I don't know if it was the leg workout or the Texas air, but I can't breathe and I keep sneezing every few seconds! I've had to take off a couple of days from doing cardio and from weight training, and I'll be sleeping in tomorrow and try to get these allergies to settle down a bit. I'm incredibly allergic to mountain cedar (so I was practically dying while going to college in Austin), and I think the cedar levels are high this week here.

I did shoot with Gene Carangal today. It was a short shoot and I was scheduled to work with him again tomorrow, but bloodshot and itchy eyes along with an attack of the sneezes probably won't go over well on camera, so I've had to bow out, unfortunately.

As for that leg workout on Monday, I did sets of 20 on everything. I started with one legged leg extensions and then supersetted that with jump squats. Then I did reverse lunges on the Smith machine and supersetted that with step ups on a bench. I moved on to the leg press with a very narrow stance and concentrated mostly on my glutes before moving on straight leg deadlifts with a wide stance (I did these with an 80 pound bar in my hands for the sets of 20) and then finishing off with lying leg curls. My legs were toast by then. I save calves for another day so that I can truly attack them because they need to grow and balance out my quads.

Oh, by the way. I know my lats have grown since the New York show. I went to try on dresses today on my way home from the shoot, and I ripped one of them trying to get it off. Uggh!!! I hid it amongst the other dresses I tried on and got out of the dressing room pretty quickly. I hate it when that happens!

My food intake for the next few days will be a bit higher in fat and carbs and I'll probably have a cheeseburger and some pizza (which I haven't had in several months). I need the break, and then Monday I'll begin getting my physique seriously ready for the shoots I have with my webmaster and with Reg Bradford at the Olympia. I might do another one with Brian Moss (oh yes, I have to add those pictures in sometime in October; that guy does phenomenal work!) and might get to work with Gene C. again to make up for having to cancel on him for tomorrow.

Okay, that's about it. I'll stop in tomorrow for a bit and then write again on Sunday after the Southwest Texas show.

Have a good weekend!

Jodi :)

Good lord!!!!! I am soooo sore! That leg workout tore my legs to pieces. Can't walk...can't walk...can't walk. Will tell y'all more later.

I did it. I went to the gym. I killed my legs. I crawled up the stairs to my apartment, dragged my body inside, and collapsed. When the blood returns to the rest of my body, I'll let you know. Lol!

Good morning! I was up at 4:30 a.m. doing 50 minutes of cardio, and now I'm supposed to go into the gym and do legs and more cardio. I have a shoot with Gene Carangal the end of this week and am going to the Southwest Bodybuilding, Fitness, and Figure show this Saturday to support a couple of friends who are competing, so I want to be in good shape for both of those events. But honestly, I'm dragging! I'm tired (sleepy tired) and just not motivated. I guess I wanted to put this in the journal for y'all to read to see that even competitors go through emotional ups and downs and sometimes don't feel like going into the gym. I'll end up going in and doing the workout, but it is a struggle today for some reason.

See, some days are harder than others. Most days I look forward to the workout and can't wait to get into the gym and push around the weights. This occurred on Saturday, which was a shoulders day. I lifted heavy, doing shoulder press with 30 pound dumbbells and rear delts with 22.5 pound dumbbells before doing one arm side delts with 17.5 pound dumbbells for sets of 15. My shoulders were too numb to be screaming after that workout! And I felt such exhiliration from it and didn't mind doing my 60-minute cardio session afterwards (the cardio sessions will drop in terms of time one this shoot is over).

But today, I'm just exhausted and drained--mentally and physically. So, as a competitor, I have to make a decision. Is it going to cause more harm to me to go into the gym, do a workout that doesn't benefit from 100% output and then risk injury or even worse, disappointment for not giving it my all, or will it be more disturbing to skip the weight session and then put a guilt trip on myself for not sticking to the schedule I set for this week. I am dressed--cut off UT sweats and a tank top--and my hair's pulled up in the usual ponytail so it doesn't get in my face while I proceed through jump squats and the like, so it would make sense to simply slip my Adidas tennis shoes on, grab my keys, and trot out to my car to head to the gym. And yet, I'm just three feet from my bed, which looks nice and soft and welcoming. Ohhhh, the dilemma.

But I'm going to do the right thing. I'm going to stop typing to y'all and turn off the computer and head into the gym. I'll let you know tomorrow whether I made the right decision.

Jodi

My cardio session today involved running. I'm trying to keep the size of my legs in check, and throwing in a couple of miles of running here and there throughout the week seems to do the trick. But when I do cardio, my mind tends to wander and roam, and I always wish I had pencil and paper to jot down these random thoughts. I desperately try to hold on to them as if they were drops of water in a desert, and yet by the time I jump off the treadmill or the elliptical trainer or the stepper, the words seem like a distant image...so blurry and vague. But here's what I was thinking while panting and gasping for breath on the treadmill today.

Do you ever wonder what your life will be like 20 or 30 years down the road? Do you ever sit back and examine what you are doing at this moment and how it will relate to your future? In the July news update on the site (yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I need to do the August news update, and it's already September), I talked about time speeding by us. I actually told my students while teaching Fahrenheit 451 that every single second counted. And that when we wished for the weekend or we wished for a particular date to arrive or wished for a certain action or event to end, we are wishing our lives away. Well, today, I had--for a brief moment--begun to wish I was done running and had actually thought, "only nine more minutes, and I'll be done." I had to mentally take a step back and remind myself that I chose to be on that treadmill. I chose to run. I chose to compete, and I chose my life. To wish for something else would be wishing my life away. Interesting. I began to see the running in a different light and look at it as a means to an end. The running itself may not be the most pleasant action in the world, but when I saw how my legs looked in the weeks before Junior Nationals and Figure Nationals this summer, I am thankful for every step I lunged, for every mile I ran, and for every piece of cake I passed up.

So, I guess I want to ask everyone who reads this to examine what you are spending your days doing. What are you preparing for? How is today creating tomorrow? And finally, are you happy with the road you are choosing?

Until the next entry . . . .

Jodi

I just booked my flight to Las Vegas for the Olympia. This will be my first time to go, and I'm quite excited! I'm not a gambler, but to see the casinos and the entire area will be an adventure. I think I might even get a chance to see the Grand Canyon. The main reason why I'm going, though, is to be at the Optimum Nutrition booth. They are setting aside a table for me to meet and greet everyone and to have personally autographed photos available for the public. If you are planning on attending the show, do stop by and say hi!

Now, I have to make sure I'm in good shape for the show. I promised I would tell you about my cheat meal this week, but I won't get another one until after my photo shoot with Gene Carangal on the 26th of the month. The Southwest Show (Ed and Betty Pariso's pet project) is in Arlington, which is just 20 to 25 minutes southwest of where I am, and I have friends who are competing, so I'm going to watch it the day after my shoot with Gene. One good friend is in the light heavyweight (we're hoping he'll make weight) division of the men's bodybuilding. I do hope he will win a trophy!

But I have gone off on a tangent. My cheat meal was simply roast beef and salami sandwiches with some extra sharp cheddar cheese, all on onion rolls and potato chips. I had a huge salad with dressing and avocado added in (I never get these items when dieting down), and I had an oatmeal raisin cookie, some Haagen Daas strawberry cheesecake frozen yogurt (yummy!!!), and earlier in the day I had a Starbucks caramel frappuccino. I think it was just the simplicity of having a sandwich and chips and feeling like a normal person that made my decision for this particular cheat meal.

Yesterday was a two-a-day cardio day (as was today) and I did shoulders. I killed them! They need to grow, grow, grow. I started with side lateral raises and did drop sets and then moved on to dumbbell shoulder press. I worked my rear delts and then finished up with front delt raises with a dumbbell before nearly crying through my calf workout (another weak area of mine).

Today was definitely a successful workout. I love back day, for I get to throw about heavy weight and feel like my back is bigger and wider than it really is (though I really do think I'm noticing a bit of a change in my width and thickness, but that could be the frozen yogurt...what do you think?!). I did one arm dumbbell rows with a 50-pound weight for sets of 12. My back already felt slightly numb even before I ventured towards the lat pulldown exercise, which I did with 100 pounds for three sets. I finished up with wide grip seated rows and hyperextensions and did my two cardio sessions today as well. I'm back into running, and I think I'll do sprints and run the bleachers early tomorrow morning. I'll be wheezing and gasping my way through those, for it's been well over a month since I hit the track.

I definitely would like to hear about your training regimen, so feel free to share on the message board.

Take care and have a great evening!

Jodi

Yes!! I deserve a lollipop! I'm writing in the journal for a second day in a row. Wonders will never cease, huh?!

Today is a rest day. No cardio, no weights, no gym! I needed this. I was getting a bit grumpy and tired.

The rest day has given me a chance to work on future updates for the site (lots of great pictures are coming; I just saw the disks from the shoot I did with Brian Moss in New York before Figure Nationals, and he did an incredible job). I also am going back through John Steinbeck's, East of Eden. I love to find quotes and chapters that really grab my attention and make me view life in a different manner, and that book tugged at my emotions. It's definitely a must read!

I'm about 50 pages into Edith Wharton's, The House of Mirth. I think Emma Thompson starred in that movie, but I'm not sure. Anyone can correct me on this by going to the message board. I studied Wharton's, The Age of Innocence, in college. That too was a movie, starring Michelle Pfeiffer. The book was much better (as usual).

I'd like to move on to Mary Stewart's, The Crystal Cave. That involves the Merlin trilogy. Then I might get into a Faulkner novel. We'll see. If you have suggestions, please post them on the board. I love talking about literature!

And I know I still owe y'all more details regarding Figure Nationals. I promise, promise, promise to write about that in the next few days. Just hang tight on that subject, and you'll hear all about the show. My mom is developing the pictures from New York and the trip to Northern Ireland and England, so those pictures will be in the next month as well. I can't wait to see those!

Take care and have a fun Saturday evening! I'm off to eat my cheat meal (still don't know what I'm going to have, but I'll tell you about it tomorrow)!

Jodi

I have been really bad about this, haven't I??? Well, now you have the right to get onto the message board and reprimand me for not keeping up with the journal.

Seriously, guys! I'd like to hear from you. Okay, okay, I'll stop ranting and raving about that, but don't be surprised if I start talking to myself on that board! Being an only child, I can keep up a pretty good one-woman conversation, you know!

But enough about that. Let's talk about this week's training. I did squats with the bar for the first time in over a year! You laugh, but I've stayed away from heavy squats in order to keep my legs from growing too big. But I need to keep my glutes firm and round, so I decided to get back under the bar and push out some reps. I wasn't sure of what I could do. When you lay off of heavy weights, it's a belief that you become weaker. Not true in my case! I did 135 pounds for 15 very slow reps with nooooo problem! I could have done 200 pounds for two or three reps if my mental attitude was in the right place. I really think that's the true key to lifting heavy weights. Get your mind focused and ready to push the weight up, and it will happen. I learned that during my years of powerlifting.

I've been lifting heavy with my back. I did lat pulldowns with 110 pounds this week, and it felt good!!! I've been attacking my shoulders as well. I think that will help me in next year's shows...wider lats, thicker back, and bigger shoulders. I have to work on my front delts very badly. And I know I get lots of e-mails commending me on my abs, but I really think they are a lagging bodypart, so I've begun to work abs three to four times a week and utilizing light weight with them. I'm doing tons of hanging leg raises.

I get a cheat meal tomorrow night...what, oh what should I eat??? Last week, I went to my best friend's and ate her homemade enchiladas. I made peanut butter cookies with extra peanut butter and chopped up Reese's miniature cups. Yummy! I looked like I could have given birth to twins after that meal! Just kidding!

Oh...great news! I was asked by Optimum Nutrition to write an article for their magazine, and I just turned that in this week. I'll keep y'all updated on when it'll be out. This is a wonderful opportunity for me.

And I just turned in my resume for a copy editor job. We'll see what response I get from that.

Well, I'm off to train arms. Those bicep peaks are needing a bit of work. And then it's on to a cardio session; possibly, I'll run today for a bit.

Take care, and happy Friday!

Jodi