dvsness, dedication and desire

Bodybuilding.com will be having a webcast of the Europa.
Come join other competitors/enthusiasts discuss the events as they unfold at the Sioux Country Webcast Party Thread.

Prejudging will be at 6:30pm Eastern on Friday (tomorrow) and Finals will be held on Saturday at 2:45pm Eastern.

Meal 1

• Cuts, BioBead, SAMe, CoQ10
• egg whites
• eggs
• Glucosamine Chondroitin MSM
• Beta Alanine Extreme

Meal 2

• Prolab Isolate - Chocolate
• almond oil
• Vigor
• Beta Alanine Extreme

Meal 3

• ground bison
• Beta Alanine Extreme

Meal 4

• Cuts
• chicken breast
• green beans
• multi

Meal 5

• Glutamine and Creatine
• Prolab Isolate - Strawberry
• Fiberlyze

Meal 6

• tuna steak
• avocado oil
• Beta Alanine Extreme
• Cuts

Random thoughts:

Makeup and hair have been booked with Colette Nelson for the North Americans and the Team U. I have ordered the Jan Tana Tattoo Cover Creme Palette. My ducks seem to be getting in a row.

Dan is like a bull in a china shop.  The kitten had protein powder on her.  At least she smells like strawberries.

I am not hungry these days so much as I am just not full. When I finish my meals, they are like an appetizer, and I feel primed to eat. I have had Dan move his peanut butter up to the top of the cabinets so I can’t reach it and it’s out of my line of vision. Out of sight, out of mind, and hopefully out of mouth!

-Henry D. Thoreau

What does bodyweight tell you? It tells you what you WEIGH!! Who knows what you weigh? You. Who cares what you weigh? No one else.

What are your goals when it comes to training and nutrition? In most cases, at some point, it will be fat loss … or is it just weight loss? Do you care where your weight loss comes from? Or is the only thing that matters is seeing a lower number on the scale. What if you looked the same? Just a smaller version of your current self? Would that matter?

Ok, so I’ll assume and answer for you - you care about FAT loss, not weight loss.

I mean, if you didn’t care where it came from, then you’re perfectly fine with your weight loss coming from a combination of fat AND muscle right? It’s all good as long as that stupid scale comes down right?

Come on.

What does the scale tell you?

I’m waiting …

Yes, the answer is that easy.

It tells you what you WEIGH!!!

It doesn’t tell you anything about what the composition of that weight is. It says nothing about bodyfat, muscle mass, fat, or anything else. It tells you what you weigh.

Why is it such an important number to you?

Other people don’t know what you weigh; they see what you look like. What are people’s perception of what you look like based on? The composition of your bodyweight - muscle, fat, bodyfat, etc and NOT the number on the scale. People know if you’re in shape or out of shape, if you look good or don’t look good based on well, what you look like … obviously. Not based on the tshirt you have to wear every day that gives a daily update of your bodyweight.

Let’s say you dropped 5 lbs of fat. That’s good.

Let’s say, you happened to gain 5 lbs of muscle. That’s really good.

Uh oh, problem. It would appear to me that if the above were true, you’d register no change on the scale. You weigh the same.

You’re a failure.

Or are you?

That might not register as weight loss on the scale, but that represents a 10lb change in the look of your body. Is that not why you’re training? To LOOK better?

Your waist is smaller, your hips are smaller, your legs are smaller, your clothes fit better, friends and family are commenting on your ‘weight loss’ and asking you what you’re doing … and yet? Your weight hasn’t changed much.

Failure. You realize because of the stupid number your scale spits out … that you’ve made no progress.

Come on!

Is this resonating yet?

Of course you’ve made progress. Plenty of it.

If your measurements have come down, you’re smaller.
If you’re smaller, you’re losing fat.
Fat is weight.
If you’re losing fat you’re losing weight (that is associated with the lost fat)

If the scale says you’re not losing weight in light of the above, well something’s happening.

Something is being added to your body to counterbalance the loss of fat weight.

Guess what? This isn’t a bad thing.

Chances are you’re in the SWEET SPOT of simultaneous fat loss … and muscle gain, which is not easy to do, so if you’re there, be happy and enjoy it!

So the addition of muscle (weight) is counterbalancing the loss of fat (weight).

Is this not a great thing?

What improves how your body looks? Fat loss and muscle gains. NOT just weight loss for the sake of seeing a smaller number on the scale.

Now, get over the scale already, and start paying attention to the signs that your body is improving - measurements, skin fold readings (maybe), how your clothes fit, comments from others, etc.

Got it? Good.

Source: Lean Bodies Consulting

An outdoor bodybuilding contest is coming to Long Island, NY.

www.jonesbeachusa.com

Dan Lurie presents the 2008 Mr and Miss Jones Beach USA

Aug 24th 2008 - Rain Date Aug 31st!

Jones Beach, Wantagh Long Island, NY
West Bathhouse

9am Prejudging
1pm Finals

$20 Entry Fee
Free Admission

This is a non-sanctioned event whose proceeds will benefit the United Cerebral Palsy foundation.

Greeting All TX NPC Figure Competitors,

Lee Thompson
N.P.C . Texas District Chairman/IFBB Judge
8515 Rue De Maison
Missouri City, TX 77459
281.435.8804

A View From The Judges Table
What Politics?

Larry Pepe

Ok, let me start out by saying that if you’re a competitor, this piece is probably going to upset you a bit. Maybe even bruise your ego a tad. But, be that as it may, I’m going to write it anyway. Call it a rant, call it whatever you want to call it, but the time to tell you some of the inner workings of an NPC National judging panel has come. Why? Because after years of listening to competitors bitch and moan about all the reasons that they don’t have a pro card that have absolutely nothing to do with their physiques, somebody’s got to do it.

Tell me if any of this sounds familiar? Joe Blow didn’t win because:

1. He upset the judges by doing an ad for a supplement company that wasn’t a sponsor;
2. He broke a trophy 5 years ago at a contest;
3. He missed the competitors meeting;
4. The judges were looking for someone else and it was that guy’s show before anyone even weighed in;
5. There was a rumor that he was busted the week before;
6. There was a rumor that he was drug addict;
7. They never compared him with the top 5 because it would have been impossible to give it to the guy they wanted to win if they had;
8. He was "too shredded" (I love that one);
9. He hasn’t paid his dues and everyone knows you have to get screwed a few times before they give you a Pro card;
10. His time came and went and even though he was an easy winner, the judges are looking for new faces;
11. Blah, Blah, Blah…………………………………â
€¦..

Believe it or not, with the exception of #11, I’ve actually heard every one of these excuses.

REALITY CHECK TIME
In the Men’s Division of NPC National shows there are usually anywhere from 100 to 150 competitors. Are you sitting down? Ready for some real ego-bruising news? Most national judges I’ve sat with and talked to couldn’t recognize and name more than 10 or 15 of them if you put a gun to their head. I’ve been judging nationally since 1994 and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been involved in conversations where someone said, "I thought Joe Blow looked great." The reply was usually "What number was he? Or What class is he in?" If you’re a competitor you should be thrilled at this news because it destroys the notion that we’re sitting there with a list of who we’re going to deny their pro card to because we wouldn’t know who you were most of the time anyway.

Oh, and before I move on, let me put something else from the list in the reality check section. I’ve never seen a male competitor who was too shredded. I’m not sure that there is such a thing as too shredded!

PUNISHMENT FOR PAST BEHAVIOR
This is an easy one. Let’s see, smashing trophies denies you a pro card? Better not tell Tevita Aholelie who broke his trophy exiting the stage at the 1999 USA in Santa Monica after losing a narrow one-point decision to Garret Downing. Of course, Tevita came back the very next year and won the Heavies at the 2000 USA and got his pro card. I guess we forgave Tevita in 12 months, but we’re holding 5 year grudges against some other guys. (I’m being sarcastic here.)
But let’s not stop there. How about Craig Titus. Remember when he was going to be the USA winner in New Orleans a few years ago? Show was his. No one else should even bother showing up. Then Craig lost a close one to Phil Hernon. Then, in an emotional moment, Craig got really upset, threw his number on the ground and stormed off stage. That’s it, he’ll never win again. The judges will make him pay for that. He’ll never be a pro. He’s over. Of course, he came back at the next USA, one year later, and got his pro card. Guess we forgot about it by then.

"GOTTA PAY YOUR DUES" AND "YOU’VE BEEN AROUND TOO LONG AND WE’RE LOOKING FOR A FRESH FACE"

Well, it’s pretty obvious that both of these can’t be true at the same time. Guess what? Neither is true. I knew you’d want some examples, so here you go. Ever hear of a guy named Ken Brown? He came into the USA a few years ago after winning the Junior Nationals probably hoping to place in the top 5. First time he ever did a pro qualifier. No chance right? Wrong. He won the whole thing and turned pro.

A fluke?
Nope. How about the 2000 Women’s USA. Jennifer McIvar won the overall women’s championship and a pro card in her first National contest! Want a more recent example. 2000 NPC Men’s Nationals were held in NY this past year. A friend of mine called me from the show and asked "Do you know a guy named Victor Martinez?" "No, never heard of him," I replied. "Well he just smoked the Heavyweight Class and the Overall." So much for paying dues onstage. I guess Victor paid his dues where it really counts…the gym, the treadmill and the kitchen table.
Oops, I almost forgot about the flipside of this whole equation…the "I’m not a fresh face" scenario. Guess that didn’t matter at this year’s USA when Bob Cicherillo rolled the dice and walked away with the Superheavyweight class, the overall and a pro card. Given that he won the Junior Nationals about 12 or 13 years before and probably competed for a pro card at least 10 or 15 times, there goes the whole fresh face thing.

WHAT’S THE POINT?
Take responsibility for yourself when you don’t win a show! Look at your physique, not the judge’s panel. Are there exceptions? Of course, but they are just that…exceptions. When a competitor convinces him or herself of any of the reasons listed above, what they are really doing is stopping themselves from learning from the experience. Rather than figure out what they need to do for their physique to improve for next time, they are too busy placing blame elsewhere. The ones who consistently improve and ultimately turn pro are the ones who use every show to improve and learn as they are on their way to the top. I wonder if Ronnie Coleman went home and pouted for a year after he was 9th at the Olympia and blamed it on politics. I’m guessing against it. He won the O the very next year. You remember, that was the show that everyone who knew anything had already proclaimed that Flex Wheeler would be unbeatable in after Dorian stepped down.

Speaking of Ronnie, I had several people at the Pro Ironman tell me that it was a huge mistake for him to do the Arnold Classic two weeks later because he was a Weider guy now and there was some friction between Arnold and Joe that Ronnie would get screwed for. I guess they forgot to tell the judges…he had all first place votes in all rounds and walked away with over $200,000 in winnings. The bottom line is that the right person usually wins at the NPC National and IFBB Pro Level. Spend more time becoming the right person and less time blaming the wrong ones and you’ll end up a lot happier. Oh, and you’ll probably have a much better physique!

Chant of a Champion
by Nicole Snell

A champion must first challenge the self before they can challenge others.
I am my competition. Failure is not an option.

This Saturday, held with the NPC NY Metropolitan.

Complete competitor list:

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• Maggie Blanchard, USA
• Myriam Capes, Canada
• Jennifer Cassety, USA
• Nicole Duncan, USA
• Kendra Elias, USA
• Heidi Fletcher, USA
• Oksana Grishina, Russia
• Donna Louise Jones, Australia
• Michele Mayberry, USA
• Lisa McCormick, USA
• Tami Ough, USA
• Bethany Wagner, USA
• Trish Warren, USA
• Nicole Wilkins, USA

Women’s Bodybuilding
UNOFFICIAL list of competitors is as follows:

ANGELA DEBATIN BRAZIL
ANNIE RIVECCIO          USA
AURELIA GROZAJOVA  SLOVAKIA
CATHY LEFRANCOIS    CANADA
COLETTE NELSON        USA
DEBBIE BRAMWELL     USA
DEBI LASZEWSKI          USA
DENA WESTERFIELD    USA
FABI ANTIONE BELGIUM
GUISY CAPUTO ITALY
HEATHER FOSTER       USA
JEANNIE PAPARONE    USA
KIM  BUCK                      USA
LIZ MESA MEXICO
MARIA CALO                 USA
MERCEDES BAZEMORE USA
ROSEMARY JENNINGS USA
SARAH BRIDGES UK
SASKIA SALEMINK HOLLAND
TINA CHANDLER           USA
TONIE THOMPSON        USA