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| Look at all these beefy guys - ain't it a scary scene. |
There are whole teams from mainland (in blue Under Armour T-shirt above); there are foreigners - of white and South Asian complexions - whose muscularity is simply in a league of their own; and then there are us HKers, whose looks resemble a sad minority drowned with strong massive outsiders waiting to snatch our prizes in our home turf. We jokingly hoped that after milk powder formulas there's another area of life where HKers must be protected somewhat, otherwise none of us would have a chance in the face of some of the best from countries vastly more populous than us!
After some 90 minutes or so (yes, it was that long!) we arrived at a room, decorated with a simple home-use scale, a height-measuring rule not much more complicated than those from IKEA, and tables for registration. It was claustrophobic for ordinary people, not to say when the room was filled with 20+ underhydrated, underfed and anxiously impatient muscular dudes. I stepped on the scale - 84kg (184.8lbs) - so allowing for errors I lost around 6-7 lbs today in sweat, urine and a deficiency of water intake - not ideal but at least it's something. But of course this is still way above the segregation line of 75kg so I'm placed in the upper category of the Novice Competition (75kg+). I quickly glanced the list - there were 9 names, only one other was above 80kg. Notwithstanding heights that meant I was the fattest of the bunch; and that also meant with a final lineup of 6, 3 will not last the second round - I must try not to be 1 of those 3 (but with just one day left to go there probably isn't much else to do). I also collected a nice-looking-ish T-shirt (all sport meets, big or small, give you T-shirt nowadays don't they) and - the most important of it all - the number badge to be used tomorrow.
I drew number 16. A perfect square number. Allow my geekish feelings to spill... But as a computer engineer, I think this is the best number I could have drawn!! It's brilliant!! If I had believed in luck I would go and buy lottery tickets all bearing this number!! LOL! Luckily my logical self toned me down somewhat. And now.... May this luck continue tomorrow, please!
After the weigh-in, as it approaches Friday's off work rush hours, I said our see-you-again's straight afterwards and headed straight home - numerous experiences told me this is the best way to avoid consuming treats and temptations when I can't afford any... But am I really relieved of them?
Absolutely not! Dinner was a big - no, two big - boxes of sushi. At the supermarket I constantly remind myself not to feel guilty loading my basket with honey, sweets and other stuff I normally do not crave during this 'official' carb-loading period. Actually I understand full well it's certainly not a carte blanche for mistreating the body after so much hard work. However craves are a psychological response much like sex - you know you should be careful and not do it recklessly but there's just no way to satisfy this urge in an alternatively way - the body is screaming FOOD!, there is food in front of you and the money in your pocket is there for this specific purpose. There is no way out unless one of these elements is removed (e.g. not visiting the supermarket) - but it's too late.
Still, it's not the end of the world to overeat carbs at this stage. It's also not the end of the world to drink/eat a little water (the way yours truly found out to quench thirst in this heat and not over-drink is presented for your reference above :-)
The end of tomorrow will certainly come, though, if I did not practise my poses and the minute freestyle well enough.
So without further ado I shall start my pose practice after typing this up. Less literature and more action!
See you all tomorrow!
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