MOTIVATIONAL QUOTE OF THE DAY
"Life is a journey, not a destination." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
For the complete Motivational, review Life is a JOURNEY | WPM Women.
"Life is a journey, not a destination." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
For the complete Motivational, review Life is a JOURNEY | WPM Women.
TRAINING
Day OFF
After the beating (not that I didn't ENJOY giving it!) my body has taken this week (particularly the screwed up schedule), I am glad to have today off from training. As it is, I have to take a client through a session later on this evening, so I'm still going to be doing SOMEthing. Anyways, today is the other end of my 1.5 days awake, and even though I actually took half a scoop of G8 and got INTO bed at 0304, come 0420 I was still wide awake, so I just got back up and continued on with some client portfolios. Feeling it a little now, the beginnings of a migraine dawning, but I'll soldier on through, hopefully with a nap sometime today and the ability to sleep tonight - to get up at 0330 tomorrow morning!
Day OFF
After the beating (not that I didn't ENJOY giving it!) my body has taken this week (particularly the screwed up schedule), I am glad to have today off from training. As it is, I have to take a client through a session later on this evening, so I'm still going to be doing SOMEthing. Anyways, today is the other end of my 1.5 days awake, and even though I actually took half a scoop of G8 and got INTO bed at 0304, come 0420 I was still wide awake, so I just got back up and continued on with some client portfolios. Feeling it a little now, the beginnings of a migraine dawning, but I'll soldier on through, hopefully with a nap sometime today and the ability to sleep tonight - to get up at 0330 tomorrow morning!
OTHER NOTES
Body Composition8.5% bodyfat - disgusting INcrease by 0.5% bodyfat from last week (0.1% for each "bad" day of eating), ARGH! Believe me, I can definitely see AND feel (so VERY Uncomfortable and HATING every second of it!) it too, GRRR! That said there IS positive news in there: Although I gained bodyfat, I gained at a HIGHER rate re lean mass, adding 1.9 pounds of lean mass and 0.7 pounds of bodyfat, for a ratio of 2.6:1 re lean mass to bodyfat. The lean gains are noticeable in my shoulders and arms - especially given that they have been appearing more and more defined (and ARE bigger re girths) as the week continued, whilst increased bodyfat is noticeable in my "tyre" (sigh)...Vascularity has been getting noticeably better as the week has gone on as well (diet no doubt playing a role here, since my carbohydrate consumption has been through the roof - 2-3 times what my "usual" is!)...There can be NO more weeks like this one though, no more steps BACKWARDS, as I do NOT have the time to afford it! This coming week I had better LOSE that 0.5% bodyfat - or ELSE!
Supplements
This week has not been the best as far as waking and sleeping, so supplement dosage timing has been all over the place, adapting for the day on what time I get up, whether or not it’s an all-nighter or not, etc., since I have done an all-nighter one day then slept for 12-13 hours the next, and so on. The ONLY thing has been different is the inclusion of G8 - started on Monday. Taste is terrible. But, was out like a light within ~20 minutes of dosing it each time I used it, sleeping for 12-13 hours, almost UNinterrupted each time. Woke feeling like crap the "next" day though, my head pounding like it was going to explode (could be from going so long without water), and really struggling to force myself to GET up. I am going to use G8 for another week before I decide to continue or stop - the deep and restful sleep aside, if it IS indeed the G8 that has disrupted my schedule so badly, then I WILL stop it, because I would rather have my not-so-great sleep and schedule on track and making progress, than sleeping awesome and having my entire body out of whack and going backwards!
Supplementary Notes
Appetite has been EXTREMELY HIGH this week, particularly from Friday LAST week, and I have not seemed to be able to STOP eating (or want to, even though I feel so UNcomfortable and hate myself after every meal)! Has been interesting considering there were no changes last week aside from adding in AAv2 (and I had no issues up to Friday), and this week, the only difference this week has been adding in G8 (which should not affect anything, and has only served in giving my body sleep, albeit screwing up all my sleeping patterns from even what they WERE)...My body has been like a FURNACE, and if it continues like this, the air conditioning in my suite is going to find a new home in the 40s (Fahrenheit)...Energy has been relatively high when finally "awake" and training has been going exceptionally well (despite being done late at night, finishing around midnight)...Joints have not been so great. Left wrist has been in agony during quite a few exercises, the pain as deep some days as when I fractured it. My knees have been suffering, particularly my right one, and by the end of the week I've been limping around. My LEFT shoulder/biceps' tendon has been experiencing sharp pain on and off...Stress has been high and it's not been the best of weeks (despite the moments of light throughout it)...
April MuscleBombshell.com Contest
With the last week left I am JUST ahead in this contest! All votes/"Likes" and "Shares" count, so if you have a Facebook account, please help KEEP me there by "Liking" the MuscleBombshell.com page, and under the folder titled MB Cover Model Search - April 2012 (in the Photos section), clicking on my image (second in the bottom row) to "Like" and "Share" it. Thank You and God Bless!
FitnessX Magazine
On Friday I received the awesome news that I am now the new Sports Columnist for FitnessX Magazine! Very Stoked - thank you, Kat
FitnessX Magazine is published bi-monthly, the next issue coming out re May/June, so I am excited for it! The column will focus specifically on "Training for a Marathon", allowing me to share a different area of my training knowledge and experience, and provide me opportunity to continue building more of a platform to help in gaining exposure within the fitness industry and reach out to more people.Lyle MacDonald's Rapid Fat Loss Crash Diet
Despite my intention to continue with my adaptation of Lyle's "diet", this week has been another like the one not so long ago, with every other day actually well ABOVE even my "normal" caloric intake (by ~1,500 calories a day re daily average over the entire week), for some reason my body RAVENOUS and CRAVING food, especially carbohydrates in ANY form, like starving is going to become the new "norm" (my sleeping and waking patterns not helping either, no doubt - although I have been like this since last Friday).
To recap the last four weeks of "attempting" Lyle's "diet":
Week 1 - training good (started skip trisets this week re 2 days, 3 days re pm cardio); one "bad" day (re Lyle and Lean Gains); no AnaBeta this week; lost 0.6% bodyfat (9.1% to 8.5%).
Week 2 - training good (albeit "backwards" and messed up, skip trisets 3 days, 4 days re pm cardio); four "bad" days (re Lyle and Lean Gains); started AAv2 on Monday and back on AnaBeta, ran out of Erase on Thursday; lost 0.2% bodyfat (8.5% to 8.3%).
Week 3 - training good (skip trisets 3 days, 4 days re pm cardio); two "bad" days (re Lyle and one re Lean Gains); started Erase again on Tuesday; lost 0.3% bodyfat (8.3% to 8%).
Week 4 - training good (skip 4 days, 3 days re pm cardio); five "bad" days (re Lyle and Lean Gains); started G8 on Monday; one day all-nighter and next 12-13 hours re sleep all week; gained 0.5% bodyfat (8% to 8.5%).
The notes above definitely indicate that yes, it IS easier to lose bodyfat at "higher" body compositions. But, it also indicates that as I get leaner NUTRITION definitely has a role in my progress. This last week has been the worst in a long time and by no means anything close to "normal", and it shows. That all said, the week I felt the BEST was actually Week 1 - despite the fact that I felt drained by ~1000 every day. So, ONE "bad" nutrition day only allowed for me from now on - at the END of my "training week", the day BEFORE my weekly scheduled day OFF ALL training. That's how it's got to be, nothing for it. I must NOT let another week like this one happen EVER again!
So, whilst my "experiment" - if you can call it that, given that I didn't really stick to it at all! - with Lyle's "diet" was a complete failure as far as me actually staying on track with it, I HAVE learnt from the last four weeks the role that nutrition plays in my progress (not to mention, confirming more than ever how certain things make me feel afterwards) and certainly what I PREFER it to be, especially as far as the Lean Gains 16-hour fast/8-hour feeding window nutritional protocol being the "best" for MY body...Sooo...Going to make sure from now on I GET IT RIGHT!!! ALL the time!!! About time...
This week has been very draining (yes, despite all the sleep I've had - which, in all truth, 12-13 hours is far TOO MUCH for me, given that my "optimal" sleeping period is 4-5 hours for "best" function!), more mental than anything else. Ironically, the things you wish most you could just take an eraser and wipe away are the things that take the LONGEST time to "sort" out and UNuncomplicate. On top of that, I feel like I am being pulled in so many different directions right now, pressure from all sides to do this or that, and I really need to STOP thinking about what everyone ELSE wants and focus on what is going to be best for ME (yes, I said it - it's time for me to start considering and taking care of ME instead of everyone else for a change, and I know I've said this in the past, but I've never really done it until NOW). I am DEFINITELY ready for a break NOW, but I WILL hang in there and fight through, because that’s what I do! One more week left to finalize any decisions I have to make, and then it's full steam ahead from there, NO looking back! In the meantime, come at me next week - let's see what you've got! I'm MORE than READY now - you ain't taking me down! Embrace the danger. Embrace the pain. There won't be any more "falling behind" from this Warrior!
