Back in the saddle

I got home from Mexico Thursday night, the limo dropped us at about 11:00 p.m. it was oh so cold and wet, what a change. David stayed up and started laundry, Cooper took a very long, hot shower then switched on the TV he hadn't seen in days. I crawled into bed as soon as I could, I was exhausted.

I woke early, it was 5:30 and I couldn't sleep any longer, I crept quietly out of bed and started back into my routine. First, continue laundry. We would be leaving in a couple hours to go see Pop, so there was lots to do. After laundry I would need to pack some clothes for a cold, Central Valley climate!

I bundle up in a coat and go out into the garage to set up my weeks worth of protein drinks for pre-workout (first meal); amino acids for post training; and my branched chain amino acids for fluid during training.

I keep it all on my dryer in the garage, and since I am such an organized creature of habit, and always really tight on time, I find that getting everything ready for a week works well and I have what I need at all times. I can then just grab what I need and go.

I was actually craving a chocolate Lean 1 drink, and was happy to start my day with one.

I drink a Lean 1 combined with other supplements every morning. I also take L-Leucine, caffeine, Beta-Alanine and L-Glutamine.


For my drink while training I have X-Tend branched chain amino acids, and then afterward I take Gold Medal Aminos from Fitness Nutrition, a company started by Dara Torres (Olympic Swimmer).

Here you can see the concoctions all measured out and ready to go. The purple tops are the pre-training protein meal (and the other supplements added), it's like my own Ready-To- Drink, just add the mixture to water in a shaker cup!

The smaller containers in front center are the measured X-Tend (orange) and the medium sized ones on the right are the Gold Medal Aminos.

Every night I take one of each from the basket in the garage, put them on the kitchen counter and when I hop out of bed at 4:00 a.m. I have what I need. I mix my protein concoction with water in a shaker cup and take my supplements with it while I read the sports page, I then mix the X-Tend in my water bottle and take the Gold Medal Aminos in my gym bag to take immediately post training.

Supplements are also in daily pill reminder cases, I have four of them, morning, lunch, evening and bedtime. Again, all filled up on the weekend and the lunch times are carried in my purse, so I always have them.

Anal? A bit, but it helps me to be successful.

Sometimes when the sports page is boring I read my horoscope. I know they are silly and not true, nor can they be tailored for each individual, but sometimes it makes me feel really, really good. Today was one of those days and I know it was written just for me.

It said this:

You'll soon be involved in a project to restore, refurbish, or revive. What you wind up with will be an improvement on what came before.

Interpret it the way you will, I know what spoke to me, and it was immediate. Baby steps, giant leaps, zigs and zags, but all leading me in the right direction.

Proper Nutrition

My husband and son always laugh when I drink this right before bed, they say it looks like I am drinking melted butter.

It is actually amino acids.

I take a lot of amino acids and branched chain amino acids. They are the building blocks of muscle.

You will hear just about everyone say you need to eat a lot of protein to gain muscle, what you actually need is the amino acids that your body is able to pull out of the protein.

I eat the correct amount of protein, as prescribed by a nutritionist and I also drink a lot of amino acids.

Proper nutrition is a balanced diet, year round. You cannot go on a diet for a length of time, get ripped then go back to eating like the average Joe and expect to stay ripped.

Won't work, guaranteed.

You can relax your diet, but you can never give up the "clean" eating, not if you want to keep that gorgeous body.

Just like the human body adapts to training, requiring constant changes to keep from becoming stagnant and cease growing, the human body adapts to nutrition.

Eat the same old stuff day in and day out and soon you will suffer. You won't show gains, you may start having gastrointestinal issues, your body will rebel.

That is why it is imperative to eat seasonally. You need to include many different foods in your diet, one day you may have beans for your starch and one day brown rice (NEVER white). They have a different caloric value, and that is good, some days your calories are slightly higher than others. Keeps it guessing, just like in training.

Varying your foods is also good for your head- psychologically I mean.

I won't get into carb cycling, this is about a diet for life, not a diet for an event.

Include bright vegetables, greens, fresh fruit. If you choose what is in season (locally, not in Chile), then it will have the highest nutrient content, and you are sure to never get tired of the same foods as they will change with the seasons.