(Superset)
Assisted pull-ups - 100, 80, 70, 60, 70 x3
Incline prone rear flye - 10 x 25, 15 x 25, 20 x 20, 25 x 15, 20 x 10 (4x with 5sec rest)

LF machine pull-overs - 60 x 15, 105 x 12, 120 x 8, 135 x 6, 150 x 5 drop no rest 60 x 15 (slow)

Bent over DB rows - 25 x 15, 30 x 12, 35 x 10, 50 x 8, 30 x 10 (4x with 5 sec. rest)

(Giant Set)
Kneeling Cable One-Arm pull down - 12kg x 20, 20kg x 20, 20kg x 20, 12kg x 15 (alternated 4x)
Cable Row (with stretch) - 40 x 15, 75 x 15, 75 x 15, 75 x 15, 75 x 15
Incline E-Z bar girp cable pull-downs - 50 x 15, 60 x 15, 60 x 15, 60 x 15, 40 x 10 (4x with 5 sec. rest)

Back Extensions - bodyweight x 25, 10 x 25, 10 x 25

Oblique leg raise (side raises) on ab stand ("roman chair") - 12 each way x 4

(Giant Set)
Crunches on elevated back extension stan - body weight x 12 (4 sets)
LF oblique crunches - 20 x 20, 30 x 20, 40 x 20, 40 x 20
Cable ab twist - 30 x 15, 37.5 x 15, 37.5 x 15, 37.5 x 15

LF ab machine - 10 x 30, 10 x 30, 10 x 30, 10 x 15 (21 style)

Followed by 15 min. HIIT

Seated calf press - 130 x 15, 170 x 15, 210 x 15, 270 x 15, 310 x 12

Standing calf raise - 75 x 15, 115 x 15, 170 x 15, 235 x 12, 310 x 10

(Giant Set)
One-Leg Calf Press on Leg Press - 80 x 15 (x4)
One-Leg Calf Raise on box - body weight x 15 (x4)
One-Leg Calf Raise on floor - body weight x 15 (x4)
Reverse Leg Raise on lying leg curl - 40 x 20 (x3), 50 x 20

Deadlift - 65 x 15, 95 x 15, 135 x 12, 185 x 10, 155 x 15 (perfect form!)

Lying Leg Curl (3 way - 1/2 rep bottom, 1/2 rep top, full range) - 40 x 10 (each way), 50 x 10 (each way), 60 x 10 (each way), 70 x 8 (each way), 80 x 6 (each way)

(Giant Set)
Seated Leg Curl - 60 x 12, 90 x 12, 105 x 12
Standing Leg Curl - 20 x 15 (x3)
Abductor - 70 x 30, 80 x 30, 90 x 30

Seems I stumbled on to the "cure" for stretch marks.  Well, we'll just have to see about that.  It definitely sounds too good to be true, but I was able to sort through most of the BS in a lot of those "stretch mark cure" ads by looking at and recognizing doctored photos - I excel in Photoshop.  You know when you see moles and such just disappear, something's up, among other tricks they use.

Anyway... I fell for this one.  The site is www.stretchmarkcure.com.  We'll see if I got duped because of my despearation to rid myself of these stretch marks.

Here's my beginning photo - undoctored!  (can't believe I'm posting this)

I will give updates as I go through this process.

Keep in mind I'm sure there will be some tightening as I still lose this fat underneathe.  But I'm mainly focused on how the scarring improves.

Today is Goal Day! 165.0 lbs!

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged. The most significant things I can remember taking place during my “absence” is that I realized ANYTHING is possible you may just have to put more effort into it to make it happen.

For some reason I was having this crazy mental block that getting to my figure comp. goal might not be possible, as in physically possible. As if somehow my body, regardless of what I did would just stop at some magic number each week. Don’t even ask me why I went there, but I did.

I got extremely upset and down about it, viewing myself as a failure. It was like, I knew I could compete; it just wasn’t going to be when I wanted to. Making me a failure? That same week I was in the dumps, and feeling sorry for myself (maybe partially hormonal as well) I watched The Biggest Loser Finale. It hit me at that moment, “Uhhhhh…. It’s TOTALLY POSSIBLE! It’s just a matter of how much and how hard do I want to work to get there by that date.”

I have a friend that decided to compete in bodybuilding after losing a significant amount of weight. She competed that same weekend and what she came back to say floored me. She said she was disappointed in herself and that she didn’t know if she ever wanted to do it again. Let me tell ya… she came in 3rd place. To her 3rd place was a slap in the face because there were only 3 competitors, including her. I slapped her back into reality with the simple fact that 3 women stood up there on stage. Count them…. 3!! She deserved that trophy!

What I saw in my words is that I also have those negative tendencies – to belittle what I’ve accomplished as not so big. If anyone could even see the changes in my life and the people around me… it’s HUGE! So much bigger than “losing some weight”. Her experience came at the right time for me though. Because I realized when I stand on that stage with these women I separate myself from, 100+lbs lighter, with hours logged in the gym, planning and surviving food and temptations, and other sacrifices, like sleeping in some days, I will have already won!

I finally clicked that switch on inside that’s sending messages of “anything is possible”. I used to say it, but I really feel it now. I may still have my ups and downs, but in the back of my mind I know it depends on what I can motivate myself to do. It’s all there for the taking.

So onwards...