So far, I’ve been keeping up with my workouts.  Not that I hadn’t initially, but I don’t procrastinate and wait until the next day.  I just do it.  Probably because I have busy weeks as of late.

So, I went on the treadmill yesterday and today.  A bit rough yesterday as my legs were killing me from Saturday’s Leg/Shoulders routine.  They still hurt today.

I was actually done early and decided to do absolutely nothing after.  I was actually awaiting a phone call from an old friend, to no avail, but found out from another friend that her friend has advanced breast cancer and that both breasts must be removed… that sucks.

So, I’m hanging in there.  I don’t see much of an improvement in the body area, but we’ll see how things turn out at the end of the week.  I really would like to impress a friend of mine who’s helping me out with OCB posing… well, impress to the point where she would notice changes in the body that refuses to do so.  ;o)  Peace out.

So, I actually had done my cardio and lifted yesterday.  I procrastinated for about an hour before I actually got around to the lifting.  It seems to be getting better.  I’ve been thinking about what’s up with the procrastination and I can only come up with two reasons: 1) My body’s gone to hell since I had surgery and it’s definitely not the same, or reacts the same it used and 2) any pain I incur due to working out (i.e. shoulder tendinitis, pulling something, etc.).  Once I get passed number one, I’ll be fine with number two.  After all, even though I’m in pain in my shoulders, I still attend my muay thai training, because I just absolutely love the sport.  I’d actually like to consider a match, however, I suck at sparring.  Mostly due to not knowing how and the fact that I’m afraid to get hurt.  Not hit, but hurt.  I hate pain.

My nutrition was a bit better, although I have done my last "splurging" on jello and had like a teaspoon, or less, of pb to which I felt guilty.  So, no more.  Just one serving of Jello and protein for my last meal.  Maybe I’ll mix the protein with cocoa powder.  Make it chocolatier.  )

Came up with a new recipe for those interested in something new.  This may sound kind of "eh", but it’s actually pretty tasty, specifically frozen.

Jell-0 & Pudding

1 box Vanilla pudding, sugar-free, fat-free

1 box Jell-O flavor of choice, I used raspberry, my fave

Prepare Jell-O according to speed set directions.  Be sure to allow the Jell-O to get really thick, even if you have to stick it in the fridge for a while.  You don’t want it set, just thickened.  Then prepare pudding according to directions.  If dairy is allowed in your diet, knock yourself out and use fat-free milk.  In this case, I used water.  Yes, not as tasty, but effective for cravings.  Allow that to set, or thicken up.  Once both are thickened, mix pudding with Jell-o, but do not mix thoroughly.  Allow for swirl in there, like a swirling for a marble cake.  Either put in ramekins, or small dishes and set in fridge, or put them in popsicle molds (good ones do exist, you may have to get them through Tupperware) and set in freezer.  Enjoy!

So, as I said, I had like the fridge version and a popsicle.  Popsicle style was WAY better.  I’m assuming the pudding isn’t that great to have, seeing as how I’m cutting carbs down to 2 a day for 5 days.  This is for cravings, so I’ll use it for that and probably prepare regular Jell-o to have more of.

Gotta start drinking Redi-Cat around 2 PM today for my CT Scan later at 8 PM.  Have to drink half at two and the other have 90 min before.  So not looking forward to it.  It smells citrucy and my sister and I tasted (has a nurse practitioner, it’s only fair she tastes it).  It’s pre-mixed.  She said it tasted like an orange creamsicle.  I didn’t believe her, so I tasted it.  It does, but with a super strong orange tang in the back of your tongue.  I put it in the fridge so that it would be a bit more tolerable.

Gotta go.  Peace out.

So, my belly still has days of distention.  Nothing I didn’t deal with last year, of course, but still equally frustrating.  I actually have a cat scan tomorrow night at 8 for my abdomen.  I have to pick up the contrast dye to drink, which I heard tastes like ****.  Honestly, I often wonder how safe this **** you do for scans, and what not (barium also), really is for you.  And how thought of it?  Who woke up one day and figured, "Well, with this scan, we can see what we’re looking for, so perhaps if we drank dye, it would penetrate into the cells, thereby making said organs/muscles visible."  Seriously.  I feel like George Carlin here with the stupid **** that pops into my head.

So, got that going, FINALLY.  I also have scheduled an ultrasound with my legs, as there are times when there’s some sort of fluid build-up after working out.  These things will probably show nothing, because that is my luck.  I’ll just continue to have these mysterious weight and water gains for the rest of my life with no explanation.  It just boggles my mind that we have been literally dissecting the human body for the better part of 3600 years and we still can’t figure out a lot of crap going on with it.

Anyways, I digress.  So, I have approximately 3 1/2 weeks till show time.  My abs pop when I flex doing a crunch of sorts when I’m standing (leaning somewhat and curving towards my pelvis).  However, when I stand straight and flex the abdominals, the upper quadrant of my abs are less visible and my lower abdominals are distended, as though I were pregnant.  What’s strange, is that the lower abdomen is hard when I flex.  Could something have disturbed my lower abdominals during surgery?  I wonder.  Could it be fluid and my body still healing?  Eh.  I’m not too worried, because they did shrink in time for the show last year and I feel I’m better prepared this year, however, my body is holding fluid like an effen sponge.  I wonder if I consume a lot of salt the beginning of the week of the show, if that would work better when I go to eliminate the sodium …

My coach told me to cut carbs further, so I’m awaiting his reply to how much further and for how long.  I have been training.  Still procrastinate, but it’s better.  Back to procrastinating my fun things to do, i.e. drawing, 3d graphics, video games.  I’m a strange person.  Who procrastinates fun things?

So, last night, I went speed walking, as it were, with my sister and father.  We took little Parker Thai (my nephew of close to 1 1/2) and my sister’s dog, Nemo.  Yes… Nemo.  That’s what she named a dog who is slightly larger than medium-sized.  And he’s black with hints of dark brown - half golden retriever, half boxer.

I also weight trained.  I was a bit more motivated, although very tired.  I was also a bit more focused than usual, wonder if it had anything to do with the herbal supplement I’m taking for energy.  I will be logging that work out in later.

So far, things are looking alright.  I’m just hoping I can lose.  I really do wonder if I gained more muscle… if that’s what the weight gain on the scale is all about.  All this time, I’ve been trying to lose it.  It’s harder than I thought.

Till next time.

I need to blog more and keep up with the journaling of my workouts.  I call it pure laziness and forgetfulness.  I’ll have my computer on when I get home, but usually end up working on my artwork stuff, reading emails, or gaming.

It’s not like I haven’t been training either.  I’ve actually written down all my workouts on paper, just need to stick them in here.  I often forget to get the little post its I have everywhere to log it all in.  I also  have a couple of workouts in my PDA.  I should come up up with a spreadsheet so that it would be easier to log everything the PDA.  What would be super fabulous is if Bodybuilding.com would come up with some sort of program for PDAs, or smartphones, where you could log in your workouts and just upload them to the site.  What they should also include is some sort of diet and cardio logs.  Just a thought.  I think a lot of people could benefit from this, specifically those of us who have a hard time maintaining weight, or are looking to lose weight.

So, I have actually been working out and eating super lean with the literally occasional piece of chocolate… literally… like a tiny piece every two weeks.  My other treats are fruit, which I sadly binge on, or Jell-O.  Last week was it.  No more.  I no longer binged by the time the weekend came.  I can’t as I’m four weeks out.  My weight loss is coming along sort of.  So now is the time to actually log my weight and measurements.  I want to be sure I’m losing.  I’ve already told Marcus this, of course.  I’m sure he’s been busy, as I have not heard from him yet.

Things were a bit shaky between my fiance and I up until recently.  A couple of weeks ago, we had "a talk" and that just had me so stressed out and depressed that I barely wanted to eat and had to force myself to actually consume.  I had no desire to binge.  I just wanted to sleep.  I actually ate healthy foods, no junk.  However, I barely worked out… luckily during that week, I had gotten most of my cardio in, but only one weight training day.  I bounced back somewhat by last Monday.  I say bounced back emotionally, but I did workout all week.

Well, I’ll be updating my profile later today then.  Logging in all necessary workouts.  Tomorrow morning I should wake up earlier and weigh myself, but I know I won’t.  Hate that freakin scale.  It’s not even accurate.  You could step on it four times and it’ll give you four different numbers.

Peace out.

P.S.  Yesterday I had done Muay Thai training, which I really shouldn’t be doing.  I should only be doing treadmill four days a week, but I couldn’t resist.  I love it.  I did alright.  We had also done 7-min abs… I hate my brother-in-law.  No weight training as my shoulder was throbbing and I feared further damage.

I know… I’m slow with my blogging as of late.  Blame it on laziness, because I haven’t another reason as to why.  I also have been laxed in entering my workouts.  I have them written down, just need to enter them.

So… on an upside, I received a letter this past weekend from Norway!  This letter blew me away and actually became my motivation and inspiration.  I honestly haven’t a clue as to how inspirational I am, or that I even made an impact in anyone’s life.  Let’s face it… I’m not perfect.  I never claimed to be.  Nor am I dishonest about my faults and flaws.  I have blatantly written posts about my bouts of binging, but as always… my binging is only one meal most times and I always get back on the horse the next day…. but… I still binge.  I’m not a pro in figure competing either, nor do I have someone I could truly relate to who may be.  Unfortunately, most pros… or even competitors, will practically claim to have perfect diets.  I often wonder how true is.  They never binge, or fell off the wagon.  They don’t have their days of, "Uhh… I don’t feel like it today", but still manage to get all their workouts in during the week.  They never claim to be out of focus, or not motivated.  Is it just me, or is all that crap edited in magazines?

I digress.  Let’s proceed on with the later.  Until next time…

A little message from Norway