Countdown to 29th April 2007

[gymgoer]

Thankyou!!! You know, reading your journal gave me the motivation to stop being lazy and make my goals happen for myself. I think your journey, would make a good book.

When, I was in my early teens, and a keen bodybuilder@my gym. I was surrounded by older women who wouldn't let me join their bodybuilding club. :cry: I just wanted to join, to discover bodybuilding for myself, by learning from the experiences of other women who are actually doing the journey-who could offer me tips, as a young teenager.

Well, I think I may have been competition for them, because I was still a non-club member a year later and constantly had them watching me train. But, I channeled my frustration from this group of women, to learn for myself about bodybuilding.

Now, reading your journal, has given me insight into the daily pursuit of a bodybuilder/sculpter journal. So, thanks - I always wondered what it was like for someone else.

I still have 8 cups of coffee a day with suger (which is energy) - but still bad for my diet, as its over a cup a day. So, im amazed at how well you do, with only one, without suger. I think my body would go into shoke mode. Gonna have to cut back :nod: , to 4.

[tallulahangie]

DAY 24

Food

Meal 1 - Porridge made with milk & sultanas

Meal 2 - 1 apple & 1 banana

Meal 3 - 1 cup brown rice & 1 can tuna

Meal 4 - Protein Shake (made with milk)

Meal 5 - Kangaroo, sweet potato & 1/2 cup carrots

Meal 6 - Protein shake (made with milk)

Training - Chest (light workout)

Felt a little better than yesterday but it was a long day at work and by 5pm I was f*cked out of my tree. Not even half a coffee perked me up. I struggled through a light chest workout at the gym. I can't wait for bed this evening!

Got up this morning & my flatmate's partner was eating cereal & he says to me "Oh I took some of your milk..." I said "no worries" but after thinking about it throughout the day I was a little annoyed. My flatmate & I have individual fridges because she believes in keeping food & cooking seperate. So by using my milk (without asking) my flatmate's partner had violated my space by opening my fridge & using my milk. I usually don't have milk in my fridge but as it is a hi-carb day I had it in there - so he was lucky! I did bring it up with my flatmate this arvy & she asked if I wanted her to replace the milk but I said not to worry, it's only milk. No need to stress about it!

I've got my RDO tomorrow. YAY! 3 day weekend! Going to start working a few Saturdays soon. It'll take my mind off the comp & also give me some extra funds for my bikini, shoes & tan etc. We get paid double time when we work on Saturdays.

Hey GYMGOER - sorry to hear of your bad experiences. I have sent you a private message - hope you don't mind!

[tallulahangie]

DAY 25

Food

Meal 1 - 4 eggwhites scrambled with mushrooms & capsicum, 1 slice toast (Vogels)

Meal 2 - Protein Shake

Meal 3 - 1 Banana

Meal 4 - Kangaroo big serve sweet potato, Sugarfree V

Meal 5 - Chicken breast, 1 cup brocolli, 1/2 cup carrots

Meal 6 - Protein Shake

TRAINING - Legs

My day off today and how nice it was! Got up at 6am and went on the bike, had some brekky and then went back to bed for 3 hours!

Went shopping today (no not grocery shopping - makes a change! :S) and bought myself a lovely set of scales that I'm most excited about. BIG W (equivalent to the Warehouse) had a fairly large selection - plus they had ones that you could try. So here I was in BIG W with 7 pairs of scales all lined up on the floor, shoes off, standing on each set. The standard dial ones were difficult to get an accurate number and I found them to be quite flimsy and cheap. Moving on to the digitals I found that my weight varied by 1 kg! I weighed myself 3 times on each of the digital scales (I had a set in the past whereby I would weigh myself 3 times & get a different measurement each time! :S). There was a set for $89 that was doing exactly that - giving a different measurement each time - obviously the price does not reflect the standard of the product... So I had eliminates a few sets & was down to 2 - was it the square glass ones or the round glass ones? Hmmmm... The square glass ones were $39.99 & the round ones - $49.98. Because I'm a cheapskate of course I chose the $39.99 pair, however I scored myself a bargain. Not only do these scales take my weight measurement and look stylish but also calculate my BF % & hydration levels (not too sure how accurate these features are, but I'll use them as a guide anywho!) No more weighing myself at the gym where numerous other fatty boom booms are weighing themselves. Plus I have a new weigh-in day - SATURDAY.

Also while shopping I bought some MORE pills. This time I got some Zinc tablets. This time around I'm trying to stay away from the diet pills (eg. fatburners such as hydroxycut, Thermodynamx etc), however I may resort to something like Hot Rocks or Farenheit nearer to my comp if I dind my energy levels are dipping drastically. So basically I'm taking a Multi-Vitamin (Swisse Brand - as taken by the Australian Cricket Team - hopefully not my women's one anyway ), zinc, Vitamin C powder & Flaxseed Oil capsules (Good Health Brand - although I am running low & you can't buy those capsules over here )

I saw a friend that I haven't seen in 3-4 weeks and she said I was looking smaller. YAY! My flatmate also said the same - she sees me everyday but said that there has been a noticeable drop. YAY! It means the hard slog is worth it! Besides, I think that my flatmate is starting to get motivated by my progress - that is so awesome! If I can motivate & inspire people then that would mean more to me than winning some trophy at a competition.

[deegee]

Its always people who have not seen you in a few weeks that really notice changes and its great when they say how much you have changed, even if you feel progress has been slow. Well done.

[poos_n_wees]

I saw a friend that I haven't seen in 3-4 weeks and she said I was looking smaller. YAY! My flatmate also said the same - she sees me everyday but said that there has been a noticeable drop. YAY! It means the hard slog is worth it! Besides, I think that my flatmate is starting to get motivated by my progress - that is so awesome! If I can motivate & inspire people then that would mean more to me than winning some trophy at a competition.

Awesome!

[tallulahangie]

DAY 26 (Saturday)

Food

Meal 1 - 4 egg whites

Meal 2 - 1 can tuna, 80g cottage cheese

Meal 3 - Protein Shake

Meal 4 - Chicken Breast, salad

Meal 5 - 1 apple

Meal 6 - Fish, vegetables, potato

TRAINING - Shoulders

Got up at 5am today to go on the bike & then I had to start work at 7am. Only did 5 hours, but it was double time & the extra cash is going to come in handy!

Had a hot date on Saturday night. We went out to the city for dinner & boy did I feel all grown up! LOL! Only been dieting for 4 weeks and I'd forgotten what it was like to go out! It was a good night, I really did enjoy myself. However, there has been a development, or maybe a complication? He asked me where to from here. I'm like "shiiiiiiiiit!". A couple of weeks ago he was telling me he did not forsee a relationship while I was pre-contest & then after spending some time with me he'd like to give it a try. That kind of blew me away a little. He's such an awesome individual and I have such a great time with him. He's cute, funny, smart & so positive, I need someone like him in my life. Explained to him that I don't have much time at the moment & my training will come first. He's cool with that. We'll see how it goes!

DAY 27 (Sunday)

Food

Meal 1 - 14g pack of apricots/sultanas & 5 egg whites/2 yolks (bloody cracked the yolks twice in a row! :evil: )

Meal 2 - Chicken Breast & salad

Meal 3 - Protein jelly (raspberry jelly made with 2 scoops protein powder)

Meal 4 - Kangaroo, 1 cup brocolli, 1/2 cup carrots

Really quite tired today! (Well I didn't get to bed till 1.30am!) Lacking motivation and I'm off my food - just don't feel like eating. Really don't know why I'm competing...

I saw an Air NZ plane in the sky today whilst driving & started crying! What a woosie, but you get that from time to time.

So tired... Just want to sleep...

[gymgoer]

KEEP GOING - YOU CAN DO IT! :nod:

[Evie]

Think you need to go and re-read some of the positive comments from the team here - such as the one I've quoted below. And remember "If it was easy, it wouldn't be worth doing!"

We all have our up's and downs, goodness knows I have days where I ask myself why... stupid thing is that the only real answer I can is that I WANT TO DO IT ... don't know why (challenge, show up, be the best I can, I enjoy working out...) but no real difinative answer.

Love reading your posts, you keep it real and it helps to know we are all in the same boat from time to time. You're going to rock this!

As you clock down towards your comp many people go through ups and downs - it really messes with your head. Some days you feel you are making progress, feel good, look good and quite invincible but other days you can be really low, wondering why on earth you are doing this to yourself, feel insecure, all alone, nobody understands and that you don't look that great or can't see your progress.

Hang in there - pre-comp preparation is a test of the physical and mental and you are doing awesomely. Work out things you can do to help you through those periods - like going on to web sites like this one for support or whatever works for you. You have come this far, so hang in there a bit longer.....look to others for inspiration and remember your strength, focus and commitment is an inspiration to others. :nod:

[tallulahangie]

DAY 28

Food

Meal 1 - 4 egg whites

Meal 2 - 1 can tuna, 80g cottage cheese

Meal 3 - Chicken breast & salad

Meal 4 - 1 apple

Meal 5 - Kangaroo, 1 cup brocolli, 1/2 cup carrots

Meal 6 - Protein Shake

TRAINING - Chest

What an odd day. I was on edge for most of it, just really jumpy & tense - just wanted to cry at the slightest thing! I was incredibly frustrated and wanted to give it up! My mood didn't improve until I met my training partner and the gym and we had a really good train - just laughed about the old days and shared funny stories. Plus there were some interesting characters in the gym tonight, in particular this guy who was benchpressing & while he was doing it made sounds that should only be heard emanating from the bedroom! I could not focus because I was laughing so hard!

I 'networked' at the gym this evening by chatting to this other girl who is doing the same comp as me (lucky for me she's Intermediate, otherwise I would get my ass whipped bigtime!) She started dieting 15 weeks out. :S Crazy. I think that she's trying to diet her fat off whereas I would rather hammer the cardio and burn fat that way - I believe that to be more efficient.

My first subject arrived in the post today of my degree arrived today. How exciting! It's going to be a new challenge for me, but I am a little worried about how I will fit it all in...

So with renewed enthusiasm I continue the journey!

[tallulahangie]

DAY 29

Food

Meal 1 - 4 egg whites

Meal 2 - 1 can tuna, 80g cottage cheese

Meal 3 - Chicken breast & salad

Meal 4 - 1 apple

Meal 5 - Fish, 1 cup brocolli, 1/2 cup carrots

Meal 6 - Protein Pudding

TRAINING - Triceps & Biceps

Spent most of today on autopilot. My brain was such a fuzz. I couldn't think straight or even string together a coherent sentence! :S I thought that a strong black coffee would help, oh how wrong I was! It just intensified the situation - a buzzy fuzzy mess! :S

Incredibly stressed today! I've got work banking up & there's always pressure at work to keep on top of it! My productivity has slipped since I started dieting & I'm really worried that is going to affect my end of year review & hence my chance at my Bonus & pay rise. :S EEEEK!!!

Been having really random and disturbing dreams lately. The other night it was about murderers and child abusers & last night I was back some time in history about to be burnt at the stake or something... My past lives are coming back to haunt me! LOL!

You know it's going to be a crazy day when you get all excited that your chest is sore from the workout the day before!

[tallulahangie]

DAY 30 (Into the Dirty Thirties Now...)

Food

Meal 1 - 5 egg whites

Meal 2 - 1 can tuna, 80g cottage cheese

Meal 3 - Chicken breast & salad

Meal 4 - 1 apple

Meal 5 - Kangaroo, 1 cup brocolli, 1/2 cup carrots

Meal 6 - Protein Pudding

TRAINING - Shoulders

Now it starts to get a bit more difficult. There are 60 days left to go. That means I'm only a third of the way... Really wish it was the other way round with 30 days to go. Starting to get cravings but I don't really feel like eating bad food. In fact I don't feel like eating at all. I'm bored with the diet and food is just food, wish I didn't have to eat it. Could just set up an IV line with my nutrients and feed myself that way... There's a thought.

Bloody freaking bus service here in Brisbane has taken a leaf out of Auckland's book. I HAD TO WAIT 25 MINUTES FOR A BUS AFTER WORK TODAY!!!!!! 3 FULL Buses drove past my stop. I was SO FREAKING ANNOYED! It put my training schedule out by about 30mins & I didn't really have a good train this evening because I was so uptight.

Got to do some study now...

[Kiwi]

Hang in there through the bad days !

Can you post your body stats progress? e.g. what Body fat % are you currently at?

If you are still 60 days out it can be useful to see whether you are on track? You may even be pushing your body too hard too soon - if so you could start losing too much muscle ....

Just a thought.

[poos_n_wees]

Hey, at least you got in the gym and trained.. anyone else would've just gave in and not trained altogether

[tallulahangie]

DAY 31

Food

Meal 1 - Porridge (made with milk) & dried apricots (42g)

Meal 2 - 1 banana & 1 apple

Meal 3 - 1 can tuna & 1 cup brown rice

Meal 4 - 1 apple

Meal 5 - Kangaroo & salad

Meal 6 - Protein Shake (made with milk)

TRAINING - Cardio

Really feeling it today. Just tired. Need to recover over the weekend with lots of rest me thinks.

The cravings were really bad again today. To make things worse my team had another morning tea. I was so close to walking out of the office. It was very difficult, however I just commanded everyone to eat something for me! LOL!

My IPOD Shuffle cracked the shits today & gave up. I've only had it since November but I just took it back into MYER & demanded (as politely as possible) that they replace it for me. I ended up having to upgrade to the new IPOD Shuffles (an extra $50 out of my pocket) but hey now I can have tunes while I do my cardio (prevents boredom!)

Just got to keep trucking on I guess! Thanks to all those who write positive comments - believe me, it does help!

[tallulahangie]

DAY 32 (Friday)

Food

Meal 1 - 5 egg whites, 1 slice toast (Vogels)

Meal 2 - 1 banana

Meal 3 -Chicken breast & 1 baked potato

Meal 4 - 1 banana

Meal 5 - Protein Shake

Meal 6 - Fish & salad (restaurant meal)

TRAINING - Cardio

Friday was a really great day. I went out Friday night for my friend's birthday and saw some people that I hadn't seen for a while and they commented on how good I look. Excellent! Dinner lasted til about 9.30pm & then we walked over to the city and went to a pub (my old drinking jaunt, lol). I was drinking water all night, but as I had 2 (yes 2!) strong black coffees earlier in the day I was really amped! I had a dance with my friends and just had a really great time. I was so happy! I really think I needed to get out and just chill after all the hard work that I've been doing!

[tallulahangie]

DAY 33 (Saturday)

Food

Meal 1 - 4 egg whites

Meal 2 - Protein Shake

Meal 3 - 1 apple

Meal 4 - Chicken Breast & salad

Meal 5 - Salmon cutlet & 1 cup brocolli, 1/2 cup carrots

Meal 6 - Protein Shake

TRAINING - Very (I mean very!) light shoulder workout

UGH! Did I suffer today or what!?!? I was up at just after 5am to do my morning cardio before starting work at 7am. So I only had 4 hours sleep to get me through the day. I intended on sleeping this afternoon but that just didn't happen! :S

By the time I got to the gym this arvy I was dead on my feet. I struggled so much with my warm-up & could only do a few basic shoulder exercises.

I ran into my ex at the gym today. Well I didn't really run into him I kind of walked past him & thought 'he looks familiar' & then looked again & clicked that it was the guy that I broke up with 5 weeks ago! DUH! Do you think he spoke to me? NOPE! I texted him later on & said 'You do know that you can say hi to me when you see me at the gym'... His response 'It was a bit awkward for me, sorry'. WTF!?! How difficult is it to come up & say 'hello, how are you?' Obviously very difficult for that imbecile! I don't know what I ever saw in him (nice muscles and a good root - HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! :pfft: )

Weigh-in was good this morning - lost another 900g.

Did manage to get some pics this arvy but I ain't going to post em coz they're grainy & ya can't see much! :S But they'll serve as a rough guide for me.

[poos_n_wees]

:grin:

[tallulahangie]

DAY 34 (Sunday)

FOOD

Meal 1 - 6 egg whites scrambled with capsicum & mushroom

Meal 2 -Chicken breast & salad (plus a Sugarfree V)

Meal 3 - 1 apple

Meal 4 - Kangaroo, 1 cup brocolli & 1/2 cup carrots

Meal 5 - Protein Shake

TRAINING - Back

Managed to catch up on some much needed sleep today. Also did some study which I really enjoyed.

Today's bout of mischief... Hmmm... Well it is a necessity that all bodybuilders need to undertake before contest day - hair removal. I thought that I would sample the art of waxing. When I say art, I really mean art! I wasn't game enough to tackle a large region such as my legs but a smaller area like my bikini line I thought that I could manage - yeah right! Too freaking fiddly! I could handle the pain, but crikey! How on earth are you meant to spread the wax in a straight consistent line!? Then you have to stretch the skin to yank the thing off - not easy at all! I'm leaving this one to the professionals!

Another uneventful weekend - back to work tomorrow - yay!

[Kiwi]

Yep - it is good going to the professionals. With respect to bikini lines they need to do a good mow.

[tallulahangie]

DAY 35 (Monday)

Food

Meal 1 - 4 egg whites

Meal 2 - 1 can tuna, 80g cottage cheese

Meal 3 - Kangaroo & salad

Meal 4 -1 apple

Meal 5 - Kangaroo, 1 cup brocolli, 1/2 cup carrots

Meal 6 - Protein Shake

TRAINING - Legs

It has been a bit warm here is Brissy over the past few days. :S It's always a struggle to keep going when you are hot and tired.

Today was a tired day. Not even a coffee perked me up! Makes me wonder what I would have been like if I did not consume the coffee. My body aches a little and I wonder why I'm doing this again. 7 weeks & 6 days - I WILL MAKE IT!

Was carrying a lot of fluid today. Probably because it has been a little wamer. I looked in the mirror and my body just wobbled. My legs looked a lot softer than usual and had this strange appearance to them. I drank 3 litres of water and only went pee 3 times, 1 of those times was I really busting. :S Definitely got to watch that fluid retention because it will ruin me at comp!

Just ordered my supplements online for a change - I hope that they arrive tomorrow as noted on my order! Still awaiting my goddamn textbooks to arrive too! :S

My friend from NZ emailed today to say that she was considering moving over here with her children & husband. She's going to call me to discuss over the weekend. I'm so very excited - if she moved here to Brisbane it would be awesome! :)

Ah well, i keep plodding along!

[tallulahangie]

DAY 36 (Tuesday)

Food

Meal 1 - 4 egg whites

Meal 2 - 1 can tuna, 80g cottage cheese

Meal 3 - Chicken breast & salad (1 bottle of Sprite Zero)

Meal 4 -1 apple

Meal 5 - Fish, 1 cup brocolli, 1/2 cup carrots

Meal 6 - Protein Shake

TRAINING - Cardio

Today wasn't so bad. Work went quite quickly. I had a newbie sit with me at work so I was teaching him for most of today. He didn't ask about the pictures of women in bikinis at my desk (yes i have pics of figure competitors for motivation...) & I didn't say anything. Heehehe, he probably thinks that I'm gay (well that does yet have to be confirmed )

I'm going to meet with Jo Rogers (big Aussie bodybuilder) in the coming weeks to have my bikini and shoes fitted and also a couple of posing lessons. I really don't want to cock this show up, it means a great deal to me.

Starting to feel 'empty' - the feeling where you want to eat more than you already have. I don't get hunger pains or anything, just that 'emptyness'. Can't wait to have a massive feed after the competition. Might treat myself and head down the coast to a seafood buffet at a revolving restaurant in Broadbeach ($60 per person - so it had better be good!)

[tallulahangie]

DAY 37

FOOD

Meal 1 - Protein Pudding (4 egg whites, 2 scoops protein powder)

Meal 2 - 1 can tuna, 100g cottage cheese

Meal 3 - Chicken breast & salad

Meal 4 -1 apple

Meal 5 - Chicken breast, 1 cup brocolli, 1/2 cup carrots

Meal 6 - Protein pudding (2 eggs, 1 scoop protein powder)

TRAINING - Chest

I'm feeling a little sorry for myself actually. I have sustained the 1st injury of the season. I've injured my middle finger on my right hand by dropping my 10kg dumbell & jamming it between another dumbell. It hurt a little & then I turned my finger over & went 'Oh f*ck! Blood!' Raced downstairs to reception to get a plaster & my training partner had to fill out the incident report for me! Driving home was a little of a mission as the finger was still throbbing and I couldn't bend it so I go cramp from holding the finger straight out. I got really sad whilst driving home because the thought of not having someone to go home to & look after me & give me a hug made me really down. Ah, I'll get over it!

My body needed a little extra sleep this morning so I slept in till 6am & then only did 40 mins on the bike. Was really sluggish until I had a coffee at 9.30am & that kept me going till the injury at the gym, however I nearly forgot to eat meal 2!

Hehehe. I was a bit naughty at work today & was chatting up this guy who is up from Sydney helping us with our workload. Once I was introduced to him & had to help him with something that was it. Any opportunity to chat to him I did. He kept turning to me & saying 'I hope I'm not creating more work for you dude'. Dude? Yes he kept calling me dude! LOL! A term of endearment perhaps? ROFLOL!!!!!

Protein powders finally got delivered today. I got a new flavour - White Chocolate Truffle. I'll let you know how it goes.

Yay! Another hump day over! (That's what Queenslander's refer to whrn it is Wednesday. )

[THEBERG]

I call some women dude's, it usually if i feel comfortable around them like i do with my mates. I usually say dude to my best mates who i have heaps of respect for so maybe it was a term of endearment or maybe he was stoner hippy surfer type.

[tallulahangie]

DAY 38

Food

Meal 1 - 5 egg whites

Meal 2 - 1 can tuna, 100g cottage cheese

Meal 3 - Chicken breast & salad

Meal 4 -1 apple

Meal 5 - Kangaroo, 1 cup brocolli, 1/2 cup carrots

Meal 6 - Protein pudding (2 eggs, 1 scoop protein powder)

TRAINING - Cardio (stupid injury - can't grip weights!)

Tired today. I think it is because it is near the end of the week. I tried really hard to go without a coffee, but I succumbed to it at 9.30am & after that I was fine till 3pm when I slumped (that was ok I finished at 4pm today). Quite tired doing my cardio this arvy, cheated and didn't do the last 10 minutes. Meh! I don't really care atm. I'm just over it...

Woke up feeling quite bloated and that has continued throughout the day until now. So along with feeling tired, I also feel like a fat blimp! LOL! Meh! Who really gives a f*ck anymore!

All I want to do today is eat! Well, I'm going to have a high-carb day tomorrow so that should fix things.

My new White Chocolate protein powder is devine! I absolutely love it when I make my protein powder. Yet to try it as a shake but I'll let you know how it goes!

[tallulahangie]

DAY 39 (Friday)

Food

Meal 1 - Porridge made with milk & 42g apricots & sultanas

Meal 2 - 1 banana, 1 apple

Meal 3 - Kangaroo & 2 potatoes (made this into a casserole/stew thingee) & 1 coke Zero

Meal 4 - 1 banana

Meal 5 - Chicken breast & salad

Meal 6 - Chicken breast

TRAINING - Cardio

TGIF! What a long & tiring week. Starting to get tired now. So close but yet so far!

Had another coffee date with another guy that I met off the internet (3rd one now). Feels good to be getting myself out there and meeting people. Definitely takes the boredom out of training and makes me feel 'normal' by being able to have conversations which aren't solely focused on my training!

I had to have a coffee this afternoon at about 3pm. I got to about 2.45pm & thought 'f*ck this shit, I just want to sleep!'. Of course I had 2 hours remaining so I had a weak coffee. It didn't do much, but it helped.

The cravings are beginning to kick in. Esp on this hi-carb day. I just wanted a homemade (mine of course!) chocolate brownie... The lolly jar at work gets quite tempting at times too...