AND 7 MORE USELESS BITS OF INFO ABOUT ME

1. I married at 19 and was a divorcee in my mid 20s. Husband number 1 didnt need a wife, he needed another mother hence the split. Its the best thing I did. WH and I have had the best years together travelling, building/buying nice homes and adopting our BS.

2. At school I was a brainy nerd. Luckily I went to a school with lots of brainy nerds so I fitted right in. Now I'm just an air-head (I knew there was a good reason for dying my hair blonde).

3. I recently lived in Brisbane for 2 years and worked as a PT with my own business. I thought I would absolutely love it but it wasnt for me long term. Whilst I enjoy living a healthy and fit lifestyle and helping/guiding others to do the same, I need more stability and less stress to be a happy person.

4. I'm an only child and our BS is an only child as well. (I'm doing my bit for zero population growth!)

5. My cat is called Miss Moneypenny. She's a lazy overweight tortoiseshell who loves sleeping, tuna and having a fuss made of her ( hmmmm a bit like me really :-))

6. I'm a crossword addict. If I start doing the crosswords in the daily paper I get hooked and I cant throw the paper away til they're all done to the best of my ability. (My addiction is currently under control as I'm not going anywhere near the crosswords. Comp prep takes up too much time!)

7. If I was to front the firing squad tomorrow morning, the last meal I request would be a lobster thermidor followed by my mum's home made vanilla slice. Then I'd die happy :-)

Magda

7 THINGS YOU DIDNT KNOW ABOUT ME

Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. You need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

1. I would rather die of hunger than eat a grapefruit.

2. When I was studying for my group fitness certificate, I was the last person in my class to learn to pick the 1st beat in an 8 count of music.

3. In my car the stereo volume level and the fan speed have to be set on an even number.

4. When I started work at 17 years of age, I spent my first fortnightly pay on a dress (yes thats ONE dress).

5. My first ever job was making boxes in a chicken processing factory. I lasted 1 day and decided to study really really hard after that so I would never have to do such an awful job again.

6. I am a high maintenance princess. I make no excuses or apologies for this and I admit it unashamedly.

7. I love garden knomes and Glen (In the Mood) Miller.

Wow!! Thats one TRAGIC list!!

Now the 7 people I tag are:

1. Jaime-Lee
2. Hilary
3. Jodie
4. Kirsty
5. Nic
6. Di
7. Shar

Cheers

Magda

TURNING THE BAD INTO GOOD

I didnt sleep well last night. I was awake for quite some time during the night and was just able to get back to sleep before my alarm was due to go off at 5.05. I hit snooze on my phone and went back to sleep. The alarm went off again at 5.10 and I DID NOT WANT TO GET UP.

Then I thought back to the night before when WH had heaped a ton of praise on me for getting up so early every morning to exercise. How could I slacken off at the next opportunity? So I dragged myself out of bed with the consolation that I would run 3.7kms instead of 5.

I headed out and quickened my pace slightly from my norm. Some stretches were good and I felt ok, others were a struggle and I started thinking that I couldnt do it, that I'd cut back through the side streets and just go home.

Then I woke up to how destructive those thoughts were. I started to picture myself on stage, feeling good (oops sorry...feeling GREAT) about what I'd achieved. I pictured myself on the night before my comp sitting and talking to my WH about how words couldnt describe how I felt about achieving something so big that meant so much to me.

At this point I got a bit teary...but I kept powering along knowing deep down that I would do the 5kms. All this meant so much to me and I had to succeed at it.

I got to the 5km mark which is 3 houses from where I live and I flicked my phone open to check the time.......30 minutes. I'd made 5kms in 30 minutes. I felt like the best runner in the world...albeit a 1/2 dead one :-) And that folks is the best thing thats happened to me today.

Magda

PS The first time I ran 5kms it took me 34 or 35 mins and every minute shaved off has been a huge struggle. Many times I thought I'd never make it in 30 and now I have :-) :-)

ALL IS GOOD AGAIN TODAY

This morning I made the decision to have a good day today. Cardio was great this morning with more circuit/sprint training which always leaves me fired up and raring for the day. At work I got stuck into that awful task that was ruining my day yesterday but it seemed to go smoothly today and I'm on the home stretch with it. Maybe my positive vibes were transferring to my computer lol! Because I've been so focussed on powering through this job, I havent been feeling overly hungry which is another bonus. Yes when its time to eat my stomach certainly tells me so but I dont feel as though I want to eat anything/everything just to feel better. (Knowing full well that it NEVER has that effect anyway!!)

As the week draws to an end I'm looking forwrad to getting back into my weight training. The rest has been great but there is heaps of work to be done and I just want to get stuck into it. Josh and I have worked out a new training schedule and I'm quietly confident that it'll work well. So on Saturday its leg day at home which is always a big session. My main focus needs to be on developing my lats though as I suspect I've been cheating on my back work and I swear I just have no lats :-( So hopefully I can make some positive inroads in the next 17 weeks.

Well thats it for me today. Life goes on. I ride the highs and the lows just one step at a time. I enjoy the times I feel good and when I'm not feeling good I tell myself that it'll pass....and it does.

Cheers all

Magda

THE CARDIO CURE

I'm back blogging tonight as I just want to share how pleased and proud I am that I didnt cave today. It was a really hard day eating wise and I often felt like the smallest thing could have tipped me over into bingeland, but I stayed strong. I did my classes tonight and both were just great and I left the gym on a real high. Thank god for cardio. Its saved me again!!

G'night all Magda

DRAWING ON EVERY OUNCE OF WILL POWER

Today I'm fighting the munchies BIG TIME!! This morning I had a tiny amount of bread with my porridge and I must say I felt so much more satisfied and didnt get hungry as quick as I usually do. But I've been working on a tedious and frustrating task all morning and its driving me to want to comfort eat. Before I decided to compete in figure, I would have eaten 1/2 of Adelaide by now. The crap food intake would have been steady and constant the whole time I was doing what I didnt like. My how far I've come, even in light of all my slip-ups :-)

Today's cardio is my evening classes as I try to have 1 week day when I sleep in til 6. There is plenty of time yet to do the 5 days/week early cardio (which I have done sometimes) but sometimes getting enough sleep is a higher priority. I did a second cardio session last night to make up for missing Monday but it was only a ride on my exercise bike for 30 mins. Not earth shattering (like the morning sprints) but better than nothing I guess.

Kristy, I do my sprints near the corner of Balmain Drive and Vickers Vimy Parade in Northgate which is close to where I live. From one side of Vickers Vimy to the other (across the park in the middle) is about 100m according to my paces. Its not exact but its close. So I run from one side to the other or 1/2 way for the 50m. At 5.30am there is little/no traffic and now its colder there are very few other people out walking or running. Its just me, my running track, my IPod and my determination to get as lean as possible with nice toned legs. By 6am I'm done and dusted at home (or very close to). I also do my 5km run around my suburb or a shorter 3.7km route, both of which I've measured out in my car. If you live my way you're welcome to join me...if you dare :-)

So thats it for me today. Cheers all til next time.

Magda

MY DEFINITION OF BLISS

Last night: new bedroom furniture all unpacked; lecky blanket back on our bed (havent used it since 2000) cranked up; I had the superb pleasure of getting into a warm bed AND it was raining outside. BLISS!!

But before I could do that I had quite a bit of moving stuff back into the bedroom and remaking the bed so I didnt do the cardio I had planned :-( So this morning there was no option but to get up at 5.10 AND JUST DO IT. 20 x 50m sprints; 5 x 100m sprints; 6 x 20 reps of GLEs; 2 x 15 reps of jump squats. It was actually quite a nice morning. Cold but not windy where I was training. Anyway I'm now geared up for the colder mornings. Long pants, long sleeved top with another sleeveless top underneath, gloves, hat.....lordy what a sight I must be.....but you know what...I dont give a you know what. When I'd finished my cardio session I felt just great. In fact I was bouncing around the house, full of beans and really annoying my WH who is NOT a morning person :-)

Yesterday I couldnt face drinking water. I have a bottle on my desk and every now and then I'd sip some but my consumption was seriously low (another side effect of colder weather). So I've decided to replace the water with herbal tea and today I've drunk heaps. I buy the Twinings teas which are a combination of fruits/flowers in a few different flavours and I fill my 400ml ginormous mug several times a day and just drink. Its wonderful (tasty, warm and calorie free - another definition of bliss) and its helping me get through the hungry and/or cold times.

So once again I'll cut my waffling there and put my nose back to the work grind-stone. Til tomorrow folks.

Magda

FEELING COLD AND HUNGRY

Today is the first noticeably cold day in Adelaide after a much cooler than usual weekend. For me cold weather + strict diet (eg low cals) = feeling cold + hungry all the time. The next 18 weeks will be no picnic. I have been really hungry this morning as my morning snack just isnt satisfying. I love my oats/porridge for breakfast and my veges with fish/chicken for lunch but in between needs a rethink.

When my alarm went off at 5.10 this morning the rain was pelting down outside and for the first time since December last year I didnt get up to do my cardio. Normally I would have done a ride on the exercise bike but we slept in our guest bedroom last night (which is next to the exercise room) as we have a new bedroom suite being delivered today. So in fairness to WH I wasnt going to make a racket on the bike while he was still trying to sleep. I will do cardio tonight to compensate.

Yesterday I did a big vege and atlantic salmon cook up and tonight I'm doing chicken so most of my lunches/dinners will be pre-prepared. Being this organised is sooooo critical to success. I know that if I had to cook every day I'd get sick of it quickly and if I had to buy my lunch...well heaven forbid...the way I was feeling today, I would have come out of the shop with a huge toasted foccacia and a bran muffin...yummo...but not exactly the sort of stuff thats going to get me in my best shape ever :-)

Its been a blessing to not be weight training this week. Its just given me a bit more flexibility with my cardio and freed up some time for other things. Yesterday we moved furniture and WH was very impressed with my strength. I reminded him that I was meant to be having the week off weights, but I was secretly glad to be of use for lifting the big heavy stuff.

Well its time to go as lunch draws to a close and work beckons again. Til tomorrow.

Magda

SORRY - NO PROGRESS PICS...

...I'm too technologically challenged. I have spent a good part of this afternoon selecting my "best" before photo (if there ever is one!!) and my best "here I am now photo" and posting them into my blog. What a mess!! They are saved side on and I dont know how to rotate them. They ended up in the wrong order too and the first time I actually got the wrong photo. I've had enough of trying to get it right. When I work out how to do it without all that messing around they'll be up here but right now I just dont want to face it any more.

So today was the first day that I woud normally weight train but I'm having this week off. My goodness I had an extra 60-90 minutes to myself today which was very wierd indeed. After a very late night at my best friend's jewellery party we all had a sleep in this morning, including BS who snuck into our bed at 5am :-) I did my cardio around 10am which was such a treat. Even when it started to drizzle I still thought I was lucky to be out doing my oval sprints at that time. I spent a good part of the day pottering around and tending to a range of domestic stuff that just never seems to end. Oh and I played snakes and ladders and indoor bowls with BS which were both a lot of fun.

I also did some fruit and vege shopping at a cheap market and the fridge is loaded with veges and a bit of fruit now. I felt so virtuous when everything was unloaded and I knew I had veges galore for the next 2 or 3 weeks.

Tonight I had dinner out with a friend who is having a baby in 6 weeks time. It was nice to catch up with her. I have stuck to my eating plan really well considering the meals/coffees out and I'm happy with that. I weighed again and was delighted that my weight was back down to what it was before last weekends blowout so although I didnt move forwards I also didnt go backwards which is a bonus in itself.

At the jewellery party last night I got tons of compliments on how good I'm looking and its very uplifting and motivating. Tonight my best friend said some really nice things too which was good to hear after I copped a bit of flack from her earlier. I've even been told that I'm inspiring some of my friends to examine what they are doing about their eating and exercise so I'm happy about that as well.

So on that happy, happy note I'm going to toddle off to bed and sign off til next time.

Cheers all

Magda

FRIDAY = HIGH DAY

Especially when I'm having the day off :-)

Today I have attended to some errands, done the grocery shopping, done 2 loads of washing, cardio + GLEs in the morning and taken BS to a play cafe as a bit of a treat for him after being dragged around doing the less-than-exciting stuff. Its been a good day. BS and I had lunch out and I chose a lamb salad that had a tzatziki dressing. It would have been superb if they'd just used less dressing. But I left the stodgy bits and in doing so I had a healthy meal. At GJs earlier the cakes looked mouthwateringly delicious but I resisted them and just enjoyed my skimmer cappuccino. All is good so far today.

Talking with Josh last night I got a bit of a rap over the knuckles for cramming my weight training into 3 consecutive days. I was expecting that though. But on the brighter side he's giving me next week off weight training as I've done 12+ weeks now and could use the break both physically and mentally. I'll keep up my cardio though as without that I'd feel like a total sloth. I wont be having the week off from my diet though :-)

I weighed and measured this morning and my prediction was correct. I'm a bit thicker around the middle and my weight is up .6kg but I know this will drop more over the next few days as my body gets rid of the rubbish it had to endure (yes I have a very slow system which doesnt help when you're trying to monitor your weight losses). The weighing result didnt upset me at all as my legs have either stayed the same (on the left side) or gone done a little (on the right) so all is good there too :-)

Well I'm toddling off as there are a few more chores to do before WH gets home and I'm out for the evening. Looking forward to doing progress pics tomorrow.

Cheers all

Magda

UP, UP AND AWAY

Finally I'm feeling better and more positive. I knew I would eventually as I'm normally a happy and positive person. I mean, why waste your life being miserable and unhappy?

Last night I did my gym leg session before my classes. At the start of the week I didnt think I'd manage this sesssion as it was going to be too close to the leg session I do at home but I was feeling good so I gave it a bash. I even chucked in 3 sets of GLEs (which I dont have to do on leg day). My step class was awesome. My energy levels were excellent. I left the gym feeling good. Lots of the members are commenting on my weight loss so I'm coming out about my comp goals and in doing so its making me even more determined to succeed!

After such a great cardio session last night I was looking forward to my morning cardio today. Here's what I did: A circuit of the following activities:
2 x 100m sprints/50m recovery jogs
2 x 50m sprints / 50m recovery jogs
15 x jump squats
20 x walking lunges
This circuit took me around 5 minutes and I repeated it 6 times. Yeeeeeouch!! But I did feel great when it was finished :-)

This weekend I must send Josh my updated weight stats to keep me accountable. My guess is I'm up a bit as I feel a bit thicker around the middle but I'll just have to accept this and keep working at working it off. Having said that I have the day off tomorrow but will need to stay strong and keep away from dirty food. Then in the evening I have a jewellery party at my best friend's house. She's already told me that the champagne will be flowing...but not down my throat. My plan is for a dry weekend.

Just one thing before I sign off. I'm keeping up with most of your blogs but I'm doing it quickly during my lunch breaks so I'm not leaving as many comments as I'd like. Sorry about this but as you all understand we juggle so much and this works best for me.

Cheers all

Magda

STILL NO LIGHT AT THE END OF THIS DARK TUNNEL

Firstly thanks again to the lovely comments left by my blogger friends and hi to Jaime who is a fellow Adelaidian also preparing to compete. I'm looking forward to keeping in touch and following both Jaime's and Stacy's progress. We Adelaidians must stick together, being the small group we are.

Well the title of my blog today best describes where I'm at. Last night was Chest / Shoulders / Tris. I have been struggling with a weight increase on my incline BB bench press for some weeks now so Josh took it out of my program (said I was probably over that exercise). Well last night I was DETERMINED to make the 10 reps at that weight so I gave it another go....only to fail at 7 reps AGAIN. BUGGER!!!! I was not impressed and my mood just worsened. I pushed on with my training but my frame of mind was negative the whole way through. Thanks to a new triceps program my arms felt like they would drop off by the time I finished. I could hardly lift my arms over my head to stretch out so all up I think it was a good session.

I was hoping to do some more cardio after my weights last night but it was quite late and I decided that getting a decent nights sleep was just as (if not more!!) important. So yesterday's cardio was just about non-existant. But this morning I geared up to run my 5kms and managed to shave a minute off my time. This lifted my mood a bit...every little bit helps right now.

Eating is going well so thats another plus I can take pride in. I had to do some food prep last night as I didnt do it on Sunday and had run out of veges. Another job to slot into a busy evening but I did it as I knew the alternative would be a trip to the local shops/cafes and my choice would not be a good one!!

After taking the weekend off my training has been full on:
Monday 5.30am: Sprint session + GLEs
Monday 7pm: Biceps/Abs/Legs + 20 mins moderate intensity cardio
Tuesday 6.15am: Back + 25 mins low intensity cardio (read that: waste of time!!) + 1/2 GLEs
Tuesday 8pm: Chest/Shoulders/Tris
Wednesday 5.30am: 5km run + GLEs
Cardio tonight in the form of my classes.
So as you can see I did 3 weights sessions in about 24 hours. Josh would flip if he knew. I still have a mini-leg session to do and will try to get that in before my classes tonight. No wonder I'm grumpy :-(

So on that note I'll take my grumpy self off back to work. Til tomorrow folks.

Cheers Magda

ACCEPTING LIFE'S UPS AND DOWNS

Today I'm acknowledging that I'm currently in one of life's down times after being on a fantastic high lately. This is normal and to be expected. Things will not always be rosy, fantastic, positive etc and we shouldnt expect them to be.

I'm ok with this. It will pass and I will feel great again. When I think back over all the weeks I've been preparing (since December last year) I can see this pattern happens and there is nothing I can do to change it. Its like the phases of the moon or the tides.

So last night I had to do my big weights session for Bis/Abs and Legs. I normally do this one on Saturday as its quite long and it took up all of my evening after dinner was eaten and (partially) digested :-) I wasnt in the best frame of mind but nailed a PB on the BB curls which improved my mood somewhat. Then WH and I had a less-than-positive exchange over an issue with BS and I almost just chucked it all in as I was a bit upset. Somehow I talked myself out of it and soldiered on and all was good after that. Then 20 minutes of cardio on my exercise bike and a late finish meant the evening was gone. I got my stuff ready for my gym session this morning, showered and went to bed.

In desperate need of a really good weights session this morning, I was disappointed again. The assisted chin machine wasnt gliding smoothly and I wasnt able to make the weights Josh had programmed. Even on more assistance I was struggling for 8 decent reps. Gym cardio: waste of time!!!! Hopped on the tready at 6.5kms/hr and 13 incline. Barely felt like I was working but didnt have a running bra on so that was out of the question. By now motivation is right down near 0 so I hop on the recumbent bike for an extra 10 minutes of barely working and then do 3 of my 6 sets of GLEs.

However I can report at least 1 positive thing and that is that my eating is good. I've sort of got myself into "just do what you have to do" mode right now and am surviving just doing the one step at a time thing. I went for a coffee with a friend from work today and proverbially drooled over all the cakes in the display counter. Then I started thinking about Friday when I have the day off and all the tempting things that I'll want to eat. God give me strength to ride this out and come out stronger (and leaner) at the other end.

Til I blog again,

Magda

MOVING FORWARD

After a pretty disastrous weekend, I'm now moving forward again. Bit sad that May wont be my best month yet as I had intended but what's done is done. Despite having the best intentions to get right back on track after my "relaxed" day on Friday, this didnt happen and I'm now paying the price with some serious bloat around the middle and pants that arent as loose as what they were a week ago.

This morning's cardio session was a pretty average effort. I just didnt have it in me to sprint even though I was trying....well not really. I was out there doing it but my performance was crap. I now have all my weights to do before Friday which sounds easy but isnt really considering my schedule is out of whack and I'm behind.

Sorry this is sounding a bit too much like "woe is me" so I'll wrap up the whinging right there. I cant change the past but I can do my best from here on.

So eats today are good. And it feels good to eat healthy clean food again instead of the crap I shovelled in over the last few days. I'm feeling better already. I will do my weights to the best of my ability even if I have to modify my program a bit (2 leg sessions just wont work in this time-frame).

From the Saturday just gone, I'm 19 weeks to my first comp. I've been thinking about the diet side of things quite a bit. I just wish Josh would tell me more about what to expect so I'm a bit better prepared mentally. Or maybe I know but I'm just blocking it out. The bottom line is that I want to really stick to my diet 100%, I just find it a bit scary to not have the option for a "small treat" if I want/need one. Does that make sense? I think I'm rambling a bit.

So I'll choof off as I'm not very literate today. Maybe tomorrow I'll be thinking a bit clearer.

Cheers all

Magda

THE LAST 2 DAYS...

...have been different. On Thursday I got to enjoy one of the main perks of my job. Before I went to live in Brissie 2+ years ago I managed a redevelopment project which took several years from its inception to the final construction which took place after I'd left. When I came back to Adelaide and my project management job, I was given that project to "watch over" for another few months. Well on Thursday I got to go to the official opening of the redevelopment. I had a lovely drive out to the country (26okms from Adelaide) delivering the plaque and opening curtain and then basically enjoying the rest of the day. Life is truly good on days like that.

Today I have "relaxed" my diet and training to help WH celebrate his last day at the black hole before he starts his new job next week. Yes I have been out to lunch and had salt and pepper squid with a couple of bubblies/wines. Dinner was pizza and more wine (I hope Josh isnt reading this!!!) and with all that happening I havent been too concerned with whats happening in between. I'll pay the price I know but I also know that I can and WILL get back on track.

With the day spent travelling for several hours yesterday I missed my extra training session that I was going to sneek in last night. Plus this morning's cardio was a 40 min walk which is almost a waste of time now as my pulse just doesnt get up there but it was better than doing nothing. Tomorrow I must focus my energies into some seriously clean eating again and some decent training to undo some of today's damage.

Thanks to the ladies who left comments on my blog this week. Stacy, I will be competing in the NABBA/WFF on Sep 22nd and the WNBF on Sep 30th. I hope I see you at one of the shows at least. INBA is too late this year as I will be holidaying in Queensland in October straight after the WNBF show. In fact there is a 99% chance that I'll be on the sunny coast and I would love to meet Di if I had the chance. Bev my WH is a little surprised by my dedication to this training and prep. Over lunch today he told me how impressed he was with my efforts and how he had gotten so used to me being motivated for a week or 2 and then chucking it all in. Yes I've come a long way but there is still a long (and potentially difficult) road to travel so I dont want to be too smug yet. Ali, I'm plugging away at it but there's still a lot of body fat to work off before I look even reasonable for the stage.

Having said that I will consider posting my progress pics now that I'm looking better. Mind you the starting pics are dreadful so it'll take a lot of guts for me to put them up. I'll see how I'm feeling when I compare the 2 sets.

Well its very late now so I'm going to bid all a good night and hit the sack. Celebrations over (til Mothers Day) and back into comp prep mode tomorrow.

Cheers Magda

....AND AGAIN

Haha!! Last night we've finished dinner and BS has been put to bed. WH says "I dont feel like training tonight". I think he was expecting me to talk him into it, to convince him to do it as he'd feel so much better afterwards. But instead I said "Ok I'll use the exercise room then" and ran off to get changed, leaving him reeling in disbelief.

I did another ride on the trusty exercise bike but my legs were really tired and didnt fire as well as they have for the other sessions recently. So I did 30 minutes which I was still quite happy with. I also watched a posing video given to me by Lorraine Paciullo last year when I was planning to compete in Brissie. I'm now going to start practicing the poses so I dont have hours of practice to squash in close to the comps.

This morning I did my gym session for back and legs. Alternating between the 2 muscle groups set for set made for a powerhouse workout which took 45 minutes. It was great. I love this gym session as its truly "me time". Tonight I have my classes and I hope I can fire up and deliver another 2 beauties. Nothing worse than a flat and tired instructor, pretending they're energized and full of life lol.

More and more of my clothes are starting to look and feel looser. The size 10 pants that I oroginally squeezed in to (they are a bit stretchy with good hold) are now loose. Not "falling down or hanging off me loose" but they no longer fit like a glove :-) I even have a pair of size 8 pants (once again must be generous sizing) that are now fitting. WH asked what I want for my birthday (its in July mind you) and I said "clothes that fit" with a laugh. Its all very exciting and motivating though.

Farewell for now all.

Magda

THE TRAINING ADDICT STRIKES AGAIN

Monday is my night to use the exercise room now that WH is also training. So even though I'm ahead with my weights sessions, I decided to hop on the exercise bike for extra cardio. I took my book with me and set myself a target of 30mins working at about level 7 to 7.5 / 10. At around the 27 minute mark I was at a really good part of the book so I psuhed on and did an impressive 40 minutes.

I felt so good when I finished that I actually found myself looking forward to my morning sprints today. As I was getting reday to take a shower I threw in a little posing practice and ... what's that I see???....are they really muscles there on my back and shoulders???? I was so excited I was nearly wetting myself :-)

I jazzed up my cardio this morning by doing the following circuit:
2 x 100m sprints/recovery jogs
2 x 50m sprints/50m recovery jogs
12 jump squats
Repeated this 4 times for a total of 19 minutes and then into 6 sets of my GLEs and jog the rest of the way home. 30 minutes of really solid effort (apart from the warm up jog of 3 minutes) at around 8/10.

Hmmm now can I weasel my way into the exercise room tonight? Its normally WH's night but he's having his farewell lunch today and I'm hoping he's just not up to training tonight :-)

Cheers all

Magda

TRAINING ADDICT

Picture this:

Last night: dinner is over and kitchen is cleaned up; lunches are made; washing all sorted; ironing done; beds made again after all sheets etc have been washed; everything up to date in my on-line training diary; BS put to bed....aaaah time to sit down with a cup of tea and watch the Logies.

So I do and I start thinking...I could do an extra training session. Hmmm I am a bit bored and it would be great to get ahead with my training. I honestly couldnt picture myself sitting on that couch until bedtime watching TV so I hit my exercise room and did my second training session of Chest/Shoulders/Tris. WH thought I'd lost the plot as I started after 8pm when I could have just taken it easy. It felt so good to get moving though. Now I am ahead of my schedule this week and it is a good feeling.

Cardio this morning was oval sprints. A bit boring so I'll have to jazz them up in future if I'm to keep my motivation up. I upped my sets on my GLES too. My choice to do an extra set. Hope Josh is impressed but then it doesnt really matter as I did it to benefit me and not to impress him. Now that I'm back at work its back to the usual routine of meals...all very saintly and boring...ooops...I mean necessary :-) No its ok. I mean a figure competitor has to do what a figure competitor has to do.

So on that note this figure competitior has to stop blogging during work (well lunch time to be exact) and get on with the job I'm being paid to do.

Take care all and cheers for today

Magda

FIGHTING THE MUNCHIES TODAY

Yes today I have battled with that little voice that tries to get me eating the wrong things or too much of the right thing or whatever else to throw me off track. Starting with BS's left-over breakfast which I did succumb to as the wholemeal french toast with a little bit of sugar free maple syrup just looked too good to leave. Luckily once I had some of it, he decided that he'd have more so the damage to me was minimal. BS is a life-saver!!

After the french toast episode I knew I didnt want my usual serve of oats so I had a small bowl of a not too bad cereal with a bit of lite soy milk and stopped there. I can recall many previous occassions where an episide like that would have led to a huge blow out binge but not today and so I feel like a winner for nipping that episode in the bud so quickly.

At lunch time I had to stop at my local shops to get my weekly chicken supply. All the way there I kept thinking how much I'd like something from Brumbys, or maybe a Whittakers chocolate peanut bar or ????? The taste buds were salivating. But I put it all out of my mind, grabbed my red onion and my chicken and went straight home to have a egg white omelette with salad.

The rest of the day was ok and I feel so good sitting here tonight knowing that what could have been a huge disaster was actually a big success.....There may just be hope for me yet :-)

Cheers all

Magda

MY 3 DAY WEEKEND

I was very lucky to have yesterday off. Firstly I slept in which I badly needed as I get really tired from lack of sleep during the week. Secondly it was morning cardio and as WH had already left for work, I was restricted to the trusty exercise bike. Then BS and I went to our local Westfield and did the grocery shopping, had lunch out and then spent some time at a play cafe as a bit of an extra treat. It was a great day.

Today we managed another sleep in so I'm feeling very lucky for this small miracle. In the afternoon I did the first of my 3 weekly training sessions (Bis/Legs/Abs) and nearly cried when I read that I had to superset the 2 hardest exercises on my program. OMG my quads were screaming!! But I pushed on and even followed up with 30 mins on the exercise bike at a pace better than I've done previously.

I have been absolutely over the moon with my drop in weight and cms over the last few weeks. I dont think I'll make my mini-goal of sub 60 by 14th May but I'm not disappointed at all as I've made it into the skinny jeans and am progressing well.

Tonight we all (BS, WH and I) headed out to dinner at a cafe before WH went out to watch the soccer. As I've done so well with my weight lately I decided that I would relax a little tonight and not just have an undressed warm chicken salad (god knows I've had plenty of them and will continue to have plenty more). So I had a small bruschetta and 3 slices a gourmet yiros pizza. Yummo!! No alcohol nor sweets and I wasnt even tempted to have them or to overeat on the pizza or anything else. This is a win for me as I often eat way too much when I'm out and the food is tastier ( and therefore more fattening) than usual.

Not sure what tomorrow will bring, other than my classes in the morning and I know what my meals will be. So on that note I will toddle off to bed so as not to waste the extra sleep I've been lucky enough to score.

Cheers all

Magda

THE FULL MOON WAS ON MY SIDE LAST NIGHT

Being a Cancerian, I'm very much ruled by the phases of the moon. One thing I can say without any doubt is that when there is full moon, I either feel really good or really bad. And I can swing like a pendulum between the 2.

So last night I got to the gym feeling very flat and unmotivated, dreading the 2 classes I had to do. I got straight into my GLEs and got them out the way early, despite one of the other Instructors pestering me to take some Entertainment Book vouchers which were due to expire soon. I kept saying no thanks but he didnt seem to understand those 2 simple words.

Anyway things just went from strength to strength and I managed 2 awesome classes with my energy level really soaring. It does help when the class is very well attended, the music is one of my fave CDs, the routine is going superbly...oh and lets not forget the full moon :-)

When I finished (on a real high I might add) I raced home and wolfed down my dinner of tuna, salad and flaxseed oil. I was so hungry, I couldnt eat it fast enough lol.

This morning I did sprints on my street run. No set times or distances as I just set myself little milestones along the way and this relieved the boredom of doing the usual oval sprints. Then it was GLEs again (which I'm getting very used to now) and another great cardio/GLE session nailed. I feel so good when its done, even though its hard getting up that early now that winter is approaching.

Its lunch time as I write this at my desk. I've just finished my veges (celery/cauliflower) cooked in a little vegetable stock, sprinkled with coriander, with added chook breast and flaxseed oil. It was very tasty. Across from my desk I've been watching one of my colleagues eating his lunch of a pie and a chocolate sprinkle donut. Oh and he's built like a string bean and is seriously into cycling. Each to their own I guess!

I have the day off tomorrow...YIPPEEE!!!! BS and I will do the grocery shopping, have a biscuit (him) and a coffee(me) at GJs, lunch out at a cafe (chicken salad for me) and then mosy on home and make something nice for WH's dinner. And with all that done, the scene is set for a nice relaxing weekend....I hope.

Cheers all

Magda

SMALL STEPS

Day 2 of May and I'm moving forward with small steps.

Last night I watched the finale of DWTS and I now have my Tuesday nights back. Yes I'm a hopeless addict and have geared my training around this sad fact. In fact WH and I now have a schedule as to who trains when and I am bound to those times. In the lead up to him starting his new job, he has jumped on the fitness bandwagon and is both weight training and getting out for some morning cardio :-) ......for the time being!!

My schedule has differed a bit this week as I've added a gym session at a different gym and I did that Monday morning. So the weights session I usually do Monday night got changed to cardio instead and I still had to fit my Chest/Shoulders/Tris session in. So I got up earlier than usual and did it this morning. I wasnt totally happy with it as I find that my strength is not as good early in the morning. I couldnt manage the weight increases that Josh programmed for the required reps but gave it my best nevertheless. I will nail it next week when I do the same session in the evening!!

I have been getting really hungry. (I think I've said this before so I better learn to deal with it). As the weather gets cooler everybody in my office brings in the most delicious smelling hot foods and lunch time can be quite torturous. Having said that, my lunch is always delicious and I really enjoy it but there is always this little twinge of ....hm mm that smells good, I wish I was having (insert name of something delectable and very fattening). But then I look at the people eating that stuff and give thanks for the opportunity I have to achieve something really important to me.

Tonight I have my classes followed by my GLEs which arent nearly so bad any more. I hope my energy levels are good as it really makes the time go very quickly and enjoyably (is that a word??) Anyway, teaching step and an aerobic style class back to back is still one of my most enjoyable cardio sessions. Give me a room full of people, a microphone and some, loud motivating music and I'm in my element.

Slowly more and more people are finding out about my preparation for the figure comp this year and this also spurs me on. I mean, how would it look if I was to have a sausage roll and a chocolate donut for lunch and then tell people I'm training for a body building competition :-) I couldnt live with the embarassment. So on that note I will sign off knowing I'm committed to the fitness lifestyle and embracing the journey ahead.

Cheers all

Magda

MAKING MAY MY BEST MONTH YET

I love the first day of any month. Its like a mini new-beginning. An opportunity to put mistakes, sins, bad decisions behind you and look forward with a positive and focussed mind-set. Its a good time to define some short term goals and finetune your processes to achieve those goals.

I dont like to dwell on the past although thats easier said than done. There is no point in lamenting what we did badly, what we should have done but didnt, what we didnt quite achieve. However if we apply what we learn from our previous mistakes, we better our chances of future success. Again, easier said than done but well worth aspiring to.

So, May is here. 31 days. 31 cardio sessions, 13 weight training sessions, posing practice and living the figure competitor lifestyle. I want this to be my best month yet. Really good nutrition. Giving 100% to my weight training. Cardioing with intensity. Dust off my posing practice video and start practicing. Staying mentally focussed on my goals and where I want to be in 5 months time.

I'm 1/2 way through my journey. The road is getting a little steeper but I like that. And when the going gets really tough, as I'm sure it will, I will remind myself that conquering those challenges will just make the victory even sweeter.

Let me know if you too intend making May your best month yet.

Cheers

Magda