Karla, love the story about your daughter. I almost cried. Had a blast hanging out with you at the Summit, even if I only have a fraction of your energy. Can't wait until next year.
Hey girls! Loved meeting you too and Kathy again. When I come down to LA, I want to hang with you and Elisabeth again.
Okay so Summit report time from my point of view. I will do this here so I can blather on and on if I want.... I know you guys are friends and will appreciate it...
When David and I arrived on Thursday night late, I did not even get inside of my hotel room when I was met by Nick and many others including Tom. I was very happy to meet Tom because we IM just about every night. It was so much nicer to talk with him in person. He looks exactly like his pictures and is sort of quiet but easy enough to engage in conversation.
It wasn't long before JP came up to greet me and I immediately had a crush. He is absolutely darling and he played my classical guitar for me. He played these virtuouso works with an ease and musicality that only an experience musican can do. He was very encouraging of my playing too. After we played for awhile we all went to a place called Chubbies to eat something.
At Chubbies this gigantic waiter read my shirt and laughed so I did a pose down with him.
JP did a lot of talking (he is a big talker) and I learned that he is as full of energy as I am. His girlfriend actually called us brother and sister. When I stand next to JP, I actually do not stand out as a freak so much because he might even be more high energy than me. Scary. I loved having the chance to meet him and to hang with him and thank him for all he has done.
We got in at 2:30AM walking home in an awesome thunderstorm and lighting flashed so brilliantly like I have never before seen just before we got into the hotel. JP blamed the rain on me. He was dripping wet from head to toe. I am from Portland so had a rain resistant jacket on. LOL.... Next post = day 2
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The BIGGER I get the smaller you look
Day 2 (Friday) I awoke at 8:30 M. I did not eat breakfast as there was no real place to eat breakfast that was quick. Besides I had eaten at Chubbies at 2:00. I ate 3 chicken breasts, a salad and a hamburger roll. I decided to do what I always do in a new city and take a little jog/walk. I found out from the front desk where I was and where to go and by 9:00 I was off and running.
I had a very nice 2 hour run/walk with a stop at the Plaza to find water. When I returned to the hotel I had just enough time to get dressed and get David up because we had to go to lunch with the gang. We went to this place called Winstons where the food was just plain nasty. I knew it was going to be bad when I had to pay 15 cents for lettuce for my tripple steak burger. At least the company was good. The Summit really was about eating like crap and it nearly killed me. I will do things differently next year.
One of the funny things about this weekend was how the lot of us had to walk around from place to place. There were so many of us. We just followed each other like Lemmings. Sometimes the person in front did not know where they were going. LOL!
when we returned to the hotel I talked David into going swimming with me. Turns out that a lot of others did too. David and I were big goofs and we played so hard for another 2 hours or so. Then we gathered up some folks and hired a cab to go to 24 Hour fitness and do a workout. The crew was David, Karla, Tom, Kathy and elisabeth. We had a blast working out. I watched the girls and Tom from the corner of my eye and was super impressed. David and I did a bro-style workout with curls and presses and all the fun lifts. This gym was funny because it was obvious that girls do not lift in the free weight area very often. We were watched the whole time we were there. They did not even attempt to hide the fact. LOL!
When we got home it was time for dinner and I really needed to eat. I had done a boatload of activity this day with very little calories. So when we got to the restaraunt I ordered 2 whole meals and an extra side of veges. And then I ate them all much to the surprise of those around me. David did the same thing. And thus began the rumours and the talk about how much David and Karla ate. We did eat a lot when we ate but we only ate 2 times a day. There was so much activity that we had to eat more to sustain. For me it was especially critical as I was dropping weight too fast before leaving and was at 129.2 lbs on the morning that I left for the Summit. So I did eat a lot but I ate pretty well (was picky) and did not partake in the alcohol abuse and custard runs and things like that. I generally ate decent foods. So that is my first disclaimer of the weekend. The jokes about my appetite went on and on but it wasn't as bad as it may have looked to the people attending.
By dinner time most of the folks had arrived. Alan did not make it because of delays but I got to sit with Jamie Hale at the dinner table and also met his friend big Will. I sat across from Neil who commented that my appetite was impressive. LOL!
Later when we returned to the hotel some of us went to the bar and had a few drinks. That is when we did the first official mini-posedown.
In this pic you can see Andrea (MsT) taking the video that she posted the next day to this forum. David taught me how to do the "most muscular" pose. (generally only a guy thing)
We had to convince Tracey to give us a front double bi.
The bar closed earlyish so we opted to head for our rooms... I was okay with this given that it already was a long day and the night before was very short. Besides I had to practice my guitar anyway. So I went to my room got into my PJs (shorts and t) and just as I was about to start to practice I hear a knock. I open the door and there stands Tom with Alan.
And so it was that Alan finally got to see his client of 7 months for the first time. He grabbed me and hugged me then held me at arm's length and grabbed my bicep while exclaiming how badass I looked. He then looked me up and down and I laughed and asked him if he was having fun admiring his work. He was visably delighted. So I offered for them to come into the room. Tracey (DanceDiva) had stopped by as well so Tom, Tracey, Alan and I sat in my room and we chatted a bit.
We talked largely about my case and Tracey brought up the subject of my little sneakiness recently. Alan explained that it was okay because he and I communicate enough and that I really do have some leaway to make adjustments. He was very kind and complimentary. Of course he was also hungry (Alan loves to eat with his nutritional clients) so we went to the only place that we knew that was open so late at night "Chubbies" just like the night previous.
Mind you, I had already eaten two dinners only a few hours earlier but I still could not resist Alan's challenge of an eating contest. I ordered a grilled chicken sandwhich and a salad to start things off and Alan order a 12oz chicken fried steak and onion rings. Had he been able to actually eat that crap, he would easily have won but the food was so nasty that he could only manage about 4 oz of the meat. I finished my dinner just fine and so it was that I won the contest. Of course Alan was ashamed and of course I called him a pussy and teased him endlessly.... So in order to redeem hmself, he had to order and drink about 1200 calories in chocolate shake. He did that but still I won the contest.
We got back to the hotel at about 3:00AM and woke up at 7:00 for breakfast the next day prior to the Summit.
Next post = Summit (and final) day
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The BIGGER I get the smaller you look
Day 3 Summit day (Saturday and Sunday morning too)
I awoke at 7:30ish on this day and opted out of breakfast. I again had eaten at 2:00 AM so figured I could wait. I was excited because this was the summit day. I was also dissapointed because Alan had told us the night before that Leigh was not going to make it.
The Summit started out with Lou's presentation. Quite frankly I was not very impressed with this. It just lacked content and focus. I have been presenting for a long while in life and it was pretty clear to me that he did not have any preparation into this. Or at least not much. That said, he did get grilled pretty hard by some of the attendees and even his peers on some of the going ons at his job at T-Nation and he was able to field these things pretty well. That was entertaining to watch at least. So it was not all bad, just less then I thought he could do or should do.
Alan was up next and I think he hit a home run. His presentation was clearly prepared and it was focused. The audience responded by asking focused questions all the way through the presentation and by the time lunchtime came around there was an excitement in the air about the things he presented. A small part of Alan's presentation were some case studies and Tom, Sidonia and I were included in this. As we were walking to lunch a figure girl and a bbing guy talked to me about my work with Alan. I had not realized until then that there were others like me on this board. David is a bber and is only a newer board member but he says he is glad to have found the board and will be around for awhile. He and I had a very long discussion this night and he promised to watch my log the next little while.
At lunch I ordered and ate the 16oz prime rib baked potato and vegetables. I cleaned it up. 'nuf said about that. David ordered the dinner for two which was giant. He cleaned it up too. I was still hungry when I got finished. Everybody laughed at me when I walked around and ate leftovers from other plates. It was the first time I ate that day...
I sat at the table with Tracey on one side and Roland/Gayla on the other side. Those two are so cute together.
After this meal we did a group photo by the fountain. Here is disclaimer number 2. JP asked me to do an Ab posedown with him. I had a full pound of meat in my gut when we did that. I also am just coming off a bulk.... Oh what am I saying? He looks fucking Hawt right now in that picutre doesn't he?
And here is David by the fountain....
When we returned from lunch Alan did a Q and A session which was great. Lots and lots of questions for him and he had to cut it short so we could get Jamie Hale in.
We took a break and got Jamie in for his lecture. Now this was a presentation that I could really sink my teeth in. Unfortunately the natives were getting restless and about 30 min into it, Nick gave the cutoff warning so we had to end it. I was sad... But not too sad because the next thing we were doing was a physical activity class with Jamie.
I loved this class so much. I was in the front row and Jamie started off the class with dynamic warmups. He then taught us basic moves and techniques. At one point he was demonstrating a knee kick where you grab somebody's head and you kick them. That did not make sense to me so I asked him how you would go about grabbing somebody's head. He came at me then to show me and as he was laying his hands on my I defended myself and knocked them away. Jamie looked at me with surprise then he came at me fast and furious. I got pissed then and went after him... we made contact and he managed to get his hands around my head within a few seconds. I thought about hitting him but by this time I had my senses about me and that this was a class so I stopped resisting and the demonstration ended (that one anyway). After this I was cool and Jamie wanted to use me again for a demonstration so he had me put my hands around his neck and hold on to show how hard it is to break. I held on as tightly as I could (the picture that Paul posted is this one) and he managed to lift me from the ground but he did not break my grip. Alan (who was sitting on the sidelines and not listening to the class) thought I had attacked Jamie and had the best of him. He stood up and cheered me on. I guess others in the back had seen the action the same way because after the class I got teased endlessly about attacking Jamie Hale. Bytsi explained to me that in these sorts of classes you are not supposed to defend yourself. I did not know that so I did it. Jamie told me later that he was not ever mad at me and that he knows I didn't know. He was supper cool and I am mad for him after watching him in action this day and having dinner with him the night before. He is one of the most brilliant people I have ever spoke with.
Once the demos of the movements were done we did 30 minutes of hitting (boxing), kicking moves mixed in with mountain climbers, jumping jacks, etc. It really was just an endurance/heart sort of workout military style. The rest time was spent with us bounding around on our toes. Today I have a bit of soreness in my neck from the demos and him grabbing my head (me resisting) and my calves from the bouncing. LOL!
After this class we had just enough time to shower and go to dinner. Dinner this night was in a private basement room with a bar. It reminded me totally of college days. The food was god awful but the booze was great. At one point we all went to the Custard store just a few doors down for some custard. I would not partake in this as it was too high iun sugar for me. Alan tried to talk me into getting some but I declined. It turned out that he declined it too. He really doesn't eat as much crap as it looks like he does in all the pictures.... LOL!
Mind you while all of these events are happening, I am mingling with just about everyone at the Summit. That was the most fun actually about this Summit was spending so much time chatting with people. I met everyone and was blown away by everyone I met.
By the time we got back to the hotel most of us had a pretty good drunk on.
We started the party in the hotel out in Leigh's unused room. We got kicked out almost immediately for being too loud. So we went to the lobby then the library downstairs.
At one point while we were at the hotel Alan challenged me to lifting him. I did it no problem. He freaked out because he weighs 198lbs and he could simply not believe it. I don't know why he freaked out. I DL 225 for reps in my reports. He was pretty hammered already by this time though so probably forgot. LOL! Even funnier than me lifting him though is Tracey doing it right after me.
I can't remember if we got kicked out of the hotel or just decided to leave it. There was a jazz bar right across the street so we headed over there to enjoy some music. JP was supposed to be there but he and Amy had already left. Anyway the driking continued and David and Alan did some shots... Somewhere in the night Alan made a claim that he could curl 135lbs by 5 reps. There were no barbells around so he curled me.
When the jazz club closed its doors we were forced outside to walk off some of the booze. Several of us took a nice long walk along the water front and through the Plaza. I was very happy because 3:00AM is one of my favorite times of the day and we were outside in nice weather enjoying the moon and the city lights with my new friends. I was holding one of them upright most of the time. LOL!
When we got back to the hotel it was only an hour left for David and I to go before our shuttle came for the airport. I tried to get him to focus on getting ready but he passed out. Alan told me to let him be and he and I walked to the corner 24 hour quick mart for milk and doghnuts. I actually got a protein bar much to Alan's dismay. He says I am too pragmatic. When we got back to the room we took this last picture to let David know that he was the wimp who could not hang. LOL! I said "good night" to Alan at about 4:45 and ran downstairs to get David up, pack his shit and get on the shuttle. It was touch and go at the airport as to whether he would be sober enough to fly but he made it and we made it back to Portland without a hitch.
I have to confess my adoration for this man too. I fell in love over and over again the whole weekend.
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The BIGGER I get the smaller you look
Great report, Karla! The only thing you forgot to mention is that the two guys doing shots had actually challenged you to a drinking contest, but you somehow managed to get them to drink theirs and yours while you just watched, lol!
Love the reports. Definitely cracked me up a few times. Especially you lifting Alan.
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"Time and patience are the 2 elements that most people don't include in their plans."
-Alan Aragon
"The scale simply tells you how much the earth loves you on a particular day."
-Ogedei (Keith)
I too am sorry you did not make it. You would have added to the weekend. Bytsi and I agreed to get a pic of me benching her but we never found the time to do it. We honestly were moving so fast....
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Originally Posted by TomK
Wow, sounds like a lot of fun. Clearly there is an issue in terms of the marketing of this event - "Fitness Summit" appears to be a tad overstated
And how... One of the traditions of this event is to eat as poorly as possible and overdrink and these guys are pretty serious about keeping this tradition alive. LOL!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Celestialmom
Great report, Karla! The only thing you forgot to mention is that the two guys doing shots had actually challenged you to a drinking contest, but you somehow managed to get them to drink theirs and yours while you just watched, lol!
HA HA HA... So you actually could hear that. Is that what you punk'd Alan for the next day? That was one of the total highlights for me. These two 30-something-year-old-egos were down at the far end of the table drinking together and talking shit about me. I was sitting far away enjoying the music. They came up with this brillant scheme to drink me under the table and beconed me to them. The scheme was that I had to drink a shot for each of their shots which would give me a ratio of two to one. David went to get the shots and by the time he had returned I had talked Alan into drinking both mine and his. It wasn't even hard. LOL! The shots were doubles and they did two rounds like this. I think they did 6 shots in 15 min. Keep in mind they were already trashed when this little game started. LOL!! They both got shit-housed man. David hurled and neither could walk for a damn out of the place. Both were sober enough just after they poured the shots down their throat to realize that I had outsmarted them and they were pissed off about that for awhile. Then the alcohol hit and they were too drunk to care anymore so we took them out for a walk. I had smoked both of them! You see, I had never agreed to the drinking contest. I played it like a contest of the minds and I smoked them! LOL!
That must have been a huge amount of fun to watch happen. I could not believe how easy and fun that was.
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The BIGGER I get the smaller you look
Actually I could hear parts of it. It was pretty funny but I lost about half of it because the music was so loud. Great musicians, just not conducive to eavesdropping, lol!
Yeah, I did give Alan a hard time, it was pretty funny. He was mentioning something about not being able to remember most of the night, and I mentioned it was probably for the best... That got him worried, but I never let on just what it was that he had done. I just kept teasing and then changing the subject. Right as he was leaving on Sunday I told him that I thought I'd better "set his mind at ease", and that he'd behaved just fine Saturday night. He was so relieved he lifted me in a big bear hug and scolded me for worrying him.
Actually I could hear parts of it. It was pretty funny but I lost about half of it because the music was so loud. Great musicians, just not conducive to eavesdropping, lol!
Yeah, I did give Alan a hard time, it was pretty funny. He was mentioning something about not being able to remember most of the night, and I mentioned it was probably for the best... That got him worried, but I never let on just what it was that he had done. I just kept teasing and then changing the subject. Right as he was leaving on Sunday I told him that I thought I'd better "set his mind at ease", and that he'd behaved just fine Saturday night. He was so relieved he lifted me in a big bear hug and scolded me for worrying him.
LOL!!! Great punk! You are as evil as I am. Thanks for following up with the torture. ROTFLMAO. The music was actually really great. It sort of annoyed me to have to go babysit the drunks. I felt a little badly for what I had done to them but I had to have some fun to make it worthwhile...
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The BIGGER I get the smaller you look
Karla, it was really nice to meet you! You are amazing! Glad to hear that you and David made it back all right. I was wondering how he'd do on the way home.
I didn't realize you'd be gone so early on Sunday, or I'd have made it a point to get the benching done... although that basement we went to for dinner wasn't the most conducive place...
So glad we got to meet, and hopefully we'll find more time to spend together next year
Karla, it was really nice to meet you! You are amazing! Glad to hear that you and David made it back all right. I was wondering how he'd do on the way home.
David was pretty iffy at first but he came around by the time we got on the plane. Then we spent the rest of the flight in tears from laughing about the night's events. I had to recount many of them to him as he couldn't remember but he did remember hurling in the bar and thinking that nobody had seen him. LOL! As a bonus I got to recount the stories again to Alan on the phone yesterday and again I was in tears from laughing. Those two were FUNNY, FUNNY, FUNNY!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bytsi
Is next year the year of hamster-benching???
I didn't realize you'd be gone so early on Sunday, or I'd have made it a point to get the benching done... although that basement we went to for dinner wasn't the most conducive place...
So glad we got to meet, and hopefully we'll find more time to spend together next year
yeah, I missed out on hanging out because I don't do coffee it seems. LOL! Next year we get the hamster pressing picture for sure. I LOVE our pose down pics. They are so funny. You DH did very well this weekend btw. Did he have fun?
Quote:
Originally Posted by beesknees
Great photos and stories! I hope to get the chance to meet everyone sometime.
Girl, start saving your pennies right now to do this next year. It is totally worth it just to meet all the peeps that we talk to every day.
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The BIGGER I get the smaller you look
Welp I am back on daily reporting and on plan. Did my lower and upper strength workouts Monday and Tuesday. Am muscle sore in the legs and have that damn bicep tendon pain again on right arm. Shit. Right now I am pissed enough that I am just going to work through it.
Turns out I lost weight at the Summit this weekend. The food was really pretty awful overall. There was maybe 1 time a day with fairly good food choices but that is it. This is why it seemed I was eating so much. When I did get to a menu that had decent food choices I had to pile it in me. Most times I sat down to eat, I ordered two meals. I did not eat very high carb type meals though. I ate lots of protein and vegetables so have to get it in volume. I was super active at the Summit too. I ran, swam, workouted out and took long walks. Lots of people spent this weekend kicking back and eating, drinking but I chose to play and play hard so it turned out to be hard to feed myself properly.
The good news is that the weight loss is only very minor 128.8 yesterday and today I am up to 130 after a protein up day. I am also showing strength gains in the gym already so I guess we can say that I am officially baaaaaack!
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The BIGGER I get the smaller you look
Karla, I ended up losing weight too. I don't know if it was after the summit or during, but today I was 129.0 (from 130.6). No idea why, oh well. And I would have loved to go with you guys to 24hr fitness, but I had just worked out pretty hard the day before.
I'm walking 60 miles for a breast cancer cure, September 11-13, 2009! Please support my walk and help me raise funds for cancer research by donating to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3-Day: http://www.the3day.org/site/TR/Walk/...nal&fr_id=1300
Celest, no probs... You obviously did not need to go throw it down at da gym. We weigh almost exactly the same right now. Isn't that totally weird? Your body is so amazingly different and amazing too!
Willie, next year girl. Or even before then since we really are pretty close. LOL!
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The BIGGER I get the smaller you look
Turns out I lost weight at the Summit this weekend.
*slap*
Quote:
Originally Posted by Celestialmom
Karla, I ended up losing weight too. I don't know if it was after the summit or during, but today I was 129.0 (from 130.6). No idea why, oh well. And I would have loved to go with you guys to 24hr fitness, but I had just worked out pretty hard the day before.
yeah, I missed out on hanging out because I don't do coffee it seems. LOL! Next year we get the hamster pressing picture for sure. I LOVE our pose down pics. They are so funny. You DH did very well this weekend btw. Did he have fun?
I love the pose pics too - glad we at least got those in!
My H actually had a good time... he really liked Jamie Hale and they talked for a while and surfed websites on Sunday morning before breakfast and again before heading to Nick's... He feels good too because he ran each day and lasted through the Hale workout... of course if we'd had him lifting it might've been a different story . I was very pleased that he was social and interacted - especially after I felt sick and left dinner early on Friday! Not sure if he'll come next year, but only because his major yearly convention conflicted with the summit, and while he joined me this year, if the dates conflict next year I doubt he'll make that choice twice...
BTW - you could've joined us at Sbux just for the walk and the company . And if you want to stop losing weight, don't pace for the ENTIRE day of lectures
At least the company was good. The Summit really was about eating like crap and it nearly killed me. I will do things differently next year. 
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