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Hey guys!!!

I’m 11 weeks out today, and feeling pretty good. I came back from the Arnold Classic a little discouraged because I’d gained weight over the weekend (I blame it on myself…not anyone else. I USED TO have 0 willpower when it came to protein bars, not anymore).

Keep in mind, I was working at the Scivation booth all weekend, and we were SUPER busy selling gym bags and Vasocharge. I will give you an approximate breakdown  of what I ate over the course of the weekend (Friday – Sunday). I kid you not. What you are about to read is EXACTLY what I ate every single day. It totaled roughly 2000 calories, which is about my maintenance level, but ~250 -500 more than I am supposed to eat according to my CHA diet.

Breakfast:

Entrée size Garden Salad at Bob Evans
2 scoops Scivation Whey protein
2 ounces mixed nuts

Lunch AND Dinner

About 5-6 protein bars (Or ~2lbs of samples from the hundreds of booths)

Midnight Snack

Entrée size Garden salad at wherever Team Scivation was eating (Red Lobster, Bob Evans, Max & Erma’s)

So there you have it. I am human. I cheat. But as a good friend once told me, “It’s not about falling, it’s about getting back up.” I got back up Monday morning, cleaned up my diet, and haven’t looked back since.

As I told you last week, there are a couple things I want to talk about in this week’s installment of my OBF transformation series. First of all, I took my “BEFORE” pictures last week. If you check out my OBF journal,  I want to let you know in advance that this is NOT what you will see 11 weeks from now. You have my word.

I’m a little embarrassed by what you will see there.  I have, what we like to call in the competition realm “Post-Contest Blues”; it’s the SLIGHT depression that competitors feel because they’re no longer in contest shape. Yes, I understand that for a woman, it’s not necessarily healthy or ideal to maintain contest shape all year round, but I don’t see why that gives me permission to have gained 15 pounds since my last contest. I will touch more on “Maintaining your condition” in a later installment.

CARDIO

The first point I’d like to touch on is my cardio. I started off at 14 weeks out with 30 minutes, 4 times a week (ie. On weight training days), and High Intensity Interval Training 2 times a week (ie. Tuesdays and Thursdays). For my Steady State cardio, I usually keep my heart rate between 130 – 150bpm, which corresponds to about 65% - 85% of my max heart rate. I use a heart rate monitor most of the time when I’m doing cardio so that I can track how hard I’m working. For SS, I like to use the elliptical, the treadmill or the Stepmill. ANYTHING but the bike. I find that if I spend too much time on the bike, my legs either don’t get cut and stay the same size, or lose a little muscle and end up looking flat. So I avoid that kind of cardio whenever I can. My HIIT protocol involves 15 intervals of 15 seconds work and 45 seconds rest. I then cool down for 5 – 10 minutes at the end. Sometimes, I incorporate something called “TABATA” training instead of my HIIT. That’s when you perform an exercise at MAXIMAL INTENSITY for 20 seconds, then take a 10 second break. Then go another 20 seconds on, and 10 seconds off. You repeat this 8 times for a maximum of 4 minutes total. It’s an amazing way to get a great workout in if you’re pressed for time, but still want to exercise and accelerate your metabolism. As my weight loss plateaus, or if I start to gain, my trainer will increase my cardio as he sees fit.

My Phoenix Moment

I first read about “Pheonix Moment/Theory” from someone named  Chris Sugart. I will quote part of the article here, as I think it’s important for everyone to read. And I know for a fact (and I certainly hoep) that it will resonate with some, if not ALL, of you. It begins, “The pattern of success is clear. Regardless of their primary physique goal — rapid fat loss or massive muscle gain — those who ultimately succeed always begin the same way: They get pissed off.

That’s the first stage of what I call Phoenix Theory. In mythology, the phoenix (or Bennu bird) ends its life-cycle by bursting into flame. From its own ashes, the fiery bird is reborn. I’ve discovered that those who make jaw-dropping physical changes usually follow the same basic path. Their achievement leaves a trail, and you can follow it… if you dare. You see, with all great successes comes a dark side. The Phoenix Theory of body transformation involves four key stages:

1) A traumatic event leading to a sudden realization and awakening
2) Anger and a firm decision to change
3) The physical transformation itself
4) Continued progress fueled by fear of regression”

So basically, the premise is that you need an awakening (be it a rude comment from a co-worker, an objective look at your own reflection, a blood work profile gone awry, etc.) in order to be rebord, and refreshed so that you can truly tackle and OWN the task in front of you. I had my Phoenix Moment at 12 weeks out, and never looked back.

Looking to the Future

My weigh in this week went, more or less, as planned. I lost 1lb. Which isn’t bad, but I set my sights high on losing roughly 1.5 – 2lbs per week. So I asked my trainer if we could bump the cardio up a little, and we did. I’m now on 35 minutes steady state cardio 4x/week, and 2 HIIT days (15 intervals) 2x/week. The good news though, is that my skinfolds and measurements are down; which means that I am losing fat. When doing skinfolds, mere milimetres could mean the difference in a couple %-age points of bodyfat lost. So I know my body is going in the right direction, albeit a little slower than I’d like. I don’t know what my bodyfat percentage is exactly, but at this point, I would hazard a guess that I’m in the early – mid teens (maybe somewhere between 13 – 15%). I can see my abs and my quad cuts are starting to come though. I’m guessing 13 – 15% because the legs are usually a tough and stubborn place for women to lose bodyfat, so I know I’m starting to get lower.

In the next installment of this OBF series, I will talk about how to stay motivated, why we shouldn’t use the term “Weight Loss”, and why social support (like the Forums on bodybuilding.com) could mean the difference between a first place finish and a last place finish. As always, feel free to check out my online journal for daily updates, nutrition, workouts, and information! Jaim91’s journal: Here

Here are some videos of my workouts this week:

80lb Upright rows

12 pushups with 45lbs on my back

Rear Delt pulls with 60lbs/hand

Stay tuned for Part 5!