One Month To Go!

I am officially at the four week mark pre-contest. These are the toughest weeks yet. I know shortly my carbs will get depleted and I will become a grumpy, emotional, irrational mess of a woman. I can already feel the exhaustion in my body having hit close to 13% body fat. Simple day to day tasks are draining such as walking down the street, doing groceries, and doing the dishes. Quite frankly, I am trying to conserve as much energy as possible whenever I can.

I have been practicing my posing daily and getting comfortable walking in those damn heels. All body parts have to remain tight, but it has to look graceful all at the same time and not as if you're in excruciating pain.... Bum out, tummy in, lats out, quads flexed, hands relaxed, and smile. Co-ordination has never been my strong suit, but I will nail this because I worked too damn hard (and spent a lot of money) to look like a clutz on stage.

I am starting to get sick of dieting and I am literally counting down the days until I can have my nachos, chicken wings, and cheesecake. I am almost ready to embrace the off season and put on a few extra pounds. This has been such a long training journey that I can't believe it is almost over. It's crazy how hard and long you work for something and it comes down to three minutes on stage. Every rep you did or didn't do, every ounce of chicken eaten, every hour of sleep... all of those things factor into the physique presented on stage in those few crucial minutes.

Anyway, I am ready to grind out another week at the gym and put the finishing touches on my bod.  

Train hard!

Make Due With What You Have...

Over the Labour day long weekend, I went camping to enjoy what was left of summer by being in the wilderness.... Six and  half weeks out from competition does not give me much wiggle room with my diet. Being well aware of my strict meal plan I went fully prepared (or so I thought) and had the best intentions of sticking to my diet. Upon arriving at our site, my boyfriend and I proceeded to set up our tents and then relaxed by the campfire.  When we finally decided to turn in for the night, we made absolutely certain that we "bear proofed" our site. Just as we were dozing off we heard the unmistakable sound of ruffling plastic. And then the pop of an oatmeal bag... Proceeding that, came the rattling of a protein shaker. And then came the heavy breath of a snorting bear enjoying my breakfast full of oats, protein powder, multivitamins and sugar free maple syrup. Who would have thought that bears like whey protein?! As unwilling as I am to share my meals with anyone, a bear is my one and only exception. I love my breakfast but I like my life more. So we did nothing. In the morning we did damage control of our campsite as I tried to stay calm and collected. Luckily there was a general store around that sold quick oats. As for my protein, well it was consumed in the form of numerous boiled egg whites. The moral of the story.... Expect the unexpected (or in my case, expect that the park rangers of a camp ground really aren't lying when they say "active bear on site"). Be willing to deal with adversity and go with the flow because sometimes, a hungry bear just might catch you off guard.

Keep training hard!