Fasted cardio. What a crock. I decided to try it out this morning to see what all the hype is about. Now, I am not someone who can function without an intake of starchy carbs within a 30 minute window of waking of but I’ll try anything for last-minute fat loss at this point. T-22 days ‘til show time! Well, there’s a first…and a last time for everything LOL. It’s Friday and after a long and exhausting week I just wanted to be done with my workout early so I could relax after work. Luckily only cardio was on today’s agenda.
My internal clock must have been super excited for this new activity because I rose at 4:58 this morning, two minutes prior to my 5:00 alarm! I literally rolled out of bed, splashed water on my face, threw on my gym clothes and drove off. When I got to the gym at 5:20 I did my weekly weigh-in and then hopped on an elliptical for a 30 minute HIIT routine. I figured it was a good idea to weigh-in a day early to see if a) the past two weeks of carb-cycling have had any real effect yet and b) to see if a pre-breakfast weigh-in makes any difference. I did lose about 1.5 more lbs this week but that’s still nowhere near where I need to be for the stage. I guess I’ll be continuing this torturous carb-cycling for these last 3 weeks. I’ve been doing Mon-Thurs on a lower carb intake and then Fri-Sun I increase by about 20 grams. By day 4 I’m beat but to be honest, Monday was the worst this week since it’s the only day of the week where I am both on a lower carb intake and also have to do cardio PLUS weights. I think I’ll be doing a double session this coming Monday of cardio pre-work (not fasted!) and weights post-work because I simply do not have the energy for a full 90+ minute workout on such carb and caloric restrictions.
The only other change I have made in the past week has been to increase from 3 to 4 days of cardio. Guess what? SHIN SPLINTS ARE BACK. I had a feeling this was going to happen but I really have no choice but to push through the pain right now. Just when I was doing so well with the two leg days per week too! I also have extremely tight IT bands, hip flexors, and quads to make matters worse but that’s something I can at least try to relieve by being less lazy about foam-rolling post-workout. My best friends for the next 22 days will be Icy Hot and Ibuprophen!
I’m really liking this 1 change per week schedule I’ve been on lately. I highly recommend it for anyone trying to cut fat. One week seems to be the perfect amount of time to shock your body and then just as you may be getting used to the change you hit it with a new shocker and the loss continues! I don’t really want to cut calories back much more at this point though so next week in addition to continuing with the carb-cylcing and the increased cardio I think the only change I’ll make is to decrease fruit for hopefully the last time this prep to just ½ serving. Then the following week if I need another cut I can do the same with my fats but we’ll see how this week goes first. Must be patient and trust the process!
This past week has really been a struggle for me. My low-carb induced irritation with everyone and everything has been made worse by an overly crowded gym filled with more and more tools on a daily basis. I really struggle not to snap at most anyone that comes within a 20-step radius and couldn’t stop myself from slamming the cable stack down the other day when the cheap-ass rope kept sticking during my shoulder raises. I know I must look like a ridiculous baby but sometimes I just need to scream and throw a temper tantrum! Since I took yesterday off entirely, got my cardio out of the way this morning and have the next two days of nice, quiet morning workouts to look forward to, when I get back in there to lift on Monday afternoon I should be nice and refreshed after a 4-day escape from the usuals.
Since I can increase my carbs back today I am making protein pancakes for dinner. I can’t wait for this treat! I rarely make them but for some reason I’m craving pancakes badly lately. I’m going to have to play with the recipe because I can’t seem to find a consistent norm for making protein pancakes but I’m thinking ½ cup oats, 1 scoop vanilla whey, 0.5 oz crushed almonds, ½ cup raspberries, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 egg white, ¼ cup almond milk, and voila…Bintliff’s-esque raspberry-almond pancakes! That’s my favourite breakfast spot here in Portland
Anyway, that’s all for today’s post. Tomorrow’s busy agenda includes back, chest, cardio (probably rowing to give my shins a break), tanning, and posing. Phew, I’m going to be burnt out come nightfall! Any gym rats out there struggling through contest prep right now? Anyone giving new diets or workouts a try as they work toward bikini season? Let’s get some discussion going! Cheers to the weekend! xo
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