35 days to the Arnold!

Not long now. Only one month away. The Arnold Classic. My favorite event of the year. Training has been going really well. Trying to maintain my muscle, and keep some shape this year. I can get lean but it tends to be really lean, no shape. I wanted to post pictures, but just have not had time to get some done. Maybe next update. Weight - in the 125lbs range. I usually compete around 120lbs so I am pretty much on schedule.

Dieting is going easier than I expected. The first 2 weeks are always tough, but then you get into the groove. Knowing that the show is a few short weeks away keeps me on my toes. The 3 to 6 week mark out from the show is when the most damage can be done, and when you need to work your hardest. During this time I will have to finish my routine, commit it to memory, find or design and make a costume, and get all my ducks in a row for the day of the event. There is no shortage of things to prepare. I am ready and up for the challenge.

Also for the Arnold Classic weekend you can visit me at the Bodybuilding.com booth on Saturday and Sunday. Come early as it is always the longest line up of any booth. There will be many faces stopping by during the weekend. Details to come!

Los Angeles Fit Expo

(Crystal from Bodybuilding.com)

I just returned from a weekend out in LA with Bodybuilding.com. It is always fun to see everyone without having to prepare for a show. And my luggage was a lot lighter too. (except on the way home). The event was a 2 day event. Usually it is held in conjunction with the Ironman Pro bodybuilding show, but this year they did not hold that event. Instead there was the 2nd annual 2010 Bodybuilding.com Bodyspace Spokesmodel contest. I was lucky enough to be there to see the next 2 bodyspace members (a male and female) become the Spokesmodel for 2010.


It was Ben Brooker, and Jaquelyn Kay, the new 2010 Bodyspace Spokesmodels. (pictured)
You can see more on the contest, and the other contestants on Bodybuilding.com.

The show began in the mid-afternoon and I got to do something that I have always wanted to do - host! I was a co-host with Bob Cicherillo for the event, and was able to ask questions of the competitors to highlight their talents, and motivations. It was a wonderful opportunity for me to see what it is like on the other side of the stage. Not easy to have questions ready to go when in front of that many people. It is something that I would like to do more in the near future.

(Alexandra, Mindy, Danny, & Erin)

The rest of the weekend was filled with hanging out with friends, handing out various products at the Bodybuilding.com booth, seeing other booths, taking some pictures, meeting fans, and having a good time. I always look forward to these events as working does not feel like working.

Maybe life is telling me something and I should be paying attention? ;)



At the Ironman Magazine booth they had my cover with the face cut out so people could put their face instead of mine. I thought it would be funny to put my face where Sean Harley's face was. He did the same thing on his cut out. Very funny.













(Silvio Samual, 2009 Ironman Pro Bodybuilding Champion)












Up next for me is a Mike Davies Camp in Columbus Ohio. I went back in July and well had my butt kicked and loved every minute of it. I was very quiet when I was there, but that was probably due to being so tired. I could not walk for a week afterwards. This time I am preparing for the body bashing and am training for it. These camps and weekends away do amazing things for my motivation. Traveling once a month seems to put everything into perspective for me.

I have a few things in the works but for now I will keep mum, and let life take me in the right direction.

"Man is only truly great when he acts from his passions." Benjamin Disreali

A.

New Year! 2010 is here!

Arnold Classic 2010

It is with great pride that I announce that I have been selected to compete at the 2010 Arnold Fitness International as a IFBB Pro competitor.

Here is the full list of the Fitness International competitors:

Myriam Capes
Regiane Da Silva
Nicole Duncan
Tina Durkin
Allison Ethier
Adela Garcia
Tracey Greenwood - Withdrew
Oksana Grishina
Jennifer Hendershott - Withdrew
Tanji Johnson
Julie Palmer
Kayde Puckett
Camala Rodriguez
Sylvia Tremblay
Kizzy Vaines
Trish Warren

I put in an application in mid November, and basically crossed my fingers. I heard this news just before I left for Qatar and Sri Lanka for 2 weeks for Christmas. It was a welcomed Christmas gift. I am so proud to be among these talented competitors. They are all so accomplished, and I am excited to learn from them.

What did this mean for training/diet over the Christmas holidays? No dieting. No training.
I was traveling, and well, it is not fun to be doing the 'diet' thing while you are on vacation. Possible, but definitely not fun. So I decided not to sweat about it and when I returned home I would have around 60 days to get my act together. I did not and do not have that much weight to lose - around 10 lbs, so in that time frame I should be ok. My issue has never been getting lean, but rather maintaining or gaining muscle. I am small frame, and like my body, and well, am not sure if I want to gain too much muscle. I know it is just temporary (in terms of my life span) but I also really enjoy modeling so I am hoping I can find a balance between the two. Being able to do well on stage as a fitness competitor, and model from time to time.

Here are some progress pics as of my return from Sri Lanka
(taken Jan 10th)
























































So this year I have been toying with the idea of going back to a few routines that I have done in the past. I try to always move forward in my routines, and learn a few new skills over the years. This year, I have so many ideas, that I had a hard time choosing a theme. I tend to do themes, as the costume is always easier to design and make. So, this year I will not return to an old theme but come up with a new one. I have decided on trying one song instead of a mix. I have never done that before. The song has good levels, and a great theme, that I could not let it go and had to use it.

So I have been dieting for about a week now and already see changes. I think it was good to give my body a rest. I have never taken 2 weeks off of the gym. I mean never. Ok, when I was pregnant but that is about it. Even after a show I might take one day off, but 2 weeks? Usually after 3 days I am going crazy and need to do something.

Perhaps I did not miss it as much as it was so hot in Sri Lanka and I was sweating all the time, that I did not have the need to workout. Sri Lanka was amazingly friendly (much like Thailand), and Qatar was interesting as well. Qatar reminded me of Las Vegas but without the lights. There was a lot of construction, and basically just desert. I enjoyed my time away, but am back to school, and training, and really looking forward to everything. Especially the training. I really missed my gym.

Teaching

Teaching...hmmmm....how do I discuss teaching.

Maybe I should leave that for another post.

I do have to say that I really love my students this year. They are awesome. They all work, all are on task, and generally love school. How could I get an luckier? They must have awesome parents. Actually I met most of them at the last parent teacher night - and well, they are awesome too.

“Man can only endure a certain degree of unhappiness; what is beyond that either annihilates him or passes by him and leaves him apathetic”

Los Angeles Fit Expo 2010
I will be at the LA Fit Expo next weekend - January 22-24th, at the Los Angeles convention center. You can find more information here - Bodybuilding.com
I will be at the Bodybuilding.com booth on Saturday and Sunday.
I will be crowning the next 2010 Bodyspace Spokesmodel on Saturday. You can see all the contestants here. Spokes model contestants.

There is 47 days until I leave for the Arnold. I have quite a bit of work to do until then.

A.

Late Nov/Early Dec Update

Where has the time gone? Since the Olympia I have been working hard at school - teaching my new workload of grade 8 math, science, and ethics. I know this school year has been extremely hard, and I have not had this much work to do in 8 years. My first year of teaching was this busy, but that was to be expected.

I teach the same group of students all 3 subject areas. So I see them at least once a day, and sometimes twice. With all that has changed for me this year, I have to say that someone has blessed me with awesome students. I don't want them to know that I think they are awesome, but they ALL are awesome. As long as my lessons are well constructed - they all will work, and be on task. All of them. Some minor discipline issues, but they are in grade 8 this is normal. But overall, they work, they hand in their stuff, and are conscious of their behavior.

I wanted to give up one course, as I am working 50+ hours a week for a job that requires me to be in the building (including teaching time) 16 hours. My goal for taking a reduced workload was to spend more time with my son, and that was not happening. I am still really confused on what to do. I am sure the year will pass by and nothing will change. I will probably have taught this new workload (secretly enjoying my students more), and then see what will happen for me next year.

I have talked with my principal, and expressed my unhappiness, and hopefully he will listen. Right now he does not seem to be listening. He says he will talk to me in February and explain why the change was made. People around me are baffled why the change was made. Hopefully I will get more clarification later in the year.

Other options...

I am still toying with the idea of doing personal training. Yes, I do want to do this but finding the time is tough. I can find the time to mom stuff, teaching stuff, wife stuff, house stuff, me stuff (when needed), and try to do the fitness stuff - however doing fitness stuff for others is more time than there is in 24 hour day. This is a project that I will be researching and working on over the next few months.

Lately, I am not sleeping well. Do you ever get like that? Not being able to sleep for no reason? I finally feel like I have control over the situation at work. But still, not sleeping. Tired, but not sleepy.

New IFBB Pro....

I think I might be excited for the upcoming fitness season. I still really enjoy competing and know that I am not finished just yet. I get very excited when I think about the upcoming shows, and events. I have applied to the Arnold Fitness International and am hopeful that I will get an invite. I am a huge fan of the event, and after having competing twice in the Arnold Amateur, I would love to be at the Arnold now as an IFBB Pro. I would love to be able to show my stuff on THAT stage. I have been dreaming of this moment since I began fitness, and it is very close now. I am so grateful to still be doing this after all these years, and just hope to continue for a few more years. The Arnold and eventually the Olympia are my goals for 2010. I do have other shows that I would like to do this year and will post that list later in the month.

I am always training. People I know always ask, "still training?" My answer of course is always 'yes' still training but not always dieting. I don't go through those phases of going for a while, and then stopping. I always go to the gym at least 4-5 times per week. Even at my busiest with school or fitness I still manage to go. I find of the diet, sleep or training - if I am lacking time sleep is the first to go. Then diet, then training. I am enjoying my break, and know that it is time to get on the wagon again, but like last year at this time, I am looking forward to the shows, and the preparations. I think I have come to realize that I no longer have to do fitness, I choose to do fitness. For years, and then some I would compete out of pressure (self pressure or external pressure) to compete. I felt I had to compete. Now, I truly want to compete.

To eat or not to eat....?

Do I find certain aspects of dieting hard? Sure. When I am stressed, or near that time of the month I feel like binging. In fact I think I have always been a food binger. Fitness did not bring it out in me. I can remember at times in University eating a whole pizza by myself. Or huge bowls of pasta. But I was so active that it never caught up to me. I live on either end of the bell curve. There is no happy medium with me. I am either all in or all out. I cannot have just a few m&ms. It is the whole bag. Just because I know what to do does not make it easier for me. So how do I stay on track? Deny, deny, deny. I know that in the end the means are justified. The means for fitness includes the diet. It is just part of the preparation.

When I take breaks from the diet - like now, the urge to binge goes away. I always consider food as a source of energy, and not just for pleasure. Sure there are times that I allow myself to go crazy. Once a week at the most. Again, when I am working I am super busy, train regularly, and am active, so can afford the calories. Right now I have no urge to binge eat. There are a few Christmas parties coming up, and I always arrive already fed. That way I will not fill up on just anything. Most times I will just have a drink or two and wait to get home to eat. I always ask myself if eating the food will make the social event better. Most times it won't. It is not always about food, but when you are dieting, some how it is all about the food.

Suggestion for future shows...

I wish I could compete without having to be in shape, and just do the routine. Hey, they have bikini, figure, fitness model why can't they have 'just routine'. They have just body events, why not just truly routine events? I know that most girls don't want to (or feel they are not capable) do the routine so they do figure or fitness. What if there are girls who just don't want to do the diet - they should have just the fitness routine. Maybe that would bring more girls to the arena. And it is highly entertaining as well.

So what is going on now? I am focusing on getting a new routine in the works - music first and then starting my diet in hopes of making to the Arnold this year. There is another pro show 2 weeks prior to the Arnold, and am hoping to be able to make it to that one as well.

I think the list for the Arnold is out around the 3 week of December......

Until then.....

A.