what's next?

As I said in my previous post, participating in a fitness competition was probably the best motivation I’ve ever felt. Seeing results of the dedication people have put into their training was amazing. It just made me want to achieve bigger and better things in the future. If I improve only slightly better than my first competition, then to me I’ve been successful. I have my eye on a competition in May actually.

I’m taking the week off from any exercise just to get a little break, then straight back into it! In the next week I’m going to plan out new workout regime and introduce a few new things into the mix. I’m going to plan a 6 day schedule mixing days of cardio and weights. I’m going to TRY and get some early morning cardio in (I am the furthest thing from a morning person so this will be a difficult habit to form), three days of heavy weights probably with some supersets, and three days of interval and plyometric training. I’ll work out all the details in the next few days (pun intended). My focus is going to be on my legs, trying to get rid of the fat that is still there. It’s the last place for it to leave and needs the attention.

As for the blog, I’m going to keep it. Who knows if anyone actually reads it but sometimes I have so many thoughts in my head it’s a nice way to organize them and think them through. Plus I think my background is cute :P I’d like to work out a little plan for here too, have a day with a clean recipe to try, a new workout idea and maybe a day of some girly stuff, since the title is lean AND lovely! If anyone actually does read this and has any suggestions for me, I’m all ears!!

in a flash

Well it’s all over. And it went by in a flash! The competition was so much fun and I loved every minute of it. It was so great to have Jade there with me. She was in a different height class as me so I’d watch her back stage on a TV and we’d give each other celebratory hugs as we each came off stage.

I was so nervous in the morning. Pretty much worrying about everything I could possibly worry about. Katey was amazing backstage! Somewhere between an old guy getting oiled up and a topless physique lady, she got right to work on my makeup and did my mop of hair in record time! My bikini stayed in place and in one piece. My lips became glued to my teeth from smiling so much. And I need to be way way way darker for next time!

The girls that were competing with me looked amazing and to me it was the best motivation I could have gotten. I want to work harder and look so much better the next time I decide to step on stage. The training and diet was definitely worth it though.

So everyone has been asking if I pigged out and YES, of course I did. And of course I paid for it too :/. It all started with a Tim Tam backstage which escalated to a bag of chips in the car, continued at the BBQ with chips, dips, potatoes, sausages and ice cream cake, then I capped the night off with some pizza, garlic bread and a can of pop! It was a.maz.ing!

 

Here are a few pics from the day! I can't wait to do it again!

 

 

this is it

My bag is packed, I've run through my posing, it's time to get this done! I went for my last tan today and must say Katey has done an awesome job for both myself and Jade! We look abnormally dark which is perfect for being on stage! I'm sure the nerves will hit me in the morning but I'm feeling pretty relaxed right now. I had my nails done this morning which is something I don't do, but I like the look of a nice short french acrylic set. However this post will be fairly short since I can't feel the keyboard keys properly :(

I'll take lots of pics tomorrow and I think one of the boys will be taking a video too (scary). It's going to be a huge show; the biggest in QLD history with 360 odd competitors I think.

I hope I look good tomorrow. I hope I feel good tomorrow. I know I'll feel good once I get a slice of backstage pizza into me! We are celebrating at Jade's parents house afterwards and double because it's Jade's birthday soon. It's going to be glorious!

Until tomorrow...

let the girly stuff commence!

Today is tan day #1! Can’t wait to get my brown on! After work I’m heading to pick up Jade and then off to Katey’s for a spray. I’m excited to see what a little color will do for my definition. Last night was a great workout and I think I have a new found love for supersets. They get your heart rate up and you can knock out a good workout in record time!

Today my goal is to only have one green tea in the morning and then spread one bottle of water throughout the day, adding up to 1L. I don’t think it’ll be too difficult...tomorrow might be a different story...

and now for an ab update

The concert last night was fun! My sleepy time suffered but it was worth it :)

Tonight will be my last night at the gym. I’m going to do supersets of back/bi/tri exercises. I would have liked to get another leg workout in but I’ve read recommendations to try and avoid legs so that there’s no risk of being wobbly on stage. I think I’m high risk for wobbles.

Trying to drink a little less water today too. I’ve found it a little difficult to track my water intake because water in tea and foods count. I usually drink 2 teas a day (one green and one black, only green one counts) plus two or so of my bottles of water that I keep here, which is probably about 2 litres. So I think I’m drinking around 2-3 litres of water a day. And I know that should be waaaaaaaaaay more :S

So I guess I should do a little ab update! I have not incorporated any specific ab exercises into my routine. I mostly use cables and free weights at the gym so my core does get a good workout as well for stability. I think it’s lookin’ pretty tight!

night off

Tonight I'm taking a little break from the gym. Ryan and I are headed downtown to go see Yellowcard! It's nice to not have to think about going to the gym tonight.

I think my body is adjusting well to low/no carbs right now. I've replaced carbs with lots more veggies and tried to minmize the amount of fruit I've been eating too. So far so good. I still feel like I have a good amount of energy. A difficult adjustment for me here has been that it gets dark out at about 6pm...and my body just wants to go to bed. I still haven't gotten accustomed to this, but summer is just around the corner here wich should give another hour, hour and a half of light. I do miss light till 10pm in summer in Canada!

Anyway, just a shortie tonight. Gotta go get dolled up to head out for the night!

Tomorrow...my water intake gets slashed!

home stretch

Down to the final week! I can feel it’s going to be a tough one too. I didn’t feel great all weekend; I had a rotten headache for two days. I’m thinking it’s probably related to me not taking my supplements anymore. Tonight I hit the gym to do some upper body supersets. I’m keeping my water intake high today and carbs low.

I say that I wish I had a few more weeks to just get a little bit leaner and cut but I don’t know if I could do this for a few more weeks. I’m feeling very exhausted and now I’m just looking forward to it being over with and going back to my regular clean eating habits. In my mind, I’m as ready as I could be at this point in time. I still don’t feel comfortable in that damn bikini (if you can even call it that) and I’m hoping there’s just one girl that’s bigger than me on stage so I’ll feel a little better (is that terrible to say?). I am looking forward to the experience though, putting aside the competition part and how I look. There will be so much energy and great people to chat with and learn from, and also having Jade there with me, it’s going to be a great day. I really don’t have any huge expectations for Sunday. Not falling on my face would be on the list I guess and getting a little positive feedback would also be nice. Now I just have to decide what color sportsbra to wear...

'kini

Ok...here it is! And boy is it tiny! Still not really feeling comfortable wearing this thing but I'll just have to suck it up. Please ignore normal bikini tan lines:

twelve days.

I’m hoping that when I get home from work today there’s a little parcel waiting for me with my competition bikini inside! The last piece of the puzzle. I have my packing list all worked out and plan for next week. It’s going to be exciting and interesting I think. I’ve been feeling pretty good lately but definitely wish I had a few more weeks to tighten things up. Next week I will start carb depletion on Monday and continue that until Thursday when I will begin to carb load and reduce my water intake. Depleting carbohydrates will reduce the glycogen in my muscles and then when I introduce high carbs back into my diet, the muscles will absorb more and make them look fuller. Plus I hopefully won’t be retaining any water (by reducing my water intake) and that’s where I’ll get the cut look. Hopefully. Everybody cross your fingers for me please. Yesterday I had some white rice for lunch and at the gym last night I noticed that I wasn’t looking as lean and cut in my upper body as I usually do. Pretty amazing how little things can make such a noticeable impact on your body. And I also ate way too much of it because I was full for a looooong time. I should be hungry every 2-3 hours. Oops!!

A few nights ago at the gym, one of the owners was floating around chatting to people (which he does now and then). I had mentioned to him before that I was training for a competition and he sounded pretty interested in my training and diet. Well he offered to train me for free for the last two weeks to get me pumped up and ready! How exciting! I’ve never had a personal trainer since I’ve always been pretty comfortable in the gym and using all the weights and machines, but I’ve wanted to try one out, just to compare. Now I get the chance. I’m a little bit nervous though. What if he pushes me so hard and I realize that I’m not as strong as I think I am?

I will try and post more often leading up the competition. Hopefully I’ll be experiencing changes on a daily basis next week. Oh and stay tuned for bikini pics!!

nom nom-bers

Well, I survived the 10K race on Sunday. My finish time was 55:45 and I’m a happy camper even though I didn’t beat my time last year. I ran as part of a team for my company and the top three for both girls and guys get a prize...turns out I took the number 3 spot for the female employees! Totally unexpected but gratefully accepted! I felt pretty good for most of the race; my legs got a little heavy towards the end. Could it be because I worked out legs on Saturday morning? I didn’t even “carb up” the night before like I would for a half marathon.

I think I said in my previous post that this journey is a constant learning experience for me. Well, I’ve once again changed up my workout routine and I’m going to introduce carb cycling into my diet. Three weeks left so I gotta step up my game a little! Hopefully this will give me a bit more energy when I need it and keep my metabolism high. Here’s what the plan is:

Monday – chest, shoulders and cardio – low carb
Tuesday – legs and abs – high carb
Wednesday – back, traps and cardio – low carb
Thursday – biceps, triceps and cardio – moderate carb
Friday – legs and abs – high carb
Saturday – cardio – low carb
Sunday – rest – moderate carb

So to get technical for a little bit, I did a few little calcs to find a benchmark for moderate carbohydrate intake, this being 1.25g/lb of body weight which reflects a goal of losing fat. On low carb days I would consume 75% of the moderate intake and on high carb days 125% of the moderate intake. I calculated my BMR which is a function of weight, height, and age then used the Harris Benedict Equation to find out how many calories per day I would need to consume to maintain my weight at my current activity level. This number gets reduced by 20% to arrive at how many calories to consume per day to achieve fat loss. I used some general guidelines for protein, carbohydrate and fat consumption per pound of body weight (1.5g/lb protein, 1.25g/lb carbs and then the remaining as fat). And when I say protein, carbs and fat I really mean lean protein, complex carbs and healthy fats or else I’d already be at McDonalds getting my intake of fats for the day! I would probably get that from just looking at a Big Mac. I assumed 4 calories per gram of lean protein, 4 calories per gram of complex carbs and 9 calories per gram of healthy fat. So to make an already long story only a little bit longer, here’s what I came up with:

Total calorie consumption: 1841 calories/day
Total macronutrient consumption high carb days: 217g protein, 226g carbs, 12g fat
Total macro consumption moderate carb days: 217g protein, 181g carbs, 12g fat
Total macro consumption low carb days: 217g protein, 135g carbs, 12g fat

So now what am I going to do with this info? Not what you think. I don’t plan on counting calories that closely or writing down how many grams of what I eat. I don’t operate that way. Some people do. It’s a personal thing. But it does give me an idea of what I can add in to my high carb days and what to cut out on low carb days. When I first saw the amount of daily fat, I thought it was quite low, but it’s the carbs I’m watching.

Should I blame this long blog entry on the fact that today is a high carb day? :D