Real Cardio

I just bought a brand new piece of cardio equipment today - It's a Cub Cadet. That's correct - a lawnmower. REAL exercise... It always irks me to see people with 1/4 to 1/2 acre sized lawns get on a riding mower, especially after they've been to the gym to workout on the eliptical machine or treadmill. I enjoy cutting grass. My new "lawn" is pretty much the embarrassment of the neighborhood. All of the other lawns in my section of the neighborhood are landscaped very meticulously. Every one has gorgeous flowers blooming- I have weeds and dirt and sticks and a lot of dead leaves still. I did have two flowers.. right smack in the middle of my yard. But they are both dead now...
I mowed over my first snake today! Ooooo - I'm glad I saw it after it was dead, rather than whilst it was still alive and wriggling through my yard. I'm going to go ahead and leave it out to rot...oooo...I'm not touching it (lest ye didn't think I was very girlie - there ya go!).

No highlights in the training this week. Not enough food to fuel the machine. My workouts were labored and just getting through them took it ALL out of me. My strength has PLUMMETED!
I was down to 163.6 yesterday, soooo...against my prepper's guidelines, I am going to have to add some calories in to my diet. 13 pounds in less than 3 weeks is wayyy to much to lose so quickly. At this rate I'll be a middleweight by July 19th. I had a "normal" eating day yesterday. I told myself I could eat whatever I wanted, but when I get rolling on a diet, I have a hard time stepping off of it. So, I ate additional good foods, cuz I'm a good girl. Back to the diet today, though. Actually, it is not AGAINST his guidelines, I'm just not "conferring" with him before I do so. All for the better me on July 19th, you will see.

No pictures today. I will get them tomorrow.

14 weeks out -

9 and a half pounds down - seeing the arm veins more and some leg separation, but I do feel small and watery today... I took two sets of progress pictures. The first ones I deleted. I had on a pair of gray shorts that may be seeing the trash can...I know I have a big round butt, but these shorts made it look as if I had one of those swedish exercise balls stuffed in them. I'm not really happy with the other ones either - the lighting today was very grey coming through the windows, but I didn't want the flash as the flash flattens it all out. I don't look significantly different from last week, and what changes I can see you can't see in these photos.

I'm having one of those days where I question what the Hell I think I'm doing, preparing for a bodybuilding contest. My body is sooo different from what the judges want...

And I'm doing that thing with my left arm again. I'm practicing front relaxed and the left arm just keeps sticking out higher and farther. I can't stand straight. I had that fixed so you almost couldn't notice I did that last year, now I'm crooked again! So don't be looking for any front relaxed or back relaxed poses from me for awhile.

Now, I have gotten into pretty good condition a couple of times without cardio, and I'm pretty sure I can again, but I told my prepper I'd not stray from his guidelines for me.

But, all it seems to do for me is make my hips and legs sore, hence my leg strength has plummeted and deadlifting the other day was simply pointless. I'm not trying to shirk it out of laziness, heck, it even helps me sleep better, but I simply cannot take 14 more weeks of this tired soreness in my legs, hips, and even lower back.

It will be a while before my website gets overhauled - probably a long, long while... there will be updates to Members Section and changes in the regular section from time to time, but apparently, though my website works, it wasn't done quite right and when my new webmaster tried to tutor me, even he was getting confused. He told me he really couldn't teach me how to work my website because it would just confuse me as you can't do it the way it is really supposed to be done.

APA Delaware Power Classic is in less than 4 weeks now - looks like it is definitely shaping up to be another good meet. I've got alot of really good people helping me out to put this meet on, and I am truly blessed to have their support!

Gagging on potatoes

I used to love cold baked potatoes, but i think that love died out long ago, as I am currently having a problem with this potato I am presently eating making its way down my throat. 14 more weeks of these... oh, joy!
However, I AM enjoying peeling the weight off. I owe the first week's big drop to the elimination of creatine.That stuff does make one watery and bloated. I feel much better and in a few pounds I'll probably be down to a "comfortable" weight.

Last night benching was PERFECT! GW and I were both dog-tired. He kept his weight low and went for reps, while I decided I only had so much energy to spare... instead of my first set with 245 or so, I jumped it up to 275 and decided that I would do them or I would not, all depending on how my energy levels panned out. They went perfectly, good groove, good speed, good rotation in the wrist, good pause, good everything. I did 4. So I upped it to 295 and got 2. All felt right. Took it to 225 for 12, tho' with a shorter pause. Perfect Perfect Perfect!
Everything else we did was more in the 8-12 rep range. I hate reps.

I'm only doing 20 minutes of cardio on the days that I do it, and it IS monotonous, but it does help me sleep better...I will give it that credit.

There are some other things going on in my life right now, but I'm mum on some things for a reason...when the time is right I'll share.

Dropping -

168.4 = 8 pounds lighter... in one week! Most of that is off my waist, thank God...less bloat, I can see some abs and serratus etc. trying their best to poke through. Already it is time to take the belt in a notch - That feeling I like!

Yesterday was one of those days that I should not even have showed up at the gym. I knew it before I even got in my car, but old hard head drove there anyway. It was deadlift day and I wanted to see how these arch supports would benefit. As I stated, I should have listened to myself and stayed home. Oh, I managed a 405, but I guess i can now do that on a very off day.

Could only muster 365 x 3, and it was because I was stiff in the hips, lackadaisical in the drive...just not there. Yes, I gather that lack of fuel in the system has a lot to do with lack of drive.

It has been a couple of months + since I took a few days off, I guess it is time once again to do so. I walked up to the bar on my third set with 315 going to do some reps...but that was it, just walked up to the bar, stopped - quit. I didn't even try to pick it up.

Did a few very high reps sets of seated cable rows, and high reps seated dumbell curls, just to get the blood moving, and I was out of there. BLAHHH!

On the arch supports - yes, I can tell they will help tremendously with sitting back, but I'll have to wait for another day to measure the benefit.

Priceless

The diet: 5 days down - many more to go!!! I used to eat this way, cleanly, way long before I became a bodybuilder, so snacking on egg whites and plain baked potatoes is nothing new for me. My waistline feels smaller and tighter and better already. Already I feel less like a linebacker, more delicate, and dainty... uh-huh...
By the way, I have the best training partner in the world! Not just because he is great to train with, but because he is a genuine and caring person - GW, you rock! The man comes in even when he can't train because he is not feeling well just to make sure I have someone to help me out ...that is, as they say, priceless...

Squatted on Monday. did 2 sets of squats, 315 x 6 and 335 x 6, with my new arch supports in tact. WOW!!!
I have always had trouble sitting back and pushing from the heel - No More! What a difference.
Now I can really squat the way you are supposed to squat! :) :) :) My weight is evenly distributed across my foot.I can get deeper much more easily and less awkwardly. Maybe I can actually learn to squat with "technique"...HAH! I could not do a third set, however.. friggin' leg pain. It feels like the sides of my legs are sprained...which confirms even more so the thoughts on my problem being compartmentalization. What is a sprain? Twisting and stretching of ligaments and other soft tissues... When I squat , I am involuntarily stretching soft tissue, fascia, that does not want to stretch. Kind of like a sprain... I can't find anything on the internet about relief of compartmentalization symptoms. The only remedies I know of are stopping (no way), surgery(I have heard a story or two -no way ), or when I am lighter in bodyweight the pain lessens. It is Friday and the pain is still quite prevalent - it will probably subside enough to squat again in two weeks, when I will aggravate it all over again and become half-crippled once more... woe is me.

Chest last night - I couldn't quite get into the "attack the bar" mode. So it was an "off" night in that respect. Still did 275 x 3 pauses benching. My left tricep push is getting stronger. That is usually where I fail. I believe the "static pressing" in the power rack is helping that along. GW decided to be my tyrannical trainer and made me do extended sets and such. Got me swole, he did!

~can't quite get into the cardio that I am supposed to be doing yet, because of the pain, though I am doing what I can. If I can't do real cardio, I at least walk, so I'm at least not being a slug. I am really set on being the best ever this time around in Pittsburgh.

I ordered my posing suits today from Sensational Designs, Rachel Ellis, who did my suits last year. She is very pleasant to work with. Going with a lavendar and a burgundy...as opposed to black and black like last year...picked one of my old posing songs and I'll just enhance the routine. That's the good side of never having had the chance of doing my routine yet - no one has seen any of them, so I don't need to come up with a new one! I plan on doing it this time...