sbogard08’s BodyBlog

So I have now officially gotten back to my DIET.  I must say that it was much easier the first time around.  I spent most of 2008 having a strictly clean diet.  Now that I have spent the past 8 weeks allowing simple carbs (spelled c-h-o-c-o-l-a-t-e) back into my diet, I am having cravings that I didn’t have before.  I also cannot remember feeling as light headed as I do right now when I changed my diet before.  Whatever the case, I doubt if I will be straying away from the clean eating diet again.

I have been thinking about specific goals that I would like to accomplish in the upcoming year.  as far as my training goes, I really would like to get my mid-section tight…..flat abs, minus the pooch, and tight obliques.  I also want to develop some quads/hams.  These are the areas that separate the well-trained from the mediocre.  Therefore, I have to be consistent in my diet and training.  I will incorporate HIIT into my training on a regular basis (3x/week).  Being an ex distance runner, I have a tendency to do long cardio sessions.  While it does alot for my stress level to run outside for an hour, it does not help in building muscle in my legs.  One thing I learned this year is that my body tends to respond really well to cardio.  That fat comes off quickly, but I am sure that I also had some muscle loss; especially when I was on the lower calorie diet as I approached my show.  I started running the stairs  and doing sprints at an outside park near my home, and I was definitely seeing a difference in my legs.  So I will keep doing that. 

While I will not be competing until later in the year, I will win a show this year…period.  I would also like to transition to NPC this year, with goals to qualify for a national show by the end of the year. 

On a personal note, I really would like to slow down and LIVE a little in 2009.  I have been on auto-pilot for so long that I am missing alot of the truely important things.  I am always in a hurry and too usy for naything that doeas not involve work or working out.  That is not good, and I am going to make some changes.  As a single mother to a budding teenager (14 year-old daughter), I can see that I have definitely got to stop a LISTEN to her.  I have spent so much time trying to keep things afloat for the two of us, that sometimes I have failed to give her what she needs the most.  As an Ob/Gyn I see young girls everyday who are pregnant, HIV+, rebellious, and depressed.  I think that alot of these issues are directly linked to their search for someone to love them and feeling that know one cares.  I donot want my daughter to fall onto that path.  Often times, we as parents intend to do our best to make sure that our children have everything that they want/desire, but in the end we fail to supply them with the basics and emotional support that they so desperately need.  This is especially true when it come to our young girls.  So, in 2009, I want to learn to just stop and listen to my daughter. I would also like to take one day of the month and designate it as our day.  A day that no one else can be apart of.  Just the two of us doing whatever she wants to do.  It is her time to talk, laugh, cry, act silly, be grown-up…whatever.  It’s just her time. 

One last thing that I would like to do in 2009, is incresae my PERSONAL relationship with God.  Over the past 3 years, I have become "too busy" to take time out to talk with the one who blessed me to have this demanding profession.  I know beyond  a shadow of a doubt that it was God who blessed me to get through medical school and has bought me through residency.  So I am not happy that I have allowed the demands and the stresses of my job to affect my relationship with God.  I won’t dwell on th enegative, but will just say that this is something that will be rectified in the coming year.

 So, 2008 is over and I donot plan on loking back.   I have learned from the mistakes that I made, and will continue to build on the positive foundations that I started.  Hopefully 2009 will bring more growth, patience, humility and strength.

Ok, the holidays are over and it is time to get serious again.  It has been about 8 weeks since my 1st show, and I have definitely been indulging as far as my diet has gone.  I have been trying to put on some size, so my calories have increased.  But I have also allowed myself my deserts that have not been in my diet for a long time (not since June 26th of this year).  I do feel as though I have gained some muscle in my legs, which has been my primary goal.  That was my weak point in the first competition.  The comments from the judges centered on more definition in the quads/hams and less fat in the waisteline.  While I have put the muscle on, I have also added some fat. I did manage to day w/n 10# of my competiton day weight, so I am glad about that.  I am not too alarmed about the added cushioning, though.  I learned alot about my body and how it responds to dietary changes over the past six months.  So, while there is still much to learn, I am pretty confident that I can improve upon my physique from the prior show. My workout have been pretty constant.  I have increased both weight and # of sets in most lifts.  The only thing that has decreased is my cardio…which accounts for most of the fat gain.

So, today, December 26th, is the last day of eating simple carbs and not counting calories.  It’s back to chicken breasts, talapia, sweet potatoes, oatmeal, asparagus, and broccoli.  No more CHOCOLATE!!! No more LATTES!!!. It time to go back to carrying the red bag at work that contains all my meals for a 18-24 hour period.  Its time to go back to drinking water from a gallon jug.  It time to go back to the medicine cabinet-worth of vitamins.  And its time to  get back to the extended cardio sessions.

 So without further adoo, 2009 here I come…..STRONGER, BIGGER, MORE FOCUSED, and ready to go to my next level!