Back in the Saddle

Okay, its been a week and it already looks like I have never seen a treadmill in my life. My ass doesn't fit into any of the jeans I bought, my shirts that used to be tight in all the right spots are now only tight on my gut...lol. Man, you work so hard to get it all off and keep it off and then one week of eating and forty pounds later and I don't even look like the same person! No, in all honesty though, most of it is water retention from being on a low sodium diet for so long, my body will balance out over time....I think?..
Anyway, things have been good since the O. People have been very encouraging through email and in person. Everyone has something nice to say about my performance of even the fact that I have achieved that standard for myself. Even though all of the kind words keep me motivated and in good spirits nothing is more motivating than the feeling of standing on stage and NOT being able to compete. Nothing has ever felt worse.
Part of the fire that fuels my sets and reps since the show has been that humbling feeling of the last call out. I took Sunday and Monday off after the Olympia and Tuesday I was back in the gym blasting the weight like never before. The added weight I've gained has made me feel strong again so I am throwing iron around with confidence again and getting mind blowing, skin splitting pumps.....man there is no better feeling. When I put a weight on the bar and get into my set, whenever I feel like I am done that feeling from Firday night at the O replays in my mind so vividly that it makes me train that much harder. I know people are proud of me but I want more from myself!
I think I stayed on a contest diet for so long this year I can't go back to regular life. I am so used to the go, go, go lifestyle of contest prep that now that the time is done I don't know how to relax. I still wake up and go to the gym and do cardio. Then I run errands for a couple hours then later on in the day I go back for my workout. It seems like the only thing about my day that's different is the ten bagels a day I have been tearing through...lol.
I am thinking of working with a nutritionist all year this year. Its something I have never really done before and am unsure if I need to. It seems exciting to me to think that with proper guidance I could go that much further in the sport. For the time being I am writing my own program and it is a little different than last year.
My training is higher in volume and just a little lighter than before, not much though. My diet is more regimented with proper vitamin/mineral supplementation and I actually have added some other supplements to my program that I used before but only sparingly. The NanoX9 from Muscletech was always a favorite of mine but this last week I have been using the Nano Vapour before and during my workout and I think its playing a big part in the good feeling I am getting in the gym.
Food wise I am trying not to eat to much junk but man I love food. It seems like I am getting all the good nutrition I need but then after each meal I end up adding things like M&M's (peanut of course), muffins, cookies, ice cream. I can't help it right now but at least I am getting all the quality too so I don't feel so bad. I'll give you guys a tip that I have been doing this last week and I did a little last year as well. I love cereal (cheerios to be specific) but I am not a huge fan of milk. So I have been buying big boxes of cereal and instead of milk I have been using Nitro-Tech Vanilla RTD's (Ready To Drink) for a milk substitute. It looks like milk and almost tastes like it too, not to mention its an easy way to get my protein in the morning without having to make eggs or anything like that. What can I say, I get kinda lazy in the offseason and what could be better and less work than a ready made shake...lol.
On the career side of things I have wrapped the last session of my DVD and am in the process of editing and polishing it up (don't worry I have a professional doing it, I'm not sitting here cutting it myself)..lol. It should be released in November but if any of you want to buy pre-orders of my DVD email me at fouadabiad@gmail.com or go to my site www.fouadmuscle.com. I think you if you guys like my blog you will like the DVD. It's an honest account of real training sessions, that means you won't see me screaming and throwing weights across the gym, its real. Not to mention you'll see me out at the club (yes big men can dance...lol), the chiropractor's office and bloopers between me and my friends which I am sure so many of you meat heads out there will appreciate.
I am excited for this year, I have achieved most of my goals that I have set out for myself over the course of my career. I have a couple more for next year and I don't know if I already wrote about them but I guess I will tell you all now. I don't normally do this, I like to keep this kind of thing between me and some close friends but here goes. My goals for 09 are to win a small show and crack the top ten at the Olympia. So with that being said I guess I'm gonna take my vitamins and hit the sack, I gotta a lot of growing to do.

Sacrifice Without Regret.
Fouad Abiad

The Mr.Olympia 2008

I know its been a couple weeks and I am late with my post so I sincerely apologize. I have been bogged down with the final week of the O prep and after traveling and all that good stuff I am finally home and able to take the time needed to explain whats going on in my life.

So, lets get to it. The last week of my prep was good, training was actually more intense than the weeks previous as the show got closer I got more and more excited which showed itself in workout intensity. My weight dropped all the way to about 239lbs so I think I hit the stage at around 242lbs or so which was a couple pounds lighter than the Europa. I think after dieting for so long I lost a couple pounds of muscle which was evident by the scale and by the way I looked on stage at the O.

Its four days after the Olympia now and I am finally able to take it all in and realize what I have accomplished but it wasn't the case right away. Here is an account of my weekend in detail for all of you.

First, I have to thank the Olympia committee for the way the take care of the athletes. For the first time in my bodybuilding career I felt like a professional athlete. My best friend Al came with me from Detroit airport and when we got into Vegas we were immediately amazed at the amount of people in the airport. After searching for a while we found our ride and it wasn't a taxi. The O committee had a limo waiting for me and it was a good feeling knowing they cared that much. The limo dropped us off at our hotel and I the weekend began.

After doing the grocery shopping and cooking out of the way it was time to relax. I had a feeling of constant tension and anxiety the first day there especially because I just didn't know what to expect from everything. It was time to get to the athletes meeting and I was still feeling anxious about things and not very happy just nervous. Then I walked into the meeting. All I thought was 'WOW, I am sitting in a meeting with the best in the world and I am not a spectator. They gave us all the speech about where to be at what time and what not and they kept saying 'You guys are the best in the world, we are here for you'. All I kept thinking was, they're talking about me too!

Thursday it was time for the Press Conference and my nerves were shot. I'm not sure why because I knew the Press Conference was really for the top six but I knew I would have to say something and that was nerve racking, public speaking isn't my thing. Yes I can dance around in a pair of XXS posing trunks but I get nervous saying a few words...lol.

It was exciting though, they lined us up backstage and we had time and all the guys we jawing at each other in good fun. Its amazing the magazines don't portray the guys in the sport the way they really are, there is so much camaraderie amongst them and honesty between them, they are all such good friends. The Press Conference started and I was so nervous I sweat my way through the whole thing...lol..I think I dropped most of my water just sitting there.

That night there was a Meet the Olympians event and it was fantastic. The fans are amazing and so loyal to there favorites. I have a new appreciation for bodybuilding fans and I want to personally thank all of you who came to me for advice or just to give your support. Looking over at Jay's table I saw a glimpse of what I wanted from the sport. Jay Cutler had a line leading to his table as long as the room and we were in a hall so you can imagine the amount of people. One day, one day...

Friday. The day of reckoning. This was the day I was so anxiety riddin about, prejudging was at eight o'clock and I wasn't ready mentally for it but I had no choice, I had to get it together and get out there and preform. I guess in a show of that magnitude you can never really be ready your first time. I pumped up and went out and I thought the individual round went well. Then it was time for comparisons and I had no day dreams of being in the top call outs but as time passed I realized I might not get called out. It was a very humbling experience and I have to tell you its hard riding high from getting the first call out in the previous two shows. Finally I was called out in the last call out and by that time the air had been let out of my balloon and I was hitting poses and feeling worse and worse with each pose. No one wants to be last even if it is the Olympia.

After Pre Judging my girlfriend was the first one to tell me I looked great and she was so proud of me, those words helped keep me from crying even though I wanted to be better for her. My brother had a limo waiting for me so we could celebrate and even though it wasn't a celebration he took me and my entourage out for dinner. I sat and tried to be happy but like I said it was a humbling experience and I wasn't able to fake it too well. My brother pulled me aside at one point in the night and told me to hold my head high and gave some good words of encouragement and love. Good family is important and without them I don't know where I would be. My sister and brother in-law also were there and the love they gave me got me through to the next night.

Saturday was the finals and I was in a little better spirits by that time, Al who wrestled for TNA and had a shot with the WWE gave me a good pep talk before the show and told me to go out and have some fun. I have to say after the hard ship of Friday it was all taken care of in the middle of my routine on Saturday night. I walked out on that stage and took a look into the crowd, there must of been 8000 people in the arena and flash bulbs going off and cheering louder than I have ever heard. At first it made me more nervous and then in the middle of my routine I turned around and took inventory of where I was in my mind and this sort of calm came over me and then I was extremely happy. I began to hit poses with authority and excitement, wanting more from the crowd and giving them all I could. I walked off that stage and I was teared up and feeling like I just accomplished more than I could have ever dreamed. I posed on the O stage and I rocked the crowd!

I sat down backstage by myself and looked around, all the ill feelings were gone and a feeling of elation, calm and joy came over me that I will never be able to explain properly in words. I began snapping pics of the backstage area and taking note of the life I had created for myself. What a feeling.

One of the highlights of the weekend was feeling like part of the boyz when sitting in the backstage area waiting to go on. Both nights Friday and Saturday I had a chance to chill in the waiting area with Dennis James, Melvin Anthony, Dexter Jackson, Craig Richardson and more as they made fun of each other, told stories of guest posings and stories of being onstage at certain shows. They made me feel like part of the group and for a guy who still has some of there pics on my wall at home, it made the entire trip worth it. They are all cool as hell and thank every one of them for treating me with rookie respect.

The finest moment for me came in the athletes meeting when I was talking to Toney Freeman (who was like an older brother to me this year) and I was telling him how awestruck and surreal all of this was. I was telling him I couldn't believe I was there and it was all too overwhelming to put into words. He looked at me and said "You wouldn't be here if you didn't belong here". Those words will carry me through my next year of training and I will make it my mission to be back at the O and hopefully next year I will be standing next to Toney when they make that first callout....

Sacrifice Without Regret.

Fouad Abiad

Two Weeks To Go!

Whats goin on people?

Lets get down to business first I guess.  I am two weeks out from the Olympia now and I have managed to ignore all the polls and the hype so I don't get too discouraged.  Instead I have managed to see the show for what it is and that is not only the SuperBowl of bodybuilding but also the All-Star game.  So I guess that makes me a bodybuilding all-star ;).  A good man told me that and it took me a while to see it that way but I do now and being top twenty in the world at anything has to give me pleasure.  Hell, if that doesn't give me any satisfaction than what will?

Anyway, my weight is down to 242lbs today so I am back down to my ideal weight that I was before the Europa.  It hasn't been easy and I have to admit these last four weeks have been the most trying of my career.  I wake up constantly staring at the ceiling of my bedroom trying to figure out how to get through the night without going on a free for all in the pantry.  Somehow I have managed to stay disciplined and I believe it will pay off since my hard work always has in one way or another.

Hitting the 242lb mark also affords me another small piece of satisfaction....no more cardio!  Well, I guess that would be the case if I wasn't obsessive compulsive.  I can't actually bring myself to not do any cardio, I did a little this morning and probably will do a little tonight too, I just hope I don't wake up even lighter tomorrow.  I am pretty sure at this point if I get any lighter I will only be burning muscle.

The gym has been weird for the last week or so.  I have been unable for the first time since I started dieting back in June to lift heavy.  I just can't muster the strength to get my old poundage's up.  Since I am obsessive compulsive I can't leave the gym unless my muscles are screaming in agony.  So, instead of doing 14 sets of heavy duty lifting I have been doing 20-26 sets for each bodypart to make up for the lack of weight.  Only time will tell if it gives my muscle a worse or better appearance.  Looking in the mirror now it seems like everything is all good so I guess I will keep it going for another week.

Enough of business though, you guys can read that stuff in any mag or any other blog.  Let me tell you about my neurotic side....lol.  I have been craving food for so long that I am actually not craving it anymore.  You got it right, I found the answer to all of North America's weight problem.  If you just stop eating good food for long enough your brain actually forgets what it tastes like and you don't crave it anymore...lol.  Just screwin around.  Seriously though, I actually am not really craving any specific foods anymore.  

Those of you who don't compete might not understand this but I am craving situations now instead of food.  You get to a point when you diet for too long where the food you used to crave no longer becomes the center of your attention.  The center of your attention becomes the situations that involve food.  For example, I no longer crave pizza, I crave the football party on Sunday's that surrounds the pizza.  Or, I no longer crave McDonald's but I crave the road trip where I stopped at every rest stop not to pee but for some McD's because I had that much time.  Or, I no longer crave the sushi in Toronto but I crave the laughter that went along with watching the waitresses gasp that I had eaten a boat of sushi made for four.  Anyway, I think you guys get the point.  Well, those situations aren't far away now and I will make sure I revisit that Sushi place because I think it was as enjoyable for the waitresses to watch me eat all that Sushi as it was for me to eat it...although the owner couldn't have been that pleased...lol

On a much higher note.  Today while doing my obsessive behavioural cardio, after about six minutes in where I usually begin to curse the ground I walk on, instead, a warm feeling came over me at a thought I had.   I thought to myself, next week I will be standing on the same stage as Jay Cutler and I earned the right to be there...

Sacrifice Without Regret,

Fouad 'Hoss' Abiad

What is Courage?

I'm three weeks out and I am sitting at my computer at 2:00am not able to sleep.  Its not because I am hungry (well maybe a little), its not because I am nervous and its not because I have been up all night partying (although I wish it were).  I am up this late and writing this blog because there are some things on my mind I need to express to you all.

People think bodybuilding is an easy sport, you just hit the gym, eat your food, take your supplements and the next thing you know you are standing on the Olympia stage.  People also think that bodybuilders are weak minded and have self esteem issues.  Well, in my two years as an IFBB pro I have learned that nothing could be further from the truth of either of those things.

The latter of those two points is the one I want to touch on.  As an amateur I had the privilege of being able to win my first couple shows and also win my class a few times.  As an amateur you enter each show expecting to win or if not expecting at least being able to imagine winning.  This makes it easy to really train hard, diet and focus since you know anything can happen and you have a chance of winning.  This is great for a bodybuilders contest prep but does nothing to strengthen you mentally for what lies ahead if you ever do break into the higher levels of bodybuilding.

I am three weeks out from the biggest show of my life and I have finally come to the realization that mental toughness is actually a pro bodybuilders most overlooked attribute.  I say this because I have entered five IFBB shows now and haven't won any of them.  The crazy thing is I knew I wasn't going to win any of them and yet I still trained to my full extent with every intention of winning or placing. That is the courage to fear losing yet still be your best and accept your fate.  

Somehow today I realized why this show is different from the rest.  I have had to reach deep into my soul for a toughness and focus I didn't think I had to get ready for this show.  You would think it would be the easiest one seeing as it is the Mr.Olympia contest, but your wrong for that exact reason.  For the first time in my pro career I have to get ready for a contest and train my hardest knowing I may not even crack the top ten.  I didn't realize how hard a task this would be until I started but it is wreaking havoc on me mentally.  There is a new level of courage I have taken on in doing this show because never before have I trained this hard to potentially be 15th.

This is why I say bodybuilders have a mental toughness that is commonly overlooked.  In no other sport do you find athletes pushing themselves to the limits knowing they won't win.  In football when the other team runs up the score more times than not you see the losing team fade and begin to give up.  This is the opposite in bodybuilding.  I am going into this show knowing I can't win and yet I have to train harder for this loss than I have ever trained for any of my wins.  The other side to this coin is an even greater testament to bodybuilders everywhere.  We train and diet and we compete.  We lose but we never stop.  Why?  There is something in our hearts that tells us if you keep pushing, if you keep training your time will come....that is mental toughness that is unmatched.  That is courage...

Sacrifice Without Regret,

Fouad 'Hoss' Abiad

Four Weeks Till the Big Dance

Hey everyone,

I missed last week because my brain was a mess from eating at buffets and trying to decide what I should do about the biggest show of my life. I decided that since it is the biggest show of my life it doesn't make to much sense to skip it.
Last Monday I returned to my office (the gym) and got my ass in gear on the step mill. When I weighed myself in the morning before my cardio I was a watery, fat, 276lbs. Eating at buffets and your soon to be mother in laws house for a week straight will do that to you. I gained an unhealthy 30lbs in just one week and now it was time to get it all back off.
So, literally, one step at a time I began to take it off. Chad got me back on my diet last Monday and I got myself back in the gym working hard. I have good training partners, one of which is getting ready for the Canadian Nationals so staying on the diet and getting into the gym has been relatively easy in terms of motivation.
I feel a little burnt out I have to admit but it is an honor to stand on the O stage and I really am pushing myself mentally and physically to bring the best package I can bring. This last week of training has actually been very intense and has rekindled the fire I had when I started this precontest season. Training at Metroflex with Johnnie Jackson, seeing Flex Lewis' work ethic and watching Branch Warren tear through iron like it was tissue has made me realize what real hardcore is. It brought new meaning to the term, 'when you think your training hard, someone else is training harder'. Those guys in Texas were animals. I'm sitting here in my air conditioned heaven while they're out there in the sweltering heat building physiques cut from stone. So I brought some of that mentality back with me and my training has been on fire.
Sleeping is a sad state of affairs for me. I go to bed only to wake up two hours later, not able to fall back asleep for hours sometimes. Its choppy and very light but I am getting as much as I can for now.
The diet has been pretty easy. I ate so much food after the Europa that I think I made myself sick of eating and actually was glad to get back on the diet. It has been one week and I have dropped twenty-three pounds......can you say water weight...lol.
So I am back down to 253lbs this morning and with another 8-10lbs to drop before the O things are moving in the right direction. Sometimes I have to pinch myself because I can't believe I am going to be standing on the Olympia stage. I remember it like it was yesterday, standing on the Windsor Cup stage at 21 years old. Sometimes I don't believe it and I am not sure I will until I actually get on the stage and feel what its like to pose with the best in the world.
Just a final thought to try and really express my feelings about it. A few nights ago I was on YouTube watching some of Kevin Levrone's posing video's. Now I always get nervous before shows but not because of the crowd, more so because of the competition and wanting to do well. This video brought about a new nervousness though. At the start it shows the camera behind him just as he is about to pull the curtain to get onstage. As he opens the curtain all you see is a see of people and camera's flashing. I just realized I will be going from posing in front of 500 people to posing in front of 10,000 people! Like I said a whole new ball game and an entirely new nervousness. I can't wait.....

Sacrifice Without Regret,
Fouad Abiad

O, O, OMG.....I'm O Bound!

Hey everyone its about two days after the Europa and I am fatter than I was in the middle of the offseason..lol. Just playin but it feels like it for sure. I just finished my last day of shooting yesterday with MuscleTech and they were so nice to take me to the nicest buffet I have ever been too. Like that's what I needed was a buffet. Needless to say I ate enough for a small village and will never forget my night at the Brazillian Steakhouse which I am not too good to call a fine dining buffet, something I never thought I would see. Its actually a nice enough place to take a date as long as you can control yourself from refilling your plate six times like I did...lol
Last week was crazy, my head has been spinning and I have actually been so hard at work I haven't had a chance to sit and really think about the things I got to do last week or the things I accomplished.
After the last blog I told you guys I had a ton of work to do and that's what I did. I met a good friend of Steve Kuclo's down in Dallas named Max who was a stand up guy for sure. He was there to train with me and drive me around to get things I needed for the show and I will never forget his kindness for sure. Hope your shoulder injury gets better buddy. After slaving away on the hotel cardio machines Sunday and Monday morning, Max picked me up on Monday night and we went to Gold's to train. I tore it up. I have never trained that hard four days before a show before, I mean it was leg day and I was doing, squats, hacks, leg press you name it. All things I wouldn't normally do that close to a show but it just felt right.
Monday night I hit the cardio again as hard as I could and went to bed knowing I was going to be at the most hardcore place on earth the next day...MetroFlex Gym, shooting with Johnnie Jackson for MMI. I woke up Tuesday at 6:00am, smashed some cardio made sure I looked good, put on my little black booty shorts and headed out with my best Zoolander face on. When I got there I realized I had arrived in a place where being tired or slacking just wasn't aloud. The music was deafening and the dirt and dust in the machine made it hard to breath but the sound of DMX booming through four 20" subs was enough to make your blood boil and ready to train.
The MMI shoot was a fly on the wall shoot meaning me and JOJ got to train as if we were alone and the photogs just shot around us. Needless to say me and Johnnie trained back and I had one of the best back workouts I had ever had. It wasn't heavy but just the intensity inside that gym made you squeeze out reps you never thought you had in you. After Johnnie left I shot some Tricep shots and some Hamstring shots and we called it a day.
My day wasn't over however. I had trained Shoulders, Legs and Back and still had to fit in Chest and Arms with only a day left of training. So later on after getting back from the shoot I called Max and he picked up me and my girl and went to the gym to train. We hit Chest, Tris and a little Shoulders and again I had a great workout. For some reason, I don't know maybe it was being in Dallas but I had been training like an animal and loving every minute of it. We got back to the hotel late Tuesday night, I smashed out some more cardio and hit the sack because I had GASP to shoot with in the morning.
Wednesday the 13th. Again I woke up at 6:00am went down and busted out some cardio so I don't disappoint the GASP higher ups. Hopped in a cab and again got to hell on earth; MetroFlex for 8:30am. I shot with my man FLEX Lewis for something like eight hours in that gym and it was about 120 degrees in there. It was a long day but I know we got some good shots so it was all worth it even though I was half dead on the car ride home.
I was all done cardio at that point and training and had began carb loading for the show on Friday. So Wednesday we just went to bed, well I guess you could call it that. I don't think I have had a good nights rest in about 10 weeks but anyway. We woke up Thursday and I thought this girl has been with me going through all this shit and I haven't given her anything in return. So I said to my girl Sommer, lets hit the mall. So Thursday before one of the biggest shows of my life what do I do....I go shopping...lol...what a chick thing to do..lol. I ended up buying a whole bunch of stuff which made me feel better and at the same time I got my girl some new shoes that I thought she really deserved so all in all it was a fun trip.
Friday the 15th. Showtime. I woke up ready for some reason. I looked at myself in the mirror and I was a little nervous about the show but I new I was the best I had been out of all three shows and that I was going to do well. I didn't think I was going to win or nothing don't get me wrong I just knew that I was going to repeat my shape from the week before which was my goal.
Well when prejudging started I realized I had exceeded my shape from the week before because I got the first call out again in a deeper line up. It never fails, I wanted to jump up and down right there I was so excited. I love this sport. Toney Freeman congratulated me right there on stage during the call out and that's where the fun ended...lol. The judges wanted to see me compared to everyone. I was called out first and then second and then forth and then again and again and again, my legs felt like I had ran a marathon. At one point Tarek Elsetouhie pulled me aside and said to me jokingly in Arabic, 'what is this, are they trying to kill us as a joke'....lmao, we had a good laugh about it because he knew I felt the same way and we were called out together almost every time.
Prejudging ended and most people had me anywhere from 3-5th so I was happy and went back to the hotel with Sommer and just chilled out and tried not to think of the possibilities of what could happen the next day.
All I know is I didn't drink a single drop of water and I came back the next day for the finals harder and drier than the night before. I came to battle, I did my routine and then the top five posed down one more time. After our pose down they lined us up and began to read the placings. When they read the forth place name and I was still standing there I thought I was dreaming! I turned to Dennis James and he stuck his hand out to congratulate me and I think I almost ripped it off because I pulled him so hard for a hug thank you..lol. Toney Freeman I think was happier for me than I was for me, I swear he was like an older brother to me the entire weekend.
At that point all I did was try not to cry because I knew they were taking pics. After they were done I walked off stage and the first person I saw was a lady with a 'Press' badge. She looked at me and handed me a folder with '2008 Olympia' written on the front. She said "Here is your Olympia Qualification" and before she could finish saying it I burst out into tears because everything I had worked for, for ten years had finally come true.
Everyone backstage congratulated me and I ended up doing a Bodybuilding.com interview half in tears but I think everyone forgave me for that seeing as it was the biggest accomplishment of my career.
I was on cloud nine but here is the funny part, no celebration. Why you ask? Because I had more shoots!!!...lol. Me and Sommer went to the Cheesecake Factory where I had never been before, BIG mistake, I controlled myself but it was hard. We talked about what I had done and the show, we had a good meal and turned in.
Next morning, up at 7:00am hitting the cardio. Photo shoot with Muscletech at 12:00pm. It went well it wasn't too long but its work regardless. I shot with Darrem Charles and Johnnie again and the more I am around these guys the more I realize how real they are. They really inspire me to be better so I appreciate that.
After the shoot, no celebration. Why you ask? Because I had another shoot!!! Next morning up at 6:00am smashing the cardio making sure I look good for another MuscleTech shoot. Can't disappoint the people who got you there, so I always do my best not to flake out or show up looking sub par (that should be a lesson for you beginners). The shoot was at MetroFlex again, it was about eight hours long and it went really well.
At one point I stopped and zoned out. Imagine this, in one corner is FLEX Lewis shooting with Gaspari, in the other corner Johnnie is shooting with Muscletech, on the four 20" subs Tupac, DMX and Biggie are blaring so loud the only thing I can hear is Brian Dobson and his training partners pounding 500lbs worth of iron off the cement floor...bang....bang....bang. At that very moment I finally realized I was living a dream....

Sacrifice Without Regret!
Fouad Abiad

Tampa Bay

Its two days after the show and I am trying to get my head back on straight because I know there is a lot of work to do still over the next eight days. The Tampa Bay show ended up being just the kick in the ass I needed to let me know that I still have what it takes to be a competitive IFBB Pro and even more.

I didn't really fill any of you in on the pre-show jitters or thoughts that I had because a competitor usually does his best to block those things out and stay positive. Now that the show has passed I can talk a little about things that go through your mind in the final weeks whether you are an IFBB Pro or simply doing your first local show.

After the Houston show I refocused and decided that I was going to attack Tampa with a full head of steam to try and redeem myself. That being said I still had doubts all through the final weeks of my prep, thoughts of uncertainty if this was really for me or if I had what it takes. Being mentally tough and having courage to me, means having those fears and going through with it anyway, so that's what I did.

All the way up to the final day before the show I was still feeling unsure of myself and uncertain if I wanted to go and feel another disappointing performance. Still I kept to the plan that Chad and I had worked out and decided I would do my best and let the chips fall where they may. In the end the Tampa show proved a few things to me but one most importantly. If I work as hard as I can in the gym I can achieve a level of physique that is competitive and that is enough for me to keep working towards more.

On August 9th I showed up in Tampa with the best package I could bring, it wasn't the best package of the day nor was it the best package that I in vision in my mind of one day having but it was the best I could do with what I currently have. The judges I believe saw that and rewarded me, putting me in the top five along with Darrem Charles, Dave Henry, Dennis James and Toney Freeman, all athletes I look up to and aspire to be like.

Now the show is done and after all the congratulations and good feelings its time to get back to work as next weeks show is going to be even harder than Tampa Bay. Along with the four names I mentioned there are others like Johnnie Jackson and Erik Fankhouser who will be throwing their hats into the mix. Not to mention I have a couple photo shoots lined up, so the good times and celebrating will have to wait for another week or so.

On a lighter side of things I have realized that my militant work ethic that I use to diet isn't so militant...lol. I mean I always listen to Chad Nichols and I always fulfill contract obligations with MT, MMI and GASP since they all are very good to me but somethings when left to interpretation may not be construed the way they were meant to be. For example, Chad says to me I can have a good meal after the Tampa Bay show and enjoy myself. These words were like death to my conditioning. I went out after the show to this meal:

Large Plate of Nachos

Tortellini

Chicken Avocado Salad (extra large)

Extra Large Fudge Sundae

Large Cookie with Double helping of Ice Cream

That was one meal!!! Whats wrong with me. I woke up the next morning and my head was shaped like a basketball with two slits in it that my eyes could barely see through. I said to myself its okay I'm sure the other guys did the same thing. So I go down for breakfast, I wasn't gonna eat much just some eggs and cereal and you know a healthy breakfast but not really a diet breakfast. I see Toney Freeman, down there and he looks like he is still on stage. Chiseled face and all....later I see Dave Henry with the same look. So I am starting to wonder, am I really a bad bodybuilder, these guys stay strict and I'm off stuffing my face. Then I see Nicole Ball (she won the women's BBing the night before) and she also looks shredded still. So I say to her, wow you still look great didn't you have anything sloppy to eat last night, she says 'I had a muffin and a coffee with cream in it'..???OMG a muffin and a coffee! After hearing that I felt like the worst bodybuilder ever and needless to say it got me right back on track.

I got into the hotel here in Dallas on Sunday and started busting ass on the cardio machines and it will continue until I work off that glutenous meal I decided to have without thinking. Anyway, just a little tip for you guys, when someone says 'if you think you're working hard someone else is working harder', I just learned that saying is all too true.

Sacrifice Without Regret,

Fouad Abiad