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Hello everyone!!! I competed in my first figure competion in 2008 USBF and was instantly hooked!  I felt so alive onstage and loved the sense of accomplishment that came with competing.  I then went on to compete in the NPC Eaterns in NYC in 2009, and this past June Atlantic States NYC and Rochester Championships where I qualified for nationals.  I was going to take some time off etch out my body more and build mass where needed before competing in a natinal show but have decided to go for it in 3weeks!  Vegas here I come :)  You never know where life will take you or what could happen tomorrow and need to embrace oppurtunities when they arise.  I try to live each day with this in mind because I have come close to not having a tomorrow and want to make the most of my life while I’m here with no regrets.  When I was 16 I was in a near fatal car accident in which I had to be air-lifted to the hospital, my spleen was torn, severe bruising to my internal organs, back teeth broke, my lungs collapsed and I flat lined twice.  My whole family sat in the waiting room clinging to hope while my life was reliant on machines.  We all have soemthing unique that drives us to stay motivated and memories of this day and it’s effect on my family help fuel me.  I know I am starting this journal late but would love for you to experience the last few weeks of prep before competition with me.  I am doing the Europa battle of Champions in Connecticut first on the 23rd/24th then Nationals in Vegas the proceeding weekend.

Soooooo :) to start this is what my daily diet consists of:

M1: 6egg whites, 1/2 C oats

M2: 4oz yams 4oz chicken

M3&4: 4oz white fish, 1 1/2 C green veg.

M5: 4oz chicken & big salad

M6: Protein shake

Every morning I start my day off with 40min steady state cardio fasted.  Also, after weight training I do 20min HIIT cardio.  Prior to Juen competions I did all my prep myself with the research I had done. I am extremely fortunate to have Tammy Patnode prepping me for Europa and her knowledge to aid me in being my best :)  I have never felt tighter/leaner and am beyond excited to compete and even more excited to eat afterwards! lol 

Today’s workout was my second day of shoulders in which I did drop sets.  I did drop sets for DB overhead press, DB lateral raises, DB front raises, & DB reverse flyes on bench.  It hurt and was great!  Shoulders are definitely a lacking area for me and are essential in figure.

I’m exhausted from the heat this week and work today.  I’m hoping to get cardio doen early though tomorrow so I can spend more time out by the lake with the family :)

Wow, that sounds really intense but sounds like you love it. Good luck!

 thank you!

Today was my usual 40min steady state am cardio then abs and intervals at the gym this evening.  I usually do my 40min at my boyfriends on his stepper but stayed home last night and had to use an old excersice bike we have and ouchhh lets just say it needs a new seat lol.  I’m 2weeks out from Conn and 3weeks out from Nationals!  SOoooo close!  I made pancakes for my family this morning and wanted one so bad but seeing the smile on my little brothers face as he eats them is with me suffering :)

Happy weekend!

Haha, that sounds so brutal! I can just imagine what it must look like but I can’t imagine experiencing that myself. I admire your willpower. Good luck, looking forward to hearing more!

awesome post! your diet looks spot on… what are your goals for your up coming comp!! what is your main focus??

 

as for your diet… do you eat the same food every day or do you play around with macros???

Jenaligh, that’s awesome what you’re doing, I couldn’t do it!

I’ve never competed at anything, I couldn’t imagine the amount of work and discipline it must require to compete at a national event like you are. I admire this so much, good luck! ^_^

Thanks!  There will be many top notch competitors at the upcoming competitions and I will be satisfied having shared the same stage as an equal.  Of course I would also love to place top 5 :) I’m hoping for big things at Europa! 


As far as my diet, right nowI eat the same meals everyday.  Off season I will play around a little more with different meals fitting food to my macros.  I find it more efficient to eat the same meals that way I don’t have to spend an abundance of time planning meals to pack them.  I’ve been saving recipes and am excited to play around more this off season.  :) thanks for stopping by!

Thank you for stopping by and all the kind words!  Annnddd never say can’t/couldn’t etc!  Anything is possible :)

Hello everyone, sorry this post is so late.  I finally had a chance to sit down and it’smidnight….anyways….Today was leg day! Leg day is such a love/haterelationship.  I hate it when I’m doingit but love the results of a killer workout. I’m 2 weeks from the Europa battle of Champions in Conn. and am droppingmy extra carb meal I usually have with the intent to tighten up.  I’m feeling fantastic about my physique.  I’ve been practicing my posing and am workingon smoother transitions to appear more confident on-stage.  I purchased a video of this past June’sRochester competition and noticed I was a bit shaky with some of my poses.  I’ve exceeded my own expectations withdieting and that is still smooth sailing. I can’t tell you how happy I’ll be to not be doing an hour of cardioeveryday when this is over, man oh man it kicks my butt!  My calves are soooooo tight!  I’ve been stretching before and after cardiobut my left calf is extremely tight. Ever since my accident, my one leg is ¼ inch longer than the other and Ifeel as if one leg is overcompensating for the other when walking/running andit takes more effort to stay balanced.  Ithink this causes the muscles in my left leg to tighten so badly.  I could be wrong but just something I wasthinking about doing cardio this morning J

Hello fellow MuscleDog members!  Oh man, the only thing keeping me going todaywas the countdown to the show.  I kepttelling myself “this is your last week of training hard Jena before peak week,push!”  My knee started to bother metoday, it almost feels locked.  I hopewith a good nights rest its fine in the am. I concentrated on shoulders today and overall am happy with my strengthso close to a show.  I actually went up afew reps on some of my sets.  With priorshows my strength dropped a few weeks out but I was also uneducated in fuelingmy body right with the proper nutrition. It’s amazing what a healthy balanced diet can do for you and how themore extreme end isn’t always the better one. My friend is moving to Brooklyn soon and is stopping over tonight for somesalad, crystal light, and a good conversation J I would love to add abottle of wine and brie cheese to that but only in my dreams for now…

Jena, 
What you’ve done after all you’ve been through is miraculous!  It demonstrates a strong will, and I’m sure that everything that you’ll endure until competition will pale in comparison to what  you’ve gone through when you were 16!  Stay strong and good luck! 

Keep it up girl!! Stay strong, you worked this hard for so long and you are almost at the finish line! 

I love your little date night with salad and crystal light! Having supportive friends/family is very important, its very hard to maintain a social life while competing.

 When will you start water and sodium depleting?

 

Thank you sooo much for the encouraging words!!

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It is hard to maintain social connections while dieting/competing.  I’m most excited for competition season to come to a close so I can indulge in the summer social moments.


My last leg workout will be this friday or saturday and when I send Tammy my pic’s and weight she will send me the plan for peak week.  I’m curious to see what her plan is since my physique is at it’s best with her guidance.  I’ve always done prep myself and usually carbload in the beginning of peak week dial in and slowly taper off water intake to none the night before.  I will keep you posted!

Happy hump-day!  Todaymy energy plummeted drastically.  Today’sworkout was back and I felt like I was going to war with each set.  I cannot wait to carbload next week!! Tammywill send me peak week plan this weekend when I send her pic’s and weight.  This is the first time I’ve had outsideguidance for prep and I feel fabulous about my physique.  It also relieves so much stress to soak up someoneelse’s wisdom versus relying on my own trial and error.  This weekend is my dad’s birthday and heloves banana so I’m going to find some delicious banana cream pie and banananut bread recipes tonight.  I livevicariously through others enjoying food I make during prep, it’s odd butsatisfying. Hmmmm lol
Back day feels never-ending…my exercises include:
 Smith Machine BentOver Row – Overhand grip
Smith Machine Bent Over Row – Underhand grip
Deadlift
Pull up
Chin up
Seated wide pull
Pulldown –Wide grip then Close grip
Pulldown – Medium grip attachment
Straight arm pressdown – wide grip the close grip
Lat Pull
Seated Pull
Partial Deadlift – Smith Machine
Pullover Machine

I felt energized today during my workout which was awesome thinking back to how I felt yesterday!  I did a bi/tri split concentrating on high reps.  I’m trying to lean my arms out and still maintain solid muscle as I have a tendency to bulk quickly with my arms.  I also don’t want my arms to overpower my shoulders since shoulders are key in the ideal figure physique. 

My dad’s birthday is Sunday so I bought ingredients to make his two favorites, banana cream pie and banana bread.  It’s going to be true test of my willpower to make those delicous treats and restrain from indugling but as long as my dad is happy I’m happy :)  I would really love to buy him a new boat (I wish!) since the motor on his backfired and caught on fire yesterday.  Thank goodness everyone was okay but the one thing he can enjoy with the kids during the hot days is temporary gone….my dad recently retired (went out on disability) and is home with the kids during the summer.  He has cerebral palsy and the cartilage at his knee joints is now non-existent basically leaving him walking with bone-on-bone.  The cerebral palsy effected the muscles in his legs leaving them permenantly bent.  He’s never asked for help and always worked multiple jobs to give us what we wanted not just what we needed and I can see the pain in his face when he walks now.  I am hopeful the doctors will come to a solution that is feasible for my dad…

well good night for now!!!

I feel for you when it comes to cooking tasty food and treats. It’s the story of my life!  Cooking nice treats for my girls and not indulging.  I get that way when I make them fluffy french toast on weekends.  LOL.

 Your Dad sounds inspirational.  I know two people with CP and both of them are very independent as well, and it’s not the easiest condition to live with.   One of them is all grown with two children and the other one is into wrestling.

 

My dad wrestled in high school!  People are amazingly inspirational when faced with life’s challenges :)

and mmmm french toast!  I think I’ll be making that tomorrow morning for my dad along with sausage, eggs, left-over steak they had and the banana bread that is baking right now. It smells amazing!  I love the smell of food baking mmmm :)

My three part-time jobs kept me busy these past couple days and yay for work!  Competitions this season have sucked me dry financially :/ .  I dedicated Friday’s workout to shoulders again.  I’ve been doing shoulders two days a week to make sufficient gains.  On the second days I do drop sets or burnouts keeping it a short but high intensity workout.  Whereas, my first shoulder day are the more typical working sets.  Today was my regular cardio regimen.  I feel like a bloated whale from all the water and high sodium intake.  Working today was not fun having to pee every half hour.  I will start to cut back and drop water to 1G on Tuesday. 

Sweetdreams everyone!

Here are the workouts I do drop-sets with for shoulders:

DB Overhead Press

DB Lateral Raises

DB Front Raises

DB reverse fly on bench

Wow your dad seems like a wonderful inspirational man!! Know I now were you get your dedication and motivational drive from!!
 
YUM!!…….. Banana Cream Pie and Banana Bread…
 
That must be tough… you can’t even have a little itty bitty taster??? I guess a taster can lead to an entire dessert, that’s what it takes to be a figure athlete!!
 
You are going to do amazing; you have the will power, knowledge, experts/coaches, and support!!! You have it all girls…
 
I can’t wait to see that trophy!!!!
 
Your shoulder workout looks sick, and i agree, broad shoulders make a big difference on stage!
 
When are you going to change up your diet, water, and sodium intake?? Keep us posted

aw thank you soooo much for the kind words!! 
I admit I did lick the spoon a little LOL


Starting the end of last week and up until today, I’ve been consuming 3gallons of water and salting everything.  Tomorrow I will consume 1gallon of water and lightly salt food.  I am so tired of peeing every half hour! lol  I also begin carb-loading tomorrow and will consume 1C of rice with 4/6 meals as well as my 1/2C oats 1st meal.  Today was also my last leg workout before comp! I have to be careful with my knees close to competition because the joints tend to suffer from all the cardio and drying out.  Two more days of cardio and I am more than ready for that to end… plus I’m running out of things to read on the stepper in the am ;)

  well I have to pee AGAIN so night night everyone!!

Yeayy!! I am so exited to see your progress pics!
 
I am sure you are enjoying your carbs right now… Nothing is better then a big bowl of oatmeal and rice!! 
 
Did you plan out your cheat meal after your comp?? Its funny the weird things you crave while dieting… After my competition I craved ketchup, caesar dressing, and a toasted cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese… lol
 
I wish I could read on the stair master! I get a little nauseated if i read anything while moving.  We do not have TVs on our stair masters so the only thing motivating me is my ipod.
 
What does your diet look like right know other then oatmeal, rice and salt?  Are you adding any fats or veggies?  Are you allowed to take any supplements??

 

My boyfriend and I mapped out the buffets in Vegas for after Nationals but I haven’t craved anything specific this time it’s wierd.  Actually, my grandma’s homemade strawberry jelly mmmmm and red bean popsicles from the asain market lol

I consumed 1gallon of water today and lightly salted my food.  I’mm in carbload phase so rice with 4meals woohoo!  Right now no fats and I take a fish oil supp, daily vitamin, glucosamine and vitamin C and B6 in the am and pm.  Thursday I’ll switch from fish to steak mmmmm yum yum.  Prior to peak week, I was doing A LOT of veggies/greens which are awesome because you can much on a bunch and they have few calories plus lots of vitamins!

http://s231.photobucket.com/albums/ee67/princessjs11/Progress/

Here’s a link to pictures taken last week!

wow Jena! you look fantastic.. Big imporvment from your last show!! your shoulders, quads, and calves are amazing!!

Your posing is redic!! who taught you how to pose???

 

Keep it up girl!! this is your show….. thanks for the update

Thank you soooo much!!!! I saw a posing coach for 4sessions in May but still could not get my back pose.  It wasn’t until my boyfriend sat down with me one night and kept telling me to try different thigns to go into it.  Then we searched a posing video on YouTube where a girl rolled her shoulders bakc to go into her back pose, I tried it and woohooo it worked!!!!  Thank you for the encouraging words :) I’m feelign great!

Hey! the back pose was my biggest down fall.. I could not spread my lats!! it was actually embarrassing =(

I had to do alot of delt, chest, and back srtetching and active stretching exercise… My shoulder kept rolling forward..

YEAHHH!! good luck