annemarie_DJ’s BodyBlog

Lots going on this week. Gotta be ready in 13 days. This is pretty much it.  No more kidding around! This is really going to happen!  I am noticing how different my body is this year from last November. I have quite a bit more mass on me.  Well, ok, maybe just abit.  But I seem to have more shape. My shoulders are bigger and stronger and my hips and glutes are slightly larger. Hopefully, this is a good thing. (yikes!) Last November, I was uber lean - too lean really. 

My seamstress certainly noticed the shape change. We had a bikini picked out last November that fit me perfectly.  I went for a fitting this week, and, uhm, she’s busy making me a bigger bottom part!  I have been working the glutes and legs alot over the past couple of months. So I guess it’s paying off.  Always difficult to be objective about one’s body. The new suits are very cute. It’s really making the whole competition "real" and making me nervous for sure.

I also have got my routine down and have been practicing. I look forward to hitting the stage.  I’m determined to have fun and give it my best shot. Whatever the results, I just want to be proud that I did it.  I look forward to the celebration after it’s all over! 

Master Fitness DJ

This week was interesting. My boys (hubby and teenager) went on a southern vacation for March break for a little "male bonding" !  So I was left to my own devices here at home.  Day job was more hectic than usual.  I also had the dog to worry about. He’s really good. But I had to make sure I ran with him every morning, so he’d be ok alone all day. Then I had to come home and walk him before heading to the gym. yadda yadda.. Then I had to cook my own meals! Gasp!  But, that’s ok. The menu is pretty simple these days: chicken chicken chicken, fish, asparagus… !!

So apparently all the cardio and extra work on the legs has paid off. I am pleased with progress this week and feel like the legs are starting to get some shape. This week, I will focus more on hams and continue with glutes.  The biggest thing now is make sure I have time to practice presentation.  All this work in the gym will be worth nothing if I don’t have proper, compelling, smooth, graceful presentation.  Ughhh that’s the tough part.  I will work with my amazing choreography/presentation coach, Ms Fitness Canada, Vanda Hadarean. She worked with me last time and it made all the difference. I hope to do her proud!

Pressure pressure… ahhh  This is FUN.  Yes, I must remember that. Fun fun fun!   

Wishing y’all a happy week!

We are getting closer and closer!  I spent the weekend in Toronto to attend 2 fitness workshops (and Canadian Music Week events… sleep? nah!)  Anyway, Saturday was the UFE workshop and Sunday was the FitnessSTAR workshop.  For some reason, I left Saturday’s workshop feeling like I wasn’t ready to compete and that maybe I was making a mistake getting involved in this sport. I was discouraged and lost my motivation. I can’t really say why. Just one of those days maybe.

Sunday morning, after a couple of hours sleep, I went to the FitnessSTAR workshop. I had alot of fun at this one. We had a great group, the venue was gorgeous, the sun was shining through. This is a new organization and they really impressed me. I got my mojo back and was feeling ready to compete again. And actually, this one will be a challenge. It’s more of a "fitness model" competition as opposed to the more rigorous "figure" comp. I will really have to practice the runway walk and the poses. I always feel silly posing. It’s not really in my nature. But I’ll manage. So I registered yesterday. I am committed !  Woo hoo.  And it’s on Easter Saturday. I can’t wait to get my chocolate bunny on Sunday!! 

worried but hopeful … nervous but excited …

Progress is ongoing. Sometimes, you feel like it’s impossible. But then you check your stats, and hey, there’s progress after all.  I guess that’s what’s fun about this sport. You can see the progress. And you can feel the progress. Feels great!

I am so proud of my friends and family who are also hopping on the fitness/health bandwagon with me. They tell me that I have inspired them. I am humbled. I can tell you that they inspire me. All the time. All through my workouts. Through every early morning that I leave my warm bed to go run with the dog or head to the gym. Their excitement and their encouragement inspires me.  Plus I feel a responsibility to stay on track, if only not to let them down!  LOL  That’s a great thing.  We all have different goals and different reasons for choosing a healthy lifestyle.  We gotta stick together and support each other.  It’s not always easy.  But it should always be satisfying and mostly always fun! 

Yay!

I invite you to follow my progress on the Contest Prep forum: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=114460101 

Oye! We are getting down to the crunch. Yikes.  Yesterday, I was going through my stats and goals and I removed one of them. It said I wanted to gain 5 lbs. I thought, oh no I don’t want to gain anymore weight. But, I had written that goal down at least 6 months ago. And guess what?  I have gained 5 lbs since then!  Or maybe only 4… but pretty close.  So that’s great.  My brain is still not liking the idea of gaining weight. But if I want to compete in figure, I’m gonna have to grown them muscles. And muscles weigh more than fat… or string beans!

So my shoulders and back have responded really well to the workouts. And now I’m working hard on the legs. We’ve decided to add HIITs and cardio to the routine. I had stopped running before my November competition because it was making me too lanky. But I’m going to try again now and see what happens. 

HIITs are "high intensity interval training".  So the idea is to run at regular pace and then pick it up very hard for a short period of time, and then bring it back down to normal again.  You do this for 20 to 30 minutes. It really gets your heart rate up and "wakes up" your body and your metabolism. 

I posted a pic of me and my doggy running today. Check it out on Twitter: http://twitpic.com/1s86y 

I’ve also started a prep/training log on the Team Scivation forum. Check it out and leave comments: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=114460101 

Happy training week to you.  Keep on moving and never give up!