Ooohh how cold is it at the moment? I do believe that Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) does exist. I think i suffer from it. I know others that do too. Its when the seasons shift and change and we have to find that balance of adjusting to colder weather, less sunlight and trying not to comfort ourselves with food.
I have always been a comfort eater. I eat when im happy, sad, nervous, bored - you get the picture. I have had to teach myself over the years that if I am going to eat for comfort then i need to make better food choices. I tend now to reach for herbal Tea in the colder months. It has a soothing and comforting effect without the calories. Win! I have had a real battle on my hands of late though because im recovering from a chest infection AND battling SAD! So my supply of herbal teas has taken over our house and the Studio!
For those of you that have been asking, yes i am 100% now and fighting fit (finally) and YES I am still competing. I had to have 2 weeks off to let my body fully recover, and although that was important to do - 2 weeks is a long time when we are talkign about comp prep. Its 2 weeks i have lost and now have to work harder to make up.
Because of all of this i have been left feeling a bit flat, a bit blah, and not particularly excited about prep the way I should be. I made a concious decision yesterday that I was done feeling sorry for myself. Its really that simple. Ok i have been sick and ive lost valuable prep time - now its time to move forward and blow the next 15 weeks out of the water.
Its all about changing your mindset.
So in order to help me along the way I have invested in some meditation/hypnosis downloads from a very famous Professional Figure Competitor Nancy Georges. Its very common for elite athletes to be taken through professional visualisation techniques before their games/events - and this is the same. Nancy's series is called the Competitve Edge for Figure Competitors, and im really intrigued to see how I find the visualisation. For those of you that dont know, i have a background in Pyschology and a Degree in Social Work and used to work as a therapist. I used alot of NLP (neurolinguistic Programming) with my clients back in the day - i guess now its my turn!
I love that Michael is so supportive of all my crazy ideas - even if he does tease me about this particular one!
So tomorrow my prep shifts into a slightly different gear. Im almost done with my bulking stage, and I have built some good muscle. The next few weeks will see my carb content drop gradually so as to not stress my body. Im actually now ready for this - i want to start seeing all the muscle i have built!!
The next couple of months will also see me working very hard at my posing routines. Its an area i really lacked in last time on stage and i intend to rectify that this time round. To know how to pose equals confidence on stage - something that hours at the gym simply cant provide.
Well thats it for today. I promise to keep you all updated on my progress from here. ill also be posting progress shots soon....
til next time xx
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