ANB Asia Pacific 2009

What a great show!

A big CONGRATULATIONS to Lindy for her excellent first time up on stage as co-compere; so great to know that future shows will be in your capable hands.

More CONGRATULATIONS to Deb who came third in her class- she said she was stoked and I couldn't be happier for her. Deb, I thought you looked fantastic and Im sure you kicked butt at WNBF today so Im looking forward to hearing about that. I hope you don't mind me using your pic for my post, but a back like that should be seen! :) 

I know not all novices in ANB are first timers (rule is that you can stay in the novice class until you win a class!) but I was extremely impressed by the lineup there and actually managed to pick that winner! 

Goooooood motivation for me, 15 weeks out today!

K.I.S.S!

"The message to parents is simple: if you can’t figure out what food group a particular product fits into, chances are its more of an occasional treat than an everyday choice".

This was the last line of the Courier Mail's article "The big lunch crunch" reported on Monday 25 May 2009 in relation to the bizarre transmutation of normal healthy school lunches to sugar riddled convenient snack food boasting isolated health benefits such as being high in protein- how about some good ol chicken! These items are gloried candy!

If I ever raise children they are totally going to hate me for the first 12 or so years of their life... will thank me later though! (aahh that's why mothers say that).

Posing... hurts!

Well, duh! Everyone warned me I'd be sore after my first posing session with Jo :-S  See how Im not smiling? haha, I was trying not to move!!

Our first session was really informative as obviously there's so much a competitor can learn from such a professional with so much experience. 

I left feeling a little daunted by just how much work is to be done but hey, Im up for it! No point training hard in the gym and getting your diet right if you can't pose on the day! The relaxed pose was particularly difficult for me.. how ironic.

The bad news for me is that it appears I have a curved spine (I didn't know!) which makes it difficult for me to keep my shoulders level and hips straight. Jo gave me some nice feedback as well, in that I have broad shoulders and a nice shape however, I also have rather wide hips :P As long as Im successful in getting the fat off that shouldn't be a problem. She asked me where I think I need to improve my physique and we both agreed that I should continue working on my shoulders and building thickness generally. 

Muscle muscle muscle muscle!!

Thanks to a very knowledgeable  friend who inspired my blog post title :)

Ali and I attended the INBA Brisbane show on Sunday and I had a great time not only being able to see the show, see fellow bloggers Shelley, Katie and Selina (front line, first) compete but the chance to catch up with the figure gals, get some great advice, support and motivation!!

Of course, the novice class took my main interest as that will be me in a few short months :) There was a big lineup of 14 girls so they had to be judged in two stages and were really put through their paces. I like that about the INBA, the judges seem to really take their time in making their decisions rather than rush the classes through which Im sure is appreciated by competitors. Selina, (coached by the wise Liz) did a great job, coming in fourth. These four at least really impressed me in terms of muscle size, conditioning and presentation- very professional! But to be perfectly honest, I thought that some of the other girls were a little.. skinny.. hence the title of my post! 

I know putting on quality muscle is a slow and painful process for us gals and Im willing to work at it, im in this lifestyle for good! :) So my goal is to preserve as much muscle as I can dieting down for this first show and then of course, better that next time. Simple as that!

Prep is going well so far. Ali and I saw our coach last week and had both dropped 4.5ml of bodyfat, putting me only 2ml away from the level that Jon would like to see me maintain in the offseason- my mind could go all sorts of places thinking about that challenge but if Jon thinks I can do it then thats all I need to know. Im really pleased with the work we've put in to repair my metabolism (after a couple of years of maltreatment by me with crazy diets). 

Next thing we are looking forward to is our first posing session with Jo this saturday! Then we have a wedding to attend saturday night (saving my cheat meal to be able to enjoy the wedding cake!!!).

Well.. its time to eat again!

not as muscular as i thought

Im sure its a pet peeve of all women trying to get some decent muscles going when other women moan about not wanting to train with heavy weights cos they are concerned about 'bulking up' etc?

Well they all need to be told- you're not as muscular as you think!! (oh and its not that easy to put on muscle either, did you think it would happen accidentally?)

Great article about this here. The gross pic above refers to the cross section of an average woman's thighs and the proporation of muscle to fat. Strip away that thick layer of fat and this woman would certainly not have bulky thighs!

Preparing for my first comp is certainly bringing this point home personally as well! I had a drop on the scales recently, each one is my new lowest weight ever as an adult so its exciting but scary. Especially now, in my own mind I have crossed that border into 'skinny' territory and I'm hoping, praying that I can rely on my three-ish years of weight training to have built at least a foundation so that im not reduced to bones! lol, enter the self doubt hey! Don't worry, I know this is all part of the process- too skinny one day, not lean enough the next etc.

Bottom line for me is Im stepping on stage in September (woohoo!) So what can I do today to ensure that Im in the best shape I can possibly be in?

Are you on a diet?

I had to laugh- just started 'official comp prep diet' and today is apparently International NO DIET DAY!

I certainly can't complain though because I don't feel like I am on a diet whatsoever! There is no elements of what I'm doing that have caused me to go into what I call deprivation mode, triggered by dieting in the classic sense (my first five years of attempts to get my weight under control). First of all, I'm eating every two hours (7 meals) so I'm never hungry. Second, I actually like what I'm eating so I don't feel like its a chore. And best of all, if I do get cravings for something thats not on my daily meal plan, I just think- ok, I'll eat that in my weekly free meal! (by which time I'll probably have forgotten about it).

The shift in my 'non deprivation' mindset has taken a lot of work to accomplish. For some reason some of us women don't like to be told what to eat and stubbornly refuse for a long time that we simply cannot eat whatever we want, whenever we want (despite all attempts to out train said bad diet) and ever hope to achieve the high goals we set for ourselves. Firstly I accepted my body for what it was, a marvellous machine capable of great things. Then I accepted that there are certain non negotiables that I must create my lifestyle around in order to shed the fat and build muscle, its not personal, its fact! Then I made them habits. So now that comp prep is here, Im very used to doing a shitload of cooking every weekend, Im very used to having people comment on what I eat (and how often) and I'm very used to being 'anti-social' by turning down crap food and alcohol!

So no, even now Im not on a diet. Not yet! I know that to get into comp shape (not just shredded but ... peeled I think is the term I heard in 'muscular development') is going to be far from a walk in the park. Come 12 weeks out and especially the final 6 weeks are going to be hard, gruelling and Im going to be begging why, why WHY!!! But I know that its only temporary. Because thats all diets ever are- temporary action for a temporary result.

Are you on a diet or is your current approach to eating something you could successfully maintain indefinately?

20 weeks out at last

Well, to be precise- 19 weeks out today from the WFF on Sunday 13 September and 21 weeks out yesterday from the ANB State titles on 26 September 2009.

Ali and I saw our coach Jon on Friday and had our plans changed slightly- another meal for me per day to try to crank my metabolism up a notch. Plan is to drop body fat nice and slow over the next 8 weeks as painfree as possible :) He and I are really happy with where Im sitting at the moment.

Im in a good headspace as well which helps! I can't stress enough how starting to rein things in early helped enormously in preparing my body and mind as much as possible for what is ahead. The last few months I have been through the rough patch in struggling with following a meal plan (seeing it as a diet = deprivation = eating disorder triggers) but now, I finally feel like an athlete.... !

Burn is healing slowly, its kind of fun to gross people out what with the dark scab falling away in patches, but I thought better than to subject that on to you nice people :)

HAVE A GREAT LONG WEEKEND!!!!