Chelle's Ultimate Challenge

The Year of the Dragon

2012-01-25T07:43:00.001+10:00

OMG isn't this weather the pits!? Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain. Queensland is suppose to be the SUNSHINE STATE - beautiful one day, perfect the next! Its more like miserable one day, depressing the next. Rain FUCK OFF!!! Okay, rain rant over.

Well Happy Chinese New Year everybody! I celebrated the year of the dragon in style - a 10 course banquet at The China Sea Restaurant in Milton. Amazing food, and before you ask, it wasn't a gorge fest - i.e. no need to undo ~~all the buttons~~ the top button of your pants because you've spent 3 hours stuffing your face. We had salt and pepper squid, peking duck, san chow bao, serchuan fish, fried rice, scallops with ginger and shallots, green vegies, crispy skin pork and chicken and deep fried icecream. The servings were bite-sized, the perfect amount to taste the food and let the tummy settle before the next course arrived. Satisfied with no belly ache: win for Chelle.

********

Onto training:

I had another awesome power session Monday morning, still can't quite do 2 full chin ups from a dead hang though... inching closer every session. I also ended up going back to the gym that night. Why? Beacuse I made the mistake of havng a LATE coffee and was still a bundle of energy from a crazy day at work. With the pouring rain outside there was NO WAY I was venturing into it so I decided to go for a 5km stroll on the treadie at gym to wind dowm from my day. I have to say the atmosphere in the gym is electric at night - it was packed, the music was pumping ... and there was a lot of eye candy ... the Serb boys are hot with even hotter bodies ;-)

Yesterday morning was Running Tuesday... on the treadmill AGAIN! I smashed 23 secs off last weeks time - 40.52min. It felt awesome. I'm starting to get my leg speed up again, so should be back to sub 5min/kms in the next couple of weeks!

Well I'd better fly, got my annual performance review this morning!

Have a fab day!!

Blitzing the Stairs and Comp Bikinis

2012-01-22T10:45:00.000+10:00

Happy Sunday!

5.10 am I woke up ... no alarm clock ... the joys of a full bladder. But hey, i had a nice deep sleep so it must be a sign that I have enough energy in my day to do my favourite chore in the whole wide world ... vacuuming ... NOT.

Well I'm just sipping my banana smoothie (breakfast - 9.30am: i'm never hungry first thing in the morning so there's no point eating anything then!) after coming home from a killer KP Stairs session. I was full of energy this morning and took 3:18mins off last weeks' time! New PB is 21:35mins Woot Woot!! This time I only had one quick drink break after the fifth set and no rest at the top or bottom. AND then after i had finished the 10th set i had a five minute breather, stretched a bit and then decided to do 2 more sets for extra bad*ass*ness ;-) ... I definitely felt the lactic start to build up after those, my legs are now shot!

**************

The week in review:

I've had another great week in the gym. Power sessions are going strong. On Monday one of the power lifters gave me a few pointers on my dead-lifting technique - I wasn't holding the bar wide enough before and therefore I wasn't sitting into the movement properly thus using my arms and lower back too much. I also dropped a little poundage off the bar to ensure I was getting my 'arse to the grass'. It's a waste of time doing 3/4 reps .... (boys who stack on the weight and move their legs an inch *cough cough*). What a difference that little tweak made. Feeling very confident with my form now and know that I am activating the correct muscles!

And i can officially do 1 and 3/4 Pull Ups on my own woohoo. I tried for 2 full ones on friday but just couldn't quite get my chin up above the bar, sooooo close!

On tuesday I had to run on the treadie ... damn that rain ... not a fan of getting wet ... yes I can be a girly girl at times. But I did smash out 8km in 41.15mins. It's been ages since i've done long distance run on the treadmill and boy did I feel it! Trying to get my leg speed up (and keep it up) was bloody hard work, not to mention my feet were killing me - got some blisters to prove it too. I find my feet seem to overheat from the friction of the treadie (after the 4km mark) which caused the blisters (I run in Vibram which means 3mm of tread between my feet and the ground i.e. no cushioning), so back to outdoor running for me, weather permitting. I also prefer the smell of fresh air to that of male B.O. Seriously guys, it is an offense to NOT wear DEODORANT. I have on a few occasions changed treadmills mid run.

BodySlam classes have been INTENSE baby! 50:50 mix of weights to cardio this week with minimal rest. Joss the Boss has been pushing our limits but hey, what an endorphin rush!

I've also noticed my body starting to lean down nicely this week. Some weeks you feel like ~~you're a beefcake~~ you're going nowhere and then suddenly, BAM, the fat melts off! It's exciting to wake up in the morning and notice those little changes. The definition in my back, shoulders and arms is dialing in quite fast, and my waist has decided to play ball too which is A for AWESOME ... usually Ms Sexy Six-pack likes to take a loooooooong holiday. So I'm about 2 weeks away from doing up the top button of my size 6 Cue pin-striped work shorts which is always a good sign. When I am rocking them I know I am getting pretty LEAN!!!!

What else? Well yesterday I thought it was time to peruse the Style on Stage website and check out some comp bikinis. I won't be spending any outrageous $$ on a Swarovski Crystal bikini so for me it's all about selecting the perfect colour. My last two bikinis were Aqua and Turquoise so I want something a little different this year. Bright too!

These three colours have caught my attention:

Plain Lycra - Orchid

Plain Lycra - Fluro Orange

Foiled Circle Lycra with Foil Overprint - Orange (though this one would mean no sequines at all)

What are your thoughts?

Playing Tag

2012-01-18T08:01:00.004+10:00

I am joining in on the Blogland Tag Games and revealing some random shit about myself. It is always fun to discover that other bloggers are just as ~~looney~~ cool as you.

Here are the rules:1. post these rules.
2. you must post 11 random things yourself.
3. answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post.
4. create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
5. go to their blog and tell them that you’ve tagged them.
6. no stuff in the tagging
7. don’t talk about the fightclub

11 Random things about moi:

1. I used to have my beauty spot pierced (RHS above top lip) ... but I let it close a few years ago due to ... professional reasons. (I got the impression that pharmacists and other health professionals, especially old male ones, don't take young reps seriously when they have facial piercings!).

2. I had pet mice when i was a kid. 5 from the pet shop and 1 wild one that became a pet. Dad made me a very cool cage for them (the adventure playground) that was 1.5m long.

3. I had my heart set on becoming a physiotherapist all throughout highschool (I even did work experience!), but after listening to a lecture by a Sports Dietician at UQ, I changed my mind and did a Bachelor of Health Science: Nutrition instead.

4. My first car was a Holden Barina 1995, my work mates named it the Purple People-Eater... don't ask why.

5. At 14, I captained the Australian Indoor Soccer (Futsal) Team in 2000, on a tour of Europe.

6. I have lived in 4 share-houses and thank god I bit the bullet and bought my own pad nearly 2 years ago. And no I DO NOT have any room-mates!

7. I wear silver or white gold and diamonds. No yellow gold for me.

8. I hyperventilate when people wear shoes in my house... okay maybe not that extreme but you get my drift. TAKE YOUR SHOES OFF!

9. I'm a dog person. Growing up I had two male German Shepards - Ninja and Benji, and a female Siberian Husky - Makita.

10. Perfume, I wear Coco Mademoiselle by Chanel.

11. I've kissed a girl. ... Yes that is a random fact.

.............................

Here are Liz's questions and my answers:

1) Morning or evening person: MORNING. I'm usually up by 6am.

2) How long does it take you to get ready in the mornings? 20 minutes unless I have to wash and style my hair ... Pony tails are my best friend.

3) What’s your weekly grocery bill? ~ $70

4) How much of your grocery bill is whole foods? Most of it (85%) unless I am buying things like toilet paper.

5) Your opinion of daylight savings? Bring it on!

6) Mac or PC? Both. My personal laptop is a PC and I have an iPad for work. They both have their pros and cons.

7) Grab your IPOD and hit “shuffle” – what’s the first song that comes up? Is it a favourite or so so? Kimbra - Cameo Lover. Yes a fav from a few months ago.

8) Your favourite blog of the moment? My girl Kelly O

9) Favourite pizza topping? I don't remember the last time I ate pizza! As a kid it was ham and pineapple but these days I'd go for a gourmet vegetarian topping.

10) Proudest moment lately? I did 1 and 3/4 pull ups my myself on Monday! Baby got back ;-)

11) Your favourite physical activity? Running, boxing, weights ... and carving up the dancefloor!

..................................................

Ok now for my 11 Questions:

Use Liz's. I can't be bothered thinking up any of my own.

And I tag anyone who wants to play!

Shin Bruises and PBs

2012-01-15T11:39:00.001+10:00

Happy Sunday!

I'm loving this cool change the weekend has brought, it makes training sooooo much more enjoyable. Can't say I'm a fan of the drowned rat look lol.

Well training has been going intensely since i checked in last and I am loving every moment of it! As I have now graduated to the big boy weights for dead lifts (45 pounders - my gym uses old school weights) I have experienced the downside ...

Shin bruises ... how attractive.

So arnica cream has become my best friend. I might have to invest in some compression calf sleeves as football socks aint' going to cut it because i wear:

Vibrams

I am a total convert now and there is noooo way I am going back .... to the dark side.

Bruises aside I ran the KP Stairs this morning and guess what? I smashed out a new PB:

24:53mins!

I felt really fit and strong this morning. I cut my rest time (at the top and bottom) again and had a drink break after every 3rd set instead of every 2nd. The elusive 20min mark is not too far away now!

....

I had a lady at the gym ask me the other day, does training ever get any easier?

In my opinion, easier is probably not the best term to use. As your body becomes fitter and stronger you won't feel like you are about to have a heart attack when you train lol. However, you are able to push yourself a lot harder and experience those exercise induced endorphins like the 'runners high'. (That is why exercise is my drug of choice). I also find when i am fit, I recover a lot faster, enjoy my sessions more and my life resides on cloud 9... so technical I am today.

Adios!

22 Weeks Out ... Progress Pics!

2012-01-11T22:16:00.000+10:00

Happy hump day!

Hope all you Brisvegas peeps are surviving this heat wave. 37 Degrees (98 F) and 10000000% humidity is not my idea of fun. Don't get me wrong, I love the heat over the cold anyday but when your make-up drips off your face the moment you walk outside, it is not cool. Duh.

Humidity aside, my week has been full of excitement ... though with some types of excitement, I swear more than usual.

Monday:

Power Session: Awesome. New PB for deadlifts is 90lbs/40.9kg (plus Olympic Bar) for 5 reps. I started with 50lbs/22.7kg 4 weeks ago so I'm very happy with my progress so far. I'm still having issues with a very tight lower back so I'm really focusing on proper technique!

That afternoon I received my Booklist for Uni, Semester One. Grand total $523.60. OMFG. And that's only for ONE subject! Thank god I get to re-use a textbook from last year for my other subject ... This is an example of swearing excitement.

That evening as i was chilling out on the lounge watching some TV, I had another moment of swearing excitement. There was this massive crash ~~and I thought Steve, my neighbour, had fallen through the ceiling~~. WTF! The wires on my wall mirror had snapped causing it to come crashing down to the floor.

Thank god I now have a hot black shaggy rug below it otherwise there would have been glass everywhere! ... On a positive note, I finally get to replace the mirror glass with 'skinny mirror glass'. FYI (and only a girl would understand!), I bought the mirror because I love the frame. The mirror itself is one where you avoid looking at because it makes you look like you have put on 5kg... of ~~pudginess~~ muscle.

Tuesday:

I did an 8km run/walk. Note: There wasn't suppose to be walking of any sort during this session, so I won't even bother posting my time. Silly me slept in (till 6am) and didn't make it out the front door until 7am - 28 degrees (82 F). And then i had some ~~dumb~~ bright idea of taking the ~~mountain~~ hilly route. I lasted about 5km before contemplating whether or not I should jump in the creek. FYI, I didn't. I do have standards. It was soooooo hot, and i was totally overheating so I ended up ~~dragging myself~~ walking the last 3km home. Not fun at all.

Today:

Had another killer BodySlam class - a lot of boxing, abs, squats and walking lunges.

I was on such a high after the class that I decided to take some Progress Pics - 22 weeks out from Comp.

Shoulders are beginning to pop, 'sexy six-pack' will be the LAST to show

Pull Ups are improving my V taper and I've been squatting my way to a 'perkier arse'!

Umm the 'show some leg' pose? I really have no fuckin clue what I was doing lol

Blitzing the Stairs!

2012-01-08T09:56:00.000+10:00

Hey guys and gals, hope you're having a fab weekend so far! Mine has been A for AWESOME.

Saturday started off with another kick-butt Body Slam class - boxing and sprints, my fav. Total sweatfest. I was so energized after the class that i found myself in a cleaning mission - vacuuming and mopping. The joys of the world ... not. Actually, what motivated me to sanitize the pad was this ginormous lizard that snuck inside as I was opening the door. OMG. I don't do well with reptiles or spiders. It decided to take refuge underneath my lounge. Superb. Anywho after racking my brain how I would get the little fella out, I decided to scare it with the vacuum cleaner. Winner.

Later that afternoon I got a nice suprise. 2 FREE TICKETS to the tennis! The Women's Final of the Brisbane International: Hantuchova vs Kanepi.

So I called my girlfriend Tarsha, and off we went. Great atmosphere, great company, fabulous night.

And that brings us to my Sunday Session. KP Stairs. You may recall that one of my goals this year is to run 10 sets in 25min. Well I shocked myself this morning and took 7:20mins off last weeks' time! 26:10mins is my new PB!

How you may ask? I halved my ~~gasping for air time~~ rest time and doubled the ~~torture~~ fun. Simple. Plus there was a really fit chick bounding up the stairs like it was no big deal, so I couldn't let her get too many sets ahead of me lol.

So it looks like i may just achieve that goal in the next couple of weeks, not 6 to 8 like I had anticipated. Therefore lets make the time to beat 20 mins by end of February. I'm assuming that will mean NO rest period!

Well time to put my feet up, enjoy your Sunday!

Back to the Grind and Kicking some Arse

2012-01-05T16:36:00.000+10:00

Hey ya'll, are you back to the grind yet!? It's my first week back at work after 11 blissful days off and I feel like I have been hit by a semi-trailer. Sooooooo tired ... I don't think missing a nights' sleep on NYE helped either lol. Tiredness aside, I have soldiered on and smashed out 3 killer workouts so far.

Tuesday morning was my Power Session. Power sessions are empowering. I've just finished the third week of my strength program and that is exactly how my body is feeling - STRONG BABY! Got the boulder shoulder thing going on too, they are starting to pop woohoo.

Usually I don't like to do two big sessions in one day but due to the gym being closed on Monday, I CHOSE to get my game face on. So I did a 7km run outside in the arvo. 38.13min. I put up a status on Facebook that night saying how I really enjoy running in the arvo in preference to the morning however, I always run faster in the morning. Why? The general consensus was a) lighter on an empty stomach b) cooler running temperature in the morning. What are your thoughts?

Last nights' training session was BodySlam. Instructor Joss made us very aware that 2012 is the year for ~~getting our arses kicked~~ getting extremely fit. Boxing meets Crossfit. One word - INTENSE. I may have tasted vomit in my throat at ~~multiple stages~~ one stage. So gross.

So today is my rest day. I need it BIG TIME too. Got to rest these little muscles of mine before kicking arse in the gym tomorrow! Anyway I'm off for a massage soon. If you hear some obscenities in the distance that will be me swearing as my quads are being prodded.

Oh and btw, I have a new girl crush...

... on fitness model Ashley Horner. Bad ass and smoking hot.

Happy New Year with some Party Pics!

2012-01-01T12:00:00.000+10:00

Hope you had a fabulous night and aren't suffering from a seedy hangover this morning ... i'm not! I consumed the grand total of half an expresso martini last night, then onto lime and soda water it was for me. Such a hardcore drinker I am ... though I did take some NeuroBlast, a pre-workout supplement, to power me through the night. Product review to come.

As in typical NYE style, my friends and I carved up the ~~dancefloor~~ pool deck. We went all out with sparklers and glow sticks. And after 5 hours of non-stop dancing, including a 1.6km walk to the Oxford 152 pub in my high heels (I don't recommend that and had to transition into my Havaianas half way through the night), my energizer batteries wore out so I called it a ~~morning~~ night and headed home. Got to bed at 5am and woke up at 9am, can't sleep when the sun is shining! So now my body is feeling like it has been hit by a truck lol. But I can't complain. It was a fabulous night with fabulous friends and wicked music. Perfect way to welcome in the New Year!

Strike a Pose

Cheryl and I - the Energizer Bunnies

My girl Bertie

Mark and I

Finishing 2011 on a HIGH

2011-12-31T11:15:00.000+10:00

Well I have just ~~passed out~~ come home from my last killer boxing session of the year and I am wrecked! This week I have trained like a woman ~~being chased by a madman~~ on a mission. Intensity baby!! And I tell you what, it feels soooooo gooood to finish the year on a mega HIGH. I am looking forward to bringing all of this positive energy with me into 2012.

I have had my fair share of challenges this year (juggling a Psychology degree with a crazy work-travel schedule and dealing with my best friend going back to Greece again) but I am happy to say that I have come out on top ... sometimes i wonder how the hell i did it lol. Most importantly, I have realised that I am strong and that I can handle anything that life throws at me. This year has prepared me for an even bigger and more exciting 2012 so I am ready to kick some arse. BRING IT ON!

So have you made your 2012 GOALS yet? I say 'goals' as to me a New Years Resolution is a cock of shit. Seriously, what is the point of making up a dumb-arse resolution that you will forget ~~after you wake up with a hangover tomorrow morning~~ next week? If you really want to achieve anything, you need to WRITE down some WEEKLY, MONTHLY AND LONG-TERM GOALS. They also need to be achievable too. E.g. Losing 10kg by the end of January is highly unlikely ... unless you remove a large body part.

So here are a few of my Long-Term Goals for 2012:

1. Compete at the Asia Pacs Fitness Model Division in June;
2. Finish my second year of Psyche with at least a GPA of 6 (Distinction)... I'm currently on a 6.5 ;-)
3. Run 10 sets of the KP Stairs in 25 mins by the end of February.

I'm sure I will come up with a few more in the next couple weeks but for now it is time to ~~get my smooth on~~ get waxed, then followed by an afternoon siesta before partying it up tonight!

Hope you all have a fabulous New Years Eve, see you on the other side!

Stairs and Shopping Sprees

2011-12-27T11:06:00.000+10:00

Well this morning I decided it was time for a high intensity cardio session. Since the gym was closed I decided to head out for some fresh air and CONQUER the STAIRS! To my surprise there were quite a lot of people at Kangaroo Point this morning ... burning off those Christmas calories. I got down there a bit after 7.30am and remembered to bring my stop watch this time. I smashed out 10 sets in 33:30 minutes. I felt fitter and stronger this time around unlike 3 weeks ago when i thought i was going to hurl lol.

There was an ultra fit chick running them too, I swear she's a figure girl. I am sure i've seen her on stage before, next time i'll have to ask her name. Anyway we got chatting (KP is a great place for meeting fellow fitness enthusiests!), teamed up and she pushed me to breaking point! It was an awesome session, I was absolutely ~~fucked~~ spent by the time I had finished. She did 20 sets in about 45mins - INSANE!

So i've decided that my goal for the stairs (10 sets) will be 25minutes. I reckon i should be able to achieve it in the next 6 to 8 weeks. Just got to keep cutting down on those rest periods!

On a side note, I've just come back from a successful mini shopping spree. Had some Lorna Jane and Rockwear gift vouchers to cash in. I scored 4 x gym tops, 2 crops and a pair of shorts and only had to part with $140 = WIN WIN! ... a girl can never have too much lycra!

Anywho gotta fly, I'm half way through watching Jackass 3, SOOOOOOOOOO FUNNY!!!!

Creating the BODY

2011-12-26T12:51:00.001+10:00

Hey ya'll, hope you've had a fabulous Christmas!

Well now that all the food festivities are OVER, I can focus on my transformation (don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed having a a nibble of everything ... and a few too many Lindt Balls ;-), but all my body wants now is lots of the 'natural' stuff. I.e. foods without an ingredient list). I spent a bit of time this morning checking out the photo gallery of this years' Asia Pac competitors to get an idea of the 'look' the ANB federation are going for.

Lean and tight with sexy curves and a wee bit of super suave attitude ... you've got to catch the judges attention. Even the most amazing body won't be noticed if you don't have the personality on stage to show it off!

And also, none of this greyhound business either - i.e. girls that look like skinny bean poles ... SO NOT SEXY.

I've got a reasonably well-balanced physique thanks to 9 years of consistent weight training and before that, (I joined the gym at 17, the week after Schoolies!) 12 years of being a sports mad athlete. However, the areas i need to work on are as follows:

Shoulders - a bit more width will give the illusion of a smaller waist.

Abs (Sexy Sixpack!) - my trouble spot and always drop dead LAST to come into condition. They are currently in hiding ... i may have to send a search party lol ... so an appearance by the end of February is what the Doctor has ordered!

Arse - having been a runner since as far as i can remember, has helped me to develop a pretty good set of pins and a nicely shaped bootay if i do say so myself! ;-) ... so now it all comes down to 'perkiness' - tighter and rounder glutes. I have no doubt i will be squatting and dead-lifting my way until the cows come home!

SO i'm thinking as of next Monday i shall post up some progress pics and stats. I've got the post christmas bloat going on at the moment: Sugar + Dairy + Wheat (for me) = FLUID RETENTION!!! It should reside in the next day or two which means NO CAMERAS STAT! That reminds me, i should really drink some green tea to cleanse this lil body of mine.

So until then, this is the 'look' i am going for:

JNL's an inch taller than me (I'm 5'7"), but we're quite similar in body structure. I'd say I'm about 4-5kg away from her level of leaness, so now all i have to do is

WORK THE PLAN!

HOLIDAYS!

2011-12-23T14:27:00.000+10:00

Well as of 12.01PM yesterday, I officially went on HOLIDAYS! You have no idea how good it felt to put on the ~~call someone who cares message~~ holiday voicemail and email. Bliss...pure bliss ;-). It has been a massive year for me, so apart from the Christmas celebrations this weekend, I plan on doing a whole lot of NOTHING over the next 11 days. Apart from training and catching up with a few friends I really don't want to go anywhere. With all my work trips and daily driving I think i have clocked up well over 50000km this year. So it's now time to recharge my energizer batteries (they're a bit on the flat side atm!) and prepare myself for an even bigger and more exciting 2012!

Since i revealed my plans for 2012 on Sunday, I have discovered a whole new level of FOCUS. My motivation levels have stepped up a notch; my desire to race to the shops and buy ~~a block of~~ Lindt Chocolate has diminished; and my training intensity has been through the roof! John aka Mr Punching Bag, my boxing partner got SMASHED on wednesday night. On most occasions, our intensity levels are on par (he rides motorcross so he is pretty damn fit!), but there have been times that he's had to ~~yell at me~~ coax me through a session ... ("Come on Chelle, you can do it ... just throw up after the session has finished".) I don't know what has come over me, but i keep finding that second wind, and damn it feels good.

I am really looking forward to Christmas this year. Why? Because i know that i am in CONTROL of the food and not the other way around. I'm sure many of you have been there before, where Christmas (and the days before and after!) is a free ticket to binge on copious amounts of food (and/or alcohol) until you feel the need for a stomach removal. Not this year, I am going to enjoy SMALL amounts of everything this weekend and come Boxing Day I am back to my 'normal' nutrition plan ... and since the gym is closed, weather permitting (the rain isn't looking good) I will hit the KP Stairs for a HIIT workout!

So my Christmas plans this weekend are:

Christmas Eve: Dinner at mum and dads.
As i am half Malaysian we don't do the whole turkey/ham/roast potato thing. I'm not really into big chunks of ~~animal~~ meat so that doesn't bother me at all. On our menu will be a Malaysian Beef Curry, Roast Duck, BBQ Pork, Salad, Vegies, Rice and I'm not sure what the dessert will be yet!

Christmas Breakfast:

Our tradition is to meet all the other relatives down the coast at Conrad Jupiters Casino - Food Fantasy Restaurant for a Buffet Breakfast/Brunch. It opens at 6.30am (My crazy dad will be there at 6am without fail to line up for a table ... first in first served, if you arrive after 8 you may miss out on a table!). I'm aiming to arrive around 7.30/8ish. I don't usually have breakfast until about 9.30am so I'm quite happy to sleep in until a normal waking hour lol. The great thing about going out for breakfast is 1. The food is AMAZING. They have a huge assortment of hot and cold foods, chefs making omelettes, danish pastries, waffles etc. 2. No one has to spend hours in the kitchen cooking or washing up. 3. Everyone is full, so no need for a massive lunch or dinner.

Christmas Dinner:

My good friend Kim aka GA, is hosting Christmas Dinner this year. Not sure what she is cooking yet but her culinary skills are amazing... all i know is that there will be a triple choc mousse cake for dessert ;-)...

But as i mentioned before, I will enjoy small bites of everything so i don't feel like a bloated whale by 10pm Sunday night.

LOL!

What's your Christmas tradition?!

Dusting off the STRIPPER HEELS...

2011-12-18T21:44:00.001+10:00

Well it has taken me every ounce of courage to put my fingers to the keyboard tonight. I had been putting off this post alllllllll weekend due to a little bit of self doubt that had wiggled its way back into my mind. Fear of commitment you could call it. Truth is, what I am about to reveal is big. Big on many levels. This decision of mine is not just about the final result but more importantly, the journey to get me there.

This journey means:
1. No more masking any emotional issues i have with food; and
2. Learning to deal with any shit that gets thrown my way in a productive manner.

I had the option of holding out on this announcement till February next year, however, in my mind that would just allow me another 10 or so weeks of making excuses (if i needed to). So for that reason, I feel that there is nothing like a little bit of external accountability to help get me off the ground!

... Now that was a weight off my shoulders!

So without any further ado (seriously who says that anymore lol? ~~Lets cut the bullshit~~!) drumroll please!

...

I am dusting off my stripper heels and competing in:

Asia Pacs - Fitness Model Under 30yr Division!!

on June 11th, 2012 which is exactly 25 weeks or 175 days from TOMORROW eeeeeek!

Here's an excerpt about the catergory from the Asia Pacs Website:

What separates a Fitness Model from a Sports Model?

The Female Fitness Model is expected to be leaner than the Sports Model category however not totally defined in all areas as would be expected in the Figure Category. Fitness Model competitors must have a very toned and taut body and leaner in the abdominal area than the Sports Model, however still requires to have a womanly figure. Less detail and definition is required to that of a figure competitor and the delineation between the fitness model and figure competitor is the level of definition and muscle separation in the torso and limbs (both arms and legs). If a competitor has very defined arms, legs and back they would be better suited to the Figure Category.

Judging RoundsThere will be three rounds in the fitness model category and this will comprise of a:

Bikini RoundContestants will be asked to walk in a bikini and high heels across the stage. It is important to mention that two-piece swimsuits are required. G-Strings are not acceptable.
Sports Wear RoundContestants will be asked to walk on stage cat walk style displaying active/sports wear theme that will be of the athlete’s choice. The chosen attire must be tasteful and complementary to your body type.
Evening/Club Wear RoundContestants will be asked to walk onstage wearing their choice of evening/nightclub wear. Ensure your outfit is stylish and sexy yet not ~~skanky~~ lewd in presentation.

So there you have it, my 2012 plans have been revealed! I am super excited and a little bit nervous but I do believe i can kick some serious arse. I know this new journey of mine is going to take a lot of mental strength to pull off, but it is time and I am ready to CONQUER!

Boobs and Birds

2011-12-16T16:34:00.002+10:00

TGIF!

I have had the craziest week and being the festive season there has been so much to do and so many people to see. I love this time of the year! This week has also been quite interesting to say the least:

On the work front, the question of the week went a little something like this:

Customer: Now Chelle, please don't laugh (she's trying not to crack up) but do you have any herbal supplements for BREAST ENLARGEMENT?
Me: Are you serious!? (starting to giggle)
Customer: I have a client here who wants a natural alternative to surgery.
Me: Yeah good luck with that! Trust me, if there was i'd be 12 grand better off!... But i can recommend some products to delay the sagging process (hehehe ... now that is 12 grand well spent ;-)

Apparently there was a product on the market a few years back for "Breast Enhancement". But it wasn't long before the TGA took it off for 'making false claims'. Go figure.

Boobs aside, we move onto birds:

So last night i met up with a girlfriend for her farewell party. Now FYI i rarely drink, but being the festive season i decided to have a vodka, lime and soda (only ended up drinking half). We ordered some tapas too. Now my diet has been pretty clean the past couple week so by the time i got home last night I was feeling a little off in the stomach. Not because i ate a lot, but i think just from the combination of all the different foods and booze in my stomach was making it churn. So anyway i went to bed and when i woke up this morning I was still feeling slightly off. But i reminded myself that i had a huge power session to do at gym so SUCK IT UP PRINCESS!

Coffee down the hatch, music pumping, -Chelle: 1, Sick Stomach: 0.

Pscyhed and ready to GO! Grab my bags, opened the front door ... and nearly HURLED all over the floor.

On my front door step was a DEAD PIGEON with the contents of its entire stomach exposed for the whole world to see. OMFG, that stupid cat! So i've jumped over it, didn't even bother to lock my front door and bolted to the car.

Chelle: 1, Sick Stomach: 100000000000000000000000000000000000000

So i'm sitting in the car trying not to dry reach and write a little note for my dear old neighbour which went a little something like this:

Hi Steve,

Could you please do me a favour and take away the present - a dead pigeon - that your cat has kindly left on my doorstep.

Thanks, Chelle :)

I then stuck it to his front door.The cat has left little presents for me before but only in the form of geckos and other small lizards, never anything with FEATHERS! Pigeons are a lot bigger than i had thought.

Birds aside, we move onto the gym.

Killer session. I am loving the strength training, what a buzz. I've been on a super high all day. The one thing i do need to work on is my flexibility. I am one of those bad(ass) athletes that only do a quick 5 minute stretch at the end of a session ... only because i am ALWAYS running late! So guess what? I have the tighest lower back in the history of the world. I'm sure driving around in a car all day doesn't help either. It's at the point now where sometimes it feels like ~~i'm about to blow a disc~~ its going to seize up. So stretching is just something that i have no choice but to start doing properly. Otherwise i am not going to be able to increase my weights much because my back wooses waaaaay before my legs during squats and dead-lifts. Sacrificing form for poundage is not an option.

On that note, i have to fly and get ready for BodyGroove tonight ... Time to dance off some lactic acid that i didn't stretch out this morning!

Dear Ms DOMS Fairy, please leave me alone. Love Chelle.

Oh and P.S. 2012 plans will be revealed TOMORROW!

The Power Session

2011-12-11T07:18:00.001+10:00

Hey ya'll, hope you're having a fabulous weekend! The sun is FINALLY out here in Brisvegas ... no more of this rainy/ cold bullshit lol. Seriously, jackets are not meant to be for SUMMER ... neither are sleeves of any kind ... singlets are how i roll baby!

Weather issues aside, I have to tell you about my awesome, empowering PT session on friday! ... My whole body is officially in a ~~coma~~ state of DOMS. Not the seized up kind that my calves were in, but the kind where you know you have recruited every muscle fiber in your body because you have kicked some fine arse! ... For that reason, I didn't do the Kangaroo Point Stairs this morning (I didn't want to be one of those SLOW CODGERS who you yell ~~"move out of the fuckin way to!''~~ "incoming" to. Instead I (listened to my body) went for a nice long walk around the riverside in the SUNSHINE.

So on Friday, i met up with Miss Liz for the monster of all PT sessions. As you probably know, i have been training like a Zuzana Princess for the last twelve months or so. Her style is more crossfit than traditional bodybuilding or power lifting, so my mindset is always in fitness/endurance mode. So when Liz told me we were doing a POWER SESSION, my heart ~~stopped~~ skipped a beat. Olympic Bar Squats (arse to the floor style), Olympic Bar DeadLifts (skin your shins with the bar style), Olympic Bar Overhead Shoulder Press (ummmm Slow Style?) and Pull Ups (that i just laughed at lol). To be honest i was a little nervous but pretty pumped about the new challenge.

Liz reminded me the most important thing about this session wasn't how much I could lift, but rather how good my technique was, and that way i'd be using the correct muscles. Our power session focussed more on slower and lower reps which burned like hell and felt like a cardio workout in itself. I was sweating like a pig (do pigs really sweat?) and panting like a dog. Hot - totally ;-). But i tell you what, focusing on technique and strength was empowering. With each rep my mind became stronger and suddenly i felt like i could conquer anything ... There was also no way i would let Liz conquer me hehehe. By the time I had squatted, dead lifted and shoulder pressed i was absolutely ~~fucked~~ smashed ... We still had Pull-Ups to go, noooooo!

Liz then brought out the bands. Its been a few years since i have trained with bands but i will definitely be buying a few pairs of my own. Bands differ in resistance and help a pull-up beginner like moi to do them on my own without the aid of a spotter. I haven't done chins or pull-ups in ages so i honestly didn't think i'd be able to do any. On the contrary, I smashed out quite a few and again, being a power exercise, I was overcome with this instant feeling of achievement once I had finished.

What a killer session, i was on a high for the rest of the day. This style of training is definitely going to be incorporated into my new exercise regime.

New training program? Personal Trainer? You may just be wondering what is going on?

Stay tuned, all will be revealed in the next couple of days!

DOMS.

2011-12-08T07:44:00.001+10:00

So my grand plans of running on tuesday quickly dissipated the moment i ~~fell~~ rolled out of bed on monday morning. Ms ~~I'm a bitch~~ Lactic Acid Fairy had zapped me with a servere case of DOMS (Delayed-onset-muscle-soreness) in my calves ... as punishment for torturing them up and down the Kangaroo Point Stairs on sunday ... and not stretching afterwards, oops. Seriously, my pins were on fire, you have no idea. I've spent the last few days walking like an elderly crippled pushing an imaginary walker. Awesome.

So yesterday rolled around and i was determined to attempt my boxing class. (After repping in the fuckin RAIN all day, there was no way i was going to sit on my arse at home for the rest of the evening!). Usually wednesday night slam is a combination of boxing and weights, circuit style, so i thought i'd be sweet- no leg cardio. But to my ~~disgust~~ delight, the substitute instructor decided we'd do boxing combos with interval SPRINTS. Nooooooooo!

FYI, I am the faster girl runner (thanks to my track days!) by a long shot, and a close second to Tall Dave. If his hips weren't up to my head, maybe we would tie... ok he's not quite that tall but you get my drift. So the first round of sprints come up and OMFG, ouch was an understatement. My poor calves were soooo tight i thought they were either going to cramp or snap. So i had to resort to a faster version of the 'pushing an imaginary walker' movement. Not cool. Especially when the snail paced athletes were LAPPING ME! Ugh. So i decided that bodyweight squats were my best alternative.

And just as i thought i had figured a pain free way of getting through the class, Short Steve (Tall Dave's boxing partner - sometimes Short Steve has to stand on the stage when his vertically challenged status is an issue lol) thought it'd be funny to grab my calf. My automatic reaction was to kick him in the gonads ... BUT i quickly realised that my standing leg would probably cramp up and i would fall on my arse, so i resorted to a punch in the arm ... I am usually not a violent person, but insane soreness calls for extreme measures ;-)

What a session lol. But i was smart and spent some time stretching out my calves afterwards. Followed by applying a shit load of Arnica cream and Tiger Balm. The result - this morning: right calf is back to normal, left calf is still a little tight ... i blame Short Steve for that ;-)

Conquering the Stairs

2011-12-04T09:48:00.000+10:00

Hey ya'll, hope you're having a fabulous weekend!

In my quest to get my fitness back up to super human levels i have been putting in some killer workouts since coming back from Sydney. Friday was the return of Zuzana madness, I did her Hot Mess Workout, and in the evening i got my funk on and did the Body Groove class. Body Groove is a Les Mills fusion of hip hop, latin, funk and soooo much fun. Being friday, everyone is in such a great mood which gives the class an electric atmosphere. Saturday i got my boxing on and this morning i decided that it was time to conquer the Kangaroo Point Stairs.

The cliff itself is about 20m high and consists of 107 stairs and its gets steeper the closer you get to the top. I don't remember the last time i did them, maybe 12 to 18 months ago. And after number 3 i thought i was going to DIE. My legs were turning to jelly but i was determined to polish of 10. Plus the fact that i ran into Bossman (literally!), there was no way i could chicken out! I forgot to bring my watch but i think it took me about 50 mins ... there were a shitload of ~~gasping for air breaks~~ rest breaks but i conquered the cliff and felt pretty damn ~~dead~~ good ;-)

Well time to ~~vaccuum and mop~~ shower and get myself ready for my old mans 70th BBQ bash! Dad is such an inspiration, he still teaches Jujitsu, works out every morning and he has also just informed me that he has got back into running this week ... the main reason, so he'll be fitter than his much younger students. Go dad, you rock!

Highs and Lows

2011-12-01T07:02:00.001+10:00

Gosh time flies when ~~you're having fun~~ you have a lot of uni deadlines lol. In a nutshell, the following sums up the last four months of my blogland disappearance:

Work:
1 x Gladstone/Rockhampton trip
1 x Townsville/Mackay trip
1 x Cairns/ Atherton Tablelands trip
Killed my quarterly budget :)

Uni:
2 x High Distinctions
2 x Distinctions
1 x Letter from the Assoc. Professor of the Uni - I'm ranked no. 2 out of 434 students WOOT WOOT!!
GPA = 6.5

HOLIDAYS:
Just got back from a weeks' holiday in SYDNEY! It was sooooo much fun!
I stayed with my aunty, caught up with four girlfriends, bought a pair of HOT sunnies, discovered a hot new clothing label - HENLEY, drank way too many cappacinos, had a drink at The Ivy - super swank club

Did the Bondi Beach to Coogee coastal walk and back (18km including walking to and from the train station - omg my legs were SHATTERED but i am sporting a very nice tan!)

Did The Spit Bridge to Manly harbourside walk (11km through the bush - it was suppose to be 9km, but we took a few wrong turns lol)

Can i also say the food in Sydney is amazing and sooo much cheaper then Brissie - you also don't need to dine in a fancy restaurant, it's all about local talent. I ate out at a Thai restaurant, Korean BBQ restaurant (that was cool, you have a BBQ grill built into your table), The Carrington pub which do delicious mexican tapas and of course at my auntys' place - she's an amazing cook too. Also had yum cha and i did try a cupcake from this gourmet cupcake parlour - sorry guys, i don't see what all the fuss is about, for $5 all i tasted was waaaay too much sugar ... give me the Lindt cafe anytime ;-)

On that note, with all the highs comes the lows ... another name for an ego check ;-)

As you know i had my BFF Demi over from Greece mid year. She went back home in August and it hit me really hard. To be honest, i was pretty messed up for a couple months. I guess i was sad, pretty depressed and i had let my emotions get the better of me. I lost motivation in just about everything, especially my diet and my training.... another reason why my blog fizzled. I resorted back into cycles of bingeing, which in turn made me feel worse and because i was eating waaaay to much ~~chocolate~~ shit, i just had no energy to train properly. I stopped running and my Zuzana workouts became very inconsistent too. Combine all of that with work trips and uni assessment and i was starting to lose myself down a black hole...again...

My holiday (off work until next Monday) has been such a great mental refresher so far. I have realised that you cant go without any personal (fitness) goals for too long without losing your way and your sanity. Only a few months back i was running 48min 10kms, this morning i went for my second 7km run since September i think! and the grand time was 36:55min and boy i felt like i was piggybacking my overweight Husky (she lives with my parents, and in the five years i have lived out of home, she has mysteriously gained 10 fuckin kilos! OMG i had a go at them yesterday! that's a whole other story!) - running at 7:30am on the first day of summer didnt help either - i looked like i had showered outside lol. But it still felt awesome to pound the grass, work up a sweat and kick some arse!

Anywho, i am ready to BRING IT! I have some SUPER EXCITING GOALS that will come out of the woodworks in the next week or so. So stay tuned!!

Gutted.

2011-07-25T18:48:00.000+10:00

Well it has just hit me that life on cloud 9 will be coming to an end in 8 days time. My best friend Demi will be heading back home to Greece next tuesday. There is no hiding it, I am absolutely gutted. I feel like someone has just ripped out my heart from my chest. It hurts BIG TIME. Make that 10 times worse than any pain that ex-Hemorrhoid ever caused me.

I'm still recovering from a cold too so i can't even smash out a kick-arse workout to clear my head and find some peace. Even the thought of studying doesn't appeal to me either ATM.

On a positive note i have decided that i will be doing a trip to Europe in 2013 which will be exciting (even though its another 2 fuckin years away). So saving for that starts next paycheck!

Time to (try) and turn this frown upside down..

Here's are a pic from the weekend:

My new blue-black hairdo.

and in the words of Madonna:

STRIKE A POSE, THERE'S NOTHING TO IT.

VOGUE.

A Magical Month!

2011-07-20T16:48:00.000+10:00

Ok so you know its been a looooong time since you have blogged when people start asking if you ~~have died~~ still write!. Four people in one week! Woah, feeling the love, people are missing me! So i finally logged into Blogger and OMFG, its been 4 weeks! Holy shit, sorry to keep you hanging peeps! Truth is, life has been so fuckin exciting i have barely had a chance to chill, let alone allow myself 30 minutes to write a blog.

You wanna know why?

My bestest friend in the whole enitre universe has FINALLY made the trip back to Australia from GREECE after 7 fuckin years!!!! Excited? Much? You have no idea! Demi has been here for 4 weeks so far (hence the blog abscence!) and will be staying with me for another 2 glorious weeks of fun and mischief!

I think i had forgotten what it was like to be truly happy 24/7. Everyday has been filled with smiles, hugs, love and so much laughter... our secret sexy six-pack exercise ;-)

One thing i have learnt from her is to ENJOY ALL FOODS.. in small quantities... Must be that Mediteranian philosophy! It's all about calories in vs calories out people. I've really relaxed on my food obsessiveness this month and i am in better shape than ever... According to D, you can still eat your Uncle Toby's Fibre Plus Cereal, English Fruit Muffins, Jalna Vanilla Yoghurt, Pasta, (that is what is currently in my pantry!) Sushi... and wait for it.... Maccas Grand Angus Burger and still sport at super sexy body like this:

My other exciting news is that i finished my first semester of uni with killer results. I got a High Distinction (7) and a Distinction (6)!

Semester 2 began this week. I'm doing Cross-Cultural Psyche and Developmental Psyche which should call for an interesting semester!

And last of all...

Guess who has been initiated into the SUB 49 min 10k club!!!

MEEEE!!!

Last week i smashed out a 48:51min 10k baby! So who knows how fast i will be running in the next month, maybe sub 46? The sky is the limit!

Well i'd better fly, but here's a few pics of us before heading out to Zuri Bar last weekend!

Such Posers...

Always Smiling...

And how could i leave without my signature pose!

A Major Breakthrough...

2011-06-22T20:35:00.001+10:00

Today was a day for breakthroughs....big ones. It all happened when i began an interview at work on the topic of irrational fears. We had barely been chatting a couple minutes when my heart began to race, my hands began to tremble and my mind went blank. FYI, i am a chatterbox, i don't shut up. Not today. I was speachless. Only minutes before the interview began i had a list of things that i wanted to discuss but all of a sudden i could barely spit out a sentence. All of these repressed feelings were beginning to surface and tears began to well up in my eyes.

We had to change the topic due to my speach impairment lol and decided that we would do the interview another week which would give me a chance to write everything down on paper. As soon as i got off skype i opened up MS Word and began typing. I had to let it all out.

What i discovered about myself this afternoon was that i have an irrational fear of being assertive when a situation is outside my control. In my element, i am confident and a great leader, but take me out of my comfort zone and i am bombarded by irrational thoughts of rejection.

I honestly thought i had stopped blaming my mum months ago for all of my insecurity issues. But today it was evident that i hadn't completely let go. It occured to me that the moment i set a big goal, a little negative fairy emerges from my unconsious whispering to me that my desires to succeed (in areas that are important to me) are pathetic, that i am not worthy of success, so why bother trying when my efforts will never be good enough to impress my mum. The very issue that haunted my teenage years that led me to my love-hate relationship with chocolate. ANd so the bingeing began.

So there you have it, that was DEEP and very RAW. My blood pressure is still HIGH but i feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I am now ready to let that go because i know the only person i need to impress is myself. I don't need to be fearful anymore for fear only holds you back from surpassing your wildest dreams.

After that discovery i went on to have a KILLER boxing sesh! I nearly made poor John, my boxing partner throw up his birthday cake lol. ANd on another happy note, yesterday i initated myself into the sub 50min 10km club! I smashed out 49:36min and took 53 seconds off last weeks PB!

Anwyay i must fly and write a new list of affirmations to help set me free!

Operation Photo Shoot (OPS): Week 1

2011-06-12T09:04:00.001+10:00

Isn't this cold snap the pits?! I'm sitting here sipping my black coffee, wearing four layers of clothing.... and looking like an ~~eskimo~~ oompa loompa lol. For those of you who don't know me, I am a SINGLET girl. I DON'T DO SLEEVES!!!

Anywho, i have had a successful week of being sugar free. Ditching the sugar had made such a difference to the way i feel, you have NO IDEA. No cravings for chocolate, dessert or any 'naughty food' in general. And because i am feeling so good about myself i am not even thinking about those foods that once had their own VIP section in my mind lol. To add to that, my training has been killer this week. I have felt so strong and UNSTOPPABLE that i have been able to really push my limits... and that of my training partners'. I also smashed my 10k PB by 34secs too. 50:54mins. The thought of running a sub 50 scares me a little. That means i have to cruise at 12kph on the treadie but i will give it a crack on tuesday!

Onto the exciting stuff....

As you know, i have been lost for a BIG fitness goal for quite sometime time now. I had been umming and arring about doing another show but have decided against it, purely for the reason that dieting and studying doesn't mesh well together. Also too, having gone sugar free i feel like i am gaining control over this bingeing thing so i also don't want any 'prep stress' to put me backwards either.

So as you can tell from the Title, I have booked a photoshoot instead!!! It's 13 weeks away from Friday (just gone) and i am super excited!! The date is concrete which has brought a lot more focus to my mindset. My previous 'weight-loss' goals didn't have a definite time-limit, so i would always 'justify' my slip ups. Not this time. It is GAME ON.

I know exactly how i want to look like, and whether that is 3kgs away or 4, i don't want to get toooooo caught up in reaching a specific number anymore. Having said that i will be weighing in on fridays, tracking my progress and most importantly how i feel at each benchmark.

SO here are my starting stats:

Week 1: 10/06/2011
Weight: 62.9kg

In my head i'd like to see 59 but i do need to remember that anything below 60.8kg is technically 59... You know what i'm talking about! haha

SO there you have it. I have a GOAL. And i am going to get there in a HEALTHY, BALANCED and STRESS-FREE way.

On a final note, i have been kicking arse at uni too! I get my grades back for Foundation Pscyhe B on tuesday - i only need a pass on my last exam to end up with a Distinction overall... so just quietly, i think i have got that one in the bag :). I have my Foundation Psyche A exam in a couple weeks time. I only need 54/100 on the exam for A Distinction but if i can pull off 74/100 i will get a High Distinction!

SO time to stop procrastinating and study study study!!

I'm Baaaaaack! Conquering the Fear.

2011-06-05T11:38:00.000+10:00

Blog? What blog? ... Oh shit i forgot.... I have a blog! .... lol

In a nutshell, May was one hell of a month:

- I completed 2 major assignments and 2 online exams for uni;
- I flew to Cairns and Port Douglas for a four day work trip. Three of those days fucken RAINED! (Can you tell i was bitter lol?) But at least it was 27 degrees. Not like these BS 12 degree mornings we've been experiencing in Brisbane atm ... How long till spring?;
- And i have just come back from a four day sales conference at Sanctuary Cove.

So that's part of the reason i have been MIA. AND I'm sooooo behind on blog reading too. Hi blogworld, i have missed you!

So with all of the above, my life has been a wee bit out of balance. I've also missed a few training sessions (One word: DEADLINE/s) and food wise, i have been quite carefree at times too (One word: EXCUSE... yeah yeah i know) BUT after experimenting with a few different meal combo's, what i discovered last friday is priceless:

Cutting the milk and sugar out of my 3 coffees/day has vanquished my sugar cravings! Serious.

It might have to do with the fact that i am not starting my day with a mega insulin spike lol. I will admit that i'm not 100% sold on black coffee (with 1 tsp of xylitol) yet (i'm about 85%), but day by day i am enjoying it more. I can actually taste the coffee now and I'm really enjoying the pure caffeine rush :-)

Although i have missed out on a few gym workouts i have been running 10km at least once a week and have been slicing minutes off my time. As of tuesday, my current PB is 51:28mins baby! And yes, that is wearing my Vibrams. My legs are uber strong now and my calves are in killer shape.

Fitness endeavours aside, the little free time i have had in May, i have devoted to learning about the very essence of me- what makes me tick, and what sets me off. I've been reading books and talking to a variety of people. I want to get to that point where i have NO BARRIERS.... so i can conquer the world haha.

At conference this week, there was one phrase that struck a cord in me. I just couldn't get it out of my head:

Feel the fear and go with it anyway.

Fear will always exist in our lives however what we need to recognise is that it is just an unconscious Resistance that has the ability to prevent us from becoming EXTRAORDINARY. Resistance is the Negative Fairy that whispers in your ear telling you to have that extra piece of chocolate, to procrastinate, to skip a workout because, "you can just start fresh tomorrow". But really, every time you give into Resistance, you are moving the goal post backwards, furthering yourself away from living your dreams.

Fear makes us feel uncomfortable, thats why we buckle under pressure. For me, that equates to bingeing. No more. I hear Ms Negative Fairy whisper and i tell her to ~~fuck off~~ go to hell. It's just your mind playing games with you, testing your strength. Just know that once you acknowledge the fear, you can LET IT GO.

YOU control YOUR mind. YOU can conquer it all.

Steven Pressfield writes about this in his book The War of Art. It's a fantastic read. I had 'aha' moments nearly every page.

Last of all, i have an exciting new goal to focus on. I'm just awaiting confirmation of a date before i can share with ya'll. (sorry i'm a meanie hehehe) Stay tuned!!

Mega Procrastination and Comp Prep

2011-05-08T17:23:00.003+10:00

Well i have successfully managed to do ZERO uni this weekend - talk about mega PROCRASTINATION!!.. I had more important things on such as boxing, 10km run (56:15mins - 1:12min faster than monday's run WOOT!), massage, dinner for mothers day, catching up with a girlfriend for coffee and even CLEANING! Yes my non-existant love affair with housework even took precedence over my two assignments that are due on monday 16th. That is 8 days from now!!!! Actually, i was smart or stupid enough to book my flight to Cairns (work trip) on sunday 15th so really i only have 7 days... didn't want to leave the assignments to the last minute!

SO until they are handed in i will be MIA from the internet. Serious. Refreshing your Facebook homepage every 5 minutes isn't very productive lol. The first one is about 85% complete and the second one is 50% done. Nothing too difficult, i really just have to pull my finger out and start typing... some A-class material.

Nothing like a deadline to get the ball rolling!

Which makes me think about my weight-loss goals. Even though i am only 3kg away from 'body perfectionique', and have been only 3kg away for an ETERNITY i have no deadline, no uber urgency which i know is one reason why my ability to stop at 1 lindt chocolate is in the negatives on a scale from 1 to 10.

WHat to do? i am a little confused!
TO compete or not to compete that is the question?
Would it turn me into a crazy, food obsessed lunatic like i have been in the past?
OR would the structure of a REALISTIC and HEALTHY comp plan from a coach be just the guidance i need to stay strong, focussed and cravings free?
BIG GOALS are scary but they do bring out the best in me.
I know once i commit there is no turning back.
But i also know that i am still dealing with bouts of binging so i question myself about the possibility of a nasty post-comp rebound.

Is the journey of a sportsmodel comp prep the right path to take?

What are your thoughts?

Running to Freedom

2011-04-28T14:59:00.000+10:00

The rush of endorphins is what sparked my love for running. The clarity of mind that comes about whilst you pound the pavement is what i call freedom - nothing else in the world matters during those moments in time.

It's been quite a while since i have experienced endorphins during my training. This occured to me last night during my boxing sesh. Every drill hurt. I felt like i had the aerobic fitness of a 3-pack a day smoker. I had Ms Negative Fairy sitting on my shoulder that whole hour whispering in my ear that it was all too hard. I was struggling to snap out of my negative mindset and just LET GO..... and beat up John, my boxing ~~bitch~~ partner. You don't realise just how much mental energy you waste mentally whinging about the intensity of a training session. Seriously, it drains you!

So after a hot shower and some dinner it was time to chill out with 'The Fatties' (The Biggest Loser). Their quest for the day was the 'Reflection Walk'. They had to walk miles and miles in the sand dunes with the amount of weight they had lossed to date in their backpacks (40-50kg). During the trek, they got a chance to reflect on their amazing journey so far and physically experience the 'weight' of their past. As you can imagine, it was a very emotional episode.

The show got me thinking. 'What exactly has been holding me back from reaching my goals?' It's like everytime i have made great progress, i retreat and take two leaps back. Even though i desperately want to cross that finish line, I seem to have been trapped in a bottomless pit of self-doubt.

So i made up my mind. The past is the past, you can't change it. Dwelling on the past will just eat you up inside. It was time to just LET GO.

And that is what i did.

Had it not been pouring outside this morning i would have hit the streets so instead i headed to the gym to go head to head with my mind and the treadmill. The goal was 10km. A distance i haven't run since december last year. I knew deep down that i was fit enough to run it. 10km is more so a test of the mind, anyone can do it. If the mind is strong enough it will carry your body through. Today i didn't care about times, i just needed to finish it and prove to myself that I CAN ACHIEVE ANYTHING I WANT TO.

Now i know i can. 54:35min. It felt amazing.

So with those endorphins still flowing through my veins, my self belief has been re-ignited. I am ready to WIN. WIN in every aspect of my life.

Leaping out of the rut

2011-04-22T09:56:00.000+10:00

As you know i had got myself into a health rut over the past few weeks. Yes i was training, yes my 'meals' were healthy but the added extras *ahem... junk* were becoming quite frequent. I had lost the enjoyment factor out of my workouts and to be honest i was just feeling downright lost. I was stumped to how i got there in the first place? Life was red and rosey only the week before...

It took me a while of deeeeeeeep thinking to sort myself out. I was even considering seeing a shrink. Don't laugh. Even though i have easily been able to maintain a fabulous figure (i'm not trying to brag, just being positive about my transformation :-) ) for the past year and a bit, 10yrs of yo-yo dieting, binge eating and total body image INSECURITY has kept me (at times) pretty fucked up in the head. I don't always see the sexy body in the mirror that everyone else sees which puts me in a foul mood.

What i realised is that i simply need goals. Big ones, ALL THE TIME, for ALL ASPECTS OF MY LIFE.

Uni goals - i'm striving to achieve 6s (Distinctions) for all my subjects so i'll be accepted into Honours. So studying is not an effort at all. I enjoy it and i make time fore it because i am doing it for a purpose.

Fitness Goals - ummmmm what? I HAD the goal of competing at Asia Pacs until i realised that prepping for a June show would be too stressful whilst i was studying. (INBA QLD titles in september is still at the back of my mind but at the moment, that show is waaaaay too far away). So yeah i was still training hard but i had somehow lost my purpose in the gym. Going through the motions of training does keep you fit and healthy but being average isn't good enough for me. Average is BORING. I NEED MORE.

Nutrition Goals - I'll admit that for me, eating a supercharged nutritious breakfast, lunch and dinner is easy. It's a no-brainer and comes naturally. I've never been into burgers, pizzas, breads, pastas, lasagnes, fatty meats or greasy 'meal foods'. Give me fish and vegies anyday. BUT i do find that when my FITNESS GOALS are nowhere in sight, i do give EASILY into the Lindt chocolate, Magnum Temptation and the extra tablespoons of PB which gives me short-term satisfaction but long-term hell.

So where does that leave me? Well it occurred to me last night that there is one 'fitness thing' that i haven't been doing for quite a while. Since christmas if i'm not mistaken.

Running OUTSIDE.

Running in the elements has always given me a sense of clarity. It clears my mind, it empowers me and i simply feel free.... and amazing afterwards. The reason i had stopped was because i was getting blisters from my Vibrams as i hadn't bought any Injinji toe socks back then. I own quite a few pairs now. No more blisters, no more Vibram B.O. lol.

So as of this afternoon i am going to start back with 5km runs around my hilly neighbourhood. It's been a while since i have run more than a couple kms at a time so i'm guessing my time will probably be around the 27-28min mark (there are some fucking huge hills in Rochedale lol). My first big goal for the 5km loop will be to run sub 25mins. I'm not sure yet if i will be increasing my distance, i'll let my fitness levels guide me.

I'm looking forward to getting a dose of 'runners high'. It's been waaaay too long. I also know that with my runners high comes a shift in mindset. I shift into warrior mode. In warrior mode i am strong, i am a fighter and temptations become minimal. Why? Because i have purpose. And with that new-found focus will draw me closer to my physique goal. The last 3kgs is all about the mind now. I am at the stage where I can happily strutt around in nearly any clothes i desire because i am pretty lean BUT what i really want to be able to do is train in that damn gym showing off a sexy-six pack!!

3kg is the home stretch. I believe i can do it now. I'm pumped and i'm focused.

BRING IT BABY!

Happiness

2011-04-19T07:26:00.000+10:00

What defines happiness?

Is it love; family; friends; work; achievement; money; health; food; ... your body? Or is it something deeper like self-love?

After reading this post by Tara last night, my head started racing at a thousand miles an hour. I came to the conclusion that superficial things can't create permanent happiness when your mind is forever battling with what type of mood it wants to be in. I believe that happiness is a reflection of the state of balance within one's self. It begins with self-love. To love your reflection in the mirror, you need to love the very essence of who you are. The negative mind can easily take that away from you if you are not feeding the positive mind with enough love.

It all starts with affirmations: Little sayings of positive self-talk affirming your goals, your desires, your beliefs, .... your love.

They need to be repeated everyday; muliple times until your unconscious mind automatically reverts back to them.

Self-love is the seed required for happiness to blossom. To keep that happiness blooming, seeds need to be planted everyday.

Today i am planting this seed:

I am beautiful.

Learning from your mistakes

2011-04-14T08:29:00.000+10:00

Life gets tough sometimes but how you handle it is in your control. There are always two choices:
1. Be a warrior and tackle your challenges head on or;
2. Give in, be weak and fall into temptation.

This past week and a half has been a complete struggle. After having two weeks off training due to travel commitments and then sickness, i felt like a complete beginner. (Thank god i didn't have to resort to princess weights lol) I had lossed a little strength, endurance and boy did my sessions hurt. My mind wanted to push harder but my body just couldn't keep up. I seemed to be gasping for air, i could barely pump out 50 push ups, I was even taking rest periods (me-the Zuzana queen didn't know what 'rest' meant lol) and for the first time in weeks i couldn't even run a sub 10min 2km! Not to mention i felt flogged for the next few hours of the day. Training has always made me feel strong, invincible and on top of the world but feeling so out of condition this week made me realise that i need to LOOK AFTER MYSELF. I need to schedule in a week off training every eight weeks, to allow my body to recharge and recover. Eight weeks has always been my magic number, once i push on to ten or eleven weeks i start to feel exhausted and then BOOM, it's too late - i burn out.
So along with the depressed state of mind from my sucky training sessions came some pretty intense cravings. I was battling with my mind not to binge on PB and lindt chocs. Some days I won, some days i didn't. I was desperately trying to figure out how one week i could be so in control of all my actions and then the following week i do a compete 360 and let food control me. And with the lack of control comes self doubt, stress, poor body image and well just complete head fuck. It only occurred to me yesterday that my cravings weren't entirely emotional, there was a hunger factor involved too.

During my two weeks off gym i had naturally eaten less (skipping arvo tea and only having a coffee), adjusting my calorie intake as i wasn't doing any intense workouts. However when i hit the gym again last week, I was still trying to stick to the same meal plan, not thinking to put that extra meal back in. It was doing my head in - why was I so hungry all the time? Where were all these cravings coming from? Then it hit me, my body was crying out for more calories, more food. It really wasn't looking for PB or chocolate, it just wanted more vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbs and fats to balance out my energy expenditure.

I had totally forgot one rule with ESE. You can't FAST and DIET. Otherwise your weekly calorie deficit will be TOO BIG! Hence the extreme hunger and cravings!

So now that i have worked out my huge arse mistake i am in a way better state of mind. I am feeling calm and at peace with myself once again. My confidence is coming back and i know that i will reach my goal weight in the next couple months!!!

Till then, only POSITIVE thoughts and SELF-BELIEF.

Week 10 OAP: Flying through the numbers!

2011-04-04T07:09:00.000+10:00

What a fabulous start to a monday morning...

SCALE JOY!

Well after being in scale-denial for two weeks i decided it was time to pay them a visit. (Traveling and sickness had definitely put me in scale-avoidance mode). The fact that i have had two weeks off gym was playing with my mind a little. My body was feeling a little on the soft side as i had done zero resistance training- only walking. But having said my body I'm feeling very refreshed, recuperated and strong now and so is my mind. A good break does wonders.

Week 13           17/03/2011
Weight:              63.2kg (139.3lbs)

Week 10           4/04/2011
Weight:             62.3kg (137.3lbs)

Difference:          900g (2lbs) LOSS
Difference to Date:    2.9kg (6.4lbs) LOSS

Goal:                  ~59kg (130.1lbs)
Need to Lose:     3.3kg (7.3lbs)

Can you give me a WOOT! I was in total shock this morning, i hopped on the scales three times just to be sure lol.

The only thing i am doing different now is..... FASTING again. I know i go through phases with fasting but only because you have to be:
1. in the right mind frame;
2. be committed to the fast, ie. no CHEATING; and
3, doing it to feel great about yourself and NOT doing as punishment.

I have done four x 24-hour fasts since my trip and my body is responding really well. Not only am i beginning to feel in control again (mind and food), but my mind is becoming clearer and it's wierd but i am now getting that endorphin rush that Brad mentions you should feel during the fast. That's when you know you are doing it for the right reasons.

SO on that note, i will be sticking with fasting twice weekly until i smash my goal. Not long now i would think! WOOT WOOT!

I must be off as i have a gym date with Zuzana... this is going to hurt but...

PAIN IS WEAKNESS LEAVING THE BODY!

Burning the Firecracker at both ends:(

2011-03-30T07:40:00.001+10:00

Did ya miss me?! I'm sorry i have been a naughty blogger and MIA. Truth is, i have been SWAMPED with work; uni assessment and now i am battling a cold. Monday was the sore throat and swollen glands which has left; tuesday was the dripping nose which is still hanging around and today my head is foggy and i just want to go ~~pass out~~ back to bed.

So i have come to the conclusion that.... I am NOT superwoman :(... Damn it... Yes, your poor little firecracker has been lit at both end, someone come diffuse me before i burnt out! The cold is nothing serious but it is a sign that i need to CHILL THE F*K OUT! I have been listening to my body to some degree though. Apart from going for some light 30min walks outside (need my fresh air!), i have restrained myself from hitting the gym. No workouts since saturday! I know my body just needs to rest and come friday (uni exam) i can rest my mind too because i will be on uni holidays for 2 weeks WOOT! Then 2 weeks after that i am having 11 days off for Easter, double WOOT!

Must fly and drag my sorry arse to work!

The joys of traveling

2011-03-22T17:53:00.000+10:00

Hey ya'll! Well i am currently in Townsville-day 2 of my work trip-and I will be off to Mackay at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning. I'm totally looking forward to the 400km (250miles) /4.5hr drive ... NOT. It's hot; it's humid and i am staying in a DUMP of a hotel. The Rydges is SUPPOSED to be 5 star luxury but seriously, I wouldn't even give it half a star. It smells; it hasn't been renovated since the 40s; the carpet has stains ALL over it; the windows don't open; the lift tells you the wrong floor number; the decor is ugly; and wait ... there are fucking SPIDERS on the ceilings in the hallways!!!!! Total #FAIL.

On a positive note, business has been great up here; and I have enjoyed my walk along The Strand

each morning. You got to love that ocean breeze! A friend of mind (who reps for a protein powder company) is also doing his trip up here which has been awesome as I haven't had to dine out on my lonesome for once!

On the topic of dining out, i am SOOOOOOOOOO looking forward to eating my 'simple food' once i get back home. It might sound glamorous to eat out at fancy cafes and restaurants but for me, the novelty wears off after a couple of meals. Yes they taste AMAZING, but when your body isn't used to constantly eating extra sugars, saturated fats, dairy and gluten you react straight away. Not to mention too much of the good stuff ain't good for the sexy six-pack!

Right now, I'm feeling bloated, fluidy and just gross. Having said that i have tried to order as CLEAN as possible - grilled barramundi and salad (massive piece of fish-i could only fit in half!); chilli prawn vegie stirfy for the past 2 dinners. However for lunch I did resort to a chicken/ salad/ avo/ cheese wrap. The lesson learnt here is to STAY AWAY FROM GLUTEN! I already know this but two days of wheat and ~~i look 6 months preggas~~ my gut ain't feeling good. I'm really pissed off at myself for caving in and eating shit that i know isn't good for me. Call it a moment of weakness or a loss of focus. How can i be so STRONG some weeks and so WEAK on others? There has got to be a trigger deep down in my unconscious that i am yet to rectify.

Note to self - track down a Sumo Salad kiosk for lunch instead of doing the 'cafe thing'.

One thing i did learn from my last trip was to not eat out for Breakfast. I'm not really a breakfast person to begin with anyway. Morning tea is technically my first real meal so i'll have a banana super shake. I prefer to drink my first meal as it's tasty and lighter on my digestive system, especially after a big workout. So for that reason i packed my protein powder and bought some rice milk and bananas when i arrived. I thought $8.95/kg for bananas was exy in brissie. Try $11.95/kg up north- OMFG!

Anywho i must shower, freshen up, paint on my face and head out to dinner with an old friend from highschool who is living up here now. We're off to a fancy French restaurant- Michels tonight... no lamb brains or frogs legs for me though lol.

Au revoir!

Week 13 OAP: Blessing of Ms Fluid Fairy

2011-03-17T07:11:00.001+10:00

Is it FRIDAY yet!? Chaotic is an understatement. This week has been be crazy ... well so has every other week so no surprise there lol. I am off on my Townsville-Mackay work trip this sunday until wednesday so i have been madly trying to get my shit together. Just about finished my first uni assignment too woo hoo. And guess when it is due? ... Tomorrow!!!! ... Just kidding... Not until the 28 March- told you i am getting on top of things!

This week I've been having a blast with Zuzana workouts and also pushed out another PB on Monday and Tuesday for my 2km run - 9:15min! Getting closer to that elusive 8:59min. I practically have to start on 12.3kph and increase my speed by .1kph every 100m then take off with 500m whilst trying not to fly off the back of the treadmill to keep up the former pace. Sub 9mins is going to be FAST. Well not as fast as speedy gonzalas aka Miss Melissa!

Food wise, I ended up having my treat meal on monday. In hindsight i probably should have had it sunday as all i did sunday night was dream about caramel slice. Seriously. So monday arvo, i took a trip to the bakery to buy it, drove home, opened up the packet and guess what i saw..... a cockroach.... just kidding haha.... A fuckin piece of Apple Slice! Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! But i couldn't be bothered driving all the way back to exchange it, so i ate it anyway. It was yummy but no way as ~~sickening~~ delicious as caramel slice.

So with the sugar from Monday and TTOM around the corner, (talk about being in the FOULEST mood yesterday!) i have been cast upon by Ms Fluid Fairy for weigh-in day. Yep got the sexy bloated look happening. Having said that i still feel a lot tighter than last week so i'm sure i will FINALLY see a 62 come next thursday... providing restaurant food doesn't have too much effect on me whilst i am away for work!

Week 14:                10/3/2011
Weight:                 63.0kg   (138.9lbs)

Week 13                  17/3/2011
Weight:                63.2kg  (139.3lbs)

Difference:              200g (.3lbs) GAIN
Difference to Date: 2kg (4.4lbs) LOSS

Goal:                      ~59kg (130.1lbs)
Need to Lose:          4.2kg (9.3lbs)

Yeah yeah i know, nothing to be sob about so i am just going to get on with my day!

Gotta fly and enter the NERD KINGDOM before i head off to work!

Life is Good and Progress Pics

2011-03-13T07:38:00.000+10:00

Well I have had a very productive weekend so far and i am finally feeling on top of things!

Yesterday's boxing class was a high intensity KILL-A-THON! We also incorporated some sprinting on the treadie that i loved and some sexy-six pack training at the end. Boy are my abs feeling tight today WOOT!! After that, i got in about 5hrs of study, a massage and dinner with my girlfriends. You know you are at a table with fitness girls when 4 out of 6 of them have had a boob job lol.

Today i will be spending another billions hours in Planet Nerdom.... Totally cool, i already know that ;-)

So for that reason i shall be quick and list a few things on my mind:

1. Nutriton plan is going great. My sugar cravings have been under control and i haven't even had a dessert treat this week. I was considering having a piece of caramel slice today but i have woken up feeling energised and craving free. No point just having it for the sake of it hey!

2. After being a little on the tired side earlier this week (i think uni/studying really threw my body out of whack!), i decided to listen to my body and take tuesday off training. My energiser batteries have now re-charged and i am bounding off the walls once again.I even did a PB for my 2km run on friday - 9:22mins! So the goal is to do a sub 9min. hopefully in the next 2-3 weeks!

3. My skin has improved 10 fold since cutting out all the extra shit from my diet... Got that glow happening!

4. I'm in a really happy place right now. With the study i feel like i have new-found purpose and direction in my life. I am focused and ready to take on the world!

5. I am noticing the changes in my body day by day. I actually think that i may only be a couple kilos away from being 'crop-top ready' for gym! For once its not a struggle at all. I haven't been fasting for a good 2 or 3 weeks now but what i am doing is eating intuitively. Four meals a day is working like a charm. I'm not hungry, i have minimal cravings and my energy is great. I'm not stressed about food prep, macro ratios, meal timing or calorie counting and my obsessive food thoughts have minimised. I am not dieting per se, just eating in a way that will keep me LEAN for LIFE.

So here are a couple pics from last night:

Trying to use the 'self-time' on my camera before heading out the door!

At the restaurant doing the 'chelle pose!'

Ok now i MUST stop PROCRASTINATING. Planet Nerdom here i come!

Week 14 OAP: Which Fairy Stole my Free Time?!

2011-03-10T07:43:00.001+10:00

Whassup kids!?

I profusely apologies for being such a bad blogger. A naughty Fairy has stolen all of my FREE TIME! She deserves a smack... actually could someone please clip her wings? On a serious note, I didn't realise just how much my life would change by adding uni to it. I am super BUSY....all in capitals. During the week my life goes like this - eat, train, work, study, sleep, REPEAT... I allow myself 1 x 1hr ~~moment of bliss~~ tv show a night to unwind. Facebook and blogland are now slipping to the bottom of my PRIORITY LIST. But that is ok because i am LOVING activating those little brain cells of mine.

Anywho i must be quick so i'll get straight to the point.

I'm now doing my weigh-in days on thursday morning. Reason being is that i have been having my cheat meal on a saturday night. Last saturday included a yummy scrumptious stickydate pudding with 'bodybuilders icecream' (frozen yoghurt and protein powder) at Steph's house. It was sooooooo gooooood but as my body isn't used to a lot of sugar anymore i bloated straight away. It's seriously taken me a good 3-4 days to rid the bloat; sugar and fluid retention from my body. So i really didn't want a water-affected scale weight to enhance my mondayitis! ... On a side note, the way my body reacted to the above was a good reminder to steer clear of too much sugar during the week. It just didn't like it.... damn it ;-)

So here are my official results:

Week 15:           28/02/2011
Weight:              63.6kg (140.2lbs)

Week 14:            10/02/2011
Weight:              63.0kg (138.9lbs)

Difference:         600g LOSS (1.3lbs)
Difference to Date: 2.2kg LOSS (4.9lbs)

Goal:                  ~59kg (130.1lbs)
Need to Drop:     4kg   (8.8lbs)

Yay, i'm totally stoked with the results so far but i was spewing i missed out on seeing that magical 62. The scale was flicking from 62.9 to 63.0 a few times and even with my 'you can do it chant', it reverted back to 63.0. Not to worry, next week WILL be my week!

Gotta fly! I will do my best to write a couple blogs per week..... now what is free time again?

Life is a WHIRLWIND!!

2011-03-03T07:32:00.000+10:00

Hey ya'll well i tell you what, this week has been a WHIRLWIND! I have surprised myself just how much i have been fitting into a day. Seriously, juggling full time work; part-time uni (2 subjects) and comp prep is just a little on the crazy side. In doing so i have had to 3/4 my Facebook time (no time to read news feeds anymore!) and unfortunately have to cut down reading blogs :(. It's all about priorities now. But hey, I have brought my focus to a whole new level and i have given organised a brand new meaning. Meet Ms Superwoman lol.

I did my mid week weigh in this morning and i am down another 400g (0.9lbs). WOOT! I don't count this as an official weigh-in but i do like to know exactly how i am progressing through the week. I'm feeling a lot tighter, especially through my arms, chesticles and back. I always lean up like an icecream- from top to bottom ;-).

One thing i want to share with you is that there is the possibility of postponing the date of my comp. I was a little gutted at first but i have come to realise a few things:

1. I need to ace UNI. To do so will require about 2-3hrs of study a DAY. I'm a pretty fast reader and good memoriser but these chapters are so damn long!
2. I want to bring nothing less than SMOKING HOT condition to the stage.
3. My prep needs to be HEALTHY, BALANCED and STRESS FREE as possible. I.e Not RUSHED.

I know comps will ALWAYS be there. I can do the INBA Sportsmodel in September if i am not ready in time for June. I don't need to put added pressure on myself.

But what i will remain doing is keeping my 'comp prep focus'. These last two weeks have been mentally amazing. I feel like a completely different person with this lazer focus. My body has changed more in these past couple weeks than it did earlier this year. I feel strong, more confident and that i can achieve ANYTHING i put my mind to. I now know that being ultra strict throughout the week really isn't difficult at all. I am fueling my body with the right foods so i rarely feel the need for the sugary crap. The snacking has ceased cos i know that i only do it for emotional reasons. One of them BOREDOM. I don't have time to be bored anymore!

My 'comp prep focus' is something i believe i need to keep doing if i want to be LEAN for LIFE. That's right baby. By eating clean throughout the week allows me to really enjoy a few treat meals on the weekend without the guilt, that feeling of failure or the thought that i have just blown my entire progress.

So for now, I am focussing on getting down to 59kg ( 130.1lbs) and around 55ml. Once i get there (should be about 3months) i can make an executive decision about which comp to do. From there all i will need to do is fine-tune the body!

OK gotta fly, my inner nerd is calling me!

Week 15 OAP: Off to a good start

2011-02-28T18:07:00.001+10:00

Hey ya'll hope you weren't hit by mondayitis!

Well today is weigh in day and i'm happy to report i have had a drop, yay! I was secretly hoping for a BIGGER one but i just need to remind myself that some weeks will be small drops, some will be big and there will also be plateaus...hopefully not too many GAINS! I am also keeping in mind that i will be saying farewell to these last few kilos FOREVER. That is right. The focus and discipline that i executed last week is something that i want to keep doing comp prep or not. The discipline to say NO to temptation during the week will allow me to enjoy a few treat meals on the weekend without that dreaded feeling of guilt, failure or the thought that i have ruined my progress.

I was suppose to go out for mexican and dessert on saturday night but one of the girls wasn't well so we'll be heading out this sunday. So instead i went out for Thai with mum and dad...no dessert. Gosh i am getting good at this no sugar thing!

Anywho i really must be quick as i still have to hit the streets for a 30min walk then get stuck into my uni books cos it is Day 1 today! My inner nerd is totally excited.

Week 16    21/02/2011
Weight:          63.9kg (140.9lbs)

Week 15        28/02/2011
Weight:         63.6kg (140.2lbs)

Difference:    300g Loss (.7lbs)
Difference to Date:   1.6kg Loss (3.5lbs)

Goal (for now):    59kg   (130.1lbs)
Need to Lose:     4.6kg   (10.1lbs)

Oh and before i forget, i did Zuzana's 600 Rep Sexier Toned Body Workout this morning. It took me about 35mins and i was totally F*ked. Seriously, it was hardcore. I'm used to doing 50 reps but today it was 60 reps of everything and those extra 10 reps make ALL the difference! I swear she must have been on drugs when she wrote this workout lol..... and then being such a machine i hopped on the treadie and pumped out 2.09km (1.3miles) in 10mins. Woot, on fire baby!

Abs Abs Abs Abs Abs is the only thing on my mind!

Hurled in the Guts by a Medicine Ball

2011-02-26T17:17:00.000+10:00

Well today started off with a bang. I woke up and wondered why it was so light. OMFG, my alarm didn't go off (2nd time this week!) and it was 6.42am! Bodyslam starts at 7.05am and i live 11mins away from the gym when all the traffic lights are GREEN. Pee'd, cleaned teeth, gym clothes on and out the door i raced. Thank god i had packed my gym bag the night before, i got there right on time!

Now I never train without coffee tantalizing my tastebuds but with the sudden rush of adrenaline it was like a mega caffeine hit. I was having a killer class until.... the medicine ball drill. We were in two lines (18 per side) opposite our partners, with our arse on the floor, legs interlocked and leaning back at a 45 degree angle. The aim of this exercise was oblique training, so 4 medicine balls (7, 8, 9 and 10kg) were given to 4 people.

On the whistle it was game on. If you had the ball you would twist to the right and ~~hurl~~ pass the ball to the next person etc. You had to be on the ball (no pun intended lol) to keep sight of all 4 balls that were being ~~hurled~~ passed around. After a few mins, we changed direction to the left. I could see the 9kg medicine ball quickly approaching. A few moments later the lady next to me (my friend Zina) had it in her hands. I was ready to recieve it and next thing i knew, Zina (accidently!?) hurled it at me! I was taken by surprise and didn't react in time copping a flogging in the guts! OMFG, a 9kg ball in the stomach totally winded the life out of me! Before i knew it I was ~~passed out on the floor~~ on the floor not knowing whether to laugh or cry. I haven't been winded since my soccer days and boy did it hurt! I had to take a breather for a few minutes, then soldiered on and finished the class. Yes i was primed for a boxing battle... Zina and i are still friends lol.

Today was also my gym's 26th Birthday so Rockwear had a stand in the foyer and i happily ~~treated myself to~~ invested in 2 hot new tops and a pair of shorts. Rockwear gear rocks, literally. I have shorts that i bought 8 yrs ago that haven't stretched, have minimal fading and still look as good as new. Plus the cuts are totally flattering. I will post some progress pics soon!

Later this morning i met the gym girls for a late brunch (11am) at Perks at Garden City. (I still hadn't eaten anything since waking up). I had the Mediteranian Breakfast with a few changes- 2 poached eggs, mushrooms, grilled tomato, haloumi (i gave half the slice to a couple friends) on gluten free toast (no butter)... and 1 small bite of my girlfriends Banana Bread. It was one of the girls- Jestina's birthday and guess who passed on the caramel mudcake??... That would be ME! Yep i wasn't even ~~salivating~~ interested. 7 days sugar free and you definitely lose your cravings.

However tonight will be my treat/cheat meal. It's another girlfriends 26th birthday and we are going out to Guzman Y Gomez at the Emporium for mexican... and then to FREESTYLE TOUT for dessert! So the plan is to have something light/not high in calories for dinner- possibly spicy chicken tacos because my dessert may just have a ~~shitload~~ few calories ;-) Someone send me a Fairy that will make me a calorie free dessert!

AND last of all i bought a hot new dress from Cue for tonight. I tell you what, it's an awesome feeling picking a size 8 (US size 4) off the rack and knowing that it is going to fit perfectly Pics to come!

ABCs - Alphabet of Chelle

2011-02-24T07:23:00.002+10:00

Well today marks day 5 of total food cleanliness... (don't stress, i do wash my vegies) and ALL my sugar cravings have vanished into thin air. Give me a woot! ( I think i had given Mr Pancreas a heart attack from how much insulin he had to produce last saturday night lol) My food has been spot on and training has been killer, i am totally focussed baby! I even hopped on the scales just to observe my efforts so far and i am ecstatic to report that i am down 300g (0.7lbs) since monday! ..But official weigh ins are for Monday only so i won't pop the champayne yet ;-)

I was just over at Miss Charlotte's Blog and came across this fun game to play:

ABCs - Alphabet of Chelle... I'm really not sure what the PBF stands for?

A. Age: 25
B. Bed Size: Queen
C. Chore you Hate: VACUUMING and MOPPING!
D. Dogs: Makita - my 12yr old Siberian Husky who lives with mum and dad- she's got fat since i left.
E. Essential Start to your Day: COFFEE...how else are you suppose to start the day?
F. Favourite Colour: Green, although purple is slowly catching up!
G. Gold or Silver: Silver and White Gold
H. Height: 5"7' - 172cm
I. Instrument you Play: Piano (not since 2002 - i got up to grade 7)
J. Job Title: Sales Manager/ Nutritionist.... in a few years i'll call myself a Nutritional Psychologist!
K. Kids: None. I'd like one or two cheeky monkeys some day.
L. Live: Brisvegas, Australia...where all the cool kids live.
M. Mum's Name: Ex-Hemorrhoid... Just kidding. Jenny
N. Nickname: Chelle, Shelly. School days it was Jeanzie
O. Overnight Stays in Hospitals: NONE but i was in and out of hospitals quite regularly as a kid. I had chronic bronchitis which usually resulted in pneumonia
P. Pet Peeve: SLOW ~~CODGERS~~ DRIVERS!... and people who wear shoes in my house. Hint hint.
Q. Quote from a Movie: ummmm I don't watch a lot of movies
R. Righty or Lefty: Righty. But i do use my left hand for my computer mouse
S. Siblings: Little 21yr old sis, Bec.
T. Time you wake up: 5.45am most days
U. Underwear: Bonds undies and Pleasure State Bras
V. Vegetables you Dislike: Squash tastes like vomit
W. What makes you run late: Umm I run late everyday even though all my clocks are set 10mins fast.
X. X-Rays you've had: Teeth, Spine ( i used to work for a chiropractor)
Y. Yummy food you make: Satay Chicken, Madras Chickpea Curry, Salmon steak but only when i ~~can be bothered~~ have to impress someone. During the week i am too lazy to cook.
Z. Zoo: Favourite Animal - Gorillas.... Just kidding.. Cheetahs

Join in and play!!

Operation Asia-Pacs: Week 16: Day 112

2011-02-21T19:16:00.000+10:00

Thanks for all your lovely comments on my decision to compete at the Asia Pac's: Fitness Model in June. I'm super excited and completely focussed now. It's amazing how one big decision can totally change ones' mindset. For the next 16 weeks food is ONLY fuel. Stat (allowing 1 treat meal/week atm) .... It will have to be so i don't blind the judges with a saggy bootay lol.

Clean eats began yesterday (after my 'last extremely naughty treat'... *magnum and lindt chocs* on saturday night) and have continued on today with zilch cravings. Me - no cravings OMG! I told you my mindset has changed!

I did Zuzana's Hot Mess workout this morning with 15mins on the tready after (i don't usually do cardio after her workouts but i wasn't sure how late i'd get home from work this arvo). Just as well because I missed my arvo walk due to the shitload of lighting in the sky. I don't mind walking in the rain, but the off chance i get fried by a lighting bolt just ain't worth the risk!

Oh and guess what, i even studied for an hour last night and uni doesn't even kick off until next week! Gosh i am nerd, but hey i've got to be a non-procrastinator now!

Anywho here are my starting stats:

Week 16: 21/02/2011
Weight: 63.9kg (140.9lbs)

I'm not exactly sure what my contest weight should be, so i'm guessing around the 58kg (127.9lb) mark. Keeping in mind that i have nearly a kilo (2.2lbs) of boobage stuck to me lol. FYI i haven't been below 59kg (130lbs) since year 12 (2002) so being in 50s kind of FREAKS ME OUT! So i am just focussing on getting to 60kg (132.3lbs) for now.

Anyway time to visit Ms Hair Wax Fairy! Night!

Decisions Decisions... BIG EXCITING DECISIONS!

2011-02-20T11:37:00.000+10:00

Well i have been toying with this idea for quite some time now...To be, or not to be: that is the question.... thats all i remember from Shakespeare lol. You see, on a whole i've been in a pretty good place. My training has been going A for AWESOME, my food choices probably average at about 85% over the course of a week and even though i whine and grumble about not being PERFECT (and overeating my body weight in PB lol), i'm still doing enough to keep myself in pretty fine form:

BUT I have come to the point now where 'pretty fine' just doesn't cut it anymore. It's time to step it UP. I've come to realise that the difference between 'pretty fine form' and 'smoking hot form' is a BIGGER goal. Yep that is right. Although OBB is a challenge, it is MY own challenge and therefore there is no real urgency in it. I can keep delaying the DEADLINE when it suits me. No one is forcing me to ~~crack a camera lense~~ pose in front of a camera, no one will slap my bottom if i have 10 treat meals instead of 3, no one will know if i have an extra TBSP or 5 of PB. You get my drift?

So after spending yesterday thinking; texting Steph back and forth and chatting with my mentor Jenny, i have decided that it is time to CHANGE my CIRCUMSTANCES...

I've always been a competive gal. I thrive on the excitement of competition. Competing helps me focus, it energises me. It creates a shift in my mindset and brings out the best in me. Competing is what encourages me to excel to the fullest of my potential. SO for that reason, i have decided to....

COMPETE in the ANB Asia Pacific International: Fitness Model Division in June!

That is exactly 16 weeks tomorrow. I have an exciting adventure ahead of me I can't wait to dust off my stripper heels and strutt my stuff on stage once again. It's going to be a very delicate juggling act to balance full-time work, part-time uni, training and comp prep but i am up for the challenge. UNI is definitely my first priority and unlike my ~~party days~~ previous degree where my attitude was 'you only need 50% to PASS', I would really like graduate with Honours this time around. So i will become Little Miss ~~Non-Procrastinator~~ Organised. Watch me.

On a final note, my journey to the stage WILL be a healthy balanced one. I'm guessing i will need to drop 5-7kg but by NO means will i do anything EXTREME. I know from past experience that the more extreme your contest prep is (diet and training) the more likely it is that you will suffer an extreme rebound. And if that was to happen to me i would be utterly devastated. I will not sacrifice my health for a competition, it's just not worth it.

The personal journey of comp prep is something that you can not buy. You can only experience it. I know this will be a journey of strength and growth and I am looking forward to bringing a hot, sexy package to the stage.Whether i place or not does not matter (mega cool if i do!), its the accomplishment of committing 100% to a goal that will be the most rewarding part.

Look out JNL!

Week 7 OBB: Breakthroughs and Sweating it out Zuzana Style!

2011-02-14T15:04:00.002+10:00

Happy Valentines Day!

Boy did i give myself a kickarse wake-up call this morning! I was going to do Zuzana's new 400 Burpee workout but ~~chickened out~~ decided against it as there were a few exercises that weren't going to be feasible at my gym. (You can't hog too much equipment without copping the evil eye!) Katie - let me know if you do it!!!! So i will leave it for an at- home workout day. BUT what i did do was a total slaughter sweat fest:

Zuzana's Swim in Own Sweat Workout and I added Bench Step Ups after each burpee. All up 200 DB Swings, 155 Burpees, 155 Bench Step Ups!!! OMFG it was awesome torture. It took me about 35mins and towards the end I began seeing stars! Long gone are the days of 60min workouts! (except for boxing class). After sweating every mil of water out of my body I began to wonder if it was possible to perspire blood lol... gosh i looked attractive after that workout. NOT!

Onto OBB. Well the scales have decided to start moving DOWN again. And now that i have ended my love affair with Mr Crunchy PB, I am quietly confident that they will continue to consistantly move DOWN week by week now.... 360+ calories of PB/day isn't the worlds' greatest fat burning snack lol

I read a quote from Michelle Bridges over the weekend: Her motto is, "With every breakdown there is a breakthrough".

That is so true for me. It really hit me last week that the only way i can go from lean to sexy-sixpack condition (and stay there FOREVER) is NOT by training harder but by overcoming 'mindless eating'. So i'm making a big effort to eat ONLY at meal times and the results are starting to show.

N.B I did have a few treat meals last week (banana bread, caramel slice and some greek shortbread) because i wasn't strong enough to just say NO when offered by friends and family. But thats ok, I am not going to dwell on the past, i am an itsy bit stronger this week so I will tackle any temptations that arise this week head on!

Week 6:        7/02/2011
Weight:          63.9kg (140.8lbs)

Week 7:          14/02/2011
Weight:          63.7kg   (140.4lbs)

Difference:       200g LOSS (.4lbs)
Difference to Date: 1.5kg LOSS

Goal:              60kg (132.2lbs)
Need to Lose: 3.7kg (8.2lbs)

Yeah nothing flash but hey at least the numbers are moving DOWN! I really want to hit the 62s in the next couple of weeks so its time to FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS!!!

Spooning with Mr A.B.

2011-02-13T20:26:00.000+10:00

...now get your minds out of the gutter!

As you know, i've been having a love affair with Mr Crunchy PB for quite some time now. It is really quite intoxicating. Together we are inseparable but when he is on his lonesome he likes to separate his oil from his nuts.... now that just sounds competely wrong... He invests a lot of ~~dollars~~ calories in me and does that by the ~~soup server~~ tablespoon. I mean who can stop at just one?... Just saying.

What got me thinking about ending this toxic, scale-plateau'ing relationship was what happened the other week. I was doing the groceries and had to buy some nuts for my trail mix jar. Instead of raw almonds i decided to go with raw peanuts. After bringing them home and opening the pack up i realised something BIG.

Peanuts are moorish.
Peanuts are a softer nut and easier and quicker to chew than almonds.
You can eat them by the ~~ten tonne truckload~~ handful and in a blink of an eye you wonder which Fairy stole the rest of your packet.

Almonds on the other hand are a hard nut.
Almonds are delicious yet only require a few (for me- 6 or 7) to ring my satisfaction bells.
I can have a 100g container of almonds sitting in my fridge and it will take weeks to empty.

Suddenly i had one of those 'aha' moments... Raw peanuts are moorish and so is crunchy PB. Almonds are un-moorish so would that mean Almond Butter would be un-moorish too??

So off to Woolies (on friday) i went to tracked down a jar of of Melrose Almond Butter:

Nutrition Information

Per                10g Serve Per 100g
Energy              240kJ 2400kJ
Protein                   1.9g 19.5g
Fat -Total               5.4g 54g
-Saturated              0.4g 3.7g
-Trans                  0.01g 0.1g
Polyunsaturated     1.3g 13g
Monounsaturated   3.7g 37g
Carbohydrates       0.4g 4.0g
-Sugars                 0.4g 4.0g
Sodium                0.5mg 5mg
Dietary Fibre          0.9g 8.8g
Calcium                24mg 234mg
Magnesium           27mg 270mg
Potassium             65mg 650mg
Vitamin E           2.62mg 26.2mg

Well at $6.95 for a 250g jar i hoped this baby would be worth the $$!

Months ago i ventured out of my comfort zone to try UNHULLED TAHINI as i had heard rave reviews about it. I've always liked sesame seeds, I mean who doesn't like Sesame Snaps? But to my utter disgust, my friend Leisl and I both agreed that it was VOMIT IN A JAR. I mean I could have stuck my finger down my throat, bottled the surprise and labelled it as tahini!! Seriously gag material.

On a side note, i cracked up when i got this message from Miss Steph:
Steph, "What will you put it (the almond butter) on?"
Me, "a spoon".

What else!? LOL, am i the only one who eats PB out of the jar!?

Anywho, i nervously opened the jar on friday night and dipped in the TEASPOON....twice. It was soooooo good! BUT that was ENOUGH and i was completely SATISFIED!!!! No triple dipping at all occurred and i had only had 2 teaspoons = 1/2 tablespoon. Go me!

So i have officially dumped Mr Crunchy PB and have run off with my Sugar Daddy, Mr Almond Butter. He knows my waist-line is important to me.

Off to UNI.... AGAIN!

2011-02-10T17:24:00.001+10:00

Well peeps, last night i received the exciting news that i had been hoping for....
I have been accepted into UNI! Woot Woot!

Yep, over the next 2yrs i will be doing a Graduate Diploma in Psychology through USQ by correspondance part-time. I'm very excited and a little nervous about studying again. If you had asked me a year ago if i'd ever go back to uni (my first degree was Nutrition Science) i would have told you FUCK NO! I didn't really enjoy degree # uno partly because i was fresh out of high school and just wanted to party ~~till the sun came up every weekend~~ and also because half the units were as boring as watching paint dry. (Sorry Steph, i'm sure it'll get more exciting in 3rd year lol)

This time around at the ripe old age of 25 i am now a 'mature-age student'. Doesn't that make me sound ancient? But i'm definitely going into uni with a different mind-set now.... to party till the sun comes up.....

Thank God for the Internet.....otherwise i would never have passed lol

Just kidding. I'm doing it to further my career and gain insight into this crazy head of mine. Then i will save the world by ridding all 'emotional fatness' from society allowing us to become a nation of body beautiful!

Chelle - Nutritional Psychologist and Body Creator.
Not a bad title hey?!

Week 6 OBB: Plateaus and Mindless Eating

2011-02-09T07:43:00.001+10:00

Well its taken me a few days to get my thoughts together on how i should tackle this post. What i realised is that i don't have superhuman powers... (damn it!).... No seriously, sometimes it is really hard to admit to the world that you are struggling. People want to read that your life is rosey and that you are kicking butt 24/7 right?

Well its time for me to step out of the comfort of DENIAL and come clean with some accountability 101. Over the past few weeks i have fallen back into my BAD HABIT of mindless snacking. My name is Chelle and i am a Snackoholic.... The snacking usually occurs around mid arvo until after dinner. My usual 'healthy' snacks of choice (that are in the pad) are almonds, sunflower seed/pepitas and of course PB. Its not like i am hungry or anything so i guess i'm snacking to fill a void.

I'm sure many of you have been there before. You eat a meal (and are satisfied) but then 5 mins later you just want to nibble on 'x'. Then 10mins later you do the same and it goes on and on until you finally tell yourself to 'get your shit together and CLEAN YOUR TEETH!"

So yeah that has been me. Which is also the reason why I feel like i am getting nowhere with OBB. All those extra calories add up fast and even though i am doing my fasting and training like an animal, at the end of the day CALORIES IN = CALORIES OUT = PLATEAU!

I was a little sooky over the weekend about why i couldn't be strong and just say NO. I mean how hard can it be? It's just a two letter word. Monday morning came and i just had to tell myself to 'harden the fuck up!' Where does snacking get you? NOWHERE! There is a price for EVERYTHING. I know i am in good shape now but my goal is to be in ROCKING shape 24/7. Is the price to pay worth it? FUCK YEAH!

Time to get serious and say NO to mindless snacking. I am better than that. So after that massive pep talk i had going on in my little head i have officially been snack free for two whole days. Woohoo. Baby steps yeah? Yeah it has been hard at times but i am just focussing on the bigger picture.... and I have even resorted to gargling my mouth with mouthwash after each meal to turn me off the thought of snacking lol.... but hey its working!

So i'll leave you with my results from Monday:

Week 5:          31/01/2011
Weight:           63.9kg (140.9lbs)

Week 6:        7/02/2011
Weight:           63.9kg (140.9lbs)

Difference:     0.0kg (0lbs)
Difference to Date:   1.3kg LOSS (2.9lbs)

Goal:              60kg (132lbs)
Need to Lose: 3.9kg (8.6lbs)

So i ask you, "How do you break bad habits?"

Thrillseeking, HOT BOYS and That Little Red Dress

2011-02-06T13:17:00.000+10:00

I am SOOOOOOOOOOOO over sweating, it is seriously gross. I have even superglued my portable fan to my hand..... it goes everywhere i go.

Well yesterday was super fun. I kicked off the day with BodySlam class. Note to Self - Do not eat ~~lots of~~ chocolate the night before boxing unless you want to burp it up the entire class....ewwwww. Total queezy tummy but i still proved to John (my ultra fit boxing partner) that i am a warrior. I won't let him beat me and he won't dare let a girl beat him either. Makes a good partnership.

After an ice cold shower i got my arse over to Dreamworld for my girlfriends' 41st birthday. FYI, make sure you pre-pay for your tickets before you rock up because it took us 1hr and 10mins ~~of hell~~ of lining up in the fucking HOT SUN to get through the entry gates. Not cool. But we soon forgot about our frustrations after losing multiple heartbeats on the Giant Drop.

OMFG, what an adrenaline rush! After hanging in the sky for what seemed like an eternity, this baby dropped us 120m (39 storeys or 394 feet) at 135kph (84mph). I thought i was going to die. I was screaming but no sound was coming out lol. All the other rides were piss easy after that! We also headed to White Water World in the arvo to cool off. Every family in Queensland must have been there, the line up for the slides were up to an hour! Screw that! So we just floated around in the wave pool instead.

...and that was the first time i have worn a bikini this summer! (Omg my tan lines are terrible - mega shortie short tan lines and crop top tan lines- white boobs and olive decollatage is a great combo NOT lol!) I felt 'comfortable' but definitely not in 'rocking shape' yet, so it was good kick up the backside to keep persisting with my hardcore training and CLEAN-ER eating!.. Post on mindful eating to come.

I had to leave about 3:30pm and on the way to my car i came across a group of 3 HOT guys.... They didn't stay hot for long though:

HOT boys: How you doing?
Me: I'm doing great thanks.
HOT boys: Do you have a CIGARETTE!
Me: Smoking is GROSS!
Un-hot Boys: But you aren't, you are HOT!
Me: That's because i don't SMOKE!

Ten points for me haha! Seriously, smoking is such a turn off.

And to end my day i headed out to the China Sea Restaurant at Milton for a Chinese New Year Dinner with GA and some friends. We had a 10 course banquet and the food was AMAZING! I definitely recommend checking it out if you are into delicious asian food.

I was told to wear red for good luck.

Every girl needs a little red dress.

Hot and Sweaty BUT kicking some serious arse!

2011-02-04T15:40:00.000+10:00

ALL i can say is FUCK OFF HUMIDITY! I love summer but this 1000% humidity thing is becoming a little on the gross side. I'm in and out of the car all day for work so i'm am totally over looking like i choose to shower in my clothes. To add to that, the aircon at my gym has been dead for the past 5 weeks....ummm total sweatfest in there. Too bad for the afternoon crowd because by then its a smelly sweatfeast hehehe

In light of the humidity, i decided to ~~torture~~ challenge myself with another ~~pornstar~~ Zuzana workout this morning - Marine Corp Workout. It was killer! It took me about 28 mins and by the end my legs were on fire. I did about 140 push ups in the workout and to be honest, they felt like the recovery! FYI, i don't use an interval timer as i prefer to not stop and rest between sets. No rest for the wicked!!

I tell you what, since i began doing her workouts a few months back i have become so fit and strong its insane! My (good) pain threshold is extremely high now... i'd totally give 'The Commando' a run for his money ;-). My body has been tightening up by the day and my legs are in killer shape, really happy with my progress so far! High intensity all the way baby! Anyone who is strapped for time or cash, enjoys being slaughtered in a workout and wants to get into killer shape I totally recommend Zuzanas workouts. She rocks... even though her youtube videos make me cringe lol.

Well i'm off for a ~~bone rub~~ massage soon and tomorrow i'll be heading to Dreamworld and White Water World for my friends birthday!!!

Have a fabulous weekend ya'll!

Week 5 OBB: Feeling illegal!

2011-02-01T17:48:00.001+10:00

Sorry for not posting OBB results yesterday but work has been CHAOTIC!!! You have no idea. The first week of the month fries my brain which makes me want to drive over my F*king phone...twice....just to be sure it won't work anymore. I was too brain dead last night to put a sentence together so you would probably have thought that i was typing in a foreign language lol.

Nothing too spectacular to report on. Its TTOM so i am holding onto a bit of fluid mainly through my legs. I noticed my quad separation beginning to disappear on sunday morning, hopefully should see my lines again by thursday. And yes they feel HEAVIER than normal.....ah the joys of being a woman.

Week 4           24/01/2011
Weight:            63.5kg   (140lbs)

Week 5            31/02/2011
Weight:            63.9kg    (140.9lbs)

Difference:      400g GAIN (.9lbs)

Difference to Date:   1.3kg LOSS (2.9lbs)

Goal:                60kg (132lbs)
Need to Lose:    3.9kg (8.6lbs)

Yeah i had a small gain BUT for the first time ever it didn't phase me in the slightest! No crying at all =P. I know its just water and as i have mentioned before, with fasting your body goes through the following pattern: BIG drop; small gain/plateau; BIG drop: small gain/plateau. This week is a small gain week.

Also too, one of the reasons that i believe the gain didn't phase me is because i am feeling pretty damn fine...if i do say so myself! I am 100% confident wearing a tight white lycra singlet without having to wear a body wrap underneath lol. These past 4 weeks i have found a good balance with my training, social life and work and i'm kinda in a happy place right now. I'm still working on the food side of things but have noticed a huge improvement in my choices and attitude towards food. I know by the time we reach mid year i WILL be at my GOAL and rocking it big time with a smile from ear to ear....ok that sounds cheesy haha.

The other big news is that i ran another PB for 6km yesterday - 29:25mins, shaving 20 sec off my previous run last friday WOOT!

And this morning i did Zuzana's Burpee Slaughter workout. I up'd the weights and used a 10kg DB for the first 6 rounds and 12.5kg DB for the final 4 rounds. Boy did i notice a difference (from 8kg DB), it was KILLER! I was seeing stars by round 8 and did my best to NOT see VOMIT too. My time was 23:45mins.

Does anyone use Pre-workout supps? I prefer training on just a coffee and minimal breakfast ( i drink a fibre shake and take a few sipps of my post workout/morning tea smoothie with is really my breakfast/1st meal of day). I was given a few samples of MRI Ripcuts (Aminos, NO, Green Tea ext, Caffeine, Rhoidiola, White Kidney Bean ext, and a billion other things) ages ago which had been collecting dust in my pantry. Because i was quite tired this morning i thought what the hell i'll give one a try and see what affect it would have on my energy levels. (Trust me, you can't finish Burpee Slaughter if you believe you are the tiniest bit tired.)

Holy Shit, within about 5mins i could feel my heart start to race (and i only had half the sachet cos it was quite sweet and i couldn't stomach the rest), lets just say it definitely got me through my workout. In the zone baby! I could have worked out all day lol. My heart was still racing and my hands were still trembling at 3pm. Each to their own but i'm definitely not a fan of thermo's, it felt like I had taken something illegal lol...Back to the coffee tomorrow!

My Sexy New Print!

2011-01-30T15:40:00.002+10:00

Well i have been ~~a non-procrastinater~~ ultra productive today: laundry check; groceries check; vacuuming check; mopping check; cleaning check (all of my FAVOURITE things......NOT!) .... where's that damn Cleaning Fairy!?

BUT i also treated myself to a sexy new print. Actually mum (ex-hemorrhoid) bought it for me which was a nice surprise. Its my present for Chinese New Year. She even pulled out her bargaining skills and scored it for $164 instead of $189!

I then had to call dad to come over to help me solve my dilemma... How the hell was i suppose to hang it? So after 30mins of measuring (i haven't done so much maths since high school lol), hammering, screwing and tying things, here is the piece de resistance in my lounge room:

I think its sexy hot.

Well i'm off to Body Balance then its a date with The Biggest Loser tonight. Love that show!

TGIF and Harder than Ever Workout

2011-01-28T17:00:00.001+10:00

TGIF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yay for the weekend! I really shouldn't complain because this week has been reasonably cruisy, especially only being 4 days long. The (work) chaos will begin again next week, being the start of a new month. I had my annual appraisal today for work ~~passing with flying colours~~ which went very well. ;-)

I'm just about to down coffee no.......4!(usually i only have 2 but today is just one of those days) and wait for my arvo tea to digest so i can hit the hills for a run. I prefer to run after 5.33pm when it is slightly cooler. As much as i enjoy sweating it out I would be very embarrassed if people thought i actually swam in the local creek during my run!

This morning i did Zuzana's Harder than Ever Workout. I tweaked it a bit as i haven't bought an interval timer yet so instead of doing a time trial i did set reps and just to be a total bad a$$ i did 2 rounds!

                                                      Round 1 Round 2
Chins (underhand grip/unassisted)        5             5
Prisoner Jump Squats                          20           30
Mountain Climbers                              60           80
Clapping Push Ups (knees)                 20           20
Jump Lunge                                        20           30
Bicycle Abs                                        50           70
Tricep Dips (feet on bench)                 15           20
Forward/Backward Jump Lunge L      20           20
Forward/Backward Jump Lunge R      20         20
Side Crunch L                                     20          20
Side Crunch R                                     20           20
Burpees                                               15           20

I took the first round a little easy so i thought i had better step it up for round 2! It took me about 28mins all up and I finished on another shattered HIGH ;-)

Last of all i only ended up fasting 12hrs yesterday (Breakfast to Dinner). The plan was to fast until this morning but i just wasn't mentally up for it. I think it had to do with my big night out. I didn't eat dinner on tuesday night and missed a meal on wednesday (was sleeping). So combine that with the 2000 + calories i burnt off dancing tuesday night made me a little tired, grumpy and hungry on thursday. Not the right attitude for fasting and it was probably a sign that my body needed some nutrients pronto! I will be doing my fast on sunday.

Well hope you all have a fabulous weekend. I'm going to breakfast with a girlfriend after boxing tomorrow
and that's all that is planned so far!

CIAO ;-)

Kaskade and Australia Day!

2011-01-27T13:56:00.001+10:00

Mondayitis on a thursday arghhhhhh! Yep thats what happens when you get a public holiday (Australia Day) on hump day!

The last couple days has been so much fun. On tuesday night, Kristin and I headed out to The Met to see DJ Kaskade spin his decks. This is the type of club that requires FLAT SHOES and NO HANDBAGS. You can't carve up the dancefloor (for hours!) effectively if your feet are sore from 4inch heels. Holding a handbag just gives you the shits. Pockets all the way baby! Poor K's shoes broke after the first 5mins so her feet became best friends with rubber bands. Sexy ;-)

The music was wicked, I had such a blast. By 3.30am (thats 4.5hrs of non-stop dancing) my energiser batteries lossed charge so i decided to call it a ~~night~~ morning and headed home to crash. No alcohol touched my lips either!

Sorry no full length photo. I decided not to bring my camera at the last minute as it made my shorts look like I had a massive growth on my groin lol.

I woke up about 9ish and decided to head to the gym for body balance. It was a tough class but it gave my body a great stretch out after caning it all night lol. I ended up sleeping for the rest of the arvo then headed to GA's house for an Australia Day Dinner. We had Chicken Rendang Pineapple Curry, Roast Duck, Salad and Blackforest Cake for dessert. Not your typical Aussie Day meal but it was delicious none the less!

200 DB Swings + 155 Burpees + 8km = Shattered and on a HIGH!

2011-01-24T20:45:00.002+10:00

Did you read the title!? Yep that is what i did today!

In the A.M i did Zuzana's Swim in own Sweat workout:

10 x RH DB swings + 10 x LH DB swings + 20 burpees
10 x RH DB swings + 10 x LH DB swings + 19 burpees
10 x RH DB swings + 10 x LH DB swings + 18 burpees
10 x RH DB swings + 10 x LH DB swings + 17 burpees
10 x RH DB swings + 10 x LH DB swings + 16 burpees
10 x RH DB swings + 10 x LH DB swings + 15 burpees
10 x RH DB swings + 10 x LH DB swings + 14 burpees
10 x RH DB swings + 10 x LH DB swings + 13 burpees
10 x RH DB swings + 10 x LH DB swings + 12 burpees
10 x RH DB swings + 10 x LH DB swings + 11 burpees

= 200 DB Swings and 155 BURPEES!

It was a killer workout. I used a 6kg DB for rounds 1-3, 7kg DB for rounds 4-6 and a 8kg DB for rounds 7-10. I completed it in 26.47mins and by the time i finished i looked like i had done my workout in the steam room. One of the guys at gym came up and asked me if i was in the army hahaha.

Then i spent the rest of the day at work recovering and came up with this fabulous idea of hitting the streets for an 8km run this arvo. Ummm i don't recall hitting my head whilst doing the burpees. After about 300m (my run begins at the bottom of a hill, i really should begin in a different direction) i realised that my legs were ~~fu*ked~~ dead. To make matters worse i wore my Asics 1150s because i didn't want to make my blisters any worse. I haven't worn 'normal running shoes' in over a month and OMG it was like i had strapped lead to my feet! But i plodded along up and down my mountainous suburb and with about 1km to go i got a STITCH! Noooooooooooooooooo. I blame that on all the core work i have done over the past few days. Usually i can breathe them out but not today, this one stuck around. Anywho i kept moving forward, the other option was to stop and cry in the gutter.... I still would have to make it home so i figured running slowly was better than giving up and WALKING! Final time was 45.47mins. Even though it was HELL i'm still on a high from my kick arse training day!

Now time to lie in a coma in front of the telly ;-)

Week 4 OBB: Back in the game!

2011-01-24T07:11:00.000+10:00

Happy Monday! Hope you all had a fabulous weekend. Mine was quite the social one! Friday night was sushi dinner with my highschool girlfriends followed by Burlesque at the Bulimba cinemas (gotta love $8.50 movie tickets).

I heart Christina Aguilera (even though her acting wasn't the greatest) Her voice gives me goosebumps. I saw her perform live in brisvegas back in 2008 for her Back to Basic tour. Words can't describe what an amazing performer she is. (There was definitely no lip-sincing happening Britney style). I will be sure to buy a ticket next time she is in town again.

On Saturday night i had a blast at Steph and Ali's engagement party. They are such a gorgeous couple and Steph is an AMAZING cook. Dinner/dessert was definitely one of my treat meals for the week ;-)

Training wise, i ran a PB for 6km on friday arvo - 29.47mins. I broke 30mins for the first time!!! I boxed/kickboxed on saturday and did body balance yesterday. I'm really digging that class. It was my 3rd one and my flexibility and core strength has improved heaps already.

OK, results time! I wasn't quite sure what to expect this morning seeing that i had slipped up (overate) Mon -Wed last week. But the fasting has taken care of the calorie deficit and so has some really hardcore training sessions!

17/01/2011 Week 3

Weight: 64.1kg (141.3lbs)

24/01/2011 Week 4

Weight: 63.5kg (140lbs)

Difference: 600g LOSS (1.3lbs)

Difference to Date: 1.7kg (3.7lbs)

Goal: 60kg (132lbs)

Need to Lose: 3.5kg (7.7lb)

Yay, so back in the 63s! Won't be long till i welcome in the 62s which is when my confidence factor really takes a boost. Hmmm maybe next week?!

The Plan for this week: Stay POSITIVE, eat to PLAN, train like an animal and get 2 x runs in.

Gotta fly!

Burpee Slaughter (Fu*kin Nightmare) Workout!

2011-01-21T13:19:00.000+10:00

Ok guys i have just officially done the HARDEST WORKOUT IN MY LIFE! Wrecked is an understatement. By the end of the workout i was a bright red, sweaty mess about to fall into a coma on the gym floor lol. The 300 Spartan Workout is a piece of cake compared to this!

You can check out Zuzana's Burpee Slaughter Workout here.

It goes something like this:

10 x DB swings + 11 Burpees
10 x DB swings + 12 Burpees
10 x DB swings + 13 Burpees
10 x DB swings + 14 Burpees
10 x DB swings + 15 Burpees
10 x DB swings + 16 Burpees
10 x DB swings + 17 Burpees
10 x DB swings + 18 Burpees
10 x DB swings + 19 Burpees
10 x DB swings + 20 Burpees
.... DIE!

I used an 8kg DB round 1-4, 9kg round 5-7, 10kg round 8-10. Next time i will start with a 10kg DB and work up to maybe a 15kg DB. Seriously compared to the Burpees, DB swings feel like a recovery lol.

All up it took me 22.22mins. The last 3 rounds hurt BIG TIME. I have no idea how she did another 20mins of skipping afterwards! She is NUTS!
.

The UPS and the DOWNS

2011-01-20T13:26:00.001+10:00

Transformations are never a smooth sailing event. Trust me, i have done enough to know lol! For me, its a battle of the mind games in regards to the eating side of things. I've got the training down pat which has always (thankfully) been the one constant in my life. I never get sick of exercising for it is really a lifelong love affair. Training brings me pleasure, pain (the good sort - including busting up my knuckles boxing last night!) and that feeling of being invincible.

I went for my first decent run (6km) on monday night after a 3 week lay-off. I wore my Vibrams outside for the first time and omg I LOVE THEM even more! Because you can only land on your mid foot/toes you just fly in them and want to stride faster and faster. The only problem was after about 3km my feet were getting ultra sweaty and my big toes were beginning to rub on the insole causing blisters to start forming which slowed me down big time. PLUS i ran after dinner so by 7pm it was pitch black and i couldnt see shit! Try running down hills on your toes, in the dark with blisters on your feet lol. So i am about to part with $23 for a PAIR of Injinji toe sock....make that 4 pairs. What crazy person spends nearly $100 on socks!?... But hey i will be blister free and they will prevent me from smelling out my Vibrams too. I throw them in the washing machine twice a week and they still hang onto my foot odour! EWWWW!

Onto food. So early on this week i was really struggling with sugar cravings. I think it was partly to do with having quite a bit of desserty food over the weekend. The more sugar you eat, the more you crave! Period. No i didn't succumb to the whisperings of the Chocolate Fairy BUT i did have my fair share of PB instead. I am teaching myself that when the sudden urge to eat junk arises and i just can't get over it I am far better off opting for something that doesn't contain monsterous quantities of nasty trans/saturated fats and processed sugar. So my options are watermelon and fresh dates for sugar cravings and macadamias and PB for when i want that creamy velvety mouthfeel. I could have also just whipped up some Homemade Protein Bars which would have taken care of my PB portion control... but i had run out of cocoa powder and i was too impatient to wait for them to set lol.

On that note, i'll admit that i was a little upset with myself for 'slipping up' with the food this week. Extras add up very fast and at the end of the day 'YOU ARE ONLY CHEATING ON YOURSELF". So i have just wrote that on a post-it and stuck it on my fridge and laptop...Hmmm maybe i should put one on my car dashboard too!.. But i am proud of myself that i didn't give into any junk food. I can only get mentally stronger from here right!?

Last of all, i found out yesterday that i've missed out on first round offers for uni as my (late) application didn't get processed in time due to the floods. You get the gist why i've had a shitty week! BUT I spoke with QTAC ~~at the crack of dawn~~ first thing this morning and they have reassured me that they have now received all correpsondance (my grades) from highschool and uni which satisfies the entry requirements for Psychology. They will be releasing second round offers on February 10th, so fingers crossed i will get a place!!

Time to stay strong just like Miss cutiepie Jamie Eason!

Week 3 OBB: A little SHITTY!

2011-01-17T16:37:00.000+10:00

Oh boy did i have my shitty pants on today.... no there wasn't any poo involved lol.

As you know it is monday which means weigh-in day. I knew the moment i woke up that i was holding fluid... big time.... my own fault for eating dairy and sugar over the weekend, damn it! (But hey that's life and i accept the consequences for my treat meals. I am over it now :) I just have to remind myself that Ms Fluid Fairy will FUCK OFF in the next day or two and i'll be feeling like my lean/svelte self again!

Week 2:     10/1/2011
Weight:      63.7kg (140.4lbs)

Week 3:     17/1/2011
Weight:       64.1kg    (141.3lbs)

Difference: 400g   (0.9lbs) GAIN.... yeah shoot me now
Difference to Date: 1.1kg   (2.4lbs) LOSS

Goal:    60kg (132.3lbs)
Need to Lose:   4.1kg (9lbs)

To be honest i wasn't expecting much of a loss this week considering i had dropped 1.5kg (3.3lbs) last week (definitely not all FAT!). Looking back at my results from last year there is definitely a pattern with weight-loss from fasting. It goes like this: Big Drop - plateau OR small gain (like this week) - Big Drop - plateau OR small gain and so forth. So if all goes to plan i should see low to mid 63s next week. So 1.1kg (2.4lbs) in 2 weeks is pretty much 550g/week (1.2lbs) if you look at it like that. Right on schedule!

Well I'm off to cook up some salmon for din dins and then i am going to hit the streets for a RUN! Its been waaaaaaay too long since i have pounded the pavement ( i blame the rain :D). After reading a few running blogs this arvo, Ms Running Fairy paid me a visit and blew me some fairy dust!

Motivation vs Inspiration

2011-01-16T15:21:00.001+10:00

I've been asked quite a few times this week exactly what motivates me to 'stick to the plan and stay so mentally strong'.

I'd be lying if i told you that i was perfect everyday. I am far from that, i am only HUMAN but i do my best to be the best person i can be everyday. I have a saying 'Motivation is temporary. It can lift you up but it doesn't have the follow through to change your life. Inspiration fills you from the inside every single day.'

Motivation tends to come 'in the moment' and is dependent on our emotions.

For example, take these two different scenarios:
1. I've had a fantastic day, i've eaten to plan, i'm now energised and motivated to do a smashing workout.
2. I've had a stressful day, my brain is fried, i feel tired, i'm craving sugar so i eat a chocolate bar. My energy crashes so i choose to have a nap instead of working out.

That is why relying purely on 'motivation'' to lose weight doesn't work in the long term. You get all fired up in the moment, but then something comes up and everything unravels. Motivation alone doesn't create behaviour change.

Inspiration works on a deeper level and comes from the bottom of your soul. I have this desire to be strong, ultra fit, healthy, knowledgable and to be the best person i can be. I want to wake every morning and feel happy, positive, energized and look smoking hot every single day. (no more of this weight-loss shit! lol) I want to be a role model so i can help teach and inspire others who are struggling (physically and emotionally) like i was before. All these reasons combined are what inspires me to respect my body and 'stick to the plan'. That means that 90% of the time i choose the healthier food options and i do my scheduled workouts. I am committed to my LIFETIME goal/s. If you eat shit and sit on your arse all day you are only punishing yourself!!

So ask yourself, 'what are your goals AND when is the DEADLINE to achieve them'? You need a realistic timeline otherwise trust me you will just tell yourself to 'start again tomorrow'. Ask yourself, 'how will i feel after achieving these goals?" Then feel that feeling like it has already happened. Capture yourself in the moment then practice living with this feeling 24/7. Transformations begin with the mind. Change your attitude and your body will follow. You can't keep punishing yourself with negative self talk and expect to acheive amazing results. Fill your mind with light and love and realise that you are going to slip up from time to time. BUT learn from your mistakes and the next time you experience a similar situation you will know how to handle it better.

This week my training has been at 100%. I've committed to some intense sessions and i feel amazing for it. My nutrition has been pretty good too -85-90%. My plan allows for 2-3 treat meals/per week. Last week i only had one, this week i opted for all 3 lifelines lol. Friday night I went out for dinner with the family and had some Peking Duck, Sizzling Mongolian lamb and Asian Greens. The food was amazing and i didn't ~~pig-out~~ overeat but i did get a little bloated from the wheat in the pancake (the duck is cut in small pieces so you can wrap it up with spring onion and cucumber in a thin pancake). We then had dessert back at mum and dads -a small bowl of double choc ice cream and some Lindor Balls. After such a big sugar hit i felt a bit blah going to bed on a full tummy considering i am getting accustomed to eating dinner by 6pm'ish!

For that reason i felt a bit sluggish saturday morning and it took me about 10mins to get into my groove at bodyslam. But i dug deep and ended up having a killer class. Intensity is all in the mind. If you tell yourself to give up you will. If you tell yourself you are a strong warrior you will smash your male training partner and have him begging for mercy lol ;-)

Treat no.3 for the week was some caramel slice. It tasted great, i got my fix and i didn't feel guilty either as it was allowed in my plan. There is no way i am going to commit to a 100% clean diet. Sorry but that would just be setting me up for FAILURE. I don't need to be a ~~sobbering mess~~ overcome with guilt just because i eat something sweet. I am informed enough to know that enjoying a few of lifes' simple pleasures isn't going to ruin an entire weeks worth of training. I am now successfully fasting twice a week and know that my weekly calorie deficit is being taken care of. I am finally beginning to understand exactly how MY body works so i am putting trust in MY PLAN and expecting great RESULTS to follow!

The Flood Devastation

2011-01-13T07:06:00.003+10:00

For those of you around the world may not be aware of the natural disaster that has been unfolding in my hometown of Brisbane, the capital city of Queensland, Australia (and many neighbouring cities and suburbs) this week.

After weeks of torrential rain our dam which was suppose to protect the city became something like 190% over capacitated! The water has since burst its banks and now we have been hit by one of the worst floods in Australian history. On Wednesday the city began an emergency evacuation as the Brisbane river began to dangerously rise.

Since then we have been hit with an inland tsunami, 13 lives have been lost, there are 72 people missing, 7500+ homes are now underwater, 110 000 homes and businesses are now without power and 13 districts have been declared a disaster zone. The water has been raging down the Brisbane river at 10 knots (that means fuckin fast!.. i believe it usually cruises at 2-3knots) which has peaked at 4.5m, taking boats, pontoons, a floating pedestrian bridge and even Drift Floating restaurant with it! (below)

Above is Suncorp Stadium where i saw U2 last month!

So as you can imagine the city is in total devastation. There are 25 helicopters perfoming emergency rescues, there is a possiblity that Brisbane water will be contaminated with sewerage and supermarkets are nearly out of produce! To put things into perspective, 75% of the state has now been affected by the floods which is the area of FRANCE and GERMANY combined!

On a positive note, the sun has been out since yesterday and i believe the worst is now over. It will still take over a week for all the water to subside and then for the massive clean up. I live about 20km south of the city so fortunately my unit is high and dry.

Floods aside, Week 2 of OBB has been killer. Both training and nutrition has been SPOT ON! And yes i have braved the weather and gone for my walk after dinner both monday and tuesday night. I am totally committed to OBB! 5 hours until i come off my fast and my body is feeling amazing! It's changing and tightening up by the day, my skin is getting its glow back and i am just bounding with energy!!

Can't wait for weigh in day on Monday!!!

Week 2 OBB: The bloat has GONE!

2011-01-10T07:02:00.000+10:00

Hey ya'll happy monday!

I've got a feeling that today WILL be kickarse! (apart from the RAIN, please F*$K OFF NOW!) You want to know why? Well as you know, today marks Week 2 of OBB and i woke up to some killer results. Last week my nutrition and training was SPOT ON. That is right, i didn't derail from the plan and I even snuck in 2 extra walks!

Week 1:    3/1/2010
Weight:      65.2kg (143.7lbs)

Week 2:   10/2/10
Weight:     63.7kg! (140.4lbs)

Difference: 1.5kg Loss (3.3lbs)

Goal:          60kg (132.3lbs)
Need to Lose:   3.7kg (8.1lbs)

So i'm in the 63s again, i feel SO much closer to my goal now! FYI, that will probably be the biggest kg loss of my challenge. Usually the first (big) drop is all the bloat, fluid and toxins disappearing from the body so i'll be going for a 400 - 500g (1lb) loss a week from now on.

JNL you better watch out! ;-)

Ex-Hemorrhoid gives me a kodak moment!

2011-01-08T21:50:00.002+10:00

Hey kidz, hope you're having a fab weekend! Well i've been on a HIGH since the get-go this morning. It all started with a killer BodySlam class, we did a hell lot of boxing, kicking, jumping and ended with 2 x treadmill sprints. I ran between 12 to 15kph and pumped out 750m in 3.40mins and then 800m in 3.35mins. It was the first bit of speed work i have done in my Vibrams and i tell you what, i was flying! I love 'em and have no intentions of EVER going back to 'normal running shoes'.

From there i saw GA for a ~~bone~~ massage. Seriously, I swear she gets pleasure from me cursing her at high volumes lol... Beauty is pain, so i remind myself!

From there i decided to drop by mum and dads house for a quick gassbag. Mum provided me with my 'treat meal' for the week..... 2 white and 2 dark Lindor Balls...YUM! They were gooooood. My nutrition has been spot on all week and to be honest, i haven't even craved anything 'naughty'. Must be the strong mindset i've got going on!

I also decided it was time to tell mum about my thoughts of doing another degree and find out if they will help me pay for it UP FRONT! You see, uni's LOVE to rip you off so if you pay up front you save 20% which equates to $1060.80! Now that money is better off going towards my Mortage Club ;-).

Now FYI, in the PAST my mum (ex-hemorrhoid) has just about always shot me down at anything that I wanted to do/achieve. She never failed to tell me that my pursuits were a 'waste of time' or that i was 'wasting my life away'. Some of those 'waste of time' pursuits included:

7 x Queensland Indoor Soccer Teams
1 x Australian Junior Indoor Soccer Team (that i captained in Europe!)
Bachelor of Nutrition Science
Cert III & 4 in Fitness

I could go on but you get my drift...

So this is how the conversation went this arvo:

Mum - So what are you up to this weekend?
Me - Well i'm going to apply for another degree.
Mum - What one?
Me - Psychology
Mum - Wow, thats a fantastic idea!
Me - Fell off my stool!........Just kidding, but i did have to pick up my jaw from the floor below! Total kodak moment, i looked like a stunned mullet.
Me - You think so?
Mum - It would go perfectly with your nutrition........ Fat people have emotional problems.

That's my mother, blunt as always lol.

It was such a nice feeling to have her support me in something that is important to me. So i decided to race back home to apply for the degree and not procrastinate any longer. So i logged onto QTAC to submit my app and the first thing i read was 'Please note that the final date for applications has been extended to Sunday 9th January'. OMFG, thats tomorrow! The girl at the uni student centre had told me Feb 11th and that the app fee would be $55! Ummm, make that $110! So in a rush of ~~panic~~ adrenalin i raced back to mum and dads to pick up my academic transcripts for Year 12 and Uni.....Nowhere to be found! SHIT!.... Then i remembered i had brought them back to my house last week lol.

Anyways i finally submitted my application. Fingers crossed i'm not too late and get in for a March (Semester 1) start, if not, preference two is for a July (Semester 2) start. So "Dear Universe, please bless me with good news on thursday, love chelle =)"

... betcha thought my day had ended?! Well i was so pumped that i decided to go for a nice walk in the fresh night air to unwind. Plus my legs have DOMS big time so i thought it'd be a good idea to stretch them out. Thank god i brought my umbrella because half way through it pissed down. Go figure.

Well time for a shower then a date with my girl crush....

Angelina Jolie.....My sis gave me a copy of Salt to borrow.

Night!

Focussed and on Track!

2011-01-07T15:53:00.000+10:00

TGIF! Well what a crazy week this one has been. I've been back at work since tuesday and it has knocked me for six!

This year i am working on being more ~~organised~~ productive therefore not allowing the little things to stress me out. I have many things to conquer on my to-do list so it all begins with a POSITIVE MINDSET! That's right, no problem or challenge is going to bring me down because i am going to rise above and crush it!

Training and nutrition has been SPOT ON this week and i am PUMPED! I'm feeling strong and my body composition is already starting to change. Yay for clean food and yay that the sugar cravings are finally GONE. Ms Fluid Fairy has just about disappeared so welcome back Ms Vein Fairy, nice to see you again =P.

My fast went well on wednesday, i love how the body tightens up around the 18hr mark. Note to self for next wednesday: Start the fast either at arvo tea or dinner. I do a bodyslam (boxercise) at 5.30pm and eating lunch/starting my fast at 12pm wasn't the smartest move. Slam is a very intense class (we've had a few casualties over the years.... vomit is never a pleasant sight lol) and for me it requires a pre-workout snack to get through it with 150% effort. Just something light like a piece of fruit as i need some CARBS in my system. (PB is not a good idea, i've tasted that in class a few times... GROSS!) With about 20mins to go, i had nothing left in the tank so it took a lot of mental coaxing to get through the million burpees at the end! So i decided best to refuel, eat dinner then fast until dinner last night. Easy done.

This weekend i plan to select my photographer and book a shoot.

Now the above is one pose i really like. Simple. Sexy. Beautiful.

The Training and Nutrition Plan

2011-01-05T08:29:00.000+10:00

I thought i'd better share with ya'll (and so i remember too lol) exactly how i plan to get my Bikini Babe Body.

The Training Plan:

Monday:        300 Spartan Workout (AM), Walk 45min OR Run 30min (PM)
Tuesday:        Zuzana Workout (AM), Walk 45mins (PM)
Wednesday:   BodySlam (Boxercise) (PM)
Thursday:       Rest Day or Walk 45mins (PM)
Friday:           Full Body Weights Workout (AM), Run 45mins (PM)
Saturday:       BodySlam (Boxercise) (AM)
Sunday:         Zuzana Workout (AM) OR Body Balance (PM)

I'm going to stick with that for the next 4 weeks. I'm not going to make the mistake of previous years and kill myself with overtraining BECAUSE i know that you CAN'T OUT TRAIN A BAD DIET!

The Nutrition Plan

The most important part of this plan is that the after dinner snacking comes to a dead halt because lets face it - take away all those mindless calories and wallah there's your calorie deficit! Therefore i have decided to eat dinner early (5.30pm to 6.30pm) and THEN go for evening walk/cardio.  This way i can can clean my teeth (i mean who feels like snacking when your mouth taste like mint?), do my cardio and go to bed on an empty stomach. Its actually quite a nice feeling not being full to the brim then falling asleep!.... And no i couldn't give a damn about 'nutrition rules' ;-)

Now the following is what WORKS FOR ME:

On Rising:   Lemon Juice and Apple Cider Vinegar
Breakfast:   Fiber Shake, Coffee ( can you tell i'm NOT a breakfast person!)
M/Tea:       Banana SuperShake (I'm trialing some Choc Pea Protein Pwd atm, and it's really good!)
Lunch:        Chickpeas/Eggs/Tuna with Brown Rice and a massive Colourful Salad
A/Tea:        Coffee and fruit/nuts/carrots/PB IF HUNGRY
Dinner:        Fish/Meat/Eggs/Seafood/Chickpeas with a massive amount of salad/vegies and avo/olive oil/nuts

I am also going to do 1 -2 x 24hr fasts a week, probably on a wednesday to thursday and a saturday to sunday lunch to lunch.

As for 'treat meals', i will be having a few a week. I don't want to become anally obsessive about food and calories ever again so i sure won't be beating myself up if i have ~~a block~~ some chocolate...... just got to watch the portion size lol

I will be limiting my dairy, wheat and sugar intake to treat meals only as i know for me those 3 cause fluid retention, runny nose, bloating and bad skin!

So there you have it! Bikini Babe here i come WOOT!

Operation Bikini Babe (OBB) Week 1!

2011-01-03T11:38:00.000+10:00

Well today marks the start of my NEW CHALLENGE - OPERATION BIKINI BABE.

I think the title is a perfect suit. My ~~eternal~~ long term goal is to be in bikini babe condition 24/7 so that i can train in a crop top at the gym without watching the fat jiggle lol.

OBB will go for 12 weeks in which i will weigh in every Monday morning. I also plan to get my ~~fat pinched~~ skins done once a month because we all know that scale weight isn't the most accurate indicator of progress!

I was a little nervous about hopping on the scales this morning as i hadn't weighed myself in ages but i was also excited because now i have a starting point. In my head i was hoping for about 64kg but ALL the dessert/choc/icecream i have consumed this festive season (which started in NOVEMBER- hello holidays!) i am now sitting here:

3/1/11 - Week 1
Weight: 65.2kg (143.7lbs)

...which i am ok with (no i didnt burst into tears this morning lol). I know the first couple kgs will come off pretty easily- its usually made up of a LOT of fluid, bloat and toxins. And now that my sugar cravings have FINALLY subsided (today is day 4 sugar free), eating healthy is a hell lot easier!

GOALS for the next 12 weeks are as follow:

- 60kg (132lbs) which means i need to Drop 5.2kg (11.5lbs)
- 12% Body Fat (I reckon i'm about 16/17% atm)
- 50 -55ml Body Fat

I know at 63kg i feel pretty damn good so once i get there i will treat myself to a little shopping spree at Lorna Jane. I still have $220 worth of vouchers that i haven't used since my birthday, so that will be my first checkpoint.

My dad has also set me a pushup challenge.....ummm 130 on my toes! That's the number he does every morning and he is 69. I can pump out 50 on my toes atm, not quite sure how long it will take me to get up to 130 BUT i am determined to get there by the end of OBB!

So what are your goals for 2011? I would love to know and feel free to join me on your own OBB!

I'm working towards this look:

Zuzana's got it going on and her workouts are 100% killer. Yes i am HOOKED!

Goals for 2011!

2011-01-02T11:44:00.000+10:00

Happy New Year everyone! I had a fabulous one. The party was non-stop fun, smiles, laughter and of course DANCING, the dj rocked! Here are a few pics:

I was very well behaved. I decided to kick the New Year off with a 24hr fast which began lunch time on friday. That meant NO alcohol or junk would enter my mouth thus starting 2011 with a clean body.

I'll admit that i ate more than my fair share of SHIT this week. I don't know about you but when i decide to start a new challenge on date 'x', the few days leading up to it i go a bit crazy with the 'naughty food'! I felt a little bit guilty, especially because Ms Fluid Fairy decided to cast a spell on me and gifted me with fluid retention for 3 days grrrr.... 2 x Zuzana Body Rock Workouts and a walk later (gym is closed!) and the fluid has disappeared :-)

So onto goals. This is going to be a BIG year for me, there are so many things i want to achieve:

Professional Photo Shoot in 12 to 15 weeks time.

Thanks to facebook i now have a zillion photographers to sort through lol. (if you recommend anyone in the Brisbane area please let me know) I'd like to do a creative body art styled shoot. I will select my photographer this week and BOOK the shoot. I know that being in front of a camera will make me extra determined to stick to the plan.

Post Graduate Degree

I can't believe it myself lol. But yes i have decided to go back to uni part time (by correspondance) and apply for a Graduate Diploma in Psychology! I've got 4 weeks to get my arse into gear as apps close on 2nd Feb. I think the combo of Nutrition Science, PT and Psych blend perfectly together. 1. Psych will help me sort out my own head and 2. Once finished (4yrs part-time incl. Honours), there will be many avenues i can explore in my professional life.

Competing

................... in SPORTSMODEL. Now this is just a tentative goal for now. I will re-asssess where my mind and body is at after the photoshoot. I don't want to use any extreme measures (training and dieting) to get on stage because i know the head games will ruin all i have achieved in 2010. Why sportsmodel? Well i miss the thrill of being on stage (even more so then running races), its less extreme on the body than figure, i actually like the softer look better and its more commercial too. I'm penciling in Asia Pacs and INBA Bris titles which i believe are in May.

Operation Bikini Babe (OBB)

is the title of my NEW CHALLENGE. I decided that Operation Sexy-Bitch wasn't an appropriate title anymore BECAUSE since about August last year i feel like i have achieved the 'sexy-biatch' status!

OBB will kick-off tomorrow so stay tuned for THE PLAN!

2010 Wrap Up!

2010-12-31T17:48:00.000+10:00

Well its NYE all over again! Today has been crazy: been for a big walk this morning, followed by a massage and facial, the 'pad' is now sparkling clean, got the incense burning (to flush out all the old/negative energies and bring in the good stuff for the new year!) and have squeezed in a couple episodes of 24 The Final Season.

So i'd better sum up this year quick smart so i can do hair and make-up and get myself to the NYE house party. My friend Mark lives on one of the canals at Scarborough and has organised caterers, a daqarie machine and a dj, so i have no doubt it'll be a fabulous night!

2010 has seriously been my best year yet. I have been blessed with many good things, good health and happiness.

Here are some of the highlights:

- Buying 'the pad!

- Doing my first photoshoot

- FINALLY ~~handing in my assigments~~ finishing my CERT III & IV in Fitness at FIT

- Achieving and MAINTAINING a 'sexy bi-atch' body!

Details on my new challenge will be up in the next day or two!

- AND probably the most important thing for me is that i have finally made peace with the 'hemorrhoid'.

So i am thankful for all the good fortune that 2010 has brought me. I am putting it out there that 2011 will be even more kickarse than this one.

GA told me today that great health will bring you balance in body and mind. Being in this peaceful state radiates positive energy from your soul. What you emit, you attract. So focus on your health and life will bless you many times in return.

Can't wait to share with you'll what is install for me next!

Must fly, see you all in 2011!

I Survived the Festive Season!

2010-12-27T15:01:00.001+10:00

Hey everyone, hope you have had a fabulous christmas! I have come out of the last 4 days relatively unscaved on the over-indulgence front. Having said that there is a ~~shitload~~ bit more sugar than usual floating through my bloodstream atm! I really paced myself this year with the quantity of food eaten as i didn't want to endure that horrid feeling of a stomach explosion waiting to happen lol. I pretty much stuck with 2 meals/day with dessert(s) for arvo tea. I'm not obsessed about 'nutrition rules' anymore, so I was quite happy to skip meals here and there, eating only when hungry so i wouldn't have a massive overload of calories that definitely occurred in previous years! So apart from being a little bloated and holding onto a bit of fluid (damn those desserts lol) i am feeling quite chuffed that i have survived the festive season without my clothes feeling ultra tight!..... yep, no more pulling out the 'fat clothes'..... actually i threw them all out months ago, because those days are GONE! =).

Yesterday i tackled the Boxing Day sales at Carindale as i had some christmas $$ and vouchers to burn. It was totally my day: I got a carpark straight away and found exactly what i wanted and was done and dusted in 90mins.... no broken bones lol (the crowds were ridiculous!) I bought a duck down QB feather doona and this gorgeous white Sheridan Quilt Cover Set from DJs at 50%. Total Bargain.

Today has been another MISERABLE day in the SUNSHINE STATE. Seriously this rain can FUCK OFF right now. I feel sorry for all those holidayers who have spent hundreds/thousands of $$ on accommodation at the coast. You ain't seeing sunshine until at least Saturday so the weatherman tells me!

So what else to do when your gym is closed until Wednesday!? Whip out the umbrella and stroll around neighbourhood and hope not to be swept away by the flooding creek!

.... anyone got a canoe i can borrow lol.

It was actually quite nice and peaceful walking outside this morning. It gave me some quiet time to think about what i would like to achieve next year.... and there are a few things.

I will reveal my New Challenge and goals in the next few day. So stay tuned!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T16:46:00.000+10:00

Well haven't i been a SLACK-ARSE blogger but this last week has been crazy!

1. On friday i received (actually my work received!) the quote for my car...... ummmm $9979.46. OMG. It'll take 2 weeks to repair!

2. I squeezed in an 8km on sunday - 41min17 sec. I really can't wait for this rain to clear up so i can run outside. We've had only 4/24 days of sunshine this month, talk about a miserable summer.

3. I took 3.5mins off my 300 Spartan Workout time - 21.30min with good form!

4. Christmas shopping.... like always, i left it to the LAST minute.... I also spoiled myself with a gorgeous new dress for christmas day!

5. My fav cousin Solina is over from New Zealand with her 2 cheeky monkeys. Our families went out for dinner on tuesday night. OMG, it was such an amusing night with Jacques (19 months) and Sienna (nearly 4) running amuck in the restaurant ~~stealing chopsticks~~ re-setting the tables and scaring the crabs, lobsters and fish in the tanks lol! Too cute.

6. I won this cool Gingerbread House at our work christmas party yesterday:

7. Then celebrated my last day of work with a hot haircut and colour. Total 'sex hair'! Black, crazy and mysterious. Pics to come. Followed by a massage with GA.

8. Today i whipped Solina's butt into shape with a killer full body workout at the gym. It was also nice to see some eye-candy training this morning. I always seem to train harder when the horns come out to play hee hee. Then we had lunch at Mecca Bah in the valley. If you're into Moroccan food, this restaurant is amazing!

Anyways i better get showered and ready for pre-christmas dinner and present opening at mum and dads. Tomorrow we will be heading off to the Gold Coast to Conrad Jupiters for Christmas Breakfast.... Well dad will be heading down there first at 5.15am so he can line up.....I'm not that stupid lol.... First in first served at the Food Fantasy Restuarant as it opens at 6.30am... I'm aiming to get there after 7am. Then to my aunty and uncles for arvo tea. I will bring the Gingerbread house for the cheeky monkeys.... and no my day won't be over yet..... then dinner at GA's house!

It will be a food-a-thon but i WILL be pacing myself this year by not going totally SILLY!.... Taste everything in SMALL portions is my plan of attack =)

So i hope you all have a fabulous christmas and for those of you that don't celebrate it have a fantastic break!!

SMILE xo

I'M FAMOUS! WEDNESDAY WOOT FACTOR INTERVIEW on the KELLY O SHOW!

2010-12-16T15:01:00.000+10:00

Thats right kids, I have made it to the big league! Check out my Wednesday Woot Factor Interview on the Kelly O Show!

The kickarse 300 Spartan Workout!

2010-12-13T20:54:00.001+10:00

Well peeps today i challenged myself and COMPLETED the ultimate spartan 300 Workout. This is the workout that Gerald Butler used training for the movie 300. It is killer. It took me about 25mins ( i'll use a stopwatch next time) and by the end i was ready to hurl!

Here are the exercises - note i have modifed the weights cos there is no chance in hell i could lift the big boys toys!

Assisted Chin Ups - 25 reps
Deadlifts (to the floor) - Olympic Bar (20kg) with 10lbs per side - 50 reps
Pushups (on toes) - 50 reps
24 inch Box Jumps - 50 reps
Floor Wipers - Olympic Bar (20kg) with 10lbs per side - 50 reps
Single Arm Clean and Press - 20lb DB - 25 reps per arm
Assisted Chin Ups - 25 reps

You can view the 300 workout here.

I am really digging these full body workouts. I love being able to complete my sessions in under 30 mins, feel absolutely WRECKED but at the same time feel absolutely PUMPED! Yeah i am getting fit and strong baby! And most importantly i feel that incorporating these high intensity sessions into my training program is helping me lean out by the day.

Day by day i am getting closer to looking like this:

A crazy week in pictures!

2010-12-10T21:33:00.000+10:00

My first week back from holidays has been nuts! Seriously it has been such a whirlwind that my poor glands are now a little swollen today. So I have been gargling salt water and eating spirulina like its going out of fashion...i think i need to grow some seawood lol

1. Training:
I have fallen in love with Zuzana's 500 workouts.

This chick is insane. 10 exercise x 50reps = 500 rep workout!... Total sweat-festathon here. I have done 2 this week plus slam class on wednesday night was practically a 500+ workout with 2km of sprints at the end. My heart was beating out of its chest by the end of the session. I gave the boys a run for their money... it must have been my Vibrams... cos i was running at the speed of light.... serious ;-)

2. iPad:
Work has just given all of us reps one of these little babies:

I'm still getting the hang of using it ( i don't own an iPhone) but i have to say that i am very impressed so far!

3. U2 360 Concert!
Yesterday my girlfriend Tarsha called me after lunch and asked me if i had any plans for the night?
I said, "No, why is that?
She said, "I HAVE TWO FREE TICKETS TO U2!"
I said, "OMG, Are you fuckin serious!?

So this was my night:

It was AMAZING! Now for a girl who is more into your progressive house/ dance sort of music, these rockers brought down the house! Bono's voice was unbelievable, the band were fantastic and the music was simply beautiful. Talk about electric atmosphere, i was on the biggest high all night!

4..... and here is my poor baby =(

Some fuckin douchebag must have rammed my i30 in the carpark this morning and didn't even have the curtesy to leave a fuckin note! Thanks god its a company car BUT its still my baby.

5. Massage
On a happy note, i have ended my week with one of these:

Ok maybe NOT that relaxing, GA has a tendancy to massage your bones. So while i am swearing at her i just keep reminding myself that BEAUTY = PAIN!

Have a fabulous weekend!

Stereosonics, Denim Hotpants (undies??) and a Progress Pic!

2010-12-06T15:30:00.000+10:00

I have just had a fabulous weekend to wrap up my holidays. Yesterday was Stereosonics Music Festival here is wet/miserable/gloomy Brisvegas (has anyone seen Ms Summer Fairy!?) and the line-up was awesome. (I only go to a music fest if the djs are class, no point listening and trying to dance to shithouse music...no pun intended lol). Carl Cox, Sebastian Ingrossi, Calvin Harris and of course TIESTO! .... Benny Benassi just didn't bring it, totally let down.

I partied with Steph and Ali and a few other friends. We were intending to walk in from their friends unit in the valley but after about 500m the rain pissed down.... Thank god i had my bright red poncho to save my make-up from running lol, so we caught a cab the rest of the way to the RNA showgrounds. By the time we got through security the rain had stopped...YAY... and didn't return....double YAY!

There were 6 stages with different styles of music - trance, techno, dance, progressive, breaks etc. We danced in the trance tent for an hour or so until the MUD got the better of us... Yes there were quite a lot of people wearing gumboots lol... Jumping around in mud is totally not my idea of fun... SO off to the Main stage we went where all the headline Djs were about to start playing.

The one downside of music festivals these days is that they seem to be flooded with ~~kids~~ 18yr olds off their face and wearing next to nothing.

Onto denim shorts:

Now i have no problems with people 'showing off their body' BUT when it is done in a 'skanky way' it totally takes away all your class, period. So i kid you not, i nearly got blinded by the hundreds (actually i lie...thousands) of girls wearing 'denim ~~undies~~ hotpants'! Since when are your butt cheeks suppose to hang out from your shorts? And i'm talking about when standing up, not bending over! Maybe i'm just wierd because i look in the MIRROR before i leave the house? I'm nearly 100% certain that if i saw my arse hanging out of my pants i would IMMEDIATELY put something else on.... actually, come to think of it, you really should be doing that in the dressing room of the shop you are buying from!

Seriously, it was quite amusing lol... And what made us giggle even more were the girls who wore Denim Undies with LEOTARDS... Now can someone please tell me when leotards come back into fashion??? Surely they are only for gymnasts and ballerinas?

So picture this Denim Undies + Leotards = Mega Cameltoe + Bad Fake Tan + Mega Muffin Top + Mega Cellulite + Mud = Festival TRASH .... Oh and i should add that FESTIVAL TRASH jump around and dance too! ....sigh... I was so tempted to take some photos but i didn't, damn it!

Outfits aside, i had a fuckin wicked time. The music was pumping, the crowd (apart from being poorly dressed lol) was awesome and the atmosphere was just electric. One of my friends carried me on his shoulders for a bit, i carved up the dancefloor for 6hrs + and even managed to squeeze my way up to the front row (again!) of the mosh half way through Tiestos' set! Just awesome.

Sydney Trip Part 2 and Nailing November Wrap UP!

2010-12-02T11:08:00.000+10:00

Well i am back in Brisvegas after having a fabulous time in Sydney. The rest of my trip consisted of a LOT of shopping, catching up with a couple girlfriends from uni and eating some fabulous food (Japanese, Burmese, Lebanese, Malaysian and Italian - my auntie is a fabulous cook and she knows all the great places to eat in Sydney!). OMG the new Westfield in the city is 7 storeys of a shopoholics dream. Seriously its a one-stop shop, Brisbane city just does not compare.... hmmm next year i think i will be flying down for some regular shopping weekends =)

One thing i did visit was the Lindt Chocolate Cafe.... I have to say i was a litte DISAPPOINTED. I had a slice of this Celebration du Chocolat cake and it was totally overated. (Freestylers kicks the Lindt Cafe out of the park!) It also made me realise that i'm really not a cake person. I don't really like that heavy feeling in your stomach after eating cake. But what i did find there was 99% dark chocolate, so i bought a block (they only come in 50g blocks). I haven't tried any yet, but i'm assuming it'll taste like rich, bitter goodness! (i'm a huge fan of Lindt 85%).

So now i'm back at home i can officially say that i finally feel REFRESHED and REJUVENATED. It took me nearly a whole week of 9+hrs sleep per night (i usually average 7hrs) to not wake up and still be tired. That just proves how burnt out my poor little body was!

So with all my bubbling energy i busted out not 1 but 2 kickarse workouts after hopping off the plane yesterday! A 7km run and a killer boxing session. I was on the biggest endorphin rush all night it took me a little while to wind down so i could sleep lol.

Last of all (sorry i am jumping all over the place - so much to tell lol) it is now December....which means summer....ummmm what happened to blue skies and sunshine?! I am so not digging this miserable, overcast, rainy bullshit!...

So i thought i'd better give you the wrap up on my Nailing November Challenge. Well i can happily say that i nailed my PB habit! The fact that it wasn't in the house made it easy peasy. Out of sight, out of mind which made me realise that PB wasn't a 'real craving'. I also nailed being OVERWHELMED which 9 times out of 10 was due to PROCRASTINATING. Now when i take the mail in, i immediately open it and if there are bills i just pay them straight away instead of leaving them in a pile lol.. Also too i have scheduled in a couple 'appointments' during the week which are for VACUUMING and MOPPING. Just like a date with the gym, its something that gets done now without me procrastinating =). And last of all mindless snacking. I'll admit there were a few occasions (the last stressful week before my holidays) where i caught myself out and then made myself STOP. On a whole much better than previous months and i will continue working on completely breaking this habit for December.

Anyway i must fly, have a fabulous day!

HOLIDAYS = BLISS!... My Sydney Adventure Part 1.

2010-11-27T06:17:00.000+10:00

I think the title sums it up!

I celebrated the start of my holidays by hopping on a plane to Sydney first thing yesterday morning. Seriously, i couldn't wait to get the hell out of Brisvegas. The last few months have really taken its toll on me and i was beginning to feel like i was burning the candle at both ends. (You know the feeling when you wake up and its like ~~you've been partying all night long~~ you haven't slept in days? Yep, that's been ME!) It was so cool to put on my 'holiday voicemail' and 'out of the office' email message. No work AT ALL this time around...Call someone who gives a shit lol =)

I am feeling SOOOO relaxed being down here, away from all the CHAOS. I wouldn't say i am refreshed yet as i am still quite tired but i have plenty of time to catch up on sleep. Yesterday was pretty chilled out, my aunty (Ex-Hemorrhoid's little sis - the cool one in the family!) and i drove down to Botany Bay and we went for an hours' walk along the beach. Apart from the gale force wind and getting sand-blasted, it was so nice to walk in the water. There's something about the sea, its just so refreshing and even though i was tired i felt like i could walk for hours!

Today we decided to go on a mission. We caught the train to Sydney Harbour:

Then a ferry to Watsons Bay and made our way up to The Gap:

From there we walked along the coastline to Bondi Beach where we had lunch at Icebergs Restaurant. The restaurant is right above the ocean. We got a table on the balcony and couldn't stop gazing at the spectacular view!

After lunch we walked along the cliffs to Coogee Beach. All up about 14km and 3 hours worth of ~~dragging our feet~~ walking. My calves are officially WRECKED but the day out in the beautiful sunshine, inhaling the fresh ocean breeze whilst looking out at the breathtaking coastline was totally worth it. AND I am also now sporting a fabulous tan, woohoo got my glow on just in time for summer!

OSB #4: Week 3: Stick with what you LOVE.

2010-11-23T22:02:00.000+10:00

Over the past few weeks my running mojo has been ~~cruising the carribean~~ on vacation. Serious. So i have been doing my head in trying to figure the hell out why. I love running so why don't i want to run? Yeah i have been running once or twice a week but there have been quite a few occasions where i have opted to just walk (or do NOTHING) instead. And then it hit me this morning....

Its the DISTANCE!

I know i had all these plans to be running all these 10km races but to be honest its just not a distance that i enjoy running. Having said that i will probably enter a few 10km races for the hell of it but the distances that make my endorphins run HIGH are between 5-8km. Yeah i am fit enough to pump out a 12.5km run at a pretty good pace (71mins) but that length of time does NOT TURN ME ON! It feels more like a chore that i have to endure for calling my little sis names lol. And NO i am not being whimpy either. I have always loved to run FAST, so i would rather get my runners high from smashing out a kick-arse 5-8k'er than jog out a 10+ k'er...hmmm and all for the sake of burning more calories...And well, it doens't end up being much more calories over the course of a week seeing that i end up skipping runs simply because i just don't want to do those distances.

So all that got me thinking. To be in the health and fitness game for the LONG TERM, you HAVE to LOVE your training. Just as Raechelle says too -you need to find a sport/exercise that gives you a high, that makes you happy and that makes you excited to wake up in the morning. Because if you choose one that doesn't, I can just about guarantee that you won't stick at it for long.

On that note, i will post my new running POA in the next few days.

And here are my results for OSB #4:

15/11/2010   Week 2
Weight:          63.6kg

22/11/2010   Week 3
Weight:          63.6kg

Difference:     0.0kg

No change, no surprise....oh and NO PEANUT BUTTER EITHER ;-)

On a fabulous note, i am on HOLIDAYS as of thursday - give me a fuckin WOOT! You have no idea how excited i am! I'm having 2 weeks off, so come thursday i'll be on a plane to Sydney at 8am. Yeah BABY!

A Shift in Focus and the Thrilling End to my Trip out of HICKSVILLE!

2010-11-19T21:06:00.000+10:00

One thing i do enjoy about ~~being in isolation~~ travelling for work is the amount of 'me time' i get to zone out deep into thought. Ever since i was little i have always been a thinker. I could zone out for hours setting myself goals and visualizing what my future would be like. Its always a fun exercise which creates a lot of excitement in my mind. Perhaps that excitement is the driving force behind my motivation for life, a passion that comes from the deepest of my soul?

So over the past few days whilst i was in ~~Hicksville~~ Rocky/Gladstone, i began thinking of how i would like to feel each day. Energetic, enthusiastic, positive and HAPPY were a few adjective that came to mind. What originally got me asking myself this was that on a few occassions over the past few weeks i have eaten some icecream, chocolate and caramel slice =P... no peanut butter remember... And because i am extremely dairy intolerant, guess how i felt the morning after ingestion? Shithouse!... Yeah like i had been run over by a semi trailer lol.... I had the phlegm thing happening, my energy was totally zapped and all i could think of was, 'how could i still be tired, i have just had 7 hours sleep!?"

So for the reasons above i am shifting my focus of 'weightloss/fat loss' to 'feeling energised'. Of course the fatloss is my ultimate goal BUT to me the word 'weightloss' brings about negative connotations. 'Loss/losing' is negative where as 'energised' is positive. Negative thoughts can bring about feelings of deprivation - i can't eat this, i can't eat that. So when you think of all the foods you can't have, you begin to want them more! So now with my 'shift in focus', i am asking myself, 'what shall i eat to energise my body'? Its a totally different mindset and already my outlook on food is different! Yes i feel like fruit, nuts, natural, un-processed foodie goodness!

Now, if you would like a giggle at my expense please READ ON!

By the time i got to the airport yesterday arvo i was exhuasted, grumpy and couldn't wait to get the fuck out of there. Boganville city. Thank god i won't be going back until at least April! To my delight, my flight got DELAYED!... It turned out to be about a 30min wait... Finally they called us to board the plane. YAY...And then i took my seat. It wasn't long before i realised that every bogan in boganville had joined me on my return flight home...sigh.....AND then i realised the bogans had already started on the piss....sigh....All i wanted to do was hand them a can each of shut the fuck up!..... So i opened up my book (The healthy skin diet -post to come!) and ZONED OUT..... until....the air hostie wheeled down the food and beverage trolley...The bogans were ordering beers left, right and centre...sigh... And just when i didn't think my trip could get any worse, the air hostie dropped a can of beer on the floor, it burst opened, spraying its entire contents all over ME ... and my new shoes and handbag =(... For fucks sake! So after i used every serviette that was on board the plane to dry myself off the air hostie asked me the dumbest question." Would you like complimentary cheese and crackers or a beer. Its on the house". OMG, do i look like i drink beer and eat cheese and crackers?! .. Um, let me think about that! How about NO! ...Douchebag.

So we land, i get my luggage and go outside to wait for the mini bus to drive me back to my car....and guess who was in the line?... the drunk bogans....NOOOOOOOOO! .... So i made a quick decsion to sit up the front, i was in NO mood for any bogan conversation!...I was tired, grumpy and smelt like beer. Shower and bed couldn't come soon enough!

On that note, i had a kick-arse day today. I did an intense full body workout and smashed out another 12.5km run!

Have a fabulous weekend xo

OSB #4 Week 2: Wins and Losses

2010-11-18T12:15:00.000+10:00

My apologies for being such a SLACK-ARSE blogger this past week!... I had my reasons. The main one being that i made a promise to myself to saying NO to being OVERWHELMED in November. That has meant that this week i have made priorities so that i wouldn't get overwhelmed which would increase my stress levels which could also lead to a binging episode as a 'coping mechanism'. Therefore i made time to book a zillion appointments for my Rocky/Gladstone trip, i vaccummed, mopped, water'd plants, cleaned and disinfected my entire pad till i could see my reflection off my sparkly tiles lol. Has anyone been to Rocky? OMG, total hicksville! This town has cow statues EVERYWHERE, its quite amusing lol

On that note i have continued to 'nail' my peanut butter habit. Yes i am very chuffed with my efforts so far. It is not in the house and i have not thought of it once.... Actually i lie. The only time i have thought about PB is when i was in a health food shop for an appt and i was standing next to the PB machine with all these containers full of freshly crushed PB..mmmm.. BUT i forgot about it as soon as i left the store... So i identified that PB is not a real craving at all =).... Having said that i have been fighting off a wide range of sugar cravings (.....i vaguely remember eating some caramel slice =P) since saying farewell to PB. Its like i am replacing one food craving with another, which i know isnt really a food craving but an emotional one.... Yes there are still little demon fairies in my head that i am poofing away one at a time.

My running has been going great. I havent quite stuck to my POA due to 'overwhelming priorities' listed above but i did do my first 12.5km run last friday in 72mins. It was tough going but i was very happy with my effort. Running longer than 60min (i havent run over that time in YEARS) was a huge mental barrier to overcome but now that i have done it once i am damn sure my next endurance run (tomorrow) will be a hell lot easier. I am still yet to do a proper run in my Vibrams but I am planning to get that done this monday.

I have also decided to change up my weight training as i was becoming extremely bored with my current 3 day split body sessions. So from tomorrow i will be doing 2 x full body workouts per week. Monday and Friday. I've got an awesome plan to follow and some new supplements to try so stay tuned for my buffness report!

I really must fly so here are my weigh in results from monday:

15/11/2010 Week 2
Weight:      63.6kg

8/11/2010   Week 1
Weight:     63.6kg

Difference: 0.0kg

No change which i am ok with. I will be on 2 weeks holidays as of next thursday so there are a few things i want to play around with in my current eating plan which should get things moving again. I know one thing i do need to focus on if removing the processed SUGAR out of my diet AGAIN. It has slowly crept back in and i am feeling a little sluggish so Ms Sugar Fairy will be getting her butt kicked!

Ok i really must fly now!

Vibram Barefoot Running Shoes!

2010-11-12T14:01:00.000+10:00

All i can say is TGIF! What a week! Anywho, my exciting news is that i finally picked up my Vibram Fivefinger running shoes.

I bought the Bikila model which is especially for running. I've used them twice at the gym so far and i love them. They're extremely light - 137g each and i just feel like i am flying when i run. Having said that, it will probably take me a month or so to fully break them in and transition to using them for a long run. The reason being is that they only have 4mm of tread on the sole, therefore my feet have to build up strength which has been lost over the years wearing normal cushioned, arch supported running shoes. Plus, they also force you to run on your toes - its impossible to strike the ground with your heels first. Heel striking is believed to be one of the main causes of ankle, knee, calf and hip problems that many runners associate with. So yes my feet and calves were a little sore after wedesday night boxing class!

I mentioned here that one of my goals is to run 10km in 49min. So this is my POA:

Sunday: 10km run outdoors

Monday: 30 min easy run (wearing Vibrams) outdoors

Tuesday: Speed work (treadmill) 3 x 2km run @ 4.45min pace = 9.30mins with 2min Rest

Friday: 70min easy endurance run outdoors

Each week i will challenge myself in my tuesday speed sess to reduce my time. This will allow me to develop a faster natural running pace for my longer runs.

So NEXT YEAR i have decided that perhaps it is time to do some road races! I've always been a competitive athlete so it'll be great to get the adrenaline pumping again. I know this year i have kinda missed the thrill of a having a big goal (like a figure comp) to train towards so i have no doubt my mojo will be on fire. FYI i am looking at 5-10km races. The thought of a 1/2 marathon is too many kilometres for my little brain to comprehend atm lol

Hope you all have a kick-arse weekend!

OSB #4: Week 1: Ready to NAIL IT!

2010-11-08T09:02:00.000+10:00

Woah, did you read the title!? Yes i am (mentally) READY to launch off my plateau (comfort zone) and kick butt all the way until i reach my GOAL. (I was going to type 'end' BUT there is no 'end' in fitness. Once i reach this goal, i will just set a new one) NO ifs, buts or maybes! I am in it to WIN it baby! So Operation Sexy Bitch (OSB) number #4 begins right NOW!

Now i haven't down a 'weigh-in' in weeks - 6 to be exact. So i was a little nervous but also curious of what number would be gleaming back at me. I knew i wasn't as slim as i was back in August (but not far off!) but i also knew that i am looking pretty lean now (check out my 25th party photos here!) and that the 10km training is doing wonders for my legs. So i was pretty confident i would be under the 64kg (141lb)mark. Long gone are the days when it was a struggle to get under 66kg (145.5lbs)!

8/11/2010 Week 1
Weight: 63.6kg (140lbs)

So i am finally out of scale denial, feeling great and off to a cracker start! 61kg (134lbs) is only 2.6kg (6lbs) away from where i want to be. So if you combine my Nailing November goal of 'nailing snacking/mindless eating' with my 10km training it can only equate to some kick arse results!

Are you ready to Nail It!? Who is with me!?

25th Birthday Extravaganza Party!.... and a 'progress pic'!

2010-11-07T10:49:00.001+10:00

Well its the morning after my 25th Birthday Extravaganza Party and i am feeling fabulous!...Yeah my feet are ACHING and i'm a little tired but who cares i had an AMAZING night!

I headed out to Zuri Bar last night with my amazing possie of friends. The moment i stepped into the club i just knew it was going to be a good night- the atmosphere was electric. There was a latino house dj on the decks, an amazing bongo and sexy-sax(aphone) player and a dancefloor that had my name written all over it. I'm not much of a drinker when it comes to alcohol but i did let my hair down and enjoyed 2 French Martinis and 1/2 a Lychee Martini... and i am pretty confident that including those you can still count the number of alcoholic beverages i have downed this entire YEAR on just my fingers alone!... So as you can imagine i was feeling a litttle pissy but in a good way. It was great just to relax, gossip, laugh and CARVE UP THE DANCEFLOOR with my friends all night long!

I called it quits about 2.30am because my feet were wrecked. Damn those ultra high heels.... but hey they looked HOT and that is all that counts ;-)

So here are a couple sneak peaks of how i am looking at the moment:

Have a fabulous weekend!

Overwhelmed: an ADDICTION trigger? + new GOALS!

2010-11-05T20:15:00.000+10:00

This is officially my 2nd day of Nailing November (it took me Monday to Wednesday to clean up my act!) and i am discovering a few little things about myself:

I decided to kick off day 1 with a fast - wednesday night to thursday night, and it went fantastic. I learnt that in order to do a successful fast and feel great about it is to be in the right headspace. I believe the reason i have shyed away from ESE over the past few months was because of my negative mindset. I had let Ms Binge/Food Fairy take control over me instead of the other way around. This led me to HATING the fasting days bringing up feelings of deprivation and resentment. Food was always on the mind so i was always counting down the hours until i could eat again. In the end i just gave up the fasting because breaking the food addiction wasn't number 1 on my priority list.

This week is completely different. I am COMMITTED to saying NO to snacking in between meals. My mindset is positive and i am ready to achieve sexy-bitch results again. I am determined to achieve my goal by new year and more importantly i BELIEVE i can do it!

During my fast yesterday i had a lightbulb moment. I figured out one of my ADDICTION TRIGGERS that i believe has been the cause of most of my snacking/binging.... Being OVERWHELMED. Yep thats right!

I had to complete my expenses for work yesterday as they are due pronto! Now as you know i have been doing a shit load of traveling this past month and i've racked up an Amex bill of $1359! Ah work are gonna love me lol and thats not including airfares or car-hire! The big mistake i made was coming home from the airport after each trip and ~~filing in chronological order~~ dumping my tax receipts into a pile in a drawer... so they could just evaoprate lol. What i should have done was put them into my spreadsheet straight away and saved myself a LOT of stress aka 'overwhelmingness'!

You see, there are a few things in my life the overwhelm me: parts of my job -booking new appts and EXPENSES; vacuuming; mopping.. where's Ms Cleaning Fairy!?; opening up the mail and putting mail in the post (yeah that's a wierd one haha) and thats all i can think of right now. And what i do is put them aside and procrastinate thus allowing the anxiety to slowly build and bubble away in my head. Before long, i am totally overwhelmed at the task at hand and start stressing myself out silly. My chiro has told me before to 'let it be easy' because nothing is really that hard, you just need to take the first step and get things done.

So anyway, as i was geeing myself up to do my expenses, on came this sudden urge to snack. Now i had already cleared out my pantry of all 'emotional eating foods aka PB!' so i decided to take Jason's advice and just STOP for a moment and feel the REAL emotion and not the emotional hunger. I knew the expense thing was starting to overwhelme me so instead of raiding the pantry - which i couldn't because i was FASTING i went to the computer and started on my expenses. Seriously, within about 5 mins any food cravings had disappeared and i didn't even think about food again till i got home from the hairdressers at 7pm last night, which was when i could eat again. After finishing my expenses i had a feeling of satisfaction- i had got the job done without procrastinating and without using food to temporarily distract my mind from the job. Kudos to me!

I woke up this this morning feeling fantastic! I had nailed day 1 and my body is seeing the benefits from the fast. Most of the bloat is gone, i'm feeling a lot tighter and leaner and i have been full of energy all day! And guess what? I just smashed my 10km outdoor run time by 4.5mins! I ran my first outdoor 10km last friday in 59mins and today in 54.30 mins! So now i have nailed day 2 and i'm on the biggest endorphin rush WOOT!

I am now ready to jump back on the scales this monday to track the weight-loss again.

My GOALS to achieve by NYE are:

Weight: 61kg
Body Fat: 12%
Body Fat: 60ml

10km Outdoor Run: 49 mins

Guest Post on Addiction with Jason Urbanowicz from Create PT Wealth

2010-11-04T20:05:00.001+10:00

As you know i am participating in Nailing November where i will be working on breaking bad habits once and for all. For those of you that have been following my crazy journey for some time now will know that my bad habit/addiction is to do with binging.

I woke up yesterday morning to such a lovely and thoughtful email from my good friend Jason Urbanowicz that i just had to share it with you:

Great article Chelle!

After spending the last 10 years working in this field, i would like to share a snap shot of my understanding of addictions. Most addictions are there to suppress emotional pain and they provide a brief moment of ecstasy. The problem is, people try and address it at the addiction level, instead of what's underneath it.

Example:(nicotine) Smoking suppresses anger! So dealing with and letting go of the anger is one of the main keys here.

Emotions along with your programming or beliefs (habits if you like) all live in your subconscious and use around 50%-60% of your total brainpower. This is why will power doesn't work for breaking addictions long term. Why? Because it operates in your conscious part of you’re brain, using only 10% of your total brain capacity.

Although emotional intelligence is gaining strength in this day and age, it severely lacks as part of our educational upbringing. So, if you don't know how to deal with your emotions in a healthy way,then what do you do to deal with them? Smoking, drinking, chocolate, shopping, over exercising, porn and the list can go on.

Here are my tips to start with: Once you acknowledge you have an addiction to something (like chelle mentioned) next time you get the urge, simply wait long enough (which is code for, stop yourself) and see what emotion/s you experience. Then deal with the emotion/s!

Now, this can be very confronting the first few times. Remember, these emotions are the very thing you have been trying to avoid feeling in the first place.So be patience and gentle on yourself. Mastering this area of your life is the thing that will set you free of being hijacked by your emotions and addictions.
I recommend reading up on emotional intelligence or doing workshops in this area.

Example: If i realize that i have some built up anger or suppressed anger, instead of taking out on the people i care most about or doing road rage, i grab my punching bag, lye it on the floor and using a hammer fist (so i don't injury myself) i get out the anger. Go until you are buggered.

The most important part of this is expressing myself in the process. So i say what i wanted to say in a past situation, but didn't at the time. The healing is in the expression of the feeling. Doing it this way means no one gets to lose and it is done with honor. Not to mention a great workout and you will drain your anger pool.
There are different types of methods; maybe you would prefer to write your feelings. You really need to find your own safe way to express your emotions.

The same goes for sadness, guilt (which is really anger turn inwards) fear, they all need to be expressed in a healthy manner. Sadness is an easy one, simply cry until you have nothing left, (why do you think people hire sad movies, so they can have a good cry in a dark room) Fear, the best way to let go of fear is to express it or speak it out! The more you try and pretend you are OK, the worst it will get. Alcohol is a great one for suppressing fear, but not a great way to deal with it.

Part Two!

My second tip is set yourself up for success!

We all have an internal scoreboard that keeps track of everything we say and do or should i say don't do. So when a person say's that's it, starting next Monday, i am going to get fit for the rest of my life. There could be a little voice that say's bullshit, that's what you said the last 25 times and you lasted two days. Keep small promises to yourself to build up a healthy internal belief system. At the start of building a new habit, it is more important to keep your word to yourself then the actual target or goal.

Example: When i used to work helping Drug addicts get clean, if you said to them that they can never shoot up again, it was simply to big for them to handle (even if that's what they really want) Why? Because they had said that very thing to themselves before and had proof that they had failed. So there internal scoreboard is out of whack!

So, i used to ask them, what could you manage. one might say, i reckon i can go three days. I would say, that's great, when you get to the three days, we will see where to from there. At the three-day mark, i asked the same question! This time it may have been 5 days and so on! They would write there success in what i call a victory book,(exercise pad) which speaks to your subconscious and goes towards changing programming and creating a new habit and a strong internal belief.

Anyway, that is a lot more than i expected to write. Hope it helps!

Jason and business partner Brad Sheppard (yes the one that charges $440 an hour for a PT session!) run Create PT Wealth, a company dedicated to handing fitness professionals the tools to skyrocket their business. In a nutshell, they teach you the strategies to earn a six-figure income whilst working less then 20 hours of PT per week.

Check out their website - Create PT Wealth
You can also find them here on facebook.

Breaking an Addiction

2010-11-02T20:05:00.000+10:00

Deciding to take part in Nailing November was kind of a big decision for me. I had been tossing up all weekend whether or not to join in. The reason being was that i had to admit (to the world) my PB addiction. But you know what? The first step in BREAKING an addiction is to ADMIT that you HAVE ONE!

Its one thing admitting to yourself in your mind that you have an addiction but to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and actually write it down is quite LIBERATING. It was a huge barrier to overcome and i am stoked that it is now out there in the blogosphere. After typing yesterdays' post i savoured a few last mouthfuls of PB and threw the remaining jar in the bin. GONESKY!

I woke up this morning feeling great knowing that i WILL kick the PB habit once and for all. And guess what? No cravings at all today =).. I actually haven't even thought about it. I actually think that reaching for a spoonful of PB was more of bad habit that had to do with boredom rather than a food i feel i can't live without.... I haven't replaced PB with anything either =)

Mindless snacking is another bad habit that i want to add to my NOVEMBER NAILERS list. That includes snacking/nibbling whilst preparing meals; in between meals; and after dinner (the disaster zone!).

Have you got an addiction that you need to break? Take the first step and WRITE it DOWN or feel free to share it with me! We're all in this together bloglanders!

NAILING NOVEMBER!

2010-11-01T21:04:00.001+10:00

Ok i have decided to join in on Liz's challenge - NAILING NOVEMBER! That's right, i am READY to break one big bad habit of mine this month once and for all. I have had issues with the Crunchy Peanut Butter Jar on and off for quite a prolonged period of time lol.... i secretly think there is some sort of magnetic force that keeps drawing me back for more.....and more.... and more.....and more!

Its not like i am 'hungry' or anything so i'm pretty sure its a trigger food for some sort of emotional response that i will pin-point in the days to come.

Saying NO to PEANUT BUTTER for a WHOLE MONTH! Can i do it??? You bet ya, i WILL!

Nailing PB will not only cut out of lot of extra 'mindless' calories out of my diet but it will also bring me one step closer to looking and feeling 'sexy bi-atch' hot, just like my favourite PussyCat Doll - Nicole Scherzinger.

Don't cha wish your girlfriend was hot like me!

Quarter Century Birthday!

2010-10-29T15:56:00.001+10:00

Well guys and girls, I am officially 25 today - Quarter Century Birthday WOOT WOOT!

The last 12 months have been pretty amazing, yeah there have been some downright LOWS but on the whole i have had a very positive year!

The highlights of being a 24yr old included:

- getting my 'girls'!
- buying my pad
- dropping 10.3% Body Fat and 64.8ml since the start of the year... and getting into SEXY BITCH shape!
- doing a photo shoot
- wooting it up with TIESTO!
- getting my Cert III & IV in Fitness (Personal Training)
- and developing a healthier relationship with 'the hemorrhoid'

I have learnt SOOOOO much about myself over the last 12 months. My confidence has grown, my knowledge on nutrition and its effects on the body is forever increasing and all in all i am just happier and more positive on a day to day basis. I still haven't got a grasp on the binging issue yet, but i am working on it. Consistantly. Emotional issues take time and effort to resolve so i hope that when i write about my 26th birthday next year, that willl be in my highlights section!

I'm actually quite excited to be 25. I feel like i am forever evolving the older i get. I'm becoming a more rounded person (not in shape haha) with a lot more to give and a hell lot more to achieve. I've got some big ideas in the pipeline for where i wanna be and what i WANT (and WILL) become in the next few years. So look out world and watch this space ............................... ;-)

Me as a 24 yr old

Me as a more 'sophisticated' (nearly) 25yr old lol

Cairns, Fabulous Friends and INTENSITY!

2010-10-22T15:44:00.001+10:00

I am finally HOME and god it feels good! FYI, i left brisvegas sunday to fly up to Cairns (North Queensland) for work and it was a crazy arse trip - 4 days, 20 clients, 1000km of driving and now i am WRECKED!... who ever said that travelling for work is glamorous???.... I got drenched in Port Douglas (it was supposed to be gorgeous blue skies for my day in paradise so i never even considered bringing an umbrella.... ocean? what ocean?...... it all blended in with the fuckin RAIN!) yesterday and ended up having to wear my havanas on the plane (with my work suit- hot look haha) cos my work shoes were completely wet - totally gross.

The above is from Rex's Lookout on the way to Port Douglas not long before the torrential rain event started lol

The plus side of travelling for work is:
- Visiting cool places.... though i wish i had more time to sight see!

This is the beautiful view from the Atherton Tablelands on my way to Mareeba.

- Eating amazing seafood ..and dessert ;-)
- Catching up with some AMAZING FRIENDS!

Yep i got to catch up for a good old gossip with my girlfriend Vanessa from primary school who is also a nutritionist. Miss Belinda Potter (my old PT and Miss IFBB Figure Australia) -her and her hubby James have just bought a Sumo Salad franchise in Cairns so if you are up there make sure you pay them a visit! And Miss Raechelle! We've been chatting for like forever here in the blogosphere so it was awesome to finally meet you girl!

This trip i decided that i had to be a little less extravagent with my meals (seeing that i don't have time or the facilities to prep anything) and chose to only 'fine-dine' for dinner and not lunch and breakfast. Gotta be mindful of the calories- seriously i swear 'masterchef' style foods taste amazing cos everything is marinated in butter/olive oil lol. So I stuck with healthy fruit smoothies for breakfast - the local organic cafe would make me up one using rice milk, protein powder, super greens powder, banana, mango and ice. Yummo, just like i would make at home- i told them to leave out the ICECREAM!.. Lunch i stuck with chicken/prawn and salad wraps and also had sushi on one day.... After a few days eating wheat (from the wraps), i noticed a bit of bloating and fluid retention starting to occur which was a sign that i HAVE NO CHOICE but to go back to eating GLUTEN FREE. That i am cool with and i know my body will love me for it.

Unlike my last trip (townsville/mackay) where i was fine-dining for lunch as well as dinner, i definitely felt a lot better/lighter this time round from eating more simply throughout the day which allowed me to indulge a bit for dinner ;-)... Though for my next trip to Rocky/Gladstone in november i will just have dessert on one night..... Too much dairy (and wheat) in a short space of time has really affected my energy levels - i'm still feeling a little lethargic and phlegmy- totally gross lol...Sugar is the devil.

On the training side of things i did manage to do one 6.5km run and a 4.5km walk but unfortunately that was all i got time for. I hate using 'no time' as an excuse but i seriously did not have any (well i suppose i could have brought some dumbells to do bicep curls in the car lol) so i ended up doing a full body weight workout this morning to get my blood pumping again.... I've also got a sudden urge to attempt a 10k'er this arvo too!

Seriously guys, getting results (for me) is all to to do with INTENSITY now. I have been able to maintain LEAN within my comfort zone for quite a while now. I want MORE ~~yesterday~~ NOW... I have also come to realise that going from LEAN to SMOKIN HOT requires a choice:
1. Tighten up my nutrition
2. Intensify my training
3. 1 +2

My nutrition is pretty good but i will be tightening it up a little, more so in the 'treat' department which is why i have been making my own healthy ones. You know i have no interest in OBSESSING over food any more- calorie king, low carbs and carb cycling are currently NOT in my vocabulary!... So because i don't want to take the EXTREME (and boring) diet route the alternative choice is to challenge myself with the training side of things. (my dodgy left collar bone has been playing up a bit so their is only so much i can lift in the weights department)

So BRING ON the RUNNING, BRING ON FAST TIMES and BRING ON the RUNNERS HIGH!

I challenge you to challenge yourself. And FYI, if you want to get into SMOKIN SHAPE and you don't want to choose option 1, 2 or 3 i promise you that you will probably get NOWHERE .... serious. People look fuckin fantastic for a reason and its not by sitting on their arse all day long eating tim tams and drinking coke....but if that is your secret to success i would love to know ;-)

Homemade Non-Dairy Chocolate Icecream

2010-10-16T19:10:00.001+10:00

For those of you who have been following my crazy journey for sometime now will know that i have a bit of a sweet tooth.... Chocolate, icecream and dessert to be exact! .... You could leave cheese, chips, pies, breads and crackers in my pantry for years without me giving them a single glance... but the former will get me salivating asap lol...

During my little Raw Vegan venture earlier this week i stumbled across some amazing desserts that i was desperate to whip up. The benefit of raw vegan desserts is that they contain no nasties - no added sugar, low in saturated fats, no hydrogenated fats, no wheat and no dairy! They do contain real fruit, high in mono and polyunsaturated fats, EFAs, protein and fibre. Because there is no refined sugar you won't get a massive insulin spike either that can cause your sugar cravings to go out of control!

So here is my version of a HEALTHY non-dairy chocolate icecream:

1 large ripe banana sliced
1/2 cup raw almonds
1/2 avocado (don't worry you can't taste it - it just gives the icecream a creamy texture)
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp flaxseed meal
1 cup rice milk

- Put all ingredients in a food processor (my blender didn't cut it) and blend until you get a creamy consistancy.
- Pour the mixture into 4 x Paddle Pop moulds
- Freeze

ENJOY!

Raw Vegan Experiment OVER!... and mega cleavage ;-)

2010-10-13T21:31:00.002+10:00

As you know i have been experimenting with Raw Vegan meals since sunday night. As much as my meals so far have tasted fabulous and give me that complete nourishing feeling, i am going to have to add back the fish and eggs into my diet. Why??... Cos my strength and energy has competely DISAPPEARED! You have no idea! Its like Ms Zero Energy Fairy sprinkled some expired fairy dust over me. I even had to have a coffee this arvo just to keep me awake! ( i gave up my 4pm coffee over a month ago cos i was just drinking it for the sake of the taste, not cos i needed a pick me up ;-))

Monday morning was my first weights sess after a non-animal protein dinner. I noticed i was a little off in my strength but we all have 'off' days so i just brushed it off. I then ran a 5km in 25min 17sec that arvo and felt pretty damn good. Tuesday was Leg day. My fav muscle group to train. I don't go that heavy with legs but i do do a LOT of volume and my sessions are INTENSITY PLUS! After doing a warmup set on the leg press i thought to myself, 'OMG, i can't lift a thing!' I barely moved up from my warm-up weights! I got through my sess but it was a real struggle. By lunch time i was just getting tired and finding it a little hard to concentrate. Usually tuesday arvos i like to go for a light walk around the block but by mid arvo i was completely SHATTERED! Today was the same...no energy at all.. I am one of those girls who usually have boundless energy (i've been nicknamed 'energizer bunny' by heaps of people over the years), i am always on the go... but not today, i could have fallen asleep standing up! I seriously haven't felt this fatigued since comp prep last year. So as i mentioned before i had to have a coffee to psyche me up for boxing class tonight...

OMG, now boxing class is ALWAYS tough, but tonight i was so exhausted i thought i was gonna vomit all over my partner lol... seriously, i felt really ill and i knew something wasn't quite right...So i decided to cook up some eggs and vegies for dinner tonight and i am feeling pretty good now. But one thing i did notice is that i LOVE the taste of vegies better RAW! So i think i will stick to eating raw salads with amazing nut pesto type dressings but include animal type protein sources (mainly fish and eggs) with my lunch and dinners. For me, it seems that with the type of intense training that i do, i simply need more protein for muscle recovery. Nuts alone ain't cutting it.....

On the positive side, what i did like about raw vegan was that my digestion was great - no bloating from all the natural foods, i felt satisfied after each meal and my skin has cleared up- got that glowing thing happening ;-)

Oh and last of all - for all you girls out there who want MEGA CLEAVAGE from a sports bra, i highly recommend Lorna Jane's Seamless Sports Bra. I got this one free months ago when i bought a pair of Sketchers Shape Up shoes from Lorna Jane and had never worn it till tonight... Reason being, i don't like thick bra straps so i have never bothered wearing it, (cos of all the damn rain all my other crop tops were still in the wash so i had no choice), plus i am more concerned about keeping the girls in place rather than displaying them to the world. There are members at my gym who are famous for their 'flying girls', seriously , wearing a push-up padded bar to the gym is just ridiculous- PUT THEM AWAY, before you smack someone in the face lol.... So on went this baby and HOLLA, the girls were busting out! - Liz - Totally Rosa-Maria style lol... The amount of gawks i got at the gym tonight was priceless lol

My 'raining ceiling' experience!

2010-10-11T15:59:00.002+10:00

I tell you what, my life is NEVER without excitement...So i woke up yesterday morning, boiled the kettle, made my bed and walked back into the kitchen and thought to myself, "geez, whats going on with the kettle, there is water EVERYWHERE!"...Seriously half my kitchen bench was flooded.... then i saw a droplet... descending from the CEILING!.... WTF!... A sudden rush of adrenaline pumped through my veins... OMG...the storm...my neighbours unit is flooding ..... my ceiling is gonna cave in .... NOOOOOOOOOO!... So i've raced out the front door, flew up the stairs and starting banging on old mates front door (lovely retired man- late 60s/70s) .... NOTHING..... so i knocked again and started calling out what i thought was his name... CHRIS, CHRIS! ( i found out later it was Steve, i've only been calling him Chris for 6months oops) .... he's come racing to the door (probably wondering who the hell is calling him by the wrong name at 7.30am on a sunday morning) in nothing but a towel ( i must have startled the poor man out of a deep sleep lol)... He asked if i was ok, and i told him about my internal raining situation....

First we checked his kitchen pipes.... no leaks.... bathroom pipes.... no leaks...... then the laundry..... at first we thought his cat had missed the kitty litter..... nope..... his hot water system had SHIT itself, BIG TIME! There was a crack right through the bottom.... So we turned it off and was able to drain the whole thing..... In the meantime i had woken up my other neighbour out of a deep slumber as i was in desparate need for some buckets. ... About half an hour later, all the 'rain' had dried up.... I also discovered i have a concrete ceiling - no gyprock/plasterboard which was a good thing... it wasn't gonna cave in YAY... just gotta wait a week for it to dry completely cos the 'rain' has taken off some of the paint.

House delemas aside, my running has been kicking arse! Seriously, i have been killing it on the treadie... yeah i know i said i'd be running outside but brisbane is on the verge of flooding atm...serious... i could go kyacking if i really wanted too lol... I ran my first 7km in 38.03mins yesterday and did a 5km last monday in 25.59mins. Gonna try and crush my 5km PB this arvo! I have also decided that i am going to work towards running a 10km, so that will be my goal for this month. Also too, one thing i am stoked with since i started running 8 days ago is just how much my body has CHANGED! That's right, i have leaned up heaps, you have no idea! My body is tightening up by the day, my size 6(aus) CUE shorts are getting loose and i am just HIGH on LIFE!

And last of all, i prepared my first RAW VEGAN dinner last night. I made a zucchini pasta with marinated mushrooms and a cashew spinach pesto... omg it was AMAZING. The flavours were unreal and it was very satisfying ( i was a bit weary beforehand that i would still be peckish without the large amounts of protein that i am used to). Every bite seemed to nourish me, it was quite an experience! ( i sound like a hippie now lol).. So tonight i will be making a fennel salad with a macadamia and strawberry pesto. YUM!