What happens when you get up extremely early, finish your entire workout before any of the usuals arrive, prep all your food for the week, walk the dog, shower, eat and look up at the clock to see that it's only 12:30? Being ready for bed at lunchtime, that's what! It's no joke that living off of a low-carb diet is exhausting. Peak week #2 begins tomorrow and I plan to tackle it a bit differently this time around.
I'm cringing as I sit here and try to type without any typos as these claws I still have on my fingernails, yes CLAWS I say, are driving me insane! Never will I get acrylic nails again. I know they look best on stage but aside from feeling like a cheap whore they make it impossible to type, text, write, or do really any task requiring a detailed touch. I left them on from the last show because they are expensive and I figure better to get two shows out of them since they are bonded to my real nails so tightly they surely aren't going anywhere! The first thing I do when I get back though will surely be having them taken off!
Anyway, the past week has been excellent as far as training goes. I went back on my pre-peak week diet plan so I have had plenty of energy to own my workouts all week. Thursday was my "off" day when all I did was an hour of core exercises but every other day was a solid weight training and/or cardio workout. Being in the gym each day this week, especially last Sunday and Monday has done wonders for my confidence as most people have been really nice, asking me how the show went or congratulating me if they happened to have been in the audience. Unfortunately my low-carb brain paranoia is still lingering and I feel like I'm getting the stare-down by other competitors. I have always had the tendency to read way too much into things so I'm sure it's partially just my crazy mind playing games on me but it's such a slap-in-the-face reminder that this really is an individual sport and no matter how friendly people may be on the surface, when it comes down to it everyone wants to win. You're always going to be sized-up for comparisons, what you have to try to do is stay strong and focus only on yourself. It doesn't matter what the other competitor's are doing. What matters is that you are improving each day and ultimately the physique you bring to the stage is better than the one you brought last time.
Yesterday morning was unusually busy for a Saturday and I felt very uncomfortable with the group of un-usuals in attendance. This morning however was the perfect gym experience as barely anyone was in there during my entire workout! I started today's workout with a run which I haven't done in at least a couple of weeks. It was moderately painful as usual (I think new running shoes are in order again) but I pushed through it and felt great afterwards. I did my usual 10-7-5 minute running intervals with 2-minute walks in between and decreasing incline throughout the 30-minute duration. Then for weight training I did a workout that is new on my plan this month called "Madness in the Gym". It's really just a sequence of about 9 different exercises hitting all major muscle groups. Not super intense as the name implies but I liked it!
Going into peak week I feel much better knowing what to expect this time around. I plan to follow the CSF diet on Monday and Tuesday but then from Wednesday to Friday I am increasing my carbs by at least one additional serving per day (likely sweet potato with dinner) so I don't start getting dizzy and unsafely weak like last time. My coach gave me a couple changes she wanted me to make this week but I don't agree with them so I'm not doing them. It really annoys me when I am told to do something and not told why and then when I ask what the reasoning is, it's pure cookie-cutter BS. Anyway (ending rant now), some of you have asked me about protein requirements lately. Honestly it depends on the individual but to put things into perspective here's a pic of the meat I'll be consuming over the next week:
...and this isn't even all of the protein since I still have my egg whites (12!) with breakfast each morning LOL. As of yesterday I am a 110.5 lb. girl so I guess I have a super turbo-charged metabolism these days! Everyone seems to be under the impression that bodybuilders starve themselves. Seriously, it is nothing of the sort. It's the carb-depletion when we diet down for the stage that is the torture. Food consumption is still a-plenty, quantity-wise that is.
This entry is getting too long again so I'll try to wrap it up here. I'll be driving down to Massachusetts on Friday to get my base-tan done and possibly attend a posing class that the show promoter may put on. Then on Saturday it's judgement day all over again! I'm feeling great about the physique I'll be bringing to the stage this time around. I've leaned-up quite a bit more from a week ago which I didn't think was possible. I don't think I'll place in this show even if I do exceptionally well simply because it's a pro-qualifier, bringing in talent from all over New England and possibly beyond. As of yesterday there were over 140 competitors signed-up! There's always hope though as I know I'll be much more confident on stage and I've received some good feedback from the judges. So far, three of them have responded and all had nice things to say about my presentation, smile, color, suit, accessories, and poses. One judge did say that she could tell how nervous I was but that that's understandable for my first show. Another judge said I should work on my ham/glute insertion for upcoming shows (obviously not much I can do about that now since it's an area I'll have to work on over time during the "off season"). All-in-all though it was more praise than critique so all I have to say to the rest of the bikini competitors is "bring it on ladies!" haha
Well, that about sums it up here. Tomorrow brings my last hardcore leg routine before the show and the start of my peak week diet. Here's to staying strong both mentally and physically this week and a successful presentation at my first pro-qualifying show! 'Til next time gym rats, happy gymming!
I'm cringing as I sit here and try to type without any typos as these claws I still have on my fingernails, yes CLAWS I say, are driving me insane! Never will I get acrylic nails again. I know they look best on stage but aside from feeling like a cheap whore they make it impossible to type, text, write, or do really any task requiring a detailed touch. I left them on from the last show because they are expensive and I figure better to get two shows out of them since they are bonded to my real nails so tightly they surely aren't going anywhere! The first thing I do when I get back though will surely be having them taken off!
Anyway, the past week has been excellent as far as training goes. I went back on my pre-peak week diet plan so I have had plenty of energy to own my workouts all week. Thursday was my "off" day when all I did was an hour of core exercises but every other day was a solid weight training and/or cardio workout. Being in the gym each day this week, especially last Sunday and Monday has done wonders for my confidence as most people have been really nice, asking me how the show went or congratulating me if they happened to have been in the audience. Unfortunately my low-carb brain paranoia is still lingering and I feel like I'm getting the stare-down by other competitors. I have always had the tendency to read way too much into things so I'm sure it's partially just my crazy mind playing games on me but it's such a slap-in-the-face reminder that this really is an individual sport and no matter how friendly people may be on the surface, when it comes down to it everyone wants to win. You're always going to be sized-up for comparisons, what you have to try to do is stay strong and focus only on yourself. It doesn't matter what the other competitor's are doing. What matters is that you are improving each day and ultimately the physique you bring to the stage is better than the one you brought last time.
Yesterday morning was unusually busy for a Saturday and I felt very uncomfortable with the group of un-usuals in attendance. This morning however was the perfect gym experience as barely anyone was in there during my entire workout! I started today's workout with a run which I haven't done in at least a couple of weeks. It was moderately painful as usual (I think new running shoes are in order again) but I pushed through it and felt great afterwards. I did my usual 10-7-5 minute running intervals with 2-minute walks in between and decreasing incline throughout the 30-minute duration. Then for weight training I did a workout that is new on my plan this month called "Madness in the Gym". It's really just a sequence of about 9 different exercises hitting all major muscle groups. Not super intense as the name implies but I liked it!
Going into peak week I feel much better knowing what to expect this time around. I plan to follow the CSF diet on Monday and Tuesday but then from Wednesday to Friday I am increasing my carbs by at least one additional serving per day (likely sweet potato with dinner) so I don't start getting dizzy and unsafely weak like last time. My coach gave me a couple changes she wanted me to make this week but I don't agree with them so I'm not doing them. It really annoys me when I am told to do something and not told why and then when I ask what the reasoning is, it's pure cookie-cutter BS. Anyway (ending rant now), some of you have asked me about protein requirements lately. Honestly it depends on the individual but to put things into perspective here's a pic of the meat I'll be consuming over the next week:
This entry is getting too long again so I'll try to wrap it up here. I'll be driving down to Massachusetts on Friday to get my base-tan done and possibly attend a posing class that the show promoter may put on. Then on Saturday it's judgement day all over again! I'm feeling great about the physique I'll be bringing to the stage this time around. I've leaned-up quite a bit more from a week ago which I didn't think was possible. I don't think I'll place in this show even if I do exceptionally well simply because it's a pro-qualifier, bringing in talent from all over New England and possibly beyond. As of yesterday there were over 140 competitors signed-up! There's always hope though as I know I'll be much more confident on stage and I've received some good feedback from the judges. So far, three of them have responded and all had nice things to say about my presentation, smile, color, suit, accessories, and poses. One judge did say that she could tell how nervous I was but that that's understandable for my first show. Another judge said I should work on my ham/glute insertion for upcoming shows (obviously not much I can do about that now since it's an area I'll have to work on over time during the "off season"). All-in-all though it was more praise than critique so all I have to say to the rest of the bikini competitors is "bring it on ladies!" haha
Well, that about sums it up here. Tomorrow brings my last hardcore leg routine before the show and the start of my peak week diet. Here's to staying strong both mentally and physically this week and a successful presentation at my first pro-qualifying show! 'Til next time gym rats, happy gymming!
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