No Limits

I have a post every Monday called "Monday Morning Motivation". I know many enjoy it and many really don’t read it; however, it may interest you to know that it really is for me, it keeps me going and I just happen to enjoy sharing it. 

You can tell what’s going on with me by the theme that week, I always think about where my head is at the moment and if it’s not a good place, I identify why and write about what I need to do to change my thoughts. If it is a good place, then I just find quotes that reinforce my positive mood.

Although I am a really upbeat and positive thinker, I do have my moments of self doubt, and "down" periods.

Recently I have been struggling and have not been quite able to identify the reason. I am typically very good at it. If something is bothering me I sit and think until I figure it out, then I decide what I shall do to change it. It is a rare occurrence where I feel a situation is not within my control to change.

What puzzles me is this: Everything seems to be progressing exactly as planned, so why am I struggling? My training has felt particularly difficult in the last few weeks. I love to train, it is the highlight of my day, yet a few times recently I have felt like it was too much to even consider doing.

I do not have a competition planned in the near future so I am not stressed about that. I am not on a competition diet.  I am enjoying meals out and eating pretty much what I want, but still mindful of a balanced and clean diet.

Roy and I have been working hard to add muscle to my frame, I want to transition into Women’s Physique. My weight is up, way up, yet bodyfat is low. I have packed on muscle, a lot; I look like a little bull or a beefy weight lifter (I mean a real competitive one, not a weekend warrior).  My quads have gotten so big that I cannot wear some of my biggest pants, and the ones I can are pulled tight across my thighs, they bunch up in the fold of my leg/hip. Roy even said they are really showing increased size. My glutes are big and round, almost laughable actually. My calves are getting big; I have been training them diligently three times a week now for six months. A couple days ago David said “Your calves are looking curvy!”

No one has ever used the words “curvy” and “Kristy” in the same sentence before.

Three days a week I train with Roy, and we lift heavy, really heavy. I repeat those same workouts on my own so I train each body part twice a week.  I know I am lifting quite a bit, I don’t know any woman who deadlifts 205 for reps and I rarely see any men even do that. It takes a lot out of me. On the days that I train with Roy I train twice a day, and I am in the “off season”.

Wednesday is usually one of my most difficult days: quads.  When I saw Roy on Wednesday after work, I told him that I had a really good nap at lunch, short but I fell right asleep. It could be because I am working out of an apartment and I have a bed in my office.  Roy remarked that it was a really good thing “With the way you are training right now, you need as much sleep as possible.” Even he is recognizing that I am training harder than usual.

On the days that I train on my own it is tempting to shortchange myself, to tell myself that I am too sore or too tired to go as heavy as I should. And there have been times lately when I am so, so sore that I feel I cannot physically do it.

Then on Thursday morning my brother sent me this message on Facebook.  I woke at my usual 4:00 am and sat at my Mac drinking my shake, taking supplements, waking up. I was feeling fatigued, it was hamstring day and my glutes and hamstrings were still painfully sore from Monday. I was supposed to do multiple sets of back extensions with a weighted bar and then Glute Ham Raise with weight, I was dreading it.

This made me realize that I love what I am doing, and I have a valid reason for feeling a bit fatigued, I am pushing myself, but I have set my own limits and that is why I am struggling. I had convinced myself it was too difficult.

I no longer have limits. 

I will keep lifting heavier and heavier and adding the lean mass I have been working so hard for and I will continue to succeed. 


I am looking forward to my training on Friday with Roy, I bet the bench press will be easy.


I have a massage with Rachael immediately afterward, I will have her work on my hamstrings and glutes, her hands will eliminate the pain so I can squat on Saturday with even more weight than before.

Thanks little brother, for pushing me.

This is the story my brother sent, it is about Bruce Lee, the martial artist.

“Bruce had me up to three miles a day, really at a good pace. We’d run the three miles in twenty-one or twenty-two minutes. Just under eight minutes a mile [Note: when running on his own in 1968, Lee would get his time down to six-and-a half minutes per mile]. So this morning he said to me “We’re going to go five.” I said, “Bruce, I can’t go five. I’m a helluva lot older than you are, and I can’t do five.” He said, “When we get to three, we’ll shift gears and it’s only two more and you’ll do it.” I said “Okay, hell, I’ll go for it.” So we get to three, we go into the fourth mile and I’m okay for three or four minutes, and then I really begin to give out. I’m tired, my heart’s pounding, I can’t go any more and so I say to him, “Bruce if I run any more,” –and we’re still running-”if I run any more I’m liable to have a heart attack and die.” He said, “Then die.” It made me so mad that I went the full five miles. Afterward I went to the shower and then I wanted to talk to him about it. I said, you know, “Why did you say that?” He said, “Because you might as well be dead. Seriously, if you always put limits on what you can do, physical or anything else, it’ll spread over into the rest of your life. It’ll spread into your work, into your morality, into your entire being. There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level.”

Child's Play

I slept in on Sunday. On Saturday I had a wonderful day with David and Derek, we went to Santana Row. I had an appointment with Natalia at Atelier to have my bangs trimmed so the boys had a glass of champagne and waited. 

I said it would only take 15 minutes, but she was feeling creative or maybe it was the fact we were on display in the window, so she straightened my hair, it took a half hour but looked sleek and silky.


We then met at the bar at Left Bank and ordered a bottle of Champagne as we waited for a table outside, it was glorious weather. A waitress came up and started talking to me, asking me if I frequented another restaurant. I didn't, and she said she recognizes me. We chatted for a bit and she left all smiles. 


"Sister" says Derek, "She was flirting with you!" "Ha ha, yes I could tell!" I responded. We sat down outside, brought our champagne with us, and somehow she ended up being our waitress, and a darn good job she did too! I had a wonderfully healthy and delicious Salad Nicoise. Seared Ahi tuna, avocado, radishes, butter lettuce, anchovies, hard cooked egg, green beans, tomatoes, red peppers and a bit of tapenade and olive oil. I also enjoyed some of their wonderful truffled french fries.

Later David and I went out to dinner, so it was a long day and evening of good food and drink, so when I rolled over and looked at the alarm clock Sunday and it was 4:00 a.m. I realized I was only punishing myself by getting up so early, I switched it off and woke at 6:20, then headed to the gym for Back training.


I went up on all my weights, just as I predicted I would! I felt strong and excited. But my weights took me an hour and a half, and I wanted to get to the Farmers Market for eggs so I decided to skip my conditioning and I would do something later. Anyway, studies have proven that working out much longer than an hour is more detrimental than beneficial.


At 2:30 I decided to head across the street to run sprints on the track. I first hit the stadium stairs, running up and down several times for a warm up, then off to the track. I am a very fast sprinter, I can go like lightening, but not for long, I guess that's what sprinting is huh?


I sprinted the straight, then walked the curve. I did this four times and then at the beginning of the straight I see some kinds, they are trying to talk to me. I pull my earbuds out and say hi to them.


"Are you gonna run?" says the middle girl, she is about 9 I guess. I said yes and the little one, who appears to be about 6 jumps up and down "we wanna see you run!!!" I pop my buds back in and run the straight as fast as I can, then I walk the curve. I run the next straight and I see the girls run across to meet me at the end. I walk as they jump up and down beside me. 


At the start of the next straight is a boy now, along with the two little girls and big sister. I think the big sister is about 14 and the boy about 12. 


The 14 year old wants to talk, I pull out my earbuds. "We wanna see if my brother can run as fast as you, he wants to race you." "Oh, I am sure he can run faster, I am old." "No you aren't she exclaims." "I am 50." I say, and I hear them all gasp.


We line up. I tell them I will not be able to hear anything with my music in, so when he starts I will then start. I see her mouth the words "On your mark, get set, go!" and off he goes, I quickly take off and after 20 yards have easily passed him.  At the end of the straight I turn to look, he appears to have quit halfway through. I walk the curve and sprint the next straight.


Now there is another girl waiting with the other kids, she is older, maybe 16, so there are now five kids standing staring at me.


"You smoked my little brother." says the 14 year old. "Yeah, I did." 


"We wanna see if my older sister can run as fast as you." "OK!" Again, I tell them I cannot hear so I will start when I see her take off.


We start and it takes me 10 yards before I can pass her, then my adrenaline is surging through my body, I take off like a bullet. I end at the curve and look back, they are all jumping up and down, waving at me. I think they want to race more, but I am done, I have had enough fun.


I look at them and wave, and jog up the stairs out of the bowl, and home.


I had fun, it reminded me of what being a kid was like again. I will have to find some other kids to race again soon.

Antibiotics in Livestock

We all love to eat and we like knowing that our food is safe! Here we are: David, Cooper, me and Derek (my brother) enjoying breakfast at Mijita in San Francisco.


A while ago I posted about the dangers of eating meat- producers use all sorts of dangerous chemicals and antibiotics on a regular basis to ensure better profits. They have no concern about nutrition or our health.


A few weeks ago the federal government took notice and finally made a decision, citing drug resistance, they have restricted more antibiotics in livestock! 

Ranchers must restrict their use of a critical class of antibiotics in cattle, pigs, chickens and turkeys because such practices may have contributed to the growing threat in people of bacterial infections that are resistant to treatment.

Cephalosporins commonly treat humans as well as animals like chickens.

The medicines are known as cephalosporins and include brands like Cefzil and Keflex. They are among the most common antibiotics prescribed to treat pneumonia, strep throat, and skin and urinary tract infections. Surgeons also often use them before surgery, and they are particularly popular among pediatricians.

The drugs’ use in agriculture has, according to many microbiologists, led to the development of bacteria that are resistant to their effects, a development that many doctors say has cost thousands of lives.

The F.D.A. has yet to make final a guideline proposed in 2010 that would edge the agency closer to banning uses of penicillin and tetracycline in feed and water for the sole purpose of promoting the growth of animals or preventing illness that results from unsanitary living conditions. This issue has generated intense controversy among farmers and ranchers who contend that public health officials have exaggerated the danger of agricultural uses of antibiotics to humans.

When asked about the penicillin guideline, Mr. Taylor of the F.D.A. said, “We’re hopeful that in the coming months, we’ll be able to carry forward on that work.”

These are great steps in the right direction, but we aren't there yet, we have a long way to go.


Read my previous post

Emu Egg Omelet

Dang that's a BIG egg! David and I were shopping at the Mountain View Farmer's Market and were getting some meat- Jim had these huge Emu eggs displayed on the table. I admired them but didn't think of eating one until another customer started telling me how wonderful they were, and then I had to have one.

She said they made a very rich and fluffy omelet, and I love omelets, I can eat them three times a day and have actually been known to! Eggs are one of the best protein sources we can eat. Typically I eat egg whites and will add one whole egg, this would indeed be a special omelet. 

What she didn't tell us right away was that the shells are very thick, and actually collector's items so you need to drill a hole in the end and blow out the egg so the shell can be preserved. Sounds like a fun night to me!

This post has a couple very short video's so if you are an email subscriber, please navigate to the blog to see them, they really are an important part of this blog.

We would have an Emu omelet with some strong stinky cheese and truffles. A glass of sparkling wine and the evening would be complete.

First we drilled two holes in the egg. (Video)

Then, we, no I had to get the egg out of the shell. The Emu egg is a bit different than a chicken egg. Chicken eggs contain 37% saturated (bad) and 63% unsaturated (good) fats, while emu eggs contain 31% saturated and 68% unsaturated fats.  Both contain all 8 of the essential amino acids needed in human nutrition.  Chicken eggs contain about 65% white, 35% yolk.  Emu eggs contain 55% white, and 45% yolk.  The big green eggs yield about two cups of egg.  One large chicken egg is about one quarter cup.

I decided to get a very large stick a break the yolk up while it was inside the egg, this way I could blow it out of the teeny tiny hole. The texture of the egg was very thick, I could feel the thickness with the stick and it was rather gross. (Video)

Then, I had to keep blowing the egg out of the shell, it was very thick and didn't cooperate well.  David and Derek had a good time as I did all the work.

Here I am in action, the egg is starting to come out now. (video)

Now it's really coming out and it seems like it just won't end! There is an awful lot of egg in this big green orb! And look how thick it is, the stick is standing up in the egg!

Once all of the egg was out, I had to take a breather- that took quite some time! We heated a very large skillet and started to cook the egg(s).

Then, we grated some stinky french cheese we purchased in Berkeley at the cheese board, and I shaved some black truffle. Yes, I happen to have a dedicated truffle shaver, not that it gets used often enough.

The egg was too large for us, so the omelet turned into scrambled eggs. The cheese was gooey and melted inside,  and I cooked the egg only until it was just set and still very creamy- I hate dry eggs! A generous shaving of black truffle on top and dinner was served!


I will buy these again, the egg was rich, creamy and fluffy at the same time, it must be the extra yolk to white ratio! I don't know if we will have as much fun with the next one, but we will certainly try!

Training while traveling

I am visiting my father; my sister, Karen, and brother, Derek are with me. Friday I went into work, left at 11:30 to meet Roy to train shoulders, then off we go on a three and a half hour drive south. It would only take three hours but we stopped in King City for taco's.


The top was down, and poor sis got the back seat, although she was a trooper and didn't ask to put up the top for quite some time. She missed all the music and the conversation. (Email readers will need to navigate directly to the blog to view the video below).

Before heading off to bed Friday my dad says "Are you training in the morning?" and I think this is significant, I mean how many people use the word "training" besides people like me? Ha ha! dad knows me well, he doesn't say "working out" cause that's not what I do.

"Yes indeed I am!" Off I go to sleep on the floor in the office. There are two couches in the living room and I can have one, but I go to bed much earlier than everyone else so this seems like the best idea.

I sleep fine but wake up with a headache, very unusual for me, but I have set my alarm and am up at 6:00, the gym there opens at 7:00 and is 13 miles away.

It's quad day, it will be tough since I have a headache but I am hoping I will forget about it soon.

I walk in, the guy at the desk greets me like he knows me and says "Hey how's it going? Have a good workout!" so I walk past and don't bother to pay or fill out a waiver. Either he recognizes me or I just look like I belong here.

I warm up on the treadmill and think about what I shall do. They have some equipment here that my gym does not so I want to use it. I like this gym, I imagine that this is what a prison gym would be like. 

I have actually been in the yard of San Quentin before, this is a high security prison in California. I was subpoenaed to show and testify against an inmate and since he was so dangerous they made me come to him instead of letting him come to me.  They told me "don't wear blue and don't run under any circumstances." I remember, after I was told to take off my shoes, and received a full body pat down that I had to walk across the prison yard, unescorted while the men walked all around me. Now I know why I couldn't wear blue, they all had on faded blue shirts. I was frightened and just looked straight ahead, walking slowly, looking at the door across the yard which only seemed to get farther away even though I walked closer and closer.

This gym reminds me of that, although I am not frightened or uncomfortable, because it's all men and they all wear wife beaters, white or black. Many wear hoodies, it's cold in here and big, there is no heat as it would cost way too much to heat the place. The men move slowly through the huge gym, almost in a trance. Most only train upper body, they are concerned with how they look in their tank tops, they have big puffed out chests, muscular arms, and thin, skinny legs.

I started with front squats, every quad day will have squats. The headache made it difficult, I couldn't go real heavy. I warmed up then did 5 sets of 10 with 95 pounds. I then used the hack squat, I love this and wish we had one but we don't. Since I have only used a hack squat a few times I have no basis for comparison, but I threw 2 big plates on each side and went as low as I could. 5 sets of 10. Then the leg press, again, I knew I could do more but the head got in the way. I had only 3 plates on each side, let's see...that is only 270 pounds, but add the actual machine and it's a bit more. Finally a leg extension machine with weight stacks for each leg, this is hard to master and I like it. I had 50 pounds on each side, so it's like uni-lateral raises with 50 pounds I suppose.

One hour, 15 minutes and the headache has prevented me from going as heavy as I would like, but it was still good. There was no space for me to do my conditioning as a "body pump" class was starting, and now in were coming the women. I used the step mill for my cardio. 

I showered, dressed and drove back in search of coffee. 

When I got home at about 9:15, everyone was up waiting for me, they were hungry. They all offered their solutions for my headache. K.K. (Karen) offered Advil, Dude (Derek) showed me an acupressure technique to relieve the pain. He took my left hand and gently squeezed the fleshy area between my thumb and first finger, I yelped in pain. "Yes he says, you have a bad headache." And we start laughing, "Um, that's my hand, not my head you squeezed." 

He explains that if you have a headache, you squeeze this area and gently massage until the headache goes away. I start massaging.

Dad tells me to sit back and relax and tell him about the headache, where is it, what color is it, how does it feel. I describe it as a pomello, red and encompassing the entire back of my head. 

More coffee, breakfast and soon my headache is gone. I don't know what made it go away though, time; Advil; massage; or imagery.

Keep this in mind when embarking on a training program. If you do too much, or switch programs too soon or often, you may never know what exactly was effective. Stick to a program long enough to be able to determine if it is successful.