My Figure Bodybuilding Journey

It's acually good news this time, I feel great! I am my cheeky, bubbly self again and have plenty of energy.

I think it is so important to try and understand that dieting the way that I have been is very new to my system. When I had felt that the life was being sucked out of me (Lia's words, spot on), I thought this feeling of weakness would never leave me unless I ate more food. I was not going to do that, nooooo way!!

I stuck with my diet and I have now successfully come out the other end with bells on toes lol.

What brought on the lack of energy at such a low point was my diet change, it was reduced further about two weeks ago. It took almost two weeks for my body to adjust to this new diet. I am taking in less calories per day and still exercising the same if not more then before this change took place. Something had to happen I guess. And my body was telling me it needs to rest, it needs to go through this process to adjust to my new dietery intake.

So I think im all adjusted now :-) I feel fabulous and ready to move on.

So the whole point of me posting this up here is for two very important reasons.

1: I don't want to scare anyone off lol. You do recover from it and when you do, it's like being reborn. And, this is how it effected ME, it may not do the same to you.

2: Another important reason for me putting this out there is for my own reference. If I decide to compete and I go through this energy drop again, I know I can come back here and see for myself that I will get over it and come out on top.

Today's session at the gym was smashing! I enjoyed training my shoulders and triceps today. I had a PB on tricep pushdowns today too.

Oh and another feel good thing happened today. I approached a lady at the gym to see if she going to watch the Girl show (comps) next Saturday. She said she might go and asked me if I was entering. lol I can't believe what brought that on, but it felt good being asked anyway.

Posted by Splice at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments

I don't actually like pain in general but when you train with weights four times a week for as long as you can remember it takes more and more effort to feel that pain the following day.

So the good news is, I am nursing sore glutes today!! woohoo. I haven't woohooed in a while so I think im feeling better.

Yesterday's leg session was so rewarding. JD increased my weights and my reps and I nailed it. I am even ready to take on more ;-) I felt sooo focused yesterday, I transfered my fear into my strength and used it to get through my reps. My fear wasn't the weights, it was the amount of reps and sets for that particular weight. I am proud of myself. And my butt is sore which is even better.

What I can't understand is why my quads aren't screaming at me, no pain but definately a pump.

I am coping with my diet really well apart from the occasional glass of red every now and again. Food wise I am on top of things. But for the first time in my 12 week program I will be letting go a little (I think I will, not confirmed yet). This Saturday night my husband is taking me out to dinner to celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary. I will indulge in a bottle of french champagne and enjoy a delicious meal. I won't have dessert, or any carbs. I think seafood will be on the agenda for me. I won't be breaking the diet to badly lol but I am so looking forward to this saturday night.

Today I am enjoying my day off from the gym (and my sore butt) and will be making my way through the log roll soon :-) I love this part the most. See you soon!

Posted by Splice at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments

I can't believe how much thinking I have been putting into this competition. I can't express my thank you to everyone who has been supporting me through this 12 week program aswell.

Josh Dickinson is an amazing PT. He spent alot of time going over things with me last Friday and I am so thankful for his time on that. It has had a huge impact on me.

It wasn't until today that I now realize that I have completely let this whole entire dream of mine consume my life. It shouldn't be this way, I think it is a little obsessive. I am only on my first ever 12 week program and today I started week 9, I have 4 weeks remaining. I look at my self now and expect to see someone who can almost be ready to stand on stage. But all I see is "oh my god! you are kidding yourself" right? Sooo not ready for any stage.

Anyway I think what I need to understand is (and im guessing here) that the program I am doing right now is not like a competitive program. Perhaps an insite into it which is different.

I am feeling really frightened about not making anymore changes now. The first 6 weeks were going to be noticeable but now I am not so sure. The fat wont move anymore.

So going back to my communication with JD. He asked me to pick a date for my first comp. This frightened me and excited me at the same time. I am hoping for this October.

After a weekend at home with my wonderful boys (hubby and son) I realized how many sacrifices that will need to be made. For me the hardest part about dieting and training comes down to only one thing, lack of energy. This is what kills me. I can't function very well. I have a business to run, a son who is active and a household to help maintain.

Eating the right food is the easy part, not eating junk food is easy to. Going to the gym 5 days a week is not a problem as all this is a part of life, I made it a part of my everyday program and it runs smoothly that is until there isn't enough fuel in my body for me to put one foot in front of the other. If this is how I feel now, how will I get through the comp diet?

I still have so much to think about and so much to try and understand. Sometimes it's hard to get the answers I am looking for. Is it taboo? Or is it something you have to find out for yourself?

Trying to find out information about this sport is not easy, you don't want to overstep the mark with a question about what exactly one eats 4 weeks prior to comp incase it is a secret to their success or something. Maybe I am being overly cautious about the whole thing.

It feels like I am walking through this with a blindfold. I just like to plan ahead, I want to know what's coming or what to expect.

So do I pursue this dream of competition bodybuilding? I guess I will wait to complete my 12 week program and TRY to find out more about it before making my decision concrete.

JD advised me to go and see the Girl show here on the Gold Coast in a couple of weeks. I might go, I have to go on my own as I don't know anyone up here yet.

I am a happy chappy but a confused one at the moment.

Posted by Splice at 3:15 PM | Permalink | Comments

I know Lia wouldn't have wanted me to do this, but I needed to once again express my appreciation for your thoughtfulness yesterday afternoon.

Thank you so very much for your call, it made all the difference in the world. I loved chatting with you and you cleared up so many things for me. And as a result I felt so much better, my mood had picked up and I had a bounce in my walk again.

I feel good today, but that is still up and down. I can't complaine about that as it's better then just being down and drained all the time. At least I am having a few energy spikes every now and again.

Posing

This morning I had Anne-Marie (a figure champ) show me some poses. OMG, they are so difficult. It takes balance and strength and so much more then that to perform what is called a "relaxed pose". This relaxed pose is difficult and it takes a lot out of you. Anne-Marie was wonderful, I leart so much from her today. It will take a lot of practise.

Rae and Lia I am so in awe of you for being able to do this whole competition thing. Weight traing, dieting, posing and the list goes on.

Anyway, within the first ten seconds of Anne- Marie showing me how to pose, I thought "their is no way I can do this"! But I thought about my conversation with Lia yesterday and realized that this is my first reaction to everything I am going through and that I really can do it, and in some areas I already have by making it this far. So after half an hour of posing I figured I just had to go away and practise until it becomes second nature.

Thank you to all my amazing blogging friends who have been keeping an eye out for me and checking in to see if im ok. You guys are the best and without you it would be so much harder and lonely.

Big kisses to you all.

Posted by Splice at 11:16 AM | Permalink | Comments

I love these t-shirts, I think their so funny. Boy do I need a laugh.

I am still so very drained today. I woke up this morning feeling great for the first 10 minutes, from then it's been down hill.

I even managed a mean leg session today, I can't believe I made my numbers today. I had to take my time as I flet a bit light headed after doing the dreaded lunges.
I can't stand lunges, they are the hardest exercise in the world. And I do them after squats!
God I almost cried when I saw I had to do 3 sets of 12 reps with close to 40kgs. Any other day and I only would have complained only a little, but today I wanted to scream!!!

Got through that and still had hamstrings and cardio to get through, how did I do it? I can't even be bothered to stand for more then 2 seconds right now, that is how drained I feel.

The good news is, I have a day off from the gym tomorrow. I hope to be back to normal by Thursday.

Posted by Splice at 2:44 PM | Permalink | Comments

Since yesterday (Sunday) I have no energy. I feel so drained. Walking is the most difficult thing at the moment. I feel like Im in slow motion.

So I just feel like crap right now and I think it has everything to do with ttotm.

I know this will pass, but I hope it's soon because I hate the negative thoughts that start creeping into my mind when I feel this way. I start thinking that I wont make anymore changes, that this is it, I can't change anymore because my body has done it best and gone to it's limits in fat loss.

I trained today, I did chest, calves and abs. It wasn't a bad session all things considered. Cardio was so hard today, harder then ever. I got through it!!

However, in saying all that I still continue to move on with the diet and program. Boy some days are so darn hard!

Posted by Splice at 12:42 PM | Permalink | Comments

I cannot believe what happened to me yesterday!

Knowing I had to be at an "informal" business lunch yesterday I purposely made sure to arrive late. I wanted to arrive after they had finished stuffing there faces with yummy delicious food, and not be tempted to loose control.

So I arrive and they insist I have a glass of red wine. I agreed knowing that one glass of good red wine was acually beneficial and harmless lol.

So I was "sipping" on this one glass of red for about an hour and a half, whilst they went through 3 to 4 glasses each in the same amount of time.

I must admit I could feel every sip of wine hitting my empty stomach (my lunch was earlier) and traveling directly into my bloodsteam. After my glass was empty I felt as though I had polished off the bottle myself.

How could one glass have that effect on me? My goodness I still can't get over it. I used to be able to down a bottle to my self and not feel any different lol.

My body is in a different state at the moment and after yesterday I am now afraid to drink at all.

I tried repling to Em's blog, and after writing a big response and posting it I went back over it and it was all over the place lol. Sorry Em for that. I went straight home after that scenario.
I responded today.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Posted by Splice at 1:01 PM | Permalink | Comments

Posted by Splice at 1:52 PM | Permalink | Comments

I can't believe I just posted these pictures. I am freaking out, I wasn't going to do it until maybe the end of the program. See my post christmas podge lol.

As you can see I have no idea how to pose, and really want to learn.

Anyone is welcome to comment here but only if they promise to be 100% honest. If there is something I need to know, tell me now so I can work on it, I only have six weeks remaining remember.

Thanks in advance.

Posted by Splice at 12:27 PM | Permalink | Comments

Posted by Splice at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments

My personal trainer sent me a revised diet. He has cut back my meals a little more. I can only tell you that I freaked out when I looked at it and thought to myself how hard it has been for the last 6 weeks, and now, it's going to be harder.

My response to him was lots of sad and crying faces , about six of these lol. I said nothing.

So his response to that was "you should know by now, tears just make me smile more", and he added a smiley face.

But he also went on to say that after seeing the pictures i sent him two days ago that he could see the shadow of my abs but it wasn't good enough and he wanted a rock hard mid-section and we only have 4 weeks to go. Plus, this will give me an insight into the pain and ULTIMATE PLEASURE on competing.

So after reading this I was re-inspired (if that's a word). I will do this, I really want to make the finish line. The last few days I have been thinking about if it is all worth it. I know now that it is, because to stop now would be foolish, I would always regret it. And to start again, unthinkable.

So this leaves me with more determination to go, go, go. When he mentioned this was and insight into competing, I knew I had to keep going because that is my dream.

Looking at the revised diet I now realize the worst part of the change was me loosing one of my weex-bix in the morning for breakfast. Instead of three, I have two. So this morning I had two, and I was ok lol. So I am progressing through my day having a little less food with my meals. I think I can get my head around it, and succeed without anymore stress. (Let's hope). I only have 5 weeks to go, I don't want to blow it, and im not going to.

Posted by Splice at 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments

I haven't blogged in a few days but I have been keeping track of everyone else's which is what I enjoy the most.

On the weekend we (hubby, son and I) drove to Brisbane to see the motor show. It was great. Im not a rev head or anything but I do live with to boys lol. So I just tend to go with the flow and then end up having a great time.

I am still training and dieting well. Today I had an awesome leg seesion and smashed heaps of pb's. Boy im glad I have a day off from the gym tomorrow because I wont be walking to well by then.

JD required some updated pictures over the weekend, he says he can see the improvements which is great. This is week 7 so I can only look forward to seeing more improvements, fingers crossed.

Im feeling a little confused in regards to my body changes. When I had the pictures taken for JD on the weekend I was happy enough with those.
But I have had some other pictures taken on the weekend, just normal ones. Looking at those I was amazed to see how much bigger I looked. When I say "bigger" I dont mean fatter in fact my waist is smaller, I mean in size.
My chest and shoulders have really bulked up as have my legs. So im not sure I like this look. I love it when im in the gym, but seeing it when im dressed up to go out to dinner it looks, i dont know the word to describe it.

I will just take this to the end of the 12 week program and then decide where to go from there. My program brings me bigger weights each week which has obviously had a result on my physique. I will just have to see the end result when it comes, maybe I will "shrink" a little by then if my diet changes between now and then. Im not sure what JD has in store for me.

Posted by Splice at 12:31 PM | Permalink | Comments

I am thankful to the bodybuilding industry, without it their would not have been millions of dollars spent on research for muscle gain and weight loss (just to mention the basics).

And with that now comes the most amazing tasting protein shakes on the market. I can't get over the benefits I get from drinking these delicous shakes.

Because they taste so creamy and come in almost any flavour you can think of, it is hard to get sick of them. They provide me with a "full" feeling that lasts for a few hours. And since I eat small meals this is very helpful in getting me through until my next meal.

They also provide me with a sweet tasting hit, so I dont crave sugary foods. The protein shakes I take have artifical sugar (you wouldn't know it) and contain very little to no carbs. They can also contain vitamins and minerals too. So many different varities on the market today.

I think this is my saviour through the last 6 weeks and for the next 6 weeks. Also after JD upped my intake of protein I can definately see a difference in my muscle growth and hardness.

I will certainly drink to that!

Posted by Splice at 1:05 PM | Permalink | Comments

This mornings gym session was not easy. I was doing shoulders and triceps. Because I was unable to train on Monday, it meant four days straight for me this week. I usually train with weights Mon, Tue, have Wed off, then train Thurs and Fri. Spin only on Sat.

Anyway after a smashing leg day yesterday I walked into the gym this morning feeling very sore and weak. I figured because it was day three in a row and because my quads and glutes were trying to recover, it made my warm up sets for my upright rows seem like I was lifting a car.

I was trying so hard to stay positive through all of this. Take Spongebob for example, no matter what happens to him, and no matter what challenges come his way, he is always positive lol.

So i've got JD in the back of my mind, he doesn't have to be there with me, but he is always there with me. In my head that is. It works I get good results ;-)

So I got through my session with great results hoorayy.

A few hours later....

Still feeling down today, a completely uneventful day until Beki cracked me up (see her blog). I have been on her back a bit about her chocolate eating and she got back at me LMAO.

Thanks B, for cheering me up, I feel a lot better now.

Posted by Splice at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments

I cannot stop thinking about eating a thick slice of raisin toast with butter. Yummmmmm.
This craving has been hanging around for about four days now, not fair.

I know what your thinking, "it's ok to have one slice it wont hurt at all". Well I agree, but my fear is I wont stop at one, no way will I stop at one. I will loose all self control. I can't afford to do that, not now, not now that I am in week six with no cheats at all.

I think that's how I have been so good with my diet. I haven't eaten the foods for fear and knowledge that I will loose it completely. Unfortunately its all or nothing with me.

Craving are such a mind game. The more you fight it, the more you want it. So I decided to blog about it, get it out in the open, have a picture of it, make it for my son's breakfast this morning, just to see if that will help get it out of my system without having to eat it lol. I guess Im trying to make myself sick of it. You think im obsesed don't you? Or you think i've completely lost it this time. I don't blame you lol.



Ok, I think im getting better already. Wait! Let me have another look at the picture.

No, not over it yet.

Perhaps we give it some more time.

On another topic, I was really stoked to read Beki and Tracey's blogs today. You gals are going for gold. Well done.

Posted by Splice at 2:15 PM | Permalink | Comments

Oh boy there is a stomach bug going around! I caught it unfortunately on Sunday. The good news is, im feeling alot better now.

I wasn't able to train yesterday which now means four days straight of hard weight training without a day off in the middle. I know I can do it regardless.

Today is the beginning of my half way mark woohoo. I have completed 6 weeks straight and have 6 to go. Not only have I followed my diet perfectly without eating anything that wasn't listed by my trainer but I have also been to the gym and worked hard 5 days a week for the last 6 weeks. That part just dawned on me today lol.

My training schedule for the week is as follows: weight training 4 days a week followed by cardio 4 days a week with an extra "spin" class on Saturday's.

Today I achieved a big hurdle. JD put my weights up again. He wanted me to pick up the 20kg dumbells for my incline db presses. After reading that he wanted me to do this I totally freaked out. Only last year I remember two guys (my training partners) tried to help me with this same weight and I couldn't even hold them. It was a disaster.

So today I was so frightened of making a full of myself. I asked a complete stranger to help me as Deejay (my spotter) wasn't there today.

I explained to him that it was my first time picking them up. His reaction was "oh boy they are big weights for you". Grrrr, this wasn't helping. Thanks for the confidence boost lol.

So I took his 20kg DB's (since he was using them at the time) and went to sit on my incline bench. I told him to only help me get them up and nothing else as I wanted to know if I could do at least one rep. I didn't even know if I could hold them up actually.

Success, their up with his assistance. I brought them down slowly then pushed them back up, then repeated that again, third rep I needed a tap to get them back up.

I completed two on my own. Hooray! Now I know I can do more next week for sure. And to think I couldn't even hold them up with two blokes helping me about 8 months ago.

JD has worked me up to this level over the last 6 weeks. Only a few weeks ago I couldn't lift the 17.5kg Db's on my own, and now I power through them.

I feel like I have entered the boy's section of weights lol. I know this might not be much to some of you reading this but I am stoked, they are big weights for me anyway .

Now im off to catch up on other blogs.

Posted by Splice at 11:12 AM | Permalink | Comments

The overcast, cloudy and rainy days are depressing. My goodness I do live on the Gold Coast dont I? mmmm.......This weather always has this kind of effect on me, I hate it.

Our dam levels are so high here too, I wish it would go somewhere where it is actually needed.

I felt ok this morning at the gym, I managed to talk my way through my back and bicep session with great results, then hit the crosstrainer at a hard resistance. I make sure I reach my calorie burning goal on that each time and today, suprisingly enough, I did it.

It's just been downhill from there with my mood. I feel down but have no reason to. I wish it was sunny outside, it makes me feel better.



Why is it when I feel a little down I think about food? I want to eat. But I won't eat until im suppose to. I have been at this program now for 5 weeks, next week is the half was mark.
I haven't broken my diet at all (except for the red wine on sat), but not food wise. That's 5 weeks of a perfect eating regime. For that I should feel better. And for that, I know I wont break my diet.
I have come this far, I know I can keep going. I look at my image in the mirror and I am seeing changes. My shoulders have that "ripple" look about them now. All three delts are more pronounced I guess.
My quads have got the seperation thing going on lol. And I actually think in another couple of weeks, I might me able to see my top two abs, they just look like they are about to make there very first appearence.
I have more changes that I have noticed but wont go into them now.
Perhaps the sun will come out soon. I hope so.

I am also very anxious to here how Lia went today.

Posted by Splice at 11:32 AM | Permalink | Comments

Convenience has to be a priority when it comes to eating meals or food preperation in ones very busy lifestyle.

I needed something that was going to be quick and easy to get to, but also it had to be "healthy". Lunch was my main focus because this time of the day is busy for me.

I discovered that frozen veges are actually packed full of freshness, vitimans and minerals. And for less than $3.00 for a bag of varity frozen veges, I couldn't be happier. It's so easy to stick them in the microwave for a few minutes and there done!


Facts:
Many processed foods are just as nutritious or in some cases even more nutritious than fresh foods depending on the manner in which they are processed.
Frozen vegetables are usually processed within hours of harvest. There is little nutrient loss in the freezing process so frozen vegetables retain their high vitamin and mineral content. In contrast, fresh vegetables are picked and transported to market. It can take days or even weeks before they reach the dinner table and vitamins are gradually lost over time no matter how carefully the vegetables are transported and stored.

Posted by Splice at 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments

Despite the heading, I am actually having a really good week. I trained again today (will take tomorrow off to get my hair done), my session was "smashing", I just keep improving and getting stronger each week.

Anyway I was talking to someone that works at the gym, she is two weeks away from her comp (not sure which federation, sorry), she is a figure competitor. She knows that I want to compete one day.

She just looks soooo drained, actually that would be an understatement. She is taking next week off so she can sleep. Her body looks awesome as she has cut up nicely, she is not new to this and I think she is in the "masters" division.

Looking at her in this state makes me wonder if I can do this myself. I have a family and a business to run, will I have any energy left?

I hold on to the hope that JD might have another approach to the last weeks before comp and that I won't be THAT drained.

Lia asked me the other day what exactly my fears were, because they are obviously whats holding me back right now. Having a few days to really think this through I know exactly what they are.

Being to tired to function, I simply cant have this, my husband would not be to happy either because I am the main focus of the business due to his own business affairs etc.

Also having time and energy for my little guy is the most important thing to me.

So, if I knew I could get through that part of the diet, I might be able to commit to competing this October in the INBA.

I still have so much to learn about the whole process, that is one of the reasons I feel prevliged to be able to read Rae and Lia's blogs. I just want to know more about it.

Up until Monday (this week) I have had a surge of energy and have been feeling great. I have all of a sudden noticed so many changes to my physique. I am seeing more and more muscle tone and I have definately lost weight around my waist. I feel amazing, perhaps my body has finally adjusted to the new diet and program and is working with me now. All bloating is gone.

I know things can change again but I am going with the flow right now.

Thank you for everyones support in the last week or so since I started blogging. I can't believe the wonderful people I have meet. You know who you are because I stalk your blogs everyday lol.

In fact im on my way now ;-)

Posted by Splice at 12:05 PM | Permalink | Comments