look for solutions, not excuses."

I decided to buck up and take my measurements. They are eye opening BUT the lamest part is that my measurements aren’t really accurate.

I have skin leftover from when I was REALLY heavy about 10 years ago.  I used to weigh about 320 pounds after a lung illness. I had to take steroids and couldn’t exercise at all.  The weight gradually went away after several years but the skin has remained.

My thigh, hip, arm and waist measurements would be very different if all that skin wasn’t hanging there.  Hips and waist I can’t do anything about, but I can fill up the arm and thigh flaps with muscles.