Calluses, Calf Raises and Cardio, oh my!

It's FRIDAY!!! Yippieeee, but I will admit I'm normal and it was a little hard to get up. For the past few days I have felt like I was fighting a cold off but I made it to the gym and completed my cardio and can enjoy my morning breakfast before I have weight workout with Dave. Today I have a nice treat planned for this afternoon, a nice deep tissue massage to work on my pec minor (aka. the boob muscle). Awkward...

Yesterday we did some heavy lifts and back. I did my highest weight to date, a 125 lb dead lift which I am stoked about! What I'm not stoked about is the lovely calluses forming on my hands. I use to get these golfing and they were so gross and stung under hot water (my dad is telling me to suck it up!). I am sure as my skin gets use to lifting these heavier weights, because they will get heavier, it won't be as bad.
Dave and I also did a bunch of calf raises or should I said he had me do a bunch of calf raises. It burned, is all I really have to say about that. Don't believe me...go stand on the stairs (in your runners, not socks). Thurst your heels up and down 20 times and hold at the top of 20 for 10 slow counts then do another set with no rest. This round is 30 times up and down, really pushing on the way up in fast bursts, and again at the top hold for a count of 10 and repeat one final time...if you feel like crying or dying...you did it correctly.

When we are in the gym we are so focussed on getting a "six pack" or "toning our butt" but we never really train our calf muscles. The truth is the calf muscle can stand quite a bit of weight it would surprise you  and we should spend a little time every day stretching or training them. If you are training your calves, don't forget to stretch afterwards.

I also had a photo shoot this week which was very exciting. I have only seen a few pictures, but it was an amazing day and a lot of fun. Here is a sneak peek...sorry dad. Just remember it's only a swimsuit....I'm no swimsuit model yet, obviously because I had no idea what to do with my hands, hence my random left hand on the sand. Oh well. Practice right!

One small goal I accomplished yesterday was managing to get all my meals in. It seems small but eating every 2.5 hours can be hard, especially when each meal requires a 4 oz piece of meat or protein shake...Me and my cooler have become BFF's. Oh and in addition to my meal plan changing, my coach would like me to track my progress by taking weekly photos (front, side and back) becasuse I am 9 weeks out and this is where all the change will really begin especially with my cardio being increased. I am debating posting these because I am my biggest critic, but I'll sleep on it. You all might just have to wait until May for the big reveal at the River Rock. That way I also won't look like a vampire that crawed up on the beach because I'll have two coats of spray tan and making Snooki proud!

Side Note: My day just got 100 times better and I had to add in a quick THANK YOU to Briana, one of my besties, who just made my day. Right now I have been paying for drop in at random gyms becuase I didn't have a pass anywhere. Drop-in can be anywhere from 10 - 28 bucks depending on your prefences between community centres (over packed and less equipment) or Steve Nash (lots of equipment, but $$$). This can add up especially when you are doing 5 days a week cardio, which will eventually go up to 7 days a week for me, and paying for parking etc. Briana just called and told me that I now have a pass to the Richmond Oval so that I can train there. Yiiiiipppppppeeee! I am so thankful to have a great group of friends and support system. It is great to know that people have your back.  Thank you so much Bri! This helps out so much you don't even know. It made my entire day/weekend!

Happy Friday Everyone.

Eat. Train. Sleep. Repeat!

Nicole

Mark my words....I love my early morning cardio

You're going to think I'm totally crazy but I love my new cardio program. Even though I am only on my 3rd day for the week and still have 3 more days of weights and 2 more cardio sessions. I woke up feeling great and happy that I got the day off to a good start. From now on I will be training out at the Richmond Olympic Oval for my cardio. They have lots of great equipment which makes it easy to mix things up. 20 minutes on stairs and 20 minutes run. The goal behind my cardio is to break a sweat not to kill myself because I dont' want to burn muscle purely fat. I finished my cardio and home eating breakfast by 8 am. The importance of getting up early and starting the day is a lot more important that you'd realized. The reason, squeezing in 6 meals a day can be very challenging. Last night I didn't have Meal 5: until 8:30 and still had to eat Meal 6 and be in bed by 10 pm.
So I choose to capture how I felt at this moment as a reminder to myself when I am feeling a little sluggish or tired or don't want to get up at 5:30 how great I feel when I do challenge myself and compete my cardio. I know that this is something that everyone feels and you have to get past it. Making such a statement so early into my new program, but I figure since I am putting it all out on the line and telling everyone about my journey that it would be another tool to help motivate me in the moments where the glimpse of "I can't" or "don't want to" pop into my head. My dad always says, never start a sentence with I can't.

Another great thing I discovered this morning is a great new way to cook and eat my delicious cup of egg whites. I measure out my egg whites and spray a corningwear dish with pam. Cover and cook in the microwave. Once cooked it looks like a fritatta. Add a little hot sauce and you got yourself some delicious eggs. Try it out. I love talking pictures of food for some reason so I included one of my eggies.....

Time to get to work! Have a great Thursday everyone.

Eat. Train. Sleep. Repeat.

Nicole

Wanted: Cardio buddy...

My new program includes cardio 5 days a week...it doesn't seem like a lot but when you mix in 4 days of weights, work, food prep and a life, time management is key. I know everyone wishes there were more hours in a day but the bad news is even though the days wouls be longer, you'd still manage to pack them soild. So amongst all these hours, finding time to allow your muscles to rest is very important. Oh, and did I mention sleep? Sleep is really important along with rest because it allows your muscles to recover so you can destroy them again the next day....?!
Last night was girls night and a very relaxing one at that. Just what I needed. Erin and I made popcorn (no salt or butter) = yes boring I know, but a treat none the less. We watched 127 hours and if you have a bad gag reflex like me I would avoid watching it with anyone you're trying to impress. It was a great watch though. I would definitely recommend it!
Today David and I trained legs and shoulders and it will be interesting to see if I can move my arms tomorrow considering I could hardly dress myself yesterday or the day before from my work out with Natalie on Saturday. I find it amazing how you can train your body to do so many amazing things with just a little bit of effort. Of course as I've been told time and time again 80% of it is diet.
Over the past 10 weeks I have been eating clean which basically means skipping the centre of the grocery store, minus the magazine isle. It focusses on eating foods that aren't processed and low in sodium. My new favorite secret seasoning is Mrs. Dash. It is a salt free seasoning and it is delicious! My mom comes home and tells me how good the house smells when ever I put it on chicken or in a stir fry.
To give you the inside scoop on what I eat for breakfast since I know you're all dying to know is 1 cup of egg whites and 1/2 cup of oatmeal. Yum, right?! My mom says that my scambled egg whites look like popcorn and it does. I really need to invest ina non-stick pan. I tried to mix it up a bit and have gotten into adding hot sauce to my egg white to spice things up a bit. Literally. My mouth was on fire today...Note to self: tone down the hot sauce! Anyways, I am going to go and hit the gym and get my cardio done-so, so I can relax-o! Meeting Christa, fellow competitor at the Richmond Olympic Oval.  I also have to get out of the house because my mom just made popcorn and it smells amazing!  Yes, I am obsessed with popcorn and pie...ask anyone

Here's to a great Tuesday night at the gym! The sun is out so at least I will enjoy a good sunset : )

Eat. Train. Sleep. Repeat.

Nicole

10 weeks out...more cardio, new food program and my swimsuits on order!

As of Saturday, I am 10 weeks out from my competition in May. From 19 weeks to 10 weeks, it’s hard to believe I will soon be in single digits. Travelling over the past little while for work had been a good challenge. Learning to get really good at prepping my food in advance and travelling with a packed cooler and eating out on the road was great practice. I’m not perfect yet, I am still learning to find that balance and how to eat and train on the road. Now that I am back in Vancouver, I can buckle down and learn the balance of working and training. I love my job and I am so lucky to be working for a great company and that is my priority and my training is what I would consider a hobby. I love training and eating clean and I’ve really enjoyed all the people I’ve met so far.

Training on the road was a lot better this time because my trainer had a cardio plan and weights plan that I took with me on the road. I’ve gotten to test out several gyms over the last month during my travels through Saskatchewan and Alberta, but now that I am back in BC. It’s training time. Early morning cardio sessions before work and weights with my trainer in addition to working is going to be a great new challenge for me!

10 weeks doesn’t really seem like that much time but for the last 9 weeks I have been eating tonnes to try and get my metabolism up and it is the weirdest moment when it kicks in. It happened last Thursday when I was in Calgary and I woke up hungry. I proceeded to eat my 6 meals but was still hungry. It was my metabolism saying, hello! Feed me. I had also only been doing 3, 20 minute cardio interval sessions a week. Now that I am 10 weeks out my meal plan has changed and so has my cardio. I am now doing 5, 40-45 minute cardio sessions a week. Oh boy! I’ll be up early to get these done so that I can work during the day and train in the evening. I will be prepping my food on Friday’s and or Sunday’s. Keeping cooked chicken and salmon on hand in addition to flats of hard boiled eggs is a chore in itself but making it fun is the important part.

Another exciting bit of news is that I have ordered my swimsuits! I met this amazing girl name Tanya and she is going to be designing my WBFF suit for May and the one for my Oxygen Model Search in Toronto this June.

My family, friends and co-workers have been very supportive of me during this time and that makes this whole process a lot easier. My coach, who I now refer to as my friend is amazing. These kind of experiences really bring people together. Over the past few months she has not only been a great mentor but she has become a great friend!

On Saturday we spent the whole day training. The day started with an early morning hot yoga session and ended at Steve Nash for some arms and cardio. We treated out selves to our cheat meal at the Keg that night and it was the perfect way to end a great day of fun! She definitely kicked my butt on the Stairmaster. I was doing side steps, knee tucks and glute kicks. Oh and I forgot to mention sprints! My arms are still sore....needless to say David and I will be doing a leg work out tomorrow to give my arms a bit more rest. Sunday I did cardio on my own and spent the rest of the day prepping my protein and did a little grocery shopping for the week.

Another friendship that has been really good is my friend Shannon who is also training for a competition in Calgary in June. She and I will be jet setting to Toronto together to compete in the Toronto Pro Super Show. The cool thing is I will actually get to see Natalie (coach/friend/mentor) compete as well!

I feel really good right now, but with my cardio increasing it will be interesting to see how that affects my energy levels. It will be important to eat well, rest lots and find balance with that and work. That’s all for now! Time for lunch J

Eat. Train. Sleep. Repeat!

Nicole