Not so Ladylike

As I was driving to campus this morning, I was thinking to myself about something that I wanted to post in this blog. Then I thought, I should probably post a warning.

Warning: Before you move forward with reading this blog, if you have any interest in keeping a ladylike, classy, feminine, graceful, clean image of me... you probably shouldn't read any of this!

It's the reality of contest prep, the stuff nobody tells you. So if it's happening, I'm going to write about it. Not because I want people to feel sorry for me, not to gross people out, maybe a little to know there's some support out there but mostly so that I have somewhere to vent.. and I don't really care if anyone is reading it or not. It's for my own sanity.

Moving onward.. yesterday I printed out and made a laminate card so that I can check off my meals everyday and check off my lifts and cardio throughout the week. Because I am so busy, I have to make sure that I am uber organized so the day can move flawlessly, or else this contest stuff has to go. It's nerdy, but I'm pretty excited about this little card :)

I'm looking forward to working out shoulders today, but not excited about cardio. If it were low intensity steady state stuff then I might be a little more excited, but, no. Mike has me doing some crazy stuff! It does keep it fun, although I've never been so sweaty in my life! The ketosis is really starting to set in. For those of you that haven't cut for contest, when you go into ketosis, that's when you're on really low carbs and using fat for your energy. When this happens you start to get pretty groggy and it makes you pee a lot, which can be annoying if you're a busy person.

Well, back to TA'ing class.

123 days

Solitude

There is something about bodybuilding (and I use the general term "bodybuilding" in place of figure, physique, fitness..) that is different than every other sport. Being alone. Every single day is a struggle with yourself... the emptiness in your stomach from the diet, pushing yourself through the last 10 minutes of a 2 hour workout.. no coaches, no teammates, no partners, saying no to staying out late with friends when you have to get up for an early session, choosing the dry chicken and broccoli when everyone else gets potatoes and chicken fried steak, talking yourself through the mind fog, posing, getting show plans made... all by yourself. Yes, team sports are hard. Yes, they work hard. Yes, they go through the pain, sweat and tears too. But they have others there to cheer them on, they have coaches to push them, they have the responsibility of showing up to practice or they have to suffer the consequences. Most of all, they get to eat. If you've never done it, eat 3oz of tuna and 10 almonds before your workout, do 1 hour lift, 1 hour cardio then eat 4 oz chicken and a plate of asparagus... feels awesome huh? NOT!

Back to the subject, why is bodybuilding so lonely? Does it have to be this way? Even if you have a significant other, they don't understand either. Hopefully they'll support what you are trying to accomplish and maybe help push you through it but most of the time either they think you're crazy and let you know it or they think you're crazy and just sit back until the insanity is over. Friends are the same. No matter how much they understand, they're still going to eat that brownie and pizza in front of you and not realize how much inner struggle you're going through while they sit there and enjoy it.

I like to think I'm a really strong person and that I can get through most anything. Today, my lift was good and I felt ok. When I got to cardio I had to psyche myself up a bit. Halfway through, I wanted more than anything to stop. Sweat was pouring, my calves were cramping and I could literally feel that there was no more glucose left in my body. Somehow I made it through, but it would have been nice to have others there to go through the pain with me!

Well, it's time to start homework.

124 days

#speakitintoexistence

If it weren't for my girls Maria & Lisa, I don't know where I'd be! It is SO important to have a strong support system when you are preparing for anything. Fortunately for my friends I learn from my mistakes and I started this blog for this contest prep so that I'm not completely relying on them for support through this.

Last night M and I were talking about USA's... hair, makeup, gold medals, hotel, flights, extensions, you know... I made me super excited about dieting and training!!! I have this really intense exam in about 2 hours, that my entire graduate career is riding on. If I don't get a B on this, then I'm out of grad school. Not because I've done bad on other exams but because you have to maintain a B in each course in order to stay in the program.. and there's only 2 exams. Clearly I'm going on a tangent.

My point is that 1) support systems are a must 2) motivation is key.

My motivation - Valerie Waugaman, google her. She's my phone background, first thing I see in the morning, last thing I see at night. Also, just #speakitintoexistence. M and I are trying something new out, we're just going to talk like we're already there. Like we're already 8% body fat, already tanned and on stage, already holding our gold medal and trophy. We're ready for this and nobody is going to stop us!!

Now back to the test. Oh yeah.... that's where I was going earlier. I can't wait for my workout session after the exam, it is going to be EPIC! Second day of diet (which is going well btw) and first day of training :) :) :) :)

125 days

.....

I ate somebody's leftovers today. That's all.

Stress & Breakfast

Usually I would never write a blog, because I keep myself WAY too busy. But I've been studying every spare moment of my life recently and I need somewhere to de-compress for a few moments. I've learned that I can go really strong for about 45-50 minutes then I need 10 minutes off and I can go in about 3 hour bouts. My goal for today is about 3 3-hour bouts. First one is well under way... re-listening to Ivy & Tanaka's lectures. Then I have a meeting. Then a bunch of us are meeting to ask each other the most obscure questions we can think of to try and mimic what Tanaka might possibly ask us. Ivy is supposed to be pretty straightforward but there's just so much information! Tanaka just wants to fail us out. He'll give a true/false question and the answer will be "can not be determined"... thanks, jerk. Third bout will be talking myself through the stress, trying not to pull my hair out and trying to get at least a few hours of sleep.

Anyway, back to contest talk. Today I officially started my diet. 126 days to go! Breakfast was interesting. Cream of rice and chicken upon awakening is kind of awkward but it was fine. If you saw my bedroom and bathroom, you might be a little freaked out. You know those cop shows where they find some basement of a stalker that is covered in pictures and scribbles and quotes... it might slightly resemble that. The quotes and pictures on my bathroom mirror are getting to be a little excessive but hey, whatever gets you through the day right?

Ok, 10 minutes are up. Back to work

Stats

I know that whenever I find a competitor (or when M.S. does ;) ) that we search them like crazy on Google, Bodybuilding.com, SimplyShredded, etc, etc until we can tell you their contest diet from 3 years ago, the date they got engaged, what they wore in that photoshoot for M&F, their cats names and what color their toenails were at Nationals last year.... and of course, their height and weight. So I figured I'd just start off with all that so that you know where I"m coming from and where I"m headed; this is a contest prep blog after all.

Name: Frances

Location: Texas

"Occupation": Ex-musician, currently working on my Master's in Kinesiology - Exercise Physiology and a strength & conditioning intern with a wonderful football team.

Age: 27

Height: 5'9.5"

Weight: 171.0 lbs

Body Fat %: 18.1%

Lean Mass: 140 lbs

what else?

No competition that I care to admit

Was the Transformation of the Week on BB.com (which is how I met one of my best friends! she found me my article, transformed herself, won many 1st place trophies, contacted me, she became the Trans of the Week and we've been attached at the hip every since!)

Here's a copy & paste of what I posted on my Facebook:

It's official! On July 30th, 2011 I'll be competing at the NPC USA's in Las Vegas in Women's Physique. There will only be one class and the overall top 3 women will earn their IFBB Pro Card.... which is what I'm aiming for!

My trainer, MIke Davies, will be flying out to Vegas to help out and support sooo anyone else want to take a vacay to Vegas?! I'll arrive on July 28th for weigh-ins and athlete meetings on Thursday and Friday. Saturday will be pre-judging at 9am and then the night show at 6pm. After the competition on Saturday, I plan to stay Sunday and Monday then head back to Bluecoats.

Currently I am 18 weeks out, so it's already time to buckle down on the diet and training. I'll be chronicling my journey from now until contest.

http://www.lindsayproductions.com/11EventInfoUSA.php

Week 18: Got my new diet and training last night.. yikes, we're going RIGHT into two a days! Dang it. I thought I'd have some time but I guess we're just going full force.

Weight: 172 lbs

Bf%: 18.0%

Diet:

1400 cals (this is gonna hurt)

P210g, C100g, F22g

Training:

Lift 5 days/week, on a split

Cardio following lift on 5 days

Evening cardio 5 days

This is how it really is...

I love putting on my game face and acting like nothing will stop me, nothing hurts me and that I can make it through anything. No competitor likes to show their weak side and let others know that it's really as hard as it is. The truth is - it's really, really, really.... really f'ing hard and I really hate it. 99.9% of the competitive world isn't going to tell you that, or even elude to it. Because of this, and all the questions I get, I feel like it's time to lay it all out there. This blog isn't really for anyone and I don't care if anyone reads it or not, but if you'd like to then I hope you have fun and feel free to leave a comment or question.

I'd say I'm a pretty happy person in general. I like to make people happy and I like to have fun and I don't like to complain, I just do it. On that note, this blog is going to see everything that is actually going on in my head.... that's the point. At times, I'm going to seem like a really grumpy person, or beat down, frustrated and over it, or someone you would never want to be friends with. Sometimes I'm going to be happy, elated, determined, ambitious and you might want to be best friends with me.

Everything that you read here is going on in your friends head that is preparing for competition. The only difference is: 1) they want to keep you as a friend 2) they want to have your support 3) they're on so many thermogenics, mood enhancers and 5 pots of coffee, that they can't help but be smiling and happy. In real life, I'm that person, but that's not why I'm making this blog... because that's boring and any future competitor will be let down when they find out that contest prep REALLY SUCKS.

I also really hate writing and I'm bad at it, so sorry if it's kind of lame sometimes.