Day: September 23, 2014

“Your dreams don’t work unless you do”

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I started my new training program this week. My first session training with my trainer was rough. We only went through a quarter of my legs session together, and already I had jelly legs and could hardly walk. I was surprised how amateur he made me feel, when I have been lifting heavy weights in the gym for over a year.  It was such an incredibly hard session that I wondered what I have gotten myself into. However, I enlisted help because I wanted to be challenged, so I wasn’t going to give up now.

I went off and started doing the training program he gave me at my own gym. I tried to make sure I pushed myself as hard as he had pushed me, sticking to form and tempos as well as I could. The first time it was a very hard session, but I got through it, and at the end I felt like I had achieved so much! Never have I trained so hard in a weights session. I felt so focused during my workouts.
I pulled up pretty sore after the week of training. There is a huge focus on technique and engaging the right muscles, which made me sore in places I didn’t know was possible! But I love being sore after a good workout – it’s such a satisfying feeling.

In other news, my sweet cravings have virtually disappeared throughout the week! It definitely gets easier as you go. I feel amazing, as if I have made great progress in eliminating the toxins from my body and allowing my body to function at the best level possible. My skin is glowing, and I feel fresh and energised to attack every day 🙂  It’s amazing what a big difference strict clean eating makes!

With love,
B. xx

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“Nothing worth having comes easy”

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14th September 2014

Today marks the end of the first week on my comp prep diet. In the past, I have always exercised regularly and eaten healthy. However, I have learnt that eating for health is not synonymous with eating for body composition. Although they do overlap, the restrictions are far greater when you are eating to lose body fat and build lean muscle. Dairy for example can be healthy, but it is not ideal for body composition.

I was not particularly surprised by any of the restrictions my trainer imposed upon me – no dairy, no grains, no gluten (suits me just fine because I suffer from an allergy to gluten anyway), no artificial colours or flavourings, and only one carb meal a day. Although I’ve attempted to eliminate some of these things in the past, without having a solid goal in sight I was never able to fully commit to it.

In short, my diet is now just eggs, meat and vegetables, six times per day. I’m eating a lot of food so I never feel hungry; it is just the types of food that are restricted.

The major difficulties I faced this week were:

  1. Cravings

They say the first week on a new diet is the hardest and well, they aren’t wrong! Admittedly, I was craving sugar all week. A friend and personal trainer told me that this is common because bacteria that lives in your stomach feeds off sugar and thus leads to sugar cravings. She also said that bacteria will die off after being on the diet for a while, making it much easier. I certainly hope so!

I slipped up once this week, smashing a Quest bar in a moment of hunger, and sweet tooth-ed weakness. However I didn’t hang on to it – if there’s one thing I know, it’s important that when you do lapse on your diet, that you don’t beat yourself up over it, and you move on back to eating healthy foods. That is the only way you can maintain a healthy relationship with food. After my one minor slip, I managed to hold myself together by planning ahead when and what my cheat meal was going to be. Having something to look forward to made it easier getting through the week.

  1. The limbo between programs

We didn’t start training this week, which I think made sticking to the diet harder. Not training (I decided to give my body a rest before commencing this tough 12 week program) leaves me unmotivated and lethargic, which is when mentally I’m at my weakest and I crave crappy foods. I’m itching to get started on the training next week so that I feel more motivated. At the moment, I’m just picturing that goal body at the end of my journey, and it’s kept me on track enough with the diet for now.

  1. Meal-prep and time management

Another issue was organizing myself in terms of meal prep. Eating six cooked meals a day is a lot of work! I know I’ll get faster at cooking meals, but at the moment it feels like my life is a mess of cooking and cleaning all day every day! I’ve got some tips from a friend who has been on a similar diet for a while and is basically a meal prep guru. Hopefully once I implement her advice, I get a good system going and spend less time cooking. I’ll keep you updated on how I go with this. In the meantime, I invested in a hot pink 6-pack bag to help carrying around my meals for the day that little bit easier (pictured) 🙂

The first week certainly has been the toughest.  For now I’ll just remember, “nothing worth having comes easy”.

With love,
B. xx

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”

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11th September 2014

Since starting to lift heavy and work hard in the gym about two years ago, I’ve seen some amazing results. I am physically stronger, I feel more confident, and I generally feel healthier.

However for the past year I have ogled over fitness models and their incredible, lean and muscular physiques. This week I met with my new trainer who, after some research, I decided would be apt to help me achieve my goal of competing in my first INBA competition as a fitness model. I’m aiming to compete in March 2015. I’ve given myself plenty of time, because although I’m an experienced gym-junkie, I’m new to this kind of training and restrictive lifestyle. It will take time to play around with what works for my body and what will get me in optimal physical condition to take the stage.
We started off with some biosignature testing to see the current state my body is in. I was happily surprised to find I had a starting body fat percentage of 18% – considerably lower than what I was expecting. The goal is between 8 and 12% to take the stage, so I have still got a long way to go, but it’s not a bad starting point.

This screening process also identified the main problem areas and functional issues in my body. For instance, we discovered:

  • the effect of my inability to sleep on fat storage
  • the presence of toxins in my body that I expose my body to on a daily basis through my beauty routine (surprisingly, girls on average expose themselves to thousands of chemicals per day in their use of cosmetics alone – a scary thought)
  • the inability of my body to effectively remove toxins

I have slowly been making the switch to organic beauty products for a while, but this has encouraged me to step that up a notch, and also try to wear make up less often. I’ve also been put on (entirely clean) supplements in order to decrease my stress levels and help me get achieve a deeper sleep. So far, I am waking up only once a night when I used to wake up 3-5 times, and it is certainly having a positive impact on my productivity throughout the day! I don’t feel so lethargic during the day anymore. I’ve also gone on a fibre cleanse in order to help remove toxins (15g of high fibre supplement morning and night).

You have to go back to basics and get your body functioning right in order to form the right base for the training load that will ultimately get you in your peak physical condition! I’m feeling great so far and really looking forward to what’s to come! 🙂

With love,
B. xx

“If you never chase your dreams, you will never catch them”

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8th September 2014

Aloha, and welcome to my blog!

I’ve decided to bite the bullet and take the first step towards achieving a goal I have held for a long time. This goal is to compete in my first INBA competition as a fitness model. I’ve umm-ed and ahh-ed about this for too long, questioning if I have the discipline, the drive and the ability to transform my body into the one I’ve always dreamed of. After much deliberation, I’ve realised I’ll never know if I never try! And so here I am, beginning a terrifying but exciting quest.

If you have an interest in fitness, health, or changing your body for the better, hopefully I can share with you the knowledge and wisdom I gain through this journey.

I plan to share an open and honest account of my both my triumphs and my struggles. Maybe I will support you through your own, or inspire you to commence your fitness journey. Either way, happy reading 🙂

With love, B. xx