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