Lunchtime Addendum: My Drugstore.com order just arrived, so I now have multivitamins again, hurrah! I also have a bottle of flax seed oil and two bottles of GNC Creastack (one serving is 5 calories, and has 5 g creatine, 2 g l-glutamine, and various phosphates to help with creatine transport). I threw down a multivitamin as soon as I got the bottle open, and have just now chugged down 8 oz of water with my first ever dose of fruit-punch-flavored creatine. The directions say to load the stuff for 5 days by taking 4 doses a day, then maintain with just 2 doses a day after that. I’m assuming these measurements are for big guys in the 200 lb range, so I’m going to cut the dosage in half to get closer to the BetaGen numbers.

Back to my first creatine experience, though….YUCK! OMG, if I’m going to have to drink this stuff daily for the next 10 weeks, I’d sure as HELL better get some muscles out of this. The drink turns out to be a vile, cloudy pink color like diluted Pepto Bismol with a drop of red food coloring, and it tastes like artificial sweetener of some kind. I know because it went straight to the back of my eyes and gave me a slight headache for 5 minutes. It’s like a Crystal Light experiment gone seriously wrong. Ugh. Ok. I’m all right now. I was half expecting the cramps that some people have mentioned, but aside from a minor twinge when I was chugging the stuff down, I seem to be okay. My head is fine again, too. Maybe I can deal with this after all.

I weighed 134.5 lbs this morning with around 19-20% body fat according to the Tanita scale. I hope I don’t bloat up too much on this supplement.

Here are two pics of me on day 1. I’ve only had the one dose so far, and I doubt that it’s done anythin yet, so you can consider these “before creatine” photos.

Thoughts: I truly meant to do my lower body workout to make up for Monday’s missed session last night, but it just didn’t happen. I got caught up experimenting with chocolate banana “Fool Yourself Cookies” from the Body for Life Women’s Club message group, and just ran out of time. I made it up this morning by dragging myself to the gym at 7 am, then doing sets of LBWO between my regularly-scheduled upper body workout sets. It was exhausting, but at least I had something to do during those boring 1 minute rest breaks.

I’ve got two new mid-meal snacks on the menu today–cottage cheese cookies (modified FY Cookies) and chocolate mousse. I can’t wait to see the expressions on my co-workers’ faces when I bring those two protein snacks out. I even drizzled some sugar free chocolate syrup on top of the mousse.

Now for some thoughts on the “Training for Life Experience”–I was afraid that going into my second 12 week cycle that I’d become bored with the same old exercise routine every week, but so far that hasn’t been the case. I find ways to challenge myself each day, whether it’s adding more weight for a particular exercise or bumping up my speeds in my cardio runs. I LIKE knowing how long each session will take, and approximately what I’ll need to do each time. I LOVE only having to do cardio for 20 minutes, yet still getting better results than the schleps who walk/jog/spin/jazzercise 60 minutes every day. I ADORE the energy I have after a great morning workout. I even enjoy the weakness in my arms and legs when I’ve really pushed it hard during weight training. However, I don’t like group activities or classes except Tai Chi because, well, bubbly people make me very grumpy. I am at the gym to get buff and lean, dammit, not to hop around, give myself tendonitis doing step routines, and cheerfully shout “Yeah!” when the bouncy instructor at the front of the room asks the class, “Is everybody feeling pumped up?!?”

I’m terrible…I can’t even do a pilates workout tape without rolling my eyes and snickering whenever I hear the instructors go on about working the “core” and “powerhouse” muscles. SO RIDICULOUS! I used to get unreasonably cross during Army company runs, too, when one of my NCOs would drop back and try to motivate me to run faster and catch up with the main formation.

Anyway, I guess what it boils down to is that I don’t respond well to positive motivation, New Agey-mind/body-connection hooey or group activities like aerobics classes. I like testing my own limits, not striving to meet those of other people (as in those company runs) or holding myself back because other people can’t keep up (as in the “boot camp” workouts I’ve tried with knee-push-up civvies). I need personal challenges and negative motivation (e.g. “If you don’t make this 2 mile run in under 18:30, you’re weak ass is going to stay here at Ft. Leonard Wood through Christmas!”) because they fire up my competitive (and angry) side, which my buddy Jason says is more of a male reaction. In his experience as a women’s volleyball coach, most “girls” don’t react that way when criticized or challenged–they sulk, cry, and do worse than before.

How pathetic is that?

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Nutrition (1200-1300 low day)
1: 3×1 tomato omelette with spicy mushrooms and napa cabbage and a peach
2: Tuna and spinach WW pita
3: Chocolate mousse
4: Chocolate banana protein cookies
5: Kung Pao chicken with broccoli in oyster sauce
6: Cottage cheese and grapes

Supplements:
Multivitamin with iron
Calcium 500 + D
2 T. safflower oil with meals 1 and 5
1 T. flax seed oil
2 servings of GNC Creastack (5 g creatine, 2 g l-glutamine, plus phosphates each)

Calories eaten and deficit for yesterday = 1464/ -440 (target -337)
Water: 10 cups
Ratios: 43% carb / 42% protein / 15% fat

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Workout:
7 am combo UB/LBWO with a 5 minute 5.5 mph/5% incline warm up run

Yes, I doubled up. No, I don’t recommend it. My arms and legs hate me now.

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The Awful Truth:
1. Didn’t do my make up session of LBWO last night.
2. Ate 6 plain M&Ms at work.
3. Dipped into the FF cool whip topping while making the chocolate mousse.

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Brownie Points:
1. Finally got that missed LBWO done this morning.
2. Cooked up some tasty cookies and chocolate mousse for my midmeals.
3. Read another chapter of Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle.

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Short-term Goals:
1. Cook a big batch of kung pao chicken and broccoli with oyster sauce tonight.
2. Make batch of Stella bars–chocolate raisin.