"This I know of life's difficult times: there is always a time for them to begin and a time for them to end . . . ." House of Sand and Fog, Andre Dubus III

Now, I'm sure Mr. Dubus...the third...did not mean for someone to wrench this quote from his novel, take it out of context, and slap into her journal to twist and turn and use for her own purpose. And I'm sure he was not thinking of a torture-laden cardio workout when he wrote this paragraph in his bestselling novel. But I began this book last night (I had just ten pages left in Drowning Ruth and did not want to be stuck without something to divert my attention for the last 30 minutes of one-on-one time with the lovely elliptical machine, so I trotted down to the fitness center with two books in hand and thus looking like quite the nerd) and found this quote on page 48 when I picked up the book again while panting and wheezing on my good ol' friend, the elliptical. We're getting to know each other quite well as of late, you know.

With fingertips dripping in sweat, I folded the corner down and lifted the paper back up to leave a crease to remind me of the quote's location. I knew I wanted to use it at some point in the future. For when I struggle through cardio, I know there is a beginning and an ending, and isn't that true of everything? Don't we, as humans, as living beings travel in terms of cycles? Day and night; summer and winter; the drive to work and the drive home; birth and death; elation and devastation. It's never just a steady road, free of potholes, free of hills, free of valleys, free of scenery. And why would we want it to be? Would I be so satisfied at the end of a cardio session if I never knew of the tough start and the staggering middle?

I guess I'm thinking of cycles because the end of preparing for the Junior USA's is approaching quite quickly. And yet it's not the end. It's the beginning to a series of shows I'm doing this year. And the dieting, the cardio, the mood swings, the fear, the anxiety, the bouts of confidence peeking through like ribbons of light at the end of a sunset will all begin again and culminate in one prejudging session on an early Saturday morning where I stand shoulder to shoulder with girls who have put their bodies through hell (well, most have; there are a few who choose not to prepare as adequately as they should). Is it worth it?

I remember asking myself this during the off season when I hit a low point. I hit a low point again this past week...one of the reasons I've been off of the boards and away from the journal. I had awful water retention with my period, awful cramps, and an awful attitude. Something inside snapped, and I lost the confidence that I had been carrying on my shoulders like a child whose father is giving her a piggy-back ride. I was beaming from ear to ear when I would glance at my reflection. I knew I had what it would take to turn pro this year. And then my house of cards tumbled when water began seeping into my body, rushing in with the force of a flood as a result of a downpour. All reason and logic left my head and worries crept in steadily until the repercussions of a period were not the main guilty party in the unsightly water weight that sat proudly on my thighs, my butt, my abdomen. I tried to leak it out through my eyes, but crying did nothing but make it worse. I tried to ignore it, wrestle it to sleep, and lose myself in dreams. I managed to forget the cramps, but the water remained.

It is disappearing today. Thankfully, but I had a hard lesson to learn from all of this. And wishing my period away is not it. Instead, I've learned to not jump to conclusions and to try to take everything in stride. It will work itself out. I think that's what the quote means. A problem came, it tried to conquer, but I managed to put an end to it once I realized that an end was plausible. I have a horrible time learning that lesson. I see problems as huge monsters, ready to eat me up inside, claw me to death until I'm left in tatters. I don't see the end of the problem, only the beginning. This time, I waded through to the end and am working on fixing a few things in my diet and my training to make everything better.

Here's a list of what I changed:

Change: EvoPro protein shakes to Myoplex protein shakes
Reason: I'm lactose intolerant, and the EvoPro uses a milk protein that might be creating digestive problems and causing me not only to hold excess water but also to not efficiently utilize the protein. I wasn't having a problem with the Myoplex shakes, so I'm returning to them like I had done before I traveled to the Arnold. Don't get me wrong, I love the EvoPro and would use it in the off season, along with the Muscle Milk (the stuff tastes better than any other shake I've had), but in these last few weeks, I can't take any chances. I also dropped a few extra shakes that were thrown in throughout the week. There's no need, and I'm going to have to start weaning off of them until they are completely null and void from the diet a week out from the show. They contain too much sodium and too many elements that create water retention. Mike Davies always held them in right into the day of the show, and I never agreed with this philosophy and believe my water retention showed on the day of the shows last year and exacerbated the already evident symmetry problems.

Change: Shorter amounts of cardio to longer amounts and more days of two-sessions
Reason: I have a bit of stubborn fat on my quads and the leg muscles are still a bit too bulky. This is my most difficult area to lean out and streamline. I've hated my legs since the beginning of my existence. Truly despised them. I know y'all tend to think they look fine, but I have always seen them as a nemesis to my efforts of creating a balanced physique. They're just too thick!

Change: Weight training for legs substituted with sprints and walking lunges without weight
Reason: Same as before, legs are being stubborn, so I have to punish them into submission.

Change: Stick to the amounts of protein listed on the diet
Reason: I was eyeballing my chicken, fish, steak and sometimes eating seven, eight ounces of meat. I'm backing it down to five to six, which is where it was originally supposed to be. I have to tell myself, who cares if I'm hungry. The judges sure don't!

Change: Eat more asparagus
Reason: It is great at getting rid of the excess water. Don't believe me? Eat about four to seven thick spears and watch how quickly you run to the bathroom! And hold your nose. Asparagus in and asparagus out smell the same (ewwwwww! Yes, I know...I just grossed everyone out! Lol!).

My body is back to where it was before my period began, but I was given quite a scare. I guess I needed it or I might have awakened on the morning of April 17th and been completely powerless and forced to deal with the consequences in front of a roomful of spectators and camera clicks. I do feel better now and the confidence is making its way back into the recesses of my mind.

By the way, I have no goals for this show except one: to be better than I was in New York last year...and that will be determined by my physique, not my placing, for what power or control do I have over seven judges who are making a very subjective decision? I keep reminding myself of this every time I look in the mirror. I think that's the hardest thing about this sport. You can do all of your homework and still not place well. I refuse to grapple with that thought for too long. I just want to see the shine of a trophy being placed in my hands and know that another stage is awaiting the tough clicks of my heels.

Jodi

I sent in my entry form, registration fee ($70, double that if it's beyond the deadline), and paperwork for the Junior USA's, so it's official! I'm entered in! Woohoo! :)

I'm in pain. Utter pain. Burning, throbbing, breathtaking pain. Just call me pain. That will be my name for the next three and a half weeks, for that's how long my legs will be dead before I step on stage in Connecticut.

I did legs on Saturday, and the workout didn't seem that much different from any other workout. I put in the same amount of intensity and focus, utilized many of the same exercises, attacked the same muscles groups, just in a slightly different manner, and yet the results varied incredibly. Here's the workout:

First superset
Wide stance straight leg deadlifts with the bar (I normally use dumbbells, but I was bored with that tactic and I alternate from narrow stance to wide stance depending on how I feel that day and how my glutes are shaping up) 3x20x70 pounds
Cable buttkicks (no, I'm not kicking anyone's butt but mine) 3x12x45 pounds

Second superset (I got creative and actually turned this into a tri-set; I think this is the main reason why I'm cussing myself out)
Lying leg curls 3x15x80 pounds
Leg extensions 3x25x30 pounds (remember, I'm trying to transfer muscle size from the teardrop area to the outer sweep of the quad, so the poundages will be less on quads; I hate that I can't put that pin into a more respectable slot on the weight stack, but I do like the look of my legs more now than in the past)
Sissy squats 3x30x10 pounds (Just try these; if you're doing them right, you'll be crying with me.)

Third superset
Walking lunges 3x45 steps per legxno weight (again, the legs need to shrink, not grow)
Narrow stance leg press 3x15x2 45-pound plates and a 10-pound plate on each side (focus is on glutes rather than any other area of the lower body; I also have not done a normal stance or wide stance leg press in four months and have actually slightly altered the shape of my legs as a result and put the size back into my glutes that was lost when I was training with Mike Davies in 2003.)

I then did 30 minutes of high incline walking on the treadmill. This meant that the incline was set at 12 percent --

Sidebar vent: my seamstress just called and cancelled the fitting for tonight and postponed it to this Thursday evening instead. I leave for the show in three and a half weeks! Arrggggh! No matter how early I pick out the fabric, determine the design of the suits, and set up the time schedule, we are always pushed to the very last minute, and I'm the one who has to switch around my schedule. If she wasn't such an awesome seamstress and a sweet woman, I would look elsewhere. But many girls in the industry deal with this, so I guess it just comes with the territory. Sorry...had to get that off my chest.

So, 12 percent incline and the walking focuses on long strides, pulling through the hamstrings and squeezing the glutes. It works!

Anyway, I had two cardio sessions to work through yesterday. And I was sore and hobbling about and was supposed to suffer through sprints, but I pushed them today, with the idea that my legs might decide to heal themselves and behave. Wrong! They got worse. I look like I'm walking about with a stick up my butt (not a pretty visual, not a glamorous one, but an accurate one nonetheless). And I had to do those dang sprints this morning. I don't think I can move now. Would someone call an ambulance?

But I know it will all be worth it! I weighed between 106 and 107 pounds for the past two mornings, and at night, with all my meals in me, I weighed 108 pounds. My goal is to get to 103 for the Junior USA's, and I have three and a half weeks to do it, and I would venture a guess that two to three pounds of that weight loss will be from water retention since my sodium levels in my diet are very normal. The sodium will be dropped one to two days out from the show, and I should tighten up and dry out just enough to have everything look right. It's an experiment, but it's been working well in the off season, and I have more energy and better growth results by keeping sodium in the diet. And I don't rebound badly from the occasional cheat meal because my body is already used to the sodium levels.

I do think that one pound of weight that I lost was from my chest. Now I know I'm almost ready for a show because what used to look like mosquito bites look more like ant bites! Lol! I'm just kidding! And the Victoria's Secret gel inserts that my seamstress sews into the suits will alleviate any problems with breast reduction from dieting.

I feel good today! Take care!

Jodi :)

I know I'm well into dieting when I begin craving broccoli and fish. I've been including broccoli in almost everything I'm eating (well, except my oatmeal...ewww!). I take fresh broccoli, break of the stems, use the florets, and put them in the skillet with a bit of cooking spray, a clove of freshly minced garlic, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Now, don't let me breathe on you after that dose of veggies!

I did an hour of cardio earlier today after a bout of sprints and a workout of shoulders last night. My left knee hurts a bit, so I've upped my glucosamine, and that seems to help. As I begin dropping bodyfat, the cushioning around my knees dwindles down, and then my knees ache and pop a bunch. I suffered through this while powerlifting, and once I quit doing the extremely heavy squats, my knees healed up somewhat, but the dieting down tends to bring the pain back a bit.

My moods are all over the place. I'm either extremely up and hyper or somewhat morose and melancholy. The diet exacerbates my mood swings to some extent, but I'm aware of it and just ride the tidal waves as they come in.

Many people wonder whether women belong having such low bodyfat percentages, and my response is that it depends upon the woman. I'm sure I'm getting too personal here, but the issue of when a woman's cycle drops off and how it correlates to her diet has been a big one amongst fans and trainers alike. I have friends who get to about 12 percent bodyfat and their cycles stop completely. These are possibly the same women who later on have difficulties with getting pregnant. In my case, I've been as low as five percent bodyfat and only had a break from cycle the month of my show, and I believe the major cause of it was stress and anxiety, for when my grandfather passed away, the same thing occurred, and believe me, I was nowhere near five percent bodyfat. I had just finished the last Galaxy show of the year, Thanksgiving had come and gone, and Christmas break with homemade cookies from former students had been in full swing. Add a Jewish family and friends to a funeral, and food is ample and plenty. It's as though food is meant to cushion the pain of death like a pillow cushions our heads at night when we sleep.

Anyway, I wish my cycle would stop, but it's as stubborn as I am and likes to rear it's ugly head right up to the point I'm competing. Luckily, my timing will be just right and I won't have volcanic eruptions on my face nor extra weight gain from the bloating. I can't say the bitchiness disappears, though...lol! Couple dieting with PMS, and men should just move to another planet! Lol!

Now that I've grossed y'all out completely, let me move on to more pleasant items. I have a suit fitting on Monday evening. I had been frantically trying to reach my seamstress for almost two weeks and had no luck whatsoever. I panicked. Freaked out. Nearly tore my hair out. I overreacted, of course (that's not like me...lol!), and called everyone who knew her and drove to her workplace to try to find her. She just had some house problems and had been working at the university so much and felt she had all the time in the world to get my suits done, so when I finally reached her, she was so calm and cool. So all is well now, and I'll be seeing the beginning phase of my suit-making process. I'm getting a new one-piece and a new two-piece, and I'm hoping they'll be able to last for the entire year...or at least until I can manage to earn my pro card. My seamstress is awesome at what she does, and we'll be taking pictures throughout the entire process, so I'll be sure to post them when we can get them up on the site.

The weather is beautiful in Texas...clear skies, breezy air, mild temperatures (in the 70's and 80's...sorry...don't mean to rub it in for you northern people). So now I have no excuses to use in order to avoid sprints. Actually, I did a really good job last night. I soldiered through a shoulder and calf workout, and then went into the parking lot outside of my gym and ran the following:

Four sets of building 60's
Three sets of 100's
Four sets of 40's
Sprint drill: sprint forward 20 yards, lateral shuffle 20 yards, backpedal 20 yards, lateral shuffle 20 yards...repeat without stopping and do two sets.

I felt really good after it!

The show is four weeks from tomorrow. I think I could step on stage in two. And that means I'm right where I want to be. I still need to get my legs down further; my glutes harder, leaner; my abs tighter; my shoulders fuller. I've begun to work on my posing as well. I can almost visualize the stage, being in the line up, getting the call out. My skin tingles in anticipation. April 17th...here I come!

Jodi :)

Training has been stepped up a bit. I have less than five weeks until the Junior USA's and about five to six pounds to lose. Half of that is water, so I'm not worried about the actual numbers on the scale. I'm concerned with what I see in the mirror.

Veins have begun to creep along my lower abs, my pelvic bones, my forearms, my biceps, my shoulders. I can even feel them in my calves if I close my eyes hard enough and wish. The veins become more evident as the night wears on. I'm finding it harder and harder to get to sleep, which seems to be a symptom of dieting and extensive cardio. At least, this is what I hear from other competitors. I think it's a symptom of being obsessive compulsive and always thinking there is something else to work on, to improve upon, to fix within. Contest worries infiltrate my dreams, so sleep has become a restless activity.

I have moments in the gym when I catch brief glimpses of myself in the mirrors that line the walls. My heart begins to thump with the same force as a large dog's tail against hardwood floors; excitement can barely be contained, for I see symmetry and shape, conditioning and muscularity appearing quite close to my expectations. The moment always passes, and a flaw peeks through; it's like a dark cloud appearing out of nowhere in a clear blue sky. I think of the other girls and tell myself, "I must work harder." It worked today. I went up to 150 pounds on the T-bar rows. Well, actually, I did 160, but my form was a bit off. I won't sacrifice too much form for too much weight. Then you don't accomplish the right type of muscle growth; you're just utilizing other muscle groups when you're supposed to be focusing on one in particular. I used 50 pound dumbbells for one arm rows at the end of a tough, but short back workout. I can't risk overtraining and eating into the muscle. I'm scared I won't be big enough. In the next second, I'm scared I'll be too big. I can't reach that coveted level of satisfaction.

My cardio sessions have become two-a-days. I'm doing cardio seven days a week and am in the midst of a new novel...a Terry McMillan one. Sprints have infiltrated my schedule as well. I do these begrudgingly, with a lot of whining, moping, and complaining. Then I finally step outside, take the first few runs, and feel like a million bucks. So much energy wasted in the complaining, and yet I return to it at the beginning of each sprint workout. You'd think I'd learn. But it's the only thing I truly detest in the entire process. Well, that and the tanning in the days prior to the show.

The one image that sticks in my mind since the Arnold? Monica Brant. Here's a woman who has placed second three consecutive times. She still competes. Why? I couldn't answer that, for I'm not inside her mind, but the following paragraph from John Steinbeck's, "The Pearl", might provide a bit of an answer:

"But Kino sat on the ground and stared at the earth in front of him. he watched the ants moving, a little column of them near to his foot, and he put his foot in their path. Then the column climbed over his instep and continued on its way, and Kino left his foot there and watched them move over it."

I'd like to think I'm an ant. Small and stubborn. That's what I'd like to think I am.

What are you? How do you treat life? How do you deal with obstacles? Just some food for thought for all of us. I seem to become more aware of my mortality, my creativity, my abstractness when I diet down. To watch your body change day by day is absolutely fascinating. You feel like you have the world in your hands. And you realize how quickly it can all disappear.

I think I will actually head to bed now. My eyes are getting a bit droopy and I'm rambling, as I always seem to eventually do. I'll be back in the next couple of days. I still owe y'all more details about the Arnold. I just had to post the Steinbeck quote. I've been sitting on it for days now, trying to figure out exactly how I wanted to use it. I like when my thoughts all come together.

Have a happy St. Patrick's Day!

Jodi

I stepped back into the gym last night after a brief break--called the Arnold Expo--and had an immensely successful workout. I wanted my first one back to be...well...back. There are two areas on the physique that will make it or break it for you in figure, and they are back and shoulders. So I wanted to hit these right away and utilize all the fats and carbs from my cheat meals and protein bars and turn what could seem negative in the diet into something very positive. I succeeded.

I utilized the age-old mental visualization technique to get myself back into the game. I had to place an image of a very well-developed back into my mind and burn it there. Whose back did I choose? Well, the very person who I felt should have won the Arnold Classic, according to the posted pictures: Chris Cormier. This is a bodybuilder that I've admired for years, along with Lee Priest, Dorian Yates, and several others. But Chris's back was phenomenal this year. He really dialed it in, quit screwing around and leaving his preparation for the last minute and coming to the shows unprepared. He did it this time, and unfortunately had to take second place. That doesn't mean his physique was second-rated. With Chris's muscular back in mind, I drove to the gym, ready to attack the weights. I started off with warm up sets of lat pulldowns. I then moved on to a superset of cable lat extensions with a slightly narrower grip (hands even with the outside of my chest rather than outside of my shoulders) and reverse grip pulldowns. I felt my muscles screaming as I neared the end of each set. And I loved every minute of it, especially when Kidd Rock began blaring through the gym's speakers (that's what I really relish in a hardcore, small gym...the thumping speaker system).

I then did platform T-bar rows. Form is very important with these, and I had to give up doing extremely heavy weight in order to focus on keeping my back still and my weight distributed evenly so I didn't lean back too far and end up using my arms rather than my back muscles.

From there, I moved to close grip cable rows from the bottom of the cable. I did 25 reps with 100 pounds and felt so pumped! I couldn't even pose properly afterwards because of all the blood flow into my back muscles. I gave up trying as a result.

I awakened this morning slightly stiff, and the soreness really kicked in when I entered the gym again this evening and began my shoulder routine. I had done sprints earlier today (they felt really good, and I didn't have too much of a problem getting started. I usually like to gripe and complain and whine and moan before doing sprints because I tend to detest them, but I know that I'm just about five weeks out, and it's time to get really serious), so my glutes were a bit sore and my quads were still thick with water retention from the cheat meals, the flying, the standing on my feet all day long for three days straight, and the sprints themselves. I flew through shoulders, blasting each delt with each exercise (front laterals, dumbbell presses, upright rows, rear laterals). By the end of the workout, the veins had appeared and my delts were thick and full. I moved on to calves and supersetted the standing calf machine with the seated one and then hobbled out of the gym and headed to the tanning salon (I hate it...but I hate being green on stage even more, so it must be done; last year at Junior USA's, the ProTan reacted poorly with my extremely pale skin, and I looked like I had just waded in a lagoon and came out for air...not a pretty sight!).

Now, I'm exhausted! And my back and shoulders are so tight, but it feels good! I know I did what I was meant to do, and I plan on keeping this intensity all the way through April.

I'll return to details about the Arnold tomorrow.

Enjoy your hump day (Wednesday...lol!).

Jodi :)

The World of the Arnold Classic Expo According to Jodi

Gusty, warm winds greeted me as I hopped out of my friend's truck and headed into the DFW International Airport. With luggage checked and my rolling cooler packed with yummy (note the sarcasm) egg whites, all carefully wrapped in plastic sandwich baggies, a bag of frozen strawberries, six-ounce servings of chicken and ground beef, and several packets of Myoplex Lite protein powder, I was set and ready to embark on a busy weekend in chilly Ohio. Luck was on my side. The plane managed to take off and leave Dallas just hours before the winds turned into dark funnel clouds that eventually tortured the Dallas sky.

I actually felt safe on this plane ride. With the bodybuilding industry's freakiest and greatest accompanying on the trip, I knew that either this flight would be making major headlines if an accident were to occur, or I was in lucky hands. Charles Glass, training guru to many of the pros, sat just one row away from me. Lee and Cathy Priest helped to weigh down the back of the plane along with Branch Warren, who has the infamous tree trunks for legs and is reportedly due for a comeback before summer's arrival. Ronnie Coleman's family also filled many of the seats, along with Kevin Myles of www.bodysport.com. A top five heavyweight, by the name of Will, from last year's Nationals also made an appearance. This guy has a physique that is reminiscent of Dave Henry and is hoping to walk in those same footsteps all the way to the pro scene. I do wish him luck, for he seems like a really nice guy with a good head on his shoulders. Needless to say, I was in good company!

The winds pushed us forward and the flight lasted a mere three hours. On my way to the baggage claim, I bumped into our very own board's Stickman. Now, I had met Chad last year at the 2003 Junior Nationals, so it wasn't difficult to recognize him. He stated that he noticed right away I had made changes in my physique and was impressed, and that helped to make me feel very good! Thanks, Chad!

A few more star sightings occurred with the inclusion of Lena Johaneson, who had not been invited to the Arnold this year, and Ironman's Ruth Silverman, a gossip columnist who keeps up with all of the daily happenings in the fitness and figure industry. The day I make it in her column is the day I know I've made it in the bodybuilding world! She still doesn't recognize me, but I hope to change that this year.

As a stupid Texan, I had packed my jacket and instead wore a baby T and jeans. My skin quickly turned a lovely shade of purple and my hair was standing on edge. Ohio was freezing! I should have known that a state in the north would be much colder than a state in the south. No, I'm not blonde! Lol!

After checking into the hotel, I called Gene Carangal and made arrangements for our shoot that evening. I then hopped into the shower and re-did my hair and make up. Gene then arrived at around 7:30 p.m. and we rummaged through my suitcase to find the perfect outfits to use in my hotel room, which was actually quite spacious and had two queen-size beds and a wall of windows that overlooked downtown Columbus. Letting the woman at the desk know that she had the same name as my father definitely broke the ice during check in, and she warmed up instantly and offered that room since it already had a plugged in refrigerator into which I could transfer my food immediately, and it was at no extra cost, even though this room was bigger than the original one I had signed up for.

Gene had several creative ideas that he wanted to act upon, so with the choices made, we got started. I went into the bathroom and slipped on a black thong, fishnet stockings, a black tank top, and black platform stilettos that put me well into the 5' and above range! It's fun to be tall!

We worked through many shots in that outfit, and soon the tank top disappeared and the implied work began. Eventually, I had to return to the bathroom, slip off the black thong, slide the fishnet stockings back on, and return to the shoot. Now, the photos aren't X-rated, but they don't leave much to the imagination! There is one shot that Gene and I really liked, and I can't wait to see it once he has worked on it on the computer! I'm already brainstorming for titles to that gallery!

The next outfit was a babydoll negligee, and the photos were very soft, girlie, and feminine. I do think y'all will like these!

We also did a brief stint with red booty shorts and a matching halter top and red stilettos and then moved to something quite comfortable...a long-sleeved T-shirt and my big and fluffy Tigger slippers. Adorable! I'm a child at heart, you know.

Throughout all of the shoot, Gene took video footage and included some narration from me. He will take the next couple of months to put it all together and create a video clip that will include some very innovative ideas. I won't state too much, but I'm incredibly impressed and excited. On top of all of this, he and I will be working together in Chicago at the Junior Nationals and plan on using the downtown area as our setting. I'm also going to be looking to him to create more video footage and to design my business cards, which I'm in desperate need of.

The shoot came to a close around midnight. I crashed and slept so soundly and deeply that it was a good thing I set the alarm on both the hotel clock and my cell phone. Groggy doesn't even begin to describe how I felt when I awakened Friday morning.

And with that, I'm going to take a break and come back later to describe the events of the Arnold Expo.

Take care!!

Jodi :)

I think I'm seeing double; I'm that tired! Three days of endless standing on my feet and watching throes of people rush to the booth, hands open for freebies, and I'm now ready to crash! All I want to do is sleep for a good nine or ten hours!

Despite being so exhausted, I really did enjoy this weekend immensely! Helping out at the CytoSport booth and spending time with Michelle Bell and Stephanie Collins and seeing so many of my friends and meeting new people made the trip so worth it! And to those who came by to visit with me, thank you so much, and I really appreciate all of your kind words and your support when you purchased the new photos I brought to Columbus.

I also had an opportunity to shoot with Gene Carangal. All I have to say is fishnet stockings, black stilleto heels, me, a chair, and a camera. I'll leave the rest up to you until that gallery comes out! Whoa!!!

I shot with Jonathan Bowie as well, but that was a much tamer session. A tank top and some extremely small booty shorts and my Nike tennis shoes made up the outfit for an early Saturday morning shoot (7:15 a.m. to be exact, and that was after shooting with Gene until 11 p.m. the previous evening).

I will write the details of the expo tomorrow once I've awakened and finished my lengthy session of cardio. (I had a cheat meal with Sheila Rawlins on Saturday evening and then on Sunday I spent much of the day munching on protein bars, only to find myself at the airport with a sandwich and a frozen yogurt in hand. One word...yum! Well, let me add another word...cardio!) But I don't feel so bad. I saw Tara Scotti enjoying a bit of frozen yogurt as well as she headed towards the security gates to catch her flight. And I found Lisa Schaerer in the same sandwich line I traipsed through, and she later admitted that she started her diet early in order to be able to cheat this weekend. And I do have about six weeks before Junior USA's! Lots of time to dial it in! And let me tell you, I'm so excited! All of your positive comments and being in the fitness atmosphere really pumped me up and got me psyched for this year's shows. I can't wait to step on stage once again!

I'm headed to bed...ready to recover from an exhausting weekend. Much more is to come later!

Have a great Monday morning!

Jodi

I have reached the stage in my diet when no amount food seems to be able to satiate my appetite. I just finished a shake (I changed it up a bit: a packet of Myoplex Lite chocolate mint with half a scoop of CytoSport's vanilla-flavored EvoPro, which has just three grams of carbs in it; together, the two are quite tasty), and I felt like I hadn't even eaten a thing. Astounding. I'm weighing right around 108 pounds and I have a black hole for a stomach. Not fun when it's less than seven weeks until a show.

Earlier today, I was munching on steak, seven ounces worth, and potato. Now, I've begun adding crushed garlic to everything. I'll try not to do this for the food being prepared for the Arnold trip. I want to keep vampires and mosquitos away, not fans! But this what I do, whether it's chicken, fish, egg whites, or steak. I crush one clove of garlic in my handy little garlic mincer that my mom bought for me for my first apartment while in college. I sautee it in a pan that I've sprayed with cooking spray. I then put the meat into the pan. If it's chicken or steak, I've already cut it up in bite size pieces, so I can readily eat it on the go. If it's fish, then I just cook each side of the filet and then it's soft enough to eat with a fork. And egg whites, well, if you need a knife to eat your egg whites, then something's very wrong with your cooking! Lol! Anyway, I use a little more cooking spray on the meat, add a bit of salt, pepper, cumin, and chili powder, spray a bit more cooking spray, and then cook completely. Sometimes I also sautee some fresh spinach leaves and a bit of shredded cabbage or I'll add in some diced onions and tomatoes or a bit of broccoli florets for flavoring and vitamins. And then, once it's all cooked, I shovel into my mouth within five minutes and look helplessly around for more and pout when I realize I've wolfed down my entire portion and can't eat for another two to three hours. Oh...wait! I forgot to tell you what I've been doing with my potatoes. I microwave a small three to five ounce potato until it's mostly soft. I then slice it thinly and put into a pan that is coated with cooking spray. I then brown both sides of the potato slices until they are somewhat crispy (this can mean burnt at times, but that's only when I'm forgetful and off doing e-mails in the other room and not paying attention until the smoke alarm rudely interrupts me), and I then I add a touch of salt and eat them with my fingers so I feel like I'm getting French fries. But three or four ounces of potatoes don't go very far. We're talking five, six, maybe seven slices, and I try desperately to eat them slowly and bite into each slice three times, but they're soooo good, that I tend to just eat and eat and suddenly they're gone, and it was my last carb meal of the day, and I have to wait another 24 hours before I get that taste again. Can you see me pouting???

To make a long story short, I'm staaaaarving! This is a girl who can down an entire large pizza, a salad, and a handful of cookies in one sitting. I might look pregnant afterwards, but I can fit it all in! The sad thing is I'm pretty proud of that fact! But I've really held myself back with my cheat meals this past season. I used to eat until I couldn't breathe and then I would say, "one more bite of ice cream, and then I'll be done." Now, I start off with much smaller portions and stop when I feel content and on the verge of being full...not stuffed. I had to really teach myself this lesson. It's easy to shove everything sweet and fried in your face when you've been deprived of it for so long, but the aftermath isn't pretty!

I've also learned something else. Y'all might be surprised to hear that I've been adding salt to my food. Well, by keeping sodium in my diet, my rebounds from the cheat meals are almost non-existent. I don't have the painful bloating and swelling. I don't gain five pounds within three hours. I put on a pound or two by the next morning, can see that my abs are bit smoothed out from the day before, can see my muscles filled out and the veins appearing, and am overall pleased and have satisfied my cravings for that point in time. I just keep my water at a gallon or more a day (I'll up it to two gallons after the Arnold), and I'll sodium deplete the couple of days before the show. But sodium in the system keeps your system hydrated, which allows you to be stronger, which in turn allows you to lift more weights and put on more lean muscle mass. This could be another explanation as to why I managed to put on a good three to five pounds of muscle in my upper body this past off season.

And my workouts are going very well. I am a bit tired. I've been going nonstop for weeks on end. The Arnold will allow me to take a break from workouts, and the recovery time will let my muscles heal, and then I will enter the gym next Monday stronger and may be able to add just a touch more size onto my back and shoulders. In my opinion, my shoulders need to be rounder and need to present a bigger cap. I'm satisfied with my back. It might actually end up being too lean by the time I step on stage, but I can fix that with how much I tense it when I'm in front of the judges.

You might have noticed that a couple of major bodyparts are missing from the progress photos, namely my legs and glutes. I wasn't pleased with how they looked in the photos and didn't feel they were accurate depictions. The next photos I take should be better representations, so you should get a chance to see the wheels and the booty! Lol! I can see the tie-ins from my glutes to my hamstrings. Now, if you look closely at some of my pictures, you'll notice that the left glute is longer than the right one. That's because my left leg is just slightly longer than the right, which I have to keep in mind when posing on stage. I feel like I'm cockeyed, but in reality, I'm standing straight. It's a weird feeling! But back to the description of my legs. My hamstrings are shaping up very nicely, and my calves have definitely improved. In fact, I'm hoping I'll get a few veins to pop out here or there during the week of the show. We'll see! My quads are always the last to behave. I can see the separation when I flex them, but I'm holding water there and fat stubbornly clings until the three weeks before I step on stage. I've taken a break from sprints for a few weeks, but will return to them after the Arnold. I detest them, but I'm going to change my frame of mind, or else I'll always procrastinate and never do them.

I did arms today, and got a terrific burn in my biceps. I've incorporated close grip EZ-curl barbell curls, and I supersetted those with incline bench dumbbell curls. Talk about pain! And when I did triceps, I utilized the V-bar on the cables and did close grip pushdowns. I did dropsets, starting at 70, dropping to 50, and then finishing at 35. And at the 35 pounds, I did 30 reps. By the time I finished, the entire back of my arms was bright red, like a lobster shell freshly taken from the boiling water. I know I worked those suckers!!

Okay, this entry is long enough. I will post quickly before I leave for the Arnold, and then it will be Sunday evening before I venture back onto the computer again.

Take care and train hard, work hard, play hard! Oh yeah, and get some sleep. I know I will be after my last meal of egg whites.

Jodi :)