Cranbrook’s Cerry Lamb is back from the bodybuilding nationals and, perhaps more importantly, he’s back to normal.

The Pro-Fitness Gym proprietor has returned to his usual bubbly self after several months of three- to four-hour daily workouts and maintaining a strict diet, leading up to last weekend’s Canadian Bodybuilding Federation championships in Saskatoon.

“It feels good to actually smile again and have a little bounce,” said Lamb, happily munching on chocolates from Sweet Gestures, part of a gift basket his mom and some friends had given him.

“For the longest time, people commented that I had this long face. You kind of mope around, you don’t have a lot of carbs, your brain is not functioning right... I’m going home in just a minute and I’m going to go play some basketball with my son — just hanging out and being normal again.”

The 40-year-old finished 11th in the open heavyweight category last Saturday, and celebrated with his family by devastating a Saskatoon buffet on Sunday.

“The kids laughed and laughed at me because I kept swelling,” said Lamb. “It got to the point where I thought I was going to have to take off my ring because it was getting so tight. My face was swelling. I probably ingested as much salt in four plates as I’ve had in six months. It was just awesome food. You just don’t want to stop.”

That said, Lamb is letting off the gas and reverting to a pretty clean diet.

“I don’t want to go crazy because I’ve already put on 26 pounds in two days, so I want to level it off,” he said. “I’m going to enjoy this chocolate, but for lunch I had my chicken and rice.”

The national championship was Lamb’s third competition since mid-June, a pace that had fellow competitors calling him crazy; many of them compete just once a year.

Lamb said the event was a profound learning experience.

“This one was a complete eye-opener,” he said. “I mean, I understand the sport, but until you’re around this kind of level, you don’t really realize what goes into it. There’s a lot.”

Lamb said the 2006 champion made himself available for advice on anything. And since he was a rookie among fellows who’d been competing anywhere from three to 10 years, Lamb absorbed information like a depleted body absorbs a smorgasbord.

One of the lessons Lamb learned was he can afford to start ingesting carbohydrates much sooner than he had been.

“I’ve been carbing up for one day, because I’m new to the sport. Well, most of these guys are carbing up for a week to two weeks,” he said. “My next show (next summer’s provincials) is going to be so much better, just because your muscles are fuller. Obviously you have twice the energy, the pumps are twice as good.”

The field at this year’s competition was outstanding.

“The guy that won our class last year — who looked phenomenal — didn’t even place in the top five,” marveled Lamb. “The competition was awesome.”

Lamb compared favourably, being in the middle of the pack in terms of both mass and height.

“It gives me a visual of what guys look like, so you can adjust yourself,” he said. “Obviously I’m going to train hard to put on another 10 pounds and get bigger and better.”

Up against several professionals, Lamb is content to let them spend the equivalent of a very handsome annual salary on trainers, nutritionists and the like.

“I’m okay with challenging myself. I know with a lot of the levels I can go and win,” he said. “Obviously the Canadians is a monster step, like the North Americans. I’m okay going in and doing my best. I’m not young anymore, I’m not spending $50,000 to $100,000 to try and compete with these guys. I’m going to go in and do the best I can, and I’m happy with that. You may never win it; you never know, you may.”

Lamb was happy to share the experience with his family for the first time.

He said his mom Anna and dad Larry were through the roof.

“I don’t know when the last time was I saw them this excited,” said Lamb. “They were ecstatic, yelling and screaming.”

He said his sons Dillon and Andrew were proud to see their dad on stage, achieving his goals.

“And my wife (Ginger) has supported me for everything. They’ve made a huge commitment, because for four or five months, it’s all about me. That’s hard because I don’t like to do that,” said Lamb.

“Near the end it wore on everybody. Everybody had kind of had enough of it. It’s nice to be normal. The day after, it was just so cool to hang with my kids, wrestle with my kids again... My wife said to me, ‘It’s nice to have my husband back.’”

He should be around for another half year at least. In the coming weeks, Lamb will hit the weights hard again, to build up more muscle mass, while maintaining a more satisfying, energy-sustaining high calorie intake.

“We’ve got six or seven months to hammer ourselves and get right back on the horse and start dieting again,” he said.

That is when he plans ramping up for another crack at the provincial championships, an event he was close to winning last month.

“I know for my next one we’re planning on kicking some ass,” he said. “Next year when I come in five times better, my goal is to win that.”