After the show in October my husband and I strategically planned a wine country vacation to northern California to celebrate our 30 years together. For those of you that read my blog as I prepped for the stage you will recall that I had to sacrifice a very special day - my anniversary and my grandson's first birthday. Deciding to take this trip one week after the show was one of the best decisions I made.
Three days after the show I scheduled a photo-shoot. Others strongly encouraged me to capture my hard work. It was interesting to see how my physique changed as I re-introduced higher amounts of clean carbs back into my body. I was VERY lean from my last show (9% body fat) so it was interesting to watch my muscles fill up. Here is a pic 3 days after the show. To me, it's not a flattering picture (I prefer a bit softer look) but what is important to see is how my muscles filled up and the difference from what I looked like on stage.
Here are a few more pics from the photo shoot:
Alright enough of that... I learned that my body REALLY needed rest. I slept almost 10 hours every night during my vacation. It was heavenly. Cool clean northern California air, healthy fresh from the farm "natural" food and of course wine.
And the food.... oh the food was simply heavenly! The pic below was taken at one of our favorite restaurants in Monterey, CA - The Chart House down on Cannery Row. The waiter informed us that if we wanted their signature dessert that we had to order it before our main course. It takes 30 minutes to prepare. It was fab-tastic!!
Here is one of many wonderful meals we ate: Macadamia Crusted fresh Halibut with sweet potatoes and broccoli - with of course a Monterey Sauvignon Blanc.
Below is our anniversary gift we bought from a local Monterey artist. So beautiful and reminds us of our first year together when we lived in Monterey, CA.
TRAINING UPDATE
I resumed healthy eating, but the weighing and measuring of my food took a back seat. One day Todd (my trainer) asked me how many carbs I was taking in on a daily basis. He asked because I was telling him how tired I was and just didn't feel like I was snapping back after the show. I wasn't really paying attention to the amount of carbs, just trying to stay away from grains and being intentional about eating a clean carb with every meal. I realized I was way under. So he put me on a regimen of 250gms of carbs per day. He had been telling me throughout all of my show prep that afterwards is prime time for building muscle and carbs are very important. I guess life just got in the way and I kept training and didn't realize that I was that "under."
I continue to eat 6 meals a day, each meal consisting of a healthy fat, carb and protein. I cheat about 2 - 3 times a week. A cheat for me would be crackers or pita chips with hummus, glass of wine, Sun chips and some Toblerone chocolate. I usually don't binge - at least try not to!
My training has focused on shoulders and glutes. I hit those twice a week. No cardio - just lifting heavy, to failure in the 6 - 12 rep range.
My weight has stayed at 123lbs - give or take a few sodium-filled bloated days where the scale pops up to 126. I have learned to use the scale as a guide - FINALLY.
WHAT'S NEXT?
I have a couple of shows that I am considering doing in July... not sure yet. Since I placed 1st in my class, I qualified for a national show so that might be a really fun experience.
Stay tuned... I will let you inside of my head very soon... there's a lot stirring!
