I cannot believe how fast it has arrived! Corey and I were sitting down doing meal planning tonight and I was like, “Are you kidding me, only 3 weeks, it must be a mistake!” But ready or not it is here. It is time to put up or shut up and complete this amazing challenge.
I have been working hard on getting my legs and glutes to “pop.” That’s a bodybuilding term for getting them looking strong and lean.
The leg workouts have been insane! Leg workouts 3 times a week including lunges, plyometrics, kettle bells and duck walks that make your quads feel like someone put a match to them.
Corey Cooper Smith, my nutritionist, has had me on a muscle-building diet that includes increased calories with added protein. Believe it or not, it’s a great deal of food, more than I am used to since starting my training, so it’s a challenge to try and get it all in. It all seems to be working though because with this stringent diet and exercise I can visualize my legs changing shape, it is finally happening!
Many of you know of my early morning ritual: up at 3:45 am for coffee (lots of it). Then Corey has me taking taurine and tyrosine along with arginine to get the blood pumping and assist the body in forward movement. (Yes even I sometimes am challenged to move forward at that time of the morning!) I also take a tablespoon of coconut oil for a fat supplement and fuel supplier. It’s fascinating how the body works and what it uses efficiently as fuel.
After my fueling process, I put on my 50 lb. weight vest and head off to the piers to run stairs. If you want added attention, just wear the weight vest, especially during a heightened security alert in NYC! The red-uniformed security guards at Chelsea Piers and even cops stand at alert and take notice! Once they see it’s a blond-haired fitness fanatic trying to grow her glutes with the added weight of a 50 lb. vest they move on to more important concerns.
The 50 lb. weight vest isn’t for sissies. I can tell you that the admiration I have for our firefighters who carry 7O lbs. of gear up and down stairs has gone up tenfold since I initiated training with the vest. After a workout with the vest up and down stairs and step up/down drills, I really feel like collapsing but must return to fusion to complete the remainder of the workout.
I am usually met by my lovely employees who greet me with inspirational sayings like, “Come on, boss, you can do it! This is easy work!” Oh how they love to see me in pain!
Sounds like my father coming back to remind me!
“Pain is weakness leaving the body.”