6 weeks out

Here's the profile (relaxed) shots for the week:



My back has leaned out so so much!! Boy did I shrink from behind..and of course, we have to do a photo progress of the abs :)

Slowly but surely they're coming in :) Just have to get rid of that pesky lower ab fat..nothing some cardio can't clean up :)

This is how NOT to do a quad abdominal pose..

ahh..much better now :)

side relaxed..blah i always forget where to put my feet.

Front double bi..this actually doesn't look too bad..I look very well proportioned :)

Front relaxed is looking better too :)

this one definitely needs some work..

Check out some before pictures of me.

This was me 4th of July weekend (almost 3 months ago?)..wow I didn't imagine myself being so chubby :-/

That's my trainer and us doing some horrendous posing haha..I was probably 145 around that time

The bruise is from when I started doing front squats..my legs could handle the weight but my skin/shoulders couldn't..my blood vessels are so sensitive and I bruise easily..and I need to open up my eyes for the camera haha.

Here I am trying to get my protein fix in DC..one thing that hasn't changed is my legs..they've always been big on me.

Alright, it's time for the dreaded cardio..think I'm going to split it up and do two 1-hour blocks this morning (I decided I wanted cereal and baked lays potato chips today). Hopefully I can multitask on the elliptical. Have a lovely Sunday :)

Excitement, and a little bit of math.

Cereal makes me sooooo happy. Carbs make me so happy. Especially high GI carbs. Wow, I don't ever think I've looked this forward to eating cereal ever. Oh and skim milk. I would die without milk. But unfortunately that delicious box of peanut butter crunch comes at a hefty price. I have to pay the cost/ "pay to play" as my posing instructor likes to call it.

Basically, carbs = cardio. I have to earn every gram of carb I consume. Roughly, that box has 15 servings, and 21 grams of carbs in every serving, so if my math skills are sharp, 21x15 = 315 grams of carbs. But that's just the cereal alone. Let's not forget the skim milk, which has about 13 grams of carbs per 8 fl. oz (240 mL) serving. Let's theoretically say I have half a gallon of milk with a whole box of peanut butter crunch. Half a gallon = 64 fl. oz = 8 servings x 13 grams of carbs  = 104 grams of carbs. In total, 315 + 104 = 419 grams of carbs x 4 calories/gram of carb = 1676 calories. I burn about 330 calories/hour on the elliptical, so 1676/330 = 5.08 hours on the elliptical to make that cereal and milk disappear. But thank goodness I will not be spending that much time on cardio :)

To maintain my muscle, I'd also have to eat about 120 grams of protein x 4 calories/gram of protein = 480 calories. Overall, my maintenance calories come out to 1725 calories - 480 calories for protein = 1245 calories for carbs (if I don't eat any fat) / 4 calories per gram of carb = 311.25 grams of carbs I'm allowed for tomorrow. Enter the "pay to play" scenario. Since I want to eat 350 grams of carbs tomorrow (yes I know I'm greedy) I hit the elliptical. If I do 90 minutes in the morning and 35 minutes at night, and I burn about 4 calories per minute, 125x4 = 500 calories. That puts my maintenance calories to 2225 calories - 480 calories = 1745 calories/4 calories per gram of carb = 436.25 grams of carbs. But I'll limit myself to 350 grams because I'm still trying to cut fat and drop weight while having my carbs at the same time too :) So it all works out, I just have to pay the price of a long cardio session first thing in the morning :( Always remember, if you want carbs, it's gonna cost you time on the elliptical :(

I'm a walking train wreck.

If it isn't one thing it's another. I got some x-rays taken of my right shoulder and everything seems to be fine--I just seem to have a muscle strain on my right shoulder because it's overcompensating for the weakness in my left shoulder. Good news, which means I just need to rest it post competition.

However, I've been struggling with this pain in my lower back..I threw out my back a few weeks ago during a lift, and the pain went away, but now it's back :( I also did standing calf raises at 220lbs, and I'm sure that aggravated my back too, but I was so proud I broke 215!! It sucks because I couldn't do deadlifts this week because of this nagging pain. Ugh. I'm scheduling another appointment to have an x-ray taken of my back (hopefully I didn't slip a disc or anything and that it's just another strain). I'm trying to train through the pain but somedays it really sucks.

I had my first meeting for the competition last night, and a fair amount of girls came out. Looks like around 15 girls will be competing this year, so I gotta really step my workouts up and push really really hard. I'm less than 7 weeks away, so I'm really really close to the end. It's exciting to feel like the big day is coming up soon :)

In terms of cutting, I'm very close to my initial goal of 120lbs--currently I'm at 128.9. I'm trying my hardest to get to 128 by this Sunday--a delicious box of peanut butter crunch awaits me :) If I can get to 120lbs by 4 weeks out, I'm definitely shooting for 115 precontest--so lean!! :) Hopefully I can get really close.

7 weeks out..and they're coming :]

check me out playing around at posing practice tonight..they're almost here!! all that cardio is finally paying off :)

oh man I can't wait to be competition ready..too bad I don't look like that now, yet this is what my abs normally look like:

of course, my posing still needs work. Here's a shot of me trying to figure out where to place my hands in the side relaxed pose..I'm so forgetful!!

Here's most muscular/quad abdominal pose..once my abs get really shredded this pose will be much more flattering..for now, not my strongest presentation:

Believe it or not, front relaxed is extremely difficult for me. I need to learn how to flare out those blasted lats of mine!! Still working on it..

Check out my hamstring and how cinched my waist looks in this pose..just a little more practice and I'll have it down :)

bruises and a quick update.

Oh, rock climbing..it gives me such a GREAT sweat and such an amazing feeling of accomplishment yet leaves my legs with some nasty bruises..battle scars as I like to call them..yet that doesn't shy me away from doing rainbows, routes and sometimes even trying bouldering. I've been stuck in this adventurous phase of trying everything at least once. I hope I never get out of it.

In bodybuilding news, I've been struggling with this dull, deep tissue pain below in my right lat, between my armpit and shoulder blade--going in for an x-ray and exam tomorrow afternoon. I guess I can't complain too much about the health care system, especially since I scheduled everything yesterday at 3pm. Let's hope it's something minor, like a pull or strain that I can relieve or mitigate with some analgesic or stretching. I have no clue what it could be, and I've had this pain for about ten days now.

I've been trying to get a little bit of posing practice in everyday. I'm determined to find my lats and learn how to control them/flare them out, no matter how underdeveloped they are. Just another muscle to add to the bulking list--back and upper body, especially arms.

Lately life has been a cycle of morning cardio, lifting, abs, rock climbing and posing practice. As always, I look forward to Thursday's leg workouts--my strongest asset :) Trying to break 150 on squats (my original goal from May) and 110 on front squat (my FAVORITE lift :] ).

That's it for now, trying to hop into bed and tank early to try to get on the elliptical before 7am--long day of work and appointments :[ goodnite all.

8 weeks out

I took some pictures in my summer bikini in hopes of seeing some type of difference between now and a couple of months ago. And of course, as the weeks are winding down, some obligatory shots of me practicing my posing. Enjoy my modified front double bi and my not-so-favorite side serratus.


I weighed in at 131.9 this morning, which means I have about 12 more pounds to lose in the next 8 weeks. Trying to get to 120 (or 115) before dehydration. The calories have been slashed drastically, and I'm literally running on fumes everyday.

My physical activity has been off the charts. It's ridiculous how many calories I'm burning everyday. I have an hour of cardio first thing in the morning, followed by night sessions of abwork, weights, rock climbing, sometimes all of the above. Here's a sneak peek of my newest obsession :]

I went from just randomly climbing to trying new routes..finished my first one this weekend and hopefully moving to a more difficult one :]

break time to party.

so it was a friend's birthday and we decided to surprise her with a small get-together. i must say, all this weight i lost puts me at a shock. i can't remember being so small, nor having my head look so huge. i saw a former boss this morning and i can see why her jaw dropped when she saw me. and yet i still have another 10+ pounds to lose before competition day.

9 weeks out..for serious this time.

So it's coming down to the wire, slowly, inevitably. I just found out the official date of the competition is November 10th, giving me an extra week to cut/prep/practice, so as of today I am officially 9 weeks away from the big day. Today the poster for the fall competition went up, encouraging people to sign up. I must admit, I saw it and butterflies came into my stomach. It's all so surreal, like this is really going to happen. All the sweat, blisters and pain from two-a-days, cardio and lifting are coming down to a 2 hour show and a 90 second performance.

I practiced posing, and below I've included some poses I practiced today: front double bicep and side tricep, the first two I'm slowly trying to master.


I'm not gonna lie, my midsection needs some SERIOUS shredding. A part of me is starting to worry if I can drop the weight in time. I definitely can't go up on stage with a kangaroo pouch, I'll be mortified. I weighed in at 132.7 this past Sunday, up +0.2 pounds from last week, but after my refeed, I'm 134.7 today. Trying really really hard to get to 130lbs by this weekend. Sometimes I wonder if I'll need a miracle.

The two-a-days have officially started today. Everyday from now until contest day is going to be double sessions at the gym..20 minutes of night cardio are now tacked onto lift days and 30 minute sessions got added to offdays. I'm really hoping the simple equation of weight loss = calories out > calories in really helps me right now.

On the other hand, I do have to say I'm really proud of my legs, specifically my quads. Who knew that changing the way I stand really makes my definition come out? My quads look massive, and it makes me happy :] :] :]

I do have to say, I really have to thank you all for the kind and encouraging words. Every week gets harder and harder, and I always look forward to finding a comment on my blog. You guys are amazing and motivating :]

I decided to add to my callous and blister collection and tried the climbing wall at my gym tonight. Our climbing wall is about 4 floors high, and even though I took the easy route, this was my second time climbing and I made it all the way to the top!! Even though I was completely drained from lifting and cardio, I was sweating my face off to get to the top. I already feel myself becoming slowly addicted to rock climbing. Definitely going to try it again tomorrow night, and I might even be convinced to buy a climbing pass :]

Alright everyone, I'm still at work trying to get some extra stuff done and I'm about to finish my last wonderful meal of oatmeal, cottage cheese and splenda. Will update again soon with some more poses as I master them, and maybe even some video :] catch you guys later.

9 weeks out

And it is slowly coming down to the wire..crunch time..weighed in this week at 135.2lbs..very frustrated with my weight. Picked up some l-carnitine to experiment with, and I'll be doing some hardcore two-a-days next week.

I need to get more sleep and water. Everytime I lack in either one my weight keeps bouncing around and it bothers me a lot. Cardio has been pretty intense this week, been clocking in 6 miles every morning..whew. The cardio is getting a little overwhelming, so I really really need to rest up this weekend, since hell is going to begin next Monday.

Hunger's been pretty good, I don't feel like I'm starving, but I've been satisfying my hunger with steamed broccoli and seasoned salt and it works. A whole bag can be pretty filling, a good thing to keep in mind that it's a convenient snack during study time :)

I need to keep my water consumption in check. Most days I forget to drink anything, but now I'm going to consciously try to drink at least 2 liters a day. Still trying to work on getting at least 6 hours of sleep though, it's not working :(

In terms of the pictures, I think the bottom ones are more telling than the top ones. I seem to look really lean in darker lighting, but bright lights screw me over and make me look really smooth. Ugh. I'm going to schedule a body composition test soon to see where I'm at bodyfat percentage wise.