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