The I Love Carbs Blog

Well, thank goodness the leftovers are dwindling away.  I made SO MUCH food, it was ridiculous.  All of the extended family left out of town this year, so that left us alone. I guess I don’t know how to cook for just the four of us.  I decided to go ahead and freeze the other half of the casseroles for another time.  Really, it’s enough to just bring it back out for Christmas!  With those put away in the freezer, it will be out of the way and I won’t be tempted to have them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. 

It was a relaxing Thanksgiving.  After dinner, the family chilled out and watched a little TV.  I think hubby and I fell asleep.  Later on that evening, we all had settle into our pj’s and watched a holiday movie, ELF.  That’s such a funny movie.  And tonight we went on a walk around a lake near our house.  It’s basically a light pier around a lake.  We bring bread to feed the ducks, turtles, and fish.  Yes, the turtles and fish eat the bread like there’s no tomorrow. 

I took yesterday off from training since I was cooking all day.  I went to bed early and woke up late.  I guess I needed the rest.  My legs and calves are freaking sore and my upper body is just now feeling up to training tomorrow.  I took two days off from weights, but did one hour of cardio today.  I felt like I needed it after the amount of food I’ve been eating.  Even though I bulking, I think I’ll keep up the cardio until after the holidays to keep my body fat percentage in check.  I could tell after taking in the extra sodium, I was looking a little puffier today. 

I’m so excited about this holiday.  It’s my favorite time of year.  The air is cooler, (and that only lasts about 3-4 weeks out of the year in FL. So I enjoy every bit of it), holiday music is playing everywhere, I can bake tons of goodies to give to others, and the Christmas lights and decorations are twinkling.  My daughters have been helping me in the kitchen.  I think they enjoy baking and cooking.   It’s a nice time to spend with them.  

Not much going on these past two days.  I pretty much ate Thanksgiving dinner for every meal.  And surprisingly, I’m not sick of it I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

Yesterday, my sister called and asked if she could train with me. This has been three Tuesdays in a row. She said she feels motivated to put on more muscle, tighten up, and lean out. I told her I was going to blast my legs and if she’s up for it, she can definitely join me. I asked her what she does for her leg day. She breaks it up into three groups, and trains them on separate days. Glutes, quads, and hammies. Lucky for her, we did all three, plus cardio all in one workout. We started with a couple of warm up squats and walking lunges, no weights. Then we did our squats, four sets. Since someone was using the leg press, we did our walking lunges with weights. The guy finished when we were on our third set. So I snagged the leg press and started on it, and super setted my fourth set of walking lunges. I did three sets of close, and three sets of wide on the leg press. After that we used the leg extension to work on detailing the quads, the inner and outer sweep. We super setted those with the leg curl machine. Lastly, I showed her the wonderful Stiff Legged Dead Lifts. She has good form on everything, and just needed a little practice with the squats. She wanted to work on her inner/outer thighs, so we did a couple sets each. To finish it off, we did 40 minutes of cardio. She texted me this morning and said she can hardly walk. OH-YEAH!!! I wasn’t certain if I would get a good workout in yesterday. Right before heading into the gym, I had to deal with some family issues. It was pretty emotional, and intense. So I figured I would either get an awesome workout because of my frustrations, or my emotions would swell up inside and I would feel like crying. I know…that’s drastic. Fortunately, I got a great workout! Today I did back, and calves. I’m still getting super pumps from my training. My energy is there and I love being able to lift heavy. After I did a set for my back, I immediately did a set of calves. I did that the entire workout and it felt great. No cardio today. As I’m getting things ready for the holidays, I was thinking about this past year. I was reflecting on what has happened , what lessons I have learned, and what my blessings are. I have spent the past 15 months training for two shows. I’ve learned that with bodybuilding, it’s not all about me. I have a team that has been there with me every step of the way. *even though they felt like running away at times!* I could not have done this without my hubby and my two beautiful daughters. My hubby has been training so hard, bulking and then leaning out; he has now decided to compete next year! My two daughters are wonderful athletes that have taught me the meaning of training for a purpose and drive on. I have learned to be more caring towards others, patient, kind and loving. I’ve also learned that I have to love the unloving, as hard as that may be. I am thankful everyday that my family is all in physically demanding sports, and we are healthy to be able to enjoy it and train for it. God has given us all so many blessings. So as this year is quickly coming to an end, I am already planning ahead for next year. I am going to compete with more confidence, come in bigger, tighter, and leaner. It’s going to be one heck of a year! My youngest will have team tryouts for the gymnastics team. She’s been training so hard, and if she makes it, she’ll have team competitions next year. My oldest has been training hard on her off season. She getting in lots of miles on her bike, and having fun weight training and making her own gains. She’ll have cycling nationals in the summer. So she’ll gear up for that. Hubby and I are doing the same show. How exciting is that?! A couple of our friends are doing the show as well, BONUS! It will certainly be an exciting year. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, and safe travels! I will be enjoying Thanksgiving this year with my immediate family since everyone else has decided to travel. So, I will be preparing the entire feast. Fun, fun, fun…I’m excited! And you bet, I’ll be finding the most comfy pants to wear, and have a day to relax and enjoy.

I trained with my sister today.  She’s always worked out, for years actually.  I remember her always doing aerobics, or the Step Reebok…yeah, remember that back in the 90’s?  For a mother of 5, she looks darn amazing!  But, she has this mind set on lifting heavy and training ALL body parts will make her look too big.  She told me she doesn’t train calves, back, traps or chest.  WHAT?!  and occasionally she’ll train shoulders.  She called me up and asked to train with me.  We did shoulders and traps.  I think sometimes, females are intimidated by going heavier on the weights.  We did some warm up sets doing DB Side Laterals.  Then moved onto DB Presses.  I’m getting my strength back and got up to 30lb DB.  I think she was impressed with that.  I’m glad, because hopefully that will shatter her thoughts on lifting heavy will make you to bulky.  After 3 shoulder exercises, she was smoked.  I wasn’t finished yet, so I did one more shoulder exercise and worked my traps.  She refused to work that.  We ended the session with some cardio.  I’m hoping to influence her with her diet.  She’s a bartender, so her diet isn’t great.  Not bad, but she needs to eat smaller meals more frequently.  She usually doesn’t eat, that’s her problem.  I think she enjoyed the workout.  We went to Jason’s Deli afterward for lunch.  She watched her carb intake and ordered protein with her salad.  I’m proud of her! 

Side note…my mother-in-law even joined a gym.  She tries to go 3 times a week, but it’s more like 2.  She said within 3 months she dropped her BF by 2%.  That’s pretty good.  She’s limited to certain exercises because of her bad elbow, but it’s nice to hear she’s exercising.  To be honest, my in-laws don’t really support me in my bodybuilding.  They’ll make comments like "good luck".  But, they actually the thought of female bodybuilding is so new to them they don’t know how to deal with it.  My fahter in-law has made comments, not to me, but to my hubby, that basically female bodybuilders are manish.  Maybe it’s they’re age that they think women need to be petite, and feminine?  It doesn’t bother me.  Well…if I think about it too much, than yes it does.  I just don’t dwell on it.  Anyways, I digress…I do that quite often   I’m just glad to see my extended family becoming more active.  It needs to be a life style, not just for looks.  Although, building muscles, leaning out, and looking totally jacked is just an added bonus! 

I got some pictures back today from the shoot.  I had picked out 57 images, so it will take some time for the photographer to edit them. Here’s some that are finished.  I love the lighting.  These were taken 4 days after contest prep. 

I had such a fantastic day today.  It’s been nice to kick back with my family and enjoy this time of year, especially with Thanksgiving coming around and Christmas.  I love cooking, so for me to plan out th menu, and actually being able to eat the feast is a bonus!  Today my oldest daughter and hubby went and rode a century ride.  She got in about 103 miles on her bike.  I know..she ’s NUTS!  But I admire her for that.  My little one and I went to church.  Then I took her out for lunch and shopping.  For an eight year old, she has a lot of style.  We got home and I got ready to hit the gym.

Today I had my first proper leg workout since dieting for the show.  I had about a week I went in a basically fiddle-farted round (that’s cycling terminology for not doing much).  I had that photo shoot I was trying to keep my calorie intake low and not go crazy so that I don’t look horrible for the photos.  I wish I got them done the day after because I looked better then the day of the show.  Funny how some carbs just help you fill out.  So I looked more like a fitness girl, than a hard, lean bodybuilder.  I still like them.  The photographer is in the process of editing the lighting and I will share them once they’re ready.  ANYWAYS, I digress.  I went in and just played it by ear what my weight would be to train with.  Although it was pretty light, I got such a huge pump from my workout. I’m already sore!  YAY!  GROW BABY GROW!  I did super sets.  I started with a couple of warm up squats.  Then I did squats super setted with walking lunges.  Then I did the leg press super setted with leg curls.  And calves super setted with the leg extensions.  I couldn’t do Stiff Legged Dead Lifts because by that time, my legs were so stiff.  I did a couple more exercises for my calves.  Then I finished it with 40 minutes of cardio.  OUCHIE MAMA!  my legs at first was so stiff.  They loosened up after a few minutes, and it actually felt good to do the cardio.  Walking down the 3 flights of stairs to get to the car was not fun.  They were shaking the whole way down.  I’m back at it and love it!!!

Yesterday I took off from training.  I went shopping with the girls, and got home and made some homemade pizza.  It’s a nice family time.  My oldest chops the veggies, and then after everything is prepared, they get to make their own pizza.  I think I crancked out 7 pizzas.  Here’s a photo of one of them.  Pepperoni, baby bella mushrooms, and roma tomatoes. Mmmm….even though I can’t remember too much of the Italian language living there for a few years, I certainly will never forget how to bake a pizza!

Well…let me just say that it was fun.  The hub and I met with the photographer today.  I meet him in the gym and he’s a super cool guy.  He made things comfortable for me.  I admit, I was a bit nervous.  Ironically, I don’t like attention upon me…*yeah, that’s why I got into competing in bodybuilding*  But having the camera set on you and knowing the person is looking into the lens at YOU is just not my idea of comfort. 

We got there and it started raining.  We waited it out for about 20 minutes and like all Florida down pours, if you wait about 15-20 minutes, it will stop.  The backdrop was the state park forest with the springs gleaming with splashes of shadows from the trees and sparkles from the sunshine.  I took some posing shots in my suit, and some with a dress, and some with workout clothes.  It went great…all except for all the dang mosquitos!  I forgot how horrible they are here.  If you get anywhere near trees and water, you’ll be eaten alive.  Luckily, I had my tanner on, so you really couldn’t see the bites on me.  It was pretty bad.  I finally got used to the idea of shooting and then it got dark quickly.  Darn that time change!  We got some great shots, and I can’t wait to see them.  The hub was impressed as well. 

The season is finally over and now I can chill out and train.  I felt so completely lost after my first show.  My body went through shock and rejected food, I slept for days, and was out of it.  This time, I was able to manage being lean and not get cankles again, and I didn’t feel fatigued.  My mini goal for the rest of the year is to keep my body fat down and lift heavy.  After the new year, well, that’s a different story.  I will be bulking and am thinking on doing a show in October.  That will give me plenty of time to put on some growth.  It gave me a idea this time about what body parts I’d like to improve on.  Yes, I know, there’s ALWAYS a body part to improve.  I can see my weak points, and strong points, and will start building straight away on the wheels   Everything else will not be over looked, but my legs will be trained especially hard.  The list is long,but mainly my legs are the key.

Keep training hard!

I’ve gone through a roller coaster of emotions.  From complete utter sadness for missing call outs because of being sick, to frustrations, embarrassment, anger, to isolation.  I got my butt into the gym today.  I was avoiding it somewhat just because I knew the people there would ask "what happened?"  and I just didn’t want to talk or think about it any more.  But, time to face it and move on.  Things happen in life, and for whatever reason, it wasn’t meant to be.  I realize that the people that have been involved have watched me dedicate 15 months of my life to train to compete have been my support system.  They’ve been caring and have comforted me and helped me snap out of it!  It felt good to be in the gym and train again.  I had good energy and just tooled around with a back workout.  It wasn’t structured, but for just getting back into it from dieting down and the horrible weekend, I felt pretty strong.  I’m looking forward to hitting the heavy weights again and building some muscle.

Tomorrow, I have a photo shoot.  A friend of mine is a photographer.  He was there at the show to take exclusive pictures, but..well, you know the story.  So, my hubby and I are meeting him at a state park to take some pictures.  I haven’t gone crazy eating, so I’m still in good condition.  To be honest, I was afraid to eat too much sodium and get cankles!  I’m a little nervous since I’ve never done this.  I’m glad hub will be there. 

Speaking of the hub…he just went through a great lean out. He bulked up to about 215 and leaned out to 176!  Holy moly.  We’ll be bulking together for the next few months and he may even compete!  OH YAY!!!  How exciting to be able to experience this with him.  He’s the one who has taught me everything about weight lifting.  Bulking will officially start after the holidays.  I’m hoping to watch my diet until then.  As you know, I can bulk with the best of them. lol.  (I’m writing this as I’m eating a yummy dark chocolate hazelnut biscotti I baked) bad..very bad!

I’ll post some pictures after I look at the proofs. 

Keep training hard everyone!

First of all, I’d like to thanks you all who stopped by to wish me good luck and have given me support.  It really meant A LOT!  I was spot on for the show this past Saturday.  UNFORTUNATELY, it didn’t work out.  I can’t stress how disappointed I am with it!  But, it is a good lesson learned. 

I came in hard, tight, and dry as ever.  I was mentally prepared to get it on, and kill it on stage.  The unfortunate part was my body said, "oh no you’re not ready!"  I woke up at 5 a.m. and felt real dizzy.  I figured it had t do with water depletion, and needed to eat my first meal.  Not quite that easy.  I started seeing black and had to lay down or it was lights out.  After about 15 minutes, I got up and ate, and felt a little better.  My hubby finished putting my tanning on and I continued on with my prep.  I was determined to drive on.  After arriving to the show and sitting through the athlete’s meeting, I starting feeling faint again.  My coach told me to eat my next meal, and sit and relax.  I ate, and sat a while.  But it was time to get up and finish preparing.  Getting my sugars in and pumping, etc.  It was then I started throwing up.  I got sick a few times.  Getting closer to call outs, I asked the girl who kept us girls in check with the show schedule how much time I had left, she told me about 20 minutes until they call out the Women’s Open BB class.  So, I made my way back outside to throw up before call outs.  This is when it got really sucky!  In actuality, I had 5 minutes to call outs.  As I’m dry heaving outside, the girl came out am rushed me to the side stage.  My class was already in their relaxed pose.  The head coordinator said it’s too late for me, they’ve called out my class.  He then said I’m finished.  I said, "are you joking?"  He said NO!  That was it…I called my coach and he met me on the other side of the stage.  I broke down in tears.  Disappointed in myself, embarrassed, frustrated that I put all that time in my training and dieting, I felt I let people down that supported me, and came out with this outcome!  I met my family and we headed back to the hotel.  The rest of the day my body cramped up.  My legs would cramp up so bad I was in the verge of tears. 

I took it easy, and drank about 1-1/2 gallons of water, ate about 6 apples, took a ton of multi-minerals, and got some carbs in me.  I’m feeling MUCH better today. 

My lesson learned is that I’ve got to prepare myself better than this.  What is it worth preparing for a show that I’m going to kill myself over?  I came in better condition than my previous show.  My weight dropped, bf% dropped, I looked lean, and my muscles filled out just right for the show, but I can’t push it to the point of getting sick.  So, looking at the bright side, I have accomplished my goal coming in better conditioned, minus getting up on stage.   Now, I have to learn to move past this and plan for a future show next year.  My hubby has been so loving, supportive of me and comforting.  It’s time for me to move past this and focus on my training.  Thank you all again for the support you’ve given me.  I will be back bigger and stronger!

I will leave with this verse:

PHILIPPIANS 4:11-13, I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

1 more week!  I’m getting excited.  Not really nervous.  This is a pretty big show, and I can’t wait to see the other ladies that I will compete with.  The show is held in a beautiful, historical city.  The oldest in Florida!  The family and I will be staying the weekend right on the beach front…BEAUTIFUL!  I can’t wait to chill on the beach…especially looking lean and tan. haha.  There are two other girls in my gym doing the same show.  One is entering the Open Figure, and the other is doing the Women’s Master.  Quite a few gym members and staff are going to come watch the show too.  That will be cool to have some cheering supporters there.  

This week’s training schedule is pretty low key.  Basically moving the weight and cardio.  I’ll work on practicing my routine and posing.  I’ve decided to get spray tanned this time to eliminate the time it takes to paint on the tan.  I have that big venue I’m making cupcakes for, so I’m really pressing for time this week.  I have about 11-12 dozen to make, plus, I’m making about 150 of these cute Poppies that I make. (tiny cupcakes dipped in chocolate on lollipop sticks) And I have my own line of vintage-inspired aprons that I make.  Wish me luck this week.  Hopefully I don’t go insane, or drive my family insane!

Here are my 1 week out photos, in addition, I added a couple of pictures of my aprons for those of you who were interested. 

Keep training hard!

oxox, The Buff Baker