Single digits! 9 little sleeps!

After a horrible sleep on Tuesday, I slept like a baby last night at the cabin and got up early to hit the gym in North Vancouver before returning back with coffee for Brett and me. He was still asleep so I did some work before he got up and we made breakfast and just enjoyed some quiet time together. This is the amazing omelet that Brett made for himself. It smelt and looked delicious.

The day was off to a good start and it's official, I'm 9 sleeps from show time. I have 2 more heavy weight days and two more full body workouts and 12 more cardio sessions before my moment on stage to showcase all my hard work. After a year of prepping chicken, passing on girls nights and living at the gym, I will have completed my goal plus some.

I have mixed emotions but most of all I want to take it one day at a time because this chapter in my life will be over and a new one is just beginning.  It's like Christmas, it comes and goes in a blink of an eye so you have to really take it all in.

I know what I need to do each day and eat every meal from here out to ensure I am exactly where I want to be in just over a week. Competing is not something you can cram for. It is something that takes a lot of time and discipline. You cant nibble here and there or miss a workout because your tired. You only have each day and what you make of it. Someone once said, a moment on the lips is forever on the hips and in this case is 100% true. You can't make excuses for events or I'll start fresh Monday. There are no due overs and the only person your cheating is yourself. You are cheating yourself of knowing you gave it your best and never knowing what you could have accomplished if you gave it everything instead of giving in. I am definitely not perfect when it comes to failing and giving in but you have to let that moment go, forgive yourself and move forward.

Every week has a Monday but if you keep starting over or looking towards the next Monday for a fresh start, something isn't right. When your interested in doing something, you do it only because it's convenient. When your committed to something, you accept no excuses; only results. If you want results you make a plan and stick to it. Yes, it will be hard at first but anything worth doing will take a little bit of effort but soon enough it will become routine and you will form new and better habits.

To help keep myself motivated, I love reading inspirational books and stories of others and what they've accomplished. I also like marking down my favorite quotes or words on post-it notes and placing them around my apartment as friendly reminders. It helps me focus and re-focus on my goals and what I want to accomplish. My goals are always a way for me to keep track of things I'm passionate about or are important to me. What is something you'd like to accomplish before the end of 2011? Sleep on it over the weekend. Anything is possible people.
Have an awesome weekend! T.G.I.F!

Eat. Train. Sleep. Repeat.

Nic out!
Xoxo

Cupcakes, achy legs and a 6 pack....smells like competition

Only 10 more sleeps until I grace the stage at the Massey Theater in New Westminster I am getting pumped!
Today was an early morning, I was up for some cardio followed by some breakfast before my last leg workout with Fletch. I had told him I wanted a super hard leg workout because it would be my last one before my competition and it was exactly was I asked for. Tough. My body is running on 30g of oats in the morning and that with a lack of "real" food, pushing my body was really hard and I took a long time to finish what he had planned for us. It involved about 1000 squats with a 45 lb barbell, no jokes. My body usually takes a day or two to feel my workouts, but this one I could feel walking down the stairs after my workout. This isn't a good sign for the days to come.

My workouts are pretty intense and I think for people to really appreciate what I do or have an understanding of what it is like to put your body through hell, you can come train with me for a day. On Sunday, my boyfriend came to the gym with me to shoot some hoops while I did cardio and after we did a little arm workout together and I think that he has a really good understanding of what my life is like at the gym and how passionate I am about this competition. He is very supportive and gives me every opportunity I need to succeed and doesn't look at me crazy when I come over with my cooler full of food. If you do want to train with me, I am now a certified personal trainer and would be happy to help you achieve your goals and aspirations and promise to not be too hard :)

After my workout, I did a bunch of work errands and visited accounts and then my baking mood took over. I have been in this crazy baking mood for the past week and I don't think the marathons of cupcake wars helps much. Today I baked rainbow bit mini cupcakes with french vanilla icing. I didn't lick a finger or blender wand which is my personal favorite. After baking, I decided it was time to wash my lovely mane of hair. When I can't remember the last time I washed it, that is usually a sign that its time.

Today I was a little hot and bothered, maybe from the supplements I am taking right now to help boost my energy levels, but I trained in a sports bra today and I have a freakin 6-pack! Hollar. I am soooo excited about this that I intend on posting pictures of it when I am 7 days out. The reason for this is that I went through my old blog posts and had posted my progress last time. So stay tuned for that.

Last night I had a terrible sleep. I got up at 2 am thinking it was morning until I looked at my clock and realized it was still the middle of the night. It took forever for me to fall asleep and all these thoughts of everything going on in my life were going through my head and around 330, I eventually fell asleep. Tonight is date night so it will be nice to sit down and talk about everything that is going on (all good things) and just catch up with one another. It helps to talk about everything going on because then it's not in your head and you can make a game plan.

Anyways, you can probably tell from the most random blog post ever that my thoughts are all over the map. Hopefully, I'll make more sense tomorrow! Stay tuned for the single digit count down!!!!

Eat. Train. Sleep. Repeat.

Nic Out!

xoxo

11 Sleeps - Taking it one day at a time

As I finished yoga tonight, I sat there for awhile and looked up at my friend Christa and said, "11 sleeps." I couldn't believe how close I am to competing. This show will be my last and I am putting everything I have into these last few workout sessions.

Training has had it's ups and downs and being on the road most of August and September really didn't help my training but it did help push me to making use of everyday. Over the last month, I have pushed my body to extremes and followed my meal plan to make sure I was where I wanted to be and I am pleased to say that if I was to compete tomorrow, I would be happy so I can't image how I am going to feel in two weeks.

Last Friday I had a photo shoot with Pink Elephant photography that was put on by BodyByBrandt and it was a really fun experience. My friend Briana came down to the MODA hotel with me and helped picked out  my accessories to match different outfits I had bought. The photos from this shoot will be submitted into the HOT&FIT 100 contest that Inside Fitness Magazine is holding in their January issue. There are so many beautiful and fit or should I say hot and fit ladies in Canada that it would be such an honor to make the top 100. Either way, it was a great experience and I will have those photos forever.

For the shoot, I wanted a little color and I had originally planned on getting a spray tan but my old coach/friend Natalie advised me that two coats of ProTan would work just fine. It was an interesting experience to say the least. I got my mom to help apply the color to my back but two coats later and a shower in the morning, I had a nice sun kissed Hawaiian tan and I was feeling fab! As she was helping me become Snooki, I asked if she every imaged in her wildest dreams that she would be tanning her daughter.  It was like a scene out of Toddlers and Tiaras except I didn't get a sugar stick or a can of pop when I was done. #Disappointed!

Friday I was up early, because I had to shower my tan off, throw in my curlers and be in Coquitlam for makeup at 7:30 am....Jordan Ki is my makeup artist/ friend and is the most amazing makeup artist ever!!!

Did I mention I baked a cake on Sunday night?! A chocolate, chocolate fudge poptart cake with chocolate icing for my friends birthday?! It was tempting to lick my fingers but I kept running them under water every time I would get a little on them. The cake turned out fabulous and everyone that had it said it was delicious. Don't worry, I saved myself some in the freezer to eat in 2 weeks. Don't think I'd be missing out on that! I am in a real baking mood all the time it seems and it's weird because I can't eat any of the foods I'm baking. I just find it to be a soothing and time consuming activity.

Tomorrow night I am taking my man out for a little date night because he has been so great through this whole process. We met in the midst of all this craziness that is life as a competitor and he has been there for me 110%. I feel bad because I feel like everything has been about me and my training and I want it to be about us but I realize that sometimes that will happen and I just need to enjoy the now because it won't always be this way. In addition to having a supportive BF, my family and friends have also been super understanding about my training and everything that goes into this whole thing. My mom is always offering to go to Costco for me to pick up chicken and my dad helped motivated me in Hawaii to hit the gym to stay on track with my workouts and my sister is a great side kick to have around the day leading up and the day of comp because she is SO helpful and makes me feel really relaxed.

And my friends, well, I am so excited that I will have a big cheering section of friends at my morning show (9am - sorry :S) to support me. My family is coming to the evening show. Last time I competed I went back to the hotel in between the morning and evening show because I rented a hotel room but this time I am going to be start at the theater the entire day which will be different.

One of my main focuses right now is making sure that I practice posing without a mirror because on stage there no mirrors, just judges, people and a lot of lights.

Anyways, I have an ass kicking schedule for first time tomorrow morning and need to get some rest. Fletch is putting me through legs :S Last legs until the show!!!!

Eat. Train. Sleep. Repeat.

xoxox,

Nic

Sugar lumps - my morning muffins..YUM!

I woke up this morning at 5 am and feeling fresh so I decided to make muffins (eggwhites and oatmeal only) for breakfast after my workout with Fletch. I wanted to pack breakfast because I have a few things to do after training and I need to stay on top of my meals and make sure I'm eating every two hours. I have been super hungry all the time and I eat 7 meals a day! What the hay! To me it's also really important that I can give everything I have to every workout because the next few workouts are the home stretch and over the last few days I have felt really great and I think being as positive as I am has really helped keep me going.

Prepping for my upcoming competition (Sandra Wickham Fall Classic - November 12th at the Massey Theater in New West: Morning show is at 9 am and tickets are $20) has been a lot different than my previous prep and I feel that has to do with the fact that I know what to expect. Going into something blind for the first time can be very nerve racking to say the least but now that I have two competitions under my belt this year I can visualize everything that is going to happen. Visualization is a very important tool to have to help prepare you for events, interviews, work or whatever it is that you might be unsure of that is causing you to react and feel nervous because of unknown factors.

There are still a few unknown factors that I am dealing with as I will be tanning myself for this competition but luckily my coach's Leigh and Dean will be around to help me and all the BodyByBrandt girls that will be rocking the stage in a mere 17 sleeps. It's hard to believe that it's almost time to compete because I don't really remember everything from last time because I was so wrapped up in everything that I don't think I took everything in so that is one of my main goals this time is to take everything in. Other than the tanning, when I close my eyes I can visualize and walk myself through my routine on stage and picture how everything is going to be. It also helps the the BBB girls rock out posing practice with Legih (IFBB Pro and coach) on Saturday mornings. You might think practicing is crazy but it definitely helps with the confidence levels.

With regards to my meals, they are pretty tight right now but I can see the hard work and focus paying off and considering I still have a few workouts left and lots of cardio sessions, I am a pretty happy camper right now. I had a little bit of a meltdown on the weekend but with the help of a good chat from a very supportive person, I have been on a role ever since and I am going to keep that going until this experience is over but for now I am just taking things one day at a time because that is all we have control over.

I don't want to rush through things because I have worked so hard the last few months and last year to reach these goals and want to enjoy this experience with my friends and family. After this competition I am excited to start working on training people and helping them reach their fitness goals as I know the impact it can have on your life overall and what it can do for not only the body, but the mind as well.

PS. This was the final product of my Sugar Lumps Mornin' Muffins (no sugar - only 1 cup egg whites and 30 g of oats. If you are interested in my posting about the recipe, comment on this post) I know they look burnt, but I have a bad tendency to leave things in the oven...I'm taking cooking lessons after my competition is over. I think doing it before would be torture.

Eat. Train. Sleep. Repeat. 17 sleeps baby!!!!!

xoxo
Nic