I got swag-gar. 8 sleeps!

Last night I was in bed at 8:45 pm and read a magazine and I'm pretty sure I was out by 9:30. My body must be trying to tell me something and I felt well rested when I got up this morning to my alarm clock. I got up, had some coffee, organized myself and the day was on!

A little cardio and my final upper body workout with Fletch was on the agenda and it was a tough one. I was in my last super-set, on my fourth exercise and I literally had the cry feeling of oh my god, is it over. Fletch came over and looked at me and asked why I had stopped and I replied "I'm done and my body is toast." He asked if I was mentally or physically tired and I looked at him and then back to myself in the mirror, took a deep breath and finished the set of exercises. It took everything for me to zone in on that little bit of energy I had left and I knew I had to rest. I understand that each workout is suppose to be a "last chance workout" but really, my body isn't going to change much over the next week except in terms of dropping the infamous water weight.

Speaking of weight, I can't afford to loose anymore of it! I have already been at my competition weight for a week and I know I am still holding around 4 - 5 pounds of water. I don't want to get any leaner because if my body is exerting too much energy it will start to look to other places such as muscle for energy and that would not be a good thing. I want to look more than toned this time, I want to look shredded. My abs are usually the thing I struggle with the most so I conveniently scheduled my last heavy legs for this past Wednesday, upper body today and inner core Monday and I will do a little full body circuit on Wednesday and a tiny bit of cardio.

Speaking of this past Wednesdays heavy leg workout, I am walking with some mad swag-gar. My legs are so sore from all those, let me rephrase that...from the 1000 squats I did on Wednesday that I am walking like a gangsta. And no, I don't look cool and going up and down stairs hurts. Good thing I still have a few days to stretch them out before I have to be in heels because I could see that being a problem.

Right now cardio is such a huge part of my daily routine but with the amount of calories I'm bumping out in an hour isn't the same as it was 2 weeks ago because I don't have the energy to hit the high speeds and high incline as I use to. This doesn't mean I'm not giving 100%, it just means I take my time and trying to balance out my morning and evening cardios to equal workouts instead of one being harder than the other.

I am really looking forward to this weekend. Saturday morning I will be up early to hit the gym before my final athletes meeting with the BodyByBrandt girls where we are talking about the final countdown! After the meeting I am heading out to meet Brett for a little midday outing and some QT (quality time) and then the BC Lions game with my family. I am really excited. Sunday, Robyn and I are going for some pedicures so all in all its going to be a good weekend. Time to relax a little....

Stay tuned for the "7 days out photo" and a full weekend re-cap on Monday morning people!

Nic Out

xoxo

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