Hitting Recharge

Good morning everyone! I'm up and at is bright and early today so I figured I would write to you all before my work day begins. I had planned extra time to shovel the snow off of my car this morning but when I awoke and found that we didn't get much more than an inch or two in Portland, I decided shoveling wasn't really necessary. I hope that all of you who celebrate Christmas had a nice relaxing few days with friends and family and those of you who don't celebrate, well, I hope you at least got in some good end-of-year rest and rejeuvanation! My holiday was relatively low-key, just the usual Christmas day spent with family who luckily live close-by. Yesterday I travelled to Masachusetts to visit some other family for the day and now I can happily say its all over! All of the temptations toward spending, over-eating, and gym-slacking are past and I am so ready to take on the new year with a recharged mindset.

I've been thinking a lot about my 2014 goals. As you know I detest the word "resolution" as that conjures up thoughts of swiftly abandoned diets and other good intentions. To be honest, I don't really have any specific goals. 2013 did not pan out in remotely the manner in which I had foreseen at the start of the year and I'm not in the mood to set myself up for any more disapointments in the year ahead. I guess one lesson that seems to have been driven into my head over the past 12 months is to "expect the unexpected". I'll just leave it at that.

I have however come up with two separate lifestyle changes that I plan to make more of an effort to live by going forward:

1. To live more peacefully. To take a deep breath before responding to things in a totally freaked-out manner. To close my eyes and force my heart rate to slow down a few notches before sending myself into an anxiety-fueled tizzy over the tiniest inconvenience. I seem to respond similarly whether a nightmare happens at work, my car breaks down and requires the third $1,000+ un-warranteed repair in a month's time, or whether someone simply steps in front of me in the gym mirrors when I'm trying to balance 1-legged on a bosu! I usually internalize my frustration which in some circumstances is best while in others it just builds up the anxiety until I blow. This goal is certainly not one that I can set-out clear steps to achieve but instead will have to be something I constantly remind myself of. Stress has such a detrimental impact on one's health and as a bona fide health nut I'd hate to end up with serious health issues over something that I should be able to change. Stress-induced zits are about all I can handle LOL!

2. To live more simply. This is more of a financial goal than anything. Anyone who knows me well knows that I am about the most money conscious person you will ever meet. Okay, borderline cheap at times, but when you grow up feeling that you need to keep what you call a "Fuck You Stash" of 100 dollar bills hidden in your bedroom for "emergency situations" you tend to be rather careful what you spend your hard-earned money on as an adult. That being said, while I don't tend to spend my money on small frivolous items, I do tend to spend it on large "investments" that seem to have slowly cranked up my personal debt this year. Debt is another major stress-causer of mine. I realize that I probably don't have as much as most Americans but owning someone anything gives me a queasy feeling in my stomach. Thus I am forking over a large sum of my savings next week (the start of January) to fully pay off my BMW and Visa which has grown exponentially due to vehicle repair costs, competing expenses, and last-minute unsuccessful trips south this year. The thought of spending all of this cash at once is already making my heart race but I know that come February when I don't have to pay either bill, I will feel so much better! Back to my goal though, going forward I am going to make every effort to pay for everything in cash. I may not have as big of an "FU stash" for a while but at least it's one less thing to have to worry about.

As far as fitness goals go, I just plan to continue to eat clean, drink sparingly, build muscle and not take on another show until I feel 100% ready. I'm already getting antsy to start a new cutting plan but I must fight the urge LOL! I've been researching 2014 shows and which organization I may want to compete it. I found a couple that have shows in Italy and France; how fun would that be to do a show and then spend the next week on a European vacation?! Uh-oh...here I go again with the unnecesary large purchases! Maybe that will have to wait for 2015 LOL. Come January 15th when my month of track-less dieting ends I will probably start up a new highly structured plan but it won't involve any cutting just yet. I just feel better when I have a set routine to stick to. Anyway, that's all I can think of for personal goals for 2014. I just feel like making lifestyle changes is going to be more beneficial to my long-term health and happiness than small goals with specific end dates. What about you? Do you make resolutions, goals, or lifestyle changes when a new year starts?

Weekend In Review

Hello & happy Monday gym rats! This week is sure to go by too fast as weeks with holidays and PTO days almost always do but I'm thankful for some quiet time in the office and no major plans otherwise. Today marks 8 straight days of work in a row for me as I not only worked my usual Saturday shift at my 2nd job but also picked up another shift yesterday afternoon to make up for the day I missed while out of town two weeks ago. I don't mind it though, the time at that job goes by really fast and it's a much less stressful environment!

My weekend began Friday night when I did that leg routine I told you all about in my last entry. BRUTAL! Fridays are definitely not good leg days as I'm usually pretty exhausted from the past 4 days of training and work but I pushed through knowing that a half-ass effort just wasn't going to cut it. It was a great workout and I left feeling very accomplished and ready to take on the weekend. I stopped into Whole Foods on my way home and picked up my absolute favourtie burrito for dinner. I consider it a "clean cheat" because while it's high-carb, it's still all clean foods. I always order the same things; a spinach burrito with shredded beef, steamed sweet potatoes & apples, black beans, baby spinach, sautéed onions & green peppers, roasted red peppers, scallions, and steamed zuccini. It's easily a pound of quality muscle-replenishing nutrients! I also picked up what I thought to be my favourite sesame tahini cookie for dessert but it ended up being one of their weird macrobiotic cookies, whatever that means! It was OK I guess but not really worth the treat calories! I had a little of my favourite Pinot Grigio still in the fridge from earlier in the week so I poured myself a glass to complete this delicious dinner!

Saturday morning I awoke bright and early and headed to work. Man was it BUSY!  That makes for a fast shift though so I can't complain. The ice storm we were supposed to get hadn't yet arrived so once my shift was over I decided to get all of my weekend errands done just in case I was stuck inside on Sunday. I was also feeling a little pale and depressed again so I decided a tan was necessary. Off to World's I went to get some color but how could I go to the gym and not workout?! I know Saturday is my off day but I also had plans to go out that night and knowing I'd be taking in some excessive alcohol calories I decided a quick cardio hit couldn't hurt. With increasingly sore legs from Friday night I decided to hit the row machine for a half an hour. Well, rowing has to be about the most boring type of cardio on the planet and not only is there no TV to help pass the time while on these machines but they are literally placed in front of a wall so you don't even have any studs to help motivate you! I lasted 15 minutes and then switched to the arc trainer since it's the lowest impact piece of lower body cardio equipment I could think of. All-in-all, not exactly a great workout but better than nothing!

Saturday night I met some friends for dinner at my favourite Thai restaurant, Boda, and then went to the recently re-opened Top of the East for some holiday cocktails. I don't go out often so when I do I try to go to places that are worth my dime! Dinner was fantastic as always. Instead of my usual chicken pad thai, I ordered the pork hawks braised with star anise. WTF is that you ask?! Well it was a fancy name for a delicious yet simple plate of steamed jasmine rice with a massive mound of what was essentially pulled pork, a little asian broccoli, pickles, and a chili-lime sauce. It was quite delicious and again, while admitedly a massive quantity of food for one meal it was still a pretty clean dish. I also ordered a really good glass of Sauvignon Blanc, yum! At the Top of the East I ordered a brown sugar and pear martini which was decent but for a $14 drink in Portland, Maine, I expected more. I should have stopped there but my all-time favourite drink is an espresso martini and after having my friend order it and rave about it I had to have too. Oops! Oh well, it was heavenly and totally worth it. All-in-all it was a fun night and a good opportunity to dress up and be social.

Unfortunately, Ms. In-Bed-By-9:00 PM did not get to sleep until around 1:30 AM. A "normal" person would thus use the opportunitely to sleep-in but I didn't want to miss my favourite yoga class Sunday morning so I was jolted awake at 6:30 by my annoyingly loud alarm and forced myself out of bed with a raging headache to get ready for yoga. I called the gym, somewhat hopeful that it was cancelled due to weather, but it wasn't so I rallied and thankfully it was so worth it! I got there a little early so I warmed-up with 15 mins on the elliptical, alternating 3-min segments of front and back strides, increasing the resistance with each switchover. I was so dehydrated from the night before so I was downing the BCAAs and sweating a lot more than usual! I feel like a good sweat is the best way to get rid of a hangover though. Back in my college days I went out A LOT (and also had a crazy high tolerance living in Canada where drinking is a national pastime) and I swear the only reason I never got fat was because I would get up every morning and sweat it all out in a cardio kickboxing class! Anyway, yoga class was excellent as usual. Just the absolute perfect pace and mix of stretches. I was worried I wouldn't be able to keep up but even my headstand was on-point! My hipflexors are extremely sore today due to some long-held deep lunges but it's a good kind of pain. My body needed the stretch so badly! After yoga I did another 15 min elliptical routine (the same as before) and then went home for a while where I literally did nothing until it was time to go back to work again.

Finally at 6:30 I got home and was done for the day. A full weekend of non-stop busyness with great food, good drinks, good company, a little too much moulah spent but so worth it once-in-a-while! For dinner I made myself my go-to meal of baked salmon with sweet potato and veggies sautéed in olive oil & garlic.

No wine this time LOL. I think I'll try to stay away from the alcohol until New Year's Eve. Yesterday morning I did my weekly weigh-in which I expected to be higher due to having stopped diet tracking and also having easily consumed upwards of a day's worth of calories the night before but it was even higher than I expected - up 5 pounds in two weeks! KSNVYWNTYISKSGHIL! Deep Breath...I still don't feel "fat" perse so I'm trying to convince myself that it's most likely an equal and healthy combination of both fat and muscle. While my daily calories are definitely up a bit, it's all clean foods so I'm not too concerned. It's really just incentive to work harder in the gym; really push through that extra burning rep each time! Tonight's lift is back & triceps which is always a good one. Here's the breakdown:

-Rope cable pushdowns
-1-arm bentover DB rows
-Wide grip pulldowns
-Seated cable rows
-Straightbar pushdowns standing on MB
-Sitting EZ bar skullcrushers
-Close grip BB bench press
-Standing cable rows on Bosu

I can't wait to get after it! I'm sure it will be a mad house in there with college students home for the holidays and others trying to get in their pre-holiday last chance workouts but I haven't had much issue getting my needed equipment lately. I detest the new cables World's got so I'm perfectly happy to modify my workout by using all free weights if need be. Anyway, that's all for today's post. I seem to have gotten on a role and written way more than I planned so I applaud you if you made it to the end LOL. Do you plan to keep up with your usual routine this week or take a little time off for Christmas? If you are travelling do you modify your workout if you can't get to a gym? I'd love to hear your holiday workout plans so please comment below! Have a great day everyone and keep warm! xo

Superstitious

Do you consider yourself a superstitious person? For example, do you avoid black cats, step over cracks in the sidewalk, walk around ladders, consider the number 7 an unlucky number, or fear Friday the 13th? I personally have never been very superstitious. I'm more of a realist. In fact, it always irritates me how in some high-rise buildings you'll find floor 14 to be directly above floor 12. I mean, any truly superstitious person would thus be equally afraid of floor 14, knowing all along that it's really floor 13, right? I'm not just rambling here. Going forward in life I think I am going to be a little more weary of traditionally "bad luck" occurrences and here's why...

 

It's that time of year when you reflect on the past year's events, what you accomplished, what you didn't, and think about changes you'd like to make for the coming year. Last year at this time I blogged about how I'm not a huge fan of the typical "New Year's Resolution" and had personally made a list of goals that I wanted to achieve in 2013. Some I met with ease, others I worked hard at but didn't quite accomplish in their entirety, and others I flat-out failed at. Looking back over 2013 though, the year seemed to be filled with more disappointments than anything. I know you can't succeed at everything in life but I'd like to think that the harder you work, the more success you will have. After a series of failed attempts at things though, discouragement sets in and being a glass-half-empty person, this eventually makes you look at everything in a negative manner. Not any more though. A couple of days ago a friend of mine pointed out that this year was 2013. I repeat, TWO THOUSAND THIRTEEN!!! Clearly it was just a bad luck year and having survived this year, I can survive anything! I now consider myself a superstitious person and will forever avoid the number 13 at all costs. Bring it on 2014...it can only go up from here! Or so I hope anyway :)

 

As far as 2014 goals go I haven't yet thought much about what I'd like to accomplish in the coming year so expect another post (or more) in the next couple of weeks. Right now I'm just trying to survive the pre-Christmas craziness and get my life back on track now that I've mentally accepted that I'll be pushing through another frigid Winter in Maine!

 

On another note, tomorrow marks 1 week of successfully avoiding the myfitnesspal app! It's funny how when you're addicted to something you feel like it would be impossible to quit whatever it is but once you actually get up the strength to do so, you realize it really wasn't such a big deal in the first place :) I actually do feel quite a bit less stressed throughout the day just by not having the option of clicking on it a gagillion times per hour to remind myself what my current level of macros are or how many calories I have left in the day. My diet is exactly the same as it was beforehand except that I'm less anal about adding-in a little extra here and there (a glass of wine with dinner or an extra fruit during the day for example). I know my carbs and cals are thus a bit higher than they were before but I'm just going to use this month of track-free dieting as an experiment to see if I get any muscle growth from the increased intake. I do feel a little fatter in my problem areas but given that it's only been a week I'm sure it's more in my head than anything. Right now I'm enjoying a Nonfat double-shot medium latte as a mid-afternoon snack; something I should not feel guilty about but normally would because its an extra 19 carbs (mostly from the sugar naturally occuring in the milk) that I don't need in my diet! My justification is that I'll need the extra carb and caffeine boost when I train legs tonight LOL. Friday is supposed to be my cardio-only day but we're supposed to be hit with freezing rain on and off this weekend and since I can't foresee when the gym may unexpectedly close or when my car may not budge out of the driveway, I figure its best to get it done tonight and have a cardio-only or a true rest day this weekend if need be. Weight training is WAY more important and beneficial to me right now than cardio is!

 

I wasn't really thrilled with the leg day I originally designed for this month so I've modified it a bit. Here's the current agenda:

-Smith machine wide stance squats

-Walking BB lunges w/glute squeezes

-DB plie squats

-Cable side & back leg raises

-Machine leg extensions

-Machine prone hamstring curls superset w/donkey kicks

 

This is a pretty brutal routine and leaves me sore for a good two days afterward. After a friend showed me the donkey kicks earlier this year, I've incorporated them into almost all of my leg routines. They are awesome glute burners! What's your favorite leg exercise? I'd love to get some good idea for future workouts that I design for both myself and clients. My plans usually incorporate traditional moves that are always effective (squats, lunges, etc.) but it's nice to add-in somthing new and creative to avoid boredom and plateaus!

 

Anyway, people are wrapping up the day here and I am about to heat up my fav banana nut Quest bar as my pre-gym snack. Happy Friday everyone! Keep up the hard work in the gym and stay away from the number 13! xo

Lady In The Streets...

Good morning gym rats. It’s been a while since my last post and that has been on purpose. I was planning a major life change that I was naively confident was going to work out and thought that my next post would be a grand end-of-year announcement. Unfortunately though, just like most of my “grand plans of 2013” have played out, my latest goal played out with  a rude slap-in-the-face rejection and thus I’m stuck back where I started, sitting here miserable in freezing cold Portland, Maine for the foreseeable future.

I would share my plans with you but it has been recently brought to my attention that someone / some people have made at least one manager in my office aware of this blog and while I have never mentioned where I work or any coworkers by name, it was strongly advised to me that I choose my words extremely carefully on here.

I know I can’t win and something I say will eventually bite me in the ass but for now I’ll continue on because I know that the majority of my readers are here for fitness / nutrition / entertainment purposes and I’m not going to let one rotten apple spoil the whole damn bunch (so to speak).

Now that that’s said and done, today’s post is on the topic of off-season nutrition. This is something I’ve been struggling with a lot lately and seems to be adding unnecessary anxiety in my life. I have an extremely type-A borderline OCD personality and am a MAJOR control freak. I can’t calm down unless I have every second of my day planned out and this includes every calorie and macro being consumed. While this makes for a successful competitor, this does not make for a generally happy person.

Around the time of my two spring shows this year I noticed I was becoming more and more easily irritable. Not just mildly irritable but angry-irritable to the point of feeling like my heart was going to explode out of my chest and fumes were coming out of my ears! “Stay away, mutherfucker!” is the only way to describe how I’d feel when triggered by the tiniest inconvenience or irritant. I figured this was simply a side effect of lowering carbs in my diet and pushed onward. Things did seem to improve in my “off-plan” months of May and August but now that I am nearly 3 months into my offseason I realize that the anxiety has little to do with competing and more to do with my unhappiness with several aspects of my life right now, many of which are out of my control. In addition to this, the past couple of months have been the most outrageously random string of consecutive bad luck hits. So much so that it’s become a joke between me and a few close friends, a seriously bad joke albeit, because who has something bad continually happen on pretty much a daily basis?! These things have been personal, financial, work-related, you name it, it’s happened! Anyway, I don’t want to confuse my readers (since I can’t currently elaborate on this public forum) or go too off topic here but my point is that I’ve gotten to the point where the fuse is about to blow and I need to find a way to loosen some steam before this happens. That’s where the diet comes in.

Last night I realized I have been tracking my diet in myfitnesspal for 445 days straight. Probably a good 400 of which have also been macro-focused. That shit is stressful! While I have of course increased my overall daily calories and adjusted my macros to a more live able level in my offseason, I sometimes feel imprisoned by the requirements I force myself to adhere to. Yes, I do have cheat meals but I am so obsessed with staying within my daily calorie goal that I’ll end up doing extra cardio or lifting longer to make up for it…which probably totally defeats the high-calorie / high-carb day purpose! It dawned on me this past weekend that it is time for a break. I’m no moron when it comes to how I need to eat to both stay relatively lean and be able to increase muscle so I shouldn’t need to track every single thing all of the time, right? What really hit me last weekend was that I was out of town for a few days trying to enjoy a short stay in a warm climate and I couldn’t even fully enjoy a 5 star dinner in a swanky restaurant with a beyond fantastic bottle of wine because in the back of my head all I was thinking was how badly it was going to fuck up my calories and macros for the day and “how on earth am I going to input this meal into myfitnesspal when I don’t know every single ingredient going into it?!”

This is not normal and I recognize that. The problem is finding a way to cut myself some slack once in a while without causing myself even more stress. I don’t think that tracking my diet on a regular basis is the problem here; I think not being able to stop and enjoy life once in a while is the real problem. I should have been able to ignore the app for 3 days and get back on track when I got home without feeling any guilt over treating myself a little while on a trip. Especially when I walked about a million miles a day and spend a gazillion dollars on expensive gym day passes while there so that I wouldn’t miss a lift!

After talking to a fellow competitor yesterday who is also in his offseason, I decided to take a month off from the diet tracking. I know how I should be eating so I’m going to try to eat like I normally would and just not obsess over the small things. I mean, that extra apple with PB before bed may inflate my carbs for the day but the likelihood of something like that making my body fat percentage double in a month’s time is pretty slim. Also, I want to be able to enjoy Christmas dinner and perhaps a few holiday martini’s without feeling like a total failure. I plan to delete the app off of my phone starting tomorrow and will not track for 30 days straight. My current macros for the past week (which includes 3 days of “vacation”) are 39% carbs, 31% protein, and 30% fat. We’ll see where I’m at a month from now. This might be a little more personal than most of my past blogs but I knew that if I didn’t write it down then come tomorrow morning I’d start tracking again. Like I said, CONTROL FREAK. Going forward I will try to only be a freak in the gym ;)

Happy Turkey Day Eve!

Good Morning Gym Rats and Happy Thanksgiving Eve! It’s a dark and dreary Wednesday morning here in Portland with torrential rain outside but I’ll take it over the SNOW we got yesterday! I’m not ready to switchover to my snow tires just yet so I basically rolled / fish-tailed my way into work yesterday morning, cursing the world around me all the while. Luckily the temperature today is in the low 50’s, a sharp contrast to yesterday’s 20’s, so there’s no freezing rain or black ice to cause any of yesterday’s road hazards.

The office is extremely quiet today and I just pray it stays this way. I’m hoping to get out of here early this afternoon and hit up the gymmer for my mid-week StairMaster and core sesh. I’m flying south for a few days in early December and have been adding cardio to my lifts each day so far this week in case I make it to the beach. I looked in the mirror the other day at the gym and decided I wasn’t quite shredded-up enough to don my teeniest bikini in full confidence so I’m on a 2-week shred right now LOL. After Monday’s chest sesh I did 30 mins on the elliptical where I alternated 4 min segments peddling forward and 2 min segments peddling backward. Then after yesterday’s leg sesh I again did 30 mins on the elliptical but this time I did a HIIT routine which repeats 90 secs rest at low-intensity, 60 secs fast at mid-intensity, 30 secs slow at high-intensity, then 60 secs fast again. I NEVER do cardio on or after leg day but I’m pushing through this week for the sake of my 2-week shred as well as to combat any delicious desserts I decide to indulge in tomorrow! Thank goodness my shin splints haven’t been acting up too badly lately. Tomorrow morning I’ll be hitting my bi’s and tri’s and likely also doing the special Thanksgiving morning “Turkey Burn” spin class at 8:30. Come Friday my legs will probably be useless but that’s okay because I’ll take a few days off from cardio again until Monday (Friday – back / Saturday – off / Sunday – shoulders). I’m loaded-up on coffee and Ibuprophen this morning as my lower back is hurting from yesterday’s stiff-leg deadlifts and I think the pre-workout I have taken the past couple of days is what has caused me to wake up at 4:30 in the morning both yesterday and today. No pre-workout today though; just straight-up BCAAs in my shaker! 

I’m not sure if it’s the increased cardio, the pre-workout, the decreased sleep, a combination of the above or something else entirely but my tummy has not been happy these past few days. It seems to be the worst right after I drink my mint cookie whey so I’m taking a break from that for a few days to see if it makes a difference. I think maybe I’m just experiencing whey overload right now and need to cut back but I wonder if whey goes bad after a while? The massive 5-lb bag I bought early October is almost out so I may as well finish it but I think I’ll stick to smaller quantities in the future! The casein I make pudding with at night doesn’t seem to bother me at all thank goodness. Love my “clean” desserts J

Tonight I’ll be making my orange-cranberry sauce to bring to my family’s Thanksgiving dinner. It’s super easy to make. All you have to do it boil down whole cranberries, add sugar or a sugar substitute to taste (I like approx. ¼ cup sugar to 1 bag of berries) and then grate in orange rind. I use a potato masher to break down the berries and once it reaches the desired consistency I pour it into a bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve. Sooo easy! Just make sure that if you make it you aren’t wearing white clothing as the berries will burst when they heat up and spray their juice all over the place! Cranberries are excellent antioxidants, low-calorie and high in vitamin C and fiber. I add them to all sorts of recipes like pumpkin bread and apple sauce, crisp, or pie! Cranberry sauce is also a great alternative condiment to top your turkey with as opposed to the fattening gravy on the Thanksgiving table! 

What’s your favorite dish to eat on Thanksgiving? Will you be making a “clean version” of it this year? Are you changing your workouts at all this week to combat the calorie overload? Please share in the comments section below. Have a safe and happy holiday everyone!

Coffee, Groceries & More

I have a serious issue with coffee consumption. But then again, if it's not hurting me or anyone else, is it really an issue? I think not. I'm sitting inside on this bright but frigid Saturday afternoon wrapped in a fleece blanket and drinking my 4th cup of the day. Today's brew is Coffee by Design (a local coffee company) in what I think was called Pumpkin Pie Spice. I LOVE Coffee by Design. It's a bit pricey but I find it's the only company that sells flavoured beans that aren't too weak.

Today is my off day and aside from working my PT job this morning, I have absolutely no obligations and I love that! After work I stopped into one of my favourite local cafes for lunch, Market Street Eats, and picked up my favourite pita wrap called the Red Rooster. Its a pita filled with freshly carved chicken breast, bacon, provelone, lettuce and a dab of spicy Thai mayo then warmed in the over for a minute so the cheese is melted. It's soooooooo good! Definitely a bit off-diet for me but I get it once a month at most so I don't feel too guilty. After lunch I did my weekly grocery shop which was a bit of a nightmare since it is the week of Thanksgiving but I survived. I pretty much buy the same foods week-to-week so I am usually in and out of there in under 20 minutes for a full week's worth of groceries. I think it takes me longer waiting in line than it does to zip around the store picking up my groceries! I often get asked what kinds of foods I eat and/or to make suggestions for what to buy by people who are trying to eat clean so this week I am sharing with you my grocery list:

2 Bananas (I only like them the one day or two when they turn from green to yellow)
1 bag of clementine's (I love buying seasonal fruit and plan to add some of the rind into my cranberry sauce that I'll be making later this week)
Veggies: Sweet potatoes, Baby carrots, Baby spinach, 1 sweet onion, asparagus, 1 red bell pepper, 1 cucumber, 1 avocado
1/2 lb salmon
1 family-size pack boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 bag coffee (I opted for Dunkin Donuts Cinnamon Spice flavour this time since it was on sale)
1 jar unsalted cashews
1 carton Blue Diamond coconut-almond milk (this stuff is sooooo good in a chocolate whey shake or added to coffee like I'm enjoying right now!)
1 carton egg whites
1 dozen eggs
1 container plain greek yogurt
1 bag frozen blueberries
1 bag frozen mixed stir-fry veggies
1 Pecan Pie flavoured Cliff Bar as a high-carb seasonal treat :)
1 lottery ticket - Hey, it's the only gambling I do. I have faith it will payoff one of these days :P

I always keep a list going in the notes section of my iPhone so that I never forget anything. Multiple trips to the grocery store throughout the week seem to always cause unnecessary spending. I mean, who goes in for 1 item and actually leaves with just that 1 item? Certainly not me. Those pesky high-carb bananas are always calling my name LOL! Some other staple items that I always have on-hand at home but did not need to purchase this week are the following:

Instant brown rice
Quick Oats
Cans of tuna
Ezekiel bread and english muffins
Stir-fry sauce, salad dressing, various spices
Lots of whey & casein protein of course!
All-natural almond or peanut butter
Quest protein bars

So as you can see I eat pretty simply. Eating clean is not rocket science; it simply requires planning and commitment :) Once home I took Mugsy for a walk down Ocean Avenue which will be my only physical activity for the day. Poor guy doesn't belong in this climate any more than I do. He's having skin issues again (likely due to the dry weather I'm guessing) despite my still sneaking the melatonin into his dinner. I think I might have to go buy him some Omega-3 oil at the vet again or else try adding a few droplets of olive or coconut oil into his food. He doesn't seem to notice or be in pain but his coat gets so flaky and patchy this time of year and he starts to look like he has a disease. Between his and my hair and skin issues I don't know what else to but move south!

Anyway, that's enough of that grossness. I am so excited for tomorrow morning as not only is it shoulder day but my favourite yoga instructor from years past has returned to World's! She now teaches a Sunday morning class at 8:00 am and it is fantastic! I did her first class last weekend after my shoulder sesh and left the gym feeling so relaxed and accomplished. Since I don't have any plans to go out in this wind-whipping bitter tundra tonight I'll probably be up at the crack-of-dawn and hit my shoulders again pre-yoga...and maybe a tan if I have time :) I do love to get all of my training out of the way before most people are even awake! This coming week in general should be a nice relaxing week for a change because my boss is out of the office and my work group is done doing fiscal year-end system reviews which have made the past 3 weeks an exceptional living nightmare for me. Thursday is of course Thanksgiving and I always look forward to a plate full of turkey and cranberry sauce! I saw a sign for a special Thanksgiving morning spin class at 8:30 so I may just have to hit that up in addition to my bi's and tri's sesh that day to make sure I am in a sufficient calorie surplus to splurge on dessert hehe :) In general I don't find Thanksgiving to be a total diet killer because I'm not a fan of most of the casserole-esque dishes on my family's dinner table so I pretty much stick to my turkey overload. Not gonna cry over extra protein! I do have a mad pumpkin pie craving right now but I think I'm the only one in my family who likes it and I don't want to make a whole pie and then have to eat the whole thing on my own! Anyway, I'll cut it short here since I'm starting to just ramble on off-topic. Maybe with the office quiet this week I'll have time to do a pre-turkey day post. If not, I hope all of you Gym Rats have a fantastic Turkey Day filled with lots of delicious food, family & friends! 'Til next time, happy gymming! xo

Blogging Delays

So my home computer is in the repair shop, i.e. sitting on a techy-friend’s kitchen table awaiting the delivery of a new hard drive as 5 years appears to be the maximum life span of a Toshiba laptop and I am not in the position to go purchasing a new one right now! That, in combination with my new desk at work being in direct view of my nosey manager, is the reason for my blog posts becoming few and far between lately.

I am also in the midst of planning a major life change which I am not ready to announce on here but if all goes well there will be some great new Gym Rat Adventures in the new year! I’m a bit overwhelmed at the moment and am just trying to focus on one thing at a time. Thank goodness for the ability to de-stress in the gym every day! Today is chest day which oddly enough, despite my lack of interest in building my chest muscles (I’m sorry but bulging Pecs just aren’t a part of my dream female physique), chest day is perhaps my favourite day in November’s lifting plan.  Here’s the split:

-Incline hammer press

-Flat bench press

-Flat bench flyes

-Standing dips

-Dumbbell pullover (lying flat)

-Standing calf raises

-Seated calf raises

Last week I really felt a burn from it so I can’t wait to get after it tonight! Plus there are a ton of new benches in the gym this week (in addition to some fancy-looking but functionally sub-par replacement equipment…IMO) so finding and waiting for the right one shouldn’t be an issue anymore. I’ve been listening to the Britney Spears Pandora station a lot lately. Go ahead and judge me, I can take it LOL! There’s just a ton of motivating songs on there with good beats that keep me in my super focused do-not-disturb zone! I really enjoy anything from the Christina Aguilera album “Stripped”. Anyway, just a quickie update today as I had a few minutes to spare here at my desk and felt momentarily motivated due to my 2:00 pm coffee…Green Mountain Mocha Nut Fudge flavour is really doing the trick lately!

What is your favourite day at the gym and what artists are keeping you motivated these days? Please share below with our Gym Rat fam and don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @PortlandGymRat …Happy Gymming! #GymRatFam #FitFierceFun

Quest Bar Dreams

Welcome to Monday Gym Rats! It's so deceiving here in Portland today; bright and sunny through the window but absolutely frigid with a cold and bitter whipping wind as soon as you step out the door. Seriously considering a move south at this time...my body just can't take this torture anymore. Good thing I have a nice warm gym to look forward to in just a few hours!

 

Yesterday I began my November lifting plan with shoulders. I think I mentioned this in my last blog post, but this month I am following the plan that was supposedly Jay Cutler's regimen as he prepped for the Olympia this year. I really enjoyed workout #1 which incorporated several moves I had never done and a lot more delt work which is definitely a weakness for me. I'm not super sore today but I can definitely feel it in my delt / upper back area. Today is all about legs. I was debating moving legs to Tuesday because I'm still a little sore from doing legs on Saturday (I opted to hit the October legs plan one last time rather than taking an off day last week) but they aren't so sore that I am crippled and my upper body is in more need of a rest so I think I'm going to go for it. Bring on the squats, lunges and DLs!

 

This weekend was Daylight Savings and while everyone else seemed to be basking in the glory of having an extra hour of sleep, I have been unable to get a decent night's sleep for three days now! There's just so much on my mind lately job-wise/life-wise that I'm feeling overwhelmed again. Deeeeeeeeep Brreeeeaaaaaatttttth! I even broke my amazing 2-week streak and opened up the pre-workout yesterday morning. I'm thinking a major life change is in-order. Word of advice to anyone in their early 20's...do not tie yourself down with major purchases and responsibilites unless you are 100% sure you will want them at least 5 years in the future. Life would be a lot simpler if I could just pack my bags and skedaddle without a care in the world!

 

Anyway, as usual I'm writing my latest update with prying eyes on my computer screen so I'm cutting it short. Plus, it's almost time for  my afternoon Quest Bar and today I have my new favourite flavour, Double Chocolate Chunk. This one is so phenominal is tastes seriously bad-for-you. The other day I had the amazing (IMO) idea for a white chocolate pumpkin cheesecake Quest Bar seasonal flavor so I tweeted them up with my proposal. All I got was a "favorite" but I'll remain hopeful LOL. I hope all you Gym Rats get off to a great week of workouts! 'Til next time, happy gymming!

Fall Sunday Funday

Happy Sunday Funday, Gym Rats! I was on a roll there for a while with the blog posts but it seems I have been slacking lately so I figured now that I have a free afternoon I would take a few minutes to write an update. I'm now one month into my of-season and I feel great! The return to a normal diet has done wonders for my general mood and energy level. I'm even going on 8 days now of not taking any pre-workout yet still feeling like I'm killing it every workout! My coffee consumption is still ridiculously high but hey, coffee makes me happy and I think gravitating toward that third (okay maybe fourth) cup mid-afternoon is more of a comfort/habit thing than a true need. Plus, it's only on the weekdays when I'm sitting freezing my ass off at my desk that I drink so much. Otherwise, I'm good with just my morning wake-me-up-cup :)

This is the last week of my October lifting plan. Starting next Sunday I will begin my November plan which I got from the Jay Cutler "Road to Olympia" pamphlet that came in the goodie back for the Maine Event. It's supposedly what his lifting plan was to prepare for the Olympia this year. I figured it can't hurt to give a new split a shot and there are a few exercises on it that I don't normally do so maybe I'll see / feel some new gains from it. There's a lot of delt work and that is definitely an area of need for me so I'm excited for that. The only real difference in structure from what I usually do is that it breaks up back and chest on separate days. Thus, I only have 1 scheduled cardio day per week. I may cut back on the chest day though, depending on how long it takes, and add back in a second day of cardio. The first week of the month is always a test week for each new training plan. Having a rest day each week, despite driving me crazy with boredom, has seemed to be very beneficial for my body so I am going to continue that this month but move them to Saturdays instead of Fridays mostly because I really like the Friday afternoon crowd at World's (fewer douches) and I just started a PT job on Saturday mornings which means that I'd have to work out in the afternoon and I'd prefer not to if I don't have to. The new job does happen to come with a free gym membership though at a place with tons of classes, 2 pools, a cardio room, and 2 weight rooms so maybe I'll hit that up instead. Who knows, maybe I'll find a new stud who I haven't crossed paths with yet in this small town ;)

Anyway, today has definitely been a Sunday Funday. At least in my Gym Rat focused mind that is! I awoke bright and early as usual and met up with someone at my fav local breakfast spot for some delightful pre-workout pancakes, eggs and coffee! Okay, maybe not the healthiest breakfast option (I ordered a giant cinnamon roll pancake with cream cheese frosting - H.E.A.V.E.N.L.Y!) but I'm pretty confident I blasted away all the sugar in my workout(s) today. After that I headed over to World's where I embarked on my leg routine. The combination of sugar and multiple coffee refills energized me to the max and I had one of my best leg sessions yet. I get so giddy when I'm able to go heavier or my traditional exercises. I'm almost up to my body weight on sets of 15 cable deadlifts, yay!!! Haha anyway, it took me about 75 minutes to get through my workout and then I headed off to get my groceries for the week. Around 11:00 am I came home and Mugsy was pacing around driving me nuts and clearly needing to be walked again so I had a friend meet us and we walked the back cove walking path. I haven't walked the cove in FOREVER because Mugsy is so naughty that he tries to eat all the other doggies (literally not joking) and disobeys my every command. I never claimed to be a good dog trainer but I do have to say that Boxers are one fiesty breed! Like Doggie like Mommy I guess LOL ;) My friend however has a lot of experience training bully breeds so she knew just what to do with him and I didn't have to use the shock collar on him once. Instead, we used his choke collar which seemed to work just as effectively. Okay, maybe a little better when she walked him than when I did but hey, it was progress! After that it was lunch time and I made myself a delicious spinach salad with chicken, avocado, cukes, carrots, and strawberries with a honey balsamic vinaigrette (yum!) and then finally had a much needed shower.

That's really all I did today other than some boring weekend house chores and now writing this blog. I already can't wait to get after bi's and tri's tomorrow night! I'm not sure if I've made any real gains just yet. I feel a million times stronger and have gotten a couple good compliments lately in the gym but it's always hard to tell if they are sincere or just flirtatious and then there's always the fact that I probably do look a bit "bigger" since there's now a few pounds of extra water and fat surrounding my muscles that wasn't there a month ago LOL. Anyway, I feel good so that's all that matters. And I haven't put on so much that I don't feel comfortable in just a sports bra yet...that's when you know I'm really having a "fat day" LOL. My weight has been steady the past couple of weeks so hopefully from here on out any additional poundage is all muscle! Anyway, it's time to switch-over my laundry now so off I go. I'm going to upload a delicious recipe I made last weekend for turkey chili to the recipes tab in a bit so be sure to check back for that and if you have a minute, let us know what you did on your Sunday Funday. 'Til next time, happy gymming! 

Off-Season Meal Plan

Happy Thursday, Gym Rats! It is a happy day indeed as the workday is almost over and I am taking tomorrow off on PTO. Ahhh I’m feeling relaxed already just thinking about the 3-day weekend ahead J Now that my show schedule is on hold, I’m going to try to make more of an effort to write more informational blogs rather than just personal status updates. Hopefully we can get some good discussions going! Today’s topic is the off-season meal plan.

I’ve come to the point where I have lost count of the number of friends, co-workers, and other acquaintances who have asked me what my daily meal plan looks like. It’s usually people who are trying to get in shape and have finally realized that fitness and nutrition go hand-in-hand. As the saying goes; “abs are made in the kitchen, not in the gym”. Well, flat abs anyway…that bulging 6-pack we all want definitely requires some serious core work LOL! “What do you eat on a typical day”, “Do you track your calories”, “Do you drink protein shakes”, “Do you eat something specific pre- and post-workout? These are just some of the many questions I’ve been asked over time and based on my goals when asked, my answer may have changed. In general however, my meal plan stays rather consistent. Thus, I figured it was time to outline a typical day in the life of a Gym Rat’s diet for all those inquiring minds.

First things first, this is not rocket science. Listen to your body. It will tell you when you’re hungry, when you are satiated, and when you are merely cramming-in extra calories to satisfy an emotional need or boredom. Some people are able to eat according to their physical needs while others do better by tracking calories to ensure they stick within the range recommended for their activity level. I personally track both calories AND macros…but that’s another topic for another day. I can hear it now; “Wait, what are macros?”…

Dieting is trial and error. You must play around with your intake (both WHAT you are consuming and HOW MUCH you are consuming) to find the best plan for you. What I outline below is simply what works for me. Take it or leave it. Oh and when I use the term “diet”, I do not mean “trying to lose fat”. To me, my “diet” is simply the meal plan I am currently following. So, here goes. I generally eat simple repetitive meals because it’s easy, they are filling, they satisfy my calorie and macro goals, and most importantly I enjoy them. I have a few different items I swap out for each meal from time to time but here is what a typical day often looks like for me:

Meal #1 – 6:00 AM – ½ cup oats with 1 scoop whey and ½ cup fruit or ¼ cup nuts

Meal #2 – 9:00 AM – 6 oz Greek yogurt with ½ cup fruit

Meal #3 – 11:30 AM – spinach salad with 4 oz chicken breast, ¼ avocado, ¼ cup mandarin oranges, mixed veggies and balsamic dressing

Meal #4 – an apple or banana (usually eaten around 1:00 PM), a Quest protein bar (usually eaten around 3:00 PM), and 1 scoop whey protein (post-workout around 6:30 PM)

Meal #5 – 7:30 PM – 4 oz baked salmon, small sweet potato, and 1 cup asparagus sautéed with EVOO and garlic

Meal #6 – A before bedtime snack that will keep me satiated during my sleep and keep me from waking-up ravenous before my alarm goes off. This is usually an apple or banana with almond butter or lately I’ve been obsessed with having a bowl of casein protein pudding. Yum!

That’s it. Nothing fancy here but all are filling and in my opinion, well balanced meals. It’s really not as much food as it looks like on paper. Over the next few months I’ll probably adjust the quantities depending on how my progress is going in the gym but in general the meals with remain the same. My main concern each day is to ensure that I get adequate protein for my muscle building goals and this plan does just that. If you don’t want to track your entire intake on paper or via a website or mobile app (I use myfitnesspal), simply ensuring that you get a protein source with each of your meals is a great way to ensure that you don’t fall too far behind on this crucial muscle-building macronutrient.

Pretty simple, eh? Feel free to start a discussion below if you have any specific questions or would like to share your personal plan. I’d love to hear from you!

Walking Out Of Spiderwebs

I’m going to pull a total switch-a-roo on you all here. The past few days have been a progressively worse state of mass confusion for me in regards to the Cape Cod Classic. Something I was really excited about only a few short weeks ago suddenly became something I dreaded. I was continuing along with my post-Maine Event diet and workout plan but my head and heart just wasn’t in it anymore. I was exhausted, both physically and mentally, was going back and forth on what to do all week long in my head, and wasn’t sleeping well because of it. When thinking about future plans is causing you more stress than excitement, I think it’s a sign that it’s time to pull the plug. I’m not one to back out of a commitment (and feel a little bit disappointed in myself for doing so) but when I feel that its jeopardizing my own health and I really have nothing to gain by going through with it, taking a step back to recharge is probably in my best interest. It wasn’t about the experience any longer; it was solely about placing higher than I had before and when that is your only goal in such a subjective and unpredictable sport, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. It really hit home yesterday when I was driving back to the office at lunchtime and No Doubt’s “Spiderwebs” came on the radio. While the song is about something entirely different, this verse struck me:

Now it's gone too deep
You wake me in my sleep
My dreams become nightmares
'Cause you're ringing in my ears

That might sound like a bit of an exaggeration but it’s truly how I was feeling. The self-motivation just wasn’t there anymore and if I wasn’t giving it my all, I knew it would show through on stage as I’ve never been any good at hiding my true feelings in my facial expressions. It also didn’t help that my friend who I was planning on travelling and competing with suddenly was unable to go and while that shouldn’t have mattered (I had planned to do the show on my own long before she had decided to do it), it just added to my lack of interest in going through with it. My main goal of doing the CCC was to take one last stab at getting my pro card this year. While I know that my physique is in its best shape ever and I would have brought an even tighter package than at the Maine Event, so would the other competitors who were now planning to do both shows so I didn’t feel that this was a realistic goal any longer. Over the week I asked a few people who I thought might have some good advice for me and each time I just got the typical “go for it”, “you got this girl”, or “I think you have a shot” comments. I knew these people were just trying to be supportive but seriously, I rarely ask people for their opinion so when I do, I want honesty. Flattery isn’t going to get me anywhere. Finally yesterday one person laid it all out on the line in a straight-up manner and agreeing with his comments entirely, I decided to pull the plug. So, if you’re reading this thank you! I really appreciate when someone can tell you the facts without being critical, falsely flattering, or trying to persuade you one way or another.

In hindsight, I never should have signed myself up for the Maine Event. I got caught up in the excitement of seeing everyone’s back-and-forth Facebook chatter and after taking on the task of helping out a new competitor prepping for the event and being asked a bazillion times in the gym whether I was competing or not, I decided to jump the gun and add it to the list. If I had just focused all my efforts on the CCC, the outcome may not have been any different but I think I would have ended my competition season on a better note with a larger and more exciting event with less backstage drama. Looking back, something I really enjoyed about doing shows out-of-state this year is that I didn’t really know anyone else competing in bikini at the same time as me. I think my mental game stays on track a lot better when I don’t know who my competition is and it’s easier to just focus on myself. Coulda, woulda, shoulda…we live and learn I guess!

I think by Tuesday I had already realized that I no longer wanted to go through with it and the only thing holding me back was the money already invested. The show promoter was extremely nice and understanding and refunded my entrance fees. The tanning service was another story and I am taking a reluctant loss on that. I’m trying not to think about it but I can’t help but be bitter. I know their policy is no refunds but I would think a small company would entertain the occasional unusual circumstance for a repeat customer who even suggested, rather than a straight-up refund, to transfer the slot to another competitor or hold the deposit for a future show. Thanks for the understanding. You just lost my business (and likely that of anyone who asks me about your service in the future) for good.

So anyway, I’ve now entered the off season. Once I made my final decision yesterday I felt like a huge weight was being lifted off my shoulders and thus I knew I had made the right decision. I feel like I’m walking out of spiderwebs now rather than walking into them! It may seem lame to back out only a little more than week out but I truly think it’s for the best. I celebrated with an iced skim latte yesterday afternoon…man that dairy was good! I’m slowly increasing my calories and am going to try to build certain areas over the next 6 months or so before I entertain the idea of doing another show. I altered my October lifting plan last night, decreasing my scheduled cardio, and am forcing myself into mandatory Friday rest days! Aside from show weekends, I honestly cannot remember the last true rest day I took. My body needs it badly; especially my poor shins which I hope will finally heel so I can get back to building my booty!  My x-rays did finally come back and showed no visible bone fractures. I could go back for more thorough tests but I think it’s most likely just really bad splints that need rest to heal.

All-in-all aside from my latest change of heart and the ups-and-downs that come with competing, I feel that it’s the best decision I’ve ever made for myself. It gives me a constant goal and keeps me on track living a nutritiously and physically healthy lifestyle. I’ve met great like-minded people and made a lot of positive changes in my life. I still have things to work on but that’s just a part of life. Now that I don’t have a show in mind I can relax and spread my focus to other areas that are in need of serious improvement such as career! I’ll now have a little more time to focus on attracting new clients to FitFiercefun.com and allow myself a little more fun socializing on the weekends since I won’t be so exhausted and can have the occasional cocktail without feeling guilty about it. Anyway, I know this was a long post but I think writing these blogs are more for my own benefit than anything else. Sometimes writing things out is the best way to clear my head and regroup. Closure if you will. It’s Friday and not only am I not going to the gym, I am going to enjoy some delicious high-carb sushi for dinner tonight! Cheers to the weekend J

Working Out vs Training

Do you workout or do you train? Is there a difference? I think there is. I was thinking about this the other day and thought it was time I wrote a blog about it. Well, that and I don’t feel like doing shit in this office as the vent above me pumps out ice cold air in October.

So what do I see as the difference between the two terms? Well for one, lots of people workout. Working out simply means doing something active for the sake of one’s overall health and wellbeing. It could be inside or outside of a gym, varied in nature, and doesn’t typically follow any set schedule. For example, one might say to themselves; “I think I’ll hit the gym tonight to burn off the pizza I had last night”. Working out may be done out of habit, mere enjoyment, or guilt. Some folks may workout on a regular basis while others may do so sporadically. There’s nothing wrong with working out. In fact, just by being an occasional exerciser you are already 10x better off than most sedentary Americans. I consider myself prior to a year ago to be a habitual worker-outer as opposed to being in training. I hit the gym nearly daily and ate what I considered to be a generally healthy diet in order to maintain a slim physique but without much knowledge of the correlation between training hard and appropriate nutrition on a macro level, my physique wasn’t improving in the manner in which I desired. Training is a whole other ballgame.

When one is in training they have a set goal in mind. Anyone could be in training; an athlete (competitive or not), someone trying to change their body composition, lose a lot of fat, come back after an injury, or simply change their lifestyle are all examples of people in training. Someone in training has a set plan to follow. After all, how can you achieve your goals without a clear view of how you will achieve them? For me, I have a set diet plan that I alter depending on my phases of training. My phases as a bikini competitor include shredding (leaning-out and losing body fat for a show), bulking (building muscle in the “off-season”), and then of course the concept of focusing my training on particular areas of my physique that I want to improve upon the most (mostly glutes and shoulders at the moment). Training also means a no excuses approach to achieving your goals. It doesn’t matter if you’re tired or just aren’t in the mood. You get in there and blast out your workout according to plan no matter how you are feeling. 9x out of 10 you will leave feeling a million times better than when you started. After all, the only workout anyone ever regrets is the one that didn’t happen, right?

So, in short, one who trains is also working out. One who is working out is not necessary training. Either way, train insane or remain the same!

Peak Week Re-Cap

It occurred to me that I never mentioned peak week in my last blog entry so I figured I’d give a little re-cap this morning since I don’t feel like doing any actual job-related work these days. When your employer takes away the one thing that keeps you functioning on a daily basis (my under-desk space heater) you lose all motivation to do anything other than intense daily job searching. But that’s a whole other story entirely…

Anyway, peak week actually breezed by with little difficulty this time around. Remembering how adding-in a few extra carbs for the last show actually seemed to help things for me, I decided to give myself a little extra slack this time around. Basically, if I was dying for something more after dinner, rather than going to bed starving and risking being up all night with cramps I allowed myself something small to hold me over. Monday I stuck to plan, Tuesday I had some celery sticks with PB2 post-dinner, Wednesday I increased my breakfast oats from ¼ to ½ cup, Thursday I had the increased oats plus the celery and PB2 dessert, and Friday I had my usual carb-load of the increased oats, extra serving of sweet potato with dinner, and banana with almond butter for dessert. This plan equated to 100 grams or less of carbs Monday through Thursday and 136 grams on Friday. Surprisingly, I think I actually could have increased them even more. Energy-wise I was able to function reasonably well all week but my abs didn’t seem to peak quite as nicely Saturday morning as they did back in July. I’m thinking maybe next week when I’m peaking again I’ll change things up slightly and increase carbs a bit more on both Thursday and Friday and see how it goes. I haven’t yet seen any of the professional stage pics but when I look at backstage pics of me and some of the other contestants, my abs look a little deflated. On the other hand, they came in quite nicely Sunday morning after my chicken pad thai and wine J

I think I said this last time but my non-dairy experiment has not seemed to do me any favors. I plan to continue with it for this next show but likely won’t bother next year. Also, I have been extra strict on myself for the past month cutting out foods like salmon, steak and whole eggs in an effort to cut back on fats. This probably did help my improved glute look but didn’t do anything to help my abs. On top of this, I had also reduced my fat servings from my typical 3 to 2. This week I’m sticking with the 2 fat servings but am allowing back in salmon and red meat. Clearly I have not yet found my glute-abs happy medium LOL!

Again, energy-wise I did okay this time around. My workout on Tuesday (legs) wasn’t very good but I think it was a combination of a) diet b) it being legs and still struggling with the shin splints and c) way too many people wanting to chat and thus interrupt what would have been a focused workout. On Wednesday I picked up an iced coffee on my way to the gym and despite the carb deprivation, pounded out a killer circuit routine. That’s totally what I will be doing next week since I always cut out my pre-workout drink for sodium purposes. I didn’t sleep well Wednesday night and it was likely a result of the coffee so late in the day but I actually slept really well every other night that week; even Friday when I am usually up several times due to pre-show nerves.

I think that about covers the week in general. It’s almost 11:00 … time for meal #3. The spinach salad with chicken, string beans, cukes and almonds just sounds soooooo appetizing, NOT! Haha Anyway, here’s to surviving the next two weeks without getting sick, further injured, or any more disgruntled about the Maine Event results. Every show is different in its own ways and at least I can say that I have placed in every class I’ve ever entered! ‘Til next time gym rats, happy gymming!

U Can't Touch This

Well, actually apparently you can touch this. That was the song that came on as I entered the stage for my T-walk yesterday afternoon at the Maine Event. I'm so glad I didn't choose my own song because I don't think any of my choices would have been more fitting than that one...in more aspects in life than just competing LOL! As I walked out there I felt super confident walking to the beat of the music but once I got to the right corner of my T the volume on the music seemed to die down and I lost that edge I needed to finish out confidently. I ended up forgetting to do my back pose on the right corner and making up for it on the left corner which totally threw off my mental game and I walked off feeling defeated. My friends and family who were watching said they couldn't tell  that I wasn't doing exactly what I had practiced but I'm a perfectionist to the extreme and there's nothing worse than letting yourself down.

Front pose, stage right of T-walk

The reason I say you can touch this is because I did not do nearly as well as I had expected to overall and can't help but feel a bit disappointed in myself. It's hard to get someone to understand where I'm coming from with this point of view because I did place consistently in both of my categories, 3rd novice and 3rd open. However, in my mind that's like saying that after 5 months of competing I'm no better than I was at my first show, and I know that's not the case at all. I am not shocked with the top #5 placings at all. In fact, the two girls who I anticipated to be my strongest competition were in fact the two that beat me out for the 1st and 2nd spot in the open category. It was the novice category I am more confused about. I honestly don't even remember who got spot #2 so I'll have to wait to see when the placings get posted. When all is said and done though, I know that I brought a great package, easily my best yet, and there's absolutely nothing I can do about what else gets brought to the stage. Given that social media is an easy way to get yourself in trouble (i.e. I seem to always be digging myself a deeper hole with my broadcasted opinions and attempts at sarcasm) I will say only one final thing about the Maine Event: every single one of my competitors looked amazing and their hard work was beyond evident. It was easily my toughest competition yet. I know I can do better and look forward to coming back stronger and stronger each time. That being said, bikini is supposed to resemble an all-around package. A lean, toned physique, feminine and classy stage presence, appropriate color, jewelry and makeup, and confident but not cocky attitude. I didn't feel that this was necessarily the case in all of the placings. But that's just my opinion.

Group comparison, open class A (I'm second from right)

Moving on now. I refuse to beat myself up by over-thinking things anymore today. I have one thing on my mind now and that is the Cape Cod Classic in 2 weeks! After a delicious post-show cheat meal of chicken pad Thai and some pinot grigio, I woke up early this morning ready to get back on plan! I had a declicious egg sandwich for breakfast with a whole wheat Ezekiel english muffin, 1 whole egg, 4 egg whites, roasted red peppers, baby spinach, garlic and fresh mozzarella as well as a nice big mug of my favourite pumpkin spice coffee! After taking Mugsy for a short walk I then hit the gym for a bi's and tri's routine. Having stayed out pretty late last night I wasn't fully energized but I still managed to push out a great workout. My goal right now is to come in leaner for the next show. At this point its all about diet as it's unlikely I will gain any muscle during this time. I just need to keep up with the lifts to maintain my current level of muscle and keep following my diet plan. My no-dairy experiment hasn't seemed to make any difference in my physique whatsoever. I'm going to continue to follow it for this next and last show of the year but I probably won't bother next time around. Eating meat 6x a day is really quite boring. I never thought I could miss plain Greek yogurt so much LOL! 

Anyway, I need to get some chores done and take Mugsy for a long walk as my apology for having zero energy to give him much exercise over the past week. Poor pup! Here's a pic of me, my friend Amy who I helped pose over the past few weeks as it was her first show ever and a couple of new friends I made yesterday. These shows are such a great way to meet like-minded people! Now that the pre-game is over, time to clamp down for the real deal. T-13 days...

Cleaning House!

Hunger Games

Finally, after 5 weeks of cutting back down to stage readiness, peak week is almost here! That is, peak week #1 of course as I am now 1 week out from the Maine Event and 2 weeks out from the Cape Cod Classic. To be honest, I'm feeling great right now. Over the past few week's I've gotten a little worried as the # on the scale hasn't budged at all and my progress pics haven't looked that drastically different week-to-week. However, I think the scale issue isn't really an issue at all. In fact, I think I've truly improved (i.e. added muscle) to my booty while cutting and therefore it makes total sense that the scale wouldn't budge! This morning's weekly progress pic definitely shows an improvement in my opinion (despite the always weak lighting) so I'm going into Peak Week feeling more stage-ready than ever. Cannot wait to strut my stuff with many of the same girls I competed against last Spring!

This morning was my last back and chest workout pre-show and began with some great early morning posing practice as well! I got in a fantastic workout complete with the following exercises:

-Cable straight-bar pulldowns

-SB DB Chest Press

-Lat pulldowns

-Incline DB chest press

-Standing rows (this was a new machine I've never used before where you pull a long weighted bar up from the ground. It was really hard so I'll definitely be adding it into future workouts!)

-Incline DB flies

-Straight leg deadlifts (I struggled with these today; I think the diet is starting to decrease my strength already)

I was more tired when I was done than usual so I decided to move today's scheduled cardio to tomorrow instead. It's supposed to be my StairMaster day but we'll see how the shins are feeling. Yesterday I went to the doctor's office and got x-rays on both of my shins. I just have an awful feeling that the pain is more than just shin splints and would like to know for sure before I go injuring myself any further. I told the doc I was going to push through the pain for the next 3 weeks, because nothing is going to stop me from bringing my best to both stages, but that if it's more serious than splints then I will be taking a rest for a while come mid-October in order to heal properly and come back stronger than ever next season. I should hopefully hear my results on Monday. For now though; no pain, no gain right?!

After my workout I went for a tan as I am still trying to get rid of my pesky summertime booty tan lines and then filled-up my shaker with my favorite mint cookie whey. It's my last whey shake for the next week and I'm actually happy about that. I think I've finally reached whey consumption overload LOL! Today began peak week meal prep with chicken and turkey burger cooking. This is what too lazy to go outside and grill looks like:

Makeshift grill hahaha! I'm thinking the rest of the day will just be a veg-out day as I know pushing myself at this point is not a good idea and yesterday I felt like a mild head cold was coming on. Time to load-up on emergen-C and Airborne! Nothing like feeling under the weather and not being able to eat any of your favorite comfort foods. Anyway, you probably won't hear from me again until after the Maine Event. Crossing my fingers that it goes well as I know I'll really need the confidence to push myself even further the following two weeks for the CCC. I know I already look better than I have all year so all I can say is bring it on ladies! In the words of Suzanne Collins; "May the odds be ever in MY favor!" 

 

Carb-Fucked

I hereby recommend a new term be added to the Urban Dictionary: carb-fucked. This has nothing to do with the good kind of fucking but rather should be used to describe when one's level of carbohydrates have been kept too low for a prolonged period of time to function normally. Side effects include loss of memory, dizziness, paranoia, body weakness, intolerance, and irritability to name just a few. I am currently carb-fucked.

Only two weeks left until I return to the stage at the Maine Event and I have to say, I am more scared of the competition this time than in any other show previously. I know the judges are always looking for something different but the girl who I consider to be my strongest competitor won first place in a regional show in Massachusetts today so now I'm even more worried. I just gotta keep telling myself to focus and not allow myself to become a nervous wreck thinking about the other girls. After all, you never know what will happen once you are up on stage!

I decided to cut my starchy carbs back to 3 servings/day this past week as an experiment to see if I'd come in any leaner. Well, I do think I look leaner in the mirror but I'm not sure if it's all in my head or not as the scale didn't read any different at my weekly weigh-in this morning than it did a week ago. Of course this could also mean that I've managed to gain muscle while losing fat this week but at this late in the game I highly doubt that is the case. I was fine Monday-Wednesday but on Thursday I felt dizzy all day and finally toward the end of the day connected that it was likely a result of my diet change. Yesterday (Friday) I increased my servings back up to 4 which I will continue with for the next 9 days until the following Monday when I start peak week. Unfortunately, it usually takes 2-3 days for my body to adjust to a re-feed so today has been the worst energy-wise. I went shopping with some friends this afternoon and literally had to sit down while they tried clothes on because I had no energy or patience to stand around waiting. Luckily there was a Starbucks nearby and I soon got a coffee that recharged me for a while!

Once I came home I did a couple household chores and now I'm just sitting here on the coach where I'll probably remain for the rest of the night. Once positive thing about lowering my carbs this week is that the lack of energy combined with continued intense training makes for great sleeps! I actually slept through to my alarm several nights this week, haven't had to take any melatonin, and didn't even want to get out of bed this morning! I hope tonight brings the same. I plan to have a yummy tilapia-veggie stir-fry for dinner, take the dog for a short walk, put on some comfy clothes, make some hot tea and get into bed to read until I fall alseep. Tomorrow is my combined legs and core day and I want to be have plenty of energy to hit my glutes hard.

So, nothing really exciting going on here. Just trying to stay positive and look forward to showing off all the hard work I've done over the past year in two week's time.  I can't believe I literally have come full circle. The Cape Code Classic, my last show this year, will mark one year since I took my training and diet to the next level and started working toward my stage debut. No matter what happens, I know I have accomplished so much and can say that I'm so much happier with where I'm at than I was a year ago. Sure, there's been ups and downs of various kinds but taking this route has shown me just what you can accomplish when you find something you love and have a goal to focus on. The journey is definitely the best part. 

Give Me Somethin' To Break

You could have made a motivational fitness video of my workout this morning. Curiosity got the best of me and I decided to try out a sample of a fat burner I had laying around the house. The package said to take on an empty stomach, pre-breakfast and to take a second one if didn't feel any results. Harmless I thought. Good way to get a little extra energy for my workout since I've had about 10 hours of sleep in the past 3 days thanks to my stupid offer to watch my parent's puppy this weekend who can't seem to sleep more than an hour without needing to pee.

I popped the pill, let the dogs out, and began to make breakfast. About 20 minutes later I'm sitting at my kitchen counter struggling to eat as I became overwhelmed with nausea and uncontrollable shakes. I don't mean jitters like when you've had too much coffee. I mean seriously shaking to the point of wondering if I needed to get myself to the emergency room to get my stomach pumped! I forced myself to finish eating, praying that it wasn't going to come back up (thank god it didn't!), and decided to go lie down for a while. Then I started crying for no apparent reason while my body temperature rose about 30 degrees so I thought maybe some fresh air would do me some good...especially since both dogs were looking at me begging to go for their walks. Eventually I got my act together enough where I felt like driving wouldn't be a hazard and made my way to the gym.

Today was my half-leg and half-core day and I have to say, despite feeling like shit and knowing I looked even worse with my red face and bags under my eyes, I had the best workout I've had in a long ass time! This week I've been listening to Pandora's Hard Rock Strength Training station and it's been the most motivating one yet! I turn it up way too loud for my poor ear drums, tune everyone and everything out and bust some serious ass. My favourite lifting song, Limp Bizkit's "Break Stuff", came on this morning and it totally made my day. Wish I could put Pandora on repeat LOL. This was today's routine:

-Cable deadlifts
-Cable side & back glute squeezes
-DB step-ups
-Cable 1-arm side crunches
-SB Tee Pees
-Hanging loop leg raises
-SB planks w/side toe touches

New PRs in EVERY exercise! I think the fat burner partially numbed me to pain as I didn't seem to be remotely bothered by upping both my weight and reps. Going to be seriously sore tomorrow. Despite this amazing effect though, I will most definitely not be trying out a fat burner again in the future. Maybe a 300 lb. male could handle it but the package should have at least suggested cutting it in half to start-out. I'm just glad there wasn't a second one in there. Imagine what would have happened if I had taken two?!! I'm not sure I'd be alive to type this out right now. As I lay here on my couch I still feel shaky and my heart is racing but at least I'm not nauseous anymore. I've been chugging the water all day in hopes to flush it out of my system before I try to sleep tonight. Lesson learned.

Aside from my lack of sleep and apparent drug overdose, the weekend has been great! One of the girls doing the Maine Event came down from her home in Calais and we spent Friday night and Saturday morning getting in tons of posing practice. Despite feeling like my physique is shredding-up on schedule and feeling pretty good about my walk, I've been psyching myself out thinking about the competition. Oh...did I mention I am doing the Maine Event as well?!! I actually decided to do it a while ago but didn't want to publicly commit until I felt ready and was positive I would not have to back out. Shortest prep yet, having decided to take it on only 6 weeks out. I know all I can do is train as hard and smart as possible and bring my A-game but knowing how great the other girls look is really messing with my head...and these are just the girls who I know are competing. There's always unknowns who show up unexpectedly. Must came myself down here. Three weeks to go. GAME. IS. ON.

I've been managing my shin splints fairly effectively by doing only low-impact cardio these past few days. Yesterday I tried out a new machine. I don't know what it's called but basically it's an elliptical stair master. I actually really liked it as I felt like I was getting an ass burn without too much stress being put on my injuries. I don't have to do cardio again until Tuesday so right now I'm a happy camper :)

It's time to take the doggies for a midday walk now so that's all for today. Gotta take advantage of this motivational high I seem to be on while I can! I found the picture below online the other day and it pretty much sums up how I feel about this show. Someday my back will look like that LOL. 'Til next time, happy gymming...and stay away from fat burners!

Melatonin

Sounds like the name of a 90's rock song, kind of like "Glycerin" or "Lithium". Melatonin is my new best friend. Well, that and green tea which has been my secret dieting trick in the weeks leading up to all of my shows. As a show gets closer and closer, my sleep pattern gets seriously disrupted. Paranoid thoughts of other competitors or not being stage-ready creep into my head, keeping me from entering into deep sleep mode or from going back to sleep if I get up in the middle of the night. Well, about a month ago the vet recommended I start giving my dog melatonin with his dinner as a means to help improve his coat. The only side effect was that it would likely knock him out. After a few days of having a dog that slept through the night (and in turn did not wake me up) I did a little research and decided to try it out myself. THE STUFF WORKS WONDERS! As soon as I'm ready to hit the sack I pop a little 3 mg pill and I'm out like a light. Better yet, I can make it through to my alarm so long as I don't drink a bundle of water before bed! This is the stuff we've been taking. Cheapest kind sold at CVS and I highly recommend it!

As far as the green tea goes - MAJOR METABOLISM BOOSTER! I swear after I drink a cup I am suddenly starving which you would think would not be good when you are trying to eat less but I just re-fill my cup and eventually I'm full of fluid LOL. This is the kind of I've been drinking during the day. It's a little pricey but quite delish. Plus, the bags all have inspirational quotes on the labels which sometimes turns a lousy work day around for me. I have one hanging at my desk from last spring that says; "Happiness comes when you overcome the most impossible challenge".

At night I sometimes drink the Sleepytime Green Tea made my Celestial Seasonings. I'm not sure what's in it but it seems to have the same effect (but on a lesser scale) as the melatonin, plus the metabolism-boosting aspect from the green tea. The only problem of course is waking up having to pee LOL

I can happily say that show progress is going extremely well right now. The cutting diet has become second nature and over the past few weeks of going cold turkey I've noticed significant results. Here's a comparison pic I took two days ago. Keep in mind that the lighting where I take all of my weekly progress pics is pretty lousy but I swear there is visible change as not only do I feel and see it myself but I've gotten comments lately in the gym so I know it's not all in my head :P

I started my September lifting plan today and so far so good! Today was bi's and tri's, then it's just cardio tomorrow before a leg smasher on Wednesday. I've been able to work through my shin issues thus far by taking Ibuprophen pre-workout and making more of an effort to stretch and roll-out post-workout. It's not perfect but as long as it doesn't get any worse it's manageable. I'm starting to feel a bit of the pre-show exhaustion set in already so I'm hoping that my reduction in lifting from 6 to 5 days/week makes a bit of a difference for the next few weeks before the carb depletion gets serious. Of course my cardio has been increased from 2 to 3 days/week but at least that takes less time and can be easily done pre-work when I have the most energy. 

I haven't yet committed 100% to which show(s) I will be doing but I do have a clear time frame in mind and I'm confident I'll be ready. Nothing feels better and keeps you on track than seeing improvement and seeing it this far out is just icing on the (protein) cake! I'm looking forward to this coming weekend as a fellow competitor (first-timer) is coming to visit and we are going to get in a ton of posing practice and talk through all of the details that one needs to know about getting on the stage. Both a good learning sesh for her and a good refresher for me! It's so nice to meet people with the same interests, who speak your "language"! Plus, it's extremely gratifying after only having done a few shows to have a stranger reach out to you for advice. Hmmmm now how can I make a career out of this? By winning I'm guessing! I met an NPC pro bodybuilder in the gym this morning who was without a doubt the most jacked guy I've ever seen in my life. He walked in and the whole gym turned to stare! He mentioned that he recently did a show out west and didn't even place...mere coincidence that the top 5 finalists were all endorsed by big-name companies? I think not! Gave me a sour taste in my mouth as he also said that the female finalists all seemed to have opened their drawers for at least one of the judges at the table. I'd like to think that this is not always the case, that the best physique will eventually win, so that's the plan. Can't ignore a rock solid package forever, right?! Winners never quit.