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