Clean Day -

Well we have trick or treat street today and I am really going to try to stay clean. I packed a good meal plan today and I just need to feel good again.

Can't wait to get back in the gym. Nothin planned this weekend so I am going to rest. Play a little, workout, clean and enjoy time with the family. It's time to return to a normal life with heavy lifting added in!

Woot!

Ready to get back to the gym. I think I will plan on Saturday workout.

Lori is shopping tonight so I can get through halloween with the last of my candy splurge and return to clean and simple on Sunday!!!

Ready to pack on some big muscles and stay lean and amazing all year. How cool is it to finally be here!!

Post comp blues

Trying to get control. Feel fluffy and need to start running again. This week is a perfect end to comitition due to my insane schedule this week but I can get back to it on sunday.

No worries just knowing I am adding weight is odd...spent so much time trying not to.

As I sit here with my cucumbers, yams, chicken, coffee and water I am only reminded that it took me a year to get to a place where I could take my shirt off in public and feel like I was worth looking at. Is that ego? Is it pride? Not sure yet.

I just know that i am not willing to let that go just to have a box of candy and some cookies. I have had my moment and now I need to focus on living this dream that I have arrived to. I tried to workout yesterday and was rushed out of the gym with a major gas leak that could have been a disaster. A sign of some sort?

I am ready to build on to this lean frame now. I don't want to feel "small" but I dont want to get fat to feel "big". I trust Tony has a plan for that but I know i need a few days off to "feel the rush".

Back to Gear!

After a long tired night I made it back to school. Trying to focus on getting my stuff done. Have some catch up to do. Eating clean today with a couple of little things. Need to stay focused and on track so i dont lose this amazing run that i have had. I will give myself a little break but not much. I am worried that I will go to far. Have seen it happen to many competitors and I dont want to get out of control. Have my chicken, eggs, oats, broccolli and such to keep me motivated.

Have a lot of work to do...

The Day After....

Up at 7, feel really decent. Very sore from all the posing. When they say pose hard for a long time getting up to show they mean it.

5th in Novice Lightweight - Big Class - 12 guys
4th in masters 40-45 - 8 guys
2nd in Drug Free for life Lightweight - 18guys
3rd in Open Lightweight - 4 guys

Feel good about my day..

Comp Day

Up at 4:45 to tan. COLD!! Done and looking really dark. Will do well under the lights.

Can't seem to warm up. Right hand is numb. Hoping it's just the cold. Starting to feel the effects of no water. Really lean.

Can't wait to get in the mode and make this happen. Meating at 10am - Bodybuilders go on at 11ish

Photos comin...

Weigh in Day

had a non-eventfull drive over. Very nice weather and some relaxing time as lori drove the entire time. Got tanned last night and when we arrived in denver. Feeling good. Weight is right at 153.5 which is just under the 154.25 that is the top of my wieght class. Need to pee! No water today and still holding the water from over the hill.

Went for a 30 min run with lori and feel better. I need that cardio to keep me focused.

Dad is in town and we will meet with him at the host hotel in a few.

Holy Cow - Cmon Carbs

Still waiting for the carb load to hit. Feel like crap right now and can't seem to shake it.

Had symphony until late last night and could not fall asleep. Ended up getting about 4 hours of sleep then trying to do workout at 5am. Not a good workout. Struggling through classes today but I will make it. need to sleep.

Have parent teacher conferences this evening but i can sit through most of that. Really won't see many parents.

Getting food in but it's not making me feel a whole lot better yet.

Feeling a bit better..

Had a good tank with Tony this morning. I just need to relax a bit. I tend to push too hard, often to extremes just to get the result I know is possible. it's part of why I am here today doing this week. But, I need to chill a bit and understand that i cannot run at full steam when there is no fire. I will be better in the morning when I get some carbs. I plan on a 5am workout to get it done then I have Parent/Teacher conferences Wednesday night.

I decided to sit still today and try to stay composed. Working hard to keep a llid on my tember and I know it's a problem. I have the kids doing busy work today and they are handling it fine.

I was just thinking about the beginning of the school year and realized I was 173 when school started and was wondering if I could get ready...20lbs later i guess I can... 9 weeks...really odd..

Tuesday - Pre-comp Week

In the middle of day 3 no carb. Feeling the effects now. Got on the scale at 151 today and feel like I am really small, deflated, and skinny. I know that this is how it's supposed to work, and that it will get better ove rthe next few days but It is killing my head.

Have been posing regularly and have the routine down in my head and can do it right about 1 out of 3 times with the music. I'll get it nailed tonight and in the next ew days as I have carbs it should help. We are so close!!

I submitted by Story to the denver post and it looks like they are interested in the story. We'll see where it goes...

I feel raged and worn but I will make it..

Monday - 5 days out

Day 2 of Carb deplete. Did well this morning but got my timings off a bit in the afternoon and just about took out my HS class. 90 min of HS questions and I just couldn't take it.

Having coffee now and about to unleash the beast on my 6th graders. We are almost done.

Still have 3 oz of tuna left and 5 oz of chicken this evening. I will make it another day..

Sunday...

Fisrt Day of Carb deplete...not too bad..had some down time but overall doing ok.

Saturday...Last day of food freedom...

Finished workout and about to start the last salad for a week. Start Carb Deplete and all the other fun stuff leading to comp. Should be an interesting week.

9 days...

Had our middle school fundraiser last night. Survived 75 pizzas being delivered to 300 middle schoolers. Had my aseragus and broccoli and chicken. Home by 12:30am and woke up at 153 this morning. Odd but it wasn't that hard to keep the junk food out of my mind. Amazing to watch those little people suck down the sugar and feel like crap. I totally get it now...

Off to do grades and update my rosters for next quarter.

Skinny Me...

The kids are starting to notice how lean I have become. Just the last few days have leaned me out big time...

Not sure how much more i got in me..gettting rough now..cmon coffee...

Are you kidding me?

2 protein shakes is not a meal plan! 260 calories today...ug

Explosion..

Holy cow, I just exploded in a rage all over a dude driving in front of me. I almost got out of my car and jumped him...what a jerk. It was my first experience with just total loss of mental self control. Must be the carbs...

Not sure why but it just hit..

Will be writing up a brief synopsis of my journey here today as the paper in Denver wants a story for the show.

Monday Doldrums

Went for a good walk yesterday - just a couple of hours but it was good to get some water in and try to move around. Legs felt like lead. Amazing what no carb does for you...ouch.

Carbed up last night and had a free meal. Felt good to eat but felt like crap all night. Go figure.

Up at 4am - did warm up and legs. Will treadmill for an hour tonight - need to lean out the hamstrings and clean up the legs a bit. I know the water loss in the last 2 days will help but still not good enough for me yet!

Working on posing routine alot and still feel very uneasy about it. Poses are good but flow with music is not going well. Oh well still got 2 weeks to work it out.

Test Dryout

OK, so after 3 days of Carb deplete we went for Friday carb load. Allthough it was really nice to eat some carbs it was an interesting feeling to loose the energy so quickly. I find it amazing what the changes in food, sometimes drastic sometimes not, make in the overall build of your energy. When i was overweight it was obvious that I was using the "quick" foods to make it through each day by using that energy to burn hot. The work from the last few days has been eye opening.

Saturday was a workout day with Breakfast, and a 4/4 chicken and yam snack. After that there was no water and only 6 oz chicken before i went to bed on saturday night.

Wieght at bedtime 156.5 / Morning Dryout weight was 154

Comp weight for 2 weeks is 154.25 so I should be jsut fine.

Took pictures this morning and will pick the most dramatic to include in this post. Back to real food today and will see what tony has to offer me on Tuesday.

WOW - Pumpkin Pie with Chocolate mouse and Cappuchino!

Ok so my afternoon snack today is 1 scoop of protein powder, 4 oz yams, flax oil.

I was having coffee with it so I needed some extra moisture. I added coffee to the mix to make it work. Fully mixed and whalla!

I mix - Yams with stevia and Pumpkin pie spice and cinnimon, Chocolate protein powder and coffee....wozers!!! Good stuff!!

Last day of Carb deplete over...

What a day, yesterday was the most challengin gof this transformation yet. I think it was even harder than the first week which I thought was tough. I tried to be an effective teacher but found that everytime I tried to say something it just came out wrong. I ended up grabbing a viola and playing along with the class as they carried me through the day.

Legs went to jello and I was barely able to motivate from place to place. Survived until school got out then went home and crashed for 2 hours. Took some time to drink a shake and then did a solid hour on the treadmill to get the calories burned.

Finished the day with chicken and asperagus as usual and fell asleep. Woke up this morning looking forward to a day of large meals and LOTS of carbs.

Going to be an interesting couple of days with a "test" run dryout and carb load. Next week is stabilization and hi cardio to tighten.

Lori and I worked more on my routine last night and I think we got all the bugs worked out. Should be very nice when it's done. Looking at the pro's do these poses makes me feel very small but I know i will look fine on stage. Been posing daily and really starting to see some good stuff when i look int he mirror.

Exciting to know that we are almost there!

zzzzzzzzzz

fading , fading, fading....4532u4wjtsgcdndtimdydfn

oops head hit the keyboard...

Day 2 of Carb deplete...

Went to workout at 5am this morning. Tough start but nice once i got in there.

400# on squats and 1200# on leg press today. Amazing that I had energy this morning. Was expecting to not do so well.

Feeling run down but slowly clearing things off of the plate for the next 2 weeks. Gonna be a rush.

Carb Deplete

Today is day one of carb deplete. I feel like I just woke up. Not cool taking out the oatmeal. After learning to live on just oats and eggs in teh morning this is like torture.

I am putting off my first snack as long as possible to make sure my food is spread out at least 3 hours giving me a little headrooom to get on the computer tonight to close out some website business. Hoping i don't fall alseep like i did last night. Need to get these things off my plate so i can relax and concentrate on the comp.

Trying to close out all essential business before the end of this week so i have 2 weeks to just work on teaching my classes and training and sleeping. Asked all my students to give me 2 weeks to not teach and then i will be back in full swing.

Really looking forward to finishing strong and getting back to building muscle.

3 Weeks and counting.

Well here we are at 3 weeks out. As I drove back from NM, I was constantly and painfully reminded of how many people places and things lead us all to food and overeating. While driving through Farmington NM I saw, in the space of 3 miles, 71 places to get food that would be bad for my progress and 2 stores that "might" have something natural and non-processed. And yes I was counting them.

If was, to say the least, a tough drive to get out of town. I don't fight those cravings often but when they are there they are strong. Up to this point I have been pretty good at controlling, and when I didn't; it didn't effect the progress for more than a few days. But think about that, a few days? what is that worth in your overall goal. A few days when you are not competing may put you in a hole that you can only fill with a little more food. Then it's a couple more. I am reminded of a quote from a Japanese Martial Artist I new years ago:

"A single day away from your art will require 3 days of dedication to return to the proficiency you left that day."

I have applied that to my music for years but never took it to my health and fitness. I look at this for the food and bodybuilding and see that a day off to recover is one thing. A day "off" of your plan is another. Saying that you can take a "food" day off is dangerous for those of us who gain really fast with little slips. Planning a "free" meal or designing an off plan dinner at home is actually a good thing as long as you are not close to a competition.

3 weeks................wow

Am I really there already? Kind of exciting to think that all the last 13-14 months have led up to here. Every day is a new attack on the body that I left behind and an awakening of the new body that currently stands in front of me every morning as I shave. Odd to think of that person and wonder where he went.

The me that I am now is in a good place and if I could just have a pizza life would be good. :)

Off to do cardio, shoulders, cardio, eat, cardio, lunges - sleep...

Have a great day!

Traveling this week..

Traveling to NM to play in the San Juan Symphony. Packing foods and working in workouts between scheduled events.

Starting new diet in the morning and going to do a dry run carb depleate mon tues wed. Will see how it turns out..

only way to win!