Bodybuilding prep update (11 weeks out?)

I appear to be wishing my life away! Every time I mention my comp on Facebook etc I say I’m 10 weeks out. I’m not… it’s 11 weeks.

I suppose it’s a good mistake to make – better that way round than thinking I’ve got longer than I really do have.

So – 11 weeks out tomorrow (unless deemed not ready in which case I’ll do a later qualifier).

I’m still training really heavy and low (for me) reps – for example, today’s session:

Conventional deadlifts: 100kgs (8 reps), 110kgs (6 reps, 3 reps), 100kgs (6 reps)
Sumo deadlifts: 80kgs (10 reps), 90kgs (10 reps, 10 reps)
Glute bridges: 60kgs (3×10 reps)
Pulls ups
Standing calf raises

Heavy, compound lifts will remain for another three weeks or so, and then I think things will change to higher reps, more volume and probably more supersets etc to bring in a bit of a cardio/conditioning element (since I don’t do any actual cardio, other than twice-daily powerwalks with the dog).

In terms of diet, I’m carb-cycling, with my high carb days seeing me eat more carbs than I did at any stage last year (including – gasp – a bowl of porridge just before bed, yep carbs well after 6pm ) There’s loads of variety, from oily fish to red meat, whole eggs, white potatoes, nuts, poulty and game. About the only thing missing from the diet which might surprise you is dairy. We took it out a few weeks ago and I don’t miss it.

I’ve got a good weekend of bodybuilding-related events planned: I trained this morning with my friend Sophie, who’s a powerlifter (and fellow journalist), I’m seeing a lot of fellow competitors tomorrow, and then on Bank Holiday Monday I’m seeing a load of local bodybuilder girlfriends for a bit of posing and routine practice (and probably a good chat over a coffee, too).

Tomorrow is BNBF posing club/meet at Body Bionic gym in Thatcham – these are held every month (and there are others held across the country too) – a great resource for posing practice, feedback, support, Q&As and advice from other competitors and BNBF Pro bodybuilders. It’s brilliant to catch up with everyone every four weeks and so useful to be able to get regular responses from people who only see me at “club” – four weeks is a long time in prep, so I’m always hopefully that people will have positive and constructive feedback about my progress between meets.

Bodybuilding prep update (11 weeks out?) is a post from The Fit Writer blog.

Nicola Joyce – the Fit Writer – is a freelance copywriter and journalist who writes for the sport and fitness industry. Her main website is here.

So, I deadlifted 140kgs. No biggie.

Hi! Just a quick one from me today. I’ve got an exciting thing to tell you and my neighbour isn’t in, the guys in the shop aren’t really into lifting, and I think the dog is sick of hearing about it.

DEADLIFT PB all up in your face!

I hardly ever post about training and that’s largely because I don’t have performance-goals at the moment. I train for physique reasons and with a long-term end goal in mind: the bodybuilding stage.

I’ve never done 1 rep max attempts on any lift and really only know what I lift for 6-8 reps at a minimum. That’s just how I train.

Yesterday, I was down at The Training Lab (thefitdog’s favourite gym) to cover a workshop run by Andy McKenzie of IronMac Fitness and Andy Bolton of… well, of the first bloke to deadlift over 1000lbs (does he need a label?)

Andy Mc and Andy B have joined forces to deliver a series of workshops called “Brutal Strength and Explosive Power” (maaaaaan). Muscle & Fitness sent me along so I could write an article about it for the magazine.

After a lot of movement preparation to mobilise the shoulders, activate the hips and glutes and improve speed and movement across the entire body, we had a chance to be coached through the squat, deadlift and bench. When you have the opportunity to be coached and spotted by Andy Bolton on deadlift, you take it, am I right?

We warmed up with 60kgs, 70kgs, 80kgs and 90kgs and then Andy Mc and Andy B looked at me and told me to stop messing around.

They slapped a few extra bits of iron on the bar. I avoided the temptation to look at how much was on there and chalked my hands up, took hold of the bar and pulled.

It moved to about knee height and then I felt some peculiar sensations emanating somewhere deep within my soul (or bowels perhaps) and thought “nope”. End of a full-on day, plenty of reps already done, I trained deadlifts two days ago, today is a low carb day. Leave it.

The rest of the group got on with their deadlifts. Some PBs were smashed. I eyed up my bar. Andy Mc looked at me quizzically.

“I want to get it,” I said. So, I chalked up my hands, stepped up, grabbed the bar and pulled.

It went up.

140kgs.
(308lbs for my American friends)

HAVE IT.

No photos, sorry, but plenty of witnesses.

The online info for the workshop series does say “Who knows, it could be PB time”. Thanks, Andy Mc and Andy B!

I’ll leave you with a photo of thefitdog’s latest addition to his paw-tograph book (groan)

So, I deadlifted 140kgs. No biggie. is a post from The Fit Writer blog.

Nicola Joyce – the Fit Writer – is a freelance copywriter and journalist who writes for the sport and fitness industry. Her main website is here.

When tough times get tougher

Bear with me here.

This is a blog post which took me a year and a day to write.

You see, a year ago yesterday was the day that life (as I knew it) fell apart suddenly around my ears. I’m not going to go into details (there’s no need – and those in real life who need to know certainly do know) but it’s no secret that I have recently gone through a divorce, house sale, relocation.

The reason for this blog post? Very simple – although it seems very silly to me now, with hindsight.

I feel the need to blog a response to the question “can I prep for a bodybuilding comp whilst I’m getting divorced?”

I know… it sounds so silly, but I can’t tell you how many times last year I googled that exact same question, or variations on a theme, hoping to find some disembodied answer which would placate me, direct me or fast-forward me somehow through what was a truly awful time.

It wasn’t that I wanted someone to tell me for sure either way. I just wanted to know. Was it worth it? Prep is hard. Divorce is harder. Put the two together and, well, I can’t actually remember much of last year.

So what was I looking for when I googled over and over about the topics of divorce, separation, upheaval, trauma and bodybuilding competition prep? I was searching for someone, anyone, who’d been through this and would share their experiences. I didn’t want someone to tell me “yes you definitely can and you will place second and your posing music CD will play just fine and you will remember to pack your bikini top and bottom.” Nor did I want someone to say “no, don’t do it, it’s too much and you will implode.” I just wanted to read some shared experiences because, frankly, I felt so lost.

I didn’t find a single thing. Not a blog post, not a forum thread, not an article.

To illustrate just how bad I was feeling, here’s an excerpt from an email conversation with Kat Millar, my 2011 prep coach who valiantly stepped back into the role when I was also suddenly left without coaching support.

Me

Up and down, up and down… keep thinking “I’ve got this” then something knocks me for 6 and I react badly even though I so desperately dont’ want to. Can I really do this? Should I be sensible and accept that this year might not be my year? Put it off for a year and compete in 2013? Do you really think I can do this Kat?

Kat

…yes I absolutely, totally without a shadow of a doubt know (not just think, know) that you can do this. I don’t doubt you at all, whatsoever! You are the same person who stood on stage last year… that same winning spirit is still in you, whether you feel connected to it right now or not, it’s there – it’s always there to draw upon, and no one can take that away from you.

My only question to you would be – do you want to? Do you really really want this? Because if you don’t, you won’t fight for it and nothing me or anyone else says will help.

Whatever you decide, your worth doesn’t come from what you do or whether you compete – and if you do, where you place.

As your coach and friend, I want what’s best for you… But from a physiological perspective, you do have enough time and if you believe you can do this and want to, you can.

Could you take a day or two just to forget about it and see what your subconscious decides? Would writing all the reasons for and against be helpful? What would you regret/not regret?

The bit in bold was such a relief to read. Sounds crazy now, I know! But that right there was what I was so desperate to hear. That is was physiologically possible to prep during a time of crisis. I did not know.

So, here’s my blog post, written in the genuine hope that one person, one day, at some point, will find it when they are feeling as desperate as I was.

Can you prep for a bodybuilding comp when your world has collapsed around you? I’m sure you can. I did, and I’m nothing special.

Am I glad I did?

Yes. But it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done and there were days when I thought about jacking it all in. After my atrocious performance at the UKDFBA, I thought very hard about carrying on for one more show, and asked a lot of people’s advice. Some of them kindly and constructively said no, stop now, start off-season and move on. I do wonder if that might have been a good idea. But, I didn’t, and no harm done. However, I can remember the moment that my place (… last place!) was called at the NPA Finals (my final show of last year). The thought process immediately went “OK, right, fine, next up is moving home.” I was ready to move on, get my bodybuilding season over and done with because I finally felt a furious need to physically move away and get on with my new life.

I can’t tell you if you should compete or carry on with your prep, only you know that. But can you? Yes. You can, and maybe it will give you something to hang on to, something for you when everything else seems to be shitting on you from great heights and draining your emotions and energy.

I remember coming to the conclusion that, yes, prep and competing was a stress, but it was a stress that I wanted. It was all the other stresses that I didn’t want. So, by deciding not to compete, I’d have got rid of something I actually wanted to do, but I’d still be left with all the other crap.

Things which might help

If you do decide to carry on, these things may help. They certainly helped me:

- good friends. Goes without saying but honestly you are about to find out the power of true friendship. You are also about to discover who your true friends are. It may surprise you, in good and bad ways. The people you turn to first may end up screwing you over (happened to me) and the people you thought had forgotten about you completely may end up a year later being back in your life in big ways (also happened to me).

- an inner circle. It’s always a good idea to only listen to one or two trusted advisor-types during prep but when you’re also trying to deal with the exhausting noise of divorce and house sale etc, you’ll probably only have energy (and trust!) left to listen to one or two

- training partners. Again, often helpful but a wonderful support at this point in time. You need to find the right person but, if you do, they will play the part of mentor, coach, accountability partner, sounding board and much more

- getting in to a routine. If you suddenly find yourself alone, prep can go very screwy. Meal times? What are those? Bed time? Oh I suppose that was a few hours ago. Get up? I suppose I should, I mean it is 10:45am. You get the picture. Do try to carry on as normal, even if inside you feel far from normal.

- a dog (if you like dogs, that is). If you’ve got one, fight to keep it. If you haven’t got one, get one to celebrate your new life. Your pup will get you outside on days when you don’t want to go anywhere, will make you smile and will remind you daily about trust, love and the power of living in the moment.

Pros and cons…
…of competing and prepping last year at the same time as going to Relate sessions, getting divorced, trying (endlessly) to sell a house, planning a relocation and dozens of other frustrating and upsetting things

Pros
- Sense of pride at a time when my confidence was on the floor
- A positive, healthy distraction/set of habits at a time when I honestly could happily have ended (or started) some days with gin
- Maintaining contact with a very tight-knit and supportive community online and offline
- Routine, habits, structure
- A goal which was nothing to do with anyone else, just me
- A high point or “good thing” in an otherwise shit year

Cons
- Often very stressful
- Physically and emotionally exhausting
- Pressure (on myself) that I often didn’t need
- Kept me in one place long after I wanted to move away
- Change in lifestyle (single person with dog to walk/house to run) meant sudden change in energy output
- Change in lifestyle meant sudden change in routine, meaning I could (and did) very easily eat/sleep badly

Lessons learned
- let yourself feel whatever you need to feel. There’s nothing wrong with being sad, angry, mildly hysterical or anything else you care to feel. I can tell you right now that over the past year I have cried in Tesco supermarket, in the Post Office, and walking down the High Street on a Saturday afternoon. Oh well. You have to let the feelings out, and then sort of past. They won’t stick around forever I promise. Just because you spent all of yesterday crying it doesn’t mean you’ll spend all of tomorrow crying (although if you do that’s OK too)

- spend time on you. This one really helped me. I don’t mean having bubble baths and going on a silent retreat. I mean really digging about and getting to grips – for the first time ever – with who I am, what makes me tick and why I really am quite awesome thank you very much. I went to some therapy/counselling (not sure what you’d call it). I read a lot of self-help/emotional intelligence books. I watched my Google reader’s contents subtly shift from food and fitness blogs to sports psychology and emotional wellness blogs. One of the most valuable things I did was sit and write down my own personal values. This might not work for you, perhaps you’re not as driven by words as I am. But I found it interesting, enlightening and very strengthening to know what’s important to me, so I then had a kind of values blueprint against which to align my life.

- go with your gut. This kind of links to the values thing. If last year taught me anything, it was to trust my gut instincts. I no longer care very much what people think of me (not in a callous way, more in a “look I know I’m a good person, if you disagree or come to some odd conclusion about my life then that’s your issue not mine” way) I am much happier to trust gut instinct and do things (or not do things) that I know are right for me and for the people I care about, probably because I have a much better idea now of who is worth caring about. Do listen to what your gut is telling you. Good and bad. If it’s telling you that person is slightly odd and probably a bad influence in your life, get rid now. It’ll happen one way or another anyway. If it’s telling you that person was amazing all along and you really should get back in touch with them, give them a call. They’ll be back at some point anyway!

- nothing’s set in stone. If you do decide to compete, remember that you can stop any time. That might help ease the pressure. Obviously it doesn’t quite work the other way around – if you decide not to, you’ll probably find it hard to jump back into it if you change your mind. But if you do take the tough decision to carry on, don’t be proud enough to stop if you no longer feel prep/competing is doing anything positive for you. I promise you that nobody will think any the worse of you (in fact they may be relieved, or may not notice at all!)

Oh, and one last thing? You will be OK, and whatever happens/wherever you find yourself, things will be better. Maybe not in the ways you expected or predicted (or even wanted) but they will be.

There.

In signing off today I’d like to say the hugest and most heartfelt thank you to everyone who helped me through the past year. You know who you are. And to the people (because there were a few) who didn’t help me, well, thank you too. You played a part in getting me here, but I’m afraid you won’t be the ones who get to play a part in celebrating it.

Peace out

When tough times get tougher is a post from The Fit Writer blog.

Nicola Joyce – the Fit Writer – is a freelance copywriter and journalist who writes for the sport and fitness industry. Her main website is here.

Bodybuilding prep update (16 weeks out?)

Morning! I thought it was about time for a contest prep update

I had a face-to-face catch up with coach Vicky Bradley yesterday – she hadn’t seen me for a few weeks and was delighted with the changes. We speak (text/whatsapp/tweet/instagram/facebook – haha!) most days but of course seeing me in the flesh is different.

I’m currently either 16 or 18 weeks out from my first show, depending on which qualifier I do. I’ve had my wibbles and wobbles (of confidence, as well as glute-fat ) but I’m starting to think I’ll be in good shape for the earlier of the two.

Vicky calipered me again yesterday, and I do my measurements: in 12 weeks of working with her, I’m down approx:

6kgs
We think about 7% body fat from Vicky’s calipering.
5.1cms hips
8.2cms waist
5.9cms chest/back

Here are comparison pics two weeks apart (although the most recent of these was taken three weeks ago now)

I’m still training the same split
Saturday – deadlifts, hamstrings, glutes, back and calves
Sunday – chest and triceps
Tuesday – back and shoulders
Wednesday – squats, quads and calves

And doing posing practice, stretching, foam rolling and postural/remedial work a couple of times a week at home. Still no cardio (other than two fast dog walks every day – which are getting longer now there are more daylight hours).

My training has changed (at least once) since I last blogged about prep – still low reps (or what I call low reps anyway!) but with a bit of a conditioning element in there now, supersets, walking lunges, weighted steps ups etc. Every time my programme changes, the specific exercises I do aim to correct an imbalance, fill out a slightly lacking area or bring an area up so the final “package” I reveal on stage is as complete and as “Physique category” as possible.

My shoulders seem to have taken on a life of their own

Diet has changed a little bit: we are now carb cycling and we’re about to really go for it, with much more carbs than I’m used to on training days. This is partly as a result of a total diet-wobble I had a couple of weeks ago, where I careered off-piste without Vicky’s blessing (or knowledge). Not good, but (there’s always a positive!) we did discover than I’m pretty carb-tolerant. After two days of over-eating, one of which involved a family party, and undisclosed amounts of cake, brownies and mini-scones (very nice they were too), I put on…. 0.5kgs. So, we’re going to be playing with more carbs, and different sources of them. Now’s the time to do it – if it’s doesn’t work, we can change again.

As I said to Vicky today, I feel as if the next 2-3 weeks will see some exciting changes in both my fatloss and my shape. I don’t know why I feel that way but I do! It’s exciting. This period of prep – when there’s months and months to go, but you know you’ll wake up one day soon and only have 4 weeks left – is a funny time. But I’m definitely seeing very good changes and I’m really excited to get closer and closer to competition condition!

A couple of pics from a week ago: posing in the gym with Figure competitor Karen (right of the pic) and Physique competitor Kathy (left). I love this pic, we’re so smiley! We’d just had an awesome deadlift session together – I’d never met either lady before but have emailed and chatted to them both online for over a year now. Brilliant training partners!

And lastly, Karen and I did a bit of posing practice after training and I borrowed her Figure shoes for a bit. Once I’d got myself upright (and stayed there!), I tried out a few Figure poses. What do you think? Shall I switch divisions?

Anything in particular you want to know? Let me know & I’ll attempt to answer!

Bodybuilding prep update (16 weeks out?) is a post from The Fit Writer blog.

Nicola Joyce – the Fit Writer – is a freelance copywriter and journalist who writes for the sport and fitness industry. Her main website is here.

It’s back…. Notch Watch 2013

Remember Notch Watch? It’s something I did last year, starting at New Year (possibly not my finest idea!) and I kept monitoring the notches of my lifting belt up until two weeks out (when I ran out of notches).

I realised I hadn’t watched any notches yet this year (not my own, anyway) so took my belt in with me today for squats and snapped a quick pic before getting started.

Well – excuse the mega-baggy vest – but here we are on notch 6 of 8 with 20-ish weeks of prep left to my qualifier! (For comparison, I was on notch 5 of 8 at around this time last year.) I was pretty surprised by that. And it wasn’t even that tight – it was as tight as you’d do it up for squats but comfortable enough to walk about in.

I can already tell that this year’s prep (and life in general) is different, and is showing itself as such on my body. I’m much leaner on the abs than I was this time last year (in fact I reckon I’m leaner on the abs than I was at about 6 or 8 weeks out). That’s cortisol for you! As ever, the human body fascinates me.

I still have a long way to go before reaching the kind of stage condition I intend on presenting this year, but that’s just as well, in fact it’s really quite handy because there’s a way to go on the calendar too. I have a feeling it will all be timed just right.

Things with coach Vicky Bradley are still going great. I’ve started a new set of training programmes (I mentioned that here) and since my weight hasn’t moved much for a couple of weeks, I’ve also just started a slightly changed diet, to get things moving again.

Other than that, not a lot to report, because I’m happy and confident and feeling very positive!

Stay tuned for more Notch Watch – as and when I remember, that is.

It’s back…. Notch Watch 2013 is a post from The Fit Writer blog.

Nicola Joyce – the Fit Writer – is a freelance copywriter and journalist who writes for the sport and fitness industry. Her main website is here.

Bodybuilding prep update (20 weeks out?)

It’s been a while since I talked about training, prep or this year’s competitions, so here’s an update.

I’m currently either 20 or 22 weeks out, depending on which show I do. Sorry to be vague and cryptic but I’m not 100% sure yet, and I won’t be revealing the show til a lot nearer the time anyway (although those of you with the various federations’ calendars at hand will be able to work it out fairly easily!)

I’m still working with Vicky Bradley and everything is going really well, I’m very happy with progress and excited to see how things turn out.

I’ve been under Vicky’s small but surprisingly muscular lats for nearly seven weeks now. I’m onto my second lot of training sessions with her – the first block focused on my bigger lifts, great technique, lower reps (very low for me!), working out just how much weigh I can handle and getting some more muscle on me. This new block of training is bringing in work which will bring more balance and shape to my physique.

Progress is being made: not only do I look and feel better, but I’m getting stronger, and the stats are there in black and white. In six weeks I’m down:

3.6kgs
We think about 4.5% body fat from Vicky’s calipering.
2.3cms hips
6cms waist (!)
5cms chest/back

The only thing which hasn’t budged is arm measurement, although body fat/skinfold has come down.

This is from about 3 weeks ago…

This is from last Sunday at a BNBF club/meet at Body Bionics Gym

As is this….

I’m in the gym four days a week:
Saturday – deadlifts, hamstrings, glutes, back and calves
Sunday – chest and triceps
Tuesday – back and shoulders
Wednesday – squats, quads and calves

And doing posing practice, stretching, foam rolling and postural/remedial work a couple of times a week at home. No cardio (other than two fast dog walks of about 45 mins every day).

Eating (I can’t really call it dieting yet!) is simple and enjoyable. Lots of meat, fish, eggs and veg, good fats and veg (including spuds). The plan is to slowly bring bodyfat down to a reasonable “year round” level, teaching me and my body good, sustainable habits along the way. Never mind the comp, this is about finding habits and routines which work for me and can then work for me all year round. Then, from there, we’ll worry about “prep diet”. But the idea is that, by then, there won’t be a huge amount to lose anyway.

How about you – how’s your training going?

Bodybuilding prep update (20 weeks out?) is a post from The Fit Writer blog.

Nicola Joyce – the Fit Writer – is a freelance copywriter and journalist who writes for the sport and fitness industry. Her main website is here.

A bit of food prep

Evening!

Sunday afternoons are all about food prep for me. I tend to batch cook lots of my food, two or three times a week. It makes life a lot easier and saves on firing up the oven just for one tiddly meal all the time. I know a lot of my bodybuilding friends prep food ahead of time, too, and it’s always interesting to see how differently everyone does it.

Here are a few of my tips and “recipes” (such as they are). I hope they help, or give you some ideas.

Tray-bake
This is a really lazy option but very easy and I’ve yet to find one single thing which doesn’t taste good cooked this way. It’s simple: just get whatever it is you’re wanting to eat (one or more veggie choices, and your protein choice – fish, chicken, turkey work well), chop it into roughly the same sized bits, put in a baking tray (try to keep it to one layer so nothing goes mushy) and bake. Spray a bit of oil over the top if you want/if it needs it, or add any marinades or sauces you might like. I’m a fan of adding thick slices of lemon, garlic (have I mentioned I’m single), a chili (flakes or fresh).

That’s just chicken. I don’t have any photos of a chicken/veg mix but I’m sure you can imagine it! At any one time I’ll have one or two different variations on veg/meat or fish tray bake going on. I portion it out once it’s cooked – it makes for very quick and easy meals during the week.

Baked veggies
Kind of the same thing, only for your veg. Again, I’ve yet to meet a vegetable which doesn’t respond well to being baked in the oven. Use fresh or frozen, it doesn’t seem to matter. Just make sure everything’s roughly the same size/shape (so it cooks evenly) and laid out in one layer. For even easier clean-up, line your baking tray with foil. Veggies I’ve done this way:

- brussels sprouts (!) (fresh are great, although you may need to halve the gigano-brussels. Frozen are really good for this, particularly the frozen baby brussels)

- fine beans/green beans. They go a bit crunchy and crispy. Maybe I’m deluded but it’s a bit like having a green chip/french fry. OK, so it’s been a while since I had an actual chip… Again, fresh or frozen work well
- broccoli. Yes really. Roasted/baked broccoli is lovely! Just watch that the end bits of the florets (I’m sure there’s a technical word for it) doesn’t burn. You do not want your home to smell of burning broccoli, just trust me on this.
- combos: try sweet potato or new potatoes, swede or squash, onions or shallots, brussels (!), cherry tomatoes. Anything you like. Most things sweeten up when baked like this
- sweet potatoes. Easy as you like – just cut them into the size/weight you need, stab a few times and put in a baking tray. Add a bit of water (seems to stop them burning and sticking).

From a food prep bodybuilder-y point of view, it’s very easy to keep track of your macros if you prep food like this. Just weigh out how much of each you put in the tray, then weigh it all once it’s cooked (when you transfer it to whatever you’re storing it in), then divide that all as required. Keep a pen and paper in the kitchen for scribbling or, like me, use a chalkboard (not a hope in hell of remembering what I’ve cooked let alone how much of it all is in the pan!)

Slow cooker
I still praise the happy day my Mum bought me a slow cooker. I use it all the time. Just bung everything in! Mince and veg. Entire chicken breasts (cook them slowly then shred them with two forks). I even did a whole chicken in there the other day (which was amazing – I then made a stock with the bones which the dog then enjoyed for a few days). Trust me, I have no culinary expertise. A slow cooker just makes it so easy. And you can put stuff in last thing at night then wake up to a house which smells like roast dinner.

Stuffed peppers

Bit more prep but, really, doesn’t take long! Make some kind of mince filling (in the slow cooker?) – turkey mince, beef mince, whatever you like. Obviously add in whatever veg, spices etc you’d normally add to your mince dishes.
Cut bell peppers in half, trim or remove the stalks (they smell nasty if they burn!) and remove all the seeds.
Stuff with your mince, and bake.


Cauliflower mash
This is one of those easy things I just assumed everyone (or every bodybuilder anyway) made but recent Facebook chats made me realise that’s not so. Here, then, is my “.recipe”. I’m pretty sure I can’t take the credit for this; I think it was Kat Millar who first taught me this trick when I prepped with her in 2011.

Steam some cauliflower (I use the 1kg bags of frozen – much easier than chopping a whole cauliflower in my kitchen which is the size of a gerbil cage)
Drain it well. Then drain it again, cos cauliflowers really do get soggy.
Blend it up (I use a handheld blender)
Mix in protein powder (I like unflavoured pea protein or goat whey. Please don’t use your pina colada choco nutso fudge flavoured whey for this) I’d add about 60g for a 1kg bag of cauli.
Mix in anything else you like – pepper, chili, herbs, spices. I quite like curry spices for this.
Stir it all up, allow to cool, portion out and store.
This is great as a snack by itself, as a side dish to anything for which you’d usually use mashed potato, or with eggs (poached, on the top, is my favourite). I guess you could also use it for topping shepherds pie or something?

Hard boiled eggs
No brainer. Healthy fats, complete protein, all in its own packaging. Nature knows what’s up! I always have some in my fridge.

Do you prep your food ahead of time? What are your top tips, and favourite recipes?

A bit of food prep is a post from The Fit Writer blog.

Nicola Joyce – the Fit Writer – is a freelance copywriter and journalist who writes for the sport and fitness industry. Her main website is here.

NPA British Final 2012 photos

Sorry for being AWOL – I’ve been moving house I still don’t have broadband or a phone (<— self-employed person's problems) but I’m making do with dongles.

Anyway, 2 minutes ago I realised that I’d promised you a second blog post about the NPA British Final (my write-up is here) once I’d got the official photographer‘s pics. Well, he sent them ages ago, but I forgot.

Here they are! Enjoy (I think you click on them to make them bigger if you want) And all the very best to the British Team who are preparing to step on stage at the INBF/WNBF Worlds today and tomorrow in Atlantic City.

I’ll be back soon with a blog post about breakfast. Yes, it’s the off-season, which means eating and baking and cooking oh my!

NPA British Final 2012 report is a post from The Fit Writer blog.

Nicola Joyce – the Fit Writer – is a freelance copywriter and journalist who writes for the sport and fitness industry. Her main website is here.

NPA British Final 2012 report

Hello! I owe you a show report – Sunday was the NPA British Final, my last comp of the year.

Well, guys, I don’t really know what to say because… I came last. Yup! 6 in my class (Ladies Physique 55kg+) and I came 6th.

There it is. There’s no point sugar-coating it, or giving it all the “yes I came last but think of all the people who didn’t even compete!” or any of that balls. 6 of us in my class, and I placed 6th.

Obviously it wasn’t what I wanted, hoped for or (honestly) expected even right up until the moment my name was called (perhaps I’ve got reverse body dysmorphia, where I think I look OK when really I look shit haha!) But hey, it is what it is, and if this “annus horribilis” of mine has convinced me of anything, it’s that, really, it’s not a big deal. Not a bodybuilding result, not anything really! Has anyone died? No. Then we’re OK.

Despite a disappointing and upsetting result, I had a great day, and I’m happy to tell you a bit about it. I’ll also post some of the pro photographer’s pics (Fivos Photography) when I get them (regardless of what I looked like, the photos will still be fantastic because Fivos is the man!)

As with all my comps this year, my sister joined me for the weekend, making it a wonderful weekend away. The hotel we’d been recommended by the NPA was lovely! We hunkered down for the evening, sis with her room-service dinner and me with my tin foil parcels of cold turkey breast, and she popped a couple of coats of tan on me during Strictly Come Dancing.

I slept pretty well and was very pleased with how I was looking in the morning. I know I didn’t write much during the weeks between the UKDFBA comp and this one but that’s partly because I dieted SO hard and did a lot of extra training (mostly cardio) in a bid to come in with better conditioning. I didn’t have the time or energy to blog much and didn’t have a lot to say. Anyway, I really felt as though those two weeks of hell, fish and cardio had paid off: I looked tight and lean and was drying out nicely. I was really happy with how I was looking and felt I’d continue to improve throughout the day of the comp, too.

At the venue I checked in, weighing in a smidgen heavier than at last year’s NPA Final (57.1kgs, and they split Ladies Physique into under 55kg and 55kg+). There were 5 of us (and 4 in the lightweights) and the other 4 ladies were imposing names. I knew it would be a fantastic contest – as it should be, this being a British Final!

Then came the news that one of the favourites had weighed in a smidge over the cut-off, so – joy of joys! – she and her washboard abs would now be in our class. One more competitor, and what a competitor! I knew this would make our class even tougher, but I didn’t feel outclassed, I knew I probably wasn’t challenging for top 3 (I’d had so much to do getting condition back on track), but felt quite happy at the idea of battling it out for the other spots. And nothing would stop me from giving it 100%, after all, first place is there to be taken and nothing’s decided until they call the results!

A happy twist of fate happened when I found myself in a little dressing room with 7 times NPA British Champion, Carol Streeter. There was only room for one other person and I got lucky when I knocked on the door before anyone else. So, for the rest of the day, I shared the company of this lovely and inspirational woman who was a joy to be around. Thank you Carol for the chat, the posing tips and the feedback

On we went for “prejudging”, the bit in plain bikinis where you do your quarter turns (symmetry) and compulsory poses. I’d had a sneaky look at the other ladies, of course, and realised that I wasn’t the leanest (but also didn’t think I was the un-leanest), nor was I the biggest (but I wasn’t convinced I was the smallest either), and I felt happy about my symmetry and balance. In short, I still felt that I probably wouldn’t be troubling the top ladies but that the bottom half of the placings were all to play for.

Prejudge went well, I felt as if I hit my poses just fine and was certainly posing very hard! I’m told we were onstage posing for 15 minutes, which if true is ages! I was sweating and aching and shaking – a good workout!

We were all sent to the back of the stage, before the judges called us forward in turn for our “call out”. Everyone was called forward and arranged around the woman in the middle (first to be called out). Name after name was called… and then mine. Last. Now, people say it doesn’t matter where you are in the call out but I think it does. If the judges want to see you, they’ll call you first/second/third so you’re right there in the middle being compared side by side with the others. Then they stick the ones they’re not so fussed about out on the end. I was out on the end. I felt gutted, but knew there was no point acting defeated whilst I still had time on stage. Besides, I was enjoying myself! So I continued to pose as hard as before – harder, in fact. I don’t think I’ve ever posed that hard! Someone should set up a camera in the back of the stage sometime because I’m sure the faces we pull when we’re facing the back, doing our rear poses, are hilarious (mine certainly must be!)

We were sent off and I felt… I don’t know. In some ways I felt deflated because I gathered from my call out (and the fact that I’d tried to make eye contact with the judges and hadn’t noticed their gaze lingering on me at all) that I hadn’t made an impression. But I’d felt so good up there, and was personally pleased with how I was looking. Perhaps I’m deluded! Oh well.

I watched some of the show with my family and friends, chatted more with Carol and her husband and enjoyed the show, before it was time to get ready for the night show (sparkly bikinis and individual posing routines).

My routine went by in a flash and I was worried I hadn’t done it justice, because it seemed to be over before it had begun, but I got some great feedback on it and people said they really enjoyed it. Phew, cos I really enjoy it too!

We were asked to do a couple of poses (not the whole lot as we’re sometimes asked to do at the nightshow) before the fun of the posedown – always a laugh and no different this time! I was still feeling great and dared to think I might be in 4th or 5th place, although to be perfectly honest I had no idea at all.

We lined up at the back of the stage and 6th place was called.

Me.

Oh, hi! I came last!

Hey ho. I can’t tell you how I felt, not shocked or upset but just… sad, really. I haven’t yet asked for judges’ feedback (if any of you are reading, I’d welcome it!) but will do so because I would love to know where I went wrong. I’d like to think that I was just the “worst of a good bunch” – it was certainly a very strong line up of fantastic women, and perhaps I was just the weakest of a very good bunch. But, of course, I’d love have some detailed feedback so I can improve. It’s the only way!

How do I feel now? Well, I move house/office/life in three days time and have work to finish up, a house and office to pack, and an awful lot of emotional goodbyes to do. I don’t feel that I have the time or emotional “space” to think much about how I’m feeling about the result of the comp. I feel tired, very very tired. This year has sucked a lot from me, and I do feel that competition prep has taken, and taken, and given very little. I’m hoping that once I’ve moved, and settled, and drawn breath, I’ll be able to look back and assess where I went wrong, what I could have done differently (if indeed I could have done anything differently!) and what I could change for next time. And, of course, what I can learn from it all. Because there’s a lesson in everything. I just need to find it.

Thanks for reading. Photos to come!

(Puppy says he doesn’t care that it says 6th place. He can’t read anyway!)


NPA British Final 2012 report is a post from The Fit Writer blog.

Nicola Joyce – the Fit Writer – is a freelance copywriter and journalist who writes for the sport and fitness industry. Her main website is here.

Random thoughts on show-eve-eve

Dum de dum.

The night-before the night-before a comp is weird. Kind of boring. But sort of exciting! Drags on f-o-r-e-v-e-r and then OMG it’s 9pm how did that happen?

In fact, it’s a bit like Christmas-Eve-Eve (don’t tell me we’re the only family to call it that?) Just like the 23rd December, the day before the day-before-a-comp:

- is boring
- but actually quite exciting
- makes you anxious to just get on with it (yes even the eating exciting treats aspect!) but can’t yet and if you do you’ll ruin the main day so you just need to get a grip and wait a bit longer
- starts off with you waking up and think “oh this day will go on forever”, then all of a sudden it’s 8pm and you haven’t wrapped presents/made canapes/shaved yourself all over and put a base coat of tan on*

(*delete as applicable)

So, an update on me. Well, I’m sitting here with my base coat of tan on – done by my good self. I never was much good at art or painting, and nothing’s changed. All I can say is, thank goodness this is a kind of “stain” base coat, which I’ll lightly shower off tomorrow. And thank goodness I have my sister, aka this year’s bodybuilding-comp support crew wunderkind, who stepped up to the plate without so much as a twitch of hesitation. She’s a master tanner, unflappable chauffeur and wonderful room-mate for hotel stays. Love you, sis!

Sunday is the NPA British Finals (click here for my report on last year’s Finals, where I placed 3rd in the Ladies Physique heavyweight (55kg+) category). How do I feel? Exhausted. Since my less-than-stellar performance at the UKDFBA British Open (5th out of 6! Reprazent!) two weeks ago, I have been dieting, cardioing and training myself harder than I thought possible. Normally, I’d have started my carb-up by now (Friday morning). Not this time. This time I’m taking it right up to the line, preferring to come in “a bit flat” than “a bit fat”. We know I pump up well, anyway. But this does mean that I’m still – still! – eating white fish (and that’s about it).

However, to keep the Christmas analogy going, only 48 more hours and I can delve into the box of Roses and plate of mince pies (so to speak).

It’s OK, really, I can do it. But man am I exhausted!

Those of you friends with me on Facebook will remember my update the other day where I said I cried three times that day. Yeah, that’s carb depletion for you! Once was when my dog ran off, rather than coming back to me, during our walk, and I had to walk oooooh about 3 minutes extra to retrieve him. I just could barely do it. And cried! The second was when I went for a sports massage and realised it was to be the last time I’d see my friend Diksha who does the massage. Yep, I cried! The third time is a bit personal and highly embarrassing but suffice to say I was walking through the centre of the town where I live… crying.

Oh dear! I have also had moments of fun and happiness – “carb-deplete euphoria” I call them – most notably whilst on the stepper at 6:40am. Why? Who knows.

To conclude this ramble of a post, I’ll just give you a top tip I learned by experience this week. Yes, it’s great to do your final cardio session. And, yes, it’s only polite to finally take your weighted vest home from the gym (where the gym manager has kindly allowed you to store it all year). After all… er… it possibly needs a wash. However, it’s not so great to unload the 10x1kg weights, put them at various locations about your person in your coat pockets, and then stagger home loaded down with 10kg extra plus your bag, all whilst severely depleted.

I almost cried… but not quite

As always, I’ll be tweeting from the comp on Sunday from thefitwriter Twitter, if there’s a connection. Otherwise, I’ll see you on the other side! Then we’ll get talking off-season, goals and 2013!

Random thoughts on show-eve-eve is a post from The Fit Writer blog.

Nicola Joyce – the Fit Writer – is a freelance copywriter and journalist who writes for the sport and fitness industry. Her main website is here.