------------------------------ Date: 16 Oct 1996 From: "Cecchini Ron" Subject: Contest Results & Plea Ok. I received enough emails to warrant a quick synopsis of how I did. I don't have the time to detail my entire contest prep, so I'll just give the results... Oct 5 Laura Creavalle's NPC Northern States - Nashua, NH Took 3rd out of 6 in the men's middleweights. Weighed in at a very flat 171. Highlights included having to ditch my posing routine and coming up with something completely new in 20 minutes. I ended up stomping around to Ministry's "Stigmata". Oct 13 NPC Massachusetts State Championships - Waltham, MA Don't know what my official placing was, but I didn't place in the top 5 or 6. I'm guessing I was 7th out of 11. I still have to ask Will. Weighed in at a much fuller and harder 171. [ I carb depleted / carbed up-water depleted for this show, unlike last week's "warmup" where I just showed up and did it. ] I was much more confident (in myself) going into this show, having gotten over my stage fright the week before. I "posed" to Stigmata again - this time the first 90 seconds, instead of 60 seconds like last week. I was able to put a little more thought into the routine, but it still involved alot of ad-libbing and pacing back and forth and hitting shots. [ and that's what the crowd always goes for! ] As expected, the competition was very, very good. The middleweight class is traditionally the toughest class in every show I've ever attended - the anomaly being last week's show in Nashua, where there was only 6 middleweights and *14* very good light-heavyweights! There's *never* that many light-heavies! And being the Mass States, these were the top guys I was going against. Bottom line is I have to be bigger and harder. I knew that going in to the show. I got what I deserved. If I had been harder, I *might* have been able to eek up a placing or 2. Don't know. But the top 4-5 guys outmassed me. ... However, I accomplished my own personal goal which was to: compete in the toughest show in New England, show up in respectable condition, and not make a total ass of myself on stage. I think I accomplished at least that. Now my plea: Someone please tell me that I *will* eventually stop eating - please! Right now I am completely analagous to one of those lab rat's that's had part of it's brain removed and keeps eating until it's stomach explodes. I'm serious: I've had no less than 5 moments since Sunday night ('cause, yes, I did go out to eat Sunday night from 10:30-1:30 in the morning and ate my fried calamari, sweet potato french fries, ribs and swordfish) when I *honestly* thought I had done damage to my innards. No less than 5 times I found myself sitting there, in pain, saying: "You did it now, Ron my man. You busted a valve. Don't know what it is, but call 911. Shit... Can't reach the phone... Can't... get... up..." I'm bingeing like no one has ever binged before! (well...) But I swear I've eaten on the order of 14,000 grams of carbs since Sunday night! { yesterday alone I ate an *entire* Pizza Hut pizza (stole it from our cafeteria guy when he wasn't looking), a bag of sugar coated rice cakes, 2 chewy granola bars, 2 packages of pop tarts, 2 bags of peanut M&Ms, and at 11pm I ate a huge amount of leftovers from Fridays, including a huge baked potato w/ sour cream - and all this was on top of the steak, chicken and oatmeal I was eating to "make myself feel better" (I was rationalizing that, by eating my good, clean, "diet foods", that I was eating ok). } And the sick part is: after lying still for 10-15 minutes and letting the pain go away - I get up and eat again! I can't be stopped! Food is triggering some kind of endorphin-releasing portion of my brain or something... After 4 months of deprivation, food is almost, well... sexual now! Oh, I dunno... I gave myself a week to eat *anything* and *everything* I want. I'm *trying* to do it guilt-free, but it's hard - esp. since I'm watching my abs disappear faster than that bag of Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolates did... Logically, I know I can suck down cans of Crisco for a week, put on a few pounds of pure fat, and then go back to my clean(er) lifestyle and regain my former condition. And that's what I'll do. I actually plan on eating *much* cleaner than I did this previous "off-season" (hey, now that I've competed, I can say "off-season"). My *goal* would be to keep my bf% <= 10% , preferably 8-9%. Never again do I want to get up to 16%... So, I'll continue to pig out for a few more days and empty out the ol' cupboards. Then I'll go back on the wagon, eating cleaner (even cleaner than in the past), continue doing cardio a few times a week (but never at 6am again!), and reserving my 1 or 2 cheat meals for the weekends. I guess I should be ok. I think... I hope... ... Gotta run. I see another Frosted Apple Cinnamon poptart trying to escape from my cube... Ron Cecchini -- Cecchini.Ron@mail.ndhm.gtegsc.com Discipline - Desire - Determination - Dedication No Excuses. Shut Up And Train. -----------------------------------------------