Week 6…

Starting weight = 188.  A one pound gain from the previous week.  It didn’t matter to me.  I woke up and saw major progress in the mirror. 

So 6 weeks to go.  Not a lot of time and I needed to start getting ready for the show.  This week I’ve found the entry form and read it a hundred times, researched hotels within a couple of miles from the venue, and started reading other blogs to gain insight into what occurs before and after the show.  Lots of good information and a bit overwhelming at the same time.  Five more weeks seems like so far away, but there is so much to keep track of and to plan in advance.  I’m still considering hiring a personal assistant just to keep me in check.  There have been far too many days where I forgot work clothes or had to run home because I left broccoli in the freezer.  This week has also been a drain on my body physically.  I received a new workout plan to start last week.  It’s not a major change, but my cardio was decreased and the lifting was broken into two session (morning and evening).  So rather than 90 minutes of cardio in the morning and an evening lifting routine…I now do 2-3 exercises in the morning with 30-40 minutes of cardio and then 3-4 exercises in the evening with 30-40 minutes of cardio.  The biggest impact was sore muscles morning and night.  It’s a new workout so I knew the strain would come, but my evening lifts are definitely impacted by whatever I trained that morning.  Not that I minded…feeling muscle strain is like crack to me.  If I don’t feel it, then I’m obviously not pushing myself.  The other change was going from a 6 day split to a 7 day split.  So no more Sunday mornings relaxing with a cup of coffee on the couch.  If I want breakfast on Sunday I have to crawl fall out of bed and crank out 4 rounds of abs. 

Along with the changes to my workout and the prep for the show, we started talking about my next offseason.  How many carbs?  How would we stagger the carbs?  What about cardio?  These were the discussions me and the trainer discussed.  My friends and family had other questions…what will be your first meal after the show?  Will I stay on the strict eating plan or cheat regularly?  Soda?  Beer?  Junk food?  Fast food?  They half expect me to do the show and then stop completely.  Not gonna happen!  I crave some of those things occasionally, but seeing progress through pics and the scale has made it hard to think about putting weight back on.  Even discussing the amount of carbs with the trainer was depressing.  Could I handle adding 15-20 pounds?  It’s tough mentally to go from the highest high to the lowest low.  Weighing 235 was depressing…but I’ve trusted the trainer all along.  If I do gain weight…it’ll come from eating clean.  Yes, the occasional cheat meal will be there, but nothing crazy.  So stay tuned for next offseason!  I need to focus on the next 5 weeks…

I have progress pics on Friday.  It’s been almost 3 weeks since the last time we did this.  So I’m looking forward to it.  There has been some serious progress aside from the scale and I hope I wake up on Friday as dry as I have been this week.