It’s been **HOW** long??

Well here I am, back again, finding myself about to write about how long it’s been since last post. Except I won’t. Yes it’s been ages and loads has happened, but at the same time I feel like life hasn’t been overly exciting.

I think since last time I made about 4 more trips to Sydney, and am now on my 5th. The final trip – as in there’s no return ticket this time. Most will know, I have moved back, one week ago today. It’s been a very emotional 3 months for me – the lack of training saw me more homesick than ever, and more determined to come back. So when work asked if I would be interested in a transfer down – I jumped at it – and then had to keep my fingers crossed for  a real long time that it came through. Clearly, it did.

Anyway – so I am home now, I have myself a cute little unit in the Inner West, literally about 300m from my old place, and I don’t remember the last time I felt so content. Life is good. I feel settled, and more importantly, I feel at home – something I never really felt up in Brisbane.

I start at my new office tomorrow which will be interesting. I don’t know anyone there – and in fact, I will be “it” from my department in the entire building – I will be pretty much working remotely, with all my colleagues and bosses up in Brissie. Which will be fine – I actually like working alone without interruption/distraction but will probably feel really weird for a bit. My boss tends to spend a lot of the day talking so will be weird not hearing his voice all day! I am looking forward to a few catch ups – I have a couple of uncles and a cousin working very close to my new office so we have already been busy teeing up some lunches and a Christmas pub lunch with all of us is on the horizon too.

Speaking of catch ups – been enjoying doing that since getting back to Sydney. I had a really good catch up with my friend Jen today that I haven’t seen in almost 2 years……lunch and a couple of coffee shops later we then found ourselves browsing King St Newtown shops, which is something I LOVE doing 🙂 Meeting up with a few other local friends in the next week or so and am looking forward to spending time with some old friends.

The ankle has come a long way since last post. I have only really been full-time out of my boot for about 6 weeks now after 11 weeks in it, and it is getting much better. While I still can’t run or do any explosive-type work with it I have been doing increased amounts of cardio – walking included – and it’s been holding up really well. I do need to find myself a new physio down here and get onto that REALLY soon (probably should have already been onto that but whatever).

Training is getting there – between the ankle and the move it fell a bit by the wayside but not for too long. I have definitely gotten back on the bandwagon now. Comp wise, I am not sure when the next one will be – was looking at October 2012 but have just been sprung with a late August 2012 trip to Fiji (not a bad thing by any means) for my cousin’s wedding, and honestly – not sure I want to be spending a lovely holiday worried about food and comp training as I would be about 6-7 weeks out at that stage. We will see – BUT for the interim I have decided to book myself some photo shoots to give me some short term fitness goals to work towards. Besides – I have never really done a proper photo shoot, so why not!

Hmmm….aside from all that….and without going into nitty gritties about everything (it’s been way too long between blogs to do that) there isn’t a lot more to report. So – leaving it here for now, and hopefully not leaving it too long til next post 🙂

The week that was

The last 2 weeks have flown by in a bit of a blur. I can’t get past the fact that we are already 3 days into September – where the hell did February go?!?!

I clocked up a stupendous 110 (or thereabouts) hours over the last 2 weeks at work – which is inclusive of the entire of last weekend. I have literally ate, worked, slept, and existed in a state of delirium. I flew to Sydney at lunchtime Monday for work and was there til Wednesday arvo, and while I got to have a couple of 8 hour sleeps while down there, it didn’t quite make up for all the lost sleep I had. By yesterday afternoon I wasn’t making much sense at all (although I was making even less sense on Monday morning) so took myself home from work via the bottle shop, bottle of red in hand – all good intentions but I drank less than a measly glass. Too tired.

The last few weeks I have been increasingly homesick and I think the lack of training and therefore extra free time is giving me more time to realise how much I miss my friends and family. I am hanging to move back home, no secret there, and am hoping something comes up work-wise in Sydney sooner rather than later. 

The lack of training is definitely affecting me physically – and the food of late hasn’t helped one morsel. While working crazy woman hours the food was ‘eat what you can, when you can’. Last Saturday night I was so exhausted after being at the office all day and I literally ate a block of chocolate for dinner (OK it was probably 3/4 of a block – but we are talking family-sized!!) as I couldn’t be bothered to cook and was too tired to think properly about what I was doing. 

I have my birthday coming up during the week – the big 33 – and looking back I am nowhere near the person I imagined I would be when I was a kid. Not necessarily a bad thing but sometimes I wonder ‘what if’ things had turned out differently. ‘What if’ I had made alternate choices to the ones I did. Mega reflective for me, I know… I have a night out tonight at the Story Bridge Hotel  with a handful of the girls and have booked myself in for a massage on Wednesday as a little treat for my birthday. We get a half day off if our birthday falls on a workday and I thought doing something nice is better than just coming home to spend a few extra hours alone in my unit. I have mum flying up next Friday night for the weekend too, so will be nice to have her here for the weekend. She has never been up on her own so we haven’t had any mother/daughter time up here – it will be nice to be able to show her where I have been living the past 6 months and go out for some nice meals, head to the markets together and just do girly stuff.

Anyway not much else to tell…oh I went to the specialist on Thursday and I am in this space boot for at least another 2 weeks…pending it not flaring up again in that time. If it does (which she kindly pointed out would likely happen after drinks tonight) I am back at Day One and have to start the 2 week countdown again. Guess I best be making friends with Mr Boot again – here is a picture from my angle…

That’s it from me…off to start the weekend with a chest training session.

Vic 

OK Kids, holiday’s over, it’s time to get my blog back on…

Yeah yeah. I have been a bloody lazy blogger. Sorry bout that.

Gosh I am trying in my little 6am brain to work out when last post was and what it was about. I am pretty sure it was a hundred years ago, and I am also pretty sure it would be easy enough to save this entire 3 lines of a draft and check it, but I won’t. I did put the disclaimer about laziness in the first line, and I wasn’t lying.

So much has happened in the last hmm, 6 weeks – I am sure those on my Facebook friends list or those on Lindy’s Forum know all about it but for those who don’t (and if you do, stiff…this is my blog and I will write about it if I so please!!) here is a bit of a rundown:

I have pulled out of the October shows due to a really bad ankle injury. I noticed when out doing my 90-120 mins walking every day that my ankle was pounding with every step I took. I fractured this same ankle 12 years ago in a car accident in 2 places, and it never healed properly – so I assumed that the ache was basically the old injury flaring up due to the changing weather (ie – winter kicking in). This went on for about 4-5 weeks give or take, and got progressively worse – to the point I was substituting most of my walking for the bike on most days. Then one day I returned from Sydney on a Sunday evening and it was too late to get to the gym for my last hour of cardio, so I decided to do the walk thing. Big mistake. Got halfway through and could barely put any weight on it. But I had no money or phone with me, and was not on a road per-se (was on a walking track) so couldn’t even pull over a cab and offer to pay when I got home. I hobbled home and that night couldn’t sleep due to the weight of the blankets on my bed aggravating it. I knew then that this wasn’t just an old injury haunting me and needed it checked asap.

Fast forward 2 doctors visits, a bone scan, MRI, 3 specialist visits, a cortisone injection, countless physio sessions and now for the last 2 weeks a walking boot. I have done a mighty number on the extensor tendons in my right ankle, and have me a tibia so stressed the specialist reckons I was one week of training away from a fracture. So this has been going on for the past 6 weeks or so (that’s when I got it looked at initially) and 2 weeks ago when I saw the specialist she stuck me in the boot to immobilise it. Very sexy indeed.

Anyway long story short, there has been no leg training or no cardio for that long. Upper body only, and not as frequently as before as there isn’t a lot of recovery time when you are only training the same body parts over and over. Starting to feel like a blimp given I am not training a lot and yet my appetite hasn’t really decreased – not a good thing!! Need to invest in some Miracle Noodles again I think.

Anyway I am hoping that I will be ok to do FitX and the Australasians in March – will have to wait and see.

OK so that’s it for now – gosh I really DO promise it won’t be so long between posts.

Bikinis and other stuff

Halfway through the week and I have all but shaken off the dreaded germs. Just have the last snuffly part of it but physically am feeling fine.

I am at one of those stages with training where I am loving my time on the weights floor, well more than usual anyway. I am feeling pretty strong lately and have been really pushing myself on the gym floor. Cardio also isn’t too bad *at the moment* – I am not having to do hours of it per day right now and on my weights days it means I can walk home from work and that’s it – DONE. 

I have been really good on the food front – but smells are starting to get to me now for the first time in ages. Not everything but every now and again I will catch a waft of something like hot Maccas chips (French Fries for any of my American buddies) and it’s all I can seem to smell. I don’t even love hot chips!! It’s one of those things that I will pick at if they are sitting there or come on the side of a big fat juicy steak/burger/rack of ribs, but never actually go out of my way to order. Oh well I guess it just means the diet is kicking in.

I am trying to decide on bikini colours – I have already told the fabulous Jo that I need a ‘kini as she is about to close orders…so deposit will be happening today…eek! That’s when I know it’s real!! lol…Back to topic. At this stage I have it down to a marine blue colour (the shiny foil-looking lycra) or red (also shiny foil-looking lycra) or hot pink (ALSO shiny foil looking lycra) but so undecided. I had a gorgeous new bikini made by her last year (see pic), which I wore to the IFBB QLD titles but not the following week to the Nationals. I know they cost a lot BUT I don’t like wearing the same bikini 2 weeks running – not for vanity purposes but because I have done it once before and I found it hard to tell the difference in my photos!! If I do 2 comps, I don’t want to look identical at them!! SO – the plan this year, is new bikini for the QLD titles, and will wear the gorgeous suit Jo made last year to the Nationals. Everybody happy 🙂

Hmmm…there isn’t much else to tell at the moment, life has been pretty mundane…so on that note…ciao for now!

5 weeks down…15 to go

Gosh, I can’t believe I am already a quarter of the way through comp prep. I know 15 weeks sounds like a long time – but it’s so not – especially when I think of the fact I have already done 5 weeks and it feels like nothing!

My week has been really good diet wise – perfect, actually. Training – well let’s just say I am fighting a losing battle with nasty sinus AND respiratory infections, and training has suffered a little as a result. When I say “a little” – I actually do mean that…I have missed one cardio session. I know – get over it – but I feel so guilty when I don’t train as normal. Anyone else get that??

I am due to see Coach tomorrow morning and will be training with him for the first time. Little scared, little excited. Whole body HIIT session is what I have been told to expect – sounds like a challenge I am gonna love!

I have been thinking heaps about comp time and making the most of it by booking in a photo shoot – something I’ve not done before but have wanted to for…well, forever! So my 2 comp locations are going to be Brissy and Sydney…but not sure whether to have it done immediately before/after comp, or a few weeks out. Any opinions from others who have done shoots around comp time would be much appreciated – as would be recommendations on photographers! I have a few in mind but would love to hear from anyone out there who has done them.

Not a lot else to report from here…just thought it would be nice to check in seeing as I haven’t been doing it regularly enough!

Comp Season and My Gripes…

So there have been a few comps on of late, and I have managed to get my prepping but to every one I possibly could I think. ANB Sydney Titles (happened to be in Sydney that weekend), NABBA/WFF Southern Hemispheres, INBA Brisbane Titles, and only just on Sunday, I went to the Asia Pacifics.

I had fun at most of them and got to catch up with some of my lovely and fabulous buddies. Bodybuilding is a very small community (not small in numbers, but kinda close knit, everyone knows everyone) and it seems that when you go to a comp or a fitness event (eg Filex), every second step you take, you bump into someone you know. I love that part!

As for which comp was best – overall I would probably have to give it to the Southern Hemispheres. Loads of atmosphere, loads of people, and so well run. I am a big fan of the one-show format and considering the number of athletes and the fact they all do routines, it didn’t run anymore than maybe 10mins behind schedule at any given time. Love that.

Asia Pacifics on the weekend was a great comp too. I was impressed with the calibre of athletes – in particular in the figure divisions. Very big (for the most part) line ups, and very close. They all brought their A-Game, that is without doubt. There weren’t as many spectators as I thought – maybe the $80 pricetag on an all-day ticket had something to do with that though (and an extra $60 if you wanted to see the sports/fitness models the following day). I do have to say though – kudos to ANB for finally giving the model divisions their own day – I am not a big fan of them being on the same day as bodybuilding and figure competitors – particularly when they are placed on stage before all the others, who have depleted and dehydrated to hell and back. The one thing that did annoy me about the comp though – the length of time it went for. Even taking the models out of the comp, it still managed to run til 10.30pm. It started at 10.30am. That is a bit of a joke – I think the feds that don’t yet follow the 1 show format need to jump on board, and soon!

OK – so now my real bitch.

The thing I hate the most about shows is sore friggen losers. You didn’t win? Get over it. Maybe approach the judges for some feedback on why X person placed ahead of you, and what you can do to improve for next time. Maybe walk away, eat your pizza, and then get back to working on the weaker areas. Whatever. 

Seriously – I know that sometimes decisions are made and we don’t agree with them all – and yes (God forbid) – sometimes it would appear that there is some favouritism and/or political decisions made but in all honesty – is whinging and posting stuff all over Facebook and/or other forums, blogs etc about how you were ripped off going to do anything for your cause apart from making you look like a sore loser? And worse – posting derogatory comments about those who placed higher on photos that they can see / are tagged in….it’s seriously just not on!

OK rant over.

What I will say is that I did take home a shit load of motivation from Sunday’s competition – WOW – I have a lot of work ahead…but to that I have three simple words…BRING IT ON!! So now, I leave you with my motivation / inspiration for the next 16.5 weeks – ANB Asia Pacifics Overall Figure Champion – the incredible Janet Kane.

Um…no title tonight

Wow – up there with inconsistency in the blogging stakes, aren’t I?

Hello my friends – it’s real good to be back on here. I have had a bit of a break (obviously) from blogging. Just too many things going on and nothing really worth writing about.

I can’t remember last post (and am far too lazy to save this, check it, and return to this one) but going by comments I just read back on I am guessing it was about the hot pant donning yoga chick?  Well – for those of you who are my friend on Facebook (shame on you, those who aren’t!!) you would be aware that I have become quite taken with posting photos of “interesting” fashion around the traps. Photos are usually taken on my lunchbreak, and man, there are some very quirky and/or outright BAD dressers out there. I am not saying I am any Coco Chanel, God knows I am not, but there are lines that just shouldn’t be crossed! Anyway I have decided to start a blog dedicated to the lovely fashion photography I have been capturing – feel free to check it out: http://fromthestreetsof.blogspot.com and leave any feedback you feel necessary. The first few are going to be a backlog of pics I have been taking (so some of you will have seen some of them on FB already).

OK back to ME!

Prep has started for me – I am just over 17 weeks out. Feeling good and getting a little leaner. Eating loads, God bless JD and his theory on using food to speed up the metabolism. No complaints here.

I have been to 3 comps in recent weeks – the ANB Sydney titles; NABBA/WFF Southern Hemispheres; and INBA Brisbane titles. All within the first week of prep – what a great motivator – seeing all the buff bods and shredded chickies up on stage. I am also off to the Asia Pacifics this weekend, which also promises to be a killer comp. I am making it my mission to make 2011 a fucking brilliant year for me comp-wise. Scuse the French but I had to emphasise it. This is going to be a killer year 🙂

Spent last weekend down in my fave Aussie city, Melbourne, and literally spent ALL of my time with my baby niece or training. That was it. Loved every second of the weekend. Well aside from on Sunday when some stupid bitch thieved the white gold & diamond cross and necklace we bought my niece for her upcoming Christening (no joke – there are some absolute scum out there).

Um…not much else to tell you, I am afraid! So til next time (and you can hold your breath, I am back for real this time lol) train hard, play harder and be good 🙂

Randomness

I am starting this post without a title, as I am just gonna ramble today about some completely random shit.

I am spending the 3rd day in a row perched on my bean bag – comfy, yes…for a couple of hours, but then it’s quite butt-numbing. “Just get off it then”, I hear you thinking. The problem is, that by that stage, I am kind of set in position and can’t be bothered to move. I have had a couple of naps on this thing in the last few days as well, which may account for the rather stiff neck I am currently experiencing.

I have barely been out of my pyjamas in the last few days, aside from the following times: 

Wednesday morning – trained legs before work (not an easy feat when your head feels like it’s gonna explode), got ready and went to work – that lasted til lunchtime, when I felt like death warmed up and just couldn’t bear being there any longer. I came home, whacked the PJ’s on and have been in them since.

Thursday – got out of them to have a shower and go to the doctors, then promptly put them on when I got home. Would have visited the Dr’s in them if it was socially acceptable, trust me. Also had to change out of them for a brief stint in the afternoon to go to Coles and pick up some supplies so I could eat, and visit the Chemist for some antibiotics.

Today – aside from a shower, no plans to get out of PJs.

I have done nothing but watch tv, sleep, eat, sleep, check the internet a thousand times, sleep, and watch Sopranos episodes. Feeling rather lazy but sinuses are fucked clogged up and I have had the most insane headache all week that I have had in years 😦 

Hmm so not a lot going on in my world.

I do want to share a pretty disturbing experience with you though, that I haven’t been able to get off my mind all week, I am that traumatised by it.

So last Saturday, I had a 9am appointment to get my hair straightened with that Brazilian Keratin straightening treatment. My appointment was at a salon down the Gold Coast, called Coupe Hair. Now I was trying to work out the best way to squeeze my training into the morning, given that I had to factor in an hour long drive down there, and most of the Fitness Firsts up here don’t open til 8am on a Saturday morning (some at 7 / 7.30am).

Anyway I decided to leave home super early, and to go to one of the FF’s down the Goldie. I ended up at the Mermaid Waters Platinum club. Never having been to a Platinum, I was ok with paying the difference (had to pay $7 to train there even though I have a passport membership) to see what all the fuss was about.

I am honestly not sure what my $7 paid for.

Freeweights floorspace was almost non-existent – set up in an area as big as my bathroom. One set of dumbbells for each weight increment. About 5 benches total. 

Cardio area – well all the ‘regular’ FF’s I have been training at have the same quality cardio equipment, and a hell of a lot more of it.

Weights machine area – about as impressive as the other areas, and just as small.

So if anyone knows the difference between a ‘standard’ Fitness First and a ‘platinum’ one, please tell me via the comments section as I would LOVE to know.

Anyway did my training and then headed over to the rower machine to do a bit of cardio. Rowers are located in the pint-sized stretch area, right in front of the machine weights. I get on the rower, and am immediately gobsmacked at the view I was subjected to.

A girl had a yoga mat laid out on the floorspace next to me, and she was there in full view of everyone, doing a yoga routine. Yes, shocking, I know!! lol OK you got me. The gobsmacking bit was her choice of attire, especially when taking into consideration where she was doing her repeated downward facing dog pose (she seemed to do that a lot).

She was wearing what I could only describe as being best suited to being in a bar or a club. Hot pants, and a boob tube. I kid you not. The hot pants (well, very little shorts, if you will) were about this size:

…and semi-loose fitting. So when she was doing her downward dog position:

with her butt facing the general population of the gym, it was hard to avoid seeing what she had for breakfast. I kid you not.

Is it just me, or is this inappropriate?? 

I am seriously scarred by the incident. This went on for 10min (think she managed to squeeze about 24 downward dogs into that space) before I couldn’t take it anymore and got my butt off that rower. Thanks for the memory lady.

Anyway that’s all I got for ya today. Supposed to have my appointment for skins tomorrow, which I am not looking forward to after my time away (and now my lack of training this week)…BUT given D Day is in like 10 days – won’t really matter I suppose. That’s if this sinus rubbish starts getting better by tomorrow cos at this rate, I won’t be going anywhere!

So, til next time…adios amigos.

D-Day Announced

D-Day. AKA Diet Day…well the beginning of it anyway.

I have been (im)patiently waiting for the IFBB to release dates for the QLD and Aussie shows – cos we all like to know where our goalpost is. QLD titles are usually held in mid-October, with the Aussie titles being on the 3rd weekend in October (well that’s been the case every year I have done the show in any case). So, I had assumed the 20-week-out mark would be in 3 weeks time.

Trolling through a popular bodybuilding forum this eve, I stumbled on a thread posted by a very big IFBB promoter in the land of Oz, who announced that the fab Kai Greene will be guest posing at the IFBB Vics, Qld and Aussie titles – and next to each location, listed the date.

8 October – VIC titles

9 October – QLD titles

15-16 October – NSW/Aussie titles.

So…D-day is in 2 weeks…EEK!

So looking forward to it but freaking out as well – never done a 20 week comp prep, but at the same time know I am in unreal hands and am looking forward to seeing what I can bring to the stage this year.

So 2 weeks…I can feel a LOT of ice cream being jammed into the next 14 days!!

Overdue

Yeah I know, bout time I posted. Rest assured, I am still here, have just not been motivated to write since getting back from being away.

So much has happened since last post but at the same time doesn’t feel like anything that interesting to anyone else has gone on, so haven’t had a lot to write about really.

I had a lovely, albeit very busy, time away. It was so nice to see everyone and get to spend some quality time with my family, and especially with my lil bubby niece, who as you all know, I love to bits!! She has gotten SO BIG it is not funny…little chubber she is. I spoke with my SIL yesterday and she was telling me Aurelia is the biggest – and youngest – baby at the Mother’s Group she is going to. This kid must take after her aunty with the love of food thing!!

So Melbourne was first up. Well there was a brief (36 hours) stint in Sydney, as I had flown into Sydney and then drove to Melbourne with my parents. Yes, I know I am game – 9 hours in a car with my parents…enough to drive most people batty. But I have done it before on several occasions and I just know the golden rule – ENSURE iPOD IS CHARGED. So anyway Melbourne was good, I literally did NOTHING aside from hang at my brother’s place and one daily trip to the renowned Doherty’s Gym to train. My thought was that I went down there for family time, and that is what I did. Hung with the family, a lot.

Easter Sunday was a big affair, as it always is in my family. My family and my SIL’s family had a big (and by ‘big’ I mean ‘enormous’) feast. Mum had been summonsed to make homemade lasagna (the only kind I will eat – refuse to order lasagna at restaurants as am always disappointed), so she started making the pasta the night before (at which point my brother requested we have fresh spaghetti for dinner that night…so we did…mmm enough to make me want to move home!) and we put the lasagna together on Easter Sunday morning. Rach’s mum made 3 kinds of roast (as you do!!) with all the baked veggies and extras, and of course there were salads, and about 4 kinds of desserts. Not to mention the easter eggs. I ate my fair share, let’s just leave it at that 😉

Sydney was good, managed to catch up with some rellies and close friends which is always nice. My bestie is currently 6 months pregnant and her belly had grown so much since I last saw her, I couldn’t believe it. She actually looks like she is about 8 months pregnant – all belly – she is gonna have a big bubba on her hands! I went to a wedding last Saturday night – it was the wedding of an old workmate from the place I worked for about 9 years, and was like a massive reunion. There were about 40 of us from that workplace there and was so much fun! It was one of the most beautiful wedding I have ever been to – they have been together 13 years and looked just so happy and content – the way it should be. I *may* have also met a Brazilian boy at said wedding and gone to a Brazilian BBQ at his place the next day…which is quite an experience for those who have never been to one. VERY different to the barbies us Aussies put together…the coal bbq was burning, slow cooking the meat, which get sliced as it cooks and passed around on a plate. There were guitars and maraccas and bongoes and a tambourine being played while they sat around singing in Portuguese…such a nice way to spend a Sunday arvo/night. No real spark when I wasn’t drinking copious amounts of red wine like the previous night though – but all good fun 🙂

Not much to report from this week. I have tried to keep the diet as clean as possible as have skinfolds next week and am a bit worried after my Easter splurge…I don’t feel like I was as active as normal while away despite training as normal. So have tried to step it up a little this week since getting back. Tried a new boxing gym on Thursday night, it was a 45min class (I am used to 1-2 hour classes) and let’s just say that I don’t think I could have kept going after 45mins – I was already sweating and out of breath during the warm up! Think I will be returning there 🙂 Hit the stairs this morning and it nearly killed me after a 3 week break from them.

So today – think it’s off to the markets for me. I love the markets 🙂