Arnold Classic Blog – Update 2

Hi Everyone-

I am amazed at how time flies. It feels just like yesterday I was updating this blog, and posting about my progress.  It is exactly 37 days until I leave.  5 weeks!  Yikes. This is when you really know the pressure is on, and your diet and training need to be exact.  I did not start my diet until 14 days ago (maybe less), and with every show I always think that I am not going to make it.

I can say that right now I am in full diet mode.  What that means to me, is that I eat my food, and really don’t think to much about swaying from the diet plan. 

This week:

• 4 days of weights
• 2 routine days (one day was good, one day was a waste of time)
• 20-25 mins cardio per session twice this week.

I cannot say that I do all the cardio as I just don’t have time.  I had to cancelled two of my own cardio sessions as I am very busy.  It is January, I am personal trainer, demand is high right now.
My personal training business has taken off, and I am quite busy.  Compared to last year at this time (See blog postings of January 2010), I have to say that I love coming to work everyday.

When preparing for a show being busy is key to staying on track.  Not only does it contribute to your caloric expendure (even slightly), but your mind is always focussed on the take at hand, and if you experience hunger you don’t notice as much.  I find that summertime is extremely hard for me to diet (and I have mentioned this before in previous posts), but in the ‘winter weight’ does come off a bit easier when it is cold outside.

Perhaps it because I am cold most of the time (due to the cold weather – don’t read into this too much), and even if I burn an extra 100 calories over the period of my competition prep – that could add up to 1-2 lbs of fat loss that I did not have to consciously work for.  Plus working all day, and the coming home to my second job – being a mom & taking care of the house – my daily activity expendure is quite high.

I do have to say that when I am dieting – I don’t watch a lot of TV.  I think TV (much like the Internet) can be a huge waste of time.  Sure I do watch certain TV shows, but sitting still in front of the TV has always been paired with eating.   But with the Internet – typing and eating does not happen as much.  I cannot enjoy cheat foods while sitting at the computer, but sitting in front of the TV and eating – that could be really easy, and fun – since I don’t partake in that activity frequently.

So the point being – when dieting —>

• keeping busy is extremely helpful to staying on track and with that minimize TV watching. 
• Internet usage for me does go up slightly for the reasons mentioned above (cannot eat and type), but lately I am just too busy to ‘browse’.  But the Internet can prove to be useful to keep the hands busy when dieting.

Here are this weeks pictures:

So I had started my diet on January 10th and now it is the Saturday the 23rd of January.  Good things have happened in two weeks.  I took the last set of pictures on the Monday, so only 6 days between this set of photos and last set –>  Arnold Classic Blog Update 1.

I have to admit that for the first time ever in a prep – I am missing meals.  I work, then I keep working and don’t eat.  This is not a good strategy.  I am a smaller frame by nature, and need the food to keep my muscle.  Otherwise I just end of looking really lean, but small.

Goals for next week – eat my meals, especially between clients.  Routine practice full out at least 2x this week.  Change up my training plan.  Hold the line with the rest.

Until next week – Happy training,

A.

Arnold Classic Blog – Update 1

2011 Arnold Fitness International Training

Week 1, Day 7

I will be blogging my progress leading up to my second appearance at the 2011 Arnold Fitness International.

Side note: I have been blogging for years, and re-organized my posts – you can search for any competition that I have been in, or click under ‘competitions’ and read about any prep that I have done over the last 5 years. There are even progress pics back in 2006 when I had my son and returned the competitive stage 6 months later. I have come along way since then. I have added quite a bit of muscle – but it is did take a lot of time. You are welcomed to read my progress as well as my post show reflections.

I read the news around the 27th of December that I was on the list of invitees. I did not have access to the Internet so had to hold off for a few days. I knew that if I was invited I would be overseas, and unable to start my diet, so leading up to my vacation I tried to keep on a modified off season diet, so that when I was away the damage would not be too great.

During my vacation, I ate whatever, whenever I wanted. I think I gained about 5lbs. I know I gained weight was things did not ‘look’ the way I wanted them to look. (or I could have been really bloated – lol) I did weigh myself when I got home, and it read anywhere from 128lbs to 134lbs.

So I do have work to do in the next 6 weeks, but it is and will be manageable to come in shape for the show.

After getting back to Canada a week ago, I started my ‘diet’ officially on January 9, 2011. We actually got back on Saturday evening after 30+ hours of travel, and with no groceries in the house, and it being so late all I wanted to do was sleep.

On Sunday I spent the day unpacking, doing laundry, grocery shopping, and prepping my food for the week. I usually take 1-2 weeks to eliminate certain items from my diet, but this time after eating so poorly throughout my vacation I welcomed my clean foods. Traveling 12 times zone is tough on the body, and pair that with lack of water, altitude differences, and eating poor foods, feeling awful is the only expected outcome.

And I felt awful.

Thailand is exactly a 12-hour difference, so all this week I have been up really early, around 2-3am. :0 I do have clients at 5am, so training them was not all that bad; however, by the end of the day I was ready for a 4-hour nap.

This week’s goals for training were:
Get 4 days of weights in.
Cardio 4 days – 20-30mins
Routine Practice 1X – at minimum front half, back half.
At least get my skills laid out in the routine, and ‘set’ it so that I can just rep the crap out of it for the next 45 days.
Get my meals on track with a few ‘extras’ to help the transition.
Posing practice (yes, I still do this)

Right now I feel tired and so sore. The soreness I like (within reason), and I am fighting a cold (sniffles and a cough), slightly bloated, and just overall run down. I know the only cure is sleep. Although my two-week break was good for the body, (and the mind) it is just not evident yet. I expect next week to be better as I will have adjusted better to the time change.

When I get into full diet and training mode, I tend to nap, but right now I just want my body to adjust to the time different and napping always affects the quality and quantity of my night sleep. And anyone who has dieted before knows that the lack of sleep can affect their weight loss – especially when it comes to contest dieting.

I will be starting boot camp classes next week at Bishop’s University and am adding a few new clients so I will be very busy at work. I always like being busy when dieting as the food becomes fuel to move to the next activity and I can stay on track.

Next week, I will be doing routine practice for 2x per week. As long as the quality of the practice remains high I don’t see it being an issue to hold the line there for 2-3 weeks. I need the time for my body to adjust to pounding on the hard wood floor. Pushing my body for more is just a recipe for an injury.

Here are this weeks pics. Feedback is welcomed.

Tamee Marie, my suit sponsor the year, has already finished my suit for the Arnold.  It is amazing. I compare the suit to a wedding dress – most girls do not want you to ‘see’ their suit before the show date. I am like that right now with this suit – I love it.

I will be updating on a weekly basis. Not much happens in 2-3 days although at the end of the prep phase huge things can happen in that time. I am not there yet.

Until next week – happy training,

A.

“You will never win if you never begin.” – Helen Rowland

Christmas 2010 – Thailand

"Andaman Sea"

Finally, I am back in Canada. It has been a wild 3 weeks, but after all this travel you really come to appreciate how simple your life can be, and return home renewed, and motivated to continue on with your life.  I had gone to Thailand two previous times, and Sri Lanka, and Qatar the previous Christmas so I understood what the flights were like.  One time we left for JFK in New York and that flight was 16 hours straight. This time we had not a great flight path – Montreal to Zurich to Bangkok, then to our final destination Phuket (pronouned pu-ket), Thailand.

It was more than 30 hours of travel in total. Luckily our first flight was first class, however, the rest of the legs were in the nosebleeders, and with a 4 year old that can get a bit tight.

We survived, and landed to 40 + degree Celsius weather.  All I wanted was real food, and a shower.

We had one day in the heart of Phuket (most of which we just wanted to sleep) and then traveled to another destination for the week – a place on the island of Ko Lanta called Baan Phu Lae.  It was the last hotel/beach front huts on this island.  It was another 4 hours of driving and 2 boat crossings.  It was long, but again being in a car with air conditioning and plenty of sun it was manageable.

Seeing the beach was the best reward at the end.  I did pack food to take with me but after about 2-3 days it was not safe to eat this food.  If you have never been to Thailand, the best thing about Thailand is that eating at a restaurant is very, very cheap.  A meal at a regular restaurant can run you about $3 maybe less depending on where you get your food. Sure the food is not prepared a competitor would like, but the portions are much smaller in comparison to North American sizing, and the food is tasty.  Lots of rice, stir frys, fish, shellfish, soups.  Not super high calorie, but definitely not on one’s diet list.   I knew going here that I would NOT be dieting, however, I did not realize how hungry I would be either.  So in essence, I ate a lot – a lot of good food (good tasting but not necessarily always healthy), and usually double the portions (did I mention how small the portions were).  Drinking alcohol is not really my style – even though it is really cheap – a beer is like 30 cents – and I just did not feel like it with all the heat.  Water. All I wanted was water all the time.  I felt swollen most of the time due to the heat mixed with jet lag and this is not a great feeling.

Baan Pu Lae - Thailand

Baan Pu Lae – This place was a bit like camping.  Imagine, I was considering bringing my hair straightener – nope no need for that.  I don’t think I ever styled my hair once while I was there.  Showers with no hot water, scoop flush – you don’t ‘flush’ the toilet but pour water in the toilet instead, and a fan in our hut – no AC. Coming from snow and being bundled up all the time, it is a bit of an adjustment to go to that extreme in weather in a 2 day period.  And with no real relief from it all you could do was ‘adjust’ there was no backing out of it.  I have done the ‘real’ Thailand before, and to experience what everyday is like, this is the best way to go.

"The race" - on the beach

The beach was beautiful and empty.  We were right on the edge of a National park so there was one little hotel after us, but it was more ritzy, and the patrons did not really seem to ‘like’ the beach.  We had many kids playing, so it was great as we always knew where they were.

It was so hot that all you wanted to do was get in the water.  Christmas was spent swimming, eating, laughing with some new friends, and their children.

During the week we did some tourist things – shopping in a nearby town, riding an elephant, napping in the afternoons (as it was just too hot – and this is the cool part of the year).

Elephant Ride

The following week we went back to Phuket as my brother in law and his wife, and son live there.

Main Road in Phuket

We explored the main part of Phuket, ate at some pretty interesting places (Ceramic Kitchen), visited the mall, swimming, water slides (super fun), went to another island – Koh Rachi and hung out.

Koh Rachi

Pool - Koh Rachi

During this time I did not watch my food, or exercise.  Perhaps I just needed the break.   But I did find out I was invited to the 2011 Arnold Classic Fitness International for the second consecutive time.   I was a little concerned that perhaps I should be cleaning up my eating, however, life is meant to be lived, and there was no way I could (under these circumstances) have my lean protein, and fresh veggies on a daily basis. I do have to say by the end of it, I was missing my structure at home.  Three weeks is not enough time to fully adjust to the heat, and well my skin was freaking out, and I really was missing the gym, and my regulated meals.  I love eating clean, and in Thailand it is cheaper to eat off the street than go to the store, get your own food, and then cook it.  I suppose, if I wanted to rock the boat I could have done this, however, this trip was not about me it was about my family.  I adjusted enough to satisfy my needs, but I am looking forward to eating my ‘diet food’.

The flight home was much easier than the flight to Thailand.  Perhaps it was because we were in first class on the last leg of the trip and the seats laid flat, so we were all looking to get some sleep.

The time really flew by – I returned home January 9th.  And am still recovering. The time change is 12 hours. So when it is 12 noon here it is midnight in Thailand. It was easier going over as their is sun all the time, and well at home it is not the snow that brings you down but the lack of sun.

So January 9th I started to clean up my diet in preparation for the 2011 Arnold Classic.  I will post some pic, and be blogging about my preparations in another post.

Christmas was a wonderful experience, next year, probably off to somewhere else, I love traveling as you get a perspective of how really small our world truly is.  The more I travel internationally the more I realize 2 things – 1.We are more alike than we are different and 2. People with less stuff are extremely happy.

A.