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.