September 2007

Here’s a quick photo taken today in between sets at the gym. I’m still carrying a little to much body fat for my liking but I’m doing everything possible and that’s all I can ask of myself. )

However I am happy with the thickness I’ve aquired through my weight training in the uppper body. Slow and steady wins the race so hopefully stripping down over a longer period of time will prevent me losing any of my gains. )

I can’t stress enough how important it is to be organised and have good time management. Otherwise how can you expect to achieve everything you want in a single day? So here’s what an average day looks like for me:

0600: Rise’n'Shine
0700: Ride 5km To Work
0730: Breakfast
0800: Weight Training
0900: Post-Training Shake
1200: Lunch
1500: Fruit & Nuts
1630: Ride 5km Back Home
1800: Dinner
2100: Bedtime Shake
2200: Lights Out

Now of course you also need to be flexible because we all know how easily things can go pear shape so to speak. LOL!! That’s something I’ve had to learn to come to terms with because in the very beginning I was very black and white. There was no grey.

So tell me what does your daily routine look like?

Good Morning……….It’s 0730h, I’ve already drank a 750ml bottle of water, taken my morning supplements, ridden 5km into work, enjoyed a delicious bowl of porridge, changed into my uniform now I’m ready to take on the day. How’s that for organisation and enthusiasm. LOL!!

I’ve been giving some serious thought towards the next year leading up to my first competition and how I’m going to go about it. It’s not like I can just do what I’ve done in the past since being diagnosed with PCOS. It’s kind of like going back to the drawing board and coming up with a new plan of attack so to speak. Of which I really don’t mind as it’ll be different so my body should respond accordingly. Initially what I’m going to do is have five days where I will eat consistantly clean and then two days of flexibility to enjoy sometimes foods. Then as the competition draws closer I’ll decide when to cut back to six days consistently clean one day sometimes food. This will pretty much be my nutrition lifestyle. I still plan on only competing in every second year so that I can make more significant gains in the year I don’t compete. Instead of viewing it as I originally did and a year off I now view it as just a longer period of time before competing again. How I view things and even the terminology I use now has made a huge impact on my in a positive manner. For example: Cheat Food => Sometimes Food, Cheat Day => Food Flexibility, Comp Food => Everyday Food & Competition Diet => Nutrition Lifestyle. Like anything in life, it’s how you look at it. If you see something as a negative it will be a negative or if you see something as a positive it will be a positive. It’s all about choice and I chose positive. This is my life, this is my choice, that’s why I’ve changed all the negative terminology into positive terminology.

I now know that it’s in my health’s best interest to stay within 3kg of my competition weight which of course will change each competition year. So instead of waiting until 12 weeks out to cut back dramatically and increase training intensity it makes more sense for me to do it over longer periods of time. That’s why I’m starting this week for a competition a year away. Slow and steady wins the race. Other benefits other than my health is that there isn’t that extreme of all or nothing that us competitors have gone through. With that follow’s the potential unhealthy eating habits of which I’m happy to say I’m moving further and further away from now. I’m not there yet but I’m a sight better then I was at the beginning of this year. There’s no right or wrong way when it comes to this sport. You simply have to take everything about yourself in consideration, not be afraid to experiment with your nutrition and training and find what works for you. Yes it is time consuming but certainly not difficult.

Miss Rae emailed me yesterday to organise to catch up when she’s down here the day after the INBA Nationals. We’re going to meet at Amello, St. Kilda. It’s a contemporary bar and restaurant situated right across the road from St. Kilda Beach with a great menu. I’ll make my choice prior to arriving there, that way I won’t get tempted by the other patrons and what they’re eating and/or the wonderful aromas. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll enjoy a meal of choice but it’ll be one that’s in my health’s best interest that’s all. I mean, I don’t need to go overboard. It’s only food after all and there’s no immediate shortage of it. LOL!! Jacqui Louder my wonderful Sports Psychologist would say to me “what is your choice going to cost you”. She’s got a very good point. If I over indulge what is it going to cost me well that’s easy. It’ll cost me calories = body fat = self-esteem issues = non-beneficial behaviours. It’s just not worth all of that trouble and stress.

Since I was promoted, with that also means I have to do online training as well as an out of location course in the new year. I don’t have students this week so the plan is to complete my online training component. So on that note, I’m out of here. Have a great day and don’t forget to smile everyone. )