wallstcutie’s BodyBlog

6 days from my first competition!!  Spent yesterday doing cardio, then off to Canal St. to shop for some stuff for my themed sportswear, then went to a great posing session, picked up my eating/water depletion/workout schedule for the week, ran some errands for my sister, came home and worked on my costume.  I also watched "Black Snake Moan," which was not too bad!!  Samuel L. Jackson is definitely the best at saying the words "Mother F***er!"  He does it a lot in "Snakes on a Plane" too!  Must be his catch phrase…  

Today my husband and I woke up pretty early and I showed him one of my favorite cardio routines (Power Walking/Interval Running over the Brooklyn Bridge).  He commented that it really was a great cardio workout and worked up a sweat!!  Then, we ate a very healthy breakfast (OK, I ate a healthy breakfast.  He ate a  ham and cheese omelette with whole wheat toast.  Not TOO bad, but I could have suggested something better) with lots of green tea.  Then we went to yoga, and I must say I needed it, but it was a very challenging session for me.  Then we parted ways–he went golfing (soaking up the last bit of good weather while he can) while I went for a steam and did my grocery shopping for the week.  

The FINAL week.  As of this morning, I started on the REAL carb depletion diet.  It is not as bad as I thought it would be…so far.  It is only noon on day 1, though!!!!  I’ve chosen tilapia as my main fish (low sodium, low mercury) that I’ll be eating, but will also prepare a few fillets of wild salmon and canned tuna.  I find chunk light canned tuna to be a better nutritional value.  Check the back of the cans next time you go to the store and compare the albacore (which is all the rage, and is more costly) to the basic ol’ chunk white in water.  You’ll find the chunk light has less sodium, fat, and higher protein content per serving.  

I am really enjoying this journey and appreciate all of the support I have received on bodybuilding.com.  Like Tom Venuto basicall says, obesity and fitness are highly correlated to your social circle, and you are more likely to reach your goals if you surround yourself with a posititve network….

I am trying to talk my husband into entering the Arnold Sports Festival 5k Pump and Run with me.  I really want to attend ASF this year.  By then, I think my portfolio will be solid and I’ll have some sweet comp cards to distribute.

The concept of the Pump and Run sounds SO fun!!  What you do is try to bench press your own weight as many times as you can (women in my age category only have to bench 70% of their weight!  I’d better stay lean!  LOL!) and for every bench press that you do, they’ll shave 30 seconds off of your run time!

Tell me if you’ve done it–is it as awesomely fun as it sounds??

P.S.  Is this hilarious that I’m 2 weeks out from competition and already daydreaming about new adventures?  I still haven’t decided if I’m going to do the Kocsis FAME/WNSO competition in PA, which is in 3 weeks…. 

So, 8 weeks ago, one of my competition coaches told me to make sure I got my L-Glutamine.  The other coach had already told me to get Amino Acid pills, so when I saw they had L-Glutamine in them already (200 mg per 4 pills), I decided I didn’t need to get any extra.

Boy, I think that was a big mistake!  From reading about L-Glutamine, I think it could have helped me when I first started hitting body parts HARD two times per week (which started at 4 weeks out, so 2.5 weeks ago).  L-Glutamine is supposed to help with muscle recovery and also allegedly triggers the body to produce more Human Growth Hormone.  Maybe it could help with my totally overworked legs, which feel so heavy sometimes, it feels like I have cement shoes.  Maybe if I’d been on L-Glutamine I wouldn’t have crashed and burned last Tursday, and maybe I wouldn’t have felt the dire need to "cheat" this week and eat fruit before my workout, even though I’m cutting. 

Yep, my coach keeps telling me "no fruit" and for the past two days, I have been so wiped out that it has come down to eating a banana or green apple after I get off work/before my workout or else not being able to work out at all.  I thought that eating the fruit and getting in a good, intense workout was the lesser of two evils.

I read an article in "Outside" magazine where the contributor took different DOPING drugs (He was a bicyclist), including EPO, anabolic steriods and HGH.  Under the supervision of a physician who caters to celebrities, he took the different doping mechanisms and reported the results.  He said the EPO gave him roaring headaches, but that he could climb mountains with raging intensity.  The anabolic steroids allowed him to gain 12 pounds of muscle mass without even lifting one weight.  The HGH restored his failing eyesight, healed some of his scars he’d had from various accidents, and improved his skin.  He stated, that of all of the doping mechanisms, he said he’s stay on HGH if he could afford it.

Since my goals revolve around improved health and fitness, this upcoming competition is for me to challenge myself to make my body as fit as possible.  Doping is pretty much for cheaters and short-cutters, and people who aren’t interested in fitness, but just to win.  Yes, winning would be nice, because it would be confirmation from others (i.e. the judges) that they think I look as fit as I feel. 

On the other hand, if L-Glutamine triggers the HGH response and helps muscle recovery, and is a naturally occurring substance that the body needs, I am definitely adding it to my list of supplements!!  I’ll give you updates on how this goes.  I feel good this morning–didn’t feel the heavy legs on the way to work like I have been lately–wiped out after my a.m. cardio. 

I’ve been doing cardio 2x per day this week.  Everything is in-line with my goals.  I weighed in this a.m.  114.6 and 11.7% body fat.  Not too shabby.  2.5 weeks to go…

After my much-needed rest last night, and after some encouraging words from my competition coach, I am back in the right state of mind.  On track…focused…and best of all, re-energized.  3 weeks to go, baby! 

Next week is cardio twice per day, but only 30 min each session, so I can handle it. 

5 weeks out, I was doing 60 min each morning, 6x per week.

4 weeks out, I’m doing 30min+15 high intensity/incline, 6x per week

3 weeks out, I’ll be doing 30 min a.m. + 30 min. evening, 6x per week, plus light cardio on Sunday

For my light day of cardio, I’m gonna do Vinyasa yoga!  I miss yoga SO MUCH!  My favorite types are Ashtanga and Jivamutki, but most gyms offer Vinyasa or the basic Hatha, so that is what I usually end up taking.  I stopped doing it, because I can’t fit it in, with my weights, cardio, and functional bootcamp training I’ve been doing lately.  But yoga is so-o good. 

After yesterday, I can’t believe that I wrote the whole bit about having all of this energy.  Yesterday was a complete meltdown, which ultimately ended up with me basically passing out on my bed at 8:00 p.m. and not making it to the gym for my 2nd legs/abs session for the week. 

Starting this week, I am supposed to be hitting body parts 2x per week now, and so yesterday was supposed to be my 2nd day of legs/abs.  Problem is, my legs still hadn’t recovered from Monday’s workout.  I think I went for the gusto HARD earlier this week, then completely crashed and burned. 

The day started off fine–45 min of cardio–I’m doing 30 min interval-type and then 15 min on MAX incline to work on my butt, which is holding onto that fat and doesn’t want to let go!  Ate right on point, on schedule, until I missed my 5:00 meal…

Tom Venuto says that when you are late for a meal, you should be telling yourself "Right now my body is eating all of my hard-earned muscle, and if I do not eat soon, my body will not only be eating my muscle, but it will want to store what I eat as fat in the future."  So, of course, I’m telling myself this for the 1.5 hours that I am late, getting all worked up and obsessive.  I don’t get off work until 6 p.m. and I ran out of my protein "stores" I usually keep at work.  All I had was a bag of flaxseeds, so I ate a few tbsp of them.  Just to get something, right?  By the time I got off work and got to a GNC and drank a 35g. protein, 5g carb, 1g sugar protein shake at 6:30 p.m., my legs were SO heavy and tired. 

I went home and ate my regularly scheduled meal at 7:30, and felt like total S&*+.  I collapsed on the bed while I was getting dressed for the gym and only woke up at 11:00 when my husband came home and said I should probably take out my contacts and brush my teeth.  Darn, darn, darn!  I cannot afford to be missing workouts!  I’ve got to build that muscle!

You have to realize I am walking a fine line right now.  Monday is my official weigh-in, but I am pretty much 115 lbs now, and any misstep will make me burn muscle, even though I still have fat deposits on my thighs.

Plus, I missed cardio on Monday morning, so guess who gets to do cardio and legs/abs this Sunday instead of resting???

I feel good this morning-hit the cardio hard and SWEATED A LOT for some reason…….  Way more than usual.  I feel weird and my body is doing weird things to me. 

I’ve got a photo shoot tomorrow.  My very first.  I’ve got to get into better spirits so I NAIL this shoot and hand out the sexiest comp sheets EVER!!!!

l’ll also find out at my Monday check-in what my body fat % is (9 point caliper).  We’ll see if I’m 115 due to fat or muscle loss…….

Since I’ve been married, and ever since junior high, I’ve been a pretty lethargic person.  I have always needed my 8 hours of sleep, and could sleep 10-14 hours, or take a nap in the middle of the day, with no problems falling asleep the next night.  Just ask my husband; I used to be VERY grumpy without my sleep.

Yesterday, though, he commented (when I got up at 5:30 a.m. to go do cardio) that our sleep roles have totally switched.  He goes to bed before I do, sleeps later, and still complains how he is too tired to walk the dog! 

He asked me how I do it, and I can’t explain.  I just wake up at around 5:30 a.m. whether I want to or not.  I have enough energy to get up, do 45-60 min of cardio, work a 10 hour day at the office, hit the weights for 2 more hours at night, and then come home and prepare my meals for the next day.  

It has to be the nutrition and exercise. That is the only explanation!

Bruiser–That should be my new nickname, as I am bruising so-o much!  So, actually, maybe I should be bruise-ee!  Everyone says this is just what happens when you lean out–your skin gets thin and bruises easily.  I am so diligent with my multivitamin, and there is definitely no lack in greens in my diet!!!  

But just to boost my Vitamin B, I am eating lots of steamed kale this week.  Am I strange for loving to eat this way?  You know, the small portions, eating every 3 hours, measuring out everything, eating steamed broccoli, kale, asparagus, and such with almost every meal?  I really do love it, and am anything but bored when I wake up each morning and see a new muscle or vein I’ve never seen before.  

My friends asked me how I eat, and when I tell them, they say "How BORING!  I could never do that!"  But being consistent–sticking to the lean meat, green veggies, whole, unprocessed grains, diet really makes it much easier to eat right.  

The other day, my husband saw a full view of my belly button for the first time.  LOLOL!  You know the joke, "How do you turn a fox into an elephant??????……….Marry her!"  Well, my husband must be lucky, because I’m doing the REVERSE elephant (sounds like a funny yoga move)!!!  

Good morning,

Today is Friday, September 7th, 2007.  Tomorrow I am 4 weeks out from my first competition!  I am really looking forward to it.  I have learned SO much by gleaning information from the articles on bodybuilding.com.  Another huge source of information/inspiration is Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle by Tom Venuto.

I just changed gyms this week - from equinox to Gold’s Gym.  It may seem crazy to do at 5 weeks before a competition, but equinox on Wall Street runs such limited hours, is always closed on Holidays (even minor ones, it seems), and is so crowded at 6 p.m. I feel I am always having to rotate in.  Gold’s Gym is also really crowded at 6 p.m. but I never have to rotate in (haven’t yet) and they have more studio space, for when I want to do more plyo work or practice my posing.

4 weeks out…  I did an experimental week this week with carb depletion.  Although I did not make any changes to my breakfast of steel cut oatmeal, 1 scoop muscle milk light and a handful of berries (or 1/2 grapefruit), I did carb cycling (3 days no ’starchy’ carbs, then maintenance level on the 4th day), and it was pretty tough.  Although I didn’t do it 100% strictly, but I have to tell you, on the "up" day, where I was allowed to take in maintenance levels of carbs, I had so much energy for my after-work workout, it wasn’t even funny.  That was yesterday. 

Then I felt really weird at bedtime.  I was so tired that I fell asleep at the computer, but when I got to bed, sleep was very fitful.  I was also very thirsty and my stomach up by my solar plexus was burning (heartburn, maybe?).  Then I crashed hard and did not wake up until 5:45 a.m. when it was time to wake up for my 60 min cardio. 

I feel great right now - energy is high.  This is, of course, because I still have not cut out or down on my oatmeal/one scoop protein powder/handful of berries breakfast YET.  God, I love that breakfast.  Before I cut out dairy and was able to enjoy it with skim milk….oh man, I am telling you!  It is the best!  Plus, my sister just sent me an article about how adding berries to your steel cut oats helps the body to absorb the nutrients SO much better.  And I was already doing it.  hee. 

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