Glittery Floors = Sparkly Feet

It's hot as balls in this state. And I say that not knowing how hot, exactly, that balls tend to get. Logically, it's probably hotter than balls because if anyone's balls were over 100 they probably would choose to cut them off. Or never take them off ice. Either way.. lose-lose.. Sucks to be a guy.

I came back to CH this weekend to a new roommate and dog! A girl in my program the year ahead of me is staying at my apartment for the month while she's in between leases, and my apartment is full of stuff! But it's been fun, nice to have someone to come home to and hang with.

Today, I had my final heavy lifting workout with Shoulders and Biceps. It was great! My shoulder is hurting a little still, feels kind of like a pinched nerve near my shoulder blade every time I bring my arm down, really my elbow below my shoulder, but I had some girl working lift the weight up for me --which was a sight in itself -- and I increased weight on shoulder press from 40 to 55! Pretty stoked about that.

So my workout was:
Seated DB Shoulder Press
SS Upright Rows and Reverse Flyes
Lateral Cable Raises
Bicep Pulldowns
Barbell Curls
Alternating DB Curls

I also want to mention that at Ram's on the lateral raises I'm lifting 7.5# and at SRC I'm lifting 22.5#.. and for the Bicep Pulldowns I go from 62.5# (which is so hard) at Rams to 130# at SRC... something's not right. Oh well, though, heavy lifting is heavy lifting despite what the plate says!

So, my suit is in! I tried it on and it fits perfectly! I love it.. except for all of the glitter that spills onto my floor and gets all over everything.

So tomorrow I will take my progress pictures and start the cutting/leaning phase of my competition prep. I wish I took the pictures before my cheat meal, but regardless I have the same amount to lose, and I will get there. I have no idea what July has in store for me, but luckily it's a fresh month - fresh resolution (I'll explain tomorrow) - and I'm ready to tackle it head on!

Oh.. and it's also my half birthday :) Fam, did you each send me a cake?

Told to Cheat, and Cheat I Did

I think I'm going to explode, from either end or just in general, who knows. CJ's birthday dinner was the PERFECT opportunity to indulge, and I definitely did just that. Wow. So we went to Natty Greens in Greensboro for dinner and I had the Southside with chips.. which was basically a Philly Cheesesteak. I was SO close to getting a grilled chicken sandwich again, but made myself get something different. I am pathetic :)

We then went down the street to Cheesecakes by Alex and between the 8 of us ordered 6 pieces of cheesecake.. Apple Pie, Peanut Butter Cup, Mint Chocolate Chip, Banana Fosters, Chocolate Swirl, and Kahlua Espresso. I am pretty sure I ate one by myself. Yikes.

And then we came back to my house and I had made CJ my mom's chocolate roll cake and filled it with mint chocolate chip ice cream. It was delicious. And now I feel like a mammoth. Whatever.. I was told to cheat and I listened :)

I hope you can read these bumper stickers we saw, because they are pretty great..

This week has been so exhausting. I am basically doing evals completely by myself, and planning and executing everyone's training programs. I had a lady collapse on me while she was on the BOSU, but I caught her, and we got her to a chair, luckily the gym was pretty empty so there were people around to help. Then I had a couple 5:30am gym sessions.. not typically a big deal, but when I get to bed at 11, wake up at 4:30, and have to work until 6.. I'm pretty exhausted. I don't know how you real-lifers do it!

I missed my workout yesterday because I slept in until 5:45, so today I went to the gym before I left Greensboro and did legs. I got to lift lower reps and heavier today, which was AWESOME! I love heavy leg days. Walked out of the gym a little wobbly and it was great :)

Leg Press
Squats
Seated HS Curl
Leg Extensions
Lunge Jumps holding a Med Ball overhead

Then, I went back to Chapel Hill and the good 'ol SRC to work Chest and Core! That workout was great too. Low reps, heavy weight. PR'd on everything and felt good. My shoulder pain has gone down to more of a pinching in the muscle along my scapula.. so it's not as bad. I was heavy enough that I was concerned with the stability of my right shoulder, and my left arm was shaking I thought it would give out too. Perfect :)

DB Press
Incline DB Press
Incline Flyes
Dips
Superset Decline Abs and Russian Twists
Roman Chairs

Well, tomorrow is my last workout to bulk. It's also my 33rd day of training. I'll try on my suit tomorrow, and take my progress pictures to send on to Meredith. Hopefully I'm in okay condition to commit to the competition in November, but after that cheat meal... who really knows :)

Half and Whole.. It's Birthday Week People!

This is going to be a great week, I can just feel it! Yesterday, there was no workout and I got an early day off work! It was such a great day, until 8:30 rolled around and I found out I was having a Bachelorette watching party (thanks Jess and CJ). That show might be the most pathetic and ridiculous thing I've ever seen.

This is also the week of birthdays. Sunday was my home girl Melissa's half birthday, and one of my very sweet and favorite "sister's" birthday, Janell. Those two are two of my very closest and favorite people I met in Kansas. Yesterday was Jesus's half birthday, and to finish of the halves, today is Nutmeg's 1/2 birthday! That's my sister's dog. Isn't he adorable?

 

He did that himself.. Talented snuggler

Wednesday is Jack's birthday (my Kansas neighbor friend who moved to Greensboro), Thursday is CJ's birthday, and Friday is Meredith's birthday. Holy crap people. That's a lot of births. However, this week conveniently falls on my last week of bulking! Which also means I get another cheat meal! I think I'm going to actually have a cheat meal and not just a grilled chicken sandwich WITH the bun. Rebel, I know. But this busy week also means hello 5am gym crowd! Yay. I'm okay with this actually, I love working out in the am, I just don't like having to work after it. But whatever, I need to get back to my bed by 8:30 up by 4:30 routine. There have been too many 5am nights in my last three weeks, and it is seriously screwing me up. I was up until 11:15 last night playing Minesweeper. Really, Susie?

Workout today was great. Mere dropped my reps to 4-6 for some exercises so I can really lift as much as possible. It felt awesome, but I was a little disappointed that it fell on a week where my shoulder is aching me. The pullups I really wanted to get unassisted this week, but I had to do them with 2 plates off (less than 8# which is still awesome) because the pulling up irritated my shoulder. If I could take a week off I think it would be good, I really think it's just a little anterior impingement because the rotator cuff tendons are inflammed. It feels better each day, and now it's really just bringing it down from forward flexion or abduction that bothers me. I also have some crepitus on both shoulders (abrasive test for you PTs) which indicates an abrasion of the torn tendon margins against the coracoacromial arch. But since I have it in both shoulders, and my left isn't painful at all anymore, I'm not as concerned with that. 30 year old Susie is going to hate 24 year old me. I promise to take time off and get healed come November. Anyway:

Back and Core:
Pullups
Bentover BB Rows on the smith machine
Lat Pull downs - narrow grip
Single Arm DB Rows
V Sits
Stability Ball Crunchs + Med Ball OH

Great workout, but glad to be done. 30 days into Meredith's program and I'm feeling great. I think I have picked a competition, with her help of course, and it's in Greensboro November 3. 18 weeks from this Saturday. Wow. There is also a competition Aug 25th by the same guy in Greensboro that I'll be going to just to check it out, if anyone wants to come.

Nutrition today was also spot on. I planned out every meal this AM before eating my second meal of the day and that works so much better for me. I don't cheat, I don't consider subbing things, and I get everything in that I need. If I take it meal by meal, I tend to want to splurge on some extra fat or proteins here and there and then at the end of the day I need like 50g carbs, 0.2g fat, and a random amount of proteins that makes it so difficult to meet. This is much better for me. Organization and planning pays off people!

Well, gym time tomorrow is 5:30 am so that I can hang out with Jack for his birthday tomorrow. Can't wait but it'll be a busy day for me! Hope you all are having a great week, we're almost half way through, keep plowin through!

Oh and I wanted to give a S/O to my sister Anne for kicking ass at her leg workout yesterday! She worked them harder then anyone I know and now can't sit on the toilet or walk down stairs. Couldn't be more proud :)

Recipe: Protein Pancakes

Ingredients:

2/3 c egg whites
1 c almond milk
2 scoops vanilla protein powder
2/3 c dry oatmeal
1/4 c flour
1 Tbsp cinnamon
"dash" of vanilla extract

Directions:


1. Mix all ingredients in a blender.
2. Cook like normal pancakes
3. Eat
4. Top with peanut butter, greek yogurt, honey, whatever you wish

Nutrient Info (toppings not included):


Makes 2 servings
Calories: 331.63
Carbs: 35.33g
Protein: 37.2g
Fat: 3.54g

Recipe: Raspberry Protein Muffins

Ingredients:


1 1/2 c oat flour
3 scoops protein powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 c sugar
2 egg whites
1 c unsweetened almond milk
1/3 c unsweetened apple sauce
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/4 c non fat greek yogurt
1/2 c raspberries (Or blueberries.. strawberries.. schnoginberries)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Combine all ingredients and mix together (typically wet first then add dry.. but whatever)
3. place batter into greased muffin pan (don't use paper liners.. they just stick to the muffin, also don't fill all the way up like I did and have them be huge)
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
5. REFRIGERATE!


Nutrient Info:


1 Serving = 1 Muffin (1/12th of the recipe.. so if you make 24 muffins then 1 serving = 2 muffins)
Calories: 130.12
Carbs: 22.43g
Protein: 8.8g
Fat: 0.5g

Recipe: Raspberry Lemon Protein Bread

Ingredients:

 1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour (any kind of flour)

1/2 cup non fat greek yogurt

2 scoops vanilla protein powder

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk

4 raspberry lemonade Crystal Light packets

1 tsp baking soda

4 egg whites (3/4 c liquid egg whites)

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup raspberries (so the recipe says.. I do more like 1/2 c.. and then more)

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients except raspberries in large mixing bowl and mix well.

2. Place batter in a prepared loaf pan

3. Throw the raspberries on top.. and then I used a fork to kind of push them down a little since the batter was super thick

4. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.. or in my case the match comes out clean.. since I don't own toothpicks just floss.

Refrigerate! No preservatives duh :)

Nutrition Info:

1 serving = 1/16 of loaf

Calories: 74.15

Carbs: 11.51g

Protein: 5.88g

Fat: 0.2g

Susie Home Maker

So I didn't post daily what I had to eat, but I did well anyway, so mind your own business :) Kidding. I did have a special moment with the peanut butter jar Saturday morning and was about at my fat quota by 1pm, so I had to hide the jar from eye sight. Pathetic, maybe, but I succeeded. I just really love peanut butter.

Saturday I went to Ram's and got my last workout of the week in -- shoulders and biceps. That was a sight. My right shoulder has been killing me so much that I can hardly hold a weight in it. But luckily Brandon was at the gym so I lifted my arm up and he put the weight in my hand for the overhead shoulder presses. Once the weight was there, I could do the lift on my own, so I still got a good workout in, and still increased weight on some things. The lateral cable raises were killer and so were the incline bicep curls. I couldn't hold a 20# DB in my right hand, let alone the 25# DB I had been using last week, so I dropped to 15# on my right and 20# on my left. My right side is stronger anyway and so I figured I could just work on my left catching up :) I don't know if it works like that, but it makes sense to me. Also, Brandon did a few of the shoulder special tests on me and we are guessing it's either impingement or labral injury. I'm going with impingement just because I don't have time for labrum probs. (Seriously, click on that link.. nothing to do with shoulders/labrum/whatever.. just click)

I also started my training at the Carolina Club Saturday. It is a very slow paced waitressing job, but the people (alum typically) are all very friendly and fun to talk to and I got to sample some food and bring a lot of leftovers home from a wedding reception. I only took a big portion of spinach salad, chicken, ham, and some white fish, but it's all very delicious and FREE hah. I love anything free. Well, not anything. I don't want like free bird poop on my head, or free plantar warts - lord knows I've had enough of those - but you get the idea. And no, I don't care that the world knows I had a lot of warts growing up, if anyone is to blame it is my parents/sisters for not reinforcing showers.

Today I think I have only spent about an hour outside of the kitchen and laundry room. Cleaning and ironing all my work clothes - I burnt my knuckle on the iron too, typical. I made 5 sweet potatoes, 2# baked chicken (simple "recipe" below), cut up a bunch of red pepper, onion, and broccoli, and then made a Raspberry Lemon Protein Bread (Jamie Eason's cinnamon swirl bread but altered) and some Raspberry Protein Muffins (Little B's blueberry muffins altered)

Too bad I don't have two muffin tins and too bad I don't have patience to make two batches :) Oh well! My house smells delicious right now from all these raspberries cookin!

I also made some protein pancakes this morning of Jamie Eason's. Delicious! I am going to post all these recipes and nutrient info on different posts starting as "Recipe: " so that if you ever want to go back you can just search "recipe" and find them all. And you can just take out the protein if you don't want it and they will still be delicious! (Remember to refrigerate.. no preservatives)

The rest of my day I'm going to spend finishing ironing, making my turkey burgers, and driving back to Greensboro for another week of "work". CJ and Jack's birthdays are this week so it will be a good test for me. Oh! I did want to mention, that last night I went out to the bars with some friends and just ordered water and put that Mio flavoring stuff in it. SO good! And I was always holding a "drink" so I didn't feel the need to drink alcohol or anything! I was super happy about it and about how easy it was.

One week until D-Day (clearly not the WWII invasion of Normandy, France) nervous but excited to see how much progress I've made in 5 weeks. Maybe I'll post pics.. most likely I won't haha. Alright well. Catch ya later. Hope you all stuck with your weekend goals. Monday is going to be here before you know it, so plan out your week and pick a goal to reach by the end of the week or a bad habit to break! One little thing, one day at a time, and eventually you'll get to where you want to be!



My chicken:
Preheat oven to 400. In a frying pan, spray some olive oil, salt and pepper the bottom of the pan. Lay down the raw chicken. Salt and pepper the top. Let it hang for about 3-5 minutes, flip it and let it hang out 3-5 minutes. Maybe flip it one more time if the outside isn't white. Then when your oven is ready, pop it in there (in the frying pan) for about 20-30 minutes and take it out when it's completely white and the juices are clear. Done. Easy clean up. It's the JUICIEST simplest chicken ever. And then just throw on some mushrooms or sriracha sauce or whatever. It's a good base chicken for recipes.

Estoy de vuelta en Chapel Hill!

I'm an idiot. Today, I got to go back to the SRC and OH MY GOD I don't think I could've been happier to be back. BUT I lifted the same amount as last week (well.. I increased overall.. but didn't pick up a heavier DB then I did last week if that makes sense.. ) and definitely over did it. I think I seriously screwed up my right shoulder. Not that I'm going to let it stop me from lifting just as hard.. but  I'm just stupid. Same thing I did to my left a couple years ago.. strained it.. didn't back off.. and ended up having subluxation issues. All the ligaments on the left are loose so that shoulder is fairly unstable--although I've done a good job this last year strengthening the muscles to make it more stable--and now I'm doing the same thing to the right. Gotta be careful. It hurts to hold anything in my right arm, I had to have all my weights handed to me in the starting position (above my head usually) so that I could do the lifts. But the actual lifts gave me no trouble at all.. so who knows. Maybe we'll have a couple cancellations on Monday and I can have my CI take a look.

My workout was good though.
Flat DB Press
Incline DB Press
Incline Flyes
Dips
and some ab exercises

The abs were challenging but every week I get better at them and have to take fewer pauses to curse.

And guess what else is stupid? I've gained 2# this week that I've been gone. And I know I haven't been eating more, but it's probably because I'm not eating as much but also not working out as intensely. Don't worry, (I know you all are) I'll be back on track by next weekend. Progress pictures need to be taken and I need to make a decision about when I'm competing. Fingers crossed for November.. but I'm not going to do it if I can't be ready. Gotta stay focused.

This evening after getting back, I had a nice video chat with my sisters, and practiced my spanish. We've decided to make a spanish cooking video. Once it happens.. I'll be sure to post it for y'alls viewing pleasure :)

Well, I'm going to do a little icing and then hit the hay. So happy to be back home, just wish Bliz was here with me! Oh well. 8 weeks and I get to be back with my biffer (yep, Ceej, I'm using that now!) Adios mis amigos! Tener una buena noche!

Back to Being Positive

This week has been chaotic. Why? I have no idea really. It's not like I'm actually busy. Yes, I am doing more then usual, but I think really it's just that my schedule has been thrown off. And it just takes me some time to adjust. Things are going really well here, though. I like the clinic I'm at.. except for the polos. I mean most of them are wearing polos too, so it's not that bad. But I had to wear a polo with black pants. I felt like I was going to work at McDonalds. That might have been the worst. I don't know if I will wear my new, comfy, nicely fitting, black pants again. Just because McDonald's ruined them for me. Or at least not with a polo. Who knows though. Tomorrow I only have 4 hours of work and then I'm going to a Pilate's studio with my CI (Clinical Instructor.. a PT who teaches me basically) to lead some lady through some exercises. Who knows. It's not a part of my clinical, I'm just doing it.

My workouts yesterday and today have been pretty good. It's been difficult adjusting weights, but that's just something you deal with when switching gyms in general. Whether my weight is going up or down this first week, I'm not really concerned. The main point is to just lift as heavy as possible, with good form, and work my muscles to exhaustion by the last rep. As long as I do that, I don't care shouldn't care about how heavy the weights are. Good theory. My damn ego still gets in the way though. Whatever. Today was legs. We did both the lunges and squats on the smith machine today, and I was actually pleased with that. Lunges were much easier. Not in my quads/glutes, but I could focus on where to push and on my form more, then just wanting to quit. Typically I dread lunges just because they take SO LONG! Not that this was any faster, but it was different, and I could lift more because I didn't have to clean and press that barbell over my head, it was just already there! Magic :) But I definitely pushed more with my front heel and even kept my back foot off the ground for both the eccentric and concentric motions, and only put it down for a little balance. It was divine. So here was the day:

Squats on Smith Machine ss Squat Jumps - 3 sets
Seated HS Curls (They don't have the prone machine.. which (surprise, surprise) annoyed me) - 4 sets and a drop
Leg Press - 4 sets
Lunges on Smith Machine - 3 sets
Leg Extension - 3 sets

The leg press also was different. The one I like to do has you pushing more at an incline of 45 degrees or so, and the one at my new gym is more of a horizontal push. It felt like I didn't have as much room to get full extension and full flexion before the weights would drop down. But I eventually got the hang of it and increased weight each set, even though reps increased as well. It definitely wasn't as awesome of a feeling as pressing over 400.. but I did it and worked hard and I was basically limping out of the gym my legs were so shaky.

We are headed back to CH tomorrow after CJ is done working, so we will get to do 2 workouts this week at the SRC and Rams. Praise the Lord! I am also going to try out some new recipes this weekend,  some different protein breads, and a Carob Chip Banana bread of Little B's, and a few others. I'll post the recipes that I make if they turn out to be delightful. It's also my bff from Kansas, Jack's, bday Wednesday and CJ's bday Thursday of next week, so I will be making some desserts for them (clean.. shh don't tell) and going out to celebrate while being 100% on my diet. This week I ate all of the stuff I needed to eat, but a few days had some serious cravings and would eat a tootsie roll (yes only one) after the gym. So my goal for this weekend is to be 100% and to prep all of my food again for the week, no cheating, no extras, nothing, this weekend. A few days of being good takes away all the urges of being bad. Seriously. So that's that. I think I'm going to post my meals this weekend - no lying, no leaving anything out - so you all can hold me accountable. So if you found my last nutrition post boring, check back on Monday :)

Well, I'm going to bed. Last night I stayed up until 11:30 playing minesweeper on my phone.. and I was exhausted and "rushed"... meaning I only had 2 hours between waking up and getting to work to sit around and eat as opposed to 3. I'm weird, I like my morning chill time. Whatever, you all have weirder quirks.

Catch ya on the flip side! And thanks to my AMAZING sisters for all of the support and motivation and encouragement you gave me this weekend. I love you all more then anything!

I Hate Change. Yes, hate.

Today I got to give a little soft tissue massage to someone, do some PA and inferior glides to a shoulder of an amputee patient, do lymphedema drainage, and write two notes. Quite an exciting day for only having 2 of the 8 patients scheduled show up!

I started my first clinical rotation yesterday, and it's been fun, but very overwhelming. I have a lot of studying to be doing. Yesterday was also a bit stressful trying to find a gym and trying to figure out my nutrition. By 7:30 pm I had only had 3 meals.. out of the 5-6 I usually have had by then. I was not a happy camper, at all. But today has been much better. I got in my first workout of the week -- Back and Core -- with only minor adjustments. The gym I found only has smith machines, and doesn't have any barbells I can load, or any barbells or dumbbells over 60#. That's a problem when I'm supposed to be doing bent over rows at 100#. But I made it work. I was happy with my pull ups though. Only 2 plates off, which I don't know how much weight that is, but 6 plates off is 22# off, so I was pretty stoked. Hopefully next week I can do at least 1 set of 10 with no assistance at all. That would be my highlight of the month I think! Today food also went better. I didn't have to go in until 9 am -- I've switched schedules around -- so I will luckily be able to eat 2 meals before going to work most mornings. I also only have to work Fridays 8-12 for the first 4 weeks, and then the next 4 weeks I have Fridays off, so I'll be going back to my gym in Chapel Hill 2 workouts a week which will also make things better.

Not much else to mention, I have a lot to review before bed, and it's already 9:25pm. Have a good night, I'd leave you with something motivational, but right now I'm just trying to get through the week without getting too stressed out about all the changes!

Language isn't appropriate for anyone under the age of, eh, 14.

50 Cent is a hustler. Apparently he charges people in his neighborhood to shovel their driveways. Awesome. I feel like we have to be related. Thoughts, fam?

I dig this article, which is where I found out about 50 and his shoveling. Clown.

Another funny article I found -- and by found I mean I saw it on my friend's facebook wall -- is about Columbian's being donkey fuckers. Seriously. Maybe that's where the phrase (is it a phrase?) came from. Watch that video. Super interesting actually. Well not interesting. Enlightening possibly? I don't know. I learned something, and I liked the way the "reporters" went about it, even if they were just observing donkey fuckers. Hah. Damn Columbians.

Also, to everyone (Anne and Mary) that need some more sleep/rest talk, our boy Ben Franklin said "There will be sleeping enough in the grave." Now, that's what I was talking about it. Ben knows best. Or he knew, since he's dead and all, sleeping away. Maybe that means he does know best. Well, whatever. Ben = smart.

Anyway, yesterday I had a great Shoulders and Biceps workout. Reps were decreased slightly, so my weight went up on a lot of lifts, which is good. I met an old man who used to do body building, his name is Doug. Impressed that I finally remembered someone's name? Me too.

Shoulder Press - 4 sets with a negative
Upright Row ss Rear Flys - 4 sets
Lateral Cable Raises - 3 sets
Biceps Pulldown - 4 sets
Barbell Curls - 3 sets and a dropset
Incline Curls - 3 sets

I also had my cheat meal yesterday. It was good, and I don't feel sick or crappy today, but honestly, it was more work thinking about and preparing for a cheat meal, and I'm just happy to be back on my schedule. So I went to Spanky's on Franklin and started with some chips and salsa. Then I ordered the Huevos Burger. But I subbed grilled chicken for the burger since I don't really like burgers. It was delish. My favorite (and only thing I've had) thing from there. It's a chicken breast with a fried egg, tomato, onion, lettuce, and pico on a kaiser roll. Oh, and I had pub chips.

And yes, I just drank water. Can't get too crazy people!

This morning, I've been packing and cleaning and getting ready to move. I'm in the process of cooking 65 oz of chicken/turkey, 10 c broccoli, 20 oz sweet potatoes, and 4 c basmati rice. That's only 5 days of food, and that doesn't include my breakfast, oatmeal, protein shake, etc. SO MUCH FOOD! But I love feeling this prepared. I'm excited to get down to Greensboro, find the gym, and start this part of my summer. Gotta get back to the kitchen :) Have a great Sunday, friends!

Call Your Pops!

Stupid internal alarm clock. I didn't get to bed last night after work until 4am. What time do I wake up? 6:46am. So I go back to sleep. What time is it now? 9:12. Awesome. My mind and my body are in some sort of battle and I don't know who's side I am on. And I don't even have an actual alarm clock I use that I can throw against the wall. I supposed I could try and throw myself against a wall, that would be a sight. But I'm still exhausted, I just can't sleep. And I'm frustrated because last week my workout wasn't the greatest because I didn't get enough sleep, and I don't want a repeat of that. But at least this is the last Friday I have to stay up that late for a while. Hold on, I forgot to go put my dentures back in ...

While I was screaming at my body for waking up, I tried to roll over and get comfortable so I could fall back asleep, and my butt/hips/hamstrings decided to scream back at me. Holy crap are they sore. Guess I figured out how to push through my heel during my lunges! That and I increased weight on everything. I'm starting to have a love/hate relationship with my goal of getting a PR each day. Who am I kidding, it's all love. Being able to push and squat more and more every week, feeling the effect of working hard, if I didn't love it I probably wouldn't have ever decided to start lifting. I'm just cranky this morning. And apparently going to yawn all day ... fourth one in the last 7 minutes.

I contemplated taking a nap later on today, but I just don't think I can swing that. I also am contemplating NOT having my cheat meal today. I haven't been perfect this week. I've had some major cravings because I made those bars, had to study (I really need to eat something to be able to focus when I study), and then when I don't eat for 9 hours because of work yesterday, I end up being short on a lot of my macros. I know that I can't grow or lose weight without eating. But I'm going to draw the line at staying up past 4 just to eat 40g of chicken. So because of how shaky this week was, I don't know that I deserve it. And I'm seriously worried that if I do have something, it will either A. make me sick or B. make me want to go back to eating that junk on the regular. I'd honestly prefer A. Not like throwing up sick, but upset stomach. I want my body to hate that processed junk, I think it will be easier to eliminate those cravings and temptations if so.

So I made these phenom turkey burgers yesterday. And they only took like 10 minutes total to prep and cook them. They were so tasty. I didn't follow the recipe exactly, although I'm sure that version is good. I just didn't measure anything and I added jalepeno. It was so delicious. Try them.

I hope you all remembered that Father's Day is tomorrow. I love my dad. He seriously is the greatest guy in the world, my family is incredibly lucky to have him. He tells the funniest jokes, clearly why my sisters and I are so funny. But seriously, he has always supported me and my decisions and has always been there to help me out of a bind. I love him. This is my fam from my sister Anne's wedding this past year. See that great guy? Totally lucky :)

Alright, folks, it's gym time. I'm on my own today, so hopefully I can maintain my focus and lift the weights over my head by myself! Shoulders and Biceps. Going to own it! Work hard today, you can rest when you are dying. (You don't need to remind me how motivational I am, I know haha)

Prettier with a Dumbbell for a Face?

I woke up at 4:30am to study for my final, made it about an hour, and then decided to listen to some motivational music to pump me up until my test. Hey, everyone has their own method of preparing, mine just doesn't include the test material. It's okay, I still am doing well. Anyways, here are some great quotes I pulled from the "songs". Let these be your inspiration for the weekend as you focus on your goals and finishing the week off on a strong note:

• If you do it right the first time, you don't have to go back and do it a second time.
• Don't try to quit, you're already in pain, you might as well get a reward for it.
• You have to WANT to be successful and you have to be willing to SACRIFICE things: partying, certain foods, sleep, something, anything. (okay, I paraphrased this one a bit.. but the concept is from the song)
• You want more then you have now? Prove it. Go out there and get it.

My workout today was, well, if you consider almost dropping weights on your face great, it was great. Chest and core today. I increased weight for everything but they flys, and on each set of the flat presses I would be doing great and then I'd laugh, and swear loud enough for the whole gym to hear (it was quiet in there, give me a break) or my shoulder would give out, and I would drop a 50# dumbbell on my chest, nearly on my face a few times. But I was still pumped that I got most of my reps at that weight. I know everyone has to start somewhere, and I know 6 months ago I was doing 20# probably, but I just love lifting next to a guy who's doing the same exercise and 10# less then me. Getting beastly.. and that's the goal :) I'm finally realizing how helpful it is to have a workout partner. I'm able to increase weight a lot faster because without Ceej, I wouldn't be able to get the weight into the starting position half the time, and I'd be stuck back on 35s still. Thanks homie.

Workout:
Flat DB Press - 4 sets with a negative
Incline DB Press - 4 sets with a negative
Incline DB Flyes - 4 sets
Bodyweight Dips - 3 sets
Decline crunches ss Russian Twists - 3 sets
Roman Chairs - 4 sets

The abs still suck, but they are getting easier every week. I'm getting some pretty good definition in my abs, which I love. Thanks, parents, for the good genes, I am a fan of my symmetrical tendinous intersections--so far anyway. Did you know that a 6-pack, 8-pack, 10-pack, whatever-pack you can get just has to do with how the tendons split it up? Everyone has the same rectus abdominus (which is the muscle that goes vertically down your stomach) but you have horizontal tendons that split up the muscle to give it the 6-pack or whatever you get look. So, if you have 6 pack, you can't get an 8-pack, you don't have enough tendons. If they are uneven, that's just how you were made, deal with it. Everyone's abs look slightly different and there is nothing you can do about it. Proof (page 137 first column if you doubt me)

I downloaded some new workout music today. That way I don't have to listen to the "shag" music of the SRC as CJ refers to it. Weird Southerns. If you want workout music, this guy is phenom. He mixes popular songs, and older songs, and it just never stops. Plus you can download all his tracks fo' free. Check out his facebook if you want. He's my bff. Well, if we met he would be.

I got a letter from my bff yesterday (not DJ Rolemodel, too many bffs I guess! Can't help that I'm awesome) and it completely made my day. He went to KU with me and was such a big part of my life there. Now he is at boot camp in Oklahoma training for the special forces. I love his letters, they remind me why he's my best friend and make me so proud of him. They are planning on stationing him at Ft. Bragg once he's done with his training in OK which would just be the greatest thing ever. Fingers crossed!

Well, y'all, the weekend has begun. The big move is on Sunday and I have plenty of food prep and packing to get myself ready. I know I'm coming back to CH this first weekend, so I'm thinking of making all my food on Sunday and bringing it. I'll keep you up-to-date. I also am planning on my cheat meal tomorrow and still have NO IDEA what I'm eating, but you better believe it will be delicious. Hard to beat my typical chicken-broccoli-egg regimen though, so it's going to be a tough decision :)

Wednesday's Weakness

I just want tomorrow morning to be over with! Let me explain. I have been doing SO great resisting cravings and not even being tempted with snacks, treats for people's birthdays, etc. There is a classmate's birthday this Saturday, but because class ends Friday, and we are taking our test that day, I am making a treat to bring tomorrow. So I made this new cookie/brownie/bar/whatever you want to call it. Caramel-toffee-peanut butter-brownie (I used this recipe and changed a few things to make it a bit healthier and better imo) is what it is. I made it, and CJ was here and graciously offered to lick the batter and rinse the bowl IMMEDIATELY so I wouldn't have to deal with the temptation. Phew. Well now she is gone and the bars are just sitting on my counter. I can't eat one anyway, because then there wouldn't be enough for tomorrow, but they are just sitting there, staring at me, and seriously making me want to eat some sort of sweets. I just need them out of my house. I am not wasting my cheat meal on a damn cookie/bar/concoction. I refuse.

Despite this little temptation, todays nutrition has been SPOT ON! I am so excited, and it was so easy, and honestly I enjoyed every one of my meals. My morning snack is a little bland, so I may have to see if I can spare a few grams of different macros here and there to add salsa/cheese/something, but all in all, they are good. This is what I had today:

Breakfast:
4 egg whites, 1 egg, mixed with cilantro, onion, tomato, mushroom and mozzarella, and a slice of ezekial garlic toast
Mid-morning Snack:
4 oz chicken, broccoli, 3/4 c brown basmati rice (see, a little boring)
Lunch:
Chicken wrap with spinach, cilantro, onion, tomato, and cottage cheese. Which is AH-MA-ZING!
Post Workout Smoothie:
Protein powder, plain greek yogurt, strawberry/banana/blueberry/mango/raspberry (some combination), flax seed, and unsweetened vanilla almond milk
Dinner:
Chicken with mozzarella, sweet potato, broccoli
Evening Snack:
Chicken, Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal, String Cheese

My dinner and evening snack changes regularly, but the other 4 meals are pretty set in stone. And I like it that way. It makes life simple and I know what to expect, and I'm always satisfied. Always. Except when I have to bake.

Workout today was interesting. I increased weight on EVERYTHING, yet for some reason I wasn't happy with it. And on the tricep dips, holy moly I thought my rib was going to pop right off my sternum. I did my first set of 12 with 105# on my lap. That was too easy, so next set of 10 I decided to throw a 25# plate on top of the stack and do 130#. Well I did 9 alright, went down for the 10th and couldn't get up. IT. HURT. Oh God I think I was bitching loud enough for the whole gym to hear. Lie, but you get the idea. Pissed me off. And that was towards the end of the workout, I was pissed off before. I don't know why because I did awesome, but it just didn't feel successful. I guess we all have those days where you are just too hard on yourself and nothing is going to be good enough. But here's the workout

Standing BB Press - 4 sets
Arnold Press - 4 sets and a drop set
Front Raise - 3 sets
Lateral Raise - 3 sets
Dips - 4 sets
Triceps Cable superset - 3 sets each
30 Pushups

Even though I increased weight on everything, and my chest was broken in half, I was so stoked about my pushups. I easily can do 30 in a row. The last 2 weeks I've been doing 15 with a narrow set base (hands right under my shoulders) and 15 with a wider set base (so that when I'm done, my hands are under my elbows) Today, I got 20 and 10. My goal for next week is to do all 30 with a narrow base. Doable. Or at least it will be!

Well, I'm exhausted, and I still have 6 slides of powerpoints to get through (I know, that really isn't that much, but I have to do it before bed. Stickin' to my schedule). I got to video chat with Bliz tonight (and my fam, obviously.. she's not that techy yet!) so that's why I'm up WAY past my bed time. Grandma might be cranky tomorrow if I don't wrap this up! Orientation for my new job at the Carolina Club tomorrow, so who knows when I'll finish studying for this final, but I think I'm good to go anyway. I'll just wing it :)

The week is half way over, y'all. If you've been slacking so far, put it behind you and kick it up a gear to finish the week off strong. Make it to the weekend while accomplishing your goals. Night!

What The Heck Does That Mean?!

As requested, this post is just for terms you may not know that have to do with lifting, nutrition, etc. If there is something you didn't understand in one of my posts, just comment it here and I'll add a description! The link to this post will be at the bottom of the blog from now on so you can easily refer back!

Lifting Terms:
1. Reading a Workout Log
ex. Bent over Barbell Row 4x8, 90
Read as: Bent over Barbell Row, 4 sets of 8 repetitions, resting 90 seconds between sets
2. Superset
Performing two exercises back to back, without resting in between exercises. You then rest at the completion of the second exercise
3. Drop Set
Perform your exercise as written, for example, bench press 3x8, and then after the last set you immediately decrease the weight, and then lift until failure.
4. Failure
Pumping out as many reps as you can until you are no longer able to lift the weight one more time. It's controversial, but I'm not getting into that.
5. Negative Set
When you lift you have two main phases: the eccentric and concentric phase. Concentric is the muscle shortening phase while you are overcoming or generating force. So when you do a bicep curl, lifting the bar up is the concentric phase for your biceps. Eccentric phase is the opposite. It is when the muscle is lengthened under tension because there is an external force that is overcoming the force of your muscle. So for the biceps curl example, the biceps are in the eccentric phase while you lower the weight. To think of it simply, when you do an exercise think of the main muscle it is working. The hard phase, the portion where you are pushing or pulling and generating the most force to move the weight, is concentric. When you are returning the weight to the starting position (not always, but most of the time) that's eccentric. So a negative set, is performing the eccentric portion. You can do this by having someone help you lift the weight and then you slowly return. For pushups, you can do negatives by slowly lowering yourself to the ground until you collapse, and then just get back up any way, and do it again (opposite example to me saying return to the starting phase, the pushing back up is the concentric portion, lowering down is eccentric). For my workouts, this usually means that on my last rep, I am doing a negative-- meaning slowly lowering the weight eccentrically and then with a burst I'm going into the concentric position.
6. Rest-Pause
Do a set until failure, rest 5-10 seconds, and then pump out a few more at the same weight. For example, when I was doing my Arnold Presses in week 1, I was doing 35# on the first set. My second set at 35# I was going for 8 reps, but at 6 my left shoulder couldn't do another one, so I had to drop to 30#. Then I did 1 more set at 30, and for my dropset I had to drop immediately to 25#. 25# was WAY to light for me to be doing a drop set. The next time this would happen, instead on my second set, I would lift those 6 reps. Set the weight down and rest 5-10 seconds and then do my last 2 reps at 35# to finish out the second set.

Tank Top Tuesdays

Well, I have officially purchased my competition suit! Once I get it, I'll post a picture of it for you all to see. How exciting :) Thanks, CJ, for helping me with my measurements, you are the greatest!

I had one of the greatest workouts today! Back and Core. It's crazy to me that I am just starting my third week, it seems like I've been doing this for so long already. But today we got to drop reps on a few of the exercises/sets, and my weight went up SO MUCH! Okay, not like 30# or anything, but it did go up quite a bit. On the bent over rows, I had been doing all 4 sets at 80#, reps varied from 8-12, and today I did my last set at 100#. Very pleased with that. I also decreased weight on the assisted pull-ups. I can't really explain how much because the machine weights are pretty complicated. The list each weight in pounds and kilograms, okay I can understand that, but then they have a knob so you can vary the weight if you are in between two plates. Great. But the knob just is in increments of 1. 1, 2, and 3. One what? I don't know. All I know is that I dropped the weight, meaning each set I was pulling up more of my own body weight. Love that feeling. I can only do 5 or so pull ups on my own, so I do the assisted so that I can target my lats for more reps.

Workout today was:
Pull Ups - 4 sets
Bent Over Barbell Rows - 4 sets
Narrow Grip Lat Pulldowns - 4 sets
Single Arm Dumbbell Rows - 3 sets
V Sits on a bench - 4 sets
Stability Ball Crunches with an added medicine ball held overhead - 4 sets

The abs are getting much (okay, not that much) easier. Really with the V sits, it's my right quad that limits me, because it is knotting up during the third set. The first week, I was incredibly sore all week from this ab workout, and last week I was sore, but not too bad, so I up-ed the weight on the stability ball crunches and really focused on keeping my legs straight on the V sits. All in all, a great workout!

Well, I have some studying and eating to do. Keep at your goals, people. Even if you have a slight deviation, don't lose sight. Persistance is far more important than perfection. Until tomorrow!

Cheating

This weekend flew by. Sunday I made it out to Mebane for my much anticipated Polo-shirt-shopping-extravaganza! I bought 4 Polo's from Ralph, all super exciting. Then went to J. Crew and they were so nice to let me get 4 pairs of pants, 2 pairs of shorts, and a cute top (not a polo) for $5 more than Ralph! I was pumped. Had to finish off the trip by hitting up the Nike Outlet and get some fresh kicks, and some dry fit tops. As much as I hate shopping, it was great. And I'll have you know I did all of this in under an hour and a half.

So this week, Meredith has made very slight changes to my workout and nutrition plans. For the workout, the week's splits are the same, we are just dropping reps on a few exercises most days, and adding in a few more negatives and drop sets. Thankfully, no more 12 rep days, except for with legs. Which as much as I hate lifting high reps-especially with my legs-it went much better Week 2, so I'll get over it.  As far as nutrition goes, my calories, carbs, and protein were bumped up slightly. It's funny when I started this how I didn't think I could get 100g protein or 100g carbs even, eating clean as much as I was hungry, and now I'm so used to it I am always over on protein, which is good, and hitting the carbs. Still having a tricky time with fats though. I'm either wayyyy too low, or slightly over (like 2-4g over, nothing drastic). I've decided that I'm going to be as consistent as possible on every meal, so that while I'm in Greensboro, it will be much easier. Less shopping, less thinking, and hopefully I can do most of my meal prep in Chapel Hill on the weekends. I won't know for sure, though, until I get there, so we will just have to wait and see. I can't believe we are starting our clinicals in less than a week! Exciting.

Also an exciting thing of note, I get a cheat meal this week! As exciting as that is, it's been causing me an incredible amount of "stress". Not like freaking out stress, but constant obsession. I have no idea what I want or what I am missing. I thought at first, ooo Mexican food. But I don't really think it's the Mexican food - since I can basically have that with very few substitutions, all of which are easy and common sense, I think it's the chips and salsa. And even though it's a cheat meal, I'm not going to let myself eat 3 baskets of chips, because yes, I would easily do that. I also can't stop thinking about ice cream. But since this isn't LeMars, Iowa and this isn't the Ice Cream Capitol of the World, and there isn't a Blue Bunny Ice Cream factory, this isn't realistic either. I don't like that frozen yogurt crap. I want real, dairy based, thick, delicious ice cream. So to get this, I'd have to buy a carton. And if I'm having a cheat meal, I want to have my favorite 3 flavors - Bunny Tracks, Cookies and Creme, Cookie Dough, let's make it 4 and throw in Double Strawberry - so that means I'd buy 4 containers. And then post-cheat meal, I have 4 opened cartons of ice cream in my freezer. I have self-restraint.. but not that much. So 4 cartons is out. Even if I did one, it's unrealistic that I wouldn't eat the rest of the carton in the next day or 2. So Ice cream is not an option. What else do I want? Sometimes a milky way. But after I eat that, I would not be satisfied, and I'm worried that it will make me crave them more, and right now I'm really having no problem not giving into those cravings. So what should I cheat with?! Suggestions are welcomed. Not only welcomed, solicited. Give me ideas on what to eat!!! This opportunity doesn't come often, so I need to make it worth it! And don't suggest chicken, any vegetable, or rice - or any form of rice, you weird cous-cous fans.

Monday, was a good day. Long day of class, but got a lot crossed off my to-do list, which is always a great feeling. Except I had to walk home in the rain. Rain let's talk. I don't hate you, but there are times I could go without you. If I'm running outside, playing a sport, being awesome - rain all you want. If I'm watching a sport, obnoxious. If I'm staying in for the night, watching a movie, or sleeping - go ahead and pour. If I'm wanting to going out at night - wait until after 2am. If I have to study or sit in class - please rain, it will keep me focused. If I am on my way to or from class, you are likely going to make me not go. Seriously. In undergrad, if it was raining - cold rain especially - or too snowy, and I didn't like my class or only had 1 that day, you better believe I wasn't going. Sorry, teach, but my wardrobe doesn't allow it. I will not wear jeans, shoes, or socks in the rain. And when it's March/April in Kansas, it's not warm enough to not wear pants and socks and shoes. So I can't make it. Yesterday, I went to the Teet (Harris Teeter is my grocery store for you midwesteners), and when I was leaving it was raining. So I was trying to load my 3 bags into the car and this lady tries to park in the empty spot next to me. I thought about moving the cart, but then I thought, no, I'm standing in the pouring rain and you are sitting in your nice dry car. Plus there were 3 spots closer to the store, so I didn't feel bad. Did she move? No, she sat there and tapped her fingers on the steering wheel, and rested her chin in her hand, as I stared at her. F off, lady. As I shut my door, she gave me that little raised hand and open jaw look like, what the f. finally! thanks for not moving. And I seriously contemplated leaving my cart in that spot, getting in my car, and driving off. She deserves to have a bad day after giving me 'tude. And that is why I hate the rain when I'm not staying inside or playing a sport. You put everyone in an impatient, crappy mood.

After like 10 minutes of complaining to myself about that lady, I was over it. And I had a productive night, did a lot of studying for my final, and I'm ready to get my Back and Core on today! Going to be a great workout, I can just feel in. I'm ready to pump some major iron (hah :) ), focus, and get big. These next 2 weeks are critical. I need to put on some major mass, and you know what, I am going to do just that. So folks, have a great day. Take advantage of every hour and do something now, so that tomorrow you are ready to build upon it. Don't keep putting things off. Later!

Best Pandora Playlist

Just FYI. Make a playlist with The Head and The Heart, The Lumineers, Old Crow Medicine, and The Avett Brothers. It's wonderful in every way possible

Week's end - Recap

Did you think I was missing? It's been a grip since I've blogged, life has been busy! Thursday night, after my leg workout, I got a massage, and it was PHENOMENAL. It was a birthday present from my wonderful sister, and since I used it almost 6 months later, it's like celebrating my birthday all over again! My masseuse is the best. Since I went to massage school, I have a table, so she comes to my house and gives me a massage at night, so I can just lay there afterwards and go straight to bed. Definitely the way to go, people, much more relaxing then having to get dressed, get in your car, and drive home.

Yesterday and today I've had two really good workouts. Well today was rough getting less than 5 hours of sleep. You could tell I was dragging, which was frustrating, and I just wanted to get to the end of the workout. But I've continually been increasing weight which is awesome. Even today at good 'ol Ram's head I increased, so I was pretty pleased with that. I worked last night though and didn't get home until 3:30am this morning. And then I woke up on my own at 6:23am. I almost got up before realizing I hadn't even been asleep for 3 hours, so I let myself "sleep in". Luckily CJ woke me up at 8:30 so I could get my day started. We got our workout in, I returned that ridiculous Victoria Secret's swimsuit, and finished my take home final for school all before noon. Very productive morning.

I've finally picked out a competition suit and am in the process of sizing and ordering that, I'm very excited to get it. Thank you all for your input :) I'm grateful for these next two days of rest. I have a lot I need to do to get ready for the move to Greensboro. I'm planning on coming back most weekends, but I need to be really good about planning so that I make sure I have all of my gym gear, supplements, food scale, blender, etc, that I'm not sure will be there for me. We are going to look at 2 gyms on Monday after we get there, and once that is lined up I'll be good to go. Once I finalize my packing list, I'll let you know what all I am bringing to give you an idea of how much prep I have to do. Thursday I spent about 3 hours reworking my food schedule so that my macros would be more evenly spread throughout the day, and this weekend Meredith will be giving me changes to that, so I'll get to do it all over! Luckily, planning and organizing makes me very happy.

Okay, I need to be a little soft for a minute:

Thank you all for your support and motivation and encouragement. For asking questions and not being (at least outwardly) judgmental of my goal and my adventure getting there. I had a hard time this weekend, because I know there are some people close to me that don't support this and don't think I should do it and have their concerns and they were brought up in conversation. I guess I always knew they didn't support it, which was why I didn't tell them I was doing it, but hearing them question it was really hard for me. And I really appreciate all of you who are reading this and interested in either what I'm doing or how it's going. And I appreciate the comments, texts, and questions you all give me, because it let's me know that I'm not in this alone, because I don't think I could do it if I was. So thank you.

Well, I got to keep going on this productive streak I have. Shopping in Mebane tomorrow, so I have a lot to get done this afternoon. And I'm working tonight at Bada if any of you want to come hang out! Have a great weekend!

Comfortable in Your Skin

Take a big breath in, then blow hard and fast. Hah. That's what my teacher just said. Yes, I have the mind and humor of a 10-year old boy. I'm okay with that.

So, now that I don't drink, or eat out, and go to bed at 9:30 (okay that hasn't changed for years..) I've realized that I don't really have a social life. And I'm okay with that. I like myself, and I like spending time by myself. I'm funny and awesome. I can't imagine what it would be like to be some of you and have to hang out alone, that would be torturous. Just kidding. Sort of. Anyway, I think a lot of people really just hate being alone. And when you are in your 20s, I think its easy to get caught up and think you always have to be doing something or be with people. But some days, your friends are going to be busy, your dog is on vacation (story of my summer), your parents didn't invite you over for dinner and to do your laundry, and basically you have no one to hang out with and nothing to do. Don't just sit on the couch and watch TV, you'll get fat and have nothing of interest to really talk about when someone decides they do want your company. So here are 10 things you can do when you are by yourself.

1. Clean your shower. And your toilet.

Boy's apartments/houses/whatever they live in are disgusting. Clean your shower. You have nothing better to do. Be productive and scrub that tub ring out of there. Spray and wipe down the tiles, and clean your shower curtain liner. AND clean up all of that disgusting hair. When I go to someone's house and use their bathroom, if I see hair in their shower, I'm automatically disgusted at them in every way and want to leave ASAP. And you all know how I feel about public toilets, well yours is even more disgusting. Didn't your dad every make you put toilet paper down on a public seat before you sat? Well those toilets are cleaned way more often then any of yours. Clean your toilet weekly, you dirty people!

2. Read a book. 

As I'm adding periods to the end of every item on this list, I'm thinking of you Lauren, and how we don't think lists deserve periods. But today, they do. Anyway. You should always be reading a book. Before bed, read, don't facebook, don't watch TV. You'll get smarter and sleepier. Win-win. Also, you will have something to add to that conversation when someone decides to hang out with you. Because honestly, how long can you talk about what Christi said to Abby Lee last night on Dance Moms?

3. Bake or Cook something.

Even if you think you can't. Find a recipe. Go buy the ingredients. Follow the directions. And just do it! It is rewarding, and fun, and hey, you now have something else to do. Eat.

4. Pluck your eyebrows.

Or shave (boys you too). Just make yourself pretty. It's called grooming. Do it.

5. Say nice things to your friends.

People are mean. Don't be mean to your friends. Let them know how much they mean to you and that you care about them. Call those friends that live far away and catch up. If they are local and you say nice things to them, maybe they'll be more likely to want to hang out with you and you won't have to follow this list again next week!

6. Call your grandparents.

Better yet, write them a letter. Grandparents love that sort of thing. And they love to know you care. You do care, don't you?

7. Buy yourself flowers.

No one else is. So when you go to the store, pick up some cheap, pretty flowers, put them in a vase and just sit there and smell them. They'll make you happy. And every time you walk in the door you'll have something pretty to see, it's a great pick-me-up.

8. Do every last load of laundry you have.

Yes, pick up the clothes off of your floor, out of your laundry basket. Even those jeans you only wore a few times and they are still "clean". Wash them. Iron your clothes. Put them away. You'll feel much better tomorrow having it crossed off your to-do list and putting on something that doesn't smell like the outdoors, or a restaurant, or just you (I'm talking like gross body-ness you, not that great perfume you spray on everything. Yuck)

9. Clean out your refrigerator.

Throw away old food and left overs. Throw out the crap that you shouldn't be eating anymore. Wipe down the door and shelves and drawers. Clean your microwave while you are at it. You'll be healthier, and you'll be happy you did it when you move out and it's not disgusting and an hour long task.

10. Do nothing.

That's right. Nothing. Sit down and just be happy being you. Relax. Wear pants, don't wear pants. Take naps. Wrap yourself in your comforter and lay on the floor watching a movie, even though you have a perfectly good couch. Enjoy your own company. Learn about yourself. If you don't, no one else will. Be comfortable being who you are, you should be comfortable going to eat by yourself, and going to the movies by yourself, but really you should just be comfortable hanging out with yourself. Take the time to relax and re-energize and to just be YOU.

oo thought of another one.

11. Try out a new hairstyle.

Find a youtube video. Learn how to braid your hair. Or just cut it. If it looks bad, you can just go back to putting it in a pony tail! Just be sure to only cut a little bit, so that in case you mess up and it looks bad, someone else can fix it.

Alright. That's my list. The week is half over, so you only have 3 days to get as many of these things checked off. And I expect you to report back to me and let me know how it went. Sorry fellas, my list doesn't work quite as well for you, but you can still do some. Or make your own list, I'm not your mothers.

So after writing this book, I have yet to talk about my workout. And since that's the purpose of this blog, I should probably get on that. Today, I had shoulders and triceps. Minus the shoulders, this is one of my favorite days. I love pumping triceps. Maybe that's why I am so good at pushing people over in soccer. Maybe.

·      Standing BB Press

·      Seated Arnold Press

·      Front Plate Raise

·      Lateral Raises

·      Bench Dips

·      Superset Triceps Cable OH Extensions and Pulldowns

·      Pushups

Love it. We increased weight on almost every single lift today, and that is my goal with lifting. Push hard, increase reps or increase weight! Also, my shoulder (that dumb old injury) didn't hurt at all during today's workout, and last week this workout kind of killed it. So I was pretty happy about that!

Last thought. You guys ever have a full mouth of food and then feel the serious need to cough? That just happened to me. It's an awful Chew as fast as you can, but not so fast that you choke, so you can cough sort of feeling and it stresses me out. I'll probably take the next five minutes off from eating. Lies. I already took another bite. Oh. And I think I'm catching a cold. Awesome. It's June and the girl with the world's weakest immune system is sick yet again.

Quickie

It was great to get back in the gym today. I was go-go-go today and had to get through the workout quick, so rest times were taken down to ~60 seconds, which turned out to not be too bad on my weight, I even increased on most of the sets! I had back and core today. Last week the V-Sits were killing me, and I could barely make it, but today was much better. Hopefully I won't still be aching come Friday when I need to do abs again. Last week, we were pathetic!

I really don't have much to say today. I got another job today, so that's cool. My last year at Kansas, well before I graduated, I had 8 jobs. Yes. Eight. It's not like I worked more than anyone else, I just prefer to have a lot of jobs, and work a normal number of hours, so that I don't get bored anywhere. Who knows what will happen when I have to work 40 hours a week somewhere! I'll deal with that when that day comes.

I tried a new protein shake today. Added an orange and the cocoa powder instead of my normal fruit. It was good, but too much chocolate, and the orange left a lot of that skin or whatever, which doesn't bother me, but I could see it bothering a lot of people. Overall though, good shake.

I also have not been sleeping well lately, and I'm going to blame that on being on my computer right up until I hit the hay. So, I must go and watch Shooter, Markie Mark is so foxy. I'd date him.. or Russel Crowe. They can fight over me. Welp, catch ya later. Shoulders and triceps tomorrow! Can't wait to tackle those bench dips again, LOVE THEM!