fit2be40’s BodyBlog

So got rained out this weekend & canceled the beach.  Tonight is UFC 86, Rampage v.s. Forrest, definitely a cheat night with wings & beer.  Then its back on low carb next six days to keep my beach body for next weekend.  Won’t eat too much tonight anyway.  Ever since I’ve been eating clean my system can’t take crap food.  Last year I was given pills to combat Irritable Bowl but weaned off of them when I started eating better.  Also feel more relaxed now that I’m healthier; I’ve been told IBS comes on with stress.  Still have those pills for when my body rejects wings & beer.  Better living through chemistry is what I say, especially for cheat night.

Eating clean is not the easiest, but the only way to have a great beach body.  I almost died the other night craving anything else but chicken, fish and veggies.  I’ve had enough protein shakes for an entire lifetime.  There’s only so much cottage cheese you can eat before saying "enough already!"  I need some MEAT, real juicy fattening hunk of Ribeye  would be nice about now.  So going into the weekend at least I can look down at my abs and say "I’m ready for the Beach"…and some wings too.

I am so thankful to my husband for his untiring support.  I finally made the "Over 40 Transformation" this week - http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/trans_o4022.htm.  Being recognized really makes my day.  Most people define who they are by what they do for a living.  I’ve never really been a strong proponent of this but find it hard not to.  Right now I take care of my husband and only have my 14-yr-old son part time and am having a hard time with defining myself for me.  Using Body Space has been the perfect outlet to relieve personal uncertainties about where I am going.  Eventually I plan to go back to school after our Missouri home sells.  In the meantime I am happy to be here in my virtual Body Space world.  Many thanks to other Body Spacers for their kind comments and support.  Especially to those who post their pics that fuel motivation to train harder.

When I dropped last 5lbs in bodyweight I lost 5lbs on my max bench rep.  Still happy with my progress because now my abs look great even when I’m relaxed.  I used to feel bloated end of the day with a weird puffiness in my lower ab region.  Now I can still sport a bikini without worry for the late evening swim.  Nice to look great at the expense of losing strength.  After all, it’s not like I can carry a bench & bar with me everywhere.  I’d rather be a little weak with rockin’ abs!

Just got off the phone with my Missouri gym partner, Ladonna.  I’ll be in Texas for about 5 more weeks.  Saying "Hey" to Ladonna made me realize how much fun working out can be when you find the right partner.  No luck here in TX yet.  I try to match my workouts with my husband’s but we still can’t pull the same weight.  Trying to take his plates off so I can do my set really takes time.  We use Hammer mostly but still can’t get the same groove as training with someone more equal.  Ladonna kicks my butt with her ab routines, keeps me honest on my form too.  It sucks cause when I get back to MO Ladonna will be leaving soon after.  West Plains is so rural that many people can’t make a living there.  That’s why my husband took this job in TX.  Same reason why Ladonna & her husband will be leaving MO.  Good friends are also hard to find.  Hope to keep in touch with Ladonna, maybe vacation together…at the gym?

My body clock is all messed up.  I take 3mg Melatonin and a butt load of allergy meds at night.  I pass out for about an hour then am wide awake.  I think I need to train earlier so supplements don’t keep me wired.  Maybe just need a break from supplements.  From looks of other Body Spacers activity this late, I’m not the only one who can’t sleep.

I feel dumb not understanding the work out tracker so I’m posting one of my favorite workouts.  I like this and opposing body part supersets.  Some how I lost the opposing but am keeping this one for future reference.  I get most of my routines from Muscle & Fitness.  Sometimes I find them on other Body Space profiles.  I moved this one to make space for the training I did to get where I’m at now.

Same body part supersets:

Day 1-
Incline bench press with Incline dumbbell flye
Flat bench with flat dumbbell flye
Decline bench with cable crossovers
Bench dips with lying triceps extension
Close-grip bench with tri pressdowns
Overhead dumbbell extension with close grip push-ups

Day 2
Barbell squat with leg press
Sissy squat with leg extension
Romanian dead-lift with lying leg curl
Standing calf raise with seated calf raise

Day 3
Overhead dumbbell press with lateral raise
Upright row with barbell front raise
Arnold press with bent-over lateral raise
Barbell shrug with incline dumbbell shrug

Day 4
Dead-lift with pull-ups
Wide-grip bent-over row with seated row
T-bar row with lat pull-down
Barbell curl with incline dumbbell curl
Preacher curl with seated dumbbell curl
High-cable curl with hammer curl

OK, so experiment #1 with wings & beer is officially over.  I did it again this past weekend and ended up with bloated abs.  Not exactly the look I was going for.  My weight fluctuated  within a few pounds but that’s nothing a few Spinning classes can’t fix.  Now I’m ready to get serious again.  Just found out that our finances and schedules won’t allow for August competition but that’s good news.  Now I can experiment some more with my training and diet to achieve a leaner look without compromising muscle mass.  Hope to achieve great results!  Caution to all those who love wings & beer…eat them rarely!

I stayed on my diet 5 weeks without a cheat day.  It was worth it just to finally see my husband’s reaction.  We’ve been apart while I checked on our Missouri home.  Wow, talk about "honey you look good" love!  Let’s just say he made me remember why I married him.  Nice to have abs again for my hubby.  Also nice to binge on beer & hot wings this past weekend.  Now I’m back to training hard & eating clean.

It took a few weeks of eating low calories before I had energy again.  I gradually decreased from 1600 to 1250.  I still eat up to 1350 on cardio days.  I did not think I could operate on 1250 but my body responded well and I’m still able to train hard.  Adding oats was the best source of energy.  My usual diet looks something like this:

Breakfast - 4 egg whites with 1/4 cup of spinach

Post workout snack - 1/2 scoop whey protein with 1/2 an apple or 1/2 cup of frozen berries

Lunch - 4oz salmon with salad greens & 1/4 wedge of medium tomato - topped with 1-2 tbsp of light Italian dressing

Snack - 1/2 cup of cottage cheese with 1/4 cup of almonds

Dinner - 4oz chicken with 1 cup chopped broccoli

Bedtime snack - 1/2 scoop BSN Syntha-6 Mochacinno whey with water (or milk on cardio days)

This is working really well for me.  I can see separation between muscles in my arms now.  Oh, and I have abs now too!