I have been a bad blogger...normally I like to blog once a week or more and it just hasn't been happening *sigh*. I will attempt to be a better blogger from here on in.
So what has been happening? Well, I finally found my mojo. It appears it had taken a much needed holiday to Torquay and had forgotten to let me know. Ok let me explain...
Last year when i was prepping for comp, i was in the zone. I was focused, i was mentally strong - nothing was going to get in my way of stepping up on stage. You could literally (and Michael often did) sit in front of me and eat a burger and a chocolate bar and I would not even think of cheating. This prep though has been completely overwhelming, stressful and emotionally draining. I have been sick, unmotivated, uninspired and generally not really wanting to compete. I thought I was going crazy, and I was getting really down about it. I was waiting for it all to click and it just wasnt...
Over the weekend Michael and I took a much needed break to our favourite place on earth - Toruay. It was also going to be an opportunity for us to catch up with my old coach Glenn who has recently moved to geelong and opened up his own supplement store 'Athletes with Attitude'. We wandered in to Glenns store, he took one look at me and said - whats going on with your prep? Ahhhh yes prep...
Glenn instantly saw my lack of fire and wanted to know why after I had achieved so much with my last prep with him, i was unable to do the same this time around.
Over lunch Glenn made me an offer i couldnt refuse. He offered to coach me - once again for free - because of one simple reason. He believes in me.
Its been obvious that my new coach just hasnt offered me the support i have needed to move forward in this sport. So as of Tuesday i have once again been under the reigns of my old coach - and loving it.
My passion for the sport is back, my desire to succeed is back and now i have 13 weeks to bring my body in for late sept comps. Bring it.
This whole thing has taught me a lot about this sport. You dont need the perfect program or the perfect coach on paper - you need to be INSPIRED by your coach and surround yourself with others who have a passion for bodybuilding. Glenn oozes bodybuilding, he lives and breathes it. He instills that very same desire in myself - he wants success for me as badly as i want it for myself.
Im finally excited about comp season, and Im even booked in next week to see helen my bikini lady to splurge on a new stage bikini with lots of bling!
So what does this next stage mean for me? Well this is go time, this is when you will start to see me lean out and be able to show all the muscle i have been working so hard to get. I will be upping the anti in terms of cardio and my food becomes blander. This is, despite how it sounds, the best part of prep. This is where you start to see all the hard work pay off.
On that note im off to eat my rice, chicken and avocado YUM! (and i genuinely mean that!)
Til next time xx
Friday, June 24, 2011
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Changing the mindset
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
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
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Water logged
Well I am finally nearly over this pesky chest infection. For all those of you that have been asking after me and sending me messages - thankyou! Its been a long week, in fact it has felt like 4 weeks! The time has been ticking away ever so slowly as i laid in bed feeling sorry for myself and keeping my poor husband up at night with my coughing.
Actually one morning i wandered upstairs to find Michael crashed out on the couch. I have no idea how long he had been there - i wondered what un godly time in the morning he had moved himself upstairs onto the couch instead of smothering me to death with my own pillow. Poor guy - he had obviously had zilch sleep because as i quizzed him over the sleeping on the couch - he looked just as confused and dazed as i was responding 'on the couch?' looking at himself curled up in a ball, and muttering something about 'not sure' and 'i dunno'. Its been a long week.
Enough said.
So here I am puffy and water logged, runny nose and chesty cough and i feel soooo much better than i have in days! I have been drinking water like it might dry up at any given moment, and as a result - i can hear the ocean when i move. Hmmm nice huh?
It is true though - drinking water is so important when your unwell. It just flushes everything out. But the result is often that you look more puffy for a little while until it filters through. Ahhhh who am i kidding? The puffiness is also from the huge quantities of sugar I have been ingesting.
Ok before you panic (trust me, i beat you to it) it has not just been refined sugar. Actually it has mainly been natural sugar from fruits. However people - this reacts the same way in your system if you have enough of it. The result is quite simply, weight gain.
I made myself a promise to give my body whatever it craved this last week. So i have been eating apples, dates, almonds (ok so it was the coles tiramisu flavoured ones, so sue me), cereal, milk, yoghurt and wholegrain bread with peanut butter. These are foods I would never normally touch. Why u ask? Cos they make me fat. But there are certain things in each of these foods that my body has needed and required to heal. It has been hard to relinquish control and just go with it, but that being said, i start my prep on Monday.
Monday is the day I jump back into my comp prep. Its going to be hard. Its like starting from scratch, not an easy thought to get my head around. But i have big goals i want to achieve this year and they all require i look and feel my best. With this in mind, it makes my prep alot easier.
Since being at home and unwell, it has given me a great opportunity to get a lot of work done on my new business venture. Im really excited about it and all will b e revealed in time...
So expect to see me back and training as of monday, maybe with a little less intensity to begin with but hey it will be a start.
Til next time
Train hard, keep focused and eat clean
xx
Actually one morning i wandered upstairs to find Michael crashed out on the couch. I have no idea how long he had been there - i wondered what un godly time in the morning he had moved himself upstairs onto the couch instead of smothering me to death with my own pillow. Poor guy - he had obviously had zilch sleep because as i quizzed him over the sleeping on the couch - he looked just as confused and dazed as i was responding 'on the couch?' looking at himself curled up in a ball, and muttering something about 'not sure' and 'i dunno'. Its been a long week.
Enough said.
So here I am puffy and water logged, runny nose and chesty cough and i feel soooo much better than i have in days! I have been drinking water like it might dry up at any given moment, and as a result - i can hear the ocean when i move. Hmmm nice huh?
It is true though - drinking water is so important when your unwell. It just flushes everything out. But the result is often that you look more puffy for a little while until it filters through. Ahhhh who am i kidding? The puffiness is also from the huge quantities of sugar I have been ingesting.
Ok before you panic (trust me, i beat you to it) it has not just been refined sugar. Actually it has mainly been natural sugar from fruits. However people - this reacts the same way in your system if you have enough of it. The result is quite simply, weight gain.
I made myself a promise to give my body whatever it craved this last week. So i have been eating apples, dates, almonds (ok so it was the coles tiramisu flavoured ones, so sue me), cereal, milk, yoghurt and wholegrain bread with peanut butter. These are foods I would never normally touch. Why u ask? Cos they make me fat. But there are certain things in each of these foods that my body has needed and required to heal. It has been hard to relinquish control and just go with it, but that being said, i start my prep on Monday.
Monday is the day I jump back into my comp prep. Its going to be hard. Its like starting from scratch, not an easy thought to get my head around. But i have big goals i want to achieve this year and they all require i look and feel my best. With this in mind, it makes my prep alot easier.
Since being at home and unwell, it has given me a great opportunity to get a lot of work done on my new business venture. Im really excited about it and all will b e revealed in time...
So expect to see me back and training as of monday, maybe with a little less intensity to begin with but hey it will be a start.
Til next time
Train hard, keep focused and eat clean
xx
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