9 WEEKS OUT- Kelowna Western Canadians

Hello All

Past Saturday marked 9 weeks out from my first competition. Kelowna Western Canadians will be held on May 19th, 2012 and the decision to compete came not long ago for me. I was contemplating about competing for sometime and with Andrew taking the leap to compete first I have to say I didn't want to feel left out from this journey he was going on. Everyone always says but "You have to do it for yourself" Ya ok..... I totally call that B.S......How often do we do anything for ourselves? Exactly....Never or Very Rarely!!! He was my initial motivation to make the decision and he continues to be my little push to get my butt out of bed to do my cardio at 6 am. Not easy and I wouldn't exactly call it doing it for myself...lol

Yes the decision had to be mine and so did the commitment but there is more to it...

After the initial excitement wore off that "Yay" I am going to compete in a bikini competition at the age of 36 the reality kicked in that this is hard work and a bit extreme for an average girl who has been skinny fat most of her life but I have to say one thing this experience has taught me is to be disciplined and focused on my goals and not just in fitness. Life period!!!!

Work and family have been a challenge to balance with the double workouts and even before contest prep started, heading to the gym 5-6 days a week was tough to squeeze in. Meal planning, house chores, family time...Social life...? Wait.... What social life? Thank God for great girlfriends who understand this madness.

My best friend Marie has now been helping me with my posing....Seriously is this how we spend our Friday night Girls Nights? Her having a glass of wine and me trying to figure out my posing transitions....lol

We laugh together...so far I haven't had a food craving breakdown...just a little hungry....well shit maybe a lot but I am in it to win it....ha ha.... (Thanks Randy Jackson for the famous quote) every time I say it I hear his voice :)

Getting back to.........

Results and Food

Results since starting my Fit Life Journey came quickly. I started training with Leigh Brandt-Canada's First IFBB Bikini Pro and co-owner of BodybyBrandt.com in August 2011 and with strict meal plan in hand and a focused approach to my workouts and a month later BOOM!....I found myself walking through the isles of Olympia Expo held last weekend of September in Las Vegas each year....

That happened totally by accident. Andrew had a work conference in Vegas and we had planned to extend the trip for some R&R....and it was my best friends B-Day so we decided to go together to celebrate her day. With Marie and her boyfriend Matt (follow Marie @missymariek and Matt @DoubleLDoubleT on Twitter ) and another couple joining us for some good times we knew the trip would be a blast and with our trainers attending the show as well we decided to go to the Expo and check it out. It felt a bit surreal I must say....and Crazy!

Here's a fun pic on one of those backdrops for a magazine....FUN!
We had such a great time and my love for fitness grew stronger from that day!

When we came back from Vegas I took a few weeks off from training and in late November started training 3 days a week with a Leigh and 3 days on my own with Andrew.
I have been pushing hard since then while tightening my meal plan to figure out what works for my body and what doesn't the results have been slow but steady! I am happy with the progress and a little amazed how far I have come.

I will write about food on another day but I can say one thing that is true and that I live by now:

"ABS are made in the KITCHEN"

Mine are there and that speaks volumes to say the least as I love food and saying NO is hard at times.

Till next time......

Thank you for reading


Grace :)