Tim Tams won't get me back in the Jeans

My week has finished off ok. Following my shitty news on Wednesday arvo, I seem to have gotten on with it (not really any other choice...am still disappointed, but hey - what do you do!?!)

Did a good legs session yesterday, despite not feeling crash hot. Ended up being one of those vomit-worthy ones, heavy weights and lower reps. Didn't quite need the spew bucket but came close on several occasions. Wrapped that up with a 50min cardio session. Had a good afternoon at work and then toddled off to my parents' place after I finished as hadn't got my 2nd cardio session in so figured would just go use their elliptical. Did 30mins on it, which felt like 90mins...their elliptical is a really strong resistance machine - even on level 1 it's difficult! Finished it up just as dad was getting back from the airport, he'd gone to pick my brother and sister-in-law up as they have come up for my bestie's wedding this weekend. We stayed up chatting for a while and I have to confess something that rather strangely ran through my mind:

what if I don't compete this year? What if I just decide to pull the pin tonight and join in with the Tim Tam eating and just have a little piece of dark chocolate with almonds with Dad? Would it kill me to pull the plug? Am I going to make it in time anyway, am I going to be lean enough even if I don't pull the pin?

I got through the temptation and stayed on track somehow. It scares me though because I have never thought like this before. Yes I have been tempted but I have never really panicked about not being ready (aside from during comp week when I am so carb depleted and flat that to me I look like an elephant despite being at my leanest). But I pulled through the negative thoughts and stuck to my coffee, before coming home to get my 7 hours shut-eye in. Up bright and early this morning and decided to do the jeans test. I went to put on my fave jeans one night about 8 weeks ago and had a massive panic attack when I couldn't get them on. I tried to put them on again a few weeks ago, still no luck, not even past the thighs. This morning...they got on. Tight but on. AND they did up. So today was a good day after last night's little headfuck. Probably lucky they fit because it meant I had a good day - which was needed as it's been go-go-go ALL day today!! 6am pre-brekkie cardio, then home to have brekkie and prep meals for the day, showered and went to work, finished work and trained chest/tris/abs and some more cardio, off to my parents' for dad's birthday dinner, then to Meegan's for night-before-the-wedding-girly-catchup...now home to get myself organised for tomorrow. I have to be back at Meegan's at 7am for hair and makeup...ahhh the fun of Maid Of Honour duties ;)

SO in saying that...I have to seek permission to use a SKINNY BONE as my 7 hours bed time tonight isn't gonna happen (still have to wrap a rather large pressie and finish making my meals for the day...yep gotta love being on comp diet during your best mate's wedding!! saving my weekly cheat meal for tomorrow night)

Water was fantastic yesterday...in saying that I have 500ml to get thru before bed tonight to make my minimum 3L.

Will be back on the ball Sunday though. Will be going to World Gym to train legs and get cardio done and dusted before posing class. My sister-in-law flies back to Melbourne Sunday afternoon as she has to go to work Monday but my brother is staying til Tuesday night so we have scheduled some hang-out time, which will be lovely...I can't remember the last time we got to hang out, just the 2 of us. I am really looking forward to it.

Anyway enough from me tonight, I really should get my ass into gear and get some sleep - massive day tomorrow! Stay tuned for pics :)

Til next time, train hard and be good :)

Vic x

Day 98 report

I started a blogpost last night but was sooo tired I was (literally) falling asleep finishing it off. And I have decided to start it completely from scratch today cos I recall it was a bit 'blah', which is what my day was like yesterday.

My day yesterday started with teaching Spin class. It was a bit of a struggle to get myself ready and go as it was bloody freezing at 5.45am yesterday morning. I took myself off to work and well, the members obviously had the same thought as me (although in their favour was that they didn't actually have to turn up for employment purposes) and the gym was DEAD. No shit. There was ONE person in my class. Not very motivating. But I figured we should make the most of it and used the class as a massive hardcore interval training session - the poor girl who made the effort of being there (she is one of my regulars) looked pretty nauseas by track 4!! lol poor thing.

Seeing it was my new 'No Weights Wednesday', after Spin and then brekkie, I toddled off to the shops to purchase a wedding gift for Meegan's wedding this weekend, and to have my nails done. I pulled my acrylic nails off last Christmas after having them on for a few years and I forgot how nice they look. I haven't really had anything nice done for myself in so long due to $$ and now twice in 2 weeks I have done what these days I see as treating myself (when I worked in the corporate world I didn't think twice about spending money, I never had to...these days I have to think and rethink every spending decision I make, which is hard to get used to) in having my hair done last week and now my nails. It feels nice to do things for yourself every now and again when you have grown accostomed to living without the extras...so I have decided that part of my 100 day challenge is to do something nice for myself during every phase (10 days). Doesn't have to be something over the top - just treating myself or having 'me' time.

I got some disappointing news while at work last night and it put a dampener on my whole night. For regular readers you will know that a couple of weeks back I was waiting on some news and being very mysterious about it. Basically I was all but promised a contract position down in Melbourne, I was just waiting on it to be signed off...when I was approached it was pretty much a certainty that if I wanted it, it would happen...I was pretty excited about it as I have been wanting to move down there for a while and this would have been a taster of Melbourne life for a short term to see if I really did like living there. Unfortunately in the meantime, some glitches arose...and yesterday I found out they are no longer in need of the contractor position. So am a bit upset about that...but I'll get over it I suppose.

My challenge is going pretty well, I only just made the 7 hour bedtime cutoff last night but feeling pretty tired. I don't start work til 1pm today though so there's a good chance there will be a nanna nap thrown into my day today. Cardio only yesterday and I struggled to get into my night cardio - I didn't get my second session in before work yesterday which meant doing it at 9.30pm last night...by which time I am so exhausted I just want to crash. But I managed. I also nearly gave into temptation at work (after the bad news phonecall) and had a Roses chocolate...had it sitting in my hand for about 10mins deciding whether to eat it...and then it occurred to me "would the other girls be eating Roses chocolates?" No, I daresay they would NOT! So back in the box it went.

Water intake was good yesterday too so that's a positive.

OK better get off here so I can go train legs. YAY. My favourite day...unfortunately I am not in a real enthusiastic mood and would rather stay on the couch. BUT I know I can't afford to do that at this stage of the game. So off to the gym for me.

Til next time, train hard and be good.

Vic x

Lovin day 98

Had a great day today. Day 98 and smashed it.

Woke up this morning to the banana and raspberry oat muffins I made yesterday, dying to try them out. OMG they were bloody delicious. Seriously, I will be making those again, in large quantities ;) Well maybe in large quantities after comp season to negate temptation!! That being the case, I think there may be some room for peanut butter and/or nutella swirls in them. Hmmm....sorry...got off track there. Diet brain.

Took myself off to the gym after brekkie for back and abs day. I managed an entire back workout (5 different exercises) using nothing but the cables. I love unconventional exercises, and try to steer away from the 'norm' every now and again - I find this alleviates any risk of boredom, and also stops my body getting used to doing the same stuff over and over. Lucky the gym wasn't busy cos I probably wouldn't have been very popular hogging the entire cable setup for the 45min duration of my back session! After training I breezed through 40min cardio - for once it wasn't such a mental battle to stick it out. Love days like that.

Came home and made more 'muffins' (the savoury ones) for afternoon tea to take to work. My co workers are actually getting jealous of the diet food I am eating and today asked me for recipies for my new muffins, and also the omelettes I normally bring in. Who woulda thought that my "boring" (in inverted commas as I don't find it boring, strangely enough...I actually like this stuff!) comp food could actually seem tasty to others who are free to eat chocolate to their hearts content!!

Worked til 8pm and then finished with another 40mins on the stepper - interval training. Which has left me bloody ravished. Since coming home I have downed my usual 4 pre-bed eggwhites, plus about 300g veggies. And I am still STARVING!! Gonna hit the sack soon - firstly so that I get to keep all my SKINNY BONES by getting enough rest, but also so that I don't have to listen to my tummy any longer :)

Water was no problem at all today - I have downed at least 4.5L and I am gonna have myself another glass before bed (smart, I know given that is a guaranteed pee-stop during the night but hey what the hell - I also just had a coffee so will be getting up regardless!) Did I ever mention how cool (?? is that the right word??) I think it is that we can talk about toilet stuff on here and noone gets funny about it - in fact I think it's more likely that when we read about the toilet habits of others, we are sitting there nodding knowingly!?! Random.

Tomorrow morning is an early wake up to teach my Spin class, so I have 10min to get my butt to bed to make my 7 hours of rest time. Mmm post Spin oats... AND according to my new training schedule...it's also weights free day...so just Spin first thing then probably go for a walk before I start work at 1pm. I am actually looking forward to the rest.

OK on that note it's sign off time for me. Til next time...you know the drill...

Vic x

Day 99 with Betty Crocker

I can't believe I went an entire blog post without mentioning the 100 Day challenge I have embarked on! For those of you who aren't aware, KatieP has set up a 100 Day Challenge, where those who have entered set their own goals to achieve in 100 Days. I set myself the following goals:

• Drink min 3L water a day.
• Get some rest. Go to bed MINIMUM 7 hours before wake up time, even if I don't fall asleep straight away.
• One full day off training a week.

We are counting backwards, so yesterday (start day) was Day 100, today is day 99. I am proud to report the following:

• Water - TICK (both days)
• Rest - TICK for last night and as I will be hitting the sack right after this post, TICK for tonight
• Day off training - see my last post - I have re-jigged my training schedule to give myself Saturdays completely off any structured training (and Steph, no dramas - feel free to borrow the schedule hon!!)

SO Day 99 and on track. YAY!!

So - the Betty Crocker thing. Miss Vic got a lil creative today in the kitchen. I decided that I was over having the same eggwhite omelette every arvo for afternoon tea. So I made them into little muffins instead. I did the following:

4 egg whites, 1 egg

heaped teaspoon baking powder

spinach, mushrooms, tomato

teaspoon flax meal

I beat the eggs, baking powder and meal, then added the vegies. Poured them evenly into muffin tray (lightly sprayed).

At the same time, I made tomorrows brekkie - DYING to see how they taste:

6 egg whites

1 heaped teaspoon banana protein powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

30g rolled oats

30g chopped banana pieces

30g raspberries

Pour into lightly sprayed muffin molds.

I then put them all in oven, preheated to 180 degrees and cooked til firm (about 20min)

I was hoping for the best with these, not sure if they would work...BUT THEY DID!! The afternoon tea ones were sooo yum. OK so they are the same stuff I woulda been eating anyway but cooked differently...psychologically made a difference!! haha

As for tomorrows' ones...OMG they look and smell DIVINE. I can't wait to go to bed just so I can wake up for them!

OH...and before I go...training today (new split program) was AWESOME ;) Shoulders and biceps. GREAT workout, followed by 40min on the stepper, on the random setting. Tonight after work pumped out another 40min on the stepper, again on random, different intervals than this morning though. Tomorrow...BACK DAY!! Might throw in a stairs session for cardio...gotta love those stairs ;)

OK bedtime for this little black duck, gotta get my 7 hours of bed time...and wake up to some delish brekkie treats.

Til next time..train hard and be good.

Vic x

Splitting it up

So in line with yesterday's (? or was it Saturday night?) post, as of this week I have decided to split my program up to give the old body some much needed R&R time. My old plan went like this:

Sunday - legs + abs
Monday - Shoulders + calves
Tuesday - Biceps & Triceps + abs
Wednesday - legs + calves
Thursday - Chest + abs
Friday - Back + calves
Saturday - Rest (but would usually do 2 x cardio sessions anyway)

NEW GAME PLAN

Sunday - Legs + abs
Monday - Shoulders, Biceps + calves
Tuesday - Back + abs
Wednesday - Cardio only
Thursday - Legs, shoulders + calves
Friday - Chest, Triceps + abs
Saturday - COMPLETE DAY OFF.

Yep, I am going back to my old way of taking a full day off. No structured exercise at all. I work all day Saturday, I might just walk to work so I'm not doing NOTHING but nothing too strenuous. I think giving myself a full day of rest used to do me wonders and am gonna give it a go again. I have also added in more shoulder work on a Thursday, as these are something I need to grow more.

I had an awesome day training-wise yesterday. Went to World a little early, got through my legs session and 25min on the stepper before the girls from posing arrived. I was rapt when one of them who didn't come last week told me she could see pretty decent changes in me, and that I was looking leaner than I did 2 weeks ago :) Did posing class then hit the cardio for another 40mins. The legs session must have been good as by the time our hourlong posing session was up, the DOMS had already kicked in!! After cardio took myself to the shops, hunting for a wedding gift for my bestie (5 days, can't believe her wedding is finally here!!) and then off home. After a much needed afternoon snack went to my parents' place and jumped on the x-trainer for another 40min cardio session. I LOVE that they live so close AND have an elliptical there. Not my preferred choice of cardio but hey, how convenient it is once the gym has shut! I'm thinking I might ask if I can borrow it til comps are over, given I am the only one who actually uses it!

Ended up having dinner there again (gotta love that mum is dieting too and pretty much eats the same kind of food as me...so chicken and steamed greens it was) before coming home to crash. Up at 5.30am this morning, have had brekkie and now off to do my shoulders/bis/cardio for the morning. Don't start work til 1pm today so will have a few hours up my sleeve after training to do my cooking for the week.

OK on that note will be loving you and leaving you. Til next time, train hard and be good!

Vic x

Sleepy Sunday

Aaahhh Sunday sleep in :) Got up at 7.30 this morning which is the latest sleep I have had in what feels like an eternity. I fell asleep around the 1am mark so 6.5 hours - better than any other night in the last few weeks. I have been struggling to get more than about 5 hours in a night for a few weeks now and sleep has been really light-on so to get a solid 6.5 hours in last night was heaven. I am going to make a conscious effort from today to go to bed earlier, even if I have to just lay there waiting to fall asleep, cos at least that way my body will still be getting the extra rest in.

Had yesterday off training, but snuck 2 cardio sessions in, 30min before work and 40min after work. Another area that I need to up the rest on - from this week onwards I will take one full day rest from training. My body needs it, I am so achy all the time! I also think I will be re-jigging my schedule to cut a weights day out, so that I only do weights 5 days a week, cardio 6 days, one full day off. I have done it like that before and felt much better for it.

Yesterday was treat meal day, as planned I did my lunchtime treat. I had a toasted sandwich on Turkish bread with avocado, chicken schnitzel, sweet chilli sauce, lettuce, cheese and tomato....mmm divine...and for dessert had a deli-style muesli yoghurt and 2 choc chip biscuits (they were a last minute add in but were only little so didn't fret over it). It was an awesome lunch, nice and fresh, and kept me full til dinnertime (6 hours and one cardio session later). I had dinner with mum last night, went to her place as dad was going out (how sad is it when your parents have more of a social life than you!!). Had grilled chicken and steamed greens and it was delish. We watched a DVD, Ghosttown. OMG great movie for those who haven't seen it. It's a romantic comedy with Tea Leoni and Ricky Gervais (not sure if I got the spelling right), that dude from the British version of The Office.

I just had a yummy banana and raspberry protein pancake for brekkie, with a bucket of coffee to wash it down, and now about to head off to World Gym, to pump out a ripper legs session (might do last week's one) and then teach posing. Then shopping time....bestie's wedding next Saturday and I haven't even picked up a pressie yet!! How terrible am I!! Worse still, no idea what to get...hmmm...not good!! lol

OK kids, time to get this show on the road. Til next time, train hard and be good.

Vic x

Negative Nancy has Left the Building. Close the door behind you BIATCH!!

Firstly THANK YOU for all your comments on this morning's post. Even though deep down I know I'm not alone in having shit days (weeks, whatever!) I think sometimes it helps to hear it from others that I am not alone in feeling like I am only just keeping my head above water during certain times.

And I think the venting did me wonders.

Today started a bit crappy (as you know) but got better as the day progressed. After my post I decided not to do my weights til later in the day, and instead to make the most of the sunshine by doing an outdoor cardio session. So I took myself to the park down the road and did some sprints, followed by 40mins stair runs. Up and down, 90 times over, all different ways. Finished it up with a few plyo-style moves (jumping squats, jumping lunges, tuck jumps). Came home and made some food but spent most of the day feeling pretty bloated and still a bit crappy. Tried to have a bit of a nap in the arvo to make up for last night's crappy sleep but probably managed about 25mins broken sleep? Gave up in the end and decided to head for the gym. That's where things picked up.

Turned up for my back session and started training, and really surprised myself when I looked up at the mirror - for the first time in ages I noticed a HUGE difference in the way I am looking. I went from feeling frumpy and bloated to feeling awesome in about 13 nanoseconds. Turns out that all of a sudden I have started leaning very quickly, after what has felt like months on end of plateuing. Smashed an awesome back workout, 5 excercises ALL using the cable machine, just for something different. My night was made even better when on two separate occasions members came over to tell me how ripped I was starting to look, and even overheard one of them later telling someone else that I looked more muscly cos I was getting more ripped :)

Did the Friday night boxing class, was a good class tonight, only 8 of us turned up (normally there's about 20) so got an awesome workout in. Sometimes when there's so many people it doesn't feel like you have done as much as there are so many people to wait for when drills are starting etc.

Spent some time hanging with my bestie tonight which was nice. It was kinda our last 'single hang night' as she is getting married next weekend...I can't believe how quick it's come around! Being Maid of Honour I have to be super organised with my food! I have already requested my entree (lamb) and main (chicken) be served free of any sauces / dressings etc lol. I figured that I would have the dessert as my treat for next week but didn't want to unnecessarily go overboard so why not ask for my actual meals to be diet friendly as much as possible!

Rest day tomorrow but will probably throw a bit of cardio in (nothing too much though) and I get my treat tomorrow. I will probably have it at lunchtime as don't like going to bed with a heavy tummy - also given I will be at work I am pretty safe on the 'can't go overboard' front! Once that meal is over, it's over and I am at work til 4pm so by the time I get home it's too late to keep the meal going.

OK enough from me for one day! Phew - you gals are gonna be all Vicki-ed out soon...

Wrong turn...uh oh...Struggle Street...

I started writing a post last night and deleted it cos it was so negative (I am talking MAJOR whinging). Actually there is a chance that this will turn into a very whiney sounding post (sorry guys but need to vent) so if you don't wanna hear it...close this tab now!

Not sure what's going on with me lately but somewhere along the road I have taken a wrong turn and yesterday I ended up on Struggle Street. Now for those of you who have never had the pleasure of being on Struggle Street, it is like a very narrow laneway, and the further you go the harder it gets to turn around and come back. So you kinda plod along it for a while hoping that it will end soon, and there will be a blazing light at the end of it.

I can't quite pinpoint where my first wrong turn was but of late the feeling that I am treading water has been increasing. Yesterday I really struggled with it and noticed it affecting my training. Weights were good but I struggled with my 40min post weights cardio session (spent 10mins on stepper then got off and did bike but had to keep telling myself 'just another 5 mins' and when I got there would talk myself into another 5 mins so I could hear the rest of the song on my iPod). I was supposed to get my second cardio session in before starting work at 1pm as wasn't finishing til 9pm and don't like leaving it til that late to do it, but because I spent most of my morning all teary (emotional wreck ATM!) I didn't get it done. By the time I finished work last night all I wanted to do was go home, eat my bloody egg whites and crash. And that I very nearly did. But then I remembered the extra nuts I had eaten during my shift and thought "would the other girls be going home to bed, or would they do their 2nd cardio session?" and with that I hauled my ass (literally hauled it...believe me it didn't want to be hauled anywhere except the couch) to my parents' place to use their x-trainer. Which I also struggled to stay on for 35 mins. Should have done 40 but I am telling you, it was a bloody lucky thing that I managed more than 15 mins worth!! In the end I was glad I did it so I didn't have a case of the guilts. Then my poor mum had to listen to Vicki the Emotional Train Wreck over a cup of post-cardio lemon and ginger tea (never tried that stuff before, it's not too bad on the old taste buds either!) as I got all teary about (?!?!?!) AGAIN.

Was hoping for a sleep in today (being Friday, the day off) as I have not had a decent night's sleep in, well I can't even remember how long...weeks? months? But my dogs had other plans for me today. So up at 6am, despite having gone to bed at about 12.30am. Oh well maybe a nanna nap is on the cards later. Gotta get my head together and take myself to the gym, it's back day today...then spend some time with the stepper. Boxing tonight for 2nd cardio so at least that will get me through a whole hour of it.

On that note I will love you and leave you. Sorry again about the downer of a post...but hey I did warn you!! Hopefully next one I will have found my way back off Struggle Street and will have found that bright light at the end of it!

Vic x

I wanna grow me some of these...

OK, so maybe sans the facial features, arms and legs. But you get the picture...right? COCONUT SHOULDERS!!

Trained delts this morning and, well - scuse the language, but F*&K me they are already a tad on the tender side. I know I mentioned in last night's post that I was suffering DOMS in the old shoulders from Friday's boxing session but seriously, I woke up feeling brand new (unless you count my hamstrings feeling like they were made of peices of rope that were oh, 60cm too short for my legs - but that's another story). Shoulders were all good, which made me happy, as it meant I could give them my all today. Program changed this week (I like to change programs after 3 cycles so my body don't get too used to anything) and I quite clearly wrote a killer shoulder program...as I had DOMS within about 90mins of finishing. Seriously. My traps feel like they could use a steam train run over them to get some of the tension out!! hehe Good feeling though.

So I ended this morning's weights session with a 40min fatburner session on my famous stepper (yep, I have officially claimed the machine. I figure I spend more time in a day on that bloody thing than any of the members spend in a month so it should be known as mine). Food was going really really well until I hit a pissed off, hungry moment at work and bought myself a 50g packet of mixed fruit and nuts from our little charity confectionary thingo in the staff room (I know, not so bad, could have been worse - like the raspberry bullets I actually felt like eating but either way, it was not part of my plan for the day so wasn't wrapped with myself). Aside from that slip up all fine.

Finished work at 8pm and followed it with a HIIT session. 30min on the tready of 1min walk / 1min hard run, which was the first time I have tried to run since hurting my achilles about 6 or 8 weeks ago. Rounded that up with a final 10min HIIT session on the stepper then sat in the Detox Box for 10mins...HEAVEN! But let me just say...if my hammies weren't bloody sore earlier today, they fricken are now!! And I am ravenous...but have eaten my eggwhites already so won't be having anything more for the night.

Unfortunately no news on the 'waiting for it' news front, other than being told I will definitely receive the answer on it tomorrow...so watch this space (yes very intriguing I know).

So that's my wrap up for tonight. Til next time, train hard and be good :)

Vic x

Call me crazy...but...

I'm hanging for Monday. Yep, you read right. I am happy that the weekend is coming to a close. I have been waiting on some news (which will be divulged if and when it comes through) and have been HANGING for Monday to roll around so I can have an answer. OK enough of the mysterious news.

I am suffering massive DOMS today. I did boxing on Friday night and my shoulders are pounding today - go figure!! They never come on this late. My upper back was suffering yesterday (explainable by the combination of the boxing on Friday evening and the fact I had trained back on Friday morning) but today, of all days, the shoulders are burning. Usually I would be wrapt - I am trying to grow me some coconuts!! But I have shoulders on the training schedule in 7 hours time and that is *not* going to be fun if they are still in a world of hurt. Oh well. Hopefully they'll come good overnight.

Training has had a big tick as has nutrition. I had yesterday as a rest day, and I mean COMPLETE rest, no cardio, no walk - no nothing. It nearly killed me to not to anything but I needed to not do anything. Today I went along to World Gym to teach posing and got there early to do a leg session. I love weekend leg sessions, I do very unorthodox training sessions on my weekend one - my Wednesday leg session is more of a typical one. Today's session went like this:

5 x 20 extensions
5 x 15 single hammy curls (on the kneeling, plate loaded machine)
5 x 20 dumbell deadlifts
then 3 x triple set on the seated leg press - changing foot position for each exercise, 20 reps of each
and threw in some abs for good measure

I followed it up with 30 mins on the stepper. My legs are caned and can't wait for those DOMS to set in...I give it a few more hours.

The posing session was great, I really enjoy it and I think it helps me with my own posing practice, having to be critical of the way others pose - makes me more aware of how things look from the judge's perspective.
After posing was time to head to see Miss Fern...lunch and coffee before she departs Sydney for the green pastures of Brissie to embark on the next stage in her life with her man tomorrow. I met her, and 2 of our other friends, Bec and Graham, at a Mexican joint (I did the BYO Sumo Salad thing) and we went for coffee afterwards. There we sat, observing the eclectic mix of people (I would write the word 'fashion' in here somewhere, but I am not sure if apricot coloured lycra tights on a super-plus size woman wearing colour co-ordinated shoes, whose ears are lined from lobe to the top with at least 12 pearl studs could be labelled 'fashion') and having a good old giggle about assorted bizzo...til it was time to say good bye. It has hit me tonight the void I am already starting to feel knowing that Miss Fern will no longer be a short drive away :( It's funny how some people can come into your life and you can know them such a relatively short time yet it feels like you have known them forever. But on the upside to all of this - I now have a good excuse to venture north of the border more often :)

Anyway it's time for me to go catch some zzz's... gotta get up in a few hours and grow me some serious boulders!

Til next time...train hard and be good xx

It's doing the rounds again!!

OK call it boredom but, here goes!!

1. Weight training body part?
Legs and shoulders. Funny enough cos these were the 2 body parts I hated training when I first picked up weights.

2. Cardio exercise?
Let's just say, I have a love-hate relationship with the stepper machine!! I also teach spin class - gotta love cardio when you are getting paid for it ;)

3. Intervals or steady state?
I like to mix it up and do a bit of both. Also depends on time - if I have a lot of it I will normally go steady state but if I'm short on time I will throw in intervals to make the most of the time I have

4. Carbs – friend or foe?
Definitely friend, I have learnt the hard way (see recent posts lol). But good, nutritious carbs (oats, sweet potato, rice etc) not the lolly / chocolate variety!!

5. Cheat meal?
A good wood fired pizza, pasta or a fresh (good quality) steak sandwich on fresh turkish bread. Or gelato....lol

6. Treat?
A nice deep tissue massage. The harder the better. And gotta be absolutely minimum one hour.

7. Protein Powder?
Evolve Diva Whey in Belgian Chocolate, Max's Reload (chocolate), and Max's Nite Time protein.

8. Gym outfit?
Gotta be my Phat Camp tights that I bought last year from Jen Hendershott's camp...they are sooo comfy. Tops I like the LJ singlets but only cos in my gym no one else wears them. They are so comfy but I find in a lot of gyms they are over worn (I think heaps of you have said that too).

9. Runners/Shoes?
Nike Free - except on legs day or during plyometrics/stairs sessions where I need a thicker shoe!! Then my Adidas come into play.

10. Clean or Dirty Diana? (clean healthy food or healthy with naughty extras)
Dirty Diana, as long as it's kept in moderation.

11. Inspiration?
People who defeat the odds to achieve their dreems

12. Fat Loss Philosophy?
Eat clean and train hard. Be patient.

13. Favourite Fitness Related Store or Brand:
I am a sucker for most supplement stores!

14. Last fitness related item you picked up?
My gloves

15. Your fitness philosophy?
If you want it enough, it will happen.

I am feeling heaps better this week than I did last week and over the weekend. Still a little sinus-y but not achy at all and have my strength back.

Have been smashing through the training the last few days. Tuesday was arms day and I did a mega session, which is a first in a while as I had cut back on arms training due to the fact they were getting too big. Felt the need to up the intensity though so threw in an additional biceps exercise, and superseted every set on triceps with dips, to failure. I probably managed more dips than ever before in a training session too, despite doing them to fatigue - the least I got out (very last set, end of workout) was 18. Has to have been a PB. I also really fatigued my abs on the same day, the last abs exercise I did was an isometric v-sit, 3 sets to failure and in the first set my abs were trembling!! LOVE that feeling.

Taught Spin yesterday morning and despite trying my hardest to not do the porn-star breathing into the microphone again (due to stuffy sinuses) went pretty hard. I had a few newbies in the class who had never done a cycle class before and the poor girls were stuffed by the end! Trained legs yesterday and they are pretty sore today, and decided for my second cardio yesterday to go for a walk in the fresh air - after all I need to up the Vitamin D as don't want to remain deficient! Not good for the calcium stores at all.

Trained chest this morning, and set some pretty good PBs in the plate loaded incline press, and the chest press machine. Not a huge fan of using machines (specially for muscles like chest) but like to throw an exercise here and there using a machine for a change. Finished it off with 40mins on the stepper. I felt awesome during today's workout - I think it's cos I decided to check my measurements this morning and they have finally started to come down!! YAY for that! I noticed a pretty big difference today while I was training too, definitely starting to look leaner which is awesome. Carbs definitely suit me - I look and feel so flat without them and today just showed me that I actually lean out quicker with them in my diet.

Things are starting to look up which is great. I am waiting on some news which if it comes through I am dying to post about - but don't want to speak too soon. Sorry for the vagueness but it will all make sense if it happens :)

Anyway off to eat again, my bloody metabolism is on fire I am thinking because I have been ravished lately. I eat, and an hour later I am physically (not just mentally lol) hungry.

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

Lurgies won't leave!!

Another weekend bites the dust! So we are now at the 10 week mark...gosh it's gonna FLY! I think I have finally nailed the headspace thing...and worked out my biggest issue. I have put on a lot of size in the off season (purposely I might add - needed more fullness in my muscle bellies...I love that word, bellies...) and every time I look at myself and where I'm at, and contemplate what I have to get to - I continually picture how I have looked in past comp seasons. And freak out that I can't do it. Therein lies my problem. I HAVE PUT ON SIGNIFICANT SIZE. I am currently sitting about 12.5kg above the weight I last competed at. I am NOT going to be the same as before - that was the purpose of growing in the off season! Now that I have that through my thick skull, I am in a much better place. I am bigger and harder than I have been before so I am where I wanted to be - and didn't realise that up til now. SO YAY!!



Anyway enough about that.



I am still a tad on the unwell side. I have managed to get my training in and made up for the training I missed while at my worst flu-wise but haven't been able to lift as heavy as I haven't had the physical strength, so have just tried my best to sweat it out in the cardio dept. Yesterday I went to work (first time since Wednesday) but by the time the workday finished my glands started to come up. Eeewww. Was supposed to go to 2 birthdays last night but went to neither, instead staying home to make more soup (I am gonna turn liquid at this rate) and spend some quality time on my couch, watching one of my all time fave movies that was on the tele last night (the Jackal) and stalking the net trying to get updates on all the fabbo babes that were competing at the All Females (and might I add, WELL DONE to you all!!! You all looked sensational and did yourselves proud!) Feeling really really run down and am fatiguing really easily, doesn't take much more than me being out of the house a couple of hours so hoping this leaves soon.



Today I started teaching a Posing class to some newbie figure girls at World Gym (my FAVE FAVE GYM!!), I was asked recently to take it over as a friend who was running it has moved to the US, and I jumped at the chance. Trained legs while I was there (I specially love training legs there, their equipment is awesome) and did both of my cardio sessions too (one before, one after the class). The girls were lovely which helps and had done a few prior classes so had a good starting point to go from. Can't wait to see them up on stage later this year!



Not much else to report. Food going really well, hopefully will be able to train at full throttle in the next few days...there is only 10 more weeks after all!

Hope you are all well. Til next time, train hard and be good.

Vic x

Chicken Soup for Me!!!

Yep that's what I'm on now. Chicken soup. Someone is getting a tad sick, which I guess was inevitable since a few of the girls at work have had the flu, and one of the other bridesmaids on the hens weekend was also quite sick...and I swapped beds with her halfway through night 2 (and didn't think to change pillows etc...smart, I know).

I taught Spin yesterday morning, trying really hard not to sniffle into the mic, and trying even harder not to breathe like a porn star into it given I couldn't breathe through my stuffy nose. I'm sure it sounded interesting but I did warn the participants that I had woken up with a drippy, clogged up nose so if they weren't fond of my porn-star sound effects, well...their problem! Got through it (sweated a bucket though...not a bad thing), had brekkie and as I was feeling progressively worse figured I should get training in while I had some strength. Did a legs session, shaking most of the way through but only managed 20min on the stepper afterwards...the hot and cold sweats started to kick in :( Went home for a bit of a sleep before starting work and got there feeling about 70%...which went downhill pretty quickly under the aircon. Bloody freezing gym airconditioning lol. I survived less than 3 hours and ended up going home where I parked my butt on the couch for the remainder of the night, snuggled up under a doona watching the Michael Jackson Memorial re-run (HOW GOOD WAS IT!! OK so I was a sook most of the way through, I loved MJ!!) and eating the chicken soup my lovely mum brought over. Did I ever mention how lucky I am to have such a bloody awesome mum!!

I woke up feeling pretty good this morning so thought I would go for a pre-brekkie walk. Not my smartest moment. 10min in and my nose was dripping, my eyes were watery and felt like exploding and it started feeling like there was a flame in my oesophagus (is that even how you spell it??). I hate being sick during prep but I hate the thought of missing training more...but I don't think I would be able to lift very much up today...not feeling very strong at the moment. So looks like it's back to bed and more chicken soup for me. Out of mum's though so will have to make a pot myself :( God I'm a whingey sod when I'm sick lol.

Just throwing it out there - Is it just me or does everyone feel like you have to train no matter what during comp prep?? I actually feel guilty for missing training...!

Anyway I noticed something during my walk this morning, DOMS from yesterday's training has taken hold, but only in my glutes ATM...I tell you this because I did exactly the same workout as I did last Wednesday, and even though I got DOMS in my glutes last week, it hit my Quads (in a bloody massive way) first then glutes almost a whole day later...quads are fine today though? Hmm strange...

OK I am ranting mindlessly now so I will be off...back to beddie byes for me...

Oh and in case I don't get another post in between now and the weekend - GOOD LUCK to all the girls doing the All Females - go kick some ass!! And enjoy the post comp meal ;)

God Bless the Carbs!!

After having been diagnosed last week with low blood sugar, I have re-introduced more carbs into my diet. I was a little worried at first to be honest, not sure why though as I have always eaten them while dieting except this year. Wanna know what happened? I started leaning out again and not feeling so water-logged. I am feeling leaner and less moody - and the frequency of dizzy spells is lessening.

Yep, it's confirmed. I am one of those people whose body loves carbs. I work better on them, I train better on them, and it appears I diet better on them. Probably something to do with the Italian background and having grown up eating carbs as a major staple (loads of pasta, bread, polenta my entire life), so it makes sense that my body digests them well! Who woulda thought. That'll learn me to stop listening to a million other people cos what is right for them isn't necessarily right for me.

In other news, training is going really well, I continually seem to be happy with the training front. I push myself every day. I do my weights and twice daily cardio sessions, 6 days a week. I don't under train and I have stopped over training. I push myself every session with the weights. I listen to my body with the cardio - if it feels like I need to do lower intensity stuff I do, but still with enough intensity to bother. The diet is also going awesome since I upped the carbs. I'm not hungry, and I have not had one sweet craving - not ONE!! (amazing for me, i have the world's biggest sweet tooth!!)

So all is well now with comp prep, it feels like it is all finally coming together. Now just gotta get my personal/work life sorted and will be happy as a pig in shit (thanks Tara - "borrowed" your line!!)

Question for the Brissie Chickies

Hey all,

I have a quick question for you Brissie chickees (or even those who aren't Brissy chickees but know lots of peeps up there), one of my old Sydney colleagues has a client who has decided to train towards competing in Figure however my old workmate has never had to train anyone for contest before and hasn't the slightest clue how to do so.

She has asked me if I know any PT's up there who specialise in competition training... Now I know that there are a few of you out there who PT but am not 100% sure exactly who does contest prep clients. Can any of you point me in the right direction (or put your hand up if it's you!!) of a good contest coach?

Thanking you in advance!

Vic xx

PS - my bloody legs are screaming expletives at me today...limited training time yesterday meant lots of heavy supersetting!! F#&%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I SURVIVED IT!!

I am sooo thrilled to say...I survived my bestie's Hen's weekend without any major slip ups!!!

I wasn't sure how I was going to manage, given the Hen's extravaganza started Friday night and finished this morning (Sunday) and we had a day at the races followed by lots of quality time in a bar afterwards planned...but the only non-diet thing I managed to indulge in is one vodka with diet coke. One. The only other beverage I consumed was water and coffee and despite eating probably larger quantities than I would normally of things like celery and carrot sticks and nuts, I didn't actually eat any of the other goodies (tempting as things like choccies, chips, cheese, profiteroles, hot dogs, crackers etc were). So I am pretty wrapt.

I even managed to get a 45min walk in both mornings while the other bridesmaids and bride-to-be slept in :)

So aside from the food we had a fabulous weekend. The races were lots of fun, my bestie was suitably drunk by, hmm, 12.30pm yesterday and then wondering why the bouncer wouldnt let her into the bar when we got back to the hotel. Might have been the "I shwear...I'm sooooo shober itsh not funny. D'ya want me to walkkkkkkkkk a shtrait liiiiiiiine? Cozzzzzzzzzz I soooooo can! You HAVE to lemmein! Itsh myyyy hensh pardy!! The gearlzzzzzzzzzzz are all meedin me HERE!!!" We then dragged the "shober" hen up to our room to shober up a little, where she proceeded to tell us all about how shober she really was and it was just the high heels making her walk funny. Eventually, after making shober hen eat a couple of bananas and drink a litre of water, we re-dressed her, put her hair in a ponytail, made sure she did NOT speak to security, and bingo! Got the shober hen through the door!! Lots of dancing later, and it was time for our fireman to arrive!! WOOT!! Now I actually happen to personally know the fireman-dressed sex God that we had along to our night (funny enough the Hen actually told me about 7 years ago when we booked a random stripper for a friend's Hen's night and this guy shows up, who I happen to know, my bestie ordered me there and then that if she ever got married HE was the stripper I HAD to get for her!! lol...how many bride-to-bes get to choose their own stripper!!)

So our Firie turns up to the hotel and I copped a few strange looks from the doormen when I gave him a kiss hello then led him to the lifts!! lol... Anyway Miss Hen was not exactly the blushing bride and spent more time posing for our cameras and telling Mr Fireman how he is the most 'Handsome' (??? is it normal to call a stripper 'handsome'??) man in the world than she did watching the show!! hehe

After that the night pretty well died down, everyone was pretty exhausted. We stayed up for a while and then our remaining guests slowly departed after a very long day.

I am now at home and probably the only chirpy guest from the weekends' festivities as I think I may have been the only sober person all day lol. Good fun though :) There were a few cringes this morning as I recalled some of yesterday's events for the girls who had a few blank memory patches!! lol

Now I just have the wedding to get through in 4 weeks!!

Anyway off to train legs now and get some cardio in :) So til next time, train hard and be good!

Vic x

We have a resolution :-)

Legs day today. I love legs, don't know if I have ever mentioned that. Funny that, though, cos I used to HATE training legs! But it's my fave day now. I almost threw up several times this morning during the session though - maybe cos I did them about an hour after teaching a Spin class? lol...was shaking like a leaf by the 3rd exercise!! Feel great now though.

I went off to the doc's today to get my blood test results from last week. The headspinning has been getting worse and starting earlier in the day....pretty much comes on a couple of hours after waking up (lucky I do my weights in the morning I tell you!) and stays all day. So it turns out that I have low blood sugar levels, and a Vitamin D deficiency. Dr told me I need to increase my carb intake which I can do as I am not really having that many carbs. I don't even know why I'm not having many...in the past I have always had carbs with the first 4 meals of the day but this season for some reason I have only been having oats for brekkie and some rice post-training - not enough for me. She has also told me I should carry jelly beans with me and eat them when I am feeling dizzy. I have stocked up on the chemist ones (you all know em, the REALLY juicy, yummy glucose ones!!) and have eaten quite a few of them tonight, to no avail. Unfortunately I still feel like I am going to collapse. Hopefully something will kick in soon. I have also been placed on a Vitamin D supplement so hopefully they too will help the situation. I have done some research and it turns out that Vit-D deficiency and low blood sugar have very similar symptoms... fatigue, dizziness, insomnia, confusion, difficulty with concentration etc... God no wonder I am really feeling it!! Maybe I just need a long vacation in the Bahamas lying on the beach, sipping cocktails - kill two birds with one stone!

So aside from the jelly bean consumption nutrition has been awesome, training has been awesome...life is good! The countdown is still continuing and i am onto my 3rd gold star...YAY!!