Nicole Snell’s Training Blog

Yeah, so I don’t know if the scale I have is accurate or not.  In fact, I don’t even know why I get on the damn thing because the only thing that really matters is what they mirror says, right?

Well I’m trying to track my weight and bodyfat to make sure that I’m bulking properly and gaining muscle and not too much bodyfat.  I lift 5x a week.  I do cardio 3x a week.  I look harder and more defined in the mirror.

Last week when I weighed in I was 131.8 and 14.4% BF.

Today is a week and 1/2 since my last weigh in and NOW the scale says 133.8lbs and 15.6% BF. WTF?  There’s NO way in HELL that my BF% went up over 1% in the last week.  First of all I don’t look "fatter" or "Softer" anywhere.  Second, I’m seeing more growth than ever in my arms (my shoulder cap) and my abs as well as my back. So either this scale is no longer reliable, or I’m seriously ****ed up.

But now I’m really pissed.

I’ve finally gotten the hang of having a cheat meal.  I realize the necessity of it, I understand what my body goes through to digest it, and why this once a week occurrence is an integral part of training.

I eat clean the entire week.  I crave things like cheese, and nuts and peanut butter and eggplant, and sweet potatos.  I don’t crave sweets or carbs or anything "Bad".  So I have to think about what I’m going to have for my cheat meal very carefully.

This week was the best I’ve had so far, I think. I had a Buffalo Chicken sandwich on sourdough bread with blue cheese crumbles, a side of onion rings (extra crispy) and ranch for dipping.  Then I had a slice of chocolate mouse cake ala mode for dessert.  No, I take that back.  I TRIED to have a slice of chocolate mousse cake for dessert.  It didin’t come to me with 1 scoop of ice cream and a small dollop of whipped cream…it came to me on a huge platter with 4 huge scoops of ice cream, 3 huge scoops of whipped cream and smoothered in hot fudge.  I just looked at it and said WOW.  That’s not what I expected…there’s NO WAY I can eat all of that.

But being that it was my cheat meal, I did feel that it was my duty to at least try.  So, stuffed and bloated as I was and made a concerted effort to eat that dessert.  I think I made it through almost half, but most of the ice cream was melted into a pool by the time I had to stop, so it was probably less than that.

Anyways, I was sick.  I couldn’t barely stand.  My tummy was doing the voodoo dance of doom.  I had to go home and lay down because my stomach is not used to being stuffed to that capacity.  But let me tell you…it was DAMN GOOD!   A Total Mouthgasm!

Today I still feel bloated, and I’m sure that I’ve gained a ton of water weight.  I only ha 1000 normal calories from my other meals (PREWO and PWO) yesterday, so even with this huge cheat meal, I don’t think I went over my normal daily totals by more than 500-600 calories.

But let me tell you, I’m good on cheat meals for at least another week…my tummy still hurts!  Maybe next time I’ll have to do the main course in one sitting and the dessert later on somewhere else!

I hurt my shoulder last year (still don’t know how) but I lifted really heavy with my brother last Friday and then like an IDIOT I did high rep shoulders 2days later.  My left shoulder is aggravated again.  It’s tight, sore and somewhat painful and it’s affecting my other lifts on other body part days (chest, back, triceps).

So my plan of attack is to give my shoulders a rest, work other body parts twice a week (this week it’s legs) and only do exercises that won’t involve my shoulders until they heal.

It’s hard for me to not work them because I feel like I’m "cheating" or taking it easy, but I know that if I push it I’ll just injure myself and then i won’t be able to lift at all.  Then how can I grow?  Then how can I compete?  That is NOT an option.

Wish me luck and a speedy Left shoulder recovery!