Where Will I be in 6 Months? (Fitness World Blog)

This is a Fitness Blog World post: Where do you see yourself in 6 months from now...and what about in 2-5 years from now? 


That is always a question people ask at job interviews isn't it? And why do you think people want to know such a thing? I can tell you.


They want to know if you have goals and a purpose, or are you floundering along hoping that things just "work out right".


I know exactly where I will be 6 months from now, I will be in sunny Mexico, at Hacienda Eden, wearing an ever so skimpy bikini, laying on my chaise lounge, reading a book, sipping a margarita, talking with Cindy and Joe!

I will run and do plyos along the beach every morning before anyone else wakes up. Isn't this a beautiful beach? 

We will all enjoy great Mexican food, sitting with our bare feet in the sand and pretty much doing nothing.

I go every year in February, it gives me something to look forward to and a great way to escape the cold, wet winter of California. I have already made my reservations, I have my airline tickets, I only need the rental car and I am set.


In terms of my fitness goals, I see myself continuing on with Roy, and taking advantage of his knowledge to add more size on my legs, yet maintain a low level of bodyfat. My training program always changes, but I am not one to try a new revolutionary idea as seen on TV, then skip onto another one when I don't see immediate results. 


I will be heavier in weight (I am sure), higher bodyfat (not much), and will also have a very, very happy family because I will not be on a "diet" and I will make wonderful foods for them. Life will be post competition bliss for everyone.


2 to 5 years is a different story, some of the events will surely repeat themselves, such as the annual vacation, and I will always continue my weight training, but the big question is,  will I still be competing? 


I cannot answer that right now. I have enjoyed competing on so many levels, yet there are always times when I despise it like a pet that I have adopted, yet must care for and nurture, although it seems to be the devil I have invited into my home.


If I am still competing, I would like to be competing in Women's Physique instead of Figure. This goes along with everything I want about adding more lean mass to my frame, and maintaining a muscular physique. This means I will be in the gym, lifting heavy, eating well, incorporating some of the dreaded cardio, and sculpting my body into the body I want.


Whether I end up on stage or not is not really of consequence, you see, I don't lift weights to compete, I compete to lift weights.


It's all about priorities.


Please take the time to stop by Fitness Blog World and read what all the other writers have to say about their short and long term goals.

How Has Fitness Changed My Closest Relationships? (Fitness Blog World Post)

Today's post is a Fitness Blog World post, we are all writing about this same topic, so please be sure to visit the site to read about all of my sister's experiences too! Our question to ponder was this:

How has fitness changed your closest relationships? For good, bad, or both?

It's a tough one to answer, and I think I need to say:

"The good, the bad, and the ugly"

It's also way too much for one post as it can go in so many directions. I will of course need to focus on my husband, David and my son, Cooper.

I was going to focus in on fitness as opposed to competing as they are two completely different worlds. But I wrote and wrote and found that it is my life now, whether it is "on season" (when I am on a very strict diet and training twice a day) or "off season" (when I am not so strict, but still monitored diet and training once a day.)

David and Cooper love to eat and love to dine out, I do too. I think that my attitude toward a "cleaner" style of eating has impacted this. We do not go out as much as we used to. When it is close to a competition, I encourage them to go out without me, but they tend not to and this makes me feel a bit guilty.

Here the two of them are, we were just at McClintocks in Arroyo Grande when we visited my father. Steak, potatoes, mushrooms, wine, garlic bread, beans.  I had steak and vegetables, Cooper got to eat all the rest of my food!

I think it may be very easy for someone to be very self centered and self absorbed and forget about the people around them. It takes a lot of effort to remember that they probably don't have a desire to eat fish and vegetables all day long, everyday like me.

David loves to go wine tasting and we used to do that quite a bit. Now, it's not on the agenda much. Sometimes I go and drink water, I don't mind at all, in fact it seems to provide people with all sorts of things to say and discuss with me. It's also fun to watch people get a bit high and I am straight as can be.

In the picture below, David and Cooper are at Tablas Creek Winery, this is a very prestigious winery and they have fabulous wines. I didn't taste. In fact, the woman who was assisting us, Mary, immediately asked me if I was a competitor, and said she could spot me as soon as I walked in. She and I ended up having a very long conversation while the boys just kinda helped themselves! She is a runner and a trainer, she was telling me about her accomplishments and asking about mine.

As usual, the question was posed to both David and Cooper: "You must be so proud of her!"

Honestly, they get asked that all the time. I know that they are, yet they also want to tell the people how hard I work for it, how much time and effort it takes, it's not all a bed of roses.

Like wine making (David's hobby), everyone thinks it is so glamorous, well I know it's not, it takes hours and days and months of hard work, usually in cold wet conditions, late at night.

Cooper is having fun, David is enjoying the wine. Cooper decided that he wants to make his own wine now, and that means grow the grapes, harvest, crush, ferment, press, rack, bottle and age. Of of course there is the drinking too.

Here he has selected his "little buddies" to go home with him. 

Fitness has changed our relationship in many ways, and I think it is important  to know that come August 18, 2011 David and I will have been married for 27 years! And we lived together for 5 years prior to getting married.

So, LIFE has changed our relationship, we have both grown up, grown older, grown into things, grown out of things. We have developed our own interests and hobbies, yet we are very much involved with each other. 

Fitness has influenced how I treat myself and therefore how I treat the people I love. I want them to eat healthy like I do, yet they don't necessarily have the same idea of what "healthy" means. 

We have learned to compromise a lot. I have learned to make sure I have the foods I want and need at all times, and I will make meals for the boys, unless I cannot for some reason.

They will eat a different meal than I will, or I will change bits and pieces so that it is more palatable to them and it fits my diet.

David and Cooper know that my training is probably the most important thing in the world to me, besides my family of course. I won't miss my training for anything and they make sure to make plans around it. That's really why I started getting up at 4:00 a.m. That way I could fit in the gym and not impact them as much. I don't go to the gym early to get to work on time, my WORK schedule is arranged around my training schedule!

I have learned to be much less dependent on anyone and less whiny. There was a long time in my life that water had to have ice, food had to be hot, meals always had to have three things on the plate.

I now drink any water, as long as its clean. I eat any food, (as long as it has the correct macro-nutrients), any temperature, and I usually eat out of bowls. God I sound like a dog!

Here is Cooper crammed into the back of the mini-cooper with all our luggage and his 6 "little buddies" Rossanne grapes.

I believe that I have strengthened the respect that Cooper has for me because of my fitness. There are many 17 year olds who wouldn't give their parents the time of day. He will come talk to me about training, about lifting weights, about food and nutrition. His friends will ask me if they should take a certain supplement and how much. I was the team mom for his Varsity lacrosse team and advised all the parents and kids on what to eat before, during and after games, they all listened and so did he. By the way, gummy bears are a great snack during high energy games for them!

I feel that my "fitness" and particularly competing has provided me with an amazing amount of confidence and self love. I LIKE myself, and to be able to love others, you need to start with loving yourself. I am proud of my accomplishments and where I am in my life, I know what I want and I make sure I do whatever it takes to get it.

It has also made me very conscious that I have some extremely particular needs, and both David and Cooper are aware of them and make efforts to ensure they are  met. For instance, they know that I must eat as soon as I walk in the door from work, sometimes David has already heated up the food for me.  I eat, then can help them make dinner. I literally cannot function without my food and they know it.

They have learned that the body is an amazing piece of machinery, they see mine go through so many changes. David will look at me and tell me it must be time to eat when he sees my veins protruding out all over my arms.


We have all learned to respect each other and each others needs, or each others desires and wants.


We have learned to listen to each others needs, whether they are emotional, spiritual, or just the need of "stuff". We have learned to honor our own interest and have each become our own person. I know many married couples who seem to be connected at the hip. That may be a good thing for them, but I don't know how two individuals could actually want the same thing all the time. They must surely have unique desires?


Fitness has no challenges as far as I am concerned, becoming "fit" or leading a life that is 'fitness" focused has only been positive for me and my relationships.


I cannot say the same about competing though. I feel that competing is not particularly good for a relationship, unless both people are into the same thing. When competing, you eat, sleep, train. That's it, there is one focus, and it all varies by the person, depending on their own fitness level year round, their own healthy or not so healthy eating habits year round, and their ability to diet. 


I eat almost the same all the time, I will just add some things in certain times of the year. I never eat nachos, I am not a chip dipper, I have one candy bar after a competition, I hate soda. Dieting is not so hard for me.


However, the intensity of the focus, of the timeline that needs to be met, of the constant pressure to improve does cause me stress, and the people around me will feel it. Food must be eaten on a very tight schedule, sleep cannot be interrupted, training must take place but the energy level sometimes wanes.


This is when I feel everyone wants something from me, something I cannot give, there is not enough of me to go around.


I will break, usually about 4 weeks out. Fall apart really, and it will last a couple days. 


This is the type of thing that every competitor I have ever met goes through, and their partners don't deal well with it, how could they? They can start to resent it all, the time that is taken away from "their" time for all of the silly training and eating and sleeping. They may smile and say everything is alright, what else can they do?


At some point before every competition, (and I have been in 6), I will vow never to do it again. I don't want to have to diet so strictly, to feel hunger constantly, to be exhausted yet still have to go BACK to the gym after work when I was there before work. When I sequester myself so everyone else can enjoy their food and I just don't want to watch, I can't take it. 


At some point, I will figure out what makes me do it yet again. At some point I will feel that I have achieved what I set out to do. 


My family watches me go through this, and never once have they said to stop. They see me struggle, and they support me. They also see me elated when I have  stepped off the stage, always, always with at least one trophy in hand. That silly plastic gold colored caricature of a woman, clutched in my dirty hand, the smile spread wide across my face.


My competing has taught us all to support each other in our struggles, be they externally or internally driven.

Fitness? It has made life better. Competing? It's like Harry Potter, there is a lot of magic but there are also some very frightening events around unknown corners.

Please stop by Fitness Blog World to read what others have to share on this same topic!

Senior Citizen

Yes, me.

My husband always says I have a "skewed body image" and he is probably right. I never think I am hard enough, muscular enough, slim enough, tight enough, I can go on and on and on.

I think that I am a bit obsessed with my body and that may be why I work so hard at staying fit. I don't think it should matter why a person chooses to do it, who is to say that the pursuit of health is more noble than the pursuit of looking good naked?

As long as you are pursuing something with a passion, I think you deserve credit.

Now back to my skewed self image. I do honestly think I look great- especially for my age. I don't think I look 50.

But the other day I was slapped in the face with my age and I was quite stunned!

In the picture above I had just returned from the grocery store. I had on some "active wear" pants (fancy name for man made material sweats that hug your butt and cost a fortune) and a t-shirt from Tilly's- my favorite t's and they are $7.99.

I ran into the grocery store (not my usual one) and bought some things. The clerk looked up as he was near the end of my groceries and he looked me right in the eye. I thought he was, you know, "looking me in the eye" and then I see it!

On the screen that displays the price of the groceries pops up this:

Senior discount -$2.84

Oh my god!! He thinks I am a senior citizen! I was horrified.

Ok, so now I really am questioning how skewed my self image may be because I was strutting around feeling about 25 or so, and now I walk out feeling 65.

As you can see in the picture above, I recovered from my shock by the time I got home and I was laughing about the whole thing.

But, I keep thinking about my own image of myself and then what others see. I think I am not as fit as I should be, yet people comment on it all the time, complete strangers ask me about it.

I think I look really young, yet a clerk thinks I am a senior citizen.

I guess it really is true, that beauty is in the eye of the beholder isn't it?

Thank goodness I see beauty all around me.

Training that "Fits"

Do you walk into a shoe store and sit down and tell the salesperson "give me shoes I will like that make me look taller and slimmer"? And then you expect him to bring you exactly what you needed, the same shoe he would bring everyone else?

No, you probably go find some shoes that you like, then ask to try them on, and feel how they fit, then decide if you like them. Maybe you don't like them, maybe you do. They need to fit just right or you won't buy them.

You need to do the same with a trainer or a training program.

I like to watch the trainers at my gym, I think might learn something. Unfortunately, more often than not, I only learn what not to do. Not every time mind you, but quite often.

Most of them stick to the same old thing time after time. In fact, I see some who have all of their clients do the same workout! Can you imagine? Obviously that isn't tailored for the clients is it? It is tailored for the trainer's convenience. How can any trainer even think that the same workout will be appropriate for different ages, body types, skill sets, goals?

Then there are some who never leave a small patch of padded flooring, they always have their clients use a ball or a mat or those plastic discs or some other gadget that basically does nothing, and he stands there talking. I haven't seen changes in his clients in over a year.

When you decide to hire a trainer, you first need to get an idea of what your goals are so you can actually articulate this to them. Then, you need to interview them and ask what they would do to help you accomplish this goal.

Do you need someone who will push you and be with you? Or do you need someone to teach you proper form? Do you just want someone to spot you? Do you even know what you want? You have to be able to tell them what you expect if you are expecting anything from them.

Talk to some of their other clients, ask them what they like about their trainer and what could use improving.

I talked to a woman the other day who is overweight, by more than a few pounds. She said she hurt herself doing plyometrics that her trainer instructed her to do. A trainer has no business telling an overweight person to do box jumps or squat jumps, obviously they will get injured.

If your trainer tells you that he or she can help you lose weight and gain muscle at the same time with their expertise, question it. If you are not in an "elite" category already, and first need to get down to an average body fat, they are handing you a pack of lies.

We all want to lose body fat and gain lean muscle mass at once, and it is possible, but extremely difficult and it takes years of training and experimenting with your diet to find the exact program that works for you.

Your average trainer at a gym most likely cannot do this for you, you will need a qualified nutritionist, one who specializes in athletes.

While training is vital, you will not show gains without proper nutrition, all the time. You cannot out train a bad diet!

Some food for thought.

The Rebound

The weeks following a competition can be really rough for some people. It's called the "rebound"  it hits some hard, and it hits others even harder.

I guess it can be similar to postpartum blues, you may feel depressed, unmotivated, you over eat, or eat things you wouldn't normally even consider putting on your plate. Some find that getting back to the gym is difficult.

The worst for me has been the psychological effects of gaining weight. Now, at competition time you weigh less than is healthy, bodyfat is abnormally low, and it is virtually impossible to maintain this for long.  You have to gain weight, just to get to where a normal, healthy person should be.

It's tough to see yourself as a sleek, svelte, beautiful human specimen one day then several pounds heavier only a couple weeks later. I gained 9 pounds in 2 weeks, then I lost 3 for a net gain of 6.

I think I do a fairly good job by allowing myself to eat almost whatever I like for a few weeks, but I maintain my schedule of eating and don't gorge all day long (I actually did two of those days).

I only took two days off from the gym afterward, then launched right back with a new program which gave me something to look forward to, changing things up helps.

Although I am now only 6 pounds heavier, I still put myself through torture thinking that I have gained too much, when in reality I still look fantastic. I can't help it, it's part of the "dark side" of competing in a body conscious sport. Your mind plays really stupid tricks on you. Sometimes, it's hard to get a grasp on what is real and what is all in your mind.
 
You can see this in all competitors, just look at our Facebook posts, we all talk about enjoying a simple treat like the world will come to an end, and luckily, we all try to keep each other in check.

David tells me all the time that I look great, in fact, I even know I look better with more weight on, it's just when that belly is soft, I get kinda freaked out for a while. It usually takes me about 5 weeks, then I get it all back into perspective.

Yesterday (Saturday) I looked forward to the gym as I could spend as much time as I wanted to and not worry about being late for work, or cutting my training short. It was leg day, "Quadzilla Lite #3" and I was looking forward to a really hard workout. Here is what I did:

Front Squat 5x8 @ 135 pounds (40 reps)

Back Squat 5x10 @ 155  pounds (50 reps)

RDL's (Romanian Deadlifts) 5x10 @ 135 pounds (50 reps)

Leg Press 3 Drop Sets 20 reps @ 405 pounds, 30 reps @ 315 pounds, 50 reps @ 225 pounds.
 

Leg Extension 5x10 @ 90 pounds (50 reps)

Pistol Squats 3x5 each leg with a 12 kilo kettlebell (15 reps)

Walking Lunges 5 sets of 30 seconds walking, 30 seconds resting holding a 20 pound dumbbell in each hand.

This was my hardest "Quadzilla Lite", I saved it for Saturday so I would have enough time. I put the reps down to emphasize how many times I moved my legs in this workout, and if you add it up, not counting the lunges, that was 320 repetitions. With weight. At 6 am. Actually it took me an hour and a half so 6am to 7:30am. That's a lot of reps.

I then had to get my cardio in. I don't do much cardio typically; however, as I have gained so much and am still not in a frame of mind to accept it, I have been trying to lose a bit before I level off.

I headed over to the stair mill for a 20 minute interval session.

There was a woman on the stairmill next to me when I climbed up, she appeared to have been there a while. About 10 minutes later, she climbed down and went to an elliptical in front and started on that. She wasn't in bad shape at all, but nothing striking about her came to mind.

As I ended and went to toss my towel into the bin, she leaned over to speak to me:

Woman: "Are you a trainer here?"

Me: "No, I am not"

Woman: "I have been looking at you thinking to myself 'that is the body I want!'"

Me: "thanks, that's great to hear, but I am just coming off a competition, I compete in Figure, so I am looking almost as good as I get, and it won't last that long" (we then talk about the difference in Bodybuilding and Figure).

Woman: "Really?! You compete?! I can see that, you look fantastic, I would love to look like you."

Me: "Well, I will tell you what, start lifting weights. What I don't do much of is cardio."

Woman: "Yes, that's what a trainer here told me too."

Me: "Look around you, look at the people you see doing cardio all the time, they don't look very good do they?"

Woman: "No, they don't that's for sure."

Me: "I started lifting weights when I was 40, I am now 49, you can do it too."

Woman: "I am 44! I can do that. I woke up this morning and said to myself 'you are awake, start your program now!', so I am here."

Me: "You know, a good cardio workout is running up and down bleachers if you can, you don't need to do it long, it hits your whole body, great for the butt, it is a great workout."

Woman: "I will try that, thanks!"

We then chatted a bit about training and frequency and I then excused myself.

Encounters like this happen frequently, although this one was really needed. It came at a time when I was not yet recovered, I hadn't emotionally "rebounded" fully. I am still trying to see myself accurately, as others do. I needed this stranger to help me, I needed the assurance, the boost to my self esteem, I needed another woman to ask me how to look as good as I do.

I will get there, it won't be long, but it is still a struggle for me everyday.

Fortunately, I don't suffer through the binge eating and massive weight gains that many others do. I think that most competitors who do struggle with this are those who had eating disorders at one time, or have struggled with weight and perhaps were extremely overweight at one point in their lives. For those women, the "rebound effect" may be all too familiar and all too haunting.

If you see yourself here, think about this, give yourself a break, shoot me an email if you want to talk. You know you still have a physique more stunning than 90% of the world's population, don't forget it!

Pick your personality

Another fun motivating story from the book "Winning Ways: How to succeed in the gym and out"

This is how to build a winning personality.

Go in a gym and you'll see people who you just know are going to make great progress: they attack their workouts; they don't coast through the tough exercises; they make each set count. And they have an air about themselves- it's as if they expect to succeed and you can almost feel it. They talk about how these people are winners, attributing all manner of good things to them and summing it up by saying they have terrific personalities.

You know the other half of this story: the people who seem destined to lose at everything they try; the people for whom failure seems to be a required result no matter what they are doing. Building biceps, taking a test, handling a job: it's always the same and it isn't good. Once again, others mark them as perennial bottom feeders.


The truth is that what we often take for permanent personality characteristics are extremely malleable; these are usually things that can change with the social situation we're in; things that we can help control. This means that what your are isn't what you have to be. You can change who you are and become what you want.......

The first step in your transformation is to pick the the type of personality you want to have. In our example, you would want to be someone who isn't just enthusiastic about training when he's lying on a couch watching his favorite muscle video. You would want to be the type of person whose deep-rooted enthusiasm motivates and sustains each workout. You look forward to training and can't wait to get started when it's time to do your first set.

You can't wait to get to your heavy sets and you welcome the chance to set a new PR, no matter how hard the required effort or how small the step forward. After training it's an automatic, natural reaction to get the nutrition and rest required for optimum recovery and progress. You're brimming with energy and it seems as if the harder you train, the harder still you want to train. It's great- you've become a self-sustaining automatic training machine.

To reach this state you need to cultivate the right thoughts and behaviors. Gone are the people who liked to tell you that lifting weights was a waste of time. Gone are the people who tell you that you're genetically suited to be a wimp. Gone are the people who say that they never built more than a 16" arm so why should you expect any more. Gone are the people who always say "no," "can't," "never." Gone are the thoughts of everything that could possibly go wrong along the way. Gone are the late night binges that cripple the next day's training. Gone are the junk food diets that can undo the best efforts in the gym.

In the places of all these downers are the elements you need to build the successful you. What are some of the pieces you'll find helpful? Here are the people who have always believed that you can do what you dream about. Here are the people who are in charge of their own lives. Here are the people who like to challenge themselves and never settle for yesterday's best. Here are the people who do the things that others said were impossible. Here are the thoughts of how to make the next step forward, to make the next round of progress. Here is the discipline to eat, sleep, and think in a way that almost guarantees success.

As you can see, building a winning personality isn't just a bunch of emotional cheer leading or fanciful visualization- it's serious work. Along the way, you have to keep your eyes and ears open, trying to learn things that will help you reach your goal, many of them hard facts, and you have to keep your sleeves rolled up to do the work that will get you there. It's a challenge, but look at what you stand to gain.

It's your choice, winner or loser; pick your personality.

Hanging Leg Raise

The hanging leg raise is a great ab workout, but many people don't perform it correctly. I see many people using momentum to swing their legs up, when you should be slowly contracting the abs to bring the straight legs up, hold for a few seconds then slowly lower again, everything in a controlled fashion.

This can be performed gripping the bar of a squat rack as I am doing here, or it can be performed with the padded straps that are made just for this purpose.

I prefer to grip the bar as I feel I can control my body better, and concentrate on a very tight core. It is difficult to do many of these at once, I superset them with reverse crunches. I will do 20 reverse crunches, then go straight to the rack, do 10 leg raises, and complete 4 sets of this without resting.

You need to go directly to my blog to see the video, it cannot be seen via the email distribution.

Getting Started Again

I am looking forward to getting back in the gym and lifting weights. At this point I believe it will be August 2, but I am hoping to get clearance for a bit earlier date. If I start back on the 2nd, it will have been 12 days of no training, longest I have ever gone.

I emailed SC to ask where I should start, I mean I don't think I can start back where I left off. I will probably not have the strength, and is it the right thing to do?

SC said " Go thru some volume, when you get back into it. That with the restricted calories and you should shed weight fast with the VO2 protocol and the shoe routine"

I bought a new 3 ring binder, yes I walk around the gym with a clip board just like a trainer does, and I know many people think it's rather odd, but it is the only way for me to ensure I am following my workout and accurately recording weights and reps. My new binder is chock full of training logs, daily nutrition, my mouth guard, everything I need to lift and train.

I will lift in the morning every day, then each afternoon when I get home from work is "cardio". Not your traditional style cardio, that has it's place pre-competition, this is hardcore, burn it up fast, blast your butt stuff that will leave you wishing you never embarked on this adventure!

Three days a week is Viking Warrior Conditioning, which I shall write more about later. It is a VO2 protocol kettlebell conditioning program, a program that is set by a gymboss, an interval timer that signals when to start and when to rest. Using the gymboss ensures that you don't rest too long, nor do you push yourself too much, it keeps you right on track.

Three days a week is my strength shoe plyometrics, although I suspect I will need to start with just plain plyo's for the first week.

Sundays are "bootcamp" that I do with "R" in the gym at the club. We set up a series of exercises we cycle through to make us sweat and breathe hard!

Here are my weights for the first three weeks:

Volume Training After Illness

It's Only Baloney

Kristy 2010 NPC San Jose

I have mentioned a wonderful inspirational  book several times, and I have a story from it that I would like to share here. The book is "Winning Ways: How To Succeed In The Gym And Out" by Randall J. Strossen, PH.D.


This particular story hits home with me, I have always believed that we shoot as high as we aim. If we settle for just "OK" we will no doubt be just "OK". But when we believe we will achieve our goals and our dreams, we do.

This is story #58: It's Only Baloney

The doctor came out of the delivery room and told the man that he could either save the mother or the child but probably not both. As good fortune would have it, both lived, but the baby's arm was broken during the delivery, and in such a way that all the nerves in his left shoulder were shattered.

Despite a surgeon's best efforts to reconnect the nerves, the boy would face life with one arm that was a caricature of the other. His left arm was four inches shorter than his right. And even though he spent his first six years with his left arm in a heavy steel and leather brace and his first thirteen years in twice-weekly physical therapy sessions, his left arm was virtually useless. He would never be able to raise it over his shoulder or even straighten it out; he would never be able to clench or extend the fingers. In fact, learning to tie his shoes was one of the biggest challenges of his life.

But this kid was no whiner, so instead of cowering in a corner, he squared off with his challenges. For every insult he had to endure, he just got tougher as he fought back. When he was 14 he said "I discovered that $42.00 was all I needed to erase the hated image of myself that faced me every night from the mirror...My left arm hung crooked by my side, practically without muscle" Forty-two dollars, you see, was the price of a barbell set he'd seen advertised in a magazine. Since his family could barely afford the dollar for each of his therapy sessions, he knew it was out of the question to ask for $42.00. What did he do? He saved the .10 cents he'd been spending on bus fare from the hospital twice a week, first by walking and then running the five miles. That, he said, marked the beginning if his athletic career.

He got the weights and put them to good use. It wasn't too long afterward that he began playing high school football, earning his eligibility by wearing a baggy sweater and keeping his arms behinds his back so the physician wouldn't notice his gimpy left arm. He won a starting spot by always trying to hit harder and be tougher than any other kid on the team. The kid with the withered left arm was moving up, and you might guess he went on to a nice job in a local car dealership, married his high school sweetheart, and lived happily ever after, with his high school football letter proudly displayed in the family room of his suburban home.

That wouldn't be a half-bad story, but the real one is even better. The kid gave the track team a shot, and one day he threw the hammer. Even if you've never seen the hammer thrown, you might guess that its a two handed event, which it is. As with the shot put, the best in the world are among the most powerful athletes on the face of the earth. If the kid had been a cry-baby, if he'd said to himself, "I'm only a cripple," he'd had never made it this far, but he wasn't one to let his vision be limited by the piles of "I'm only..." baloney. He stuck with the hammer, attacking the event with his characteristic ferocity.

Fast forward a few years to Melbourne, Australia, and the medal ceremonies at the 1956 Olympics. The reporters were yelling at the winner to raise his arms over his head for their victory photos. The man raised his right arm, but even to that day-the day he climbed to the highest level in his sport-he couldn't raise his left arm above his shoulder. Harold Connolly may not have been born with two good arms, but that didn't keep him from winning the gold medal in the hammer throw. It didn't keep him from making the next three Olympic teams, either. If he had succumbed to the "I'm only..." baloney, he'd probably have been a bitter man hiding in some dark corner. Instead, there he was, standing with the Olympic gold medal around his neck and the world at his feet.

The "I'm only..." baloney has a long history. It's been both proffered as a reason for not taking in challenges and, conversely, rejected as so much drivel. For example, in the Old Testament, when Jeremiah was told that he'd been appointed as a prophet, he tried to wiggle out of his mission by saying "I'm only a boy," which netted him the rebuke, "Do not say, I am only a boy." Jeremiah got the message and went on to work.


You might not be Harold Connolly or Jeremiah, but their examples teach us a lesson: Don't sell yourself short; don't ever limit your vision of what you can do; don't ever say, "I'm only..." because that's nothing but baloney.

Winning Ways if chock full of similar stories. Whether your goal is to lose weight, eat healthier, reduce stress, stop smoking, makes no difference. Believe in yourself and you will succeed.

Baby Steps, Giant Gains

I woke up yesterday pain free, the first time in 14 days!

I had been give the OK to start taking "short walks" so the previous day I walked 2.6 miles but it took me 50 minutes. Probably because it was the first bit of activity in four days and my head hurt a great deal.

Today, I woke with no pain, had my protein drink and set off, feeling really good. I walked farther, 3 miles this time and shaved 5 minutes off my time, so I walked farther and faster!

It was early, 6:30 am and a Saturday, so all was quiet. I looked around and thought, I could easily break out in a run and no one would know! I decided against it though, I don't want to push myself too much yet.

This is a good sign, I am getting better. The emotional lift from the respite in pain is amazing, I started to feel alive again.

The headache didn't start in again until 25 minutes after my walk, but the time without it was wonderful!

My family can always tell when I am feeling better, I start cooking! I pulled all the vegetables out of the refrigerator, to see what I could create. I parboiled collard greens, then cut them in a chiffonade. I peeled and cut a bunch of carrots, threw them in a pan added a big bag of mushrooms, cut into chunks, then added the greens.

I oven roasted everything together and after it cooled, I packaged it up in zipper bags, threw it in the freezer and now have my vegetables for upcoming meals.

Collard greens are amazing, they have such a sweet flavor. I never tried them until a friend of mine brought them to me recently. She lives around the corner and signed up for a CSA, but her husband has been out of town a great deal, so she cannot possibly eat all the vegetables, so I am the lucky recipient of her bounty. I have been home, she has been stopping by, it's been great.

Then I started in on Curry Chicken from The Eat Clean Diet cookbook. I have to change the recipe, it calls for chicken breasts pounded thin that will be stuffed and rolled. I have a pound and a half of "chunks" of chicken breast, you can see it in the bowl above.

If the chicken curry tastes good, I will post the recipe, it was easy, especially changing it the way I did.

"R" came by with a bottle of champagne, we sat in the backyard and talked, it was great to have her stop by, I have felt like a shut in, not going anywhere except to the doctor or the store with my husband driving.

I will try to take three walks a day, depending on how I feel. Life is getting better!

What Motivates You?

 

We are all motivated differently, but it seems quite evident me that motivation is really an internalized function. I think if you ask people who are successful and appear to be motivated, they may not be able to always give you a specific answer about just what does motivate them other than to be the best they can be. They have a drive, a need, a passion that only they can fulfill.

People ask me how I can keep getting up early every single day to train, don't I get tired of it? No, I don't. I live to train, I love to train, I feel most alive when I am in the weight room lifting weights. I am often oblivious to those around me when I am there.

I talked to SC the other day, he was my trainer for 3 1/2 years. Due to some logistical issues, we had to stop, but I hope to start up again soon with him. SC called to tell me about his vacation, we hadn't spoken in about 3 weeks.

It was great to talk with him, I told him about my competition, he told me about his trip. I went to the gym the next morning and as soon as I loaded the plates on the squat rack, I thought of him and I added more!

Just talking with him on the phone motivated me. When I was training with him, my weights went up every single week. You are not progressing if you are doing the same thing over and over, and I was doing that to myself. I knew I could do better and I knew that if I was lifting with him, I would be lifting more.

Find someone that motivates you.

I do get a great deal of motivation from reading, reading of others successes, failures and attempts. I have included some quotes here that motivated me, hopefully they may inspire you.

“I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. And because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”
– Hellen Keller

“Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.”
- Mahatma Gandhi

“We don’t see the things the way they are. We see things the way WE are.”
- Talmund

“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”
- Dr Wayne Dyer

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
- Thomas A Edison

“Your attitude, not your aptitude, determines your altitude.”
- Zig Ziglar

“If you’re going through hell, keep going.”
- Winston Churchill

“Champions aren’t made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.”
- Muhammad Ali

“Efficiency is doing things right. Effectiveness is doing the right things.”
- Peter Drucker

“Success is what you attract by the person you become.”
- Jim Rohn

“It isn’t what the book costs. It’s what it will cost you if you don’t read it.”
- Jim Rohn

And last, but not least:

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Back to Reality

 

It has only been one week since my competition, and I have already gained 11 pounds. Now I know a lot of that is glycogen in my muscles and water retention from all the sodium, so some will quickly fall off. It is emotionally and psychologically difficult the first two weeks. A competitor will go from looking ripped, fat free, tight, tan and simply beautiful to looking like an average person in just a few days; however it is really hard to accept.

I think it is very important for others to know how hard it is to achieve this look, not only the weight training and the diet, but the emotional difficulties. If it were easy, you would see a lot more people walking around like this everyday.

It is not possible to hold the "competition" look for long, I suppose that I could hold it for a bit, but it would be a struggle. One of the incentives that allows you to even carry on each day is the fact that you know once the competition is over, you can live like a regular person again.

I completely let loose for a week, and that means I allow myself to eat and drink whatever I wish, so of course my body soaks it all up like a sponge.

My stomach was tight and flat a few days ago, it now jiggles and is round, I am still amazed how quickly it transforms!

The other night I was reading a fitness magazine, and the "pro" bikini competitor said she was 118 competition weight and 120 off season. This is the kind of stuff that upsets me and it makes people everywhere feel like failures. The "pro" is not being truthful, we all fluctuate a few pounds, so why is she making it sound like her weight doesn't fluctuate between seasons? I have never met anyone who competes who doesn't add several pounds in the off season, that is the only way to add muscle and maintain sanity.

In a couple days I will go back to my diet and I will stop drinking again, save an occasional glass of wine, and I will then drop a few pounds, as I slowly adjust I will mentally accept my new body, a "real" body that is still fit and healthy.

I actually think I look best right in between, not my thin 120 pound competition self, and not my current 131 pound soft self, but right around 124 pounds. I have some curves and muscle, but not much fat. I should be there in about three weeks I think.

I have three sizes of clothes in my closet because of this process, so I never need to go buy new things, I just move into the next size up or down.

This is when I start getting excited about lifting again, as you must take in more calories to build muscle, although to add lean mass and not just fat mass, those calories should be from healthy foods, not junk. I am training hard, and plan to train my legs three times a week to grow my quads. I have been reading and studying, and I know I can do it.

I just need to remember the same thing I tell others:

"It's the journey, not the destination, enjoy the trip"

Willpower

I think what I hear the most from people is "you have a lot of will power". It's true, I do. I am also stubborn and when I decide to do something, don't get in my way.

Like anyone else though, my will power sometimes falters or seems to get the better of me. Recently I wrote about a book I have been enjoying called Winning Ways: How to succeed in the gym and out.

Story 25 is called Willpower Workout and has a great deal of wonderful information, but I like these seven steps on how to bolster your willpower, with #7 being my absolute favorite!

1) Set a goal: You have to know where you're going if you want to increase your chances of getting there. If the idea of committing to a goal is too frightening, remember that you're not signing up for life. Try, for example, sticking with a specific program for a six-week cycle.

2) Put on blinders once you’ve chosen your goal; otherwise you might be led astray by all sorts of distractions you meet along the way. Let’s face it, if you ask 10 different people how to approach your training, you’ll probably get 10 different answers. Cut down on the distractions once you’ve charted your course of action.

3) Believe in yourself and your ability to reach your goals. No matter what cycle you train on, which mental rehearsal program you choose, or how tiny you make your progressions, you will never improve continuously for long periods of time. In the times of slow gains, or outright reversals, it’s easy to throw in the towel, but if you believe in yourself, you’ll stick with it until you start gaining again.

4) Deal with problems directly, and remember that a partial victory is always far better that a complete surrender. If, for example, you’re having an off day and can’t make your planned weights, cut the intensity and boost the volume. You can always salvage some of the victory from what might have been a dud workout, and that’s what you need to do. Don’t just head home.

5) Make haste slowly because, except for special conditions, the matters of gaining size and strength take hard work over a long period of time. When you get impatient, you only increase your opportunities to get frustrated, and frustration will chip away at your willpower until there’s nothing left.

6) Remind yourself of what is going right, because plenty will be. Guard against the tendency to chew yourself out when things go south. Did you ever see someone make four weeks of steady progress before missing a lift then rip himself to shreds? Seek opportunities to reinforce yourself for the things that are still staying on track.

7) Enjoy getting there or rethink what you’re doing because you’re probably going to spend a lot more time in the process of arriving than you will as the finished product. Get to like what you’re doing instead of thinking about some light at the end of the tunnel.

Spray Tan

When you compete in Figure, Fitness or Bodybuilding, you have to be spray tanned. It's not just a regular tan though, this is a very deep, dark tan and doesn't last for days like the one you would get at a tanning salon.

This is done to bring out the muscle definition.

Many people have Jan Tana do their spray tan. You book and pay online (and it's not cheap), they send you a preparation kit to exfoliate and moisturize a week prior, then you receive your tanning time via email. Don't ask at the front desk where they are, it's a secret. You must call the cell phone number they email to you. Why is it a secret? Let me tell you more.

They will set up the service in two rooms in the host hotel. They upturn all the furniture, move it against the walls then cover the entire room, the floor, the walls and parts of the ceiling with paper.

Once your time to tan rolls around, which is always the day prior to the competition, you scurry through the halls of the hotel in dark sweats or pajamas (I wear soft cotton flannel pajamas and they are only used for this one purpose), with your hair up and flip flops on. You look pretty bad. Hungry, skinny, no make up, ratty clothes and tired.

When you arrive off go the clothes, dropped on the floor, on goes the shower cap, and the show begins. The TV is on full blast so you can watch something at least while they tan your front side, but the sprayer is so loud it's pretty much impossible to hear anything.

There are pop up tents and large spray guns, and other tents with fans to dry you. They usually tan two people at a time, and two people dry, it's a tanning factory line.

This is all done completely naked. Yes, you stand in front of a stranger, next to other strangers naked, while you are spread eagle getting sprayed. The spraying is several coats, everywhere (but your face for women) and then they use a puff to get smears, drips, wrinkles (gasp!) and to smooth everything out.

When you are done, you move over to another tent where a fan blows on you to dry the solution. Once you are completely dry, you slip your clothes back on, try to get back to your room without being seen and then spend the rest of your time sequestered in your room so you don't smear or drop liquid on your skin, or white patches will appear. It makes for a long evening because you need to be so careful.

One time I was lounging naked in bed, watching T.V. eating hot chunks of steak, and rolled a piece all the way down my chest and abdomen and it came to rest on my thigh. I watched in horror as a huge trail of bright white spots appeared all down my body, at every point where the steak hit my skin.

Luckily, I had Kevin from Jan Tana there and he fixed it all without a problem the next morning. All I got was a "girl, you gotta eat with clothes on!"

Kevin is no longer a stranger to me, he has tanned me several times and does a great job! Here is a video of Kevin McClain tanning Ava Cowan. Now, a regular tanning session would not be performed like this, but it does make for a great show!

Protein Mocha

I love mocha's, but I cannot have them. Besides the fact that they are loaded with countless empty calories, they are expensive!

I make my own every morning (except a couple weeks out from a competition, I have to eliminate it).

Everyday I bring my empty shaker cup and my small container with my post training protein/carb powder to the gym with me, I love Nutrition 53 Chocolate Lean 1. In that container is also L-Leucine, Glutamine and Beta-Alanine.

I wander into the cafe in the gym, fill my shaker cup up with ice, add the free hot coffee and my post workout powder concoction, shake well and I have a nutritious, delicious iced mocha to go.

It's a nice change from a regular post workout shake, gets some caffeine into my system and it tastes great. People often stop me and ask what's in the "miracle drink"...why do people always think that it is a magic powder or pill that makes people fit and healthy? They certainly help, but it's the training, every single day.

So, no mocha's for me right now, so I just fill my cup with ice and coffee, I have spilled the hot stuff way too many times as I zoom home from the gym!