New Blog Alert!

Exciting things are happening....

I first got into blogging because one of my best friends, Jess, had a blog of her own and I absolutely loved reading about her daily adventures in vegetarian cooking.  I've always loved writing, and thought to myself  "I can do that too!", so I did.

Jess and I are very alike and very different at the same time.  We are both athletes, we both love to cook, we value our health, love the outdoors,  and we both love each other :)  But our training and diets couldn't be any more different.  She's a runner, I'm a weight-lifter.  She's a vegetarian, and I eat meat 6x per day.  She's a workaholic, I'm unemployed..... you get the idea.  Jess' blog focusses mainly on vegetarian cooking with the odd post about her running and yoga endeavors; she has a sharp tongue and a quick wit, and has a real talent for blending creativity with practicality in the kitchen.

We've been batting around the concept of joining our blogs for quite some time now.  We thought it would be really interesting to have two people with similar values but different approaches weighing in on diets, recipes, and workouts.

Well, I'm happy to announce that our brain child has finally materialized - yes, we're creating a new blog!   I present to you: "Tess and Jess: Food, Fitness, and Friendship"

www.tessandjess.wordpress.com

For the next little while I'll be posting almost exclusively on this new blog.  Not to worry, I will still be updating on my progress towards my next fitness competition!  This is simply a change of location.  I'm also hoping to broaden my writing topics to include more recipes, discussion of health-related articles and issues, and some fun anecdotes about my friendship with Jess, and how we keep each other grounded.   Think of all the extra reading material you're going to have!  And I just know you're going to love Jess as much as I do :)

I hope you'll come to this new site and follow along with me on yet another new adventure!  See ya there!

Tess

Post-Show Blues

Am I right, ladies?

I think every competitor I know has complained about this issue, and that's because the post-show blues are REAL and they SUCK!  Even though you may still be healthy and look great in the weeks following your show, it's still hard to look at yourself 5, 10, or even 15 lbs heavier and have the same confidence you did just a short time ago.

Last year I went a little bit nuts after the show, taking almost a full month off from the gym and not restricting anything I ate whatsoever.  With my dad passing, the celebration of my 1 year anniversary with John, and my birthday all packed into one month, it was tough to stay on-track.  Not only that, but I actually had no desire at all to go back to anything even remotely resembling the strict diet and workout plan I'd been on all summer.  As a result, I gained 20lbs in 3 weeks after the show, then another 15 in the months following.  YIKES!  Lesson learned: in weight loss, the best treatment is prevention.

This time I'm trying to be a bit better.  I was back in the gym Monday, doing an hour of cardio and weights, and have managed to get in 5 workouts this week  :D  Diet has been.... ok.  I'm eating clean for most meals, but I have been having at least 1 treat per day (wine, ribs, pasta, sushi, candy corn....) and am already up 11lbs from my contest weight.  (Side rant: why is it so much easier to gain weight than to lose it?  It makes no sense!)

I'm ok being at this weight for now (126lbs), but I know that I have to cap it off here.  Every time I gained weight last year I would tell myself "oh, it's only 1 pound" until all of a sudden it was 35lbs :S  I know what I need to do: I'm confident that I'm doing enough cardio, so it all comes down to diet.  I need to cut the cheats down to once or twice a week (special occasions only), and get rid of any little "extras" I've been adding to my meals (it's been raisins, honey, and peanut butter on everything lately! lol).

I've also got a photo shoot booked for the week of November 18th, so that should give me some extra motivation to clean up my diet.  I'm setting a goal for myself to be back down to 123lbs by then.... TOTALLY DO-ABLE!  After that, I'd like to be around 117lbs by January 1st.

Show Recap and Update

Ok ok, I know it's been long enough!  More pictures of the show below.

It was the weirdest thing - right before I went on-stage for the Open Fitness Model posing round, my coach gave me half of a dextrose tab to eat (gets glycogen to the muscles FAST and pumps them up).  But minutes after I got out there, my face started twitching :S  Not only that, but when I look back at pictures from that round I notice that my usually beautifully defined abs are basically GONE!  I asked him if I could skip the dextrose for the Figure round (I was sure it was the cause of the face twitching), and not surprisingly my abs came out better for it (and no facial twitching).  I'm sure the dextrose works for many many people, just not me. Lesson learned.

Morning of the show, before my last coat of tan, breakfast, and obviously hair/makeup!

Where did my abs go?  (Open Fitness Model Short)

Booya!  Look at that lava spewing across my butt!  SO HOT!  Loved that detail.

Oh, there they are!  (Open Figure Short)

Left to right: 3rd place, 4th, 2nd, 1st, 5th

Team Pro Revolution

And here is a link to a video clip of all the show's highlights.  You can spot me briefly around the 4 minute mark ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PiMuMX_QLk&feature=share

I've decided not to do the second show this weekend.  After mulling it over a bit, I decided I didn't want to go into a show with the mind-set that I might lose.  I would rather go in thinking I'm going to win and be disappointed, than go in expecting to do poorly.  I wasn't lean enough, and it wasn't something I could fix in a week.  I would rather save my money, time, and energy (not to mention the money, time and energy of my family/friends who would've come to see me) and instead use this week for improving my physique so I can win next time!

I've also decided to go back to my previous nutritionist, Dave Ruel.  It was amazing to work with such a knowledgeable and multi-talented person as Jay, and I'm so happy I got to experience the process through that methodology.  I would highly recommend anybody considering doing a show and living in the Ottawa/Toronto/Barrie area to contact him!  But it's also no secret that Dave is a very good friend of mine, and in the end I just found that his approach to dieting meshed better with mine.  So I'm excited to work with him again, and see what we can do with my body this time around :D