Today's My 36th Birthday

Craig Harper - Melbourne RYL

"G'day Groovers... hope you're all having a great week and "being the change that you want to see in your world" (Gandhi).

A couple of Sundays ago we ran our Melbourne RYL (Renovate Your Life) Workshop at my Brighton centre (lovingly referred to as the Harperdome) and much learning, frivolity and fun was had by all. This time I only offended half of the crowd which is a personal milestone for me. My therapist was so delighted. Go me. Unfortunately, I've been a little slow off the mark organising this post to share a few photos, thoughts and nice words from some of the attendees."

Read more....

Style on Stage Blog

Jo emailed me letting me know that she now has a blog for Style on Stage. You all know how much I love this women and her posing costumes so be sure to drop by her blog and give her a big warm blog welcome. :o)

I'm back, did you miss me? :o)

As you already know I’ve been internet challenged since before we moved and it’s only now we’re managed to get back online at our new home, better late than never I say. So what I’ve been doing is typing posts here and there to keep you all up to date with me. I’ve also got a whole bunch of reading to do as well as responding to and leaving comments on blogs. That my friends is going to take me a while, so please bare with me whilst I get caught up with what you’ve all been up to. I have no doubt with an upcoming competition I have missed heaps so I look forward to reading your blogs and seeing how you’re all travelling along.

Sunday 29th June 2008

Well we’ve moved in, the house resembles somewhat of a home and somewhat of a bomb zone at the moment. LOL!! We haven’t achieved as much as we would’ve liked by this time but that’s okay because it’ll get done soon enough. I’m trying to not let the little things worry me, cortisol levels are a big concern for me and anything I can do to prevent them helps me to achieve my goals and dreams. Oh and our kitchen is excellent! There’s ample cupboard space and it’s really well laid out. Exactly what a bodybuilder needs and wants right. ;o)

Today’s our last day at home before we start our new positions tomorrow morning. Now I know this will sound strange to most of you but I’m looking forward to going back to work, I’m a creature of habit and I need a routine. Life in the military is all about routine, hence why I love my work. I can’t remember if I had already mentioned or not my new working hours, I’ve been a bit absent minded of late. For the past five years my working hours have been dependant on the training program with early starts, late finishes, weekend work and generally no normality or sense of routine. I did the best I could given my working circumstances but now it’s time for me to reap the rewards of set working hours. And here they are: Monday - Thursday 0830-1630h & Friday 0830-1430h. How good is that! I have time to train in the morning before work without sacrificing my sleep for once. Which means rise and shine at 0600h and lights out at 2200h for me. That’s eight solid hours of sleep every night seven nights a week, talk about being blessed. It’s going to take 21 days to get myself and my body into this sleep routine but it’ll be well worth it in the end. My muscles are going to thank me in the end.

I managed to get online yesterday at a friend’s place and download all of my email. So if you’re emailing me I am getting them and replying to them into my drafts box but unfortunately I can’t send them just yet. We’re still not online and it’s looking like another week before we’ll be up and running at home. The previous tenant’s carrier haven’t disconnected them and until they do we can’t get connected. :o(

“If you want different, you have to be prepared to do different” This quote has been in the back of my mind since going to Craig Harper's Workshop. Because I was wanting to take myself to the next level with my competing I had to do things differently to what I’ve done before in the past. Things like finding a personal trainer who could help me do that. Thankfully I didn’t need to look far as Jon Davies came very highly recommended. Then there was my genetic profile to scientifically determine what it was that my body really needed to maximize my efforts. This has been an invaluable investment into my sporting career and the most worthwhile money I’ve ever spent. And then along came Lisa Stokes with her Biosignature & Precision Nutrition to set me up so that I could finally have a healthy maintainable lifestyle that I’ve always wanted. Between these three resources working together with a common goal I have no doubt that the next time I stand on stage it’s going to be a night to remember like none other.
I have five minutes left before my break is over so I’m going to finish this up now. There’s still so much more to do around here as well as getting organised for work. Have a fabulous week and until tomorrow keeping on smiling. :o)

Monday 30th June 2008

First day back at work and I’m bugged. I could quite easily go to bed now but that would screw with my sleep routine I’m trying to establish. So I decided to sit down and type today’s entry instead, so here I am. I’m sitting here in my new health & fitness studio (as I like to call it) typing away whilst I listen to my new cd “Journey to the Faeries”. You all know how much I love all things faeries so it was only fitting I bought it. It’s music designed to help you relax which is ideally why I bought it. All I need now are some meditation candles from my favourite candle store Dusk. Slowly but surely I’m acquiring tools that will help me with my “evening routine” to enhance a good night’s sleep.

On the training front I trained lower body and abs this morning, it felt good to get back into the gym again after an extended break. Daniel and myself have had the last month of training and dieting, it wasn’t planned it just happened that way. But it has bought about our new found enthusiasm to get back into the gym and clean up our nutrition. We did what we did and now we’re over it, so it’s time to get back on track. My gym’s one that I’ve previously trained in before so that’s good although I’m far from settled into a routine but that will come in time. My weight training program has been specifically designed so that I don’t further aggravate my shoulder with my upcoming surgery on 30th July. It’s annoying and frustrating to say the least, but it’s better I deal with this now than have it hold me back next year when I’m competing. I’m doing what I can do given my physical limitations so it’s all good.

This music is obviously working because I’m feeling quite sleepy. I’m going to take that as a hint and go and spend some quality time with my husband. Now that we’re not training and working together I have to ensure we spend more quality time together when we’re home. So it’s bye bye for now from me. :o)

Wednesday 2nd July 2008

Not sure what happened to Tuesday. I must have forgotten, my bad. *oops sorry*
Today is day two of doms and I can barely walk without the feeling of excruciating pain in my quads. It must have been those crazy sumo squats, they’re always a killer for quads especially on the inside of them. My stance is getting wider and wider with them, pretty soon I’ll be doing the banana splits. LOL!! Only kidding, maybe a limbo though. LOL!! Today was upper body and abs. I was ever so cautious of my shoulder when I was training my chest and back. All isolated delts, biceps and triceps are completely out of the question until six weeks after surgery. I’m listening very carefully to my body and ensuring I don’t do anything to jepordise my health and well being. I had a great workout though and was satisfied with what I achieved none the less. Friday’s my last day weight training this week and I have the pleasure of my husband joining me. I love it when we get the opportunity to train together, we really motivate one another.

Dallas & Lindy rang this evening and it was sooo good to hear their voices again. I’ve missed them both so much and can’t wait to see them and hear all about their adventures. But luckily we’ll have plenty of time to catch up when they stay here the weekend of the all females. Our biggest challenge will be getting enough sleep that weekend. We’re both such typical chatter boxes when we get together. We just talk, talk, talk and talk our heads of. LOL!! I must be disciplined and get to bed at a decent hour each night, especially with our schedule. But more about that later on.

I’ll be off work next week. It’s Mum’s last week of having chemotherapy treatment. I’ll drive her into Peter MacCallum Cancer Clinic every day and care for her when she needs it. It’s a challenging week but we’re hoping now that we live here it’ll be that little bit easier on her. Can you believe it, three months has already past since she started her treatment. It’s gone so quickly, hasn’t it. We’re all a little anxious at the moment, especially Mum. We have no idea what’s in store for us next so we’re just taking things one day at a time. Mum’s at an all time low of 48kg. I’m really hoping there’s no further drop in body weight next week when she weighs in but deep down I know that there will be. Mum even tries to hide her weight from me because she knows I worry. If I don’t ask about it she doesn’t tell me, cheeky women isn’t she. I guess I don’t really need to know, I can see it. She’s so weak and frail now. It’s an unusual concept for me to comprehend because she’s always been so physically strong in the past. So much has changed and in a short period of time too. My brother gave notice at his work yesterday. He finishes in a month’s time and will be moving down here to Melbourne. He’s already found a job where he’ll also live so he’s all organised. Mum is so happy that both her children are finally in the same state and close to her. Family is of the utmost importance at times like these, we have to pull together and be there for Mum. It’s all about quality, not quantity.

I must get ready for work tomorrow so I will say good night. :o)

Thursday 3rd July 2008

I’m finally back online at home. *woo hoo* I have a whole bunch of emails to get caught up on so bare with me until I’m on top of things. I'll be back soon, I promise. :o)

Craig Harper, Myself and a Towel

I'm back, at last! To cut a long story short we have had nothing but trouble from Telstra. We’d been without a home phone and internet since early last week in Sale. Then the home phone and internet was delayed in Melbourne. My Mum taught me when I was growing up that “if you can’t say anything nice, then don’t say anything at all”. So now I’m sitting in the Quest Sanctuary Lakes Apartments as I’m officially homeless this evening. LOL!! But that’s okay because I have internet access. Unfortunately though, I don’t know when I’ll be back online in our new home but hopefully it should be sometime this week.


This is going to be long, you have been warned. LOL!! Sunday 22nd June 2008 I went to the “Renovate Your Life Workshop” conducted by Craig Harper. I’d been looking forward to this day for quite some time as I have been a big fan of his blog www.craigharper.com.au as well as having purchased and read his book Fattitude.

WOW what a day! I’m going to start by explaining the title of today’s post so that there’s no confusion. LOL!! Craig had asked the audience for a volunteer (of which I obliged) to run through a training session with him. Resistance Training is just that training with resistance. What he did was showed us all how you don’t need a gym membership or a personal trainer to effectively work out. All you needed was another person, a towel and resistance. So what he did was he ran through an entire body workout using just these tools and yes they were very effective. So much so I experienced doms the following day in my chest, arms, back and quads. It’s certainly given me some really great ideas for pumping up backstage at competitions as well as those times when you need to train but don’t have the usual resources.

Now getting down to the workshop as I’m sure you’re all interested to hear about it. We all received a “Renovate Your Life Workbook”, it’s a hardcopy overview of everything we covered that day. So whilst I was listening intently and reading the workbook I was also taking a whole bunch of personal notes. I’m a human sponge, I always have been and always will be. This was my window of opportunity and I was going to soak up as much information as I possibly could. I mean, who wouldn’t.

For me, this experience was a well needed reality check or to put it quite simply a good kick in the pants. Some of the things that hit home most were relatively simple messages. Things like “We don’t see things as they are; we see things as we are” – Anais Nin. I mean, how true is that! When we see things we interpret them as we see them not as they actually are. I guess we sometimes complicate things that really are simple. Why because we don’t know any better or we simply aren’t aware of what we’re doing. Ignorance is a bliss for some but not any longer. Be responsible, be accountable, don’t complicate, accept simple. Life’s too short for anything less than this.

Another thing we all talk about often on our blogs is motivation. Did you know that motivation is a temporary emotional state? That’s right, a temporary emotional state. It’s not going to last you a lifetime, that’s why they call it temporary. So if you expect to stay motivated in the gym or even to diet day in day out you are kidding yourself and setting yourself up for disappointment. Motivation comes and goes and it’s different from one person to another so stop worrying about things you can’t control and start focusing on things you can control. For example, are you motivated daily to brush your teeth? No.....then why do you do it? You know why because you have to do it for hygiene reasons. So irrespective of whether or not you’re motivated get up, get out of bed and go and exercise then eat a healthy well balanced diet. This is a non-negotiable behaviour and the sooner we accept this the better. Why because you have to do it for your longevities sake. Otherwise here are your future possibilities; diabetes, stroke, heart attack, colon cancer, bow cancer just to name a few. The choice is yours. I know which one I prefer. If I don’t eat a healthy balanced diet and exercise on a regular basis I know what my future holds for me, diabetes, obesity and renal failure due to my family history and pre-existing PCOS & FSGS. Being of good health is an absolute blessing these days so don’t abuse it by bad lifestyle choices.

Commit to change and finish what you start. Following through, irrespective of where you end up it doesn’t really matter as long as you finish what you start. Let’s all stop with the excuses and justifications, enough is enough. We all have our sad hard luck stories to tell, but that doesn’t give us permission not to follow through. Life is about choice. We obviously chose to not finish what we started and then shifted the blame to something or somebody else. Life’s challenging, that is a given so what are we going to do about it then? That’s easy, we’re going to chose to follow through with the things in life we start.

Did you know that it is statistically proven that the average time that we watch television per week is 19.25 hours? That’s ridiculous to say the least. 4 x 30min is an absolute minimum per week you need for exercise to make a difference and the most common excuse being “I don’t have time”. Well then, if you have a spare 19.25hrs every week to sit on your big backside and stare at that idiot box then you definitely have time to exercise for two hours. That’s all it takes a week at an absolute minimum and people have the hide to say they don’t have the time. My response to them would be “then you obviously have the time for a heart attack”. That’s the truth of the matter and it doesn’t get any realer than that!

Craig mentioned a couple of articles worth revisiting from his website, they are: “Dealing With Energy Vampires” & “Losing Weight The National Geographic Way” . I’m going to re-read them and I suggest you do the same. If you welcome change into your life then you have everything to gain and nothing to lose by reading or re-reading these articles. Just click on the links provided.

At the end of the workshop I obviously got the opportunity to get a photo taken with him. Have camera will photograph, that’s me. LOL!! He’s also a hugging type of guy so there was no escaping, you had to hug before leaving. I had also arranged to speak with him. When I finally finish my studies I want to watch and learn from the best of the best in Melbourne. Craig (although recently retired from personal training) and his team at Harpers Personal Training are allowing me to come in and observe them working with clients. So once I’m unpacked and settled I’ll get in contact with and go from there. I’m pretty damn excited as you could imagine. This opportunity is incredible and to say I’m grateful is an understatement. Thanks Craig.


So what else has been happening? Lisa Stokes from Bodyworx contacted me to say that everything is ready to go. She’s been really thorough to ensure that everything’s in place to work harmoniously together. She’s even met and talked with the guys at excelgene so I know I’m receiving the best possible package. As soon as I receive all the information I’ll be sharing it with you along with monthly photos and measurements so you can follow my preparation from the very beginning. I’m excited about the future possibilities. In order to create different I have to do different and this is why I’ve chosen this path.

Mum now has her bedroom suite from her home here so she’s much more comfortable and settled. She also only has one more chemotherapy treatment to go. On the down side she’s lost a total of 10kgs. Unfortunately rapid weight loss is a side effect that comes hand in hand with chemotherapy treatment. Once it’s over and done with they’ll run all the applicable tests and scans to determine the effectiveness of it and map out the next course of action.

Well ladies, time for me to get going. I still have a whole house to unpack. Until tomorrow, keep smiling. :o)

UPDATE:
I've just logged onto Google Reader to catch up on the 115 posts that have been blogged since I went offline. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of time online tonight so I've skimmed over them so appologies for that. I don't know when I'll be back online this week, things aren't working out as I had expected. Keep everything crossed for me that it won't be for to long.

I've also received some very interesting and exciting emails tonight. Nothing I can reveal just yet but as soon as I can you'll be the first to know. I will say that good things do happen. ;o)

Poached Eggs & Bacon with Spicy Tomato Salsa

Eggs and bacon might sound like an unlikely inclusion in a healthy cookbook but cook in the right way and served with one or two vegetables provides a perfect balance of carbohydrates, protein and fat.

Preparation Time: 10 Minutes

Cooking Time: 10 Minutes

Ingredients
4 Eggs
4 Lean Cut Bacon Rashers (all excess fat trimmed)
4 Multi-Grain English Muffin Halves
Handful Fresh Spinach Leaves

Spicy Tomato Salsa
12 Cherry Tomatoes (finely diced)
1/4 Red Onion (finely diced)
1 Red Chilli
Juice of 1/2 Lime
Pinch Splenda
1 Tbsp Chopped Coriander

Method
1. To make the spicy tomato salsa, combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

2. Bring a lard saucepan or deep frying pan of water to a simmer. Crack the eggs and gently slip them, one at a time, into the simmering water. Cook for 3-4 minutes, or until the egg whites are opaque and the yolk is still quite soft. carefully lift out the eggs with a slotted spoon and drain.

3. Preheat the grill to high and cook the bacon until crisp. Meanwhile, toast the muffin halves.

4. To serve, layer the muffins with a handful of spinach leaves, the bacon and top with a poached egg and a spoonfull of tomato salsa. Garnish with coriander.

Cook's Tips
To minimise the spreading of the egg whites when poaching the eggs, break the egg into a teacup, then gently slip the egg into the water. Some cooks also like to add a dash of vinegar or lemon juice to the water before they poach the eggs. This helps the egg white to set, but may also flavour the eggs slightly.

GI Low
Per Serve
Calories: 270
Protein: 23g
Carboydrates: 27g
Fibre: 5g
Fat: 8g

Note
The Low GI Diet Cookbook has the original recipe but I've made a couple of ingredient adjustmenets to suit my requirements. Enjoy ladies! :o)

Still Packing

Yep that's right I'm still packing. My house resembles something of a third world country at the moment, it's such a mess. *eeek* We got a fair bit done yesterday and hope to get a fair bit more done today. We have a massive week ahead of us next week. Not only are we unpacking into our new home in time to start work the following week but we also have to hire a van and do a day trip to pick up more furniture for Mum. Mum's house is up in Echuca, it's a two and a half hour drive from Melbourne. So ladies, they'll be no time for anything next week other than the essentials. Let's just say that the sooner this is over and done with the better.

Monday 30th June 2008 will be our first day back at work so we want to have everything unpacked by then. To much to ask, maybe but I'm on a mission so hell will have no fury if it's not done. *insert evil laugh here*

July's looking to be a very productive month:

4th July: My Birthday (it's against my religion to work this day)
10-14th July: Lindy & Dallas Visiting
11th & 12th July: The All Females Weekend
18 & 19th July: FitGenes Social Network & Seminar
30th July: Shoulder Surgery

So as you can see we'll be hitting the ground running once we move which is relatively normal for us. LOL!! Along with the many changes that come with moving I'll also have a new nutrition, supplementation and training program to kick off with so a lot of shopping and organising to do. One great thing about our new home is that we have a huuuge kitchen. Daniel's happy about that because he's the chef at home, after all he has the qualifications I don't. Here's a couple of photos of our kitchen. Unfortunately it doesn't show you the wall on the right hand side of the of the first photo which has the pantry and fridge space. But you get the idea of just how spacious it is.



I'm also heading straight back to Toni & Guy Chapel Street for a decent cut. I so missed my old stylist. I've already picked out the style I want and will be taking this picture with me for inspiration. And yes I'm still cutting out all my hair straightening and colour, slowly but surely I'm getting there. But boy it's testing my patience. LOL!!


Time for me to get back to packing. See you later alligators. :o)

You Know You're A Figure Competitor When

1. For a few days each year your toilet seat is brown and this time it isn’t your husbands fault.

2. You can honestly say you have spent more time in a bathing suit than your wedding dress.

3. Five inch clear stripper heels are your footwear of choice in your own home. (and not just in the bedroom)

4. Someone asks about the man in your life and you tell them that gym is fine!

5. You have two sections in your wardrobe. Competition & Off-season. And they aren’t mixed and matched.

6. Your top three priorities on any given day:
a. Workout
b. Eat Clean
c. Check other competitors blogs (not necessarily in that order..)

7. You can name any pro figure competitor by seeing her butt alone. When someone wants to take your picture, you immediately spread your lats, tighten every muscle in your body, point your fingers and SMILE!

8. You take more pills daily than your 80 year old grandmother.

9. Your idea of dressing up is taking your hair out of the ponytail its been in for a week.

10. If you have had someone close to you, hide food from you in your own house.
11. An easy day is lifting and only one cardio session.

12. Instead of carrying a Louis Vuitton pursue you accessorise with a Coleman Cooler.

13. Waking up so sore you can barely move puts a smile on your face.

14. You cant do any work because you are to busy counting down the seconds until your next meal!!!!!!!!!

15.The faint smell of Dream Tan gets your heart pumping faster than your man's cologne.

16. You leave a little trail of splenda packets, tupperware and empty water bottles everywhere you go.

17. Your hubby makes you pee in the guest bathroom because every meal includes asparagus.

18. You consider beano an essential part of your supplement regimen.

19. Your jaws are sore because you can't stop chewing sugar free gum!

20. You spend at least five minutes grilling your server at a restaurant, and another five minutes re-writing the menu until you've got a meal that meets your diet's specifications...and then you devour it in less than 60 seconds flat!!

21. You consider a day when you only have to make one trip to the gym a luxury!

22. You think about having "relaxed hands" and sticking your butt out while standing in line at the grocery store. (hey a girl's gotta practice her posing!!)

23. You consider condiments and coke zero taboo!!!

24. Your neighbours start gossiping that you've had lipo because there is no way a girl could get that fit in twelve weeks!

Monday's Ramblings

Lucky I posted about colds & flu just recently because guess who had to refer back to it? Yep you guessed it, I did. LOL!! My husband, bless him decided to give me his cold that he caught from the students at work which then turned into the flu. At least I can say that my husband isn't a selfish man.

Well today we're finally starting to pack up our house. To say I can't wait to move is a slight understatement. Everything about this move is right. It's the right time, for the right reasons for all of us. This would have to be the shortest posting we've had in location of only six months. Melbourne's a 3 1/2 year posting so we'll have some stability which will be great. Even better I have set working hours which means life is going to be so much easier from now on. Here's what an average working day is going to look like for me:

0600: Meal 1 & Supplements
0630: Meal 2 (TP)
0700: Resistance Training (TP)
0800: Meal 2 (TP)
0830: Start Work
0900: Meal 3
1200: Meal 4
1500: Meal 5
1600: Meal 6 (TP), Finish Work & Aerobics
1800: Meal 7
2130: Supplements
2200: Sleep

Once I start work I'm going to ask if I can take my hour lunch break from 1500-1600 to do my aerobics. After all, it's a job requirement to maintain our fitness and I'd prefer to do it later in the afternoon.

Oh I forgot to tell you, the job and unit I'm going too is different to what was originally planned. Now I'm going back to where I was when we first arrived to Melbourne in 2005. So not only will that transition be easier but I'll have six months to conduct a handover/takeover with the person who replaced me. So it's all good. And the two best parts are the set working hours (figure competitor user friendly) and the fact that it's right next door to the base gym. It doesn't get any better then that ladies.

On the competition front of things as I've mentioned before I'm still moving ahead and getting everything organised for 2009. My music's been selected, cut and burnt onto cd so all that's left is the choreography. I've already started on that too and have a couple of different ideas I want to try out. As for my costume, it's ready for me to try on to make sure that the new cut fits me. Jo Rogers has been fine tuning the cuts of her posing costumes so I'll get to see the end result at the 2008 INBA All Females. Then all that's left to do is to decorate it. Jo have been given complete creative control to work her magic. I have no doubt whatever she comes up with with be nothing short of fabulous. By the end of this year I'll have it packed and ready for 2009.


On another note things are getting incredibly busy over at LindyOlsen.com's Forum. It's becoming quite the active community and growing and growing every day with more and more new members. That and we have some incredible professionals in there giving advice to our members. If you haven't registered yet I'd hurry up, very soon it'll be locked down and then you'll have to pay to become a member. Speaking of which I better get over there, posts to respond too.

Well ladies, have a fabulous week! I best go eat and do some packing, after all the clock is ticking. :o)

2008 ANB/FAME Champions

Photograph Courtesy
of

Womens Bodybuilding
Michelle Goodall: 1st Place (NEW WNSO FAME PRO)

Figure
Marketta Maletz: 2nd Place
Stephanie Williams: 3rd Place
Naomi Gibbins

Mens Bodybuilding
Ryan Laos: 1st Place (NEW WNSO FAME PRO)
Murray "Mad Dog" Graham: 3rd place

For more updates, photos and webcasts be sure to visit LindyOlsen.com