CRAIG PRODUCTIONS LLC

I am officially three weeks out from USAs! I have pre-judging on Friday July 30th...Three weeks from now I will be stepping on stage at my first national show and I am filled with so many emotions. I'm so excited, pumped, happy, nervous, anxious - Everything rolled into one!

Training has been going great! I've been in the gym all the time it feels like...I honestly feel like I live there. But it has been good bc it has been my "ME" time and I've  been enjoying every minute of it! There's nothing like my gym time as a mental/emotional release! My training is still high volume with a lot of dropsets and supersets...This definitely gets me sweating and keeps my heart rate up while I'm lifting! Cardio has been great as well! We haven't increased my cardio yet, but we'll see how I'm looking through next week and we'll adjust it accordingly. Since John and Roxana are doing my diet, they also give me an outline for cardio to ensure that my diet is matched up with the amount of cardio I'm doing! So to be honest, I don't know what next week holds for me, but I know it will be good!

Diet..Now that has been amazing as well. I have a brand new obsession: Angel Hair Shredded Cabbage.

It's funny because I go through phases in diet prep where I'm completely obsessed with some sort of food/meal and right now it is my cabbage all the way!

I buy the bags of shredded angel hair cabbage and I put it in a pan and "stir fry" it (although you all know that I'm not using oils!) with natural rice vinegar, which has zero sodium, and TONS of Mrs. Dash - Southwest Chipotle. YUMM...Just thinking of it right now makes me want a bowl of it SOOO bad! I mean...I'm literally obsessed. I broke down last night and made an entire bag of it, poured it in a huge bowl and savored every bite of it! I'm flying through several bags of it a day :) The great thing is that is tastes good to me, it is low in carbs/calories AND it keeps me full! So that's my new obession!

I also started making a certain drink mix that I carry with me everywhere. My fellow ON/ABB athlete, Tim Rice, recommended a gallon of water mixed with 15 grams of ON's BCAAs, 10 grams of ON's Glutamine, 2 servings of Beta Alanine (I use ON's Threshold in Fruit Fusion flavor) and then 1 pack of Orange Crystal Light. I make this and sip on it all day - in addition to another gallon of water. The Fruit Fusion Threshold and the Orange Crystal Light taste delicious together and I also get a good amount of amino acids and the beta alanine to keep me going strong all day! So that's another new obsession of mine as well!

Overall things are going amazing and this has been such a great journey. This will be a show prep that I will remember forever because I've never been more challenged before and that is why I have grown so much as a person through out the last several weeks. I've been knocked down, shoved down, tested to the extremes, yet the Lord's amazing strength and grace have been there for me every step along the way and I feel so blessed to have grown and 'stretched' so much...It is so true when people say that your darkest moments will bring the greatest LIGHT and victory! AMEN!

Well I'm off to eat my second meal of the day! Woot Woot!

‎"Success isn't a result of spontaneous combustion...You must set yourself on fire!" --Arnold Gaslow

This is so true. To be a successful competitor, you must really SET YOURSELF ON FIRE...You must keep that fire burning SOOOO strong if you're going to make it to the end. It is that burning fire in you that will keep you pushing through another meal of chicken and veggies and through another hour of cardio.

No Fire = No Success.

So get fired up. Do whatever it takes to light yourself on fire. That passion in your heart is there for a reason and you need to do everything in you to keep it ALIVE and burning strong.

Stay Strong. Stay Focused. Let the Lord's Light SHINE!

Diane

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