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

...to compete...

As it goes...on with the show.
So after slapping some tan on, dropping the sodium and flushing the fluid out...I have decided to compete. I am biting the bullet and truth be known - feeling pretty good about my decision. I am looking better than I did 2 weeks ago and feeling more confident than I did then too so here's hoping! The water depletion is not fun though, I have a headache and am a little lightheaded but about to eat again so hoping that helps a lil.
There were tonnes of people at registration today - and I got there like an hour early!! Not sure about who will be in my class (I know of 2 certainties but not sure about anyone else) but was told that they had moved the height cut off for short figure, it is now 168cm. WTF?? 167.9cm is pretty bloody tall if you ask me, given I am 157.5cm (I have shrunk - last I knew I was 160cm but at weigh in today I found that's no longer true...), and I know that one of the two girls I know to be doing short figure is under 5' - so still a massive variable if you ask me. But whatever.
I am looking forward to some pasta more than anything I think. I had some sweet potato today for the first time in, well, bloody forever and it was divine!! I can't believe how good sweet potato can taste lol
Not much else to report from me. Thank you to all who have dropped by with your wisdom and comments, you guys have truly helped me this week. I seriously would have pulled the pin if I didn't have people like you surrounding me (even if in Blogland!!)
So, til post comp, train hard and be good,
Vic x

To compete or not to compete

This is the debate I am having with myself. Yes, 2 and a bit days out. I am contemplating pulling the pin. I do this every comp season - get to comp week and feel so not ready to get on stage but it's normally carb depletion talking, not being able to see myself realistically and feeling flat, bloated etc...but I really think this time that I am being more realistic than ever before. I really don't feel like I should be getting up on that stage this weekend, I really, honestly don't feel ready. I don't know if it's cos I feel so headf*cked from the Central Coast comp but I don't feel I am looking stageworthy (or stage-ready). I don't want to be that girl on stage that people are talking about that isn't in comp condition. I do also know, though, that whilst in a state of depletion I shouldn't make any rash decisions, and therefore I will hold out until I am carbed up, tanned up, and water depleted to make a final call.
It has clearly been a week of ups and downs (mostly downs unfortunately) and I think I am also very exhausted. Being on a diet of pretty much nothing but chicken and green veg, with up to 2 hours cardio + 45ish mins weights a day I feel like doing nothing but sleeping - and given the chance would do so quite easily at any given time!
Anyway I am sure I will start to feel better tomorrow when the carbs make a reappearance in the diet and the tan starts to bring out some definition in the currently pasty, white bod...
OK rant over. Just needed to get some of this off my chest...
As for my decision, stay tuned...Vic

Can I interest you in some chicken and asparagus?

WARNING: PRE COMP RANT AHEAD!!

Some days it's just harder to push through than others. So far this week, every day has become increasingly harder to push through. I am struggling to get up of a morning and do my cardio, struggling to get to the gym after brekkie to train, struggling to use my dinner break to do some more cardio, and then to stay back and do even more after work. Mostly - I am struggling to keep my bloody eyes open most of the time!! One more week and ahhhh...relax...

I have been managing 3-4 cardio sessions plus one weights session a day (don't worry the cardio isn't like an hour long each time, in general it's between 30-40 mins and totals about 2 hours a day...I just find that to fit it into my day, and maintain sanity, I need to break it up into smaller spurts...plus I physically can't do more than that at a time with all the freaken stair runs I have been doing every day, my legs are not in their happiest state at the moment!!)

Anyway the finish line is now in sight, this is the bit (believe it or not) that I love but also the bit I find most challenging. Living on a diet consisting of eggwhites with cauliflower (thanks Steph for that idea!) for breakfast and then 5 meals of chicken and asparagus brings out a new form of discipline in me, and while water loading I try to remember how bad it feels to be dehydrated come comp day so I try to enjoy drinking so much water. I might throw in here though - last year when I did the asparagus thing for a week straight, a lot of my PT clients referred to 'asparagus wee' and made loads of jokes about it. I had no idea what they were on about - apparently only about 40% of people have the smell receptors to pick up on the scent that is asparagus wee. Well, people, let me tell you...I have discovered that it is possible to develop those smell receptors later in life. And boy have I developed them. FUCK ME. Nothing could have prepared me for that shit - it's in a class of it's own. It is rank. And drinking like 7L of water a day, one can imagine how many times a day I have the pleasure of smelling this shit.

On that note, I am off to drink some more water...

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

Decisions, decisions

Gosh, I have to start by saying thank you to all for your positive feedback / responses to my last post. It's sometimes hard to pick yourself up and keep going but having support like that which I get here makes a massive difference.
I am currently cardio-ing like a bloody madwoman and my legs are getting a caning. I have hit the stairs/sprints Mon/Tues morning, Spin this morning, trained legs Monday and today, and managed to squeeze so far an additional 6 cardio sessions in on top of the stairs/sprints/Spin class. And it's only 10am Wednesday!! I have never used Deep Heat so much in my life, my poor Spin class got a great wake up with it this morning!
So I have been tossing up a few options in the last few days. My first and foremost thought was to throw in the towel for the year and focus on next season, but the fighter in me tells me I can do this. My next debate with myself has been in regards to which comp to do next weekend. I was originally going to do IFBB then switched to ANB (same weekend) due to costs etc, and only having to pay one federation registration. HOWEVER I think that looking back on the comps I have been to and participated in, ANB tends to lean towards the overly lean girls, who are shredded to bits and don't have a lot of meat on their bones. I do not fall into that category. Experience also tells me that the IFBB comps (in particular those run here in Sydney) tend to go for the more solid girls, who are not overly hard (they mark you down if you are toooooo lean as in IFBB terms, figure girls should not be as hard as physique girls) and of late are placing more emphasis on fullness and symmetry. Which is kind of more what I have. So after double checking rego/entry fees for IFBB, it is cheaper than I had in my head (for some reason I thought it was $99 rego and $50 comp entry....it is $50 rego and $25 entry...BOO YAH!!) SO...I am now leaning towards IFBB. I hate being soooo undecided...is it just me or do any of you competitors out there find that your decision making ability turns to jelly when dieting??? lol
Anyway better jet, just thought I would get a quick post in to get my thoughts out of my head and into writing, and to thank you gals for your support :)
Til next time, train hard and be good...Vic x

1st one down

SO....first comp is officially done and dusted now. I am not overly happy with how it went, I missed the mark on my conditioning. I am trying to work out how it went wrong as I was very happy with how I was looking on Saturday night. Unfortunately I woke up (if you can call it that) Sunday morning looking flat and watery. NOT what I wanted. It didn't get any better either - if anything probably got worse. I had a very bad "sleep" on Saturday night, and in fact I use the word "sleep" very loosely as I probably got a total of one hour in if you add all the broken bits up together. I have since heard this can make you hold fluid? Anyway no matter what it was, I wasn't in form on Sunday and I knew while up on stage for prejudging that I was not in the running for a place. My initial reaction when I got off stage was to be a bit upset - but at the end of the day I knew I wasn't at my best, and if I can't learn from the not-so-good times then I am in the wrong sport. So onwards and upwards, I need to focus hard on the next comp, in 2 weeks. I need to hit the cardio hard and harden up more. So I got up this morning and hit the stairs for a 45min killer session. Home for brekkie (and to post this of course) and back to the gym to throw a few weights around and follow it up with some more cardio. Then I plan on doing a HIIT session after work tonight. This is it baby - FOCUS TIME!!

I have posted some piccies from around the traps, and my cool "i have a new massive back" shot hehe....

First pic...me and my fabulous friends Cathy and Timmy:

Shot 2 - me and the other Vicki (one of the most fun women I have ever met!!):

Probably the only stage photo I don't feel like a heiffer in hehe:

And finally my new back...hehe...

Til next time, train hard and be good!

Vic x