Andrea Giacomi's Blog: life, bodybuilding & my everyday rambles…

a lil hatebreed is the cure….

feeling withdrawn today…unsociable, detached, quiet. we all can have those days where we feel lonely and isolated from the world. hard to get going. hard to focus. am i sad, depressed…”what the fuck is wrong with me?” i guess this diet & contest prep is really starting to play on my emotions today. its okay…im past it, im tough…im human!

so in return…i downloaded the new hatebreed album and trained shoulders extra hard in the gym tonight. nothing that a lil hatebreed wont fix ; ) ROCK ON!!!

No limit to what can be achieved
MIND OVER ALL
Power that has yet to be seen
MIND OVER ALL
End the instability
Stare now into glory

cardio with NIN….

well for the next 7 weeks my ass is gonna be glued to the cardio machine. treadmill, bike, elliptical, stepmill, anything that moves my ass and gets my heart rate up lol. its time to really dig deep & get focused mentally. i’ll be honest im mentally burning out but i know now is not the time to let down. i need to keep pushing & driving myself each and everyday. each day is what i need to concentrate on. i cannot concentrate on 5, 10 or even 20 days from now. makes me feel too overwhelmed. so i need to wake up and think about what needs to be done for that day.

so as i know that cardio has been & is going to be a big part of my day i have been glued to this damn computer finding new music to download. i swear besides the gym i have been on here all day. so i came across some fuckin cool NIN remixes. here is the site www.remix.nin.com. itunes has NIN remixes as podcasts. they are free so i downloaded all of them. i had to uncheck so many songs on my ipod because there wasnt enough space lol. i never thought i would have as many songs as i do. honestly…you cant have too many. its true! ; ) anyways, im excited i have some new tunes! YAY!!!!!

no cavities mom!!! ; )

so glad its friday…this week flew by fast. all i know is im missing out on the fact that im not in vegas at the olympia im seeing all these facebook updates from friends that are there. also been checking out the rxmuscle boards and seeing all the play by plays and gettin updated from that. looks like its a damn good show this year. oh well…i have to keep my priorities in check. for one im dieting! dieting & vegas dont mix so thats out of the question. also i rather spend my money wisely and be able to do the nationals in FL and stay there a couple days after to have fun. : ))))

i had to go to the dentist today for my 6 month check up. no cavities YAY!!! even though i brush my teeth and dont eat sugar i have had cavaties before. lemme tell you…going to the dentist here in nyc is so much more expensive than back home in cali. so im glad i didnt need any extra work done.

well im gonna go cook some tilapia & chill for the rest of the night. dont have much planned for the weekend but gym, work a lil & watch the coverage online to see who wins the olympia. OH OH…how could i forget. my cheat meal. im going to ichiumi. never been there but i cannot wait. i ♥ sushi!!!! YUM!

we all do it…

we all have mental conversations with ourselves. seems like i have been having alot of conversations with andrea lately lol. the mental strength that we have to endure can be so much greater than the physical. this can be for anything….im not just talking bodybuilding talk here. self talking can get you through some pretty tough & challenging times. the moment you start having the negative thoughts or think that you cant…thats when the self talking has to occur and you have to pull yourself back into that positive state of mind. im human, i have days where it just seems bad, doubting myself, having those insecurities that we can have from time to time. that is when i have to look at who i am! what i have accomplished and just be thankful for the life experiences i have been introduced too throughout my 34 years of life. ♥ ♥ ♥

fast forward….

sometimes i wish i had a fast forward button. fast forward into the future. today i was surfing the net & looking at places in california. after the easterns & nationals in november moving back to california is going to be top priority. i will not compete again until i am back in cali. there have been times when i just want to put these november shows on hold and spend the money, time & energy on moving. nyc is expensive! no question about it. i live in manhattan….right smack dab in the center of all it. its actualy the best spot to live if your gonna live here. the cost of living is alot. even though i have become accustom to it, there are times when i realize how much more it is than other places. dont get me wrong….when we move to los angeles its not going to be cheap. but i know it will be cheaper than what my current situation is.

i guess im just feeling a lil homesick right now. i miss my family, i miss some friends and i just miss the atmoshpere of back home. as i was looking for places to rent in los angeles i was getting excited and then i started dreaming. dreaming of walking on the beach, seeing my family often, and just enjoying more of the outdoors rather than the city!

i know that all this will come in time and i just need to have patience. enjoy my journey of competing, appreciate nyc and experience all that i can while im here and take it all in day by day. no need to rush anything because it will all happen when its suppose to. nyc has brought my life experiences to a whole nother level and i wouldnt be who i am today if i didnt pick up & move to nyc back in march 2008. so for now i just gotta hit that pause button everynow & then and take it all in…

BACK to da grind…

monday is here and i got a late start today. woke up lollygaggin around, worked a lil, went to the gym to train back and did 50 min of cardio. i have to go back and do the rest…45 min. ugh, its already 6:20pm too. i knew i should of got my ass in gear and got it out of the way. oh well i will leave after i write this and get it done. i cant believe the 8 week mark is here. my strength is as good as it was when i was in the off season so im happy about that. when i train i tend to go as heavy as i can and get about 8-12 reps. sometimes its too light and i may push it to 15 reps but for the most part, im not big on going super heavy. i just dont feel like i get anything out of it. i feel it more in my joints than anything! nothing is better than to rep it out and feel the pump. sometimes i get such a good pump it actually hurts.

well hope everyone had a great start of the week. tomorrow is the first day of autumn…what a short summer this was. oh well, the goal is to be back in cali (los angeles) by next summer then i will have summer all year long ; )

weekend wrapup…

the weather is nice out here in nyc. sunny, bright, the air is crisp but its not too cold…about 70°. this weekend i went to the team universe. a bodybuilding & figure show here in nyc. saw some friends, met some new ones and overall it was a good time. but these shows are getting a lil too long for me though. i hardly ever end up staying til the very end. oh well…i got some motivation & it was nice to see alot of female bodybuilders out on stage.

woke up today went to the gym for some cardio, took a nap then back to the gym to train chest and more cardio with the intentions of getting out & doing something. BUT…when it came to it i just dont have the energy LOL. just feeling lazy today. want to lay around and watch TV. guess that is what sundays are for. oh well i was productive & got my shit done so now i can be lazy!

prep is going well overall. im 8 weeks out from the easterns in november. no changes to my diet & cardio this week. every week i have to send pics & my progress to dave and he responds with the changes. opening those emails can be a lil scary haha. so it was nice to see i have no changes. so back to another week of dieting & training! ; )

great new find!!!

im not sure how many fellow competitors read my blog but im sure they will appreciate this! if you see this diet soda at the grocery store…GET SOME! omg it is the best. canfield’s diet cherry chocolate fudge. and yes it tastes just like the can states. that is all!! ; )  ♥

life’s a cupcake…

omg first off i will say that i think my stomach is eating itself to stay alive. i have been so hungry lately. it literally drives me insane. this diet is kickin my ass! sometimes i just want to go to sleep so i dont have to think about food. there are days when im okay with it and then there are those days when i just want to rip someones head off because i have a headache and my stomach is growling because im so hungry. alright enough of that….on too more stuff about FOOD!!!

lastnight i took another class at the institute of culinary education. i love it there…i just do! i have so much fun & look forward to going to these classes. lastnight i took cupcake workshop 2. there were only five of us in the class so we got alot of individual attention from the chef. it was from 6-11pm of non stop baking. we made caramel cupcakes, red velvet cupcakes, carrot cupcakes with cream cheese icing, tiramisu cupcakes, and creamsicle cupcakes. there were so many damn cupcakes to divide amongst the five of us. i took alot home. i cannot eat any of them because im dieting but i did save some for my cheatmeal on saturday and i gave a ton to the doormen & maintenance guys in my building. what man doesnt love baked goods? they were happy & i was happy. i’ll be extra happy this saturday when i can taste them. Mmmmmm!!!

nyc street fair…

yesterday there was a street fair one block from me so i decided to walk around a bit & see what was up. they lucked out with the weather. i swear it was gonna come down anytime but as i walked down the street i was only hit by a few sprinkles. dieting & street fairs dont mix! man there was everything from bbqed corn on the cob (which i LOVE), funnel cakes, greek food, thai food, sandwiches, crepes, fruit and my all time favorite…kettle corn!. besides all the yummy food there was plenty of bargains for tshirts, hats, jewelry, tapestries, sunglasses, etc. i got a couple nyc tshirts and was happy. next time i check out the street fair im going to make sure im not dieting!