Oh boy.

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Can’t believe it’s already Sunday night! I feel like this week/weekend flew by!

I’ve been feeling kinda sick the past two days, so I took it easy today. So easy, in fact that I pretty much slept the whole day. Whatever “sickness” that was coming on, better be gone! I’m feeling better now, but it explains why I’m still awake at 10:30pm on  a Sunday.

So things are changing a little bit around here. And it’s going to be extremely hard for me.

I have to cut down on exercise.

Those words make me cringe. I’m a workout-a-holic if you hadn’t noticed, and cutting down is NOT going to be easy.

My weight training will stay the same, but cardio is being cut to 40 min. per day, 6 days a week. That’s not an outrageous change, but it means on days that I box, that is my cardio. On days that I do sprints, no other cardio. To some this might seem like a good thing, but for me it is going to be a difficult  thing. Mentally, I feel like I need to do a lot of cardio, but I KNOW that isn’t the case. It will be an adjustment, but I think it is a GOOD thing overall. Plus, the cardio will only go up after a few weeks so I guess I should enjoy this while it lasts.

I’m also hopefully trying out my first hot yoga class tomorrow. A friend from the gym is taking me to a studio nearby, and told me to prepare to sweat my ass off. Noted.

Other Shizzzz

I’ve been in such a funk lately. I’m trying not to let it get to me, but sometimes I feel like the gym and training is all I’ve got. Everyone says their early 20’s are filled with ups and downs, but the downs are getting old 😀 Can’t argue that there are a LOT of ups though. I guess that’s life. A lot of the “downs” are things that I can fix on my own, so I gotta get to it. It’s mid-March and I don’t feel like I’ve accomplished too much this year. I’ve kinda just been going through the motions. Being in California spoiled me a little bit, because I get bored doing the same thing over and over. Either way, I’m excited about the future and will keep working towards my goals. I try to look at every hiccup and fall-back as leverage to move forward and come out on top. I am thankful for my “glass half full” attitude. 99% of life is NOT what happens to you, but how you deal with it. Each day I’m working on dealing with these things in a better way.

You can’t get better if you don’t try, you can’ t try if you don’t take chances.

Competition

Let’s see, how many competitions have been in the “plan” but not happened yet? I feel like a broken record, but I also haven’t been doing this for myself. (Mayjuh confession coming up…)

I LOVE competing. The high I get being on stage is incredible and the self accomplishment that it brings is like nothing else. With that said, the more you compete, the more people expect you to compete. Or at least that is how I’ve felt. The Fitness America show in November that I didn’t do, was something that all of the other girls were doing, so I felt like I should too. My heart wasn’t set on it, but I thought it would be fun to do anyways. When you’re heart isn’t into something, it doesn’t feel like the same journey. Or at least in my case, I felt like I was training for other people and not myself. I ended up not doing that show.

Then I began training with a new trainer, and he wanted me to do a show in February. Again, I didn’t necessarily want to do that show, but he thought I should, so I started training for it. My heart wasn’t in it, and so I didn’t work to my potential and decided not to do that show.

Jr. Nationals. My heart WAS/IS in this show. After I qualified for nationals, I decided that I definitely wanted to do a national show. Jr. Nationals is the first NPC National show of 2010, so I picked that one. My one goal for this entire year is to compete nationally. Of course, I have other smaller goals, but that is my BIG goal of the year. 2009 my big goal was to compete, and this year it is to compete nationally. I’ve had a ROUGH off-season that I could blame on a number of things, but in my opinion, life is always going to get in the way and it is NO excuse. I have that goal in my sights and nothing will stop me.

After meeting with someone Saturday, it was decided between the three of us that, rather than travel all the way to Chicago(which is only in 12 weeks) I should wait and do USA’s in Las Vegas on July 31st. There were a few reasons for this:

1. We want the healthiest lean-out as possible. I made some great muscle gains in the off-season, but also packed on a lot of weight. I also need to come in leaner than I did for my first show, being that this is a national show. I probably need to be about 5-8 pounds lighter than I was in July. That being said, my contest weight has actually gone up considering that I probably have added about 5 pounds of muscle to my frame. I stepped on stage at 123ish pounds in July and will probably be stepping on stage at about 125-128 pounds at nationals. I’m 5’7, so it may sound like a lot, but it isn’t on my body. I have a lot of weight to lose. But I also have a lot of determination and drive in me. I’ve been doing pretty well with dieting over the last few months and taken off a few pounds, but it hasn’t been perfectly consistent so I kind of feel like I gain and lose the same pounds over and over. When I tell myself that I’m in “full gear” though, there’s no stopping me. I’ve officially put myself in full gear.  Bring it!

2. MONEY. I’m a college student, and although it seems like I work a lot, I spend a lot of money. Food, supplements, and gas literally drain my bank account as soon as it sees money. Travelling to Chicago will be hundreds of dollars more expensive for me. Not to mention, driving somewhere makes the food situation SO much easier. For anyone that has competed, or travelled while training for a competition, you KNOW what I’m talking about. A simple 2 or 3 day trip seems MASSIVE because you end up bringing like 18 meals with you. Your big suitcase is filled with baggies of frozen chicken and fish, and you somehow manage to fit your clothes into a tiny litte backpack. Travelling by plane makes this even MORE difficult because you have to abide by their rules, and 9 times out of 10, they will throw at least SOME of your food away. I live about 5 hours driving time to Vegas. MUCH easier.

So, after bouncing those thoughts off to someone who really knows her stuff (if you’re curious you can e-mail me…), it was decided that NPC USA’s in Las Vegas -July 31st is the show for me. This is something that MY HEART is into. I am excited for this show, and can’t wait to put myself in high gear. It’s 19 weeks away which is a long time, but I need that time. Mentally and physically.

7 comments

  1. Hey girl – I know what you mean about the mental aspect of cardio and felling like you have to do more. I had to make a very conscious effort to scale back a few months ago b/c I was seriously hitting the overtraining wall. I was so moody and down. Sounds like you made the right decision about the comp too.

  2. Courtney says:

    It sounds like maybe you needed to get it all done on paper (well, digital paper in this case) and see it all layed out for you. Did you feel a little better once you wrote it all out? You have a plan, just need to stick with it. You have proven you know what is the best thing for you by skipping shows when need be…and you know you need to cut some cardio and you will do it.
    And yes, your 20’s are ups and downs…but that will continue into your 30’s believe me! Just try and enjoy the ups while they are happening and learn from the downs (that’s my old lady in her 30’s advice LOL)
    Courtney
    adventures in tri-ing

  3. Therese says:

    Yay for laying off the cardio! I’m sure you can use the break…but I totally get how it can screw with you mentally.

    Girl you gotta do what you gotta do. Don’t feel silly for changing your plans beacuse seriously no one knows exactly what you have to go through day in and day out.

  4. yes,i have to agree that you are taking things in the right direction! i know its hard for gals like us to slow down a bit when it comes to the cardio biz,but your body will thank you later! AND a good choice about the july show!!! i wish i would have listened to my heart and not what others were telling me when i did my last show last year. i DID NOT want to do it,but felt pressured to do so. i ended up over trained,my body revolted againsnt me and i looked THE WORST EVER on stage….
    so please dont ever feel bad for opting out of shows in which your heart just isnt there….now just dont get that feeling confused with the “tired of contest prep why am i doing this will do anythingfor food” feeling that always comes so close to a show!
    anyways,i know you will do great things this year!!

  5. ANA says:

    im really exited for you lizzy 🙂

  6. ANA says:

    vegas baby!!

  7. I’m glad you’ve made a choice on vegas! I had no idea travel was that tough – wow – I never considered having to bring all of that food!

    Best of luck on slowing down the cardio – you can do it!