AHHHHHHH! I Got a New Attitude!!

Blame it on finally getting out of my late onset post competition blues (LOPCB), Cynthia getting crazy with her not so subtle comments and/or blog posts involving ME and me finally letting go of the idea of competing this year.....and just when all of those things happen....BAM!

I mean....

BAM! Everything has changed for me.

I found Scott Abel (thank you Cynthia) and discovered his forum, a few of his products and A LOT of his methodologies and everything has changed for me. Most of all though, Scott's ideologies over training and dieting and metabolic damage are ground breaking and really speak to me.

Here has what has changed for me:

1. I no longer obsess over what I eat. I plan my meals and my calorie staggering but I don't feel guilty if I miss a meal or feel awful if my macros are off by 5%.
2. I no longer have to do cardio in the morning on an empty stomach. I know that at some point in my day (usually planned) I will get in an awesome workout - 70-80 minutes of ass busting hard work. And if I can't, I know I will tomorrow.
3. I no longer have to lift a body part and then do cardio. My workouts incorporate both.
   
4. I no longer obsess over cardio with friends or family as too much, too little, not enough. I can run or bike with them and ENJOY myself. Who knew?
   
5. I no longer freak out over eating _____ before a workout or _____ after a workout. I do my best to have good pre and post workout nutrition however I no longer freak out over it.
6. I no longer freak out over planning my workout. I push myself hard and have a great workout. Nuff said.
   
7. I haven't been on a scale in 3 weeks but my muscles feel tighter and I feel leaner.

Here is what all of this really means and what I learned from my two figure comps last year:

I want to look like an athlete EVERY DAY. Not just for the 2 days I am stage ready.

I want to look great 365 days a year - not incredible for 2.

Scratch that:

I WILL look like an athlete EVERY DAY. Not just for the 2 days I am stage ready.

I WILL look great 365 days a year - not incredible for 2.

If I can compete considering all of these things...great. If competing means compromising my health, my attitude, my life - I won't do it.

That said....I think it is possible. No, I KNOW it is possible. But still don't know what the future holds for competing. HIGHLY considering a November contest. :)

Hope you are all having a great weekend!
Jess

P.S. Amber/Jessica workout reunion today. We did hill repeats (see the right side for my workout) 8 times and let me tell you, this hill is BRUTAL. Then we did a set of legs in between hill repeats - we did walking lunges and then we did a couple variations of step ups with over head presses. Then we did abs. TOUGH stuff. Always love the Amber reunion.

Weekly Recap, Test Results and Scott Abel Kicking My Ass

Howdy peeps!

So, as most of you have come to learn, Mondays and Tuesdays are TERRIBLE! Hate them, but at the end of the day, blogging here with you guys always makes me happy! :) I just feel bad you get very little love on Mondays and Tuesdays.

I got my tests back from my full nutritional analysis and here are the notables:
1. I am hypoglycemic.
2. Deficient in Zinc.
3. Deficient in Alpha-Lipoic Acid.
4. Deficient in Vitamin D.
5. Deficient in Oleic Acid (didn't even know that existed).
6. Deficient in Coenzyme Q10.

The results were very interesting - as I understood it from reading the lab reports, basically they take your blood and remove the nutrient they are testing for and then introduce it to see how it responds. Based on this, they tell you if you are deficient and if you have special needs. The only real surprise for me was the hypoglycemia. But it does make sense for how fuzzy I get and wacked out I get when I don't have food - good to know.

How do I correct?
1. Eat every 2-3 hours - CHECK!
2. Take a Zinc supplement or eat lots of oysters and wheat germ (there is more but those were the two funny ones).
3. Take a supplement - can't get this through a particular food source.
4. Get more sun. Duh.
5. Eat more avocados, use olive oil, canola oil, etc.
6. Take a supplement (note to self, high dosages = diarrhea which leads to FOF syndrome - fear of farting).

All of the things I was deficient in were immune boosters and protectants so the good news is if I can work on some of these deficiencies I can boost the immune system.

Cynthia (a.k.a. Visionquester and man-boob-lover) turned me on to Scott Abel and after perusing his website and reading more and more about his philosophies and credentials, I decided to purchase the Ultimate Figure Program DVD series (yes Jody, I know this drives you crazy - and I promise you this - if you are reading - that I will sell every non used workout DVD and make back double what these new DVD's cost - promise my cherub :)).

The DVD program focuses on MET training which stands for Metabolic Enhancement Training and is basically super intense conditioning and strength workouts all in one which for the 5 day series all focus on different body parts but those specific to what figure competitors need to focus on. Let me tell you it is bad to the bone! And I cannot imagine what my body is going to look like in a month of this training - seriously! I bought it for a number of reasons (my DH, please pay attention here): Scott has a very loyal following and everyone who uses him attests to massive transformations through his high intensity weight lifting and cardio combinations. And the other reason is our gym membership ran out and we are not sure if we are going to renew - we have a great home gym and this is a program built for the home plus our gym is almost a half hour from our house.

Check it out a video of the program:


It is INTENSE! I highly recommend it!

I will give more details on the program in my next post but the idea is to do high intense workouts 5 days a week with a focus on full body function and multi-plane movements. I LOVE IT and I am smoked after every workout. I started on Sunday (see below on weekly recap) and I can't wait to share with you guys where I in two weeks (that would be around May 15th). Can't wait - it VERY similar to Debbie workouts but even harder because of some of the full body core movements used.

Again, more details to follow. Also, see below for my week last week - another great training week.

As for my nutrition, I STILL haven't had time to add back in my food over the last week so I am pulling the link for now. I am staggering my calories for every other day and will also get you more details on that later in the week.

Have a great week everyone!
Jess

Weekly Recap:
Monday:
6 mile trail run - PM Cardio
Biceps/Triceps
Barbell curl - Olympic Bar Only super set with
Overhead French Press - 20lbs 4x12
Hammer curls (20lbs) super set with
Tricep push downs - 70lbs cable rack 4x15
Swiss Ball Preacher Curl (15lb slow reps) super set with
Tricep kick backs (10 lbs slow reps) 4x12
Tuesday:
Planned day off - SORE all over
Wednesday:
HIIT Intervals - 10 minute warm up, 20 minutes HIIT 1:1 intervals plus 10 min warm up and cool down.
Thursday:
Monkey Bar Gym Fit Class
4 sets of 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off super set rounds of the following & then 2 rounds of 40 seconds on, 20 seconds off
Push up burpees (push up and jump up - power)
One legged dynamic hops - 5 each leg until 30 second mark
Around the world - planks with alt arm and leg in air
Medicine ball sit up and reach
In place sprints - high knees and arms pumping
Burned 600 calories in 1hr
Friday:
Monday Bar Gym Body Power Class
Prisoner reps - 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 of the following:
Alternating super sets of Renegade Rows using 40lb kettlebells - lean on kettle bells from a plank position (legs spread) and then row alternate arms - super set with one arm kettle bell chest press with 20lbs
Alternating supersets of Hamstring roll ins on stability ball with box jumps (16 inch box)
Ab roll outs on power wheel
WOW! 400 calories burned
Saturday:
Took day off with the sis - we walked around a bunch in Madison but no real workout.
Sunday:
Day 1 of Ultimate Figure Program (legs emphasis) - HOLY CRAP!

Failed Experiment and Sphere of Influence

My 100% Turbulence Training experiment is officially over. Aw come on, I gave it a good 24 hours! :) I am not giving up on my April experiment, just modifying it slightly. :) And it isn't for the reason you think - and technically I am still a petri dish.

First off, I took measurements yesterday and before pictures and I am going to try really hard (C, this is thanks to you) to use positive self talk in this post because I had an epiphany of sorts last night. That said - here is the one negative thing I will say: the pictures I took last night were the most motivating thing I could have done - I was shocked and disgusted with how far I have let my body go during this last five to six months. WOW, talk about eye opening. and although they are terrible (too terrible to post) - I just didn't really think things were as bad as they are...even after looking at my stats and knowing those were high - the pics did me in. I promise I will post the entire before pics at the end of my 30 day experiment. For now, I am just posting my belly button. :) I could always tell I was losing weight based on how my belly button ring fit.
June 07 (left) vs. April 08 (right)


As you can see, there is a HUGE difference.

The good news is I made a decision last night: I am getting to 16% body fat. I know how hard I will have to work - I have done it before. I know what I must do. Something clicked last night and now, it's on.

My DH knows that when I set my mind to something - watch out. Here is an example: when I told him I was going to compete in December of 06, he literally laughed - he didn't mean it mean, he just knows people who have competed before and knows the will power and dilligence required and was skeptical I would do it. But I did. I looked back in my fit day log and here is how my weight decreased after setting my goal:

12/18/06: 127
1/2/06: 124.5
1/15/07: 123.5
3/12/07: 122

So over four months I dropped 5 lb but more than that I changed my body comp significantly going from 23% to 17% so my lean mass increased too. Looking back over my weight log last night gave me lots of confidence that I know what to do to make this happen.

And my attitude is the first thing that has to change. I have to love my body and appreciate it while doing everything in my sphere of influence to change it.

As for Turbulence Training, I am going to continue to do the program however I am going to add in a few more cardio interval sessions and perhaps even some regular 30minute post weight training workouts. I may even add in a shoulder workout and a straight leg workout a couple days a week. See last nights workout for more info on how I modify.

Here are my stats as of 4/3/08:
Weight: 127.8
BF: 21.6% (based on hand held)
Lean body mass: 100.2
Fat lbs: 27.6
Waist: 27
Hips: 37.5
Bicep: 10.75
Thigh: 22

30 days from Thursday will be my goal date and review. I think in 30 days I can lose 4-5 lbs however that won't get me to goal so I look for the month of May to be the completion of that goal. It will take lots of hard work but I am up for it! And I will be tracking my good in my online journal.

In this month's Women's Health there is an article called: "Head Strong" and it is all about your mind and its power when you workout. C-this is for you from your out of body experiment post:

"When you work out harder than you're used to, your brain thinks, We have no data on whether an extra set of deadlifts will damage her body. I better make her pretty uncomfortable by reducing electrical output to the muscles so she'll quit this nonsense....But you can recalibrate your brain to chill - whether you're strength training or trying to shave a few minutes off your half-marathon pace. The key is to train it to think 'been there, done that'. "

Pretty interesting stuff eh??

Have a great weekend guys!
Jess
P.S. I had my company meeting on Friday morning (8 to 12) and the doc called to talk results when I was in the meeting and their office closes at noon on Friday so I will have to wait till Monday.
P.P.S. Look for a VLOG this weekend - our video camera arrived yesterday.

Me as A Petri Dish

I realized after having near bouts of narcolepsy on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday that Prednisone (took for the laryngitis) makes me very, very sleepy. Not sure why - just does. I am finally feeling like I have energy again. And overall, I am feeling better. Tired of not feeling good and moving on!

I am a BIG time noodler (thinker). Not that everyone else isn't a thinker too but I am always thinking about how to do this better/differently, etc. Most of my thinking lately has been around/about my health and getting back into a routine - any routine. :) Last night, I started reviewing my notebooks, programs, journals, etc. of workouts/nutrition and made a decision to follow in the footsteps of the great Cynthia Herndon and do an experiment on myself for the month of April. While this is partially contingent upon learning what the doc says from the test results, for the most part it won't have anything to do with those results unless they tell me I am dying. :) I know, I know - bad joke.

One of the programs I reviewed last night was a 30 day maximum fat loss Turbulence Training program I had downloaded it about 6 months ago. It requires four days a week for training and 2-3 additional days of HIIT (can also be added to the four days). The concept is non-competing supersets of a variety of different exercises followed by a 20-30 minute HIIT session. Turbulence Training has a variety of programs - regular, women specific, mass building (I will do this one next if the fat loss one passes my experiment) and the 30 day max fat loss (my April experiment).

Since one of my challenges over the last few months has been the length of time required to workout - TT offers a solution in that the time required is much smaller than my normal "perception" of how much time I need to workout. The reason I want to do this as an experiment is b/ c I am skeptical that my body comp changes will be as drastic as they claim they can be with such little time commitment. Or at least a time commitment I perceive as light. The experiment will be: what changes can I make to my body comp in 30 days with a 4 day training program (strength) and two to three interval training sessions. Ultimately my goal would be to achieve 16% BF since that has been my most recent goal however I think I am at 21% now and that may be unrealistic. Thoughts?

My fellow bloggers - has anyone out there DONE the TT program?

Thoughts? Feedback?

I will post before pics tonight along with body comp and measurements of key body parts and you can follow along with me. I will start the program tonight. I am really just looking for something to kick me in the butt and get me re-motivated!! :) Cynthia - you prompted me for this one...:)

AND the video camera gets here TOMORROW so watch out!
Peace out guys and have a happy Thursday!
Jess

Weekend Recap and Plan for the Week

First off, I just want to give a shout out to my girl Krissa who wrote down some serious goals for herself and I LOVE IT. They are real, measurable and achievable.

My goal is to achieve 17% body fat by April 30th which gives me 7 or so weeks and approximately 6 lbs to lose. Sounds easy but we all know what goes into that. And yes C, ultimately I just want to look better and feel better about myself but I also know that feeling better about myself means knowing I can reach a goal and get into my clothes and feel good about it.

I asked my hubby to help me with the math on how much I needed to lose to get to to 17% BF and he gave me the "I don't know the math on that stuff babe, I just go out and do it. If I want to run a 20 min 5k, I just go run and know I will be better." This is a point of irritation for him (always has been :) peetie, I love you - you know I do!). So I said to him: "Yeah, but you are still going to look at the time to see if you can run faster at the end of a race - how else would you know if you finished faster?" And BAM - I got him. He smiled, nodded his head and conceded.

I am not 100% sure of my lean body mass at the moment but my guess is it is around 100-1o3lbs and I currently weigh 126-127. I am not sure on lean body mass because I do think I added some muscle this fall but lost some with my lack of activity last few months. At 21-22% body fat, I need to lose about 6-7lbs to hit 17%. I am shooting for 7lbs or 1lb of fat loss per week. Doable and reasonable.

How will I get there?

Cardio: 5 cardio sessions a week, empty stomach workouts - 4 HIIT sessions and 1 LSD cardio. My HIIT sessions will last about 30 minutes and LSD will be around 45-50.
Weights: 5-6x per week focusing on high reps and lower weights. 2x per week, cardio after weights.
Diet: Clean during the week and then two cheat meals on the weekend.

I am excited. I feel this is a very doable plan. After I get there, I will focus on gaining lean muscle tissue. I read that JL has 114lbs of lean muscle. WOW. That's 11+ more than me. Crazy.

Oh, and by the way - I also made a decision that IF, just IF, I can't get to the gym during the day for a workout over lunch I will workout at home - no matter what. Period. Even if it is just a half hour.

Today I had a great workout at the park - burned 850 calories in about 90 minutes at the park. Amber and I brought the EZ Bar and a bunch of plates, kettlebells, a medicine ball, etc. Rode the lake and then did a leg/ab workout.

Saturday we went to the gym and had a great upper body/ab workout. 720 calories in 80 minutes.

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Krissa I do think you are right - this is going to be a great year for all of us! We are all having the same epiphanies!!!
Jess

Here is the previous week's workouts copied from the right hand side of my blog - I will do this weekly to summarize and track workouts:
Monday:
Intervals
Upper body workout
Tuesday-Thursday:
Off (did a few small 20 minute workouts here and there)
Friday:
Bicep/tricep workout at home
Saturday:
Amber and Jessica workout reunion!
Chest press supersetted w/overhead press
Kettlebell squats
Tricep presses supersetted w/shoulder raises
Kettlebell lunges
Forward moving kettlebell walk (w/20lb KB)
Abs
Sunday:
5.5 Mountain Bike - 40 minutes (450 calories)
4 supersets of walking lunges with 20lb kettlebells each hand w/four = one lunges and squats to 16
4 supersets of deadlifts w/100lbs to 12 w/straight legged deadlifts to 20
Medicine ball toss
1 minute planks

Epiphany and Announcement! It's a Long One!

First of all, you guys are all awesome! Thanks for checking up on me! I have had a crazy week with work and worked about 43 hours Mon - Wed. Which is awesome since I have two more days left in the week! Regardless, you guys have been in my thoughts and when I have a spare moment or second in my day, I hop on Cynthia, Krissa or Cathy's blog sites to see what's happening but haven't had time to blog (much less sleep!).

I remember when I read Krissa's post from the MWA forum where she "came clean" about how she was feeling about her body, her eating habits and her decision to not compete. What she shared was the deepest part of her and was completely honest. I hope the following will be viewed the same. Krissa and Cynthia - you guys are such a great example of being true to yourself and listening to your psyche and your body.

As most of you know, I just got married in August and am just about to hit my one year anniversary with my job. When I started my job, I was still ramping up and didn't really feel the full level of work that would be required of me until around October or November. My hours picked up dramatically and then I got sick...got better...got sick a couple more times....had an injury and was still working crazy hours. While all of this was happening, I was continuing to work toward my goal of competing in a national show in September knowing full well that I would need to add some serious mass (hence the continued mention of the bulking plan). Over the last few months by body fat has gone up, my tone has gone on vacation :) and my attitude about myself has gone way down. My negative self talk and frustration is something I deal with multiple times throughout the day and it has probably bordered on depression. I had essentially taken off 3 months from training!!! My eating is at about 80-90% - I pack clean food every day but I wouldn't make as healthy choices while eating out.

Well.....I was walking my dog the other morning thinking about competing in November (the last pro qualifier of the year) instead of September to give myself those three months back. And then I started thinking through bulking plan and then I started to beat myself up over not getting to the gym and how yucky I felt trying on clothes, etc.

And then it hit me.

Why am I doing this to myself? I don't HAVE to compete this year. WHOA. Big thought there. What I do HAVE to do is feel better about myself. And to do that I need to cut myself some slack and let go of the last three months. I need to focus on getting to the gym and not letting work get in the way of my training or my health (mental and physical!). I need to focus on feeling better about my body image.

So then I started thinking about the obstacles and barriers I have had recently:

1. Work: My busiest days are Monday and Tuesdays - why not take one of those as my day off and the other workout early am or at night and not try to go over lunch. Wed - Friday my schedule frees up tremendously as I don't have hardly any pre-scheduled meetings.
2. Training w/Debbie: I was training with Debbie at 5am which means I have to get up at 4am and means I usually get very little sleep the night before and feel exhausted for the next two days - sometimes even getting sick after a few days of training like that. Why not find another time of the day to train with Debbie?
3. Self Image/Attitude: Eliminate negative self talk. Period.
4. Adding Mass: I was struggling SO much with this - feeling like if I added mass I would become thicker and bigger than I already was and therefore be even MORE frustrated with how I felt about myself. I think this was actually the biggest reason I was struggling to get into the gym - I didn't want to add mass at 21-22% body fat. When I had the epiphany that I didn't HAVE to do anything but feel better about myself, it was like 1,000 pounds lifted off me.
5. Marriage: It is definitely important for me to spend quality time with my hubby and make our marriage as solid as possible. I am not sure I want to make those sacrifices so soon in our marriage.
   

I contacted the NPC and also asked Jenny Lynn and found out that I have two years to compete in a national show - actually until the end of 2009. This will give me an entire year to focus on getting my body fat to a level I feel good about myself.

Goals:

• Feel better about myself and my body.
• Get body fat to 16% by end of April. Will do the math later and share what that means for weight in fat lbs and lean mass.
• Determine by end of May what show to do.
• Be open to the possibility of not competing but STILL having fitness be an integral part of my life.
• Continue to blog to share my journey and lean on my blogger support system.
  

So my friends, there it is. I have talked through this with a couple of my friends and they all feel 100% on board with my thought process. Would love all of your thoughts.

Missed you guys.
Jess

P.S. And who knows - maybe I will still want to compete in November!! The point is - why paint myself in a corner??? The world should be my Oyster!!

Staycation Over....11 Day Cleanse

Greetings all! Now, you didn't think you were gonna hear from me every day AFTER staycation did you?? :) It has been nuts!

A couple quick updates from final days of staycation:

My best friend Leanne and her daughter Victoria came to visit for a few days (4 to be exact) and it was wonderful to spend time with her and Victoria - who has turned into a beautiful, wonderful girl. Leanne has been wanting a pet to replace her dog who passed away a while back and after meeting my two wonderful cats, Dallas & Westies, she decided to take them home with her! Which is so absolutely positively wonderful! They are truly in a great home and outside of not having Pablo around, they are going to be better cared for and loved more! I am so happy they went to Leanne and although I cried when they left, I am so happy that my asthma will hopefully return to a level of non-existence for I have truly struggled.

I accomplished about 75% of the stuff I had on my Christmas list and I am happy to say that I am going to attack the rest of them over the next few weekends! It was just nice to get down the stuff I need to do on paper.

Ok, so for the much awaited and anticipated goals for 2008 (not resolutions, but goals):
1. Body fat at 16% for the year after end of March (3 months to drop 3%).
2. Get a minimum of 7 hours of sleep at night.
3. Get my pro card.

More on how that will happen later but for now, I want to fill you in on the Isagenix 11 day cleanse me and the hubby are doing right now....I was perusing Monica Brant's website and found an 11 day fasting/cleansing program she does after a bad bout of eating or when she is getting ready to kick off a new diet. It is by Isagenix and here is how it works - it feeds your body cleansing nutrients like aloe, herbal teas, vitamins, and ionic trace minerals and then helps kick-start your metabolism to burn fat naturally. The 11 days go like this:

Pre-Cleanse Days (2 Days)
IsaLean Shake or Soup—Two servings a day as meal replacements (preferably in place of your morning and evening meals). Mix two scoops with 8 oz. of purified water and blend.
One sensible meal (400-600 calories)
Water—As a general guideline, drink at least eight 8-oz. glasses of purified water daily. For a truer approach, drink at least half your body weight in ounces daily.
Exercise—At least 20 minutes daily.
Days 1-2 (Cleanse Days)
Cleanse for Life—Take 4 oz. (=8 tablespoons, or 1/2 cup) combined with 8 oz. of cold purified water four times daily.
Isagenix Snacks—As needed, up to six per day. Take up to two every few hours between your Cleanse for Life servings. If you must eat a little with each Snack, try low-calorie whole foods.
Days 3-7 (Shake and/or Soup Days)
IsaLean Shake or Soup—two servings a day as meal replacements (preferably in place of your morning and evening meals). Mix two scoops with 8 oz. of purified water and blend.
One sensible meal (400-600 calories)—Choose low-fat, high-fiber meals.
Isagenix Snacks—As needed, up to six per day.
Days 8-9 (Cleanse Days)
Repeat Days 1-2

We also had a friend who did this cleanse and loved it. Lost his pooch he had been holding onto for years.

I am on day 2 of the pre-cleanse and I gotta tell you, it is NOT fun. I am starving and very tired and spacey. It reminds me of when you water deplete for a show....I am very fuzzy in the head. Tomorrow and Saturday are no food days - only the Cleanse for Life product which is basically a high vitamin and mineral supplement to help flush your body of impurities.

I weighed myself this morning (128) and took measurements. I will post all measurements and information on the cleanse as we go. Went to the gym today and did chest and tris and had no energy. Only made it about 7-8 reps through each exercise which is pretty unusual for me.

I hope the new year is treating all of you well! I am so fortunate to have all of you in my life - even those people who happen to stumble across my blog and stay awake after reading it! You guys are my support system and such an important part of my life!

Remember you can accomplish whatever you set out to achieve but WRITE IT DOWN! :)
Jessica

RATS! Bad at Math!

Today I was getting organized at work and planning out workouts and getting all my crap together. Pretty much whistling at my desk...happy as could be and I printed off a new calendar to write down and map out my 42 weeks. It is the same calendar I used to count my weeks. Well, they overflow onto three pages and so there are 2 weeks repeated so I only have 40 weeks! HOLY BAD COUNTING BATMAN!

Revised plan:

Gaining/conditioning cycles: 3 weeks conditioning (don't need as much time on initial conditioning cycle b/c haven't been lifting heavy) starting today/12 weeks mass building/4 weeks conditioning & heavy lifting recovery/12 weeks MASS/9 weeks final conditioning. 12 week diet down will correspond with last 3 weeks of 12 week mass. I will be comfortable with a shorter diet down if I am at 16% bf and I can actually start dieting at 12 weeks out even if 2 of those weeks are still in mass building. The last 9 weeks will be exclusively conditioning while I diet down.

Ok, not as bad as I thought - glad I found that mistake now as opposed to 39 weeks in! :)
Jess

42 Week Plan - Part 1

Ok...I've been talking about it...you've been waiting for it...you have been checking back to see it...and here it is:

Currently, I am at 125lbs and around 18% BF (I know, I know - not good). That means that at 125 I have 22.5lbs fat. Ultimately, I want to get to 16% BF during my off season so I don't have so far to go. When I read about the pros, they all stay around 14-16% off season. And I need to add a lot of lean muscle - 8lbs min/10lbs max to be exact. Disclaimer: I know this is UBER aggressive. Gonna take a lot of hard work but I will do it. So plan is: reduce fat and add muscle.

Specific Goals:

1. Get to 16% off season body fat (I need to lose about 3lbs fat)

2. Gain 8-10lbs of muscle (in 42 weeks = .20-.40 lbs a week) - off season weight should be around 131-133.

3. Going to trade between gaining/conditioning cycles: 4 weeks conditioning (starting Monday)/12 weeks mass building/4 weeks conditioning/12 weeks MASS/10 weeks diet down. I will be comfortable with a shorter diet down if I am at 16% bf and I can actually start dieting at 12 weeks out even if 2 of those weeks are still in mass building. The last 10 weeks will be exclusively conditioning while I diet down.

4. Diet for conditioning weeks will be 1500-1800; 3 days low carb, 1 day high carb (refuel and shock metabolism); 1 cheat day; diet for mass building will be approx 1800-2000 calories w/ carb cycling 1 day low/2 days med/2 days high – repeat – additional protein/additional fat. Then 12 week diet is low calories 1200-1500 w/3 low car/1 high carb.

Part 2 of the plan will be to detail out my workouts....I am going to use my Outlook calendar to actually map it out. While I know 42 weeks is a LOOOOOOOOOOOONG time, I need to transform my frame. Change my body. Slap a pound on each shoulder, a pound on each arm, a pound and a half on each leg/glute and the rest on my back. I will do this.

Week 1 of 4 week conditioning starts Monday. Woo hoo!

Can you tell I am feeling better???? OH YEAH! :)
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

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

De Plan, De Plan!!

Ladies and Gentlemen.....let's get ready to RUMBLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLE! (Insert jock jams tune here).

I had to start out my blog with that line after my UFC fight weekend in Cinci. My hubby and I left on Saturday morning (early) drove 9 hours...got out of car and blew up shoulders and legs (kind of light on both but still a workout) at the 13,000 square foot gym before walking to an absolutely wonderful dinner and then another walk to the US Bank arena for one of the most amazing events EVER! UFC 77 with Rich Franklin fighting Silva for the title match. While my boy Rich lost, the whole event was amazing. We were five (yes, 5!) rows back from the Octagon. Amazing. Then we stumbled back to the hotel room, slept for 6 hours and got up and drove home. While it was a lot of car time, it was perfect! I cheated at my meal - fillet and lobster and bread - and also had a martini and a few more cocktails. Totally worth the cheat.

Anyhoo,....why this is all Seinfeld related...is because on the way back Sunday, Jody and I mapped out our goals. I am a BIG believer in goal setting - be specific and set short term and long term goals. My BF and weight are definitely higher than I would like - 21% - which totally sucks. I had a really hard time with learning that however I also know it is a necessary evil and having knowledge is what I needed in order to jump start my motivation again. Well, trust me, I am VERY motivated.

Ultimately I have no one to blame buy myself - my intensity has been crap - in both my lifting and my cardio workouts. I think the two back to back shows I did was a kick in the a** in terms of falling off AFTER – I was completely burnt out. And yes, add a wedding, a honeymoon, the return of asthma due to cats and a metabolism that has slowed way down from dieting and you have a recipe for fatty.

I am WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY motivated after my BF test. Again, I am not totally stoked about what my weight is or my body fat, it is great to KNOW what it is and then move forward to addressing it. Again, terribly disappointed but am not surprised really.

Having a plan in place is the most key. My focus is on my major body parts as stand alone: Back, shoulders, biceps, triceps, legs.

Here it is:

Short Term: Get body fat to 16% by end of year. This translates losing about 8.7-9lbs of fat in 10 weeks or a little under a lb of fat a week. Ultimately I would like to also gain 3lbs of muscle which would net me out at about 121lbs. You can do the math to figure out how fat I am. :)

Long Term - 2008:
Top 3 Placement at a National Show
Sub 21 Minute 5k
BF less than 16% all year
Sub 1hr 25 min Sprint Triathlon

I won't go through all of my milestones to achieve all of those goals - only those associated with body fat and my national show.

Please note that all associations with Body Fat (BF) are not an obsession with BF per say but rather a percentage that equates to the way I feel in my skin, with my own self image and the way my clothing fits which are all important for me in terms of continuing my forward progress.

But the most important question - how will I accomplish this goal???

1. Minimum of 30 to 45 minutes cardio in the morning on an empty stomach five (5) days a week - preferrably all of those sessions will be HIIT sessions.
2. Light leg workout two (2) days per week - plyometrics and light weights.
3. Cardio 30 minutes after workout session three (3) days per week in afternoon.
4. Weight lifting on a three days on, one day off schedule as follows:
Mon - Back supersetting with abs over lunch, biceps at night.
Tues - Light chest supersetting with calves over lunch, triceps and light legs at night.
Wed - Off
Thurs - Shoulders over lunch supersetting abs, rear delts and light legs at night.
Fri - Back SS w/abs lunch, biceps at night.
Sat - Light chest SS with calves, triceps and light legs at night.
Sun- Shoulders and HEAVY legs.

Overall, this is an aggressive plan but one I feel good about acheiving. Less than a lb a week is VERY reasonable and doable and so I am ready to attack!! After this 10 weeks I will focus the following 13-16 weeks on gaining mass while keeping body fat reasonable and then being to diet down the last 12 weeks.

Come with me on this journey won't you?
Jess

Bye Bye Bye & Fikenator Part II

So, I told my hubby that he needed to say goodbye...it was going to be sad for him...he might even cry and have to go through a period of mourning...but the muffin top has GOT TO GO! He was sad...but only that I have let it get so muffiny! :) I cranked up some N SYNC and started blasting "Bye, bye, bye" at top volume (yes, I did the dance).

Cynthia - this one is for you girl....

My good friend the Fikenator (see last post if you want to know more about him) and I were having a friendly little email communication today and I sent him a workout plan I was thinking about starting and this is what he sent me.....please note: when he refers to "the girls" he is referring to my boobs, knockers...fun bags. :) His email is in italics. Very funny stuff - especially his last line. He copied the program at the very beginning and then modifies it based on his recommendation later in the email.

P.S. I did ASK his opinon.

Ok here is HONESTY-
You are going to have issues.

Day 1:Chest (hvy) Triceps (hvy) Delts (hvy)
Day 2: Quads (hvy) Hams (hvy) Shoulders (light)
Day 3: Chest (light) Triceps (hvy)
Day 4: Back (hvy) Biceps (hvy)
*Heavy Abs on day 2 and 4.
*Calves – 1 exercise up and down the weight stack for 15 reps per set on day 1 and 3.
DO NOT do heavy chest. The girls wont operate well.
Day 1
SHOULDERS HEAVY
TRICEPS(Lighter)
Delts whatever
thoughts, based on your picture your chest is fine. shoulders is the emphasis.
Day 2
Pullups
Quads
Hams
biceps light
Thoughts, pullups thrown in to warm body up for 4 sets, start working on the V-taper, bigger back, small hips
Day 3
Chest Light
shoulders light
Triceps Heavy
thoughts, dont hurt girls, make pretty. shoulders for striations, hit the highpoints that the heavy day didnt hit, and then GROW ARMS
Day 4
Pullups
Back heavy
Biceps heavy
thoughts, heavy day before rest day. Your back along with most others, jod-e, mine, yours... its a large group of muscles that take a long time to fatigue.
that being the case your arms should and probably will tire before your back. you may want to consider heavy arms on day 2, only IF you think you can recover in time to to heavy back.
-------------------
after seeing your self analysis and including my biasness, you want bigger rounder shoulders. dont hurt girls, tighter and thinner legs.
So you have to hit the V taper and shoulders with vigor. chest for shape only
legs with skill cause you dont want mass. i, personally believe that some people, like osama and iraq, and such as..... kiddin
i digress... i think you need a little outer sweep without adding to much other mass.
I wish I had an opinion.

Ok, so now that the Fikenator has pretty much ripped my plan to shreds, I have to go find , look search and see if I can find my self respect and esteem. Jeez. FIKENATOR!!!!! You suck...but you are also awesome! You WISH you had an opinion?? Ha.

I will enlist your plan my dear friend. I am going to do my own cardio plan....which I will outline tomorrow but a preview: lots of HIIT sessions with one long slow cardio session.

More to come guys...thanks for tuning in and KEEP commenting!
Muffin Top Out