4 weeks today!

Time to get serious and really pull up my socks now! Diet has to be 100% clean from here on, it is only 4 weeks and i can do this! The plan is to eat lean protein and green veggies from here on (with the exception of post workout foods) cardio has to be daily and weights pretty much daily as well. Bit of a challenge this week as Mike is away for 3 days, so will have to get creative with the workouts there! I also need to be very careful with food whilst he is away, as that is the time i tend to "let go"

Photos from today were encouraging and i think i can make it! (correction, i KNOW i can!!) I had thought about doing a double comp, and competing on the Saturday as well as the Sunday, but have decided against that as logistically it is going to be too difficult and stressful with the travel, kids, shows etc. So to make life easier for all concerned, i am just going to compete with ANB on Sunday.

Posing is coming along and i am sore today from a really good session yesterday at the workshop. Really enjoyed the workshop, the most wonderful Lindy Olsen was there who is most inspiring, she really hit a chord with me with her story, brought tears to my eyes and a lump to my throat, especially as she was close to tears herself. It is not very often you come across such a warm and generous person who is so passionate about what she does and how she got there. I had the biggest hug from her when i left and on the drive home i really believed that i could do anything.

I was complemented on my posing by Janet Kane, who is a multiple title holder within the figure circles and i found that great; at one of the first workshops i went to she commented that i really had to do something about my legs (they just didn't look right no matter where i put them) so to receive a complement from her really made me feel like i have made huge progress!

so motivation is on the up, i finally have the belief in myself again that i can look "stage worthy" in the next 4 weeks, i may not be a winner yet, but as long as i can hold my own and have improved since the last comp then i will have won in my mind!

6 weeks out

Caught up with my posing coach on the weekend and realised how rusty i am! need to practise, practise,practise!! Also made it to see the "bikini lady" and have chosen the material and design of my bikini, all i need now is a body to put into it!

New training program is good, it is a 6 day program now, so a bit more intense. Went to the gym yesterday, but was a half hearted attempt, i was so tired i felt i should be in bed instead but fought on figuring that something was better then nothing. Didn't enjoy it! The gym was busy, people were using the benches and weights i wanted and i was almost ready to give up and go home, it wasn't the "stress relieving" session it usually is. Anyway was home and in bed by 8.30 and had about 10 hours sleep!!

Today am feeling better about the whole comp process, am feeling leaner today so that makes life seem a bit rosier! maybe there is hope out there. will just keep plodding!! Am going to slap on some dream tan this week and take some "tanned" pictures, see if i can see all those muscles popping under some colour!

7 weeks out

Met with Lisa for a training session this weekend, I managed 3 chin ups with minimal help, which was a vast improvement from the last time we trained together. I also had my skin folds taken, Lisa made my BF% 13.5!!!! I was amazed, my measurements put it at around 17% which is still a decrease for me and i have been putting on some lean muscle mass. So with those results in hand, I decided to finally commit 100% to competing in October.

It is kind of a relief having made the decision, it means i can really knuckle down and concentrate on getting into the best form that i can be, there is no room for treats and errors on my diet now, and no more excuses.

I had been debating Octobers comp for a long time, i am quite enjoying the process of putting on muscle and learning how my body reacts to different foods, how much exercise i need to maintain where i am, and just being generally happy with the way i look.

When i competed in March, there was a huge goal, it was a weight loss journey for me, and i really wanted to look like i belonged on stage, not have people pity me being up there. It was way out of my comfort zone and made me work hard towards that goal.

This time around, the urgency and "biggness" of it all isn't there. I know i can do it, i know i can get up on stage, but have i changed enough to make a difference, there is no point getting up there in October and looking the same as i did in march.

I have put on more muscle this time around, and if i concentrate now, i will be able to get up on stage and be big and lean! who knows, i may even be able to bring home a trophy, now how cool would that be, first comp - most inspirational, second comp - a place! now that would be progress!

Am up for a 6 day program for the next 4 weeks, with food being cycled on a 5day low: 1 day high arrangement. Supplements are all stocked up and food is organised for the next 4 days, so am starting the week off strong.

Watch this space!!

Inspiration

If anyone wants to see some serious action, check out Lisa's blog (under my link of blogs to check out) and watch her videos from the Queensland power lifting champs a couple of weekends ago! This girls knows how to lift some serious weights. From memory, her PB squat is 120kg (she weighs just short of 60kg) and bench press is 75kg, and i was worried about her spotting me doing chin ups!!!!

Lisa is my nutrition/training coach and so far has made a huge impact on my body shape and hormonal balance (she is still working on the mind LOL) If anyone needs help with weight loss/weight gain, hormonal balance, cravings issues, training etc etc I would highly recommend Lisa and the team at bodyworx. They are great and i look forward to seeing the body we have created up on stage in the near future!

That being said, I have made an extra effort with cardio today and done a walk and a bike session, as well as weights so i am quite pleased with my efforts, now, just need to keep that up for another 8 weeks!!!

8 weeks to go

wow, only 8 weeks until comp, time flies when you are not prepared!!!

I took photos today in my posing suit that was made but not used last comp. This was under the instructions of my coach, not through my choosing! so i apologise for the poorly fitting bikini!!

I was kind of pleasantly surprised when i compared them to the ones i took the day after comp, i am bigger and i think that is a good thing. Whilst i know i still have a long way to go with regards to body fat issues, i think i have managed to put on some good muscle on the upper body, i seem to be thicker than last time which is a good thing. Just need to work on getting rid of the fat so i can show off the muscles!

can i do it in 8 weeks? well Lisa and Krista (coaches from Bodyworx) seem to think i can, and they are the experts, so watch this space and lets see what happens.

I am going to look around and start organising my bikini this week, obviously a new one needs to be made, and i hope i can get a better fitting one this time around!

I found my posing music last night and had a little practise, i thought i would have forgotten all the moves, but as soon as the music started i knew what to do (just didn't do it too well!) posing and routine now needs to become a focus. During last comp prep, i used to head to the aerobics room of my old gym, shut the door and practise where no one could see me, the problem is that gym closed! My other gyms don't have a private room and all will be able to see me practise (NO!!!!!) oh well, such is life.

I am on a chin up challenge at the moment, Lisa wants me to be able to do 4 next time i see her (2 weeks) so i am the one at the gym who looks like a fool trying to do chin ups! so far i have managed 2!! so out of 3 sets of 10, i can do 2 and then i have to jump up for each chin up individually. must be an odd sight, but one day i will be able to jump up and crank out 10, how cool would that be!!

well, food to be eaten before i waste away to nothing!

Until next time

Wendy

Countdown time again

Well, it must be about 11 or 12 weeks until comp (must find out for sure!!)

last Saturday I headed to Melbourne to watch the INBA all female classic which was awesome and very motivating. It was nice to be there to watch a couple of friends compete.

I met up with Lisa, my coach for some face to face chatting and a killer workout session, it took me about 4 days to recover from it, but it was a great experience, very nice to actually train with someone for a change, be pushed that little bit further and to have someone there to spot when things get too heavy.

The day itself was a great chance to meet up with some fellow bloggers and members of Lindy Olsen's forum, if anyone hasn't visited her forum, you should drop into www.lindyolsen.com it is one of the best places!! Lindy and all her crew and just wonderful. I was able to meet about 8 or so people off of the forum, we watched the prejudging show and then all went out for lunch, shopping, coffee, talking, coffee more show. I have never met some many wonderful "strangers" and felt so completely at ease!

AS for diet and training, Lisa has called in the big guns to help with my training Krista Schaus is a member of Bodyworx and she and Lisa have developed "an evil plan" to quote Lisa! Am into calorie cycling now and some heavy duty training. My new self talk is "I am HUGE" and I have to work on keeping that in my head whilst i am trying to push out the last reps of squats and try and do chin ups. My goal for the next 4 weeks is to be able to squat my bodyweight (will have to lose some weight to make it easier LOL) and to do 3 chinups minimum. so far i am about 10kg off on the squats and can just about manage 1.5chins. So watch this space.

Diet went well last week, but has fallen over the weekend due to a couple of bad decisions and lack of planning, hormones have probably had a negative effect aswell!!luckily for me Lisa is on the other end of cyberspace with encouraging words. I sent in my photos from this week, and apparently i have leaned out some since the last week (it always takes an outsider to see the changes!) so that helped.
will start posting photos here again so you can follow the progress. Please note: this is the start of the comp prep and great things are going to follow!!

until next week, eat well, live well, sleep well, love well and train hard

Wendy

13 weeks to go

Well, the count down starts again!

We have just come back from a nice relaxing holiday in Tasmania, 1 week of sleep ins and no work! I mananaged to keep my food pretty clean whilst away, always had almonds and veggie sticks on hand in case of a food emergency and stayed away from bread and sugar as much as possible. Obviously old habits die hard and i did enjoy a couple of evenings playing games and snacking on chocolate, crackers and dip! we also enjoyed a brewery tour with tasting (don't really like beer, so didn't go over board on that one) but we did find a gormet hambuger place which was awesome!

So, the end of the holiday has arrived, back at work, back to the gym and back to fresh clean eating. Unfortuantely my indulgences have left me a bit bloated around the belly, but nothing a week of veggies and meat can't sort out.

I thought the 12 week countdown would start when i came home, so i was delighted to find out last night that it is actually 13 weeks! Gives me a week to recover before i hit hard again!.

I am off to watch the All females BB comp on the weekend and will also be coming face to face with the wonderful Lisa who has taken control of my food! Actually she has given me control and helped me learn some interesting things about my body and what it can and cannot deal with! It is a good motivational tool this week as i need to be 100% on top of food so i can look my best on the weekend! We will also be training together which will be a novel experience for me as i always train alone! I will also be meeting Liz, who will be taking me through my paces the last 3 weeks of preperation whilst Lisa is overseas competing in the worlds Powerlifting comp (good luck Lisa!)

so, that was a quick update of where i stand at the moment. I will be blogging more often as this is progress time again, and i will make sure there are plenty of photos aswell.

Will let you know all about the weekend and my plans for future direction after it happens!!