amysuds’s BodyBlog

One of the things I love most about this site is the openness to vent your frustrations. Well I need to do it. People that know me personally somehow always seem to piss me off and tell me I am HYPER. Why? Because I run around the block? Or maybe because I shovel snow instead of paying someone to plow?  I love to stay busy…why is this an issue for so many? I choose not to lounge aroung the BBQ on the weekend…there’s always work to be done. Does that make me strange? Maybe..but there is a method behind my madness. I run up the stairs everytime I get the laundry. I run to the bus stop like a bear is chasing me every day. I spread mulch as fast as I can. Why? People here look at me and have no idea that I am doing it on purpose. It’s easier to just say..oh you need to sit and relax a bit. What, so I can get fat? No way, no how. Through tons of studying, I have learned how to fight fat all day long. Just create an oxygen debt. Period. Meaning that it all is collective and counts toward cardio. It revs up my calorie burn without running on the treadmill for an hour. So now I feel better and I’m going to beat my time at the grocery store tomorrow and be outta there in a flash!

I have this question always running through my head. I wonder how many people have been successful at gaining muscle without doing a bulk peroid.My weight seems to be stuck at 135 and although I am increasing calories somewhat, I feel I should be gaining some. Currently I am taking in 150g of protein and 120 carbs. Anyone been successful with this?

I am happy to report I gained back the weight I lost recently. It sure doesn’t take long to do that! I have been eating a ton of peanut butter by the spoonfuls. So hopefully I can just maintain this or gain some more muscle weight!

Well I have been lifting heavy..8-10 rep sets now for a few months. As my friends here know, I was definitely showing the classic signs of overtraining. First off…I lost weight and lost my appetite. This of course turns into no energy and poor performance. But I am one of those stubborn people who continues to try. Next , I feel the old heavy legs feeling. Shame on me for getting to this point! I learned all about this in my personal training course! So the answer lies in rest..which I did. I took a few days completely off. Now it’s time to change up my program. So I will be spending the next two weeks circuit style whole body work. This will include hitting all the major muscle groups with more reps and medium weight. I have progressed with much more success the past year by constantly changing my routines. This also includes adding recreational sports into it for the fun and cardio of course. The body adapts to stresses placed upon it, so I need to plan out farther and get ready to keep it cycling!!

Yes, I am an alcoholic. It’s tough for me to write this…but it is a part of who and what I am. I guess it started when I found out I was to become a grandma. I was also trying to get my tubal ligation reversed at that time. I found out it cannot be done. So I have always been a social drinker no problems..other than I would get loaded when I did drink. Somehow, this horrible disease crept up on me. First 3 beers a day , then 5, then 8 and up to 24 a day. It’s very embarrasing! I tried to stop on my own, this had been going on for over a year at this point. I was at this party and we had a bombfire, I tripped when I was drunk and fell down a hill…almost face first into this pit. My husband was crying..he didn’t know what to do. So I decided to try to switch to drinking wine. I don’t really like it, but I figured I’d drink less. Nope..I drank bottles and bottles to get my fix. Alcohol makes some people tired, it made me so HYPER..I loved it! The more I drank, the more energy I had. It was crazy. Then..I became very depressed about myself. I turned to exercise…my true passion of life for help. I was a trainwreck with a bottle of beer in the cupholder on the treadmill. My blood pressure was 175/85. I was going to drink myself dead for sure. So I checked myself into rehab and met all kinds of people like me. It amazed me how many different types of people were there. Nurses, salesmen, bodybuilders..etc, hooked on pills, drugs, booze. I never had another drink since Dec 2006. Somehow the man upstairs saved me! I have even survived a Jimmy Buffett concert sober! That was a tough one. Yet everywhere I go, I seem to come across folks just like me …drowning their sorrows in the stuff. The point of this whole story is to let everone know how I turned my addiction to a positive version. The more I do, the better I am emotionally..I cannot let myself ever fall back into depression and that nightmare again. I now know that drinking just 1 drink impairs your body’s ability to burn fat for 24 hours!! I was doing all that work in vain for so long. I hope someone out there reads this and maybe there are people suffering or know someone who is. There’s so much more to bodybuilding than the muscle rewards…it may just save your soul!!

So I am all ready to go for a lesson today! My two youngest children 5 and 6 years old are home with me. As I pack up all my gear and get ready to go……I see my little girl looking horrified at the sight of the gloves. She obviously only has ever seen boxing matches on television and has no idea that I just want to learn. But for a 5 year old little girl, the thought of her mommy with boxing gloves on and possibly getting hit is too much for my baby. I saw a look on her face today that I will never forget. So I try to explain it to her ….but the tears are now in her eyes. So the hell with boxing for now, my baby ’s feelings come before mine. There’s always another day for the lessons….just something I’d like to try. Not worth her having nightmares over…makebe she watched a little Rocky with daddy? So she just gave me this picture and told me to just do this mommy! A great drawing of her and I with a barbell over our heads!

Well I am taking this medication which is an anticonvulsant and have been gradually increasing the dose. A week ago, I go to the doc for a check on how I’m feeling and I said "TIRED!". Here I am blaming it on the meds of course..and then we discuss my diet. I don’t count calories or grams (except for protein)…and I am just too busy to keep track. So the doc says, " I believe you have low cholesterol" . The carbs I guess factor into this. But honestly, I have really been pushing my training harder than ever. And from my reading knowledge, I know that carbs are your energy, right? Yes..but if there are not enough to fuel the brain etc, the protein I take in, gets used for energy! Shame on me for not using my brain on this…maybe I can blame it on low carbs! I increased my protein intake to 150g and really ignore the carbs. I am just used to eating the same things every day. Oh , but there’s one lovely side effect from this med. It makes me crave carbs at night..YIKES! I know it messes with my hormones from reading the brochure and I think it’s the estrogen level. I hope I don’t have permanant cravings similar to the ones I get the week before my womanly friend visits all the time. I think I will go back to daily morning cardio sessions to surpress down that estrogen! The one thing I am trying to do is add the carbs in the morning and afternoon. I also know the carbs are needed to make muscle! I need to spare the incoming protein better!! The carb increase may also spark some more fat burning..as they are necessary to burn it. I am getting myself all fired up now..maybe I will go workout:)

Well…. I am trying to turn over a new leaf here. Today was the first time I EVER did a shoulder workout fully. I used the December 2007 Oxygen magazine page 116 plan. I love the way Robert Kennedy explains all the details. And I have had so much progress from his abs routine, I feel this one has got to be good too. It was a new feeling for sure..and a crazy shoulder pump following. The veins in my arms are grossly popping though! Hoping to post some new and improved shoulder pics in 6 weeks!!

My arms are always sore. It is not from bicep curls or tricep pulldowns…because I confess that I don’t do any of that. I should work my arms I know. The trouble for me are my weak wrists. In the past, I have attempted preacher curls etc….only to get nothing but frustrated and no pump. I definitely feel it’s partly do to my carpel tunnel problems and the necrosis in my thumbs as a result. So yes, I probably overtrain my legs and glutes for the turns of workouts are higher than most other people I know. I just stay focused as much as possible on whole body training. The 3 sets of pushups everyday have ripped my arms . I incorporate isometric holds at different points of the last reps. The pump in the entire musculature is unreal. It lasts the entire day. So I stretch the sh*t out of it and go back on it for a few more reps til I fall on my face. The only other thing I do is carry heavy on my traps during squats. I probably tense this area again, for fear of dropping it on me again! I try not to always "train like a girl" but I do the best I can. I really try to relax my upper body on the squat..I just have a problem with isolating areas I train. My whole body likes to dig in to everything I do. I even sprint the stairs in my house everytime I go up:)

Well I have received some feedback regarding my blog about the ab routine from Oxygen magazine January 2008. I know it would be easy to list the exercises mentioned on here, but that would not be in anyone’s best interest! It is so worth the $5.00 I paid for it. There is more to it than doing the plan, there is specific information that you need to read and understand to get results! Go to www.oxygenmag.com and order it if you can!