finding normal

I am still working on finding a normal relationship with food. I'm tyring to adjust back to a regular diet, but my body says no. I have serious stomach (and gas....mainly gas) issues if I eat anything processed. I thought if I gave it time I would readjust, but its not working out. So not by choice, but for the greater good of humanity, my fellow workers at school, and as a last resort- I'm back to eating clean. I can eat as much brocolli as I want and have no problems, but slip in a piece of bread and I'm a disaster. I've been trying to blame as many farts on Flash and my students as I can, but it is just ridiculous.
Enough about that.
My chickens are all doing well. They poop A LOT. I've had relative success so far. I've only lost one. My latest addition to the flock happened last night. I bought two turkeys and four ducks. I also snuck in two more baby chicks, but those are on the hush hush.

I did not get into the Mt. Marathon race. GD bastards. I'm torn between just running the race anyway as a bandit, saying piss off to the whole event, or going and buying a ticket at the auction. But I desperately need something to train for, or a new hobby of some sort. I am thinking about taking up swimming. When asked who I'd comepete against in that, or what I would be training for my initial response was, London 2012, duh. Michael Phelps. Pshhaw. He's got nothing on me. I meant to go swimming this morning but I forgot about an early meeting and had to postpone my olympic training a day. However, I am still looking for some sort of hobby/event to train for. All suggestions are welcome.

characteristic immoderation

I made the cake pops. Well, I had the kiddos at school make them. It was hardly controlled chaos, but they did turn out. I didn't eat any, but they were visually satisfying.
Last Friday I decided I am not doing the May show. I am retiring from the world of body building. Going out on top. I am still working on developing a normal relationship with food. Now lets talk about the effects of coming off of a super strict diet. I have been farting like no ones business. It is truly braggable and incredibly embarassing and hilarious all at the same time. I can't help but giggle every time I fart. Keep in mind these are not little lady like squeaks that just slip out. I am talking about the burliest of burly farts you've ever been around. It is like something has died and fermented in my gut and is causing some gastrointestinal phenomena.
Chicken update: they are hatching as I type.  I am going to go get them saturday. I'm so excited. The Coops almost finished, which doesn't really matter because they won't be out in it for at least another month. I have the little brooder ready for them. All I did was take a big rubbermaid tupperware and cut the lid off, staple some chicken wire over the top so the light can set right on it and put the feeder and waterer in there. Boom. brooder, done.
Garden update: I have started some vegetable and flowers in the greenhouse. I also took a tarp off and found this huge water fountain thing. It's pretty huge and tacky, I kind of love it.
Nicole and I just got asked to help out with Prom this weekend. Its our fourth year as coat check. We're pretty much pros at hanging up coats and what not. But, we're going to go look at dresses today at the one and only dress shop in the area. The little ladies out there love us. Every year they give me a VIP card which grants me an additional 15% off. I've never used it. But I like the idea of having it.
Did I mention 28 more days of school left. woot woot!

cake pops

I'll admit I have an obsessive tendency. I stopped by JoAnne's Fabric store yesterday(after the gym) and came across this book called Cake Pops, written by Bakerella. Here's her website, she's fantastic.  It's all about cake on a stick. And they are so stinking cute. I can't stop thinking about them. Its not even the eating them part, I just want to make them. The rational part of my brain....which is very small now that I'm on day 5 of low/no carbs....says this is not a good idea. But I have a 9 year olds birthday party to go to on Saturday and I think some cake pops are in order. I can do this.

ketosis

The plan is for the next six weeks cycle my body through ketosis. Ketosis, as I understand it, is the state of being when your body burns fat for fuel instead of carbs. There are many great articles written about it that can explain it a lot better than I can. Here is my favorite so far.  Anyways, its very similiar to the Atkins diet, with a few changes here and there to fit my needs. But, holy crap does it work. It sounds fun too. Eat a lot of fat and loose weight. OK! But the reality is that my total calories haven't gone up, and since I'm eating much higher value foods, it means the amount of food has gone down. so...it might be fun to have two eggs and two sausage links for breakfast...but my lunch of one can of tuna and one tbsp of mayo leaves a bit to be desired. But I'm dropping weight like crazy again. Which is good, because in the few days that I was off of the plan I gained a crap ton of weight. I know most of it was water weight from right after the show but still it is scary to see the scale jump up twenty pounds in two days. Plus, I just felt gross in my own skin. Like I was bloated against myself. I told Darin about this feeling and he said its normal, mainly because I was really bloated. My muscles were retaining every carb and every ounce of water I was putting back into my body. But since being on this new diet I've dropped back down to 172- which is still about ten pounds heavier than I was at the show, but I'm sure it'll come off. So anyways, I'm doing three low carb days followed by one high carb day, then two low carb, one high and that's what I'm doing for three weeks. Then I have my keto run which is 14 days of low/no carbs. whoa. and then peak week right before the show. This is officially phase two of the science experiment on my body.

chicken news: two weeks until hatching!

cabin news: the cabinets are in place, trim is painted and hung, upstairs bathroom is ready to be painted. its coming together quite nicely. you should all come and visit. book it.

we need a plan

I emailed Darin and told him I was in for the May show but that I wanted to be leaner. He said he has a plan that we need to discuss to change my diet around so that I burn more fat. Well shoot, that sounds great. Why wasn't I doing this before? I'm sure it's going to suck a lot. Darin's ideas are never fun. But I'm super curious as to what the changes are going to be.

May 14, 2011

I'm doing the show. 6 weeks from Saturday. Here we go again....

now what.

The show came and went very fast. The entire week before the show was not fun. I really don't remember much, it's almost like I was black out drunk the whole time. But I do know it was miserable. I don't think the carb cycling and water depletion really did that much for me anyway. If I did another show I think I would skip that part. The carb cycling for sure. And just do the water reduction right at the end. I think that would give me better results and be much more tolerable....for everyone.
The afternoon show was a blur. The poses were called so fast I couldn't harldy get into one before the next was already being called. I don't think I posed too well. But hey, I was the only one in my division and it was my first time. so...I guess it was ok. I just don't think I got lean enough. I still looked really heavy from the belly button down. Ugh. So if I do the May show I need to still cut weight and up my cardio and all I really want to do right now is binge out on the pot-luck going on in the teachers lounge. I ate two pieces of pizza saturday night. They were amazing. I could have ate a lot more. I easily could have finished the entire pizza, but I also didn't want to get sick. So I kept it in check. But my blood sugars were so messed up that I couldn't get to sleep until 2:30 in the morning and then I was up at 4, thinking about the waffles at the continental breakfast. I waited until 6 and went down to check out the waffle situation and they were out of batter. I almost burnt the place down with my rage. But instead  I went to breakfast at the Snow City Cafe- it was awesome. And I didn't get sick from it either. I was totally bloated and I've been making some pretty bad farts, but no explosive poops or pukes so I'm calling it a victory.
I went to the gym last night and ran two miles and lifted a bit and tried to work my abs, but I still felt too bloated. I couldn't breathe because my gut was in the way. Then when I came home my calves started cramping up really bad. I was a mess. I didn't make it to the gym this morning, but I'll go after school.
I'm technically back on the diet and training again. But I'm not sure about the show. I'm not sure this is my style.

ta daa

weigh in

I had my first weigh in yesterday. It was less stressful than anticipated. There are about 40 competitors, mostly male of course. But maybe 10 girls total. I think I'm the only novice girl, which is great- I win! But also means that I'll go up against whoever wins the open division. But whatever, I'm ready.
I am a disgusting color of burnt rust/dirty brown right now. It really does make my eyes and teeth look alarmingly white. That is about the only positive thing that I can come up with for perks of painting yourself.
Cutting water is harder than cutting food. I like to be able to drink as much as I want, whenever I want. This dehydrating bit sucks.
I have to lay on blankets I brought from home so I don't ruin the hotel sheets. That's how dark I am.
Today I'm suppossed to have a lot of carbs so that my muscles look "full" but I don't know what that means really. So...I think I'll wait until my friend Lissa gets here- she's done a couple figure shows- and let her tell me if my muscles look full. She gets the great job of glueing my bikini to my body. No wardrobe failures possible with this glue. Thank goodness, because that bikini has a way of going right up my butt like you wouldn't believe.

team sweetcorn

I am the luckiest girl in the world. I was walking through the office at school yesterday and recieved a delivery of flowers, from someone with a very thick accent, the delivery girl told me. When I read the card and saw that it was from my parents I just giggled and said, yeah they're from Iowa. I love the flowers, they made my day extra special. It seems like the timing is always spot on with right when I need a boost something really good happens. Like the time I was really dragging and didn't want to do my afternoon set of cardio but I went in and as I walked in the owner of the gym gave me free sweats and a sweatshirt to wear at the competition. That got me all excited and definitely helped me through that cardio session. Last week I got a package from a friend full of some treasures and a super nice card. She sent me a bottle of spray tan(more on that later) some rockin sunglasses and  a cookbook, which I promptly read front to back and have already imagined all of the things I'll burn. A few weeks ago my friend Kelsey gave me a card with a coffee gift card in it, just to say thanks for being a friend. I'm sure there are about a million more nice things people have done for me, helped me with, even just nice comments, all of these things have really helped me stay focused and on track. It really does take a team. I couldn't have done this alone, and am really appreciative for all my friends and family, and coworkers who have helped me along this transformation.

Ok, enough serious talk.

Last night I was home alone with several bottles of spray tan. I decided to go for it. That might have been a mistake. I am now a dirty shade of spottedness. My skin id weird in places. Maybe thyroid related? But yes mom. I am taking my pill. But I'll investigate that further later. Anyways, there are patches on my stomach and around my armpits and the back of my neck that maybe don't shed skin as fast as the rest of my body and these patches are now REALLY dark. I'm a leopard. But in reality that sounds a lot sexier than it actually is. Hopefully, the really dark stuff covers it up. Otherwise.....maybe the judges will have a cat fetish?  However, I showered this morninng and the spots dont' look soo bad. Definitely still there, but I think I'm going to have to see a doctor to find out what they are caused by and what I need to do to get rid of them, and there's no way thats going to happen before the show. So spots are what I'm working with.

Reducing my water today to one gallon. It should be ok. One gallon is still quite a bit. It's weird but after two days of no carbs and 50 yesterday- now I'm supossed to have 80 today and I feel fat and bloated. On the brink of desperate, with thoughts that I need to do more, workout more, lift more, do something drastic. But I'm holding on to the knowledge that Darin is the man, he knows what he's talking about. There is more science to this than I'm aware of and I just need to relax and stick to the plan. I've done all I can. I left the gym this morning and realized it was the last workout, I still have cardio tonight- don't worry- double cardio never stops, but as far as lifting. I'm done. I'm nervous that I'm going to look soft or fat by saturday. But I'm also aware that I'm a total nutcase.

carbs are great!

I'm back on carbs. I had a half a cup of oatmeal this morning and feel alive again. Its crazy how I almost instantly felt better. The effects of the macronutrients on the body truly are amazing. I only get 50g today...and none of it will be from candy...but I'm still pretty excited. I got waxed last night. Check that off my list of things I ever want to do again. Saying it hurts is a bit of an understatement, but I'll spare you the details. I did my last lower body workout today and will do my last upper body workout tomorrow. I also gotta get my nails done, have one last posing session with Darin, and start painting my body with the spray tanner. Phew.

day two of no carbs

i made it through day one of no carbs. but i am struggling today(and it's only 10:00am). i can't wait until my workout tomorrow morning is over and I can have 25g of carbs pronto. that's 1/2 cup of oatmeal- which is double what I'd usually eat. I'd trade it all for some swedish fish and skittles. but that's apparently "not a good idea" according to Darin. He never thinks my ideas are good. I just have to remember that my ideas got me to 254 and his ideas got me to 158. i hate being wrong.
i get waxed today. pretty much from the eyebrows down. there is not much fun involved in waxing.

goodbye glycogen

today and tomorrow. no carbs. as in zero. not even carbs from veggies or protein shakes. brace yourself, this could get ugly. if i make it to wednesday the battle will be won.


big news, totally unrelated. I have 25 chickens on order currently being incubated and will be ready to go home April 16th. I couldn't be more excited. My next blog will have to be about me becoming a farmer. kimgetsdomestic or keepingupwithkimandthechicks... I'll think of something clever.  I have decided to name all the chickens after female singers. kelly clarkson, lady gaga, madonna, beyonce....you get the picture.

punch a hole in your throat

i'm not going to lie, these last two weeks before the competition are/have been brutal. I'm really low on carbs, energy, and fat. I know I'm not any fun to be around. I'm over emotional, super sensitive, and have no patience. I can't remember something from one thought to the next. Easily distracted. Everything takes me longer to accomplish than it should. My time in the gym has increased, bot because I'm doing more, or chatting more, I'm just not able to attend to the task at hand. It takes me a few seconds to snap out of it and all those seconds add up to about an extra 45 minutes. Its ridiculous. But this is the week. the last week. I really have only two more hard days Monday and Tuesday with 0 carbs...well, less than 20 hopefully. Carbs are everywhere, even in my protein shakes, so those are going to be hard to avoid- i guess if I just stick to turkey breast and chicken breast. hmmm, that could be tricky.
the past couple of days I've been waking up hungry around 2 or 3. Two days ago I woke up and had a protein shake and went back to bed. Yesterday I made it through with just some water. Today I woke up, didn't want to eat or drink anything so I calculated out in my head the time I would need to get ready go to town, get a coffee, get gas and be at the gym at 7 when they open. It is impossible to get a coffee in this town before 7. frickin insane! I could burn this city down with my anger. but that might just be the lack of carbs talking, so I'll keep it in check and wait for the gym to open so I can go about my day. but i've been up since 2:30 so if anyone looks at me funny there's a good chance I'm going to flip out.

big news. I weighed in at 160 this morning. That means I actually weigh what my drivers license says I weigh. First time for everything. Mom says I should go get a new one and knock off 20 pounds. best idea of the morning.

redoubt reporter

http://redoubtreporter.wordpress.com/2011/03/16/building-on-a-goal-—%C2%A0weight-loss-turns-into-gain-of-new-competitive-interest/


it's a very well written article on what I've been doing. And the pictures are kind of funny too.

I still need to practice/come up with/practice my routine. ahhh crap.

8 more days. i can do this.

two weeks to go

i have less than that actually. 12 days. but who's counting right. i'm getting to the stupid phase. my body fat is now 11.1. I have noticed that I'm not able to talk as well as I used to. Words don't come to me as easily as they used to. I forget everything. I've been told that sometimes its like I don't understand English anymore. In the evenings I have a hard time doing much. I can't seem to focus or stay on task. It takes me longer in the gym too, just getting weights racked and put away it takes me a little longer. The best way I can describe it is that you know how when you bring one of those 3D picture books to your face and zone in on it so that the image appears, that's what is happening to me all the time. I'm coming in and out of focus all day.  here are some pics.

goodbye never never land

I'm so glad Peter Pan is over. It feels like I have so much time. Big sigh of relief. I've slightly changed my diet to include only whole foods- so nothing refined or processed....and all that really means is that now at lunch time instead of a sandwich thin, I have 4oz of sweet potatoes for carbs. They're delicious. And I'm off of tuna and onto chicken and salmon twice a week. Muscles are starting to show up. This week I'd like to welcome triceps to the show.

10 sets?! what.

My workouts have been tweaked for the final three weeks and then there is peak week- seven days out from competition...but I'll worry about that later. Right now, I'm just trying to get through Peter Pan and do my double cardio and now my weights have been changed to super high sets. I usually would do three, maybe four sets at the most. So upping it to ten has made me incredibly sore. But hopefully it will make my muscles a lot more defined. That's the goal anyways. Darin hasn't let me down yet, so I guess I'll just keep doing what he says. 24 more days!

my suit is here!!!

These maybe aren't the best pictures, I mean I'm in the teacher's lounge bathroom, trying to be fast because I don't really want anyone to walk in on me. But it fits. It's teeny tiny and fierce. I love it. all the important parts are covered, and nothing more.

boom.

I found my lats! This is big news, and a huge relief. I'm at 11.78% body fat. 3 weeks 5 days to go. phew! Notice the guy in the background...he walked in while Lissa and I were practicing posing and asked if he could bike. I said, sure, come on in, take your shirt off. But he apparently is a bit more modest.

i've got flare!

The other day I was at the gym and so was Darin, my trainer. He was working out but he stopped and we worked on the relaxed pose for quite some time. Good news, I finally got my lats to flare! I'm not sure if I can replicate that movement again, but at least I've done it a couple times. It is a crazy sensation to be trying so hard to do something, and see nothing noticeable happen then all of a sudden Darin will say- oh, there it is, that's great! and then I look and try to get that muscle memory of what that feels like, shake it off and do the exact same thing, and Darin says- no, that's terrible. (in much kinder words, but the meaning is still the same). If I had to explain it you tilt your chest way up, pinch your elbows way back, breathe in big, bring your shoulders down and out, but not too far either way or its ruined. And relax your hands, and smile, and flex your abs and legs. and don't forget to breathe really shallow breathes so that you can maintain that without passing out. all while wearing a teeny tiny bikini. no pressure. and that's the RELAXED pose?!? I could teach the body builders a thing or two about relaxing. 1. put on sweatpants 2. sit in recliner 3. drink a cold beer 4. repeat step three as many times as necessary. now that's relaxing.
Every day I sit on the floor at work and recently my butt has been hurting, so much that it prompted me to drop my pants and check things out back there in the mirror. I was sure I must have a bruise or something, but instead I saw nothing noticeably wrong. My conclusion is that I have lost all of my padding and now something as simple as sitting on the floor is no longer comfortable. I also think that skinny people are not meant for Alaska's weather. I am effected by the cold much more now, than I was with fat on me. Going outside is downright painful. No wonder skinny people are cranky. On top of being hungry, their butt hurts and they're freezing to death. My dad once told me its better to be fat and happy than skinny and pissed. I think he's right.

fat test tomorrow. my last one was jan. 25 and I was 13.84% I think. 13 point something anyway. Lets see what I did this month.

4 weeks and 4 days

it's almost show time. i'm kind of excited for this whole thing to be over so I can go back to a somewhat normal life. there are definitely parts of this training that I'll continue. I will probably have oatmeal and protein shake for breakfast and a tuna sandwich for lunch every day for the rest of my life. I will continue to exercise- once a day- and probably five times a week- for the rest of my life. Will I ever do a musical, train for a body building show, and remodel a cabin at the same time? No. It's been a bit much. I emailed the lady making my suit...again... she's kinda flakey. She told me my suit was going to ship out two times already and now apparently its going out tomorrow. I'm not holding my breath. But I am crossing my fingers.
I've been taken off of any fake sweeteners (splenda, sweet n low...) officially as of Saturday, but I started on Tuesday to see how it was going to go. Life is good without the fake stuff. Apparently it causes some water retention/bloating so that is the whole reason for letting my body be clean four weeks prior to show date. But I did enjoy the tast of it. However, I probably took it to the extreme (as usual for me) when I was using probably 20 packs a day. Those little buggers add up with a few in my oatmeal, and a couple in every cup of coffee/tea throughout the day. But I'm almost fake sugar free for a week and feeling great. I even had to give up crystal light. But really if I'm only eating 1200 calories a day, its a big deal to use 80 of them on crystal light. It is challenging to drink just straight water. But i'm up for a good challenge.

fat test on Friday. can'twaitcan'twait.

schmelting

peanut butter snickers

every morning I watch the tv at the gym while I'm on the treadmill or stairs. A few weeks ago I saw a commercial for peanut butter snickers and immediately started drooling. I have told pretty much everyone I see about this candy bar, no one seems to be as excited as I am about it. What a great idea! Snickers are pretty great by themselves, but ohmygoodness, add peanut butter?!?! this has to be great. I bought one today. I'm not going to eat it until after the show. I made one of my aides at work hide it from me. I know it would make me sick at this point, and I know it will make me sick after the show.
but... I CAN'T WAIT!

Good news folks. 168 pounds. I'm wearing size 29 jeans. what does that even mean? who understands boy sizes on girl pants.  I would like to formally welcome my abs to the party. My top two are visible. Huuzah! My thighs are melting away. As much as I hate to admit it...double cardio, does work. Darin is the man. he wants to buy an ad in the Peter Pan program and I was teasing him that he should put a headline like, "Do you want to look as good as Nana? Be as lean and mean as the Crocodile? But I don't think he's going for it.

funhater.

This is in fact not my costume. It is a childs size 2/4. You would not believe the crocodile wedgie I had going on.

rockin the (faux)hawk

i got my haircut on friday by the lovely Jaida Quinn. Every time I leave I think its the best haircut of my life. It keeps getting shorter and shorter. I should have taken pictures of every stage of hair over the last year. Now there's a slideshow.

its messy, spunky, and fun. Plus I think it makes me look way meaner. Which I've needed to work on, I've been having way too many people talk to me at the gym. One lady was trying to ask about a million questions during a spin class. I was literally dying on the bike and she was cruising along going 2 mph asking me what fruits I eat. ugh. She told me that she weighs 118 and wants to weigh 112. Don't we all feel bad for her?  She was even texting while the class was going on. I was embarassed for her. But mainly I was super annoyed.

Peter Pan is killing me. The director is such an a-hole. I almost quit Friday night. But I'm not a quitter and there are only a couple more weeks before the show. I can handle this. But goodness, he is a prick.

I ordered my teeny tiny bikini. It should ship out this week. eek.

posing lesson 1

Yesterday was my first posing lesson. There are five mandatory poses that women do. Front double biceps, side triceps, side chest, back double biceps, and front ab and thigh. I pretty much suck at all of them. I went to Darins studio, stripped down to my swim suit, and attempted to make my muscles cooperate. I think I now understand what it would be like to be paralyzed. My brain was telling my muscles to flex, but nothing was happening. I know I have lats. I can see them in the gym. But on my own, I cannot flare them out...yet. I'll learn. I'll learn how to do all of them. But holy moly, there is so much to remember for every pose. where to put your feet, your hands, what to do with your legs, where your shoulders go, which one goes up, suck in your abs,raise this hip, squeeze your legs together, pull that arm in,  flex this, relax that, look here, then there, smile, flex, don't panic, and lastly, breathe. I left the session feeling like crap. My legs have a long ways to go, there is relatively no definition there. And my upper body- which has definition- won't cooperate. I couldn't figure out how to make things move and flex the way I wanted them to. I don't like not being good at things immediately so this is a struggle. AND Darin through out the number 8% for where I'm headed. I can't imagine dropping that low. I can't seem to budge off of 175 pounds, but hopefully the composition of my body is changing even if I'm not loosing weight. per se. I'm hanging in there with the double cardio. But just barely. I did feel pretty motivated yesterday after seeing the lack of definition in my legs. But comparing any of my body parts to Darins is pretty humbling. Maybe I just need a fat ugly trainer to help me feel good about myself.

"Oh, you do eat" -mom

Here's my day of food.

weights- drinking branched chain amino acid drink while lifting
whey protein shake
cardio-45-60 min
1/4 cup oatmeal mixed with 1/2 scoop protein powder
work- drinking coffee with 1 scoop protein powder total throughout the day, and two gallons of water throughout day. I pee A LOT.
am snack- 3/4 cup egg beaters
lunch- 1 can tuna, 1 sandwich thin, 1 protein shake
pm snack- 3/4 cup egg beaters
cardio- 60 min
whey protein shake
dinner- can of tuna, two cups of brocolli

i'm really good at eating the same thing every day, so I kind of dig the simplicity of knowing what and when I'm eating next. At first I was really hungry in the morning. Then I was fine. Now that my cardio has gone up...I'm pretty hungry in the evening. But I have Peter Pan practice every night to keep me busy so i don't have much time to think about being hungry. In other news I think I've become lactose intolerant. I had a carton of skim milk yesterday and almost immediately felt sick. I don't know how I'll ever go off this diet if every deviation leads to serious stomach pain. Its like I've trained my body to run clean and when I go off and binge the shock to the system is killer. Turns out eating clean is easier than pooping and puking for hours. Life lesson over.

...still no abs....sigh. however, you can visibly see my bladder when its full. think the judges will appreciate that.

double your cardio double your fun

I had my meeting with Darin, and my seven point pinch test. The results are great! I'm down to 13.84% body fat. I've gotten to the point where you can see veins in my hands and forearms and on my hip bones. It's weird. Loosing the last few percentages are going to be rough. But I'm tougher than most.
I have been geeking out on the internet and researching body building more than I care to admit, and have come to the conclusion that at this meeting Darin was probably going to tell me that I had been doing too much cardio and need to cut back. I was really looking forward to hearing that. UGH. set myself up for a let down there. Instead, what has now happened to my program is that I'm doing twice as much cardio. It's a lot to wrap my brain around right now, but I'm going in today to talk with him and get it all laid out and figure out how this is going to be physically possible. And on Sunday I have a date with him in my undies. Clearly, I have no problem being in my undies anymore, so why be embarassed now. The nice part is that we're not having the underwear party in the gym, we're going to his private studio. But it would be impossible for Darin to be more professional so there is no reason for worry. It just sounds funny. We are going to be going over poses and looking at my body to see what muscle groups need to be built up more.

28 is great!

Today is my 28th birthday and it has been great!

I had an amazing weekend in Anchorage. I went to a musical(I love singing and dancing) but this musical had puppets in it- awesome!- and they were singing and dancing about inappropriate topics. Too funny. Saturday I went to Anchorage's dog show and geeked out on dog breeds. Sunday I went snowboarding in Girdwood and it was SUPER windy! It was so windy, I literally felt like I was being blown up the mountain. It was crazy. crazy fun, but still crazy. I stayed on plan all weekend. No real cheating. Phew. After last weeks pooping and puking escapade, I think I've learned my lesson. But the hotel that I stayed at Saturday night makes fresh cookies at 7:00 and sets a huge platter of cookies in the lobby. I didn't know about that or I would've avoided the whole situation, but I came back in from dinner just as they were placing them out. I was good. Honest, not even one cookie. But they smelled sooo good. I could've done work on that entire tray.
                                               

This morning the girl at the gym's front desk asked how old I was, she guessed 22 first. If that doesn't make your day? I told her I loved her.

I've got some measurements to share.
           11/13/210     11/23/2010     12/3/2010     12/23/2010     1/15/2011
chest         40                  38                       37                  36                        35.5
waist          34                 32                       31                  29                        29
hips           47                  45                       44                  42                         41
thigh          29                  28                        27                 26                        25.5
bicep         14                  13                        13                 12.5                     12.5
calf            18                   17                       17                 16                         16


-4.5 off the chest
-6 off the waist
-6 off the hips
-3.5 off (each) thigh
-1.5 off (each) bicep
-2 off (each) calf

wowza. fat test tomorrow. I can't wait!

size 6

I got a stack of clothes from my friend Kelsey and am proud to announce to the world that I am wearing a size 6 pair of jeans. DO YOU KNOW the last time I was a size 6?!?!?! NEVER. I was pretty much born a size 14. Ask my mom, she'll verify.  I kind of want to tell everyone who looks at me, but I'm aware that most people don't find this as monumental as I do, so I'm trying to keep it in check. Not something I excell at.

Other big news, I talked to Darin and asked him how much more weight he thinks I need to cut. 15 to 20 pounds to go. I've never been so close to being done loosing weight. I can't quite wrap my brain around it. I feel like I've been on a diet since 6th grade. Now what?

Wish me luck this weekend. I'm going to Anchorage to celebrate turning 28 and am really going to try to stay on plan. I have to stay pretty honest, I have a fat test the day after my birthday.

food poisoning, the flu, or bender induced?

I didn't eat very clean this weekend. It all started on Friday when one of my aides turned 50 at school. She brought in rootbeer floats and cupcakes. I don't know what it was about those darn cupcakes but I really wanted one, so I did eat one. And by one I mean three. And I had a rootbeer float too. And by too, I mean two. AHHH crap! So of course I go home and start feeling like shit, my body just can't handle the junky food like it used to. I went to the gym and felt uber bloated and disgusting so i didn't last long there. But we had gone swimming that day at school, so I think my muscles were also tired from that. meh. Now I'm just making excuses. Saturday- I was pretty good all day- hitting the protein shakes hard. Until the evening when I had two omelets instead of one. Whoops.
Sunday woke up really early, really hungry. I went to Harry's Family Diner and I got a house omelet and pancakes and ate it all. It was amazing! Then, the pooping started. I pooped my brains out all of Sunday night and on Monday I started puking too. After nearly 48 hours of pooping and then puking my brains out, I've decided that no omelet is worth it. I'm back on track folks. Look out.

holy cow!

Finally, I've gone up in weight on the bicep curl. 40 pounds! eat your heart out.


Ten weeks till the competition in Anchorage.

 Dear thighs,
please shape up.
Dear abs,
please show up.
thanks,
me.

whole lot going on back there

wowza. 

brace yourself, this is funny.