Hey girl - just catching up w/ the stuff online today. Part of me is just rollign my eyes - you are HALF my age. I've been up until 3-4 am since last Thursday & working 9-12 hrs on my feet at the Arnold Expo weekend under major stress coupled w/ an 8 hr drive to the Arnold & back again w/ a ridiculously tight budget - we're so tight on cash, after the last full day at the Arnold we had to pack up & drive 100 miles to Cincinnati to get a cheaper hotel to stay at before we completed the last 7 hrs of driving. We couldn't afford to stay at the host hotel for one last night!
And I'm not laughing at you at all - you are just discovering what it takes to do a competition. Competition prep will strip you down to the fundamental you. You have to pick your priorities while appearing to have a relatively normal life around the people you love because they will most likely not hang around you if you expose them to the full brunt of your emotional roller coasters, your stresses, your schedule and yoru priorities. (i.e. the b/f). If you check my "So you want to compete" thread, I bring this stuff up. Especially your first competition puts you thru the paces and really shows you what you are made of - not only in how much dedication, focus, passion taht you put into the training, but also makign it thru the most boring 3-4 months of dieting you will ever endure and most importantly learning how to first recognize when a mood is gonna come over you (e.g. on low carb day) and then dealing with it in a way that doesn't alienate the people around you. It is still YOUR choice to pursue this competitoin goal. It is NOT anyone else's job to accommodate your mood swings, your use of your time or anythign else that you choose to put yourself through. That said, just like Buns is saying, she went thru that, went thru some denial about it, but did find a way to fit in the quality time and actually getting the b/f to have her schedule fit into his and they both draw personal satisfaction from it.
I'm not goign to comment on the fact that you are only 20, and there is SOOOO MUCH coming your way in the future.. But that doesn't negate the fact that you care about someone and what you are tryign to accomplish personally is coming into direct conflict w/ your relationship with him. It sux. It is really hard to compete when you have people in your life who just dont' get it or aren't interested. I don't have any answers for you, but if you can keep a more even keel to the extremes resulting from your diet (i.e. learn to anticipate a moody day & snappy responses to people who just seem to ask you the dumbest damn questions on those days) and maybe let those people know that it is a low carb day and maybe give you a little room or understandign if you do shoot off your mouth more than intended. And you will learn to identify the best way to handle things for you & for him. But don't jump to the conclusions that just make the whole situation worse - NO YOU DO NOT FEEL FAT! NO YOU ARE NOT A BAD PERSON! YES YOU ARE DOING SOMETHING THAT IS MEANINGFUL TO YOU BUT WILL CHALLENGE YOU TO THE CORE! And never lose sight of that. Keep things in perspective.
RE: cramps - suggest taking Evening Primrose (available in any grocery store or health food store). Also the usual - ibuprofin, etc.
Also as far as not seeing changes --- HAVE FAITH! You won't know what sort of amazing things your body can do when you let the miracle of metabolism run its course! Right now you are still training your body to respond to the regime. It is very hard & frustrating - but the last 4 weeks will amaze you! THe last 2 weeks will blow your mind! The last 5 days will make you think you woke up & saw a different person in the mirror!
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lol....
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and Im not sure whether its a good idea to take protein towards the end of cutting for a show??? ANy suggestions???
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, 15min stationary )
