The results are in.....

I saw JD this morning and am so happy to say the results were great, much better then I expected.  

Since starting with him 6 weeks ago my scale weight has dropped 1.5kgs and my skin folds have dropped a staggering 28.5mls!!!

This has been such an easy drop, easy in the sense that I have not been hungry, I have not craved foods, I have not done excessive cardio etc.  I am even maintaining/preserving/building muscle.

It's very different to what i'm used too, all my life when I would want to lose weight I would go on a diet, this would mean starving my poor body, so I always associated hunger with weight loss.  If i'm feeling hungry I am losing weight - this is the message my brain was trained to think and for so many years, I couldn't just undo that over night!

So now I eat, and i'm satisfied, so I don't think that i'm losing weight.  Days and weeks go by and I don't notice the body fat melting away due to the lack of that hunger=weight loss feeling, so I go for my appointment and get shocked with the results but i am slowly catching on.

My previous skin folds showed a good drop around my abdominal area, today it was in my legs, funny how it works.  I think with my back injury my leg session has changed from heavy low reps, to light high reps, this may have had something to do with the drop in the quad area.

I still have a fair way to go and that's okay because i'm walking in the right direction, what more could I ask for??  Nothing :-)

I'm so slack for not blogging about passing my last practical exam even though I was bouncing of the walls with excitement when I got the letter.

I have now completed both Certificate III and IV, I am now qualified and still can't believe it.

I should receive my certificates today or tomorrow (hopefully) then all that's left is to register with Fitness Australia and organise my insurances.

I spoke briefly to the Fitness Director of Goodlife gym yesterday just to keep him up to date as to where i'm at and it looks like I will be ready to start working in 2 -3 weeks time, so exciting!

My lower body training has taken a backward step due to a lower back sprain, I will be taken it easy until I recover completely.  I did this doing deadlifts a few weeks ago but I re-injured it recently and now I have to take it easy.  I'm not in too much pain, only when I bend down.  It feels like it's getting better but I will take the rest of this year easy to make sure.

Other then that my training is great guns!  I have really been hammering my upper body I guess that's because there is no pain in my lower back when doing upper body exercises, so I have seen strength increase and some minor gains.

Nutrition is good, but i'm feeling hungry at 2.15pm each day lol, it's a 45 minute wait until my next meal at 3pm.  So I end up increasing my water intake even more during this time to keep on top of the hunger.  I can't believe that after the amount of food I eat that I get hungry, my metabolism is revving up which is great.

I'm not feeling any body fat loss at the moment due to the onset of TTOTM, so I am holding water and feeling fat (as we do).  I'm okay with it because I know I will be feeling great in a few more days, I know this pattern and I will not let it get to me, it's temporary :-)

I see JD next Thursday, I have to say i'm so curious to see how i'm going with the skin folds and also when I weight myself that morning before seeing him.   All my results get posted in Lindy's forum :-)

The WNBF has a team of 22 Aussie athletes going to New York for the Worlds in little over a weeks time.  This all seems so exciting and my dream is to be apart of this team next year, to stand on an International stage in New York, wow!

I have automatically qualified for the WNBF Nationals 2009 due to my placing 2nd last year at the Nationals but I really need stage experience so I will compete in May and Oct next year.  It will be a big prep year and with the new career starting soon I hope I can do this.

Also the WNBF is working on bringing comps to Perth so stay tuned for that.

Eat, Train and Laugh Alot!!

Deb

It's All In Your Head - Natural Process

Below is a post I blogged about in August 2006 when I was about 6-8 weeks out from my first comp. I just read it now because I decided to take a trip down memory lane and as I read it I thought about how much I still believe it. I actually wanted Steph to read it since she is moving into her first comp too :-)

August 23rd 2006
I have been learning so much through my journey to becoming a competitive figure bodybuilder. One of the most important things that comes to my mind when I think about the whole experience so far are "mind games".

But I think that there is a reason for this. I was just commenting in Liz's blog about how one day we are happy with weight training but then we stress big time about posing. The next thing you know you are unhappy with weight training and your stressing about not making it in time for the comp, but posing is great! This just goes on and on all the time. It stops and changes then reverses, then goes back to it again and ahhhhhh.
Today after coming out from that dreaded black cloud that us poor girls go through once a month, I think I realize why this happens. It's a natural process that actually helps us to stay on our toes. My thoughts are this, if we went through this entire comp without any doubts or worries, what would then make us push harder to overcome that fear? You would just keep moving along without any concerns, so the result of that would be, "it's all cool I don't need to push myself because I have no challenges".
or
You go through with doubt/fears/concerns (call it what you will) and this will encourage you to push through, motivate you to do that extra rep on the bench press because one of your concerns is your chest isn't big enough. Or you will do extra posing practise because you think you haven't got it right etc, etc.
So I just realized that my fears are actually my friend, those fears are what is pushing me to becoming the best I can ever be. Without them I would not push this hard, I wouldn't feel the need too.
Stress can be used as a positive but you have to stay on top of it. Dont' let it consume you, thats when it becomes a problem.
Have a great day everyone!

All is well

Not sure what to blog about lol but had the urge to do so anyway :-)

I'm feeling pretty good about everything and i'm stoked at my on going progress with my aim to drop my body fat back down to 70mls.
Despite the fact I put away LOADS of alcohol between Friday night at the ball and especially Saturday at the 40th birthday party at the races, I feel like i'm still going really well. Although I drank heaps of champagne I still ate really well, didn't go off plan food wise.

The ball was fabulous and John and I danced the night away with many others. That was after Allan Jones (Guest speaker) speech, it went on forever lol. We were served delicious food from a top chef and there was free flowing french champagne. The music was a mix of the 80's through to the latest hits so everyone was hitting the dance floor.
We left after midnight.

So I wake up the next morning to have breakfast and get tarted up again for a day at the races! We had a private marquee right by the track, it was catered and there was free flowing champagne and wine. It was a ladies day out for my friend Melissa on her 40th birthday and we had a blast. I even put on some bets, it was fun.
I was lucky it was a buffet and I was able to eat most of the green salad (the dressing was on the side) and some seafood, to easy!!

So no more big piss up's until Melbourne Cup lol. Then NO MORE. The new year is around the corner and I will be right into prep before I know it, can't wait.

Looks like I found something to blog about after all ;-)
And before you ask, I will get the pictures up soon, i'm so slack at times, it means I have to plug my camera into the usb and transfer it into my computer, this takes work you know ;-)

Talk to you soon.

Debs

My Skin Folds

Since starting my new meal plan with Jon Davie 4 weeks ago I have been eating lots and lots of good food and haven't weighed in or taken my skin folds until today.
I have posted my results on Lindy's site so some of you already know:-)
I have lost 1 kilo off the scales and 17.5mls of body fat!! This is a fantastic result for me and I am stoked!! So the plan now is to increase my food intake a little more so that I can drop another 5-7mls within 3 weeks when I go see him again.

I'm happy because the biggest drop was around my abdominal area, and I have noticed my clothes are loose but I keep thinking they had stretched lol. My reasoning behind this is because my brain is to programmed in thinking less food in means weight loss, and more food in means fat gain.
So when i eat more then I ever have before with each meal the last thing on my mind is "i'm losing weight"! But lucky my body is on the ball with this and i'm getting results.
JD adjusted my meal plan by adding more to it as I am getting hungry again now that my body is used to the amount of food i'm eating.

My cardio has been structured and it is still a walk in the park or a treadmill lol. Just keeping a steady pace, nothing crazy, I have actually learnt to like this over the last couple of weeks, i'm adjusting to it all. But it just means I smash myself when it comes to the weights ;-)

So with these results you can tell i'm pretty bloody happy right now, how can I not be now that it had confirmed to me that I am on the right path to a healthy, lean body!

I have been doing a lot of research on cardio and weight loss lately and all I can say is that cardio is not the key to losing weight, resistance training and nutrition are. If you can get your calorie intake right in the off season (having a higher intake), this will give you so much more room to move for prepping and you would come in with more muscles!!

Debs xxx

Busy, Busy, Busy

Things are getting to the finalization process in regards to my studies and working as a PT. I have completed my Cert IV practical exam and module 5 and submitted them for marking, I have my fingers crossed that I passed.
Last Saturday I completed my senior first aid course and will get my certificate no later then next week.
Tomorrow I see a JP to sign my business registration forms so I can submit it then open up a business bank account.
I still have many other little things to do such as register with Fitness Australia and organize my insurances.

I picked up the Goodlife Gym contract last Friday and providing I get all of the above done I will be starting in November. I am really excited and nervous about this. Starting a new career is a little daunting but i believe that it will be okay :-)

This Friday night John and I are attending a ball, I am looking forward to it! Then the following day I am going to a 40th birthday party, it will be a day at the races with champagne and seafood and ladies only! Should fun lol.

My new food plan has been so good for me, for the first time ever I had a cycle (TTOTM) without any symptoms in the lead up to it. I think all this really good healthy, nutritional food is what my body needs. I now eat alot more raw foods in the form of veggies. I also eat a little natural yoghurt which I haven't had in years. Basically it's a really good balance of macronutrients and it's doing me wonders!

I'm not sure if I have dropped much body fat as I was unable to make my appointment with JD and we are still yet to reschedule. And I haven't weighed myself since I last saw him but I think i may have lost a tiny bit, I know i'm on the right track, that I definitely know :-)

I will be attending the INBA Nationals and I can't wait to catch up with everyone, I will be coming on my own so expect me to latch onto some of you lol.

Debs

ACA - The Water Detox Diet Story

Did anyone see A Current Affair last night? If you didn't there was a story on a lady in the UK, see was placed on a water detox diet - the long and short of it is she consumed what they consider a high amount of water and reduced her salt intake and within 1 week she ended up with brain damage.
She was drinking 3.5 liters per day, most of us drink more then that right?
She cut out salt, sound familiar fellow competitors?
So they are saying that with all the water consumption and the reduced salt her brain swelled up and caused a seizer.

I feel terribly sorry for her to be suffering brain injury just because she wanted to lose some weight, seems very unfortunate and sad. But I have to say I believe she really is an "extreme" case.
When this story started my initial reaction was to freak out because I know that prior to comp I was drinking up to 7-8 liters of water per day and I removed salt completely from my diet. But then I thought about the fact that I had done it 5 times for each comp and I know so many other competitors have aswell and I have never heard of anyone getting brain damage from it!

Now the sad part is is that everyone watching will cut back on their water intake not realizing that most of the average Australian's already live in a state of dehydration and don't even know it!

I think the story really shouldn't have come across as it can happen to anyone at anytime, like a scare tactic, they should research more into it to see how extreme her case might be.