Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Monday, July 30, 2012
The Power of Food
It’s amazing. If I look at myself this time last year, I was doing classes at the gym probably 5-6 times per week plus eating pretty healthy...and I say ‘pretty healthy’ because cheat days are allowed plus it was summer and who doesn’t enjoy a Dairy Queen hot fudge sundae now and then! I would say I was in good shape, had muscle definition throughout my upper body (typical female here who carries her junk in the trunk), cardiovascular fitness was top notch and I could throw out some toe push-ups and walking planks like nobody’s business (thanks Body Attack). But it never led me to the body I long sought after...wanting to have one of the the fit bods in Oxygen and Shape.
Cue huge life disruption of moving halfway around the world. I taught my last Les Mills class in mid-June before departing Canada, ran a half-marathon at the Gold Coast on July 1st and had a few sporadic runs tossed in the middle somewhere between real estate appointments and test driving cars. Yet somehow, I was seeing changes in my body.
The power of food.
I took a picture last week and you can easily see a 6 pack coming through. It’s been about, ohhhh, 2 months since I’ve done any weight training...and this is what I start to see. I can’t help but get excited when I think about what will happen when I add weight training back into the equation.
I guess this post wouldn’t be complete without explaining what my meals consist of. It’s actually pretty simple and one huge bonus is less time grocery shopping! There are a few guidelines I stick to. I keep them in my food journal (which goes everywhere with me). My staples:
Lean protein – chicken breast, fish, eggs and egg whites, turkey breast
Veggies – asparagus, zucchini, cucumber
Complex Carbs – veggies count as complex carbs, sweet potato, whole grain oats
Fruit – berries, apples, bananas
- no dairy except for a little skim milk in my tea
- small amount of olive oil for cooking, almonds for healthy fats
- 3-4L of water per day
Pretty boring huh? I use a little Herbamare or a small amount of organic salsa or tomato pasta sauce to spruce things up a little.
Cue huge life disruption of moving halfway around the world. I taught my last Les Mills class in mid-June before departing Canada, ran a half-marathon at the Gold Coast on July 1st and had a few sporadic runs tossed in the middle somewhere between real estate appointments and test driving cars. Yet somehow, I was seeing changes in my body.
The power of food.
I took a picture last week and you can easily see a 6 pack coming through. It’s been about, ohhhh, 2 months since I’ve done any weight training...and this is what I start to see. I can’t help but get excited when I think about what will happen when I add weight training back into the equation.
I guess this post wouldn’t be complete without explaining what my meals consist of. It’s actually pretty simple and one huge bonus is less time grocery shopping! There are a few guidelines I stick to. I keep them in my food journal (which goes everywhere with me). My staples:
Lean protein – chicken breast, fish, eggs and egg whites, turkey breast
Veggies – asparagus, zucchini, cucumber
Complex Carbs – veggies count as complex carbs, sweet potato, whole grain oats
Fruit – berries, apples, bananas
- no dairy except for a little skim milk in my tea
- small amount of olive oil for cooking, almonds for healthy fats
- 3-4L of water per day
Pretty boring huh? I use a little Herbamare or a small amount of organic salsa or tomato pasta sauce to spruce things up a little.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Step one...
Create a blog! Well, almost...step one is making the choice. In this case, my choice is to take my fitness and nutrition to the next level and get the 'fitness model' body I've always dreamed of achieving. Anyone who knows me knows that for the longest time I've always been one to eat healthy and spend a lot of time at the gym. But training for a fitness competition takes a lot more discipline with diet and exercise than just maintaining a healthy lifestyle. I’m making the jump!
Back in May I found out that my friend Jade wanted to do a fitness comp as well, so I was pretty excited that I’d have a buddy to share training ideas and meals with and of course, to help each other pick out the tiniest bikinis on the planet...that’s what friends are for! I’m sure she’ll let me know if my suit shows off enough butt crease. But before all the fun stuff of outfits, tanning, makeup and hair...everything that I consume needs to be mapped out and tracked.
When I started making small changes back in May, I didn’t realize that I had such a huge obstacle in front of me...moving from Canada to Australia. I thought it would be a quick transition but....oh how wrong I was. I took a quick three week business trip to Australia at the end of May which is when I started to clean up my diet and do some research on competition prep. I bought a 4 week membership to a gym beside my hotel and went almost every night. I was feeling positive. When I returned to Canada to pack up and move, I had zero time to even think about cooking a healthy meal or making it to the gym. I started to really get frustrated with myself for not even being able to maintain the healthy lifestyle I had BEFORE I began the transition into contest prep. Oh and can’t forget the topping of my frustration cake, having a half-marathon to run in a couple weeks.
So I guess to make a long story short, amidst living out of suitcases, buying a house, buying a car, buying furniture to put in the house...I learned to have healthy meals where I could, stay positive and focused on the goal, and to not get bent out of shape if I didn’t have time to run or work out. Once I got to this place in my mind, I felt a lot better.
So today....8 weeks until the fitness competition. Sept 23rd. Everything that gets eaten (and drank), gets written down. I’ve set up my workout routine, ready to be taken to the gym. We move into our house in one week and its full steam ahead.
Back in May I found out that my friend Jade wanted to do a fitness comp as well, so I was pretty excited that I’d have a buddy to share training ideas and meals with and of course, to help each other pick out the tiniest bikinis on the planet...that’s what friends are for! I’m sure she’ll let me know if my suit shows off enough butt crease. But before all the fun stuff of outfits, tanning, makeup and hair...everything that I consume needs to be mapped out and tracked.
When I started making small changes back in May, I didn’t realize that I had such a huge obstacle in front of me...moving from Canada to Australia. I thought it would be a quick transition but....oh how wrong I was. I took a quick three week business trip to Australia at the end of May which is when I started to clean up my diet and do some research on competition prep. I bought a 4 week membership to a gym beside my hotel and went almost every night. I was feeling positive. When I returned to Canada to pack up and move, I had zero time to even think about cooking a healthy meal or making it to the gym. I started to really get frustrated with myself for not even being able to maintain the healthy lifestyle I had BEFORE I began the transition into contest prep. Oh and can’t forget the topping of my frustration cake, having a half-marathon to run in a couple weeks.
So I guess to make a long story short, amidst living out of suitcases, buying a house, buying a car, buying furniture to put in the house...I learned to have healthy meals where I could, stay positive and focused on the goal, and to not get bent out of shape if I didn’t have time to run or work out. Once I got to this place in my mind, I felt a lot better.
So today....8 weeks until the fitness competition. Sept 23rd. Everything that gets eaten (and drank), gets written down. I’ve set up my workout routine, ready to be taken to the gym. We move into our house in one week and its full steam ahead.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)