Assessment 11 - Tue 3rd May 2011: Totally Shredded!

Well its been a fantastic few weeks since my last assessment and I'm totally amazed at the results I've got this time round - I didn't think it was possible! we'll get to that in a sec.


so what else is new? Well at the last minute I decided to pop up to Sydney for the Australian Fitness Expo on 17th April - I had several aims in mind, 1stly to meet the Jamie Eason one of the top fitness models for Oxygen Magazine - she's gorgeous! I also wanted to chat to the Oxygen models to get some tips for a photo shoot - yes I'm going to reward myself with a professional photo shoot for all my good work :-)
I also wanted to find out about what is involved with competing as a figure model, whether I've got the right type of physique and proportions - I've now had 8 personal trainers ask me what competition I'm working towards, so I must be doing something right, and finally I wanted to talk to Michelle and Shannon from The Biggest Loser and get their advice on how to deal with negative reactions from unexpected sources.
watch out! Woman on a mission! 


The whole trip panned out better than I could have imagined! It was excellent. On the plane up to Sydney on sat night, the guy who sat next to me was HUGE obviously a VERY serious body builder - so I got chatting to him, which is not normally something I do on a plane - usually I just bury my head in a book, but I figured I could probably get some tips re figure modelling - any way this guy only turns out to be the current victorian bodybuilding champ and runner up in Mr Australia last year!  so I hung out with him, we went and got sushi and then I caught up with him for brekky the next day - very cool.
So I get to the expo 1st in line - when the doors open, I'm off! 1st stop ASICS stand, talk to Shannon - but he was not doing sunday, bugger.
Next stop, Australian Institute of Fitness stand - Michelle Bridges - she's not there! bugger.
OK off to the Oxygen Mag stand - hooray! 1st success - Jamie Eason is there looking fabulous. I showed her my fat photos and asked her if she thought I should have a go at entering the Oxy mag cover girl comp - HUGE compliment she said to me that I almost looked like one of them so to absolutely give it a go! well knock me down with a feather!

Photo shoot is booked for 18th June! yay!


Ok, back to the AIF stand - still no Michelle, bugger.


back to oxy stand and I got talking to Nicky Jankovic - thank you Nicky for spending so much time with me being so generous with your knowledge and advice about competing, training, photo shoot tips and negative people - Elisabetta Rogiani outfit in blue on its way... (god I'm being a label queen!)


back to AIF stand again - yay! finally Michelle is there, she's signing her book and there's a massive queue. I really want to find out what she tells her contestants about handling not just the physical change they go through but the mental and emotional aspects of their transformation - because getting the contestants head in the right space is what they have to get right so they can survive on the outside.
So I join the queue and when I get to the front, I showed Michelle my fat photos and photo of me at the top of Kilimanjaro. She was very encouraging and then horror of horrors - I started asking her about negative people and I burst into tears!!! oh shit!! how embarrassing! Michelle bless her, took it in her stride and told me to surround myself with positive influences - cool.
Time to go - very quickly!


So now I had about 1 1/2 hours before Michelle was doing a talk so I went round all the outfit stands and tried on stuff, but nothing really grabbed me. Time for a cup of tea and sit down at the stage where Michelle was doing her talk. 
I grabbed a seat and got chatting to some people in the audience when all of a sudden to everyones amazement, there was Michelle Bridges squeezing along my row and she came to stand in front of me and said 'I felt that I just had to give you a hug' - well I was completely blown away and gave her a big hug - wow! what a very sweet thing for her to do - I could feel the envy emanating from everybody in the audience! 
you could have knocked me down with a feather....again :-)
After that I was all a bit emotionally worn out so I headed off to the airport early so I could relax and process the whole day - and what a lot to process!


I had training the next day and I must have still been on a high - Aiden asked what I'd been up to because I was glowing!


very very cool.


ok so after all the positive feedback I got from Sydney, training has been a piece of cake - I can't wait to get to the gym every day. 
Trouble is training is about the only thing that seems to be going well at the moment - I so totally hate my job its such a depressing place to be and I'm so bored I've not been doing so well on my diet - I've been emotionally eating - ok so I haven't been eating cakes and bread or stuff like that, but I'll just have a few almonds or a few grapes or I'll just have an apple or another cup of tea - anything to distract myself from my job.
Easter was also a bit of a blow out - I actually bought a loaf of bread and 2 packets of biscuits!!! I can't even remember the last time I bought a loaf of bread! and there was the chocolate bunny that my trainer gave me - Aiden are you trying to make me fat??!!!


So I my goal all along has been to get to 12.5% body fat and given the last few weeks of not such good eating I wasn't terribly confident that I would have made much progress since my last assessment - especially since for some reason the last few days my stomach has been puffed up like a football. I'm not sure if its the new oestrogen supplements I'm on combined with the training supplements Aiden has got me on, but something is not quite right. 
Kat also wasn't impressed when she went through my food diary - waay too much fruit and apparently I'm the most all over the place client she's got!! and I thought I was actually very good...oh well. 
so to the measurements - fat pinches in the usual spots and....did I get to 12.5%??
Kat asked me what I was hoping the result would be, so I said 12.5%. Then she told me that I didn't make 12.5%... (bugger. I was so disappointed) - I made 11% instead !!!! 


11%!!!


WOW!! thats 2.5% body fat lost in 5 weeks - thats absolutely amazing - I thought it was supposed to get harder as you get leaner! and I've still got 6 weeks before my photo shoot - I could get down to 10% or even 9% which is not far off competition levels - check out my back - I'm completely ripped up!!

now for the balancing act - I don't want to get to much leaner than this on my upper body, but I do want my legs to lean down because they're lagging behind the rest of me, although there definitely has been progress in the last 2 months.


Next assessment is in 3 weeks - who knows what that could turn up as I'm about to double my training load - at the moment I'm only doing about 35 - 45mins weights/day 6 days a week, not much considering the results i've just got so if I up it to about 90mins /day I hoping that will really bring out the finishing touches - remember the picture of the polished diamond on the previous page? 
am sooo close!


:-)


till next time!

beer wenches, baggy trousers and a brilliant back!

it seems like ages since I last wrote anything and it also seems like lots has been happening!

where to start? lets go to Adelaide 1st - the rugby 7's was a great fun weekend, a group of 8 of us went and the 6 girls were all dressed as german beer wenches! the idea was to try and win the best dressed group prize of $1000 - we lost out to a chess set, but what a laugh the whole weekend was - everyone wanted their photo taken with the beer wenches :-)

here's me - how cute is the outfit!

I have to say I'm loving my new legs, thats what I think they are - new legs. I usually live in jeans and don't show them off, but I'm so thrilled with the results I've got working with Aiden - I'm really starting to get some shape and definition into them and my muscles are rock hard - even better than just after I got back from climbing Mt Kilimanjaro! 

heres all of the beer wenches (yes I did get the skirt shortened to show off more leg!)

 

this is why we like the rugby.... :-)

Naked Haka!! Woohoo!

ok so its not really relevant to biosignature and fat loss, but what the hell, I thought I'd throw it in for something different! :-)
so that was about 3 weeks ago, then the following weekend I was having another (!!!) wardrobe clear out of stuff that doesn't fit and I came across a pair of work pants that I bought only 9 months ago, probably about July last year. So I was well into my mountain training and had probably lost about 14kg at that point - out of curiosity I tried them on....

Wow! I'm totally tiny now - those are size 10! and I really do have abs! 

There's been plenty happening physically as well, in total, since Sept 2009 I have now lost 23 kg and weigh in at 53.6kg - I'm really looking forward to my next assessment in 2 weeks, as I'm hoping to crack the 12.5% body fat - that is my ultimate goal. 
Why 12.5%? I don't know, it just seemed like a good number to get to! :-)
At my last assessment the readings indicated that we really need to focus on the oestrogen issue which has been holding back fat loss on my triceps, hamstrings and to an extent my calves, trouble is my supplements haven't come through so I don't know if I'll get the result I want.

Having said that, what I will be able to get is a really clear idea of how much progress I've made purely from training. 
You see, back last year it took me 5 months to get from 14.8% body fat to 13.6% and 57.7kg to 54.2kg just before Christmas. Then Christmas caused havoc, I piled on 3kg and 2%BF virtually overnight!
Once I started training with Aiden and working smarter rather than harder (although what he puts me through is definitely not a walk in the park!) we achieved a better result - 15.5% BF to 13.5%BF in just 8 weeks - I'm so stoked about the progress I've made. Every week something changes, some new muscles emerge or a extra level of definition comes through, its really exciting to see where this could end up. 

I'm certainly putting in the hard yards - training 6 days a week with weights (hard and heavy), 1 session which is with my trainer (Ouch! usually takes 2 days for the pain to go away!) and I try and throw in a pilates or yoga session and maybe a run once a week as well.

That might sound like a lot of training, but Aiden has made it so easy and so much fun (having to be picked up off the floor cos my legs don't work...fun??? suck it up princess!!) that even getting up at 5:30 in the morning to get to the gym has become a no brainer! 

and when I'm getting results like this its all worth it - backtastic!

I can't wait to see what happens next!

Assessment 10 - Tue 22nd March 2011

Woohoo!!! Finally back to where I was before Christmas!! I can't believe its taken nearly 3 MONTHS to shift that bizarre fat gain from going home to England for 10 days.
3 MONTHS of busting my butt in the gym...or having it being busted for me (thanks Aiden!) and being (mostly) very strict with my diet


so I'm now sitting at a very tidy 54.2kg and 13.5% body fat - I lost the 1% I said I wanted to lose 4 weeks ago. 
I'm getting some really great definition through my back and abs (ABS!!! ) but I definitely don't look scrawny or brawny which is really cool and best of all its finally shifting from my hammies - 28mm down to 22mm - bring on Adelaide - my legs are going to look fantastic in the white stockings that go with my bavarian beer wench outfit for the rugby 7's trip :-)


next stop - cover girl for oxygen magazine!


well, why the hell not? I need a big goal to keep me motivated and my next mountain climb is at least 2 years away....


I'm going to have a beer
 :-)

Assessment 9 - Tue 15th Feb 2011

Good result - have lost 1.1% BF so back down to 14.5% and best of all its come off my stomach, very happy with that and also very handy as I'm going to be pouring myself into a very tight (even for me!) frock tomorrow for the Weary Dunlop lunch - breathing may be optional tomorrow!
I haven't lost any weight on the scales so it looks like I'm building up lean muscle which is pretty cool, I'm getting my definition back and not really surprising after the 'smashing' Aiden gave me last week!
Smashing is a technical term, Aiden my new personal trainer likes using it to describe just how hard he's going to make me work and boy did he! Oh my god, we did legs last week and 2 days later I couldn't walk...wonder if 3 sets of squatting with 40kg on the bar would have anything to do with it? hmm...

:-)

So far I've only had 2 sessions with Aiden, and I'm really enjoying it - its good to be pushed. Thats the trouble I find when I don't have particular goal to work towards, its so easy to slip into 'lazy' training doing the sane routine day in day out - well Aiden is the man to shake things up a bit.

Ok so 4 weeks before my next assessment, would be really cool if I can lose another 1% BF. I'm really focusing on getting some results on my legs as this is the one area that hasn't been responding very well to the diet, so will keep it really clean for the next few weeks.

till then
:-)

new favourite curry!

tried out a great curry last week from my excellent curry book - 'Curry: Fragrant dishes from India, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia'


its a fish curry that has battered deep fried chunks of fish in a wonderfully tangy yoghurt sauce - yum! could have eaten vats of it!
am posting it onto my recipe page - I modified it a bit from the actual book as I didn't have ingredients like chickpea flour and catfish - its supposed to be made with catfish but I substituted a nice basso fillet instead.


am making it again this week! yum!

Flying makes you fat....

well who knew?


Ok whatever leads me to this bizarre statement? 


Christmas? No instead of catching up with family I went on my own little holiday for 3 days up to Hamilton Island - that also meant I could totally stick to my eating plan - sure I had a few beers with a few people but nothing like I would have done had I been with family - so by the time I flew out to England on 27th I was still looking fab in my slinky white figure hugging Karen Millen lace tunic dress.


So in England, I stuck as much as possible to the eating plan - a couple of days I had organic natural yoghurt with blueberries and boiled eggs for brekky instead of chicken, and I think I ate potatoes twice and rice twice - my mother always like to stock up on gluten free stuff for me - cakes, biscuits, bread, cheese crackers that sort of thing, but I'd told her not to get anything so there was no issues there.
New Year was a big night but then isn't it always? My parents thought I was a bit odd eating chicken for brekky and not eating potatoes but they're fairly traditional like that :-)
I got a temporary gym membership to the local gym and did a couple of 5 km runs - so I didn't entirely stop exercising, even though I decided I'd give my body a rest.
So on the whole not much changed over Christmas and New Year except my location....


So why did I feel completely bloated? By the time I got back to Australia, the slinky Karen Millen had a definate pot belly and my beautiful size 6 jeans that I'd needed a belt on before I went to England were now exhibiting evidence of a muffin top!!!


Imagine my horror when I had my Bio Sig assessment on Jan 17 to find I'd piled on 3kg and 2% body fat!! And that was after 2 weeks being really strict with my eating, back in the gym and not having the horrible bloated feeling anymore


How is it possible that just 10 days in England has obliterated 5 months of blood, sweat and tears - and I do mean blood, sweat and tears - I'm completely devastated, not to mention very demoralized by the whole thing - and whats worse is that even another 2 weeks later after going to the gym every day and sticking entirely to my eating plan I still haven't lost the fat - unbelievable! after all the effort I've gone to its incredibly demotivating, I'm almost at the point of wondering why I bothered. 
It also doesn't help that my shoulders are so messed up that I can't train my upper body properly.


in a pretty bad space right now.


so what was it?
The Flying! I think most people notice that when they fly their feet and ankles swell up - me too, and my calves and I have been noticing for the last few years that my abdomen also swells - quite uncomfortable really.  So after flying up and back to Hamilton Island (6 hours) followed by 48 hours of flying for just 6 days on the ground messes up the body a treat so it goes into survival mode and stores as much fat as it can...


bugger.


so what am I going to do about it? 


well I've always been very good at motivating myself and having always exercised my whole life I know a fair bit about getting and staying fit, and when I have something to aim for like climbing a mountain I get so focussed that I push myself to do whatever it takes - training 2,3 even 5 hours a day, but right now I have no major goal and I'm feeling a bit lost as to how to get back to where I was just 5 weeks ago, how to get back the beautiful definition and shape I had...
so for the 1st time in my life I've hired myself a personal trainer.
I met Aiden on Friday, he works at Fitness 1st in Richmond and comes highly recommended by a friend of mine who owns her own sports company.
We sat down and chatted about what I've been doing up till now, where I want to get to, long term goals etc, and then he checked out my technique (very good), my posture (excellent) - then he got me to a selection of upper body exercises so he could get a gauge on the extent of the shoulder issue, he asked lots of questions, made suggestions and just observed - he came across as very calm, competent and knowledgeable - I'm really looking forward to working with him, this could be very good...


So, Aiden is going to put together a program for me do to every day and I'll catch up with him for a 1 on 1, once a week starting next Tuesday - can't wait! 
who knows I might just be entering comps soon...

Assessment 7 - Tue 14th Dec 2010

So whats news since last time?

well the Weary lunch was excellent and despite Melbournes weather doing its best to ruin things, I have to say I that I did look really good - the snow white form fitting Karen Millen was awesome - and very attention grabbing :-) Even got compliments from some of the rugby players themselves saying how fit I looked and what was my routine!

How cool is that - being asked by elite sports people what I was doing to be so fit...can't wait for the next lunch in Feb...

Amer, the guy who is fixing my shoulders even suggested I should try entering a body sculpting competition...interesting, not sure about that though - I'd have to be even more strict about my diet and exercise to lose another 5% body fat and its fairly dull as it is! Besides not only would I disappear, I don't like the body builder look - and fake tan orange is just sooo not my colour.. :-)

I also haven't been going so well on the exercise bit recently, having only managed 2 weight sessions and 1 cardio session a week for the last 3 weeks - not really sure why, a couple of times I've been out on a night and not felt like training the next day, 1 day my gym didn't even open (!) but I'm waking up really tired.

Sleep isn't the problem anymore - in fact, I can't get enough of it! but the last week or so I've been really lethargic and not recovering after a training session, which is a bit odd. I never normally have that issue - even when doing the ridiculous amount of training for Kilimanjaro I wasn't getting as tired as I am now.

It could be a combination of things, but Kat says its probably my body is still on adrenaline overload from pre climb - think it would be a really good idea to do absolutely nothing over Christmas...except eat of course! :-)

just as well I'm taking myself off for a relaxing mini break on christmas eve to 27th, then watching the ahses on 27th dec then will have 2 days enforced inactivity while flying home to England for New Year. That should give my weary body a nice little break. So just one more week of training to go - I can do that!

so whats my assessment telling me since last time 4 weeks ago - am doing extremely well! Body fat down to 13.6%!!! crikey thats 1.4% in 4 weeks and am weighing in at 54kg nearly another kg. Really good results - and to me thats surprising given how little I've been training. 

My back is so lean now I'm getting really good definition, and my tummy has virtually no fat on it at all - unfortunately I don't have the 6 pack abs showing cos I've got a lot of loose skin, but we're working on that - come on Gotu Kola.

My legs are still not losing fat in the same proportion as the rest of me, which is odd - I'm eating spinach, broccoli, brussels sprouts or cauliflower or all 4 every day and lots of the stuff too - apparently this shows I still have an oestrogen imbalance, so we're really going to work on that after Christmas. Good - lets have nice thin hammies and calves in 2011! :-)

The food bit is all good news - my brother is soo going to hate me when I tell him that not only do I get to eat meat for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day, but I can now cook using BUTTER!!! 

yep thats right - got to eat fat to lose fat... so can also eat more avocados (about 4/5 a week - yum!!)  and can start adding in CARBS...

good carbs of course - brown or wild rice, sweet potato, pumpkin, quinoa or gluten free pancakes - PANCAKES!! haven't had pancakes for MONTHS - and my pancakes are always gluten free cos I'm coeliac, so no worries there

oh did I mention the FULL FAT CREAM?? mmmm...strawberries and cream....

right I'm off to fry up some turkey breast in butter, lemon juice, garlic and thyme with spinach, peas, cauliflower and sweet potato, followed by blueberries and strawberries with cream and cinnamon - yum!

:-)

Happy Christmas!