Trip to Toronto

My trip to Toronto last week went great. It was a busy few days. Drove up on Wed. Shot on Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Then I drove back to Quebec on Monday, stopped in at my school to finish up a few things and then kept driving to the Maritimes. It was a very long day.
I managed to stay on my diet for the whole time away, with the exception of Sunday night, and Monday as I ran out of food. Even though, I still managed to eat well while travelling, and my cheat foods are not really full out binging cheats. I did get in 3 days of workouts, mind you they were not as intense as I would have liked. Saw some of the photos and would love to share, but I have to keep them underwraps until September.

No cover shoot for Oxygen yet. I did do some wonderful training shots, which is great. I am looking to progress to the next level. I do my own leg work, and don't have an agent. I also don't live in a hub that puts me in a more likely position to shoot with various magazines. This can be very frustrating. I also worked with Cathy Chatterton, which were have been emailing for 2 years now, so it was wonderful to finally meet her. Also with my sponsor - Slimquick Extreme - so that we could update all my photos. Hopefully those turned out, as I did work with Glen Grant. Great to work with him in a professional setting.

While in Toronto I made a few observations; I am not a 'city chick'. I grew up in a relatively small town, or various small towns, and am quite shocked at the few random events that happened while in Toronto.
I do have to mention the positives - such as taking the subway and walking everywhere. I used to do this all the time when I was in college, and do miss it. What a great way to get in some extra cardio. My friend and fellow fitness gal - Liana Saadi - offered up her place to crash while I was in T.O. It was a wonderful area, near U of T, and everything was in walking distance. Since I live in the country, and have to drive everywhere, walking is not something that I do often and when I do visit the city, it is refreshing to just take in the sights and sounds.
With walking everywhere, you do up your chance of getting injuries - oh, let's just mention almost being hit by a woman in her car, not paying attention to the crosswalk signs. Luckily I was paying attention.
There are many sights to behold when on the subway as well - couples making out without noticing everyone else watching them...or maybe it was just me watching; a guy with so many sticks, and piercings coming out of his face some could think he was a distant cousin of a dart board; and people just sleeping, randomly - everywhere. I guess if you live here, you learn to get used to these sights. I am a huge people watcher so for me this is very entertaining.
I think I could just ride the subway, and watch people.
It was also Gay Pride weekend in Toronto. Although I did not go, Liana did attend and shot some very interesting photos. I did not know you could just walk around naked for the day??

I am currently vacationing in the Maritimes and will post some pics soon. I am finding it a bit tough to get to the gym, so I am trying to keep my diet on track. I am staying 30mins from the closest gym so to train, and return home takes about 2 hours. Still have not started routine practice yet. I will be doing that for sure next week. Just wanted to get my bearings first. I am finding that I am hungry sooner. This can be a good thing, but I still have 32 days left to diet, and I just don't want to get too lean too fast, and then I look too skinny. The other girls are so beefy that I just want to make sure I preserve all my muscle.

I will be moving to a different house next week. This should be a bit more consistent in my schedule. I am coming to realize that is the most difficult part of the summer - trying to keep a consistent schedule. Dieting in the summer is not what I would choose to do. It is all in line with achieving my pro card. I am not happy that the National show is in August, and really don't understand why Canada continues to do things so backward. A late fall show - say in October/November, or an early spring show in April/May would not fit well into my schedule in terms of travel, but in terms of timing & the diet - for me it would be much easier. I would be at work, with a consistent schedule, not a lot of travel involved, be very busy all the time - which I find helps to keep me on track. Not sure if I am just making excuses, or am having a bit of a minor bitch session here. Ok maybe this is a mini-vent. Thanks for reading, talk soon,

A.

47 days and counting

School & Work
School is pretty much over for me as of Friday. I corrected all my exams, entered my marks, and well just have to clean up my classroom a bit, and things are done. That means around 7 weeks of vacation - no bad for a teacher. We do get 12 weeks of vacation a year. This is very much a lifestyle choice, and every time summer rolls around I am sure that many teachers are thankful for this 'perk' of the job.

Diet & Training
Diet this week has been perfect. I made some huge strides in my physique this week. I am off to Toronto on Wed for a few photo shoots, so I am pushing the weight loss a bit faster than I would normally this many days out from a show. For the Arnold Amateur I only dieted for around 46 days. To have the process already started is a huge relief, as I will be traveling a bit, and then on vacation - but still bringing my food everywhere.

What am I eating - the same as most girls - oatmeal, yogurt, bananas, broccoli, sweet potato, chicken, salad, light dressing, some nuts, asparagus, dill pickles, eggs, egg whites, protein shakes, and that is about it. Oh, and my morning coffee.

Training has been consistent, and intense. I am making sure to get all my reps/set in, my cardio, and have some rest in there too. Since I am not 'teaching' I do have a bit more energy as I am not on my feet all day, and training at the same time. I still see that improvements can be made in my glutes (but what girl would not say that) - it is the last thing to come in on my physique. I like lifting heavy as it is challenging, and motivating. I can see my body taking that competition shape. Erik sent me a new program that I am very excited to have. Higher reps for some exercises. I like the higher reps as I feel stronger this time around. Usually I am just doing my workouts but am not mentally there - just going through the motions I guess. This is what I really needed - someone just to give me an extra 'oomph' to get excited about the gym again.

I have not started routine practice yet. I have managed to alter my music to make a routine that was 2mins down to the CBBF regulated 1min 30 seconds. I made sure it was not more than this even though some girls have been known to go over. I want to win this show, and something as little as going over the alloted routine music time could affect the outcome. CBBF has not been known to 'time' the routine but the one time I would not pay attention to this small detail would be the one time they do time the routine.

Summer
This summer I am planning quite a bit of travel. Some girls find it hard to travel and diet, and well for me I find it easier. Maybe it is because I am busier, have more people around me, and well they understand what I do - so there are no questions. They still even after all these years have questions, but then it keeps me more on track knowing they are 'watching' even though they are not really watching.

A.

Here are some pics from Saturday 21 June:

52 days and counting....

I cannot believe how fast time flies. This week has been very hectic for me. The first 3 days were spent at a math conference as my school (actually the province) is bringing in 3 new math programs for grade 10 next year. That was a good break from being at school, as I was able to workout and focus on my training, and still do my regular job.

Back home on Wed night, however, a major thunderstorm came though and in a nutshell, the power was out for 3 days at my school. The students are into exams during this time, and all the exams had to be moved to the following week. My students are a bit disoriented as they have more time to study, but usually they do worse on the exam, and longer you wait, the more they tend to forget come the actual exam. Plus they get 'summer fever' early and thoughts of prom draw nearer, making it hard for them to focus.

On the training front, I had a very good week. Dieting was ok. Sun/Mon/Wed really good. Tues had supper out, Thursday was quite stressed and ate some popcorn, and Friday is my cheat day - so egg salad sandwich it was. However, I try to maintain some consistency in my diet, getting in all the protein timed, every 2-3 hours. Some carbs but changing to more fats near the end of the day. This has been the best week yet, and I can only expect near week to be better.

I am trying to set up some photo shoots near the end of the month so training is in higher gear than it would be for this amount of time before the show. Starting to see changes in my physique. Routine practice will start this weekend. This week I am going to be swamped with exams and marking, as school officially ends on Friday. Everything has to be done on Friday. Since I am to be so busy, this is a good thing. Staying busy helps with the dieting.

Here are some pics of this week: