bikini season!

Here is a photo of my first competition bikini made for me by Berns of Passionfruit Designs. I love it! Jo is doing my second bikini. I will have the choice between two for my sojourn to Melbourne.

Training today:
Teach spin class 45 mins, elliptical - moderate 30 mins
Back/shoulders/triceps
Reverse grip pull down 4 x 10
Rope Pulley Row 4 x 8-10
Barbell row 3 x 8
Dumbbell Row 4 x 10
Bent arm Lateral raise 4 x 8
Diamond Lateral Raise 3 x 15
Tricep Push Ups on Toes 4 x 12
Tri Extension on Smith bar 3 x 8 (ouch!)
Tricep Kickback on Ball.

Posing Practice.

I have found out today that I have a small sponsorship with Ladybird Supplements. I have used Figure Tone since I started my physique transformation and love it as it is a "broad spectrum" protein and reasonably priced. I'm going to supply it for sale at the gym. I am also going to be a distributor for Slim Secrets bars - they are high in protein, moderate in carbs and the best part, taste scrumptious (gosh I do sound like a saleswoman today) - good if you are in a time crunch and whilst real food is best, sometimes a bar can be the difference between good eating behaviour and a massive blow out. If anyone wants to order them from me, I'll stick my contact email up shortly.

I decided to take this on because nowhere around here sells sports supplements and sometimes I just don't feel like buying online and neither do my clients.

So a big thank you to Ladybird. I am just thrilled to be getting a bit of help with the cost of my protein powder and other supps.

Going for Goal!

Training today - 30 minute run, teach aerobics class - my first freestyle class in goodness knows how long...yikes, shoulders 5 mins - yes I got three sets of overhead presses in before my client turned up for PT and my goal tomorrow is to get my training in first and treat myself as "numero uno". I cannot get over the amount of personal training I am doing! Who would have thought?

I'm still feeling peaceful although it was a running battle all day with the dreaded troll. Felt like I was going off the boil in a few places, but stopped the cravings with a nice warm bowl of broccoli and pumpkin soup, which actually tastes rather excellent, so no complaints there at all.

Risky Changes

The title of my post is called "Risky Changes", meaning that I am reflecting on the massive re workings I have made to my training regime over the past few months and whether there will be any significant difference when I compete again.

This morning I trained chest, legs and biceps and I'm teaching a Spin class this afternoon. I did my explosive leg training workout this morning - lots of plyo jumps, leaps and the like - a lot like Sam's plyo workouts actually. I've never really trained like this before and I approach it with a mixture of dread ("ouch, this is hard") and enjoyment ("wow, I can't believe I did it!"). However, insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, so I think I am doing the right thing.

I'm feeling very much at peace with myself today (though we know in the Comp Prep world this can change at any minute). I am incredibly grateful for what I have achieved and feel that for me, the pressure is off - I "qualified" to go to Melbourne (and have a great holiday whilst I'm there) and I lost 33kg in the process - and that, due to all of my surgeries/skin problems, I will never be a top Figure Athlete. That doesn't mean that I will stop trying to improve my physique or symmetry - it is what is just is, if you get my drift. I'm so happy to get up there, enjoy myself and celebrate my achievements, as well as every other girl that makes the journey to compete - there is so much inspiration within the stories of others.

Time to keep training and to keep smiling, for life is good.

Holy Cow (or maybe not!)

If anyone gets the opportunity, you should really try kangaroo - was fortunate to pick up some Naturoo in Rocky over the weekend and it was absolutely scrumptious and filling as. Lots of protein and little fat....So, do you do the 'roo?

Monday! Back into it!

I love these bits about athletes, though I think the print may be too small to really read easily.

Back into the swing of things today - have done a 40 minute run and my back/triceps training and will hit the elliptical for 20mins this afternoon nice and hard.

Also have 3 PT clients - which will keep me busy and out of the kitchen. The weekends are the hardest part for me. I get easily distracted and start getting these "sense of entitlement" feelings as everyone else snacks around me. I know that if I really do crave something I can work it into a splurge meal, so largely I practise alternative behaviours to keep me on the straight and narrow.

Not happy, Jan

Definitely having a "Not Happy, Jan" moment on Friday - here I am 6.5 weeks out 56kg and feeling majorly stressed that I'm not leaning out fast enough - so other competitors, if you are reading this, please come and be brutal and excuse my sucky front pose. Actually taking the photos did inspire me to pull the ol' finger out and knuckle down a bit more, which I suppose is why taking progress photos is actually a good thing. All I could think of after I took them was how panicky I am feeling this time around and don't feel like I'm physically ready. Maybe all of Josh's photo talk was getting to me... agggh.

Anyway, the weekend has been good - we went to Sizzler in Rocky for lunch yesterday and I stayed away from the apple pie and icecream and thought about the photos that I am so not happy with. Good leverage.

Mountains and valleys

Yesterday I was on top of the mountain, today I am in the valley, feeling bloated and tired! Just one of those days.

Training:
Teach sports conditioning drills class 60mins
Back and triceps -
Close grip pull down to front 4 x10
Dumbbell Row
Wide Grip Row
High Cable PUll
Tricep pushups on BOSU
Tricep pushdowns (bar)

30 minute run

Aggggh!

I'm excited!

I am so excited because Anne and I have booked our flights to Melbourne for the Nationals! Anne and I became great mates training together at Fitness First and she is competing for the first time in Physique Class in the Qld Titles (over 160cm) - Anne has some awesome muscle and was asked if she competed at the Girl Thing Show, even though she was in the audience without any tan on! Yes, I am definitely doing the happy dance now! Plus it is great being able to compare who is buying the most eggs and whether tuna is on special this week or not!

This morning taught Spin class 45min and practised my routine. Everyone at the gym decided to come up and have a look which I wasn't expecting because posing and routining in front of everyone is my greatest fear (as you all know). However they were all really supportive and to help me overcome my fear, they are going to watch me once a week. How cool is that? I managed to get through most of the routine OK - have to work on my hand placement and moving more fluidly but I was encouraged that I have most of it memorized which will please Jo to no end :)

This afternoon I am having a well deserved rest and looking forward to training hard on Friday and Saturday.

Gotta run, making Miss G a toasted cheese sandwich - key is to get that sucker cut up and onto her plate and me to do something else!

Post cardio potatoes!

I've been participating in an interesting discussion about carb depletion today and my point of view is "don't do it!" - invariably you get very depleted and bingo! start compensating to replenish glycogen stores.

That is why having some potato post cardio works really well for me. I replenish glycogen stores and walk around feeling sane, not starving.

Today has required a lot of time adjustments - extra PT client today which has infringed on my planned shoulder workout - I am thankful though for my clients as they are paying for me to go to Melbourne.

Today's training: 50 mins cardio (long slow distance 40 mins and 10 mins of explosive rower intervals - that's why those taters came in handy today :)

Get a grip!

Sometimes I need to remind myself to "get a grip" when I start awfulizing about how bad this place is or how hard being in action is or just how hard I find the aspects of posing and routine, especially the routine! How do I change from feeling shy to go-get-em tiger? Practised routine today and I visualize Jo giving me all of these little cues - it was a bit better today but still needs lots of work!

Training today:
walk, teach spinning class...
elliptical 10 min warm up

Chest/abs/biceps
Incline dumbbell press/flyes giant set 4 sets
Pec deck 4 x 10
BOSU push ups with varied hand placement 4 x 12
Ball crunch 4 x10
Ab roll out to plank on ball 4 x 30 sec
Dumbbell bicep curl 3 x10
Preacher barbell curl 2 x10 (kicked out of gym because bingo was on :( ) Who ever heard of having bingo in a gym?

Let's roll

Whew, busy day - but got the job done!

Training today:
30 min hard and pacey run
Rower/elliptical intervals 15 mins

Back/hamstrings/triceps
Chin ups (varying grips) 4 x8
Lat pull down med grip 4 x10
Deadlift 4 x 6 focus on glute area only
Hyperextension with glute focus 4 x10
Seated row 4 x10
Tricep dips (bodyweight) 8,6,6,6
Tricep Kickback 3x10
Reverse crunch 3 x10

Eating has been great today. I am still waay behind where I need to be, so I am narrowing my focus and working on being consistent.

Running Just as Fast as I Can!

This coming week is going to be a busy one for me. I am fully booked with personal training clients and it is going to be hard work fitting in my workouts around them, but I am determined to succeed.

It's another week where I want to put the foot down on the accelerator with the physical side of things and my big excitement for the week is that the Woop Woop Warehouse have bought an elliptical, recumbent bike and Concept 2 rower. I will be in cardio heaven!

I've spent some time prepping some meals and will check in sporadically over the week and hopefully visit some blogs. Otherwise, I'll just be keying in the training as per usual.

I hope everyone's week rocks! As King Theoden says in LOTR, "To Rack, to Ruin, to the Red Dawn!"

How I prepare - rule 2

I've been reading about lots of different ways to prepare for a comp, including Josh's take on preparation which was really interesting.

I'm a little bit different - I am a number cruncher! I weigh myself every day. This has been useful for me determining how I react to carbs, salt etc and what happens during TOM, so I don't freak out when the scale says something I'm not expecting! I have been known to fluctuate by as much as six pounds after eating certain meals, so in my book, knowledge is power.

I also log my food intake religiously. Like David says in the LL book, you don't set off on an important journey without planning it first and concreting all the steps in the middle, so planning my intake really helps me.

I don't "re-invent" the wheel trying to come up with different and faster ways of getting the body fat off - I try to be very consistent most of the time. I also try to be intuitive. Using my tools I can almost 100% predict whether at a given time, I need more carbs, protein or fat which means I rarely overeat these days. Acknowledging though that it is 100% certain I will overeat in the future is also good to know, whether it be due to an emotional reason or simply because the food tastes so good at the time. We humans are wired to eat!

The key is to use the technique that works best for you!

Training yesterday:
Teach kickboxing class 60 mins; train shoulders, 15 minute run. + Plyo plie jumps - I don't know what possessed me to do a couple of sets of those, but I am sore today ;)

Another milestone!

This week has been full of little milestones. Today it is our tenth Wedding Anniversary! I don't think either of us would have thought it would have been such a ride, but here we are ten years laughter howling with laughter at the anniversary card I gave DH this morning - two fat hairy people telling each other that the magic hadn't gone...except the two of us look much different to that! Even though DH is not into fitness as such, he is still in good shape and I am now competing in Figure! Ten years has brought two gorgeous girls, nine moves and countless jokes about all sorts of things - we have nicknamed Woop Woop "Mordor"(Lord of the Rings) and DH's workplace "LV-426" (from the movie "Aliens" which was one of the first we saw together when we were dating in 1986! Yipes!).

In terms of training and comp prep, the last few days have been really positive. I've dropped a bit more in weight and am hot on Miss Splice's heels (or should I say great legs)! The Outlaws left yesterday (I may have already posted this ) and I've been busy today.

Today:
walk
teach Spin Class, then see PT client, then take Miss Georgia to see "Goldilocks".
pm: 10 minute run, back, hamstring and bicep training.
Narrow grip pull down 4 x10
Wide grip row 4 x10
Hyperextensions 4 x 10 (weighted)
DB deadlifts (heavy) 4 x10
Leg curl (heavy) 4 x10
DB row 4 x10
Hammer curl 3 x10

Liz's comp prep rules - here is Number 1

Today I thought I would write about some more about my comp prep "rules". Firstly I spoke of the "Either/Or" scenario, borrowed from David Greenwalt and today I am writing about the "200, not 2000 calorie" rule.

What this rule is about is basically if you feel like you could eat the a**e out of a rhino and you've eaten all of your prescribed meals and the hunger is not going away, put in an extra 200 calorie meal of preferably clean, filling food. That way you will improve your "self regulation reserves" (ie your ability to think straight when it comes to eating - if self regulation reserves are low, this is where a body transformationist can come undone!). I am writing about this because it looks as if it may be that sort of day for yours truly here. My weapon of choice is fresh, ripe cherries - hence the photo!

I have really started to put the foot on the accelerator this week with some pleasing results - starting to get more quad separation and more definition between shoulders/triceps/biceps. By putting the foot on the accelerator I mean cleaner, less processed foods and 10 minutes of extra cardio on 5 days. Easy to achieve when you break it down!

Training today:
Run - "4 levels" run 45 mins

Chest training:
Bench Press: 5 x 12
Incline Bench Press: 4 x 12
Push ups : to failure
short and sweet!
Relaxed pose practice.

If you needed convincing about the power of strength training

I cannot believe that I am posting this "before" photo. I weigh about 64kg in it and this is after I have lost a good 20kg. I'm sure all the readers out there in Blogland are appreciating the fact I am not publishing those "befores". It's just to illustrate the power of strength training - I'm a completely different "shape" after focusing more on resistance training and less on cardio (though as many know, I do love a good blow-out ;) )

Training today:
walk
run 10 mins, teach Spin class 45min
Shoulders/abs
Military press 4 x10 (heavy)
Ab plank on ball with feet on medicine ball - 3 sets for as long as I could
Bent arm Lateral raise/straight arm lateral raise combo: 4 x 10/6
Over the top ball crunch 4 sets
Upright BOSU row - 4 x10 (heavy)
Pilates - hundreds/bicycles/single leg stretch/double leg stretch 4 sets
Shoulder scoops 4 x 10
Cobras 2 lots....

Seven today!

Here are my two girls enjoying birthday cake as a post breakfast treat. My eldest daughter (Sarah) is seven today! Happy Birthday Smoosh!

Eating Well is the Best Revenge!

Who said eating well had to be boring? Here is Teresa Cutter's Guacamole Bean Salad with added chicken breast. I had smoked salmon and strawberries for meal 2 - all I needed was a glass of champagne :)

Training today:
Run: total 45 mins - 30 mins @80% and 15 mins @65%

Weights:
Chin Ups - varied grips 4 x6
Hyperextensions 4 x12

Lat Pull down to Front 4 x10
Plyo Lunges 4 x 10
Olympic Barbell Row (narrow) 4 x10
180 degree plyo squats 4 x15
low cable pulley style row 3 x10
Body weight dips 8, 7, 6,6
Tricep pushdown 3 x10

Either - Or - Part Deux

Another day where I have to apply the "Either/Or" principle again. My eldest daughter is sick today which meant I could not go to the gym this morning and train. However I am going to ask DH for some help this afternoon - would he please watch the kids whilst I get an hour of training in before my 5 pm client. 30 mins of cardio and 30 mins of weights. It's a lot better than nothing in my book and I am going to really push the intensity for the entire hour.

Thermometer sitting close to zero this morning. I wore socks on my hands to act as gloves. I am at my gorgeous best early in the morning these days....

The Either-Or Scenario

Today has been a variation on the "Either - Or " syndrome that many of us go through in terms of exercise or eating well. David describes it very well in the Leanness Lifestyle book - often we are either all or nothing. The Leanness Lifestyle teaches us to work within the all or nothing continuum - for example, today I didn't get in as much training as I would have liked with the inlaws here, but I still did something. I've eaten well 95% of the time. In my book that still means that I am ahead of the game.

Training today:
walk in freeze :)
teach Spin class 45mins
Shoulders + abs 25 mins
Behind neck barbell press 4 x10
Ab crunch on ball (focusing on upper ab area) 4 x 12
Lateral raise - diamond lat raise giant set 4 x12
Ab planks on ball 3 x 30 sec hold
Upright row/shoulder scoop giant set 4 x12
Reverse crunch 1 x8
Practice abdo/thigh pose

What else - feeling a bit concerned that I am not leaning out fast enough. I'm not going to throw a hissy fit about it - just make a few subtle changes and not panic. I can do this and treat my body lovingly at the same time :)

Day in the Life

Tonight's photo is of my youngest daughter, Miss Georgia with her cousin Connor.

I thought I would describe a day in my life right now - thanks for the inspiration, Rae.

Here goes....

5am - Rise and put on several layers of clothing and go for a walk - walking has become a daily ritual for me - I don't go particularly fast - just put on some great music and enjoy time to myself.

6.15am - return from walk and prep hub's lunch and eat breakfast with him. I usually have oats with Ladybird Figure Tone mixed in. Then DH leaves and I check my emails and look over my list for the day. I put the washing on and take out dinner (which I've usually pre prepared or portioned)
7.30am - both girls get up and we prepare for school, have breakfasts, make lunch etc.
8.45am - drop girls off at school/kindy
9.00 - usually at the gym - I do my resistance training and then cardio or vice versa if it's really cold. Lately I've been doing my RT and cardio separately.
10.30 - have a snack - usually cup of berries with cottage cheese and protein powder (whey) - I have slow/fast release protein post workout - then I have personal training clients or get to come home
12.30pm - lunch - often an omelette with sweet potato (frittata) or some form of protein and lots of salad and a starchy carb
1pm - housework and prepping dinner - I chop up all my vegetables and what protein we are having so it is ready to go when we come home.
3pm - have another snack - usually it's a massive bowl of veggie soup, some form of protein and a couple of rice cakes if I am super hungry
3.30pm after picking girls up from school/kindy we are off to after school care on the days I have personal training - from this time onwards until 6pm I am often training clients.
6pm - arrive home - baths, dinner (cooked whilst girls are in bath) with DH/girls; homework and reading.
8.30pm catch up with DH and watch some TV
9.30pm to bed after some quick thought about what I need to achieve the next day.

I'm very lucky that I can devote so much time to training/prep right now - though I would like to be able to work in my original profession (I am a pharmacist)!

I feel an asparagus bender coming on.....!

Today I had grilled salmon and grilled asparagus for lunch (with a bit of rice on the side) and I am hoping like mad that asparagus comes back into season and soon. I cannot get enough of it! It's great barbequed, put into omelettes etc and I love it!

Training today:
walk to gym and back (45 min round trip)
RT - chest/biceps/legs

Bench press 4 x12
BOSU defensive squats 4 x 12
Incline Bench 4 x12
BOSU - plyo lunges 180degrees 4 x10
Decline Flye 4 x10
Glute lift, pilates inspired 3 sets
Incline bicep curl/hammer curl giant set 3 to failure

That's all for today. Hopefully I can check in again soon ;)

The Outlaws

Today I am preparing from a visit from my Inlaws, except in this family, I call them "The Outlaws" - I borrowed the term from a former employer who used to call her in laws the same name. We've had our ups and downs, but for the most part we tend to rub along together OK. I am doing a bit of a cookup and have made my red curry and chicken meatballs and now am onto my Ethiopian Berbere. I'm also making a chicken and mushroom casserole which should be quite nice and still a pretty clean meal, despite a little sour cream sneaking its' way into things. I'm going to try 1/2 sour cream and half EasiYo yoghurt to lighten it up even more.

Training today:
walk in the freeze
Teach Spin class

RT - Back/triceps
Chin ups 4 x6, varying grips
Med grip pull down to the front 4 x12
Leg Extension 4 x15 (fast)
Seated narrow row: 4 x 10 (heavy)
Leg Curl: 4x 20 (fast)
High Cable Pulls (the closest I can get to a cable, but never mind) 3 x 12
BOSU chair squats, 3 x20, floor squat 1 x 20 (+3kg)
Bodyweight dips: 8, 7, 6, 6
Full tricep extension on Smith machine - I borrowed this exercise from the latest Muscle and Fitness Hers and it is a beauty - 1 x 10, 1 x 8
Overhead Tricep Extension 3 x 10
Stretch!

Arrrgh, hormones1

Argh, hormones - what else can I say. Today was marked by a lousy migraine, which I am sure is hormonally generated. I had been fighting a mild headache all day, when whammo, went for a run and it started. At least it started after I had finished, but it meant no resistance training for me today.

I started the next phase of my action plan - goal being to lose 3 pounds (or just over a kilogram) in the next three weeks. I'm slightly behind schedule and will need to paddle hard - but it is within my reach and I am responsible for making it happen now.

It was confirmed that I will be competing in Intermediate Class - I'm not expecting to even place at this next comp and keep reminding myself to just enjoy the experience of preparing for a comp again. Off now to sort out the dates for my arrival in Brisbane and to work out how many RPM classes I can teach while I'm at home ;)

Rest, repose, refocus...

Yesterday I had a day of total rest - slept for nearly 12 hours, think the old bod must have needed it! This morning I went for a walk around the perimeter of town and through some farming land - took me 110 minutes and I was glad that I brought two CDs to listen to, rather than one.

Am feeling a bit stressed at the moment as my in laws are coming to visit for a week and even though they are staying in their caravan, they are coming over for most meals which is pretty stressful as they like richer, heavier food than I am accustomed to. I actually made semi dried tomato and olive bread as a trial for their visit and ended up eating four slices myself! I certainly will be firing on all those unintended carbs. After much thought I got out my 80/20 book and am going to make a few recipes out of this - chicken breast burgers with red curry paste (instead of fish) with Vietnamese Mint Salad, my Ethiopian Lamb Berbere with brown rice and natural yoghurt raita and will do some salads with grilled tuna, salmon etc. They won't even know they are eating clean! Big bowls of strawberries and kiwis for dessert! I'll fit my workouts in the early morning. I've been getting up at 5am, so an extra half hour will not make much difference. And I won't make any bread - what is the local bakery for anyway ;)

Too many rabbits in China!

This cartoon reminds me of the ad on TV where some bloke says "too many rabbits in China" - DH and I always laugh at these types of ads because somehow they make our way into our everyday vocab - his excuse for something will end up being because..."there are too many rabbits in China" etc etc. We are totally blown away by how awful the ads are in Central Queensland - we almost feel embarrassed for the people acting in them, they are so lame.

INBA entry forms went up today (thanks Deb for the heads up) and it looks like, according to the form, that I will be competing as an Intermediate competitor as I have already competed once. I have emailed head of the INBA as Lia suggested to get the proper low down.

Today ended up being a pure cardio day - I taught a step class this morning and did a very sharp 20 minute run this afternoon before my PT client as well as posing. It's weird I am better on one side than the other but I will keep working at it. Tomorrow I will train shoulders and biceps at home as well as go for a walk - I am planning on doing a long one - going out on the highway and then cutting back past the local Showground and back home - should take me about 90 minutes at a nice clip - even though it's cold (or maybe it's just the body fat coming off), I find it very soothing and precious time to myself.

Bring it on!

This is a great photo of Mike McSweeney (ex Les Mills) in RPM. Gosh do I love this class and miss teaching it with a passion. I'm a cardio fanatic - any opportunity to push the boundaries and to give it a good shake, I am there! After a hardcore cardio session I feel like I can take on the world! I own a fantastic V-Bike and I often fit in my own RPM session with my stereo going full blast. Not quite the same as the class atmosphere, but once I get going I still work at it quite hard.

Here in Woop Woop I teach my own type of spin class and use ideas from RPM as well as my Spinervals DVDs.

Training today: walking, teach Spin class, back/triceps, posing and routine run through.



Close grip pull down: 4x 15
Pull overs bb 15, 12, 12, 10
High cable pulls 4 x15
Tricep dips fast to failure 4 x20 (pre exhaust type sets)
Incline Tricep Press 4 x10 (ouchy)
Tricep Push up on med ball 2 x 6

Posing...needs work
Routine...run through 1st half - thought this was better today :)

Ride the Rhythm

Didn't get up and walk this morning as it was a notch worse than freezing, instead did a 45 minute "Long Slow Distance" type run on the treader and trained shoulders, the only body part that is not sore!

Shoulders
Military DB press 4 x15
Upright row on BOSU 4 x15
Diamond lat raise 4 x15
Shoulder scoops 4 x 15

Not much to report except that I am still feeling dreadfully homesick. Everything up here seems like such a struggle - but I am keeping on keeping on. Have been organizing bikini design with Jo today - she is going to stone my blue suit and I'm really looking forward to seeing what she comes up with.

Two personal training clients this afternoon, then I am officially done and dusted!

Kick start my heart (and other tunes)

I just love listening to music when I train - today's choice was Combat 22 which has Kick Start my Heart (think it may be by Metallica but not sure) and some other uplifting tunes such as "Holding Out for a Hero" on it. It really helps me to focus on putting in the intensity and I visualize putting in my best performance every time I lift something.

Today's training: 40mins
Chest/Biceps/abs
Bench Press 4 x15/ab plank on ball 4 x 30sec
Incline Bench Press/ ball roll back 4 x12
Decline Chest Flyes/ ab bicycle/single leg pilates stretch combo 4 x20

Biceps Giant Set
Hammer Curls then Dumbbell curls to failure x 3 sets...yowsa
Routine run through: 1st 30sec
Teach spinning class and go for a walk.

Eating has been nice and consistent these past few days. My biggest issue is avoiding the attack of the dreaded Food Troll - the phenomena where you aimlessly wander around your kitchen digging into what ever looks good, just because you want to have a little mouth party. That's when I get busy and get the h**l out of the kitchen. Having most meals pre prepped helps a lot as well, though I'm not as consistent as I could be with this.