Recovery....AHHHHH

It is late, I am tired from nights of sleep deprivation due to coughing, sneezing, runny nose, stuffy head I am allergic to Nyquill nights...but wanted to just tell everyone a couple pieces of info:

a) I am feeling 10x better! Woke up this morning and I had officially turned the corner. YEAH!
2) I worked out my 42 week plan today and will share with you over the weekend. Week by week diet and training plan.

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Happy Friday!
Jess

Still Getting Down w/the Sickness

I had decided to take a break from posting until I got better...which I had hoped would be sooner than today. Not so. I went to doc yesterday and have a full blown sinus infection. Double worse for someone with asthma. Yuck. I HATE BEING SICK!! Did I mention that?

I went into work today and hacked up a lung so decided to come home at 3:30pm which was a good move. I don't think my office mates wanted to hear me coughing up lung biscuits all day (I know, gross - imagine being me! :)).

I lifted shoulders on Sunday and although I got a great workout (thank you Amber for your moral support!) and was even sore the next day but I got winded after a set of shoulder presses. I wanted to workout last night but felt terrible and I am still debating whether or not I can get a pump in tonight. I just don't know if it is a good idea. This is how I look at it: when I am lifting I am tearing my muscle fibers apart and my calorie and food intake is going toward repairing those muscles. BUT my body wants to use that energy to get me to feel better - and I know that the long term benefit of feeling better is that I can get better workouts. I was hoping to say adios to the muffin top before the end of the year but I just don't think it is possible.

What can I do with my time while I am "off"? MAKE MY WORKOUT PLAN FOR THE NEXT 43 WEEKS!! My energy and efforts will go toward making a clear plan for my workouts and nutrition for the next 43 weeks. Watch out! And yes, I will post my plan - I PROMISE!

Take your Vitamin C, get enough rest and take care of you! I wasn't doing any of those things and BAM! sickness.

Have a great week everyone!
Jess

Get Down with the Sickness

Jody got sick on Friday...I loaded up on Vitamin C and drank lots of water and today I woke up feeling like I had Jay Cutler sitting on my sinuses. Not so much fun. Clearly my husband has passed the cold torch.

I thought today's post could be about training while sick....I have read much about it....to train or not to train, that is the question. Since I don't have the flu and can keep fluids down, I can workout - just not at the same intensity level. I am going to go for a nice slow run...outside...fully protected from the elements and see how that treats me. And then later this afternoon after lunch, I will lift arms and possibly even light legs. I know it won't be at my regular level of energy but anything is better than nothing right??? Right?....:)

I have a 10 day challenge starting on Monday: increase intensity in all my workouts. I was thinking of the one thing I feel is missing (intensity) and how I can increase it and I just thought it takes 10 days to start a habit - why not increase my intensity for 10 days and then I will be locked and loaded!

Since I am sicky...I am going to save my energy for working out (and entertaining my family who is here celebrating Thanksgiving) and cut this blog short.

Thanks for stopping in and to quote my fellow blogger: Focus on the Fit not the Fat! :) Yeah!

Jess

P.S. Addendum - PM: I am officially sick. Toast. Sinuses killing me. Glad I got in an hour long run earlier this morning before I got really sick. 10 day intensity kick may not be able to begin on Monday. :(

Giving Thanks

It is Thanksgiving and I am giving thanks...

Thanks for my wonderful husband, best friend and soul mate. You are my rock. "Heroes don't Disappoint." I love you.

Thanks to my family - you are my best friends AND my family and I am so fortunate to have you in my life. My love for you grows daily and knowing you are there to support me is motivation in itself!

Thanks to my friends - you guys make me smile, keep me on my toes, hold me accountable and give me a reason to stop training occasionally! Love you guys!

Thanks for my health - I am able to do what I do (figure wise) because I have my health and I am without ailment. I am so thankful to have full use of my physical self!

Great day today! Got up - did 45 HIIT training on the bike and then made breakfast for me and the hubby. Protein waffles and 1 piece of bacon for me - unspeakables for the hubby! :)

I am getting ready to make my healthy pumpkin chiffon pie recipe (I will post here later - gotta make sure I tweak it for health properly before I post it!) then a hard core shoulder workout and then off to our friends Amber and Doon for healthy turkey day.

Today during our downtime I took all of my Oxygen's and Muscle & Fitness Her's articles and put them in sheet protectors and in a binder separated into abs, upper body, legs and total body. I then took all of the pro athletes diets I have collected over the days from back in the day when Oxygen published them along with the training article and put those in a separate notebook. Finally, I took all the contest coverage from the back of Oxygen and put into another binder. It is Inspiration on the Bookshelf my friends! If I am struggling for what to do for a workout - BAM grab my binder. If I am dialing in my diet - BAM - grab a binder. And if I want to remind myself of my competition and my goals - BAM - grab a binder. :)

Thanks to all of you who check this out! Happy Thanksgiving!
Jessica

Memory Lane...Two Weeks Out + Bad Blogger

I know, I know - it's been almost a whole week since I blogged. I am such a bad, bad girl! Work was crazy again last week (third week in a row) and then we went out of town last weekend to visit some friends. We left Thursday night and planned on taking Friday off but ended up working all day. Planned on working out while out of town - not so much!. The cool thing though....is that I am still gaining mass. I was checking myself out in the mirror at the gym and my shoulders are getting bigger - more dense. My quads are definitely showing more definition and biceps are bigger. This is a good thing....and yes, my fire is back as well although it is not a full fire yet but just a mini-fire....like the fire that is in the fireplace right after you light the paper and the wood - there is that big burst of flames and then smolders down a bit...I am smoldering.

Great leg workout today (Fike - my back is better - off me). I did 8 different exercises...all on my home gym (which is bad ass by the way)....laid on floor and used my feet to push up on the smith rack, sumo squats with heels up, forward facing hack squats, good mornings, lunges, quad extension, hamstring extension and a deep sumo squat. Awesome. Did 20 reps using both legs, did 15 on single...kept heart rate up for the full 75 minutes...did three super sets.

I had an epiphany about my body last week...I was looking at one of the guys in the gym who has "Annoying-Gym-Rat-Syndrome" or AGRS. This syndrome is characterized by a large, over sized upper body and itty bitty legs. It is clear this person spends hours in the gym....but he only focuses on his upper body because that is where is sees the most change. Then I thought to myself...what are you getting so annoyed with? You are doing the same thing! You complain about your hips and glutes and abs and yes you focus primarily on upper body. I have AGRS. Rats! Not cool.

In Oxygen's Glutes issue earlier in the year Carla Sanchez had a training program called Booty School. Basically it is 3 days of glute focused cardio and 3 days of glute/leg, high rep training. Her argument is that women carry their fat in glutes and legs and therefore women have to work harder to keep it off and keep it tight. Duh. I am avoiding training this area because I know it is the hardest to change. As a result, I am sending myself to Booty School!

And to make Krissa happy, I am including pics from last year when I was two weeks out. Which just goes to show you the body is an amazing thing during that last two weeks of manipulation!

OH! And I got my heart rate monitor back so that is super cool! I can tell my workouts have already gone up a notch!

Check back often over the next couple days...I will be posting daily through the weekends! Accountability! I found a direct correlation to blogging and workouts as well as keeping my workout journal and working out! Go figure! :)

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!
Jessica

Urban Adventure Race

Jody and I did an Urban Adventure race together last weekend and had a blast! It was a great 3 hour workout consisting of a lot of biking, running and yelling at each other :) but it was awesome! We took first place in our category beating our closest competition by over a half hour. The race required you plot coordinates on a topographical map and then you had to go to each checkpoint and get a sticker to verify....we started out on our mountain bikes and then spent the latter half of the race running. You were required to wear backpacks with a bunch of crazy stuff in it like an emergency blanket, poncho, etc. Results are at the bottom of the blow....we are team Ball and Chain. :) You know you love it!Sorry the pictures are so bad....I snagged them off the website.

Krissa - does this count as a before picture??? :)

If I can just get through the day today I will have lots of time for workouts over the weekend! This week has been crazier for work and last week was nuts. I can't wait for next week - when I have days off, I workout LOTS! So bring on Thanksgiving! Have a great rest of the week all!
Jess

Ball and Chain	Team - Coed	1	2:52
On Your Left	Team - Coed	2	3:24
Microgravity	Team - Coed	3	3:56

Pics

We took pics but we were in a hurry and the hubby only took the pic from the knees up....I should have checked it out before I looked at them on the computer but want to have the full shot for comparisons.

Just wanted to give all you picture hounds an update! :)
Jess

Goals and Ode to Jenny Lynn

Over the last few weeks - oh heck, I mean since my competition (in June) - I have struggled with body fat, adding mass, etc, etc. My good friend Jason (the Fikenator) has to constantly remind me that my goals are to add body mass and lean out in such a way that I keep my hard earned muscle. Duh. Still tough to do. Sometimes it feels like there is an echo in here! :)

So, as I was struggling with the whole muffin top issue and kicking myself for taking time off from clean eating and consistent workouts and I really started thinking about stepping on that national stage. For those of you who don't know about it....go to www.musculardevelopment.com and click on Contest Pics for all kinds of great pics from NPC and IFBB shows. When I look at the girls from past national contests who have received their pro cards, I know that is where to set the bar.

So I looked back at a couple of Jenny Lynn thoughts to get motivated..........

On her weight/body fat off and on season:
"Off season I generally run around at about 135-138lbs at about 15-16% body fat. For a contest I'm around 122lbs at roughly 7%. About half way through my contest prep my period stops and it comes right back the month after my contest. I'd like to see you add 5-6 pounds of muscle during these 12 weeks. It takes time, patience and consistency to add muscle mass."

Then I also found the email she had sent me in response to my first contest pics....and this is what she said (I deleted the stuff she said about my suit, hair and make up for the purposes of this blog):

"OK, had a chance to check out your pictures. 1st show...great work! You have beautiful structure so it's just a matter of adding some muscle and leaning out more.

OK, here are the changes I'd like to see you make not necessarily immediately but in time:

· Posing needs some improvement...really practice is key here. Do it 30 minutes every night! Be able to pull lats out better, relax hands and look more comfortable.

· Muscle Development: back, hamstrings, calves, abs. Your shoulders look good!

· Conditioning: Overall need to be leaner…If you were 14% here I’d say 10-11% would be good. Probably about 6-7 pounds. Definitely need to bring your glutes in tighter but if you get leaner it will happen. Track workouts are the best way for me to get my lower body in shape. I carry much more weight on my lower body too…we all do as women..lucky us! Also for the immediate future I’d go to super sets and giant sets for your legs to help get them leaner. After this contest split your quads and hams.

I hope this helps! If you have any other questions..let me know. And if I can help you in the future, let me know.

Love,
Jenny"

A) How sweet is she? Providing so many great comments while also giving me specifics about what needs to be changed.

2) HOLY CRAP! 6-7lbs of fat. Yeah, she is right. :(

In talking with Fikenator (you like how I bring it all back together??? You know you do!) we came up with the following:

Jenny Lynn is about 1.91 lbs of lean muscle (no fat) per inch while her weight fluctuates due to fat pre/post contest. Amazing. So, that means I have a lot of muscle to add - like 10 lbs or more really. I will have to wait till tomorrow to post Fikenator's exact mathal (new word, learn it - love it) equation...but basically, I need to pack on the lbs. I should be around 130 in my off season at 16% BF.

And my ode to Cynthia....I LOVE LOVE LOVE your blog/vlog today on focusing the daily activities that you know will get you to your result instead of your result. Now that I know what I want the result to be, I just have to make decisions and choices every day to get the RESULT I want.

This is going to be fun times. Jody and I are doing pics in the AM (he is asleep already (yes, I know it is 9:45) AND I will also give you guys an update on the week last week.

Keep squeezing to get the juice - it is worth it!
Jessica

Brutal Week....and Fun Memory

What a brutal week....as of today, I have logged about 65 hours at work....so after I wrap things up today I will be close to the 73 hour mark...it was a tough one....we were awarded some additional business that had a super tight deadline in addition to some very hot projects for our regular business so I was getting up at 4:30, working for 2.5 hours, going into the office and working through lunch (I normally lift over lunch) and then coming home, eating and working another 2-3 hours. Rough stuff. I got in two lift sessions and two cardio sessions. Very frustrating but I also know I am going to have weeks like this occasionally. Thank goodness I am not in full contest prep. I should be doing cardio now instead of blogging but I am not feeling very good - perhaps it the lack of sleep and waking up 2 or 3 times in the night worried that my designers won't be able to open Illustrator files (coo coo for cocoa puffs).

The learning for me is that I have to schedule my workouts no matter what (yes, I already knew that) and I have to always put my fitness first. I also have to recognize that our business is cyclical and some days it will require more than others...regardless, putting cardio and lifts at the top of the list is key. I also found myself having 20 or 30 minutes and not working out because I didn't think I had enough time to get a good workout - I have to remember anything is better than nothing! ;)

The good news....I hate perfect! I ate enough and at my regular intervals. I have made a promise that no matter how crazy it gets or if I am on vacation, etc...I will either hit my nutrition goal or my workout goal. Ideally both but if an exception has to be made, I will hit one of those goals.

I have to give a couple shout outs to some peeps:

Fikenator - so sorry about your bad news the week but trust me when I tell you everything happens for a reason. I have the job I have today (which I LOVE) because I was laid off from my last job. You may not know the reason behind it now but you will...we are all working hard to help you find something new bud.

Cynthia - hope you are feeling better girl and we are all sending good chi your way! You are such an inspiration and a motivation and I am on pins and needs waiting to get an update! Thanks for still making me laugh and smile through your updates and I am thinking of you!

Bette - you aren't just my mother in law, but my friend too! Thank you for being so supportive and encouraging! Love you!

My cherub - I am including the article and picture from our wedding day 5k in homage to you and what a wonderful supportive husband you are...I am so lucky to have you in my life because at the end of a 14 hour work day when we are snuggled up, I forget about all my stress. :)

For those of you that have a few extra minutes, if you click on the pic of the article above and zoom in you should be able to read about the 5k my hubby and I did on our wedding day. Yes, we broke the rules but it seemed so fitting for us to run a 5k on our wedding day considering how many we have done together since we first met. Yes, I am wearing a veil and yes, he is wearing a bow tie. :) Fitness is definitely a shared activity for us both and our relationship is stronger as a result...so we knew we had to run a 5k together that morning!

Have a great weekend everyone and Krissa - I promise I will post before pics this weekend. Just didn't have time this week....go figure!

Peace.

Faith

Since it it Sunday, I thought I would post about faith.

I have faith that even though I don't see immediate results, the fat will come off.

I have faith that my hard work and heavy lifting in the gym will add muscle mass and show through in my improved physique on stage.

I have faith that the clean food I eat today will get me to the level of leanness I need to be at come show time.

I have faith that the hours of cardio will bring me in as tight as I need to be.

I have faith.

Too tired for the full week recap - did a 70 mile bike ride this morning (after legs on Saturday afternoon - NOT SMART). Four hours on a road bike will definitely teach you about faith! :) Will do a week recap and weekly goals in the morning!

Keep the faith all!
Jess

Mass, Mass, Mass

Fikenator...this one is for you:

This thing happens...when you are building mass.....you get bigger. I know, I know - hello, it seems like I/you should know this - hence the idea of building mass. You build mass, you get bigger. The problem is, as women, getting bigger is not so much fun. Getting bigger means your clothes are tighter - you feel fuller - you feel fluffier. And when your goal is building mass, all these feelings should make you feel like you are accomplishing your goal - of building mass. For me, building mass unfortunately also means a muffin top. My hubby, who is my biggest fan, says I look great - better than 99% of the female population - but it still doesn't change the fact that feeling fuller & fluffier is challenging...to say the least. The key, is to be happy about feeling those things because it means when I strip all of the fat off my frame, I will look better than I did before - rounder, fuller, more cut.

I am working my legs a lot more this time than I did last prep...I know it is needed but doesn't change the fact that my pants are tighter through the quads. Again, that will mean they will look better, fuller...more cut.

Ok, so this is my new mantra - instead of feeling like finding some type of ledge to jump off when my clothes are tight, I will high 5 myself and feel like I am accomplishing what I am here to do! BAM BABY! Progress is good. Progress is key. Progress = success!

Have a great weekend! Week recap tomorrow! :)
Jessica

The Busy Days

Today I was slammed with work...NON-STOP worked for 2 hours before bed last night and then another 1.75 hours in the am (got up at 5am) BEFORE I got to the office and didn't leave until 7pm tonight. I only got in a lunch lift so today will be my planned rest day - no cardio. I am also going to carb up before I go to bed tonight with oats and a half a sweet potato. I have been feeling really lethargic and it feels like my body is reacting more negatively to the low calories than I had originally thought. So by adding a couple carb up meals a week and supplementing with flax seed oil and omega -3's my body should release some fat. Now, while I am bummed I didn't do cardio today, I also have to be realistic and allow my body to rest. I did eat clean all day (maybe not enough but clean).


Here is a pic of Jenny Lynn - my hero. She is amazing. This is her back stage before her victory (again) at the Olympia. I have pictures of her all over my house (pantry, computer, etc.) and they help me stay motivated on my ultimate goal. I subscribe to her forum and she is so dedicated to her ultimate goal. She is taking off a full year before the Olympia in 2008. Most competitors do multiple shows but she doesn't want to take a chance at losing mass.


This weekend will be full of cardio and lifts! Can't wait (wow, did I say that out loud).
Peace out y'all!
Jess