I'm soooooo full of myself!

A FACEBOOK friend asked an interesting question on her status the other day. She asked, if all the treadmills at the gym were free, which one would you choose? I said " the one closest to the mirror so I can check myself out." Hahaha! Lately, I've been sooooo full of myself. Why? Because I'm blown away by my progress as I get ready for this figure competition in May. Actually, I blame the Unknown Trainer for why I'm always flexing by every mirror or any reflective surface. When I first started training with him he would flex and pose in front of the gym mirrors all the time. He even drops his sweat pants to look at his legs. At the time, I was thinking "whoa, this guy really loves himself". But he has an explanation and reason for everything. He basically said you have to look at yourself all the time so you know what your presenting on stage. Plus, flexing between sets helps with muscle development. So now, guess who's outposing her trainer at the gym? ME! In fact, I got in trouble because I was posing and not paying attention to him as he demonstrated my next exercise. Oops!

Fitting it all in!

Here's reason #83 why I LOVE working out: It makes my body look good! Ha! So it's crucial that I "fit it all in".Today ... double cardio!!! And this was one of those days I had to plan very well. First, right after work I had to zoom over to Chelsea's place ... she's the lady making my suit for the competition (www.cabafashions.ca). I had to "drop the laundry" so to speak and try on some sample suits to see what looked right on my body shape. It was nice to know that I "fit it all in" to the suits I tried on. The body is looking alright ... still got more work to do ... but progress is good. Then I headed to the gym to do my first hit of cardio for the day. An hour on the treadmill with the incline all the way up. I "fit that in" before shuffling off to my Rumba dance lesson (remember the event I'm doing for charity? www.arthurmurraycalgary.ca). Well today was my first time dancing in my fancy Rumba dress. If you know anything about the Rumba ... it's a slow and sexy dance ... and it comes with a dress to match. Tight! But I "fit it all in" ... and looked great doing it! Once that was over it was time for cardio #2 ... sprint intervals. I was glad that was over after 30 minutes, but remembered right away I still had to hit the grocery store if I wanted to eat tonight. Whew! Thank goodness I fit it all in!

Accept the body, hair, and skin you're in!

One of my favorite TV shows is What Not To Wear. Yes I love the fashions ... I love Stacey London's style ... and I have a secret crush (not so secret anymore) on Clinton Kelly (and yes I know he's gay.) But what I love the most is the transformation that happens to the person who gets the makeover. Not the external transformation ... but the internal transformation ... the confidence they have after they realize they can look hot, sexy, and sophisticated ... in WHATEVER BODY SHAPE THEY HAVE! So basically at the end of the show they start to ACCEPT their body, hair, and skin they're in. It's a beautiful thing. So how do I take all that in watching this transformation and doing cardio at the same time ... trying to lose fat? I'm training hard to get lean and look great on stage for a figure competition ... while people are already telling me my body looks fantastic. (Not good enough yet, I say). It's very easy to get obsessed to the point where you never feel like you're lean enough. But the hardest part is when it's all over and your body goes back to normal ... yes .... normal. My normal body was hard for me to take after my first year of competition. However, it still looked better than before I started training but I was so focused on getting lean, the normal look didn't look good to me. It was hard to accept my "new" body ... but thank goodness I'm a pretty confident person. What I learned? You have to be emotionally strong as well as physically strong to compete ... especially women who are so conscious of their body image. And it's something I have to continually work on.

Earlier this week I was retaining water like crazy ... that time of the month ... so that leanness that my trainer saw the week before was kind of smooth ... and he was a little surprised ... but didn't change anything in my training or diet. Well that bothered me ... a lot ... for the next few days. Now, I could have cut my carbs even more ... I could have done extra cardio ... I could have skipped meals ... just to get that lean look back. But I didn't. I took a deep breath and reminded myself that it was normal ... it was only water not fat ... and I would be back on track in a few days ... and most importantly ... I had to trust my trainer. Even when I get on stage with several other lean hot chicks ... we're still all going to have different body shapes and sizes ... no matter how lean we get. So again I say ACCEPT THE BODY YOU HAVE ... AND MAKE SURE YOU TAKE CARE OF IT ... eat healthy and exercise ... it's that simple really. (And NO you don't have to train like I train to be healthy.)

So yes it's mentally and emotionally tough to get ready for a competition. And I don't have much of a life ... my day is basically wake up, eat, work, eat, workout, eat, sleep ... repeat! I'm totally enjoying it! (ask me in another few weeks though!) Am I obsessed? Yes ... but is it really obsession or dedication?

Train like a champion!

OMG! Are you kidding me?

You will not believe what my trainer told me to eat this weekend. If you're up on my blogs you'll know I wasn't eat enough for my cheats. So I cranked it up and had a burger and onion rings on Friday. Later that day I was discussing what I ate with my trainer. Then he suggested (insisted on) something I never thought I'd hear. "You need to eat some sugar. Our bodies need sugars and salts to live. It's part of our makeup" Me: "OMG! Are you kidding me? I'm just getting over the guilt of eating a burger and onion rings (which weren't that good after all.)" He asked me what sweets I loved. Duh! Crave cupcakes of course. So he said "Go get a Crave cupcake and a cookie tomorrow. Eat it in the morning and make sure you do a good cardio session." Wow! I'm sure some trainers and competitors are wincing right now. Maybe there are some ladies who are competing against me who are actually smiling. LOL! Well, I tried to argue with him about it but he insisted. He's my trainer and I trust him. So I headed out early in next morning to get my sugary treat. Crave wasn't open yet so I decided on the same thing from Starbucks. Now I don't know if it's because the cupcakes and cookies at Starbucks are gross or I've been eating so clean, but I had to force it down. Part of me enjoyed the "badness" of it, as well as the fact that I was PMS'ing and that usually soothes the beast within me. But part of me was kind of grossed out. Let's just say, I couldn't wait to eat my next clean meal. Hmmm ... maybe that's why I needed to eat that?

Doing it ALL Wrong!

Here is reason #73 why I like the Unknown Trainer: He insists I have a cheat meal once a week! And here's a shocker. Who knew I was doing it all wrong?! Here's the story: the Unknown Trainer and I were talking excitedly about what we'd have for our next cheat meal. He was gushing about pizza. I was drooling over burger and fries. I mentioned that my last cheat meal was a steak and spinach salad. "Hmmmmm", he said. "You're not eating enough. You need to pig out! You train super hard. Fuel your body. Fill up those depleted muscles." You see I've been very careful with cheats. But I need to loosen up a bit (within reason of course). Apparently I need to eat so that I'm fully satisfied and not having cravings during the week. (Like I'm having now. How will I make it through these next 8 weeks? Well, I have to, now. I'm officially registered as of yesterday for the IDFA Calgary Classic on May 2. www.idfa.ca)

Okay ... back to the cheat meals! Previously I've felt tons of guilt after eating them. But then I got a FB message from a seasoned bodybuilder who's documenting his own progress for his next show. His name is Arthur Gooden. He told me the same thing ... forget about the guilt ... fuel my body ... and then he said "Look how good you look the next day!"

Now I know there are some trainers who are TOTALLY against cheat meals in any way, shape or form. And I used to believe in that too. But when I look at the progress I've made in the last four weeks, I must be doing something right. I'm looking leaner and leaner every week.

So with that in mind ... move over guilt sandwich ... HELLO beautiful burger and fancy fries ... and please, don't skimp on that krazy ketchup!

Follow me on Twitter - http://twitter.com/