What a blast!!!!

Yesterday was the last bikini competition I will ever do. From now on it is going to be figure competitor training. I came in 4th place, which I am satisfied with. The competition was a tough one. It was the first international competition that I have competed in. The competition was about 50 percent American, 40 percent Australian and 10 percent other European countries. The Australian people really dominated the competition. All day long I was admiring how amazing the figure competitors looked. What is interesting to me is they all say they do not do cardio because it breaks down muscle tissue. That makes sense, but it is going to be hard to let go of the cardio. If I want to get that kind of body that is what is has to happen. The competition was a lot of fun but, it feels kind of good not worrying about one coming up in the near future. My next one will not be until June. I need to take about a month off from the gym. Some of those nagging muscle strains I have will only get better with rest.
The best thing that came out of yesterday was getting to know Sylvia. Sylvia is a bodybuilder that I met at the Sacramento show, she was competing yesterday too. We exchanged phone numbers, she plans on taking some time off and competing again in June. Hopefully she will do the same event I will be doing. I believe if you come away from something making new friends that it was worth all of the hard work put into it.

Good times, fun people!!!

Hi everyone,
I am very exited!!! My dad and Karen are flying in tomorrow. It will the first time I seen them in a very long time. This competition this weekend will be a lot of fun. It is great to have them come out and watch it. There will be a lot less stress at this event because I will be minus a certain person that was present at the last two shows. This show I will have nothing but people i love to come and cheer me on.
Last weekend was a great time. My boss threw an amazing Halloween party. Unfortunately Dave was on call, but he game with me anyway. He dressed as a nurse and I dressed as a German guy. Not too many people got my costume, they didn't know what I was suppose to be, but I thought the costume was cool. It is so nice to have a boss that works hard and plays hard. I never had a boss like that before. It sucks that I can't take her with me when we move. The only reason Dave and I would ever want to come visit this place is to visit Sonya, Tony, Rae Rae, Crystal and Rachel. I love those guys.

New Opportunities

Hi Everyone,
The last couple of weeks have been very busy. That is the first time I have said that and actually meant it. Last weekend was the competition. It was a great time, I took home a second and a fourth place finish, very happy about it. The next one is in just two weeks. That one is going to be a lot of fun because my dad and Karen are coming to see it. It has been a year since I have seen any of my family and I can't wait to have them here. After this show I will be taking a mandatory month off from working out. I have to go through another surgery on Nov. 16th, so that forces me to take time off. In January my training will start up again for the next figure competition. Bikini competitions are fun, but to me the bikini division is kind of a stepping stone to the figure division, that is the division I really want to be in. The first time I was not prepared at all, it is going to take an unbelievable amount of work to get ready for a figure show.
The last two weeks have been filled with great new opportunities. Sonya gave me the opportunity to help out with the biggest loser competition going on at the base gym. They are up to 31 contestants. I have met so many wonderful people, it has been so much fun helping out. After I recover from the surgery I will get to start seeing clients of my own at the gym. Sonya also gave me a job at the smoothie bar at the gym. It is the first time where I enjoy the job I have. It sounds crazy but, I am going to be sad when it comes time for Dave and I to leave here. I am very greatful to Sonya for giving me the opportunity to work as a trainer at such a great facility.

Remember, just have fun!!!!

Hey everyone,
Well, it has been a bad day for football. My Packers and Dave's Bengals lost by a field goal today. In my opinion today's game for the Packers clarifies that they are not that good this year. 3 and 2 is not that good and the games they won were not by much. All the Packer fans out there please, don't be upset with me, that is just my little evaluation of this years team.
There has been good news for me!!!. I got a job as a trainer, well sort of. The gym on base this year is having a biggest loser contest. Shannon and Sonya want me to shadow them during the contest and then I can start training clients on my own. I don't know if they meant on my own by myself or on my own at the gym. I think this is kind of a trial period for me. If they see that I am very involved and enthusiastic they may hire me full-time. I would love, love, love that!!!. It would be so convenient, we live just 1/4 mile away from the gym, I know almost everyone who works there, the facility is awesome, very big. I am keeping my fingers crossed that this works out.
My bikini competition is on Saturday. I am nervous because the bikini walk is a lot like a model on the runway, its all about strutting it, walking with confidence, like you own it, walk in those heels like they are sneakers. That scares me, I am not a pro when it comes to walking in 5 inch heels, even though I practice everyday it still feels like a daunting task. And everyone always says the same thing "Remember just have fun!" No matter how many times I tell myself that it doesn't calm my nerves.
Well, I hope my competition goes well and I hope the Packers and the Bengals can turn around this runaway train.

Baby sister for Mohinder

Hi everyone,
Dave and I are very exited. We have been talking about getting another cat for awhile, but could not decide what kind. He didn't care so much either way, but I wanted a Himalayan cat. That changed earlier this week when we were watching old episodes of the Osbourne's. They had this beautiful exotic looking cat. Dave and I both had never seen that kind of cat before. The beautiful cat was an Abyssinian cat. The Aby cat is gorgeous and it has the same temperament as Mohinder, both very playful and loyal to their owners. This particular cat breed is very hard to come by. There is a breeder in Racine WI who will have one ready in February. I wish I could get her earlier but, it all works out because my dad is getting married in February so Dave and I will be in Wisconsin anyway. Speaking of my dad, he just did another full marathon this morning, it was the Lakefront marathon in Milwaukee WI. I am very proud of him, Great job dad!!!!
Dave and I both had minor injuries this week. He hurt his lower back earlier this week and I pulled a muscle in my obliques during core crunch class. This is the second time I pulled that muscle doing the same type of exercise. The exercise is standing with a weight in one hand and leaning over to the side to work the obliques, my body just does not like that exercise so, I am taking that completely out of my workout regimen. There are many other ways to work your obliques without hurting your back. Luckily my little injury did not sideline me from doing any other exercises. Even if it did I still would probably find ways to work around it because I am stubborn. I believe that all people who love to work out whether it is weight lifting, running, cycling, we are all stubborn.
Dave made his first visit to the Chiropractor and his opinion about them has definitely changed. He used to think that they couldn't help much, but the chiropractor made him feel a whole lot better and explained exactly what was wrong. An inversion table is going to be our next purchase. Many people have said that it works wonders for your back.
I am down to the two week mark again. Starting tomorrow the carb depletion begins, down to 80 grams per day, not to hard to do. Shannon said that the water depletion will not be as severe as it was last time, thank goodness. With Bikini the judges want the girls looking a little softer, so extreme water depletion is not necessary. That is it for right now.
Talk to you soon.

maintenance, maintenance

Hi,
So far this week I have been accosted by three different people about tanning beds and skin care. It is common knowledge that using a tanning bed is not the safest thing to do. But, this is what is necessary when you are training for a bodybuilding competition. After the show on November 6th I will have a six month break before the next show, so I do not plan on going to the tanning salon for much longer. My skin regimen is also pretty pathetic. The routine for me is washing my face in the morning and putting Vaseline all over it. A good friend of mine told me the importance of taking good care of your skin. From now on the new regigmen is use moisturizer in the morning and before bed.
Training is coming along good. I have been training more independently now. I use to train with Shannon about six days a week and now we only meet one or two times. Shannon trains clients at Lemoore, In shape in Hanford and sells real estate, she is also training for a show in November. She has mastered the art of juggling a bunch of different things, I don't know how she does. It's good to be training on my own, eventually I will be training clients myself. Unfortunately Dave has been the Guinea pig. We worked on quads yesterday. We did sets of walking lunges, squats, leg extensions, calf raises and then Dave went for a run. When he got home he started feeling a pull in his lower back and it has been hurting ever since. I am feeling horrible about that. When I mentioned this to Shannon she said "what did you do to him" Honestly, I don't think he was pushed too hard. Injuries just happen. Hopefully he will still want to work out with me.

Slow Roasting

Good evening,
It was a great day for football, Packers won and the Bengals won, wooohooo!!!!! Packers are 2-0, hopefully they can keep this winning streak going.
I can't believe it has been over a month since my last competition and my next one is less than a month away. This next one will be a little less stressful on myself and my trainer Shannon. This time around I am utilizing a powerful tanning bed. 12 minute sessions every other day are darkening me up pretty good as you can see from the picture, the face is a little red but, as a whole it is working out. It is like I am slow roasting myself, that is exactly what laying in the tanning bed feels like. And I will also be utilizing the spray tan service they have on site of the competition and that is it. Shannon will night be applying four coats of the body paint on me. As I have mentioned before that all competitors need to be tanning for competitions. The tan is a very tricky process and body painting is especially hard because you don't know if your skin will absorb the crap or not, a lot of times it streaks and you have to keep reapplying, it could take up to four hours to do this. So, I decided screw that I will just get the spray tan. Shannon and I both think that it is risky relying on the spray tan service. If I turn out looking horrible then I will know not to use it next time. Food wise I am enjoying the last couple of weeks of eating a variety of healthy food and cheating one day a week. October first is when I will have to go back to the diet of chicken and green vegetables. Workouts are going great, I really appreciate Shannon meeting with me several times a week to not only work out but, also practice posing and the walking. She is awesome.

California's hidden treasure

Good evening,
Just a little over a month left until the next competition. Not so nervous about this one coming up, probably because I know what to expect. Last weekend Shannon and I went to San Diego to watch our friend Kristen compete in her first figure competition. That girl looked amazing. She inspired me to push it even harder in the gym. It was my first time in San Diego. It turns out that California isn't entirely the arm pit of the west coast that I thought it was. While we were in San Diego we spent the day in La Jolla. That was the most beautiful place in California that I have ever seen, the beach was amazing, the weather was warm and overcast. It seems like in Lemoore there are never those comfortable overcast days, it was nice to experience a day like that. While we were there one of the thoughts running through my mind was "Why didn't those detailers give Dave orders to Camp Pendleton or Balboa hospital, why did they have to send him to this s**thole". But, if we were not here then I would never have met Sonya, Shannon, Kristen, Rebecca and Jess.
My next competition I plan on having more fun and just enjoying the moment. It will be my first competition with the International Natural Bodybuilding Association. Kristen did her competition through them and I had a really good feeling about it when I watched her, it was a great event in a wonderful city.

Run Dave Run!

Hi everyone,
It was an eventful holiday weekend. Dave did the Disneyland half marathon. He came in at 1:46, that is an awesome time. He was gone for three nights, the house is pretty boring when he is gone. The half marathon is not something I wanted to go watch. It might be selfish and immature, but it is too hard for me to go to running events. Running is something that I loved to do and I cannot do it right now. Hopefully one day I can start running again, but going to events and not being able to participate is too hard for me. Dave understood why I didn't want to go. Other runners that have experienced this probably feel the same way.
Luckily there are other cardio, endurance activities that are really fun. Spinning is an awesome workout. Anyone who lives on base should go to Gisela's class at 1000 on Monday's and Wednesday's, she is awesome. She pushes everyone in the class really hard. When we were finished I thought my heart was going to burst out of my chest, it was intense. Swimming is great too, but it doesn't build the muscles I need to build, so I am only allowed to swim once a week. My workouts in the gym are getting more challenging. Shannon has really been pushing me to lift heavier and I think I have been doing a good job. Ever since the last show I have been working harder in the gym. Those buff girls at my last show may have been doing it longer than me, but they are also probably working a lot harder than I did in the gym. This weekend Shannon and I are going to watch another figure competition in San Diego. Watching the show will give me more motivation to push even harder in the gym.

tomorrow the sun will rise

Hi everyone,
I love this picture of Mohinder. He is so cute when he falls asleep in awkward positions. His arm looks like a crane coming out of his head.
I found out some important news last night. I was planning on doing the INBA Natural Universe Bikini Competition so I decided to call the promoter to ask some questions. He told me in order to do that one I would have to do at least one INBA show before that show. He told me there was one in Sacramento on OCT 16th. So, that will be my next competition, just six weeks away. I will have to work my butt off but, I think I can pull it off. I am so grateful that I have Shannon to help me. She definitely was my inspiration to become a personal trainer. Along with getting the personal trainer's certification I am also getting certified in massage therapy. They go hand in hand very well because a lot of gyms have spas in them. My two favorite hobbies are working out and getting massages, so why not do both. The school is about 7 months long and the school is recognized by the VA. With only 7 months left on my GI Bill, it seemed perfect. Hopefully one day my college degree will come in handy. If I ever wanted to run a spa or gym I guess having that education would help.
The future is looking bright. Last week was a tough one. Like I had mentioned before, the Air Force Reserve would not allow me to get a physical because of all of the surgeries. The recruiter said she would request a waiver but, the chances of that going through are very slim, too slim. I decided that I can't focus on that anymore, it was time to move on. I have been dealing with trying to get in the reserves since May. Worrying about whether or not I would get in for four months was really starting to get on my nerves. It feels good to focus on other things.
One of my dad and I's favorite movies is Cast Away. At the end of the movie Tom Hanks was talking about how close he was to giving up but, he never did. My dad's likes the line when Tom Hanks says, "Tomorrow the sun will rise". I think what Tom Hank's character meant was each day brings new opportunities. If you have a couple of bad days, no big deal, tomorrow is a chance for good things to happen.

Learning from the mistakes

Hi everyone,
Well, it feels great to not have to be so strict about what I drink and eat. After eating healthy for so long it doesn't feel like work anymore, but it feels great to eat a variety of healthy foods again and not the exact same thing everyday. The first competition was definitely a learning experience. The figure category was definitely a group that I was not quite ready for. It takes a long time to build up the muscle that those other women had. After the competition my trainer told me that in another six months I would be ready for another figure show. That is my goal, but that doesn't mean I cannot compete in another show before then. There is another show on November 6th that I want to do. I will not be entering in the figure category. I will be entering in the bikini and sports model categories. The bikini and sports model categories are divisions of the natural bodybuilding organization. Bikini and sports model girls have to have a well toned, but feminine physique. The judges want to see muscle definition, but not to the degree of figure or bodybuilding. Even though the look I have to achieve for the next show is not as muscular as figure I still cannot slack in the gym. My trainer has me upping my calories so I can gain some weight to build more muscle. She told me that even some of the bikini girls had a harder look than I did at the last show. I have a lot of work to do, but that is OK. Working hard towards something makes it more exiting. I also finished school last week. It feels great to finally be out of college. Well, I am not completely done with school. I signed up for a personal trainers course. I should be certified in just a couple of months. This school will be fun for me because it is something I am actually very interested in.
That is all for now.
Talk to you all soon.

A long day in hell

Hi everyone,

Yesterday was the competition and waiting around in a hot room full of half naked women sounds like some people's dream come true, for me it was hell. The first round started a 1000 and my group did not come on stage until 1300, the second round started at 1830 and we did not come on stage until 2200. We got to go back for a couple of hours after the first round, but then it was back to waiting in the holding room. The hunger and the dehydration made everything worse, plus I thought my makeup looked a little too dark, I looked like I stood in front of a blow torch. I felt very insecure in that room. All of these women were hot and buff, I think I was the softest looking girl there. It was my first competition, but it was hard to not feel insecure. It was a lot of fun going on stage and wowing the judges and it was really funny watching the men's bodybuilding routines. I was very grateful that Shannon and Kristen came along to help me get ready. Shannon had to drive back to Lemoore Saturday night, she is such a trooper and so was Dave, dealing with me when I am hungry and thirsty is no easy task. In figure competitions they break you up by your height. All of the other classes had five or less girls and mine had 10 and the girls in my class were by far the best looking girls, so I was up against the toughest competition. I don't know for sure, but I think I got 6th place. I know it sounds like I had a miserable time, but I can't wait to do it again. It is kind of like running a marathon. During the run you may not be having the most fun, but when it is over you are happy and are planning the next one. My next show will be on November 13th in Denver Co. with Shannon and then another one in the beginning of December in Culver City. I will still be keeping you all informed on my progress. I am also going to get my personal trainers certification. I should have that finished by my next competition.

Talk to you all soon.

Hell Week

Hi Everyone,
Well, I am now entering what I call hell week. I thought that my diet was very strict already, but this last week it gets much worse. My carb intake has gone down to less than 50 grams per day, no salt, dairy, eggs, flavored drinks, fruit, starchy carbs, sugar, protein powder. I think that covers all of the things I cannot have, so basically my diet consists of one serving of oatmeal in the morning and the rest of the day I live off of plain grilled chicken breasts, asparagus, spinach, tomatoes and almonds. On Monday it gets even worse, that is when the water depletion starts. The day of the show I only get 4 ounces of water. I hope that I do not pass out. I am very glad that Shannon my trainer is coming along. She has been there and done that, she knows what all goes on so that takes a lot of stress off of me. It is weird to think that in a week from now the show will be over, but this is only the beginning. There is another show on November 6th in LA that I want to do. That venue will be much bigger because it is open to the public. I am glad that my first show is for people affiliated with the military and nobody else. I am not sure how many competitors there will be. I am trying not to think about all of that too much. It is important to not let my nerves get the best of me. I am so glad I have Dave, he is my rock. There were days where I thought why was I even putting myself through this, but he was always there to encourage me to not give up.

Out in the water

Hi there,
Today was my first swimming event and overall it was a good experience. It was a two mile swim out in a lake, my time was a little more than an hour, not sure exactly how long, the results haven't been posted yet. The water was very dark and murky, it was impossible to see a thing. The weather was pretty chilly out there, it was 57 degrees when the race started, but the water felt warm. It was very cloudy too. When the race started I felt OK because I could see people swimming around me, but as we got further out people started spreading out more and more, it was like I was there all by myself, it was a little scary. I had to break my stroke and look up out of the water every so often to make sure I wasn't way off course. The venue was pretty small, it will be exiting to do larger swimming events. I think Dave had a good time too. Everywhere we go he meets somebody new. He met the race director, the guy is interested in doing a military triathlon competition with all of the different branches of the military. He gave Dave his card so I am sure he will try to rally some people up to do that event. The next swimming event I want to do is called the La Jolla Rough Water Swim which is 3 miles. It is one of the top ten open water swims in the world. And the swim out to Alcatraz, that one is 1.5 miles, but the water is cold and very rough.
It is just three weeks away from my competition, not nervous yet. The nervousness will probably set in the night before the competition. I think it will be a lot of fun. My next competition after this one will be sometime in November. I want to do another one before the holidays so I don't have to skip any of the good holiday meals.
Well that is all for this week.
Good night

Disapointments and Surprises

Hi Everyone,
I know it has been a long time, but it has been a couple weeks full of disappointments and pleasant surprises. As you all know I have been trying to get into the Navy Reserves. It has been two months of waiting, waiting, checking in with the recruiter and waiting, then one day last weekend I heard some upsetting news. A friend of mine who is also thinking about the reserves tells me there are no more open spots for corpsman in the reserves. The next day I marched over to the recruiters office to see if it was true. Sure enough, all of the spots filled up in June and nobody bothered to tell me, I was so upset. Fed up with this bull crap I decided to throw in the towel. The next day I put in a call to see the Air Force Reserve recruiter. Yesterday I made the drive to Stockton and spoke with her. The visit went great and in a couple weeks she will let me know if I can get seen at MEPS for a physical. I have a really good feeling about this one, hopefully it works out. They say everything happens for a reason.
The other good news is Shannon is going to me my trainer full time, woohoo. She is taking over the personal training at NAS Lemoore. If anyone in Lemoore is looking for a personal trainer, Shannon is the best.
It will be another busy week. I have my swimming race this Saturday. I am feeling nervous about it because I have been pretty tired lately, probably because of my low carb diet. Usually during cardio events I would not be eating a low carb diet, but I have to because my competition is in just three weeks. I am not allowed to eat dairy, protien shakes, no carbs in the evening, no more than 100 grams of carbs, so it is pretty strict. Let's see how crabby I get my next week.

The Double D

Hi everyone,
This week was a special week. It was my husband's birthday. He had a very good birthday dinner. I created a sandwich that I decided to name after him, the Double D (one of his nicknames). It is a hamburger stuffed with three different cheeses and instead of using a bun the burger is put between two grilled cheese sandwiches. For dessert he got homemade cheesecake. My calorie estimate for that meal is probably around 3,000.
My diet was changed up this week. My diet cannot have more than 100 grams of carbs each day. That is harder than it sounds because everything has carbs in it, not just breads, pasta, rice etc. Even my protein powder has 5 grams of carbs a serving, an apple has 17 grams, so it adds up very fast. My competition is in five weeks so it will not be that bad. The news that I did not like was my trainer telling me that I cannot swim again until the competition is over. I agreed not to, but I am going to anyways, at least twice a week. I have a swim race at the end of July and I have to keep up my swimming. Following the rules is not a problem for me, but she is not going to take away my swimming. That is really the only place where I feel very athletic. I am not a fast swimmer, but I have good endurance. I could swim laps for hours and that makes me feel good.
My trainer is out of town for a couple of weeks so she brought in a replacement to train me while she is gone. Her name is Shannon and she is awesome, I wish she would stay and be my permanent trainer. I really like my trainer, but she is into tough love training and that is annoying to me. I don't like to be belittled to get motivated in the gym. I do just as good if I am talked to as an equal, that is just her style I guess. Only five more weeks, I hope I have fun. If it's fun then it is all worth it.

Tedious and ridiculous

Hi there,
A few things really hit me over the last couple of weeks. Going to the gym everyday is very tedious. It is not exercising that is tedious, but weight lifting has become very boring. I will never stop weight lifting, because it is important, especially when you get older and everything starts to sag. My passion is definitely cardio. I never get bored with swimming and when I used to run I never got bored doing it everyday. Cardio is a better fit for me because it doesn't involve concentration. Weight lifting takes concentration and I have always had trouble concentrating, I am a big day dreamer and with cardio you can zone out and day dream all you want.
I will be glad when this competition is over with and I can go back to eating up to four apples a day, and cheese, I miss eating cheese. If I do another competition I am going to do it without taking the supplements. The supplements cause some embarrassing digestive problems, if you know what I mean, haha.
Another thing that is really driving me crazy is the slow process of trying to get in the Navy Reserves. I knew that it would be an irritating process because of the surgeries I had, but I did not realize how much of a pain in the neck it would be. At first all the recruiter said I needed were the operative reports. Those were all turned in a month ago. Now they are asking for all of the paperwork related to the surgeries. It took them a whole month to tell me that, that is ridiculous. Surprisingly getting all of the papers from the Hospital for Special Surgery was easy, that hospital is so squared away in everything they do. The problem is trying to get the paperwork from the doctor who did surgery on me in Hanford. It turns out that he had to shut his business down, I am not sure, but I think that doctor was hit with a bunch of lawsuits. I guess I'm lucky that he didn't screw me up when he operated on me. The waiting part just really sucks and it is driving me nuts. The waiting is bad for me and my recruiter. I have been calling her and popping into her office at least once a week. She is probably very sick of me, but if she wants me to leave her alone she better hurry up and get me re-enlisted!

New Discoveries

Today I discovered some new things. My sister and brother-in-law bought me a Trek bike for my birthday. I have very little knowledge about road bikes. The last time I even on a bike was in middle school. I wanted a bike because it is great exercise and I would like to do triathlons some day. During the test ride I felt like a fool, swerving around and almost crashing. I never thought it would be that tricky. Trek bikes are very different than regular bikes. Hopefully it will get easier with practice.
I also discovered that the Skinny Girl Margarita is sold in stores. The skinny girl margarita is a drink that was created by Real Housewives of New York cast member Bethany Frankel. She is a natural food chef and also my favorite cast member. I have never been a drinker, I have never tasted an alcoholic beverage that I liked, also drinking is not good for a person on a healthy diet. But, skinny girl margarita is only 100 calories a serving. I have not tasted it yet, hopefully it tastes as good as Bethany says it is.
Working out was fun this weekend. It is always more fun working out on the weekends because Dave works out with me. We did the leg workout which I love doing with Dave because he hates it, hahaha just kidding. I think the leg workout is good for him because he is a runner. Dr. Peterson, the awesome orthopedic surgeon on base, told me that runners have weak quad muscles. That surprised me because I thought runners had some of the strongest legs in the world, but actually they don't. Most runners spend very little time strengthening their quads, so I am glad that what I am doing with Dave is helping him.
Well, I hope that I can learn how to ride the bike and I hope the skinny girl margarita tastes good.

Surprises

Hello,
This week has been full of surprises. The first little surprise was at the gym earlier this week. A gentleman introduced himself to me, he asked me if there was any particular reason that I lift everyday. I explained that I was training for a figure competition. He did not know what a figure competition was so I explained that it was a category of women's bodybuilding. He looked me up and down and gave me a pity look and said "you don't look like a bodybuilder, have you seen those girls, I mean have you really seen those girls, have you researched this, are you sure you want to do that". I am a sensitive person and honestly it bothered me. I was polite to him and went on about my business. Then a few minutes later he came up to me again and said basically the same thing. If I had a shirt that said "Leave me the f**k alone" I would wear it to the gym. I am not a rude person, but when I am at the gym I want to get in, do what I have to do and get out. I am sure that he did not mean to offend me, aside from that he seems like a nice person.
The other surprise came on Saturday. Dave put together this wonderful surprise party for me. My birthday is June 7th and he surprised me on the 5th. I was not expecting that at all. I had a great time. He got me the best present in the whole world. I am a fan of Jefferson Airplane, especially the former lead singer Grace Slick. She is now an accomplished artist. I had mentioned a few months ago that I really liked her paintings. Dave got me a huge, one of a kind, autographed painting. I have never had a piece of art work before so this is my first one. We hung it right in the center of the living room.
Just two months and a week away from the competition. I have really been slacking in one area. I have not been practicing my posing. It may sound easy, but the judges are very picky about posing and it is not that easy. Trying to flex every single muscle in your body and smile is hard. I also could be practicing walking in my five inch heels more. I hope my trainer does not read this, haha.
See you later

My buddy's back

Hi everyone,
Sorry for the delay, it has been a really busy week. Dave and I went to Knots berry farm. It is an amusement park in Los Angeles, it far exceeded my expectations, those rides were some of the best I have ever been on. My favorites were the silver bullet and the Xcelerator.
I have been very antsy all week. I still have not heard back from the MEPS station, it has been two weeks and I thought I would be back in the Navy by now. The recruiter is telling me that they are really busy at the MEPS station, she keeps telling me it should be just a couple of more days. I am not frustrated with her, she is doing everything she can do, I just wish things would move along faster.
In work out news things are going great. I am very happy with the appearance of my body right now. I am noticing that things are really tightening up around the abdominal area. Dave started working out with me again, it is much funner having a fun workout buddy their with me. I enjoy giving him a good workout at the gym. It really makes me want to be a trainer myself. I think it would be a job I would really enjoy. I am really looking forward to the competition. There will be about four other ladies from the base competing, we might get a picture in the local newspaper.
Swimming is going great too, I swam three miles the other day, it felt great. At the end of July I will be doing my first open water swim race. It is called the Catfish Crawl. It is a two mile swim in a lake, so it shouldn't be that scary.

Making decisions

Hi everyone,
This week has been hectic but, in a good way. The weather has really heated up into the 90's so swimming outdoors in the lap pool feels great. I am becoming pleased with the way my body is responding to the training. I am finally starting to see the muscle show. My trainer said the first few months were about putting weight on and the remaining months are about leaning out. She warned me that the toughest part was still to come. She explained that the final weeks are the worst. The last few weeks I have to deprive myself of any carbs. That means no starchy carbs or fruit. I also cannot drink my favorite drink which is diet code red and diet snapple. I am only allowed to drink water during that time. She warned me that I would be very cranky and tired. I am lucky that Dave is such a huge pillar of support. He supports whatever I do.
The past several months I have been pondering the thought of the rejoining the military. For awhile I was thinking about going back to active duty, then I thought about the reserves. I decided that the reserves was a great fit for me. I have my physical at MEPS next week. Hopefully I pass the physical. I have to show the doctors the reports from all of the surgeries I have had, hopefully everything goes good. The recruiter said it should be OK. I will find out by the end of next week. Stay tuned!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Trucking along

It sure feels great to not be sick anymore. I was suppose to meet with Sonya my trainer last Friday, but she had to cancel because she was sick. She came down with the same thing Dave and I had. She did not get it from me. I did not step one foot in the gym when I was sick, so it must be really going around. Last week was tough working out. Even though I was feeling great I still felt a little week from taking almost a weak off, it's amazing how much a little bout with the flu can take you down. So far this week I really feel like my old self. I met with Sonya this morning and she is feeling well again too. We made it official that I will not be doing my first show until August 14th. Training for a show is very calculating and with my disadvantage of coming off of a huge surgery the training is taking longer for me. I am not upset about it, a bunch of other ladies connected with the navy are doing the show too. The show is called the armed forces contest, only people affiliated with the military are allowed to compete. Speaking of the military I went to see the navy reserve recruiter today. She is going to schedule a physical for me at MEPS, if everything works out I will be in the reserves by June. I am still planning on submitting my package for the reserve officers program, but that process takes about six months. I decided that it was a good idea to get back in now as an enlisted to get the retirement count down started, hahahaha. Wish me luck!!!!!

Back in Gear

This past week has been the week from hell. I don't remember the last time I had the flu. I had forgotten how horrible it is.
It basically took all of my energy away and I did nothing but lay around for four days. The only food I could tolerate was cheerios, which wasn't that bad. I use to love cheerios when I was a kid. Since my diet does not allow me a lot of carbs I cannot enjoy big bowls of cereal anymore. It was nice to eat a big bowl of cereal again. I lost five pounds. Hopefully it was just water weight and not muscle mass, it was probably a little bit of both.
I am happy to say that I am all better. I hit the gym again on Saturday. The first day back was tough, I definitely felt weaker, but each day after that got easier and easier. The human body is very resilient. Hopefully there will be no more setbacks. I am really hoping that I am ready for the June 27th show. I am afraid this run in with the flu has set me back a little bit. We will just have to wait and see, only time will tell.

Down, but not out!

Hello Everyone, I apologize for the delay. It has been a week of unplanned events. Going back to early last week I met with my trainer Sonya. She changed my whole diet and work out plan. We have approached the lean out phase. This usually happens a couple of months into training. In my case I needed to gain 10 pounds so she banned me from doing any cardio. I met my weight goal and now she has put cardio back into the program to loose the fat and expose the muscles. I was very happy to be doing it again, I LOVE cardio. Saturday Dave and I went to Bass Lake, CA for a little weekend getaway. Bass Lake was gorgeous and where they filmed the movie "Great Outdoors". The stay did not go as planned. Dave came down with a severe case of the flu and I was doing fine until this morning. I woke up and tossed my cookies several times. I had to cancel my session with Sonya and have been laying around all day drinking water and ginger ale. I am bummed about this, the last time I was sick with the flu was back in 1999. I hope to be back to my normal self in a couple of days. Talk to you soon.
Shayna

Future Decisions

This week was a week about thinking of the future. After my weight lifting work outs I get very inspired about the future, going into the Navy Reserves, doing figure competitions, it all sounds very exciting. Working out is wonderful therapy. I am pondering a decision about my future. I am not sure if I should go into the Reserves as an Officer or an Enlisted person. The Enlisted choice would be the easier choice. Being an Officer would involve going to Officer Indoctrination class, the PT sessions are what scares me. IN Navy PT their main thing is running. I just tapped into running again and I am worried I will not be able to run as much as they would want me to. My husband has all of the faith in the world for me, but I am scared to death. Another thing that scares me is getting on the scale and getting my body fat tested. My trainer is going to be doing that to me tomorrow. I don't think anyone enjoys getting on the scale in front of people, no matter how toned you are. I know I gained about 7 pounds, I don't know how much of that is muscle, we will have to see tomorrow. I hope I do not disappoint my trainer!

Shayna

Things Shouldn't be Easy

Well this week was a good and challenging workout week. One of the many things I've learned about weight lifting is if you want results then lifting should never feel easy. If you are lifting weights and the exercise is starting to feel easy or light you need to increase the weight or change up your workout program, otherwise you'll plateau. Personal trainers are not easy to fool, and I sure can't fool mine! When I first started doing walking lunges they kicked my butt, and over time they were getting easier which caused me to do them faster. My trainer was watching me do them on Wednesday and she brought me a 20 pound barbell and told me to hold it behind my head on the lunges from now on. I am also starting to slowly incorporate jogging back into my workout routine. I have been so nervous about running again given my surgical history. My Orthopedic doc has a great walk to run program for people who have had injuries, or surgeries. It felt strange to run again, but not in a bad way, strange in a different kind of way. I have been though 7 leg surgeries and every other time I tried to run afterward it never felt right and the reason is I never hit the weights first. After surgery your body looses muscle mass very fast. A person should never go right into high impact activity before weight training if they had surgery.

We'll see you next week.

Shayna

Out of Place

Hello, this week was busier than usual. I had a Life Guard class Monday through Friday 0900-1700, and I was the only person in the class out of high school, which made me feel "out of place"! I had to get up at 0500 to put in my two hours at the gym. My legs are doing better and better each week. I did 90 pounds on the leg extension machine, the most I've done so far. The days I do back workouts are my least favorite, I think my back muscles are my weakest part. I strained a muscle in my mid-back a few weeks ago, it healed up but I am always afraid that I will pull something. My biggest pet peeve about the gym is when the big guys leave several 45 pound weights on the plate loaded machines. To me those weights are very heavy and it is a pain removing them one by one. The really loud chatty people used to annoy me, but now I just take my Ipod everyday and just tune everything else out.

I have two competitions that I plan on doing. The first is June 27th and the second is August 14th. I may not be ready for the one in June. It is really up to my trainer, she said she won't let me get on stage if I don't look ready. I will continue to work really hard to show her that I will be ready by June 27th!

Shayna

The Epiphany

I was recuperating from leg straightening surgery passing time by watching the E channel. The E True Hollywood story, Female Body Builders, came on. That was it, I saw all of the women with toned, beautiful bodies and I said, "That's what I want to do"! I immediately ordered "Natural Body Building and Fitness" magazine and started researching. I couldn't really do anything about my goal since I had two spacial frames on my legs, so all I could do was dream and plan. I've always tried to stay active but I've never been a weight lifter, but competition is a great motivator and makes things fun for me. My husband was in Afghanistan at that time and I wasn't sure how he would feel about me strutting my stuff on stage in a bikini! All of the muscles in my legs had completely atrophied due to the surgeries and I knew I had to do something about getting the strength back. After a total of 7 surgeries trying to correct knee pain I knew that these last 2 surgeries were going to do the trick, and the upcoming workouts were going to build leg strength that would keep my knee caps finally aligned. My trip started in June of 2009 and I'll catch you up in the posts to follow.

Shayna