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

6 comments:

  1. You're looking really toned :-)

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  2. WOW! you are looking awesome!!!!
    cant wait to see how things unfold on your show day!!!

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  3. You're looking great Tara, every pound is soooo noticable at your body fat level so just keep at it. x

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  4. That bikini shot is jaw dropping, you look awesome. Can't wait to read about your competition - good luck!

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  5. good to see you back blogging Tara - have missed you :)

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  6. Thank you all for your comments, I'm really pleased with my progress and hope to make more over the next few months :-)

    I've really missed blogging, it's just finding the time to sit and type... especially given my inability to keep it short and sweet! ;-) x

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