This morning a lightbulb went off in my head. I got up and looked at my body in the mirror and I looked 'flat'. So this is what they mean when you look 'flat' - to me it seemed obvious when I saw myself! My abs were not nearly as pronounced, my shoulders looked like deflated balloons and my legs were softer looking. I have been doing a test run of my depletion and re-carb phase for the show. I was so glad I woke up looking 'flat' because I seriously feel like crap and am ridiculously tired (which convinced me that I had hit the bottom of my depletion). Today was the day I was planning on eating carbs again after three days of depleting all sugar and glycogen in my body. Now it is time to start eating carbs again (including things I haven't had in quite a while... Quaker instant sweetened oatmeal, can you say yum- dessert!) so that my muscles can fill back up with glycogen, which also brings water into the muscle tissue. This will help me look "full again". I plan on eating carbs tomorrow as well and watching my body to see what it looks like come Monday (and tomorrow). What I have to be careful with while eating carbs is a "spillover" effect, meaning that I ate too many carbohydrates and the excess has recruited water not only to my muscle but also to the interstitial space, therefore creating excess subcutaneous water which will leave me with a puffy and bloated look. The goal is to load just enough carbohydrates that my muscles hold the water and look fuller for the day of the show. Is this confusing to you? Because it is a bit confusing to me! I certainly understand the principles and science behind the thinking but really there are so many questions that involve sodium, potassium, water, glycogen, glycemic index of food, etc. That doesn't even include all of the signaling proteins and physiological reactions times that can differ in each person! All of these things play a role in how the body will look the day of the show. These things can actually bring very significant changes, so it is import to try and time everything out right and get myself looking the best I can!

On another note... I had my hair done last night - dark reddish brown! It's taking some getting used to but I think it will look really great with a super dark tan and my teal suit. Tomorrow Em and I have another suit fitting, if all goes well I will post pics so you can see progress and the hair!