Shannon’s BodyBlog

So many people give such great support and encouragement here on Bodybuilding.com.

A fellow bodyspacer and my good friend AND trainer, Janthony, has a beautiful daughter who has Cystic Fibrosis.

They are having a walk for a cure on Saturday, but donations are still being accepted.

PLEASE find it in your heart to donate what you can for this cause.

Janthony has a good heart and is always at the ready to help anyone on this site who needs it.  So please follow his example and help his daughter.

Cut and paste the address below so you can donate (I can’t create a damned link LOL)  Thanks everyone!

http://www.cff.org/Great_Strides/JohnAnthony5225

Usually the first thing people notice when you’ve gotten into shape is your face.  If you’ve had weight to lose, just about everyone who comments will most likely say, "Have you lost weight?  I can see it in your face."

The face can be a good indicator of how far you’re coming along in your fitness journey.  But, some people here on Bodybuilding.com have nothing but a close up of their face showing in their progress pics.

Why do they just show their face week after week, month after month?  And what do you say to that when you want to comment on their progress?

"WOW!  Your lips look swole.  You must do a ton of lip-ups."

"Great work on the chin.  Keep it up!"

"Your nose looks so lean.   Do you pick different types of cardio to do, or do you just stick with one kind?"

"Your ears are shrrrredded.  What’s your bodyfat down to?  .2 percent?  .5 at the highest?"

Come on.  Show off the bod too.  Yes, you can see progress in your face, but that shouldn’t be ALL that is shown in all of your pics.   Don’t be so shy!

Breakfast:  oatmeal mixed w/ protein powder (26g prot)

milk (4g prot)

coffee

Snack:  turkey meatballs (40g prot)

I’m on to a new routine that started earlier than anticipated.  The April routine was a good, character building routine as I liked to say.  I’m hoping to tackle it….and CONQUER it next time….again in the future.

Even by cutting back on my cardio, the weight routine helped to lower my BF% from 18% to 13.8% which is the lowest percentage on the calipers I have.  SO, gotta find calipers with a lower percentage.

I weighed in at 129 which is where I was at the end of March.

And now it’s time to quit fooling around and stop being a pansy ass about eating.

We’ll see where May brings me.

Cardio:  500

Weight Training:  Legs, abs

Breakfast:  oatmeal w/ protein powder (25g prot)

coffee

Snack:  cottage cheese (24g prot)

Lunch:  turkey meatballs (40g prot)

1/2 cup pasta (3g prot)

Postgym:  protein shake (21g prot)

Dinner:  fish (40g prot)

Bedtime:  casein shake (48g prot)

….Particularly, the obesely fat, roundesque size.

I took my kids to the park yesterday as they have Spring Break this week.

Let’s back up….

For the past month, I have been feeling a bit weak willed when it comes to my diet.  I cave in a lot easier, and I would hate for that to catch up with me.  Although my weight is steady and my BF has gone down, I know that over time:

a little bit of a cheat will turn into

a little bit more of a cheat

and then a lot more of a cheat

and it will continue to snowball it’s way down that slippery slope.

It will begin to accumulate on me and I work too hard for my efforts to be covered up by fatty fatness, dammit!

So, again, I brought my kids to the park yesterday and as I’m watching them play, I see two women who couldn’t have rounder body parts.

They were comprised of a head, two tits, a belly and an ass…with arms and legs packed into sausage casing.

They were strolling SLOWLY about the playground while watching a toddler busying herself with whatever caught her eye.

OK, and for the sake of the fact that this is interesting, they also had a boy with them…around 3 or 4 years old…who had a genuine Mohawk.  Shaved head, spiked hair down the middle.  It was hardcore.

One of the women was wearing a baby T that was about 5 sizes too small.  How she packed herself into it is beyone me, but all I know is that her belly was trying to make a Houdini-like escape out the bottom of the shirt.

I had noticed a bit later that they stopped so that one of them could talk on her cell phone.  She started scratching the bare part of her belly and then proceeded to lift her shirt and tuck it under her boob so she could get at that itch real GOOD and HARD.

I looked on with an expression of horror and disgust.  But, I couldn’t look away.  I was morbidly fascinated at the fact that she would do such a thing.

And then a funny thing happened.  My appetite took a sweet swandive out of my bod and landed SPLAT on the pavement.  It couldn’t take the scene I subjected it to and offed itself.

I sat there thinking that there is no CHANCE in HELL that I would allow myself to eat anything that will remotely set me back from all the effort I’ve made.

So later on, when the kids asked if we could go get some ice cream, I didn’t fight them on it one bit.

I took them and happily witnessed all of that creamy, sweet goodness without wanting a single itty bitty taste of any of it.

Happy endings do exist

Cardio:  500

Weight Training:  Shoulders, arms, calves

Breakfast:  1 whole egg, 4 egg whites (21g prot)
oatmeal (5g prot)
coffee

Snack:  cottage cheese (24g prot)

Lunch:  turkey meatballs (40g prot)

1/2 cup pasta (3g prot)

Postgym:  protein shake (21g prot)

Dinner:  Shrimp (35g prot)
steamed vegetables

Bedtime:  casein protein shake (24g prot)

Overheard at the breakfast table:

Oldest son to daughter:  You’re so ugly that when you entered the ugly contest, they said "No professionals allowed."

They were eating a clean meal at the time, btw.
————————————
Last night at the dinner table:

5 yr old son:  Mom, you can spread the butter on the corn on the cob with your feet.

Me:  WHAT?  I can spread butter with my feet?

5 yr old son:  You really can.  Monkeys do it.

Me:  When did you EVER see a monkey spread butter with their feet….or eat corn on the cob for that matter?

5 yr old:  I seen ‘em around.

———————————-

It was warm…89 degrees…for the first time in a loooong time on Saturday.  I was totally enjoying being out in the blazing sun, wearing my flip flops, and watching my kids play baseball at the Jamboree.  Everyone was complaining about the heat, but I couldn’t get enough of it.  It’s been a very cold Winter and it was about time I could just sit back and relax without tons of layers on me.

So with that came the women I know who I haven’t seen all Winter.  We all hibernate for the season, so it was good to see everyone.  They commented on how great I looked

One mom in particular and I had seen each other at the gym a few weeks ago and didn’t have a chance to talk.  She was running on the treadmill while I was in the free weights section.  But when she saw me on Saturday, she called me skinny mini and asked if I was training for something.

I told her I wasn’t.

She said it looked like I was with everything I was doing when she saw me that day.

I told her that maybe I should with how hard I’m working.  It’s just a matter of figuring out what I’d want to compete in.

Hmmm….the possibilities.

Breakfast:  1 whole egg, 4 egg whites (21g prot)
oatmeal w/ 1/2 cup blackberries (5g prot)
coffee

Snack:  cottage cheese (24g prot)

coffee

Lunch:  egg salad on whole wheat (25g prot)

Snack:  banana
Pregym:  protein shake (21g prot)
Dinner:  turkey meatballs (40g prot)

sweet potato

1/2 cup pasta (4g prot)

Bedtime:  casein shake (24g prot)

Weight Training:  Legs, abs

Breakfast:  1 whole egg, 4 egg whites (21g prot)
oatmeal (5g prot)
1/2 cup blueberries

2 cups coffee

Pregym:  protein shake

Postgym:  protein shake w/ strawberries

Lunch:  london broil (40g prot)

chickpeas w/ spinach (3g prot)

Snack:  Cottage cheese (28g prot)

Snack #2:  1/2 cup rice

Dinner:  London broil

1/2 cob o’ corn

Bedtime:  Casein shake (24g prot)

If you see a man like this at your gym, keep a close eye on him.  Don’t go near him.

You can’t hardly tell at first, not till they get to the point of slobbering and staggering around. When you see a critter in that fix, you know for sure.

But you want to watch for others that ain’t that far along. Now, you take a bobcat or a fox. You know they’ll run if you give ‘em the chance. But when one don’t run, or maybe makes fight at you, why, you shoot him and shoot him quick.

After he’s bitten you, it’s too late.

I think this man has a case of the hydrophobia, so look out!

Breakfast:  oatmeal w/ protein powder (29g prot)

coffee

Lunch:  PB&J (low sugar) on whole wheat

apple

Snack:  1 slice cheese, tomato on whole wheat

Dinner:  Salt and pepper squid

Don’t mind me….I’m using this to think out loud.

I feel like I’m slipping with my workouts and diet.  My diet is pretty much not as strict as it usually is.  So, I have to get back to recording everything on this BLAHG since that really helps keep me disciplined.

And I’ve even slipped with recording my meals!!  …So now it’s back to doing it again.

With my workouts, I’m usually zoned in and I get it done to the bitter end, but so many times throughout the workouts, I’d rather just stop and go home.  But, I don’t feel burned out.  Is it Spring Fever?  I don’t know, but taking a break isn’t an option because if you give me an inch, I’m gonna take a mile.  I know me and there is no way I’m going to allow that to happen.

I need to put my head down and dig in deep.  And I have to REMEMBER that if I do anything less than what I have been doing, I’ll turn into a

SHLUBBY MOM.  No shlubbiness allowed.

Cardio:  566 (lost track of time listening to The Boss…not bad at all)

Weight Training:  Back, biceps, calves

Breakfast:  1 whole egg, 4 egg whites (21g prot)
oatmeal (5g prot)
coffee

Lunch:  Shrimp (44g prot)

sweet potato

Pregym:  protein shake (21g prot)

Postgym:  protein shake (21g prot)

Dinner:  Burger (40g prot)

Someone works hard on losing weight, develops some muscle (maybe) and then the next thing you know, they start posting pictures.  They want to show off what they’ve got going for themselves now.

That’s fine.  But what at what point does this sense of self confidence they feel like they have really winds up being low self esteem?

I guess you have to question why they’re posting the pictures….especially the provocative ones.

Are they looking for validation that they are desirable, therefore worth something?

Or do they really want to show the progress they’ve made because they’re proud of their hard work?

Just keep in mind, that when posting pics in the Photo Gallery, people will give a 10 to a baboon’s ass.

There is a McDonald’s that sits at the corner of an intersection where I normally have to sit at a red light after picking up my son from school.

The exit of the McD’s parking lot faces the street where I’m stopped.

Instead of being a courteous driver and leaving a space open between me and the car in front of me so that customers can pull out, I close up the space so that they can’t.

I feel like they deserve to wait for eating there and being unhealthy.

Have a nice day everyone!