One Word:

FUCKED!!!

Scuse the language but seriously I am absolutely STUFFED...more than last post...I thought that after Tuesday night's indoor track/plyo session and yesterday's legs session that it would be a dandy idea to get up and do a pre-breakfast, 5.45am RPM class this morning, followed by my post-breakfast outdoor track/stairs/plyo session. All I can say is fuck I can be stupid sometimes. Lol...I feel like my hammies are on fire!! And my appetite today has gone through the roof!!! lol

All worth it though.....I am determined to have legs that look like abstract road maps this year!! (ok little exaggeration there but you get the pic)

I have tomorrow off so gonna do my back/bis/cardio session bright and early so I can enjoy a nice day. Having lunch with my cousin Simone tomorrow which will be nice, then meeting my mum at my gym (as in the one I work at). She signed up today and I am so excited she has decided to get her health back on track, so I promised I would meet her there to show her some things before our proper appointment in next week (yep I have booked her in to do an assessment and write her a program lol) so that she can start doing a few things in the interim.

I think that I am going to have (I can't believe I am pre-thinking this) Nutella crepes as my free meal this weekend. I am working Saturday and we have a little cafe next to the gym who do the BEST food...anyway the owners are Hungarian and they have all sorts of yummy sweets there. I haven't ever tried ANY of them (although I do get to smell some of the delish stuff my colleagues buy regularly - the apple crumble with ice cream yesterday nearly killed me!!) and I only just realised they do Nutella crepes for brekky...I LOVE those things!! Lol...so I think Saturday is the day :) I will keep you all posted on how good they are!! hehe

Anyway better jet. Gonna flick on a dvd and enjoy my Thursday night for once - I normally don't get to enjoy it as I have to train after work. Glad I did it all before starting today!

Vic x

Did someone say "rooted"???

O.M.G.
Week two of the new program - but week one of the eating to plan to go with the new program - and I can honestly say I am ROOTED. I think that seriously all those protein cookies and bars loaded with sugar that I downed last week served a really good purpose - to provide me with fuel - cos seriously I am D.R.A.I.N.E.D this week. Not that I am complaining, it's an awesome feeling, but I am smashed.

Yesterday was track/plyometric session day, and I didn't get a chance to do it before starting work so had to do it when I finished at 7pm last night. Did the indoor variation, followed by abs and then absolutely CHUGGED down a protein shake. Got home, ate, and off to bed at 11pm (which is very early for me). Set my alarm for 7am (sleep in for me - usually up sometime between 5 and 6am but figured that an 8 hour sleep wouldn't hurt) with the intention of having brekkie, then heading to the gym to do my legs session followed by the 9.30am RPM class....except I was obviously pretty obliterated...because for the first time in FOREVER I slept thru the alarm and woke up at 9am...YEP, TEN HOURS SLEEP!! I don't even remember the last time I slept like that, and I slept like a log I might add!! Unfortunately it meant rearranging my day, so did legs and then my own cardio....but only got 25 mins in...and was too tired after finishing work at 9pm tonight to do the remaining 20 mins :(

On a separate note...INBA Sydney's this weekend - I CAN'T WAIT!! Ferny and I get to be backstage bitches (that's the label I am giving us) and I am hoping that means slapping some dream tan into some buns of steel!! hehe Will def post some pics next week. I am a bit bummed still that I'm not getting up there, this was supposed to be my first comp of the season but oh well, never mind.

OK better jet - tomorrow is another track workout day so better get me some decent sleep tonight so I don't spend my entire day off on friday in bed!!

Til next time train hard and be good,
Vic xx

Let the games begin

I have woken this morning with a newfound mojo - which has come exactly on the right day as I promised dieting would start today. My training has been 120% but the diet has been less than desirable, and no matter what I did or told myself, I just couldn't get in the dieting headspace. BUT that seems to have changed today, I have woken with so much focus and I know myself well enough to know that I am ready to start today.

I got someone to cover my early morning spin class today as I knew I needed that extra bit of rest to recover from how exhausted I have been feeling. The 4am wake up to drive a 2 hour round trip for a 45min class didn't appeal to me. I had a bad headache for the most part of yesterday and figured that a bit of a sleep in wouldn't kill, given that I don't finish work til 9pm on a Monday night. I got up at 630am and went for a half hour walk before brekkie, have prepped all my food for today and am about to take myself off for today's training - delts/tris/chest followed by RPM. Then my day begins - 11.30am PT client and working right thru til 9pm.

I am so excited for this comp season, I can't wait to get up on that stage and tear it up!! Given I was originally prepping for the Sydney titles this upcoming weekend, I have a new bikini all made already, tan etc taken care of - all I really have to do aside from the obvious (diet and train) is put together a routine - and hey I now have 5 months (to the day I might add) to get it sorted.

Anyway kids I better fly. For those in the final week/s of prep - keep on keeping on - we are all behind you, and here for you if you have a 'moment' lol...we all know how bad those 'moments' can be (and when you are dead exhausted, take heart in the fact that on 3 separate occasions during comp week, I have actually FALLEN ASLEEP in the gym between sets....no I am not joking!!)

Til next post, train hard and be good,
Vic x

Week One OVER!

Week One of the new training is officially O.V.E.R. and I can officially say I am feeling more smashed than I have in, well - I can't even remember how long. I have not slept so much (or so well) before as I have this week, I am just exhausted!! Not that I'm complaining, obviously the new program is kicking my ass which is an awesome thing. I am loving the track workouts (I haven't been able to try the outdoor one yet just the indoor as it's been pissing down rain in Sydney all week til yesterday) but I have been getting some strange looks in the gym when I do them. A few of the regulars have tried to copy some of the plyometrics movements they see me doing but fall on their butts which is pretty entertaining.

Diet needs to be cleaned up from tomorrow. Aside from 2 scoops of gelato on Friday I haven't eaten anything overly bad, just snuck in one too many protein cookies lol. I have a fairly quiet day today for once (my 3 day weekend turned into today only as got called in to work both Friday and Saturday) so going to spend some time cooking for the next few days at least, to keep me prepared and less likely to steer off track. I hate not sticking to things, this is the first comp season that I haven't been so disciplined diet wise - and not liking it.

Off to a Tupperware party this arvo, my girlfriend who recently returned from living in the UK for the past 7 years is throwing it so will be a great catch up, can't wait to see her :)

Anyway gonna jet so I can actually enjoy my day off :)

So train hard and be good,
Vic x

YAY for Plyometrics, Caffeine and Protein Cookies!!

Training is going fabulously this week. I am loving the new way of training, it's nice to have a change after a few years of training the same way. Legs yesterday was a good workout, and today I did an RPM class this morning, and tonight a second indoor track/plyometrics session and another abs work out.

Before RPM this morning I kind of went a little off the eating plan for the day (OK by a lot)...I knew what kind of workouts were on the cards today and figured extra carbs/sugars was not going to hurt too badly. I smashed down 2 new MAX'S protein cookies...can I just say for anyone who hasn't tried them yet - they are DIVINE! OK so yes they are high in protein and I could have done much worse (ie chocolate or grease) but can't really justify it THAT much because they are also loaded with sugar. That being said, I also OD'd a bit on the caffeine today...had a big coffee with breakfast this morning and then swallowed 2 x Lipo 6 tablets prior to RPM...let's just say that my heart rate reached a high of 214 during the class and managed to stay above 200 bpm for the last 15mins or so of the class!! I burned about 500 cals in 40mins which I thought was pretty impressive :)

I then grabbed a large long black on the way into work, about an hour after that had a bottle of sugar-free V, and about 2 hours later another large long black. I didn't even think about the amount of caffeine in my system until I started getting slightly delerious (NEVER happens to me with coffee) and even fell off my chair while going to reach for the ringing work phone!! LOL...needless to say I managed to give everyone at work a good laugh today.

I finished at 7pm and got straight into the indoor track session...and burned another 495 cals during it....followed by about 75cals during my abs session. So not feeling soooo bad about the cookies now...but imagine I didn't eat them!! I would be in MAJOR deficit today. Oh well. They were bloody good!! hehe

I have tomorrow off (aside from one PT client) and looking forward to the weekend. Aside from training I think I will just be finishing off the last season of the Sopranos...will prob catch up with Miss Fern at some point too for a coffee (in case I haven't had enough caffeine!)

Reeeeeallllllly looking forward to next Sunday, when the Sydney comp season kicks off with the INBA Sydney titles. Will be helping out backstage so should be good fun :)

Anyway enough post-caffeine ramble, time for this little black cookie-munching duck to have a nice hot shower and curl up on the couch for some Tony Soprano action.

So, as always...train hard and be good,
Vic x

Filex and other assorted bizzo

Gee I've been a bit slack in writing lately but was waiting for material to write about to accumulate lol.

First thing's first. Went to Filex on the weekend with Miss Fern (her blog followers will no doubt have seen her Filex post, so thought I would do one too - see below)...was good fun but very exhausting. Between working in the industry, competing and Facebook/Blogland I didn't realise how many people I knew but seriously, every 2 steps we took we'd bump into peeps...in the first hour we were there we had walked not even one whole aisle!! lol We spent pretty much all day there (well from 10am to 3pm). It was awesome to catch up with loads of old and new friends, and also to put some faces to names. Managed to nearly OD on protein bars/cookies (gotta love those samples....ok ok and I may have purchased a couple too but figured I was starting comp diet again the next day so what the hell!)

I started a new program on Monday for comp prep. I have made the step of signing up under Rosa-Maria who has written me an awesome program. I have known Rose since I started competing basically, have trained with her before and she knows my strengths and weaknesses - not to mention that she is a figure judge and therefore knows what they are looking for. I am very excited to see how it all goes but seriously for the first time in a very long time, I am in serious pain from the workouts she has given me. I did Shoulders/tris/chest Monday and my traps are KILLING...yesterday did RPM, abs (can't believe how much these little suckers are hurting) and a track workout....I actually burned just under 1000 cals yesterday and I was absolutely stuffed when I got home last night from the track session....and now about to do legs. Her programs are structured very differently from the ones I was writing previously (I have been writing my own programs for a little while) and I think it's just what I need...SHOCK that body!

Not much else to put in here...work has been insane this week, glad it's a short week for me (I work Saturdays instead of Fridays and so given this Sat is Anzac day...it's a long weekend for me...YIPEE!!)

Better get myself off to do my legs session....hopefully they will hold up ok after the track workout last night!! Fingers crossed.

Til next time, train hard and be good :)

Vic

I have to say - the best part of having a few days off training is the AWESOME level of DOMS you get when you start again. I can't believe it, 4 days off (one of which is not a training day for me anyway) and I am in sweet agony this week!! Because of the shorter week this week I didn't have a rest day mid-week. I trained shoulders/abs Tuesday, Legs/biceps/obliques yesterday, today will be chest/triceps, tomorrow back/biceps and Saturday legs/abs again. My shoulders are aching soo much, I think a massage is on the cards after tomorrow's back session! The leg DOMS were creeping in this morning when I got up and dragged myself to RPM (insane, I know) at 5.45am. But what a feeling!

I have a tummy update. It has come down considerably - almost back to normal. It just looks like a baby pudgy belly, kinda like the bloating you get at TTOM. So I spent countless hours (and dollars!) with doctors, specialists, and having tests done, and not one of them could work it out. I am pretty sure I have solved the mystery thought. In the last week and a half or so, I have not eaten any green beans. That is the only change I have made (I was eating up to 1kg a day of them previously). I didn't purposely remove them from my diet, I just haven't eaten them due to easter etc and having been a little more relaxed on the diet...and voila! No 8 month pregnant belly. I only realised yesterday that maybe that is what caused the problem, when I realised that has been the only real change to my diet. Now I could be wrong as I have heard beans can cause gas and therefore bloating, but does anyone know anything about them causing extreme swelling?? If anyone knows anything about whether this is possible would be greatly appreciated as I am just guesing this was the cause. And if so, I am very very surprised that not one of the dr's / specialists I saw picked up on it, as I told every one of them what I had been eating. I have posted some comparison shots below, the first from 3 weeks ago, the other taken this morning...

Hmm...what else? I have today off work (YAY!!) and not sure what to do with the day. To be honest I am thinking a day on the couch watching the Sopranos would be a good idea (gotta go back to the gym and do weights at some point though)....weekend should be good, I have a birthday/housewarming bbq Saturday lunchtime for one of my figure friends Kathleena...and FILEX Sunday!! WOOT!! I love FILEX!! :) Hoping to catch up with some of you there! If you are gonna be there let me know, would be great to meet some more of you in person.

Anyway better jet and get my relaxing day underway :)

Til next time beautiful people, train hard and be good,

Vic x

HAPPY EASTER Y'ALL!

I hope this post sees you all safe and having had a great Easter weekend.

I returned this afternoon from a trip to Melbourne, which was just what the Dr ordered. My parents decided to go down to spend Easter with my brother and sister-in-law, but when they made these plans I was intending on competing in May and decided to stay in Sydney for Easter, so that I wouldn't have to be around all the food/Easter eggs while dieting. Being from an Italian background (and sister-in-law being half Italian, half Lebanese) Easter is traditionally associated with LOADS of food. I have dieted through the last few Easters, and let's just say it has not been easy being around this (to give you an analogy, Easter is very much like Christmas to us - it goes basically for the entire period of Friday thru Sunday and is literally non-stop cooking/eating). SO when I made the decision to pull out of the May comps, I was also very happy to be able to travel down to Melbourne to celebrate Easter with my family. Not to mention that I haven't seen my brother since the beginning of January and I was missing him terribly.

Mum, Dad and I drove down, we left 1am Friday morning and arrived at about 10am. My Aunt and Uncle who are currently in Mt Gambier for my Uncle's work also drove across, and we all stayed at my brother's place. Friday was a nice day but very exhausting as I didn't manage to get ANY sleep during the drive down the night before, and we literally spent all day after arriving cooking and catching up with Joseph and Rachel.

Saturday I went out with Joseph and Rachel to some factory outlets but was disappointed with what was on offer (boys section was much better!!) and then the 3 of us had lunch together at a little cafe. We stopped on the way home at a bakery and bought the BEST ricotta cannoli I have ever tasted. That night we all went out to a Greek restaurant in Moonee Ponds (the name escapes me but I try to get a visit in there every trip to Melbourne, the food is DIVINE..and there was a VERY cute English waiter serving our table...maybe a little young for me but no harm in looking!!) and then went back home for dessert/coffee. Rachel's parents also came over, bearing traditional Lebanese sweets that Rachel's mum prepared. YUM!!

Sunday morning mum and I spent making home-made lasagna (all from scratch, pasta sheets included) while everyone else went to church together. Rachel's parents and sister came over and we all had a massive lunch followed by yummy pavlova for dessert (OK so me and Rach were supposed to make dessert - but decided we couldn't be bothered and the Cheesecake shop might just do a better job anyway!!) We were sooo stuffed after it!!! Went to church with Mum in the evening and we got back at 7.30pm - and I was still full from lunch!!! But it was so good I had a bit of leftovers for dinner...followed by EASTER EGGS!!! Mmmmm

I took the entire weekend off weight training on purpose as this was the last break before the Sept/Oct comps and figured my body could probably do with a proper rest. I did 30-60mins walking every day (outdoor and on their treadmill) and tonight after getting home went to the gym and did a 50min cardio session.

Back to full steam training and dieting tomorrow. This is it - countdown to comp now. I am going into full on comp prep mode now so that I can try and avoid the last minute hardcore depletion etc.

Anyway better get off now...am very hungry and in desperate need of a shower!

Til next time, train hard and be good!

Vic x

KICK ASS CHICKS!!

I think one of the most asked questions I get would have to be "what made you get into bodybuilding?"

Ladies, here is my answer.

I remember being 12 years old and watching Terminator 2 and seeing Linda Hamilton, thinking what an awesome body she had. The image above (excuse the poor quality but I am being too lazy to find a better quality one) and that of her doing chin ups are the two things I remember most about the entire movie. I just thought this woman had the most unreal body I had ever seen - and that was when I was 12!! (clearly I wasn't much of a Barbie doll wielding child)...

And below - my OTHER muscly inspiration - Madonna. Love her to death, and again - since she transformed herself into an exercise fanatic, I have been awestruck by this woman's physique.

As far back as I can remember I have been in awe of chicks who have that super-fit, super-strong look - and made it my mission to try and do the same. THAT is what made me take up this crazy sport!

Anyway just thought I would start the day with some inspiration!!

Vic x

YOU ARE ALL TOPS!!!

I write this post following so many posts I have read lately where some of you awesome chicks are feeling down on yourselves.

You are all awesome, you are all beautiful. Full stop.

I can't put it any clearer than that. We are involved in a sport that can have major headfucks, and I myself am not immune to them either. We diet and train so hard to achieve the 'ideal' stage body, get ourselves to an un-naturally lean condition, and then when in the off season we gain a bit of weight (which the off season is designed for - pack on some size and try to do it well enough that a good portion of it is muscle) our heads cave in and we think we are massive. I might add here that when you diet down and a size 6 starts swimming on you, anything, inlcuding a size 10 or 12 is going to feel massive - BUT in reality it is NORMAL and HEALTHY. We are so set on what is the ideal diet that when we slip up, or God forbid, actually plan to eat 'off-plan' during either comp season or off-season, we mentally punish ourselves for hours, sometimes days, afterwards.

As I said, I am not immune to these feelings, I get them like any other person (quite a bit I might add) and need my friends around to snap me out of it.

What I do want to reiterate is that you guys are all AWESOME. You are role models to so many people out there, without even knowing it. The people who critisize what we do don't care enough to educate themselves on it generally speaking. And those who negatively critique our off- and on- season bodies usually are the ones who need to take a long hard look in the mirror at themselves.

Anyway enough of my ramble this morning. It just upsets me to hear those I care about getting down on themselves, but I understand where they are coming from at the same time. No one promised that being a figure/physique competitor was easy, and I think by far the hardest part of it is the mental challenge we all face on a daily basis.

Vic xx

Where did the week go??

Wow, where has the week gone! I can't believe my last post was last weekend, it has bloody flown.

Weight training has been good this week, I feel like I have ripped into every one of my sessions and given it 150%. I did an especially awesome back session yesterday, really got stuck into it and went heavier for more reps than I have done before.

Cardio wise - well I guess for completion I could say it's been about 120% as all sessions went as long as they should have, with 2 of them going over what I had mentally prepared for. Which is good for me, normally I do the minimum required amount cos I hate it so much!! lol.

Nutrition - well on the scale of 1 - 10 I have probably been sitting around a 7 this week. Nothing too bad, I had a muesli yoghurt this week, not something I would normally have except in off-season - but I did say when I pulled out of the May comp season that I would give myself an extra cheat during the week, a not-so-bad one. This week I made the yoghurt (it was a super-sized one too) my mid-week cheat, but because I'm not used to having this extra one, I got a case of the guilts over it! Go figure. I know that sometimes I am a mental case but can't help myself!! hehe
Aside from the yoghurt I also indulged in a few protein bars this week. Not my ideal source of nutrition (but some of them are SOOO yummy these days) but it was all I could do on some days in between medical examinations, so I figured it was better than having nothing, and certainly better than some of the alternate snack-type things I could have picked up.
My proper cheat is scheduled for tomorrow arvo, when having a catch up with Fern and another girlfriend. I will try not to go too nuts but am thinking a nice treat from Max Brenner wouldn't go astray :)

Health wise I am still plodding along. Still waiting to find answers. The ultrasound I had last week came back clear so once again we are at square one. I still look preggers but probably no more than last week, I don't think it's grown this week. The GP has no idea what it is so referred me to a gastroenterologist hoping he would find answers. I tried to book in but was told I would have to wait til June - when I told them it's a bit urgent as it's affecting my work etc, they slotted me in - on 20 MAY!!! Can you believe it!! Anyway to cut a long story short I have a friend in the medical profession (specialising in orthoptics though - but has loads of connections) who saw me online the other night and told me he heard thru a mutual friend about my problem. He happens to know a gastro doc quite well and got me in to see him yesterday - gotta love that. The gastro doc is a bit baffled as to what is causing this swelling so has ordered more tests, however is getting a specific doctor to do said tests in his presence, and has managed to get me in for them on this Tuesday. He seems determined to get to the bottom of this and really seems to want to find the problem for me, which is such a relief to hear.

Anyway aside from that I have had a very boring week. Literally just worked and trained all week, nothing in between. Yesterday was my one day off this week (working all weekend) and even then I had to go in to train ONE client, as I couldn't slot him anywhere else! Far out. Wish I had the weekend off but can't complain, I need the cash!!

Really looking forward to tomorrow arvo's hang out session, and to next weekend. I am heading down to Melbourne with my parents on Thursday night to spend easter with my brother and sister-in-law who live down there. I so can't wait to see them, I haven't seen them since the beginning of January and I miss them terribly. I also can't wait to be able to celebrate my first easter in 3 years - I have dieted thru the last few easters so will be nice to be able to have an easter egg or 6!! lol

OK better jet. Start at 9 and want to get a 40min cardio session in first :)

Til next time, train hard and be good!

Vic x