annabolic’s BodyBlog

Need I say more?

Hi, today has been really difficult. I am having problems with my motivation. I still went to the gym and had a really awesome worout. I split legs and shoulders because I am trying to slowly readjust to things. My legs are still giving me a terrible time, but today was the first day that  I felt like they are getting their strength back. I guess my motivation sucks because I feel so far behind from where I was and I don’t if I’ll be able to get back there if my legs don’t behave themselves.

I am desperately trying to get back on the wagon after about six months of being out of the gym…The past six months have been conclusively the most difficult of my entire life. I am only now starting to get back into my groove. I just spent the last three weeks in Texas and Oklahoma with my family. Also, I have had the solid support of my husband, who has helped me more than I could ever say. Tomorrow will be my first day back in the gym, and I am so nervous. I am looking forward to it though. I will update asap Thank you to everyone who has supported me and cheered me on. It means the world.

>Anna<

Today I focused on my triceps. I had an amazing workout. I really like working my triceps. I just so happen to hold the majority of my upper body fat there. It feels good to manumit my muscles from the fat that has for so long consumed that area of my body. As far as my diet is concerned I have had another perfect day. This morning I had 5 egg whites with one yolk and a cup of Kashi Go Lean Crunch with some blueberries and strawberries, then for post-workout I had 1 scoop of whey and some oats with some more strawberries. Later I am going to have some tuna pancakes, then a chicken and spinich salad. I will finish off the night with some cottage cheese and peanut butter. That’s pretty much all I ate yesterday too. Tomorrow I will make it a low carb day because I am not lifting. I am going to go do some cardio later tonight, so hopefully I will end up having had a most ideal fat burning day.

Oooook, I am freaking out because I just had the absolute best leg workout that I have ever had in my life. I did the leg press, wide stance stiff-legged deadlifts, squats, smith machine squats(I had never tried it before. It is now my favorite leg excercise), hip abduction, hip adduction, leg extension, leg curl, and some glute stuff and some calf raises. I threw in some ab excercises just for good measure. I have a feeling that I will be unable to walk for the next several days..don’t worry I stretched a lot before, during and after my workout. I kept the weight pretty moderate because my legs are fickle and I never know what to expect from them. Anyhoo, I have to give my NO-Xplode some of the credit. I just started taking it again. I think it is my favorite NO product after trying most of them. My diet had been immaculate lately and I know that makes a huge difference as well. All in all I am feeling so much better lately than I have in a while and I am anxious to keep it up

I was going through some old pictures on my computer the other day and I found one that completely blew me away…in the bad way. It was taken a few days before I moved to Hawaii to go to school back in December 2004 (I will put up that picture eventually).  I have struggled through a recent bout of complacency with regard to my workout routine. Stumbling upon that particular picture was enlightening. I didn’t realize how far I have come and how much I have perservered through. I remember very clearly a hike that I took in HI a couple weeks after I moved there. It is a four mile hike, and at the end there is a beautiful waterfall. It was so hard for me to make that trip. I was so out of shape. I had to stop a lot. What should have been a nice, calming and brief Sunday hike ended up becoming an endurance challenge that I would have never forseen. I felt miserable and discouraged throughout the whole day. Of course that was 50 pounds and 30% bodyfat ago. I am going back to HI this Septemeber and I will be making that same excursion again. I will take a picture of that too and I will put up the before and afters. All of that being said I am surprised that I have had such a difficult time lately. Fortunately I have re-vamped both my diet and my excercise routine. I am feeling more motivated than I have in a while. The past few months have been challenging and I have been really struggling to keep my head above water so to speak. Anyhoo, I will put new pics up soon. I think that feedback will help my progress and my mentality.

I don’t really have too much to say. It has been a difficult week. I have a sinus infection which is ever so slowly moving out of my system. I haven’t been to the gym for 10 days now and that is soooo depressing. And just in case that wasn’t bad enough my grandmother died this week after battling cancer for several years. I guess it’s true what they say, ‘when it rains it pours’. But all in all I am feeling better. I am ready to get back to the gym given that working out is the best stress reliever that I know of. I am back at work tonight which is good. I have been able to gauge my ability to remain active and coherent for an extended amount of time. I only have six hours left of my shift and I am still feeling good.

Ok, so today was supposed to be leg day. Not going to happen. My right leg has been giving me trouble all week. I am almost certain that another surgery is in my future. My first comp is on Dec. 1. If I have to have surgery at all I will try to at least wait until Dec 2…we’ll see what happens. I am not too concerned about it because my leg has done this to me in the past. Usually all I need to do is stay off of it for the most part. I still plan on going to the gym but I will do some upper body stuff.

Sometimes I feel like my progress is not coming along as fast I would like it to. But then I go back and read the workout log that I have been keeping since January and I realize how far I have come. When it comes right down to it, I know that I am making a difference in my life every day just by eating right and working out. I am a stronger person even when I don’t realize it. I love the following saying: “If you are not moving forward then you are moving backwards”. I have heard this said all throughout my life, but I usually associate with my spiritual progression. All I need to do is make sure that I am giving all that I have to give everyday; my body will take care of the rest.

Today was chest day. I benched 145lbs. It was the first time that I have ever done that and it felt really good. I didn’t really have that much time to work out so that’s really the only thing I did that is really noteworthy.