Ava Cowan’s BodyBlog

I am back at home in Florida and had an amazing time last weekend in New York.  I am happy to report that I won the “B” class as well as the Overall.  So I am so thrilled!  The show was jam packed to a sold out crowd, and there had to be over 200 competitors there.  I thought the show was run beautifully by Bev Francis and Steve Weinberger.  They really know how to put on a BodyBuilding show!  The stage was a perfect size, well lit and the expeditors were extremely helpful.  To be honest, I have never been to a show that was sold out before!  I also really like that both prejudging and the finals were all in the same day.  This made life a lot easier, especially when traveling, prepping meals and getting the tan and make up just right. (Though I had MAJOR Make up issues!!!!)

While I was in town I met up with Daniel Pierce and Joe Volgey from Gaspari Nutrition as well as Paul Glinski for some cool video for Bodybuilding.com as well as Gaspari TV.  They each added a special element to the production and creation of some upcoming videos.  I am beyond excited to see just what the final vision will be.  So stay tuned for that.

I was also joined by the beautiful Isabel Norton.  She was so unbelievably helpful, and the sweetest woman ever! I am so glad that I was able to spend some time with her, even under stressful conditions and am proud to have her as a friend. She definitely spoiled me and I sure wish she was here with me in Florida for the Nationals this weekend.  This is a picture of us at the athlete’s meeting around 8:00 AM.

I have been going non stop for a while now and didn’t even fully unpack my suitcases. My next stop is the 2009 NPC Nationals this weekend in Hollywood, FL.  I have been hitting cardio very hard with hopes of bringing my best, fullest most feminine package I can.  I have done the work, so now I am just going to make sure all is ready to go and maintain a stress free atmosphere as I venture over about 30 minutes away to the Westin Diplomat tomorrow afternoon. 

Here are a few pictures taken from the show.

There is also a cool video right after the event.

As well as a write up on HardBody.com today.

I am a week away from my competition and I am ready.  Flat, watery but that is normal and I am definitely lean.  Not crazy stringy lean, but I can tell when I carb up things will be poppin!  And poppin is always good lol.  I wanted to come in fuller than I did this summer and as of now my weight is up a few pounds from then, so right now I am right on track.  I have a feeling that super lean isn’t being rewarded anymore, and so I am making sure my shape is nice, full, round, and fat free. 

I am still taking the Mitotropin 2 times a day, and will continue to do so until I am finished.  No changes in anything I am doing right now.  I have come to believe that taking the Mito has definitely helped me through some rough spots.  This year I was diagoned with hypothyrodism and my metabolism is shot from dieting for the past 10 months.  So I didn’t come into this contest prep with things in my favor.  I have been plagued with fatique both mentally and physically compounded by a lagging metabolism.  I had to decrease calories, up my cardio and I started the Mitotropin 30 days out hoping for some help getting all the fat off. 

I believe it was the combination of it all that helped get me where I am right now.  To be honest, I really needed the extra help and I have faith in the efficacy of Gaspari Nutrition’s products.  I wouldn’t promote, discuss or use them precontest if I wasn’t completely convinced that the products could help me acheive my goals.  It is sort of like hiring a trainer, you have to let go and have faith.  Once I have done my research and am satisfied with what I find, I don’t second guess, I just go. 

You are either in or you are out. 

My training, nutrition and supplementation protocols are no different. 

I will post pics of my show and you can see for yourself.

One week left!  

As promised I am checking in regarding my experience with using Gaspari Nutrition’s Mitotropin.

As I got a bit more used to using Mitotropin I was not cleaning the house like a mad woman awake, but it helped get me where I needed to be and through my cardio sessions.  That is nice, but here is the most important fact, I had not been able for the life of me to drop weight in about a month.  From the Olympia up until last Saturday I was stuck between 120-119 lbs, and just was at a plateau.  I did drop my carb intake slightly each week, but the scale wasn’t moving.  I am always ahead of schedule when I prep for a show, but I have to admit I was getting nervous.   And a bit of panic was setting in.  This past Tuesday morning I stepped on the scale and was 116.5 lbs!  I think I screamed in Publix.  That meant I was only a couple of pounds off of my contest weight with 3.5 weeks to go. 

So, I am going to have to say that the variable I added in here was Mitotropin.  Like I said in the previous post…numbers don’t lie.

I am pretty tired right now, 3 weeks out…so I am going to keep this post short and sweet. 

I may be tired….but I am HAPPY!  yay!

Ok Week 3 is going to be thrown in here with week 2….I for the life of me cannot even think of moving right now.  I am 2 weeks out from my show and am forcing myself to stay up until at least 10:30 PM so that I don’t get up at 5:30 AM tomorrow.  It is too hard stretching all of my meals across the day when I am up at the crack of dawn from hunger. 

I still take 2 MitoTabs 30 minutes pre breakfast, and go lay back down until I feel my heart race then i get up as I know there is no going back to sleep at this point.  I just lay there looking up at the ceiling at this point in the game.  I am getting leaner though, just tired.  Is it the diet, the 9 months of continious dieting, the Mito?  Not even sure and don’t really care, I just want to get the last bit of fat off…..and it will come off if I kill myself doing it. 

Speaking of which, I am quite sure from the outside looking it at my HIIT that I am doing daily is not too pretty…I swear I am surely going to have a heart attack right there on that bike….I am like look, just let me get through the show and then let me die lol My favorite is the lady that I don’t know that comes up to ask me about HER right after a bout of hell, looking for advice how she can get into shape…and oh I look pretty good she says lol….satan has nothing on my thoughts right now. Ha!  I politely tell her that no words are coming from my mouth because I almost lost my life on the  bike sitting out there….and maybe we can talk about HER …..another time. 

So you can see where my mood is right now.  Funny, when I have a high carb day, I am good…real good, and without…well not so much!  Oh well, I never claim to be perfect….just diligent.

So, that is all I can tell at this point, I weigh in Saturday, and we will see what is what.

Till then…

Day 1

This is going to be a 4 part blog about Gaspari Nutrition’s Mitotropin.  I have been using Cytolean V2 for a few months, starting with one cap working up to 2-3 a day in the early afternoon.  It has been an integral part of my late morning ritual for the better part of this year.  I had a few shows in mind for earlier in the year, but a things came up and I chose to compete in November instead.  So I have been in contest diet mode for 8 months now, and am running on empty.  Especially right now, I am on the home stretch and am 30 days out from the Eastern USA’s (see flyer below). My body is tired and requiring more work and less calories to maintain and ultimately get my body fat where it needs to be to step on stage.

I couldn’t wait to get the second half of my cycle going.  I know that in order for the stack to work, you have to alternate between the two; 4 weeks on Cytolean V2, and then 4 weeks on Mitotropin.  You can alternate indefinitely, but not taking them together.  Yesterday was Day 1 of Mitotropin.  I took two caps 30 minutes before breakfast.  I am ususally starving when I wake up so drank some BCAA’s to wash down the Mito caps while waiting to eat.  Mornings usually start (panicked from hunger) with breakfast, and coffee (not working anymore…so just for flavor) and I crawl back to bed or to the computer where I struggle to wake up get things going.  This is because I always take CV2 just before I go to the gym in the afternoon so I can get the most out of it and hit it hard at the gym. With Mitotropin you have to take it twice a day.  Once in the early AM before breakfast, and again about 6 hours later.

I drank my drink and 2 Mito caps and went to lay back down.  About 20 minutes later I was UP and moving!  I cleaned this house like a maniac..lol..and did the laundry all before 9 AM.  I felt happy and my mood was great!  No anxiety…which I cannot handle as I am naturally a bit “anxious” naturally. (perfectionist!) So I was like of this is GOOD!  Just was awake, and in a good mood.  I took one more 30 minutes before my noon meal, and was off to the gym.  I wanted to access my tolerance, making sure to avoid any possible anxiousness.  I was fine, and realized that with this LOW carb diet, I can definitely tolerate two Mito caps. 

I also made sure to take it early enough so I could sleep.  The “committee” (my head) doesn’t need any help with the night time self talk.  I was fine….and I just eased into the evening.  I didn’t have to have my usual late afternoon coffee, I was just cruising.    And was able to go to bed at a decent hour.  So far so good.

Day 2

Today I was excited to take two Mito Caps in the morning and two 30 minutes before my pre workout meal. 

At 3:00 PM, I had a doctor’s appointment today.  They tested the usual “vitals” making sure all was in order.  My weight (119) blood pressure (117/68) and temperature (98.8).  Wait… isn’t it supposed to be 98.6??!!  98.8 is a bit above “normal” and is called Thermogenesis which is EXACTLY what Mito is supposed to do, increase core temperature.  An increase in your core temperature means you burn more calories! 

I knew I had to tell you about that…I didn’t even think of it until she wrote it down. 

It is good to know when a product does what is says it will do….and my temperature doesn’t lie. 

I just had to share it with you.  This gave me a new burst of much needed motivation as I prepare for my return to the NPC stage.  It feels good to have some help getting there!

I will check back in next Thursday.

Until then, be well!

This is my next show!

Date of Birth: October 21

Residence:  Pompano Beach, Florida

Height:  5′4

Contest Weight: 114

Off-Season Weight: 125

Bodybuilding Background:

How long have you been into figure?

4 years

How did you get started?

I became certified as a personal training specialist and decided to apply my knowledge by training myself. I had always wanted to get in amazing shape, and once I had a solid knowledge base, it gave me the confidence to pursue my dream.

FOR THE FULL BIOGRAPHY CLICK HERE

Last weekend at the Europa Super Show in Dallas, Texas was truly a one of a kind experience for me.  I flew out to Dallas, Texas  a few days before I needed to work the expo to shoot with Per Bernal.  The first part of the shoot was my first photo shoot for Gaspari Nutrition so the location was at the most hardcore gym in the world, Metroflex Gym http://www.metroflexgym.com/ in Arlington, Texas.  Seemed like a fitting location for the Hardcore!  The final images will be apart of Gaspari’s advertising in the months to come.

The second day of the shoot was for Muscular Development entitled “The Girls of MetroFlex Gym”.  It was myself, Marzia Prince, and Trish Warren….and this layout should be in MD very shortly.  Totally Mid evil…totally HARDCORE.   I am not sure I have ever seen anything else quite like it!  BTW, none of this could have gone down without Joe Volgey the VP of marketing for Gaspari Nutrition…he is one of the visionaries behind the scenes…Marzia and I thought we would cool him off from all of the hard work he has to do while on location for Gaspari shoots lol…very tough job!

After 2 days of intense shooting with Per, it was off to work the Expo.  It was such an amazing feeling being BEHIND the Gaspari Nutrition booth, a spot I have thought about for quite sometime now.   I am also learning the ins and outs of traveling, food shopping while out of town and cooking in my room.  This is the only way I can stay on track as I travel for appearances.  I think I have it down…and other than a few goodies I desperately needed to fill out for my shoots, I kept it all in check.

That is a good thing because my next appearance for Gaspari Nutrition will be at the 2009 Olympia Expo, and I will be well into my contest prep mode for the 2009 NPC Eastern USA’s where I will attempt and qualify for the 2009 NPC Nationals that are only a week later here in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

Please check the 2009 NPC Contest Schedule Here for location and details.  

So that is the latest, and I will keep you in the loop as more comes my way.