Laser Focus

[phoenix4444]

Super on the weight drop! You fully enjoy your day off and be mentally and physically ready for Sunday.

[shesprints]

Super on the weight drop! You fully enjoy your day off and be mentally and physically ready for Sunday.

Ahhhh thank you!

Weight: 142.8 (and I weighed in fully clothed after breakfast and coffee at the venue: 146.0! So my scale is not off. Whew.)
Calories: 1580, 184C/120P/45F, sodium 966mg

I am awfully stiff and sore, but I did some walking around at the tournament today (I went to see my teammates compete). Man, the competition is super stiff. And I'm entered in the Adult division, which is even worse. I'm pretty nervous. But one of my training partners did really well and won her first match with an excellent double leg takedown. And our team as a whole did excellently--the black belts and the purple belts who competed. I'll need to check on everyone's results as I had to leave early to go to work.

My food today was calculated to be low in sodium and slightly lower in volume than usual. I also took magnesium citrate with dinner and am drinking water sparingly this evening and tomorrow morning. I figure I ought to be careful even though I seem to be safe on weight. I plan to eat a small omelet with one egg and some egg whites + like 4 oz asparagus tomorrow morning just to get something in my stomach, as well, and I'm bringing Clif bars, animal crackers, and coconut water to the venue.

Rachel's here and we're gonna chill this evening. See you guys on the flip side.

[Fiction2Fitness]

ooo Have fun and a good night. Hope it all goes well tomorrow too. Good idea on the snacks too. I like some of the Clif bars though don't eat them often. Chocolate banana is one of my favorites right now.

[shesprints]

ooo Have fun and a good night. Hope it all goes well tomorrow too. Good idea on the snacks too. I like some of the Clif bars though don't eat them often. Chocolate banana is one of my favorites right now.

I wound up going with the sea salt chocolate chunk (to replenish some sodium) and the oatmeal raisin walnut (because I wanted something plainer). Honestly, and this may just be weeks of zero refined sugar or processed foods talking... they were some of the most delicious things I've eaten in recent memory.

So! I'm REALLY tired and going to train 7am tomorrow so just a short recap.

I did not win the tournament. I lost the first round. However, I was very close. I'll post a video soon. I was doing so well that Marcelo actually left to coach someone else, telling someone that he thought I had it handled as I was on top. I blundered into an armbar setup and that was that. The other woman, predictably, had more experience than I did. I'm pleased that I went and very pleased I got to compete.

Also!

Weight: 141.6 (this morning, post-sodium-depletion yesterday; I weighed in 143.4 at the tournament in my nogi stuff and with food, water, and coffee in my stomach)
Calories: 1870, 221C/132P/56F (celebratory dinner of smoked beef ribs, paired with plain steamed broccoli and cauliflower and a plain baked potato; I also had a large peach and a small 9g piece of dark chocolate)

As you can see, even my celebration calories weren't extremely high. Still a deficit, in fact. All I ate during the day was an egg and some egg whites with asparagus in the morning and the two Clif bars at the tournament venue, so it's not surprising.

I'm definitely going to continue my cut to a lower weight class. If I drop just 6-7 more pounds I'll easily be lightweight. However, I'm going to allow myself a few more calories a day, aiming closer to 1850 than 1650. I miss fruit. And cheese.

It was great to learn how to cut water and know that I can rely on a routine for that when I need to in future. I enjoyed the tournament experience and feel like had I played it slightly differently I could have won and moved on. Experience means a lot in BJJ and I just gained some. I'm going to train very hard this week and move on and up.

[shesprints]

My friend still has not gotten the video to me but I'll be patient.

Weight: 143.8
Calories: 1920, 245C/131P/52F

I gave myself some latitude on eating today since I trained 3.5 total hours...

BJJ--3+ hours (7am session plus two midday classes)
BJJ level 2 gi 1 hour 15
Pull to X guard
Worst case scenario: they pass to mount with knee knee up.
Clamp your elbow down on their ankle!
Elbow frame the other side. Bump them with knee and bridge while hip escaping into single x.
If they grab your head, circle it out and inside while bumping.

Positional rounds
Regular training 7 x 5 min
Two rounds with a white belt guy--passed guard a lot, mount a lot, and got a nice scissor sweep from spider guard setup. Rounds with upper blue and purple belts--other people got mount on me. I did get yo x guard a couple times.

Level 2 nogi 1 hour
Top half pass
From knees and toes, handfight, dive for far underhook while pinning near thigh. Switch side of head to far side and clasp hands. Keep their lower thigh pinned, your legs in frog sprawl. Do not kick out their bottom leg if it's off the ground. Keep it pinned, then switch hips and lift to slide top knee through to side control.

Positional rounds
5 x 5 min regular training
Good rounds with purple belt women. Took the back a lot on one and flattened her out. Was able to pass guard on the other but she fought up. Got a decent sweep from inverted guard. Went with another blue belt woman and guillotined her and also got RNC.

Advanced 1 gi 1 hour
Marcelo class!
Same as last class starting position
Then extend their arm overhead. If you extend the far side they can't crunch in to get leverage for sweep. Then walk legs up but keep weight to the side. Finally knee through to mount.

8 x 50 second positional rounds
Got a great sweep and shot a triangle on a blue belt woman
4 x 5 min regular training
Did a decent job against John defending his over under. Fought purple belt girl again and did a meh job with deep half. Fought another purple and did quite well, swept her, was setting up omoplata when time ran out. I also used Paul's half guard pass a lot (like every round!) and it's high percentage, as well as the half guard knee pick sweep.


I was TIRED the rest of the day but I did get to take a brief nap before work. And, as you can see, I ate more calories.

I need to talk to my nutritionist about my eating plan. I want to continue losing weight as fast as I can but am worried it's already slowed down on 1650ish a day, as I had been doing. So eating more... I suppose it may help? We'll see. The water cut has also confused the numbers a bit.

[shesprints]

Weight: 142.8
Calories: 1750, 210C/132P/50F

Workout: 3 hours BJJ
Level 2 gi 1 hour
RDLR hook and top foot on hip. Grab ankle. Grab for far triceps and push forward, inverting under. Then grab their other pant leg to come up. Or grab belt or pants at waist for back take.

Positional training 4 x 2:30, 4 x 3 min, 5 min
Some good rounds. Worked half guard a lot and rarely got passed. Massacred a white belt. He seemed ok with it. And rolled super light with a small white belt woman and let her pass guard and stuff.

Advanced 1 nogi 1 hour
Passing to mount
Smoosh chest forward if they try to frame. Then hug head and arm. Grab your own arms or wrap around their head. Then pyramid up to pass. If they try to scoop other arm under, sit hips back and DOWN.

Positional training 4 x 1 min
Regular training 4 x 5 min
Rolled with an ADCC finalist woman wooow she was super nice and good round trying to play inverted guard. Got a nice omoplata setup on John as well as a guillotine but he didn't tap because of his ridiculous neck. Got some more nice half guard knee picks and the Paul pass.


Private lesson 1 hour
Concept when on top: Angle, Weight, Frames. It goes on reverse on bottom.
If you drive the knee through, focus on that first.
If they go deep half step around and go north south. North south principles. One arm in, one out. Weight with your chest and your hip, but don't tilt the hip. Spread your knees out like a frog.
Cool technique: after stack pass, if I don't get far enough up their body to the neck (which I should work on doing) go to reverse knee on belly. If they put their arm through, grab their elbow, figure 4 legs with feet pointing to the outside, and roll to kimura.
OR stay on top and keep sitting on them but swing your leg over their head. Heel on their neck to keep them escaping. Keep the arm. Scoot down and pinch knee in. Don't fall backwards. Use the knee and your control of their arm to finish arm bar. The foot not on their neck can come pretty far back for leverage, unlike regular arm bar.



Note that while I did roll live in the first two classes, the private lesson was pretty laid-back. He just had me flow roll a bit with him to show him where I'm at (he said I'm right where I need to be with my jiu jitsu, which I suppose is good!) and discussed the tournament. He said that I'm missing one of the three pieces of angle, weight, and frames--primarily angle on my over-under pass. He agreed that I could work on posture, as well, and talked about just cueing myself once per practice session to make sure I work on it. Good advice.

I was really tired after three straight hours, but recovered well after lunch, work, and dinner now just. Dinner was incredible... I splurged on some Chilean sea bass and broiled that with teriyaki, lemon, maple syrup, and lots of red pepper flakes. Had that with a side of asparagus with sesame oil drizzled on top and a plain sweet potato. For some reason sweet potato tastes really good to me right now. It was a fantastic dinner. I also had 5g of dark chocolate for dessert. Incredible how that small amount feels like enough. It's quality chocolate my mom brings back from Italy.

[shesprints]

Got up to go to the 7am BJJ class so no accurate weight taken. I got a total of about 4 hours of sleep and was EXHAUSTED at work all day, but I survived. Somehow. I didn't have time to train midday, so had to go with morning class! All good.

Also talked to my nutritionist who agreed that 1750 is as low as I should be going now that I don't need to make weight for comp so urgently. She agrees I can make lightweight by November 16th. So that's cool.

Weight: N/A
Calories: 1750, 201C/133P/52F

Workout:
BJJ 1 hour 15 min (class plus extra rolls)
Advanced 1 nogi
Pull single leg x
Land at an angle and keep their ankle in your armpit. Put far hook under their far leg.
Start to x sweep. Then grab their far ankle and simple sweep from there.
If they strip your top foot and backstep, keep your hook in on the stepping leg and keep your knee inside on their hip. Rotate onto your shoulder. Don't hip out. Let hips rotate over. Then grab their posted arm and kick out their far foot to come up. Or just follow them up if they've twisted a lot.

6 x 2:00 positional training
6 x 5 min regular training
Some decent scrambles. Escaped mount. Dove through x guard to come up. Recovered x guard on far leg a couple times. Note that if they strip foot, drop top foot and kick them forward with knee behind their leg. Used butterfly hook from half guard to get full guard. Crushed white belts, got crushed to smithereens by purple belts... cycle of life. I did surprise one upper belt to the point of chuckling when I dove underneath to escape the x guard and came up on top in leg drag position--it's a staple of my game, but he didn't know me, so he was surprised. Overall I felt somewhat defeated but only because I was so tired I felt delirious and uncoordinated.

[phoenix4444]

I seriously don't know how you do all your training on less than 1750. And nice meals!

[shesprints]

I seriously don't know how you do all your training on less than 1750. And nice meals!

Honestly, it's a struggle. Though I should note that my calorie counts for the last three days are off by 100. I accidentally logged 1 cup of the soup I eat with lunch instead of 2. So I should correct the last three days to 1850, rather than 1750. That's a better amount for how much I'm doing, anyhow... and frankly, I'm super depleted as is. I have no energy and sometimes feel like I'm passing out when I'm training. It's not great. Today I ate a grapefruit after dinner, because my nutritionist said to add some citrus to my diet. Now I feel mentally weak, as well as physically weak, for eating so much. Why could I handle 1650 for weeks but am weaker now? I suppose I am training more.

I'm also having a tough time with work. I have so much to do and so much secondhand stress from all of my students. I'm struggling. AND now I feel like it's not even worth it and I won't even lose weight eating so much.

... anyway.

Weight: 143.8 (normal fluctuation up, digestion, etc.)
Calories: 1900, 255C/129P/47F

Workout:
BJJ 2 hours
Level 2 gi
Spider guard or foot on hip/foot on bicep guard retention. If they try to pass away from spider side, extend them AWAY and BACK, then reestablish guard. If they try to pass on spider side by pushing your foot down and grabbing cross-collar, post your other hand, keep hold of sleeve, and stiff-arm, then spin to regain guard.
General principle: scoot CLOSE to them, don't let them get far away or straighten your legs (this is hard muscle work).
Positional sparring 6 x 2:30
Regular training 3 x 5:00
Good rounds with other blue belts and a female purple belt who's new to Marcelo's. She said I was very strong, but didn't use too much force, and she was close to my size. She couldn't pass my guard, but I couldn't sweep her, either (maybe once). I hope she stays. I got swept a couple of times. It feels most comfortable for me to transition to x guard. I need to brush up on lasso more.

Advanced 1 nogi
Warmup included two rounds of 30 seconds high knees, 30 seconds sprawl with hands always touching floor, 30 seconds of situps, and 30 seconds of pushups (I could do 10 in that time).
The lesson was RDLR hook plus ankle control, grabbing underneath far side triceps, and inverting underneath; switch hand to underhook thigh and kick out to come up behind.
Then we practiced takedown defense without our arms, hands behind head while our partner shot a double. Then one arm. I landed hard on my knee, luckily the right knee, and needed a second to recover, but I think it's fine. Got a single leg one time. Stayed after class to work more on takedowns as well, helped by a much better blue belt woman who has great double legs. She taught me how to "dance" to begin the double leg shot. She also showed me the cycle of double-single-far side single-far side double-go behind. We practiced clearing collar tie + duckunder, and using our own collar tie + ankle pick/thigh grab to take them down.
Bunch of 1-2:30 short rounds of takedowns
then 3 x 5:00 regular training
Good rounds with people close to my size, lots of scrambling and got to try class move a bit. Tough round with a big visiting blue belt guy who tried to knee bar my bad knee but was otherwise great (I asked him gently not to do that). I got a decent half guard sweep, as well.

I'm feeling really down, and down on myself, and just lousy and exhausted. I'm going to see Rachel, which will help.

[thehobbes]

Yeah I agree 1750-1850 blows my mind! I would probably burn extra calories eating that from all the complaining and crying. That's crazy, although your maintenance being ~2300 I guess sounds reasonable. The crazy calorie burn with running is in my top 3 motivators for even running at all, srs, I know I can go out and run slow as a turtle but still get like 500 burned calories out of it. I certainly wouldn't advise you exercising MORE at this point but maybe bump up cals closer to maintenance until you feel better.

November is pretty far away still, don't be too hard on yourself, everything WILL come together.

It always makes me wonder what's "better" for a human if they were at the extreme end of this. If you had a large, fit person who exercised constantly and had a 5k calorie maintenance versus a smaller, fit person who exercised constantly who had a maintenance of 1500 cals. When cutting, maintaining, bulking which scenario would be "healthier"? Larger person would naturally take in a higher amount of everything, so sodium, fat, sugar hypothetically, don't know if that would damage them to do that for 30 years straight, but someone going HAM on working out all the time and having to limit themselves to 1500 would be rough and may stress the body and would be a mental struggle to go like that 30 years.

Saw the term "decent scrambles," thought you were talking about eggs, lmao.

[shesprints]

Hammy, where did I say my maintenance was 2300? Can I ask how you arrived at that number? My nutritionist thinks that it's closer to 2500-2600 with heavy training. BJJ burns more calories than running if you're rolling hard. I don't know why your comments in my log sometimes rub me the wrong way. I guess it feels sometimes like you just come here and rub my face into the idea that you are close to my weight now, or that you eat so much more than me... it hurts my feelings sometimes. I'm just trying to do the best I can and honestly it's difficult enough without feeling inadequate by comparison.


Anyway, I've just had a really lousy day. I don't feel well and clearly overtrained this week. Today I bashed my knee again, so my left knee is swollen and sore. I had to sit out the second class and feel horrible.

Weight: 143.8 (pre-bathroom, so I imagine more like the 142.8 I'd been seeing)
Calories: 1790, 231C/141P/42F

Workout:
BJJ 1.5 hours
Drill before class:
Practiced "kiss of the dragon" rdlr inversion to back take, and also the double-single-single-double-back/trip takedown sequence to work on smoothness and speed with takedown entries.

Level 2 nogi
Our choice of guard pass and sweep
Then live training guard pass and sweep
I passed to north south on a white belt who didn't realize that was a pass.
Live training 6 x 5 min
Some harder rolls and a lighter one with a visiting white belt woman my size. She commented that I was very strong, but honestly she was going full force so I had to control her. I let her play around a little before sweeping her, getting mount, etc. I also let her pass to side control so I could use the "ghost" escape, which worked well. It works on white belts. I also rolled with John. He was trying to work his over-under pass but I kimura'd his arm and scooted my hips out, inverted, and slid onto his back, which was cool. Some other good rolls and took the back but unfortunately banged my knee on the ground.

Advanced 1 gi
Only stayed for the instruction due to knee
If they try to berimbolo, fist in near collar and also hold their far pant leg. Backstep but don't fall to the ground. Pass to north south. OR if they won't let go of your pant or sleeve, simply move back inside open guard and begin a pass from there, like knee cut or etc.

I iced my knee immediately, went home and iced some more, iced again in the evening and took 2 Aleve. I'll keep taking anti-inflammatories and icing tomorrow.

I don't actually have time to train this weekend since I have an overwhelming amount of work, so all I'm going to do is aim for minimal calories eaten (<1400, preferably), walk a ton, and sleep a lot whenever I'm not at work. I may take Monday, Tuesday, and even Wednesday off training as well, though if i do I will hit up the regular gym for some upper body.

[phoenix4444]

Man that sucks woman. Take care this weekend and get your sleep on. Being in a deficit is hard enough and along with your training schedule puts a huge strain on the body and mind.

[thehobbes]

Hammy, where did I say my maintenance was 2300? Can I ask how you arrived at that number? My nutritionist thinks that it's closer to 2500-2600 with heavy training. BJJ burns more calories than running if you're rolling hard. I don't know why your comments in my log sometimes rub me the wrong way. I guess it feels sometimes like you just come here and rub my face into the idea that you are close to my weight now, or that you eat so much more than me... it hurts my feelings sometimes. I'm just trying to do the best I can and honestly it's difficult enough without feeling inadequate by comparison.

Sorry SS, certainly did not mean to do that or hurt your feelings, very sorry that I did, that's my fault. Added 500 for maint, that's why I thought 2300, sorry again just talking but I will shut up about the calories srs.

I hope the knee is back in action soon.

[shesprints]

Man that sucks woman. Take care this weekend and get your sleep on. Being in a deficit is hard enough and along with your training schedule puts a huge strain on the body and mind.

Yeah, I think I've just been pushing it too hard. I feel the emotional strain, too--I feel like crying sometimes when training just because I'm so exhausted I have no reserves.

Sorry SS, certainly did not mean to do that or hurt your feelings, very sorry that I did, that's my fault. Added 500 for maint, that's why I thought 2300, sorry again just talking but I will shut up about the calories srs.

I hope the knee is back in action soon.

I'm sure you didn't mean it that way, hammy, and I'm feeling oversensitive lately.

The good news is that my knee is definitely not injured like it was last time, just bruised and a little swollen. I did the right thing taking Aleve and icing yesterday, because it felt relatively fine today. I'll take tomorrow off training as well (I might lift, or might just rest) and then see about getting back Monday or Tuesday.

Didn't weigh myself today.

Calories: 1550, 204C/114P/38F
Exercise: walked 4 miles to and from work

That's about it, met the woman my brother's dating--she seems super cool, very smart and pretty and funny, and has a good rapport with him already; it made me really happy to see. Hung out with Rachel some, but mostly I just had a lot of work to deal with.

I wound up eating over 1400 calories because I want to fight this illness. I just felt too drained and hungry by dinner, so I had an orange and 5g of dark chocolate in addition to what I had planned. My nutritionist says to eat citrus to boost immunity anyhow, and one piece of fruit won't sink my progress. I'm trying to be hardcore... it's tough, I don't always know what degree of hunger/weakness is desirable or will lead to fast weight loss.

[shesprints]

Feeling sick, or perhaps just horrible PMS that feels precisely like flu symptoms. I slept 10 hours last night.


Calories: 1590, 214C/114P/43F
Exercise: 4 mile walk to and from work

Insanely busy day. I ate a Clif bar for lunch. Not a good choice. I felt sugar-high and weird afterwards; I don't think that'll be my choice of fuel for my jiu jitsu tournament either. I'll probably stick with potatoes for carbs and some sort of portable protein/fat for satiety (since the tournament lasts all day and has many matches). Maybe some turkey breast wrapped in lettuce with avocado and tomato as a portable lunch; we'll see.

I drank a ton of caffeine today to survive work. Just finished. Still sending emails.

The good news is my knee feels fine! THANK GOODNESS. I'm hoping I can train tomorrow.

[phoenix4444]

Damn, no rest for the weary. Yeah a cliff bar is just a protein high candy bar and they should be marketed as such.

And hooray for the knee feeling better!

[shesprints]

Damn, no rest for the weary. Yeah a cliff bar is just a protein high candy bar and they should be marketed as such.

And hooray for the knee feeling better!

LOL I knew what it was when I ate it... I was testing the hypothesis that it might still be decent fuel for a BJJ tournament. Now I think not; it just makes me too jittery to eat stuff that's so high-sugar. New tournament plan is plain potatoes and, midday in between gi and nogi, some turkey rolled up in lettuce with some avocado. Easy enough.

I actually felt well enough to train today. And I had some time to kill at work between classes so I did 50 pushups. Didn't weigh myself because I feel bloated, know I've stuck to calories, and what's the point?

Calories: 1630, 214C/124P/39F
Workout:
BJJ--1 hour
Level 2 nogi
Pull to X guard
If they sprawl, get butterfly hooks and use it to quickly partly elevate so you can pummel for underhooks; either gable grip body lock or grab their shoulders. From this position you have several options: butterfly sweep, arm bar while stretching them away on hooks, closed guard, half guard. I tried all options during drill. Most comfortable with half guard, obviously.

Some positional training and some live rounds.
Rolled with visiting 10th Planet woman who said I seemed like an upper blue/new purple. I escaped via scramble a lot! Used Ghost escape. Also used Kiss of the Dragon to land in leg drag --> arm triangle, which made a guy tap quickly. Got a tip to go way deeper with the top arm on my darce, and to lock closer to the elbow on my inverted arm bar from butterfly or closed guard. Used the attack on the shoulder to take the back on one woman. Tried a kimura trap that had meh outcome (I was able to sweep, but no back take). Used the Paul Half Guard Pass a lot from top. Tried my usual knee pick half guard sweep a bit but need to protect my space a lot more as I also got flattened a good bit.

+

5 x 10 pushups
and 3.8 mile walk

Definitely feeling more energetic and healthy, whew. Good call to just train 1 hour today instead of staying for two classes. First, I didn't have time due to work; second, I was definitely still recovering. I'll train 2 hours tomorrow and Thursday, then rest Friday for the tournament on Saturday. It's round robin, so I have LOTS of matches, and I'm competing both gi and nogi! Exciting.

[shesprints]

Still feeling preeeettyyyy rough and weak and blargh, but I went and trained anyway cause that's what we do in here.

Weight: 143.2
Calories: 1870, 259C/127P/46F
(tried eating more to help boost the immune system, plus had 2+ hours training today so this is on track for a deficit in any case... and I didn't want to go to bed hungry since I can't sleep when I do that. Extra calories come from grapefruit, a peach, 4 oz cottage cheese, and 10g dark chocolate; the rest is as usual--I typically do not eat dairy, fruit, or anything like dessert apart from my recent Clif bar)

Training:
BJJ 2+ hours
10 min drill guard pull to arm bar, guard pull to shin-on-shin sweep.

Level 2 gi
Lasso guard
"walking" forward shoulder to butt and at an angle as they walk backwards. Keep HIPS UP AND CLOSE.
If they drag feet down and start to pass, post opposite hand and turn into them, grab sleeve again, reestablish spider guard.
Then, if they stay on knees, option to kick out one knee and sweep with the far spider guard to come up in mount.

Positional sparring retaining guard/trying to pass, then retaining guard OR sweeping/trying to pass 4 x 1:00, 2 x 2:00
Regular training 2 x 5:00
Rolled with black belt woman, whew, tough, and really good purple belt guy. So hard being the nail. Had a good round with a blue belt woman, scrambly.

Advanced 1 nogi
Standing drills: try to get two-on-one, try to touch leg, try to touch head, try to establish wrist control. Pep talk from Marcelo on focusing hard during standup so as not to give opponent an in to play their game.
Live training 10-min ADCC-style rounds
Tough round with 200lb brown belt woman and purple belt woman, and then ended with a lighter round with a white belt guy. Playing half guard a lot, trying to keep elbows tight and protect my head, trying to keep bottom hook active.

Basically not a great day, just staying alive, feeling really run down and sick and sore knee.

Worked a lot, came home, trying to rest, seeing the doctor tomorrow morning and not training tomorrow. May go back Thursday for a final training day before competing. MAYBE Friday just to get in some mat time but wouldn't roll hard or anything, just drill. Work stress is kicking my ass, too.

At least making weight for Saturday will be easy no matter what! I'm in the under 150 category.

[shesprints]

Went to the doctor today. I don't seem to be that sick. She says it's probably a virus and to get good nutrition (don't eat at a deficit) for a couple days. It's a relief... I think my body needs the break.

Calories: 1880, 219C/144P/57F

Made up of steak instead of fish for dinner (more fat), avocado on my salad at lunch, two oranges, and 10g of dark chocolate. So nothing really crazy, just a little bit more of things and less exercise; it would still be a good deficit if I had trained, but all I did was walk home from work.

I'm going to try to get sleep tonight, but not sure I will without my usual activity; we'll see. I may actually wind up going to the gym tomorrow for abs and calisthenics and light cardio. No BJJ, though, largely because I'm not sure if I might be contagious.

If this is just PMS, I'm somewhat annoyed. I get really rough symptoms sometimes that exactly mimic a flu and I just don't love that.

[phoenix4444]

A little break will do you good.

Ugh pmsfor you. I am suffering myself right now. The extra fat and iron in the steak will help if it is pms. I hope you don't get sick. That is the worst.

[shesprints]

A little break will do you good.

Ugh pmsfor you. I am suffering myself right now. The extra fat and iron in the steak will help if it is pms. I hope you don't get sick. That is the worst.

I think I am actually sick--this feels like more than PMS. Hope it gets a little better by Saturday; we'll see. I slept 10 hours last night and basically lay around all day today feeling lousy. I feel hot, sweaty, throat hurts, headache, and super weak and low-energy. It sucks.

Weight: 142.4
Calories: 1890, 232C/147P/50F

I had an orange again today, as well as 1000mg vitamin C and 50mg zinc (on top of regular multi, krill oil, and then magnesium in the evening). I'll repeat that tomorrow hoping it helps and will probably continue to supplement at least the C and maybe zinc as well for awhile to boost my really lousy immune system.

I did absolutely no exercise. I barely even walked anywhere, just grabbed a few groceries and got a haircut. Rachel's coming by soon--that'll cheer me up. I also made a new BJJ friend on the BJJ Reddit. She's awesome. Reminds me of me when I was a white belt, very enthusiastic and obsessed.

[phoenix4444]

10 hours, wow. You surely needed it. Hopefully it isn't something nasty like the flue.

[shesprints]

10 hours, wow. You surely needed it. Hopefully it isn't something nasty like the flue.

Luckily I think not! I seem to have gotten over it. Also, I competed today and won bronze in the gi and gold in nogi. YASSSS.

Videos following.

Cliffs: I showed up at the venue right before my matches were starting because everything got moved up. I had no warmup and was still kind of low-energy and logy feeling, so I basically stumbled onto the mat for my first match and we were off. I had no idea if I'd even survive. I was shocked to find myself pulling a decent half guard and as time ran out, sweeping, passing, and getting to knee-on-belly to score 7 points in the last 30 seconds and take the match. Then I won the second match as well, quite decisively (back take from closed guard) and went "oh hey." Unfortunately, I lost the next two, but only narrowly--by ref's decision. The points were completely tied up. Then I won the fight for third place (of seven women) with a bow-and-arrow choke 3 minutes into the 6-min match.

Nogi went much later. I found myself in essentially the same (lousy) position I had been in in pans, with my back taken off of a standing scramble. No bueno. But I kept pushing, got to closed guard with an underhook on one arm, got a classic arm bar from closed guard and transitioned to belly down arm bar, which I finished for the sub with less than a minute left. WHEW.

Videos below.

Here are two gi matches I won on points:

Only the last two minutes of this one made it in...


This was a good one.


And two I lost by decision:

This one is boring af just the last two and a half minutes of five minutes of me stuck in some woman's closed guard and not doing enough to get out. Matheus Diniz and Marcelo Garcia would be ASHAMED. Luckily they're busy trying to win ADCC.


This is the one where I played myself by pulling guard like a complete moron. Did get a sweep, though--just needed more follow-through:


The one of me getting the sub is on my mom's instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/p/B29pDSDB..._web_copy_link

Here is my one nogi match:





The last one is worth watching for my reaction to getting the win. I was shocked. You can see me hugging my friend, a brown belt who was coaching me and is <3 <3 <3.

Oh, also....

Calories: 1740, 205C/142P/43F
not bad not bad
mostly potatoes but went out for a rare splurge and got a plain salad with grilled chicken and a tiny piece (about 1 oz) of avocado. No dressing. Yes that's a splurge for me. I also had my mom's beef stew for dinner, very lean beef but cooked slow til tender. Mmm.

My friend got hurt, though--his knee. Went to urgent care--I helped him outside. He's the one who broke my hand but I felt zero schadenfreude, just sad he got hurt; he'd been doing really well in the tournament. I hope he heals fast.

[phoenix4444]

Congrats! Had a big smile on my face for you. So good to see your happiness.

So sorry about your friend. Knee injuries are tough.

[thehobbes]

Awesome job on the competition placing! Love the reaction in the last vid, true happiness.

[shesprints]

Congrats! Had a big smile on my face for you. So good to see your happiness.

So sorry about your friend. Knee injuries are tough.

I'm so happy to have your support, friend. Good news. Nicky (his name) went to Urgent Care and they think the bone and tendons are intact and it's just a sprain, so hopefully he gets back on the mat soon.

Awesome job on the competition placing! Love the reaction in the last vid, true happiness.

True happiness borne of absolute disbelief--I had no idea how I pulled that off so last-minute when I was down by so much, but I'll take it.

Got just one more vid for you guys... the bronze medal match in which I got a submission halfway through. It's short! I just dragged her arm across and took her back, then quickly got the choke. My closed guard has improved.



In OTHER much more impressive good news, one of my BJJ professors (the name for black belt teachers), Matheus Diniz, just won his division at ADCC, which is like the Olympics of grappling. It's HUGE, all the big names, and a very, very big deal for him and for our whole gym. None of Marcelo's other black belts have won, though Marcelo himself has several times. I'm so happy.





ETA: I actually lifted today. I was super tired and shaking off the last of this lingering sickness, but I ate closer to maintenance again--TON of protein and a decent amount of fat (8oz salmon filet with dinner). Hopefully it helps. Loaded up on vitamin C again too.

Calories: 1970, 235C/156P/50F

Workout:

5 min jog
Bird dog x 10
Plank 1 min
Single leg bridge 2 x 20
Hollow hold 30s

Front squat 45 x 8, 65 × 5, 95 3 x 5
Pushups 3 x 10
Chinups 2, 3, 2, 8 assisted
Bulgarian split squat 20lb DBs 2 x 10
Bottoms up carry 20lb KB 45s right, 15+ 30s left

Overall still weak and tight in chest.
Left arm has gotten seriously weak.

I don't think I can determine if I've lost strength on my cut or am just coming back from injury. I DO need to train abs a lot more, at least twice a week from here on out. Wednesdays and Sundays will be good days to lift for me, as I can't make training BJJ due to work scheduling.

[shesprints]

Internet was out last night so yesterday's getting logged today:

Weight: 142.4 (didn't go up at all despite a bunch of time off working out and slightly higher cals... hope I see a drop by next week)
Calories: 1960, 246C/142P/52F

Ate a nice amount of lamb loin last night--7.5 oz. MAN that filled me up, actually too full--hard to sleep. That's good to remember, though. I have a steak for tonight but going back to fish soon as it digests more easily.

Workout:

BJJ 2 hours
Level 2 nogi
Granby through legs to come up on single (like Kiss of the Dragon but opponent standing)
Seated guard, opponent starts to pass, grab wrist with your palm down, feet on hips, tricep grip, hip up for arm bar and turn arm with the wrist grip. Pinch knees.
If they pull out, come up for a double leg, quickly grabbing around their hips.

Several 2-2:30 rounds starting with one person seated, one standing. I kept just falling into half guard, need to work on really going for move of the day.
4 min regular training went well, got a guard pass against a tough blue belt. Passing generally went well, still using the Paul Pass.

Advanced 1 gi
Standing handfighting to double leg. I use arm drag too much. We practiced faking as well, and using very low stance. Focus on keeping opponent's hands off you.
4 x :25 low stance try to touch leg
6 x 5 min regular training
Good rounds. Got a lasso sweep shooting my knee through the leg on bottom and simply dumping to one side. Also got a sweep by catching the far side kimura and using it to force my opponent over, then passed guard (brown belt masters woman). Got a bow-and-arrow on a tough blue belt woman, a lot like my match this weekend. Good training today.

Marcelo congratulated me on my tournament!!!!! Insane. He comes back from coaching Matheus to an ADCC win and still pays attention to a random new blue belt in a local tournament.

This is why I am so proud to train at Marcelo's. He is a class act and such a kind, attentive person.

[shesprints]

Weight: 142.4
Calories: 1900, 224C/144P/53F
Good on fat and protein and not too full after dinner today, which is cool.

Workout:

BJJ--2 hours 20 min

20 min drill guard pull and pass w partner--she pulled and I backstep passed. Also practiced some shooting on her and some guard pulls.

Level 2 gi
Guard pull speed drills
Loser does pushups
Then shark tank for guard pulls--i stayed in 4 rounds!
Shark tank guard pull to first points scored, got the knee pick sweep on a 4 stripe white belt guy and almost got it on purple belt woman. I did wind up sweeping another purple belt too (came up on single?)

4 x 2:30 from guard pull, 3 x 5 min regular training
Some good rounds with strong people and took the back a lot on this one white belt. Tried so many chokes. Ezequiel, collar, bow and arrow. He's tough. I need to be more technical and patient overall.

Advanced 1 nogi
Single leg takedown
Kinda swing single
Shoot and spin to behind
Land with back knee down so they don't trip you
Then takedown entries with collar tue snapdown to arm drag or two on one
Live standing rounds to take leg 2 x 2 min
Regular training 4 x 5 min
Still playing bottom half and defending a lot better. Got a good sweep on a purple belt woman and practiced inverting some. Had a good round with a purple belt who had last visited a year ago abd remembered me. Also took the back on that white belt guy again and kept moving between back and mount. He's hard to submit.

I also stopped a roll with a guy when I saw what looked like a huge red circle around a blister on his thigh. Classic skin infection stuff. He said not staph but nope. Not risking it.

My drill partner also still has a cough. If I get sick again because of her I'll be mad.

Training partners need consideration.

[phoenix4444]

I also stopped a roll with a guy when I saw what looked like a huge red circle around a blister on his thigh. Classic skin infection stuff. He said not staph but nope. Not risking it.

My drill partner also still has a cough. If I get sick again because of her I'll be mad.

Ew germy people. That is where my antisocial traits come in hand. I think that is why I really don't get sick unless man brings some germs home form his job.

[DCSpartan]

Congrats on all the BJJ bling you have won recently!