sparkie's blog

I did it!!!

sparkie — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:04:47 +0000

I set a goal and actually accomplished it, what a feeling! Back in the Spring when I got sick and had my injury, this led to a big set back and weight gain and I thought maybe I could sign up for a competition and this would motivate me, but just didn’t feel confident and ready yet. Instead, I booked a photo shoot and gave myself 16 weeks to prep, with the last 12 being an exact replica of a contest prep.

I can’t believe it, but I managed to lose 25 lbs, lots of fat(didn’t measure) and gain lots of confidence in myself. (oh, and gain lots of muscle!) I was on a crazy program:

-NO carbs AT ALL Mon-Fri, carb up on weekends

-dropped cals to 1300 last 4 weeks, with 2 training sessions a day(yeah, crazy cardio!!)

-water depleted the last few days

-ALL THIS while working at a crazy stressful job and travelling, oh, and raising a teen!

The shoot was sooo much fun and made me feel incredible. After the shoot was done, I picked my faves and headed off for a well-deserved burger n fry meal.(After guzzling 2L of water of course) After this, my bf(and no1 supporter, thank God for you JOHN!!) and I went to a bb show, the one I originally wanted to compete in. That was so much fun.

One thing I learned through all this is that I’m much stronger than I thought(mentally AND physically), as long as I keep my eye on the prize of course. I also learned a lot from trial and error, and getting to know my body and what will work best for IT.

Everyone is different. Some people lose easily, some don’t. Some need to do lots of cardio, some don’t. Some are not sensitive to carbs, I AM!! You have to accept what you have, and deal with it. Anyone who tells you that you can GET YOUR DREAM BOD in 3 months is unrealistic(my opinion) It’s through a lot of hard work, discipline, and CONSTANCE that you will not only get results, but MAINTAIN that body for life.

What’s next for sparkie?? Honestly, sky’s the limit right now!!

(ps, pics to come in 2wks! I will submit to transformation of the week!!)

Countdown to…new me!!!

sparkie — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 22:15:25 +0000

So, my 3rd year anniversary with weight training is coming up (It’s hard to believe it’s only been 3yrs, I can’t remember my life or lifeSTYLE before bb!) I will shoot after pictures on October 10th, which is 4 wks from now. My goal is not to compete on stage, but to compete with MYSELF. I would love to send my before and after pics and see them featured in a magazine(ok, Oxygen would be nice, nothing wrong with dreaming right?)

So, the countdown is on, don’t be too mad at me if I’m cranky, I’m on low-cal! I begun additional evening cardio sessions last week, will be increasing by one each week and I am having carbs only on Sat+Sun.

I want to be an inspiration, for myself, … and many others! You CAN wear a bikini at 40!!(and look GoooooooooD!!!!!)

I’d like one order of triple-bypass! Oh, and a diet coke!

sparkie — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 20:59:21 +0000

Hum, Ok, …NOW I understand why America is F A T !!!!

O My God, what are we feeding ourselves?? If you want to kill your worst enemy, check out this LIST OF 30 WORST FOODS IN AMERICA! Plan the hit!

I am very food-educated as I need to eat out because of my job and the need to eat out so I spend a lot of time researching, asking questions, analysing and doing my best to analyse food from description and also how it looks(and tastes). Well, this list shocked me.

-Would you ever believe that a Blimbie vegetarian sub has 60g fat and 3532mg of sodium!!

-Quizno’s tuna melt sandwich has 1760 cals! 133g fat. Poor tuna!

-Chili’s smokehouse burger is 1901 calories! Alone with no sides!

-Uno individual pizza(you know the type you give a kid) has 165g fat! 4920mg sodium!

-My biggest shock: Baskin robins Oreo shake has 263g sugar!!takes minutes to drink! How do you FIT that much junk in a glass!!

check out the list: http://eatthis.menshealth.com/30.php

Obviously, you’re HERE(bb.com) so you are already health conscious, and yet, may still be surprised by these numbers. What chance does an ‘average’ person stand!!! Ouch!

my poor arteries! I would not put these foods near my mouth, not even cheat meal. If you find any more good data like this, please share. Perhaps we saved ONE person today from a triple-bypass!!!!!!

I wish I could eat your CANCER when you turn black!(huh???)

sparkie — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 22:16:48 +0000

Say what? What on earth did Nirvana mean when they said that in Heart shaped box? Eat the cancer OFF your body and save you?? My good friend DIED yesterday of pancreatic cancer, she was here a few weeks ago being beautiful and healthy, now cancer came and took her away. I can’t believe she’s gone, just like that. I didn’t even say goodbye. Too many people around me right now have been hit with this terrible C and I’m stuck with this Nirvana song in my head constantly. It’s like maybe sucking off a snake venom and spitting it out??LOL

On a good note, I went to get myself check from AtoZ(worried to death of course) and got my results which were incredible actually better than average says the doc, thank God. Send me some positive vibes right now for my dad who’s suffering. Thanks

I just BEAT the hell out of some guy!And I feel GREAT about it!ThanksBB!

sparkie — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:27:05 +0000

As many of you know, I injured my back a while ago. Today I was walking to my chiropractic’s office, while all of a sudden, I got HARASSED by a complete stranger on the street!! And by harassed, I mean, HE GRABBED MY BUTT!! The nerve!! And it was no accident, he came from behind me and filled his hands, just helped himself!

You know what, years ago I might have not done anything but tell him off, but since I started bodybuilding, well, I’m just not this person anymore. I’m not a person you can abuse and I’ll just WISH I did something and sit back and think I SHOULDA!

So….I grabbed him by the sleeve as he was walking away and I full fisted, punched him out! Then I used all my force and hit him, full fisted again, right on the neck/spine. He began to apologize, but…sorry dude, it was too late! I took my very heavy purse, used it as a weapon, and began POUNDING THE **** out of this guy! You have no idea. I used all my BB FORCE PLUS MY RAGE. The guy never stood a chance!

I counted AT LEAST 10 huge blows to the back/neck. I stopped counting. He begged me to stop and plead: STOP, PLEASE, STOP!! When I saw him bent over(and obviously in a lot of pain) I stopped.

Men on the street asked if I wanted to call the cops, but I said No thanks. Trust me, the satisfaction of totally beating this guy up is plenty revenge. Even though I was assaulted, I don’t think I’ve ever felt better. And you know what? I can 100% thank BODYBUILDING. This is not the first time that it’s helped me out physically or emotionally. Read back at my old blogs.

BB totally saved the day today! If you see a man with a badly bruised back in the E/R, maybe it’s that creep!!!

update on the last 12 weeks…

sparkie — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:11:58 +0000

I can’t believe it’s been that long since my last update. Since my illness and injury, I had made a plan to totally revamp my program and transform. It’s been really hard because I think my body was extremely confused about what was going on. Although I’ve not been posting them, I’ve been taking pictures every 2 weeks and will be posting the results soon. Through trial and error, I’ve manage to tone and gain a lot of muscle, but I’m not as lean as I’d like to be. I was doing 2 workouts a day for 8 weeks, and then huge carb increase for 4 weeks. Now, I’m focussed on a cutting diet with just one workout a day.

Since all this happened, I also experienced emotional setbacks, with so much sickness and/or death/cancer around me, which really got me down. It’s hard to think of working out when you are spending so much time in hospitals and worrying, plus also having physical therapy of my own through all this. Believe it or not, I actually began working out HARDER and more INTENSE as a result of this stress. I mean, really, what I am going to do to fight stress?? Drink? Do drugs? Eat a whole chocolate cake??!!! I can’t, I know that will make things much worse.

So, I train.

I will keep you posted. 12 weeks ago I set out to MAYBE compete in the Fall. Now, I’m not so sure, but I DO want to look my best ever. I will continue to work hard and experiment. The body’s a funny thing, ain’t it??!!!!

Big injury = Big set back….

sparkie — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:42:18 +0000

So after having the worst cold of my life(over 2 months) and taking time off the gym to get better+eat, I am finally back at the gym full-force when…it happen…my back…. I’ve been injured before, but this one was so bad I am really surprised I didn’t throw up. It happened at work when I was helping this(quite annoying) but quite faint person who had an asthma followed by a panic attack. I called 911 and gave her ventolin and tried to lift her up off the ground and then…… MAJOR TEAR!!!!!! I have given birth before but never experienced a back burn like this.

After 3 days in bed on painkillers, I was worse than ever and went to see a chiropractor. It turns out my injury is much worse than I thought. I was shocked to see how badly my spine shifted, not to mention the muscle tear which doesn’t show on an xray, but the inflammation is quite real.

So, begins 3 months of intensive therapy(3x wk) and NO lower waist workouts(not that I could even if I wanted to) and of course light NO impact cardio. Thank God the clinic I go to specializes in sports therapy and rehab, so I feel I’m in good hands.

I was hoping to begin an intense 8 week transformation plan, but instead, it’s gonna be easy for sparkie-put on the brakes! I must say the hardest part of this is the mental feeling you get from undertraining and from losing muscle, gaining weight, not having the satisfaction of that awesome workout. I mean, I’m using 5lb dumbells for heaven’s sakes!

I hope that I will make it through this with much success and that maybe I will be able to inspire and motivate somebody. In the meantime, I’ll take ANY encouragement from you that I can get!!! Thanks!!!

SAD, SAD, Sparkie!!!!

My new meal on the go….and it’s from STARBUCKS???!!!!

sparkie — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 18:24:48 +0000

Here’s my new discovery I have to share with you. I was on my way to a business LUNCH and I knew it would be a table full of crust-less mayo sandwiches,big no-no, so here’s what I discovered:

From STARBUCKS:

Venti(tall) NON-fat Latte with sugar-free vanilla with double-scoop protein

YES! This filled me up and was great to sip on during the meeting, great way to ’sneak’ a meal and delicious!

Nutritional info:

Cals: 160

Carbs:17

Prot: 22

Fat:0

Enjoy!!!

Do YOU have creative ways to “sneak” a meal??? Share with me!!

MY TRANSFORMATION

sparkie — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 23:47:20 +0000

Here is what I wrote for my bio(transformation of the week) Let me know what you think. I hope that maybe it can inspire people. This site is bringing me so much and I love to share back! StatsBefore:
Age: 35
Weight: 185 lbs
Body Fat: 31%
Measurements: 37.5 – 35 - 45

After:
Age: 37 (after 2 years of bb)
Weight: 160 lbs (lost total 25 lbs)
Body Fat: 16% (lost total 15%)
Measurements: 35.5 – 29.5 – 41.5 (lost total 12 inches)

Why I Got Started

I’ve always been active and somewhat into healthy living. I was the cardio queen who lived in the aerobic room of the gym countless hours a week. I ran 2 marathons a year, took swimming and spinning classes and martial arts. My diet was healthy-ISH, or so I thought. I enjoyed salads and wholesome foods, but huge quantities of it. And I had a love relationship with carbs and sugar, not to mention SALT. I always thought if you do 2-3 hours of cardio a day, what harm is a piece of cake?
You’ve heard of SKINNY-fat. I was what you call a FIT-fat. I had always dreamed of shedding the extra fat layer I was carrying, but after 15 years of rigorous daily exercise, I had accepted the fact that this was the way body had to be and it just does not want to change. Plus, I just adored my eating parties where I just went crazy with food after a long cardio session! So I lived with it. I wasn’t unhappy, but I always secretly wished for a hard body.

How I Did It

The first session with the trainer was really a wake-up call. I had though of myself as being in good shape, but this was embarrassing! I remember going on the chin-up machine, at the easiest level, trying to pull my weight, and for the life of me, could not pull myself up, not even once! After ONE WEEK of proper dieting (eating 6 clean and balanced meals a day), I was SHOCKED when I actually pulled myself up 10 times!! Right then, I had a WOW moment and realized the power that diet has on my body and my muscles. My trainer always said diet is 80% of the work and training is 20%, now I realized just how true that was.
I decided to completely change my life and break away from all bad habits. To do this, I would have to make drastic changes. I stopped going out. Going out led to drinking, late-night binging, and oversleeping. I quit drinking completely. Next, I eliminated all refined sugar. It took about 2-3 weeks for this junkie to be off it! I was shocked how quickly I adapted. The next challenge was incorporating my new lifestyle and eating plan to my career, which involves work meals and lots of travelling. Let me tell you, where there’s a will, there’s a way. The hardest thing is probably having to argue with co-workers who want to “push” you to over-indulge, because it will make THEM feel better about doing it. My next test was to not listen to that voice in my head that would tell me: ‘don’t train today, take the day off, stay in bed!!’

I wanted EXTREME results and I knew that to achieve this, I would have to do EXTREME actions. My plan was simple: 6 meals a day, 6 workouts a week, one day off a week, one (and only one) cheat meal a week. I saw results almost right away. This kept me challenged and very motivated. After one year of living the lifestyle, I discovered bodybuilding.com. This was incredible for me because I had no one around me up to that point who understood the sacrifices and demands of bb…and all of a sudden, I have thousands of friends to share with. Anytime I felt unmotivated to go train, I would log on and somehow, found the strength to go and kick it at the gym.

Supplements

I experimented with many to see how my body reacts. I do not react to caffeine at all, so any energy supplements to not work on me. I use Optimum protein, Creatine post-workout, Glutamine after workouts, and multi-vitamins. Fat burners are great for appetite control. My all-time best supplement is my own personal adrenaline!

Diet

My diet is 1500-1800cals a day, balanced and very clean. My proteins include whey, chicken, and fish. Carbs: oats, vegetables, fruit, bread on occasion. Fats: peanut or almond butter, measured dressing for the salads. I train in the morning, so I eat my carbs earlier in the day. I’m very strict and do not allow any food not on my diet to enter my mouth! (except for cheat meal, once a week) Oh, and NO alcohol at all. I drink 4-5 litres of water a day and, yes, TONS of coffee! Love my java! (with milk only) I do not snack at all between meals. If I have cravings, I control with sugar-free drinks.

Training

I train like a dog!! Hardcore!! I train with weights and do cardio 6 TIMES A WEEK. Whatever I’m doing, I make sure it hurts! I only rest 30 seconds between reps which keeps me going aerobic for my whole workout. After my weights (45 minutes), I immediately jump on the stairclimber, spinning bike or elliptical and DESTROY whatever I have left! I bring it! I do HIIT or just stay HIGH for the whole time. I judge the quality of the workout by the size of the sweat puddle I’ve left on the floor! Many people don’t believe in weights and cardio daily, but I’ve found that it works best for me, my metabolism and my body.

Suggestions for Others

It’s human nature to be envious and jealous of other’s successes, and so people will continuously try to sabotage your efforts, especially if they are you old eating buddies, or worse, your spouse. You can attempt to explain how important this lifestyle is to you, but in the end, you may have to severe ties with people who can negatively influence you.

There are NO good or valid reasons to fall off the wagon. If you’re sad; go workout, you will feel better. If you’re happy, have a nice healthy meal, you’ll feel even greater. Had a fight with your child or boss? Go sweat it out at the gym. After an hour of spinning, you’ll forget ‘what’s his name’! DON’T MAKE EXCUSES.
Set realistic goals and visualize them. Making a goal like “I want a 6-pack by Christmas” or ‘I want to lose 20lbs this month” may not be realistic and could set you up for self-sabotage. However, picturing yourself on a beach, looking fit and hot and feeling great could be just what you need to get yourself off the couch tonight and off to the gym!!

I hope this inspired you

thanks to my bb friends! You inspire ME!!

I think I can, I think I can, …I KNOW I CAN!!!!!

sparkie — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 05:28:34 +0000

Can’t believe it, but it will be soon 2 years since I met(and fell in love with) ..weights!! My aniversary coming up, I thought I would do something special, so instead of signing up to do a comp, I booked a photo shoot and began the ‘cutting’ process 6 weeks ago. 4 more to go, and I’ll submit my photos to the transformation of the week. It’s really unreal how a little dumbell and teeny scoop of milkshake can transform your mind, body and soul, isn’t it??

Why am I asking you, you already KNOW, that’s why you’re here!! Thanks to my amazing supporting friends on here and some determination, I’m doing great(melting actually) and just can’t wait to see the before and after results side by side!

please stay tuned!!!!!!