For those of you who creep my Facebook page this will be old news but since there are people who actually follow this babble (thank you so much by the way) I wanted to share the news here as well!!



Yesterday an official announcement was made by Gorilla Jack Supplements here in Winnipeg (also the people behind the competition I just did) that I am to be their new Lab Monkey and columnist!!!!  This means I will be testing products, integrating them in to my existing training, and giving you the good, the bad, and the ugly honest truth on what I think of them. I am unsure of the details as of where these tid bits will be posted, most likely at http://www.gorillajack.com/ but don't worry your pretty little biceps I will make sure to post all the info here as well.



Thank you all again for following along and giving your input. You have helped me get to this point, I couldn't have done it without you! And thank you to the monkeys at Gorilla Jack for accepting and valuing the one thing I value the most in myself; my honesty.  It has taken me a long time to accept this trait and though I'm still learning how to use it, I promise to do right by you.

Well it's over, finished, caput!  The last 5 months have led up to one long assed day and now it's done!  Let's get the thing most people want to know out of the way: I did not place. I don't even know my placing however I was called out close to last so that could mean anything based on the results. We will have to wait!  Am I sad about not placing, I think everyone is to a degree however the competition I was up against was insane.  I had 19 girls in my class.  19!  And you have to narrow that down to 5?  I would not have wanted to be a judge at all.  I am however proud of my progression from last year and that's really what it's all about isn't it?  Constantly improving, progressing, being better than before. So that's what it's going to continue to be about.  I want to have an off season that sees less bad weight gained and more good weight.  I would rather not loose 20lbs every time I compete thankyouverymuch! lol 



Now to some pictures!! I was part of an amazing team of girls who transformed before my very eyes and stepped on that stage with me! Such an awesome day hanging out with everyone.

 

Over all my experience in this new class was great! I think I need to add a little more flare to my posing as that was seems to get higher marks when girls are close body wise but that will just take some practice I think.   I'm not sure what my plans are next besides getting back to normal clean eating, gaining some muscle without gaining my weight back like last year, and just enjoying the summer!  Thank you to everyone who made this weekend possible.  I look forward to the future and what it may bring.

C

I'm going to preface this with a warning to those who don't like talk about bodily functions etc. I have learned thus far that there are at least 20 people going through the same thing that I am at any given time so I like to share my experiences in full.



That being said, yesterday was the first day of my 1 week out diet trial which required me to consume 8 litres of water.  Yup, you read that right, 8.  2 gallons for my southern friends.  It's a daunting task at first. I came in to work on Monday with two 4L jugs of water and explained to my boss that I have to drink them therefore there may be a few more bathroom breaks than normal.  What I wasn't prepared for was my body to react as if I was downing a liquid laxative!!!  I haven't experienced something like this since I had to take that stuff doctor's give you before you go in to surgery to "clear you out".  On the bright side, I now know what to do should I ever become constipated again.  Say no to magnesium and yes to simple water.



At the end of this week I have an fantabulous cheat meal planned (as awarded by my fantabulous trainer)!  I have chosen banana and dark chocolate chip protein pancakes, possibly with a swipe of nutella and/or peanut butter. lol  There also may be some turkey bacon on my plate.  Now some people may be thinking "That's not a cheat meal!?!" Ooooooh yes it is!!!!  I salivate every morning when my husband makes his banana protein pancakes plus anything not on my meal plan constitutes as a cheat. Therefore, TOTAL cheat to make my Carb Zombie brain happy!

I will be the first to admit I had prejudices about the Bikini catagory when it first arrived on the scene. In fact, someone could even call me a hypocrite now because it's the catagory I am currently striving to compete in.  The fact is the Bikini catagory in bodybuilding shows is still not taken seriously as an actual catagory that deserves included.  It wasn't until I competed last year in Figure that I truly understood the purpose of the Bikini catagory and why I belonged there. 



Having been training since November for my new catagory I can now actually give a first hand account of what it's like to train as a Bikini competitor compared to a Figure competitor.  So, what is the difference?



NOTHING.



So many times I have read people complaining that Bikini was an "easy out" for a competitor and that the catagory had no place a "real" bodybuilding shows.  I never went as far as to say it never had a place but I admit, I did have a preconceived notion that it was easier.   Well it MUST be right?  We have less muscle than Figure, we're softer than Figure, this means there must be less work!  That statement is so far from the truth!!!



I workout 6 days a week using REAL weight until my body parts BURN just like a bodybuilder.  I eat 6 clean meals a day just like a bodybuilder, all packed up in my 6 Pack bag just like a bodybuilder.  I'm going to deplete my water, carb load my body, and paint myself the color of copper, just.like.a.bodybuilder.  So when I tell someone that I bodybuild, or that I am a bodybuilder I say it with conviction because by definition this is what I am! This is what I do! I choose to have it define me, just like a bodybuilder.



This is dedicated not only to my fellow Bikini competitors near and far, but to those who have the same preconceived thoughts as I once did.  This sport should bring us together not pull us apart.

I'm pretty sure since the very first time the word "food" was spoken, life has revolved around it.  Food, as well as alcohol, has been the main focus of socialization for as long as any one can remember and we have habitually adapted to that social standard.  Now this wasn't a horrible thing back in the times where we were doing hard labor i.e. working our lands by hand, but these days there's alot less movement going on.  I don't know what the statistics are but I'm going to bet the majority, as well as myself, are currently working seditary jobs.



The above thought came after I read that southern food queen Paula Deen has officially been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. To be honest it's no surprise. I've watched her show and coined her the queen of "food porn" because she is not afraid of using traditional ingredients.  Since her diagnosis she has teamed up with a drug used to manage diabetes stating:



"I was determined to share my positive approach and not let diabetes stand in the way of enjoying my life. I'm excited to team up with Novo Nordisk on this initiative to show others that managing diabetes does not have to stop you from enjoying the things you love"



Now I'm not a doctor but I'm pretty sure a change in diet is recommended by doctors in order to reverse your diagnosis of diabetes.  People think they have to live with the disease but I have seen proper nutrition and exercise reverse diabetes. I'm definitely interested to see how she does with this new drug she's endorsing. She obviously has no plans to reverse the diagnosis.



Through my whole clean eating journey I have come to learn that there is more to life than eating food.  I know that sounds contradictive as I'm right in the middle of my contest prep and I count down the hours until my next feeding time however I have heard so many comments from people in the same position as me talking about how upset their loved ones get when they refuse to over indulge with them.  Refusal of food has now become the ultimate insult in some circles and it's unnecessary.  Calculating how well you live your life by how much you have eaten is a sad sad slope that too many people are sliding and I for one won't follow

First of all what the heck happened to BB.com???  I'll obviously have to spend some time finding where everything is now.

Anyway, anyone who has been following along for any length of time knows I have coined myself The Carb Zombie during prep. Instead of brains I call for GGGRRAAAAIIIINNNSSSS.   However it came to my attention yesterday, one of the hardest days during prep I've ever had AND a FULL day of carbs, that my inner Carb Zombie is STILL there!!!!  Oh yes, she is hiding in the shadows, never statisfied eventhough all we're eating alllll day is carbs.  She wants MORE, oh yes, LOTS more.  So MUCH MORE that it left me so incredibly hungry last night.  On the bright side, I can officially see more of my abs this morning than ever in my life. 



Today I'm totally on track. It's protein all day and though I slept in (the sleep was totally needed for my aching body) I am making sure to eat in 2 to 3 hour increments.  Luckily hubby and I are working on The Dungeon (our home gym) renos today which helps my mind stay off of food I shouldn't be eating.  We are exactly 10 weeks out today and there is NOTHING standing in the way of me and that stage. Not even my Carb Zombie.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanza, and all the rest peeps!  It's that time of year where people are doing one of 2 things: Eating to excess or dieting. Most of the peeps I know are dieting which makes it great for all of us since we can connect with each other and give support.  My trainer just switched up my plan to Lean Out mode JUST in time for Christmas HOWEVER should I stay 100%, no 150%, on my plan I get to eat my mom's Christmas dinner!!!!!!!!!!!!  My mom & I were extremely excited, more me than her of course, but I'm glad I can eat what we're making. 

Progress pics are coming, I'm actually SUPER excited to take them because I am surpassing last year's physique already. Last year was ALOT harder, I was stressing ALOT more, so there were ALOT more cracking points.  This year I'm going to have abs people. At least 4 beautiful abs that have never seen the light of day.  Hell I'll be happy with 2 abs and a flat abdomen but it's about striving farther, right?

I hope everyone has a fantabulous Christmas/Holiday Season!

C



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Hey peeps!

I'm sorry it's been a bit since I checked in, life sure is busy!!! Here's what I've been up to as of late: Training (of course), photography, more training, more photography. lol

First off, training. I'll be taking progress pictures Saturday eventhough I think my trip to Montreal set me back a little. However I have received my new workout and diet plan and things are about to get serious up in here!  My trainer and I decided it was better to lean out early than to not have enough time so we're cranking things to 11 and rocking it out! I can't wait to see what happens in another 2 weeks. New workouts start tonight but my diet won't start till Monday due to needing new groceries and not having enough money to get them yet.

Now on to photography! As some of you may know I decided to start taking photos as a part time thing and it has been so much fun. I've gotten alot of opportunities to volunteer for some great causes as well as getting some paying shoots.  The very first shoot I did was for my brother on his Cobalt SS. At the beginning of the month he decided to enter one of the pics into the http://www.cobaltss.net anual calendar search AND it seems we have made the top 25!!  Now the voting for the top 12 commences and it's determined by the members of the forum. There are TONS of great pictures and I'm thankful that we've gotten this far so if I don't make it to the calendar I'm fine with it however if I do I'll have to get like 5 calendars. haha  Here is the pic I took, my bro ended up taking the water marked one off of Facebook so it's a little blurry. IF we should make it to the calendar I would go back and edit the picture a little different.

Also on the subject of photography I volunteered my time to an organization called Manitoba Mutts Dog Rescue which is a non-profit organization run by some people who decided there was some things lacking in the way Manitoba shelters deal with homeless dogs. They use foster families to take care of the dogs until they are adopted which result in family ready, happy puppies! Here is my fave shot from the shoot last weekend. This is Hooligan. Him and his sister were found in a box on the side of the highway BUT they are happy and healthy now just waiting to be adopted.

So this is what I have been up to! What have you been up to?

This weekend and next week I'm travelling which scares the heck out of me. I'm feeling almost frantic trying to get the details of menus and gyms all squared up before I go but so far I think I have everything under control. 



This weekend I am heading to another province, 6 hours away by car, to my company's Christmas party.  Crazy? Yes. Fun? Also yes. We leave Friday and come back on Sunday. Monday I leave for ANOTHER province, Quebec, for work related activities. This is the trip that scares me the most simply because I don't know what food I can bring on the plane.  I'm going to bring my protein powder of course because life does not exist without protein powder. lol  I'm thinking of bringing quick oats and using the coffee maker to make oatmeal which means then I NEED cinnamon.  Lack of cinnamon is also a life or death situation by the way. For the rest of it I guess we'll see. I've already asked for the name of the restaurant we're eating at on Tuesday night and I've looked at the menu. VERY good menu to navigate so I shouldn't have any issues there. I think I'll save my carbs for dinner so I can have a baked potato!



As for gym access I have everything planned out.  For this weekend there is a gym right across the parking lot from my hotel (the hotel gym, as usual, sucks) and they have day passes.  For Montreal they offer complimentary access to a wellness center across the highway because they know their onsite equipment isn't adequate. (2 treadmills and some handweights??)  I may or may not be able to get Tuesday's workout in however I have all day wednesday to catch up and I will just follow the schedule into the weekend.



While I know people are probably thinking I'm crazy for being slightly panicked about all of this but I know there are some of you who totally understand.  I NEED to be prepared, WELL in advance.  It makes me feel more at ease travelling since I'm slightly OCD when it comes to details. lol  However there's one detail being left out of next week's trip: Lunch. I have NO idea what our options are and there is no info.  As long as I can find a salad I'm good.  Hmmmm, maybe I should pack dressing and a can of tuna too.......

With so many gimmicks and surgeries to help or pretend to help aid in weight and fat loss I finally cracked after reading about an aquaintance doing a shake diet. Seriously? You're excited your overly sugared shake tastes like rootbeer? Well probably but is this really a permanent fix? Me thinks not.  So after thinking for a moment I decided that if I had an infomercial it would go something like this:

We have finally found THE perfect fat loss program!!!! It's a 2 step process that will guarantee you the body you have always wanted. Step number 1 is called THE GYM where you lift weights, heavy ones, and get cardiovascular exercise. Step 2 is called THE KITCHEN where you cook clean food all by yourself. Join THE GYM and THE KITCHEN today and we'll give you MUSCLE as a free gift! Thousands of people have transformed their lives with this program and you can too!

Seriously people. Pick up a weight! What do you have to lose except....fat!

Yesterday I sparked a heated discussion that stemmed from a story I shared which came from my boss and really good friend who is in Mexico currently on holiday. (so jealous)  Like me he enjoys going to the gym on vacation since it's a part of his every day routine and just because he's on holiday, doesn't mean he's not going to continue on with his routine. Anyway, while in the gym this very large man and his large wife poked their heads in to the gym (the reason is still unclear) took a look around and the man proceeded to say "Look at all these people waisting their vacation!  I wonder why they would spend all this money to be in the gym?!" Without skipping a beat my boss says a young girl piped up and said "So we don't look like you, you fat pig. Now get out so we can do our work!"

Obviously her response is on the rude side, I know this, however it should be expected that someone would get offended from him saying what he did.  After sharing the story I confessed that I wanted to high five the chick because you never hear about what we as fit people have to go through while living our lifestyle. My exact words were "you always hear about the ridicule over weight people receive but you never hear about the ridicule we receive".  My question is now, was I right in saying that? I don't need to be right but is it a fact that we as healthy eaters, 5am workouters, "No I can go for dinner"refusers, receive a decent amount of "flack" for the way we live our life?? I for one think so.  Should it be compared to the unfortunate bullying that over weight people receive, I'm not sure but this is what I'm attempting to do I suppose. 

I would LOVE to hear from those of you who have been on both ends of the spectrum since I haven't.  Those who have been an over weight person, lost the weight, and are now living the fit lifestyle. Do you receive as much ridicule, and bullying now as you did when you were overweight? Let me know!

Good day Carbzombies!!!

I am 2 weeks into contest prep and surprisingly I'm doing ok! Last year I was highly stressed with family issues and it triggered my emotional eating urges almost every day.  This year my family and I are in a better emotional place which means I have a lot more control over my urges and cravings.  Sure I'm dying for a HUGE breakfast that rhymes with Beggs Penedict but I'm surpressing that. lol 

I plan on taking updated progress pictures either tonight or tomorrow to show what I've done over the last 2 weeks. I can't believe the difference to be honest. I truly think my muscle memory and the hard work I put in during my off season is to thank for my progress thus far.  I have my second assessment tomorrow and I'm looking forward to seeing the numbers!

In 3 weeks I'm attending my company Christmas party and not only is it tough enough to stick to dieting during the holidays but this Christmas party is taking place 6 hours from where I live.  I think I'm going to pre cook and pack food for my lunches for sure. Breakfasts and dinners are the easiest thing to work around I find but lunch, lunch can be tough. Lunch always leaves me tempted.  Breakfast I can bring oatmeal and find some egg whites. Supper is usually a HUGE salad and chicken. Both are easy enough to find at the buffet. But lunch, lunch is my Carb Zombie's kryptonite.

To add another twist in the road when I return from said Christmas party I am off to Montreal on a business related trip. It's only for a few days but like a pro I've already checked out the menus at the hotel and the gym amentities.  Fail to plan, plan to fail right??  All in all I hope those 6 days should be interesting.

What are your plans for sticking to your goals over the holidays? Avoiding the lunch room at work? Pre planning meals for functions? Let me know!

This is what I have been doing alllllllllll week.  Mother Carbzombie is HANGRY all the time. This is a good thing, I know, but it makes me dread when and if cheat meals come in to play.  I have officially agreed today that should cheat meals come in to the equation I will NOT choose sugary foods and I will NOT choose junk food. Bacon at breakfast doesn't count. lol However now that I think of it a FANTASTIC eggs benedict breakfast just might be the ticket!

Anyway the whole method behind this madness is I'm scared of triggering the intense cravings for junk and sweets that did me in last time.  I want to do this 100% and have no regrets so I can dance around on that stage while holding that plastic trophy.

I am currently on day 6 of no cheats just good eats.  Unless you consider diet pop a cheat, which I don't.  (I only have them occasionally to mix up the blah of water on the weekends)  Now 6 days most of the time sounds like nothing.  6 days on the beach, 6 days till Saturday, but honestly with the halloween candy floating around and people bringing in little donuts and chocolate almonds etc it's been interesting.  The crazy Carbzombie dialogue is continuous these days BUT I'm winning!  It is taking alot of focus not to grab a cute little Starburst out of the MONSTER box sitting on the floor of my kitchen but I ignore it.  Instead I wait for the time when I can have my raspberries and cottage cheese. Seriously that's the only thing keeping me going through the day. haha

This weekend however I experienced something that definitely fueled the competition fire.  I saw Tosca Reno speak to a room FULL of women (and some men) and honestly that woman is the definition of inspiring.  Not once during the whole time she spoke did she really even mention her books.  It was all about inspiring women to put themselves first and making sure they knew it was ok to do so.  Robert Kennedy was there as well and I have to say old Bob is looking frail.  I think he needs to adopt more of Tosca's habits!  All in all, such an amazing experience!

So, what day of good eating are you on? 1, 5, 10? Lemme know!

For those who are just starting to follow along you will notice I will mention "Carbzombie" alot. This is the name I gave myself last season during prep because my brain was screaming for carbs. Oh the life of a competitor!  Of course our brains make it seem ALOT worse than it is. Heck I've been "dieting" since March but it's been on MY terms. As soon as I decide to make a commitment and cut out the extra options it's like a switch is flipped and out comes the Carbzombie.

"What do you mean we can't have eggs with 12 grain bread on the weekend anymore???"



"What do you mean no yam fries????"



"Not the avocado!!! NOOOOOOOOO!!!"



It's not that my brain wants to eat junk food, it's that it wants feel like it has the freedom to choose. So this is what I'm going to do for the next 4 months. I'm going to have the mentality that I am choosing all of my meals. That I'm not following a plan and all of this is free will.  Technically it is but I know you see my point. 



All in all the next 4 months WILL be amazing.