Not the end...Just a new beginning

[figurehopefull]

Well ok.....to pick up from my old journal....except different routes. This is offseason...time to grow, mature, and challange myself...and dare I say EAT A LITTLE MORE!!!!:jump:

For the next two months, focus is on definitly maintaining since the holidays are near. Good thing for me is I work at a gym 13hours a day, so eating bad is out of the question anyway. hehe

So sit down, hold on to your bottoms, and see what this crazy southern girl does. :no:

[sassy69]

Bring it on girl! Sometimes a targeted off-season is the best thing you can do for a productive and "nailing it" on-season!

[figurehopefull]

It is funny when you can do something that you want whenever you want. Dieting for a show, I can't run.....cause no carbs of course... but taking a break and focusing on offseason, with the added carbs gives me more energy and I can run. Also, I tempt myself and say, "If you run today, you can have some granola and yogurt and fresh blueberries." I ran for 30 mins today and didnt feel bad about it. LOL

I am trying to figure out which approach I want to take next year. I love doing figure....but if figure is turning more into as Dave put it "what bikini should be and the new WPD is going to be what figure should be" (thanks Dave thats awesome by the way cause it is soooo true).....then I would love doing the new division. I am naturally an athletic build and gain muscle, especailly in my legs, very easily. The whole reason I fell in love with figure is because the girls have very feminine muscle and looked great. But the softer and softer figure goes....I am not agreeing with it....

[figurehopefull]

Great week, great feeling!!! I stopped dieting, stopped stressing, and now I am enjoying my running and my intense workouts!!! I have added carbs just for breakfast and pre and post and I am definitly satisfied!!!
And after all that, I have lost 3 pounds. Ha!!

I guess I just needed to relax. I am just trying to find my comfort zone for offseason and try and maintain a healthier, "lighter" (as fas as my weight) body!!! Healthy doesnt always mean what the scale says....and I try and remind myself that everyday!!!!

[musclegoddess65]

I miss my runs... gotta get back to doing that myself!

[figurehopefull]

Continuing to focus on my running! I am really enjoying it. Its not just flat out running, its different variations. Some hiits, so inclines, so just playing around. It is really seeming to take a difference on my legs and I am liking it. They are tighting up, but I am not losing any strength training them but I can tell some of the "unwanted" fat is getting better and going away!!! Plus, I can throw in a few more complex carbs and my body is loving it! It is nice to make a change every now and then.

I am trying to get my weight down some, because I think I am one of those that goes too far in the offseason. it is easy to lose track and eat to much and before you know it, you are 30 pounds heavier than when you were on stage. I would like to lost about 10-15 pounds, so I can focus on being leaner so when I do start dieting again, I can just be tighter without killing myself to lose all the extra weight! Plus with the holidays coming up, it will be easier not to pack on the weight if I am focused on a plan already!!

[musclegoddess65]

have you given any thought to focusing on a 5K, 10K or maybe a 1/2 or full marathon maybe???

[figurehopefull]

have you given any thought to focusing on a 5K, 10K or maybe a 1/2 or full marathon maybe???

Yeah, I have thought about it alot. I just dont know if I am ready to make that much of a commitment. Right now I run for fun and dont have to meet any times. I can run like 6 miles now, but I pace myself and do it only when I want! The idea of running a marathon is teasing...I just dont know yet. LOL

[musclegoddess65]

Yeah, I have thought about it alot. I just dont know if I am ready to make that much of a commitment. Right now I run for fun and dont have to meet any times. I can run like 6 miles now, but I pace myself and do it only when I want! The idea of running a marathon is teasing...I just dont know yet. LOL

start small then... if your already running 6... go for a 10K....

I know some nuts that ran a marathon before running a 1/2 but yeah their nuts... but a 10K is a great distance... course those same nuts say once you do one marathon your likely to do others... like tattoo's I guess they are addicting..

[figurehopefull]

Yeah, would definitly do something small frist. Just to see if I could hang. And I would do a 1/2 waaaaayyyy before I would do a full. LOL I just dont want to get to focused on that and then lose ALL my leg muscle.

And yes, the tattoos...LOL I started with one, now I have 5...I swear I am done, but I said that after all my other ones. LOL

[musclegoddess65]

I've done neither... tattoo's (although I want one I HATE needles) or marathons... My longest run was the Soldier Field 10miler - totally cool, running thru Chicago and finishing on the 50 yard line and it was on the jumbotron... and I accidentally ran a 10miler once... just one of those zen runs... beautiful temps, great tunes on the iPod... i had gone 5 miles before I knew it and then realized damn I gotta go back 5... oddly it turned out to be one of my best times with a 10:30 avg min mile...

I am not a runner but there are those times it all just comes together... but right now with the extra pounds I've put on, running is a bit harder...

[figurehopefull]

Alright!!! Got me a goal set up and I am ready to explode! For the next month, my main goal is to maintain balance in my life and be in a set routine! I am going to pick up running a little bit, about 3 mornings a week for 30 mins. And spread my weight training back out to 5 days a week to really focus where focus needs to be. I could stand to lose about 10 pounds, while still improving my muscle. So healthy carbs only for breakfast, and pre and post. I need to stay around 145, so I dont get too sloppy, yet work on building up my delts and lats a little more!!

I really made myself happy yesterday though. The hubby was pushing me through a back workout and I deadlifted 165 8 times and dumbell rowed the 60's 8 times. I definitly push myself more when he is with me. LOL But my back is definitly feeling it today!!!! Gotta love the soreness.

[musclegoddess65]

nice work.... I see few women doing deads in the gym... very few... Kudos!

yeah I flounder w/o goals too...

[figurehopefull]

nice work.... I see few women doing deads in the gym... very few... Kudos!

...

LOL...Yeah I get strange looks from women when I do deadlifts....dont know if its the grunting or the actual workout. LOL I will admit, they are not my favorite, but they work!!!

[figurehopefull]

Changing my weights back up for a while!! I have been focusing sooooo much on getting my delts and lats to grow for me next show and I have been blasting them away. I changed up my leg routine and arms so that it was more med weight and high reps, just so I could let everything else catch up. Plus I think I had the mentality that I am a girl and people look at me funny as it is with my muscle and I didnt want to build anymore.....BUT SCREW THEM!!! I am who I am and I LOVE working out and lefting heavy as hell!!!! So I am going back to my old style of training. Heavy heavy heavy...if it isnt hurting it aint working!!!! LOL

I looked at my husband yesterday and told him that I miss lifting heavy and I really dont give a damn what other people think of me, so I am going to grow and harden and let all the soft fat asses make whatever remarks they want about my muscle! :slap:

And depending on how things change around in the "bb" world....I might try my hand at the new WP!!! Cause I already know especially in my legs that I have a little too much muscle for how they judge figure now.

[musclegoddess65]

I have no issues with those in the gym that wanna lift the pink dumbbells to each his own... but like you I like to lift heavy.... I just put my iPod in and ignore the stares....

I always laugh at women that say I don't wanna lift weights I'll get big... well prior to lifting I was 135/140 and a size 9 was not tight but fitting.... after lifting and changing physique... I could fit into a 6 or a 4 (in some brands) at 150...

I struggled with my structure for a long time as a teen... never understood why I wasn't built like a tiny ballerina... nope I had a small waist and wide back and broad shoulders.... then in 2002 I saw my first ever local bodybuilding show, and finally I realized where my physique fit in.

so lift heavy girl.... !

[figurehopefull]

Yea, it took me a while but by the time I was 20, I finally realized that I was never going to have those tiny super model legs. Even if I starved myself and lost 100 pounds I never would. LOL I have a very athletic body. Square shoulders, wide back, and thick legs...but a tiny ass waist. Right now its 27 inches, at contest it is a sickly 23. LOL And thats after 2 kids. he he

We actually own our gym so I think that is why girls ask me a million questions and always comment on my muscle. They seem to think if they workout they will look like me. Ahahahahahaha....And then I go into the same story I have told 100 times, that I have been working out hard for 5 years, and I choose this. Just normal working out wont make you like this. LOL And of course all the added benefits with lifting "girly" weights. LOL I win a few over, others still think the weight is going to jump out and bit them. ha

[musclegoddess65]

I agree it is not for everyone... but there is nothing more appealing then sculpted arms and capped shoulders... defined abs and pec area, striated legs (tho I have never had those)... goodness I sound like a lesbian... not at all just appreciate hard work....

I guess for those that are afraid to lift heavy that it will add weight... yes it will if you also don't take into effect the other side of the equation... nutrition and solid healthy eating...

keep winning them over lady!