juliet_virgo’s BodyBlog

The last few days I have been trying to recouperate from the FAME competition but life gets in the way and I still have birthday parties to run and work to go to!!!  It was such a long day on Saturday I couldn’t believe we didn’t finish until midnight.  We were to be there at 10:30 am and then still didn’t walk onto stage until 2pm.  I was disappointed as my daughter left before I got up there.  Then we didn’t finish the judging until 5pm only to be back at 7pm for evening show.  Taking herbal diuretic tea for the 3 days prior along with dandelion root and water shed and then not drinking from 5 pm the night before lead to major dehydration cramps in my feet and calves.  I was in so much pain I was crying and screaming actually.  Immediately after the show I downed 2 jugs of gatorade to get electrolytes back into my system but it was too late.  All night my calves were cramping.  NOw I am just trying to get back into a healthy eating routine.  I am not working out at all this week.  I just need my body to get back to normal.  Weird though, it was anti-climatic.  The fun part was getting ready with my pal, viv viva at her house.  Like getting ready for a prom.  It was alot of fun, makeup, body paint, hair spray! LOL!  That was a highlite for me, as well, laying in the lobby on a bench just chatting with our dry mouths.  She is amazing and beautiful and graceful, I am honored to be her friend.  Along with our other 2 buddies, Wish2BFit and MissBrigitte, they made the night worthwhile!! Peace. J~

It was 97 days ago that my girlfriend said "100 days until our competition."  That seemed like so long ago, but now we are 3 days away.  I don’t have any workouts today and I am off work for the next 3 days, but I guess I am so used to getting up early to do cardio I can’t sleep in.  I slept like a baby last night, 7 hours!  ZMA works amazingly well for me!  Today I have a pedicure booked (pretty hard to drive in flipflops after polish when we have snow on the ground, for real, April???)  I have a spray tan to go to and then just practicing posing for a bit.  Other than that it will be relaxation, getting some birthday stuff for my daughter and a nice bottle of Australian wine for me on Saturday!  Are we really down to hours W2BF?????  Can’t wait! Peace. J~

Cardio this morning, 5am!  Sooooo much better than last week.  30 minutes just flys by.  I don’t even listen to music, just ride, tighten my core, visualize being on stage, relax……  Last day of work until after the competition.  Being such a task driven person I had everything lined up already for next weeks course.  My partner will set up the room for me while I am gone and nothing to worry about.  My co-instructors from the north will do the majority of next weeks work as I will be training them so the stress there is low.  Tonight I went with my daughter to pick out her birthday present…a new bike!  It is hot!  A norco angel with front shocks and speed shifters!  Not bad for a girl about to turn 7!  I can’t wait till she can ride hard core with me….that might be a bit yet but one day I will hit Moab Utah again, this time with her.  I miss training for riding.  Oh well, this has been a new challenge for me.  So different.  A mental game, discipline, long training hours….all worth it I am sure in the end.  Already I have had soooo many highlights along this journey.  The peak should be Saturday night on stage but, perhaps instead it is the friendships that have been created and have grown along the way.  4 more sleeps, but who’s counting? Peace. J~

I can’t believe I have come this far.  This weekend, for the heck of it I took my measurements.  Before seeing my nutritionist, who calculates BF%, I measured myself on a weekly basis.  It has been 16 weeks since I took them and started this journey to my FAME competition.  I can’t believe it, but I have dropped 3 inches in my hips!!  Everything else was pretty even in dropping, I am not a curvy girl in the waist and only dropped an inch.  Not much change in my arms and calves, but my hips and legs there was a noticeable difference.  Pretty cool, I am proud of myself.  There is only 4 days to go and it’s time to strut on stage.  I have done everything that I can do.  Now it’s all up to walking and posing on stage and the judges to do thier thing.  I am not looking to win or even go any further in this.  It has always been about my personal best and being a role model for my daughter.  Showing her that when you start something, you have to see it through to the end and just do your best.  She will be there that day, cheering her mom on!  That makes it all worthwhile.

I am feeling a little sick today and I believe it is because of all the protein and lack of carbs.  I feel a little blah, actually like throwing up.  My good friend and training partner recommended a little fresh ginger soaked in hot water to help settle the tummy.  I will try that tonight.  One more day of no carbs and then we start to carb load and drop sodium.  1 more cardio workout and shoulders.  The end is so near….I am amazed!

I am at peace with this all.  I feel very calm, probably all the meditating I have been doing at night.  Some visualization too, and of course hours upon hours of training, posing and eating.  I am ready.  Peace. J~

So 8 days left, or 8 sleeps, or 4 hours of cardio and 3 workouts, or 45 meals…..but who’s counting……I am!!  I picked up my 2 suits yesterday and they are BEAUTIFUL.  My seamstress is amazing.  I can’t wait to wear them on stage.  She is just doing the finishing touches on my costume and I am so ready!  Nails-got em, waxing - tomorrow, pedicure - Wednesday, spray tan - wed, thur, friday…showtime SATURDAY!  I feel fabulous.  I did my last weigh in today, 150.3 lbs!  Body fat 8.9%, I gained 1 lb. of lean tissue this week and lost a pound of bodyfat!  My nutritionist is so AMAZING as well.  He really checked me over and said the last bit of tightness will happen on the water/carb deplete thing, (so lucky I have him!)  My gal pals are all ready to.  We are all doing a photoshoot this weekend at my house.  It will be fab!  Peace. J~

I just finished a good arm workout and also my last hour of cardio.  My co-worker joined me which helped a great deal to get through that hour of cardio.  My body is a machine right now.  It is so calculated that it knows when the next feed is about to happen.  It is amazing how efficient it is.  As the next mealtime approaches I start to crash.  I feel lethargic.  Then once I put that fuel into my body, I am good for about another 2 hours…then crash time again.  It is quite the experiment really.  With the amount of cardio and lifting that I am doing right now, I know that I am burning more calories then what I am putting into my body.  I showed off my abs today!  It felt great to have him say "Wow?"  with a suprised look on his face. LOL!  Yup, my body is a machine….going to be showing it off and all the hard work I have done in 9 days.  Looking forward to it and doing that with my 3 cool gal pals! Peace. J~

I am just too tired to blog today.  I am zapped of all my energy.  I just finished my second hour on the treadmill, I feel exhausted and my legs are tired.  Glad I didn’t have to lift today.  I had a roadtrip planned at work and did back on Sunday.  Time to hit the showers and head home from work.  It was a good day, just a little drained right now! Peace. J~

Just finished having a tea with Vis Viva!  We went to see the site for the upcoming competition.  Now I can spend some time doing some visualization on stage!  That is huge for me as far as helping to calm nerves.  And of course tea with her was fab as well!   I also recieved an email from my seamstress and I get to pick up my suits on Thursday!! Yipee!  Everything is coming together.  I already finished off my cardio for the day, and weights.  This afternoon I will spend some time posing.  Tonight I will take a break with my daughter and go to a gymnastics open gym time.  It is so important to have quality time with her right now.  I bought her ticket on-line for the daytime showing.  The theatre is pretty small and great angle on it so she will have no trouble seeing the stage.  I am so excited for her to be there.  I just have to get through this week.  I am only at work 2 days next week and I am totally looking forward to the time of to relax before the show!  Time to get back to work! Peace. J~

The end is just around the corner.  Today I did my last leg day before competition!  It rocked!  Did some cardio, had a tan.  It is so nice to have a tanning bed in my house!  I like to call it Juliet beach!  Great little gym, good wolf bed and a fab shower…just wish I had my steamer installed….that would finish it off nicely!  Got my nails redone, can’t wait to get them off.  I just can’t seem to stop breaking them.  Something to be said for a chick who likes to get her hands dirty.  It’s hard enough keeping my own nails in order, let alone these crazy fake ones! LOL!  Yup, I am going nuts, but having fun getting there.  Maybe its the lack of carbs tonight but I am feeling totally blonde, and hungry.  I am so excited for all my chickola friends who I am competing with, Vis viva, Miss Brigitte, Wish2BFit!  It will be a blast back stage.  Only 6 more workouts, 16 more hours of cardio and its showtime baby!  Peace. J~

Actually I like doing leg day, especially after I am done because my legs feel like they are on fire!  I was so tired after doing legs I almost couldn’t finish the treadmill.  Probably because I started off with the bike this morning too.  I find that drains my legs, but in order for me to fit everything in with working and being a mom, a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do.  Wouldn’t it be sweet to not have to work and just hang out at the gym and then go for a coffee.  Maybe for a bit, but I think I would get bored and brain dead.  I do enjoy my career, just right now with the extra training, it would be nice to be able to concentrate on training, have someone else make my meals and look after the family and home!  I am curious to see what I will do after all of this training is done and the competition is over.  Will I go back to my old workout routine?  What challenge could I possible face after all this?  Before worrying about any of that I will be taking the week off training and dieting forsure!  My trainer has offered to give me an off season workout and nutrition maintenance program.  I have to see what that looks like, I don’t want to continue with 6 meals per day, I would do 5 a day and maybe through in a shake first thing in the morning…..we will see, other things to think about and concentrate on right now.  I am looking forward to a day off training tomorrow and just cardio on Sunday.  2 weeks left!   Amazing! Peace. J~