Re-Hustle

So it’s officially 18 days until The Day but I’m not really worried — I want to get it over with. I’ve become ‘angry’ at the competition, if that makes any sense. I resent it for disrupting my life, costing me money, causing added stress I don’t need, etc. Last week I didn’t work out at all and I think I used these feelings as an excuse not to go to the gym (oh yeah, and I was dead tired).

So today I got back in the gym to work my abs and legs… and they’re still burning. A little extra punishment for staying away so long I guess.

Then I got an email from the founder and president of Fitness Star saying that STUDIO-H has offered to do hair and make-up for free for all the competitors! I signed up to take the offer, so I’ve got a little more motivation.

I still have lingering worries about how everything is going to work out, but this past Thursday I got the chance to browse the latest issue of Oprah magazine while getting my hair done. After reading Martha Beck’s article on ‘Just-in-Case’ vs. ‘Just-in-time’ thinking got me thinking I really can relax… I just have to remember that first.

Fight cravings with that clean feeling

If there’s one thing that kills cravings, it’s toothpaste and mouthwash. I overheard this tip while passing by one of those tabloid tv shows. Pamela Anderson apparently brushes her teeth whenever she’s craving something bad. I tried the same thing a couple times and it works! Mouthwash gives an added kick–something with a good burn. After that, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches don’t sound so good!

Making it do what it do.

After slacking off for the past few months, I figured I probably wasn’t going to make it to April 11th. A friend who knows a lot more than I do told me that if I stick to my diet and exercise for the next month, I’ll be competition ready, so I committed.

It’s been six days and I’m noticing some new cuts in my arms and abs. Hotness!

So today in the gym I did my legs: 3 sets of 25 leg extensions, 3 sets of 15 (3×15) seated leg curls, 3×20 lying leg curls, 4×20 seated calf exercises, 3×15/3×25 superset walking lunges and (more) leg extensions, 4×25 leg presses, 3×20 standing calf raises, and 3 one-minute  sets of standing on my calves until they burn out.

I actually started to feel a little physically sick after doing all that business, so I did about 25 minutes of cardio–intervals with one minute going as fast as I can, 30 seconds slowly.

The diet has been a struggle to adjust to, especially with my backwards schedule. Most people (personal trainers/bodybuilders) I talked to told me to cook for the week, but because I’m no good in the kitchen, I’m usually up cooking past my bedtime, then I’m tired when I wake up, then I don’t feel like working out ’cause I didn’t sleep enough, etc. But I’m going to try it again. This time I’m looking in to getting a grill from Cuisinart (not from Canadian Tire though). That should make cooking chicken, fish and beef easier… Honestly I don’t know why I didn’t think of that before.

One of the things I’ve learned is that cooked vegetables don’t last the week. Laugh if you must, but I figured it’s probably best to buy and cook vegetables every couple of days… Lesson Learned.

Stomach Vacuum? No thanks.

BTW I tried Stomach Vacuum for a few weeks and it didn’t seem to work any better or worse than regular crunches. Maybe I wasn’t doing them properly, but I’m on track with my dieting and exercise now without doing any vacuums and everything is going well.