amysuds’s BodyBlog

Ok…I admit it. I hardly drink any water. The last time I forced myself was during contest prep last year. That was the most difficult part for me….the 1 and 2 gallon days I struggled. You see, I just don’t like drinking when I am not thirsty. I believe we have a thirst" feeling" for a reason. But when it comes to possibly losing more fat by drinking more water, I want to know if it works. I have never actually tested this philosophy on myself. I do drink coffee (too much), and my Extend of course. But today I promised myself I would drink the gallon of water sitting on the counter. It is right there…staring at me. No excuses. Well…it’s time for bed now and the jug is half full . What is my friggin problem? I just drank another glass and I feel like my tummy is going to blow up. If anyone has insight on their experience with fat loss from water consumption, or how the heck I can reach this goal…please let me know. I seem to be getting everything else done. I also tried flavoring the water, no luck. The strange thing is…2 years ago I had no problem tossing back 30 beers everyday. I am a few sandwiches short of a picnic I think sometimes!!

Hard to believe that tomorrow I am a member of this site one year. It’s been quite a journey for me. I have made so many great friends! I decided to take pics of me now as compared to December of 2007. Some things changed, some things look the same to me. But these pics are relaxed, no heels on, no mad flexing. Just the real me. Also, the new pictures are above the old ones.

I don’t know of too many people that enjoy cardio. I know there are many runners that like it…gosh I wish sometimes I was one! One thing that I have found that makes getting it done more difficult, is when I THINK about it beforehand. Let’s say it’s early morning, I am just rising out of bed and need to do my cardio. As I start my day…the worst thing I can do is PONDER whether I am going to do it. It’s funny how the body will respond to your thoughts sometimes if you let it. Then come my thoughts of: " I feel really tired", "this sucks", "my head kinda hurts",….."hmmm, maybe I’ll do it later instead." Um…bad move on my part. Things have a way of pushing that session way into the evening and then I am really too tired to do it. So I want to give you a tip …if you plan on it, just go DO it before you think or contemplate how much you don’t feel like it. This is helping me get them done, maybe it will help someone out there who over thinks everything like I do!!!

I had to share this story of my day so far. Well first of all, BillyBob is my dog and buddy. I love him to pieces! The problem lies with the fact that I am allergic to dogs and cats, I also have asthma which I’ve talked about before. I take an allergy med, it doesn’t really help much. It’s the darn dander that gets me. So I vacuum my entire house everyday to make sure I have less issues.

Last night, I climb into bed and within 2 minutes ..I am wheezing. So I get out of bed and go downstairs for my inhaler. I was puzzled because I had just cleaned my room. This problem continues, now I am coughing and waking my hubby up . So he asks me if I am ok..and I try to sleep. This goes on, so I get up again and take cough medicine. I got a LOUSY nights sleep.

Today of course I am on a cleaning frenzy..up in my room trying to figure out what the heck the problem is. I vacuumed everything again. I head downstairs and BillyBob sees me and smiles He will hide from me when I vacuum, so I go about the process. I wasn’t paying attention to where he was ..etc.  After I finish, I can’t find him. I figured he was up in my son’s room laying down. That’s the only room he is allowed to be in, once in awhile he will venture, but only to follow me. So I am looking around, I can’t find him. Guess what..I go in my room. He’s in there….ON MY BED, IN MY SPOT, ON MY PILLOW!! He smiles at me all goofy. I didn’t know what to do but laugh and then yell!! So now I get to go wash all my bedding…lol…I guess he must have been sneaking in there all along, hence my current nighttime breathing problem. Happy day ya’ll!!

I am at the point of leaning out where it gets tougher and tougher. I am patient with the fact that the fat on my legs will be the last to go. So I am lifting 5 days a weeks and doing 5 cardios also. I seem to be stuck at 135lb, although I feel like I weight less. Anyways, this is also the time when my mind plays tricks on me. You see…I gained and lost weight way too many times in my legs and glutes over the past 20 years.When you go back and forth from size 13 to 5 enough times, the skin can only take so much stretching. So as I get leaner..I get gigglier in my legs. I am trying not to to become obsessive about it, there is alot of loose skin on and right below my butt. So as the fat goes away little by little…the reflection in the mirror gets worse and worse for me. But, when I carb up for the shows it will fill in alot. Once again I will tell everyone that the point here is to JUST KEEP GOING! When things don’t seem exactly right, it’s ok. I know in my heart I am giving 100%. I want you to be patient with your body like me. DO WORK!!

This is what happens when the kids have a few days off from school and go shopping with me. I now get to look at this in my pantry! YIKES!!

I was fortunate enough to be interviewed and have it posted on this great natural health website! A special thankyou to Lea-Ann a.k.a. momsinthongs here on the site. I am truly honored!!  Check it out!  http://www.thepeopleschemist.com/interview_view.php?id=13

Today I received a phone call from one of my five sisters. She never calls me so it was a surprise. She is always on my mind though…as she suffers from an addiction too. I always hope that she will overcome it, I try to use my 2 year sobriety as an example that it IS possible for her. Well she is currently in rehab and mentioned to me that my IronMan page was hanging on the wall in there. For me to know that others can read my story and turn to fitness for inner strength was a remarkable feeling. You see..her addiction is much more severe than mine was, I continue to pray for her and hope she finds peace. I also know she has the same passion as I do for working out…not to mention she has WAY better genetics than I do!!  Someday, I would love to help her get in the best shape of her life…until then I just hope. Hope is a very powerful thing.

Having the desire to get fit and stay fit is a subject I talk about alot here. I have discussed the importance of having a progressive training plan. But what about the diet? For me, the fads out there just don’t cut it. I have seen numerous people lose weight on these diets that cut out certain macros and then they gain the weight back plus some when it’s over. Hmmm…not worth it to me. So I made a list…a list that is realistic of what I will eat. Not just for 2 months…but forever. I can’t force myself to eat things I don’t like. Maybe for a little while, but what good does it do me to help maintain? For example, salmon and orange roughy. I can’t stomach either of those but they are a great choice for health. My point here is to find a nutrition plan that you LIKE! It need not be to fancy, plain is better I think. The sooner I took the variety out..the easier it was to eat meals for fuel instead of any other reason. So I figured I would share my experience with you, often times in the past I tried these" lose weight quick schemes" and didn’t know enough that a good weight loss goal is about 2 lbs per week. You don’t want your body to know what you are up to. Be sneaky and cut back on all calories to get going. Otherwise, your smart body might think you are not going to feed it and start eating up your muscle and saving the fat.

To all my friends here…PLEASE read this blog. Let’s all show some support.

http://blog.bodybuilding.com/M83MATT/2009/02/04/who-is-my-hero/