Valentine'​s Day Massacre

Good Morning Gym Rats! It's February 13th...one day away from my absolute favorite day of the year, Valentine's Day! I'm actually not kidding here. Valentine's Day has always been my favorite holiday (Halloween coming in at at close second of course). Don't get me wrong though; nothing good ever happens. No romantic dates, no secret admirer notes, no bouquets of red roses at my doorstep, but there's just something about the holiday that I love. You always hear people complaining about how it's just a fake holiday made up by Hallmark to sell more cards but I don't care. I think the idea of taking a moment to do something extra for a special someone is sweet. I guess I'm just a romantic at heart. Someday, someday... However, given that I remain single on Valentine's Day for the umpteenth year-in-a-row I will yet again be having a romantic date with the gym tomorrow night. It's back night and I plan to massacre it with a seriously awesome back attack! Friday is also my usual cheat meal / high-carb night so I plan to grab a (non-date) nice dinner out afterward. Who knows, maybe I'll end the night with a Valentine after all! Just kidding.... but anyway, I'll end the Valentine's talk with a funny pic that's been floating around Facebook lately.

Haha too bad today is leg day for me! We're supposed to be getting a mad blizzard any moment now so I just pray the gym stays open late enough to not mess up my plan. So far just a few flurries in the Portland area though so I'll keep my fingers crossed. My February leg days have been awesome so far. I am seriously crippled afterward which is always a good sign. Some friends have recently suggested I try taking Glutamine supplements to reduce the DOMS. I need to do some research on this. Have any of you ever experimented with this? If so, please let me know in the comment section below! Tonight will undoubtedly be extra painful because I warmed-up for yesterday's shoulder lift with 20 mins on the StairMaster which I haven't done in weeks. It was painful to say the least but oh so effective! It really sucks when you love something that hurts you so much. Still talking exercising here LOL... Anyway, tonight's plan includes the following breakdown:

-Stiff Leg BB DLs
-Wide stance BB squats
-DB plié squats
-Walking BB lunges w/glute squeezes
-SB In-and-Outs (1-legged if I have any leg strength left at this point!)

Last weekend I bought myself some roll-on store brand version of Icy Hot which I've been rolling all over my hip flexor and shin area before bed. It seems to be helping at least a little bit and I'll take whatever relief I can get! It's funny though because I roll it on and don't feel anything at all so I go about getting ready for bed and then about 10 or so minutes later I'm both burning and freezing at the same time LOL! It's a good pain though. I'm still trying to use the foam roller during my post-workout stretching but it's just not that effective. What I really need is a serious deep tissue massage. What a great Valentine treat that would be! Hint, hint, hint... :P

Starting this weekend I am upping my show prep cardio from 2 to 3 sessions per week so I'll probably eliminate my Saturday off days and turn them into cardio-only days going forward. I know you always hear that rest days are crucial to adequate recovery but my theory is more to take a rest day only when you feel you truly need it. Otherwise, stop being a slacker and get after it! At least stay active with an "active rest" on these days such as a yoga class, a long dog walk/hike, or a paddle! In the words of the legend...

Of course if my schedule doesn't allow this then I'll just tack the extra cardio on to my super long Sunday morning tricep, glute, and sometimes yoga routine. So far this season, my show prep has gone great. I haven't dropped much weight but I'm feeling tighter and getting really really really excited to hit the stage again! Just the mindset of being in show prep mode seems to make me work harder in the gym and I'm leaving every day feeling like I got in a stellar pump! Last week I made a minor 1-month-in diet cut via a reduction in fats and fruits. Starchy carbs, veggies, and protein are all staying constant for the next 3 weeks so my energy levels should stay adequate for now. This is the time for those last minute crucial gains. That means you, glutes!!! Haha anyway, I'll leave it at that for now. I hope you all have a fantastic Valentine's Day be it going solo in the gym, a glutonous full-out cheat night filled with lots of chocolate, wine and um "cardio", or a good hard lift with your swolemate! 'Til next time, happy gymming! xo

myOatmeal.com Review #2

Hey guys! Just a quick review of the PB&J oatmeal I told you about last time. I've been ridiculously busy and haven't had much time to blog lately but I'm banging things out on my laptop right now so here's a quickie:

For this flavour I ordered the ingredients that come in myOatmeal.com's regular PB&J oatmeal, minus the sugar. Again, due to the added ingredients it was still higher in carbs (via sugar) than plain oats but it wasn't too bad. I found that it didn't need any extra sweetener anyway but maybe that's just me and my boring clean eater's taste buds LOL. I measured out 50 grams of the oats (about 30 carbs worth & just shy of 1/2 cup) and added 1/4 cup of egg whites, hot water, and 1/2 cup sliced strawberries to round out this delicious breakfast this morning. Here's a pic of the concoction:

All-in-all I'd give this flavor a 5/5 stars. My only recomendation would again be that www.myOatmeal.com start offering a protein add-on so that I didn't have to add-in my own whey or egg whites to make it fit my macros better. Flavored whey like peanut butter whey for this variety or banana whey for the dirty banana variety I reviewed last time would not only be a great idea but also eliminate the need to add the custom flavors (which I don't really taste anyway).

So, I definitely still recommend you all give this company a try if you are an oatmeal lover like myself. You can literally create any flavor of your dreams and have it shipped right to your house. No excuse not to eat clean these days! Happy eating everyone! xo