Sunday 23 December 2012

Not 1 gram...

I have not weighed myself since returning from Bali at the end of October but on Thursday Chris weighed me at the start of our session

I came back from Bali weighing 57.8kg and on Thursday I had not lost one single gram!
After nearly seven weeks of training hard and eating clean to see no change in my weight would normally see me completely disheartened, increasing my cardio training and/or cutting carbohydrates in a desperate attempt to get those numbers to go down.

What I now know is it is not what the numbers on the scales mean on their own. Using the BioSignature system, Chris determines the body fat and lean muscle.

Created by Charles Poliquin, BioSignature is a system based on scientific evidence that shows that an individual’s hormonal profile can be determined by the location of body fat stores. There are twelve BioSignature sites in total, with each one being a hormonal marker for what is occurring internally. Chris puts together my diet, exercise and supplementation programs based on my BioSignature measurements. This way of keeping track of my progress has worked for me so accurately over the last six months and I continue to see progress on a weekly basis!

So when you look at my measurements taken in October I weighed 57.8kg sitting at 15.1% body fat with a lean body mass of 48kgs. And last week I was sitting at 13% with lean body mass weighing 50kgs. So I lost 2.1% of my total weight made up of fat and put on 2kg of muscle. This is why I was smiling after having my measurements taken last week. Everything I have been doing over the last seven weeks has seen the correct changes in my body. My goal was to lose fat and gain muscle and this is exactly what has happened.


How do you monitor progress? How do you keep track of how you are progressing towards your goals? I think it is really important to keep track of your hard work. Seeing positive progress will keep you motivated and on track.

If you aren't seeing a trainer that can offer you BioSignature I would suggest taking your measurements; get a tape measure and measure your chest, waist and hips. You can even measure your thighs and bi-ceps. Measure these every four weeks to keep track of your progress.

Taking photos is another great way to monitor your progress. Have someone take a photo of you, in a bikini or your gym clothes, from the front, sides and back. Take the same photos again every four weeks to see how much progress you are making.

Even simpler, grab that pair of skinny jeans that you have not been able to fit in for three years. Try these on ever four weeks and see how much looser they get as you progress.

And please please stay off the scales unless someone is coming at you with skinfold calipers! ;)

Wednesday 19 December 2012

Baby got back...

So I am not going to lie, I love a good back! Backs and arms really do it for me and I appreciate a strong and toned back on both men and women! I'm happy with my back and I enjoy a massive back session and normally split my work-out with my chest.

my back :: courtesy of Chris Dufey

I think my obsession with amazing backs started when I watched Linda Hamilton in Terminator smash out pull ups like they were going out of fashion. Linda, in that movie, is bloody awesome and her body is incredible!

linda just being awesome

So 12 months ago I told myself I was going to train my body so that I could do pull ups. The other day I did two drop-sets of unassisted pull-ups; 7, 5, 3 reps. That day was a good day!

A pull up is a compound exercise meaning it works a number of muscle groups at the one time. The pull up works that many muscles it's not funny; the primary target muscles are the latissimus dorsi but also getting an awesome work out are your trapezius muscles, biceps, teres major and rhomboids which are part of your shoulder muscles, your abdominal muscles and your pelvic floor.

The best piece of advice I could give you when trying to progress your pull ups is to not give up! They are challenging, frustrating and at times you will feel like you aren't getting anywhere. Just commit to incorporating pull-ups into your work out schedule once a week and I promise you will see progress and feel stronger.

And the best way to get started is to jump on the assisted pull up machine. Looks scary, it's not! The assisted machine works on a bit of a pully system so that you have weight that counteracts your own body weight. The more weight you have above the pin the easier the pull up will be. This is a great way to progress your pull ups as the stronger you get the more weight you can take off from the weight stack.



Here is a really great piece of equipment to help you with your pull up progression; the resistance -band. Thank you to Phil and his client Tammy for being in my photo. Phil had Tammy do full pull-ups with the assistance of the band.


Another good way to progress your pull up is to jump on the pull up bar. Jump up so that your chin is above the bar and then slowly lower your body down until you arms are fully extended. This way you are working your back muscles through the eccentric (lengthening of the muscle) park of the exercise and missing the concentric (shortening on the muscle). Aim for real control throughout the half movement increasing the time it takes you to lower yourself to ensure progression.

Another awesome benefit of a pull up is that there are heaps of variations to really help you progress and get the most from each work out.

The reverse/supinated grip, where palms are facing your face, places more emphasis on your bi-ceps therefore making it the easiest variation of the pull up or chin-up, as they are also known.

The narrow/neutral grip for me is the middle of the road exercise. Palms facing inwards with the power being taken more evenly from your back muscles and your bi-ceps.


The most common and, what I think, popular pull up is the wide, overhand/pronate grip. This is also the hardest pull up as you aren't using the strength from your bi-cep to help you through the movement. I struggle with a wide grip and am still only sitting at about 2 reps. My new goal is to increase my number of reps with my wide grip pull ups.


What ever equipment you use and which ever grip you are doing on the day make sure when you are performing your pull-ups that you do not let your body sway back and forth to gain momentum. This can take work away the stress you are putting your muscles under and it can lead to injury. The best way to prevent this is by contracting your abs and keeping them tight throughout your whole set.

Don't give up...keep pulling!

Thursday 22 November 2012

She is coming....

I have spent a bit of time recently thinking about the last year. 2012 has been a huge year for me and one that I have really enjoyed.

I became a partner {the next step up from being a girlfriend} to an awesome man . I became a step-mother to two amazing children. I became a happier person.

I set myself challenges and kicked massive goals. I worked hard on looking after my body and I competed in my first fitness competition. I committed to training with Chris and I have listened to and followed every piece of advice and guidance he gave me.

Physically, I am stronger than I have ever been. I work hard in the gym and eat well 90% of the time and this has gotten me to a place where I am almost happy with my body. I wanted to share my fitness journey so I started blogging and I have found that I really enjoy it. I will continue to write and share. {It still surprises me that people actually read the blog so thank you!}.

My health and well being is the best it has ever been and mentally I am in a great place. I stopped giving too much and resenting when I did not get it back. I am also learning to manage my anxiety and stress. I will continue to focus on being the best person I can be.

I have been busy. Busy with work, busy prepping for my comp and busy studying by correspondence. I have spent the last 9 months studying for my certificate III and IV in fitness. I have not picked up a text book for 10 years! I left school at 16 so studying no longer comes naturally to me. Parts of the course I loved, parts of it I didn't love. I am super happy to say that I have just submitted my final assessment and I have my practical weekend next week.

And my big news is that I have just resigned from my job. What a way to end the year!

I am turning my passion in to my profession. I am swapping suits for gym pants, swapping my desk for the gym! I have known nothing else but real estate for the last 10 years so I am scared, nervous, excited and pumped all at the same time. From February I will be joining Chris and the Vivid Fitness team as a personal trainer.

So 2013 looks like it will be even bigger than 2012.

The new me is nearly here...

Saturday 10 November 2012

Lauren's 12WBT

Meet Lauren ::


she's that cute!!

Lauren is one of my sister Amelia's best friends ::

can a group of girls be any more glamorous?

I noticed on facebook a few months ago that Lauren had started Michelle Bridges' 12 Week Body Transformation also known as the 12WBT. The challenge really caught my interest not only because I have a secret girl crush on Michelle but because Amelia told me she had done one of Michelle's work outs with Lauren and had nearly died! I have been seeing it advertised every where but more importantly I have been seeing some of the incredible results people have been achieving throughout their 12 weeks.

I wanted to find out more about this challenge! It sounds awesome and Lauren was kind enough to answer a few questions about her 12WBT journey ::

1. Describe for us, in your own words, what the 12 week body transformation is

For me the 12wbt is a great way to lose some weight before Summer kicks in and a wake up call that I need to stop making excuses for why I can’t maintain a healthy diet/exercise routine.

2. How many times a week and for how long do you work out at each session?

Work outs are set a 6 times per week (Intermediate Plan). When you sign up you choose which Plan you think you will be, there are a few options:

Beginner
Intermediate
Advanced Lean & Fit
Advanced Lean & Strong
Pregnancy Program
10k Running
½ Marathon

I choose Intermediate coz when I started I wouldn’t have been either of the Advanced options, however 6 weeks in I think I would be now.

The week is broken into 2 x Cardio sessions 1 hour each, 2 x Weight/Strength sessions 1 hour each, 1 x Core/Flexibility 45 mins & 1 x SUPER SATURDAY SESSION which is usually a combo of resistance/strength/core and cardio and usually goes for about 2 hours ! I have found them really easy to use/fit in around work. Each session gives you the option to choose whether you are:

At Home
At the Gym – Machines
At the Gym – Classes
Outdoors

3. Tell us what your favourite work out is from the 12WBT

The skipping pyramid Super Saturday Session had been my favourite session so far ! The skipping pyramid pushed me to my limits and I was sore for days... I had never skipped before and didn’t realise how hard it is ! It was also great coz I did it outside at a park and the skipping rope cost me $3.00 from Kmart. I brought a friend along with me (Milly) and we did it together !

4. Tell us a bit about the ideal meal on the 12WBT

The ideal meal usually has lots of fresh herbs, protein and complex carbs.

5. Describe what you would eat throughout a whole day on the 12WBT?

My meals for today have been:

Breakfast – Berry Smoothy with Muesli. Low Fat Milk, Frozen Berry’s and Muesli in a food processor. Quick, Easy & YUM ! I also added some protein powder.
Lunch – Roast Capsicum s/w. Wholegrain bread, roast capsicum (jar bought and rinsed to remove oil), olive tapenade, sliced tomato and fresh basil leaves.
Dinner – Thai chicken open burgers. Homemade patties with chicken mince, coriander, chilli, shallot. Tomato and lettuce on half a bread roll

Snacks – 12wbtc allows 300 calories p/day for snacks (& coffee) and the program usually gives you some good ideas on healthy snacks. E.g. ¼ cup of hummus with carrot sticks.

6. How often do you go food shopping and how much roughly do you spend?

We do a weekly shop on a Sunday. The first shop was expensive as we had to buy a lot of condiments that I didn’t have around the house. However since then each week it has reduced.. I would say on average $150-200 p/week. This however is enough food for 7 days worth of meals and snacks for two people (except Saturday cheat meal)... approx $5.00 p/meal p/person !!

7. How long roughly do you think you spend in the kitchen prepping and cooking your meals?

You will need to be organised. The first couple of weeks where hard getting into the routine of preparing meals... however I have pretty much got the process down now. I will spend 2 hours on a Sunday afternoon preparing meals or chopping up ingredients ready to be cooked during the week. Their are usually a few meals during the week which are quite quick and I just do them on the night (or have everything ready to go so all I need to do is cook when I get home).

8. Describe a weekly mindset video lesson

Ok I’ll be honest here...I have only watched a couple ! The ones I have watched I did find to be really good though ! I watched more during the Pre-Season and the one on excuses really motivated me & made me realise that I was holding myself back. More recently I watched one on what to order when eating out. I found this to be really helpful and have used the advice from this video when it comes to cheat meal time !

9. What do you like and what do you dislike about the 12WBT?

I love the food, the exercise programs and the website is user friendly.
The most annoying thing is that their is no App and sometimes accessing the website from my phone means you can’t access everything (Mobile Site Version).

10. Would you recommend the 12WBT to others? If so, why and if not, why not?

I would recommend it to anyone !
However I would give this recommendation with a warning – you have to be able to self-motivate ! The online forums are great, however if your not going to motivate yourself to get out of bed at 5.30 to go to the gym and push yourself then this programme isn’t for you. There is no personal trainer there yelling in your ear, only yourself !

11. How often do you weigh yourself and are there any other tools used for monitoring your progress?

You weigh in every Wednesday morning. At the start you take all your measurements and there are clear instructions online on how to do this. There is also a fitness test which you do at the start, midway through and at the end. You also take a before and after photo.

12. What date did you start and how much weight have you lost to date?

I started on the 28th Aug and I have lost 4.5 kgs on the scales, my fitness has improved dramatically and people have already started to comment on the differences. I am right on track to reach my weight loss goal !

13. Could you see yourself following the 12WBT after the 12 weeks has finished?

I am printing all the recipes & workouts as I will definitely be following them after the 12 weeks is up !

14. What is the biggest thing you have learnt since starting the 12WBT?

Biggest thing I have learnt is that:

Abs are made in the Kitchen NOT the gym !

There is no point slogging it out in the Gym if you eat crap....or if you over-eat ! Portion control is the key & weighing your food on kitchen scales doesn’t mean you are a crazy food Nazi, it means you are ensuring the calories you are eating are consistent and balanced out by the exercise you are doing.

Thank you so much Lauren for sharing your challenge journey with me and for letting me blog about it! You are inspiring and are going to look so beautiful at your wedding next year.

If you are interested in getting involved you can find out more information by visiting the 12WBT website here. 

michelle :: wow

Tuesday 30 October 2012

Bali belly...

I am back from Bali! Our holiday was amazing, the most awesome holiday doing a whole lot of nothing which was just what was needed!

Padang Bai :: Uluwatu

If you have not been to Bali, I cannot recommend it more highly. I went with some girlfriends in February and loved it so much I had to get Simon over there. The thing I love about Bali is not only the people, who are so lovely and friendly, but the truly incredible quality of the food. My words wouldn't come close to describing some of the most beautiful restaurants and cafes that we ate at and I think everything tasted that much better after nearly four months of super clean eating. Every meal was crazy good and the service really does leave Sydney restaurants for dead.

Seafish Bloo :: W Hotel Seminyak

Word of Mouth ::  Seminyak
Potato Head :: Seminyak Beach

Petitenget :: Seminyak

The Junction :: Seminyak


Mozaic Beach Club :: Batu Belig

ku-de-ta :: Seminyak Beach

Le Sal :: Seminyak

I trained four times while I was in Bali. My aim was to train every other day and walk the others which I stuck to. There are two gyms that I tried out and would be worth going to if you need a bit of a party pump while you are on holiday ::

Hammerhead Gym at 80361 on the border of Kuta and Seminyak. A pretty good gym with all the equipment you'll need for a great work out. This gym has more locals than tourists and very inadequate air-conditioning so prepare to get sweaty!

Hammerhead :: Sweatfest

Another option was Seaside Gym on the Beach right on the border of Legian and Seminyak at 18 Jalan Pantai Arjuna. The gym is under the Seaside Hotel as is a modern hotel gym. It is smaller and quieter than Hammerhead and the air-conditioning is better. Personally, I liked Hammerhead, I liked training with the locals.

Seaside Gym
So I ate a lot. A lot at breakfast, a lot at lunch and a lot at dinner. Safe to say I spent the whole holiday with a full tummy. I binged and I binged a lot.

On our second to last night, we headed up to the Rock Bar in Jimbaran Bay. Rock Bar is literally a bar on the side of the rock and is accessed by an inclinator. We sat on a day bed, drinking cocktails and watched the most beautiful sunset.

Sunset :: Rock Bar
We then headed for a BBQ seafood dinner on the beach. I ate at Jimbaran with the girls on my last holiday and I was fine. Not this time! My last day in Bali was spent poisoned by a Jimbaran Bay prawn. I was suffering from the infamous Bali belly.

Jimbaran Bay

Not only did I come home with Bali belly but I also came home with a Bali belly! This was taken after the most amazing all you can eat breakfast at the W. I really did eat all I could and I seem to have left my abs somewhere on Seminyak Beach!

Following the worlds best breakfast :: W Hotel Seminyak

I look in the mirror now and can really see how much I enjoyed my holiday. I ate what I wanted, when I wanted, drank a lot of cocktails and bintangs and really did go with the flow. I would love to say that I did all of this without thinking about it but that would not be true. I thought about what I was putting in to my body and how long it would take me to lose the fat I was putting on.

I am fine with not looking how I did a month ago although I would not complain if I did. I now know what I had to put my body through to look like I did at my competition. I now know when I am looking through Oxygen or Women's Health what the women in the magazines have done to get ready for their photoshoots and I think that competing has given me a slightly better body image. I am learning to not be too hard on myself.

With saying that, I am not happy with my Bali belly and I am now at the start of a new challenge. So how long will it take me to lose what I have put on in Bali? How long will it take me to get back to a point where I can look in the mirror and be happy with what I see.

My new challenge to myself is to see what I can do with my body from now until the end of November. Can I lose in a month what I put on in a month? Nothing too exciting, no comp to work towards. I am going to train and eat well just for me. Chris will do my skin-folds so he can keep an eye on my muscle mass (as my goal is to put more on so my diet may need to be adjusted over the next month) but I am not going to weigh myself at all.

This challenge is to try and get my body to where I am happy with it, where I do not pick myself to pieces when I look in the mirror, to find that happy balance I have been looking for for a long time. I will check my progress purely on how I look and feel. I am excited and really pumped to have a goal without having a goal, if that makes sense.

Time to rock this rig in to summer!

Saturday 13 October 2012

Knees...

Do you remember that nursery rhyme "your neck bone's connected to your back bone, your back bone's connected to your hip bone, your hip bone's connected to your knee bone"?

I have just found out that this nursery rhyme is too true. I found out that my aching knees are not actually being caused by a problem with my actual knees but a problem with my hips.



My knees have ached and at some points over the last six weeks they have actually hurt. I sucked it up and made a decision to not go and get them looked at until after my competition. I had a feeling that the training and the sprint work I was doing was what was causing the aches and pains and that the doctor would more than likely tell me to rest them which I knew was not an option.

Ignoring something and hoping it will go away is not really my style. And I definitely wouldn't recommend to anyone to just hope for the best. I was worried each work out was causing more, and possibly irreversible, damage.

The day after the competition I rang and made an appointment to see my Sport's Therapist. Daryl Phillips at Performance Health in Newport is nothing short of a miracle worker. I have seen him a few times before for various exercise injuries as have members of my family. Walking in to see Daryl went something like this ::

Daryl: "Hi Erin, what's happening?"
Erin: "Hi Daryl, my knees ache. I've been training for a fitness competition and putting heaps of stress on them etc etc
Daryl: "Ok Erin, stand and squat for me
Erin: "Ok" (I squat)
Daryl: "You have really crap external hip rotations, you have your mother's hips, you get this from her"
Erin: "Shit Daryl you can tell what the problem is by just watching me squat!!!"

Everytime I have been to see him he has had a look, maybe a bit of a feel of the problem area, tells me what the problem is, what is causing it and how to fix it. Daryl is AMAZING!

If you have a problem with anything in your body, aches, pains, pulls, I cannot recommend him more highly. Go and see him, he will diagnose it and repair you.

My knees have been strapped for four days, I have new orthotics in my runners, some of my leg exercises have been stopped for the time being with new (and I am going to say harder) exercises introduced to improve my hip rotation.

And luckily the six weeks of ignoring the pain and continuing to punish my knees and hips has not done any irreversible damage. I am very lucky! These knees will be back in the squat rack in no time!



Saturday 6 October 2012

4th...

Last weekend I placed fourth at the INBA NSW State Titles in the Fitness Model Tall Division.
 


I went in to the competition not caring if I placed but when I was actually up there I wanted it so badly. I would have loved third, I am not going to lie, but at the end of the day I achieved what I set out to achieve and placing fourth in my first ever comp against some really stiff and experienced competition was a massive achievement! I am too hard on myself, and this is something that I am making a conscious effort to work on. I should just be proud of myself; I am proud of myself.

The 48 hours before the competition were hard. After seven days of no carbohydrates, the two days before the comp were spent pumping myself full of starchy carbs. After going weeks and weeks on a very strict and limited diet you would think being told that you can eat nine meals a day, each with a portion of meat and a massive portion of carbs would be easy. The first two meals were and then each meal became more and more challenging after that. Like the rest of my prep, I focused, knuckled down and shoveled those meals in to me like they were my last.

The night before the comp I went to bed and I was solid as a rock. The carbs had had the desired effect and I had filled out and hardened up.



I stopped drinking water at 6pm on Saturday night. Throughout the night I ate half a kilo of peanut butter and strawberry jam. Again, sounds good after six weeks of no sugar but after about the third spoonful it starts to get a bit sickening.

I woke up and noticed big changes in how I looked and felt.


I was thirsty and I was only allowed 100ml of water an hour for the whole day. To go from drinking 6-8 litres a day, down to 1litre was more of a mental challenge than I expected. To go from making such a conscious effort to drink as much water as you can during ketosis to then having to ration yourself was the weirdest feeling mentally.

I enjoyed the day. I loved being at the competition and seeing all the other competitors. I loved being able to eat snickers bars and lollies guilt free to help fill up my dehydrated muscles. I was so happy with how I looked and I really don't think there is anything I could or would do differently if I decide to compete again.



I will practice my posing and really try and perfect it and get more confident at it. I think this is what did let me down a bit on the day. The girl who came first had been competing for three years and you could tell by how well she posed and how confident she was on stage. I think this comes, like anything, from experience.

Sunday night was awesome. We went straight from the comp to Nield Avenue in Rushcutters Bay for my celebratory meal. Amazing Lebanese/Mediterranean food and a few glasses of champagne. This was my idea of heaven!


Then on to Max Brenner for a waffle with ice cream and extra chocolate sauce. I was so full I thought I would burst. I had missed that feeling!



The next morning I woke up super early and went for a big walk. Mentally I felt really good and I didn't feel this big come down or anti-climax that a few people had told me I would feel.
 

Monday was spent relaxing and eating out with a few more glasses of wine. By Tuesday I was ready to get back to the gym and back on track with my clean eating. I am back on the diet of five meals a day, every three hours with protein, starchy carbs, fibrous carbs and good fats. I have gotten in four awesome weights sessions with three one hour power walks outdoors. I feel amazing, I feel strong and I am happy that I have filled out a bit since last weekend. And I think Simon is glad to have me back to "normal".

I just wanted to say an incredibly huge thank you to my awesome trainer, Chris Dufey from Vivid Fitness, who's unwavering support, knowledge and guidance saw me achieve big last weekend. Without you I would not have been able to prepare to get on stage nor have the confidence or drive to compete. You gave me the tools to transform my body into exactly what I wanted and I am looking forward to an exciting future working alongside you and your beautiful wife, Lauren. You are a truly gifted and generous person and trainer! Your testimonial and my photos* are on their way to you shortly!



And next weekend Simon and I are off to Bali for 10 days. Eating and training over there will be interesting. I am undecided about whether to have a big rest from it all or whether I should try and watch what I eat and try to train every other day so that getting back to where I am now is not too hard when I come home. I think I will see how I feel and go with the flow!



* I am a lucky girl; my boyfriend Simon is a photographer so I do have some awesome professional photographs that he took on the day. He is a perfectionist and wants to fiddle with them so I will share them in a later blog post.

Friday 28 September 2012

Boobies...

Today is the day that I am going to ask all the girls out there to check your boobies!

Check for lumps, check for anything that doesn't feel normal, diarise to check yourself regularly and if you notice something unusual go and get it checked by your doctor.

Today is also a very special day as it is Bright Pink Lipstick Day. A day devised to help raise awareness of my best friend's amazing charity Pink Hope. Rock your Pink Lipstick today and spread and share the social media love by:

  • Posting your photos to the Pink Hope facebook page
  • Tweeting a photo or message of support and hashtagging #puckerup and #brightpinklipstickday
  • Joining the fun on pinterest or instagram

This is my beautiful friend Krystal ::


Possibly one of the most selfless women I know. Not only is she a wife, mother to three small kids, including my gorgeous godson Jye, Krystal is also the founder and CEO of Pink Hope.

Pink Hope is Australia’s first community designed to inspire women to be proactive and vigilant with their breast and ovarian health, while providing a safe haven for high risk women to connect.

Pink Hope is a registered charity, established and founded by Krystal in 2009 whilst recovering from her preventative double mastectomy. Having experienced the isolation and lack of information for high risk families Krystal created Pink Hope for women like her, with the goal of providing unique and tangible resources.

At the end of 2012, Pink Hope's main funder will no longer be in a position to donate to the charity so Krystal is desperately seeking corporate sponsors as well as donations to help keep the charity alive and kicking.

To donate please visit the Pink Hope donation page.

Simon and I rocked our pink lippy this morning. Rock yours and help Pink Hope rock on into 2013!


Tuesday 25 September 2012

5 days out...

And I am waiting to stop feeling so good. I have energy, I feel strong, I feel positive. I need to go with feeling like this and and stop waiting for disaster to hit. I am enjoying this final week and I am loving seeing the changes in my body with every passing day.



Today was my day off from work and for the first time in a long time I felt relaxed. I trained this morning; shoulders and arms followed by sprints on the cross trainer.

I had a sports massage at Wellbeing Sports Massage in Mona Vale . It was heaven and something I highly recommend to everyone even if you aren't training for something. I come out feeling so relaxed and like I have just rewarded myself for my hard work. If you are in a health fund it is definitely worth checking what you can claim back. My massage cost me $20, best $20 I have spent all month!

I have two more work-outs before my competition; cardio tomorrow morning and then legs, chest and back with Chris on Thursday. And then it is the homeward stretch.

I had my last posing practice session today. I am going to try to fit in another after work on Saturday if I am feeling up to it but I think I may need that time to just relax and get organised ready for Sunday. If I'm not up to it on Saturday I feel happy that I will get on stage and not make a complete twat of myself. This girl can turn on a dime on her stripper shoes!


I am at the end of day five of seven of Ketosis* and I am amazed at how well I am doing. I am missing my veggies but not enough that I have wanted to cave in to temptations. I have not missed the starchy carbohydrates at all which is something I am really surprised at. The one thing I am missing is that content feeling of having a full tummy. You know that feeling after a really good meal when you sit back, rub your tummy and think "God! That was good".

So today my meals looked like this ::

Meal 1 :: 7.30am   :: 80g of leg ham with one whole & two egg whites omelette & tsp of coconut butter
Meal 2 :: 10.15am :: 120g of chicken breast with half an avocado and almonds
Meal 3 :: 12.45pm :: 120g of lean beef mince with peanuts
Meal 4 :: 3.00pm   :: 90g of grilled lean bacon with two poached eggs
Meal 5 :: 5.30pm   :: 120g of chicken breast with almond butter
Meal 6 :: 7.45pm   :: 120g of lamb with almonds
Meal 7 :: 10.00pm :: 80g of shaved chicken one whole & two egg whites omelette & tsp of coconut butter



I am an eating machine and I think the fact that I eat about every two and a half hours is what has kept me so focused. You finish one meal and by the time you have done a few bits at work, had a herbal tea (the teas  have really helped me stop constantly thinking about food in between meals) you are ready to eat again!

I'm off to pack my meals for work tomorrow, get an early night and a good night's sleep ready to rock the incline power walk in the morning.

When eating carbohydrates your body will run on the glucose being supplied by such foods. During Ketosis your body has no carbohydrate to run on and therefore switches to burning fats for fuel. Basically put the body starts breaking down your own body fat to fuel the body's normal, every day functions.

Monday 24 September 2012

Jaime's WOD...

The table's were turned for me on Saturday! I was not being trained; I was the trainer! And I loved it!

I am currently studying my Certificate IV in Fitness and as part of my course one of my assessments is to train a friend for four weeks. I not only have to train someone, I have to client screen, take measurements, set goals, the whole personal training experience from go to whoa! Well not whoa as I love this so much I hope to one day turn my passion in to my profession.

Meet my awesome best friend Jaime...


Jaime has very kindly, and bravely, offered to be my "client". I trained her after work on Saturday and I wanted to share her work-out with you. Jaime gave 100% and I am super proud of her recent commitment to her fitness and weigh-loss goals.


Lat pull down :: 15 reps
Box jumps :: 30 seconds
60 second rest between sets :: 3 sets

 

Chest press :: 15 reps
Plyometric lunges :: 30 seconds
60 second rest between sets :: 3 sets
 

Seated row :: 15 reps
Leg press :: 15 reps
60 second rest between sets :: 3 sets


Flat bench barbell bench press :: 15 reps
Single leg step ups :: 15 reps each leg
60 second rest between sets :: 3 sets
 

Swiss ball plank :: 20 seconds
Open arm supine plank on the foam roller :: 40 seconds
60 second rest between sets :: 4 sets
 

And if giving 100% to this massive one hour work out wasn't enough, I ran in to Jaime heading to Body Attack on Sunday morning. Jaime...you rock! I am one proud girlfriend! x

Friday 21 September 2012

9 days out...

My competition is just nine days away. For those of you that don't know, I am entering in to the Fitness Model category at the INBA NSW State titles on Sunday 30th September at Castlehill. There are three rounds; sportswear, bikini and dress.

Everything is organised; my bikini, shoes, dress, tan, make-up. I have been practicing my posing and I feel a lot more confident doing it. I am also excited!

My skinfolds were taken yesterday and I am sitting at 8.2% body fat with lean muscle mass of 50kg. I am on track and I am feeling happy with how I look.


I feel good today! Yesterday was my re-feed day so I think that is why I feel so good and why I have some energy. I had just finished four days of no starchy* carbohydrates and I was feeling it. I felt tired; like all the energy I had was used up at the gym and I was left with nothing else for the rest of the day. I did feel grouchy and a bit on edge and I am sure Simon will tell you I snapped a bit (he has been amazing and just sucks it up).

Every meal yesterday, all seven of them, had a portion of carbohydrates so I was a happy girl. Chris even told me in the morning to have a big serving with lunch and dinner and a banana with afternoon tea. So I did and I enjoyed every mouthful!

plain brown rice never tasted so good!

Today I have said goodbye to carbohydrates for the next seven days. Even goodbye to my yummy veggies. From today until next Thursday I am officially carb-free. My meals will be meat and good fats. I am nervous at how I am going to feel, how I am going to cope and how the people I work and live with cope with me! I do feel positive though. I feel positive that the hardest part is also the shortest and the last 12 weeks now come down to this final challenge.

My training has also changed. I am alternating now between weights one day and low intensity cardio the next. The treadmill is my new best friend which has been a bit of a shock to the system after 12 weeks of very little cardio.

morning cardio with Koshi!

I am finally starting to allow myself to think that I am good enough to take part in this competition. I have put my heart and soul in to this massive goal I set myself and for the past four weeks have thought of and done nothing else than training, planning my meals, eating and taking my supplements. Every instruction Chris has given me I have followed to a T. I have asked lots and lots of questions and researched a lot of why I am doing things. I have learnt a huge amount and this was one of the biggest reasons why I wanted to do this competition. To learn and also to see what I can achieve with my body.

I can walk away from my competition next week knowing I have given this challenge 100% and to me this is my greatest achievement!

* Starchy/complex carbs: legumes, potato, grains