Getting Down and Dirty!

I had the sweatiest, dirtiest workout ever this weekend! By the time it was over I was covered in grass and dust … dirt was under my finger nails … I had a couple mosquito bites and sweat had soaked everywhere through my workout gear. And I never felt better! I know, I know. You’re dying to find out who I got down and dirty with right? It was Peter Estabrooks from Probodies Gym (www.probodies.ca) … and about 30 of his best fitness friends! Peter is a fitness master in Calgary. He’s so uber fit it’s not funny. He’s been asking me to go to this TKO class for about 2 years now. Yes that’s right … two years! I’m glad I waited that long though because I’m probably in better shape now … which helps for this hour long circuit. And there is a bonus for doing it at this time of year. It was outside … hence the grass and dirt!
So this is what happens. Peter sets up dozens of different exercise work stations, assigns everyone to a starting point and tells them who to follow when he gives the cue. It was tons of fun! Not to mention that you’re hitting every body part throughout the hour of fitness power. And most of the time you can go at your own pace. In fact, Peter suggested that since I was a TKO virgin I should probably pace myself. What made the class that much better was Peter’s positive uber upbeat attitude throughout the entire 60 minutes. It was more like we were playing a game than working out.
Here were some of my favorite exercise: running with a partner passing a medicine ball, hand clapping push-ups with resistance from rubber tubing, weighted sit-ups, bouncing the “ball on a string” from side to side (even though I hit myself in the head several times … hahaha!) There are just so many to choose from … and they’re so hard to describe because they’re all so unique. You just have to go to the class to find out!

Humbled by a Hula Hoop

Who knew a sparkly green childhood toy could inflict so much pain … but still make me smile! Last week I was humbled by a hula hoop. That’s right. That fun, colorful, plastic circle of good times, meant to go ’round and ’round your waist. Well mine spent a lot of time on the ground. It was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. However, as frustrating as it may sound … I was smiling the whole way through. My quest for fun fitness activities took me to a FREE hula hoop class at Heavens Fitness (www.heavensfitness.com). Wow! It was fun … despite having to do more picking up than spinning. And speaking of spinning … the class had its own DJ … DJ Wes Straub was spinning on the ones and twos! So the sweet tunes sort of distracted me from the fact that every time my hula hoop dropped (which was quite often) it would hit the same spot on my left shin … over and over and over … until a bright red bruise emerged … ouch! But it wasn’t all dropsies for me. I did have a few moments of hula hoop brilliance … especially when DJ Wes threw in a little Michael Jackson on the turntables. (RIP MJ). And a lot of the energy came from the instructor Jessica Power-Cyr. She was a ball of fire! You could tell she loved what she was doing. Her vibrancy kept me going … spin, spin … drop … spin … drop … spin, spin, spin …. drop, drop, drop … SMILE! At least I got a little squat workout in … bending down to pick up that humbling hoop.

Something else really cool about this class … it was outside! Right along a busy road way … so can you imagine the looks we were getting by people driving by? I think most of them wanted to join in on the fun!

All in all it was definitely FUN ... even though I had to ice my bruises …

If you want to see how I rated this, check out the Bundles of Energy website: www.bundlesofenergy.com/humbled-by-a-hula-hoop.

Joy and Pain: The Post Competition Body

I knew it was coming because I've been there before. But I'm never ready for the post-competition body. I know it's not possible to maintain that amount of leanness 365 days a year ... I love food and red wine too much to do that! But it's still hard to see the difference from a month ago. Now it's not all bad ... I jumped for joy when my boobs came back (which is probably not a good idea without a bra ... ouch!). But sometimes it's painful to look at other parts of my body in the mirror. I guess it's good that my clothes are no longer hanging off of me like a hanger. And some are still fitting kind of loose. But it's still difficult. However with the support of some of my fellow competitors it's getting better. Some reminding me to embrace my feminine curves! Other telling me my body needs a little bit of fat to function. In fact I even went clothes shopping today. It's an uncomfortable sight looking at myself in the change room mirrors. They are not flattering in the least. So this is what I did. Instead of looking at myself as a chunky chick ... I started to tell myself .... in the change room ... that I looked sexy. Then I started to stand and pose like I was in a photo shoot or on stage or like I had the hottest body out there ... and believe it or not I started to feel better. And I guess I must still look sort of lean because a couple of the stores I went into the sales clerk suggested I look in petite sizes as well. That's before they saw my shoulders and arms I think. Maybe they were just trying to flatter me so I'd buy something?? Hmmm. Anyway, I'm getting compliments from people saying that I look like I'm in really good shape. So maybe I do look alright. I just have to keep telling myself to love the natural curves of my body ... love and accept ME ... at this moment ... right NOW!

I'm not a fan ...

It's been about a little over a week since I accomplished my last fitness goal ... My Best Body fitness photo shoot with David Ford and Annette Milbers. I'd been training and dieting since January (with a mini break in between) so it was time to take a break ... from both. I'm not a fan of doing nothing. Because when I do nothing and sit around at home, I eat. When I've just come off months of dieting, all I want to do is eat. When I'm bored, I eat. When I'm lonely, I eat. And if you don't know, when you eat "whatever" right after pre-contest dieting (usually everything you couldn't eat) your body sucks it up like a sponge. Bloating, water retention, and an overall feeling of blahhhhhhh takes over. Add in PMS and forget about it ... puff ball city! I felt like crap and felt I looked like crap. And I was (and still am) very conscious of my post-competition body. Not working out on top of that made me feel even worse ... physically, mentally, and emotionally. Unfortunately, I wasn't disciplined enough to have a post-competition meal plan. Plus, being a bit of an emotional eater doesn't help. But I knew what I had to do to get out of my food coma ... to deliver my food baby ... to get over my food funk ... and to feel better. I worked out. Pretty simple. It was an instant happy pill! What made it great was ... it was a sunny day and I decided to train outside. I called up a friend who joined me ... and he brought the gear ... medicine ball, dumbbells, tubing, and my favorite ... a weighted sled ... love that weighted sled!!! We headed to a soccer field and got our work out on! It was just what the doctor ordered. I was fired up! I was energetic! I powered through! Taking in the sunshine! Getting a good sweat going! For all of those people who don't work out ... man ... you are missing A LOT! It's good to be back! :)

They don’t look like me (and I like it!)

As I sit in the change room waiting to get my makeup done for my very first fitness photo shoot ... I'm nervously checking out the other ladies that are taking part. It's not a competition but I'm comparing myself. This is so out of my comfort zone! Mainly because when I look at all the models in many of the popular fitness magazines, I can’t identify with any of them. They don’t look like me. Black. Super short natural “mini-fro”. Real boobs. 40-plus. Many of them, fitness is their livelihood. For me it’s a hobby (that’s turning into a bit of a passion.) But even though I've got little in common with the ladies in the magazines (besides the love of fitness) I love my look! I created it! Who cares if I don't look like the typical fitness model. I’m just so fortunate that I can BE a fitness model for a few hours! And wow ... what an experience I had at the Cover Model Fitness shootout with David Ford and Annette Milbers. So many people told me it was going to be amazing. They said not to be nervous because David and Annette would make you feel comfortable and that they were so good at what they do. Well ... believe the hype. You can’t get more comfortable than this ... I started with jeans and a tank top at the beginning of the shoot ... ended up in lingerie at the end of it all. Crazy. Still can’t believe I did it ... but that’s just how comfortable I felt working with them. I felt more than comfortable with my look. I felt more than comfortable in my own skin.

So forget about that guy who said I should put on a few pounds and grow my hair (seriously ... a guy I was “sweet” on told me that just last month! The “sweet” is turning “sour”). Forget about how the stereotypical fitness model looks. Forget about what people are comfortable with. I encourage you to get out of your comfort zone and be UNIQUE.

Extra special thanks to:
James Scott for training me in preparation for this photo shoot
Gina Lengel for the super hot & sexy makeup
FB Friends for their encouragement and support

Lots of Questions

I'm coming close to reaching my latest fitness goal ... a fitness photo shoot with THE David Ford (yes ... I'm still nervous .. heeheehee). You have probably noticed that I haven't written a lot about the journey to get here. There are various reasons for that .. from pure laziness, to being tired after my workouts ... to being low on the creativity. Sometimes there's just not enough time and I need my sleep. But a big reason is because some of the stuff that I've been challenged with, I've been keeping to myself. You see I find myself questioning a lot of the things that I've learned while taking part in this hobby of fitness/figure competitions. I question it because of how my body has reacted to it ... especially when I get close to a crucial event (like the competition and the photo shoot). Why is my body deciding to show signs of stress NOW? What were the triggers? Is it all in my head? What is my body REALLY saying to me?
Then I start to question all the processed stuff I'm consuming like protein shakes and supplements etc. Does this stuff actually work? Why am I taking a handful of supplements before eating my REAL food? Which one of these supplements is causing my body to bloat/hold water/hang on to fat? How much have I spent on supplements that end up sitting in my pantry gathering dust? Just because it worked for her will it work for me?
So as I ask these questions, a few messages pop into my head that will help me answer some of them: 1. Listen to your body 2. Go back to the basics 3. It's time for a break.

So what does that mean for me? Well I won't be competing again this year ... hopefully 2011 though. It also means I need to learn how to manage my stress. I'm going to start with yoga and meditation on a regular basis. And I'm going to find new and fun ways to stay in shape to add to my regular weight lifting workouts (don't want to stop those!!!) ... group classes ... unique boot camps etc.

But I won't be abandoning my blog. I've decided I'm going to write reviews of all the new workouts I try this summer. If you have any suggestions please pass them on!!!

Cara's Confessions

I confess. I cheated and I'm scared and I'm kind of done ... well sort of done ... kind of. I know I sound like a whiner but let me explain. It took me a while to write my latest blog entry because of my confessions. It all started during the long weekend. I had no plans at all and was happy about that until the long weekend actually arrived. Everyone was talking about their plans ... Camping, partying, dates, dinners, visiting family, hosting family ... None of that for me. Don't camp. Not partying. No dates. Dinners at home. Family too far away (sniff, sniff). I can't do most of these things since I'm dieting for my photo shoot. So with all this free time I started to feel lonely. And I realized that as a competitor we really sacrifice a lot ... including our social lives ... to do what we do. And it's admirable and inspiring and we're so disciplined and have great willpower etc. Which is all great stuff. But this past weekend I wanted to have fun. I didn't want to have to think about what and when I had to eat/drink. I didn't want to have to worry about when my next cardio session was going to be. I wanted to go out a enjoy a beautiful bottle of wine. I'm sick of turning down invitations from friends. So to soothe my loneliness I ate a sweet treat. It was damn good. Sort of felt guilty. But got over after an awesome training session. But in my moment of weakness I was reminded that I'm a social creature. I need social interaction despite how independent I am. And it's difficult to do that when you have a clean-eating and training goal. But I need a break. I still want to train hard and set other fitness goals that have nothing to do with how my body looks but maybe how my body works ... something where I don't have to measure and weigh everything. AND how about setting goals that have nothing to do with fitness at all. That's it. That's my long weekend epiphany: life balance.

So what's scaring me? The photo shoot. Almost as nerve-wracking as a competition. I'm excited about it though. 10 more sleeps!!!