Water logged week wrap up

So another week over with...and another weekend with it :( Suffering pre-Monday-itis tonight and really CBF at the moment! Hmmm must be drawing towards the end of the year!! lol

Training and nutrition have been really good this week. The tummy bug kinda stuck around for a little longer than I had hoped, but mostly in the form of nausea and sporadic tummy cramps. So I soldiered on with my training and ate well all week. Thursday morning I did a rip-snorter of a leg session. I know it was a rip-snorter session cos the DOMS kicked in, hmm, maybe a couple of hours after training. And the session-type was confirmed when on Friday evening, some 36 hours later, my legs were still visibly swollen. And further confirmation was granted when I realised just how much fluid retention was going on, when it literally felt like the skin around my calves was going to split open. Now we are talking 11pm Friday night I was in agony. The training session took place on Thursday morning at 6am. The fluid was gone by Saturday morning (OK maybe with the aid of some pre-bed herbal diuretics) and back down to normal weight, which I was stoked about. Leg DOMS subsided by Sat evening, just in time for me to give them a caning again this morning ;)

On a personal note, weekend was pretty good. Aside from the shit of having to work Saturdays (it sucks having a split weekend, my days off are Friday/Sunday....WARNING - RANT TIME... I usually waste Fridays as all my mates are at work during the day, so I tend to not really do much with my day. Friday nights I usually spend at home as I have to get up super early to train before work (I start at 8). Saturdays at work are DEAD and so I spend the day doing NOTHING...unless you count surfing the net for 8 hours as doing something...which makes me tired, so I usually don't want to do anything on Saturday nights!! ANYWAY by Sunday I am normally so bloody knackered it's not funny.

OK rant over - not sure where I was going with that.

So my weekend. On Friday I actually got to socialise a bit. One of my closest girlfriends is due with her firstborn on Christmas day and has had some problems, so is now on forced bedrest until delivery (which looks like it will be in the next 3 weeks or so), so I went and hung out with her for a bit...poor thing is going mad being stuck at home in bed all day every day! Her baby shower was supposed to have been today but she had to cancel it for obvious reasons :(

Friday night I basically did jack shit (for reasons stated above) then last night after work I went to one of my friends' places for some drinks. It was supposed to be a farewell for a friend who is moving to Brissy - but he ditched it at the last minute!?! WTF??? Oh well, we were there and so were the drinks so we had them anyway.

This morning I was up early and went to the gym before opening to train legs, as I had my Goddaughter's 1st Communion today. So I went to that and after the church bit we were going back to their place for a lunch. Firstly I should explain that my Goddaughter is my little 8 year old cousin. So it wasn't a massive 'do, all the aunties/uncles were invited, a handful of the 4,000 cousins that us Italians have (only the ones around her age were invited, none of the older ones...there is seriously about 100 of us otherwise lol) and her best friend. So safe to say pretty close family/friends. And one of my Aunty's workmates. Who happens to be male, close to my age, and single. WTF? If it wasn't the most blatantly obvious attempt on my Aunt's behalf to set me up, it was then made worse by the "Oh Vicki - did I introduce you to Michael?" the second he entered a 15m radius of where I was...followed by making sure we sat opposite eachother at lunch, followed by the "SO - what did you think about Michael" the nanosecond he left!! I actually found it all pretty amusing to be honest.

Anyway had my cheat today...God it was good to indulge in some yummy homemade food... did I ever mention that occasions such as Communions are like Christmas day to us wogs? As in there is enough food to feed a large army. We started with antipasto (like olives, bocconcini, ham, salami, prosciutto etc etc), then had a bowl of home made gnocchi, then had the main course of creamy mushroom chicken, meatballs, and salads. And of course then there was cake - vanilla mudcake...and home made crostoli which was so light and crispy - just divine, and so much nicer than the bought stuff!

So feeling a bit bloated this evening, although I went for a bit of a walk when I got home and the full feeling subsided a bit so that's good. Back on the wagon again now, it was roo and salad for dinner, one of my faves!

Anyway bit of a rant post I know but it's over now ;)
So til next time, train hard and be good.
Vic x

Post with a difference

Dear readers,
Today's post is a little different. Today's post isn't about me and where I'm at. Today's post is about others, and a simple step we can take to help those who are struggling in life.
For those who haven't checked out the fabulous Shelley's blog - I am requesting that you do so today. Shelley has pledged to donate $1 to the Inspire Foundation for every person who leaves a comment. So click here to head on over there...and spread the word.
No matter what we are going through...there is always someone facing bigger demons. It doesn't take much to help out...
Vicki x

Nope, not food poisoning

GODDAMN TUMMY BUG!!

Yep...it's hit me :(

What I thought was a minor bout of food poisoning or something late Saturday arvo (no didn't stop me from going out and getting my drink on) and had written off as a bad Thai food experience has turned out to be a stupid ass tummy bug. I thought it was out of my system but it returned yesterday afternoon, woke me up during the night (love *those* kind of toilet trips mid-sleep, don't you just?? i know, TMI but hey it's my blog dammit) and has hit me with a vengeance today. Got up this morning and went to train back/bi's after brekkie...but by the time I got to the gym the cramps were killer! I did a lighter than normal back workout and called it a day. No biceps. No cardio. Listening to my body today and leaving the training where it is (didn't have much choice to be quite honest...it's a bit hard to bicep curl in the fricken foetal position).

So it's couch time for me today. Time to catch up on some DVDs me thinks. While snuggling with my hot water bottle and puppy dogs.

The end.

Mmmmm Tim Tams...

Gosh I'm getting so lazy at this blog thing. Just never seems to be enough time to sit down and write a post. Which makes me laugh due to the amoung of time I drain on the net, but most of the time I have it on in the background while doing other stuff. Anyway...'nuff of that.

Training wise it's been an awesome week. Have made some strength gains...one of the benefits of extra fuel :) Nutrition wise I have been pretty good. Have had a couple of treats this week...Friday I did 2 training sessions so was extra hungry...slipped some sushi rolls in at lunch time (mmm sushi...how i've missed you!) and a Thai stirfry for dinner. OK OK so a couple of honeycomb Tim Tams may have also entered the equation...lol GOD THEY WERE BLOODY GOOD. So here is my plug...IF YOU HAVEN'T TRIED THEM...GET OFF YOUR BUTT, DRAG IT TO COLES AND PICK UP A PACKET. YOU WILL NOT REGRET. PROMISE (see picture for more detail...little honeycomb chunks in a Tim Tam)

Work has pretty much sucked this week. It has been the *LONGEST* week in the history of the world. We had a shoe sale thing at work this week (yes. I work in a gym. And we had a shoe sale. As you do.) It was a warehouse sale so the company that sells the shoes brought in 1000+ pairs of ladies shoes and set them up in a fairly empty (well it was empty after we moved all the abs/stretching stuff onto the main gym floor section) corner of the gym and we literally had thousands of women flock through the doors from Thurs - Sat to view said shoes. Don't get me wrong, I picked me up a cute little pair of leather ballet flats (bright red, very noice) for like $20...but seriously. Have you ever seen a hundred women at a time flock through a shoe warehouse sale?? Fuck me. It was insane. Thursday (day one of the sale, the day most of em turn up cos they don't want to miss out) was, hands down, the longest fucking day of my life. 8 hours felt, no joke, like 8 months. Yesterday was no better - given it was the last day, everyone wanted to make sure they didnt miss out on some last minute bargains. I thought my head was going to explode.

Thank God that week is over.

So caught up with an old friend last night who I haven't seen in ages, we went to one of the locals and had a few bevvies. When I say 'a few' make no mistake. I am seriously the cheapest drunk in the world these days. Pretty amusing given the copious amount of alcohol I used to consume on any given weekend (and maybe Thursday...but that's close enough to the weekend, right??) I have had no more than 4 hours sleep but my fricken body clock won't let me fall back asleep! Tried for a while before giving up and having brekkie.

So now it's off to the gym for a legs session...then heading to Newtown for the annual Newtown festival...good times :)

Anyway have dribbled enough shit for today so on that note, train hard and be good.

Vic x

Cruising along

So things are plodding along nicely for what feels like a very nice change this year!! Training is going well, nutrition is going well, headspace is going well...and it's OFF SEASON!! When I think of where I was at last year, one week after the last comp for the year...I think I was about 7kg heavier than comp. And about a week after that I was about another 5kg heavier. It went on so fast, but on reflection I was justifying shovelling a LOT of shit down my throat with excuses like "I've earnt it", "I've worked so hard, I deserve it". Really? Does anyone deserve to eat about 3,000 calories in one sitting (which is what I would estimate I consumed the night of the last comp, in the space of about 3 hours...and no unfortunately that is *not* an exaggerated figure). Does anyone deserve to cram pizza, ice cream, chocolates, lollies and pasta in excessive quantities down their throat pretty much all day, every day for a week or two, straight? Or go to a certain ice-creamery week after week and eat an entire take home pack of ice cream with add-ins in one sitting...and then go back for seconds? Sure it was funny at the time...but the reality is that the headfucks that followed for most of this year was definitely not worth the indulgence (binge?) at the time. I am not against allowing guilty pleasures...not in the least (in fact I indulged last night but more on that later) but this year I have decided that my new favourite word is moderation.
SO...I am sticking to a mild cheat mid-week (when I say mild cheat i mean like a small treat, if i feel like banana bread for brekkie one morning or something...) and then a full cheat meal on the weekend. It's working for me, I am still sitting 2.5kg above stage weight.
Anyway enough of the serious stuff. I took me to a friend's Halloween party last night and cut loose properly. Knowing that I was going to be a very cheap drunk given that I can count how many nights on the piss I have had this year on one hand (God things have changed...I have probably been out drinking this year the amount of times I used to go out drinking in one week once upon a time!! lol) I thought I would take some lollywater drinks with me... my usual drink of choice once upon a time would have been JDs or beer but I don't think I could handle any of that right now!! haha...So I discovered these pomegranite vodka cosmos...YUMMO!! And for the first time in my life I was a VERY cheap drunk...I felt tipsy on ONE!! So imagine me after 4 of them plus a cup of Sangria...mmm yep Vic was drunk lol. The friend who was throwing the party works at Fernwood, the first gym I worked at, and I loved all the girls there. It was awesome to catch up with a few of them, I haven't seen them in AGES! There was loads of yummy treats there...Rasha (party thrower) is quite the cook and her and her flattie had spent the day making homemade sushi rolls, quiche slice, pastizzis, chicken and beef sausages, veges with homemade dips, mini cupcakes etc...not to mention the malteser and jaffa bowls scattered around the place...mmm yum!!
Anyway all in all it was a good night but I can't do it like I used to...I was bloody exhausted by like 10pm!! I soldiered on a few more hours though :) Only one way to get back in the swing of things, and with the Festive Season coming up God knows I need to pull my finger out!! hehe
Trained legs today, did a bit of cardio and spent time writing some diets and programs for clients...and sleeping (yep, Nanna over here still needed to recover from last night haha)...let's just blame the Sydney heat for that one lol.
Anyway big week coming up work-wise, we are a couple of staff members down so will be pulling in some OT shifts, so on that note gonna get myself ready for some snoozing :)
So til next time, train hard and be good.
Vic x

Blue porridge and newfound mojo

Gosh I so don't know where to start. I think last post was post-comp day, and I was still going back to watch the boys divisions (and female physique) on Sunday. Sunday's lineups were nothing short of bloody unreal. The quality of all the divisions was second to none, and there were some very tight calls to be made...glad I wasn't judging. My mate Mark won a very tight competition to take out the Under 80kg NSW & Aussie title, it was obviously very close between him and the second-place getter. Mike my old coach took 3rd in NSW in the Over 90kg division and 3rd also in the Aussie Over 100kg (Super Heavyweight) division. The womens' physique lineup was bloody awesome too, with a very ripped Kahla Bullemor (spelling?) taking it out - she was super conditioned!!

The entertainment was good again with Ronnie gracing the stage for an interview again (went a bit long though, especially when they were asking mostly the same stuff as they had on the Saturday) and tearing up the stage (and crowd) with his posing routine. All in all it was a great weekend of competition and I am so glad I chose IFBB over ANB in the end.

We headed into Brighton-Le-Sands after Sunday's show to grace a place called Bay Vista, famous for it's ice-creams served in fishbowl-sized glasses...only to find it had closed down!! That sucked...however in some ways was probably a good thing as I was scheduled to do a photo shoot on Monday and probably wouldn't have looked any good with a belly full of ice cream!! LOL... Most of the others ordered burgers and pizzas...I can't believe this but I ordered a grilled chicken salad!! LOL...BUT it was made up of things like marinated, grilled capsicum, artichoke, eggplant, sundried tomato and topped with goats cheese...see pics. It was bloody delish and I didn't even finish it!!

Monday morning I did the photo shoot and had some fun...although I am a bit camera shy (DEF never make a good model, even if I had the looks I would suck at it haha). Can't WAIT to see the pics! From there I headed out to my friend's gelato shop, Giotto Gelato, for the only real cheat meal I have had since comp....a MASSIVE bowl of gelato...5 scoops of pure heaven. I even got to finally try the new flavour he made while I was dieting that I named... PEANUTELLA...that's right...peanut butter with swirls of nutella...DOES IT GET ANY BETTER THAN THAT!!!

I have been hitting the training again with a new found passion. I have obviously cut back from my 8,000 cardio sessions a week down to one a day, 30-40 mins...and weights down to a 4 day split. I am loving it. Even hit the sprints/stairs this morning :)

And the blue porridge from the title of this post? See pic...this was this morning's brekkie after my stair runs. I have been enjoying adding simple stuff like apple and berries back to my diet...this morning I chopped up half an apple and added a handful of blueberries to my eggy oats..and this is how it turned out...BLUE!! It was divine!!

And lastly...I am happy to report that since I haven't splurged more than the gelato, and pretty much went back to clean eating straight away, I am sitting a measly 2.5kg above stage weight :) AMAZING, given that stage weight is dehydrated, depleted weight. I intend to keep it not much more than this over summer...bikini body here I come!!

So kids, til next time, train hard and be good.

Vic x

Post Comp Report

So it's all done and dusted now. Day One of the IFBB NSW/Aussies are over and I got up on that stage and strutted my stuff :)

So after all that they ended up putting short and tall class together (there were only 2 in the tall - gee, wonder if they new height cut-off had much to do with that!?!) and 7 in short, so in the end there were 9 in the lineup. Great line up I might add :) There were girls I have known for a few years and also a few that I have admired for some time so how could I be disappointed with that! Anyway cut to the chase - I didn't place in the Aussies but got 3rd in the NSW division to Jodie Casey (1st) and Rebecca Michich (think that's the spelling - 2nd). So was pretty happy to bring some silverware home, given 2 days ago I was leaning more towards pulling out than getting up there!! Sara Picken-Brown took out the Aussie Open Figure title, with Kylie Bruno and Dianne Hunt placing 2nd and 3rd (I am pretty sure that's who got 2nd and 3rd!!).

My great friend Cath took 3rd in the Aussies Master Figure category, so all in all it was a fab day :) We had loads of fun and I got to catch up with lots of friends. And I just loved Ronnie. I couldn't give a rat's if he is off season, the guy is a bloody unit and I thought he was great! And his wife took part in the interview he gave on stage too, she was awesome too.

Anyway here are a few piccies, will upload all into facebook if you wanna see them :)

After it was over, we went for coffee and while the others were into the lattes, white choc mochas and chillers - all I could stomach after the sugar overload today was a long black with a dash of soy!! On the way home I stopped at my new local Thai restaurant that I have been hanging to try out as I was starving but couldn't be bothered to cook. I was still feeling the effects of the sugar high from today so just wanted something as healthy as possible so opted for chicken & veggies in ginger...stir fried in water, no oil!! Not even rice to go with it. Highly unusual for me, who only ever wants pizza or pasta and ice cream post-comp...not tonight!! lol. I might mention tho that we are going back to watch the boys divisions tomorrow and heading out to a famous dessert place in Brighton-Le-Sands after that for ice cream... hopefully my appetite will come back!! hehe

Anyway better jet off...early start again tomorrow and am DYING to scrub the dream tan off and get into bed.

SO til next time, train hard and be good, Vic x