A bodybuilding journey - Bloated at 96 Hours Out

Still in the middle of the water filling regime. Drank 6L-7L everyday for last 5 days now but still not sure I'm drinking enough - 2.5 gallons being the suggested volume - and that's 9.5L! Can one really drink up that much without some serious mineral imbalance? And then there's this strange look on my abs: it's as if my stomach was bloated by all the foodstuff (mainly protein now, even veg has been reduced) and liquid that I ate and drink. I hope that is going to subside when I start restricting liquid in 2 days' time.

On the other hand, the caffeine in the black coffee I had before gym worked wonders and I could certainly feel the high tonight - even though I had restricted carbs for the day. This low carbs feeling started from lethargic to wanting to - right now - manageable. I'm starting to get used to it now and the inevitable crave before bed has drastically reduced somewhat. 

Did notice the bloated stomach got flatter after gym and cardio. It's probably the last gym before the show. Kind of uncertain this is right - after all a bodybuilder's mindset has been wired to say more gym = more effort = more result, but at this moment, all literature points to the need to concentrate on posing and diet. Must make this paradigm shift now. 

On the topic of diet... Gosh it's really difficult to keep diet immaculate! However one tries there's going to be some carbs and some sodium - those who advocate 0g for both must be living in another world... Still, at this point it's either make or break so great discipline must be called for.

Also learnt from Facebook lately that there are going to be a lot of very high quality competitors in this meet - it's going to be a highly entertaining afternoon for the spectators! And as for us competitors, we would need to make sure we look pristine every step of the way! Probably not since school days when I played the piano did I enter a competition as nerve-wrecking - yet highly motivating - as this one! What I can say is that I'm ever so grateful to all the support I got from friends and gym bros; all your positivity makes it worthwhile for me to stand in this show. A big thank-you again, my dear supporters: the wait will be over soon! Here I come!