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.