Tuesday 23 November 2010

Product Review - Multipower D-Fine Protein shake

Good evening!

Well, it's been a while since I did one of these but then equally it's been a while since I had any new exciting products to delight in!

Not that Multipower's products are new to the market - just to me... and how is it I'd not heard of them before considering they're Europe's No.1 Sportsfood company?!

By way of a quick bit of background, from what I can gather Multipower are a very long-established European company who are really stepping up their game here in the UK and starting to make more of a name for themselves amongst serious athletes and every day sportspeople too.

They are a multi-sports food company which is perfect for me (bodybuilding, boxercise, rowing and running being just a few of my passions) and my other half who is a cyclist and likes to compete in daft gruelling endurance events!

Amongst many others, Multipower sponsor the very talented young British triathlete, and Olympic hopeful, Will Clarke.

They also sponsor a premiership football club, ten times World Champion Kickboxer Michael Page, England rugby star Mark Cueto and also in fact a whole rugby team to boot as they are Official Sports Nutrition Supplier to France's RC Toulon where none other than the great Jonny Wilkinson plays, ahhh Jonny :-)

Actually, on the Toulon tip, if you see the latest copy of Men's Fitness magazine (January 2011), there's a really good article about the club featuring Jonny... can I squeeze another "ahhh Jonny..." in there again?

Ooops, think I just did ;-)

Anyway, onto the product review!

Over the past few months I've been ordering samples off various sites and trying to find something that tastes as good as it sounds. I have high standards, my needs are quite specific and I know what I'm after - around 100 Calories, 20-25g protein per serving (I don't need any more than that in a single hit right now!) and a low carbohydrate content as I like to get my carbs from my vegetables and grains!

Most importantly though is that it can't taste like crap. End of story. I've tasted some shakes that are either straight-up rank, or that start off promising but fade out to a synthetic after-taste, or that you'd need to use half the recommended water intake just to get a bit of taste!

Fortunately, Multipower's D-Fine (109Cals/25g protein/2g carbs per 30g serving) has cracked it on the taste front.... well, the flavour I tried has anyway, I can't speak for the others but if they're anything near as yummy as the chocolate-banana flavour then we're onto a winner here!



This shake's flavour manages to achieve the seemingly - and before now previously unattainable - quality of actually *tasting* like its flavour. I kid you not, D-Fine in chocolate banana actually tastes like you're biting into a banana (that has been rather naughtily dipped in chocolate milk! ;-) )

Multipower recommend you mix 250mls with 30g powder... which, it says on the instructions (once I've finally located the English ones!) is equivalent to 3 level tablespoonfuls... err, what? 'Tablespoonfuls'?! Where's the flippin scoop?!

Not happy (told you I had high standards!), luckily I have a few left over from other protein shake tubs... seriously though, as annoying as it is to play "hunt for the scoop" (which has settled during transit to the very depths of the tub and the search for which results in your managing to come away with half of the contents under your fingernails once you finally emerge triumphant - scoop in powder-covered hand!), I still actually relish the challenge and it does make measuring out the powder a whole lot easier.

PLEASE, Multipower - include a scoop!

So that's issue #1... issue #2 is more of a warning to those of us who, in order to get the powder and water to blend, are used to having to simulate some sort of washing machine action in our shakers by vigorously shaking it with both speed and power.

Don't do that.

The powder actually blends really quickly and you'll just end up with this:



If are also used to less-easily-blend-able shakes and accidentally develop a sudden case of 'washing machine arm' or 'spin cycle wrist', then fear not dear reader, as decanting the lovely elixir into an attractive plastic cup like so:



... will soon sort this problem out ;-)

Anyway, here is the full macro breakdown for anyone interested:

Nutrition Information per 30g serving (mixed with water)
Energy 461kJ/109kcal
Protein 25g
Carbs 2g
of which sugars 0.8g
Fat 0.3g
of which saturated fatty acids <0.1g
Fibre <0.1g
Sodium 0.07g

And that concludes this review (mainly because it is now stupid-o'clock and I need some shut-eye!).

Conversely I've tried out a couple of other Multipower (http://www.multipoweruk.com/) products which I'll be sure to tell you all about soon - once I've caught up on some sleep!

Hope you're all keeping well, stay strong and we'll catch up soon!

TJx

Friday 19 November 2010

UKBFF Stars of Tomorrow 2010 Contest post-mortem

Well hello there lovely people!




Well, after working my arse off for weeks and sticking strictly (and antisocially I might add!) to my diet, I pretty much totally screwed things up on Sunday!

Before I relay my tale of disaster and woe, I'd like just take a moment and say a huge THANK YOU for the lovely messages on twitter and facebook. Essentially I was whinging and feeling mightily sorry for myself at not doing as well as I hoped. But, equally, I was also truly gutted and to say that I was totally overwhelmed and touched by the support I received would be a massive understatement so thank you all - I really appreciated it :-) x

What never fails to astonish and delight me is how supportive people in the fitness industry are of each other. I'm guessing this is because we all acknowledge how hard each and every one of us works to achieve our results.

Training for aesthetics is very different to just training for general health and fitness. Yes, genetics plays a part in your shape, appearance and how easily you can gain muscle and lose fat; but for 99% of us we have to train bloody hard and invest a lot of time and energy into devising and executing specific and effective training and nutrition plans.

As you can imagine, it's all very time consuming. Muscle ache is uncomfortable and often painful, and dieting isn't really all that much fun, especially given that you have to put as much thought into *when* you eat as you do *what* you eat! But ultimately you get out what put in and nothing beats the sense of achievement you feel when witnessing first hand the transformation of your physique into something you've created yourself.

It's a fabulous feeling, truly unbeatable really, and worth every ounce of effort you expend in order to achieve it :-)

Anyway, this post was meant to be a competition de-brief so on with the autopsy!

Saturday 13th November

Saturday I spent frantically trying to finish off a bikini I'd started the week before the comp.

I'd got it into my head that given how little time I'd allowed myself to get into shape for this competition, I probably wouldn't lose all the weight I hoped and therefore if I turned up in a fabulous bikini it might help if I didn't look as great as the other girls on stage.

So I ordered some gorgeous material:



...and set about creating my own design! I had an idea in my mind as to how it would look and it ended up pretty close, just without the stones across the top hem and also the rings at the side of the pants I'd envisaged... I ended up having to go with string ties as I ran out of time :-(

Anyway, here it is:



What do you think?! I was very pleased with how it looked, particularly as I've never made anything before in my life!

I would add however that I did actually just sew the material *over* another bikini, I don't think I'd be skilled enough to create a bikini from scratch, although it did take an eternity for me to arrange the fabric over the bikini cups so the pattern ran the way I wanted and I had to sew an additional panel onto the front of the bikini bottoms as they were sooo low it was almost indecent!!

Now, what should a girl really be doing the night before an important competition? Resting... yes, that's what she should be doing!

Not me though, you see ages ago, Joe had bought us tickets to see the Goo Goo Dolls whom I absolutely adore for their amazing album Dizzy Up the Girl. If you've not heard this album then I implore you to purchase a copy as it is truly a work of art and also on of my favourite of all time... in fact it *would* be my favourite were it not for albums like Muse - Showbiz, Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms and The Best of Billy Joel... guilty pleasures eh? ;-)

So yes, instead of resting and getting an early night, Tara was at the Brixton Academy in raptures watching one of her favourite bands perform to a captivatingly euphoric high standard... the atmosphere was electric, the crowd oozed adulation from every pore, it really was a fabulous night.

Joe and I had had a couple of drinks while we were out and then decided to apply my stage tan when we got in... hmmm, probably not the best idea!

I'd not used Jan Tana Ultra 1 before, but had heard good things and seen pictures of girls looking fabulously tanned. For the FAME UK competition back in May, Joe and I had stood in our spare room while he sprayed me with Pro Tan - very messy indeed! It gave a nice even colour but I did have to top up with Dream Tan which is even more messy as it's basically liquid makeup so got *everywhere*!!

I knew I wouldn't be allowed that again though so though I'd give the Jan Tana a go. Plus... Chady Dunmore uses Jan Tana so if it's good enough for her...!

It went on easily enough but the problem was that we did it in our living room (matron!) where our light fittings aren't working properly (don't get me started...!) so we were relying on a standing lamp that didn't really do much to illuminate the room - or me for that matter...

Sunday 14th November -

...and when I woke up the next day (feeling somewhat groggy I might add!) I was horrified to discover that my tan was massively streaky and a lot darker in some places than others!

Also, and what was worse, whenever my skin came into contact with water, the slightest droplet would create a puddle effect - eek!

Initially I'd decided to put the tan on at night, wake up in the morning, rinse off the residue and was my hair as it needed doing as I'd not cleaned it since Friday when I had it cut. I would then reapply another coat and be done.

When I realised I couldn't get wet this changed things somewhat and resulted in disaster #2 - greasy lank hair - arghh!

As we were running short on time we decided to take the tanning products with us and head over to the venue where we could reapply it and patch up the mess.

Shortly after we set off I realised - disaster #3 - I didn't have any false eyelashes so we had to make a detour via Boots which made us even later!

Although we'd anticipated it not taking much more than 45 minutes to drive, it actually took a *hell* of a lot longer which brings us to disaster #4 as we got stuck in traffic and I almost wasn't allowed to compete! Adding to this stress and introducing us to disaster #5 was the fact that tickets to the show had sold out, and, as we'd not anticipated how popular this event would be, Joe didn't get to sit in the audience with his super duper camera and take pictures - or even cheer for me for that matter! :-(

Anyway, we got backstage and I got into my bikini and set about fixing up my makeup and getting ready to touch up my tan when disaster #6 reared its evil ugly head as I came to the sickening realisation that I didn't have the tan with me... I'd gotten it all ready and in its little carry bag and then left it on the side in the kitchen - arghh! :'-(

We tried touching up with makeup but that didn't help so I ran pleading into the girls' changing rooms where one of the competitors, Laura (who later went on to win the contest - good karma eh :-) ?!) was kind enough to lend me some of her 'show off' tan... I think it's a Jan Tana product too... anyway, what an angel, thank you so so so so much, I'd not have been able to get on stage otherwise as there were white blotches everywhere!!

So, tan patched up as best we could, bottle returned by a perhaps overly effusive grateful Tara (but I was seriously so relieved!), make up finished, lashes in place and all set to go I teetered in my heels to join the other girls.

It was then I realised there were only four of us... which meant that one of us would be disappointed. It hadn't occurred to me that that might be me but my second thought upon joining the other lovely ladies was "shit, they're all a lot leaner than I am!".

Then nerves *really* started to kick in then. Luckily there was a lovely lady backstage called Frankie Boers (who also competes, is gorgeous and has an amazing physique!) who was encouraging us to smile and kick ass so that helped. Also, the other girls were really friendly and cheerful so the atmosphere was great, added to this was the pleasure of meeting my twitter pal, the fabulous @PeteTheFreak! :-)

Frankie also gave us tips on walking - which I really wished I'd practiced more of - but with my ankle injury, wearing heels just doesn't happen very often... it can't - it's too painful!

Disaster #7 occurred within a few seconds of my entrance when I wobbled strode onto the stage of the packed out theatre and completely forgot *everything* that the lovely Wanda Tierney from the UKBFF had meticulously and explicitly told us about what was expected once we were on stage... in fact, disaster #7 just continued to increase exponentially all the time I was on stage!

Firstly, the minute I stepped onto the the stage my legs somehow forgot that there were bones holding them up and instead turned to jelly. Next I forgot that when I walked to the back initially for the start of my 'T-walk' I was meant to perform a front stance followed by a back stance - I just did a front stance - I walked too quickly, held my poses for far too short a space of time and my lips were trembling soo much that I'm not quite sure if I looked like I was smiling or grimacing in pain!!

Next came the comparisons and for some unknown reason my ears and my brain decided to have a massive falling out. I'm not sure what exactly my brain had done wrong but my ears refused to correctly relay the information they were receiving from the judges. I *knew* I was number 66, I had a very large badge to this effect pinned to my bikini which I had looked at many times. And yet still, when the judges called an entirely different number - I think it was 8! - my legs took me over to where they'd moved from!

It wouldn't be so bad if a) I wasn't the *only* one who did this and b) it was an isolated incident. However, I think I incorrectly attempted to swap places about 3 times AND to make matters worse I walked completely the wrong way at one point!

What a numpty eh?

So, after what felt like an eternity of nerves and cock-ups resulting in bikini bottoms feeling like they were riding right up my bum and my heart attempting to leap out of my chest, we were dismissed off the stage while the judges deliberated.

Backstage again my nerves abated, but this only made way for the annoyance at my screwing up to kick in - big time!

We were called back on stage (somebody in the audience actually called out my number too while we were walking out - thank you... you made my day!) and I did my best to put on a nerve-defeating smile as we were presented with fantastic fabulous medals. Well-done to the UKBFF in that respect, it was a clear symbol of the fact that they believe everyone brave enough to compete on stage deserves recognition :-)

Next they announced the top three in reverse order... "In third place... Danielle Pincus!" at this juncture I'd like to point out that I did actually (rather foolishly I now realise) hold out hope that mine might be the next name read out, but alas it wasn't to be and when the judges read out "Nikki Jenkins" I knew then that it was all over, hope was extinguished, and I realised was going to leave disappointed :-(

I did attempt to leave the stage after the trophies were handed out to allow the winners to be photographed, but was told to stand where I was while photos were taken...

I must admit that this was rather tough on the soul as it was a case of "...and here's what you could have won!" as the three other girls stood with their fabulous trophies proudly on display (from left to right: Nikki, Laura, Danielle & me):



I did smile and put on a brave face though, so hopefully I didn't ruin the picture for the rest of them, but inside I felt like the bottom had fallen out of my world, pathetic eh?! I waited afterwards backstage to congratulate the girls and then went back to the dressing room and had a bit of a sob...

I was - and in fact still am - quite taken aback by how upset not placing made me! I know that when you enter contests like this you're setting yourself up for criticism and a possible fall, and I never expected to win. But I did believe I should have placed, and my training was geared towards my own interpretation of winning. I wouldn't have worked as hard as I did if I believed there was not a chance in hell that I might come away with something, what would be the point in that, you don't *train* for fourth place!

I guess that in my mission to escape the perils of mediocrity I'm working towards a winning mentality and, as the saying goes "if you want to be a winner then you have to hate losing".

And I really really hated losing on Sunday - ha!! After all, it's hard enough to miss out on top three but it's even harder when there are only four of you that have entered!

Anyway, I may be a disappointed loser but I'm definitely not a sore loser and the other girls clearly worked their asses off too and their victories were well deserved.

It just means that I've learned a few valuable lessons and that I need to continue working *my* ass off in order to improve on the gains I've made so far. After all, on-stage and pre-comp cock-ups aside, I was still a lot less lean than my competitors and I know that counted against me. I also know that this is something I can change and I fully intend to do so!

The final disaster of the day (what are we - up to 8 now?!) was the journey back home after the competition.

Initially, I has been super happy to learn that the football club I still fondly follow - Sunderland AFC (despite it being years since I split from the boyfriend whose team it was!) - had beaten the Premiership leaders Chelsea by 3 goals to nil! My joy was short lived however as we were caught in the aftermath of this game's match traffic.

I lived in Chelsea for over 10 years so I know the area really well and thought I could get us out of it by taking a few side streets... unfortunately a) everyone else had the same idea and b) although I know the streets well enough to walk and cycle round, driving a car is different as almost all the streets are one-way!!

The journey was just a complete nightmare and took more than twice as long as it should have - at one point it took us over an hour to go less than a mile!

Add to this that I was still feeling pretty down, which was compounded by the fact that Joe's not great in stressful situations involving small spaces, and you end up with pretty much the worst car journey I've ever had! It really effectively and appropriately rounded off a thoroughly miserable day.

The *only* ray of light being the lovely facebook and twitter messages I received so thank you all again so much for keeping me (reasonably) sane!

Anyway, that's a chapter of my life which is complete and all I can do is move on and learn from it so... what next for Tara?

Well, first of all here are a few more pics from the competition:






I'm actually really thrilled with how I look, I certainly didn't look like that a few weeks back!!

These pictures cheered me up a hell of a lot and now I feel a lot more positive about the whole experience :-)

And now, what's next for Tara Stevens?

Well, I'm hoping to do another update soon where I can give you more detail about comps etc, but in brief I've launched back into training with a vengeance and my mission is to shift as much weight as possible (without sacrificing too much muscle) between now and January when I have my ankle operation and am literally off my feet for weeks. This is going to be super tough given how active I am at present but hopefully my relatively high level of fitness will help with my recovery :-)

January and February will be spent building muscle (and inevitably bulk) and then from March onwards I hope to be leaning down and looking to compete again!

This is the game plan and obviously it's all subject to change - I'm still not sure whether I want to stick with Bikini or work towards Figure but I'm going to make that decision once I've seen what my body is capable of, it's still very early days and I've only really spent about 3 months of this entire year in total concentrating hard on my physique. What I've learnt is that I'm enjoying all the challenges I encounter and the diet and training actually suit me really well. I love how good clean eating makes me feel and look and witnessing new muscle definition is truly joyous to me. I'd encourage *anyone* who wants to change their body shape to pick up some dumbbells and embrace the fact that Strong is definitely the new Skinny!

Be back soon with more progress pics and news, as well as some reviews for exciting new products that I've been trying out lately.

In the meantime, stay strong,

TJx

Tuesday 9 November 2010

Competition countdown - 5 days to go!

Well hello there!

See, I told you I wouldn't abandon you again (at least not just yet! ;-) )

Weight

Well, I'm 5 days away from the UKBFF Stars of Tomorrow 2010 competition and I'm starting to get rather excited.

This is mainly due to my phenomenal weight loss over the last couple of weeks which I can only attribute to help from the fabulous guidance from the gorgeous and talented Vikkie Krzyzanowski. If you've not visited http://bikinifitness.co.uk/ yet you really need to get yourself over there!

Basically, 2 weeks ago I was feeling pretty fed up and bordering on desperate. Although I was losing weight, it was fluctuating so much that anything I lost was going back on, my weight graph was a total zig-zag!

As well as logging my weight training and cardio routines on my iFitness app, I've also been logging my weight on so to give you an idea, here's my weigh-ins (not regular) from 9th to 27th October:

09/10/2010 - 150.0lbs (67.5kg)
13/14/2010 - 148.8lbs (67.0kg)
15/10/2010 - 148.6lbs (67.4kg)
16/10/2010 - 146.8lbs (66.6kg)
18/10/2010 - 148.6lbs (67.1kg)
19/10/2010 - 148.0lbs (67.1kg)
20/10/2010 - 147.2lbs (66.8kg)
24/10/2010 - 146.6lbs (66.5kg)
25/10/2010 - 147.4lbs (66.9kg)
27/10/2010 - 148.6lbs (67.4kg)

I was so demotivated and when Vikkie emailed to ask how my competition prep was going, I expressed my sheer frustration and concern at not being able to drop enough pounds before the show!

So she took some details from me and put together a special bespoke diet plan for me which included how meal ingredients, properties (amounts of protein, fat, calories etc), frequency and quantity too - what a star!

To say that this diet plan had a dramatic effect on my weight loss would be somewhat of an understatement.

I think the figures speak for themselves:

29/10/2010 - 148.0lbs (67.1kg)
30/10/2010 - 147.2lbs (66.8kg)
31/10/2010 - 146.2lbs (66.3kg)
02/11/2010 - 147.2lbs (66.8kg)
04/11/2010 - 145.8lbs (66.1kg)
06/11/2010 - 144.6lbs (65.6kg)
07/11/2010 - 144.0lbs (65.3kg)
09/11/2010 - 143.6lbs (65.1kg)

Although this might not seem a great deal of weight lost, you need to appreciate that my weight has fluctuated between 146lbs and 150lbs for the past year now, at one point even going up to 153lbs which scared me somewhat! I think my lowest weight was around 145/6lbs when I did the Dukan Diet for a couple of weeks before realising that if I kept it up I might lose my health as well as my mind!

Also please bear in mind that I've managed to achieve this weight loss while still eating around 13,000 + Calories a day comprised of at least 6 small meals... I'm basically eating every 2 hours and finding that it really suits me and has helped to shrink my stomach too :-) I won't give away *too* much info on the diet as it has been specifically tailored for my needs so if you want one of your own you'd have to contact Vikki yourself :-)

Progress

So, here's me on Saturday. I thought I should practice some poses for the contest. Unfortunately I find this difficult as I have an ankle injury - an Osteochondral Defect which is due surgery and the position of which means that when I put my foot into certain position - e.g. when wearing high heels - it 'catches' and hurts like hell!!

I was due to have this operated on 2 days after my competition but the stress caused by mountains of work and the fact that we're *still* having building work carried out in our bedroom, meant that I just would not be able to convalesce in peace - I've been told I need around 2 weeks of total rest with my ankle elevated at all times! I think I also get crutches and a funny shoe to wear - cute! ;-)

So now my operation is in January which is good as I get Christmas out of the way without having to work round a healing fragile ankle and that is just as well as we're having *both* sets of parents, plus Joe's older brother, round for the whole Christmas period! It's a good job we've got four bedrooms or I don't think we'd get everyone in!

Anyway, I've gone a bit off track again so here's the pic I took on my rubbish phone while commandeering my son's bedroom as he was out at drama school. If anyone has teenage children you will appreciate what an unpleasant experience this was for me but I managed to crop most of the rubbish and junk out of the picture (I think!) and this was even after cleaning up the room a bit so I could walk to the full length mirrors without falling to my death on the array of junk that was strewn across the entire length of the room!!



I'm quite pleased with how I look in this pic. Obviously I've still got a long way to go with leaning out my legs but these are my 'problem area' as I'm classically pear shaped... I find it incredibly difficult to lose weight on my legs or butt, the latter I'm not as concerned about because it has such a nice shape but I'd love it if my legs were slimmer - especially near the top.

Anyway, I'm very pleased with my stomach right now as I've been doing a tonne of sit-ups, which I deplore!! I think working my abs is my least favourite thing, it just feels too much like hard work! ;-)

Training

Here's what I've been up to over the last couple of days

Saturday 6th October
I didn't get a chance to train so it was an enforced rest day that my body was probably quite glad of! I went out in the evening for a friend's birthday drinks and managed to stay off the booze and just drink diet coke and sparkling water. This was rather difficult given how merry everyone else was but I still had a great time and a bit of a boogie too. I can't hand on heart say I wouldn't have a had a *better* time had I drunk alcohol though ;-)

Sunday 7th October
I was meant to train for longer on Sunday but I literally ran out of time as was busy throughout the day so I thought I'd catch my old gym before it shut at 9pm.

So I ran from our new place to the old gym and blasted out a super speedy leg session before running back.

Run - 2.9km - 15 mins
Leg Extension - 35kg - 3 x 10 reps
Leg Curl - 35kg - 3 x 10 reps
Leg Press - 80kg - 3 x 10 reps
Run - 2.9km - 16 mins

Monday 8th October
As I'm so close to my competition, Vikkie has advised me to drop the weight and up the reps which is reflected below as I usually do a lot less with more weight:


Spin Class - 45 mins
Bent over dumbbell rows - 10kg - 4 x 15 reps
Bent over reverse dumbbell flye - 4kg - 4 x 15 reps
Lat pulldown - 35kg - 4 x 15 reps
Low row - 35kg/30kg - 1/3 x 12/15 reps


Tuesday 9th October

Boxercise! :-D

I love Tuesdays for this reason!

I felt weak to start but my increased fitness levels started to kick in and I managed to complete the class without dying, which is always nice ;-)


Contest Prep


Bikini


I'm attempting to make a bikini... well, two, in time for the show, but I'm trying to be realistic and I do have a back-up in the form of the one in the picture which is the one I wore for FAME... it's about 10 years old, lol! But I do love it :-)


Tanning

I've bought some Jan Tana Ultra 1 which is a new Jan Tana produce and is apparently the darkest

Posing

Definitely need to work on that so will have to brave the painful heels between now and Sunday!

Diet & Nutrition

As until recently I hadn't trained much since May this year I had quite a lot of surplus Maximusle Promax protein powder to use up and, instead of doing my usual and just order a load more I thought I'd branch out and try a few other brands so have been ordering sample sachets from various places.

I really love USN's Pure Protein, the pistachio is nice and the strawberry is so close to a regular milkshake it's unreal. There is a slight synthetic after-taste I find but that might just be me as my sense of smell and taste-buds are super-sensitive.

Vikkie recommended I finish the day with a protein shake containing Casein so I have been drinking MyProtein's 'Milk Protein Smooth' in chocolate smooth flavour which is definitely an acquired taste! The powder is also really messy and what I thought was a great idea - having it in pouches - is actually a pain because of the consistency of the powder - it goes *everywhere*!!

However, it's really great stuff, it doesn't taste bad, just different to regular whey, and I must say I feel like I've slept better and woken up more refreshed every time I've taken it before bed. No dodgy stomach side-effects too which is always nice!

I also really like MyProtein's Impact Whey protein in Strawberry Cream flavour. I wasn't too keen on many of the others, particularly raspberry - which is a shame as it's my favourite fruit!

After the competition on Sunday I'm going to take a week off to let my body recover from the intense training and I plan to schedule a couple of cheat meals too!! ;-)

After that I'm going to get straight back on it as the diet I've been on has really suited me in terms of the type and quantity of the food and the results I've achieved.

I'm planning to up my carbohydrate content a little though and aim for a more gradual weight loss to take me up to January when I will have to scale back my food because my activity levels will drop significantly - to zero for a few weeks at least - once I have my operation!

So I'm going to need a protein powder that supports my weighloss goals and also helps me preserve my muscle and I've found a brand I've not tried before: Multipower.

Multipower are a little like Maximuslce in that they offer a vast assortment of sports foods for bodybuilders, regular exercisers/gym goers and endurance athletes alike.

I've particularly got my eye on a shake Multipower do called which has 25g protein per serving but only 109 Calories and 2g of carbs. This is perfect for me as I plan to continue getting my carbs from my food as I don't really like to drink them!

I'm also keen to stock up with protein bars and Multipower also do a delicious looking and sounding protein bar with 9g of protein but only 112 Calories per bar. It's called a Carnitine Bar, which isn't the most glamorous of names, but hey, if it tastes good I'm not really fussed, especially as these flavours all sound divine... Chocolate-Crisp, Strawberry-Yogurt, Vanilla-Crisp (which has a white chocolate coating - my favourite!).

I really hope they taste good and I don't end up with a box of disappointment like with Optimum Nutrition's Optimal Protein Diet Bar in peanut butter flavour, I have 13 of these left that I cannot bring myself to eat... the first taste is find but the aftertaste is just horrid!

I'd also really like to try Multipower's RTD 'Fitness Shake' as there's only 13g carbs but a massive 25g protein per shake... plus no mixing for lazy short-on-time people like me! :-)

Anyway, I need to head off now and have dinner and work on my bikini design :-)

More shortly, hope you're all well

TJx

Friday 5 November 2010

Letting go of the past...

Just get over it okay? Let it go!!!

This is the message I'm telling myself right now... you see, the biggest barrier to my blogging is... well, yours truly!

I have SO much to say about what has happened these past six months, and loads of accompanying pictures too, but in reality I just don't have the time right now to write about it now... or any time soon to be frank!

So I keep preventing myself from blogging because I feel I owe it to you and myself to update on every last thing I've been doing and this is just so unrealistic... I mean, it's taken me 6 months to do it so how can I expect to condense it into a few paragraphs, I mean come on - really?

So I need to get out of this vicious cycle, this perpetual 'catch-up loop' as I've named it, and just say that IF I get the chance to pull everything together from the past half year and blog about it then FAB. But if not, whatever, let's move on and deal with the here and now or I will never be able to move on! Plus, for those of you who follow me on twitter you will see that I still have been blogging - just on a micro scale :-)

So, here's the deal. Today I'm going to (briefly) update you what's been happening, and then I'm going to fill you in on my plans for the next week and a bit... which are quite exciting, well to me anyway! I'm then going to try and set up some posts for May (but finishing off April first!!), June, July, September & October, get them done sometime between now and the end of January (more on that later), backdate them and the post links to them on my blog...

that's the plan anyway ;-)

Okay, so onto brief update (in true Reduced Shakespeare Company fashion)

May

Bought house - hurrah! :-)
Moved in - stress! :-(
Picked out nice appliances - hurrah! :-(
Had to wait four weeks for them as they were 'special orders' (e.g. American style fridge freezer with ice dispenser, range cooker etc) so not kept in stock - stress! :-(

okay, I could go on like that for a while and the novelty would rapidly wear off!!

So yes, beginning of May was all about the shambles that was moving house (it took us about 3 days and there was still stuff of ours left at Joe's for a month or so after!)

My birthday weekend was the penultimate one in May, the day before which I spent at Birmingham's NEC enjoying the sights and sounds of The Bodypower Expo with a couple of friends. Click here for some pics.

While at the expo I got shot in the car park!

...by the fabulous Michael Palmer, click here for my favourite pics, I even made it onto his blog!

Then of course during the last weekend of May there was the culmination of all my hard work - FAME UK - my very first contest!! A lot of fun and definitely exposing my inner extrovert (is 'inner extrovert' an oxymoron?!)

I'll definitely blog about that at some point, but for now, if you really can't wait, here are my pics!

June

Not much to write about without going into detail. Was quite a quiet month other than a hen weekend in Cambridge and starting a Gym Instructor Course which my fabulous boyfriend bought me for my birthday the month before.

July

July I've got a zillion pics for as the weekends were quite full - there was a wedding, a mammoth bike ride (both in France), a hog roast and an ankle injury diagnosis - more about all that another time!

August

August was quite a hedonistic month - as it should be! - and included two festivals, first came the fabulous Big Chill Festival, and later in the month there was the fun one-day LED Festival.

LOADS of fun festival pics so watch this space!!

September

September for the most was comparatively quiet, notable events were a fun touristy day out with my boyfriend and son in London and an equally fun hen do in Bristol - a city I've fallen in love with as a result!

At the end of the month there was the wedding for the hen whose do I went to... a very elegant occasion set in beautiful surroundings with copious amounts of free-flowing alcohol. I really felt it the next day! (pics to follow, as everything else above!)

October

October was quite a social month including (in no particular order) birthday nights out, too many leaving drinks ( :-( ), a baby shower, a free meal with a fabulous couple, other paid-for meals, an improvised comedy night with the wonderful Adam Hills, a night of amusing yet educational entertainment courtesy of UCL's Bright Club, an audition for a murder mystery night, a bike awards night, and a very grown up tea party put on by Tea Totalled

October was also the month when - despite taking my foot off the gas somewhat after FAME and promising not to enter any further competitions this year - I decided to enter another contest and, as before, give myself very little time in which to prepare!

I say 'decided' but I was actually persuaded to by a friend who has since changed her mind - harrumph! I'm hoping she'll still come along to support, and perhaps some others too but the event is a little pricey if you're just there to spectate, it's also a zillion miles away so I'm not sure yet how I'm going to get there!!

In a statement on their site, the UKBFF said

"The new BIKINI category will be introduced at the first UKBFF 2011 qualifying show of the season, the HERCULES show on Sunday 17th October 2010 in Colchester.

This category has been introduced over the last 2 years by several IFBB affiliated countries and is especially very popular in the USA.

The International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) is planning to make the BIKINI Class an official category for the IFBB World Championships and also for the IFBB European Championships.

Therefore the UKBFF has decided to start the BIKINI category with the beginning of the 2011 season.

Ladies, who -through qualifying events- become UK British Champions, will be able to represent the UK in International events, including the Amateur Arnold. "


Cool!

This is great news for me as my biggest source of inspiration is the wonderful Bikini Pro champion Chady Dunmore.

This woman is absolutely amazing for a multitude of reasons but her dedication, discipline and tremendous work ethic is what I find so completely awe-inspiring; She has a small child and a busy job, so she trains at 05:30 every morning! 05:30 is still night time for me as far as I'm concerned - I'm so impressed!!

Aside from how important Chady takes her training and manages to fit it all in (she's even found time to record a fabulous pop tune - check out "Work it out"!), and the fact that she's a genuinely warm and lovely person, it's her physique that I find so incredibly impressive. Chady has managed to lose 70lbs and attain a look which is super strong and firm but undoubtedly and undeniably feminine - here is a collection of photos which should disprove any doubt to this fact!






WOW now there is true perfection.

So yes, Chady Dunmore (overall winner of the second Arnold Amateur NPC Bikini Championship 2010 and the WBFF PRO Bikini World Champion for 2010!) is my ultimate role model, she is muscular but feminine and, let's face it, I could diet for England and I'm never going to lose this butt am I?!



So maybe bikini is my category ;-)

I am concerned though because a) as is my usual style I've left things to the last minute and only really started training in earnest a few weeks back and b) although the bikini competitors in the USA are visibly well-muscled on the arms, shoulders, legs etc - I'm concerned that the UKBFF is after a softer look more associated with a 'Miss "insert-county-name-here"' beauty pageant... and that would be a shame as I am proud of my arms and shoulders!

In any case it's just over a week away - I am doing the "Stars of Tomorrow and London Classic 2010" (which isn't actually taking place in London but what the hey, let's not quibble over small matters like that! ;-) )

If it turns out that my developed arms and shoulders etc are too much for the new Bikini category them I'm going to have to work really hard to lean down enough to enter another as I'm not going to stop weight training, I love it too much!

As with FAME I feel rushed and under-prepared but unlike FAME I have help in the form of the fabulous Vikkie Krzyzanowski from http://bikinifitness.co.uk/index.htm who I had the good fortune of meeting at FAME back in May. We've stayed in touch and I've witnessed her transformation from this:



To this (in the yellow bikini)



YES it is the same woman and YES she has a six pack - awesome!

When Vikkie heard I was entering the competition she offered to help and when I was getting disheartened at my lack of weight loss she stepped in, overhauled my diet and gave me some great advice!

I've just received my plan for the next week in the run up to the comp, it's not for the faint-hearted but I know it will get results and Vikkie is visual proof of this, she is super positive, helpful and encouraging and I'd recommend anyone get in contact with her who wants advice on nutrition and competition preparation, this girl knows her stuff!

Anyway, I better head off now, this was meant to be a short post but we all know how difficult I find those now don't we?!

I hope you're all well, I thank you for still reading my blog and I look forward to catching up with you all again really soon.

Take care and have a great weekend!

TJx