My journey to competition

The road to competition

It's been 15 weeks since I set out on my journey to compete in my first ever fitness model competition. Tomorrow I step on the stage for the second time in two weeks and right now I can't describe how I think I'll feel at that moment because so many emotions are running through me. 

Some of you know me or have read my blog and know my journey into the fitness industry but today I thought I'd share with you a part of my journey to stage, something personal. 

Last year I suffered through a lot of personal issues, due to fault and mistakes of my own which I openly admit I had relationships in my life fall apart that I never thought would and despite several efforts to rebuild the damage caused it just did not happen. This affected me greatly in terms of my own levels of self esteem and self confidence, something that was extremely hard for me as in the past 3 years of being a Personal Trainer I feel that I have built those qualities up to a great extent. Not that I let it show of course but I felt my passion and drive for my job, my clients and my own health/fitness and life in general were slowly slipping. In fact I would admit now, that despite what people may have seen on the front, I was at a pretty down point in my life.

Those who have read about my journey into the fitness industry (first blog) know that I used to struggle a lot with my weight and I was a MASSIVE self doubter. I failed for years at maintaining a healthy weight or lifestyle because I never "truly believed" I could do it and as I am always saying to my clients you have to get it right and change mentally before the physical changes can follow. It was only when I finally took the plunge to do my personal training course and say to myself "you CAN be a personal trainer and a damn good one" that I actually did it and now 3 years later I'm running my own business and loving it.

Anyway sidetracked sorry lol I tend to do that. I have always considered competing but again it was something that I always questioned "could I really do that?" "Could I get 'lean' enough to get up on stage confidently in a tiny bikini" and for so long my mind told me flat out NO. 

But at the end of last year after months of feeling down about myself and my life I decided I had two choices, to GIVE up and to let the borderline depression I was feeling consume me completely or to GET up and start finding my passion, drive again and self worth again. Deep down though, it was a no brainer- I wasn't giving up, that's not who I am or who I ever want to be.

So I took the plunge and did a few things I had considered for ages but was doubtful about. I enrolled in a Bachelor of Nutrition at Uni and I set out to find the person who was going to coach me onto stage. I was finally feeling determined again and knew that 2014 was going to be the year I achieved everything I set out to, no matter what.

I came across my coach Ingrid Barclay at Body Conquest through a fitness model and industry advocate I have admired for years. Ingrid was lovely and together we devised a plan for my journey to begin in January. 

My journey to competition (as I'm sure anyone who has competed will agree) has been filled with many ups and downs. As well as training up to 7x a week at times and constant food prepping (it really never ends) I was also working, constantly taking on new clients and starting most days at 5am not finishing till 7, attending uni and travelling 2 days a week and spending any moment not working, training or physically at uni,  studying and trying to keep up with the workload. 

If I'm honest there have been many weeks where I have wanted to give up, where I have been so tired physically and mentally and just fallen apart at the seams. However as cliche as it sounds, each time I felt like giving up I remembered why I started. I remembered and I told myself "you wanted this, you CAN do this and you WILL do this." Failure was NOT an option. 

The last few weeks of prep are especially draining mentally,emotionally and physically. I have gone from being completely happy one minute to feeling like absolute crap the next and it's frustrating because you really aren't in control of how you are going to feel each day. It's a massive mental game and you honestly have to just get up and roll with it and do your best, which is what I've done or tried to do (hopefully my clients feel the same lol I do apologise for any "hangry" or space cadet moments).

To get up on stage is a completely daunting thing for anyone but especially for someone who has struggled with weight at any point in there life because you always carry that small part of you around. You want to look your best and there are weeks leading up to comp where you will be retaining extra fluid or feeling like there is no way you can stand up there in front of all those people in a tiny bikini (seriously they are really that small). 

Another thing people may not tell you or realise is that prepping for a competition can be a pretty lonely journey. While you have friends and family around you who you know support you, it's hard for them to fully understand what you may be going through on this roller coaster ride or even why you are going through it. I'm lucky to have a great family and some really good friends who have been there along the way but you really have to be committed in doing it for you and sticking to that no matter what. I am really lucky also to have a team at Body Conquest some of whom I have formed great friendships with and it is great to have like minded people who have experienced the same things to talk/vent to. 

I have to say after getting on stage last weekend every single minute of the hard work is worth it and it was so lovely to be able to revel in it and also have the support of some great friends there to watch and to see my hard work unfold on the stage.

This week has been really tough as back to back depletes are extremely draining not only physically trying to train but also mentally and emotionally. I have had moments right up until yesterday where I have just been completely OVER IT but I know that again when I get on stage tomorrow it will be worth it, every single second. And who knows how I will feel? happy, tired, elated, sad, exhausted, excited, or maybe every single one of those all at once lol I'm not sure. What I do know and what I wanted to finish on is this:

Those who know me well know I like to practice what I preach. And what I preach is a healthy lifestyle, goal setting, commitment, consistency hard work, accountability and dedication. 

Last year when I was going through a hard time I was still practicing these things but I was doing it without the passion or drive and I needed to change that.  My decision to compete was one I made for myself and myself alone, it was a new and much needed challenge, a complete step out of my comfort zone (which I had become way too comfortable in) and a chance to start practicing all of the above things. Do I care if people never fully understand that? Not rly. Do I care if people praise my actions or results? While It's lovely to hear praise my answer is again, not rly. Why?? Because at the end of the day I did this for me and no one else. Don't get me wrong, the support and kind words people share are so lovely and so very much welcome and appreciated 😘 😘 but none of it should ever nor will ever compare with the SELF satisfaction, worth and strength this journey has given me. 

Knowing within myself that I set a goal, a challenge, I worked through massive physical and mental challenges each week, and from them I have grown stronger.

Knowing I stayed committed, focused and that despite anything that may have been against me (and believe me there were many barriers), I never gave up gives me much more satisfaction then anything else.

 I set out on this journey to achieve something for myself and to regain my passion, drive and self belief/worth again and I think I have done that, growing, learning and changing on the way. 

I truly believe people should be more inclined to seek SELF respect and not attention because at the end of the day it will last much longer 😉❤️👊💪

I do plan on continuing this journey in another season towards the second half of this year and hope to do some more writing about it as writing is another passion of mine and it's taken me about a year to be able to find that again. 

Thankyou for taking the time to read this, all comments are always welcomed 😘😘😘 

Perception vs reality- can you see the line?

Lately I am seeing and experiencing more and more the concept of perception vs reality within the fitness industry and the fine line between the two. A line so fine that it can often become blurred or non existant for some. Recently I had my own experience with this very fine line and today I wanted to share with you in the hope that it might open your eyes a little wider too.

Since becoming a personal trainer and getting seriously involved in the fitness industry and my own training I have always looked up to several fitness models and other professionals within the industry. You see them in the magazines looking amazingly defined and can't help but think wow that's what I want to be or look like!

After doing my photo shoot recently I really struggled to return to "normal" eating feeling like even the smallest treat was going to make me gain weight or lose the definition I had built and the hard work I had put in beforehand. Sounds crazy I realise but my mind was creating very intense mental arguments with itself and it was actually starting to make me feel a little bit crazy!

It wasn't until I came across a blog post on the page of one of the fitness models I follow that I finally saw what was happening. I was getting that line blurred and had been for some time. This woman is one of the most real and genuine people i have come across in the fitness industry and her words really rang true. She spoke about the pressure of feeling like you have to maintain a lean figure all year round, about feeling the need to have abs so you can post selfies on Facebook and something that I found really interesting is she spoke about the fitness personalities who act like their lives are always perfect and happy.

It made me stop and think twice and I had to admit that I could completely relate to this. Even though I am and try to be a positive person,I am not perfect nor is my life. I too have bad days and days of self-doubt and criticism just like anyone. Nobody can be perfect and happy all the time. Yet some of these fitness models and personalities create that perception by constantly posting selfies trying to make out like they are perfect and happy and that the body they are showing off comes easy.

I can honestly admit first hand that it took a lot of discipline and hard work to prepare for the photo shoot and it takes a lot of discipline and hard work to be able to maintain a lean figure all the time.
What we have to be willing to realise is that what we see isn't always what is really there or not 100% of the time anyway. This is that line of perception vs reality comes in.

I train hard 6 days a week and make sure I keep my eating clean 80-90% of the time but at the end of the day life is about LIVING and finding a BALANCE where you can enjoy a treat here and there and not feel guilty about it. I am still working on this balance but am doing so now with an open mind and I can now clearly SEE that line between perception and reality which helps a lot.

This is a fairly personal post and I hope you guys can see why I have been so honest. I want people to see the reality in me rather than creating a perception and pretending to be something I'm not. What's real is the fact that I love my job and each day I get to train clients and help them towards their goals is a blessing for me. Health and fitness is my passion and I hope to never lose sight of the line between perception and reality again. People like Justine Switalla definitely help by being so honest and keeping it real. I encourage you guys to read her post http://justineswitalla.com/news-events/a-shift-in-focus-and-a-new-lease-on-life

Hope this post can help anyone who has lost sight of the line between perception and reality even if you have done so without realizing it.

Keep eating CLEAN, training MEAN and living LEAN but remember to keep it real, be true to yourself and enjoy the little pleasures in life too :)

Blast FAT with HIIT

I know I have said it before but one of the most common questions I get asked as a trainer is “How do I burn fat” and in particular “How do I get rid of this fat on my stomach”. Please note (ladies in particular) that doing endless crunches, sit-ups or any other abdominal exercise WILL NOT HELP! It will of course build the muscle (yep you could be rocking a 6 pack without even knowing) but it won’t get rid of the fat that covers that muscle (hence why you could be unaware of the above mentioned 6 pack).

In a previous post I have talked about my top tips on burning the unwanted fat you are carrying but today I am going to focus specifically on the method High Intensity Interval Training also known as HIIT.

Many of you may have heard of it and wondered about it so today I am going to tell you what it is and why it is one of the BEST methods when it comes to blasting that unwanted fat (done properly in conjunction with a good diet of course!).

This method of training combines working at a high intensity for a period of time with working at a lower intensity or even stopping completely at rest for an opposing period of time. So for example sprinting for 20 seconds and then resting for 10 seconds.

So why is it so effective in burning fat as opposed to ordinary cardio? HIIT increases your resting metabolism meaning that you will continue to burn calories and FAT anywhere up to 24 hours after you have finished. Sounds pretty good huh? Another bonus to HIIT for the guys and girls who don’t want to lose that hard earned muscle is that studies have shown HIIT ensures a lot of the weight loss comes from fat stores not muscle. WIN!. HIIT can also improve speed, power, endurance and your metabolic rate. Alongside these benefits HIIT is a super time efficient workout that can be done in as little as 20 minutes. But don’t be fooled you WILL be working HARD the entire time to ensure the effectiveness of this wonderful workout J

For those of you who haven’t seen my Facebook page it is now up and running if you follow this link you can check it out and see the pics from my photo shoot last week J

 

Staying focused on your goals

Hi Guys, hope we are all well now that the long weekend is upon us :).

 I’ve had a few people say to me over the past few days that their weakness when it comes to food is chocolate. Knowing that Easter is here in just a few days and there have been eggs and hot cross buns on the shelves for what feels like months now I thought now might be a good time for a little refresher post on self-control and willpower.

I’d like to share with you the journey I have been on for the past month as an example of building/maintaing mental strength and willpower. About 6weeks ago I decided that I wanted to start up my own page on Facebook to promote my personal training, this blog and in general just sharing motivation and inspiration when it comes to health, fitness and nutrition. I decided that I wanted to get some photos done to put on the page and also to outline one of my biggest rules when it comes to a profession “practise what you preach”. I would hardly want potential clients or anyone for that matter to think that I wasn't capable of transforming my own body if I am expected to help them transform theirs!

So I started a new program where I went completely 100%clean (no treats or cheats even on the weekends) and upped my intensity with my weights and cardio training. Now I am a big creature of habit and those who know me will tell you this. I like routine and once I get into one I follow it pretty religiously lol. Sundays were always my cheat day where I would have a rest from exercise and indulge a little in what I felt like after keeping my 80-90% clean diet all week. Cutting this out changed my routine a little and forced me to create a new one which proved a mental challenge to me. However my little friend called willpower helped me out and together we pushed through that first weekend. By the second weekend a new routine so to speak had been formed and by the third weekend I was no longer struggling mentally with this change.When they say willpower is like a muscle and the more you use it the strongerit gets they are right, unfortunately most people give in too soon before the muscle even has a chance to strengthen.

The following week however I incurred a new change and this was a big one where I found myself very mentally challenged. What was it youask? The dreaded carb depletion/water load.

This is a process in which you cut out almost all carbs (Iwas on 25g a day) from your diet for in order to starve your muscles of glycogen (which is the main energy source we use when exercising). Your diet consists of protein and fats (good ones) and the idea is that your body will start to use your fat stores as energy. Meanwhile you are drinking an excess of water (8-9 litres a day) to flush sodium out of your body. The first few days weren’t too bad, I lacked a little energy but other than that I was ok. Days 3and 4 were a struggle as they were the weekend. I started to have a lot of mental doubts as I wasn’t sure if my body was even changing and started to question the whole process and got a little bit down on everything I had worked for over the past month. I could have given in right then and there but thankfully my friend willpower stuck with me and together we decided that I had given myself a goal and I was going to stick to it and whatever happened be proud of that at the end.

By day 5 I was beginning to see the light and felt better. I was definitely leaning out although I was carrying a hell of a lot of waterweight! Day 6 began the last part of the challenge, reintroduce carbs (to fill the muscle after it had been starved of glycogen), cut water and sodium. Basically my diet was pretty exciting- rice cakes, turkey, asparagus and sweet potato and very little water. Day 7 was a mentally draining day as I think at this point I was just over it! I was also not feeling as though much had changed through the cutting water and eatingcarbs but I know I am often my harshest critic. I began to question it all again and when I woke up at 1:30am on the morning of the photos with a splitting headache (most likely dehydration) I really struggled and although I was so close I even then considered giving up (crazy now that I think about it).But again I forced my mental strength/willpower to help me out and on the day ended up having a great 3 hours getting lots of photos- some good, some terrible lol but ALL WORTH IT!

I can honestly say that coming through this my willpower has definitely strengthened. Yes it was hard and yes I had to make sacrifices along the way but you know what they were worth it because I wanted the end goal more than I wanted anything else.

So this weekend if you are feeling tempted to OVERindulge in all that chocolate or hot cross buns or whatever else STOP and take a second tothink about your own goals and your own level of willpower. Think about whatyou want more- that extra hot cross bun or a nice set of your own buns?! ;) Ofcourse remember it is ok to indulge a little if you are sticking to your exercise and clean eating but just don’t let yourself lose focus of the bigger picture and goals you want for yourself because in the end no-one else can achieve them for you :)

Have a great and safe weekend and stay tuned for my Facebook page :)

Eat CLEAN, live LEAN, train MEAN

Fit FREAK of the week!

We all have or have had that friend/family member/workcolleague who can seem to eat whatever they like and never gain weight. They can go to maccas and order a triple cheeseburger meal with a 6 pack of nuggets and not even bloat slightly while some of us feel like even glancing at a french fry causes our waistline to expand. The fact is though, that very few people can maintain this kind of fast metabolism forever and if it doesn’t catch up with them on the outside it sure will on the inside.

This weeks’ fit FREAK is an example of this. Jenna Renee is a Fitness model with a banging body and a lifestyle dedicated to fitness. But this hasn’t always been the case. Up until she was in the 10^th grade(yes she’s American) she was that girl who could eat whatever she wanted and never gain an ounce of fat. Unfortunately that did not last and Jenna learnt the hard way that what you eat does always catch up with you. She went from being 110 pounds (about 50kgs) to 135 pounds by the end of the year (61kg).Being only 5’5” this was not a comfortable or healthy weight for Jenna and she felt it. However not having ever had to do worry about her weight before she let it continue to spiral down unsure of how to control it.

In 2007 she developed an eating disorder as a result of her growing hatred of her body and insecurity about her size and ended up in hospital weighing less than 100 pounds (45kgs). This was the turning point forJenna as she realised if she didn’t take control of her weight now she would end up destroying her body.

She started to learn about eating clean and lifting weights.This was a big change for her after coming from having an eating disorder to eating no less than 6 times a day but seeing the changes in her body after just a few weeks helped encourage her to continue on this path to a healthierlifestyle.

Three years later Jenna is a highly successful fitness model and has never looked or felt better. She trains weights 5 days a week and eats clean year round only treating herself on special holidays or her birthday.

Jenna’s story is an inspiring example that skinny definitely does not mean healthy and how important it is that we consider what we put into our bodies regardless of our size as it will always catch up with us in the end one way or another.

Jenna will be at this year’s Australian Health and Fitness Expo (which I am so excited for) along with some other great names in the fitness industry which I will look at in the next few weeks.

Check out her facebook page www.facebook.com/JennaReneeFit  or her website www.jennareneefit.com to seemore of her work :)  

 

Triggers- What's causing your healthy/unhealthy choices?

Hi Guys,

Sorry about the absence last week, time got away from me once again. I had an interesting session with the parents of my Nutrition and Activity program yesterday and thought I would share with you all.

Yesterday’s topic was external triggers that cause unhealthy/healthy eating and that cause physical activity/inactivity. A trigger is basically anything that causes a certain behaviour in a person. We don’t always recognise these triggers until after we have actually acted and are faced with the possible consequence of our actions.

External triggers are things in our environment that may cause us to eat unhealthy or healthy foods. For example if you find yourself in the staff room at work and there is a plate of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies on the table chances are you are going to want to eat one. Afterwards you may think to yourself “why did I eat that? I’m not even hungry”. The trigger here is one of the obvious ones, that you saw/smelled these cookies. What if you found yourself in the staff room and there was a bowl of fruit on the table instead- do you think this would trigger you to have a piece of fruit?

While external triggers are things within our environment, internal triggers are things within ourselves e.g. our thoughts, feelings and emotions. Had a bad day? More than likely an internal trigger (feeling down) might lead you straight to the fridge and in the fridge there is a nice big piece of chocolate cake (external trigger) and the two triggers are going to cause you to put that cake straight in your mouth without a second thought. Will you feel better? No most likely not. Will you realise until after you have done it? No most likely not either.

Every day we are faced with both external and internal trigger that set off behaviours in us. Sometimes these behaviours are good for us and other times they are not so good. The important thing is we learn to recognise these triggers that cause unhealthy behaviours and actions and try and eliminate them (if we can) or find ways to curb them. A lot of them time It comes down to willpower and self- control but these are things we need to build upon and if you don’t feel strong enough then it is best to try eliminate the trigger altogether. 

For example removing food triggers from your home is a great way to start. Don’t trust yourself to not eat the chocolate cake in the fridge? Then don’t buy it or anything else you know may cause you to overindulge after a bad day.

We also can create triggers that will promote healthy behaviours in us as well. For example sticking that picture of your favourite fitness model on your wall, fridge, screensaver. This may help trigger you to want to hit the gym and work hard because this person inspires you.  Creating a routine where you meet a friend for a workout is another example because you have made that commitment to go.

 So this week think don’t just eat that cookie or take the lift instead of the stairs. STOP and THINK about the triggers good and bad in your own lives. Try to eliminate or take action to curb some of the unhealthy triggers and promote some healthier triggers J

  As always eat CLEAN, train MEAN and live LEAN J

 

Portion sizes- Are you in control?

Too often these days people struggling to lose weight are faced with the problem of portion control. I have been given the “But I eat really healthy, I don’t know why I’m not losing weight” line many a time before and when I go over their food diary its evident that yes they may eat mostly healthy but they are eating WAY too much food for the rate they are burning it. Ipso facto- fat storage.

Portion control is something that can be difficult for some people to get their head around, many try and they fail and I’m going to explain why.

See, once your stomach is used to a certain amount of food creating that “full” feeling then giving it anything less than that is clearly going to leave it less than full and feeling like it needs more (at first). So when people first begin reducing their portions they will probably feel hungry because their stomach is sending messages to the brain saying “hey buddy I’m not full yet!” Many convince themselves they are STARVING and turn around and increase to bigger portions once again.

This is where your mind needs to do some hard yards and ignore those conflicting messages from your stomach because within a matter of time, it will become used to the new portions and adjust accordingly.

Please note I am in no way referring to starving yourself. I’m talking about matching the food you are consuming to the exercise expenditure you are doing which is how weight loss occurs. Calories in vs calories out. Let us take an example.

Brian is 35 years old and works in real estate so spends a fair bit of time seated at his desk. He attends the gym 4 times a week for 45 mins. Some days he does weights other days he walks on the treadmill or the cross trainer. Here is one sample from Brian’s daily exercise and eating log.

Monday

Breakfast – 2 pieces of wholegrain toast + 2 poached eggs + 1 large cap on skim milk

Snack- Large fruit salad and yoghurt

Lunch- 250 grams Chicken breast with vegetables and large brown rice and small wholegrain roll

Snack- 6 Corn thins with Peanut butter plus an apple

Dinner- 300 gram steak, potato, vegetables, 1 piece of wholegrain bread no butter

Exercise= 45 mins on the cross trainer at lunch (burns 250 calories)

Breaking this down we can see that Brian’s diet is what you would call “typically healthy” He has fruit, vegetables, wholegrains, protein, some good fats. So where has Brian gone wrong you may ask? Portion control- his energy in doesn’t compete with his energy out.

Looking at his daily activity apart from Brian going to the gym for 45 mins in the middle of the day he was seated at his desk for the most part. Therefore the immense amount of energy in calories he has consumed haven’t really had a chance to be expended. He then goes home from work to eat a large meal (containing a decent amount of carbohydrates) that won’t be expended while he is watching tv that night and therefore Brian will go to bed that night with having consumed more energy in calories than he has expended. Calories in greater than calories out = weight gain.

The next day Brian may have a different day and consume less calories than he expends at the gym but because of his lack of consistency he is still going to struggle to lose those extra kilos.

It’s not rocket science but it does take some time to think about your own diet and whether you really need to eat all that food. Of course overeating on healthy items is going to be better than overeating junk but at the end of the day overeating is overeating. It starts with the word OVER because it means TOO MUCH.

I hope this post gives people something to think about if you have been struggling with weight loss and please feel free to comment below if you have questions regarding further info on your own portion sizes and controlling energy in vs energy out J

 No fit FREAK this week unfortunately but not due to lack of time more so lack of time to find inspiration. I have been searching but am yet to find my next fit FREAK who really stands out so stay tuned next week. Until then I recommend you guys check out the channel BroScienceLife on youtube- absolutely hilarious (and pretty accurate) portrayal of some guys in the gym.

Until next time eat CLEAN (and watch your portions), train MEAN and keep on living LEAN J