10 Weeks Out of UFE Vengence in Calgary

WOW,  has it EVER been a long time since I've blogged!! I find it easy to talk talk talk when it comes to competition prep. Seriously, everyday is a new challenge and experience. The off season though, it pretty darned boring! I was finding it really hard to think of anything good to say! HAHA

During my time off I've started an AWESOME 60 day challenge with my Sisters in Shape.

The first group through is just finishing up, and it went AMAZING!! What a great group! :) Many are continuing on with us for more amazing workouts, meal planning, education and support on making health part of your everyday lifestyle!!! If you want to check out the details, head on over here :)    

OPERATIONLEAN



I've spent November till now DESPERATELY trying to put on some muscle for this next competition in May. The judges notes from my last competition stated that I could use more size in my shoulders and legs, to make the appearance of a smaller waist. I KNEW I needed a smaller waist! I always struggle with that area. Since it was a much shorter timeline that I would have liked, I did a fairly aggressive building phase, and had to let go of staying lean!! Wow, do I ever have a hard time with this phase!!! I like being lean, hence my blog name ;)

This was in NO WAY an unhealthy REBOUND that you hear of with fitness competitors. It was planned and controlled. I had a lofty goal of putting on 7 Lbs of muscle, and I've already put on more than 8!!! YAY....this is the time that I wish THIS photo wasn't accurate....HAHA,

Do you think 8 lbs over my whole body will look ANY different?? I'm thinking not really, but I HOPE SO!!! I've been working REALLY hard, and even though I was able to eat a tonne of food, it was all still very clean! I didn't throw in the towel and eat junk.....

So, I'm now starting my lean out phase and have started a carb cycle. Low days are 1700 calories and high days are 1900...my days off are 2000 or 2400 depending on how I feel. If I feel like my workouts are getting weaker, I take in 2400 and HIGH Carb. If my workouts are feeling strong, I do 2000 calories and Low Carb. I have also added a couple of 10 minute HITT sessions and one 20 minute HIIT session with longer rest periods of course, otherwise there's NO WAY I'd be able to compete 20 minutes of HIIT! HAHA

My pictures at this point of prep compared to last prep are looking pretty soft, which kinda psyches me out!! HAHA, but I looked like a stick on stage last time, so maybe it'll be better if I don't get quite as lean this time! LOL And geeze I still have 10 weeks! I know now, that for me LOSING is the easy part...putting on muscle is my new challenge for sure!!!

Here are the progress pics!!! AHHHH, be gentle! ;) I swear I'm chubbier this week than I was last! HAHA, but the callipers say otherwise! Bring on the FUN, I love the lean out phase...other than cardio ;) Man, I can't wait to get my tan on! (sorry I forgot to pull the curtain, kinda distracting!)

5 Weeks out from UFE Halloween Mayhem

I gotta say, this prep has been a lot harder than my first and I'm trying to pinpoint the reasons why?? I've come up with a few ideas....

1. The first one had a lot of excitement and uncertainty behind it. I didn't have any idea what to expect, I didn't have any expectations of myself other than to get on stage and I was just excited that I had FINALLY followed thru with one of my bucket list items!!! Now that that initial excitement is out of the way, I'm finding that I'm a lot tougher on myself. I don't have that EXCUSE, that its just my first time. I expect myself to do well which isn't the way I should go into it. I should still be viewing it as wanting to do better than my last time competing...NOT competing with others. It's when I start to feel competitive that all the fun is taken out of the event!

2. When I started prepping for my first competition I had a LOT of room for improvement! I had just recovered from a C-Section and had a lot of weight to lose!! I found my motivation was fuelled by seeing so much change week to week! The more weight you have to lose to begin with the more changes you'll see! So now, I only gained 5Lbs back after my last competition (hopefully a couple of those is lean mass after all this work!) and it's been REALLY hard to see the changes! When you only have 5 lbs-10Lbs to lose instead of 30-40, it just doesn't seem like you're making any progress and that makes it hard to stay motivated!

This being said, I'm really excited/and worried about doing my first OUT OF TOWN competition. Getting everything organized (tan/makeup/food prep/travel/accomodations/etc) is a lot more stressful! I'm so glad that I will have local friends there to spend the weekend with! It's going to be so much fun, and that's is what is keeping me going on the rough days!

This week I'm starting a carb/calorie cycle. I started tuesday with a low day, today was med, thurs and fri are going to be low, and Saturday high....I will decide from there what to do based on results. I woke up this morning with a nice defined six pack after my low day....which really fuelled my workout today! I just love to see how much change a day can make, and to see my abs come in is my ABsolute favourite! ;) I don't usually do the cycling, so hopefully it will shock my system into doing something amazing!! HAHA

I promise I will get more pictures up soon. I have a horrible replacement phone since my last one died...it takes blurry pictures so my social media has been suffering :( I also have a new MAC so I don't have the programs that I used to use for my collages, but I'm working on it! I want to see if there has been changes over the past month, so I HAVE to get organized here soon! If you have any suggestions on programs that I can make collages with AND add text that would be awesome! (You can post here or on my facebook page) I can't seem to find anything that will do both.

It's been a few weeks since I have done a blog, so I will insert my last few vlogs here too just in case you missed them!

WEEK 6 (Diet and Supplements)

WEEK 7 (Training, Fridge and Freezer)

WEEK 8 (Competing Lifestyle)

One MAJOR motivation I've had this past week was meeting with Melissa Leigh Morrisson (WBFF Pro) for help with my posing! I left with blisters and made many more from practicing throughout the week, but I feel so much better and she left me feeling excited and motivated for my time on stage again! :) I highly recommend investing in some help when it comes to stage presence. I didn't the first time, and really didn't feel confident on stage. I'm sure I'll feel like a shaking leaf again this time, but I do feel better prepared! Now I just have to make the extra time to practice, practice, practice!

Hopefully this week will bring great progress that I can share with you next week!!


Steph :)

7 Weeks out, and Prep for Photoshoot next week!

This week, I did low carb Monday-Saturday and included a high carb and higher calorie day on Sunday. Last week pictures were looking so flat that I was hoping the carb load on Sunday would make for better pics this week, and it appears it worked!! I am much happier with these pics...progress is still humming along! I'm still panicked that I won't get lean enough on time, but I'm continuing to go strong! My knees have been treating me pretty good this week during cardio, and long as I keep it really low impact, so I'll continue with that next week too! I've been working so hard in the gym, I've had a couple of "why am I doing this again?" moments...but there have been more good days than bad! I'm determined to stay motivated!

My plan for this week is the same as I've been doing the last couple of weeks! I'm going to be eating low carb till Saturday where I will start to introduce carbs back into my diet. This will HOPEFULLY fill out my muscles nicely by the time I have the photoshoot on Sunday. The beginning of the week, I'll be ingesting AT LEAST a gallon of water/day. Come saturday I'll be just drinking what I need, and after dinner on Saturday I'll just be sipping water when really needed! After tomorrow I won't be working legs for the rest of the week, it's said to retain water when you work legs...(I'll go easy on myself when we are doing legs at FEM Camp) I'm going to be going lighter on the weights, higher reps. Taking a bit of a break you could say.

There's lots to do this week!! I have to start making a diet plan so that I can prep all my food for the trip by Thursday. (I booked a hotel with a kitchen, so that's eased my mind a little about prep!) I have to pick out some outfits for the shoot, get a manicure and pedicure, figure out what I want to do with my hair, etc...I have no idea what I want to do there, I'm a ponytail girl! I have a spray tanned booked in Toronto to hopefully make those muscles pop a bit more too...not to mention hide my cellulite ;) I'm pretty darned EXCITED about FEM CAMP!! I wish it was closer to competition time so my body would have looked better, but what can ya do!!! I'm ACTUALLY getting to meet a few people there, that I have only chatted with so far through my page. They have helped me so much along the way! I can't wait! Oh, and I guess Monica Brant is kinda a big deal too ;) ;)

Anyway, I will be kinda MIA over the weekend, but will be taking LOTS of pictures to post when I get back!!! Wish my husband luck with the baby by himself for 4 days!!!! AHHHHHH LOL

9 Weeks Out and WBFF Workshop

FINALLY, I saw some progress in the midsection in the pics today!! WOHOO! This week I was still eating 1600 Calories, but the changes I made nutritionally were, 2 Gallons of water a day and I removed complex carbs other than my oatmeal in the morning. All other carbs during the day came from my veggie intake. I also added 3x15 minute Steady State (SS) cardio sessions to test out my knees. Apparently, cardio still isn't working for me. I don't know what is wrong with my left knee, but I will have to go get it checked out soon! Since I won't be able to burn too many calories through cardio at this low impact, my goal of not going below a 1600 Calorie intake up to competition will have to be adjusted. Here is my progress pic for this week!!

This week, since there are only two weeks left till my photoshoot, I'm changing it up quite a bit! I'm going to be cutting calories, and doing a carb cycle. My high carb days will be the days before large muscle groups to fuel those workouts more (legs and back) I'm even cutting out oatmeal "Goodbye my LOVE" I started this on Sunday. Two days in, and so far so good. :) Other than that, I'm still doing my best to get 2 Gallons of water, lots of good rest, and I'll try to keep up with little bouts of cardio if my knees can handle it. It's hard enough to practice in these 5 inch heels as it is, I don't want to add a limp to my stage walk! HAHA

On Sunday I attended to WBFF Workshop for the June 29th Athletes. I'm not competing with this organization at this point in time, but you can never learn enough right!!!? I figured I'd attend and learn as much as I can for my posing, T-Walk, and marketing myself (if I decide to go in that direction one day) It was definitly worth my time! I learned quite a bit when it came to stage presentation, and got some more practice time. They snagged a picture that they posted on FB and I was pleasantly suprised how I'm looking. I know I shouldn't be comparing myself to others (I'm my only competition) but it's really hard to know where you stand when you're seeing everyone else posing, and not really able to see yourself!! (We weren't facing a mirror) When the workshop started and I looked around, I REALLY felt like I was in over my head, but once it was over I was feeling more confident.

I'm the girl in the top left, back row (blue top, black wunderunders)

This was also the first time I left my daughter for an afternoon with anyone other than her dad! The greatgrandparents came over to care for her and it went really well. I'm glad I finally caved! Maybe I won't be as tied down to home now that I know she's ok without us ;)

So until next week fellow aspiring fitness peeps!!! :)