AngelBrt’s BodyBlog

So, it has been a long time since I’ve been active on body space and a lot has happened.  As I last mentioned I did have surgery in May of 2008, and then in July of 2008 I got pregnant (which was a huge blessing!).  On April 7 I had my baby boy, Asher, and it has been wonderful.  But now I am ready to get my body back because I have really let it go.  Over the next week I am going to update my stats and take some current pictures (so scary), and on July 6 I am starting a 12 week body transformation designed by Michael Elias.  I plan to document and blog as I go along to hopefully keep myself motivated and pushing hard.  So keep an eye out for pictures and stats, and a major transformation!

I was so excited for competing again this spring, and really was feeling on track a couple months ago.  However, a lot has happened between then and now, and unfortunately I will not be competing.  In May I have to have laparoscopic abdominal surgery so I am not able to compete this spring.   I am very disappointed, but  I know that eventually I will compete again, so I am keeping a positive outlook.  Maybe I will be ready by fall…

In the meantime, I am focusing on making my workouts fun and trying different activities, and maybe even gaining a bit more muscle!  Plus, I am trying to keep my diet clean so my body doesn’t get accustomed to eating crap!  Apparently I’ll have about 3 weeks after surgery that I won’t be able to workout, so the diet will have to save me then.

So, I guess you just never know what will come up that changes your plans, but I do know that I won’t give up and hopefully soon we’ll be back to a competition countdown!

I am now 10 weeks out from my next fitness model/figure show and I am very excited!  The last one (which was also my first) is now almost a year in the past, but since that show I have known that I would compete again.  While I have some serious leaning out to do, I am very excited because I was able to put on almost 11 pounds of muscle and I really think it will show as the competition draws near.  I have overcome a fractured knee cap and a crushed hand injury and all in all am feeling very good.

For the purpose of leaning out, two weeks ago I completely eliminated any cheat meals from my diet, have reduced my daily calories to 1650, and added back in some good leaning supplements.  During my muscle building I reduced cardio to 3 times per week, but now it’s up to 5 and I have a feeling I will be doing more in no time.  I just have to be careful in striking a balance because I do tend to lose muscle as well as fat.  This is why I have an awesome trainer though so that she can tweak my diet and exercise.
I will keep posting as I count down, it keeps me honest and is a fun way to track the progress!

Well, the end of summer and into fall have just been a roller coaster.  As I mentioned in my last post, I had some medical issues that prevented me from working out with my usual intensity, and as I was recovering and thinking that I was going to get back into the swing of things I fractured my knee cap.  So over 8 weeks and a lot of physical therapy later, I am ready to begin some serious training again.  And although I’m almost embarrassed to post it, I am putting up a progress pic, because it is the shape I’m in now, and I know that I will improve again.  My goals are still to increase muscle mass, and reducing fat, although that will take more of a priority once I know when my next competition will be.  I am VERY excited to start serious training again, and am optimistic that I will come out of all this better than ever!

Well, post-competition has not exactly turned out the way that I had planned, but when do things ever go exactly the way you want?  After my competition in April I hit the gym hard and was really going in full swing for muscle gaining, and eating clean as to not gain to much fat with my muscle.  This was all with the intention to compete again this fall.  However, some health issues have changed my plans for this year and it seems unlikely that I will compete this fall.

Under doctor’s orders, and pretty much kicking and screaming, I have had to cut back to working out only 3 times per week, which I hate.  I’ll admit when I first learned that some problems were worse than I thought I took it out on my diet (not so clean of eating), but that caught up with me way too quickly and I realized that eating clean was more important than ever because the competition world has not seen the last of me.

So, with the help of my incredible trainer, Julie Lohre, and my doctor’s supervision, I have developed a plan that I can live with.  I am hitting the weights 3 times a week to hopefully continue to build muscle, and I am enjoying some activities that summer has to offer, swimming, walking outside, etc… And I am eating clean, but making sure that I am eating enough of the right foods.  Hopefully the end result will be a healthy me that’s in even better shape next time I compete.

I also  plan to continue posting progress pictures and stats every so often because I think that will help hold me accountable.  It’s very easy to use a situation like this to eat badly and let myself go.  But I have worked way to hard to go that direction, and I loved competing way too much to let this be the end of it!

Well, after gathering all the feedback I could from the competition I’ve decided that my goal of taking some time to add upper body muscle is a good one.  I am back into heavy weight training, not too much cardio, and a diet plan that is clean, but not as strict as pre-contest.  So far everything is going really well, but I am sore all the time…it’s a great feeling!  While I love this phase for competing, I still have the bug to do it again, so after looking at various fall events I think my next competition goal is for the Fitness America competition on September 15 in Atlanta, GA.  I think this gives me time to add some quality muscle, but is close enough to keep me pushing really hard.

While I know I must gain weight, I am trying to do it slowly and primarily in muscle so that the pre-contest is not as hard as last time.  I will keep updating on how it goes!

It finally happened, I completed my first competition at the Tina Rigdon FAME Classic, and I am hooked!  The whole experience was completely amazing and I just want to do it all over again.  I felt like I looked and competed at my best and it was so rewarding.  I did two categories, Fitness Model and Swimsuit Model.  I placed 4th in Fitness Model and 3rd in Swimsuit.  Not bad for a first go-around, and the competition world will be seeing a lot more of me!

Currently I am going back to training to build some upper body muscle, but I am sticking with a clean diet and plan to not gain a whole lot of body fat.  I will keep updating!

Today was my last heavy leg day before the competition in 1 week!  If it’s possible to tighten them up even just a little bit I hope this did it!  I did squats, walking lunges, dead lifts, leg extension, and lying leg curls, followed by 20 minutes on the stairstepper.  Not bad for a carb depleted Saturday!

As I head into this last week I get more and more excited, but increasingly nervous.  I don’t know how I’m supposed to focus on anything else this week!  Just a few more days of training and then recovery until the competition…

Just in time to push me through these last couple weeks I got my pictures from my photo shoot a few weeks ago!  Just the motivation I need to get through this carb deprived cardio heavy week!  I need to figure out how to put them under my gallery, but for now there are a few under progress pics.  For now I am off to the gym!

So I haven’t kept up with this like I had hoped to, somehow I feel like I’ve just been busier than ever!  Between a full time job, personal training, and competition prep I’m lucky if I find time to sleep!  But, my progress (if I do say so myself) has been amazing.  Since my last progress pics I feel like there have been some major changes, and hopefully soon I’ll have the pictures to show it!  Last weekend I was photographed by Rick Lohre (lohrecreative.com) and from what I saw the results were incredible!  I should be getting the photos soon and will post some online.  Julie Lohre, IFBB pro (julielohre.com) is my trainer and has really brought me a long way.

Last weekend I also attended a FAME Camp with Tina Rigdon that was incredible.  I learned a lot about what to expect in my upcoming competition, plus had a chance to practice my walking and posing…those 5" heels are tough!

In addition to everything I am now working for FAME Media Group on their expos and the FAME Magazine.  This has been a great change for me to fully immerse myself in the fitness industry.  Check out our website at www.wowfame.com.

So now I am just 4 weeks out and more excited than ever.  I never thought I could workout so hard, be carb depleted , and still feel this good!  Sure I have my moments, but this whole experience of preparing for the competition has really changed my life and has given me the confidence to go after my goals!

As always, thanks to everyone who makes comments on my space, it really keeps me motivated!  More pictures to come…