Well I never said that comp prep was easy - did I? Things had been going pretty well and then a couple of weeks ago, i felt my mind starting to shut down, followed closely by my body. I couldn't figure out why, since i was starting to come in well (thats code for losing fat people..heheh!) i was starting to feel a little laclustre about my training.
Seems that it was because, although I thought i was losing my mind, it was actually my body trying desperately to fight off an infection.
Im sure a lot of youo are thinking to yourselves, well why if you were feeling a bit off didnt you just give yourself some time off from the gym and a bit of a rest? Its a good and very valid question, but heres why. When your in comp prep, it is very difficult to ascertain when you are feeling unwell, and when you are feeling like, well, you're in comp prep! Both have pretty similar symptoms some times...you know fatigued, over it, sore etc etc.
So on Wednesday, I was done. I felt like crap, i was feverish and i was craving fruit and cereal like a possessed woman. I emailed Rosa my coach and told her what was going on. I fully expected her to tell me to harden up and get on with things, however her message was short and clear. Stop. Stop the dieting. Stop the training. rest. Get better. DO NOT diet or step into the gym for 2 weeks...ummmm say what Rosa??? I found myself staring at the computer screen in shock. Shit - i shouldnt have told her i was unwell. Then the tears. What was I going to do for the next nearly 2 weeks?? I thrive on structure, i LIKE dieting - not always, but for what it produces, i love it. I LOVE training. I was freaking out.
I rang Michael...ever the drama queen, i told him to brace himslef. As I screeched into the phone my news from Rosa - i could almost hear Michael smile. Michael had been trying to tell me to have a couple of days rest, im still a long way out from my first comp and im doing well - 2 days wasnt going to hurt. Now it had turned into 2 weeks... I was annoyed, angry and scared. Scared that this was going to throw me off track completely.
I let myself sit with this news for a good 24hrs before i replied to my coach. I was in bargaining mode. What did she think about giving it until monday and then i would see how i was feeling? She made it clear Tuesday was acceptable to her - as long as i was 100%.
So here I am feeling a little out of sorts. No weights, no treadmill, no diet. Oh but what i DO have is a chest infection, a headache and a runny nose. yaaaa. Thats sarcasm for those of you wondering.
Im ok with it now though - no point trying to fight it. My body is really sick, and I need to give in so that it can get better and work with me for the next 16 weeks until my first comp. Im on antibiotics so fingers crossed ill be right to go in a few days...
This has been a big lesson for me. I need to be far more in tune with my body. It has been trying to tell me something and I havent been listening. this goes for all of you out there also - listen to your body, learn fromm it, so it can produce the results you want.
On that note, im off to bed xx
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
Mini meltdowns, Canberra and stuff
Apologies for the delay in the delivery of my latest blog...ive been far too busy having meltdowns to be writing blogs... oh i jest i jest, it hasn't been that bad.
Ok so I had a bad week last week. I felt flat physically and unfortunately that always transpires into mental weakness for me. I never stray off plan but i am a slave to negative self talk and often doubt.
Ask any athlete, any figure competitor and i challenge you to find one of them that says this doesnt happen to them. It's common, because in order to get where we want to be, you have to push yourself and that's not always easy. Its also difficult at times because especially in my sport, its all about how you look - not necessarily how you perform. Sometimes I lose all perspective on how I look. Last week I lost perspective.
I was frustrated, annoyed at the snails pace progress. Angry at my body for not getting it's shit together. Getting the picture? Not pretty.
So i had my hissy fit, and reluctantly sent my progress pics and stats to my coach Rosa. Within a couple of hours, Rosa had emailed back just how pleased she was at my progress and that I was more than on track... ahhhh thank god for coaches.
She also changed my program around, changed my food and my workouts. The monotony of the same food and same workouts for 6 weeks was starting to take its toll. But people, when the trainers here talk about consistency - its for a reason. It breeds results.
So now although im on slightly less food and calories, it's at least different variations of what I have been having. My food now also involves plain rice cakes which I adore - call me crazy!
I went off to Canberra on saturday to visit my best friend, lovingly referred to as 'Katie Bubble' due to the fact that she lives in her own little happy bubble and never ceases to make me smile. It was going to be a challenge for me, because when KT and i are together - we like to eat. Mainly chocolate....oh dear...
My coach had given me some scope to have a cheat meal and a dessert - i took her up on that! I had a great weekend, the highlight being when KT asked me, as I was preparing snow peas and salmon for our dinner, if when snow peas are cooked - do they shrink in size...ummm no KT they don't. Gold.
So today I started my new program. Its operation lean down legs! I have built good muscle so now its time to get rid of the fat. My sessions involve lighter weights on my legs but very high repittions - up to 50 reps in some cases. Im excited, i feel great this week and im looking forward to some good progress. Im currently sitting somewhere between 17-18% body fat. I have 18 weeks to get rid of 8 of those. Completely achievable.
Oh and watch this space for some very exciting news regarding my nutrition business. Its something I have been working very hard on in the wings and it will be time to unveil very very soon...
Til then...well u know the drill!
xx
Ok so I had a bad week last week. I felt flat physically and unfortunately that always transpires into mental weakness for me. I never stray off plan but i am a slave to negative self talk and often doubt.
Ask any athlete, any figure competitor and i challenge you to find one of them that says this doesnt happen to them. It's common, because in order to get where we want to be, you have to push yourself and that's not always easy. Its also difficult at times because especially in my sport, its all about how you look - not necessarily how you perform. Sometimes I lose all perspective on how I look. Last week I lost perspective.
I was frustrated, annoyed at the snails pace progress. Angry at my body for not getting it's shit together. Getting the picture? Not pretty.
So i had my hissy fit, and reluctantly sent my progress pics and stats to my coach Rosa. Within a couple of hours, Rosa had emailed back just how pleased she was at my progress and that I was more than on track... ahhhh thank god for coaches.
She also changed my program around, changed my food and my workouts. The monotony of the same food and same workouts for 6 weeks was starting to take its toll. But people, when the trainers here talk about consistency - its for a reason. It breeds results.
So now although im on slightly less food and calories, it's at least different variations of what I have been having. My food now also involves plain rice cakes which I adore - call me crazy!
I went off to Canberra on saturday to visit my best friend, lovingly referred to as 'Katie Bubble' due to the fact that she lives in her own little happy bubble and never ceases to make me smile. It was going to be a challenge for me, because when KT and i are together - we like to eat. Mainly chocolate....oh dear...
My coach had given me some scope to have a cheat meal and a dessert - i took her up on that! I had a great weekend, the highlight being when KT asked me, as I was preparing snow peas and salmon for our dinner, if when snow peas are cooked - do they shrink in size...ummm no KT they don't. Gold.
So today I started my new program. Its operation lean down legs! I have built good muscle so now its time to get rid of the fat. My sessions involve lighter weights on my legs but very high repittions - up to 50 reps in some cases. Im excited, i feel great this week and im looking forward to some good progress. Im currently sitting somewhere between 17-18% body fat. I have 18 weeks to get rid of 8 of those. Completely achievable.
Oh and watch this space for some very exciting news regarding my nutrition business. Its something I have been working very hard on in the wings and it will be time to unveil very very soon...
Til then...well u know the drill!
xx
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
I can't be held responsible for my behaviour.
So yesterday was just one of those days. You know what I'm talking about people - those days that feel like they are never going to end and everything seems to go, well pear shaped. Its days like this, whilst comp prepping, that you wonder how you (or the people around you) make it out alive. Its these days that I am thankful Michael is so supportive of the Sport I have chosen - because if he wasn't he would be far far away by now of his OWN volition.
I tend to split my days into 2, this is especially useful whilst comp prepping. I come into the studio in the morning, do my workout and stay until 1pm when i go home and eat, and then head back in around 3pm to do the evening shift. So yesterday I headed home to have my chicken and sweet potato - I was starving, and im not going to lie, a tad irritable. Within 5 minutes of stepping into our house, the power went out.
Now, i have a small window of opportunity to eat - my timimgs need to be spot on or it throws out the rest of my day eating wise (yes yes welcome to the nutty world of body building). So after a frantic 20 minutes of attempting to get a hold of Michael, with no luck, i found myself sitting on the couch feeling very sad and sorry for myself. Oh sure I could have had my chicken and sweet potato cold, but when you have fairly bland meals every day, the one excitement is the fact that its, well, hot.
I finally got in touch with Michael and found myself, quite literally, wailing on the phone that I couldnt eat and I was just going to eat 'whatever' i could find...the next thing i knew Michael was home, unplugging the microwave and carrying it down into the garage where he promptly plugged it in and voila - power!
It seemed the electricity company had sent our last bill to someone other than us - and surprise surprise they didnt pay it. So the power of our shared neighbours garage was still on...and that is the story of how Michael saves the day.
This whole time as I was freaking out it occured to me just how calm Michael stayed. He has seen this behaviour over food timings before...poor guy. We have left social outings early so i can get my food in, sometimes we have skipped the outing all together because the 4 hrs of exercise i need to fit in, wont happen if we go out.
It is at this point you're probably asking yourself why the hell would anyone want to compete? It's so all consuming, annoyingly cumbersome and anti social...there are days I ask myself the same question. yesterday was one of those days. These hiccups, these little roadblocks are what make the final step of standing up on stage so worth while - because the process is so darn hard it makes the end point rather momentous.
I'm not that far into my prep, only 4 weeks, many more weeks to go, and it just gets more challenging. Yesterday it wasn't fun. Today I'm fine. Tomorrow - who knows?
I tend to split my days into 2, this is especially useful whilst comp prepping. I come into the studio in the morning, do my workout and stay until 1pm when i go home and eat, and then head back in around 3pm to do the evening shift. So yesterday I headed home to have my chicken and sweet potato - I was starving, and im not going to lie, a tad irritable. Within 5 minutes of stepping into our house, the power went out.
Now, i have a small window of opportunity to eat - my timimgs need to be spot on or it throws out the rest of my day eating wise (yes yes welcome to the nutty world of body building). So after a frantic 20 minutes of attempting to get a hold of Michael, with no luck, i found myself sitting on the couch feeling very sad and sorry for myself. Oh sure I could have had my chicken and sweet potato cold, but when you have fairly bland meals every day, the one excitement is the fact that its, well, hot.
I finally got in touch with Michael and found myself, quite literally, wailing on the phone that I couldnt eat and I was just going to eat 'whatever' i could find...the next thing i knew Michael was home, unplugging the microwave and carrying it down into the garage where he promptly plugged it in and voila - power!
It seemed the electricity company had sent our last bill to someone other than us - and surprise surprise they didnt pay it. So the power of our shared neighbours garage was still on...and that is the story of how Michael saves the day.
This whole time as I was freaking out it occured to me just how calm Michael stayed. He has seen this behaviour over food timings before...poor guy. We have left social outings early so i can get my food in, sometimes we have skipped the outing all together because the 4 hrs of exercise i need to fit in, wont happen if we go out.
It is at this point you're probably asking yourself why the hell would anyone want to compete? It's so all consuming, annoyingly cumbersome and anti social...there are days I ask myself the same question. yesterday was one of those days. These hiccups, these little roadblocks are what make the final step of standing up on stage so worth while - because the process is so darn hard it makes the end point rather momentous.
I'm not that far into my prep, only 4 weeks, many more weeks to go, and it just gets more challenging. Yesterday it wasn't fun. Today I'm fine. Tomorrow - who knows?
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Whats your motivation?
I got to thinking over the weekend...what motivates me to compete? I get asked this question a lot. Not so much what motivates me but more like "why the hell would you want to do that?" ...But you get where im going with this.
I think in order to want to compete you have to have lots of incentive, forget willpower...its the motivation towards a particular goal that drives us to say no to that piece of chocolate. I dont beleive in will power. You either WANT something or you dont. Its really that simple.
For me, the motivation to compete comes from wanting to be the best I can be. I want to be extraordinary. Ive never followed the pack - why start now? So you might be thinking, oh she wants to be better than everyone else - well no, thats not it at all. For me, im not happy at my average self. Ive pushed my body to its limits - and i loved every minute of it. Im amazed every day at what i can get this 32 yr old body to do. Im motivated by the desire to be my very best, and for me, my very best is standing on stage in peak physical condition.
Ok so this isnt your goal or your desire? Doesnt matter. What DOES matter is the desire to be the best you, you can be.
I get a lot of girls saying to me, 'Oh i could never do what you do. I love food too much'...what and i dont? Trust me, i love my food as much as the next person. My desire to go beyond short term satisfaction of a meal in exchange for peak physical performance is more important when im training to compete. What you are really saying to me when you say i could never do that, is actually, that you dont want to do that - its not your goal - its not your desire. And thats fine...but find out what is before its too late to do anything about it...
Im more than human, my motivation wanes. And then i turn to inspiration to motivate me forwards. I look to other competitors who are plugging away, just like me, to get to the stage.
Im inspired by normal people achieveing amazing things. Simple things inspire me on a daily basis. Clients that come in and tell me they had a horrible day at work, they got no sleep the night before and have a raging headache - but have decided to train regardless of all these hurdles. Now thats inspiring - because you could have just gone home, but you chose not to. Clients that smash out personal bests on the rower, or Tom's crazy cross fit workouts - also inspire me. People that are losing weight following one of my programs, really inspire me. I could go on, but my point is this. Find out what YOUR motivation is and then go for it - don't let anything hold you back...ever.
Last week was an awesome week training wise for me. I felt strong and powerful and in control. I feel the same this week, possibly more so. Im embracing this comp prep because i know the changes to my body are going to be amazing - im excited for my future in this sport.
My cardio has been increased this week also. So now im doing 1hr per day as well as weights, and on sundays im doing an outside hardcore plyometrics workout on top of this which i love. My food has not changed much, slowly my macros are going down but at this stage im still on a good amount of food. Im dropping fat, my body fat % is dropping, and im sitting close to 18% at present. My weight has not changed much so thats good news, it means im retaining muscle. I have 2 weeks on this program with no changes and then its up to my coach to see how im going.
So thats it people, i hope you all are training to your maximum potential and feeding your body with fresh wonderful food - remember, look after your body, its the only one youve got.
xx
I think in order to want to compete you have to have lots of incentive, forget willpower...its the motivation towards a particular goal that drives us to say no to that piece of chocolate. I dont beleive in will power. You either WANT something or you dont. Its really that simple.
For me, the motivation to compete comes from wanting to be the best I can be. I want to be extraordinary. Ive never followed the pack - why start now? So you might be thinking, oh she wants to be better than everyone else - well no, thats not it at all. For me, im not happy at my average self. Ive pushed my body to its limits - and i loved every minute of it. Im amazed every day at what i can get this 32 yr old body to do. Im motivated by the desire to be my very best, and for me, my very best is standing on stage in peak physical condition.
Ok so this isnt your goal or your desire? Doesnt matter. What DOES matter is the desire to be the best you, you can be.
I get a lot of girls saying to me, 'Oh i could never do what you do. I love food too much'...what and i dont? Trust me, i love my food as much as the next person. My desire to go beyond short term satisfaction of a meal in exchange for peak physical performance is more important when im training to compete. What you are really saying to me when you say i could never do that, is actually, that you dont want to do that - its not your goal - its not your desire. And thats fine...but find out what is before its too late to do anything about it...
Im more than human, my motivation wanes. And then i turn to inspiration to motivate me forwards. I look to other competitors who are plugging away, just like me, to get to the stage.
Im inspired by normal people achieveing amazing things. Simple things inspire me on a daily basis. Clients that come in and tell me they had a horrible day at work, they got no sleep the night before and have a raging headache - but have decided to train regardless of all these hurdles. Now thats inspiring - because you could have just gone home, but you chose not to. Clients that smash out personal bests on the rower, or Tom's crazy cross fit workouts - also inspire me. People that are losing weight following one of my programs, really inspire me. I could go on, but my point is this. Find out what YOUR motivation is and then go for it - don't let anything hold you back...ever.
Last week was an awesome week training wise for me. I felt strong and powerful and in control. I feel the same this week, possibly more so. Im embracing this comp prep because i know the changes to my body are going to be amazing - im excited for my future in this sport.
My cardio has been increased this week also. So now im doing 1hr per day as well as weights, and on sundays im doing an outside hardcore plyometrics workout on top of this which i love. My food has not changed much, slowly my macros are going down but at this stage im still on a good amount of food. Im dropping fat, my body fat % is dropping, and im sitting close to 18% at present. My weight has not changed much so thats good news, it means im retaining muscle. I have 2 weeks on this program with no changes and then its up to my coach to see how im going.
So thats it people, i hope you all are training to your maximum potential and feeding your body with fresh wonderful food - remember, look after your body, its the only one youve got.
xx
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