Re-Hustle

So it’s officially 18 days until The Day but I’m not really worried — I want to get it over with. I’ve become ‘angry’ at the competition, if that makes any sense. I resent it for disrupting my life, costing me money, causing added stress I don’t need, etc. Last week I didn’t work out at all and I think I used these feelings as an excuse not to go to the gym (oh yeah, and I was dead tired).

So today I got back in the gym to work my abs and legs… and they’re still burning. A little extra punishment for staying away so long I guess.

Then I got an email from the founder and president of Fitness Star saying that STUDIO-H has offered to do hair and make-up for free for all the competitors! I signed up to take the offer, so I’ve got a little more motivation.

I still have lingering worries about how everything is going to work out, but this past Thursday I got the chance to browse the latest issue of Oprah magazine while getting my hair done. After reading Martha Beck’s article on ‘Just-in-Case’ vs. ‘Just-in-time’ thinking got me thinking I really can relax… I just have to remember that first.

Making it do what it do.

After slacking off for the past few months, I figured I probably wasn’t going to make it to April 11th. A friend who knows a lot more than I do told me that if I stick to my diet and exercise for the next month, I’ll be competition ready, so I committed.

It’s been six days and I’m noticing some new cuts in my arms and abs. Hotness!

So today in the gym I did my legs: 3 sets of 25 leg extensions, 3 sets of 15 (3×15) seated leg curls, 3×20 lying leg curls, 4×20 seated calf exercises, 3×15/3×25 superset walking lunges and (more) leg extensions, 4×25 leg presses, 3×20 standing calf raises, and 3 one-minute  sets of standing on my calves until they burn out.

I actually started to feel a little physically sick after doing all that business, so I did about 25 minutes of cardio–intervals with one minute going as fast as I can, 30 seconds slowly.

The diet has been a struggle to adjust to, especially with my backwards schedule. Most people (personal trainers/bodybuilders) I talked to told me to cook for the week, but because I’m no good in the kitchen, I’m usually up cooking past my bedtime, then I’m tired when I wake up, then I don’t feel like working out ’cause I didn’t sleep enough, etc. But I’m going to try it again. This time I’m looking in to getting a grill from Cuisinart (not from Canadian Tire though). That should make cooking chicken, fish and beef easier… Honestly I don’t know why I didn’t think of that before.

One of the things I’ve learned is that cooked vegetables don’t last the week. Laugh if you must, but I figured it’s probably best to buy and cook vegetables every couple of days… Lesson Learned.

Stomach Vacuum? No thanks.

BTW I tried Stomach Vacuum for a few weeks and it didn’t seem to work any better or worse than regular crunches. Maybe I wasn’t doing them properly, but I’m on track with my dieting and exercise now without doing any vacuums and everything is going well.

I dream in cardio…

Yeah, I’m still here. I’ve officially started training for the Fitness Star Model Search competition on April 11th. Now that I’m so close, I’ve actually found it easier to get to the gym and not cheat. The competition has become my motivation.

But I know I’m still going to get hungry and snarky, so I’m trying Hoodia supplements. I got these fancy one’s from Flora. I’ve tried Hydroxycut and QB burner before, this time I wanted something that wouldn’t make me feel like I’m hopped up on coffee all. the. time.

So I’m working out six days a week. Cardio every day for 45 minutes and weight training for about 45 minutes to an hour. I work out every body part once a week, and I try to use enough weight so that I can’t get to 10 reps.

Oh yeah–competing is expensive. I figure everything is going to cost me about $700.00. That includes two posing suits (one I got for $15 on sale… the Fitness Star website said it didn’t have to be fancy!), shoes, gettin’ my hair did, make-up, etc. I figure it should cost less, though. I’m going to make it my personal mission to figure out how to do my make-up myself for the show.

I spoke to fitness model and competitor Selena Han today over the phone and she said she did her make-up herself for the WBFF competition in September 2007, so I figured I could do it too.

So far I’ve ordered my suit from Karen at KHP Designs, and my shoes from Sexy Strut (website a teensy explicit…). I’ll never understand why these competitions demand female models wear clear heels, but oh well.

For now it’s steady at the gym… the more I learn the more I learn.

Doing the Fitness Model thing…

Did I mention I’m competing at the Fitness Star Model Search on April 11th, 2009?

I’m going to compete as a Fitness Model… last year I went to the World Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation show and got inspired.

I figured I could try it out, see how it works out… who knows what could happen?

The only thing that confuses me about these competitions is the winners. I watch the shows and I don’t understand why the girl who wins, won. I’m not trying to be rude, but as someone who knows little about fitness modeling, that is something I am trying to learn… ah well, check the websites.

Get sweaty!