2/9 Days Out

Yesterday was amazing!  My last workout and cardio sessions were super focussed and energetic.  Sure, my strength is waaaay down, but I gave it everything I had left in me and left the gym dripping in brown-streaked sweat lol.  

I can see changes again today.  Sure, part of that is because of the tan, but I just feel tighter all over. You can't see it in these photos, but my lower body has also improved over the last few days.

Again, more weight loss this morning.  It'll be interesting to see what happens over the next few days.  Today my cardio is down to 30 minutes (as opposed to my usual 100) and of course there's no workout.  My calories are up to about 1,600 with meals consisting of chicken, tilapia, puffed quinoa, and macadamia nut oil (bye bye, vegetables!).  Water intake remains high (I've learned I can actually drink 10L in a day with ease) until tomorrow when it stops at 2pm.  

Our guest bathroom has become tanning central.  In this picture I have 2 layers of Pro-Tan on; to put it into perspective, I'll have about 6 or 7 and a top coat on-stage.  Speaking of which, it's about time for me to go re-apply!  

3/10 Days Out!

I need to stop looking at what fitness bloggers call "food porn".  Specifically, the naughtiness on http://cookiesandcups.com/ and http://ohsheglows.com/.  Some days it doesn't phase me at all to see all those fresh, delicious looking meals, knowing that someone somewhere in a magical (read: normal) place are actually getting to enjoy what I'm fantasizing about, hunched over my keyboard and face thisclose to the drool-covered monitor.....

Nope, some days it doesn't phase me at all.  But I would say the majority of my days are the "other" kinds of days.

Also, is there anything better than the smell of freshly baked bread?  I think not.

Moving on.

I woke up to a bit more weight loss this morning, and I can definitely see some more definition in my abs.  The only thing I didn't like about this picture is how little my side delts look.  I think that my shoulders are one of my best - if not THE best - body parts (abs come in a close second), so I'd love to see just a little more size on them.  Hopefully by the time I shed water the extra definition will really make them pop.

Today is my last workout (woot woot!), at least until next week when I do this all over again (DOH!).  The tanning process will begin today as well, and carbs are getting increased tomorrow.  I've purchased all of my show-day supplies, so I can basically just focus on myself and polishing up the next few days :)

Finally, just a quick shout-out to John who's been putting up with my crankiness/fatigue/moodiness the last few days, and for holding down the fort at home.  Thank you hun, love you! xox

4/11 Days Out

I apologize in advance if there are any typos or nonsensical sentences in this post.  I've been low carb the last couple days and it's definitely been showing!  Today I forgot my keys twice - once on my way out the door (got all the way to the lobby of the building before realizing I hadn't locked the door), then again at the gym, along with my sun glasses.  I had gone grocery shopping after my workout and got all the way home (on foot, by the way, carrying a backpack of food and 2x 4L jugs of water) when I realized I couldn't get into my apartment.  DOH!  Yesterday I met up with Tanya for a visit and thank goodness she knows me well, because I'm pretty sure I wasn't even completing my thoughts at some points lol.

On the bright side, lookie what I got!  This is basically my diet: tilapia, green vegetables, and quinoa puffs.  I may complain about being low-carb, but I've been eating so many veggies!!!  About 24oz throughout the day.  Hmmm, which one will I start with today.....?  Maybe the kale.

So to go back to yesterday, it was..... interesting.  I started my Water Shed pills and, as I mentioned, was on very low carbs.  Towards the middle of the day I got really tired and foggy, but at the time just chalked it up to having a busy morning.  But then in the evening I started experiencing horrible shakes, dizziness, and got really really sweaty!  It happened a couple times, each "episode" lasting about 30 minutes, and going away after I ate something.  I emailed Jay and asked if it might be the Water Shed pills, but he said that it was actually because of low blood sugar.  So I Googled "hypoglycemia" and wouldn'cha ya know it, I had all of the symptoms associated with a  hypoglycemic attack!  Makes sense then why I would feel better after eating.  Unfortunately there's not much I can do about it.... just gotta stick it out.  And I've been told to eat a bit of quinoa puffs if it becomes unbearable.  So that was an interesting little bodily experiment lol.  Can't say I've ever experienced that before!

ANYWAYS, moving along to what you're more interested in: progress pictures!  

I don't see any changes since yesterday, though the scale does read 1.5lbs lighter again.  I don't know where it's coming off, but no complaints here!

Every day has been a bit different so far, so I'm interested to see what today brings....

5/12 Days Out!

Woke up this morning another pound lighter.... wait a second.... *rub my eyes*.... nope, that's right - another pound since yesterday.  This is friggin' awesome lol!  I definitely saw some changes in the mirror too:

Sodium and aspartame are officially out of the diet, and I'm supposed to drink between 6-8L of distilled water (though I could easily drink 9).

Now, I'm just going to quickly rant about something if you don't mind, and people who know me well have heard me rant about it before.  If the weight you're using is too heavy to lift with proper form, then use a lighter weight!  And along those same lines, if you don't know how to do an exercise, don't do it!  There was a man who came into the gym the other day, all decked out in his workout wear (lifting gloves and all) and proceeded to do every single exercise wrong.  I hate to generalize, but it seems like men are especially bad for this because they want to seem impressive by using heavy weights.  Or novices who want to look as though they're experts.  Well, newsflash!  You don't look strong, you look silly!  Particularly to everybody who does actually know what they're doing.  So if you think you may be one of these people, please please please, for you own SAFETY, go ask a trainer to show you how to do the exercise or look it up on-line (at a trusted source like Bodybuilding.com) and lighten up!  There's no shame in starting light - we all had to start somewhere.

6/13 Days Out

Here's what I've got today: 

Nothing drastically different.  I've lost a whole pound since yesterday though, so something must be happening! lol

This week in the gym I'm doing 2 sets of every exercise and holding each rep for 5-10 seconds at the point of contraction.  I've never tried this method of training before, but let me tell ya, I LIKE it!!  I could feel the blood pooling in my muscle as I got further and further into my sets (some were 25 reps, which took FOREVER!) and then as soon as I released........ *SWOOOOSH*  Out ran the blood back into my limbs.  I felt light-headed a couple times when it was a big body part, like legs, and so much blood ran into them all at once.  The workouts take roughly the same amount of time, despite the fact that I'm only doing 2 sets of things, but they're definitely still as intense.

Speaking of workouts, I've gotta go do some fasted morning cardio; the sooner I do it, the sooner I can eat breakfast :P

Progress Pics: 7/14 Days!!

It's Peak Week, baby!  The week where all the hard work REALLY starts to show.  Water depletion,  sodium manipulation, carb loading, tanning.... all in a last-minute effort to make the muscle as obvious as possible without deflating it.

I'll try to post pictures every day to track the physical changes.  Here's today's, at 1 week out:

8/15 Days Out!

Alright, new diet started today.  Here's what we've got:

Meal 1 - Fibre One, Egg whites, and Coffee 

Got me some paprika on my eggs, stevia and cinnamon on my Fibre 1, and nothing in the coffee ;)

Meal 2 - Veal, Quinoa puffs, and Cucumber

I hadn't had veal in forever!  The quinoa puffs are in a cup because we ran out of bowls :P

 Meal 3 - Tilapia and green veggies

Some day soon I'll be able to put BUTTER on my brussels sprouts..... yummy!

 Meal 4 - Veal, Cucumber, and Asparagus

This is why I usually use small plates - the veal looks so tiny here and it makes me hungry just looking at it :(

Meal 5 - Tilapia and Macadamia Nut Oil

Yup, straight oil.  It's actually not as bad as you'd think lol.

According to my calculations, it's about 985 calories; 50% Protein, 21% Carbs, 29% Fats.  Aside from a multi-vitamin, all my other crazy vitamins are gone, which should make it much easier to remember what to take when! lol

Workouts stay the same except that I'm doing two sets of everything as opposed to the regular 4, 5, 10, etc.

In other news, I went shopping yesterday for some stage bling (earrings, bracelet, and ring.... no necklace though, as it covers too much of the chest).  I'll say it now: being picky AND cheap make for difficult shopping!  If it was the right colour, then it wasn't the right metal; if it was the right design, then it wasn't the right price.  I had this idea in my head of exactly what I wanted and was so frustrated that I just couldn't find it.  In the end I bought a couple different options; the good thing about doing two shows is that I can try both!  Most importantly though, they're things I'd wear even after the show, so it doesn't feel as though I've just thrown away my money.  Dang, competing is expensive!  Why don't the guys have to shell out this much money??