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

training in the offseason…

since my shows i really havent been talking much about my training & how the offseason is going. guess its because im not focusing on competing right now and im doing other things. dont get me wrong…im still training hard about 5 days a week. im not going too heavy right now. my tendonitis is acting up again in my forearms. i cant train back & bis the way i want. sometimes after the workouts i feel like i didnt even do anything. it really sucks at times. i like to train back & bis heavy because i want them to GROW!!! but i work around it & do what i can do. if i have to rep out 20 reps & really concentrate on form then thats what i have to do. my diet is so-so. i would say i eat clean about 70% of the time. if anything i eat more carbs than i should. i dont eat much junk….but the carbs, even good carbs add up & its not good if you are wanting to stay lean. im about 184 right now. some mornings i weigh 184 and some 180. whatever…i feel good, im not depriving myself & thats all that matters. im not going to deprive myself right now because for the most of 2009 i was on a diet with the 4 shows i did spread through out the year. im sure when it starts to warm up i will clean it up so i can drop a few lbs and i will be all good to sport a bikini! ♥

Cupcakes & Cookies….

this week i took two classes at the culinary school. advanced cookie design and upscale cupcakes. the cookie class was 5 hrs long and we made some amazing orange cream cookies then decorated them with white & dark molding chocolate, icing, fondant and some gold powder to paint onto the cookies. it was a very fun class. i see these kinds of cookies selling online or in bakeries for around $4-12 a piece. now i know why….they are very time consuming. the ultimate cupcake class was two days for 5 hrs each day. this class was amazing. the first day we made all the cupcakes, icing, molding chocolates, sugar flowers & marzipan. the second day (today) we got to decorate them . now this is the part i enjoy the most. just sitting down and taking my time to decorate so precise & beautifully. its a stress releiver for me believe it or not. then you have the cupcakes & cookies to eat when you get stressed LOL!

AVATAR

well i finally saw the movie avatar yesterday. ive been wanting to see it since it came out. i saw it in 3D which gave the experience of seeing it that more magical. i tell ya…avatar has got to be the best movie i have ever seen. i loved every minute of it. it was mesmerizing, it was beyond the imagination….it was like magic. the time flies by even though it was 2 hrs & 40 min. id see it again today if i could. it was absolutly amazing. im sure everyone has their opinions about the movie and how it moved them but the movie really brought me in. i forgot it was a fantasy. i got emotional at parts and i didnt want it to end. even watching the trailer again i get the chills. now i see why that movie was #1 for so long and won a ton of awards. if you enjoy movies that let your mind be free then i recommend seeing it for yourself.

february…blah

ive noticed this month so far has been the hardest to get going. i think its the weather. lately we have been having snow and the heat is friggen cranked up in the building. i open the windows but then it gets cold fast lol. i hear about others feeling tired, unmotivated and dull but i never really thought the weather could affect me that much. i always think it has to be something else going on. after talking to friends that have lived in nyc for years say its a common thing this time of year. okay so i guess i shouldnt feel bad about going to bed around midnight and waking up around 8am haha!

on the bright side…the weather is suppose to be in the 40′s the rest of this week & weekend. YAY! next month is my BIRTHDAY and daylight savings….ahhh move the clocks ahead ; ) been going to the gym when i get up for some cardio to start my day. it kinda helps, then i go back later to train. so here i am now….7pm and im getting ready to head to the gym soon.

we had snow yesterday and peanut was feeling like it was a lazy day too…i tried taking her picture but she was not liking it too much. i think this pic is way too cute of her ♥

pizookie time!

today i decided to make a favorite of mine….PIZOOKIE! yes a huge cookie, usually warm with a huge scoop of ice cream on it BUT i didnt have any ice cream in the house believe it or not. i took some pre-maid toll house chocolate chip cookie dough & cut up some old carmel candies from halloween. haha yeah they were pretty hard and i was hoping they would melt since they were about 6 months old LOL. anyways…it came out perfect ♥

on another note…remember back when timothy & i went to times square for some drinks on that rainy day in january? well i finally got the video edited & uploaded….goodtimes!

snow day!!!

so the gym i go to is closed today. ive never experienced “snow days.” back home in CA living in the central valley it gets very foggy. so foggy you cannot see the hood of your car. i can remember driving to work at 4am and thinking to myself how am i going to get to work, i dont even know where i am at. school use to get cancelled because of fog. we had foggy day schedules. now living here on the east coast im experiencing these snow days. ok so there is snow on the ground. but i can still walk to the gym ya know ; ) oh well….im taking advantage by working & doing laundry. i sit at my computer that is right next to a big window. i must say it is kinda cool to see the snow falling….you dont see this stuff in cali.

get a clue girls!

this is so funny…today i was walking to the grocery store and i over hear two girls chatting away about working out. one girl said…”yeah i really want to start working out all the time BUT…i dont want my legs and arms getting to manly & too big!” i had to keep what i was thinking to myself. first i tried to not bust out and laugh and second i wanted to tell those girls “do you know how long it will take for you to even put on 5 lbs of muscle.” even working out everyday, if you are not eating clean & doing cardio you really wont be able to see any muscle let alone big muscle. omg some people amaze me. do you really think that if you work out hard & heavy you are going to look like a man in a month? haha get a clue girls!

redline xtreme…saved the day!

lately my motivation for my workouts have not been 100%. i either go do cardio in the morning and dont feel like training later or i go train & dont feel like doing cardio. its been about a week this has been going on. i know im not getting ready for a show but i tend to feel like i have to get good workouts & get in some cardio all the time. sometimes realizing i need a few days off is tough but i do & will take em if i need to. winters here in nyc are tough on me. kinda hard to get going in the morning and i dont feel like being out if i dont have to. but i will say this winter has been a little easier on me than last.

i had to get a new webcam today because my other one kept freezing & turning off…not good when you are making some money and the whole damn thing just shuts off. so after going to best buy i went to vitamin shoppe & got some more whey and a 4 pack of redline xtreme watermelon flava! i came home changed for the gym and head over there as i sipped on my redline. man o man….i got a kickass workout. busted out legs & 45 min of cardio. i was feelin gooooooood! i love feeling full of energy like that. its the BEST!…even if it does come from a bottle! oh well ♥

preparing 4 the move…

so as many of you know that follow my blog i am moving back to california. timothy & i are looking forward to moving to SoCal sometime this year. the goal is around summer. could be before or could be after but we are dedicating 2010 to the big move across country so we can start a new adventure in cali…..my home ; )

timothy owns a really nice studio apartment right smack dab in manhattan. its definatley not worth selling so we decided to rent it out. we are repainting pretty much everything to give it a fresher look. just finished the bathroom and now onto the kitchen & so on. doing a little at a time. there are days when i cannot wait to get to cali and then there are days when i dont want to leave nyc. i love both places for different reasons. i will be closer to my family when i get out west & that is the main reason why i am looking forward to moving back. but all in all NYC is an amazing place to live & im grateful i am able to still experience nyc living til the move happens!

horror movies & chocolate chip cookies…oh yeah!

wow its almost been a week since i have posted last. lets see what have i been doing since my day out drinking in times square & dancing out in the rain lol. believe me, i have been thinkin about those yummy frozen drinks lately and cannot wait to have another.

seems like this week horror movies have been on the agenda. i went to blockbuster & rented paranormal activity, halloween II by rob zombie and saw VI. all movies i have been wanting to see so i rented them all. im sure everyone has their opinions on these movies but here is mine…paranormal activity SUCKED! i wanted so bad to shut it off but timothy insisted we watch it to find out what happens at the end. halloween II kicked ass! if you like rob zombie’s style in movie making you will enjoy halloween. i loved both the devils rejects & house of 1000 corpses. saw VI was okay. ive seen 1 thru 5 so i had to see saw 6. i end up having to turn my head at some parts but all in all it was alright.

today i took a baking class at the culinary school. it was a chocolate chip cookie class. we made about 6 different style cookies & i got some good tips on making the perfect cookie. im glad i took this class because it just proved to me that i enjoy the decorating aspect of baking/pastry field vs. baking. i could sit down & decorate and pay attention to all the small detail so much longer than baking. after the cookie class today i was worn out haha. i wouldnt want to bake for 8hrs a day…no way! i ate alot of cookies today so i made sure i hit the gym tonight for some shoulders & cardio! 
peace my friends!!!