Getting back on track for 2013

I am not one that usually makes New Year's resolutions but this year I decided I needed to do something to help myself get back on track after falling off the fitness track when Nixon was born. So I resolved to:

1. Write more on my blog (doing that :) )
2. Do the Femsport Competition http://www.femsport.tv/
3. Do the Mud Hero Competition http://www.mudhero.com/
4. At minimum, commit to getting my body back to where I was proud of it last May, but ideally build more muscle mass ;)

Today, I took the first step in fulfilling the first resolution, I registered for the first Femsport camp (http://www.juliehodge.com/#!femsport) and I am SUPER excited!!

2013 started a bit bumpy for me as I decided to take my measurements and I am actually bigger in areas than I was last January. That hit me pretty hard as I did not realise how far away from my competition body I had gotten. However, registering for this camp has renewed my enthusiasm for fitness and I am ready to commit once again.

I am also very excited as hubby has decided to join the gym and we will be working out together at least twice a week, YAY!

So here is to an awesome, fitness filled 2013!!!!

C U SOON!!!!

Jen
Commit to Self, Commit to Health

Real life

The last few months have been a whirlwind. After the competition in May my focus changed to getting ready for the baby we were planning on adopting. Nixon was born in July and my life did a complete 180. I went from clean eating 6 meals a day and training 3 to 5 times a week to living off coffee and learning to deal with having a new born and a 4 year old at home.

Needless to say, a lot of the work I put in at the beginning of the year has been reversed and I am now starting over. I hope that by writing it down it will push me to get back on the fitness track and start to feel healthy again as I have been lacking in energy and motivation for everything lately. I need to eat better and increase my water intake for sure and GET BACK TO THE FREAKIN' GYM!!! (This is proving difficult with 2 kids and their schedules)

It is 8 months until spring competitions. I don't know if I will be able to compete again at that time or will have to try for next fall, but I would like to at least start re-building to try again.

I am hoping to reconnect with some fellow fitness buffs in the midst of their own journeys to help motivate me and keep me focused.

Anyway, posting this is my first step, now to figure out the rest.........stay tuned :-)

C U SOON!

Jen
Commit to Self, Commit to Health

Advice for those wishing to get healthy!

Here is "Jen's Advice" on what you need to succeed in changing your eating habits and in turn, your life:

1. You must COMMIT. This blog is called “Commit to Self” for that exact reason. You will only see results if you put in the work. This "commitment to you" includes mental preparation, physical fitness and meal planning.

2. Know that being selfish for the sake of being healthy is okay. Especially for you parents out there. It is human nature to feel guilty about leaving your kid’s to go to the gym or once again trucking them with you to the gym daycare, however, you need to remember that you are a role model for your children. Don’t use them as an excuse, include them. My daughter loved the daycare at Goodlife or exercising with me at home.  If they see you eating healthy and being active, they will want to do the same.

3. Make sure the people in your household are on board and understand why you want to change your life (and theirs) for the better. You can’t do this if your spouse, kids, or others are unconsciously sabotaging the plan or making you feel guilty about going to the gym or taking time for yourself. Talk to your family and make it a family goal to be more active and eat healthier.

4. PLAN YOUR MEALS! This is going to be the biggest commitment you make. In order to ensure you are eating clean consistently, you MUST plan ahead. 

5. You should be eating 5-6 well rounded, healthy meals every day. Each meal should include protein, carbs and veggies (fruit is okay a couple meals a day too). If you would like help with menu planning, please let me know and I can go into more detail. 

6. To accomplish the 5-6 meals without relying on quick, processed foods, I suggest pre-cooking and pre-portioning your meals so you can just grab and go. I made my meals on Sundays and Wednesday nights, but I know people that cook and portion an entire week’s worth of meals. For those of you that will be eating meals throughout the day at work, I suggest this meal cooler as it made it so easy for me to stick with my meal plan. http://www.sixpackbagscanada.ca/

7. Allow yourself reward meals (meals, not days-BTW). I was allowed a cheat meal every Saturday and believe me, knowing that Pizza night was coming got me through a lot of repetitive meals. Having a couple of nights a week or lunch on Friday where you know you can eat basically anything will make it easier. You will also find that as you get healthier, you won’t want that Big Mac as your reward, but will opt for a pizza with chicken or other healthier option instead.

8. Ensure you are including your healthy fats. Nuts, nut butters, avocado, Fish oil or flax oil capsules are all great ways to incorporate these healthy fats into your diet.

9. Vitamins-everyone should be taking a multi-vitamin daily at minimum. My daily regimen also includes Vitamin B, C & D, Calcium, magnesium, glucosamine/chondroitin and apple cider vinegar.

10. Watch your salt intake. Too much salt can lead to major health issues and it also makes you retain water and feel bloated.

11. Drink your water. You should be drinking 3-4 litres of water every day to properly hydrate your muscles as well as flush the “junk” out of your system. I find that using a smaller water bottle and just refilling it is easier than a big 2L bottle as I drink it quicker and it is less daunting.  Also, adding fresh lemon juice to your water makes it tastier and helps with detoxifying the system. 

12. Take measurements; don’t depend on the scale, it will make you go crazy! Please remember that muscle takes up less space than fat. As you lose fat and gain muscle, you will trim down, but your weight may not drop drastically. Keep track of the following measurements every week or two and you will see the difference without the scale.

Chest (at nipple line), Rib, Waist (smallest point), 6” below waist, Hip/butt (largest point), Thigh, Calf, Bicep Relaxed, Bicep Flexed

13. Organize your work-outs. You should have a balance of cardio and weights and should be working out every muscle group at some point every week. If you can afford it, hire a personal trainer through a gym or even online (there are some amazing trainers that do online training programs) just make sure to find the one that fits with you and your goals.

14. Rest! Your body needs a minimum of 7 hours sleep a night and off days for your muscles to heal from the workouts you are putting them through. Over training can be detrimental to your fitness goals and worse, can cause injury.

15. Research different programs, supplements and foods. Everyone’s body is different and it will take time for you to find the correct mix for your body type and what you plan to achieve.

16. Be forgiving of yourself (yes, I see the irony of me offering this advice). You will be your own worst critic and if you slip up- acknowledge it and move on. This whole experience has taught me that self guilt is toxic and can spiral down quickly. Make sure you hold yourself accountable but not to the point that it becomes unhealthy. You are doing this to make yourself feel better, not worse. 

Well, that is it for now. My plan going forward is to get my Personal Trainer Certificate and go to school for nutrition in the next couple of years, but in the interim, I plan to keep posting advice, recipes and work-out tips in this blog based on my own personal journey. Thank you so much for reading, hopefully you found something useful and please feel free to contact me should you have any questions or want further information.

C U SOON!

Jen
Commit to Self, Commit to Health!

The journey to my first fitness competition- May 20th, 2012

Well, here it is as promised, information on my journey to my first fitness competition.  I am going to provide full disclosure and honesty in this blog and although you may not completely agree, this is how I personally feel, so please do not judge.

To begin, I have had many people ask me “WHY” and that is simple, I had a friend who competed in 2010 and after seeing her pictures and reading her story; I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I only really got into athletics as an adult as I suffered from pretty bad asthma as a child and used it as an excuse. A fitness competition was a chance to train, learn good nutrition and I was only dependant on myself (or so I thought-more on that later).  I wanted the challenge, the commitment and to finally be proud of my body.

I got in touch with that friend to see how she did it and she gave me the name “Lisa Dardis", a lifestyle coach who has helped MANY women get to the stage through nutrition planning, counselling, training and just overall support.  Lisa has been pushing me for a year to finally compete and I felt that I was finally ready to commit and go for it in 2012. I would suggest that anyone wanting to compete should contact Lisa for help and advice. http://www.schirokhardbodies.com/

On January 28^th, 2012 I began my 16 week journey to the stage. The plan was: get to the gym 4-5 days a week, drink at least 4L of water every day and eat 6 full meals a day consisting of carefully portioned servings of protein, carbs and fruit or vegetables based on that week’s plan from Lisa. I weighed and measured myself every Saturday morning so that Lisa would know what adjustments were needed for the next week. The last week of the diet was insane with meals consisting of only chicken and cucumber and days of drinking 7, 6 then 5 L of water. This “plan” is NOT what everyone has to do to change their lifestyle and get in shape, this is specific for Competition, however, the premise is still the same, consistent physical activity and clean eating. 

Well, after 16 weeks prep, competition day was here and as I am sure most of you know I did not even come close to finishing where I wanted. Over the last month, I have gone back and forth on why this was from blaming the judges to full out personal pity and “woe is me”. I recently received my stage photos and feedback from the head judge and the answer became crystal clear, I was not fully prepared either mentally or physically for the show and that is on me and me alone.  I was EXTREMELY nervous, not confident with my posing and although I trained hard, it was not hard enough and it showed with my arms not being as sculpted as they should have been and my butt and legs still too soft.

Now for the honesty and reality of it................

No matter how much I told myself that this was my journey and up to only me, it was not true! There was another person involved that I failed to get 100% on board from the beginning.......my husband. I got some push-back when I first talked about competing and decided to go forward on my own whether he was on board or not and that is the #1 mistake that cost me in the end because it put a sour spin on the competition for him and I did not have the full support and understanding of the one person who I needed the most. 

This meant that for 16 weeks I felt guilty about being out of the house, missed additional posing practice and support opportunities with a great bunch of ladies, woke up at 4:30am to get to the gym and home again before he woke up, which meant added stress and work-outs that were not as affective. I avoided split training (2 gym sessions in one day) even though there were a few weeks that I should have been doing this to ensure the proper amount of cardio and weight training was accomplished. It also meant that I would come home to a pizza sitting on the counter or get frustrated about him questioning my salt or carb intake (or lack thereof) because he didn’t understand the diet- again, more stress.  And most of all, I didn’t have someone holding me accountable and offering support when I didn’t feel like going to the gym or grabbed a cookie out of the cupboard. I was able to cosistently stick to my diet plan only because the majority of my meals were eaten at work. After the show, I went through a period where I blamed him along with everyone else, but it still comes back to me and my communication to him so it is not fair to put that burden on him. He came to the show to support me and now that he knows what it is all about and what is needed to compete, I know that he will be my number one supporter should I attempt this again.

Yes, I do know that I did great in only 16 weeks losing 13+inches overall (3.5 of that off my butt, thank you very much! LOL), cutting my body fat % by 9%, losing 12lbs of fat and gaining almost 7lbs of muscle.  I don’t want to say that I regret doing the show, but I wish I had done pretty much everything a little differently........ For those of you that know me well or have played on a team with me, you know first hand how hard I am on myself and this time it was amplified as it was only my mistakes that cost the "game". I know that stepping on that stage was a huge accomplishment and for some that is enough (and I truly commend you), however, that is just not how I am built. Way too competitive. LOL! So, for the past month I have been plagued with an EXTREME (almost unbearable) disappointment in myself and major guilt that I let my friends, family and coach, Lisa, down. I have been watching as all my hard work slowly goes down the drain, feeling powerless to stop it (even though rationally, I know better).  I have had no desire to go the gym since the competition and I have been eating just okay, but not even close to as clean as my body deserves.  I am slowly getting back on track mentally which is needed before I can get back on track physically.

I don’t share this to look for sympathy or to continue on my “woe is me” path, I share this as part of me changing my thought process going forward and maybe helping others who are thinking of competing or just changing their lifestyle to a healthier one.

I know that I am the only one that can change my way of thinking and I need to look forward to the goals I want to achieve, not back on the ones I didn’t quite reach.

For those of you wondering how you can change your life, get in shape, lose a few pounds and just be healthy, I will also be posting my advice to you shortly.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story, hopefully it aids you in someway on your own fitness journey.

C U SOON!

Jen

Commit to Self, Commit to Health!

One of my favourite "Fitness Model" poses

My Favourite "Figure" Pose